WWF Monday Night RAW (October 30, 1995)

Original Airdate: October 30, 1995 (taped October 23)

From Brandon, Manitoba, Canada; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler. Since it’s Halloween time, both are dressed in costumes, with Vince as a prisoner, and Lawler as a surgeon. Lawler jokes that Vince got that outfit ‘about a year ago,’ but this is the first time he’s wearing it

Goldust v Savio Vega: You could seriously kill your liver if you played a drinking game where you take a shot every time Vince says the word 'bizarre' during a Goldust match. Goldust attacks from behind before the bell, blitzing Vega in the corner, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and Savio fires back. He misses a dropkick, however, allowing Goldust to toss him into the post, and he takes Savio down for an overhead armbar. Goldust continues to work the shoulder, so Vega tries a spinheel kick, but it misses, and Goldust hammerlock cradles him at 7:47. Dustin Rhodes wasn't a bad worker at this stage of his career, but he was a career babyface before jumping to the WWF, and hadn't quite mastered working heel. I'm not sure he ever really did, in fact, as his best work was always as a babyface, since he was great at building sympathy through excellent timing. 1/2* 

Survivor Series Slam Jam! Dok Hendrix, complete with painted face (luckily as a jack-o-lantern, and not a Confederate flag), announces that the Diesel/Bret Hart WWF Title match will be no DQ, no countout, and no time limit since their first two PPV matches ended without a pinfall or submission

Backstage, Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid appear to be having something of a lovers spat

Hakushi and Barry Horowitz settle a difference of opinion over Coke and Pepsi with Karate Fighters. Say what you will, but all this marketing definitely worked, because those are collecting dust somewhere in my parents' basement as we speak!

Marty Jannetty v Joe Dorgan: Dorgan as 'hot bod' printed on his tights, and a mullet that could go on for days. Marty gives him a cardio workout here, as Jerry Lawler is STILL making jokes about Bret Hart's family. I love how he never let that feud die. Marty finishes up with a flying fistdrop at 2:44. I miss when you'd see the pinfall, and all the kids would immediately leap out of their seats to try and get a good spot along the rail to try and slap hands with the wrestler. ¼*

Next week, Bret Hart and Hakushi team up against Jerry Lawler and Isaac Yankem, while Marty Jannetty faces Davey Boy Smith

And speaking of Bulldog, Vince brings him out for an in-ring interview, along with manager Jim Cornette, and legal consul Clarence Mason. They're pissed since President Gorilla Monsoon stipulated that the winner of the Diesel/Bulldog match at In Your House would wrestle Bret Hart at Survivor Series, and since Davey technically won, he should have the match. They're not wrong, but Bret isn't the champion, so what are they going for here? This would eventually lead to Davey facing Bret for the title at the December In Your House, though if this were a couple of years later, they'd simply do a Triple Threat match, and be done with it. They then move on to threatening Marty Jannetty ahead of the match for next week, but Marty runs in and cleans house. I have no idea what specific legal threats Mason was making at Jannetty that avoided him a beating, but given Marty's record, I'm not surprised it worked. This segment wasn't bad, and I like the Mason character, but it dragged on for a bit too long

The Smoking Gunns v Phil Apollo and John Rashner: The Gunns are the WWF Tag Team Champions here, but this is non-title. Rashner is Balls Mahoney before his ECW run. As they squash the two jobbers, 1-2-3 Kid pops up on the split screen to challenge the Gunns to another title shot. Dude, they're in the ring! They can't hear you! Just text them, or something. Sidewinder finishes Apollo at 2:51. DUD

Bret Hart cuts a pre-taped promo on Diesel. I miss these. So quick and effective

Barry Didinsky wants you to fork over $20 for toy championship belts. Don't get me wrong, those were must-haves for me as a young fan, but were also perhaps the laziest toys they ever sold. The WWF title one was based on the design they hadn't used in almost eight years! And the Intercontinental one was on a brown strap, when there was never a brown strap IC! Couldn't they at least do, like, yellow, blue, or white, which actually existed at some point? And don't even get me started on the tag belts on gray straps. Kids today have no idea how lucky they are with the quality of the toy belts out there for them

Paul Bearer is at a cemetery, shrieking promises that Undertaker will return to exact his revenge on Mabel. I'm sure the people visiting the cemetery to mourn their loved ones appreciated the update

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Razor Ramon v Owen Hart: Razor charges in and clotheslines Owen over the top before the bell, so I guess if Ramon had entered last weeks battle royal himself, he wouldn't even have to defend the title tonight. Feeling out process to start, as Vince notes that Shawn Michaels will be back in action starting at a live event later that week. What a huge asshole Monsoon is for stripping him of the title then, instead of just postponing the match with Dean Douglas for less than two weeks! Even in kayfabe, Shawn wouldn't be going over thirty days between defenses in that scenario. Owen tries a bodypress, but gets caught in a fallaway slam, and Razor works an armbar, which draws Yokozuna down to ringside. I'm assuming he was heading down from the beginning, he's just so slow that it took him until now to make it. We're like five minutes into this, and almost nothing has happened. Owen finally escapes the armbar, and manages to toss a charging champion over the top, then blasts him with a baseball slide. Hart dives off the apron with a fistdrop, and inside with a missile dropkick for two. Straddling ropechoke follows, and a spinheel kick connects for two. I love the inverted way Ramon always took that spot. Hart uses a neckbreaker to set up a well executed flying elbowdrop for two, but Ramon escapes a sleeper with a side suplex, and starts mounting a comeback. Owen topples him during the side superplex, but the champ rolls through for two, and it's Razor's Edge time. He gets Owen up, but Yoko waddles in to stop Ramon from dropping him, and that's a DQ at 15:00. Owen tried to get things moving, but Razor was phoning in another performance tonight, like he's been doing most of the fall. Afterwards, Hart and Yokozuna attack Razor, but 1-2-3 Kid runs in to make the save. Or to try to, anyway. Kid trying to move the massive Yokozuna doesn't go very well for him. That draws Ahmed Johnson down, and since this live crowd didn't get to see his introduction last week, they have no idea who this dude is. He gets over right away by bodyslamming Yokozuna as the show goes off the air. ¾*

BUExperience: A pretty uneventful episode, bordering on downright boring at points.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	10/30/1995
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.1	2.3
Total Wins	3	3
Win Streak		2
Better Show (as of 10/23)	1	5