WWF Monday Night RAW (December 18, 1995)

Original Airdate: December 18, 1995

From Newark, Delaware; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

Fatu v Jeff Jarrett: This is Jarrett's first WWF match since July's In Your House, following his surprise return the night before. And he's got the quality gear on tonight. Jeff tries taunting and stalling to start, but that gets him pounded down, and Fatu delivers a headbutt drop to the groin. Jarrett tries putting the boots to him, but a jumping DDT gets no-sold, and Fatu unloads with rights. Corner charge misses, however, and Jeff is able to capitalize with a swinging neckbreaker to take control. Jarrett with a straddling ropechoke, and a knee leads to a pair of 2^nd rope flying axehandles. Jarrett with a pair of corner whips, and a snapmare leads to another 2^nd rope flying axehandle, but Fatu swats him out of the sky this time. Fatu hits a powerslam and a backdrop as he makes a comeback, and a backbreaker is worth two. Cutter follows, but Fatu hurts his shoulder in the process, and Jarrett capitalizes by tossing him into the post to aggravate it. Figure Four looks to finish, but Ahmed Johnson runs in for the DQ at 8:38 before he can apply it. He looks to beat Double J down, but Jarrett manages to get away with relatively little damage done. Shitty match. ¼*

Dok Hendrix is in the crowd with WWF President Gorilla Monsoon to discuss the Royal Rumble, with Monsoon announcing Bret Hart/Undertaker for the WWF Title, and Jeff Jarrett/Ahmed Johnson. The only thing notable about this segment is that they filmed it in the stands, which isn't something they did too often

Goldust lets us know he likes bad boys. And who's more of a bad boy than the Bad Guy himself, Razor Ramon? Well, it's 1995, so maybe Will Smith or Martin Lawrence? But then, it's 1995, and most celebrities aren't getting within ten miles of pro-wrestling, so Goldust has to settle for Razor

Last night at In Your House, Diesel and Undertaker almost kissed

Dok Hendrix wants you to buy WrestleMania The Arcade Game. Wait, Playstation was already around in 1995?! I always associate it more with the later part of the decade. He's also hocking a VHS tape with strategy tips on how to beat the game for an additional $15. Fifteen dollars?!?! How did we ever live without YouTube?

Bob Holly v Buddy Landel: Buddy dominates Holly, and unloads with chops in the corner, ahead of a cross corner whip. He grounds Holly in an armbar, so Bob starts slugging to a vertical base, but Buddy takes him back down with a drop-toehold. This match is dragging badly. Landel with a backdrop for two, and he works a reverse chinlock. Holly fights free and hits a DDT, and starts no-selling like he suddenly thinks he's Hulk Hogan. Landel plays Flair to his comeback routine, but Bob misses a dropkick, and Buddy drops an elbow for the pin at a painfully dull 6:53. Landel was actually supposed to get something of a push as a reward for filling in and getting squashed by Ahmed Johnson at In Your House, but ended up only working two tapings before getting injured while slipping on some ice, and getting put on the shelf for a year. I doubt it would have lasted long anyway, if this performance was any indication. –¼*

The Brother Love Show, with guest Ted DiBiase. Brother Love again? Seriously? I didn't realize they actually pushed forward with him beyond the first taping cycle. I guess I forgot because, like everyone else, I probably switched the channel to Nitro while he was on

RAW Bowl, New Years night, bitches!

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Razor Ramon v Yokozuna: Goldust shows up during the entrances to observe from the aisle. Razor gets distracted by that, allowing Yokozuna to jump him before he even gets the title belt off, but Ramon fights him off. Yoko regroups on the outside, but ends up in a headlock as he climbs back in, so he uses a bodyslam to escape. Elbowdrop misses, however, giving Ramon an opening to work on the arm/shoulder. Razor with a series of clotheslines, but a sunset flip fails to get Yokozuna down, so he goes back to an armbar. Why would you even try that? Even the best case scenario is terrible. Like, say you actually get Yoko over, then what? He's way too big to actually be cradled from that position, and now you've got an off balance five hundred pound guy on top of you. Yokozuna takes control with a nervehold, but Razor manages to slug free, and it's back to the arm. Yokozuna counters back to the nervehold, but Razor slugs free again, as this match goes off the rails. Yoko pounds him in the corner, so Razor uses a jumping clothesline to put him down, and a 2^nd rope flying bulldog looks to finish, but suddenly the lights start flickering, and Undertaker walks out with a casket. Yoko sees that, and takes off running, getting counted out at 11:25. Boring match, terrible finish. Dok Hendrix then talks to Razor about the content of the letter Goldust sent him at In Your House, but Razor doesn't want to elaborate since "it's a family show." He tells Goldust that he's got no problem with him "doing what he does," but that Razor only likes women, so he shouldn't try doing it with him. That's actually a lot more evolved than you'd expect in 1995 in general, let alone in pro-wrestling. ¼*

Shawn Michaels' career may be over, so here's a sentimental music video! I dug the shit out of that one back in the day

BUExperience: I haven’t seen the opposing Nitro yet, but is it any wonder this one got absolutely destroyed in the ratings?

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	12/18/95
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.3	2.7
Total Wins	6	7
Win Streak		2
Better Show (as of 12/11)	3	10