WWF Monday Night RAW (January 22, 1996)

Original Airdate: January 22, 1996

From Stockton, California; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

Sunny opens the hour, shooting pool in her lingerie, and warning us that this program contains graphic content. Depends on whether or not Shawn Michaels is planning to get his Magic Mike on, I suppose

Vader v Savio Vega: Vader is over big with the crowd, and he tees off on Savio in the corner, getting cheered all the while. Man, they really blew it with Vader in 1996. They could have had something major on their hands, and by this time the following year, he was glorified JTTS. Vega slugs back, knocking Vader over the top, but Vader sweeps Vega out after him, and drops his ass across the guardrail. Vader unloads in the corner, and avalanches Savio to set up the Vaderbomb at 3:00. Total squash here, making Vader look like a killer. Despite picking up the win, Vader isn't done with Vega, and decides to give him a second Vaderbomb! The referee objects, so Vader beats him up, and even Jim Cornette is objecting now. Another referee runs out to try and calm things down, but Vader absolutely spikes the poor guy with a powerbomb! That draws President Gorilla Monsoon out, and he gets right in Vader's face as he lays down the law. He decides to suspend Vader then and there, but that proves a stupid decision to make on the fly, as now Vader has no reason not to get in his face right back. Despite Cornette's pleas, Vader thumbs Gorilla, but Monsoon won't be pushed around - chopping back at the big monster. That gets him avalanched in the corner, and the crowd is shocked! Vader isn't done though, pulling Monsoon over to the corner, and hitting him with the Vaderbomb! That draws Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon out to chase the mastodon off, with Vince indignantly shouting at Vader as he clears out of the arena. Great segment here, getting Vader over as a force to be reckoned with right away. You have to remember that at this point in history, authority figures didn't get beat up by guys like this. And Monsoon had such a long history with the fan base, almost like a grandfatherly presence for a lot of fans around my age, who grew up watching him do commentary. So not only was Vader pushing the envelope by attacking an authority figure, but he was attacking a guy who was in many ways the face and voice of the WWF. It was quite the splash for a debuting guy. In reality, they needed to write both Vader and Monsoon out for a while so each could have surgeries, and this was the best way imaginable to do so. The match itself was nothing, but this wasn't about that anyway. DUD

Vince and Lawler interview Jim Cornette and Vader (now backstage, via split screen), with Vince noting that Cornette is "allegedly" standing by. I'm pretty sure if we can see and hear the guy, there’s nothing to allege. Anyway, not much of an interview, as Vader trashes the dressing room in frustration

Razor Ramon v Hunter Hearst Helmsley: Hunter has Playboy Playmate Shae Marks on his arm as a valet tonight. 1-2-3 Kid and Ted DiBiase show up on split screen as the bell sounds, taunting Ramon over his title loss to Goldust the night before. Razor dominates Hunter to start, but misses a charge, and takes a bump over the top. Helmsley blasts him with a baseball slide out there, and he drops the Bad Guy crotch-first across the top rope on the way back in, as Lawler hits on Marks at ringside. Helmsley with a series of corner whips, and a high knee leads to a clothesline for two. HHH unloads in the corner, and with Razor down, Kid shows up at ringside with a baby bottle in his hands. He taunts Ramon with it, which gets Kid chases around ringside, and Razor is counted out in the process at 8:01. Pretty dull match, actually. I'm surprised, since generally the Kliq guys turned it up against one another. ½*

And now, the latest edition of Billionaire Ted's Wrasslin' War Room! This week, Ted is sick of stealing all his characters from the WWF, and wants his team to come up with an original idea for once. You mean like, say, Vader?

Vince brings Shawn Michaels out for an in-ring interview to talk about his return (and win) at last nights Royal Rumble. He's looking a lot healthier than he did for most of 1995. Jim Cornette interrupts, seeing as his client Owen Hart is the guy who put Michaels out of commission in November. Jim challenges Shawn to put his WrestleMania title shot on the line against Owen, which officially kicks off the long standing tradition of the Rumble winner putting it on the line at the February pay per view. I get that it's a good storytelling device, but I've always felt that the Rumble shot should be non-transferable. Luckily, the cameras cut away before Shawn's stripping gets beyond his vest tonight

Next week, Diesel faces Davey Boy Smith, while Shawn Michaels battles Yokozuna

Bret Hart v Goldust: Bret is the WWF Champion, and Goldust is the Intercontinental champion, but neither belt is on the line. Goldust plays his usual mind games to start, as they announce that Hart will defend against Diesel at In Your House VI. Feeling out process to start, with Hart dominating, until Goldust starts pounding him in the corner. That allows Goldust to ground the Hitman in a hammerlock, but Bret manages to dump him to the outside to escape. Goldust fights him off on the way back in, and hits a flying punch to put Bret back down for an armbar. Hart slugs free, so Goldust tries sweeping him down for a sharpshooter, but Bret shoves him out of the ring to block. Goldust decides to take a walk, but here comes Razor Ramon to beat him back down into the ring! Hart is ready with a legdrop, and a 2^nd rope flying clothesline connects. Russian legsweep sets up the Sharpshooter, and Goldust very quickly submits at 10:58 - marking his first televised loss. Well, Bret needed a win after the weak finish at the Rumble the night before, and it didn't hurt Goldust to job here. Nothing much to this one, as Bret was apparently pretty banged up, and working hurt. He's even sporting a black eye, looking more like Robert De Niro on the Raging Bull poster than himself. Afterwards, Vince comes into the ring for some quick words with Bret regarding the Diesel defense, and they're clearly running out of airtime, because Hart is talking like he's on speedballs here. DUD

BUExperience: Nothing in the way of great wrestling matches, but it was a lively hour, buoyed by the excellent Vader angle at the top of the broadcast.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	1/22/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.9	2.7
Total Wins	9	8
Win Streak	1
Better Show (as of 1/15)	3	13