WWF Monday Night RAW (February 5, 1996)

Original Airdate: February 5, 1996 (taped January 22)

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

Diesel and Shawn Michaels v Yokozuna and Davey Boy Smith: Shawn actually bothered going to the trouble of putting on different gear for his second match of the taping, which is why this dude was getting a main event push. Just like my dad always taught me, you want to make the big money, you change your underwear. Shawn and Bulldog start, and they mess around with each other. Shawn takes a bump that would make even Mr. Perfect blush, crashing all the way to the outside following a shoulderblock. Back in, Bulldog tries a press-slam to win a reversal sequence, but Shawn goes to the eyes, and clotheslines him over the top. That brings Yokozuna in, but Diesel throws Michaels into the big man, and Yoko ends up on the outside as well! The dust settles on Diesel and Yokozuna, as the announcers talk shit about Ted Turner. Diesel slugs away, but Yoko drops him like a Samoan, only to miss an elbowdrop follow-up. That allows the tag back to Shawn, and Michaels picks up right where he left off last week, but a cheap shot from Bulldog leaves HBK on the outside. Smith whips him into the steps out there before forcing Michaels back inside, where Camp Cornette cut the ring in half. Yoko misses a splash to allow the hot tag to Diesel, and Roseanne Barr the door! Diesel kills both heels with big boots, and then passes to Shawn to come off of his shoulders with a flying splash, but Bulldog breaks the count - only to hit Yoko by accident! That allows Michaels to plant the Superkick on the big man, and Yoko is knocked to the outside for the countout at 12:22. Well, you didn't expect him to job to Shawn two weeks in a row, did you? The characters involved made this fun, even if the wrestling was nothing special. Afterwards, Cornette chews Yokozuna out for the loss, though I remember him being pretty satisfied when the same thing happened back at SummerSlam '93. He won't get off of Yoko's case, until the big man finally has enough, and cleans house on Cornette, Bulldog, and Owen Hart to turn face. I remember having a really hard time accepting Yoko as a babyface at the time, though the angle wasn't poorly done. * ½

Mankind teaser

1-2-3 Kid v Hakushi: Listening to Vince hyping up Silk Stalkings on commentary is something I forgot I love. Much like Tatanka before him, the only change Kid has made to his character since turning heel is that he now walks to the ring instead of running. Feeling out process to start, dominated by Hakushi. Superkick sends Kid to the outside, where Ted DiBiase is standing by to help him regroup. Back in, Hakushi cracks him with chops, so Kid tries a leg-feed kick, but Hakushi legsweeps him to block. Hakushi with a spinkick to the gut, but Kid sidesteps a charge, and Hakushi goes flying over the top. Kid is on him with a somersault plancha, and DiBiase of course gets some licks in as well. Inside, Kid unloads with lightning kicks in the corner, and a corner dropkick puts Hakushi down. Kid with a leg-feed kick, followed by a vertical suplex for two, but a flying bodypress is blocked when Hakushi throws a dropkick. He really stuck that one in there, too. Hakushi mounts a comeback, but a leg-feed kick sends Kid to the outside, so Hakushi dives with a springboard bodypress! Hakushi with a flying shoulderblock for two on the way back in, but he runs into a spinheel kick - only for Kid to have the resulting cradle reversed for two! Hakushi with a rana for two, but a trip back to the top ends badly when Kid crotches him, then butterfly superplexes him down for the pin at 10:16! What, no Razor Ramon run in? Much better than their SummerSlam match, and better than the one they had on RAW the night after Survivor Series '95 as well. ** ¾

Earlier today, Clarence Mason is prepared to orally argue if Vader is not immediately reinstated. Depends what your definition of 'immediately' is, I suppose. Like, it's been a week since he first made that same threat to file a lawsuit

Gorilla Monsoon joins us via satellite for an interview, and apparently he's convalescing in an obvious television studio. Boy, if you thought they have a problem with infections in hospitals, I don't even want to imagine what it would be like with a bunch of sweaty grips hanging around. This gives Gorilla the opportunity to reel off a bunch of medical sounding words to describe parts of his body, which is always entertaining

The Slammy Awards are coming!

WWF Title Match: Bret Hart v Undertaker: I'm guessing they wanted a second try, after shitting the ring at the Rumble. Vince and Lawler continue taking shots at Ted Turner on commentary, with Lawler trying to blame him for the fact that RAW won't be on next week. Bret sticks and moves in the early going, but Undertaker gets control in the corner, as the announcers note that Diesel will get a shot at the title at In Your House no matter who wins here, and tease the possibility of this new match type to settle these scores, one that they credit Roddy Piper with inventing called the ‘Triple Threat’ match. Yeah, like that'll ever catch on. And speaking of Diesel, he strolls down to ringside as Undertaker tries the ropewalk forearm, the distraction allowing Bret to block. Diesel settles in at the commentary desk as Hart goes to work on the leg, but Undertaker fights him off long enough to deliver a side suplex, and they spill to the outside. Undertaker rams him into the guardrail out there, and he hits the ropewalk forearm on the way back inside. Undertaker with a jumping clothesline, but the referee gets bumped as he goes for the Tombstone, and Hart is able to slip free. He tries a schoolboy, but there's no referee to count. Bret fires off shots at the leg to try and keep control until the official can recover, but as he slides to the outside to bash 'Taker's leg into the post, Diesel attacks! He sends Bret into the post, so Undertaker hops out to intervene, but Diesel hits him with a chair, and delivers a pair of Jackknifes back in the ring! He leaves Undertaker for dead, but Bret goes after him as Diesel tries to flee the scene, and they brawl - the referee eventually recovering, and declaring the whole thing a no-contest at around 14:00. Another shitty match between these two, but the angle with Diesel was entertaining. ¼*

We close with another Billionaire Ted skit, as Ted continues deflecting questions about TBS' financial practices at a press conference, as these skits get further and further away from poking fun at WCW, and more about making increasingly inflammatory and personal attacks on Turner himself. And then, for the coup de grace, they show a draft for a newspaper ad that was rejected by both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, in which they try and piss on the TBS/Time Warner merger by accusing Turner of fraudulent financial reporting to his stockholders. This shit is really entertaining now, in hindsight, but man did it come off like sour grapes at the time

BUExperience: A pretty stacked lineup this week, with all the biggest stars in action, and a good match with Kid/Hakushi, but it lacked the raw energy that Nitro generally had going for it.

Monday Night Wars Rating Chart

	2/5/96
Show	RAW	Nitro
Rating	2.7	2.9
Total Wins	9	10
Win Streak		2
Better Show (as of 1/29)	4	13