Monday, January 23rd, 1995
Manatee Civic Center
Palmetto, Florida
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Vince kicks off the show by apologizing to Lawrence Taylor and his family for Bam Bam Bigelow's actions last night. He says that Bam Bam has been suspended without pay.
After the Raw intro, Shawn Michaels is introduced. He joins Vince at ringside and we're underway.
WWF Tag Team Championship Match
Smoking Gunns vs. 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly
I do like both of these teams, so hopefully they get some time here. Bart catches Kid for a powerslam and gets a nearfall. Kid comes back with a dropkick and he gets a 2 count. It's once again announced that Bart was the Gunn who was hurt in a rodeo accident. Billy is tagged in and hits a bulldog on Holly. Holly and Kidd are able to hit a double superplex on Billy, but it's not enough as we get our first commercial break. Kid hits a spin kick on Billy and shoves Bart. He tags in Holly and they hit a double dropkick. Both Kid and Billy are down, but Kid knocks Bart off the apron to make sure he doesn't make the tag. Bart's been fired up a couple of times now after some heelish tactics by Kid. Bart finally gets tagged in and goes after both opponents. The Gunns hit the spinning leg drop/side suplex and then a double side Russian leg sweep into a second commercial break. Holly cheats by hitting Billy and that allows Kid to attack Bart. Holly comes in and regains control for his team. He heads up top, but runs into a boot on the way down from Billy. His future partner, Bart, is tagged in and they hit their finisher to become new champions. After a couple months of having no champions, we have had two in the last 24 hours. The match itself was pretty good, but not nearly as compelling as the match at Royal Rumble.
Match Rating: ***
After a commercial, Vince interviews the ex-champions and they cut a terrible promo. Holly is so bad, that Kid just interrupts him and gets to the point that they want a rematch from the Gunns.
We go to Todd Pettengill with a yellow notepad in hand. He goes over all of the shenanigans from the WWF Championship match the night prior. Next up, Todd tries to tell us that the Undertaker/IRS match lived up to the billing. Right. Next, he recaps the Intercontinental Championship match. These are all recaps with no video or pictures.
IRS vs. Buck Quartermaine
We're instantly joined by Roddy Piper on the phone. Roddy is so proud of the New Generation and thought last night was one of the best Royal Rumbles he's ever seen. Not that this is Piper at his best, but it's always better than focusing on an IRS match. IRS hits a clothesline and that's all. Great.
Match Rating: 1/4*
We get another Man Mountain Rock promo. He actually was in the dark match opener before this episode.
It's time for the King's Court and the guest is Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett gloats about his victory over Razor Ramon with Vince making sure that we know it was because of the Roadie. Jarrett stumbles over his words a few times here, but then says that he wants a shot at Diesel. Vince thinks Michaels has something to do with that.
They talk about WrestleMania tickets going on sale and they play the great WrestleMania song, which just feels so weird with this era.
British Bulldog vs. Black Phantom
Bulldog has some words for Michaels and that allows Phantom to get in some offense. Bulldog gets him up for the delayed vertical suplex while Vince argues with Michaels about Bulldog deserving to win. This is the obnoxious, phony Vince that was just so annoying. His argument really doesn't make any sense. Phantom gets in some more offense, but again Bulldog comes right back and hits the running powerslam for the victory.
Match Rating: 1/4*
They cut to Bam Bam in a suit, looking impatient. Vince tries to talk to him but they are having technical difficulties. We come back from commercial and Bam Bam continues to act as if he can't hear Vince. Next week, we have King Kong Bundy vs. Mabel in a two man Royal Rumble and then a rematch of the tag title match. Vince talks about the former champs having a week to prepare. More likely it's about 25 minutes.
This wasn't the strong episode that I was hoping for, but it was definitely better than the average Raw from the era. The tag match was good and it felt like there was a little bit more life in the show. I am curious to see the build for WrestleMania, as I still wasn't watching at this time in 1995.
Overall Rating: 51%
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