Monday, June 19, 2023

Monday Night Raw 3-6-95 Review

Original Airdate: Monday, March 6th, 1995
Macon Coliseum
Macon, Georgia

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Shawn Michaels vs. British Bulldog

We get an actual wide shot since it's actually somewhat of an arena, although on one of the shots, you can see a lot of empty space. Bulldog starts off hot, hitting an inverted atomic drop and sending him over the top rope to the floor. Shawn is able to grab Bulldog's leg and trip him up before getting back in the ring, but misses with the splash in the corner. He eats a trio of clotheslines and he's back out to the floor. Sid helps him back up, but back in the ring it's still all Bulldog. Michaels finally gets a move in, working on Bulldog's arm as we go to commercial break. When we come back, Bulldog powers out and puts Michaels in a surfboard. Michaels gets knocked off the apron, but is caught by Sid. He still can't shift the momentum though and gets hit with a delayed vertical suplex. Bulldog falls out of the ring and sells his knee. Jim Cornette compares Sid's hands to a softball glove, which is kind of funny. Michaels puts on the sleeper hold and we have a second commercial break. When we come back, they are running off the ropes and both men collide. Bulldog slaps on the sleeper, but Michaels is able to back him into the corner. Michaels misses in the corner and that gives Bulldog an opening. He crotches him on the top rope and gives him a ride. Bulldog misses at Michaels and falls through the ropes. Michaels distracts the ref and Sid hits Bulldog with a running knee and into the post. Michaels hits the superkick and that's all. The ending was a little flat, as there could have been more effective ways that Sid could have gotten involved. The match took up nearly half the show and had a nice pace to it. This gives Michaels a credible win ahead of his title match at WrestleMania and also Bulldog stayed strong. 

Match Rating: ***

We go to Todd Pettengill for a WrestleMania XI Report, but we have to wait because we have a commercial break. Todd shows us clips from the WrestleMania press conference at the Harley Davison Cafe. They show clips of the interviews before running through all of the celebrities, including Fishbone performing the national anthem. Bob Backlund then lets us know he is ready for his match. 

Don't forget to get your tickets for the Fan Festival.

Bob Backlund vs. Buck Quartermaine

While we get a ton of just actual garbage stalling here, they announce that Backlund will face Bret Hart in a submission match. They also talk about King Kong Bundy facing Undertaker. They're able to talk about this because nothing is happening in the ring. By the time I have completely lost interest in this one, Backlund slaps on the Crossface Chickenwing for the win.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Next week, it will be Jerry Lawler vs. Bret Hart on Raw.

Steven Dunn vs. Duke Droese

It's time for the Dumpster, baby. We also have Jerry Lawler on the phone with us. Vince hangs up on Lawler after he calls Helen Hart an old bag. Dunn actually controls the early part of the match until he runs into the boot. Duke hits the Trash Compactor and gets the 1-2-3. This was filler so they could talk to Lawler.

Match Rating: 1/2*

After the match, Dunn goes after the trash can, so Duke attacks him. The trash is all over the floor and Duke finds a $100 bill. Being the fan favorite that he is, he puts it in his pocket and then cleans up the rest. 

We get a music video package of the WrestleMania press conference mixed in with some from Raw before we go.

Any time you get a match that takes up half the show and it's actually good, it's pretty much a thumbs up during this era. As usual, the rest of the show wasn't very good, with the Backlund segment just being a waste. Next week should be interesting with Lawler/Bret and will hopefully set up the Backlund match a little better than they have.

Overall Rating: 58%

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