WWF Monday Night RAW – July 24th, 1995

July 24, 1995

From the Louisville Gardens in Louisville, KY

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler

The show starts with a clip of Shawn Michaels beating Jeff Jarrett last night at In Your House 2 for the Intercontinental Championship.

Shawn now comes down to the ring as the crowd goes nuts as he apparently has a match tonight.

Shawn Michaels vs. Jimmy Del Ray w/ Tom Prichard & Jim Cornette

Del Ray cheap shots Shawn in the corner as Vince suggests that Sid might be the next person coming for the Intercontinental Title. Shawn works the arm then Del Ray heads up the top rope and tries for a Mexican arm drag to Shawn maintains control and clotheslines Del Ray over the top. Shawn hits a baseball slide then misses a second attempt. Prichard holds up Shawn for Del Ray as Shawn escapes and Del Ray just stops short of hitting his partner. Shawn uses a double noggin knocker then takes the match back inside. Del Ray uses a low blow then mocks Shawn’s pose and starts hammering away. Prichard cheap shots Shawn as Del Ray distracted the referee. Shawn manages a sunset flip for two but Del Ray comes back with a clothesline, followed by some gyration. Del Ray hits the gyrating reverse neckbreaker for a two count as Lawler makes movie references to describe Shawn being the Intercontinental Champion. Del heads up top after a scoop slam but misses a splash. Shawn then kips up and fires away as Vince talks about no one being able to stop him. Shawn heads up top and drops an elbow for a nearfall. Shawn then signals for the super kick as Prichard hops up on the apron. Shawn hits Prichard with a super kick but gets attacked from behind by Del Ray. Shawn then is able to float over and nails Del Ray with a super kick for the win (5:21) **1/4. After the match, Shawn dances and takes off the underwear that was over his tights. He then does not stop there and teases pulling down his pants but stops.

Thoughts: Fun TV match as Shawn’s charisma was on full display here. He is easily the coolest act in the company and comes off like a legit star. Although, I have no idea what the strip tease after his match was about. And about Del Ray, this was his final WWF appearance as the Heavenly Bodies would get released and go back to Smoky Mountain Wrestling. However, Prichard would come back at the end of the year.

A clip of Jeff Jarrett singing last night on the PPV. However, Vince tells us there is speculation Jarrett was lip-synching and it was really The Roadie who sang the song “With My Baby Tonight.” After this we see the clip of Shawn beating Jarrett and how there was a confrontation being Jarrett and Roadie backstage after the match and that was when we learned of the lip-syncing. Vince then says there is a rumor Jarrett will never sing again.

We get a video package on the feud between Bret Hart and Hakushi, leading to their match tonight.

Smoking Gunns vs. John Faulkner & Rich Stockhauser

Vince hypes the Superstar Line and how the WWF will be partnering with AOL starting at SummerSlam. Billy and Faulkner start things off. Faulkner roughs up Billy for a bit then tags out for some double-team action. Billy fights back and tags out as Bart beats on Stockhauser. Lawler does not want Vince stirring up anything about Jarrett & Roadie as the Gunns use the Sidewinder for the win (2:02).

Thoughts: On commentary there were pushing a Gunns vs. Jacob & Eli Blu feud. The crowd was absolutely dead and only reacted mildly when the Gunns played up to them to break the silence. I don’t think this proposed tag feud is anything people want to see and after a couple of years as a team the Gunns haven’t evolved past a middle-of-the-road team in the division. Also, we get the news of WWE/AOL partnering up for the first time as we can see how that goes over the year.

Vince is now with Barry Didinsky, sporting the “Ain’t I Great” t-shirt. Barry the salesman says we can get the piece of shit shirt, that says “Not” on the back, with the cassette for just $17.00 plus $3.95 shipping and handling. Lawler then makes fun of Didinsky to his face and walks off.

We get the graphic for “Goldust.” Vince tells us he is on his way to the WWF.

A replay of the Fatu vignette where they shoot in front of the Cow Palace.

Waylon Mercy vs. Gary Scott

Mercy cheap shots Scott after offering a handshake. Mercy beats Scott down as Vince puts over his undefeated record. Mercy continues to rough up Scott then tosses him outside. The camera zooms in on Mercy’s tattoos as Scott rolls back inside for more punishment. Vince says that Mercy could be on his way to SummerSlam next month as Mercy heads out and slams Scott on the floor. Mercy rolls Scott back inside then puts him away with the sleeper (2:01). Mercy then kicks Scott in the back after the match.

Thoughts: Another squash win to establish Mercy as a threat. The fact he can barely move is something you can hide during short TV squash matches but lets see how it works out when he goes up against a name opponent.

WWF In Your House Report with Todd Pettengill. We get still photos of matches as we learn that the Allied Powers want a rematch over how they lost last night. And that Sid blames Shawn for losing the lumberjack match and now wants the Intercontinental Title belt. Pettengill also referred to that lumberjack as “absolutely awesome.” And, we learn that Mabel believes he is the #1 contender to the World Title as he laid out Diesel in the match. We then cut to King Mabel & Sir Mo, also wearing a crowd. Mabel cuts a promo saying King is the highest honor in the WWF and by the goodness in his “royal” heart he is granting Diesel a title match. Mabel then vows to drop Diesel like a bad habit at SummerSlam….as long as Diesel accepts the challenge. Mo then says “long live the king” as the two laugh to end the segment. This promo by Mabel was the shits but we are now clearly starting a feud between Mabel and Diesel for the World Title in a match at SummerSlam. Mabel & Mo came off like villains in an early 90’s PG rated kids movie. They gave off a strong, cartoon vibe to the point I don’t know how this was supposed to get any heat.

Hakushi with Shinja make their way to the ring. Vince really hyping up this match. Hakushi once again takes out the Bret mannequin head from Shinja’s burlap sack.

Hype video for next week’s Tag Team Title match with Razor Ramon & Savio Vega going against Owen Hart & Yokozuna.

Hakushi w/ Shinja vs. Bret “The Hitman” Hart

Bret heads inside after giving a fan his glasses but Shinja grabs his leg. Bret then goes after Shinja but that allows Hakushi to attack from behind. Hakushi beats on Bret then takes the match back into the ring. Bret gets his knees up on a Vader Bomb attempt then drops Hakushi with a clothesline. Lawler teases leaving the booth and going ringside as Bret continues to hammer away. Lawler talks about how much he hates Bret, including Isaac Yankem. Bret stays in control as this crowd is dead. Hakushi reverses an Irish whip and Bret slides into the post. Bret is hanging off of the apron as we go to break then return as Hakushi hits a handspring back elbow smash. Hakushi chokes out Bret with his foot as Lawler cracks jokes about 1-2-3 Kid being an actual child. Odd they would bring him up here. Hakushi taunts the crowd, which does boo as apparently you have to really play up to them to get a reaction. Bret blocks a chop and hits a side Russian leg sweep as both men are down. Hakushi drops Bret with a spin kick then flips out of a side slam attempt and hits a backbreaker for two. Hakushi continues to target the back. Hakushi hits a top rope splash on Bret’s back for a nearfall then uses a nerve hold. Bret escapes and tries a reverse rollup but Hakushi runs Bret through the ropes. Hakushi climbs up top before the break as the ref held him back then we return to see Hakushi uses a Flying Space Tiger Drop to wow the crowd. Bret then fights back and uses a springboard splash to take out both Hakushi & Shinja. We go back into the ring where Bret hits a backbreaker then a middle rope elbow drop for two. Shinja gets up on the apron and Bret takes him down. Bret hits Hakushi with a bulldog for two. Small package gets two. Bret misses a swing and Hakushi hits a suplex then heads up top where he misses a flying headbutt. Bret gets up and places Hakushi on top for a superplex and after that applies the Sharpshooter for the win (9:24 shown) ***1/4. After the match, Shinja tries an attack but Bret piledrives him then celebrates as Vince believes this could be the last of Shinja. However, as Bret celebrates, we see Jean Pierre Lafitte walk out and take the burlap sack and walk back through the curtain. Bret then leaves the ring and hugs the fans as Vince tells us up next is the first appearance of Dean Douglas.

Thoughts: Not as good as their PPV match and the crowd was not that into it either but it picked up near the end. The win signaled the end of this feud as reported a few weeks earlier in the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter,” Hakushi would begin to slide down the card. And he did. This would end up being Shinja’s last appearance for the company as the company released many talents at this time. Shinja never added much to Hakushi’s act anyway. However, we saw Jean Pierre Lafitte walk off with belongings and that plays off the commentary last week where we heard announcers talk about belongings missing in the locker room with Lafitte the prime suspect. And commentary hinted that Dr. Isaac Yankem was coming for Bret so I guess that is the new feud for the Hitman.

The Report Card with Dean Douglas. The Dean asks for attention then scraps his fingernails across a chalkboard. We get the definitions of the word “knowledge” as Douglas then says he will grade all of the WWF Superstars since he is the only one with the knowledge to do an accurate job. Douglas says they will hope for an “A” but will likely receive an “F.” Douglas then removes his glasses to dismiss the class. Well, I thought this was lousy. Shane had this odd, wooden delivery and the gimmick was really hokey and a far cry from what he had been doing in ECW. However, according to Douglas in an interview with Hannibal TV, he was told not to have any voice inflection while doing this character, that they came up with in a meeting. And to hear that wonderful story, check out the link below to take a listen as it is worth it. At the time, the newsletter were reporting that Douglas was signing here and some speculation that he would be either the new President or even Lawler’s dentist.

Next week in action in addition to the Tag Team Title match are King Mabel, Skip, and Bam Bam Bigelow.

We go split screen with Shawn, who is standing backstage with his Intercontinental Title belt. Lawler tells Shawn he is a marked man who really isn’t that good. Lawler then says he is coming at Shawn and we hear Shawn mock Lawler and asks him to come take his title. So the story here is that everyone is coming for Shawn, but Sid seems to be the first one.

Final Thoughts: Good show this week with a worthy TV main event and Shawn did a fine job in the opener. They did set up a lot of newer feuds heading into the PPV but unfortunately, not all of them seemed to great on paper. I don’t think its a shock they are giving Mabel a title shot or anything but I don’t think this feud, after the Sid feud Diesel just had, is what people want to see.

The other news is Jeff Jarrett & The Roadie. At this time here was presented in the newsletters and I’ll keep updating the Newsletters information to this timeline because its such a fascinating story:

Wrestling Observer Newsletter: “The biggest story revolving around the WWF In Your House II show was just minutes after being involved in the two best matches on the show, Jeff Jarrett and The Roadie (Brian James) quit the promotion. Details as to why are sketchy as press time although it is known they were unhappy about the angle which had been a major source of discussion over the past few weeks. Originally during the In Your House PPV show, when Jarrett was lip synching a concert of the song, there was to be a screw-up revealing Roadie as the singer, and between that and the screw-up in the IC title match, it would start the feud with them meeting at SummerSlam. There was a lot of talk, largely based on how well the video was received, that doing a turn this early was premature. As it was, they did the turn or at least were booked to do it later in the show during the match where Jarrett lost the IC title to Shawn Michaels with an attempt at interference by Roadie backfiring and leading to the finish. Jarrett and Roadie were supposed to do a break-up after the match, but didn’t do it. Instead they went backstage and had Dok Hendricks (Michael Seitz) in his lone appearance talk about the break-up happening backstage and a fight without it actually taking place. Jarrett and Roadie both simply walked out of the building that night in the middle of the show. There are plenty of rumors as to why the two would leave together since Jarrett, mainly from the video, was actually starting to show some charisma after a lengthy megapush had for the most part been unsuccessful. There are also rumors with Jarrett’s father Jerry working as a consultant to WCW that somehow there’s a connection there, and WCW is said to be interested in Jarrett but there is a not so small matter of Jarrett’s WWF contract to overcome. Roadie, who was being given his first career break after being a jobber with WCW and SMW as Brian Armstrong, from the looks of things seemed to be walking away just as his career was getting ready to take off. At the live Raw show 7/24 in Louisville, they didn’t give a strong impression that both were gone but Vince McMahon did give away that Jarrett was lip synching the previous night and left the impression Roadie was singing, and said that Jarrett would never sing again on a WWF show.”

Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter: “Capping off one of the more news-filled weeks in the WWF in years, Jeff Jarrett and Roadie walked out on the WWF immediately following their match on Sunday night at “In Your House 2”. They grabbed their bags and walked out of the arena before filming the planned angle of their locker room break-up. Locker room sources cite that there were a variety of reasons for their departure. Roadie was drug tested before the card and was obviously upset. He was heard complaining about the WWF wanting to “run his life for him.” Jarrett and Roadie were also upset, as are many wrestlers lately, with the payoffs they have been receiving. While there were supposedly several other reasons, another contributing factor to the pair’s current frustration with the WWF is that they were breaking the pair up so soon. There was a small push by several big name WWF wrestlers during recent weeks for WWF bookers to delay the turn, citing that turning Roadie at this point was rushing the angle and that Roadie simply isn’t ready to be a top babyface yet. As of press time late Sunday night there is no indication whether Jarrett and Roadie quitting is a one-night powerplay or a permanent departure. If it is a permanent departure, the WWF is left with an unresolved angle that has been the major focus of the promotion. If Jarrett does not return, it would seem his next stop would be WCW where his father is a consultant. Roadie, meanwhile, can join his brothers in a promotion that doesn’t “try to run his life.” If they do return, which is the most likely scenario, WWF management may have to make concessions which could lead to a change in the pacing of the angles. In what may simply be a coincidence, Jarrett had agreed to wrestle a few independent dates. Apparently the payoffs for the dates were so generous, he was given permission to work them.”