SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
The following report originally published 30 years ago this week in the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter paper copy…
KELLER’S WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW REPORT
APRIL 17, 1995
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE PRO WRESTLING TORCH NEWSLETTER (ISSUE #331)
-The program opened with footage from Action Zone where Ted DiBiase announced that his revamped and reorganized “Million Dollar Corporation” had a new member – Sid…
-After Raw’s opening montage, Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler opened the program…
(1) Jean Pierre LaFitte beat Duke “The Dumpster” Droese. Lawler explained how the British used his family years ago and he’s out for revenge against Americans – or something like that. LaFitte, the former Quebecer Pierre, is much bigger than before his moniker change. Droese missed a top rope splash. LaFitte then gave Droese a side slam and came off the top rope with a backflip splash for the three count…
A clip aired of Bob Backlund “on Spring Break.” The camera kept trying to swing to women in bikinis but he kept redirecting the camera toward him. He blamed Spring Break for diverting the youth from the pursuit of knowledge and joy of understanding because of a “cascade of chemical reactions” taking place. Funny stuff…
-Vince McMahon in the after effects of recent “make it up as you go along” booking, narrated Sid walking to the ring to join the Million Dollar Corporation by saying that DiBiase was behind Sid all along, even when he was with Shawn Michaels…
(2) Doink beat Roy Raymond in a squash. Lawler said Doink’s outfit looked like his underwear. Vince said a poll recently revealed 24 percent of men slept nude, 31 percent slept in their underwear, and then asked Lawler what he wore. Lawler refused to answer. Picking up where that strange commentary left off, sound effects were added to Doink and Dink’s “whoopee cushion” finishing splash. Also during the match, McMahon talked about next week’s Raw main event with Diesel accepting a title defense against Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow next week…
ARTICLE CONTINUED BELOW…
Check out the latest episode of “Wrestling Night in America,” part of the PWTorch Dailycast line-up: CLICK HERE to stream (or search “pwtorch” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or any other iOS or Android app to subscribe free)
-Tod Pettengill hosted the first “In Your House” update and stressed the bargain price of $14.95 (“less than the price of a family of four going to the movies”) and plugged Diesel vs. Sid…
(3) Owen Hart & Yokozuna (w/Jim Cornette) beat 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly. Owen and Kid continued to work very well together. Holly sold most of the match before hot-tagging Kid. At that point, Kid executed a fantastic flurry on Owen and Yokozuna with hard kicks and a flip over the top rope to the floor onto Owen. Kid then climbed to the top rope and came off with a bodyblock onto Yokozuna, but Yokozuna turned it into a powerslam for a three count…
(4) Henry Godwinn beat Rick Myers.
-McMahon and Lawler interviewed Cornfed, the cartoon character from Duck Man which now follows Monday Night Raw as a way to promote the show for USA Network…
-Lawler predicted that Bam Bam Bigelow would win the WWF Title which would make him valuable to the Million Dollar Corporation, but would not exactly please Sid, who would lose a chance at the WWF Title on the May 14 card. McMahon announced that Bertha Faye would debut next week.
-Photos aired of Alundra Blayze with a nose cover being tended to by her mother as she recovered from nose surgery…
Strong Point: The two main event format keeps Raw more balanced than when there was only one marquee match at the start and the rest of the time was filled with squashes. The matches that Raw is “giving away” aren’t all pay-per-view caliber matches, but they’re competitive enough to retain interest more than squashes…
Weak Point: The footage of McMahon & Lawler looked like it was in front of a video wall in a studio rather than live. Usually it doesn’t look that transparently phony…
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.