WWF Monday Night RAW: January 16, 1995

The Summit – Houston, TX

Announcers: Vince McMahon & Shawn Michaels

Before the opening credits, we get a video package with Vince’s voice dubbed over to promote William Shatner being in the corner of “The Hitman” Bret Hart for tonight’s main event against “Double J” Jeff Jarrett.

RAW emanates again from The Summit in Houston, TX with no mention of that since of course the taping had occurred one week earlier. Did the WWF actually think people were stupid when it came to the location of their weekly shows? A standard television taping at one arena could be 3-4 shows of one kind in a night. I went to a few in my youth and those were some LONG nights! Up first for this January 16, 1995 RAW is a re-match from “WWF SuperStars” two days earlier in the semifinals of the tag-team championship tournament.

The Heavenly Bodies [“The Doctor of Desire” Tom Prichard and “The Gigolo” Jimmy Del Ray]
(w/ James E. Cornette)
-VS-
The 1-2-3 Kid & Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly

Result/Analysis: The 1-2-3 Kid & Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly via pinfall (4:47) when The Kid pins Del Ray with a Northern Lights Suplex. Call this a redo of their semifinal from over the weekend with not only a better layout but more importantly the finish there should have been in the “WWF SuperStars” tournament match. The Bodies jump the “Brat Pack” team of The Kid and Holly before the opening bell and dictate the tempo throughout until a frazzled finish once The Kid tags in after Holly spent 4+ minutes getting pummeled and double-teamed. Ted DiBiase walks out mid match with his Million-Dollar Team of Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka to scout The Kid and Holly who are their opponents at the Royal Rumble which is a nice touch. You could argue that the Tag-Team Championship Tournament created some juice for the WWF as 1995 began with not a hell of a lot else going on that excited people. Shawn Michaels, on commentary, however, equates the chances of The 1-2-3 Kid and Holly winning the tag titles to that of the San Diego Chargers having any chance to upset the San Francisco 49ers to win the Super Bowl. In scripted professional wrestling at least, the “underdog” won far more than a 🐕 competing in professional sports to win a world’s championship. The “WWF SuperStars” match was “good.” This return match was a touch better despite being shorter in length.

Rating: **1/2

Meanwhile, standing by in the locker room are Bret Hart and William Shatner. Shawn tells Vince he’s got questions to ask “Captain Kirk.” But first, Vince asks the question to Bret that’s been on everyone’s mind of late and that’s if he has any ring rust given his long lay-off (since Survivor Series). Bret says there is no ring rust, he feels 💯 percent and he’s burning with fire to get back in the ring. Michaels asks Shatner who he has watching his back tonight with Jerry “The King” Lawler likely lurking around and also The Roadie, who’ll be in Jeff Jarrett’s corner. Shatner replies that he needs no one to watch his back tonight. He says, Lawler will be dealt with similarly to last week if need be and The Roadie will be “roadkill” should he lay even one hand on Bret.

Mantaur (w/ James E. Cornette) -VS- Jason Ahrndt

Result/Analysis: Mantaur via pinfall (1:45) following a corner splash. After just TWO televised matches, changes are afoot for the 400-pound gargantuan Mantaur. First, the large boar’s head has been ditched. Second, face paint adds to Mantaur’s look. And last, Cornette has now added Mantaur to his stable. I like the changes but what’s the plan with Mantaur? It seems to be he’s just another super heavyweight on the roster than can fill up time on TV. We’ll see if Mantaur is able to make any impact in the Royal Rumble match in six days.

Rating: 1/2*

Todd Pettengill has a Royal Rumble report next as he does a full rundown of the pay-per-view card. Paul Bearer and The Undertaker give pre-recorded comments on the match with I.R.S. The Toddster then interviews “Double J” Jeff Jarrett, who’s with The Roadie, before he makes it to the ring for his match with Bret Hart. Pettengill asks Jarrett if taking the match versus “The Hitman” at all jeopardizes his chances of defeating Razor Ramon (on Sunday) for the Intercontinental Championship. “Double J” scoffs at that being true instead uttering confidence the IC Title is sewn up. Jarrett says it’s Bret who’s in trouble for accepting the match. He promises to send “The Hitman,” and William Shatner, too, back to Canada 🇨🇦 after tonight. Pettengill tries to quietly predict Bret will win the match as Jarrett and The Roadie walk off only Jarrett hears him make that call from the cameraman that’s following him and he gets mad about it before continuing on his way to the ring backstage. It looks like the Main Event is up next in the middle part of the hour.

“Double J” Jeff Jarrett (w/ The Roadie) -VS- Bret “The Hitman” Hart (w/ William Shatner)

Result/Analysis: Hart via pinfall (9:00 shown) with a roll-up (and a slight tug of Jarrett’s tights). The mostly played up angle of Bret being more aggressive in his return to the ring, and not afraid to bend the rules to win a match, was the storyline rolled out here. Bret displays ever-subtle heel tendencies to help further that storytelling but it’s far more him upping his aggression than Vince and Shawn trying to sell him as a bonafide heel circa 1985-87. Bret exhibits no ring rust in this match and his move set is crisp in its execution. There was still no better wrestler than Bret on the WWF roster in January 1995 with Owen Hart probably second if you took a poll. Jarrett being placed against Bret in this RAW main event indicates to me (as one viewer) how he was thought of in the hierarchy of heels with the Royal Rumble just days ahead. Surely Bret either had to go over Jarrett in this match or there had to be a disqualification to protect Jarrett. Bret’s attempt to win the match by submission with the sharpshooter is foiled by Jarrett. Later on, Bret, with some assistance from Shatner, makes the ring ropes when Jarrett puts him in the figure-four. Bret reveres a roll-up by Jarrett to a roll-up of his own, grabs Jarrett’s tights some, and gets the pin in the finishing sequence. As promised by Shatner, he does make roadkill of The Roadie post-match which is really eaten up by the Houston crowd, and Vince on commentary. Shawn sells Bret to the TV audience as not showing any ring rust and says Diesel ought to be worried about retaining the WWF Championship at the PPV. Shawn also sells himself as the new WWF Champion come WrestleMania whether he faces Diesel or Hart. I wonder if Vince was considering Bret versus Shawn?

Rating: ***

Meanwhile, if you need a little excitement, snap into a Slim Jim. Diesel is these days.

Vince recaps the semifinal round of the tag-team championship tournament and promotes the finals to take place at the Royal Rumble between the Million-Dollar Team of Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka versus the “Cinderella” team of The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly. I wonder how the Las Vegas bookmakers handicapped the match?

The King’s Court w/ The Million-Dollar Corporation:

Ted DiBiase promises Jerry “The King” Lawler and WWF fans that his Million-Dollar Corporation will dominate the Royal Rumble from beginning-to-end. First, his corporate accountant, I.R.S., will finally rid both himself and The Corporation of The Undertaker for good, with DiBiase calling “The Deadman” a thorn in the side of The Corporation for far too long. DiBiase says I.R.S. will bury The Undertaker six-feet under where he belongs. DiBiase says he can then return to the only dead thing he likes and that’s counting dead Presidents (as he has a slew of dollar bills in his hand). After that, DiBiase says, his Million-Dollar Team of Bam Bam and Tatanka are a shoe-in to win the WWF Tag-Team Titles given that their opponents are Bob “Hit the Wall” Holly and The 9-1-1 Kid. DiBiase says Holly and The Kid are a team of potential but only that. He adds that next week on RAW, to show the world his team of Bam Bam and Tatanka are fighting champions, DiBiase will have them face The Smoking Gunns with the belts at stake. Lastly, DiBiase predicts his beast, King Kong Bundy, will win the Royal Rumble match and go on to WrestleMania XI to win the WWF Championship. Once Bundy does so, DiBiase says The Corporation will have it all: the WWF Title, the WWF Tag-Team Titles and The Undertaker gone forever. DiBiase exults by saying The Corporation will be alive in ‘95. As the segment ends, Shawn retorts that The Corporation won’t have it all as DiBiase is predicting as they won’t have the man that wins the Royal Rumble because he will be the winner. This segment lasted only a few minutes but it was a time filler because everyone knows I.R.S. isn’t the man that will bury The Undertaker nor is Bundy going to win the Rumble match. In truth, the PPV is setting up as a nightmare night for DiBiase and his Million-Dollar Corporation. While DiBiase remains a useful heel as a manager-only in his post-wrestling career – – – he’s such a great mouthpiece still – – – his stable definitely sucks and everyone thinks so. The mere consideration to push any of these guys isn’t good for box office returns.

Lee Tobin -VS- Mabel (w/ Oscar)

Result/Analysis: Mabel via pinfall (2:35) following a leg drop. The solo push for Mabel continues heading into the Rumble match with a squash of jobber Lee Tobin. In short spurts, and as a babyface, Mabel did have some vocal fan support. Oscar’s rapping schtick certainly helped. After the match, as Vince and Shawn interview Mabel on his likelihood to win the Rumble, Bundy comes out with DiBiase to jaw with Mabel about being the biggest and baddest man in the WWF as we continue to be teased by these two behemoths mixing things up. At least that makes sense. Michaels, meanwhile, spends the match, and he continues during the Bundy and Mable altercation, too, pitching himself as the would-be Rumble winner while running down Diesel for getting a mass media blitz in the lead up to the pay-per-view.

Rating: *

The Royal Rumble promo of Pamela Anderson walking the beach airs as SuperStars fawn over her. Exactly how much the PPV buy rate is to be affected I can’t say.

Vince and Shawn discuss RAW for next week off the heels of the Rumble. The Smoking Gunns will face the winners of the tag-team championship tournament finals. The winner of the Rumble match will appear. Shawn again says it will be him.

A video package for WWF Champion Diesel concludes the show to highlight his dominance.

The Verdict: Bret Hart makes a winning return to the ring and shows off an edge by defeating Jeff Jarrett. The 1-2-3 Kid and Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly have galvanized fan support in their underdog pursuit of the tag-team titles. Is Mabel versus Bundy merely a teased Royal Rumble altercation or a possible super-heavyweight feud? Hopefully, it’s only the former. The only one talking about Shawn Michaels winning the Rumble and betting on himself is Michaels. In an extremely sub-par field, “The Heartbreak Kid” is at the top of any list you’d have for a potential Rumble winner. The main event of WrestleMania XI and a WWF Championship match is the reward so think about it? The list is a small one.