We open the July 26th episode of Monday Night Raw with Doink the Clown reminding us about the actions of the Macho Man back during the two out of three falls match with Marty Janetty on the June 19th edition of Monday Night Raw. He promises that if the "Macho Boy" is real good, he'll have a surprise for him later tonight. Hopefully it won't be another fake present.
We see Stu and Helen Hart in attendance in the balcony as we open Raw with a rematch from the King of the Ring finals. It's Bam Bam Bigelow (With Luna Vachon) taking on Bret "The Hitman" Hart. I sure hope a certain other king won't insult them any time soon. Speaking of which, Bobby Heenan is on the phone with Jerry Lawler, and something ominous is clearly afoot.
Clubbing blows by Bam Bam start the match off followed by a hard shoulder block. Bret ducks an axe handle, slides under, and hits some rights, a dropkick, and a clothesline that sends Bigelow out of the ring. Luna distracts Bret, but Bret sees a sneak attack coming and brings Bigelow back in, hitting a clothesline off the top rope. But this does more damage to Bret, who is holding his knee as we go to commercial break.
Back from break, Luna and Bam Bam kiss while Bret is on the outside still in pain. Big back suplex only gets a two. Hard whip to the buckle keeps Bret down, while Heenan pretty much calls Stu and Helen moochers. Bret ducks a clothesline, but gets caught into a big slam for another two count. Big jumping headbutt by Bam Bam followed by a second. A third is dodged by Bret who finally gets up and lays more rights, and a big back suplex. A great move for someone with an injured knee to do, clearly. Dropkick and an elbow for a two count. Bam Bam regains momentum with shots to the back of Bret's head, and hits a dropkick to the gut. Bam Bam is looking winded already as he locks in a chinlock as we go to another break.
It's still locked in as we return from commercial. Bret gets back to his feet, but Bam Bam quickly gets in an eye rake. Bam Bam misses a dropkick, as Bret lays in more rights. Bret gets a big back body drop, and follows with an elbow to the back of the head for two. He grinds Bam Bam's face into the ropes and headbutts the lower back of Bam Bam. Side Russian leg sweep for a two. Bret gets another big clothesline off the top for only a two. Bret locks in a sleeper, but Bam Bam manages to escape by smacking Bret into the turnbuckle. But Bret manages to get a bulldog. He attempts a sharpshooter, but suddenly...
Jerry Lawler is up on the balcony with Stu and Helen. Bret tries to get tot he balcony yet Bam Bam grabs him. Lawler says that he wanted to meet the family that produced more tragedies than Shakespeare. He mocks Stu's mumbling, and says he should put his false teeth in backwards and eat himself to death. Bret gets back in te ring, as Jerry lays in one great barb after another on the Harts and especially Bret, saying that Bret was so ugly that for the first six months Helen was diapering the wrong end. It's segments like this that really cause me to have more disdain for what Jerry Lawler's become over the years, because man was he just a great heel.
Helen shoves Lawler off while Bam Bam rams Bret into a corner for another two. He cheers on Bam Bam who lands a body slam and a running senton. Jerry asks how old the Harts are, as Bret gets in clotheslines and an elbow for another two. DDT by Bret, who then decides he's had enough, and heads to the balcony. Due to this, Bam Bam Bigelow wins by count out. Lawler leaves as Bret continues to give chase. He's unable to get to Lawler, as he goes to his parents.
Overall a great match, though due to being more of an angle by the end with Lawler taking verbal jabs at the Hart family, it wasn't as great as their King of the Ring encounter. Get used to this because it's going to go on for the better part of two years, and honestly, if Jerry's this great with his barbs, this should be fun TV.
It's the Summerslam report with Mean Gene Okerlund. It turns out that Luger's tour on the Lex Express worked as he finally gets his match with Yokozuna at Summerslam. However, Jack Tunney has added a stipulation where Luger must put a pad on his loaded forearm.
With urn in tow, Mr. Hughes is in action next against Ross Greenberg. This still confuses me why if Hughes has the urn with him, the Undertaker match at Summerslam is against GIant Gonzalez. Another wreath is brought to ringside. Hughes squeezes the head of Greenberg and follows with an eye poke and a couple boots. Rough looking powerbomb by Hughes who then slaps Greenberg around. He rams Greenberg into the buckle, and follows with a headbutt. Sidewalk slam for the three. I've said before that I'm fine with Mr. Hughes, more than most, but he has been getting sloppy. Post-match, Hughes destroys the wreath.
Wrestlemania: The Album is shilled, and I gotta have a little bit of a chuckle seeing that the cover features superstars who have been long gone from the company for months now. That being Big Boss Man and the Nasty Boys.
Bart and Billy Gunn, the Smoking Gunns, head to the ring for their match against Dwayne Gill and Glenn Ruth. Headlock by Gill is broken as Billy gets some leap frogs and a dropkick to both jobbers. Tag to Bart who hits an axe handle. Thumb to the eye by GIll who tags in Ruth. Double clothesline is dodged as Bart gets a cross body to both men for a two. Tag to Billy who gets a nice jumping leg drop. Double leg sweep from the Gunns. Tag ot Bart who works on the arm, who tags in Billy who gets another dropkick. Body slam and another tag to Bart who hits some knees to the head of Glenn Ruth. Suplex by Bart and anotehr tag to Billy, who hits a slick clothesline. Tag to Bart which is followed with a drop toe hold and an elbow. Another quick tag to Billy who hits a nice powerslam. Tag back to Bart as we get a back drop into a piledriver for a three. Overall, not a bad squash, but save for Billy Gunn being surprisingly energetic and fast, I still find Bart to be rather dull.
It's the first vignette for another newcomer to the WWF. It's Ludvig Borga from Helsinki, Finland. At this point he's pretty much just another heel foreigner. Boo the foreigner, but let's focus instead on Lex Luger.
We go to an interview with Luger before the show as he thanks the fans for his successful campaign for his title shot with Yokozuna at Summerslam. He also has no problems with covering his forearm, a stark difference from a month ago at the King of the Ring. Despite getting his title shot, he's still going to go cross country on the Lex Express. Which means we're almost about to get that great music video.
It's main event time this week as Doink the Clown is in action against Phil Apollo. Doink has his unicycle but isn't down to riding it this week. Match starts slow, until Doink works on the arm of Apollo. Elbow to the head and a belly to belly as Doink looks to Savage for a moment.s He wraps his legs around Apollo's waist and smashes his head into the mat. Back suplex and an elbow drop by Doink followed by a body slam. Jumping senton whoopee cushion for the three.
Doink grabs a mic and directs his attention to Macho Man. He invites Savage to the ring, but since Savage is contracted to not compete, Doink goes to the announce position. Annoyed by Macho Man's interferences, he challenges Macho Man to a match next week. He promises he won't be seeing triple vision as three Doinks appear. Apparently that's enough to have Macho Man accept the challenge
This was a decent episode of Raw. One too many boring squashes overall, but the Bret Hart vs Bam Bam match was definitely worth the watch, mainly for Jerry Lawler's involvement. I live the continuing build to Lex Luger vs Yokozuna, and the Macho Man/Doink match next week sounds interesting.Raw is getting better at becoming a show focused on storyline building, and as of late we've been guaranteed at least one great match a week. I really hope that trend continues. This Raw gets a B+.