We open Raw where we left off last week. Lex Luger being supposedly paid off by Ted Dibiase, Luger trying to confront him, only for Tatanka to continue to claim him as being the property of Ted Dibiase. Raw is live from Lowell, Massachussetts, with Vince and Savage at the table once more. In action tonight is Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, Mabel and Jeff Jarrett. Plus a King's Court with Paul Bearer and... because he's in every other damn segment... Ted DIbiase.
But opening action tonight, it's Owen Hart taking on the 1-2-3 Kid. A rematch from their encounter at the 1994 King of the Ring. Only this time, the kid isn't injured from an earlier Jarrett attack. And no sneak attack baseball slide either as the Kid gets in a spin kick early on Owen. He lays in some rights, gets reversed, but Owen ends up ramming his shoulder into the post. The kid gets a cradle, but only a two count. He works the arm, but Owen turns things around with a hair pull. He continues to work the arm until the Kid escapes and hits another spin kick for two.
Headlock by the Kid as Owen pulls at his hait to try an escape. The Kid turns it into a cover for two. He keeps the headlock in for about a minute until Owen tries an escape, which the kid turns into a cover for two. Owen gets a backslide for two. The Kid gets back in a headlock, until Owen hits a back suplex and a leg drop. Owen hits a headbutt and a big enziguri for two. Owen applies a chinlock until the Kid escapes again and lands a hiptoss. Both men go down and both men kip up. But the Kid lands a dropkick sending Owen outside, and lands a baseball slide that takes out both Owen and Neidhart. The Kid then leaps off the buckle taking out Owen with a flip as we go to break.
When we return from break, Owen manages a big superplex off the apron to the outside. Owen follows with a plancha to the outside on the Kid. He then rams the kid into the steel post back first twice. He brings in the Kid and whips him hard into the corner and follows with a big backbreaker and a knee drop. Another hard whip into the buckle by Owen who drops a big elbow off the second buckle for a two count. He follows that with a big back body drop.
The Kid gets a sunset flip, but only a two count as Owen gets right back up and locks a clutch to the face of the Kid. The Kid reverses a whip, but gets caught in a neckbreaker. Owen goes to a corner over halfway across the ring and goes for a headbutt, but misses, landing badly on his knee. The Kid starts kicking the knee and damaging it. He locks in a half crab. But Anvil attacks the Kid from behind, causing a DQ. The double team the Kid as Owen locks in the sharpshooter with Anvil stomps at the Kid. referees try to break it up as the two continue the damage. Eventually they let go and celebrate their actions.
I loved the hell out of this match. Lots of amazing offense from both men with some unique spots like the suplex over the ropes. Granted, when the match bogged down with chinlocks, it did hurt it, so I can't say this was as good as Bret vs the Kid a few weeks ago, but this is still Owen at his absolute best and the Kid was no slouch either. Shame it ended on the DQ, but for storyline purposes it was a logical ending.
Todd Pettengill runs down the Summerslam card again, complete with even more shilling of Domino's Pizza than ever. Nothing has changed on the card, but we do get a quick interview with Razor Ramon and Walter Payton, who promises that if Shawn and Diesel try anything, they'll find out what the NFL is all about. We also still have no clear answer on if Lex Luger has sold out before his match with Tatanka, so you know what that means?
HEY KIDS! VINCE WANTS YOUR DOLLAR! or technically a dollar forty nine. It's the Opinion line where people can answer if Luger is truly innocent or not.
We return from break to see a man in baseball face paint in the crowd with a sign saying that he's on strike. Now, you may remember him from one appearance last year in the Intercontinental contender battle royal. He was then going by the name of MVP: Most Violent Player. Now he's back as Abe "Knuckleball" Schwartz. Revived by McMahon to poke fun at the recent baseball strike. Early in the show, he blames the fans for the strike and paying off the owners, defending them as just good rich people who aren't to blame for the stupidity of the fans.
Up next in action is Duke "The Dumpster" Droese vs Nick Barbary. Powerslam by Droese early on followed by a snapmare and a chinlock. The crowd chants USA for some reason. Barbary gets some strikes in, but Droese reverses a whip into a big clothesline. Big body slam and the jumping elbow for the three in a quick squash. Still not caring at all for Duke Droese sadly. Basic offense and a dumb gimmick even for mid-90's WWF.
Because this show didn't have enough of him in spirit, Ted Dibiase is here in the flesh on commentary.
Up next, Kwang is taking on Tony Roy. He gets some cheap shots on Roy with chops. He spits some red mist and lands a roundhouse. Chops and a spin kick for the three. Damn, I think this was quicker than that Crush/Matt Hardy squash a while back.
Jerry Lawler is here for the King's Court with Ted Dibiase and Paul Bearer. He calls Vince and Savage as the WWF's dual air bags. Dibiase takes credit for bringing the Undertaker in back in 1990, which is partially true. Lawler tells Bearer that while we've seen proof from Dibiase, we've seen nothing from him. Bearer says that Dibiase is having fun tarnishing the name of the Undertaker, but he has a message for him. His Undertaker will destroy the fake at Summerslam. Dibiase brings out his Undertaker.
Bearer sees the evil in "Taker's" eyes, but at Summerslam they'll be closed forever because his Undertaker, the true Undertaker will destroy him. As Paul taunts in glee, "Taker" grabs Bearer in a choke. The lights go out and the familiar gong hits. Bearer yells that the Undertaker is here, promising the return at Summerslam.
Mabel is up next against Ray Roy. Hard whip and a clothesline early on by Mabel. He lands a hiptoss and a Mr. Perfect-esque neck snap. I do not envy Roy's neck taking that much beef. Mabel lands a big boot and an elbow drop. Big body slam by Mabel followed by a splash in the corner.Clothesline and elbow drop off the second buckle from Mabel gets the win. Mabel showing some impressive agility in this match.
Jeff Jarrett wraps things up for tonight against Scott Taylor. He teases singing as we go to break. Jarrett gets a cheap shot early on, landing a dropkick. Taylor gets a roll up for two as Jarrett recovers and beats down on Taylor. He gets a whip and an elbow followed by a ram face first into the buckle. Taylor tries a roll up, but is denied. Jarrett goes for a slam, but gets rolled up for two. Taylor avoids offense again and lands strikes, but his momentum gets the best of him as he misses a cross body. Jarrett works the leg and locks in a figure four to win.
Post-match, Mabel and Oscar show up to rap at Jarrett, but are unable to get to him due to referees. Jarrett calls them chicken as we go to break. We finish Raw up with a run through of the Sunday Night Slam Card. This isn't on the Network, but the Raw from next week was more or less a recap of it, looking at both Lex Luger vs Crush, an interview with Bret Hart and Diesel vs Typhoon. Because there's not much to recap, we will be moving forward to Summerslam.
As for this Raw, it was okay at best. The squashes, as always, were nothing special, but I did love Owen vs the 1-2-3 Kid as it was fast paced and exciting. And for once in a blue moon, the King's Court was actually worthwhile, setting up the Undertaker vs Undertaker match very well, making the incoming match actually exciting. And thankfully, there was far less Ted Dibiase on this show, which considering I hate this Luger/Tatanka feud, I'm thankful. This Raw overall gets a B Rating.
Up next, we're going straight to the biggest event of the Summer. It's the 1994 Summerslam. A battle of phenoms, a family feud caged and who has really sold out to Ted Dibiase? Find out next time.
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