A Taste of the New Generation: Days of Diesel: WWF Monday Night Raw: March 13th, 1995

We open Raw with a look back at the feud between Bret Hart and Jerry "the King" Lawler. Not so much most of the events of the almost two year feud, but specifically this whole angle involving Lawler referring to Bret as a Racist. This will come to a head tonight as we enter the Stockton Memorial Auditorium in Stockton, California for tonight's action. It's Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette at the table.

Opening action is the Blu Brothers taking on the Headshrinkers. Despite being advertised as the 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly against the Blus, California storms is the supposed reason for their tardiness. We also learn that the Men on a Mission have apparently begun their heel turn by attacking the Smoking Gunns on The Action Zone.  We start with SS-Tattooed Jacob ramming Fatu into the buckle, but Fatu comes back with a headbutt. Fatu and Sione come back with a double clothesline.

Tag to SS-Tattooed Eli who clubs the head of Sione, but Sione ducks a clothesline, following with one of his own. Eli reverses a clothelsine as Jacob gets a cheap shot, allowing Eli to clothesline him out of the ring.  Jacob is tagged back in and both get big boots in to Sione. Cover, but Fatu makes the save. Elbow drop by Jacob who follows with a powerslam. Cover only gets two. Tag to Eli who goes for a whip, but sione stops it as we go to break. Great, I had a grasp on which Blu was which, now I'm confused again.

When we return from the break,  I believe it's Eli in the ring with a chinlock on Sione. Sione frees himself and lands a massive shoulder block. Uncle Zebekiah distracts the ref as the Blus make a switch. With the ref distracted by a distressed Fatu, the Blus beat down on Sione some more. After some more offense, one of the Blus covers for two. Tag to the other, but Sione tries to escape. Whip is reverse by Sione who lands a powerslam of his own. Sione finally tags Fatu who lays in strikes, headbutts and kicks to the Blus. One of the Blus goes for a facebuster, but Fatu no-sells and lands a big superkick. Eventually both teams brawl all over the ramp way as we get a double count out.

Not a bad brawl to start, if not for way too much face in peril stuff with Sione being beaten down by the Blus. And of course, the inability to keep track of which Blu is which makes for a bigger headache. In the end, it wasn't bad, but nothing incredible.

We go to an interview with Lawrence Taylor. Nothing incredible here, the odds are against him and he'll be going at it like a pack of wild dogs. Vince runs down the list of NFL stars who will be in L.T's corner including Ricky Jackson, Ken Norton, Reggie White, but  most important of all

MONGO!

Speaking of Mongo, we get comments about him being tickled pink to be involved at Wrestlemania. He also has an issue with Kama, and promises to be on Raw next week to settle any beef with the Supreme Fighting Machine.

In an interview with the Million Dollar Team (Kama is now a member), Bam Bam promises that L.T will be going down. There will be no half time, and the NFL stars will be on the side lines. The rest of the team make football references and promise pain to the players.

The next opinion we get is from "The Big Cat" Ernie Ladd. His opinion on L.T's chances is that while he's a definite hall of famer in the NFL, but his chances aren't very good against Bam Bam at Wrestlemania. He brings up how he made it out of the NFL to be a wrestler through years of training, but L.T is wrestling only on pride, and Lucifer was kicked out of heaven because of pride. If he can generate the element of surprise, it will make a difference on his side, but his chances look slim.

Up next, it's "Double J" Jeff Jarrett taking on Barry Horowitz. But nevermind all that, Barry's getting some promo time. He is sure of himself, confident and he's been talking to "Double R" Razor Ramon. Considering his history on this blog, Mr. Horowitz shouldn't get too confident.

Jarrett gets a cheap shot early, but Horowitz comes back with some roll ups for near threes. Jarrett takes a breather, then trips Barry. He rams Horowitz head first into the the top buckle and follows with a hard whip to the corner. Barry manages a leg trip and applies a top wristlock. Jarrett tries a slam, but Barry gets into a cover for a two. More wringers and arm bars from Barry. Jarret tries to reverse offense, but Barry gets a hiptoss and a leg drop. Vince is unable to talk to the president of the San Francisco 49ers. Good, I'm already tired of the football talk.

Barry is surprisingly still in control with a top wristlock. Jarrett gets to the rope as the Roadie tries to help. Whip by Barry, who lands a high knee strike, injuring himself in the process. This gives Jarrett the chance to drop his weight on the knee and lock in the figure four. Barry tries his best, but gives up (actually it looks more like the ref just calls for the bell and this ending was rushed). Not a bad showing by Barry Horowitz, but it felt weird to have the IC Champ look to be in peril for so long against a guy who is a longtime jobber to the company.

We recap the recent events from Superstars two weeks prior as Jerry Lawler tried to use the similar tactics of Shawn Michaels to win a 20 man battle royal. Despite hopping out of the ring on one foot, Lawler's plan was foiled as Bret stamped on his foot to cause the elimination. In an interview, Bret calls Lawler a pain in the butt for two years. He calls Lawler a disease, and the cure is some patented hitman knuckle sandwiches.

It's time for the Wrestlemania XI report. Apparently this show is bigger than the Oscars, the Grammys and the Superbowl combined.  The mulleted Pettengill recaps what we already know about the situations involving Bam Bam and Lawrence Taylor.  But we learn that Salt N Pepa will be singing L.T to the ring at Wrestlemania. In case you needed even more reminded how nuts-deep into the 90s we are.

Also on the card is the long since announced Shawn Michaels (with Sid & Pamela Anderson) against Diesel. We cut to a video of a particularly vainer than usual Shawn talking about how amazing his is, even with the arm candy of Pam next to him, and Pam is none too pleased. Also added to the card is:

Undertaker vs King Kong Bundy
Bret Hart vs Bob Backlund (in an I Quit Match)
Razor Ramon vs Jeff Jarrett for the WWF Intercontinental Title
The Smoking Gunns vs Owen Hart and a Mystery Partner for the WWF Tag Team Titles

Speaking of the Gunns, we recap what went down on the previous episode of the Action Zone as Men on a Mission thought they had won the tag titles, only Bart had his foot on the rope causing the match to continue and the Gunns to eventually get the win and the retention. Post-Match, Mabel and Mo attacked Billy and Bart, setting up the previously mentioned heel turn.

Also added is The Blu Brothers vs The Allied Powers (Lex Luger and the British Bulldog). Yep, Luger went from WWF title match last year to meager midcard match. The freefall continues.

After what had to be the longest report ever, we finally return to wrestling. It's Bret Hart vs Jerry Lawler. Lawler is accompanied by Bull Nakano, since we're continuing this strange narrative of Bret being racist to the Japanese. Bret doesn't wait to get his jacket off and goes right after Lawler. Bret lays in fists in the corner, and rakes Lawler's eyes into the rope. He rams Lawler into the buckle and put in even more offense.  Bret ties Lawler up in the corner tree of woe and stomps him multiple times.

As Bret continues to work down Lawler, we see Mr. Bob Backlund standing in the crowd looking like a well dressed stalker. Bret drops Jerry with an inverse atomic drop (or a Reverse Piledrive via McMahon). Clothesline by Bret and a cover for two. Bret rams Lawler into the buckle multiple times and strikes Jerry down as Bret runs afoul of even more Japanese wrestlers.

Hakushi and Shinja appear on the entrance way. Cornette claims this is a show of unity against the racist Bret Hart, who, again has never been seen saying anything. Bret is distracted by Hakushi and Shinja as Lawler gets a cheap shot as we go to break. When we return the crowd chants "Burger King" at Lawler, who lands a bulldog to Bret. Lawler slams Bret with a hard whip to the buckle and a nice vertical suplex, which gets boos from the crowd. Lawler ascends the buckle for an ax handle, but gets a shot to the gut from Bret. Bret lands a bulldog of his own followed by a russian leg sweep.

A hard right from Bret sends Lawler out of the ring. Bull Nakano attacks Bret. Bret is distracted long enough for a cheap shot. Lawler holds Bret down for Nakano to land an attack, but accidentally kicks Lawler. Bret remains distracted as Lawler enters the ring. Nakano grabs the leg of Bret, keeping him out, causing a win to Lawler. Bret chases Bull, but is stopped by Hakushi. Lawler tries to get another sneak attack, but Bret stops him, bringing him back in the ring for more attacks. After a big back body drop, Lawler escapes again.

Overall, not a bad match, some good heel stuff from Lawler, and some great in ring work from Bret. I'm not too fond of this whole Racist Bret angle, but I did like that we got to see Bull Nakano again after what feels like forever. Plus it's something for Hakushi to be involved with after really not being involved that much so far. Plus, Lawler's win streak over Bret continues, meaning this feud is far from over.

We end Raw with Jarrett and Horowitz being far from done with each other. And after what felt like a weird rushed finish in that match, I don't blame them. Jarrett promises Horowitz a shot at the Intercontinental title next Monday on Raw. Horowitz starts to sign...

But Bob Backlund attacks Barry with a Chicken Wing. He then grabs the title match contract and signs it, to the dismay of Jarrett. So at the Sunday Night Slam show a week before Mania, it will be Jarrett defending his gold against Backlund because... reasons.

This was a strange Raw. Some good in-ring, especially with Bret vs Lawler, along with two decent-at-best matches with the Blus vs the Shrinkers and Jarrett vs Horowitz (despite the odd ending). My biggest issue with this show however was way too much talking. Especially involving the L.T/Bam Bam match. The last thing I care about with this Raw is seeing the opinion of every single person on if L.T has a chance at all. Also, that was way too long a Wrestlemania Report for its own good. All that makes for a Raw that while it had some good bits, ultimately ends up pretty bland. The best rating to give it is a C+