We continue through the Louisville tapings with our opening contest. It's King Mabel in action against Nick Barbary. Once again being carried to the ring on a sedan. I do not envy the backs of those men carrying him. He takes Barbary to the corner and rams his head into the buckle. He follows with a hard whip to the buckle and a clothesline. Mabel lands a couple body slams. Barbary comes back with some strikes, but Mabel throws him down. He whips Barbary sternum first into the buckle and lands a spinning heel kick and throws Barbary over the top rop to the outside. He whips Barbary into the steps. Barbary tries some dropkicks, but fails. Mabel whips Barbary into the corner and splashes Barbary, following with a belly to belly for the win in a decent squash.
Post-match, Mabel tells the crowd to shut up. He is not only their king, but at Summerslam he will also become the WWF champion. Bow down to the king.
We get another Fatu vignette as he's at his old high school, and is proud of the kids who say no to drugs and violence. I thought the first two were fine, but this is getting PSA-level cringe. Fatu redebuts in the ring next week.
Jerry Lawler is backstage with Shawn Michaels and brings up that Michaels will defend his intercontinental title against Sid at Summerslam. But he's more interested in challenging Shawn himself, which Michaels would be glad to oblige in. Lawler seems to keep backing out of the challenge, so Shawn tells him that his people should call Shawn's people. Lawler says that he promises as a journalist that he won't be a wrestler. Shawn says that Lawler is barely a broadcast journalist. This heated argument eventually leads to Lawler turning down the challenge due to the "oath of journalism".
After another quick video for Goldust, it's Bam Bam Bigelow in action next against Bob Cook. Lawler is angry over the heated confrontation with Shawn Michaels, and still claims he has a journalistic oath to keep out of the ring. Vince calls him a journalistic oaf. Wah Wah. Cook gets some offense early on, but Bam Bam comes back by throwing around Cook with some beal tosses. Cook hits some rights and goes for a chinlock. Lawler says that Bam Bam is the creature that burped up Kevin Costner in Waterworld. Bam Bam hits a suplex and locks in a chinlock. Cook escapes and hits some more stomps and takes Bam Bam to the corner, but Bam Bam comes back with some strikes, a hard whip to the buckle and a clothesline.Body slam and a diving headbutt gets the win for Bam Bam in a bland squash.
Time for another edition of "The Report Card" with Dean Douglas. He focuses on Bam Bam, bringing up the beast from the east nickname, particularly the word beast. He refers to Bam Bam as a contemptible person. He replays the footage of the prior match and refers to Bam Bam as a walrus, sans tusks. He gives Bam Bam a failing grade. Slightly better vignette than last week.
We get a quick interview with the tag team champions as Jim Cornette promises that Razor Ramon and "Chevy Vega" have no luck in taking the titles tonight.
Skip is in action next. Sunny and Skip are still unhappy with people talking about Barry Horowitz, as Skip claims he's still undefeated, but he was cheated. Major Yates is his opponent this week. Skip goes for some jumping jacks, but he gets rolled up by Yates for two. Yates avoids offense in the corner and lands a monkey flip, followed by some work on the arms. However, Skip comes back with a suplex, dropping Yates on his head. Yates gets a sunset flip for two, but Skip kicks the head of Yates. He lands a clothesline on Yates and follows with a superplex, getting the three for Skip in a quick squash. Post-match, Skip promises that Horowitz won't ruin his life again.
It's the Summerslam report with Todd Pettengill. Right now, the card is as follows:
Diesel defends the WWF title against King Mabel
Shawn Michaels defends the intercontinental title against Sid
Bret Hart vs Dr. Isaac Yankem D.D.S
It's main event time. Razor Ramon and Savio Vega challenge Owen Hart and Yokozuna for the WWF Tag Team Titles. We see Barry Didinsky who is shilling a Razor Ramon shirt this week. A better looking shirt than the last Razor shirt we've seen Barry hock.
Owen and Savio start. Owen slaps Savio, but Savio comes back with some strikes in the corners. Hard whip to the buckle and a back body drop by Savio. Owen reverses a whip, but Savio goes behind, managing an arm drag. Owen and Savio work the arms, but Savio comes back with a chop. Tag ot Razor who works the arm. Owen breaks free, but gets caught with a fist to the face that sends Owen tumbling through the ropes as we go to break.
When we return, Owen locks in a headlock, but Razor goes for a back drop. Owen escapes, but gets caught in a fallaway slam. Razor covers for two. Owen tags in Yokozuna. Razor gets some rights on Yoko and tags in Savio who kicks the arm. He goes for some strikes that barely fase Yokozuna. A big dropkick sends Yoko tumbling out of the ring. After some "jumping beans" and "Taco Bell" level racism by Lawler, and a timeout for the champs, eventually Owen is tagged back in. He gets a shoulder block, but gets caught in some hip tosses and arm drags by Savio.
Owen hits a spinning heel kick on Savio. He tags in Yokozuna as the two lands a drop toe hold/leg drop combo. Savio rolls out, but Yoko lands in some stomps. Owen body slams Savio on the outside, and throws him back into the ring to the waiting Yokozuna. Yoko locks in an nerve hold as Lawler finally accepts the challenge of Shawn Michaels. We go to break. When we return, Savio tags in Razor who lands some strikes, but Yoko reverses a whip. However, Razor gets a boot in and a bulldog. Cover, but Owen makes the save. Savio gets some strikes on Owen as Razor works on Yoko. They whip the champs into each other and land double clotheslines.
Owen reverses a whip, but gets caught in a Razor's Edge. Cover and a three, but Owen Hart was not the legal man. Cornette is in a rage as he tells Earl Hebner about the wrong legal man. Hebner decides to overturn the decision, and in the fracas, the match will continue, with Cornette kicked out of ringside. Razor throws Owen on to Yoko and tags in Savio. Cornette is being forced up the entrance way by referees as Savio works on the now legal Owen.
Hard whip to the buckle and cover by Savio for two. He rams Owen head first into the buckle ten times and rolls him up for two. Owen reverses a whip, allowing Yokozuna to hit Savio from behind as we go to yet another break. When we return, Savio gets a sunset flip for two. Owen stomps down Savio and tags in Yoko. Double wishbone by the champs. Clothesline by Yoko and a leg drop, but Savio avoids as we go to yet another break. Razor is tagged in and he knocks Owen off the buckle, and goes for a back suplex, but Owen reverses. Razor gets a clothesline, covering for two. Razor lands a chokeslam and goes for a cover as... Raw ends. Dammit, this is Undertaker/Skinner all over again!!!
Umm... great match. Lots of back and forth action. Everyone looked good and put in some energetic performances, even Yokozuna. The fake out ending with Owen being pinned was a good surprise. I liked that. But, yeah. Raw just ends without a conclusion to this match up. That's underwhelming. The end result was Razor and Savio winning via count out, and thus the champs retain their gold, but still that end result really hurt what was an excellent match up. If they were that starved for time, did we really need Skip vs Major Yates? I mean, really.
So, in the end, this was a decent edition of Raw with some okay squashes and some solid focus towards Summerslam. I liked the night-long angle with Lawler claiming his "journalistic oath" is keeping him from facing Shawn Michaels. I also like the continuing build to new stars like Dean Douglas and Goldust. The tag title match was excellent, but man, does the show ending before the match really bother the hell out of me. So much so that it unfortunately forces me to demerit what was actually a better Raw than the rating it gets. And that rating is a C+.