We open Raw with a really cool hype video for tonight's steel cage match between Bret Hart and Isaac Yankem D.D.S. A lot of dental references, from Yankem promising to ply the biggest braces to Bret's teeth, Bret promising to be the personal hygenist to Lawler and Yankem, and Lawler promising that Bret will look like his trench-mouthed mother. From the camera work and the general focus on the cage itself, this may be the best hype video I've seen for any match so far doing this blog.
We go right into action with Raw this week as opening action sees Hunter Hearst Helmsley taking on Doink the Clown. You can actually see the roid pimples under Doink's singlet. Vince mentions that Undertaker has suffered a crushed face from the assault by Mabel and Yokozuna last week. I forgot to mention the face injury last week, but when we see Taker again, it'll definitely be one of his more unique looks.
Headlock by Hunter on Doink, until he realizes that he gets grease paint all over him. Doink reverses a hiptoss and hits one of his own. He grabs the large noise of Hunter and lays in a slap. Doink laughs and lands a body slam. He drops his weight on the neck of Hunter and mocks the injury long enough for Hunter to land a clothesline. Stomps by Hunter followed by an elbow to the midsection. Whip to the corner by Hunter is met with boots by Doink. Slam by Doink, who tries to follow with an elbow drop, but Hunder avoids, landing a knee drop. Cover only gets two.
Suplex by Hunter, who covers for two. He puts in a chinlock to the clown until Doink tries to escape. Small package by Doink only gets two. He turns into a backslide for two. Hunter reverses a whip. Doink tries a sligshot, but misses. Pedigree gets the win for Hunter in a decent match. Good back and forth, some solid comedy from Doink, and in the end, the right man won.
But, with it means that it's time once again to say goodbye. This time to Doink the Clown. This is Doink's last Raw match until 1997. Though since he barely appeared in 1995, and lost a lot of importance after Dink left the company, it's not too surprising that the writing was on the wall. While I still think Matt Bourne was the superior Doink, Ray Apollo didn't do a bad job, was solid in the ring, and played the character fine. It was the annoying antics and bad booking that really made me dislike face Doink though. So, it's farewell to the clown. Laffy trails to you.
We get a backstage segment with Hakushi being "americanized" by Barry Horowitz. Barry tries to get him to acknowledge Babe Ruth as the greatest of all time, but Hakushi is quick to mention Hank Aaron. I'm fine with the face turn for Hakushi, but the whole "you need to be American to be a good guy" stuff always bugs the crap out of me.
Up next, it's PG-13 taking on The Smoking Gunns for the WWF Tag Team Titles. We get an interview with Gorilla Monsoon who tells us that due to Undertaker being taken out by King Mabel and Yokozuna, Monsoon has decided that both Mabel and Yokozuna will face each other at In Your House.
Wolfie D and Billy begin as Billy gets in a hiptoss. Wolfie avoids contact, but his cocky dancing lands him a punch to the mouth. Some criss crossing causes Wolfie to crash into J.C Ice. Ice is brought in and right now PG-13 look like a pair of small goofballs compared to the Gunns. Bart comes in and lands a clothesline to Ice. Back body drop is countered by Wolfie, only for his own cocky dancing to get met with a clothesline and some house cleaning from Bart.
Tag to Billy and Wolfie. Ice trips the leg, allowing for Wolfie to drop the knee, sending Billy tumbling out. Cheap shots from PG-13 as Bart chases them around like some demented Benny Hill sketch. Chinlock by Wolfie to Billy, followed by some double teaming as we go to break. When we return we see how Wolfle got in a cheap shot to Billy during the break. Double elbow by PG-13 as Ice covers for two. Billy ducks a clothesline and catches Wolfie, catapulting him into Ice. Tag to Bart who cleans house again with some slams and a dropkick. Tag to Billy as the Gunns land a sidewinder to retain the gold. While not a bad match, it didn't really do a good job in making the Smoking Gunns look good, while unfortunately in the end it makes the USWA tag champs PG-13 look like a pair of goofs. No wonder we don't see them again for a while.
We get a promo from Bulldog and Cornette as they gloat about the victory Bulldog got from Diesel in the six man. Basic stuff about how Bulldog was being held down for years, and how he will finally get the gold in the great white north at In Your House.
We get a video package for Ahmed Johnson. He talks about his mother working on minimum wage but still making enough to get him a ticket to the WWF. Very rambling and mumbly, much like all of Ahmed's promos. I mean, have you played WWF War Zone for Playstation?
Dean Douglas is up next against Joe Dorgan (who would later by Johnny Parisi... yes, I actually remember him). Vince has news that Shawn Michaels was attacked in a parking lot by ten thugs over the weekend and is in bad shape, and thus the Intercontinental title match at In Your House could be in jeopardy. More on that at the PPV.
Waistlock by Douglas to begin, but Dorgan gets in a hiptoss and some dropkicks, only to eat a clothesline. Shawn is on the phone as he's in a pretty chipper mood despite getting man handled. He says he doesn't look good, nor feels good, but he promises to not quit and will be there to delivier. Oh, we'll get to that at In Your House 4 too. Dean Douglas wins with a fisherman suplex BTW.
Dok Hendrix shills a decent at best Michaels and Diesel shirt from his new shop zone area. Meanwhile, a shark cage is being set up for Jerry Lawler should he interfere in the upcoming cage match between Bret Hart and Isaac Yankem, which is our main event, next.
First we get a vignette for Goldust who quotes Gone with the Wind as he doesn't give a damn about Marty Janetty, who he'll face in Goldust's world premiere at In Your House.
Next is Paul Bearer who is cringing about how Undertaker may never be the same again thanks to Yokozuna and Mabel. But he promises that the dead man will be back soon to destroy the massive duo of Mabel and Yoko quite soon. They'll never be the same again.
It's main event time at last as the steel cage is lowered for Bret Hart and Isaac Yankem. Should Lawler get involved, he'll be thrown into his own personal shark cage. Clubbing blows to the back of Bret followed by a ram into the buckle. Lawler calls this match "Adventures in dentures" as he wants Yankem to leave Bret toothless. However, Bret coms back with the inverted atomic drop and a clothesline. Bret drops the head to the lower extremities of Isaac. Body slam and and elbow by Bret. He tries for the first escape of the match, but Isaac grabs the leg and pulls him down.
Hair pull takedown by Isaac, followed by an elbow to the face. Isaac starts the climb over, but Bret gets up and clubs down Yankem. Bret goes back up, but Isaac is quick again to take him down. He followed by ramming Bret face-first into the cage. Yankem tries to escape, much to Lawler's discretion, but Bret pulls his leg off the ropes as the dentist takes a bumpy landing. Bret calls for the door, but Tim White has troubles unlocking the door as Yankem clotheslines the back of Bret's head. It turns out that Lawler switched the locks to ensure that Bret can't escape through the door.
When return, we get a bulletin telling us to call the superstar line to find out about Shawn Michaels. Vince still wants your dollar, kids. Bret throws Yankem off the top rope and goes up top, landing a clotheline. Bret locks in a sharpshooter, despite the fact that it won't get the win. Bret climbs up, but Lawler climbs up the other side and punches Bret into the ring. However, Gorilla Monsoon is quick to get the officials to grab Lawler as Bret lays in a some punches to knock him down. The officials drag Lawler into the shark cage as Yankem and Bret continue to fight inside the bigger cage.
As Lawler screams in panic, suspended above the cage, Yankem tries a piledriver, only to get back dropped by the Hitman. Bret climbs back up, but Yankem blocks the attempt. More punches by Yankem, who follows with a slam off the top. Isaac goes to the top and almost gets out, but Bret gets back to the ropes and both men pummel each other. Bret bites the face, but both men collapse.
Lawler has a nosebleed from the heights as we go to break. When we return, Bret gets a headbutt in the corner to Isaac folowed by the backbreaker. Bret almost gets all the way out, but Isaac brings him back in. DDT from D.D.S who goes back for the climb, but Bret recovers and grabs the leg again. He smacks Isaac in the corner and lands the ten count punches. Isaac reverese a whip, sending Bret crashing sternum first into the buckle. Lawler throws the key to the door lock to Isaac, who tries to work the lock. Bret goes for a roll up. Bret grabs the key and throws it away, landing a bulldog, another backbreaker and the patented elbow drop. Bret climbs back up again and escapes this time, getting the win. Post-match, Vince taunts Lawler who is still stuck in the cage
A really good cage match. Pretty basic stuff with it being a 'move, climb, move, climb, move, climb' affair, but both men put in a good effort. But the real MVP was again Jerry Lawler from his early cockiness, to his panic attack when suspended inside the cage. A strong main event and a good way to end this rivalry between the dentist and the hit man.
After one of the most underwhelming editions of Raw, we bounce back strong with this final edition before In Your House. Lots of new developments with injuries, sneak attacks and much more that leads us to a lot of twists and turns going into the event. A really solid Bret/Yankem cage match is the star of a show that saw a bizarre but decent tag title match with PG-13 and The Smoking Gunns, along with the final appearance for a while and Dean Douglas... who also wrestled. A fun edition that finally feels like the first show in a while to build to multiple storylines, and not just the ones involving Shawn and/or Diesel. A B+ is fair enough. Up next, it's a trip to the great white north with In Your House 4. Bulldog vs Diesel, the debut of Goldust, and what happens when Shawn Michaels pisses off a bunch of marines. Find out soon!