"What is this, the Price is Right?" Says Macho Man to open the April 25th, episode of Raw. It's the wrap-up of the Utica shows and later tonight we'll finally see Nikolai Volkoff step out of the crowd and into the ring. But opening Raw is a non-title match between Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Jeff Jarrett. Vince brings up the big IC Title match between Razor and Diesel for the upcoming Superstars episode. And to just break the illusion of this show being live, I hate to bring it up now, but Diesel would win the title two weeks earlier to this airing on April 13th.
Jarrett jaw jacks Razor to start, but gets a toothpick to the face from the champ. Jarrett takes down Razor and gives him a shove of the back. Jarrett gets in an arm drag and works on the arm of Razor. Razor misses a clothesline but does catch Jarrett with a fallaway slam to send Jarrett out of the ring. Jarrett does regain some control on the outside, but on the inside Razor lays some fists, a hiptoss and a clothesline. Jarrett exits the ring to gain a breather. He pulls Razor out and rams Razor into the steps.
Razor gets a kick o the sternum of Jarrett and lays in some hard rights to the head of Double J. But Jarrett regains momentum by throwing Razor out of the ring. Meanwhile, Shawn Michaels heads to ringside. With the ref distracted, he jaw jacks Razor, but gets a right to the mush. He gets a fist to Jarrett and rams him into the steps. Jarrett begs off, but gets a hiptoss for his troubles. Razor clotheslines Jarrett as Michaels is on the other side. He tosses Michaels in and gets some strikes.He sets up the Razor's Edge...
Overall, this was a great TV match. Some lulls, but Razor put in some good offense, and Jarrett definitely held his own in there. His best showing so far. Speaking of best showings so far, this was a good angle to really sell Diesel as a total monster. You can see the signs of the monster push Vince wants for the man and right here it actually doesn't look like a bad idea.
Up next, it's Bam Bam Bigelow in action against Tony DeVito. Vince and Macho Man make references to Jimmy Carter's daughter and Prince Charles' dog. Both men make a collision, but Bam Bam gets a dropkick to DeVito for two. He locks in a chinlock as Luna is wild outside of the ring as the crowd chants "Luna-Tic". Vince interviews Jack Tunney via telephone to give use answers on the tag title situaiton. He says that the Quebecers will finally defends against the Headshrinkers next Monday. In-ring, Bam Bam wins with a spinning heel kick and a diving headbutt.
The Quebecers are irate at Lou Albano and their former friends the Headshrinkers, but they are confident in their chances.
In a lovable bit of charitable cock waving, we learn from then mayor of Stamford, Connecticut Stan Esposito that the WWF raised 60 thousand dollars for the local library. I do call it cock waving, but it's still a cool thing for the company to do either way.
Up next, it's The Heavenly Bodies in action against Jason Headings and John Paul. I love the touch with the golden wings on the gear of the bodies, despite Vince being repulsed. John Paul gets a body slam to Pritchard early on, but Del Ray gets the tag and both men land a double superkick. Paul gets some fists to the face, but Del Ray regains momentum with a powerbomb. He lands some knee drops and tags in Pritchard.
He misses an elbow as Paul tags in Headings. He attacks both bodies, but Del Ray gets a tag in as they hit a unique double team. Del Ray covers, but he breaks it to continue the offense with a superkick. Double powerbomb and a knee drop from Pritchard. Del Ray gets in a knee to the face...
And gives us some of the gyration sensation.
Pritchard is back in to continue offense. He shoves down Headings and follows with a couple more slams. Back suplex into a moonsault by the bodies, but they continue to refuse to cover. Double flapjack from the bodies. Pritchard holds Headings and Del Ray hits a moonsault for the three. A bit too long was this one, but the double teaming an in-ring work of the bodies was, as usual, top notch material.
It's time for the King's Court. In this setting, he usually invites superstars with tons of money, but this week it's something different. He introduces the super broke Nikolai Volkoff. Some good lines from Lawler: "This man has a suit for every day of the year and this is." "What time are you due back at the window at Woolworth's?" He brings up how he used to be a superstar, a champion. He came out of the gutter, but he must have gotten homesick. What happened to Nikolai? He says that he is now an American citizen, and despite making lots of money, he made bad investments, but he can still wrestle.
Lawler accuses Volkoff of begging for money, but Volkoff says that he is a proud man. Lawler calls him repulsive and a broken down old bum. Lawler tells him to go back with the bums, and Volkoff does as he would rather be with the proud people. Okay segment, but way too long to get to the point. Like almost all the King's Court segments.
It's the 1-2-3 Kid in action next against Duane Gill. Both men exchange armbars and hair pulls early. Gill gets in some rights and a clothesline off a whip. He tosses the kid out of the ring, but when he gets back in, he gets kneed back out. He does get back in with a springboard clothesline. He follows with some kicks and a shoulder block. He ducks a clotheline and lands several more kicks. Savage shills "To The Ends of the Earth". James Brolin getting some love on Raw this week. Gill gets a knee to the face of the Kid and locks a headlock. The kid turns it around with a spin kick for the three in a surprisingly decent little enhancement match. Far more competitive than usual.
We cut to some deli worker claiming that the Undertaker was there and he essentially sole a six foot wedge. So, not only has Taker been taking time off, but he's now a meat pilferer. I assume this was supposed to be akin to the Elvis sightings that were popular at the time, but for building up the eventual return of the Undertaker, I don't think "possible deli thief" was something I would have come up with. Hmm, maybe I should do another fantasy booking soon...
We get our first plug for the upcoming King of the Ring Pay Per View as we enter our last match of the show. It's Owen Hart vs Rich Meyers. Some shoving from both men and a slap from Owen start it off. He smashes Meyers head first into the buckle multiple times. Meyers revereses a whip, but gets two knees in the face. Owen is working far more aggressively as he lands a hard haymaker and a dropkick. A nice gutwrench suplex as the crowd wants Bret. He follows with a leg drop with tons of elevation. He lands a hard suplex and a series of headbutts as "WE WANT BRET!" gets louder from the crowd. Meyers gets some headbutts in he corner, but misses a big dropkick. Owen locks the sharpshooter for the win.
A pretty solid squash match to end the show. Owen continues to improve as a heel as his heel repertoire gets better every week. This is shown even more as he drops a knee on Meyers post-match.
We end Raw as Captain Lou Albano is in a state of euphoria as he's finally gotten his team a title shot. Johnny Polo comes to ringside to insult Albano ("What are you the captain of? A garbage scout?"). Savage grabs Polo as Albano gets in a punch to the face to end the show.
This was a pretty good episode of Raw overall. The Razor/Jarrett match was solid and built to the Intercontinental title match against Diesel. The other enhancement matches with the bodies, the kid and Owen were all solid too. The only lulls were a Bam Bam match that was really flat and a King's Court segment that took ten minutes to explain something in three. Despite that, this was a Raw that did a good job in continuing storylines and keeping the show interesting in the coming months. The slowdown after Mania is finally over and thins are finally at least a little fired up. I give this Raw a B+.