Raw is continuing its taping in Lowell, Massachusetts. Savage and McMahon are at the table. A big card tonight with Jerry Lawler finally taking on Duke "The Dumpster" Droese. Also on board tonight is a special interview with the unhinged Bob Backlund. But opening Raw this week is Lex Luger taking on The Executioner. We opened Raw with a recap of Tatanka's heel turn from Summerslam and his quick change to being a greedy douche. I always knew I hated the guy for a reason.
A pretty decent reaction for Luger as he starts with a side headlock followed by a shoulder block. After fixing his trunks again Luger goes right back into a headlock, but the Executioner escapes. He tries a splash, but Luger gets a school boy for two. Small package by Luger for two. The Executioner beats down on Luger some more. Luger jumps a back drop and gets in some big clotheslines. Powerslam by Luger who finishes the match off with the Torture Rack (or Rebel Rack as Vince coins it). I'm shocked. This was actually a decent squash match from Luger. Due in part to it being as quick as possible before Luger gassed out.
Up next it's Jerry "The King" Lawler vs Duke "The Dumpster" Droese. Pre-match, Lawler grabs the mic and mocks the crowd for not showing him respect. He goes into Duke Droese, calling him filth and trash. Well, considering we know the man sleeps in dumpsters, that's not entirely false. Droese arrives with a trash can in tow. He chases after Lawler, who backs off. After a long bit of stalling, Lawler gets a headlock in, only to get thrown off. Lawler complains to the ref about a pull of the hair and a tug of the tights and stalls some more. Lawlere tries a strike, but gets hit with a clotnesline, sending him in retreat.
After even more stalling, Droese takes Lawler to the corner and lands a hiptoss. He follows with some more strikes in the corner. Lawler retreats again as the "Burger King" chants get louder. Lawler tries a whip to Droese, but is denied. Hard whip to the buckle and a back body drop by Droese, who sends Lawler out in retreat yet again. We come back from a commercial break as Lawler pulls something out of his tights and asks for a test of strength. But Droese doesn't trust him. He eventually falls for it, and gets a fistful of something to the face. He rams Droese to the buckle and lands several big strikes to the face.
Lawler gets in several more closed fist strikes and chokes Droese on the ropes. He lands a fist drop, but stalls on the cover as Droese throws him off at two. Lawler sets up a piledriver and lands it. He goes for the trash can...
But there's a Dink in it! He squirts Lawler, who gives chase, getting himself counted out. Lawler goes to the ref to complain, but gets bitten in the ass by Dink. Lawler gives chase, but ends up tripped by Droese allowing for Dink to slap him around. Lawler manages to escape before anything else can happen. Lawler goes for the trash can, but Doink sneaks up behind him. Lawler escapes through the crowd as Doink and Dink laugh it off. Have I mentioned that I hate Doink and Dink?
A pretty boring match. Not that I don't mind Lawler's classic heel work, it was in top form. It just felt way too long and with way too many stalling spots. And of course the addition of Dink and face Doink just made this a chore to watch.
Up next it's the Heavenly Bodies (without Jim Cornette) taking on Steve King and Mike Bell. The Bodies start with offense early on hitting a double team move. Northern lights suplex from Jimmy Del Ray, who follows by sending King face first into the boot of Tom Pritchard. Pritchard is tagged in who lands a big vertical suplex and an elbow drop. Tag to Del Ray who goes for a back drop, but gets caught in a sunset flip for two. He comes back with a hard clothesline. He lands a dropkick and tags in Pritchard who gets a gutwrench powerbomb. One more tag to Del Ray who lands a moonsault for the three with Mike Bell not even tagged in. Fun squash with lots of great looking offense. Shame there was no gyration sensation however.
Vince is in the ring with Bob Backlund. He brings up Backlund's amateur background and how lately he's snapped after his loss to Bret Hart a few weeks ago. The very mention of the hitman causing a "we want Bret" chant. Backlund however still believes that he's the WWF champion. His standards are too high for the plebeians for this world. Society today is corrupt. They have principals that drive around just like women (What). He used to love the people, but they destroyed the world around them. He put the chicken wing on Bret Hart so that he could put it on the plebeians.
The crowd chants "has been" but Backlund calls them too weak. They can't go on a diet for more than one day. 50% of the American people can't read. He claims that if anyone could find an escape from the chicken wing, he'll retire from wrestling for good. He challenges Vince to a fight, but Vince instead tells him to challenge someone from the back. He instead challenges Lou Gianfriddo, a writer for WWF Magazine, to the ring. Lou, being a stupid man, is more than fine with being locked.
Backlund throttles the ever loging crap out of Louie, locking him in the chicken wing. Vince gets extremely concerned when he realizes "Oh right, this guy's not a wrestler. Maybe you should let him go." and Vince even tries to yank him off the hold. Backlund keeps the chicken wing applied as officials enter the ring. Savage even has enough as he gets in to try and break the hold. Eventually Backlund breaks the hold as the officials, Vince and Savage all try to keep him away from Louie. Backlund looks at his hands like a maniac again. He tells the fans to call him Mr. Backlund, and tells him that that's what discipline is all about.
While a bit long, this segment was amazing. It sells Backlund as a luatic, sells the devastation of the Chicken wing, and shows for how out there he is, Backlund is a threat and that the chicken wing is something to get concerned about. Also I can't help but get a chuckle at Vince actually trying to be physical at a time where he was still just the guy behind the desk. Also Savage's "The hell with Tunney" line was great too, reminding us about his ban from getting involved.
Up next is Sparky Plugg in action against Richie Rich. Sadly he's not facing a wealthy child who lives a life without incident, just a generic bald jobber. Vince and Savage are still focused on Backlund and not focused on the match. In the ring, Sparky work the arm and locks in a headlock. He gets in a hiptoss and works the arm some more. Rich whips Sparky into the corner, but is met with a big clothesline. Sparky hits a dropkick and lands a cross body for three in a nothing match.
Our last match for the night is Yokozuna against Phil Apollo. No sign of Mr. Fuji or Jim Cornette with Yoko this evening. They bring up the Hart Attack tour, which coming from Savage just feels awkward in hindsight. Yoko tosses Apollo to the corner. Apollo tries to work the arm, but gets a strike for his trouble. Big elbow to the face by Yoko while Vince and Savage are more focused on a 40 foot inflatable Undertaker. Punches in the corner by Yoko followed by a stomp to the face. "USA" chants fill the arena. USA Network shill of the week: The Haunting of Seacliff Inn. Ally Sheedy getting a mention. Yoko wins with the Banzai Drop in a generic squash. Undertaker's gong goes off, causing Yoko to run in retreat.
A for the most part underwhelming edition of Raw. The Lawler/Droese match was boring, Yoko and Sparky's squashes were bland, and Luger's squash was okay at best. I did enjoy the Heavenly Bodies squash, and the best part of the show was easily Bob Backlund. The man is a certifiable maniac and I love every second of it. Easily becoming the highlight of a waning product. Overall though, even with Backlund, I give this Raw a C+.
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