It's April 3rd, 1995. We're now one day past what was not the worst, but definitely one of the most mediocre Wrestlemanias of all time. Diesel retained his championship against Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart and Yokozuna became tag team champions, Lawrence Taylor nearly killed himself taking on Bam Bam Bigelow, and some other bland stuff happened. The Days of Diesel are still very much still in effect, and the destination is now set for May 14th and the debut of In Your House.
Opening action tonight is Bob Holly taking on Hakushi. Small "USA" chants already fill before we begin. Headlock by Holly followed by a shoulder block. Hakushi leapfrogs, but gets caught as Holly executes a big dropkick. The 1-2-3 Kid also shows up suddenly to even the odds in case Shinja does anything. Holly leapfrogs Hakushi and lands a big hiptoss. Arm bar by Holly, until Hakushi takes him to the corner and lands a spin kick to the midsection. Hard whip to the corner on Holly. Hakushi goes for the attack, but Holly dodges. He tries a cross body, but misses.
Owen and Yokozuna head to ringside to add more support for Hakushi. He continues to wring the arm of Holly. more "USA" chants as Hakushi hits some shoulder breakers. Knee drop to the arm and a cover for two by Hakushi.
Meanwhile, outside of the ring, Owen goes to attack the kid, but gets a spin kick for his troubles. The Kid keeps Owen at bay, but Yokozuna slowly waddles his way over to hit the kid with a hard kick. Meanwhile, Holly stops a superplex attempt and lands a flying clothesline, sending both men down. Holly ducks a clothesline and lands a big chop. Irish whip and a back body drop. Cover by Holly for two. He lands another dropkick, covering for two. Holly is in control, until Yokozuna trips him. Running senton by Hakushi gets the three.
A bit of a slow match overall, with far too much work on the arms and shoulders from both men. In fact, the best stuff out of it was the outside shenanigans. It did pick up at the end with a lot of fire from Holly, but still not enough to make this come off as amazing. I am intrigued at this alliance of sorts from the tag champs and Hakushi at the very least.
Jim Ross is taking the duties of the Wrestlemania report. Of course, since the show has passed, this is mainly a recap of the big matches. Particularly that of Lawrence Taylor versus Bam Bam Bigelow. At the poost-Mania press conference, Bam Bam is distraught, worried about his standing with the Million Dollar Corporation. Definitely sounds more like the shift to a face turn for Bigelow.
Vince is in the ring with Diesel, who is still in good spirits after his victory at Wrestlemania. Diesel says that if it wasn't for Sid getting involved, pulling out the referee, he almost would be the one asking for a rematch, not Shawn Michaels. He says that Shawn Michaels deserves a rematch. In terms of their former friendship, there was a debt of grattitude he owed Michaels at Mania, and he does owe Michaels a rematch. He warns Michaels that Sid is not his friend and tells Shawn not to bring Sid with him at the rematch.
Up next is the Allied Powers taking on Well Dunn. McMahon refers to Luger and Davey Boy as FDR and Churchill personified. Bulldog and Steven Dunn start as Bulldog gets a press slam. Luger tries one on Timothy Well, but near drops him too early. Tag to Luger as they hit a double elbow. Cover for two. Dunn gets a cheap shot, allowing Well to get in a spin kick and a cheap shot of his own to Bulldog. Some double teaming and double stomping. Cover for two from Steven Dunn.
Tag to Well who lands a clothesline off the top buckle for a two count. Well goes for a back drop, but Luger turns it around into a facebuster. Tag to Bulldog and Dunn as Bulldog lands a big clothesline and a back body drop. Power slam and a cover for two as Well breaks the hold. Whip to the buckle sends Well flying. Hart Attack using the loaded Luger forearm gets the three for the Allied Powers. A pretty sloppy match honestly.
Up next it's the WWF Women's Title on the line. Women's Champion Bull Nakano defending against Alundra Blayze. Cornette brings up that next week's Raw will have Owen Hart, Yokozuna and Hakushi take on The Allied Powers and Bret Hart in a six man tag. Nakano blindsides Blayze with a belt shot early on. She slams Blayze's face to the mat and goes to the second buckle. Blayze recovers and hits a picture perfect hurricanrana. Nakano gets a clothesline and a pair of massive hairpull takedowns. Hard clothesline and a leg drop for a two count.
Nakano bends the leg of Blayze backwards. Blayze crawls to the ropes and forces the break. Nakano takes ot the top rope and pulls the hair of Blayze, following with a bulldog. Blayze quickly recovers, landing some neckbreakers. Irish whip and a spin kick by Blayze followed by dropkicks off the second turnbuckles. Cover only gets a two. Bull tries to counter, but Blayze gets a sunset flip, but Nakano drops her weight on her. Nakano follows with an Angelito lock.
Bull Nakano hits a piledriver, but only gets a two count. She goes to the top rope, but Blayze lands a dropkick, sending Nakano tumbling to the floor. Blayze launches herself off the top buckle to the outside on to Nakano. She goes for a headscissors, but Nakano turns it into a powerbomb for a two count. Massize body slam by Nakano, who goes back to the top and hits a large leg drop for two.She tries a german suplex, but Blayze rolls her up for two. Clothesline by Nakano is turned to a German Suplex by Blayze for two. A second German Suplex only gets two.
Nakano sends Blayze tumbling to the steps, then tries a suicide dive and misses. German Suplex by Blayze on the outside. Nakano reverses a whip, sending Blayze crashing into the steps. Both women get back in and lands another body slam. Nakano goes up, but misses a moonsault. One more German Suplex gets the three to win Alundra Blayze back the WWF Women's title.
An absolute barn burner of a women's title match. Both Nakano and Blayze were incredible as always. Lots of fast offense. Lots of aerial maneuvers. Plenty of near falls. Much like all of the battles these women have had, it never slowed down for a second. Both women pulled off spots and moves that the men would never do. It's been a long time since Raw has had a match this top quality and it shows. A perfect way to end the feud. And yes, I mean end it because it's time to say goodbye again.
This pretty much spells the end of Bull Nakano's run with the WWF. The reason being that she was found with possession of cocaine and was fired very shortly after this title match. A terrible way for a great worker like Nakano to exit the company. Hence why this match happened so suddenly, and why we had a quick title change. Bull Nakano's work, though we didn't see enough of it on this blog was some of the best wrestling I've seen doing this hundred plus reviews and she will be sorely missed. As for Alundra Blayze...
She doesn't get too much time to celebrate as a massive woman shows up and starts attacking her. This is Rhonda Singh, or as we'll soon know her, Bertha Faye. Wearing all black with her face covered by a mask and her hair, she straight up destroys Blayze for a couple minutes before we go to break. So right now, it's definitely an interesting idea and a unique foil for Blayze. Sigh... stay tuned to see how they screw this up.
We return from break as the newly heel Men on a Mission get a cheap shot on their opponents Tony Roy and Ben Jordan. They're now sporting black mohawks and are without their manager Oscar. The reason for the latter being Oscar was not happy with the decision to turn Men on a Mission from positive fun loving babyfaces to stereotypical black thugs. Mabel chokes Roy. With the ref distracted, both of M.O.M stomp down Jordan. Hard whip to the buckle and a massive sidewalk slam on Jordan by Mabel. He throws Jordan to Tony Roy, but eats a wheel kick. Tag to Mo who chokes Roy on the rope. Vince mentions that the upcoming In Your House PPV will feature a contest to actually win a house. More on that when we get to the PPV itself. Avalanche in the corner from Mabel and a belly to belly for the three. Impressive squash, but I'm also not the biggest fan of this new heel variation.
Vince is back in the ring with Shawn Michaels and Sid. Shawn says that he is sore from head to toe and he feels like he's been run over by a steam roller. "A DIESEL powered steamroller" chimes in Vince. Shawn talks about the past with Diesel, but there is nothing more important than the WWF title. He accepts the challenge to the rematch, promising to return the favor if he wins. He says that he can live without a bodyguard, much to the annoyance of Sid. He blames Sid for costing him the WWF title. He says that Sid is given the night off at the rematch.
Sid mumbles his way through his promo to say that Shawn is getting an ego. He rants at Shawn as we go to break abruptly. Perhaps too abruptly as when we return, he's already laid out Shawn. Diesel makes the save for Shawn, sending Sid in retreat as we end Monday Night Raw.
An excellent edition of Monday Night Raw following what was a mediocre Wrestlemania event. A heavy focus on storyline building and character turns with far less half assed enhancement matches. Holly/Hakushi was fine for the shenanigans surrounding the ring, The Allied Powers had a sloppy match, but nothing horrible, and Men on a Mission, while their turn has been questionable put on a solid squash. The real standouts for this episode are easily an amazing women's title match and the face turn for Shawn Michaels. Frankly I'm happier to see Shawn move on from being aligned with Sid since I never felt they "kliqued". For the first time in a long time, and in what has been a sea of mediocre to horrible Raws, this was a must-watch affair, worthy for the first A+ in a while.