We cold open Raw with Double J in the ring saying that he will be the king of the ring, and isn't afraid of the Undertaker. That changes immediately as the lights go off. I got a particular chuckle at Jarrett's "Get the flashlight" to the Roadie. After the intro, we go to vince and Lawler who run down tonight's show, including an interview with Diesel, who is recovering from elbow surgery. Also, we have another interview with Women's champ, Aludra Blayze. But Lawler is more interested in seeing his "sushi eating friend" Hakushi in action.
Opening action is Sid taking on Mike Khoury. Sid is flanked by Tatanka and Ted Dibiase. Sid takes Khoury to the corner and lands a flurry of hard fists. The crowd chants for Diesel as Sid yells at Koury. A grasp of the throat and a throw to the corner by Sid. Knoury tries for offense, but eats a boot. Sid drops Khoury with a powerbomb for the three in a quick, effective squash.
A nice touch, post match is Sid grabbing Khoury by the hair and yelling at him to tell Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow about how bad that powerbomb hurt.
We go to an interview with Diesel about his elbow injury, caused by Sid. Not caused so much by the powerbomb, but the sack-of-crap chokeslam at In Your House. It definitely sounds like a rough injury. Usually you hear about Nash's wafer thin quads, not so much his elbows injured.
Up next, it's Adam Bomb in action against Bob Cook. Some strikes by Cook, but gets caught with some hiptosses and some slams. He works the arm with an arm wringer and a leg drop to the arm. Cook continues some strikes as Lawler and McMahon have a helluva hard time trying to read the ad copy for the USA airing of Twilight Zone: The Movie. Some forearms by Adam Bomb and some more hiptosses. Adam Bomb finishes with the clothesline off the top buckle in a super bland quick squash.
It's time for the King of the Ring 1995 report with Todd Pettengill. Todd makes some Connie Chung jokes, as he finally runs down the card. So far, all that's added is Bam Bam and Diesel vs Sid and Tatanka. So, that confirms no title match at King of the Ring. Pettengill teases a match with Lawler and Bret, but Lawler is still not accepting any challenge from the hitman.
Jerry Lawler's "sushi eating friend" Hakushi is in action next against John Snakowski. Shinja has brought with him a burlap bag. Hakushi reaches in..
And pulls out a wax head of Bret Hart. I gotta admit, that's actually pretty creepy. Good use of mindgames against the hitman. On to the match itself, Headlock by Hakushi, followed by a shoulder block and a pair of chops to the throat. He brings Snakowski to the corner and lands more chops. Body slam by Hakushi followed by a stomp. He hits a second and a slingshot splash. "We want Bret" chants hit as Snakowski manages some strikes, but ends up whipped hard into the buckle. Hakushi slams Snakowski by the head, and follows with a front suplex and senton splash for the win in another quick squash.
Next up is the hall of fame inductions for the week. Ernie Ladd and "Polish Power" Ivan Puttski.
Vince is in the ring to interview Alundra Blayze. Lawler on commentary takes some shots on Blayze's nose "Last time I saw a nose like that it was picking up peanuts". Vince mentions the last time we saw her was her title win after Wrestlemania (though the last time we actually saw her was answering phones at In Your House). Vince brings up Bertha Faye's debut. Blayze says that she's ready for Bertha and her sidekick Harvey Whippleman. She is back in the WWF, stronger than ever and ready to keep the women's title for a long time.
Men on a Mission in action against Gary Scott and Aaron Ferguson. Scott gets some offense on Mo, landing a dropkick. Cover gets nothing. Arm wringer by Scott gets turned into a clothesline by Mo. Tag to Mabel as both of M.O.M hit a forearm. You can see a lot of people leaving for the bathroom/concession break during this match. Back body drop from Mabel to Scott. He follows with a body slam.
Tag to Mo, who gets caught in an arm drag takedown. Tag ot Ferguson who tries to work the arm, but gets tripped by Mo. Mo audibly yells "you piece of garbage" as he lands a kick to the face. Tag back to Mabel as both he and Mo slam Ferguson into the buckle. Mabel chokes ferguson on the rope then lands his massive weight on the draped neck. He throws Ferguson to Scott who tries offense, but gets caught in a sack-of-crap slam. Toss to the buckle and a splash followed by a belly to belly from Mabel in another dominant squash.
Even more King of the Ring report stuff this week. I guess we needed a lot of padding this week. this time it's the current qualified superstars for the tournament. Mabel, Bob Holly, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, and Kama are the current names entered with Undertaker and Jarrett to come tonight and Owen and Bulldog to come next week.
Up next it's our main event. Jeff Jarrett vs the Undertaker in a King of the Ring qualifier. Jarrett avoids an attack from Taker early on. He tries to avoid the dead man, exiting the ring and demanding a time out. Taker gives chase, however. When Taker gets in, Jarrett gets some attacks, but gets caught with a hairpull slam. He chokes Jarrett in the corner, to the discretion of the ref. Hard whips to the buckles as Jarrett still wants his time out. Taker wrings the arm and goes up for his old school rope walk clothesline. Taker follows with a headbutt. He goes for a clothesline, but gets his foot caught by the Roadie, but he's quick to get back at Jarrett with a boot and a scoop slam. He drops an elbow, but misses.
Jarrett manages to clothesline the Undertaker, but Taker no sells and goes to chokeslam the Roadie, but Jarrett gets an axe handle in. He distracts the ref as the Roadie gets some cheap shots on the outside. Jarrett drops the hip, keeping Taker out. Taker gets back in, and Jarrett goes in for the stomps. He lands a couple dropkicks, and covers for barely two. Jarrett chokes Taker on the rope and drops a leg on the draped Taker. He follows with a clothesline off the second buckle. Cover only gets a two.
Jarrett hammers the leg with some kicks. He drapes the leg of Taker on the rope, and drops his hip as we go to break. When we return, Jarrett still works on the leg, locking in a figure four. He uses the Roadie for leverage. Paul Bearer chases off the Roadie, pulling off his jacket in the process. Undertaker manages to get up in the kerfuffle and send Jarrett into the corner with a toss. However, Jarrett manages a neckbreaker. He lays some fists and fist drops. He goes to the second buckle, landing one more fist drop. Jarrett strups around as Taker sits up. Taker blocks some shots and boots Jarrett. Leaping clothesline from Taker, that barely connected. Jarrett goes back to the second buckle, but gets caught in a chokeslam. He lands a second chokeslam and finishes with a tombstone piledriver for win and the advance into the King of the Ring.
An okay at best match. Jarrett did his best to work in what is your basic no-sell Taker match. Once again the real star is the Roadie, whose antics were the most intriguing parts of this match. Plus Paul Bearer chasing the Roadie was the best part of this match bar none. Overall, not a strong match, but still okay at best.
Vince shills next week's matches. The Raw debut of Savio Vega, Man Mountain Rock, and Owen Hart vs the British Bulldog in a King of the Ring Qualifier.
We end Raw with a Bob Backlund Presidential video. He's gonna require that they listen to Beethoven and Bach, not rock and roll garbage. Just look at the crime rate!
Honestly, this was a very bland episode of Raw. The blandest in a while. You can tell that this was just the scraps of the tapings with super quick squashes and lackluster promos. Sid's was super quick, Adam Bomb's was super quick (memorable only for the promo flub from Lawler and Vince), Hakushi's was basic with the exception of pulling out the Bret head. Men on a Mission's squash was standard and Taker vs Jarrett was okay at best. Once again the star of the show was easily Bob Backlund, but there wasn't even enough of him to recommend this Raw. So a C- is the best I can give. As skippable as it gets.