We open Raw with a promo package between IRS and Bam Bam Bigelow. Irwin is going to put a lean on Bam Bam's tattoos while Bam Bam promises to go through all of the Million Dollar Corporation, starting with IRS. he's going to do what all the American people want to do, beat up the tax man. Raw is live in Binghamtam, New York in the Broom County Memorial Arena. It's Vince and Lawler at ringside as Lawler is grinning like a cheshire cat over his victory over Bret Hart at In Your House. He claims that he won all by himself, obviously omitting the Shinja and Hakushi involvement.
Opening action tonight is the WWF Tag Team champions Owen Hart and Yokozuna taking on Bill Weaver and Nick Barberi. Owen goes over to Lawler to congratulate him for his victory against Bret the previous evening. Cornette mocks someone in the crowd claiming the person is what happens when a fetus doesn't get enough oxygen.
Owen starts with a shove to Barbery. Tag in to Weaver as they try to clothesline Yoko, but eat a double clothesline from the big man. Tag to Owen who gets a few uppercuts and a stomp to the lower extremities. Irish whip and a spin kick by Owen followed by a dropkick. Barberi comes in, but ges caught with a drop toe hold and an arm bar. Barberi reverses a whip and lands a hiptoss. He wrenches the arm and tags to Weaver who continues with the wringers. Owen ducks Weaver and gets a knee to the gut. Tag to Yoko as the duo land a double wishbone. Urinage on Weaver gets the three for the tag champs. Decent squash, but boy did they rush the ending. Guessing it had a lot to do with how gassed he's getting. Getting him in and out immediately will do fine.
After recapping the Bret Hart/Lawler match from In Your House, Vince tells us that Jim Ross has some big info on the hitman, and shills the Superstar line. That's right, Vince wants your dollar. And if you're Canadian, he wants your loonie.
Man Mountain Rock (And his bad ass guitar) is up next against "Iron" Mike Sharpe. Sharpe tries to take down Man Mountain Rock with some charging attack, but nothing doing. Man Mountain Rock gets a clothesline and an elbow drop. Vince shills Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom as Man Mountain Rock wins with an arm bar. That was the quickest squash in a while.
After recapping the house win and the handicap match, Vince interviews Savio Vega, the man who interfered in the Razor/Jarrett/Roadie 2-on-1 match. He rants in spanish, until he finally apologizes for what happened. He did it for his friend Razor. He continues to rant in spanish as we end the interview. The scars on Savio's head are amazing.
Barry Didinski is in the crowd shilling Diesel vs Sid t-shirts from In Your House. Guess they didn't sell as many as they hoped as Vince is trying to get them out as quickly as possible. Oh yeah, Sid and Diesel totally blew the roof off the house. Those two camel clutch spots blew my mind, man.
Up next is the King of the Ring qualifier between Bob Holly and Mantaur. Our second appearance of Jim Cornette this evening. Throw into the corner by Mantaur to start offense. Holly tries a lock up, but gets tossed through the ropes. Holly lands a couple dropkicks, but can't take him down. Shoulder block by Mantaur. Holly ducks a clothesline, but a hiptoss attempt is met with a body slam by the cow man. He follows with a power slam, covering for a two count. He chokes Holly on the ropes followed by a drop of his heavy weight on the draped Holly. He follows with a headbutt.
Holly tries to fight out of the corner, but eats some clubbing fists and a sidewalk slam by Mantaur. Vertical suplex by Mantaur, who covers, but Holly kicks out. Vince shills Shawn Michaels vs King Kong Bundy as Mantaur whips Holly hard into the buckle, and follows with a ram. He follows with a second whip and a charge, but Holly avoids and manages a roll up for two. Whip by Mantaur, but Holly gets a dropkick and a series of clotheslines that can't take Mantaur down. He goes up top and hits a missile dropkick. Cover only gets two. He goes back up and lands a cross body to get the three on the cow man and to advance in the tournament.
This was actually an okay match. Mantaur put in some decent offense. Much more offense than I was expecting. I will say that the fluke win ending felt a bit lame, but considering the size mismatch, it's the only logical way to end this match. Plus, between the two men involved, Holly is the more logical choice to go in the tournament. We already have one monster involved in Mabel, we don't need a cow man in as well.
Vince is in the ring with Mr. Bob Backlund. Backlund talks about his massive revelation that he had back at Wrestlemania. Remember when he said that he saw the light after losing his "I Quit" match with Bret Hart. There are a lot of things that have happened in his life that have been wonderful. He brings up the likes of the Olympics, the Independence of the US and the sinking of the Titanic. And December 22nd of 1983 when John F Kennedy was shot (Ummmm). In other words, he's gone crazier than usual. He brings up winning his WWF title win in 1978 and his second win in 1994. He's gone so insane that he's getting choked up. He stalls even longer until he finally reveals that he is contemplating running for President of the United States.
And entire marching band arrives as fireworks shoot above the arena. He has camaign buttons, signs and everything. Backlund marches out of the arena with his band and picketers. I gotta admit, he already has my vote. Say what you will about his insanity, I still trust him more than I do Trump.
We get an interview earlier in the day with Jim Ross asking Dibiase on his thoughts on IRS's match with Bigelow. He says that Bam Bam will put the biggest audit on Bam Bam's life. If there's anything left of Bigelow, why don't he and Diesel team up against Sid and... sigh... Tatanka...
It's IRS vs Bam Bam Bigelow next. Bam Bam has some new gimmicks including a babyface theme, flamethrowers on his arms, and weak looking flame pyro. Bam Bam took the words of Dibiase to heart as he introduces WWF Champion Diesel, who is in the corner of Bam Bam for tonight's action. Diesel chases off Dibiase, sending the Million Dollar Man to the back.
Bam Bam starts with a whip, Irwin ducks, but Bam Bam comes back with an atomic drop, sending the tax man spilling outside. Vince mentions a leg injury on Bam Bam caused by Tatanka on the In Your House pre-show. Irwin comes back in with some elbows, but Bam Bam comes back with an elbow. He tries a headbutt, but misses. Bam Bam goes for a punch, but Irwin slides out, just to run into Diesel, who throws him back in as we go to break.
Bam Bam returns into offense as we return. He goes up for a diving headbutt, but misses as Irwin gets out of the way. Irwin hits several clotheslines, until finally succeeding to knock down Bam Bam. Cover gets only a two. He drops a couple elbows and covers again for two. Chinlock by Irwin as the crowd gets behind Bigelow. He follows with an abdominal stretch, but it's a rare occurance where he doesn't use the ropes for leverage. Bam Bam breaks out, but misses a charge in the corner. Irwin goes for a charge himself, but misses. However he's quick to keep the offense on Bam Bam.
Irish whip and a back elbow by Irwin. He follows by pulling off the turnbuckle padding, causing Bam Bam to crash head first into the exposed steel. Irwin covers, using his feet on the rope, but Diesel swats them off. Irwin gets distracted and tries again, but Bam Bam smashes Irwin into the steel and follows with a headbutt. Overall, an okay little match. Basic stuff from both men. Sid and Tatanka make their way to ringside as we go to break.
We end Raw with a video package promoting the return of Shawn Michaels next week. It ends with King Kong Bundy promising that Shawn won't be back for long after next week.
Overall, a pretty basic edition of Raw. Some decent squashes in the Yokozuna/Owen tag and the super fast Man Mountain Rock match. Holly vs Mantaur was better than expected, but surprisingly that praise goes mostly to the cow man. And Bam Bam vs IRS was about as basic as expected from both men. Essentially just storyline building to get us close to King of the Ring. As for the Bob Backlund stuff, it was some great amazing Backlund craziness, but I gotta admit that it went way too long. So, the final tally for this Raw is a B rating.