We open Raw where we left off last week. Deep within the scuttlebutt of last week's tag team title match. Due to Raw going off the air, Savio and Razor are getting a rematch against Owen Hart and Yokozuna. Also WWF champion Diesel is set to take on Sir Mo. In other news, we have a new interim WWF president in Gorilla Monsoon. Monsoon is the one who made this tag title rematch and also changed Sid vs Shawn Michaels at Summerslam to Shawn vs Razor in a ladder match.
And we open Raw with our tag title rematch. Razor and Yokozuna start as Yoko works Razor in the corner and goes for a clothesline, but Razor ducks and hits several clotheslines that barely fase Yoko. Yoko gets a scoop slam and goes for an elbow, but Razor avoids. Tag to Savio who works the arm with some strikes, but Owen gets tagged in. Savio locks in a top wristlock and stomps on Owen, covering for two. Headlock takedown, covering for two by Savio. Owen eventually breaks out, but Savio keeps the hold locked in and tags Razor. Hammerlock by Razor, but Owen gets a drop toe hold, only for Razor to keep the hold in. Owen counters, but Razor throws him out of the ring.
Savio throws Owen back into the ring. Razor tries some more wringers, but Owen pokes his eye. Tag to Yokozuna who hits some headbutts, following with an arm bar. Tag back to Owen. Razor escapes a headlock, but Yoko gets a cheap shot, allowing Owen to get a DDT and a neckbreaker, covering for two. Razor tries offense, but gets caught with an enziguri. Cover, but Razor gets the ropes. Yoko and Owen hit double headbutts as we go to break.
We come back from break as Owen uses the ropes for leverage pin, but Razor kicks out at two. Razor breaks out of a headlock, but Owen throws him right over the top rope. Tag to Yokozuna as Owen attacks Razor on the outside. Yoko lays in some right hands and uses the ropes to put his weight on Razor's neck. He follows with a patented long nerve hold. Razor breaks out, but Owen is tagged in, and catches Razor with a spinning heel kick. Cover only gets a two.
Razor reverses a hiptoss into a backslide, covering for two. Body slam by Owen, who goes up for a diving headbutt, and connects, covering for only two. Owen locks in a sleeper. After about a minute, Razor escapes the hold and hits Owen with a back suplex. Slow cover only gets two. Razor and Owen collide into each other. Owen tags in Yoko, and Razor finally tags in Savio. Savio hits several rights on Yoko, followed by some clotheslines and a spin kick that takes the big man down. Kick to Owen and a double noggin knocker on the champs. Owen and Yoko try a double clothesline, but Razor takes out Owen. However, Yoko gets a Samoan Drop and a leg drop for the win.
This was not as good as last week's match. Where last week's tag title match moved a lot faster with some great back and forth by all men, in this case we got a lot more slower hold spots, and way too much "face in peril" action, which bogged it down. Overall, despite the want to see a more satisfying conclusion to this match, this was definitely a bit deflating.
It's time for the report card with Dean Douglas as his lesson this week is on teamwork, focusing on Savio and Razor. He focuses on the fact that Savio distracted the referee from seeing the double team by the champs. And thus, since they showed poor teamwork, he gives them a grade of two T's, standing for "Terrible Twosome".
We have another visit to Dr. Isaac Yankem D.D.S. This week, we see him using x-rays. Lawler promises that at Summerslam, Bret Hart will be exposed by Yankem.
It's time to make a difference, because up next it's the Raw redebut of Fatu, taking on Tony Devito. Devito tries a sneak attack, but Fatu comes back with some strikes and a back body drop. Some rams into the buckle by Fatu, who hasn't taken his hat off yet. Devito tries to ram Fatu into the buckle, but it doesn't work, and he eats a kick to the face for his troubles. USA Network shill: An Officer and a Gentleman. Fatu catches Devito in a power slam. He takes Devito to the corner and lays in the ten count punchest. Running neckbreaker and a splash off the top gets the win for Fatu in a decent squash match.
It's the Summerslam Insider with Todd Pettengill. We get an interview with Gorilla Monsoon as we run down the card.
Diesel defends the WWF title against King Mabel.
Shawn Michaels defends the intercontinental title against Razor Ramon in a ladder match
Bret Hart vs Isaac Yankem D.D.S
Undertaker vs Kama
Gorilla is happy to be interim president because he won't be one to make any sort of dirty politics or become corrupt. He intends to be the most fan friendly WWF president in history. He also makes a Women's title match between Alundra Blayze and Bertha Faye (remember the both of them?)
Kama is in action next against Troy Haiste. The Undertaker fans are still at ringside with the wreath. Kama puts his attention to them and destroys the wreath. He brings Troy back into the ring and lays in some body shots. Sid is on the phone line and is in a rage for losing his match against Michaels at Summerslam, believing this was a setup by Gorilla and Michaels. Kama wins with an arm bar in a fast squash.
It's Barry Didinsky's shirt of the week, and hoo boy is it a bad one. It's a Shawn Michaels shirt with many of Shawn's "classic sayings like "Punishing Effectiveness" "To the Mat" and
GoDs' Gift to Wom.
It's our main event next. It's Sir Mo taking on WWF Champion Diesel. After some stalling, Diesel takes Mo to the corner, but Mo gets a cheap shot and lays in some strikes, boots and a rake to the face. Diesel takes Mo into the corner again and lands some knees, following with a big clothesline. Cover by Diesel only gets a two. Mo gets a thumb to the eye and lands some headbutts. He tries to clothesline Diesel to little effect, but a spinning heel kick does the trick to take the champ off his feet. Cover only gets a two.
Some forearms by Diesel followed by a body slam. He drops his leg to the draped neck of Mo and a cover only gets two. Diesel lands a boot that sends Mo tumbling out of the ring. This is enough to bring King Mabel over to ringside. Diesel notices the king who trash talks the champ. Mo throws Diesel to the outside. As Mabel goes to attack Diesel, Shawn Michaels makes the save. However, Mo throws Diesel into the post as we go to break.
Diesel kicks out of a cover as we return. Mo drops an elbow and covers, but Diesel escapes again. He locks in a rear naked choke, dropping his weight on the lower back. Mo ascends the top buckle and drops an elbow, but Diesel escapes before it has the chance to land. Diesel gets some strikes and a sidewalk slam. He follows by landing a really good looking big boot. Diesel calls for a jackknife and drops him much better than he does most men. Diesel gets the win.
Before Diesel can celebrate, Mabel attacks him from behind and drops the leg. Shawn Michaels enters the ring and lays some shots to the king, hitting a dropkick that sends Mabel falling out of the ring. He goes for a plancha, but Mabel catches him and slams him back first into the post several times. He stomps on Michaels, but Diesel hits an ax handle off the apron on Mabel, sending him and mo on the retreat. Lawler laughs in glee at Shawn's pain hoping Shawn is hurt enough for him next week as the King will take on Shawn Michaels.
Overall, a really good main event. Mo worked well with Diesel, offering some solid offense. Everything looked good, his heeling was excellent, as was his trash talk. While he's often (literally and figuratively) eclipsed by Mabel, Mo definitely presents himself as the workhorse of the two members of Men on a Mission. Diesel also looked good, putting in some solid offense of his own. But what made the match great was the post-match stuff as we build the heated feud with Mabel and Diesel, while still trying to push Shawn Michaels as the mega face. And it all plays well into what will be next week's main event with Michaels and Lawler. So, for a main event leading to Summerslam, this one worked fine.
And that's a good way to describe this Raw. Fine. Nothing bad at all. I wouldn't say anything incredible, but what we got was definitely satisfying. The tag title rematch disappointed, but was still a good match. Diesel vs Mo was no classic, but both men worked great with each other and there was some awesome post-match action. Fatu looked good in his re-debut and everything feels like it's moving in the right direction as we reach Summerslam. And that's enough for this Raw to earn a B+