We open Raw with a recap of the Shawn Michaels/Double J situation from last week's Raw, with promise that we'll see the promo cut from last week's broadcast. But the bigger focus is on the main event of Sid vs Bam Bam Bigelow. Basic "ruler of the world" stuff from Sid and Bam Bam promising to set Sid on fire, even popping off a bit of pyro from his wrist. Nice touch.
Jerry Lawler is back on commentary, chugging a bottle of scope. He promises that later tonight we'll take a look into the offices of his personal dentist Dr. Isaac Yankem D.D.S.
Opening action is the 1-2-3 Kid in action against Mike Bell. Kid escapes a headlock early while Vince mocks Lawler's break. Snapmare by the kid followed by a headlock. Big leaping clothesline by Kid who covers for two. Kid runs to the corner, but gets caught with a boot to the face from Bell. Powerslam by Bell, who covers for two. Bell locks in a headlock as Vince sings "Yummy yummy yummy, I got toejam in my tummy." Say what you will of this era, at least Vince comes off like he's having fun.
Shoulder block by Bell, but the Kid follows up with a leapfrog and a dropkick. He goes for a dive, but Bell avoids, so Kid leaps off the apron instead. Kid hits some chops and a spin kick followed by a whip and another spin kick. Roll up gets the three for the Kid in a bland squash that was more fun with Vince on commentary than the actual match.
Todd Pettengill is back with the In Your House report. The card has been stacked with title matches, including Diesel vs Sid in a lumberjack match, Jeff Jarrett defending the Intercontinental title against Shawn Michaels after Jarrett gave Michaels a title shot last week after Raw went off the air. Also Owen Hart and Yokozuna defending the tag team titles against The Allied Powers. Also the Roadie will take on the 1-2-3 Kid.
Up next it's the music video for "With My Baby Tonight", Double J's big music debut. It definitely sounds pretty good for a country music song. But, oddly enough, it certainly doesn't sound much like Jarrett. In fact, it actually sounds a bit more like... Nah. The first live performance does go down at In Your House and when it comes to Mr. Jarrett, we'll get into a lot about him on that night.
Bob Holly is in action next against The Brooklyn Brawler. Shoulder block by Brawler, but he gets caught with a hiptoss and some arm work. Brawler misses a charge in the corner and gets caught in the wristlock again. Brawler takes Holly to the corner and hits some shoulders to the midsection. Holly gets out and gets a drop toe hold on Brawler. Brawler manages to get a shot to the sternum and begins to lay in some shots. He grinds Holly's eyes in the ropes then takes him to the corner. Whip is countered with a boot and clothesline by Holly. Irish whip and dropkick by Holly who covers for two. He goes up top and lands a flying cross body for three in another bland squash.
Henry O. Godwinn is up next against Barry Horowitz. We recap Superstars over the weekend where Godwinn poured his bucket of slop over Adam Bomb. In-ring, Godwinn hits some clubbing blows until Horowitz turns it around into an arm wringer. However Godwinn is still in control as the crowd actually chants for Barry. Godwinn drops an elbow to the back of Barry's head and continues to put his foot down. He follows up with a clothesline. Nonchalant cover by Godwinn followed by a slam. He goes to the second buckle and drops a knee to the face. Barry tries to escape out of the corner, getting a knee to the nose, and escaping a charge in the corner. Barry gets some offense, but misses a dropkick, allowing Godwinn to hit a slop drop for three in the best squash so far at least.
Barry Didinsky is in the crowd for our product shill of the week, and it looks to be quite a few items including a new Bam Bam Bigelow shirt, a Shawn Michaels shirt, and a shirt for "Adam Bomb's Bomb Squash" complete with little nerf bomb toy.
Up next it's our actual main event as Sid takes on Bam Bam Bigelow. Godwinn is still at ringside as Dibiase gives him the nod that he could be added to the lumberjacks. Godwinn then goes up the entrance way to block Bam Bam from getting to the ring. After a shove off, both men brawl until officials break it up.
We finally get into action as Bam Bam takes Sid to the corner early on, until he backs off. There are ashes falling from the ceiling from Bam Bam's pyro (Vince blames it on Lawler's breath). Sid throws Bam Bam to the corner and gets a cheap shot to the face. Sid taunts the crowd for a bit as he locks in a headlock, only for Bam Bam to shove him off, but Sid catches him with a shoulder block. However Bam Bam comes back with a bigger shoulder block to take down Sid. Dibiase distracts Bam Bam, but he catches Sid. DDT by Bam Bam. He goes up top for a headbutt, but Dibiase distracts him. Bam Bam gives chase, but Sid gets a shot in.
Sid gets a boot in on Bam Bam and follows with a few more kicks to the abdomen. He brings Bam Bam back in and lands another boot. He hits yet another boot. He goes for another, but Bam Bam catches it, but Bam Bam misses an enziguri and gets hit with... yep... another boot. When we return from commercial break, Sid locks Bam Bam in a chinlock, until Bam Bam escapes through sheer force. However, he runs into another boot. Sid hits a sack-of-crap chokeslam and sets up a powerbomb, but Bam Bam gets a back body drop and a headbutt. Bam Bam goes back up, but Dibiase distracts the referee as Godwinn knocks Bigelow off the ropes. Sid rolls on to Bam Bam for the win. Post-match, Sid drops Bam Bam with a sack-of-crap powerbomb.
Overall, an okay match. Nothing incredible. Good heel antics from Dibiase and Godwinn, and some great offense from Bam Bam. Sid was fine, nothing offensive, but man oh man was he just spamming big boot spots. Overall, an okay enough match to build to Sid's shot against Diesel at In Your House.
"Lives are gonna be in Waylon Mercy's hands." It's time for our last match of the night. It's the debuting Waylon Mercy taking on Brother Nero. Decked in a Hawaiian shirt and a dagger tattooed to his head, he gives handshakes to the ref and Jeff before he follows with some open fists. He follows with some hard boots to the ribs of Jeff and follows with a hard clothesline. USA Network Shill of the week: The Star Wars Trilogy. Ah, back when it was a trilogy.
Crisp belly to belly suplex on Jeff by Mercy who then slams Jeff hard into the mat face first a few time. He drops Jeff throat first into the ropes a couple times as Jeff takes a great few bounce off it. Nonchalant cover as Mercy releases it. He lands a body slam and a diving leg drop. Another nonchalant cover as he breaks it. He finishes with a brainbuster and a sleeper as he looks deranged. Overall, a very good debut squash. Nothing looked sloppy and Jeff sold great.
We go to Lawler's dentist's office as Jerry berates a kid for reading National Geographic. He tells Bret Hart that he's going to soon be visiting Lawler's dentist Isaac Yankem D.D.S. The kid mocks his breath as Lawler promises that Yankem will practice pain on the hitman. We see as a man leaves with his mouth full of blood.
And we see one Isaac Yankem, mouth full of rotten choppers. That's gotta be... That's gotta be Kane! Yep, Isaac Yankem is played by Glenn Jacobs. Jacobs is coming out of Lawler's USWA, and has been brought up to the WWF. Originally under his character Unabomb, until being given the opportunity to be brought in as Jerry Lawler's personal dentist. While perhaps among the most odd of his gimmicks in the WWF, it is of course far from the most iconic.
We end Raw with a shill of the card next week, including the Roadie in action, Savio in action (Aaaaargh!), and the main event of the Allied Powers vs Henry Godwinn and Tatanka. Yes, Luger and Tatanka wrestling AGAIN!!!
A pretty forgettable edition of Raw this week. I enjoyed Waylon Mercy's squash with Jeff Hardy, and thought Sid vs Bam Bam was okay, but that's really it. None of the squashes were amazing and the in-ring was mostly bland throughout. When the best thing of Raw is Vince being a dick about Lawler's toe breath, then there really isn't much to talk about. So, overall a C edition of Raw.