Opening action tonight is Hakushi vs the new member of the corporation, the 1-2-3 Kid. Razor Ramon is on the phone talking about how the Kid sold him out and ripped him off. But he's no cry baby (says the man who picked a fight with a television), and he promises the Kid will pay. The snot nosed punk is nothing but small change. In terms of in ring work, Hakushi lands a shoulder block, a dropkick and an arm drag takedown. A speedy series of counters.
Marty Jannetty, another man who was screwed over by the Kid at Survivor Series, tries to interfere, but is held down by referees as we go to break. When we return, the kid is in full control, landing several kicks. He locks in a chinlock, but Hakushi breaks free, ducks a spin kick and gets some strikes to the throat. Kid avoids beind dropkicked and drops an elbow. Cover only gets a two. Body slam from the Kid who goes to the top rope, landing a splash. Cover gets only a two count.
Hakushi ducks a clothesline and lands a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Another series of strikes from Hakushi who keeps down the Kid. Whip to the buckle followed by a handspring elbow followed by a flying forearm. Cover just gets a two. Hakushi heads up top, landing a beautiful flying shoulder block. Cover till just gets a two. Big back body drop and kick to the face sends Kid tumbling outside. He goes up top, but Ted Dibiase shoves Hakushi off the ropes. Kid hits a spin kick for the win. Solid opener, felt like it took a bit to pick up, and definitely could have benefited from a longer match time, but for what we got, it was great stuff, as expected from both men.
Lawler interviews 1-2-3 Kid and Ted Dibiase. Dibiase is proud of his newest acquisition who single handedly defeated the underdogs. He mocks Marty, as Marty makes his way to the ring. However, Sid shows up and attacks him, saying that if he wants the Kid, he has to go through him. Both men pummel Marty.
With Sid giving the finishing blow of a powerbomb on the outside. He says that this is what Marty gets if he messes with the Kid or the master, the ruler of the world.
Dok Hendrix is full of piss and vinegar as he's hyped up over Survivor Series. It's time for the slam jam for In Your House 5 from Hershey, Pennsylvania. The main event is set up with Bret Hart vs the British Bulldog for the WWF title. In a pre-taped video, Bulldog says that he beat Bret before in 1992 and he'll do it again. He says that he is the better man. Also added to the card is the hog pen match with Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Henry O. Godwinn. The rules being that the only way to win is to throw your opponent into the hog pen. we're gonna get goofy in Hershey Park.
Barry Didinsky is at ringside for our merch of the evening and hoo boy is it bad looking. Some really ugly looking denim jackets with superstars on the back of them. Now I know I'm Canadian and the denim jacket is our tuxedo, but these are just gaudy as all hell.
Skip is in action next against Savio Vega. But the biggest story right now is Diesel arriving in the building and if he'll provide an explanation as to why he attacked Bret Hart after the title match. Skip tries a sneak attack, but Savio comes back with chops and a clothesline. Skip ducks a clothesline and catches Savio with an enziguri. Savio reverses a whip and catches Skip, launching him with a catapult into the buckle. Skip dodges Savio and lands a body press. Savio blocks a suplex and lands one of his own followed by a back body drop. Chops in the corner and a hiptoss by Savio follow.
But never mind this match, Diesel makes it to ringside. He throws Skip to the ground and asks for a microphone. He says that a lot of people are wondering where his head's at right now. He thought about it and thought he'd apologize for what he did to Bret and his fans. He doesn't think so. When he went back to his hotel room, he wondered if he'd get any sleep, but he slept like a baby for the first time in a year. He saw himself in the mirror, not a corporate puppet that Vince created. He talks about how he was made to be more corporate and politically correct, but what happened last night was the tip of the iceberg. Big Daddy Cool's back. All that matters to him is his family, his friends and only his fans. He'll only smack hands with people who wear black gloves.
Up next, it's the main event of the evening. Owen Hart vs Shawn Michaels. Shoulder blocks by Owen who covers for two. Hiptoss and another cover for two. A series of covers and escapes from both men early on. Shawn lands some arm drags and a dropkick that sends the King of Harts on the outside for a breather. He brings Owen into the ring and begins to work the arm. Owen escapes, but Shawn catches him with a hurricanrana, peppering some punches in. Owen comes back with a clothesline, sending Shawn out, and a baseball slide to the face.
Owen lands a German suplex, bridging for a two count. He lays in some strikes and a boot to the lower area. Backbreaker follows as Owen keeps working on the lower back. Whip to the buckle and a suplex by Owen. Cover only gets him a two. He goes in to the chinlock. Shawn breaks free, but Owen catches him with a spin kick as we go to break. When we return, Shawn is breaking from a chinlock again, only for Owen to land a neckbreaker. This is followed with a back body drop attempt, only for Shawn to get a back slide for a two count. Clothesline and a knee drop by Owen.
Both men brawl in the corner, but Owen is the dominant. He takes Shawn up for a superplex, but Shawn turns it around into a cross body, covering for two. Owen is first to get back up, but Shawn comes right back with a flying forearm. Whip to the buckle and another forearm follows. He slams Owen to the mat and goes up top for the elbow drop, connecting. Cover only gets a two. He whips Owen hard into the buckle, but Owen comes back with a hard enziguri. He goes for the Sharpshooter, but Shawn gets a thumb to the eye. Shawn escapes a back suplex and clotheslines Owen to the outside.
But Shawn suddenly collapses in the middle of the ring. Owen returns to the ring, not sure as to what's going on while Shawn lays motionless. Vince enters the ring as we go to break. When we return, EMTs are checking on Shawn, trying to put oxygen into his system. Even Lawler shows concern over the situation. We go to another break and return with Shawn still out cold. He seems to regain consciousness and is blinking as Raw goes off the air.
An interesting Raw to say the lest. We saw a decent opener with Hakushi and 1-2-3 Kid that, while it could have been better, still provided an entertaining match that continues to see Kid come off as an obnoxious Brat. Savio and Skip was decent, but an unimportant match as the focus was squarely on Diesel, who cut a solid worked shoot on Vince (one of the first times it feels like they've focused on Vince as the boss of the company). I already like this direction for Diesel than I have the dry year-long face run. But the biggest story of the show comes as Shawn Michaels losing consciousness during his decent match with Owen. For a product like Raw that usually ends with a lot of energy, seeing the show end on such a serious note is extremely jarring. I gotta hand it to the company, they've managed to make Shawn being a prick to a bunch of Marines and turned it into a sympathetic angle. Kudos to them. This Raw, while more angle focused than match-focused, was still an excellent show this week and worthy of an A- rating.
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