Monday Night Raw
January 23, 1995
Palmetto, FL
Manatee Civic Center

The current WWF champs were as follows:
World Champion: Diesel (11/26/1994)
Intercontinental Champion: Jeff Jarrett (1/22/1995)
World Tag Team Champions: 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly (1/22/1995)
Women’s Champion: Bull Nakano (11/20/1994)

The show begins in a very serious tone as Vince McMahon apologizes to the Lawrence Taylor family for what Scott “Bam Bam” Bigelow did at the Royal Rumble. He used his real name so you know Vince is serious! He tells us that Bigelow has been suspended without pay for his actions.

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and the 1995 Royal Rumble winner Shawn Michaels, who became the first ever to start and finish the Royal Rumble match. He’s so excited that he’ll have Pamela Anderson by his side at WrestleMania. I guess if there’s a year that you would still want to be around Pam Anderson, 1995 would still be it. Of course by WrestleMania, Pam would be married to Tommy Lee and it’s all downhill from there.

• WWF Tag Team Champions The 1-2-3 Kid & Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly vs. The Smoking Gunns
  

As you can see, the 1-2-3 Kid and Bob Holly defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka in the WWF tag team titles tournament final the previous night at the Royal Rumble in a Cinderella victory. Billy and Holly start the match REAL quick like. Bart tags in and he’s brought over to the corner for a tag to the Kid. He leapfrogs into a powerslam for two. Bart misses a dropkick as the champs work the arm. Blind tag to Billy. When Bart can’t get the sunset flip, Billy drops Holly with a bulldog. Double Press Slam on Holly. They look to finish with a big double-team move, but Holly slips off Bart’s shoulders and shoves Bart into Billy to knock him off the top rope. With Billy perched up top, the Kid and Holly give him a double superplex! Awesome. Commercials! When we return, Billy is still getting worked over. Double dropkick by the champs score a nearfall. Holly runs into a boot in the corner, but Billy can’t make the tag. Once again, Billy creates an opportunity to make the tag, but Kid comes over and dropkicks Bart off the apron. Nevertheless, Billy fights back with a Famouser and gets that HOT TAG TO BART! SIDEWINDER to the Kid, but there’s no cover. The Gunns hit Kid with a double Russian legsweep as we go to break. AND WE’RE BACK! Kid is still in trouble here. Billy dropkicks Kid while he’s up in a suplex for two. At one point, Bart holds up Kid while Billy comes off the ropes, but Holly catches him with a knee from the apron! Meanwhile, Kid elbows Bart back and spin kicks him out of the ring. Tag to Holly, the Best Dropkick in the Business on Billy gets two. Holly comes off the top, but eats a boot on the way down. Bart tags in and lifts Holly up into a body vice as Billy leaps from the top rope to give him an elbow drop for the 1-2-3. (15:20 shown) The Smoking Gunns win their first of three WWF tag team championships. Good back and forth formula tag where there were moments when the Kid and Bob Holly had to pull some dirty tricks on the Gunns when things got bad, but even so still couldn’t get the win. After the match, the Kid and Bob Holly are already asking for a rematch for next week. ***

Seems to me that the Smoking Gunns could really have had some good matches with a team that’s quick, experienced, and crafty. Like, the Heavenly Bodies for example. What do you think?

As the crowd chants for Diesel, Shawn Michaels tells us that he’s looking for a bodyguard. He needs somebody he can trust. I guess somebody that turns on him after seven weeks will work too.

• Irwin R. Schyster (w/Ted DiBiase) vs. Buck Quartermaine
  

Oh man, IRS has stolen the urn now. Is he really concerned about the Undertaker’s taxes? Anyways, Roddy Piper joins us on the telephone to hype his upcoming interview with Shawn Michaels on Encore Plus on February 1. Didn’t hear it mentioned due to the phone call, but there’s two creepy druids at ringside during the whole match. They seem to be following behind IRS and DiBiase backstage as well. Who knows. The WRITE-OFF takes out Quartermaine at 2:20.

King’s Court with Jeff Jarrett: He’s the NEW Intercontinental champion after defeating Razor Ramon the night before at the Royal Rumble. Lawler wants to know what we can expect from the “Ain’t I Great?” tour in 1995? Jarrett says he wants to send out a challenge to Diesel and win the WWF world title on top of the gold he already has. Vince calls Jarrett selfish and thinks Shawn has something to do with this.

• Davey Boy Smith vs. The Black Phantom
  

Vince announces that there will be a rematch for the WWF tag titles next week on Raw. Davey Boy makes sure to tell Shawn Michaels just what he thinks of his Royal Rumble win before the match. U MAD, BRO? That’s essentially Shawn’s response. The Black Phantom is in fact David Heath or who would later be known as Gangrel. Phantom delivers a sweet jumping DDT on DBS. Bulldog comes back with a Hourglass Suplex while never taking his attention off HBK. Meanwhile, Vince and Shawn are debating whether or not Shawn actually won the Royal Rumble. Just face it, Vince. He won. Bulldog was duked. RUNNING POWERSLAM ends this one at 3:12.

In the back, Bam Bam Bigelow is standing by to publicly apologize to the Lawrence Taylor family. Apparently, there’s some technical difficulties that prevent this from happening. Vince says we’ll try again next week.

Next Week: King Kong Bundy vs. Mabel in an ‘over the top rope’ match and the Smokin’ Gunns meet the 1-2-3 Kid and Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly in a rematch for the WWF tag team championship!