Monday Night Raw
August 21, 1995
Worcester, MA
The Centrum

The current WWF champs were as follows:
World Champion: Diesel (11/26/1994)
Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels (7/23/1995)
World Tag Team Champions: Owen Hart & Yokozuna (4/2/1995)
Women’s Champion: Alundra Blayze (4/3/1995)

This past weekend on Superstars, Kama ripped up a black wreath that was put at ringside. When one of the Creatures of the Night jumped the rail and tried to take what was left of the wreath, Kama came back to the ring only to get pieces of the wreath thrown back in his face. Well, that’s when Kama snapped and choked out the guy. Because NO ONE touches the Creatures of the Night, Kama’s match with the Undertaker at SummerSlam is now a casket match.

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler.

• Men on a Mission vs. Roy Raymond & Joe Hancock
  

M.O.M. throw around poor Hancock to start. Mabel even gives him a piledriver (!!). Tag to Raymond, he gets squashed as well. Mo hits him with a flying elbow drop, but Mabel drills him with a Belly to Belly Suplex for the win in 3:47. Crowd wants Diesel, but he’s nowhere to be found. Afterwards, Mabel puts on his crown and declares he and Mo are the greatest tag team ever in the WWF. They send out a challenge to the Allied Powers for some *real* competition.

From out in the production truck this week, Dean Douglas predicts King Mabel will “dominate” and defeat Diesel for the WWF title.

• The 1-2-3 Kid vs. The Brooklyn Brawler
  

Brawler pearl harbors Kid, but Kid comes back with his kicks. Oklahoma roll gets the quick win in 1:32. He meets Hakushi at SummerSlam!

• The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Tatanka (w/Ted DiBiase)
  

Taker is PISSED. He winds up the arm and hits Old School early on here. Taker may have pulled his groin as Tatanka lands a funny looking Papoose to Go. Taker fights out of a chinlock with a back suplex. Looks like Taker starts his comeback as we go to commercials. When we return, Taker hits the Jumping Lariat, but can’t deliver the Tombstone. At least not at first. He gives Tatanka a Chokeslam and THEN delivers the TOMBSTONE for the win. (5:43 shown) Honestly, I’ve never liked the combination of these two together. It always feels awkward and clunky. ¾*

Time for our final SummerSlam Report with Todd Pettengill. The outgoing message for Isaac Yankem’s work phone is hilarious.

• Jean-Pierre Lafitte vs. Scott Taylor
  

Scotty 2 Hotty looks game to make this match interesting for Lafitte, but whiffs on a dropkick. Lafitte drapes a pirate flag across Taylor and hits LE CANNONBALL for the win in 3:06.

Goldust appears this week from the Hollywood sign. Again, no gloves. Freaks me out. He sends a message to Shawn Michaels.

In this very ring, Vince McMahon brings out the WWF champion Diesel for a special interview. The big question is whether or not Diesel can Jackknife the 568-pound King Mabel. Maybe he can’t, but maybe he CAN. We’ll find out at SummerSlam. Diesel says that once the dust is cleared and the sweat has dried, the WWF will still be running on Diesel Power. Out comes Davey Boy Smith. He wishes Diesel good luck at SummerSlam and asks if he would sub for Lex Luger tonight who had to leave and go back to Atlanta because of a health issue. Since Diesel obviously wants to get his hands on King Mabel, he agrees to take Lex’s place and we’ll have that match right after this!

• Diesel & Davey Boy Smith vs. Men on a Mission
  

This is all Diesel beating the crap out of Mo. When he calls for the Jackknife, Mabel steps into the ring. As Diesel turns his back to the British Bulldog, Diesel takes a clothesline from behind into a Bossman Slam by Mabel! (2:19) WHAT. Davey Boy Smith has turned on Diesel! It was all a set up! Here comes Jim Cornette. What’s he’s doing here? Mabel holds Diesel for Davey Boy to slap him across the face. Diesel manages to back Mabel into the corner, but then he moves forward into a RUNNING POWERSLAM by the Bulldog! King Mabel drops a leg on Diesel and then celebrates with the WWF title on his shoulder. Meanwhile, Bulldog leaves with Jim Cornette as Jerry Lawler follows. Mo calls this all part of the “royal plan”. This is brilliant and one of the coolest moments of 1995 RAW. I’m guessing this was Bill Watts influenced somehow. Despite being in the WWF for ten years (excluding 1993), this is the first time Davey Boy Smith has ever been a heel.

In the back, Jerry Lawler speaks with Men on a Mission, Davey Boy Smith, and Jim Cornette. Bulldog is clearly overjoyed, but doesn’t want to comment. At least not yet. Cornette promises more surprises like we just saw for Big Daddy Cool. King Mabel says that the next part of his plan comes at SummerSlam when the WWF title comes off his shoulder and around his slim waist. If he had said “smooth belly”, I would have lost it. You $5 Dollar Wrestling fans know what I mean.

This is the end of an era for Monday night wrestling since WCW Monday Nitro would debut on TNT unopposed on Labor Day. From here on out, WWF RAW would have to stop relying so much on mostly squash matches and book moderately competitive matches in order to compete with all the talent Nitro was putting on their shows every week.