Monday Night Raw
September 11, 1995
Canton, OH
Canton Civic Center

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: Bertha Faye (8/27/1995)

They debut the new Raw intro. WWF superstars are wrestling on top of a building. Shawn Michaels is dancing. Police are trying to stop the madness.

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler. This is the first time Vince refers to “a new season of Raw” like it’s just any other television show.

They take us back to SummerSlam where Dean Douglas got into Razor Ramon’s face. When the Dean tries to punch, Razor blocks and lays him out with a right hand of his own.

• Razor Ramon vs. Davey Boy Smith (w/Jim Cornette)

In case you’ve forgotten, the British Bulldog turned heel on Razor’s buddy Diesel THREE WEEKS AGO on Raw. Wristlocks are exchanged, but Razor clotheslines Bulldog out. Back in, Ramon works down into the armbar and slaps Bulldog on the head. Davey Boy escapes and whips Razor into the corner a couple of times before delivering the Hourglass Suplex. Bulldog then pounds the back and press slams Ramon. Commercials! When we return, Ramon counters the RUNNING POWERSLAM by grabbing the top rope and falling backwards onto Bulldog for 1-2-NO! Razor slams Davey Boy off the top and delivers the Fallaway Slam for two. Ref gets bumped as Ramon delivers the RAZOR’S EDGE. As he covers Bulldog, Dean Douglas appears and lowers the boom on Razor. The 1-2-3 Kid tries to help out his buddy, but Douglas fights him off before hightailing it to the locker room. Meanwhile in the ring, Bulldog hits Razor with the RUNNING POWERSLAM after all. Once he covers Razor, the Kid flies off the top rope and hits Ramon by mistake. Whoops. Finally, the ref sees what happened and DQ’s Ramon! (7:13 shown) He’s just trying to help! After the bell, Bulldog is given carte blanche to do whatever he wants to the Kid and Ramon. **

When we come back, it’s clear that Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid are having some issues. Kid says that nobody took him seriously when he beat Razor the first time back in 1993, and then challenges him to another match – NEXT WEEK. Long winded explanation aside, Razor accepts the challenge. SHOCKER.

• The Smoking Gunns vs. The Brooklyn Brawler & Rad Radford
  

Vince and Lawler talk about People Magazine’s “best dressed list” and Forbes magazine. All very interesting wrestling topics. SIDEWINDER takes care of the Brawler in 2:47.

Elsewhere, Goldust wears a golden top hat and quotes “Night of the Living Dead”. This is of course a way to try and get under the dead skin of the Undertaker.

• Isaac Yankem DDS vs. Scott Taylor

Lawler feels he has “sufficient provocation” for helping Yankem choke Bret Hart in the ropes back at SummerSlam. Bret apparently said something about Jerry’s beautiful mother. Lawler also adds that Yankem can help David Letterman with his signature gap in his front teeth. DDS (or DDT according to everyone else) ends Taylor in 2:15.

Time to check in with Todd Pettengill (or the Toddster according to no one else) at the In Your House Control Center. You can see the matches scheduled for the event at the bottom of the recap.

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs. Psycho Sid (w/Ted DiBiase)

Kind of an infamous Raw main event. It was the first one that Bischoff spoiled for everybody on Nitro. Shawn uses the stick-and-move strategy to start and it works as Sid bails to the floor. Back in, Sid tries to toss out Shawn, but he skins the cat and dropkicks Sid out. Back in again, this time Sid controls. Shawn gets kicked off the top turnbuckle onto the apron where Sid clotheslines him to the floor and gives Shawn the snake eyes on the apron. DiBiase gets in his kicks as Shawn writhes in pain. He makes it back in the ring at the count of 9.7999999! Commercials! We return to see Shawn fight out of a bearhug only to charge into a Chokeslam! Sid poses instead of making the most of this moment as Shawn backdrops out of the POWERBOMB. Shawn fires back and hits the Flying Forearm. Flying bodypress gets 1-2-NO! Sid whips Shawn into the ropes and misses a swing. Shawn superkicks the gut, superkicks Sid while he’s doubled over, and then connects with SWEET CHIN MUSIC as Sid is staggered to get the 1-2-3. (7:24 shown) It’s just like Bischoff said! Shawn Michaels beats the big guy with the superkick. Maybe the commercial break blotted out the weak parts, but this was overall a decent big guy-little guy match while still keeping Shawn pretty strong. **½

After the break, Shawn Michaels high fives Diesel backstage. Dok Hendrix interrupts their good time to ask them about the Triple Header match at In Your House. Things are going good for Shawn right now: he avenged the most crushing defeat of his career in the ladder match at SummerSlam, he just beat Psycho Sid to retain his IC title with a little chin music, and now it’s time for he and Diesel to move onto bigger and better things. They will make history on September 24. Diesel calls themselves not just Two Dudes with Attitudes, but ‘two chaps with all the straps’.

NEXT WEEK: WWF tag team champs Owen Hart & Yokozuna take on EVIL Men on a Mission. To earn Razor Ramon’s respect, the 1-2-3 Kid challenges him to a match!

The WWF presents In Your House: Triple Header on September 24! Here is the card as it looks on September 11:

• MAIN EVENT: All 3 Titles On the Line – WWF Champion Diesel & WWF IC Champion Shawn Michaels vs. WWF Tag Team Champions Owen Hart & Yokozuna
  
• Razor Ramon vs. Dean Douglas
  
• Bret Hart vs. Jean-Pierre Lafitte
  
• Davey Boy Smith vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
  
• Waylon Mercy vs. Savio Vega