Raw #131 - October 16th, 1995

Welcome to a very eventful Raw, where not only does Bret Hart face Isaac Yankem in Raw's first-ever cage match, but USWA tag team champions PG-13 take on WWF tag champs, The Smoking Gunns. First, though, Hunter Hearst Helmsley faces Doink in the last Raw match by the clown. Not Triple H; the one in the face paint. Vince McMahon also mentions that Mabel and Dean have both been fined $7,500 for interfering in last week's match, the former causing an injury that will keep the Dead Man off In Your House.

Raw #124 - August 14th, 1995

This week's Raw opens with Vince McMahon hinting that Shawn Michaels is injured (after getting smashed into a ring post by Mabel) and vulnerable to losing his title at Summerslam. That also spells bad news for HBK tonight, as he faces Jerry Lawler. However, no mention is made of the title being on the line, which had been heavily implied ever since In Your House. Why would Lawler want to challenge new Intercontinental Champion Michaels specifically after he won the title and King called him a "marked man," only for it to be a non-title match? Non-title match or not, Lawler is replaced by Ted DiBiase on this night at the commentary table.

Raw #110 - May 8th, 1995

Last week, fans were treated to two top superstars, Razor Ramon and Sid, in a non-match. Will the bait-and-switch tactics continue tonight? The obvious sexual tension between announcers Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler boils over in the opening segment, with Vince telling the audience to look at the King's "kisser." Jerry is excited to be facing Bret Hart at the In Your House pay-per-view (at least that's why he says he's excited).

Raw #107 - April 17th, 1995

Raw starts off with a clip from yesterday's Action Zone, where Ted DiBiase announced his new, re-structured and re-organized Million Dollar Corporation, which looks exacly the same as his old Corporation, except without Nikolai Volkoff. Still, they at least have Sid as their newest member, and he will make a big difference in the form of the Corporation's first pay-per-view victory of 1995... but not till September.

Raw #100 - February 27th, 1995

Raw's 100th episode starts off with the first ever announcement that the World Wrestling Federation has for over 50 years been the revolutionary force in sports entertainment. Plus, Raw gets a revamped intro. Vince McMahon promises a response from Lawrence Taylor himself tonight on Raw. Vince and Jim Cornette are live at ringside this week, sporting mics with the blue Raw logo. See, Raw hasn't always been the "red" brand, and the alternate logo color fits nicely considering how much the WWF's popularity has cooled off by 1995. Lex Luger will face Tatanka to end what Vince generously calls one of the hottest rivalries ever (a rivalry highlighted by extremely boring matches and Tatanka accusing Lex of selling out over and over again then swerving us all for some reason).

Raw #90 - December 12th, 1994

Bob Backlund opens tonight's Raw ranting about extinguishing Doink for besmirching the fans in a sea of hypocrisy. In response, Doink tells Mr. Backlund in his New York accent that he has an amateur background, as well. Tonight's Raw emanates live from Liberty, New York, with Vince and Shawn Michaels on commentary again.

Raw #87 - November 21st, 1994

It's the last Raw before Survivor Series, and team captains Razor Ramon and Diesel square off in the opening, non-title match. Razor steps out of Gorilla position and spends an awfully long time standing right in front of the entranceway. The Teamsters take advantage of this inexplicably long pose-down by attacking The Bad Guy from behind. "Razor Ramon being hammered," says Vince McMahon before that phrase would become a sick pun. Raw cuts to commercial as officials try to break up the five-on-one beatdown.

Raw #85 - November 7th, 1994

Tonight's Raw is a mixed bag. On the plus side, it's live. On the minus side, Macho Man is gone and will never return. In his place is Jerry "The King" Lawler, Vince's broadcast colleague on Superstars. Looking back, Jerry Lawler is not nearly as funny as I remember him, while Randy Savage is a comedic genius. Lawler hosts King's Court tonight, as well.

Raw #82 - October 17th, 1994

Raw opens up with a series of outdoor clips from Burlington, Vermont, which hosts tonight's live episode. A confused Macho Man (at his last ever WWF taping) says, "This isn't The Learning Channel!" and he's right. The main difference between Monday Night Raw and TLC is that for the past decade or so, Raw has had provided more culturally enriching programming than the cable network known for fashion, decorating, and Honey Boo Boo. Speaking of cultural enrichment, Doink comes to the ring with Dink and the newest addition to his entourage, Wink. They josh around with the Spanish announce team before the Raw intro, over which a Stridex logo is plastered as Todd Pettengill hocks the acne treatment. This is the most disgraceful act of commercialism since Pepsi bought South Korea.

Raw #81 - October 10th, 1994

Bam Bam Bigelow comes to the ring on tonight's Raw to take on Lex Luger. He doesn't come alone, though; he is followed by the other members of the Million Dollar Corporation, except IRS for some reason. Vince McMahon calls this Ted DiBiase's own "Columbus Day parade." I hope he teaches us some more fun facts about Christopher Columbus like he did last year. Instead, Macho Man gives us this quote from Columbus: "One if by land, two if by sea!" Actually, that was Paul Revere in Longfellow's famous poem, but at least this time the misinformation is intended as a joke. Also, "Longfellow" is a great last name.

Raw #80 - October 3rd, 1994

The British Bulldog wrestles his first Raw match ever on this episode that comes taped from Utica. Davey Boy enters to "Rue Britannia" because OMC has not yet released "How Bizarre." Jim Neidhart comes out to the old Hart Foundation music, better known as Bret Hart's theme music. Why is it that Marty Jannetty is the archetypal unsuccessful half of a tag team, while Jim Neidhart gets of scot-free?

Raw #78 - September 19th, 1994

The cold opening for the September 19th episode of Raw centers around Tatanka, who fooled us all by having sold out to Ted DiBiase all along. The exact purpose of this deception will never be explained, but he certainly fooled a lot of people, and that's all that matters! Vince McMahon would later take the lessons learned from this angle and incorporate them into the Corporate Ministry angle, revealing himself to be the Higher Power so that he could fool Stone Cold Steve Austin at great personal expense.

Raw #77 - September 12th, 1994

Monday Night Raw returns tonight for the first time in nearly a month after one recap episode of Summerslam hype, Summerslam itself the next Monday, and a pre-emption on the USA network for the U.S. Open of tennis. "Tennis anyone?" asks Vince. "No, I don't think so!" Tonight's episode is from Lowell, Massachusetts, and a lack of the word, "Live" suggests that this episode was taped a month ago after the previous episode. The real Undertaker, who had not made his return at Summerslam as of this taping, wrestles Kwang, according to the new blue Raw graphics.

Raw #75 - August 8th, 1994

This week's Raw begins with Ted DiBiase's Undertaker in action. Ted's 6'6'' version of the Taker faces the formidable competition of Butch Banks. McMahon insists that this Undertaker vs. Undertaker match would be a one time only event. That's a relief; too bad the guarantee wouldn't apply to Kane.

Raw #70 - July 4th, 1994

It's a Fourth of July edition of Monday Night Raw! On this day last year, Lex Luger turned face and bodyslammed Yokozuna, and look how far that has gotten him in the past year! Why, he almost made it to the King of the Ring. Raw kicks off with a battle between two King of the Ring entrants who lost in the first round, Tatanka and Jeff Jarrett. Hopefully this match will end better than that other match between two King of the Ring entrants who lost in the first round, Bam Bam vs. Mabel, which Mabel won by countout last week.

Raw #64 - May 23rd, 1994

After his face-stealing victory over Yokozuna last week in sumo competition, Earthquake looks to win a berth in the King of the Ring tournament... or does he? Our announcers wonder where exactly Earthquake has gone, since he is not at the arena tonight. He was Banzai-dropped by Yokozuna at a house show in Anaheim, which is used to explain his absence. What a strange run for Earthquake; he returns to the WWF ring, squashes Adam Bomb at Wrestlemania, goes undefeated, beats the former champion, then is gone from the Federation for the next four years. Owen Hart comes to the ring to face a mystery opponent on this first-ever Raw in Youngstown, Ohio. Vince, however, calls it "Struthers, OH," which is about five miles away from Youngstown. Somebody is wrong here.

Raw #62 - May 9th, 1994

What decade is this? Oh right, the 90s.

Tonight's cold opening features a replay of Earthquake's challenge to Yokozuna from last week's episode.  The former champion is the guest on The King's Court. Also, Razor Ramon takes on his future long-time friend, Savio Vega, who is currently masquerading as a martial arts expert from "The Orient," in the "first" 1994 King of the Ring qualifying match to be aired. If you've memorized Art Donovan's commentary like I have, you'll know who wins this qualifier.

Raw #56 - March 28th, 1994

Eight days after Wrestlemania X, the former champion Yokozuna's manager, Jim Cornette, is at ringside to commentate. He vows to tell the "unvarnished truth" on tonight's Raw. Lex Luger comes down to the ring to his new, less patriotic entrance theme, which sounds just like the beginning of "Eye of the Tiger," with a hint of "My Obsession."

Raw #54 - March 7th, 1994

With just two weeks left until Wrestlemania, tonight's Raw is the last before the pay-per-view. Ted DiBiase joins Vince on commentary, as he did at the Royal Rumble. DiBiase insists that he could by the kind of presentation Tatanka will get from the Lumbee tribe, but that some things aren't worth buying. Vince reminds him that the tax man will be here tonight in the form of Irwin R. Schyster, for the first time implying that a tax collector and a rich man would ever be at odds. Where were you two years ago when Money, Inc. was formed? Vince calls DiBiase's former bodyguard Virgil a "wrestler extraordinaire" (which is like a "Wrestling Superstar").

Raw #53 - February 28th, 1994

Tonight's Raw comes to you taped from Bushkill, Pennsylvania for its first-ever out-of-sequence episode, shot one month ago. The "Hall of Fame-bound" Randy Savage comes to the ring first to take on Yokozuna for the WWF title. Harvey Wippleman is on commentary tonight. Vince McMahon notes Yokozuna's hesitation to enter the ring, possibly as a psychological ploy against the Macho Man, who, according to McMahon, "does not like to wait for anything." A lesser blogger would suggest that Vince is referring to his daughter Stephanie's eighteenth birthday.