Raw #98 - February 6th, 1995

Raw begins in much the same way as last week, with Shawn and Vince in front of a green screen and Mabel entering first. He is joined by Mo and later Lex Luger for the six-man match against the Million Dollar Corporation. With this being Black History Month, Vince wonders if Men on a Mission will make history tonight.

The match gets off to a slow start as the six men decide which two are going to start the match. Vince notes that Ted DiBiase is not at ringside. Mabel and King Kong Bundy open the match, leading the Man on a Mission to hit the world's worst enziguiri for a Maneuver (#1). Mo steps into the ring for his first Raw match in months, trying in vain to slam Bundy, who tags in IRS. Tatanka tags in shortly thereafter to double-team Mo.

Raw returns from commercial just in time to catch Tatanka ignoring Mo as he gets the hot tag to Mabel. Lex Luger then tags in, and takes advantage of the surprise factor to... pose in front of his arch-nemesis. Tatanka quickly tags out to IRS, although he will face Luger one-on-one on the Action Zone. After some offense, Lex tags Mo back in to get beaten up some more by IRS as DiBiase comes to ringside. Vince notes that Mo has been doing most of the in-ring work for his team, leading Shawn to suggest that "Mabel they should Lex someone else into the ring." A first-ever "Let's go Mo" chant breaks out in the Palmetto, Florida audience. IRS and Bundy double-team the future knight, Sir Mo. When the smaller Man on a Mission, attempts a sunset flip, IRS waddles half-way across the ring to reach the ropes, only to be knocked over by Mabel. Apparently to make up for Mo's refusal to break the hold, the referee only counts to two for an obvious three-count on IRS. Vince expresses his disappointment in both teams' lack of coordination. Lex tags in again, but this time, instead of posing, he tries wrestling, slamming Bundy and setting off a cluster-schmazz, allowing Tatanka to DDT him in the confusion, Bundy gets the pin. "You mean to tell me I missed the most exciting part of this boring match?" says Shawn, having just missed the finish. The announcers, like the audience, just did not like this match.

A vignette airs for Man Mountain Rock, who compares wrestling to guitar-playing, then offers his assessment of various Superstars. He debuts tonight.

Lawrence Taylor's attorney, Bobby Cupo, appears and accepts the WWF's apology in a prepared speech. He maintains that LT "does not wish to be a professional wrestler," which is fortunate, because otherwise he might end up main-eventing Wrestlemania. However, Taylor may seek legal actions should Bam Bam's challenges persist.

Man Mountain Rock is in the ring, "cutting a rug" on the guitar, although not his famous WWF logo guitar. Not only is he an accomplished guitarist, but he was also an All-American amateur wrestler at Iowa State. MMR makes his wrestling debut tonight, although he made his guitar-playing debut in the WWF at the Royal Rumble, playing the national anthem.

Charlie Hunter faces off against Man Mountain Rock, who is dressed in his Dudley Boys gear. Speaking of which, the future Dudley Dudley does a Nice Maneuver (#2) by sliding under MMR, but gets caught trying to do a hip toss. Shawn, who is dressed in his stripper gear once again this week, criticizes Rock's fashion choices. Rock finishes off Hunter (that is, Man Mountain Rock finishes of Charlie Hunter) with a Maneuver (#3 - gourd buster), then picks up his guitar once again.

We see a replay of Diesel's victory over Owen Hart on the Action Zone and his confrontation with Shawn Michaels, who was watching from the entranceway. Next, we get a pre-recorded interview with Diesel in which Vince desperately tries to put over the new babyface, a genre not seen since the Lex Luger interviews from the summer of 1993. Diesel admits to having had nine knee operations (no word yet on quads, though). Vince addresses Kevin Nash by name when asking the champion what it means for him to be a role model. And all this time I thought his real name was Diesel. VInce reads off a list of recent media appearances made by Diesel. The champion gives the people's eyebrow to the camera as the interview closes.

In two weeks' time (after the Westminster Dog Show), Double J will challenge Diesel for the title, while Michaels will reveal his new bodyguard. Shawn takes off his glasses to reveal a shiner that he recently sustained, to Vince McMahon's shock. The fans on the green screen behind them do not react.

Mantaur is up next, bringing this week's Wrestlecrap counter up to four (MOM, IRS, MMR, and Mantaur). Leroy Howard hopes to play the role of matador by slaying the big bull. Instead, he plays the role of El Matador by losing. Howard attempts a High-Risk Maneuver (#4 - body press) but gets caught in mid-air. Mantaur is so dominant that Vince wonders whether he will end up facing Shawn Michaels in the title match. Mantaur catches yet another body press attempt and slams Howard, then moos some more and splashes him in the corner a few times for a victory. Shawn won't tell us who is new bodyguard will be, but he guarantees that it isn't Mantaur, who would have to wait another year before briefly serving as Goldust's bodyguard.

Razor Ramon faces Frank Lancaster, another Florida-area jobber, after handing his chains to a ring attendant who is not Tony Chimel. Razor holds onto Lancaster's arm and wrists through a series of moves. Vince notes that Razor is not showing any ill effects of the knee injury he sustained against Jeff Jarrett. Funny that. Shawn plugs the next episode of Tech War before Razor gives a Gorilla Monsoon-approved abdominal stretch. Vince complains about the media coverage of the OJ trial, and Razor finishes off Lancaster with the Razor's Edge.

Up next is Henry Godwinn, bringing the Wrestlecrap counter for this week's episode up to 5. Godwinn carries what looks to be leftovers from catering in his slop bucket. He faces Billy Weaver, who is wearing zebra stripes. Henry takes down Weaver with a sort of face-first inverted spine buster, a Very Impressive Maneuver (#5). Shawn gives us some scoops about the new WWF Magazine, including the fact that the British Bulldog's favorite cartoon character is Elmer Fudd. That would explain Davey Boy's less-than-coherent promos. Michaels says that the Bulldog "tawt he saw a puddytat," which is from Tweety Bird, not Elmer Fudd. Vince wonders whether Godwinn is Michaels's new bodyguard, which HBK denies. Henry wins with the slop drop.

We see a graphic proudly announcing that Raw is pre-empted next week, but Vince also explains that in two weeks Double J challenges Diesel for the title, Bam Bam is back in action after his suspension, and Shawn Michaels announces his bodyguard. Shawn then says that he can no longer risk being at ringside for commentary and being a target for the other Superstars (which is unlikely, considering he's in a studio in Stamford in front of a green screen), so he will no longer be commentating Raw. "Who do you think you are?" Vince demands to know.

Final tally:

5 Maneuvers (Year total: 33)