Raw #140 - December 18th, 1995

In a live episode of Raw, one night removed from In Your House, Jeff Jarrett makes his return to the ring. Just don't blink, because Double J will be out of the Federation once again after the Royal Rumble. Will his unexplained five-month absence from competition make a difference? Speaking of making a difference, Fatu is his opponent tonight. "It's time to clean it up!" says the former Headshrinker's entrance theme, suggesting a future tag team venture with Duke "The Dumpster" Droese.

Raw #139 - December 11th, 1995

The last Raw before In Your House opens with the statement that "tonight, ER comes to the World Wrestling Federation." We are then subjected to a bunch of medical metaphors about Bob Backlund's chickenwing being a disease, Bret Hart being Patient Zero, and the Hitman attempting to "inoculate" Backlund. So Mr. Backlund will become immune to the crossface chickenwing? Owen Hart, who faces Diesel this Sunday, takes on Jeff Hardy in the opening bout.

Raw #138 - December 4th, 1995

Bob Holly faces the number one contender for the WWF title tonight. Sparky's mullet is at its most glorious tonight, but will it help him knock off Davey Boy? Holly floats over Bulldog for the night's first Maneuver en route to delivering a flurry of offense. Bulldog fights back by lifting Bob up for a press slam and dropping him crotch-first onto the top rope. He follows this up with a delayed vertical suplex, a Maneuver (#2) that causes the blood to rush to Plugg's head. Holly makes a number of surprise pin attempts, but none are successful. The race car driver also hits a number of the best dropkicks in the business, but still can't put Smith away. Finally, Bulldog catches Holly in the corner and delivers a running powerslam for the victory.

Raw #137 - November 27th, 1995

Tonight's taped Raw is filmed right after the Shawn Michaels collapse. Tonight, The Undertaker faces Kama one last time with the urn on the line. In case you've forgotten, Undertaker's urn was stolen by IRS at the Royal Rumble, regained at Wrestlemania and immediately stolen back by Kama, and melted down into a gold chain. Taker has been so occupied with getting his urn back that he has been nowhere near the title picture. In other news, Brother Love will make his return tonight to interview Bret Hart.

Raw #136 - November 20th, 1995

It's a live Raw from Richmond, VA, the night after Survivor Series. We see clips of the 123 Kid's betrayal of Razor Ramon and joining of the Million Dollar Corporation. The Kid was a surprise member of the Bodydonnas team, taking the place of the recently-fired Jean-Pierre Lafitte, who ran afoul of the Clique. Not that you would know about the Bodydonnas-Underdogs match, nor the eight-woman tag match, neither of which were ever mentioned on Raw. Anyway, Sid interfered against Kid's former championship partner, Marty Jannetty, to give the newest Corporation member the victory. Later, Sid and the Kid distracted Razor, who was "powerbombed" by Davey Boy Smith, according to Vince, referring to the running powerslam. Better stick to just calling everything a "maneuver," McMahon.

Raw #135 - November 13th, 1995

Excited for tonight's Intercontinental title match between Razor and Sid? Well, Gorilla Monsoon isn't having this morning declared it a non-title match (this, despite the fact that both this episode and the episode where the title match was announced were taped weeks prior) due to altercations at house shows between Ramon and special referee 123 Kid. On a brighter note, the intro to this episode has not been dubbed over with the same annoying metal music as the rest of the re-released 1995 episodes, with WWE leaving intact the theatrical music from the broadcast.

Raw #134 - November 6th, 1995

The British Bulldog takes on Marty Jannetty to open the show in a battle of the 1992 firings. Dok Hendrix is at the announce table tonight, filling in for Jerry Lawler, who teams with Isaac Yankem to take on Bret Hart and Hakushi. The Modern-Day Kamikaze has apparently forgiven Bret Hart for being a racist. Speaking of which, did I mention that Michael Hayes is doing commentary tonight?

Raw #133 - October 30th, 1995

It's a Halloween Raw, introduced with a WWF Jack O'Lantern and a Dracula-like voiceover by Todd Pettengill. Finally, someone in the WWF acknowledges that Todd sucks. Vince McMahon is dressed as a jailbird, which Jerry Lawler jokes about ("I heard you got that outfit about a year ago, and this is the first time you got to wear it!"). Vince resists making the same crack about Jerry Lawler, given his legal woes in late '93. Lawler, by the way, is dressed as a doctor, later revealing his costume to be a proctologist. At least it's not a pediatrician or gynecologist.

Raw #132 - October 23rd, 1995

It's the night after In Your House, and Raw has a new theme, dubbed over the intro the show has been using for the past two months. As wrestlers enter the ring for a battle royal (with an Intercontinental title shot at stake), Vince announces the upcoming events for tonight's episode, including the unfortunate debut of Avatar and a rematch of Women's Champion Bertha Faye vs. the only other woman in the division, Alundra Blayze, neither of whom have been seen or mentioned on Raw since Bertha won the title at Summerslam.

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 #130 - October 9th, 1995

It's a "very special holiday edition" of Raw, taking place on Columbus Day. Starting off the show is a six-man tag match, with three men on each team to represent the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa María. I guess. Otherwise, I don't see anything having to do with Columbus Day on this episode. Diesel, Shawn Michaels, and Undertaker take on Camp Cornette. Only one of the three faces will even make it to the pay-per-view in a few weeks.

Raw #129 - October 2nd, 1995

Razor Ramon enters the ring to a veritable golden shower (of pyro) to face the Kid. No, this isn't an R. Kelly home video; this is Monday Night Raw, despite the cold open and lack of its new opening video and theme. Also tonight, Bret Hart faces Jean Pierre LaFitte in a rematch from In Your House, which, coupled with the negation of the Triple Header match's outcome, serves to further rub it in the faces of the fans who paid money to see that event.

Raw #128 - September 25th, 1995

It's the first live Raw in over a month, and everyone is dying to know who the new champion or champions are after last night's Triple Header match. Remember, Gorilla Monsoon guaranteed a title would change hands. Skip and Sunny are in the ring, waiting for their opponent, the returning Marty Jannetty, who was not advertised. Jannetty will set a record with this comeback, as he will last over a year before getting fired, a post-Rockers personal best for the former Intercontinental Champion. After a vague reference to last night's Triple Header match, Vince excitedly says that the titles could change hands yet again tonight, notwithstanding the British Bulldog/Undertaker match. It's taken me over a year of watching Raws, but I have finally figured out that Vince doesn't know what "notwithstanding" means. He seems to think it means, "not to mention" instead of "regardless or in spite of." Lawler says that Bulldog will use Taker as a fire hydrant. "A what!?" says an indignant Vince. If anyone's going to the bathroom on the Undertaker, it's Sid, not Davey Boy.

Raw #127 - September 18th, 1995

The 123 Kid faces Razor Ramon in tonight's first match. We see clips of the Kid's first victory against Ramon two years ago. As Razor enters, the announcers promote his confrontation with Dean Douglas this Sunday at In Your House. The Kid takes it to Razor right off the bat, hitting him with a Maneuver (#1 - spinning back kick) and setting a record for earliest use of a maneuver in Raw history.

Raw #126 - September 11th, 1995

It's Raw's "season premiere," complete with a new intro and theme song. I can't believe my ears, as I was expecting an entirely different theme, one that didn't suck nearly as much. Raw "premieres" with a theme called, "I Like it Raw," which would be quickly scrapped the following week, with its vocals replaced by faux-police radio messages, then sirens before the theme would be abandoned altogether for a generic but passable tune with no vocals. The highlight of the introductory video is Shawn Michaels running towards the edge of the roof with a vest and leather hat, which disappear in the next shot as he supposedly leaps from the roof onto Kama. The shaky start to the "new fall season" continues with both announcers appearing in front of a green screen, a practice I thought had ended months before. Tonight, the newly-turned heel British Bulldog will face Razor Ramon, whom Lawler claims will have to be picked up with a pooper-scooper after Davey Boy is through with him. "Pooper-scooper!?" says McMahon.

Raw #125 - August 21st, 1995

Tonight's episode brings us 1/8 of the way to 1000 shows! Raw opens with the announcement that Kama vs. The Undertaker at Summerslam will now be a casket match, courtesy of Gorilla Monsoon and the finest computer graphics 1995 has to offer. This comes after Kama tore up the Creatures of the Night's black wreath on Superstars, then slammed one of them to the canvas after he tried gathering up the pieces. Tonight, Kama's fellow Corporation member faces Taker, hoping to soften him up enough so that the Supreme Fighting Machine can pick up the stable's first pay-per-view victory of the year.

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 #123 - August 7th, 1995

Last week, Razor and Savio Vega nearly defeated the tag team championship team of Owen Hart and Yokozuna, but time ran out on the episode (despite it being pre-taped). Tonight, they have a rematch. Also, Sir Mo promises part one of the Royal Plan tonight. I have a feeling that most of the parts to the Royal Plan involve losing to Diesel.

Raw #122 - July 31st, 1995

King Mabel opens Raw, entering through the new "RAW" entranceway, which last week replaced the old neon sign set that bathed the show in gaudy colors since the Monday night program's debut. Mabel rides in on a throne carried by a team of jobbers to take on one of their ham 'n' egger colleagues, Nick Barberry.

Raw #121 - July 24th, 1995

The post-In Your House Raw opens up with actual footage of the previous night's pay-per-view, instead of just stills. Shawn Michaels beat Jeff Jarrett after a miscommunication with the Roadie to bring the Intercontinental title back into the possession of The Clique for the next 6 months.