Raw #185 - November 18th, 1996

Steve Austin arrives on Raw to face Mankind in a “tough man contest.” Originally, Vader was pencilled in as Stone Cold’s opponent, but he was injured by the 700-pound (“I would suggest,” says McMahon) Yokozuna the night before at Survivor Series with a uranage. The shoulder injury is said to only sideline Vader for a few days, but that’s enough time to keep him off television all month thanks to the compact taping schedule.

Raw # 179 - October 7th, 1996

Tonight, Todd Pettengill says, Vader is here. His message is clear. He’s queer. Get used to it. Okay, I might have embellished a bit on those last two sentences. Also in the opening video package is Marlena, who is such a Hollywood aficionado that she appears to be wearing the molded nipples from  Joel Schumacher’s Batman films. All that, plus the fake Razor, the fake Diesel, and the Real Double J!

Raw #176 - September 16th, 1996

Jake Roberts opens this taped broadcast by chasing Jerry Lawler out of the broadcast position. If Lawler still had his headset, he’d be making a Jake the Snake joke about “chasers” right about now. His opponent is the debuting Sultan, who enters to the Iron Sheik’s old music along with Sheiky Baby himself and Bob Backlund.

Raw #174 - Championship Friday - September 6th, 1996

Tonight’s Raw is a special “Championship Friday” edition, featuring Goldust vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF title. The opening narration wonders whether Goldust’s mind games will be able to defeat HBK. I doubt it; if anyone in the WWF is secure with his sexuality, it’s the earring-and-chaps-wearing Boy Toy.

Raw #172 - August 12th, 1996

Tonight’s Raw begins with the winning combination of a Vince McMahon voiceover and — AHHHH! Surgery footage! McMahon explains that Ahmed’s original kidney injury suffered at the hands (or feet) of Faarooq was aggravated during the battle royal in which he was somehow allowed to compete, then again by Faarooq in his post-match attack on Johnson, despite Assad not hitting Ahmed in the kidney that time. The surgery, supposedly performed last week some time after the battle royal, stopped the bleeding, but should the bleeding return, Ahmed might need to have his kidney removed.

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 #116 - June 19th, 1995

To open Raw, Vince tells the audience not to adjust their TV sets, as their screens are dark because of the Undertaker. The stench, however, that the viewers can smell is coming from Jerry Lawler's feet. What incredible technology these viewers must have on their TVs! And I thought having a Spanish commentary option on the USA Network was advanced. Jerry says he was almost arrested for "sock abuse" (not to be confused with that thing Val Venis once did with Mr. Socko in 1999).

Raw #115 - June 12th, 1995

Raw kicks off with a recap of Lex Luger and Yokozuna's ongoing feud, which comes to a head tonight in a King of the Ring qualifying match. We see the tournament bracket, with faces written first and heels written second for each match. Razor Ramon, a face, gets top billing in the final match, which spells misfortune for Lex Luger.

Raw #114 - June 5th, 1995

Footage from Bob Backlund's campaign rally earlier today airs to kick off Raw. Mr. Backlund calls the crowd "lazy" and "infamous individuals" who need an education. I'm used to people misusing the word, "infamous," but not like this. Tonight, Owen Hart faces the British Bulldog in the "last" qualifying match for the King of the Ring (in a match taped 22 days earlier at In Your House. Also, Savio Vega wrestles his first non-Kwang match tonight, while the Bodydonnas debut as well. And don't forget about Jean Pierre Lafitte, whom Jerry Lawler is rooting for based solely on his name: LaFeet. That's because Bret Hart accepted Lawler's challenge this weekend to a "Kiss My Foot" match.

Raw #113 - May 29th, 1995

Tonight's Raw comes to you taped from Binghamton, New York, where Double J is running his mouth about beating the Undertaker tonight in the King of the Ring qualifying match. the lights go out, causing Jarrett to panic in fear of Taker while his electronic hat continues to flash. Instead of the man from the Dark Side, we get the opening theme of Raw.

Tonight on History's Mysteries: Was Double J the inspiration behind the Mothman legend?

Raw #112 - May 22nd, 1995

Shawn Michaels returns to the ring after being sort of powerbombed by Sid and then powerbombed twice again. His opponent: Sid's fellow Corporation member, King Kong Bundy. And in case fans don't buy into this as a grudge match, it's a King of the Ring qualifier now. Michaels-Bundy: this time, it's impersonal.

Raw #111 - May 15th, 1995

In tonight's cold opening, IRS vows to put a lien on Bam Bam's tattoos. What if Bigelow won't pay his taxes? Will he have to repossess the Beast from the East's scalp? If so, who's going to do the dirty work, the Repo Man or Tatanka?

Raw #104 - March 27th, 1995

It's that time of year again! Time for a throwaway episode of Raw. Back in the day, it was standard practice for the Raw before a big pay-per-view (especially Wrestlemania) to be a clip show to hype up the event. In 2013, WWE has the "go home" show; in 1995, the WWF had the "go away" show.

Raw #102 - March 13th, 1995

In tonight's cold opening, Vince promises a match between Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler, who has been accusing Hart of being a racist, as well as a tag team match between the Blu Twins and the "dream team" of The 123 Kid and Bob Holly. The opening must have been prepared well in advance, as the face team got caught in traffic due to California storms. Therefore, the Samoan savage team of the Headshrinkers are the ones to face the Appalachian savage team of the Blu Twins. Uncle Zebekiah is in the twins' corner, but neither of the Headshrinkers' managers are at ringside.

Raw #101 - March 6th, 1995

Shawn Michaels and the British Bulldog open tonight's show. HBK does his stripper routine while Sid looks on in jeans and no shirt. Ahem. Vince continues to insist that the British Bulldog is the rightful winner of the Royal Rumble, despite being thrown over the tope rope fair and square. Cornette makes a series of valid points about Shawn Michaels never having been eliminated and both Michaels and Smith being in the Rumble for the same amount of time, to which Vince responds that Bulldog is the rightful winner because he was "robbed." That's called begging the question, Vince. It's one thing for Gorilla Monsoon to always defend the faces even when they're wrong, because he's only working with the material he was given, but for the actual booker of the company to do such transparently weak shilling for the good guys is just embarrassing. Speaking of shilling, he also urges viewers to buy the Royal Rumble on Coliseum Home Video to see for themselves.

Raw #97 - January 30th, 1995

Raw opens with Mabel's music and Vince and Shawn in front of a green screen, well-lit despite the darkness of the arena and occasional flashing lights. Tonight's Raw features Kama in action, a rematch from last week for the tag team titles, and a two-man battle royal between Mabel and King Kong Bundy.

Raw #91 - December 19th, 1994

Lex Luger enters the ring to kick off tonight's Raw in the cold opening. Shawn Michaels, who is a semi-regular now at the announce table, sports a Santa cap, as does Vince McMahon. A brilliant fan in attendance holds up a sign reading, "I cheat on my taxes." "Hey, look," says Michaels, "it's Joe Montana!" I can only assume that the 49ers quarterback is in some sort of tax trouble at this time. Fortunately, Vince explains the context of the joke (Montana is being investigated for a sports memorabilia business, but Vince insists that just because the government is investigating someone doesn't mean that the person has done anything wrong. Gee, I wonder why he would say that?), but not before expressing how appalled he is that Shawn would say such a thing. Hopefully no actual IRS agents are watching this episode, or else this fan might be getting some phone calls.

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 #89 - December 5th, 1994

It's the first Raw of the last month of 1994, and the show kicks off with an ad for Tyco right in the middle of the intro. Vince is joined tonight by Shawn Michaels, who recently forfeited the tag team titles, on commentary. This is Shawn's second forfeiture (third if you count the time The Rockers' tag team title win was ret-conned).