Raw #99 - February 20th, 1995

For the first time in weeks, Raw comes to us live and without a green screen, this time from Nelson Muntz's ideal Spring Break destination, Macon, Georgia. The city also happens to be, according to Vince, the home of "Otis, my man!" He is referring to Otis Redding, whom he likely never met considering that he died in a plane crash 28 years earlier. Diesel faces Jeff Jarrett in a WWF title defense, while Shawn Michaels "unveils" his new bodyguard. The last person to be literally unveiled in the WWF was Narcissus. Bam Bam Bigelow also makes his return to action in a squash match after not wrestling an entire TV taping due to suspension.

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 #96 - January 23rd, 1995

The night after the Royal Rumble, serious Vince opens Raw in serious fashion, offering a serious apology for the actions of Scott "Bam Bam" Bigelow, who shoved NFL Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor at the pay-per-view. Bigelow, he says, has been suspended, no doubt by Federation President and announcer Vince McMahon's boss, Jack Tunney.

Raw #95 - January 16th, 1995

One week removed from the big 2nd anniversary show live in Houston, Raw comes to you taped with the announcers standing in front of a green screen. Also, instead of Hakushi making his Raw debut like last week, Mantaur will make his Raw debut. Also, William Shatner makes another appearance. Not only is the "boy toy" Shawn Michaels there to stripper it up, but the Heavenly Bodies are in the ring to open the show with more overt references to male prostitution thanks to "Gigolo" Jimmy Del Ray. All in all, it looks like a stellar show.

Raw #94 - January 9th, 1995

Tonight, Raw hails from Houston, Texas for the first time for its second anniversary. Monday Night Raw pays tribute to the very first episode of Raw by not being very good! At least tonight, there will be an Intercontinental title match that will not include Max Moon. There will also be male nudity and William Shatner, who will be on King's Court tonight. The Star Trek star tells Lawler in advance to leave him alone, because he's only there to promote the new USA series Tech War. If the King wants a piece of Shat on this Monday Night, he's come to the right place!

Raw #93 - January 2nd, 1995

The first faces we see on Raw in 1995 are those of the as-of-yet unnamed Roadie and Jeff Jarrett, who promises to sing in public for the first time tonight. Shawn Michaels is back on commentary along with Gorilla Monsoon, who is filling for Vince. McMahon may be "under the weather," but Gorilla and Shawn are in front of a green screen. Ted DiBiase's music plays over the two announcers as The Million Dollar Man accompanies Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka for their match against the soon-to-be Allied Powers. Monsoon wonders if there will be gold coming to the Million Dollar Corporation, and there most certainly will, as long as you count Paul Bearer's urn as gold.

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 #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 #86 - November 14th, 1994

Another Savage-less Raw is upon us, this time featuring Ted DiBiase on commentary. The 123 Kid is already in the ring as the show begins, waiting for opponent Bob Backlund to arrive. When the former WWWF champion does enter the ring, he is immediately backed into the corner and it with a series of kicks by the Kid, including the quickest Maneuver (#1 - roundhouse kick) in the history of Raw (delivered less than a minute into the program). Backlund sells in comical fashion.

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 #84 - October 31st, 1994

Tonight's Raw is the last one ever to feature Macho Man Randy Savage. Don't expect a tribute or farewell, though, as Vince doesn't know that Savage is jumping to WCW. Lex Luger enters the ring, led by flag-bearer Nicole Matilda (no relation to Davey Boy Smith's bulldog).

Raw #83 - October 24th, 1994

Burlington, Vermont hosts Raw for the second week in a row. Gee, it must be tough for the WWF superstars to travel around the country on the Hart Attack tour, then have to hightail it back to Vermont every Monday night. "The most controversial Native American of all time," Tatanka, will be in action tonight. I don't know, Macho. Sitting Bull might be more controversial. And Leonard Peltier. The Smoking Gunns, Diesel, and Adam Bomb will also be in action. Yokozuna's music plays throughout the intro, playing the former WWF champion to the ring to challenge for the Intercontinental title. I think Yokozuna should be barred from Intercontinental Title contention, having supposedly been born on a Polynesian island, which is not part of any continent. The same goes for the Headshrinkers and Crush. Hey, maybe Rikishi was right about the island boys being held back in the Federation.

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 #79 - September 26th, 1994

For the first time in a month and a half, Monday Night Raw is live tonight, this time from Utica, New York. The cold opening announces the night's main event, Tatanka vs. Razor Ramon with the Intercontinental title on the line. That certainly sounds like the kind of match that they should have announced the previous week, especially given that Jerry Lawler vs. Duke "The Dumpster" Droese got more promotion than this match. Randy Savage says that the eyes of the world are on Utica tonight, and not Los Angeles, where the O.J. trial has just begun.

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 #76 - August 15th, 1994

In the cold opening this week, we see clips from last week's episode, where Tatanka caught Luger with a fistful of dollars, then found him backstage in Ted DiBiase's dressing room. In an important development to this riveting angle, Tatanka is now calling Luger a "turncoat" to add some variety to his accusations of selling out. Somehow, at a time when 6'6'' Brian Lee is dressing up as and (very poorly) imitating  the Undertaker, this Luger-Tatanka-sellout angle is the stupidest storyline of the summer.

Raw #74 - August 1st, 1994

Vince McMahon is back on commentary tonight after his neck surgery. Had his neck surgery not gone so well, we might have never heard Vince on commentary ever again. Tonight's featured match is Shawn Michaels's in-ring return after Wrestlemania X against his Mania opponent, Razor Ramon. The Bad Guy challenges Diesel for the Intercontinental title at Summerslam.

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.