Tonight's Raw, number 35, will mark the second Intercontinental title change and third title change overall in Raw history. It also is the concluding episode of the first of many Shawn Michaels title forfeitures on Raw. Vince McMahon narrates a montage of last week's battle royal, which he explains is the culmination of years of sacrifice by the wrestlers. That doesn't explain why Abe Knuckleball Schwartz is in it, though. It is very difficult to make a story out of a match with 20 men punching and kicking each other.
The opening match is Razor Ramon vs. Rick Martel, who is wrestling his third match in one night, as the past three Raws have all been filmed in New Haven on September 27th. heenan bets that if Razor wins the belt, he'll melt it down into "some cheap necklace." Who does he think Ramon is, the Supreme Fighting Machine Kama? This episode is airing on Columbus Day, the significance of which Vince explains like so:
