[1995-01-09-WWF-Raw] Owen Hart vs Razor Ramon

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. Bret runs in to attack Owen and get sweet revenge for Survivor Series, but Jeff Jarrett quickly comes to the rescue. Huge heat for Bret's run-in.

[Tim Evans]

I don't know why Razor is so happy with Bret running in and interfering in his match? HBK wasn't too bad on commentary.

[BackToBionic]

Oh man, that's the outfit Jarrett wore for his entire first WCW run.

[Kevin Ridge]

Bret screws Owen! Little brother was close to get the submission win but Bret interferes to cause DQ. Jarrett uses the opportunity to sneak in behind and get some shots in on Razor.

[PeteF3]

A common criticism of 1992 rears its head again: Bret should not be in ring gear considering he's been inactive since Survivor Series and his comeback match isn't until next week. The action here was much better than at KOTR and the run-ins are handled logically. But this is sort of symptomatic of a 1995 trend of heels not being allowed to get any heat on the faces, a trend that would continue until Bill Watts' arrival.

[Calvin]

This is for Razon Ramon's WWF Intercontinental Championship.

This is used to set-up the No Holds Barred match between Owen and Bret on 1/10 (I can't find any available footage, sadly), so we get a non-finish, but it's also good TV match in and of itself with Hall making good use of his power and Owen using his athleticism to close the gap.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Owen Hart - WWF RAW 1/9/95

I have had this one earmarked ever since I found it existed. Two of the most beloved 90s upper Midcard Acts. I was underwhelmed by their KOTR 94 match but otherwise these two aren’t really associated with each other. So it is a pleasure to get these two together.

I really enjoyed this match and I thought they structured this flawlessly. If they got the better finish, you could say this was a hidden gem. Owen tries a sneak attack and Razor clotheslines him. It is off to the races. Razor works a really fun shine. At every pass, Owen is thwarted. We get a great back body drop, clothesline to the outside so Owen goes up top press slam. Razor works the arm and Owen does a great job making this fun doing a great comedic flop. Razor works the arm well and when Owen gets out he clocks him with a right and when Owen spits at him it is the Sack of Shit. It is my favorite style of wrestling. Heel feeds a baby face by trying some sort of shortcut and baby face thwarts him and hits badass offense. At the perfect time before this gets old, Razor goes for his finish and Owen back drops him over the top. Owen hits a beautiful suicide dive. Notice how it is almost a high speed crossbody block through middle rope. It is an easy bump for the wrestler to absorb so it looks better. Owen’s heat segment follows Razor’s shine. Since Owen is a heel, I would have liked more viciousness or cheating. This is more of a Japanese-style control segment. Owen runs through his offense: enziguiri, straddle, spinning heel kick, back breaker, sleeper. The beauty of all this is how it is set up. Razor is constantly fighting trying to throw his signature right or Irish Whip and Owen thwarts him with one of his signature move. It is not my turn, your turn. They strategically set up each high spot. Really well done. I like how Razor uses the back suplex out of the sleeper as the leveling the playing field. Razor hits those signature, stinging rights, great set up and execution of the Chokeslam, Razor really getting a chance to show off his offensive arsenal. Razor goes for his signature set up love the Super Back Suplex but Owen fights out. Owen goes for his own Back Suplex, but loses his balance and Razor gets dropped ass first hard on the top rope and takes quite the tough bump to the floor. His ass must have felt that. Owen gets the Sharpshooter and Bret as jealous as ever can’t stand to see his younger brother win the Intercontinental championship blatantly attacks Owen in front of the ref. Here comes Razor’s Rumble opponent, Double J Jeff Jarrett, this sets up the Jarrett vs Bret match.

I really liked the structure of this a lot. They really meshed their high spots well setting up each one logically and executing them really well. I would have liked to seen Owen show more of mean streak in the heat segment but he is a great stooge. Razor is a great baby face. Too bad about this finish, but this is great *** 3/4