[1996-07-15-WWF-Monday Night RAW] Shawn Michaels vs Billy Gunn

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Shawn Michaels vs Billy Gunn - WWF RAW 7/15/96

SEX?!? What does Sex have to do with the WWF Championship?

Now I want to play tennis with Shawn Michaels. Shawn Michaels meeting Patrick McEnroe in 1996 is a weird worlds colliding moment for me. 

I remember listening to the Warzone (shoutout to Chad & JT) about this time period and it sounded weird as fuck then and I am finally watching it here. Was this Billy Gunn's only WWF Title match? Basically, it seems that Shawn & Ahmed were being pushed as this new dream super powers babyface duo. They were scheduled to face Camp Cornette along with the returning Sycho Sid (replacing the no-showing Ultimate Warrior). This mini-feud was to demonstrate that Shawn & Ahmed would be a cohesive unit. First Ahmed defended his IC title against Bart earlier in the night and now Shawn is defending the World title against Billy. Then the following week the Smoking Gunns would defend the Tag Team Titles against Shawn & Ahmed on RAW. 

This is also peak Sunny, which is always a pleasure both visually and artistically. Sunny had so much charisma and its a real shame the WWF could never figure out how to utilize her to her full potential. I thought she was a very effective manager here. 

The shine is the most interesting part of the match here. The heat segment is pretty boring as to be expected as Billy Gunn is not very great. I always liked Bart a little more and wish he was the one who got this match. The comeback is very standard. I thought they did the shine in a very unique way and they cut it up making it much more interesting. Shawn as the established champion for years at this point didnt really need a shine. It was Billy Gunn who had been a tag wrestler his whole WWF tenure that needed the shine more to establish that he had a prayer in this match. So they establish Billy has the size advantage, grabbing headlocks and having Shawn pinball off him. It was an inverse shine, but very smart. Where Shawn actually shines is against the heat magnet Sunny. Billy takes a big bump over the top rope. Shawn plants not one but two big ones on Sunny. To me this is just ribald. Shawn with the baseball slide to Billy. Shawn acting like he was going to grab her ass, may have been a bridge too far, but he never actually does it. Sunny distracts Shawn long enough for Billy to catch him off the top. Sweet Rocker Dropper. I wish they used that as the transition to heat. The setup was so organic and the execution swift. I thought Shawn's slide through the ropes and double leg and crotching Billy on the ring post was great. Now Billy catches Shawn with the press slam off the top and thats the transition to heat. 

The heat segment was not much really at all. Chinlock some punches some Irish whips. Shawn sold well. I like his comeback with the lunging punches and bouncing off the ropes. It was pretty standard Shawn. Flying Burrito, Kip Up, Top Rope Elbow, Sweet Chin Music. 

Camp Cornette lays a trap for Shawn and Ahmed. SYCHO SID COMES SCREECHING IN A CADDIE TO SAVE THE DAY! Like I said the shine was fun enough that you will find it entertaining but the heat segment and the comeback/finish are pretty rote. *** 1/4