WWE Raw Gallery: 25 Years Of Iconic Monday Nights
23. 1995 - The Raw After The Night Before
Dateline: November 20th, 1995
Survivor Series 1995 was an exceptional pay-per-view from an organisation in a state of flux. Just a month earlier, Vince McMahon had tossed his headset to the ground in disgust as the cameras stopped rolling at October's In Your House 4, but he'd be urgently departing the desk for an entirely different reason as his product embarked on a curious new direction triggered by two superlative performances.
Earlier in the night, defeated former WWE Champion Diesel cut a scathing promo cementing himself not as a heel, but a p*ssed off ex-babyface. It was a unique 'tweener' role the company hadn't experimented with, with Kevin Nash railing not on opponent Bret Hart, but on McMahon and the industry in general for homogenising his gimmick a year earlier.
His on and off-screen best buddy Shawn Michaels concluded the night with an equally absorbing insertion of reality. He'd taken a battering the prior night en route to surviving alongside Ahmed Johnson, but the cumulative head-shots had taken their toll on the man still apparently suffering from post-concussion syndrome. When he crumpled to the mat in a heap clutching his head, opponent Owen Hart left the ring as McMahon, medics and officials flooded the scene.