Sage Cortez
Leading up to King of the Ring, I’m interested to see how hard they push Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna. Hogan wasn’t on their television, and in addition to that, he’d done a spot in Japan where he pretty much buried the WWF and their title. Thankfully, when the WWF did more television tapings, it was clear that they had immediately dropped the Friar Ferguson gimmick. It was absolutely terrible, so that’s good. I’m more interested in seeing what happens than talking about it, because I don’t have much good or bad news to share.
– May 10th, 1993, on Monday Night Raw, from the Manhattan Center in New York City, New York
We have a pretaped segment featuring Shawn Michaels! MR. PERFECT CRASHED IT. THIS IS THE BRAWL. Sadly, they ruin Fink’s car by having Perfect throw Michaels on it. This was a great segment for getting a feud over. To have them fight in public with fans outside was super cool. It’s funny, Michaels had a lumberjack match later in the show. WILL MR. PERFECT BE THERE?
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Typhoon
Pre-Match Thoughts: I guess I am going to review this one, given that I’m going to watch it anyway. Really no difference one way or the other. Can Bigelow carry Typhoon to anything decent? I doubt that. These two are pretty big, you know?
Match Review: They collide with each other to start, and neither man goes down. They do it again, and the same thing happens. Then, Typhoon picks up Bigelow and slams him. Typhoon goes to a wristlock, until Bigelow rakes the eyes and slams Typhoon himself. Bigelow drops an elbow on him, but misses a headbutt and Typhoon goes back to the wristlock. Bigelow gets out and drops Typhoon with a huge back suplex, but Typhoon pops up and clotheslines Bigelow out of the ring. Bigelow gets back in there and comes back with a series of post shots, and it’s obvious Bigelow’s bleeding. Looks bad, but there’s no blood running down his head. Bigelow goes to a chinlock, but Typhoon crushes him in the corner.
We had a commercial after that, and Typhoon’s in the middle of his comeback. He clotheslines Bigelow, then misses a splash in the corner. Bigelow follows up with a SAMOAN DROP, then heads up top for the FLYING HEADBUTT. Bigelow covers, and picks up the victory after about 5 minutes or so.
My Thoughts: This was better than you’d think, and I’m sorry my review may not make it come across that way. This was a decent power match, and I wasn’t really bothered by the slow pace. Confused about how they finished the match without showing any of Typhoon’s comeback, though. *1/2.
Time for another Smoking Gunns vignette, but this time, it was filmed almost completely differently. I don’t like it.
After that was shown, Yokozuna went out there to destroy PJ Walker. He hadn’t been on Raw since WrestleMania, so this is weird. He’s supposed to face Kamala on the next episode.
Mr. Perfect faced off with Iron Mike Sharpe. Yawn. Before the match, he put his gum in the mouth of one of the fat ring girls, who liked it. This company is gross. Not was, is. Of course, Perfect beat the guy with the Perfect-Plex.
Next up, we get Mr. Hughes facing THE CANNONBALL KID. Looks like Harvey Wippleman is managing Mr. Hughes now. This kid looks awfully familiar. Anyway, Hughes threw him around like crazy. Couldn’t believe some of the bumps the kid took, the last one being an enormous chokeslam.
Jim Duggan vs. Shawn Michaels in a LUMBERJACK MATCH for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Our lumberjacks are actually wearing lumberjack shirts. We have Typhoon, Terry Taylor, Mr. Hughes, Yokozuna (not wearing a shirt), Mr. Fuji, Tatanka, Bob Backlund, Bam Bam Bigelow, and Mr. Perfect. I liked this match a lot when I was a kid, but there’s no way to tell whether or not that’s how I’ll feel after watching it now. The best thing is that they adopted episodic booking as pertains to this show instead of doing what they did with their other shows. During Hacksaw’s entrance, he took the chance to attack Yokozuna from behind and knock him down. That sets a nice tone for what’s ahead. Michaels music played, and hilariously he decided to walk to the ring on crutches and claimed he couldn’t wrestle. This is fantastic heeling. Perfect didn’t like it much, so he popped Michaels and threw him in the ring. Michaels forgot that he was “injured,” and starts posturing at Perfect wanting to fight him. That’s amazing. So, Duggan clotheslines Michaels to the outside. Perfect throws him back in, and the match begins!
Match Review: Michaels is in street clothes and boots, as Hacksaw gives him an atomic drop. Hacksaw then powerslams Michaels and drops an elbow on him, which gets 2. Hacksaw rips Michaels’ shirt off, and Michaels does a great sell off a punch. Now Hacksaw suplexes him, and that gets 2. Hacksaw then throws Michaels upside down in the corner, and follows up with some clubbing blows to the back. Hacksaw clotheslines him, and follows up with some shoulders in the corner. Hacksaw pops Michaels with a back elbow, then chinlocks him for a little bit. Hacksaw picks Michaels up for a bear hug, then transitions to a bodyslam for 2. Michaels goes to the eyes, but gets headbutted and dropped. Hacksaw climbs the ropes and hits Michaels with five punches, then Michaels winds up tied in the ropes. Hacksaw takes Michaels and throws him over the top to the heel side of the ring, but Perfect and Backlund walk over there to make sure Michaels can’t leave as we go to a commercial.
Back from that, Hacksaw picks Michaels up and slams him again. Hacksaw misses a knee drop, so Michaels takes his boot off and wallops Hacksaw with it. Hacksaw winds up outside of the ring, and the lumberjacks put him back in there. That happens again, then Michaels jumps right on Hacksaw’s neck. Michaels goes for a backdrop, but instead goes face-first into the mat. Michaels goes to the eyes, but Hacksaw rams him into the buckle. Hacksaw misses a charge to the other side, so Michaels covers for 2. Michaels goes to a chinlock, but Hacksaw fights out of that quickly. Hacksaw hits Michaels with another clothesline, then takes him down with an enormous backdrop. Hacksaw chokes Michaels for a little bit, then misses a charge to the corner. Michaels jumps off the second rope, but Hacksaw catches and slams him for 2. Hacksaw is so gassed. He signals for the THREE POINT STANCE, and clotheslines Michaels all the way out of the ring. The heels on that side take time to put Michaels back in the ring, and we have another commercial!
Back from that commercial, Michaels is in control until he goes on a charge to the corner and hits the post. Now Bigelow is on the ring apron, and distracts Duggan long enough for Michaels to knee him from behind. Now Michaels throws Hacksaw over to Yokozuna, and the big guy drops a leg on Hacksaw. The end. Yokozuna puts Hacksaw back in the ring and Michaels covers, but Perfect runs in there to attack Michaels for the DQ at 17:20. After everyone separates, Michaels runs in to attack Perfect, and we have a big brawl as the show goes off the air!
My Thoughts: This match was good, but the entire scenario was better. I thought it was great. I’m not sure what the best part was, but I love the way they were able to tie three programs together like this. It was pretty much how I remembered it, too. The match was great at times, decent for most of it, and I’m comfortable with a *** rating taking everything into account. Shawn faking injury was perfect, though. They did perfect with the payoff too. Big fan of this angle, and Yokozuna knocking Duggan out with the leg drop ensured people knew the guy was still strong. Good episode, of course.
– Taped to air May 15th, 1993, on Superstars, from the Convention Center in Tuscon, Arizona
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Giant Gonzalez (w/Harvey Wippleman) vs. Tatanka
Pre-Match Thoughts: Does Tatanka’s undefeated streak come to an end right here? That’s the important question. I wonder when the Undertaker is finally going to show up. He hasn’t been on anything since WrestleMania, it’s strange. Can’t believe they were still airing stuff from this TV taping.
Match Review: It takes a long time for this match to start, and when it does, Gonzalez knocks Tatanka down with a quick chop to the head. He chokes Tatanka after that, and that goes on for a really long time. Eventually, he hits Tatanka with a big boot. Tatanka comes back with some kicks to the legs, then lands a chop from the top rope. Tatanka tries that again, but can’t put the big guy down. The third one ends with Gonzalez grabbing Tatanka in a choke, and pushing the referee away to get disqualified after 2:53. What a guy. He chokeslams Tatanka after the match, and that’s pretty much the end of the whole thing.
My Thoughts: This was what it was. I wanted to see how they’d keep Tatanka undefeated. You’d think after he was in the company for a year and a half or so, he’d be the #1 contender to Hulk Hogan with a record like that. 1/4* for the chokeslam.
– Taped to air May 16th, 1993, on Wrestling Challenge, from America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Doink the Clown vs. Mr. Perfect
Pre-Match Thoughts: Somebody has to get the win this time, you’d think. One way or the other, somebody’s going to advance to the King of the Ring tournament. Why not now? After Doink’s joke while walking down the aisle, Mr. Perfect gets tired of it and grabs Doink so he can ram him into the steps. They get in the ring, and the match begins.
Match Review: Doink comes back with some kicks, but Perfect trips him and starts working on Doink’s left leg. He uses an Indian deathlock on Doink, which isn’t something I see often. Doink goes to the eyes to break it, then puts a sleeper on Mr. Perfect. Perfect breaks it and trips Doink again, so it’s back to the leg. Perfect uses the same holds as before, and this time applies a FIGURE-FOUR as well. When Doink reaches the ropes, he waits until Perfect gets up, and grabs him so he can throw him out of the ring. Doink follows and rams Perfect into the steps a few times, but Perfect’s able to make it back to the ring in time. Doink goes to work on Perfect’s arm, then clotheslines him out of the ring. Doink brings Perfect in and puts an armbar on him, then they trade slaps until Doink knocks Perfect down with a few of them. Perfect gets up with punches, and the bell rings for a time limit draw at 7:03. Terrible. Perfect finally gets the better of Doink and takes him over with the PERFECT-PLEX, but the match is over. Perfect wanted five more minutes, but Doink wasn’t giving it.
My Thoughts: These draws are somewhat unnecessary, but I suppose they really wanted to fill TV time and get a good angle going for Raw. They had a match to finally wrap this up, and it was quite long. Looking forward to watching it. **1/4.
– May 17th, 1993, on Monday Night Raw, from the Manhattan Center in New York City, New York
This Raw is one of the best. I’ve actually seen most of it before on a video they released back in the 90’s. Of course, they showed the street fight between Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect again. Lord Alfred Hayes said that there’s a man in disguise who showed up on Raw, but he isn’t going to say who it is. WHO IS IT?
Vince plugged the Smoking Gunns extremely hard before their match. He must’ve thought this was the best gimmick ever. One of the jobbers looked like somebody from a hair metal band. Of course, the Smoking Gunns won.
Vince is in the ring, and it looks like he’s going to interview Shawn Michaels. These “Shawn is gay” chants are quite pervasive. This Shawn Michaels is quite arrogant. He said he’d defend his title anywhere, against anybody. So, in a fantastic moment…A GUY IN A HOODIE WALKS DOWN TO THE RING. IT’S MARTY JANNETTY. He grabs the microphone, and asks Michaels if he’s a man of his word. PROVE IT. WE’RE GONNA HAVE THAT MATCH TONIGHT, BROTHER.
Razor Ramon vs. The Kid
Pre-Match Thoughts: This Kid got squashed twice on recent Raw episodes, using a different name in each of those. He also got no offense in during those matches. This Kid was presumably there to do another job and do nothing in the process. Razor was getting a huge babyface reaction.
Match Review: Razor throws his toothpick in the guy’s eye, then shoves the Kid across the ring. Razor follows that up with an extremely hard chop, then tosses him across the ring like a wild animal. Razor puts an abdominal stretch on him, and follows that up with a fallaway slam. The Kid dodges a charge to the corner, then goes up top and comes down with a MOONSAULT PRESS, AND GETS THE WIN AT 2:12. HE BEAT RAZOR RAMON!
My Thoughts: The crowd could absolutely not believe what they’d seen. Amazing angle, something the crowd totally didn’t expect. The Kid took some great bumps in his appearances leading up to this, so nobody could have thought this would happen. Best of all, they didn’t foreshadow the Kid’s win. I can’t possibly rate this but this was fantastic. Jobbers never won! I miss being able to care about something in wrestling this much.
To follow that up we got a Tatanka squash match, but I don’t know how anyone could follow that up. After that, they showed three of the King of the Ring matchups. They were showing two more KOTR qualifiers next week. So, what happened to Doink vs. Mr. Perfect? Doesn’t make sense to me.
Next up, they did Yokozuna vs. Kamala. Not going to give that the full treatment. This was way better than you’d think, though. Yoko pinned Kamala with the BANZAI DROP inside of four minutes. Slightly surprised by that. Kamala once quit the WWF so that he didn’t have to job to Hulk Hogan on television. *1/2.
Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is awesome, to get this match so quickly right after Marty comes back. Michaels doing three straight televised title defenses is pretty cool too. Made the title feel like it mattered. Obviously, they were going to go all out to have a fantastic match. That’s amusing given that it has been said that Michaels is the one who got Jannetty fired just a few months before this.
Match Review: They lock up, and Michaels pops Jannetty in the face. Next, he goes into the buckle, and Jannetty returns the favor. Jannetty rolls Michaels up for 2, then a sunset flip gets 2. Jannetty then flips out of a hip toss, and clotheslines Michaels over the top. Fantastic bump, that one. Jannetty hits Michaels with a baseball slide, then skins the cat back in for a PLANCHA. Jannetty throws Michaels back into the ring, dodges a superkick, and arm drags Michaels down. A flying head-scissors follows that, and Michaels kicks out at 2. Jannetty has a head-scissors on him, and when Michaels gets out, he misses an elbow drop. Jannetty backdrops Michaels, and throws him inside down in the corner and to the outside. Of course, Michaels says he’s leaving. HOWEVER, MR. PERFECT IS THERE. We go to a commercial with him staring down Michaels!
Back from that, Jannetty brings Michaels in the ring the hard way. Michaels blocks a flying head-scissors with a hot shot, then beats Jannetty up with some punches. Michaels jumps on Jannetty’s neck, then drops some knees on him. Michaels goes to a chinlock, then gets up and dropkicks him. Jannetty catches Michaels and catapults him into the post, but only gets 2 on the cover. When they get up this time, Jannetty rams Michaels’ head into the mat and hits him with a flying back elbow. Jannetty powerslams Michaels for 2, then fakes like he’s going to do a cross body from the second rope, only to climb up top and do one for a 2 count. Jannetty goes for a back suplex, but Michaels flips out of it. Jannetty cradles Michaels up, but Shawn pulls the tights and reverses for 2. Michaels hits Jannetty with a superkick, then focuses on Perfect and starts shouting at him. Eventually Perfect throws his towel at him, and Jannetty cradles Michaels up for the title victory at 10:57!
My Thoughts: What a great TV match, with a perfect ending. What an amazing Raw episode. This wasn’t a perfect match, but the pace was fantastic. The crowd was on fire too. I thought the angle with Mr. Perfect walking out there to keep Michaels from leaving was basically perfect. Loved the pace of the whole thing. This is a match I can’t watch without my inner fan taking over. As such my rating and thoughts on the match are biased as hell. That being said, how long did it take them to put on a better episode of this show? ***1/2.
– Taped to air May 22nd, 1993, on Superstars, from the Memorial Auditorium in Worcester, Massachusetts
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Shawn Michaels vs. Crush
Pre-Match Thoughts: I have no idea why they’d book three qualifying matches for two spots. Seems pretty stupid if you ask me. For this one, they couldn’t show Shawn’s entrance because he had the IC belt with him. As we know, he lost that belt. Good thing Michaels entered first as it made things much easier to cut.
Match Review: Michaels tries to slam Crush, but instead Crush knocks his head off by throwing him across the ring. Michaels dodges a Crush charge to the corner, then is taken down with a big backbreaker. Crush picks Michaels up with a bear hug, until Michaels thumbs him in the eye. Now, Michaels hits Crush with a clothesline, but doesn’t hurt him or take him down. Crush picks Michaels up and press slams him, then he clotheslines him over the top rope. Nice start. Crush brings Michaels back into the ring, and misses a charge to the corner. Michaels hits him with a knee to knock him to the outside, then rams Crush into the steps. Michaels posts Crush after that, and brings Crush back into the ring for a chinlock. Crush gets out and Michaels tries a superkick, but instead Crush clotheslines him and hits him with a big boot. Crush drops a leg on him, then kicks Michaels in the corner until Michaels gets kicked out of the ring. Crush then elbows Michaels off the apron, but Michaels comes back and dumps Crush to the outside. Now they brawl on the floor, and both guys get counted out at 5:25. Crush press slams Michaels back into the ring for a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but he didn’t win the match. The HEAD CRUSH doesn’t change that either.
My Thoughts: They did the quick title change to Jannetty, but this was built up for King of the Ring. They actually did just fine with that. **, Michaels did the work of two. His selling and bumping ability was amazing.
– Taped to air May 23rd, 1993, on Wrestling Challenge, from Portland, Maine
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Mr. Hughes (w/Harvey Wippleman) vs. Kamala
Pre-Match Thoughts: Odd that the WWF would pair these two together. It was bordering on lazy. Why not do Lex Luger vs. Kamala? Somewhat confusing. Both these guys wouldn’t be in the WWF for very much longer, and in Hughes case he was hardly even there. The commentary team of Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan is an odd one.
Match Review: Hughes attacks Kamala, getting this match underway. Hughes misses a charge to the corner, so Kamala hits him with some kicks until Hughes goes to the eyes. Hughes and Kamala trade shots for a while, then Hughes dropkicks him a few times. Kamala comes back with chops, then hits Hughes in the throat and splashes him. However, Kamala tries to cover, and Hughes is on his stomach. Now Kimchee runs out there, and Kamala starts chasing him around the ring, leading to Kamala getting counted out at 2:45. Kamala then slams Kimchee and pins him, but Kimchee wasn’t part of the match. Kamala then chases Wippleman to the back in a funny bit.
My Thoughts: This sucked, but I wanted to see how Hughes qualified. They let Kamala look very strong, nothing was lost there. DUD for the weak ending.
– Taped to air May 24th, 1993, on Monday Night Raw, from the Manhattan Center in New York City, New York
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Doink the Clown vs. Mr. Perfect
Pre-Match Thoughts: Going to watch three straight Raw episodes now. Could be interesting, could be terrible. This match is supposed to be the former rather than the latter. Really looking forward to it given the way they built the thing up. Heenan made it sound like we may get three Doinks showing up during this match. I wish. During his entrance, he crawled under the ring. Lord Alfred said that he’s standing with a Doink outside of the arena right now!
Match Review: Doink attacks Perfect, so here we go. He chokes Perfect with Perfect’s towel, then tosses him across the ring with the aid of it. Doink cleans himself off with the towel, then Perfect gets it and clotheslines Doink with it. They slap each other for a while, until Perfect trips Doink and jumps on his knee. Perfect puts a spinning toe-hold on Doink, then wraps his leg around the post as we go to a commercial. WHY?
Back from that commercial, Perfect was still stomping on Doink’s leg until Doink booted him in the face. Doink tosses Perfect over the top, then jumps off the apron with a double axehandle. Doink posts Perfect, then forearms him across the chest. Perfect is kept out with a series of forearms, then Doink takes him down with a fireman’s carry. Perfect counters with a head-scissors, but Doink gets out and stomps away at him. Doink goes to an armbar, but Perfect gets out with a stomp to that previously injured leg. Perfect goes to an Indian deathlock, which Doink breaks by poking him in the eye. Doink bites Perfect and forces him out of the ring, and he posts Perfect again. Doink wraps Perfect’s arm around the post as well, then goes to a keylock. Doink dishes out a hammerlock slam, and covers Perfect for 2 as we go to another commercial.
Back from that commercial, these two are slugging it out. Perfect hits Doink with an atomic drop and a clothesline, but Doink pulls him into the turnbuckle. Perfect comes back with a clothesline to send Doink over the top, and HERE’S ANOTHER DOINK. Doink rolls under the ring to switch places with his rested partner-in-crime, and the new Doink gets in there for some nice punches. He takes Perfect down with a monkey flip, but Perfect comes back with the PERFECT-PLEX and finishes Doink for the win after about 12 minutes. The original Doink gets in the ring and helps his buddy attack Perfect, so they’re taking him out. HERE COMES CRUSH. He cleans house on the two Doinks, and makes sure they don’t get back in the ring to do anything.
My Thoughts: I LOVE the two Doinks gimmick. I love the evil Doink gimmick in general. I thought this was a good wrestling match with an excellent added element. The work in this was really good, I love Doink’s moveset. Perfect didn’t exactly get much offense in there, which helped set the match up for the finish, I thought. Bobby Heenan’s commentary in this was great. “THERE’S ONLY ONE DOINK” and then ten seconds later, “HE BEAT THE WRONG DOINK!” Doesn’t get much better. ***1/4.
On this week’s KOTR Report, they announced all the KOTR tournament matches. Sounds good! Hulk Hogan cut a promo on this, his first TV appearance since winning the title. I didn’t care much for anything he said.
Next up, it’s time for Money Inc. to get an easy match in. They hadn’t been on Raw in a little while. DiBiase was going to pay a fan to shine their shoes! So the kid does that, and DiBiase was going to give the kid 100 dollars. However, THE IRS TOOK 70 OF IT. LEARN YOUR LESSON KID. The match was boring, by the way. Watching these episodes with the squash matches has made me appreciate the athleticism that goes into taking some of these bumps over the top rope. The danger and risk of them is something to me as well.
Funny they’d bring Crush out there for a squash after what he did earlier. Crush was a terrible babyface. I don’t see how people could get behind a guy who tried to crush people’s heads in.
Razor Ramon walked out there for an interview, and the crowd started chanting 1-2-3 as the WWF would want them to. He said that he’d give the Kid $2500 to get in the ring with him. After he calls Kid a cockroach, here comes Bret Hart. Hart grabs a microphone and leads the crowd in a chant of 1-2-3, then says Razor wasn’t a good enough wrestler to beat Kid.
To finish out the show, they brought Adam Bomb out there for a squash match. ADAM BOMB. JOHNNY POLO IS HERE TOO. I’m trying to formulate my thoughts on the gimmick, and I guess I’d say that this is the point when the WWF finally went into the realm of being too ridiculous. Bomb looked terrible. Fitting he’d be given a powerBOMB as his finisher. Decent episode.
– May 31st, 1993, on Monday Night Raw, from the Manhattan Center in New York City, New York
Starting the show, Hacksaw Duggan did a Memorial Day tribute. There are lots of squash matches after the opener, so this may not be a great episode. Oh well.
Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Luna Vachon) vs. Marty Jannetty (w/Sensational Sherri) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: It’s strange to see Marty defending his title on Raw, this is the only time he did so. Thanks to the WWE Network, I’m able to finally check it out. If they’d put the title on Bigelow, would anyone really have been surprised? I wouldn’t be. It’s good that they put Luna and Sherri on this episode in a prominent spot. Sherri kind of looked like shit. Luna and Bigelow was a smart pairing.
Match Review: Sherri attacks Luna, so I guess this is starting before the actual match. That was funny. Now Bigelow runs in and attacks Jannetty, so the bell rings. Bigelow smacks him around for a while, and shoulders him down with Marty doing a great somersault sell. That happens again, and Bigelow clotheslines him as well. Jannetty gets in some right hands and goes up top, coming down with a flying punch for 2. Bigelow comes back with headbutts and a backdrop so big that Jannetty lands on his feet, but Bigelow catches him with a bear hug. Bigelow drives Jannetty back to the corner, but Jannetty goes up top and takes him down with a terrible flying head-scissors. He does so once more, then a try at a third ends with Bigelow dropping back to the mat and crushing him.
We had a commercial, and come back with Bigelow having a chinlock on Jannetty. He hits a dropkick on the champion, then splashes Jannetty in the corner for 2. BIgelow eats boots on another charge to the corner, then Jannetty flies off the second rope with a flying clothesline that gets 2. Jannetty hits him with a flying back elbow too, then a facebuster gets 2. Jannetty hits Bigelow with a superkick, then dropkicks him down for another 2 count. Bigelow comes back with a bodyslam, then signals for the finish. He takes Jannetty down with a double-underhook backbreaker, and Sherri grabs Bigelow’s leg as he runs the ropes. Bigelow grabs Sherri, and Jannetty knees Bigelow to the outside. Jannetty knocks Bigelow into the rail with a baseball slide, then goes up top and flies down with a cross body all the way out to the floor! They keep fighting on the floor and Bigelow posts the champion, then he throws Jannetty into the ring. Sherri distracts Bigelow, and gets him counted out after about 10 minutes. Haha. After the match, Bigelow slams Marty and squashes him with a senton.
My Thoughts: This was a really good match, and it was very interesting to see Jannetty in the champion’s role, trying to fend off a challenger much bigger than him. This was quite fun. I liked the offense that both guys chose to use, because it was quite different. ***, good stuff. The pattern of these Raw episodes was to have one good match and a bunch of squash matches. This one was not only good but interesting. Due to this match, now I wonder what a Bam Bam vs. 1-2-3 Kid match would look like.
Sensational Sherri wanted Luna Vachon to walk back out there. Oh boy. Luna started walking out there, but there’s a referee in her way. So, Sherri runs out of the ring and jumps her on the floor! She slams Luna on the floor, then calls Luna into the ring. HOWEVER, Bam Bam runs out there and arm traps Sherri, so Luna can beat her up. HERE COMES TATANKA. He attacks Bigelow, and clears him from the ring to end that whole thing.
Thankfully we keep the fun going with the Steiners getting a showcase match. Could be way worse. Good on Vince for telling people there would be an eight-man match at KOTR. Scott basically killed the jobber with the STEINER SCREWDRIVER.
Next up, Mr. Hughes squashed a guy. His chokeslam was a good finisher.
After that, it was Hacksaw’s turn to destroy a jabroni. When Hacksaw was done, it was time for the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. I laughed at Heenan joining in.
Following those, we got a Razor Ramon match. This isn’t exactly an inspiring Raw. Before that match, the 1-2-3 Kid cut a promo. He was talking about how he watched WWF on TV with his grandparents, and that he wasn’t going to take Razor’s money considering it seems like Razor wants to cripple him. The intrigue was that the jobber would beat Razor just like the 1-2-3 Kid did. Savage leading the 1-2-3 chants was fantastic.
Closing out the show, Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji walked out there to talk about Hulk Hogan. IT’S MEMORIAL DAY YOU PIECES OF TRASH. HULKAMANIA WILL DIE. As the show finished, Hacksaw waved the American flag in the crowd.
– June 7th, 1993, on Monday Night Raw, from the Manhattan Center in New York City, New York
Starting the show off, it was announced that there was a new Intercontinental Champion crowned over the weekend. It is…SHAWN MICHAELS. He appeared to walk out there with this really big guy. His name is, uh…HE DOESN’T HAVE A NAME YET. Anyway, Michaels faced some guy in a squash match and pinned him after a piledriver. I wonder how long it took them to come up with the Diesel name.
The second match on here was a supposedly competitive one, with Adam Bomb taking on El Matador. Bomb’s yellow contacts were silly. This wasn’t quite a squash but it felt like one. Bomb kicked out of the flying forearm and pinned Santana after a slingshot clothesline after five minutes. *1/4.
Tatanka had yet another squash match on here. I wonder what his record was, if they had kept track of it like WCW did Goldberg’s.
It was time for the first Raw edition of the King’s Court. To say this looked low-rent is an understatement. This whole thing couldn’t have cost much, if any excess expense. Yokozuna was his guest this week.
Irwin R. Schyster (WWF Tag Team Champion) and Fatu (w/Ted DiBiase, Afa, and Samu) vs. Rick Steiner and Billy Gunn (w/Scott Steiner and Bart Gunn)
Pre-Match Thoughts: This match was carefully chosen, with DiBiase and Scott Steiner both nursing injuries. It could have been a better four, but this was the four they could go with. They were having an eight-man match at the King of the Ring, so one guy from each team was how they did things here. Looks like Scott Steiner went on another cycle, THOSE ARMS DUDE.
Match Review: Billy Gunn and IRS will start this one off, or rather, Rick Steiner and Fatu tag in there. AFA JUST ATE A DOLLAR BILL. Fatu beats Gunn up, then picks him up for a suplex that Gunn counters with a drop toe-hold. A dropkick follows that, then a neckbreaker from Gunn gets 2. Steiner tags in there, and powerslams Fatu for 2. Fatu hits Steiner with a back elbow and clotheslines him, then tags IRS in there. IRS misses a clothesline and flies over the top, but Gunn throws him back in for more punishment. A STEINERLINE occurs, and Steiner covers for 2. Fatu makes a tag and they try a double team, but IRS accidentally knocks Fatu off the apron. Now we have a potential fight between Money Inc. and the Headshrinkers, as we go to a commercial.
During that commercial, DiBiase settled the problem with a LOT of money. So, Steiner takes IRS down with a headlock. IRS gets up and throws Steiner out of the ring, but Steiner gets back in there and IRS stomps a mudhole in him. IRS throws him out again, and this time DiBiase and Fatu ram Steiner into the steps. Samu and DiBiase keep beating Steiner up, which is blatant CHEATING. Fatu makes a tag in now, and he nails Steiner with a ridiculously stiff clothesline that gets 2. Fatu picks Steiner up and slams him, then goes for a pump splash in the corner and misses. Gunn and IRS make tags in, and Gunn backdrops IRS. He follows that up with one on Fatu, then hits Fatu with a great looking dropkick. Gunn knocks DiBiase off the apron, then IRS clotheslines Gunn from behind and pins him for the victory after about 11 minutes.
My Thoughts: The stuff with Money Inc. buying off the Headshrinkers was much better than the match. I liked that. The match was basic and completely standard. Didn’t really care about the result, but the result totally gave away that the babyfaces were going to win at the PPV given they’d been screwed over here. **1/4.
Closing out the show, Razor Ramon announced that the 1-2-3 Kid would face him next week. Did he? Don’t think so.
Those Raws were pretty good in comparison to the previous set, it was clear to see the show was getting quite a bit better. The WWF did a good job not foreshadowing Yokozuna’s win at King of the Ring. They hadn’t given anything away, and of course it would be a big shock when it happened. Hulk Hogan didn’t even show up on TV, which was dumb and stupid. I should also point out that Vince McMahon thought it would be wise to resign as “President of Titan Sports.” The importance of that was to disassociate himself with the entire company for when he was going to be put on trial. That wasn’t too far away, either.
Best: 1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon. HE BEAT RAZOR RAMON.
Worst: Adam Bomb’s contacts. Awful.
