Sage Cortez
Heading out of WrestleMania, the fans were wondering two things. One was whether or not Hulk Hogan was actually the champion because of the manner in which he won the title. The answer to that question was yes. The second was whether or not Hulk Hogan would show up on their local house show. The answer to that was, unless you lived in a certain few places, no. With that in mind, let’s talk about post-WrestleMania house shows. The Steiners faced Money Inc. on one circuit as the main event, and Giant Gonzalez vs. The Undertaker was paired with that. On the other side, Mr. Perfect would face Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart would face Lex Luger. So, interesting shows. Yokozuna got busted down to having to face Jim Duggan. That’s not right.
– Taped to air April 5th, 1993, on Monday Night Raw, from the Manhattan Center in New York City, New York
This was taped before WrestleMania, but Rob Bartlett wasn’t on commentary for this show, thankfully.
It looks like we got one of those “main event anywhere in the country” matches as our opener. By that I mean Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Virgil. The commentary was so obviously taped, and I mean obviously because the ring action was drowned out by it. They didn’t want to give away WrestleMania IX results, after all. Virgil blew a lot of spots in this bout, which was really boring. Vince and Savage basically talked about the entire WM show during it. Bam Bam won it with the FLYING HEADBUTT after 7 minutes. Way too long. DUD.
Next up we had Jerry Lawler walk out there for his WWF wrestling debut! YES. Or rather, Lawler cut a promo on the crowd, who he called idiots. Because they didn’t respect him, he’s not wrestling. Before the commercial, they had Mr. Fuji be interviewed, and he’s protesting what happened to Yokozuna at WrestleMania.
As a result of Lawler leaving, we had Bob Backlund face Kimchee right now. I’m hitting my Bob Backlund limit at this point. The announcers have hardly talked about this show and it appears that it may have been taped that way on purpose. Another DUD match.
After the commercial, we got Damien Demento vs. Jim Brunzell. These matches, man. Bartlett was on the phone with the announce table, so they won’t be talking about the matches once again. After the terribleness of that, Demento went on to squash Brunzell. If you’re getting squashed by Demento, it’s time to leave the business.
This was supposed to be Jerry Lawler time once again, but he had a problem with the reception he received and departed once more.
The Beverly Brothers vs. The Steiner Brothers
Pre-Match Thoughts: This could bring some life to this horrendous show. I don’t blame them for turning in a terrible effort here, because they didn’t know what they had in Monday Night Raw yet. The Steiners were headed for a big push at this point, so their motivation could be high. I hope Vince doesn’t talk about WrestleMania more than the match. That may not work out, because he’s selling the replay before the match starts.
Match Review: Beau and Scott start the match off, and Scott arm drags him quickly. Scott then trips him and has him wristlocked, but Beau makes the ropes and complains about hair pulling. Scott goes for a hip toss, but instead Beau grabs his hair and yanks him down to the mat. Scott comes back with his tiger bomb, which has slowly become not quite that. Blake tags in there, and so does Rick Steiner. Blake gets in some kicks, and powerslams Rick after that. Rick comes back with his own powerslam, and tags out of there for a big belly to belly throw from Scott. Beau pulls Scott’s hair to stop his momentum, then the Beverly’s double team for a little while. Beau tags back in and hits Scott with a double axehandle from the top rope, then follows up with a backbreaker for 2.
After a commercial, Beau has Scott in a chinlock that we started the commercial with. Blake runs in to stop Rick from making the tag, then chokes Scott with the tag rope. Eventually Beau covers for 2, then tags Blake back in for a bear hug. Blake goes for a suplex, but instead Scott counters with his own. Beau cuts Scott off with a tag, then misses a leg drop. SCott drops Beau with a TILT-A-WHIRL SLAM, then makes the big tag out to Rick Steiner. He takes Blake down with a huge backdrop, then hits him with a STEINERLINE for 2. Beau throws Rick out of the ring, but Scott gets in there on the attack. Now the Beverly’s try a double team, but instead Beau takes Blake out with a double axehandle. Scott gives Blake the FRANKENSTEINER, and that’s it after 10:56.
My Thoughts: This was the best match on the show by some distance, and I also thought it was pretty solid. They worked at a good pace, and did some cool things in addition to the usual Steiner spots. Surprisingly, even knowing this was taped and that the WWF wasn’t putting a lot into this show, there was no lack of effort. **1/2.
I really hope that at some point the WWF airs different commercials during these shows. It’s driving me nuts to see the WWF Mania commercial and the IcoPro one.
Jerry Lawler finally made his way out there, and he was facing Jim Powers. For some people this had to be surreal to see Lawler wrestling in the WWF. Lawler’s ability to get heat was on full display here, and he did a great job. This wasn’t really a squash match, but Lawler did piledrive Powers to win it. They were building a Lawler vs. Savage match pretty strongly. I believe the match took place in the USWA, as well as many years before this. I’d give this *1/4. After the match, Lawler continued to mug towards Savage and walked over to the commentary table, where they acted like they were about to fight each other.
Decent enough show, I suppose.
– Taped to air April 12th, 1993, on Monday Night Raw, from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York
To open the show, Money Inc. paid the Beverly Brothers to find out some information on the Steiner Brothers. They sure made it seem like the Steiner Brothers were challenging Money Inc. for the tag titles right here. Instead, we got something a little different. Sadly, Rob Bartlett was back this week. He’s going to interview Luna Vachon.
Irwin R. Schyster (WWF Tag Team Champion, w/Ted DiBiase) vs. Scott Steiner (w/Rick Steiner)
Pre-Match Thoughts: I’ve seen many worse matchups on these early Raw episodes. I’m completely cool with this. With the show being outside of the Manhattan Center, the atmosphere feels much different this week. IRS was pointing out that tax cheats needed to send in their tax returns this week. Good to know. I hope this can be as good as a Steiner Brothers match would be, but who knows.
Match Review: These two lock up, and fight over a hammerlock until IRS makes the ropes. The same thing happens again, and IRS hits Steiner with an enzuigiri. Steiner comes back with a powerslam, and DiBiase gets on the apron, only for Steiner to scare him away. IRS rolls to the outside, and stalls for a while before rolling back in. Steiner shoulders IRS down a few times, but IRS takes him down with a drop toe-hold, only for Steiner to counter with a hammerlock again. Steiner hits IRS with a STEINERLINE for 2, then goes back to the arm. Steiner tries to shoot the half, but can’t get the shoulders on the canvas. Instead, IRS elbows him in the face and goes for a suplex, only for Steiner to reverse to his own for 2. IRS leaves the ring again, and looks for something in his pocket. I wonder what he has in there. IRS pokes Steiner in the eye, then throws him to the outside this time. DiBiase hits Steiner with a clothesline, and teases a fight with Rick Steiner when after that.
After a commercial, nothing came of that teased fight. IRS PILEDRIVES Steiner, and gets 2 on the cover. IRS goes to the chinlock, and throws Steiner down when he tries to fight out of it. Bartlett isn’t saying a whole lot on this show, and Vince isn’t tolerating any of his jokes. I’m confused. IRS chinlocks Steiner again, and picks him up for a backbreaker. IRS goes up top for some reason, and Steiner gets his foot up to kick him on the way down. Steiner hits IRS with a back elbow after that, and punches him in the corner, leading to Steiner standing on his tie to prevent him from leaving. Steiner then grabs the tie and basically clotheslines IRS with it, then he backdrops him. Steiner follows with his double-underhook bomb for 2, and DiBiase runs in for the DQ at 12:05.
Well, shit. Now Rick Steiner runs in and beats DiBiase up, then they hit DiBiase with a double elbow. DiBiase gets set up for the big ELEVATED BULLDOG, but the Beverly Brothers run out from their back and crotch Rick on the top rope. Now they stomp on Scott Steiner, and help DiBiase beat him up, basically. Scott moves out of the way and the Beverly’s hit DiBiase with a double shoulderblock, which ends the whole thing. Or not. DiBiase and IRS start pushing the Beverly Brothers, which leaves us in a really weird spot. Don’t know where that’s going. Eventually, Beau attacks IRS from behind and knocks him out of the ring. DiBiase begs off for a while, so IRS grabs the briefcase and teases hitting the Beverly’s with it, but he didn’t. Weird.
My Thoughts: It’s very odd when the match you review contains similar participants to the last match you’ve reviewed, and you get a match the exact same quality as the one before. This was another solid match that was about as good as you’d get from IRS at this particular time. They tried hard and all that, but IRS had a formula and this match fit right into that. Scott Steiner facing DiBiase would have been better, but DiBiase was hurt and that wouldn’t have been a good idea. **1/2.
After that match, they brought Tatanka out there to squash someone named…Von Krus. He looked like a Nazi and I think that was the point. Hey, Doink decided to come down to the ring. I can’t tell which one this is. I think it’s Steve Keirn, judging by the teeth. They had one of the Doinks over in Europe on that tour. Anyway, Doink didn’t do anything.
This week, the Steiner Brothers were plugging IcoPro. At least that’s different.
They had plugged a Luna Vachon and Sensational Sherri interview very strongly throughout the show, and it was just about that time. Luna walked out there first for her interview, and she went completely crazy. She said Sherri was a witch, and said she’d destroy her. This was a great shtick and the WWF should have gone further with it. Sherri walked out there, and called Luna a disgrace. Then they talked shit to each other until Sherri kicked Luna and knocked her down. Then she ripped the shirt off Bartlett, and suplexed Luna on the floor. Luna then took her belt off and started tearing Sherri’s clothes off, then Sherri choked her with a cord until getting hit in the face with a piece of leather. Sherri rips Luna’s clothes off in return, until some officials run out there to break the whole thing up. The realism factor with this was GREAT. Sgt. Slaughter wound up carrying Luna all the way to the back. Savage then started interviewing Sherri, only for Luna to go back out there and start choking her. This time, Sherri ripped Luna’s shirt off. This was ridiculous. She almost ripped Luna’s bra off too but that would have been too far.
Now, I don’t know how anyone could follow that, but Papa Shango was supposed to do so by facing Scott Taylor. I laughed hard at Bartlett lumbering back to the commentary table and falling down. That was good. Shango won his match, of course.
After that one, they decided to debut Friar Ferguson. This gimmick was awful, but Vince thought it was hilarious. Explains a lot. The idea of a wrestling monk, much less one this incapable of working a match, leaves me quite incredulous. The match was way longer than it should have been. I was elated when it finished.
To close out the show, Money Inc. had an interview in the dressing room. However, before they could do that, THE BEVERLY BROTHERS ATTACKED THEM. They were facing off next week too!
– Taped to air April 19th, 1993, on Monday Night Raw, from the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York
Opening the show. Money Inc. cut a promo on the Beverly Brothers. The Beverly Brothers returned the favor, and their promo was far worse.
Our first match here featured Razor Ramon taking on Virgil. Virgil blew as many spots in this match as the Bigelow match the previous week. The crowd is so obviously chanting Razor’s name, but the commentary had to say they were chanting Virgil’s. Of course, Razor finished Virgil off with the Razor’s Edge. * match.
Giant Gonzalez went out there to squash LA Gore. Gore had been on Raw before. Vince was selling Gonzalez hard. Gonzalez used the chokeslam as a finisher.
Luna Vachon got a chance to cut a promo on Sherri this week, and they showed her beating up Sherri backstage last week. That wasn’t aired before.
Tatanka got another squash match on Raw, and I just didn’t care. Two weeks in a row of the same thing is unnecessary.
Money Inc. (WWF Tag Team Champions) vs. The Beverly Brothers
Pre-Match Thoughts: There’s no logic in the Beverly Brothers facing Money Inc. in a non-title match. Takes away all the suspense and pretty much any reason to care. I half expect the Steiners to run in and cost Money Inc. the match. Hope they do. This could be a good bout.
Match Review: Money Inc. attacks, so we’re underway. DiBiase hits Blake with a back elbow, and Blake comes back with his own, as IRS was long cleared from the ring by Beau. DiBiase gets back in the ring after a long time, and trades wristlocks with Blake. DiBiase shoulders Blake down, then misses an elbow drop and Blake slams him. Beau comes off the top with a double axehandle, drops a leg on DiBiase’s left arm, and tags Blake in to headbutt the arm. Beau tags back in and keeps working on the arm, then tags in Blake to do the same. The crowd isn’t very interested in this. Blake keeps the armbar on DiBiase, and tags out for Beau to do the same. After more switching, that whole sequence ends with Blake ramming DiBiase into the buckle. Blake misses a charge to the corner, then DiBiase slams Blake and tags out. IRS comes in and misses an elbow drop, so Blake takes him down with a fireman’s carry for 2. Beau chokes IRS with the tag rope, and we head to a commercial.
When we come back, IRS has a front face-lock on Beau. DiBiase makes an illegal switch in to do the same thing, then Beau blocks a backdrop. IRS cuts Beau off from the tag, and Beau comes back with a clothesline. DiBiase cuts Beau off again, and Beau drops him with a neckbreaker. Blake finally makes the mild tag in, and backdrops DiBiase. He slams him, then tags Beau right back in, for an elbow that gets 2. A back elbow follows that, then Beau backdrops Dibiase again for 2. Blake runs in and knees IRS out of the ring, then sets DiBiase up only for Beau to clothesline him. So, DiBiase rolls Blake up for the victory at 12:59.
My Thoughts: This match completely stunk, and I don’t think the Beverly Brothers really were capable of working a babyface style against a team like Money Inc. I was bored to the max. I guess it’s not surprising the match wasn’t any good when DiBiase was injured and winding down his career. In any event, at least Money Inc. went over, although the alternative would have been more fun. 3/4*.
Now, we have Vince McMahon bringing out Bret Hart for an interview. They talked about Bret being an underdog, and Bret said that even though he lost at WrestleMania, he wasn’t a beaten man. He’s making a hit list, and the first guy on that list is Lex Luger. They did almost all those matches on house shows. Hey, they had a VIDEO OF LEX LUGER KNOCKING BRET HART OUT! Bret went on to call Yokozuna and Hulk Hogan out. If only they’d done the latter.
To close out the show, we got a squash match involving Bam Bam Bigelow. Doink walked out there to squirt water at people during it. Bigelow crushed the jabroni with a senton before finishing him off with the flying headbutt. After Bigelow did it again after the match, Friar Ferguson walked out to save the jobber and dropkicked Bigelow out of the ring. What a horrible gimmick.
Not a good Raw at all, especially in comparison to the last one. I can see why Bartlett left the WWF, they gave him very little speaking time and he just didn’t fit in. Also, Vince was no-selling all of his jokes by this point and simply ceased to find him funny.
– Taped to air April 24th, 1993, on Superstars, from the Convention Center in Tuscon, Arizona
BAM BAM BIGELOW CUTS TATANKA’S HAIR
I believe this video shows something from the previous week. Bigelow was supposed to be interviewed, but instead Sensational Sherri walked out there and crashed the set to talk about Luna Vachon. Bigelow got angry about that. He threatened Sherri, then grabbed her and acted like he was going to hit her. Damn, son. Tatanka then ran out there to save Sherri, and knocks him off the podium with a dropkick. Great bump by Bam Bam right there. Tatanka then dove off the podium at Bam Bam, and beat him up until officials separated them. Later in the episode, Tatanka was supposed to have a squash match. Sounds familiar, right? Instead, Bam Bam jumped him in the locker room and cut his red hair off. They may have taped this later, and I say that because Tatanka didn’t look like anything had been done to his hair on Raw, which was taped later. Maybe it was all fake to begin with.
– April 26th, 1993, on Monday Night Raw, from the Manhattan Center in New York City, New York
They’d advertised a Crush vs. Lex Luger match on this week’s episode, and that’s exactly what we’re going to get. We’re also now BARTLETT FREE. Bobby Heenan was on commentary now, which is a welcome change. I’m thankful for it.
Mr. Perfect was on this week’s episode, facing Damien Demento. Demento worked his gimmick pretty well. They did a spot where Perfect took the cameraman out, which was a pretty good rib on somebody. Perfect won the match with the PERFECT-PLEX. *3/4 is what I’d call this.
Hey, an anti-drugs commercial! NO HOPE WITH DOPE. Almost every non-jobber on this show was a drug abuser at one particular point, so that’s interesting. The Undertaker chimed in at the end of the commercial to say NO HOPE WITH DOPE. That was…interesting.
Lex Luger vs. Crush
Pre-Match Thoughts: This could be very awful but it absolutely fits the criteria of what matches I have to review at this particular time. I’m somewhat surprised they’d do this match on Raw, but I’m sure it will have a non-finish. Maybe Doink will show up again! Before this started, they pointed out that Luger has a steel plate in his forearm. THAT’S CHEATING.
Match Review: The bell rings, and Luger does some stalling. Crush pushes him back into the corner, and Luger stalls even more. Luger wants a test of strength, and Crush puts him down on his knees until Luger kicks him. Crush then powers up from his position of weakness, and he picks Luger up and press slams him. Luger leaves the ring selling his back, and the camera keeps zooming in on his loaded forearm. I don’t know why. It’s not like you can see steel there through his skin. Luger gets in the ring and beats Crush up, but Crush comes back with a dropkick and an arm drag as we go to commercial.
We come back, and I don’t think the match was clipped much if at all. Luger goes for a hip toss, but instead Crush takes him down with a belly to belly suplex for 2. Crush misses a charge to the corner, so Luger knees him from behind to knock him out of the ring. Luger leaps off the apron with a double axehandle, and follows that up by ramming Crush’s back into the apron a few times. Luger then picks Crush up and rams him into the post, then stomps on Crush while posing from time to time. Luger applies a bear hug, then picks Crush up and powerslams him for 2. Luger goes for a suplex, but instead Crush counters with his own. Crush comes back with a back suplex, then slams Luger and drops a leg on him for 2. Crush goes for the HEAD CRUSH, eventually putting Luger on the canvas. So, Luger goes out, but DOINK IS ON THE BALCONY. YES. Crush is very distracted by him, BUT THERE ARE TWO DOINKS NOW. Luger hits Crush with the FOREARM OF STEEL to knock Crush out of the ring, and the referee counts Crush out after about 10-11 minutes.
My Thoughts: This wasn’t good, but it also wasn’t bad. They worked hard, didn’t just sit in rest holds, and both guys actually took a fair share of bumps. I have no complaints. The finish was pretty good and I didn’t see exactly that coming, although it wasn’t very surprising. I didn’t know the result beforehand. Anyway, I’d give this **. This was just about what Crush was capable of doing with anyone else.
Qualifying matches for the King of the Ring start next weekend. I’m going to review every single one! The WWF action figures commercial is interesting, especially given that they advertise the British Bulldog in that when he was about to be in the main event of the competition’s PPV event.
Next up, we got the first Raw match of Mr. Hughes’ career. That’s awesome. After the squash, he threw the guy out of the ring. That wasn’t very interesting, though.
Now, we have a vignette for the SMOKING GUNNS. Billy and Bart are riding horses during their promo. Are you kidding me?
Next up, it was time for Shawn Michaels to go out there for an interview. Next week he was going to defend his Intercontinental Championship against HACKSAW JIM DUGGAN. Eventually the crowd got so annoyed with him that they chanted “Shawn is gay.” The WWF showed video of him beating up Mr. Perfect at WrestleMania, at which point here comes…MR. PERFECT! Some officials try to keep him out of the ring, and Michaels boots him in the head while they do. When Perfect gets up, he chases Michaels to the back for who knows what.
They showed Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka’s incident from Superstars, which is about what I expected.
The last match on this was another Typhoon squash match. Seriously? While that’s going on, Hacksaw gets on the phone to cut a promo on Shawn Michaels in anticipation of next week’s show. The problem with this squash match, is that it featured a guy who the WWF had zero plans for.
Once that was over, they showed a marriage proposal they had been plugging for the whole show. The way Heenan berated them during it was perfect. This wasn’t a bad episode.
– Taped to air May 1st, 1993, on Superstars, from the Convention Center in Tuscon, Arizona
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Doink the Clown vs. Mr. Perfect
Pre-Match Thoughts: Two good wrestlers and a lot of potential for a solid match with this one. That’s just about all you could ask for with a KOTR qualifying match. Borne’s hair is hanging out the back of his Doink mask this week. Maybe it isn’t him? I don’t know. This was a great gimmick.
Match Review: Doink sneak attacks Perfect at ringside with a clothesline, then rams him into the steps to get this thing going. In they go, and Doink misses a knee drop. Perfect trips him and works on the left leg for a while, keeping Doink grounded. Perfect chops Doink over the top, and Perfect rams Doink into the steps this time. Perfect throws Doink into the steps, then brings him back in for more leg work and punching. When that’s over, Perfect hits Doink with a knee lift and we go to a commercial.
We come back, and Perfect is laid out on the floor after being rammed into the post. Doink goes up top, and comes down with a double axehandle to the outside. Wasn’t expecting that! Doink brings Perfect in and hits his back repeatedly, even jumping on it. Doink suplexes Perfect, then heads up top for another double axehandle. Doink misses a big forearm, so Perfect trades punches with him until he rolls him up for 2. Perfect goes for a backslide, and that gets 2 as well. Doink tries a slam, but instead Perfect cradles him up for 2. Now Perfect back suplexes Doink, and that gets 2. Doink goes for a backdrop, but Perfect drops him with the PERFECT-PLEX, only for the time limit to be hit after just 6:39 of action. I guess with the commercial, it was ten minutes.
My Thoughts: This was done with the purpose of advancing their series and giving them something to do. That’s cool, I have no problem with that. It also made the tournament feel like it meant something. **1/4, they did well. I’m interested to see the following match between the two.
– Taped to air May 2nd, 1993, on Wrestling Challenge, from America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Lex Luger vs. Bob Backlund
Pre-Match Thoughts: The steroid era against the era before steroids. This is a massive contrast. I wonder how they approach this match. Despite the contrast, I have little to no doubt that Backlund will lose this match clean. Razor Ramon beat him that way, after all.
Match Review: Backlund quickly rolls Luger up for 2, then a backslide gets 2 as well. A cradle gets 2, then Backlund arm drags and trips Luger a few times. Backlund sunset flips Luger for 2, and Luger ducks to the outside after that one. Luger teases leaving, but he’s not going to do that. He eventually walks back to the ring, and Backlund climbs on top of him, only to get elbowed in the face. Luger then throws Backlund into the buckle, and rakes his eyes with the top rope. Luger slams him, but Backlund comes back with a hip toss and his own bodyslam. Backlund follows with a dropkick, then his lame atomic drop. Backlund cradles Luger up, but gets kicked off and thrown to the outside, basically. Ross and Heenan have great chemistry on commentary. Backlund makes it back to the apron, so Luger wrecks him with the FOREARM OF STEEL for the count-out victory at 4:15.
My Thoughts: That was the same thing as a pinfall win. The strange thing about this match was the way Luger willingly sold for Backlund, worked quickly, and did pretty much everything Backlund wanted him to do. Luger put in some great efforts in the matches I’ve seen of his in the WWF so far. This wasn’t a good match because by definition Backlund’s stuff wasn’t good. That being said, I liked it. *1/2.
– Taped to air May 3rd, 1993, on Monday Night Raw, from the Manhattan Center in New York City, New York
Jim Duggan vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: I’ve seen their lumberjack match from the following week, but I’ve never seen this one before. Hacksaw was making somewhat of a return here, I haven’t seen him since watching Yokozuna crush him. It’s weird seeing Hacksaw wear a singlet to cover up his at this point very large gut.
Match Review: Hacksaw chases Michaels to the outside, where he takes his time before getting back in the ring. When Michaels does, Hacksaw gets a USA chant going. Don’t know why. They finally lock up, and Hacksaw hits Michaels with some clotheslines to knock him out of the ring. Michaels gets in there and eats a series of punches, doing a somersault sell and falling out of the ring again. Michaels tries to leave, but Duggan meets him in the aisle and carries him back to the ring as we go to commercial.
Back from that commercial, Michaels clotheslines Hacksaw with the top rope. He chokes Hacksaw with the rope too, then jumps on his back and stomps away at him. Michaels goes up in the corner to rake the face, then heads up top for a double axehandle. Michaels goes to a chinlock, which Hacksaw gets out of with elbows. Michaels blocks a charge to the corner, then drops some elbows on Hacksaw for a 2 count. Michaels goes back to the chinlock, and cuts Hacksaw’s momentum off with a knee to the gut when he breaks the hold. Michaels then dumps Hacksaw out to the floor, and leaps off the apron with a double axehandle. Hacksaw gets fired up by the fans, and gets back in the ring for some big right hands. Michaels rams him into the buckle, and it’s back to the chinlock again. Hacksaw gets out of it once more, rams Michaels into the buckle, and beats him up in the corner. Hacksaw drops Michaels with a bodyslam, then signals for the THREE POINT STANCE. He hits Michaels with the big clothesline, but knocks him out of the ring in the process. So, Michaels leaves and walks up the aisle again. Hacksaw brings him back to ringside again, and when Michaels gets distracted by a fan, Hacksaw clotheslines him over the barricade. Now Shawn really leaves, getting counted out at 11:17.
Hacksaw gets the microphone, because quite clearly he’s upset. He says that THE WWF SCREWED HIM. Hacksaw then says that he’s not leaving until he gets a rematch. He throws some chairs in the ring, and I guess he’s going to sit in one.
My Thoughts: This was nothing special, although Michaels bumping performance was pretty good. This was proverbial working with a broomstick, I suppose. They did try hard, but I like their match the following week a whole lot more. I had it on video tape and I’ve seen it about ten times or so. **.
After the commercial, Hacksaw’s still in the ring. While he’s there, Mean Gene’s going to do the KING OF THE RING REPORT. The interspersal of Crush working out and plugging IcoPro was very unnecessary. Bret Hart doesn’t even have to qualify for the King of the Ring tournament. I already talked about all this other stuff, though. Also on the show, is HULK HOGAN VS. YOKOZUNA. Hacksaw left the ring to go call Jack Tunney, by the way. We get two KOTR qualifiers that I’m going to review announced on this. Fantastic.
Once that was over, we got a Doink match against this guy called the Kamikaze Kid. He looks awfully familiar. Given the size of the Kid, I’m STUNNED they hired him. He didn’t get in a single offensive move before being finished by Doink.
Bob Backlund doesn’t quite fit the squash format, but he was given one too. During that, Hacksaw was given his title rematch! IT’S GOING TO BE A LUMBERJACK MATCH.
Hacksaw made his way back to the ring, but I don’t know why. He talks about Michaels again, basically to announce to the crowd that there’s a lumberjack match. Okay, then.
We got another Smoking Gunns vignette, which was just as bad as the first. This time, they shot guns!
Before the Headshrinkers squash match, Captain Lou Albano made an appearance. That’s pretty cool. He did commentary on the match. Both guys the Headshrinkers were facing took some excellent bumps.
Lastly, we got the pleasure of a Kamala showcase match. They didn’t even bother to have Slick out there with Kamala this time.
Hey, the WWF figures commercial this week doesn’t feature the British Bulldog anymore? To close out the show, Shawn Michaels was interviewed by Bobby Heenan, and gave him advice on what to do about Hacksaw next week. We’ll see.
– Taped to air May 8th, 1993, on Superstars, from the Convention Center in Tuscon, Arizona
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Razor Ramon vs. El Matador
Pre-Match Thoughts: On paper, this could be a nice bout. In reality, Santana was full blown on the jobber trail and there’s no doubt about the outcome. It’s simply an obligation to watch this. Lawler’s commentary on this was fun. He said that the winner of this tournament was no real king.
Match Review: These two lock up, and Razor makes it to the ropes, then elbows Santana in the face. Razor clobbers him, but Santana comes back with the FLYING FOREARM for 2. Santana pokes him in the eye, but Razor comes back with a hot shot. Santana comes back with some punches, as Lawler drops some racist commentary about Santana. Interesting. Santana slams Razor twice, then goes up top and comes off with a cross body that Razor reverses for 3 at 3:19.
My Thoughts: This was the very definition of a nothing match, but at least the right guy went over. *.
– Taped to air May 9th, 1993, on Wrestling Challenge, from America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona
King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Papa Shango vs. Jim Duggan
Pre-Match Thoughts: Wow, these fans really got to see a barnburner. I’d be stunned if this was anything better than completely terrible. Wish they’d have booked something else or for this to not even be a King of the Ring match so I don’t have to watch this. You know what, I have to make an executive decision. FUCK THIS. Duggan wins the match.
Alright, so that’s going to be it for this article. The Nasty Boys were supposedly out with injury, but what happened instead was that they left the WWF. It’s funny that the Raw episodes this time weren’t all that good given that things certainly picked up just a few weeks later. Before getting to those, I’m going to check out Slamboree 1993. I’m not even slightly hyped up for it.
Best: Sensational Sherri vs. Luna Vachon fight. This was really good.
Worst: KOTR qualifying matches so bad I tap out on them.
