Raw History: Episodes 22-24

Raw History

Episode #22
June 21st, 1993 – Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York – Attendance: 3,000

Our opening highlights the 1-2-3 Kid’s memorable upset over Razor Ramon because we get the rematch tonight. The crowd is Poughkeepsie is red hot as usual as Vince McMahon tells us that it’s the first day of summer. That means SummerSlam is around the corner.

Non-Title Match
WWF Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers vs. Barry Hardy and Reno Riggins
You read that correctly. The Steiner Brothers have finally captured the straps from Money Inc. Interestingly, they won the belts, dropped them back to Money Inc. and took them back again. House Show title changes for the win. The Steiners normally have fun against jobbers and it shows quick when Scott absolutely murders Riggins on a suplex. Rick and Hardy enter and Rick just rams him into the corner. Vince continues to hype the Body Slam Challenge on the 4th of July because both Steiners are going to attempt. Scott comes in and nails a sweet overhead belly to belly suplex on Hardy. He allows Reno to tag back in so he can suplex him too. They botch the Frankensteiner finish though.

Winners: WWF Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers in 3:51
The Steiner Brothers are always a fun team to watch when they demolish jobbers and this was no different. **

Two out of Three Falls Match
Doink the Clown vs. Marty Jannetty
Alright, these two put on a good match last week. Doink comes out riding a unicycle because he’s a boss. Early on, Doink fails to give a tough break and works a headlock while laughing. They do a crisscross spot where Jannetty hits an arm drag. Doink plays great mind games before slamming Jannetty to the mat. Marty does the crisscross thing again but Doink is pissed now and just nails him with a forearm. Vince McMahon hypes up Mr. Hughes’ appearance later, which may ruin a shot that’s been good so far. Jannetty hits a monkey flip for our first near fall. A backslide earns him another but he misses a high risk move in the corner. This allows Doink to hit the Whoopee Cushion and score the first fall at 7:16. After a commercial, the second fall begins. Doink comes out aggressive and Marty takes the signature Bret Hart corner bump. Doink says sorry a bunch while smiling because he’s awesome at playing his character. Randy Savage gets upset when Doink steals his double axe handle to the outside. Back inside, Jannetty starts to rally and hits a suplex. He connects on a SICK sounding superkick but Doink gets his foot on the rope. Jannetty doesn’t let up and hits the top rope fist drop to even the score at 4:38 of the second fall. This has been excellent and it’s time for our final fall. After a stalling atomic drop from Jannetty, Doink takes control and slams his knee on the ring post. He locks in a figure four but Marty turns it over only for Doink to reach the ropes quickly. Doink goes back to the knee, taking out Marty’s high flying offense. Hell, when Marty does a back body drop, his leg gives out, so Doink goes to an STF. Some fantastic selling and submissions here. Doink makes the mistake of going up top, so he’ slammed to the mat. A second Doink runs out and hides under the ring, so Marty searches for him. As he does so, Doink kicks he crap out of him. Inside, Marty barely connects on a dropkick that knocks Doink back out, allowing him to switch out. Well, we think he does but he doesn’t. He’s knocked back outside and switches this time. New Doink nails a piledriver to wrap this thing up. However, Randy Savage reveals the second Doink, so the referee reverses the decision, giving Marty the second fall via disqualification.

Winner: Marty Jannetty in 20:38
Well damn that was a cracker. They went for twenty minutes and almost never slowed the pace. It had technical wrestling, high flying, psychology and selling. A criminally underrated bout that is my Raw match of the year right now. ****

Mr. Hughes w/ Harvey Wippleman vs. Bobby Who
Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan run the “who” jokes. I feel like that’s the only reason he was given this name. Mr. Hughes is one of the worst workers on the roster, but I guess this works as a cool down between big matches. Vince McMahon has the nerve to say that Mr. Hughes can wrestle. Hughes takes long to win because he keeps picking Bobby up. Bossman slam ends it.

Winner: Mr. Hughes in 3:02
Total squash, but I’m going to start rating these because some can be entertaining. This wasn’t. ½*

1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon
If you’ve been following you know that $10,000 is on the line tonight. The 1-2-3 Kid doesn’t even have theme music yet. Right at the bell, Kid gets a sunset flip near fall and the crowd is absolutely electric. They’re popping for everything that he does, which proves the angle of his upset worked to perfection. He makes a crucial mistake by trying a cross body which gets caught into a fallaway slam. Kid is nearly broken in half by a Chokeslam. Razor wants to make Kid suffer though and puts on abdominal stretch before slapping him up to humiliate him. Second rope back suplex from Razor who signals for the finish. However, he throws Kid outside and EXPOSES THE CONCRETE! God, I miss that spot. He wants the Razor’s Edge on it but Kid counters with a back drop. He climbs up for a dive but slips and hits the concrete hard. I have no idea how he’s not concussed. Inside, we get the moonsault spot that ended it last time but it’s not enough. Kid decides to say forget it, as he brags the bag of money and escapes, leading to the double countout. As the bell rings, the camera follows them outside where Kid hops in a cab and leaves.

Double Countout in 5:17
The match itself was pretty fun. Kid bumped like a madman and Razor looked like a dominant star who was pissed. The finish made sense as well so I don’t mind it here. ***

Raw History
Episode #23
June 28th, 1993 – Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York – Attendance: 3,000

This episode was taped after last week’s live edition. Last week’s show was the best so far, so hopefully this one continues the trend.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Shawn Michaels (c) w/ Diesel vs. Kamala
What in god’s name has Kamala done to earn a title shot? He doesn’t even know how to pin people correctly. Shawn Michaels is reluctant to lock up but the fans are still hot. Shawn is bumping for the Ugandan Giant but is caught in the bearhug, or the “move big guys who can’t work rely on”. Maybe it’s because he’s against a guy that he doesn’t enjoy working, but Shawn doesn’t seem too motivated here. Shawn works the knee, which Kamala sells pretty poorly. Kamala begins his version of an offensive comeback and still doesn’t know how to pin Shawn correctly. Diesel gets on the apron, which distracts Kamala. Shawn Superkicks him in the back of the head and retains. He should have done more to the back of the head in the future.

Winner and Still WWF Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels in 8:51
Shawn Michaels can be pretty amazing, but even he can’t carry Kamala to something enjoyable. *

Kamala is up and goes after Shawn Michaels, so Diesel does his job and takes him out. Shawn hilariously plays the “Let me at him!”

Vince McMahon is in the ring to interview the reigning WWF Champion, Yokozuna. This should be riveting. The Yokozuna character is one of my least favorite because it runs the tired “evil foreigner” gimmick. The patriotism thing always sucks since A) its lazy booking and B) the WWF is a global company, so why condition your fans to cheer for someone because he loves America? Anyway, this segment blows because it’s so hard to understand Mr. Fuji. This is why Yokozuna segments got better when Jim Cornette was added. This is just promotion for the 4th of the July Body Slam Challenge. Also, Yokozuna speaks and sounds 100% Samoan.

We get a series of sports stars saying how they’re going to be the one to slam Yokozuna. Tatanka speaks last, because he just HAS to be on every single Raw.

The Smoking Guns vs. “Iron” Mike Sharpe and Barry Horowitz
Mike Sharpe and Barry Horowitz are two of the best jobbers in company history. Sharpe is so hilariously loud in the ring. Whether it’s selling, on offense or even just running the ropes. I can’t help but laugh. The Guns get in some basic stuff like arm drags and such. Horowitz actually gets in some offense after Bart misses a cross body and Barry does his back pat taunt. He gets two with a Northern lights suplex. The Guns have the balls to work a hot tag in an enhancement match. Billy comes in and they win with the Sidewinder.

Winners: The Smoking Guns in 4:30
I was shocked to see tag formula worked in an enhancement match. Teams like the Steiner Brothers don’t play that game and just murder jobbers. Extra points for Sharpe’s sound effects and Horowitz’s impressive suplex. *¼

Back to Vince McMahon in the ring, as he introduces Money Inc. Good lord, I have to hear IRS talk don’t I? IRS tries to play up how wise they are for getting a rematch clause in their contracts. The problem is, you aren’t that smart because everyone gets that. For some reason, they bring up Razor Ramon, or Razor Jabroni as IRS calls him. Ted Dibiase calls him stupid for losing his money. The fans chant “Razor” and this would lead to the Razor Ramon face turn that went over tremendously. I think that could work for anyone. Put him against IRS because nobody likes him.

Adam Bomb w/ Johnny Polo vs. BJ Walker
If you’ve been following this, then you know that PJ Walker is the future Justin Credible and Aldo Montoya. However, the Fink introduces him as BJ Walker and even his graphic says it. In another era, maybe the name BJ Walker would have gotten over. Bomb manhandles Walker, which still makes me question why Bomb wasn’t used better. He had a great look in an era full of fat slobs, could work better than other guys pushed ahead of him, like Crush and Yokozuna, and even had a mouthpiece in Polo. Bomb wins with his impressive slingshot clothesline and a powerbomb.

Winner: Adam Bomb in 2:10
A relatively fun squash. I enjoy watching Adam Bomb work and got a kick out of the BJ Walker name. *½

Bastion Booger vs. Crush
Remember the Friar Ferguson debacle? Well they dropped that and the best they could come up with was Bastion Booger. Google him if you don’t remember what he looked like. Macho Man believes that Crush will be the guy to slam Yokozuna. Crush tries a back body drop and it is the WORST I have ever seen. Seriously. Things go outside and Booger gets the upper hand with his entire offense, meaning clubs and punches. Because his offense is pitiful, commentary just discusses how bad he smells. Crush comes back with a suplex that looks like crap but is better than the back body drop earlier. He connects on three straight body slams to win as commentary goes nuts saying that could be Yokozuna on the 4th. It wasn’t.

Winner: Crush in 5:39
This sucked so hard. Bastion Booger is one of the worst ever and Crush wasn’t much better. Awful. DUD

Macho Man and NFL Player Joe Morris cut a promo in Giants Stadium about the 4th of July. Macho Man is incredible at promotion. His energy is unmatched. Next week, the 1-2-3 Kid will be in action as will Mr. Perfect.

Raw History
Episode #24
July 5th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York – Attendance: 1,000

We open to footage aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid yesterday morning as multiple Superstars and athletes attempted to slam Yokozuna, only to fail. Seeing Rick Steiner fail was funny, since I’ve seen him German suplex Vader with ease before. Commentary welcomes us to the show before sending it back to the USS Intrepid.

This looked to be incredibly boring as it was just a series of guys hugging Yokozuna. Crush comes close, fresh off of slamming Bastion Booger multiple times. Scott Steiner, Macho Man and tons of others all fail. When it seems all hope it lost, a helicopter arrives and it’s a now suddenly patriotic Lex Luger. What happened to the Narcissist? He comes in and slams Yokozuna, becoming our American hero. I’m sorry, but I don’t buy it. Also, before the slam, he uses the illegal steel plated forearm to his advantage. That damn heel.

The 1-2-3 Kid vs. Blake Beverly
Is this the start of a singles Blake Beverly run that I had no clue about? This would probably be the first time that I can see Kid as the favorite to win. Kid starts out lightning quick but works best as the resilient underdog and Blake powerslams him. Bobby Heenan calls Luger’s slam a hip toss, which is more accurate. Blake draws solid heat by slapping the Kid around outside. He hits a GREAT looking headbutt in the ring before press slamming Kid to the outside. He covers but lifts Kid, which is a bad move given Kid’s history. The crowd is totally buying a Kid comeback until he misses a cross body. Heenan claims that Kid looks like Todd Pettengill. Blake goes for an ugly dive outside but misses. Kid shows him hoes it’s done with a corkscrew plancha outside. This has been much better than expected as Blake hits a nice back suplex inside. He keeps mistaking himself for a high flyer and misses a splash. This allows Kid to hit a diving leg drop and score the 1-2-3.

Winner: The 1-2-3 Kid in 8:01
Well that far exceeded my expectations. Blake Beverly tossed him around and Kid’s bumps were excellent. The crowd was hot and bought every bit of it, which made this even better. ***¼

We go to our first ever vignette for Men on a Mission. Kill me now. Mabel sucked, Oscar was an awful rapper, but did the rapping and Mo is one of the worst wrestlers in history.

Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Luna Vachon vs. Joey Maggs
Luna Vachon is so terrifying. This is Bigelow’s first appearance since making the Finals of the King of the Ring Tournament. Bigelow is all over the jobber, splashing him multiple times and winning quickly.

Winner: Bam Bam Bigelow in 0:40
I know I said I would start rating squash matches, but this was far too short to give a score to. NO RATING

Samu w/ Afa vs. The Undertaker
Since having the urn stolen by Mr. Hughes, this is the first Undertaker sighting. Even then, Undertaker was such a spectacle. Undertaker actually attempts to leap frog over Samu but I guess Samu had no clue it was happening as he doesn’t get under and they botch it. Undertaker then does a drop toe hold. Hey, it’s the first shots of Undertaker being an actual wrestler. He even does a dropkick. It’s like he’s motivated to show that he can work since he’s embroiled in feuds with awful people like Giant Gonzalez and Mr. Hughes. Samu knocks Undertaker outside and he sits up before a commercial break. Returning, Samu is still throwing him around outside. He hits a sweet powerslam inside but Undertaker sits up out of the pin. The Deadman whips Samu into the corner twice and both times are hard. They play the “no urn” angle well as Samu hits a diving headbutt and Undertaker struggles to sit up. Samu goes to the well one too many times and he misses the second because Undertaker sits up. A Chokeslam and Tombstone finishes this off.

Winner: The Undertaker in 9:03
Way more competitive than I expected. The Undertaker gave Samu a fair amount, while still looking impressive. I also commend him for trying some new offense. **½

Vince McMahon interviews Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji at ringside. Why do they keep insisting on giving interview time to two people who you can barely understand? Why is he even champion in the first place? Vince is more pissed at the foreigners than the fans. Mr. Fuji offers an open contract for a title shot which brings out Crush. Good lord this promo is getting worse by the minute. He failed at the slam, screw his title shot, brudda. The match is made for next week. Hooray, brudda.

Mr. Perfect vs. Brian Costello
Brian Costello has a blonde mullet and a shamrock on the back of his trunks. He gets in nothing as Perfect dropkicks him outside quickly. He then lights him up with chops and wins with the Perfect Plex.

Winner: Mr. Perfect in 0:45
Perfect and Bigelow weren’t getting paid by the minute I guess. Too short to rate again. NO RATING

6.2

The final score: review Average

The 411

Ep. 22: First up, is easily the best episode of Raw in history so far. The Steiners killed some jobbers for my entertainment before we got the Raw match of the year in Doink vs. Marty Jannetty. The main event was a fun angle as well and the only blemish on the show was Mr. Hughes but even that was kept short. (9.0) Ep. 23: It had god build towards the USS Intrepid stuff well, but the matches all sucked. Kamala had no business in the ring with HBK and the main event was one of the worst of all-time. The best thing was Adam Bomb and Mike Sharpe’s loud selling, so you know it was a rough show. (2.5) Ep. 24: A bounce back episode for Raw. Yes, a lot of the time was given to the Lex Luger stuff but that’s fine. Blake Beverly and 1-2-3 Kid surprised me with a really good match, and the Undertaker and Samu impressed. Even the squash matches were kept incredibly short. The only real issue this week was the Yokozuna/Crush interview. And now I have to watch them actually work a match. Oh, brudda. (7,0)