The Name on the Marquee: The History of the Intercontinental Championship 15 (WWEClassics.com)

-Your host is Jack Korpela.

-We’re now in 1993 and the times-are-a-changin’. No more televised house shows, but there IS a new TV show where the WWF decides that giving away title matches for free doesn’t bother them so much anymore. Shawn Michaels is Intercontinental Champion, and that’s where we’ll pick up this tale.

NON-TITLE: SHAWN MICHAELS (Champion) vs. TATANKA
-From WWF Superstars, February 1993. This marks the debut of Shawn’s vocals for his entrance theme, if you’re interested.

-Shawn armdrags Tatanka to start. Tatanka tries to throw some chops and Shawn slaps him, then makes Tatanka chase him. Tatanka takes the bait and gets stomped down. He slaps Shawn and clotheslines him to the floor in retaliation. Shawn leapfrogs Tatanka a few times and gets caught in an inverted atomic drop. Shoulderblocks by Tatanka get two. Shawn catches him mid-charge and tosses him over the top rope and onto the floor. Back in the ring, Shawn throws punches and snapmares Tatanka. Series of elbows as we pause for a commercial.

-Tatanka fights out of a headlock, but Shawn quickly elbows him down for two. Dropkick and more punches by Shawn. Vince credits his impressive performance to ICOPRO. Headlock by Shawn, but Tatanka elbows free and goes for a sunset flip. Shawn tries to counter that, but Tatanka moves and rolls him up for two. Shawn rams him into the turnbuckle. Tatanka no-sells and goes on his war dance. Chops from every direction by Tatanka and he goes for the papoose-to-go, but Shawn gouges him. They duck each other’s finishers a few times before Tatanka finally nails the papoose-to-go and pins him clean as a sheet. 1 for 1. Good TV match.

SHAWN MICHAELS (with Luna Vachon) vs. TATANKA (with Sensational Sherri)
-From Wrestlemania IX. It’s Luna’s debut. And for you trivia buffs out there, this is the first WWF match ever called by Jim Ross.

-Shawn sweeps the leg and Tatanka kicks him away. They trade hammerlocks. Top wristlock by Shawn takes Tatanka off his feet. Tatanka bridges and shoves him away. Side headlock by Shawn and he hangs onto it. He manages to get a two-count out of that. Tatanka back-suplexes out of the hold and throws a mighty chop. Irish whip by Tatanka, but he misses the charge. Tatanka armdrags Shawn when he tries to capitalize, then knocks him out of the ring with a whip and a chop. The ladies have a confrontation on the floor.

-Shawn tries to get back into the ring and keeps getting chopped. Thumb to the eye puts a stop to that. Sunset flip from the top rope gets two for Shawn. Inverted atomic drop by Tatanka, then a hard chop. Shawn goes for a backdrop and Tatanka counters with a DDT. Shawn lands on his shoulder instead of his head, so Tatanka works the arm. Shawn counters by sending him into the ropes and connects with a shoulderblock…hurting his own arm. Cute.

-Tatanka goes back to work on the arm and snaps it a few times. Shawn whips him into the corner and charges; Tatanka moves and Shawn crashes shoulder-first into the post. Back to the arm Tatanka goes. Shawn throws punches to fight him off, but Tatanka goes for a shoulderbreaker and connects. Instead of going for the pin, he drops an elbow on the shoulder. Tatanka comes off the top rope and takes a superkick to the jaw. Shawn takes a breather while Tatanka lays around in a total daze. He tosses Tatanka to the floor; Luna goes after him and Sherri fends her off.

-Meanwhile, Shawn takes the match to the floor with a clothesline off the apron. He pauses for some quality Sherri-taunting while Tatanka crawls back into the ring. Shawn meets him with a slug and a neckbreaker for two. Standing dropkick gets two. Series of punches in the corner. Really sloppy flying headscissors/victory roll combo gets two for Shawn. He tries it again and Tatanka breaks it with an electric chair. Elbow by Tatanka misses. Axehandle from the second rope by Shawn just causes Tatanka to get fired up. He goes on the war dance and chops Shawn here, there, and everywhere. Bodypress from the top gets two for Tatanka. Slingshot into the post by Tatanka gets two. Papoose-to-go is countered with a schoolboy by Shawn for two. Shawn goes to the top rope for a bodypress of his own and gets caught with a powerslam for two. Shawn tosses him to the floor with his last ounce of strength and follows him out. Shawn tries a dive from the apron and lands facefirst on the steps. Shawn gets frustrated and yanks the referee out to the floor. Tatanka hits the papoose-to-go immediately after, but of course, it’s a disqualification verdict from the referee…or a count-out, according to Finkel. Whatever. Crowd boos the shit out of that finish, for good reason. 2 for 2. Bad finish notwithstanding, probably Tatanka’s best match ever, with a good story in the ring and a good story going out of the ring.

SPECIAL INTERVIEW
-We jump ahead to May 1993, with Vince McMahon interviewing Shawn in the ring at Monday Night RAW. Shawn fears no man in the WWF and lays out an open challenge to anybody, any time, any place. Suddenly, a guy in a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses shows up and steps into the ring…it’s Marty Jannetty. Shawn freaks and tries to back out because Marty is in street clothes and not proper wrestling gear. Marty assures us that he brought his gear, and Shawn does anything to get out of defending the title, but in an early instance of acknowledging who was REALLY in charge, Vince holds him to his word and declares a title match right there.

SHAWN MICHAELS (Champion) vs. MARTY JANNETTY
-From later in the same night. Shawn takes control early with punches and turnbuckle shots. Marty counters. Shawn charges, Marty ducks, Marty rolls him for two. Sunset flip by Marty gets two. Side headlock by Marty. Shawn sends him into the ropes but gets clotheslined down, then out of the ring. Baseball slide by Marty, then he slingshots himself over the top and onto Shawn.

-Back in the ring, he tries a backdrop and gets kicked away. Flying headscissors by Marty takes control back for two. Marty holds onto the headscissors. Shawn gets free, but misses an attempted elbow. Marty whips him again and sends him clear to the floor with force, which Randy Savage credits to ICOPRO. Shawn decides to take his belt and go home. Mr. Perfect shows up and blocks the curtain so that Shawn can’t leave. But he can’t block this commercial break!

-Back to the action, Marty slingshots Shawn back in. He charges Shawn and Shawn catches him, dropping him throat-first over the top rope. Shawn chokes away and keeps attacking the neck. Headlock by Shawn; he whips Marty into the corner and meets him on the rebound with a dropkick. He does that same combo again and this time Marty catches his legs and slingshots him into the post for two. Shawn tries a backdrop and Marty yanks him by the hair down to the mat and hammers him. Shawn bounces off the ropes and Marty catches him in a powerslam for two. Bodypress from the top gets two. Atomic drop is countered by Michaels and they trade roll-ups for a series of two-counts. Superkick by Shawn. Shawn taunts Mr. Perfect and Perfect throws his towel in Shawn’s face. Shawn sells it like Leslie Neilsen and is so dazed and that Marty is able to roll him up for the three-count and the title. 3 for 3. I hated that finish (I mean, it’s a TOWEL for god’s sake) but you can’t deny a good story and a good match leading up to it.

MARTY JANNETTY (Champion, with Sensational Sherri) vs. BAM-BAM BIGELOW (with Luna Vachon)
-The women immediately go after each other and Bam-Bam uses the distraction to attack Marty from behind and headbutt him down. Marty goes off the ropes and Bigelow totally no-sells his offense, then pounds him down. Shoulderblocks and a clothesline by Bigelow. Marty fights back with right hands to drop Bigelow to a knee. Axehandle gets two. They trade blows and Bigelow wins that handily. Marty charges him and gets caught in a bearhug. Marty tries to punch free, but before he can, he gets rammed into the corner a few times. Marty finally gets something going with flying headscissors. He does it again. He goes for it one more time and this time Bam-Bam drops him with an electric chair.

-Back from the break, Bigelow has Marty in a headlock. Marty gets free but eats a dropkick. Avalanche gets two. Marty mounts a mini-comeback and manages to get a two-count. Bigelow boots him down and faceplants him for a two-count. Crescent kick by Marty. Clothesline and a dropkick get two. Bigelow slams him to take charge again. Double-underhook backbreaker by Bigelow. Sherri tries to interfere and Bigelow goes after her. Marty knocks him out of the ring from behind and takes the fight to the floor with a baseball slide into the barricade, then a dive from the top rope. They brawl on the floor and Bam-Bam tosses Marty back into the ring, then pauses to say something to Sherri…Oops. He gets counted out during his little chit-chat, and Marty retains. Bam-Bam beats on Marty a little bit more post-match. 3 for 4. Didn’t care so much for this one; I thought Bam-Bam dominated too much and it made Marty look bad.

-Jack closes things by telling us what happened next a few weeks later. At a house show, Shawn showed up with a new bodyguard and defeated Marty to take the gold.

-Back with another installment at some point, but here’s Game Show Utopia.

The 411: Good selection of stuff from a short-lived, forgotten period in WWF history. The launch of Monday Night RAW, at least for a time, seemed to totally wake up the company and they were a little more enthusiastic and a little more willing to do things they hadn't tried before. I really enjoyed 1993 WWF and this installment is a good example of why.
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]