Raw Retrospective: Monday Night Raw 05.24.93

WWF RAW Episode Eighteen
May 24, 1993
Taped from the Manhattan Center
Hosts: Randy Savage, Vince McMahon, and Bobby Heenan
Approx. Run Time: 37 minutes

King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Mr. Perfect Vs Doink the Clown
Now this should be good. During Doink’s entrance Alfred Hayes is talking to, well, Doink. Hayes tries to figure out what’s going on, but instead outside Doink tells him it’s an illusion and sprays him with water. We cut back to the ring with Doink coming out from under the ring, Hayes’ flower in hand. Weird segment, but building on the double/triple Doink angle from Wrestlemania. Doink attacks Perfect as he enters the ring and chokes him with the towel. The ref doesn’t DQ him or anything, so he uses it to wash himself off. Perfect fights back up to his feet and clotheslines him with the towel, which I think might be a first. They exchange slaps that ends with Perfect taking Doink down and dropping the knee. Perfect smashes the knee against the ringpost as we cut to break. When we get back Perfect is hammering away in the corner, but Doink uses the corner for leverage to get a kick (with the non injured leg, mind you) that sends Perfect down. Perfect gets tossed to the outside and hit with an axe handle smash. Doink smashes Perfect’s face in the ring post and despite doing moves with the legs he still sells it. It’s a fine line but he’s doing a good job of not crossing it. Perfect tries to get back in the ring but Doink hits a forearm that sends him down. Back in the ring, Perfect is hit with a fireman’s carry but transitions beautifully into a headscissors. Doink gets to the ropes and starts stomping away at Perfect. Doink’s face paint is pretty much gone at this point. Perfect gets trapped in an arm bar and sneaks out of it then goes right to work on the leg of Doink. Modified figure four but Doink doesn’t tap out – and in a cool spot every time he lifts his shoulders Perfect slaps him. When the hold is broken Doink rakes the eyes and brutalizes Perfect on the outside and we have a brawl! Doink smashes the arm against the ring post, which is getting quite a lot of attention tonight. “What kind of a jerk would dress in this garb? What kind of an evil clown would make a child cry? But he’s applying a technical wrestling hold and showing he’s one of the best.” Vince seems so conflicted right there. Back to the action, however, Doink stomps on the arm and slams Perfect as we go to break. Both men are slugging it out when we get back which ends with an atomic drop and a clothesline from Perfect. They struggle to their feet, Perfect ducks a clothesline and nails one of his own on Doink, sending him over the top rope. Another Doink runs out and sneaks under the ring and the two switch behind the ref’s back. The new Doink feigns injury but begins working on Perfect. Doink make a huge mistake though by ducking in a Mr. Perfect match, so he gets hit with a PerfectPlex for the three at 11:42 (around 15 or 16 minutes including commercials). After the match both Doinks take out Perfect until Crush comes out and evens up the odds. Really good back and forth match and I feel like these two had an underrated series of matches. Great opener and Mr. Perfect advances to the King of the Ring. ***
Winner: Mr. Perfect

Before the match, Dibiase gets on the microphone and offers some of the New Yorkers a quick buck. He has $100 and is offering it to anyone willing to shine their shoes. Bobby Heenan is all over this idea, but Vince stops him. Money must have been really tight in 1993. Heenan mistakes the fan for a young girl (to which Vince corrects him) as he shines their shows. Dibiase is about to give the kid his money, but IRS reminds him that due to the money being earned income he has to pay taxes, so he only gets $30. That’s awesome.

Ted Dibiase Vs Mike Bell and Tony Devito
Bell and Dibiase start out and Bell gets taken down with a shoulderblock and a face smash. IRS gets tagged in and hits a weird double team move. The fans start the Irwin chant as Devito gets the tag. IRS is already sweating. Dibiase gets tagged in and answers with an axe handle. Devito takes a dive outside after a clothesline. IRS comes in and punches Devito down before dropping the leg on the midsection. IRS takes him down with a couple of elbows before tagging Dibiase in, who takes his time stomping him. IRS comes back in with a double underhook. Devito takes a powerslam from Dibiase and gets taken out with the clothesline from IRS for the three at 3:55. Typical squash match, but the pre-match angle made it worth it. Tag squash matches are the worst, though. *
Winners: Money Inc.

Crush Vs Bobby Who
Who gets a full nelson to start things out, but that doesn’t last long as Crush easily breaks out. Do you think Crush ever looked in the mirror and thought to himself, “Really?” Crush sends Who down with a silly spin kick and follows that up with a sloppy stalling suplex. The crowd could care less, which makes all the posing Crush is doing even funnier. Who tries to get up on the outside but Crush takes him down with a clothesline. Crush applies a crushing bear hug (heh, get it?) which is transitioned into a belly to belly. Crush kind of military presses Who before locking in the Kona Crush, which ends the match at 3:16. Terrible, even by squash standards. DUD
Winner: Crush

Razor Ramon comes out to talk to Vince about his loss to the Kid, now known as the 123 Kid. Ramon says, “that stick, mang, that little cockaroach, did not beat Razor Ramon.” He’s the main mang, mang. He claims everyone knows it, but Savage says he did not know it, proving Ramon a liar. Vince pushes the issue further by saying that while it was an upset, it still counts as a defeat. The crowd begins chanting “1-2-3.” Ramon puts up $2,500 for a rematch. Vince brings up the King of the Ring tournament and that he’ll be facing Bret Hart in the preliminary round, which brings out Hart. Hart leads the crowd in a “1-2- 3” chant, which pisses off Ramon more. Hart tells him that everyone loses and that Ramon isn’t focusing on the King of the Ring. Hart says you’d think a guy like Ramon could beat one of the rookies and that it’s going to be “1-2-3 in the King of the Ring.” Ramon is livid as the crowd chants “1-2-3” once more.

Heenan is shown flipping through channels (“C-Span, that’s the most boring channel ever!”) until he find Johnny Polo telling him not to change that channel – Adam Bomb is coming!

Adam Bomb Vs Phil Apollo
We come back straight to the action as Adam beats Apollo all across the ring. Bomb hits an impressive dropkick, but it doesn’t change the fact his attire likes look a bottle of hot sauce. Backdrop to Apollo leads to a mid-match promo – “I am destruction. I am Adam Bomb.” Adam takes the action to the outside and whips Apollo into the guard railing. Bomb goes to the top, NUCLEAR EXPLOSION! Oh, wait, it was a clothesline. Apollo is finished with a powerbomb at 2:23. DUD The best part was Johnny Polo.
Winner: Adam Bomb

Next week it’s Marty Jannetty Vs Bam Bam Bigelow for the Intercontinental Championship! Jannetty will have Sensational Sherri while Bam Bam will have Luna Vachon. I love Bam Bam promos because the man can’t help but to point to the camera after every sentence.

The 411: One of the better episodes this week as we got a really good opener in Doink-Perfect, continuation of the 123 Kid build and we got to see Dibiase and IRS be complete dicks. There’s still the problem of the show being mostly squash matches, but as long as they give us one match with a decent length and some storylines I can live with that.
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]