Raw Retrospective: Monday Night Raw 06.14.93

WWF RAW Episode Twenty One
June 14, 1993
Taped from the Manhattan Center
Hosts: Randy Savage, Vince McMahon, and Bobby Heenan
Approx. Run Time: 43 minutes

We kick the show off with new WWF Champion Yokozuna celebrating his victory over Hulk Hogan. An interview from the PPV is shown, where Fuji explains their celebration will be in America since they won in America. In fact, they’ll be celebrating on July 4, as this is a landmark in American history. Yoko proclaims Hulkamania as dead…and he was right for about nine years.

Mr. Perfect Vs L.A. Gore
Perfect starts things off with a headlock before sending Gore out of the ring with a dropkick. Back in the ring, Gore rakes Perfect’s eyes and gets some token offense in before getting chopped and punched in the corner. Perfect unloads on Gore and takes him down with a running knee. Gore sends Perfect in the ropes and bends down…Perfectplex gets the three at 2:30! Short and inoffensive match. *
Winner: Mr. Perfect

Razor Ramon comes out to the ring with a sack of money that simply says “$10,000” on it while McMahon waits in the ring. McMahon points out Ramon’s recent frustration as the fans chant “123!” Ramon thinks he’s figured out the problem – the Kid doesn’t have to beat Ramon, just face him. Ramon offers $10,000 to face him and with that kind of money he could go out and buy a life! Even a personality transplant! Ramon wants to prove that the Kid’s victory was a fluke, but Vince wonders what would happen if the Kid won again. Ramon knows he’s the main man in the WWF, and no little punk will stop him. The best part of this promo was him constantly calling the Kid “Stickman” as though he was extremely proud of that nickname.

Marty Jannetty Vs Doink the Clown
Doink hides under the ring during his entrance but comes out the other side so he can spray the announcers with Pepsi. Oddly enough, he gained a jacket while under the ring. Jannetty tries to pull Doink out of the ring but gets a boot to his head. In the ring Doink continues brawling with Jannetty who comes back with a stiff elbow and a bulldog from the top rope for two. Marty hits an arm drag and works the arm but it’s broken with a forearm. Jannetty trips up Doink and goes back to work on the arm as we cut to break. Back in Jannetty leaps over Doink, hits a dropkick, and continues working on the arm. Jannetty hits a crossbody for two but gets caught in a powerslam on the follow up. Doink locks in a modified chicken wing and hits a backdrop for good measure. Doink’s paint is spreading all over Jannetty and it looks hilarious. Doink climbs the top rope and hits an ass splash (aka the Whoopie Cushion), which prompts him to mock Jannetty in awesome fashion, although that gives Jannetty enough time to kick out. Doink hits the Hangman’s neckbreaker for two. Doink has some trouble climbing the ropes and Jannetty is able to capitalize and toss him off. Jannetty fights his way to his feet and hits a spinning back elbow followed by a suplex for two. Jannetty hits a flurry of clotheslines before both men go to the outside on a bodyslam attempt. They brawl outside and Doink takes a superkick and a hurricarana as both men are counted out at 8:45. Both men continue brawling outside as the bell rings. The refs separate the two as they keep trying to brawl. Match was going pretty well until the DCO finish. Luckily, these two would have a much better match down the line. ***
Winner: Draw (double countout)

Owen Hart Vs Dan Dubiel
Hart is still in his High Energy gear, so he actually looks like the jobber here. They trade hammerlocks until Dubiel manages to reach the ropes and push Owen off…which gets him a slap to the face and an arm drag. They have the 123 Kid on the phone who isn’t aware he’s on live TV. He puts over his victory and how much his life has improved since pinning Ramon as Owen hits a suplex. Dubiel continues to get beaten down when the 123 Kid accepts the $10,000 challenge from Ramon. Back to the match, which is actually a pretty good jobber match, Owen and Dan trade reversals with Owen obviously coming out on top. Hart hits a dropkick from the top rope and ends with the northern lights suplex at 3:43. Entertaining match and the crowd was really behind Owen…too bad the match was overshadowed by the phone call. *1/2
Winner: Owen Hart

They actually show a full match between Taker and PJ Walker from Superstars, which consists of Walker getting no offense in and Taker kicking his ass. Giant Gonzalez and Harvey Whippleman make their way to the ring as the match is ending and Taker welcomes the fight. Mr. Hughes makes his way to the ring and slams Paul Bearer. Hughes attacks the Undertaker with the urn to almost zero crowd reaction. Giant Gonzalez, for whatever reason, leaves the ring and lets Hughes and Whippleman celebrate in the ring. It’s amazing that the Undertaker survived the nineties with all of the awful feuds he was in. I mean, how many times can the man’s urn before he stops caring?

Jerry the King Lawler Vs Mark Thomas
Lawler comes out in pink and black, mocking the previous night’s King of the Ring winner, Bret Hart, who was attacked by the Lawler during his coronation speech. Lawler grabs the microphone and points out that he hates the entire crowd. He demands all of the fans to kiss his feet and promises to punch out those who chant Burger King at him. Heenan leaves the ringside area, leaving us with Savage and Vince to do commentary. Terrific. Match is your standard squash match with the fans chanting “Burger King” and Lawler yelling at them. He shuts them up pretty effectively with a DDT to Thomas to the point where you’d think Mark Thomas was their super hero. Thomas avoids a fist drop but gets back body dropped anyways. They announce that Yokozuna’s celebration will be held at an unnamed American landmark and would issue an open challenge to any American athlete to slam the champion. Lawler gets in an argument with a man who looks eerily similar to Percy Watson from the crowd before getting back body dropped by Thomas! His offense doesn’t last long though as a piledriver finishes things at 3:45. Lawler was great in getting the crowd against him and even though Thomas did next to nothing, the crowd supported him. **
Winner: Jerry the King Lawler

Next week it’s announced that Marty Jannetty will take on Doink the Clown in a 2 out of 3 falls match as well as the $10,000 challenge between Razor Ramon and the 123 Kid!

The 411: Pretty solid show this week, featuring a really good match with some entertaining squashes. We're finally going to see Ramon and Kid wrestle again, and the only downside of this show is the whole Hughes-Undertaker thing. Solid recommendation.
Final Score:  7.5   [ Good ]