Raw Retrospective: Monday Night Raw 06.28.93

WWF RAW Episode Twenty Three
June 28, 1993
Taped from Poughkeepsie, New York
Hosts: Randy Savage, Vince McMahon, and Bobby Heenan

Tonight is a special “Night of Champions,” back when it didn’t require a full PPV since they only had three titles back then. Oddly enough, there’s only one championship match tonight, so this is pretty bad false advertising. Yokozuna will have an interview though.

Intercontinental Championship: Shawn Michaels(c) Vs Kamala
Diesel (who gets named) comes out with Michaels and is really feeling the denim. One thing I’ve noticed about Vince on commentary is that he always sounds like he’s trying to yell but can’t quite get over a certain level of volume. The announcers try their best to make Kamala seem like a legitimate threat but they’re no miracle workers. Michaels tries to work out some sort of deal with Kamala, but cheap shots him instead. This ends poorly for Michaels as he gets clotheslined hard and chopped. Michaels escapes to the outside as they STALL EVEN MORE. Michaels eats a bodyslam and gets caught in a bearhug as we cut to commercial. We come back with Michaels still in the bearhug until he rakes the eyes. Kamala chases Michaels outside but gets caught with stomps on the way back in. Kamala ducks a dropkick and Diesel’s mullet isn’t happy. Kamala misses Michaels and knees the turnbuckle, which leads Michaels working on the knee. It’s kind of weird seeing Kamala sell a body part, but here it is. Michaels attempts a figure four but gets pulled off twice. Apparently the ref doesn’t care about Kamala pulling the hair. Kamala continues fighting from his back and FINALLY makes it to his feet. Chops follow and he sends Michaels over the top. Kamala hits a double chop and the splash but, damnit, he just never figured out how to pin people. Diesel distracts Kamala which allows Michaels to hit a superkick to the back of the head for the three at 8:45. Match was nothing special, but could have been worse. Diesel takes out Kamala after the match. *
Winner and STILL Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels

Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji come out to make their first RAW appearance since winning the belt. USA chants fill the arena. They announce that Yokozuna is challenging all of America to further humiliate and demean the athletes. McMahon points out that many people have tried to demean and disgrace America but are always stopped by some super awesome American. McMahon channels his Mr. McMahon character here a bit, which makes the entire segment worth it. Fuji brings up killing Hulkamania and Vince is all, “Nah dude, that shit is going to backfire on you!” When Mr. Fuji talks I swear Vince has no idea what he’s saying. Yokozuna says American athletes are like American products – no good.

The Smoking Gunns Vs Iron Mike Sharpe and Barry Horowitz
Sharpe nearly gets offense in on Billy before being taken out with a dropkick. The amount of mullets and moustaches in this match is disturbing. Bart gets the tag and runs the ropes with Sharpe before catching him in a small package for two. Horowitz comes in but is caught in an arm drag. A sloppy crossbody gets two for Bart but another attempt misses. Horowitz hits a northern lights suplex for two and the jobbers miss a double clothesline and Horowitz goes down with…a crossbody. Billy gets the tag and we get…more dropkicks. The Gunns hit some sort of weird assisted inverted DDT for the three at 4:30. The jobbers got some offense so it was more interesting than your typical squash, but the match was mostly crossbodies and dropkicks. *1/2
Winners: The Smoking Gunns

IRS and Dibiase come out, without the tag titles, to speak with McMahon. Vince rubs it in that the Steiners are champions, but IRS says it’s a short term deal. Irwin brags about their rematch clause, but I thought every champion had that. Dibiase brings up Razor Ramon and his bad business investment (losing ten grand to the 123 Kid). Dibiase thinks Kid is smart for taking the money and run while Ramon needs to go back to school. This somehow ties in to Ramon joining the Steiners and a Three Stooges joke is made. With that, Razor Ramon is a face as the fans are chanting his name.

Adam Bomb Vs PJ Walker
No entrances for either man, but Johnny Polo gets ample screen time. Adam overpowers Walker and tosses him around while making crazy faces. Why would a guy like Adam Bomb team up with Johnny Polo? They take it outside and Walker gets clotheslined all to hell while Polo laughs at him. Slingshot clothesline and the Atom Smasher for the cover at 2:13. Squash – no more, no less. DUD.
Winner: Adam Bomb

Crush Vs Bastion Booger
They start this off by showing a huge lump on Booger’s back. They continually put over the likelihood of Crush slamming Yokozuna, which would make more sense than Luger at this point in time. Booger starts things off early with some punches while Heenan jokes that Bastion Booger is Hilary Clinton’s brother. Crush tries to pick up Booger but can’t do it. Booger continues to pound away but Crush shrugs it off and hits one of the sloppiest back body drops in recent memory. Booger gets sent to the outside with a dropkick but smashes Crush into the ringpost. That’s actually a decent spot I haven’t seen that often…if ever. Never thought I’d say that about a Bastion Booger match. Booger locks in a bearhug that looks pretty funny due to the height difference. Crush comes back and hits a suplex and three bodyslams (take that, Yoko!) for the pin at 5:49. Match was there to set up the possibility of Crush slamming Yokozuna, but considering Booger controlled most of the match and Crush didn’t slam Yoko, it seems kind of a waste. Crowd was hot for the finish, though. *
Winner: Crush

Next week sees the 123 Kid, Mr. Perfect, and Bam Bam Bigelow are all in action, along with the Stars and Stripes Challenge!

The 411: Pretty bad show compared to the last few episodes. Nothing was particularly interesting and the main event would have made more sense if Crush had slammed Yokozuna, but whatever. Avoid.
Final Score:  4.0   [ Poor ]