Raw Retrospective: Monday Night Raw 07.19.93

WWF RAW Episode Twenty Six
July 19, 1993
Live from the Manhattan Center, New York
Hosts: Randy Savage, Vince McMahon, and Bobby Heenan

We kick things off with clips from the Lex Express tour. Lex says those who think being patriotic isn’t cool are wrong, as the Lex Express is the definition of cool. Shame the Lex Express never stopped by my town. I could have been so much cooler as a kid.

By the way, who thought it would be a good idea to have sirens playing at the beginning of every show? Vince puts over the debut of MOM and says it as such. Can’t wait for that.

WWF Intercontinental Championship – Shawn Michaels(c) Vs Marty Jannetty
Diesel comes out with Michaels, still rocking the denim. Clips are shown from nine weeks ago when Perfect cost Michaels the IC title to Jannetty, but no clips from when Michaels won the title back. Jannetty inexplicably has a conversation with the referee, which allows Michaels to attack from behind but Jannetty flips out of a backslide to hit a clothesline. They exchange a series of roll ups before Michaels gets sent to the outside. Michaels applies a headlock but Jannetty is able to fight out which leads to a series of “I know you and you know me” reversals. Michaels goes for a splash in the corner but hits the turnbuckle and gets tossed around and slammed for two. Jannetty grinds away at Michaels’ arm, who manages to fight his way out and elbow Jannetty down. Michaels charges in the turnbuckle again and eats boot, as well as a flying clothesline. Jannetty goes up top once more but Michaels dodges. Jannetty lands on his feet and hits a DDT and gets the pin at 5:07! But Michael’s foot was on the rope and the match continues after the commercial break. Good, because that finish would have sucked. Michaels takes a backbreaker but manages to kick out at two. Jannetty locks in a sleeper hold but Michaels escapes with a backdrop. Both men collide in the ring, with Michaels winning and sending Jannetty to the outside near Diesel, who watches on. They collide again, this time with Michaels going to the outside. We come back from break with Michaels hitting an axe handle smash for two, so he works a chinlock. Jannetty nearly comes back, so Michaels applies the front face lock. Jannetty works his way back up (thanks to the power of the fans), but Michaels uses his feet on the ropes to bring him back down. Not sure of the logic on that, but whatever. This chinlock/front face lock sequence goes on for far too long, like early Randy Orton long. Jannetty FINALLY crotches Michaels on the ropes to break out, getting a decent pop. Jannetty hits a back elbow for two but gets caught in a powerbomb, which he reverses in a hurricarana for two. Jannetty splashes the turnbuckle and Michaels hits a crossbody, and, you guessed it, Jannetty rolls over for two. Rocker Dropper hits and Michaels is stuck in the ropes, so he gets punched a bunch. Jannetty takes a nasty dive over the top rope and Diesel picks him up and puts him in the ring, which Michaels covers for the three at 14:18. ***1/2 Great match that was really different for the time, though the long chinlock sequence and lame ending really hurts things. Shame these two never got a true feud, but what can you do?
Winner: Shawn Michaels

Dibiase and IRS come out to talk with Vince. They were robbed of the tag titles from the Steiners, and they announce that next week there’s going to be a rematch for the titles. IRS says they’ll be going out just like they came in…a couple of losers. Not sure how that works out, but, there you go. Dibiase brings up the topic of losers, and the biggest one being Razor Ramon. Dibiase runs down the entire Kid/Ramon situation, which leads to Ramon coming out in one of the worst outfits I’ve seen…even by 90s standards. Dibiase offers him the prestigious position of shoe polisher, but it is left unfilled. Ramon has done a lot of work with his hand, but he works only for himself, nor does he have a price. Dibiase can’t figure that out, which leads to a brawl with Razor Ramon winning and officially becoming a face. Simple, but effective turn. Dibiase challenges the Kid to prove how easy he is to defeat.

Men on a Mission vs Bald Jobber and Haired Jobber
Look everyone, it’s the tag team of the future! Seriously, that’s how they’re putting over MOM. They should quit calling them MOM and stick with Men on a Mission. The amount of nerdy white wrestling fans in Lex Express shirts and Burger King crowns waving their hands in the air as if they did not care is disturbing. The jobbers get no introduction. Haired jobber gets a leg drop from Mable and a double elbow drop from MOM. Mo forces the Bald jobber to get the tag, then tags Mable back in. This ends about as well as you’d expect – bodyslam and splash leads to the three count at 1:48. DUD, but the crowd seemed into it, for some reason. Real sloppy and uninspired, but when you can rap who needs to wrestle?
Winners: Men on a Mission

Bastion Booger Vs Scott Despres
They show some absolutely bored child in the crowd to start things off. Clothesline, stall, ass bomb, stall, leg drop, body slam, dance, ass splash for three at 1:00. DUD. He yells something at the camera, then throws Despres out of the ring. About as exciting as it sounds.
Winner: Bastion Booger

Next week we’ll be seeing Bam Bam Vs Bret Hart.

Tiny Tim is on the King’s Court. Tiny Tim is wearing a Mickey Mouse jacket, so Lawler makes fun of it. Tim just talks about how happy he is, and begins playing a song of his before Lawler interrupts him. Tiny Tim is quiet as hell, by the way. His wife is “wonderful” and “carries dollar bills.” Man, I thought my girlfriend was great, but shit. The fans chant “We Want Bret,” and Tiny Tim can’t understand the crowd, apparently. Tiny Tim says Lawler isn’t the Burger King, he’s the Dairy Queen! OH SNAP, SHIT’S ABOUT TO GET REAL! Lawler gets pissed, breaks the ukulele, and Tiny Tim oversells it…horribly. This is one of those segments I have always remembered because it was so random and awful. My opinion hasn’t changed.

The 123 Kid Vs Chris Duffy
Money Inc are watching ringside. Kid starts things off with a near pinfall and they take things to the corner where Duffy gets kicked in the face. Ramon comes through the crowd at this point. Duffy gets a hiptoss but gets taken down with another kick. Kid hits two legdrops but gets a boot to the face. Duffy charges and gets taken down with leg lariat and a dropkick in the corner. Kid climbs the top rope and hits a leg drop for three at 2:10. * Short and sweet, but it was entertaining at least. Kid isn’t sure how to exit since his two enemies are on either side, so he leaves through the crowd. Ramon and Dibiase take their shirts off and nearly brawl, but we cut to commercial before something interesting happens.
Winner: The 123 Kid

We close the show with the Lex Express nearly getting cut off by a truck.

The 411: Much better show this week. Jannetty-Michaels is a really good match marred by a boring rest sequence and a poor ending, but still worth watching. MOM, as horrible as they were in ring, were over in their RAW debut, and the main event was entertaining, if brief. They managed to build next week’s show nicely, and things are looking up as of now. We’ll see how long that lasts.
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]