Commentary this week is Vince McMahon, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan, and sadly still with us, Mr. Rob Bartlett. Bartlett laments over his car being stolen, while Heenan ensures that tonight's Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair match will see the end of Perfect's career.
Our opening match is the Repo Man vs "Macho Man" Randy Savage. Savage wastes no time and attacks Repo from behind. Savage works a series of chokeholds on Repo Man. Repo Man eventually counters and throws him over the rope, but it doesn't work, as Randy knees him over the top rope. Repo Man tries to escape, but Savage attacks him and sends him back to the ring. Savage continues offense until Repo Man manages to ram Savage's head into the ring steps several times, and follows with smacking Savage's head into the post.
Repo Man is now on full offense, whipping Savage into the corner, while Rob Bartlett is confused about who to root for, either the guy who stole his car, or Randy Savage. All while doing passable Savage impersonations. Savage eventually regains offense as the match goes to break. However, when we return it's Repo back in control momentarily. Snapmare and leg drop from Repo only gets a two count. Bartlett makes a random as hell Jodi Foster reference for some reason (that reason being he sucks), while things remain back and forth.
Big clothesline by Repo Man as the crowd chants "Macho" in hopes of getting Savage back in. Back suplex by Repo Man only gets a two count. What's most surprising is that Vince actually knew what the move was. Savage eventually regains momentum, and lands his patented elbow drop for the three count. He then proceeds to toss repossess Repo Man from the ring with a toss over the top rope. He threatens an elbow drop, but is stopped by the referees. Savage has regained his chapeau in true fighting form. Good match between both men. Nothing worth noting, but it was better than I had expected going in.
The Brooklyn Brawler is in the ring as the Ugandan Giant Kamala enters the ring, being accompanied by the reverend Slick. Brawler attempts an early attack as Kamala enters, but Kamala quickly gains back monentum. Brawler's attempt at a body slam gets reversed. Brawler tries to call a truce, but gets nothing but a whip, a kick, and some Kamala butt to the face. The crowd is chanting "you are a man", which is definitely the truth. The commentary team rambles about Suzanne Sommers. Brawler never gets back any offense. He attempts a pinfall from the wrong side. However, unlike Cameron it was actually intentional. A splash, and his attempt at pinning him the right way gets the pinfal for the Ugandan Giant.
Vince goes to get an interview with Slick and Kamala, praising slick for converting Kamala to the good side, but Slick thanks the fans. The match was your basic squash, and nothing offensive. However, any time I see the Kamala gimmick, I wonder how quickly it would be torn to shreds in our modern age.
Next up is Mean Gene Okerlund, who gives everyone up to speed about what went down on the Royal Rumble Pay Per View the previous night, including Yokozuna's win, Bret's retention, and the beating of the Undertaker from the debuting Giant Gonzalez.
It's time for the main event, it's a career vs. career match between "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect. Vince reminds us that Mr. Perfect and Flair's former relationship led Ric to his first championship win back at the 1992 Royal Rumble.
Some shoves and slaps are kicking off, while Vince randomly shills the Sci-fi channel. Both men evenly matched early on, but Perfect seemingly stronger in the head games. Flair goes to heenan, and it appears that Heenan almost gave him a hammer, but Ric declines. Speaking of hammers, Perfect gets a hammerlock into Flair. Flair sends Perfect into the corner for chops, but Perfect counters for even harder ones.
Match slows with both men on the defensive and both men still evenly matched. More chops and closed fists from both men including some solid jabs by Perfect. Flair gets in a thumb to the eye and throws Perfect over the rop rope. Flair attempts a chair shot, but gets stopped by Referee Hebner. Though to be honest, what was Flair thinking? If he used the chair on Mr. Perfect, he'd have been disqualified and he would have been forced to leave the WWF. But then again this is Ric Flair, and calm, cool, and collected are rarely words you associate with the man.
Big back body drop by Perfect. Flair tries to beg, but Perfect continues his assault. Flair gets a cheap shot, and an attempt at a roll up gets a two. Flair goes outside to rest, but Perfect suplexes him back in. Another cover only gets a two. Flair locks in a sleeper hold, which means it's time for the good old "raise the hand spot". He raises it twice and it falls, but of course on the third, Perfect gets up and fights back.
Perfect manages to send Ric into the turnbuckle. Bobby asks that if the show goes off the air if both men keep their jobs, but Vince says they'll have to settle it next week. Back suplex by Ric Flair breaks a headlock by Mr. Perfect. Flair locks in the figure four leg lock, and uses the ropes to gain leverage. Hebner finally sees Flair holding the ropes an forces a break. Ric continues on the leg, gets a snapmare, and goes to the top rope. But of course, Flair never gets it, as the match goes to another break.
Flair begs off Perfect again, and trips him into a cover in the corner iwth his foot up. Tons of back and forth near falls. Irish whip by Flair turned into a perfect plex for the three. Your winner is Mr. Perfect, and Ric Flair's career is over. Bobby Heenan throws a tantrum at ringside.
Incredible match by two of the greatest wrestlers in WWF history, and definitely one of the best matches ever in terms of what we've been getting on Raw to this point. Tons of back and forth work between both men, plenty of near falls. Despite a couple slow spots early on, the match was hard hitting action from bell to bell. While there might not be much to really go back to in the early days of Raw, this match is definitely worth your time to check out.
Raw ends with Vince telling us that Ric will go through his match obligations before leaving, and that next week our big main event is Typhoon against Doink the Clown. I guess not every week can have must see main events, huh?
this Raw was much better than the previous two weeks. Both the Macho Man/Repo Man match as well as the Flair/Perfect matches were very good, with the latter being an absolute classic. The Kamala squash match was fun, and Rob Bartlett was far more subdued this week. In fact he was quiet for most of the Flair/Perfect match, which made that match infinitely better. Hopefully it means the days of bad Mike Tyson impressions are over. The Bushwhackers were supposed to be in action, but I guess the length of the main event ended that. Somehow I'm not all that upset at the lack of ol' Luke and Butch. So, for a rating, I'd say this gets an A. Definitely one of the best Raw episodes so far.
However, next week has the Raw debut of Lex Luger, Doink vs Typhoon, and a promo by Brutus Beefcake. Will any of those be as bad as I fear? Tune in next time to find out.