It's May 17th, 1993, and Raw is once again live from the Manhattan Center. We open the show recapping the Shawn and Perfect fight from last week. And not just a quick recap, we go through the whole thing. Lord Alfred Hayes is backstage saying that someone in disguise has entered the building, and it's sure to be a big shocker.
It's time for the debut of Bart and Billy Gunn, the Smoking Gunns. They're in full cowboy garb complete with smoking cap guns for their entrances. This week they take on Tony Vajda and Glenn Ruth in our inaugrual match on Raw. We start things off with Bart attempting a roll up for one, and then laying in some hip tosses. Tag to Billy, but Vajda quickly tags in Ruth who gets hit with a hard clothesline, and a nice spinning neckbreaker. Tag back to Bart and both men apply a double leg sweep. Quick body slam and a tag back to Billy who lays in an elbow and a knee. Tags back and forth, and more double teams applied.
Billy sets up Ruth for a nice vertical suplex. Tag back to Bart who continues the arm wringers. Tag back to Bille who drops a big leg on the arm of Ruth. Bart follows suit, and after another quick tag, Billy gets a power slam. Another tag, we get a really sick finish with a back drop from Billy turned into a piledriver from Bart. All in all a great debut. You can definitely tell Billy's the better worker of the two, but I thought Bart held his own well. But so far, I like these two.
Up next is an interview with Shawn Michaels. Crowd is of course quick to lay in the Shawn is Gay chants. And yes, I know it's redundant to complain about the tolerance of a crowd from the mid-90's, but it will always bother me. Which is a shame because I enjoy Shawn's work. Vince wants answers as to what Shawn said to have Perfect attack him last week. Shawn would rather turn things around to tell the fans that he's a man of his word. He told everyone that he would be come the intercontinental champ, and he did. He said he'd defend the belt, and he did, and most importantly he defended the belt against Hacksaw, and he did. On to Perfect, despite his best shots, Shawn is still the intercontinental champ. He's the best in the WWF, and he'll defend the title any time, any place, against anyone. This challenge prompts a hooded man to enter the ring, and holy crap...
IT'S MARTY JANETTY!
Mary, rehired for the fourth time by the WWF, asks if Shawn is a man of his word, and if he'll defend that championship against him tonight. Shawn is adamant against it since Marty's not in his wrestling gear, but Marty does have his stuff. So tonight on Raw, the Rockers collide once again for the title. I enjoyed that segment, and it's great to see Marty again.
Up next it's Razor Ramon taking on the Kamikaze... I mean Cannonball... I mean the Lightning kid. Razor throws a toothpick in the face of the kid and throws him into the corner. Hard chops from Razor and a massive hip toss. Razor then applies a short abdominal stretch and continues his offense with chops. The kid goes for a cross body, but gets thrown with a fallaway slam.Razor whips the kid into the buckle, but misses a splash in the buckle. This gives the kid enough time to get to the turnbuckle, hit a moonsault, and get the three count.
As if this show wasn't shocking enough, in an upset no one expected (unless you're a wrestling fan for over 15 years and knew about this moment like I did) someone who comes off as just another jobber on the product actually beat one of the big names. Considering every week we get jobber matches that feel as predictable as how rain will make things wet, having something like this happen is a refreshing breath of fresh air. Then again it doesn't hurt that the kid is one of Razor's friends, so having him do the honors for the kid's first win on Raw helps.
After that great moment, it's time for our favorite Native American buzzkill Tatanka in action against Scott "Screw you Rikishi, Too Cool deserved a mention" Taylor. If ever I wished they would pull the upset win twice, I wish they would for Scotty. Clothesline, a back body drop, and a big back drop over the top rope by Tatanka. Chop off the apron follows that. Taylor backs into the corner, only to take some corner whips and several more chops. Heenan would rather talk about toilet paper than this match. I don't blame him. Body slam and an elbow drop from Tatanka, followed by a power slam.
More chops by Tatanka, and a nice hip toss. He calls out Bam Bam Bigelow, which leads Scott to finally get some offense. But just like every single jobber has done and has yet to learn not to do, he rams Tatanka's head into the turnbuckle, which leads to him doing the war dance, getting several tomahawk chops and finishing with the samoan drop for the three. I hate Tatanka matches more than I hate most things.
Mean Gene gives us the King of the Ring report, and our updated card. Hulk Hogan against Yokozuna in a match for the Trinket Toy. But most importantly is the king of the ring, which has almost reached its final eight. Bret, Razor, Bam Bam, Tatanka, Luger, and Mr. Perfect have advanced to the tournament. All that remains is Shawn Michaels vs Crush, and Kamala vs Mr. Hughes for the final two spots.
Up next is Kamala against Yokozuna. Heenan brings up that Yokozuna has yet to be slammed, so Kamala is at a disadvantage. But Macho Man believes that Kamala is the ultimate underdog in this situation. This is a man who fell for a fake present, and doesn't know how to cover a guy right without direction taking on a man who won the WWF title, be it for five minutes. He's doomed.
Yokozuna does his pre-match dance, and both men collide, almost knocking the sumo down. They collide again, and Yoko teeters some more. Kamala lays in offense, but is unable to take him down. Yoko gets some hard chops, and knocks the Ugandan Giant down. Big leg drop from Yokozuna.
Kamala regains offense with chops, but gets distracted by Mr. Fuji. Kick into the corner by Yoko is followed by a massive thump in the corner. This sets up Kamala for the Banzai Drop for the three. I enjoyed this squash for what it was. Kamala did a great job in getting the crowd to think he could take out the massive Yokozuna, but in the end it's the same old story, but a great match nonetheless.
It's main event time. The WWF Intercontinental championship is on the line as former Rockers Shawn Michaels and Marty Janetty continue their year and a half long feud. A feud that has seen the challenger fired and rehired more then most human beings.
Shawn starts with offense in the corner, but Janetty counters. He tries a roll up but only gets a two. Series of leapfrogs, and a sunset flip from Janetty only gets a two count. Shawn tries a hip toss, but it's countered into a clothesline, followed by one taking Shawn out of the ring. Baseball slide by Marty, who then turns it into a plancha to the outside. For being gone five months, Marty looks better than ever, and the crowd is on his side. Shawn tries to escape, but Marty brings him back in.
Shawn tries for a super kick, but Marty gets a hip toss and a headscissors for a two count. Leg scissors keeps Shawn debilitated for a while. He breaks, but misses an elbow and gets a big back body drop before being sent out of the ring again. Shawn tries to walk out again, but before he could leave, Mr. Perfect blocks the exit as we go to break.
As we return to break,Shawn still has not regained offense, but manages to send Janetty neck first into the ropes to finally get something. Left jabs in the corner followed by a boot choke. This is followed by a leg drop into the rops on the neck of Marty. Long headlock by Shawn. Marty breaks out, but Shawn gets back offense immediately with a dropkick. A second dropkick is turned into a catapult into the ring post by Marty. Cover only gets a two count. Michaels counters a whip, but Janetty slams Shawn's head into the mat. Janetty grabs a massive powerslam for another two.
Michaels counters a whip into the corner, but Marty jumps into the buckle to attempt a slingshot splash. He lands it, but still only gets a two count. Marty rolls up Shawn, Shawn counters with the tights for a two. Superkick by Shawn, but he becomes too focused on Mr. Perfect on the outside. Perfects throws his towel at Shawn, which leads Janetty to get a roll up for the three to win the Intercontinental Title.
Great match between two men who know each other well. Marty's the butt of many joke, but honestly he was a lot better in the ring than may give him credit for, and this match was a great example of that. a major upset, and a great moment to end this edition of Monday Night Raw.
I've reviewed 17 episodes of Monday Night Raw, and for the first time since starting this review series, I can finally truly recommend a Raw to watch from 1993. This Raw was almost perfect from start to finish. Almost bookended by two great moments in the show's history, as well as two of the company's most effective upsets. Razor and the Kid helped establish the Kid as more than just your average TV jobber, and the company continues the almost two year storyline with the former Rockers by having Marty finally get his moment against Shawn.
And even the stuff in between was good. The Smoking Gunns had a solid debut, Kamala and Yokozuna was fine. Hell, even Tatanka's squash was bearable this week. Finally it feels like Raw is finding itself as a product, and important moments are finally showing up. It doesn't just feel like Vince has an hour of TV on the USA Network, and the show that had shaky booking early on now has everything perfectly handled. Will this reign of quality continue? We'll have to wait and see. But for now, this Raw is a flawless A+ edition. A definite must watch.