We open the June 21st edition of Raw with a recap from six weeks ago with the upset of the century as the 1-2-3 Kid defeated Razor Ramon. As mentioned on the previous week's edition of Raw, this will finally be the long awaited rematch between the two with a ten thousand dollar prize up for grabs. Raw is in the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie with Vince, Savage, and Heenan on commentary once more. Opening the show are the WWE tag team champions...
THE STEINER BROTHERS?!
On the Columbus, Ohio house show on June 15th, The Steiners would defeat Money Inc to win their first tag team titles for the WWF. However, the night after in Rockford, Illinois, Dibiase and IRS won the titles back. But Saturday in St. Louis, the Steiners would regain the gold becoming two time WWF Tag Team Champions in only a week. Shame we're seeing all the title changes I'm actually interested in on non-televised events, but still I'm certainly happy to see the gold on one of my favorite teams in this era.
Their opponents tonight are Reno Riggins and Barry "Not related to Matt and Jeff" Hardy. Scott starts with a stepover toe hold for a bit on Reno Riggins, and follows with a shoulder block, and a stiff gut wrench suplex. The Yokozuna US challenge has been announced for the U.S.S Intrepid as well.
Tag to Rick and tag to Barry Hardy, as Rick gets in an inverted atomic drop, and sends Hardy gut first into the top turnbuckle. Tag to Scott, who puts in a headlock and follows with a big overhead belly to belly suplex. Scott lays in an elbow drop. Tag to Reno Riggins, who gets a belly to belly for his troubles. Scott finishes the match with the worst Frankensteiner ever.
It's no wonder he eventually went for better moves. While impressive for a guy his size, it's such an easy-to-botch move that it's the one blemish on what is still the best team to watch at this point in the company's history.
Up next is a two out of three falls match between Doink the Clown and Marty Jannetty. In the last few appearances we've seen Doink come down the aisle smoking cigars, squirting people with his umbrella, and enjoying a Pepsi. This week he comes down on a friggin' unicycle! As we return to break, he's on the mat having a laughing fit. Heel Doink is still the best thing ever made. Marty gets a great pop upon entering the ring.
Doink tries to lure Marty into the corner of the ring, but Marty's at least smart enough to not fall for it. After a lock up, Doink goes right back into the corner, as Heenan makes an odd Jurassic Park reference. Eventually Doink gets in some shots into Marty and locks in a headlock. Both men criss cross the ring, until Marty gets a monkey flip and an arm lock. Doink grabs the hair to break it. Doink's paint is really bad as it doesn't take much for it to quickly smear.
Doink tells Marty to punch him in the face, but Marty holds back on it. More criss crossing until Marty suckers Doink and eventually gets a mat slam. Arm bar by Marty is broken, but Doink's attempt at a monkey flip is met with a smack to the head for two. Anothar arm bar applied which is turned around by Doink, until Marty turns it into a takedown. Doink takes a breather, and then takes Marty to the corner. Whip countered by Marty who gets a monkey flip in the corner for a two count. Marty gets a backslide, but only gets a two count. Marty misses a charge in the corner, giving Doink enough time for a whoopee cushion off the top rope for the first pinfall.
The second fall begins after the commercial break with Doink and Marty trading blows. He gets a knee to Marty's face after an irish whip, and then sends him back first hard into the buckle. Doink feigns an apology as he slaps Marty several times to the outside. He follows that up with an axe handle off the top rope. He brings him back in but only gets a two count. Doink suckers in Marty into a trip for another two count. Doink then locks in a headlock for a while until Marty breaks out. He gets a roll up, but only a two count. Marty then tries for a suplex, and after a block attempt, he hits it. He goes up on the top turnbuckle, until Earl Hebner forces him off. Hard superkick by Marty, but he can't get the fall with Doink's leg on the rope. Another mat slam is met with a flying fist drop for the second fall.
After the next break, we get into the third and final fall as Marty gets an atomic drop and a clothesline for a two count. Doink slides out of the ring and drags Marty into the corner, smashing his leg into the steep post. He follows with a figure four leg lock as Marty writhes in pain. Marty eventually manages to turn it over, putting the pain on the clown until he manages to grab the rope to break it. Marty hits a big back body drop, but the weight puts more pain on his leg, which Doink takes advantage of and applies an STF. He continues offense on the leg and ascends the turnbuckle again. but Marty manages to throw him off. Marty gets a jumping elbow followed by punches in the corner.
The second Doink runs under the apron as the original is being pummeled. The fans point him out, and Marty tries to search for him, until Doink gets a cheap kick on him, and follows by ramming Marty head first into the post. Marty misses an elbow, and gets a dropkick taking Doink to the outside. The original slides under the apron and tries a sneak attack, but Marty sees it coming. He sends Doink out again, and the switch happens. Cover by Doink 2 for a two count. He tries a slam, but Marty rolls him up for another two count. Doink 2 gets a piledriver on Marty for the three count.
Macho Man attacks the second Doink and manages to drag out the original. With this new information, the referee reverses the decision and Marty Janetty wins, much to the chagrin of Bobby Heenan.
Overall, this was a great match between two criminally underrated workers. My only gripe was that this match was way too long clocking in at over 22 minutes. But despite the length, both men showed a lot of variety in their ring work.Though I do wish there was also a bit more drama and excitement for the pinfalls. Overall, I really can't complain too much about it, even with the length it was still an excellent match.
Mr Hughes with Harvey Wippleman arrive to the ring with urn in tow for a match against Bobby Who. Hughes tells Taker that if he wants his urn back, he'll have to come and get it. Some clubbing blows by Hughes is followed by a rather nice dropkick for such a big guy. He follows with a headbutt and a big body slam and elbow drop. He breaks the pinfall to continue his offense with a gutwrench slam. As Whippleman shills his clients success, Vince tells us that we can catch all three Porky's movies. Now that's entertainment right there. Hughes finishes it with a really sloppy choke bomb for the three. Again, odd gimmick aside, I really don't think Mr. Hughes is all that bad. I've seen a lot of bad big wrestlers, I really don't have any issues with his ring work.
It's main event time. After six weeks of waiting, Razor Ramon will finally get a rematch with the 1-2-3 kid, and ten grand is on the line. The crowd chants "123" as the kid comes to the ring. Razor tries to gaud the kid into coming to the ring for the money, but he hesitates. Kid smacks Razor into the ring post and hits a flying sunset flip off the top for a two count. Spin kick by the kid only gets a two. He follows with more kicks, but gets caught in the fallaway slam. Razor chops the kid and tosses him out of the corner. Irish whip and a clubbing strke to the back of the head by Razor. Kid tries a hiptoss, but gets caught into a hard chokeslam by Razor. Instead of going for the three, Razor locks in an abdominal stretch and then slaps the back of his head for a bit.
Razor hits a hard powerslam, but still chooses not to make a cover, and lays in some stomps. The kid tries to fight back, but Razor hits a big back suplex off the top turnbuckle. He tosses the kid out with ease, and then pulls off the protective padding. He sets up the Razor's Edge, but the kid manages a back body drop. The kid goes for a cross body off the top, but slip to the floor below. Unsure if that was a botch or not, but sure looked like one to me. Razor whips Kid in the corner, but misses an elbow, giving the kid enough time to land another moonsault, shades of the upset six weeks ago. However, this only gets a two count. Kid instead just grabs the money bag and runs off with Razor giving chase. He manages to get in a car and speed off with Razor furious. I enjoyed this rematch, even if the end result was more to continue the angle than to be a definitive end.
Back in the arena, Vince interviews an irate Razor Ramon about the Kid absconding with the cash. Razor says that nobody rips off the bad guy, and that the kid can run, but he can't hide. Knowing that it's Sean Waltman with the money, it's probably been all spent on drug money by now.
A solid episode of Raw this week. The Steiners have the tag gold, the Razor/1-2-3 Kid feud continues to get exciting, Doink and Marty Janetty have a long entertaining match that saves us the fear of what could have been a Tatanka squash in that time frame, and maybe I'm in the minority but I actually enjoy Mr. Hughes. Plus they're doing a good job at the slow build to the 4th of July show. It's not a must-watch edition, but there is enough in it to entertain any fan. An A- is a fine rating for this one.