We open Raw with a recap of the Tatanka/Borga match from last week, mainly that of the Yokozuna interference and the Luger save. It's the last Raw of 1993, and we have Vince McMahon and his guest commentators are The WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers, which is going to be wonderful since Pierre can barely speak English. They're out here since Johnny Polo will compete against Marty Jannetty later in the show.
But opening action tonight is Lex Luger taking on "Mr. Pat on the Back" Barry Horowitz. Jacques brings up that Luger better be careful as he'll be facing off with him on Superstars this weekend. Horowitz breaks out of an arm lock. Pierre is curious as to why Luger needs so much body oil, to which Vince pretty much says it's to make him more slippery. Not much happens for a good minute. Luger works on the arm of Horowitz, who then gets a knee lift to break. Luger referses a whip sending Horowitz into the buckle. School boy by Luger only gets a two, to which Horowitz counters with a thumb to the eye.
The Quebeccers laugh about having to defend their titles against the Hart Family. Meanwhile, in ring, Horowitz continues offense in the corner for quite a while. Luger eventually finally gets offense back with a big clothesline and a powerslam. He follows up with a decent superplex to Horowitz for a three in a rather dull match, which is a shame. Vince shills the hotline for people to give a dollar to let Luger in the rumble.
We go back to two months ago on the October 25th Raw where Johnny Polo interfered in the match between Marty Janetty and the 1-2-3 Kid. This leads us into an interview with Johnny Polo, who refers to Vince as McMoron. He told everyone he can beat both men in the ring and he did. This leads us into our next match as Johnny Polo will take on Marty Jannetty.
Polo backs into the corner early on, acting more like a chicken than a raven. and both men eventually lock up. Hiptoss by Polo, who is in great shape. Headlock by Polo is turned around by Janetty, but Marty gets turned into another hiptoss. Another headlock gets turned around, but this time Marty takes Polo face first into the corner. Marty gets a big atomic drop, and a back suplex for two. Marty goes for a crucifix then turns it into a roll up for two. He then works on the arm of Polo. Polo escapes, then ducks a cross body by Marty, sending Janetty over the top rope. Polo counters with a rather ugly dive over the ropes of his own. Gotta admit, I wasn't expecting Polo to actually wrestle.
Polo tries to knock Janetty off the apron, but Marty turns it into a cross body for two. However, Polo locks another headlock. Shoulder blocks by Marty, which turns into a collision by both men. Polo gets whipped sternum first into the buckle. Marty follows with an elbow off a whip and a facebuster. Marty goes up top, but gets countered by Polo, who tries a superplex, only to be countered. Marty hits a cross body off the top for two.
Polo gets a boot in the corner to Marty, but misses an attack in the corner of his own, getting rolled up by Marty for two. Polo ends up on the outside as Pierre goes to help him out, only to get a baseball slide by Marty. Marty tries a dive on Polo, but Pierre grabs the leg. The distraction doesn't help as Janetty gets the superkick to the face of Polo. He goes to the top rope, but Pierre pulls Polo out of the way. Marty then just dives on Pierre to get rid of him once and for all. Marty tries a roll up, but Pierre helps Johnny Polo turns it around for the three.
I gotta admit, when I heard about this match on the last episode of Raw, I wasn't expecting much. More of a comedy filler match if anything. But I gotta admit, they pulled one over on me and gave me a surprisingly good match. It had a couple slow points, but Polo added just as much to the match as Marty did. And the ending continues the issues that Janetty (and subsequently the 1-2-3 Kid) have had with the Quebecers and Polo, so I hope this storyline continues.
Post-match, an angry Marty threatens to hit the Quebecers with a chair as the referee ejects Pierre from ringside. We get a recap of THAT Yokozuna video.
Which means I of course have to post this once again.
It's Jacques and Vinceat the table as up next is Doink (with Dink) against Spike Gray. Spike Gray reminds me of that era when Big Show was wearing the one shoulder singlet, only shorter and much more hairy. Dink gives Doink some gum pre-match. He offers Spike some gum, but it's one of those snapping traps. Dinks runs arround for a bit and kicks Gray in the shin. Spike gets distracted by Dink, and Doink gets a german suplex for three. I am hating this face turn with every single appearance.
Up next is the Royal Rumble Report with Todd Pettengill, who makes some bad jokes ("Do you think Dink Got Doink a Dog?"). He shills the Rumble match, giving us the rules as always. The list is now officially: Bret Hart, Crush, Kamala, Owen Hart, Doink, Mabel, Scott Steiner, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Adam Bomb, Bam Bam Bigelow, Randy Savage, 1-2-3 Kid, Fatu, Samu, Rick Steiner, Bob Backlund, and Greg "women should be barefoot and in the kitchen" Valentine. He shills the number to coax kids to get Luger into the Rumble match. Keep giving Vince your dollars, and maybe Jack Tunney will change his mind.
Also on the card is Yokozuna vs Undertaker for the WWF title in a casket match, Razor Ramon and IRS for the Intercontinental title, and the reunited Bret and Owen Hart vs the Quebecers for the tag titles, as both Harts are now ready to take on the tag champs. Jacques believes the Harts will explode and it will be an easy win for the champs. We also cut to a an ad for, of all matches, The Smoking Gunns vs Bam Bam and Bastion Booger. Oh goody. What a way to start 1994.
Crush is in action next against Mike Moraldo. Some martial art strikes by Crush to start and a press slam follows. More boots to the ribs of Moraldo. Moraldo ducks a clothesline, but gets caught in the Kona Crush Vice for the quick win.
We return to the workshop of the Undertaker, who is still working on that "double deep, double wide" casket for Yokozuna. I love the look of the workshop being dark and dingy with the only small traces of light coming out of the windows. Gives a nice old west aesthetic which fits the Undertaker character well. Paul Bearer makes Christmas referenecs despite it being a few days past the holiday. Undertaker promises the Undertaker will be gift wrapped soon. And the scariest damn thing ever happens as Taker says "Ho Ho Ho".
We get a "don't drink and drive" PSA from Bret Hart. Sorry, it just doesn't work as well without the Undertaker looming over a casket.
We cut to what has to be a hotel room judging by those curtains as we meet Alundra Blayze, who informs us that she's taking on Heidilee Morgan in the finals of the WWF Women's Championship tournament. Actually is a decent back and forth match to what little we see, as Blayze wins the Women's Championship. So, yeah, all of a sudden we have a women's division after years of the concept of women's wrestling really being dead in the company.
Up next we get a vignette for some ninja named Kwang. A Japanese ninja who is of course being played by a Puerto Rican man. A man by the name of Juan Rivera. I mean of course he's not actually Japanese. In a company where the "Evil Japanese WWF Champion" is a Samoan man? It makes perfect sense. We'll know Rivera better under a different name in a couple years, but for now bask in his "sweet martial art skillz".
Our final match of the evening is Intercontiental Champion Razor Ramon taking on Derek Domino. Razor is still without his gold chains as IRS still has them in his briefcase. Some arm wringers by Domino as Jacques makes a Domono's pizza "30 minutes or less" reference, which Vince seems to not understand (what a surprise). Razor keeps focus on the arm until he gets an eye poke and some slaps in the corner by Domino. Razor follows with some wicked hard chops and a rather crappy hiptoss.
Razor hits a fallaway slam off the second rope, which took him a little while to get just right. Some slaps to the head of Domino, followed by a facelock for a couple seconds. Vince shills the documentary "Fallen Champ: The Untold Story of Mike Tyson." As long as it's not narrated by Rob Bartlett in his Mike Tyson voice, then it must ba a good watch. Abdominal Stretch applied by Razor, Vince makes Pizza references, hoping to get that sponsorship I guess. Back suplex off the top rope by Razor. The Razor's Edge gets him the three. Not a bad squash match.
We end Raw with Vince shilling next week's show. The Smoking Gunns vs Bam Bam and Booger, Jeff Jarrett will be in action, and holy crap, Yokozuna will actually wrestle next week. Plus Johnny Polo is on the table next week for Monday Night Raw.
This was a decent episode. Nothing groundbreaking, but the squashes were fine (save for that debacle that was the Doink match), The Janetty/Polo match was better than I expected it to be, and it feels like everything is moving forward to the Royal Rumble in just the right pace. As for the Quebecers on the table, they were fine, especially Jacques. Though I'm already worried that they're going to cycle through guest commentators for a while, and it's already wearing a bit thin. I'll give this Raw a B-. One of the better ones in a while.
And that wraps up 1993 in the WWF. Join us next time for a Raw-trospective of the year that was. What was good, what was bad, and other thoughts on the first year of the new generation era of the WWF.