Well here we are. 100 episodes of Monday Night Raw. We've seen upsets, title changes, debuts, clowns, ninjas, friars, whatever the hell Mr. Hughes was supposed to be, stock car racers, TekWar, King's Court after King's Court and a hell of a lot of squash matches. It's crazy to think that I've managed to make it this far, especially given the horror stories about this era, but I've found myself enjoying the new generation for its good and bad with every episode and every Pay Per View. And with a guaranteed hundered plus Raws left to go until the end of this project, it should be a fun trip to see where we go from here.
To celebrate the 100th episode, Raw now has a brand new intro. Finally. The original still had shots of freakin' Damien Demento in it, and he was gone in '93 for crying out loud. We're continuing the Macon, Georgia tapings with the biggest focus being that Lawrence Taylor will make an appearance tonight to address the situation involving Bam Bam Bigelow. It's Vince and Jim Cornette on the table once again. Cornette says that tonight L.T will beg Bam Bam for forgiveness. We're going to also see the culmination of one of the hottest feuds of all time, so says Vince. It's Tatanka vs Lex Luger. This was never hot.
We get a pre-recorded promo from Lex Luger who essentially just gives us the backstory of this whole rivalry from when it started back at Summerslam (holy crap this has gone on for almost seven months!) and Tatanka's recent actions on the Action Zone, attacking Chief Jay Strongbow. The latter action has led us to this match tonight. Luger will have Strongbow in his corner as backup against Ted Dibiase
Pre-Match, Tatanka says that tonight, he'll teach him the Native American way... whatever that means. Luger comes to the ring to a pretty good pop, flanked by a flag boy and Strongbow. Luger gives chase to Tatanka early on, but Tatanka turns things around with some chops. Luger fights him off hitting a hard clothesline. Tatanka retreats to the outside. Luger continues the chase, but Tatanka is still hesitant to be anywhere near him. Tatanka gets back in and lands even more chops. He rams Luger face first into the buckle, but unlike Tatanka of old, Luger doesn't no sell it. Luger does no sell some more chops though.
Luger rams Tatanka into the buckle twice... and he doesn't no sell them! Turning heel sapped him of his powers. Luger gets more strikes and an inverted atomic drop. Tatanka manages to yank the tights of Luger, sending him crashing out of the ring and into the barricade. Tatanka smashes Luger into the steps and returns to the ring to taunt. Irish whip and a chop by Tatanka. Cover for two as we go to break. When we return, it's Tatanka stomping Luger in the corner. More clubbing chops by Tatanka. Hard whips to the buckle back and forth by Tatanka.
Tatanka puts in a long bearhug as the crowd chants USA to support Luger (even though, you know Tatanka is also American. A NATIVE AMERICAN!!!!). Luger breaks free and manages a back suplex. Tatanka gets Luger in the corner and lands some chops, but Luger begins to no sell them, getting angrier with each one. Whip to the buckle by Tatanka is met with some boots to the face by Luger, who comes back with some rights. Tatanka ducks a clothesline, but gets caught in a sleeper, but he quickly breaks free.
Tatanka goes to confront Chief Jay Strongbow and tears his headdress. That's all Strongbow can stand as he begins to chop the crap out of Tatanka. Umm... disqualification? DISQUALIFICATION REF! Luger comes in with more strikes on Tatanka on the outside and brings him back in to ram him into the buckle. Big knee lift as we go to yet another break. When we return, Luger lands a bulldog. Clotheslines by Luger send Tatanka tumbling outside. Tatanka is tired of this and walks away, but Luger lifts him up and brings him right back in.
Tatanka tries to beg off, but gets a powerslam for his trouble. Luger signals for the Rebel Rack, but Tatanka rolls out and tries to leave again. Luger grabs him by the hair and suplexes him right back in the ring. Luger rams Tatanka into the buckle ten more times. Luger continues to stomp the hell out of Tatanka and tries to take a swipe at Dibiase. Tatanka takes a stroll again and this time, Luger decides to not give chase for some reason. What? And of course after getting the countout win and Tatanka and Dibiase are out of the arena that THEN he should run after them. You're getting slow Lexy boy.
I don't know how to feel about this match. The in-ring wasn't super horrible, a lot of the basic stuff from both men. Chops, rams into the buckle, the basic Luger fare of moves. I did enjoy the interaction with Tatanka and Strongbow, and seeing potbelly Strongbow chop the crap out of Tatanka was fun to see. But again, like the story of Luger's career, he just lets himself get a win via count out. Why? If he was so inclined to bring Tatanka back in the first time, why on the second would he just stand there like a goon and let Tatanka and Dibiase just exit? Whatever, hopefully this feud is mercifully over.
Owen Hart is up next against Larry Santo. We get a recap of Bret Hart costing Jerry Lawler a battle royal match on Superstars last week. Cornette agrees with Lawler that Bret is a racist, so I guess this whole thing is going to continue then. Owen is also looking for a tag partner to face the Smoking Gunns for the tag titles. Why not Neidhart? Well, Neidhart was actually released a while ago due to apparently no-showing several events and thus we have Owen on the hunt for a new partner.
A lockup between Santo and Owen start. Both men exchange hammerlocks, but Owen gets the better with a slap that angers Santo. Cornette claims that Larry Santo is related to El Santo, but that doesn't seem too true there. Shoulder block by Santo, but a spinning heel kick follows from Owen. Stomp to the sternum and some shots in the corner by Owen. He pulls at the nose and follows up with a couple European uppercuts. More headbutts and strikes followed by a hard whip to the buckle and a body slam. Leg drop from Owen. Owen tries to ram Santo in the buckle, but Santo turns it around. But Owen gets two knees in the corner. Missile dropkick lands perfect by Owen, who follows up with the sharpshooter for the win in a decent squash.
We now go to Lawrence Taylor in a pre-recorded segment (complete with green screen Vince and Cornette). On the issue of the shove at the Rumble, L.T doesn't think he disrespected him. He wasn't there to fight and let him go. He prefers to settle the incident some other way. Vince asks if it was an embarrassing moment, L.T agrees, mainly because he should have been ready. He thanks the WWF for being gracious, but isn't too fond of the replay being used constantly. He says that Bam Bam pushes like a sissy, but he is still weighing his options when it comes to the challenge by Bam Bam. He's not scared by Bam Bam.
Bam Bam is added to the conversation and isn't fond of the words from L.T. He hears from the attourneys and managers, but nothing from Taylor. He promises that he'll be at the Harley Davidson cafe to make sure that Taylor will say what the world he wants to hear. He tells Taylor to prove himself as L.T walks off. Bam Bam was a bit rambling, but it did the job to continue this angle.
Doink is up next against Bob Cook. Doink takes down Cook and locks in a toe hold, while Dink rubs his butt in Cook's face. DQ! DQ REF! Arm bar from Doink, who lays in a couple elbows . Armbar takedown as Dink runs and rolls around. What the hell are even the rules anymore? Cook gets a hiptoss, but Doink turns things around with a drop toe hole and more work on the arm. Gutwrench suplex by Doink as Vince calls Cornette overweight. Doink keeps working the arm until Cook gets a side headlock. Doink turns around into more work on the shoulder. Body slam, jumping elbow and the whoopee cushion (complete with fart noise) gets the win in a boring squash.
Kama is up next against... And I swear this is the man's name... Ken Raper. Kama gets a takedown first. He follows with a roll up, but lets Raper back up. Raper dodges an attack and goes for rights, but Kama comes right back with heavy offense. He follows with a kick to the sternum and a whip to the corner. Spin kick by Kama as it's time for the TekWar shill of the week. They are really trying to make that matter. Scoop slam by Kama and an elbow to Raper. A massive drop to the lower extremities of Raper. Kama says that he wants competition and gets more strikes in the corner. More hard kicks to Raper as Kama is still not happy with this competition. Belly to Belly by Kama folloed by an STF for the win in a better squash than his debut.
Next week it's Shawn Michaels (with Sycho Sid) taking on the British Bulldog. This leades to an interview with the bulldog. Pretty bland and basic promo saying he wants revenge for the Rumble and can't wait to take a bite out of the Heartbreak Kid. We then focus on the Wrestlemania XI press conference the next day as the big focus will be the celebrities... oh and the wrestlers... but the celebrities! Headlining it will be Lawrence Taylor as we get his answer to the challenge from Bam Bam Bigelow.
A pretty easy sit for this week's Raw. Luger and Tatanka, while confusing in the ending and hardly good in the ring, was still not as bad as I feared last week. The squashes were all decent at best and nothing felt too boring to sit through (maybe the Doink one). The L.T and Bam Bam stuff was the heaviest focus on this show and despite some rambling by Bam Bam and a sense of not really caring that much by L.T, both still did a fine enough job at selling the prospect of them wrestling. That alone gives this basic edition of Raw a basic B-.
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