May 17, 1993
From the Manhattan Center in New York City, NY
Your hosts are Vince McMahon, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and Bobby Heenan
We see a clip of a Special Olympian doing a deadlift with Savage and the Smoking Gunns there for encouragement. Nice segment here and the WWF/WWE has a long track record of doing great things with the Special Olympics.
This week in action are Tatanka, Razor Ramon, and Yokozuna vs. Kamala.
Last week’s clip of Mr. Perfect attacking Shawn Michaels before the show is shown. After that we see Lord Alfred Hayes outside says he saw someone here before the show in disguise and will be as surprised as himself when we find out. Now we have a surprise appearance teased for the show.
Smoking Gunns vs. Tony Vadja & Glen Ruth
The Gunns fire off their guns before the match. Match starts with the Gunns working the arm of Vadja. Ruth tags in and Billy clotheslines him as Heenan makes jokes about the Gunns being dumb hicks. The Gunns continue to work over Ruth as the announcers speculate as to who is this surprise Lord Alfred was talking about then Billy back drops Ruth and Bart catches him with a piledriver for the win (3:42).
Thoughts: The Gunns finishing move was pretty cool and much better than the top rope sunset flip Bart used to get the Gunns a win in their debut match last week on “Mania.” However, this gimmick is too hokey and as a result you do not get to appear credible.
We get an ad for WWF Mania then Heenan shits on Pettengill before plugging the Tatanka vs. Terry Taylor match that will air this Saturday. What a hot featured match (I’m joking but in all honesty it could be a decent).
Vince welcomes Shawn Michaels to the ring. We get another “Shawn is gay” chant from the crowd. Shawn is asked about Mr. Perfect attacking him as Shawn then says that everyone can agree he is a man of his word and uses examples of defending his Intercontinental Title all over the world and would walk out of last week’s Lumberjack match the champion. Shawn also gloats over taking Perfect’s best shot and is still here then says he will defend his title anywhere, anytime, against anybody because he fears no man. We then see someone walk into the ring wearing shorts, sunglasses, and a hood. He removes the hood and shades to reveal Marty Jannetty. Marty the wants to know if Shawn is a man of his word and will defend the title tonight. Shawn then says Marty does not have gear and would not want him getting hurt but Marty says he will go get it and Shawn reluctantly accepts the match for tonight as the crowd cheers while Shawn bitches. Awesome segment here to reveal Marty as the surprise return and pick up where they left off at the beginning of the year.
Razor Ramon vs. The Kid
Razor blows off the large ring girl as we learned last week he is sick of the “fat ones.” The announcers mention how ast week, the Kid was the Cannonball Kid and two weeks ago he was the Kamikaze Kid. Although the tights read “L. Kid” for this match. Razor tosses his toothpick in the Kid’s face then shoves him down. Razor chops Kid hard in the corner then slaps him around. Razor catches Kid and hits an overhead slam and goes back to toying with him but misses a charge in the corner then Kid climbs up top and uses a moonsault block for the win (2:12). Kid is celebrating and jumping around at ringside while the crowd goes nuts. Razor then goes out to yell at Savage and Vince as Heenan says it was a fast count.
Thoughts: One of the most memorable moments in RAW history. It was pulled off to perfection with Kid getting pummeled for a couple of weeks before the surprise win in this match. And Razor selling his anger afterwards was awesome. Everyone should see this if they haven’t already and even if you have watch it again. In his shoot interview with RF Video, Razor said this was Vince’s idea and that Vince laid out the following angle himself too.
Tatanka vs. Scott Taylor
Vince & Savage sell the excitement of the Kid win and Marty’s return as Taylor is sent outside. Tatanka chops Taylor down then catches him with a powerslam. Tatanka stays in control then looks into the camera to call out Bigelow but after that Taylor hammers away. Tatanka fires up and dances around before hitting several chops then using a Samoan drop for the win (3:44).
Thoughts: Speaking of enhancement talent selling like champs, Taylor did a superb job here. The future Scotty to Hotty showed he could work in this match as Tatanka remind us about his feud against Bigelow.
King of the Ring Report with Gene Okerlund. He puts over the Kid win and Marty returning before plugging this weekend’s qualifying matches of Crush vs. Shawn and Mr. Hughes vs. Kamala.
Kamala vs. Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji
Yokozuna poses for a bit then this match finally begins. Kamala tries to run over Yokozuna and staggers him before hitting a few chops. Yokozuna takes Kamala down with a throat thrust then hammers away. Kamala fights back until he gets distracted by Fuji as that allows Yokozuna to hit a pair of avalanches then goes for the Bonzai Drop and gets the win (3:41) *.
Thoughts: Fine for a match with two big dudes trying to knock each other down. Slick’s absence was not explained.
We get a plug for “All-American Wrestling” as Sensational Sherri will be the guest.
WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Marty Jannetty
Shawn cheap shots Marty in the corner then hammers away. Marty blocks a turnbuckle smash then avoids a charge in the corner and rolls up Shawn on the rebound for a two count. Marty then nearly puts Shawn away with a sunset flip then he clotheslines Shawn outside after a reversal sequence. Marty takes Shawn outside with a baseball slide then skins-the-cat and flies out with a pescado as a Marty chant breaks out in the crowd. Marty tosses Shawn back inside and uses a headscissor takedown then works that on the mat. Marty tosses Shawn outside then Shawn grabs his belt and heads up the aisle until he is met by Mr. Perfect. We then head to commercial and return with Marty slingshotting Shawn back into the ring. Marty tries another flying headscissors but this time Shawn turns that into a hotshot. Shawn chokes out Marty on the mat as Perfect continues to watch from ringside. Shawn chokes out Marty some more then applies a chinlock. Shawn hits a dropkick but Marty blocks a second attempt then catapults Shawn into the post as both men are down. Marty drapes his arm over Shawn for a nearfall then Marty yanks Shawn down and hammers away. Marty fires away after an elbow smash then catches Shawn with a powerslam for another nearfall. Marty fakes out Shawn with a crossbody before hitting the move then we get a reversal sequence that ends with Shawn holding the tights for a nearfall. Shawn catches Marty with a super kick then jaws at Perfect but Perfect tosses the towel at Shawn and Marty uses a small package for the win (10:57) ***1/2.
Thoughts: Very good match with another satisfying finish. The RAW crowds always got on Shawn and seeing him lose made them go nuts. It also intensifies the Shawn/Perfect feud and played up the anything can happen theme of tonight.
Final Thoughts: What an awesome hour of wrestling with two surprise wins that left fans satisfied. The anything can happen theme would be played up on the syndicated shows too as RAW has given two us excellent episodes in a row.