What the World Was Watching: Monday Night RAW – January 25, 1993

Repo Man pulls up to the arena in a tow truck, jumping out with Randy Savage’s hat. Sean Mooney talks with him and Repo Man compares his match with Savage to repossessing a Cadillac. Excited, Repo Man runs into the Manhattan Center. It is too bad the arriving in a tow truck for matches never became a Repo Man staple.

Vince McMahon, Rob Bartlett, and Bobby Heenan are the commentary team, taped from the Manhattan Center in New York City. No explanation is given for why Heenan is now a part of the show after two weeks of failing to get on the air. Regardless, Heenan improves the commentary quality immediately, hyping the career match main event between Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair.

Opening Contest: Randy Savage pins Repo Man (0-1) after the flying elbow drop at 8:57 shown:

For fans that did not read backstage news reports, Savage had a strong 1992. He was one of the last four participants in the Royal Rumble, destroyed Jake Roberts in their feud, and won the WWF Championship from Ric Flair at WrestleMania. Savage held the title until September, when he dropped it back to Flair after Razor Ramon interfered. That led to a house show program between Savage and Ramon, with Ramon pinning Savage at several stops. McMahon lost faith in Savage as champion during his run as house shows were not strong, although one could blame scandals and poor development of the Flair feud as reasons fans stayed away. Savage also went through personal problems as he and his longtime wife Elizabeth divorced. The former WWF champion still wanted to play a significant role in the company’s storylines but McMahon preferred to have Savage as a part-time worker and shifted him to announcing duties, something Savage was reportedly unhappy about as the year began.

Angered about losing his hat, Savage attacks Repo Man before the bell. Bartlett tries to crack jokes about Savage’s multicolored ring gear and unlike the pilot episode, McMahon does not laugh or give them the time of day. As Savage pounds away, McMahon tells fans that Yokozuna won the Royal Rumble and Savage was the runner-up. The match proceeds at a slow pace, with Repo Man trying to get a submission from several body scissors. Eventually he tries to fly off the second rope with a clothesline but Savage meets that with a clothesline of his own and gets his hat back after the flying elbow drop. This match was all Savage as Repo Man did not have much to offer in the ring at this point. Rating: *½

Kamala (w/Slick) (2-0) pins the Brooklyn Brawler after a splash at 3:32:

The Brawler had been with the WWF for ten years. Ever since that time he slid further down the card. His 1992 run was the worst so far as he only earned one televised victory in 29 appearances. This confirmed that he was now token heel enhancement talent.

What makes this match somewhat notable is that the Brawler worked as Kim Chee on the side so he and Kamala were technically feuding when the Brawler was a different character. McMahon puts over how Kamala is now opening his heart to the man, something that Heenan finds sickening. After Kamala hits the splash he needs help from the crowd to turn the Brawler over so he can win.

McMahon goes to talk with Kamala and Slick. Slick thanks the fans for helping convert Kamala. He warns Harvey Wippleman and Kim Chee to stay out of Kamala’s way as Kamala happily slaps his belly.

Gene Okerlund recaps the big events from last night’s Royal Rumble pay-per-view.

Career Match: Mr. Perfect (2-0) defeats Ric Flair (1-0-1) after the Perfectplex at 17:50 shown:

To sell the significance of the match, Perfect and Flair wrestle defensively for the first six minutes, tentative to lock up or go for big moves. That changes when Flair sends Perfect into the corner and Perfect takes a nasty spill into the ring post and to the floor, blading for the first time in his WWF career. Even though the match gets more time than most televised WWF matches of this era, one wonders if it needed another ten minutes. Its flow is also hindered by two commercial breaks. Flair throws everything he can at Perfect and nothing keeps his opponent down. Perfect gets his shoulder up several times after Flair applies a figure-four leglock even though Flair uses the ropes for leverage. He gets his foot on the ropes when Flair uses a foreign object. And Flair’s attempt at a Flair pin also does not work. A little thing that Flair does that sells his desperation is going for a cover multiple times after a move. In a match where neither man wants to make a mistake, it is Flair who breaks first as he puts his head down too early on an Irish whip and Perfect pounces with the Perfectplex to win the feud and send Flair out of the WWF. That finish was a bit anti-climactic compared to what they were building. It is a shame this match had to happen at the Manhattan Center because in front of a bigger crowd it would have gotten a bigger reaction. Rating: ****

After the match, Heenan curses like a sailor and tries to console Flair. A dejected Flair walks to the locker room. He would not return for more than nine years.

To cover for Flair appearing at house shows for the next few weeks, McMahon tells fans that WWF President Jack Tunney has told Flair he has to honor all of his contractual obligations before leaving.

Tune in next week to see Typhoon face Doink!

The Last Word: The main event is the second time in as many nights that the WWF had a **** quality match, a testament to how the in-ring product has improved. The Mr. Perfect-Ric Flair encounter would find its way onto several Coliseum Videos and is often seen as one of Perfect’s best matches during his babyface run. Losing Flair was a blow to the WWF but his run between 1991-1993 was never as good as his run in NWA/WCW during the 1980s. Despite winning the WWF Championship twice, he rarely looked strong in a feud and he had disappointing box office returns in the main event. And this show was a good example of that as week as it scored a 2.6 rating, a 0.2 drop from the previous week.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for January 30!

And if you would like to read a compiled breakdown of 1990-1992 WWF, 1993 ECW, or of various promotions in 1995, check out my Amazon author page to purchase e-books or paperback copies!