What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – March 15, 1993

Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, and Rob Bartlett are doing commentary, live from Poughkeepsie, New York. This is the first Monday Night RAW to occur outside of the Manhattan Center, a decision made because of a blizzard. In Brutus Beefcake fashion it was later called the Storm of the Century, the 93 Superstorm, and the No Name Storm, dumping snow across the U.S. to the Mississippi River and affecting 40% of the country. Vince McMahon was not doing commentary because he was being honored by the Michael Landon Foundation for charitable work.

Opening Contest: Razor Ramon (8-1) beats Russ Greenberg after the Razor’s Edge at 3:11:

Bartlett’s gimmick tonight is doing a bad McMahon impression. The Mid-Hudson Civic Center only has a capacity of 3,000 so outside of the Manhattan Center it is the smallest venue for a WWF television taping in several years. It looks like an upgraded ECW Arena. Fans enjoy seeing Ramon destroy Greenberg, who bumps well for Ramon’s signature and finishing moves.

Typhoon (3-3) pins L.A. Gore after the Tidal Wave at 2:58:

Gore, who also wrestled as LA Gorgeous, worked an enhancement match for WCW in 1991 and wrestled for Boston’s International World Class Championship Wrestling.

Typhoon was supposed to face Bam Bam Bigelow tonight but Bigelow and other wrestlers were not able to make it to the venue because of the weather. This is just Typhoon’s typical big man squash to kill time.

Heenan does an in-ring interview with Giant Gonzalez and Harvey Wippleman. Wippleman says that Gonzalez will stuff the Undertaker and Paul Bearer in the big casket they are making.

Bob Backlund (5-0) defeats Papa Shango (4-1) with a small package at 6:58:

Monsoon and Heenan “joke” about knocking Bartlett out, tired of his shtick less than halfway through the show. Monsoon also yells “Stop!” when Bartlett will not stop making unintelligible sounds. Listening to Monsoon and Heenan’s annoyance is more entertaining than the match, a styles clash between Backlund’s old style and Shango’s inexperienced form of power wrestling. Shango gets a near-fall from a slam but when he tries another, Backlund small packages him and high tails it to the locker room. Rating: *½

Before the next match, the Nasties come on to the Rosasti sister doing the ring cards for this evening’s show.

The Nasty Boys (7-0) beat the Headshrinkers (6-0) wrestle to a double count out at 6:22 shown:

Afa must have been stranded in the blizzard as well. Monsoon tells fans that the WWF is trying to get the footage of Vince McMahon receiving his award as if kids sitting at home were sitting on the edge of their seats and demanding their parents let them stay up to see that. A fun, hard-hitting match develops, although most of the Headshrinkers offense is missing because of a commercial break. The inconsistency in what makes the Headshrinkers impervious to head blows shows itself as Samu sells a missed flying headbutt and the Headshrinkers sell a double DDT from Brian Knobbs but they do not sell a double noggin knocker. Neither team can afford to lose so they brawl on the floor and move toward the entrance, where a nice food spread can be found. Mustard is used as a weapon, as well as a chair as the teams do a toned-down version of the Tupelo Concession Stand Brawl. Rating: **¼

Sean Mooney narrates a video of the WWF’s history of charity work. Fans are treated to a slow motion shot of Jerry Sags bashing Samu with a chair over the head to end the show.

Tune in next week to see Kamala face Doink the Clown! Also, Tatanka fights Repo Man! And WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated and the Bushwhackers will be in action!

The Last Word; The blizzard disrupted the WWF plans but they did what they could to field a decent one-hour show. Whether due to cabin fever or sheer joy, the Poughkeepsie crowd were hot for everything. There was a surprising lack of WrestleMania hype as this show happened in its own orbit. It is beyond time to put Rob Bartlett out to pasture as all he does is bring these shows down with his antics.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for March 20!

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!