What the World Was Watching: Monday Night RAW – May 3, 1993

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Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan, and Randy Savage are doing commentary, taped from the Manhattan Center in New York City.

Opening Contest for the Intercontinental Championship: Hacksaw Jim Duggan (7-0) defeats Shawn Michaels (Champion) (11-2) via count out at 11:05 shown:

The WWF has pushed a narrative for the past week that Duggan has never had a title match before, even though he got several Intercontinental title matches in the 1980s, faced Sergeant Slaughter in 1991 for the WWF Championship and teamed with Slaughter to challenge Money Incorporated for the Tag Team titles last year. Michaels does a Memphis-like stall routine for the first four minutes, angry that the crowd will not stop chanting “USA!” or that he is gay. After a commercial break the action gets going as Michaels stun guns Duggan to seize control. Unfortunately, Michaels uses a lot of rest holds to prolong his portion of the match. Duggan reverses a take to the buckle to trigger his comeback and the three-point stance clothesline sends Michaels out of the ring. Michaels tries to leave but Duggan brings him back. That leads to Michaels getting into a brief spat with Paul from New Jersey, who proposed to his girlfriend last week, and Duggan clotheslines Michaels over the guardrail. After that, Michaels opts to run for it and gets counted out. The match was at its best when Michaels was selling for Duggan. Rating: *½

After the match, Duggan gets the microphone and complains about Michaels getting counted out. He stages a sit-in until his demands for another match are met.

Gene Okerlund does The King of the Ring Report. Okerlund says that Mr. Perfect and Doink the Clown may have a rematch after their inconclusive match on Superstars. His segment is interrupted with news that Duggan has left the ring to call WWF President Jack Tunney.

Doink the Clown (13-2-1) defeats the Kamikaze Kid via submission to the stump puller at 2:06:

The Kid was Sean Waltman. A trainee of Eddie Sharkee and Boris Malenko, he made his debut in 1989 as the Lightning Kid, working for Pro Wrestling America (PWA) in his native Minnesota, Global, and Larry Sharpe’s World Wrestling Association (WWA). In Global he got attention for winning the promotion’s Light Heavyweight Championship and feuding with Jerry Lynn. He also earned a following from his participation in New Japan’s Top of the Super Juniors Tournament in the spring of 1993, finishing ninth out of the eleven contenders.

Despite the Kid’s pedigree he is booked as enhancement talent as Doink takes him down with a belly-to-belly suplex and submits him with the stump puller. Fans who know who the Kid is are taken aback at the booking and some murmurs can be heard as Doink applies his finishing hold. The timekeeper takes forever to ring the bell after the Kid quits, angering Savage.

Bob Backlund (11-2) pins Dwayne Gill with a bridging cradle at 3:39:

McMahon announces that next week will have a lumberjack match between Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental title. Gill shows his versatility by being able to roll with Backlund’s style and trying to get heat from it, applying an armbar and slapping the former WWF champion in the face. Backlund deadlifts out but some of the effect is lost by dumping Gill near the turnbuckles instead of slamming him. After that, a backdrop is used to put Gill down so Backlund can trap his legs and bridge for another squash win.

McMahon interviews Duggan, who tells fans in attendance about next week’s lumberjack match. Even though some of his enemies might surround the ring, Duggan says he is ready for the challenge.

Ring announcer Howard Finkel welcomes Captain Lou Albano. He shakes hands with the jobbers as McMahon puts him over as a record holder for managing champions in the WWF. This is the first time that Albano has been on WWF television since 1986.

The Headshrinkers (w/Afa) (12-1-1) beat Jim Bell & Jay Sledge when Fatu pins Bell after the splash off the top rope at 5:42:

Sledge appeared in four matches for the WWF in 1992, losing to Repo Man, the Berzerker, Rick Martel, and the Mountie.

Albano does guest commentary, thanking McMahon for bringing him “back to the major leagues of professional wrestling” since he had spent a short time in Herb Abrams’ dysfunctional UWF a few years prior. He speaks gibberish at times, which is supposed to pass for the Headshrinkers native tongue since he used to manage Afa in the Wild Samoans. The Headshrinkers are rough with Sledge, throwing him high into the air on a double flapjack and Fatu slams him hard on the outside mats. McMahon announces that Yokozuna will be a lumberjack for next week’s Intercontinental title match. The squash was given a long time for Albano to spar with Heenan but that was not entertaining enough to justify this going six minutes.

A clip of a Bushwhackers home improvement segment that is in the Smack’em Whack’em Coliseum Video airs.

Kamala (12-1-1) pins Rich Myers after a splash to the back at 2:26:

Myers was a Larry Sharpe trainee who started his career in 1990. He did a lot of work in the Maryland-based Mid-Eastern Wrestling Federation as Ramblin’ Rich and appeared in one match in 1992, losing to Yokozuna.

McMahon tells fans that Mr. Perfect will be a lumberjack next week. Slick is not with Kamala, something that McMahon sells as Slick thinking Kamala does not need his instruction. The ending shows that he still needs more help, unsure how to pin Myers.

Get new WWF Hasbro figures! This set has Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Irwin R. Schyster, Skinner, and Rick Martel!

Heenan interviews Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels, who complains that the lumberjack match is unfair and that Hacksaw Jim Duggan is in cahoots with WWF President Jack Tunney. At the end of the segment, Heenan puts away the microphone so that Michaels can tell him his plan to beat Duggan next week.

Tune in next week to see Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels defend his title against Hacksaw Jim Duggan in a lumberjack match! Also, Typhoon faces Bam Bam Bigelow in a King of the Ring qualifying match!

The Last Word: While the Shawn Michaels-Hacksaw Jim Duggan match was far from being a classic, it did get some good crowd heat and the WWF used its finish to build to an intriguing gimmick match next week that intertwined with each man’s feuds. Beyond that, the show was not good and dragged after the Doink-Kamikaze Kid bout.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for May 8!

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!