What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – May 17, 1993

Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan, and Randy Savage are doing commentary, live from the Manhattan Center in New York City. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a crowd of 1,000 fans.

Footage of Randy Savage and the Smoking Gunns making an appearance at the Special Olympics airs.

After showing footage of last week’s fight between Mr. Perfect and Shawn Michaels outside of the Manhattan Center, Lord Alfred Hayes tells viewers that he saw someone come to the show in disguise and fans will be surprised when they find out who it is.

Opening Contest: The Smoking Gunns (1-0) defeat Tony Vadja & Glen Ruth when Bart pins Ruth after a backdrop-piledriver combination at 3:43:

Ring announcer Howard Finkel flees from the ring during their entrance when they fire their guns. The Gunns are smooth in the ring but their first two matches are not doing them many favors as their debut on WWF Mania saw them dominated and their squash is booked to go too long on this show. They are in search of a finish as they try to do a backdrop-piledriver spot where it is hard to protect Ruth and it looks sloppy.

Heenan and Savage hype a Tatanka-Terry Taylor match that will take place on WWF Mania.

McMahon interviews Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. After gloating about his title run, he promises that he will defend his title anywhere, anytime, and against anybody. Marty Jannetty comes into the ring wearing a hoodie and sunglasses, discarding them to demand a title shot. McMahon gets excited about the idea of a title match tonight and backs Michaels into accepting the challenge because of his boasts early in the segment. This was a nice bit of having a heel eat their own words.

The Kid (0-2) pins Razor Ramon (14-1) after a moonsault at 2:11:

The Kid is on his third name after the Cannonball Kid and the Kamikaze Kid titles did not work out. Ramon teases a Rosati sister doing ring card duty, rebuffing her attempt to kiss him when she leaves the ring. The Kid appears headed for another losing effort as Ramon manhandles him. However, a blind charge causes Ramon to hit the ring post and the Kid comes off the top with a moonsault for the greatest upset in the history of the show.

Tatanka (16-0) defeats Scott Taylor after the Papoose to Go at 3:42:

Taylor is putting on more bulk than when he was last seen. Heenan makes excuses for Ramon’s loss, chalking it up to a fast count. McMahon floats the idea that the Kid should go by the name “The 1-2-3 Kid” and Savage begins using that name, signaling that the Kid is about to get a push as a regular talent. Like the opener, the squash takes too long to get to its conclusion but Taylor bumped well throughout.

Gene Okerlund does The King of the Ring Report. It is revealed that the Hacksaw Jim Duggan-Bam Bam Bigelow match is slotted onto the bottom half of the draw. So it is unclear who will face the winner of that match and the Bret Hart-Razor Ramon matchup.

Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) (19-2) defeats Kamala (13-2-1) after the sit-down splash off the second rope at 3:41:

Anytime a wrestler abruptly loses their manager it makes them look like a loser and Kamala is no exception. It is a fun big man match as Kamala bounces off the ropes to try to take Yokozuna off his feet. That fails and Kamala’s offense is cut short by Fuji grabbing his leg running the ropes. A corner avalanche and sit-down splash off the second rope hand Kamala another singles defeat. Rating: *

Intercontinental Championship Match: Marty Jannetty (5-1) pins Shawn Michaels (Champion) (13-3) after a small package to win the title at 8:54 shown:

This was Jannetty’s return to television after getting fired after The Royal Rumble when he was allegedly in no condition to perform at a television taping in San Jose, California. According to Jannetty, he was the victim of a smear campaign by Michaels for the poor Rumble match and McMahon was convinced to rehire him at the behest of Curt Hennig. The match is much better than their Rumble encounter as they lean into their strength of wrestling a fast match with creative reversal spots instead of doing a slow, technical encounter. Michaels tries to leave before a commercial break but Mr. Perfect prevents him from leaving, continuing their program. Fans bite on some late near-falls where Jannetty slingshots Michaels into the ring post, catches him with a powerslam off the ropes, and does a reverse flying body press. Michaels blasts Jannetty with the superkick but opts to yell at Perfect instead, a costly mistake as Jannetty sneaks behind him and small packages him to win the title when Perfect tosses a towel in Michaels’ face. One wishes the WWF spiked one of the squash matches from the show and gave this more time. Rating: ***½

Tune in next week to see Mr. Perfect face Doink the Clown in a King of the Ring qualifying match!

The Last Word: This was one of the best episodes in the history of Monday Night RAW as it played up the “Anything can happen!” theme and told a good story of Michaels finally getting his comeuppance as champion at the hands of an old rival. And the live format of the broadcast injects an energy that the syndicated shows could not match, raising RAW’s position as the company’s “A” show. Michaels’ first run with the Intercontinental title was not impressive but a rebooted program with Jannetty, along with an existing feud with Mr. Perfect, might help to get things back on track for him. The push for the Kid was great as fans were initially conditioned to think he was a jobber and the ending gave Ramon an excuse for losing. In interviews Scott Hall said that wrestlers in the back thought he failed a drug test and was getting suspended and years later when he worked in WCW some thought he was momentarily stunned when the Kid did the moonsault and was knocked out by his knee, so they thought the finish was an accident. The whole thing is one of the best angles the WWF ever pulled off. The announcement of a King of the Ring qualifying match next week is fishy as there are only two spots left in the tournament and two qualifying matches were already booked for WWF Superstars and Wrestling Challenge so one of those must have a screwy finish to open the door for Perfect and Doink to get the last available spot.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for May 22!

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