What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – June 14, 1993

Footage of Yokozuna being announced as the new WWF champion at The King of the Ring is shown and is followed by a Gene Okerlund interview. Mr. Fuji says that he and Yokozuna are going to celebrate on July 4 at a historical American landmark.

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

Opening Contest: Mr. Perfect (19-2-2) pins LA Gore after the Perfectplex at 2:45:

McMahon has christened the Manhattan Center as “The House of Upsets.” Heenan spends the match burying Hulk Hogan, arguing that Hogan failed to slam Yokozuna and that Yokozuna kicked out of Hogan’s finisher, inaugurating a new era in the WWF. Perfect reverts to his Perfectplex counter of a backdrop to win a squash, an underwhelming way to bounce back from a loss at last night’s King of the Ring.

McMahon does an in-ring interview with Razor Ramon, who has a bag of money with him that has $10,000 marked on it like he is a cartoon villain. Ramon’s bank must not care about his security to let him leave their establishment with that. Referring to the 1-2-3 Kid as “Stick Man,” Ramon increases his offer another $2,500 to $10,000 to get in the ring with him so that he can show that his loss to the Kid was a fluke.

Photographs of last night’s King of the Ring pay-per-view are shown as McMahon urges people to buy the replay on June 22. Fans learn that Bret Hart won the King of the Ring Tournament and was attacked by Jerry Lawler afterward.

Doink the Clown (17-3-2) wrestles Marty Jannetty (7-1) to a double count out at 8:44 shown:

During his entrance, Doink has a can of Pepsi and crawls underneath the ring, emerging with a jacket. He squirts the announcers with Pepsi and Heenan laughs anyway. There is no discussion of Jannetty recently wearing the Intercontinental title so he is back in a midcard role for the time being. Doink’s makeup ends up all over Jannetty, who looks like he fell into a cake. There is some good mat wrestling from Doink, who gives Jannetty a flying butt splash that would eventually become the character’s finisher. Jannetty kicks out because Doink takes too long to cover but when Jannetty makes his comeback the crowd does not bite on any near-falls. When Doink lifts Jannetty for a slam, they end up tumbling over the top rope and they fight on the floor to a disappointing double count out. Rating: **½

After the bell, Jannetty beats the tar out of Doink on the floor, leveling him with a superkick and flying body press off the apron. Doink teases resuming the fight but WWF officials escort him backstage.

McMahon announces that WWF Mania will have an exclusive match where El Matador & Bob Backlund will face the Headshrinkers.

Owen Hart (4-2) defeats Dan Dubiel after a Northern lights suplex at 3:47:

Dubiel was a Mike Sharpe trainee who started wrestling in 1991. He worked one match for the WWF in 1992, losing to Money Incorporated.

The 1-2-3 Kid calls into the show from Japan. In a nice touch for the character, he is shocked to find out that he is talking to the announce team while the show is on the air. When told of Razor Ramon’s new offer, the Kid thinks it over and says he cannot refuse that much money. Since the Kid wondered if it was a cash offer, one wonders what Irwin R. Schyster would have to say about the legality of accepting it without paying taxes. For some reason, Owen wrestles the match in his High Energy gear. Despite his low position on the card, the crowd loves his ring work and pops for a missile dropkick that sets up the finish.

It is announced that Owen will wrestle newcomer Bastion Booger on All American Wrestling. That sets up a joke where Heenan says that he “Has to pick Booger.”

After replaying Mr. Hughes’ attack on the Undertaker on last week’s Superstars, Savage insists that the Undertaker can still do well against Hughes even if Paul Bearer is injured and he has lost the urn. This was the first storyline where the Undertaker was supposed to be weakened because he lost possession of the urn.

Jerry Lawler (1-0) pins Mark Thomas after a fist drop at 3:50:

In a dig at Bret Hart, Lawler wears a pink and black robe to the ring and pink tights. To heat up the “burger king” chants, Lawler seizes ring announcer Howard Finkel’s microphone and tells the fans not to call him that. During the match, Heenan goes backstage and returns, telling fans that Mr. Fuji is planning to issue a challenge to any American professional athlete to body slam Yokozuna. All of that discussion makes this squash background noise, with Lawler winning after a piledriver and fist drop.

Call now to get your tickets to next week’s Monday Night RAW in Poughkeepsie, New York!

Tune in next week to see Marty Jannetty wrestle Doink in a best-of-three falls match! Also, Razor Ramon battles the 1-2-3 Kid!

The Last Word: Even though the show was taped before King of the Ring it was not a throwaway episode as the 1-2-3 Kid finally accepted Razor Ramon’s challenge and Marty Jannetty and Doink the Clown had a fun match to set up another encounter next week. The body slam challenge also opens the door for a new challenger to Yokozuna, although some at the time believed it would be a swerve to bring Hulk Hogan back and continue the feud between the two.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for June 19!