What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – November 8, 1993

In a pre-show promo, Ludvig Borga calls Scott Steiner nothing. Scott rebuts that he is going to shut Borga up.

Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan, and Randy Savage are commentating, live from Bushkill, Pennsylvania. Savage is returning from his beating at the hands of Crush on October 18. He promises that all hell will break loose if Crush shows his face.

Call 1-900-454-4RAW to vote for who will face Pierre next week! Your choices are the 1-2-3 Kid, Doink the Clown, Marty Jannetty, and Lex Luger. Votes cost 99 cents each!

Opening Contest: Ludvig Borga (16-0) wrestles Scott Steiner (2-0) to a double disqualification at 10:30 shown:

Steiner gives Borga a better fight than Tatanka, suplexing him several times and kicking out of Borga’s flying clothesline off the ropes. Scott also dominates technical exchanges, rolling Borga up several times for near-falls. The flow of the match is cut off by Borga’s constant stalling so Savage can rant about Crush and the Quebecers can come to ringside. In response, Rick comes out after a commercial break. The end is a mess as Borga knocks Scott to the floor and Rick gets on the apron. Borga pulls Rick in, just to get back suplexed and the Quebecers rush into the ring. The Steiners, despite being outnumbered, drive the heels off. This match was a much better showcase of Scott and one can see why the WWF and WCW wanted to give him a singles push in the early 1990s. Borga could not keep up and in the eyes of fans this lowered his stock after the strong victory over Tatanka. Rating: **

Jeff Jarrett’s new vignette shows him in front of Grand Ole Opry, ranting about graffiti on the doors. He says that the condition of the building is like the Undertaker in the sense that it is dead. On face, this gimmick should fall flat but Jarrett has found a way to give an edge to it.

Men on a Mission (w/Oscar) (14-0) beat Cory Student & Steve Smith when Mabel pins Student after an assisted splash to the back at 3:35:

Oscar tries to lead the crowd in a “Whoop there it is!” chant but they do not bite at first. Eventually he gets them into things after rapping for a bit. McMahon warns Savage not to get physically involved with Crush later because his contract prohibits it. Heenan pushes Lex Luger for the fan poll by saying a battle with Pierre would have Survivor Series implications. Like MOM’s match with the Quebecers on Wrestling Challenge two weeks ago, this is a rough outing as the squash drags out. Mabel DDTs Student and MOM go back to the assisted splash as a finisher.

Rick Martel (3-2-1) beats John Paul via submission to the Boston Crab at 2:50:

Martel, ascribing to the idea that giving an enhancement talent some fight makes one look good in comparison, goes toe-to-toe with Paul until there is a Koko B. Ware-like finish as Paul misses a reverse flying body press off the second rope and Martel locks in the Boston Crab.

McMahon says that Lex Luger is leading the phone poll. Heenan tells Luger to spam the phone number and vote for someone else.

The next match is supposed to be a Crush squash against Dan Dubiel. However, Savage gets up from the announce table and stands at ringside. McMahon grabs him by the waist to keep him away but Savage throws McMahon to the floor and attacks Crush in the aisle. WWF officials pour out to keep the two separated but they still get in some blows on each other.

Bob Backlund (13-4-1) wrestles Barry Horowitz to no televised decision at 3:42:

This is Backlund’s second televised match since the end of August. It was believed that he was done when the WWF downsized but the WWF brought him back on a regular basis to replace Mr. Perfect. Savage returns to the announce table, threatening to fight Heenan over his jokes about his lacerated tongue. Heenan begs off, saying he was just trying to cheer Savage up. Backstage, Crush breaks out of the room he was locked in, so Savage runs backstage again to resume the fight. After that, the show goes to commercial and McMahon never bothers to reveal the result. Arena reports did not care either, which reinforces how low Backlund is on the babyface pecking order.

McMahon announces that Lex Luger won 62% of the vote in the fan poll so Pierre will face Luger on next week’s program.

Savage and Crush are still fighting, with their battle spilling into the parking lot.

Tune in next week to see Lex Luger face Pierre!

The Last Word: Lex Luger winning the fan poll was no surprise. One can assume the 1-2-3 Kid probably pulled the second-highest number of votes as he was more popular than Doink the Clown or Marty Jannetty. Randy Savage and Crush had a great start to their program as little things like Savage tossing McMahon out of the way, Crush choking a WWF official backstage, and Crush breaking out of a locker room sold the tension between both men. And Scott Steiner looked like a star in the making. Unfortunately, he was not wanting to break out as a singles wrestler yet but one could have easily seen him making a splash in the WWF if he wanted to go that route.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for November 13!

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!