Pro Wrestling Love #74: Best of WWF Monday Night RAW (January 1994-June 1994)

 Hey yo,

Classic MartMan, I did all this work from September 2024 to December 2024 and I am writing the summary in late February 2025. So I am a bit fuzzy, but I will try to remember my conclusions. 

My recollection is that 1994 is much more boring that the second half of 1993. Seemingly over night, Vince went back to his standard style of booking, which is shoot one angle every month or two and just let it ride out. He was no longer booking week to week like he was in the second half of 1993. Booking week to week is more of a Southern phenomenon, which was borne out of necessity because they were essentially weekly territories. So if the same people were going to see you every week, you needed to shoot angles every week. However Northern territories such as WWF and AWA running monthly loops only needed to shoot an angle once a month. You actually see once the Attitude Era ends that Vince goes back to the style of booking he cut his teeth on. In the 21st Century, he often would shoot an angle after the PPV, then it is 3-ish weeks of just reiterating the same talking points until the PPV. Obviously there were some exceptions, but that was his norm. That's why WWE TV was never compelling on a week to week basis in the 21st Century. 1994 has that feel. 

In terms of some positives, the Quebecers were the MVPs of September 1993 through May 1994. The 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty which had been a week to week storyline with Johnny Polo since October paid off so well on the 1 Year Anniversary of RAW. It was that perfect feel-good underdog victory. 1-2-3 Kid went from unexpected victory against Razor in May 93 to a Champion at 1 Year Anniversary of RAW. The 1-2-3 Kid story arc was the best story arc of the first year of RAW. I often write in my reviews that there is an alternate universe where Kid & Marty rule the WWF Tag Team Division from 1994-1996 as the New Generation Rockers and it would fucking rule!

January 1994 was this bizzaro month where WWF had like the best tag team roster of all time with Quebecers, Kid/Marty, Bret/Owen, Steiners and Headshrinkers. It was a sick month for tag team wrestling. Just to finish up on the tag teams, the Quebecers/Headshrinkers title change is a shit ton of fun. I highly recommend it. It is also an end of an era. It is the last time the WWF feels like a viable division until the Edge & Christian/Hardyz/Dudleyz. Quebecers feel like the last classic Golden Age WWF tag team. They are like a WWF version of Midnight Express.

I am surprised that there is not more chatter about Randy Savage vs Yokozuna. It is a WWF World Title defense on a RAW; it is one of the last great Randy Savage matches in WWF and it is in the running for the best Yokozuna match of all time. Along with the Quebecers/Kid&Marty, it is one of those times that RAW feels must-see and have a big match feel. It is an easy example that Randy Savage had plenty of gas in the tank. To me, it was cut & dry and a clearly mutual beneficial departure. Savage wanted to wrestle more and he had more to give thus going to WCW benefitted him. But it also benefitted WWF, WWF was promoting a New Generation and Randy Savage just didnt fit in the system any more. 

After February, things get dire. The Bret/Owen angle happened on the Royal Rumble and they never really do another angle post-WrestleMania. The Owen upset victory over Bret in an instant 5 star classic is enough steam to get them to the next PPV, but they went with Diesel at KOTR and they didnt really do much with Bret/Owen on RAW. The Bret title reign is actually pretty dull in the grand scheme of things. Yes, the Bob Backlund heel turn is great, but that is on Superstars. There really is not much in the way of depth to the Bret Title Reign. The Bret title reign lives and dies by its PPV matches, the 1-2-3 Kid RAW match and Backlund Superstar match. Yes the matches are great, but there is not a lot of depth and there are really no angles/storylines to really enhance the reign.

Also there was a real thinning of the main event scene in early 1994. Undertaker went on sabbatical after Royal Rumble and if you look at how 93-94 are booked, it is the Undertaker, NOT Bret is the main eventer. He closes 3 out of 5 PPVs and the two he didnt, he was on break. It is he not Bret that closes Summerslam and Survivor Series. In the Summer, it is Undertaker/Underfaker and did Lex Luger sell out are the main angles going into Summerslam NOT Bret vs Owen. In fact, Ted DiBiase much like Adrian Adonis in 1986 is the straw that stirs the WWF drink. Continuing on the thread of the thinning main event, by having Lex Luger choke at the Rumble and WrestleMania, it pretty much killed any chance of him being in the main event again, BUT they did effectively use him in the midcard with the Million Dollar Corporation sellout angle and Tatanka. Finally, there was Yokozuna, who they clearly knew there was some money in him jobbing to Survivor Series. Then they really did not do much with him at all between WrestleMania and Survivor Series, he did not even do anything at Summerslam. 

The last crew to look at is the Kliq. We have covered 1-2-3 Kid and there is no HHH, so there's 3 remaining. There is Shawn Michaels' bizarre and to my knowledge unexplained absence from the ring. He was doing a weekly talk show called Heartbreak Hotel and was basically Big Daddy Cool's mouthpiece. Not having Shawn and Bret wrestle on a weekly basis really hurt the WWF. The Diesel mega push was on, but it didnt really take place on RAW. The IC Title victory which is fun, short sprint on Superstars and then he has the WWF Title match on King of the Ring. Because Razor dropped the IC Title about a month & half after WrestleMania Ladder match and Diesel was not the type of a champion that would be wrestling a week to week. Then Razor really did not get to do anything until Summerslam. It was the perfect storm to hollow out the midcard of the WWF so instead we got saddled with...

As can be observed in the table below, after May 2nd, there was nothing I deemed worth watching. Kwang, Bob Holly, Tatanka, Crush, non-Matt Borne Doink The Clown, and Sexy Nikki V are nadir WWF shit. It is not really the top card of WWF that had an issue, it is these midcarders. It is just depressing shit. 

Date	Match	Rating
January 3, 1994	Smoking Gunns vs Bam Bam Bigelow & Bastion Booger	DNW
January 10, 1994	Quebecers vs 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty	3.5
January 17, 1994	Randy Savage vs IRS	3
January 24, 1994	Headshrinkers vs MOM	DNW
January 31, 1994	Marty Jannetty vs Johnny Polo	DNW
February 7, 1994	IRS vs Martv Jannetty	DNW
February 21, 1994	Quebecers vs Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid	3.25
February 21, 1994	Bret Hart vs Tom Pritchard	DNW
February 28, 1994	Randy Savage vs Yokozuna	3.75
March 7, 1994	Owen Hart & Crush vs Smoking Gunns	DNW
March 21, 1994	Quebecers vs Bushwhackers	DNW
March 28, 1994	Lex Luger vs Rick Martel	2.5
April 4, 1994	Rick Martel, IRS, Jeff Jarrett & Headshrinkers vs Sparky Plugg, 1-2-3 Kid, Tatanka & Smoking Gunns	DNW
April 11, 1994	Quebecers vs MOM	2.5
April 18, 1994	Bret Hart vs Kwang	DNW
April 25, 1994	Razor Ramon vs Jeff Jarrett	3
May 2, 1994	Quebecers vs Headshrinkers	3.5
May 9, 1994	Razor Ramon vs Kwang	DNW
May 16, 1994	Bam Bam Bigelow vs Sparky Plugg	DNW
May 16, 1994	Yokozuna vs Earthquake	DUD
May 23, 1994	Owen Hart vs Doink The Clown	DNW
May 30, 1994	Crush vs Tatanka	DNW
June 6, 1994	Crush vs Tatanka	DNW
June 13, 1994	Headshrinkers vs Quebecers	DNW
June 20, 1994	1-2-3 Kid vs Nikolai Volkoff	DNW
June 27, 1994	Mabel vs Bam Bam Bigelow	DNW

In terms of match of the month, my pick is Randy Savage vs Yokozuna, which is a ton of fun, but I also recommend Quebecers vs 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty as well as Quebecers vs Headshrinkers. It was a rough six months for RAW.  

WWF World Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 1/10/94

 

Fun fact: This takes place in Richmond, VA and I am currently in Richmond, VA!

 

RAW's 1 year anniversary and Vince decides to commemorate it with a tag title switch. Crowd pops huge and it is a great feel good moment. The whole 1-2-3 Kid storyline was really building to him winning a championship and a great time to pull the trigger. It is too bad the Kid would have a serious neck injury not too long after this. In an alternate universe, Kid & Jannetty are the ace babyface tag team of the mid-90s, they had some much potential. I thought this as a ton of fun. Great shine. Loved Jannetty getting the Victory Roll right off the bat. It showed the babfyaces were here to win. Lots of fun, quick moves. Dropkicks abound everything to keep the Champs off their feet, who may have been looking ahead to the Rumble against Bret & Owen Hart. There is a false finish during the break where Jannetty hits a superkick, but the Quebcer's foot was on the ropes. Ref still counted 3, huge pop, but they called it off and restarted the match. The Quebecers pulled down the top rope down during a Jannetty criss cross which led to a nasty spill to the floor, but it was not the heat segment as Jannetty crawled through the legs to tag Kid. KID WAS A AN AWESOME HOUSE OF FIRE! Loved the somersault from the top rope to the floor. He was nailing everything. The ref got distracted and they shoved him off the top rope. The Quebecers were great at treating Kid like a ragdoll. Tossing him around and kicking his ass. There could have been more hope spots. I felt Kid was dying and Quebecers were choking not getting the job done. Loved the Canonball move even if wasn't the finish. Finally Marty has had enough and interferes feel like there should have been more of that. Marty tags in short house afire and Suplex/Crossbody gets the win for Marty & The Kid! Huge pop! Macho Man rushes the ring to celebrate in a great feel good moment. Great way to commemorate the one year anniversary of RAW and only a taste of what should have been with the tag team of Marty & 1-2-3 Kid. ***1/2

Randy Savage vs IRS - WWF RAW 1/17/94

On paper this seems like a random match up to headline RAW, BUT Savage smashed some cake into IRS’ face last week during the 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty celebration. I am sure he deserved it for his shit talk. Savage is knee-deep in the Crush feud and IRS is wrapping up his feud with Razor at the Rumble. They used Savage a lot in this stretch on TV. He had a RAW match against Fatu the month prior which I am skipping and he has the World Title match against Yokozuna the next month which rocks. 
 

This match exceeded my expectation. It was a sort of break neck, frenetic pace. There were not a lot of high spots or narrative per se. It was a lot of slam bang action but most importantly how it was done. It was heatedly and with a competitive ferocity. Savage tries it cut IRS off at the pass which seems heelish. IRS slams him into the buckles a lot. a lot of just dropping his weight onto Savage. Savage timed his hope spots right before the commercial breaks (or if this was taped they timed the breaks around his hope spots). The use of the atomic drop into clothesline or a double axe handle from the apron to set up attacking Crush who is doing commentary. IRS for his part did well on offense suplex into the ring coming out of the break. There were some chinlocks and an ab stretch but it was not too bad. IRS ate a boot on a top rope splash. Nice throat first drop by Savage to get revenge on IRS doing that earlier. He goes for the Top Rope Elbow but Crush interferes to trigger the DQ. All the main eventers pour of the back to simulate the Royal Rumble as hype for the show later that week. Like I said better than I thought. A good competitive frenetic energy to this one. ***

WWF World Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 2/21/94

Fun fact, if I had to pick the best WWF match that did not involve Shawn or Bret between 1993-1997, I would pick the Kid & Jannetty vs Quebecers match that was a couple weeks prior to this one. Quebecers are a great old school Southern tag team. They feed, bump and stooge with the best of them and they have sick Midnight Express-like offense during the heat segments. This was supposed to be Kid & Jannetty, but Jannetty was either suspended or injured. Real-life best friend Scott Hall jumps in. 

I mean this in the nicest way, Hall might have been the King of *** match. Nothing of his ever sucks, it is just plain fun wrestling. He is working some great opponents in these matches. Quebecers try to double team the injured Kid, but he wriggles free and shows them up. The babyface shine comes off great. Quebecers are total stooges. Razor & Kid eat them up. Loved the Razor's Edge on Polo on the floor to take him out after the he tripped Razor. Great highspot early to get the crowd going. Heel in peril WWF in 1994 wow, amazing it lasted that long. Quebecers were great. Double FIP with Razor going first. The Kid was predictably better because he is just smaller and more maneuverable. Some great double teams by the Quebecers. Loved the hot tag. Jacquer sold exasperation so well. Loved how Pierre charged into the bodyslam. Super Back Suplex prelude to Razors Edge. Can he hoist the big man up? He does! Razor's Edge! Forgot to mention that Diesel had been looming and his mere presence led to the initial heat segment. It looks like there will be new Tag Champs, BUT Shawn Michaels comes flying out of the stands for the last minute DQ to put some heat on the Mania Ladder Match. Another fun Razor match and the Quebecers were really good so much better than the Rougeaus! ***1/4  

WWF Champion Yokozuna vs Randy Savage - WWF RAW 2/28/94

Surprised this didn’t make the 1994 yearbook, a World Title Defense on RAW, Yoko’s last defense, Savage’s last WWF Title Shot, and it is a pretty killer match to boot.

Bret vs Yoko from MSG 93 is still the best Yoko match I have seen, but this is a definite second place match. I think Cagematch has this as the #1 Yoko singles match and I don’t blame them.

We are a couple weeks out from WrestleMania X and winner defends against Both Luger and Bret at Mania. Savage jumpstarts the match before the bell attacking before Yoko disrobes. Savage EATS a hard elbow but moves on the elbow drop. Go Macho Go! Quick near fall but the ref was distracted by Fuji. Savage takes his eye off the prize and gets a karate thrust to the throat. Great Savage battling from underneath peppering in shots and making Yoko resort to cheating. Yoko misses the big splash. High Knee sends Yoko crashing to the floor. Top Rope Double Axehandle to the floor. Cornette’s out, Savage can not get the humongous Yoko back in the ring. Corny distracts. Yoko gets another Karate Thrust. Savage mounts an aerial comeback with a top rope double axe handle in the ring and a top rope crossbody. This shit is cooking! Yoko comes back now with a big splash in the corner. Savage slumps down in such a way that it has Vince thinking Banzai Drop but Yoko pulls him to the middle. He goes for the Legdrop but misses! Both men are out! Fuji gives Yoko the salt bucket but Savage gets control of it and bashes the Champion in the head! Pin em! They take a standing 8 count! 1-2-NO! TOP ROPE FLYING ELBOW DROP CONNECTS! THE MACHO MAN IS GOING TO WRESTLEMANIA! REWRITE THE HISTORY BOOKS FOLKS! 1-2-CRUSH INTERFERES AND TRIGGERS THE DQ!

Interestingly, the crowd chants for Luger to make the save and when Bret does there is not much of a pop. When Luger makes the ultimate save there is also not much of a pop. Just a wicked fun TV title defense played into both wrestlers strengths. Savage is so scrappy and Yoko was a beast. The home stretch was one of the best I have seen on these early RAWs. *** 3/4

Lex Luger vs Rick Martel - WWF RAW 3/28/94

I am interested to see how Luger is presented after the title loss. Vince harps on him being screwed out of the title but I think Mr. Perfect’s name only comes up once. Ted DiBiase is sitting ringside for this match. I am not sure if Perfect was ever going to happen. It looks like DiBiase trying to buy Luger was already in the works. How refreshing to let an angle play out over 5 months rather shoot the whole angle in one week then rehash the same shit for 3 months. DiBiase has a sneaky important 1994 with both Undertaker vs FakerTaker and Luger/Tatanka being 2/3 major angles going into Summerslam 1994.

Luger and Martel are two of my 50 favorite wrestlers so I had to check this out even if there was no fanfare. It is still so weird watching Luger on RAW and watching Martel in 1994 period. It is perfectly average match nothing I would recommend seeking out but not bad. Martel does a good job cowering from Luger. Luger pulverizes him with clotheslines and they work really well in and out of a headlock. I feel like if they were in the NWA they could have a strong 20-25 minute match but instead transition to heat is basically non-existent. Martel just takes over and starts working boring chin locks and chokes. Luger works some decent hope spots. Back body drop. Powerslam! And a hitherto unseen TORTURE RACK WHICH POPPED ME!

I think I know one of the key differences between Luger in NWA/WCW vs WWF there’s a severe lack of flexing. If he did that signature flex before the Powerslam and Martel sold like he soiled himself that would have been amazing. Perfectly fine match. 

WWF World Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs Men On A Mission - WWF RAW 4/11/94

I have never seen a Men On A Mission match thus have never seen Mo wrestle. Mo looks old, brutha. Mabel is way taller than I remembered. I thought he was just heavy, but he is a tall dude. These two teams traded the tag belts in Europe and then MOM via Countout I believe at WrestleMania X. This match is a result of a fan poll where MOM beat Bushwhackers and Smoking Gunns. There was a "Lets Go Mo" chant live! I am surprised how popular these fan polls were both in WWF and WCW in the mid-90s and now with much better technology they have hardly been utilized since Taboo Tuesday/Cyber Sunday. 

Midnight Express vs Rock N Roll Express this was not. I had an open mind for Men On A Mission, but there really was not too much going on in this match. I thought Mo doing the Press Slam crotch drop on a Quebecer was pretty fun and Mabel's leg drop looked killer. Quebecers break up a pin on Mo and thats the transition to heat, a kick to the head. The heat segment was pretty passe. The back drop by Mo looked good. Mabel's house of fire was not as good as his leg drop. Missed Mabel Splash leads to the rocket launcher on Mabel. They trade some cheating. Mo puts Mabel on top and then Quebecer puts the other Quebecer on top. Quebecer Cannonball finishes it as Mabel was distracted beating up Johnny Polo. It was not the worst match I have ever seen. It was just decidedly average. Nothing I will remember tomorrow. 

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Jeff Jarrett - WWF RAW 4/25/94

"Who throws a better punch than Razor Ramon?" - Macho Man Randy Savage. Nobody, brutha, nobody.

This is Jeff Jarrett's first feature singles contest on Monday Night RAW, a couple weeks prior he was in a 10-man tag, but here is his first proper main event. He would go to wrestle Tatanka in July and Doink the Clown (the lame babyface, non-Matt Bourne version) in October, before the British Bulldog match in December where the Roadie debuts and he starts getting pushed. Like so many Jarrett matches I have watched from his first WWF run this started auspiciously. I thought I finally found the WWF hidden Jarrett gem, but the chinlocks rear their ugly head and this match like his others are simply good. None of his matches are bad mind you, but the only true great one remains the Shawn Michaels classic. 

Great, heated start to this one. You might even think Double J is the babyface the way he gets so much offense in early against Razor, but I think that speaks to the selflessness of Razor and also that fact Razor was established and over. They needed to establish Jarrett as a credible threat. Commentary is mostly focused on Razor's upcoming title defense against Diesel this weekend on Superstars, which is where Razor lost the title. This match against Jarrett is non-title. Jarrett gets a takedown early and smacks Razor around. I am surprised given Razor's size advantage they worked that spot, but like I said it puts Jarrett over and he is the one that needed the cred. Razor finally catches Jarrett in the sack of shit. Jarrett powders, but Jarrett comes back on the outside. Jarrett's ferocity on offense is what keeps this compelling. Jarrett hits Razor with a couple good down South rights, but Razor who might have the best right ever just comes across and smacks the shit outta Jarrett and mows him down. Out of all the WWF New Gen guys, Hall's stock is the one rising the most with me. He is always working hard and kicking ass. Jarrett comes back and hits a fist drop. Here comes the chinlock. Razor works out of it but sets too early into a commercial break. Vince/Savage go on a long tangent about George Foreman's comeback and basically promote his return fight harder than they promote either Razor or Jarrett. Some free publicity for Foreman. Back from the ad and now Jarrett has a sleeper on Razor. They really milk this. Razor gets the back suplex. Razor starts firing off those right and steamrolls Jarrett with a clothesline. He looks a like million bucks on offense. Signature Razor taunt. Here comes Michaels. He beats Michaels from pillar to post. Diesel saves Michaels from the Razor's Edge and clobbers him with the Big Boot and Jacknife polish off Razor. Diesel and Michaels take turns stepping on the fallen Razor and parading around with the IC Title. A bit unusual given that they were going to do a title switch to have Diesel get the upper hand before the title match, but chock this one up as a curveball. Before the ad break, they were really humming along. After the first chinlock and the DQ finish, cant say this is much better than good. I had their Rumble match at good. Interested to watch their WrestleMania match next. ***

WWF World Tag Team Champion Quebecers vs Headshrinkers - WWF RAW 5/2/94

“They are chanting USA for American Samoa! “ -Macho Man popped me big!

I would argue Quebecers were the MVPs of RAW since Sept 93. They had frequent matches and had a long term week to week feud with Marty & Kid and a marquee match against the Harts. This is beginning of the end of this; they do have one last match left. The Headshrinkers much like the original version of the USOs are bland in their presentation. Besides being Samoan and related to Afa they don’t have a hook.

The opening shine is as solid stuff they established the Shrinkers as more powerful and tougher than the Quebecers. Shoulder tackles and head butts. Quebecers get desperate and start making mistakes. Splashing each other being whipped into each other. The head for the hills but the Fink says if they get counted out they lose the belts. 
 

Back from commercial, Shrinkers are working the Quebecers on arm in a throwback heel in peril segment. Quebecers bury a Hart Foundation knee and a Pierre clothesline transition to heat. Sick Total Elimination! Lots of slamming each other onto Fatu. Back from another break, they gave them a ton of time. Fatu back drops Pierre out. Sami pretty standard hot tag until he gets HIS HEAD CAUGHT IN THE ROPES!!! Jacques pulls his hair while his head & neck are wrenches between the ropes. That was SICK!!! Jacques PILEDRIVER! Cannonball Splash…looks to be over WAIT IT MISSES!!! Afa slugs Polo! Jacques hits Pierre by accident…Pierre clocks Jacques on purpose! Double Stroke by Shrinkers and Fatu hits the USO Splash damn Rikishi you crazy for the win! Burling Vermont pops huge for the win! Way better than I expected! Quebecers had a really terrific run and should be remembered more fondly. This title victory represents the beginning of the end for tag titles. Headshrinkers get a marquee match against Yokozuna & Crush at KOTR but after that they lose the tag titles to Shawn & Diesel and that really is the end. This is a fun, throwback match, Quebecers are great heel champs and Shrinkers brought it. *** 1/2 

Yokozuna vs Earthquake - WWF RAW 5/16/94 Sumo

They were at a complete loss what to do with Yokozuna between WrestleMania and Survivor Series. They knew Yokozuna still had value to do the job to Undertaker, BUT they wanted to do the Fake Taker angle first in Summerslam, which honestly is not a bad concept for an angle they just botched the execution horribly. Coming off Royal Rumble, the Yoko/Taker match definitely had money written all over it. They were the ones that closed out Survivor Series. The question is what to do with Yokozuna for seven months. It turns out not much. 

The Earthquake push seems weird to me. Earthquake is definitely a guy that I am consistently underwhelmed by. People seem to like him, but I cant get into him. I couldnt get it into this. That paled in comparison to the Duggan/Yoko knockdown match. Duggan has way more charisma than Earthquake. The 1994 crowd is much more forgiving than I am. The stalling was brutally boring. Yoko looks so much more like a star than Quake. The initial shouldertackle exchange was good. They tease going out. They do a double underhook grab the waistband test of strength. Finally Earthquake ducks and gets a mighty sumo slap to take Yoko off his feet and Yoko tumbles out of the ring. 

Earthquake would be out of the WWF by the time this was televised. His last WWF match was on May 15th. It was a weird choice to me to push him, but I think they were trying anything to see what would stick. Clearly they had big plans for Earthquake if he won this match. I didnt care for this, but your mileage may vary. I preferred Duggan/Yoko by a country mile.  

Pro Wrestling Love #73: Best of WWF Monday Night RAW (July-December 1993)

 Hey Yo,

Raw on Netflix has been a stinker so far besides that killer John Cena promo. I still have Punk vs Rollins to go to see if they can salvage the show. Lets hit the wayback  machine and go back to the very first year of Monday Night RAW, 1993. 

This all came out of watching a bunch of Sid matches after he died on my lunch walks. I just got really intrigued with mid-90s pro wrestling. I started watching pro wrestling in 1997 so all these wrestlers are nostalgic to me from my childhood, but I have never really done a deep dive in this era, I just seen the greatest hits. One thing stood out to me is RAW's format around this time. You would have one featured attraction match that usually opened the show and that was usually a main eventer vs upper midcarder. Then there were the squashes and one promo segment usually the King's Court. I just love the punchy 1 hour format. It is funny because everyone always says Nitro forced RAW to go to star vs star matches, but it is clear from jump they are always provided one star vs star match. Nitro just forced them to abandon squash matches. 

I really loved the booking of July, you can see in the table below how you go from the Undertaker to a great Yokozuna angle to a hot workrate match over the IC Title between Shawn and Marty to a Bret Match. It really showed the variety of RAW and how they could showcase one main eventer a week. In doing so, they avoid anyone getting stale by always rotating. 

Another reason, I focus on July 1993 as my starting point is because of the major Luger bodyslamming Yoko angle on July 4th. Before King of the Ring 1993 (June 1993), WWF was caught between past and future. Until Hulk Hogan left, they couldnt commit to a direction. Once Hogan was gone, WWF became a promotion with a clear vision. The pre-July 1993 just did not inspire me to watch it. I LOVED the Hogan vs Yoko match from King of the Ring, but it was only once Yoko won there was a cohesive vision. 

The second half of 1993 is some of the best week-to-week booking WWF ever did. Vince McMahon was never one for week to week booking because his business model was shoot an angle and usually it would take a month or two for that angle to go around his loop thus he did not need book week to week like a Southern Promotion such as Memphis. However, in 1993 with inception of RAW he tried his hand at it, with the help of Jerry Jarret from Memphis. This the year of the famous McMemphis angle where Vince tried out a prototype of the Mr. McMahon character in Memphis. I have only read about it, but it sounds fascinating. Part of this exchange was also talent as Jerry Lawler made his debut and became a permanent fixture and also Jeff Jarrett would make his debut. While not part of Memphis at the time, Smoky Mountain promoter and lead heel manager Jim Cornette would pull double duty as the manager for both WWF World Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna and the Heavenly Bodies in WWF. These additions added some real Southern flair to the WWF and I think really speak how this stretch of WWF Booking feels really different than other time periods. Major angle include: Luger slamming Yoko on the Intrepid, Yoko breaking Crush's ribs, finalizing Razor Ramon's babyface turn, the debut of Cornette (which has to be seen, Heenan/Cornette crush it), Quebecers week to week work, Shawn vacating the IC Title Crush's heel turn on Savage, planting the seeds of Owen Hart's turn on Bret.

The last point I want to make is I think you could make assertion that Quebecers & Johnny Polo were the MVPs of Monday Night RAW from their Tag Title Victory in September until they lost the titles to the Headshrinkers in May of 94. They were the ones holding down the fort week in, week out with great matches and interesting stories. They had the simultaneous story of being a part of the Survivor Series main event as members of the Foreign Fanatics against Lex Luger's All-Americans while also working an overarching storyline with 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty that was blown off at the first anniversary of Monday Night RAW in epic fashion. I will continue extolling their virtues in the next blog post. 

Table summarizes all the matches I feel warrant the distinction of being considered featured attraction. DNW = Did Not Watch. As my father in-law always says, "He only drink great, greater and greatest wines", I am in that phase of my life when it comes to wrestling matches. The highlighted in yellow are ones I am interested in coming back and watching. 

Date	Match	Rating
July 5, 1993	1-2-3 Kid vs Blake Beverly	DNW
July 5, 1993	Undertaker vs Samu	3
July 12, 1993	Yokozuna vs Crush	DUD
July 19, 1993	Marty Jannetty vs Shawn Michaels	3.25
July 26, 1993	Bret Hart vs Bam Bam Bigelow	DUD
August 2, 1993	Randy Savage vs Doink The Clown	2.5
August 9, 1993	Tatanka vs Mr. Hughes	DNW
August 16, 1993	1-2-3 Kid vs Ted DiBiase	DNW
September 13, 1993	Steiners vs Quebecers	3.5
September 20, 1993	Scott Steiner vs Pierre	DNW
September 27, 1993	Tatanka vs Rick Martel	DNW
September 27, 1993	Quebecers vs 1-2-3 Kid & Barry Horowitz	3
October 4, 1993	IC Title Battle Royale	DNW
October 11, 1993	Razor Ramon vs Rick Martel	3.75
October 18, 1993	Randy Savage-Crush Summit	N/A
October 25, 1993	1-2-3 Kid vs Marty Jannetty	3
November 1, 1993	Razor Ramon vs Bastion Booger	DNW
November 1, 1993	Smoking Gunns vs Well Dunn	DNW
November 8, 1993	Scott Steiner vs Ludvig Borga	DNW
November 15, 1993	Lex Luger vs Pierre	3
November 29, 1993	Razor Ramon vs Diesel	2.5
December 6, 1993	Shawn Michaels vs 1-2-3 Kid	3.75
December 13, 1993	Randy Savage vs Fatu	DNW
December 20, 1993	Tatanka vs Ludvig Borga	DNW
December 27. 1993	Marty Jannetty vs Johnny Polo	DNW

Most of these matches I watched in the last 6 months, but few were many years ago. The reason I bring this up is thought I gave Steiners vs Quebecers 4 stars and that was going to be my selection for the best match of RAW July 1993-December 1993, but I only gave it 3.5 stars. I still recommend that one and methinks I shafted Shawn vs Marty, which PWI 1993 match of the year. I should go back and watch those two. Based on my ratings it comes down to two matches: Razor Ramon vs Rick Martel for the Vacant IC Title or Shawn Michaels vs 1-2-3 Kid both tied at 3.75. I will give the slight nod to Ramon vs Martel as it is a bit better structured. I would say those four matches are the must-watches from this time period. 

Undertaker vs Samu - WWF RAW 7/5/93

I was so impressed with Taker against Yoko; I wanted to watch some of his work from 1993 but unfortunately in 1993 he was squandered by being married to Giant Gonzalez. Taker deserved a lot better than that. This was his highest ranked match on Cagematch for 1993 no real story between these two in particular, but it is a good match. The angle is Mr. Hughes in alliance with Harvey Whippleman (the manager of Giant Gonzalez) stole the Urn and beat up Paul Bearer. Now I don’t know if Taker/Hughes was the original plan for Summerslam and Gonzalez replaced Hughes or if Hughes was a henchman. The story of the match is how would Undertaker fare without the Urn and Bearer.

Turns out, Taker is actually a cruiser weight and the Urn just put a lid on his athletic abilities. He does a drop-down, blows a leapfrog. He does a drop toehold to the amazement of the Macho Man but Vince no-sells it. Then he does a drop kick and even Vince has to agree this is a different Undertaker. Samu takes advantage of a missed clothesline and some Afa distraction but Taker comes roaring back with a choke and whips Samu pillar to post. A bit disappointed with the random side slam that sets up The Samu diving headbutts. On the third, Undertaker sits up. Chokeslam. Tombstone.

Fatu seems like the better Headshrinker but Samu is ok. I enjoyed the elegance of the match. An unexpected shine. Samu gets his near fall. Zombie Sit-up, Two Big Bombs that’s all she wrote. Effective. ***

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna vs Crush - WWF RAW 7/12/93

One thing that really surprised me about Sid when I was watching his stuff is I don’t think I had watched a Sid match from before 1996 in my life. I think starting to watch wrestling in 1997 and focusing on the classics in my reviews I am missing a lot of stuff. Yokozuna is someone outside of two Bret matches I have never really seen either. So I am interesting in getting acquainted with him.

The booking from WWF is really strong after the disaster that was WrestleMania IX get the belt off Hogan and immediately run an angle with Yoko. The Bodyslam challenge is something I think I have seen but I should go back and watch it. Now immediately a week after that we have a title match against a credible upper mid card baby face challenger. This is first time since Superstar Graham in 1977 that WWF is pushing a heel champion.

In the smattering of Crush, I have seen I am not a huge fan and he is definitely the lesser wrestler here. That being said I didn’t think Yokozuna was all that great either. It is impressive how fast he can run and that he can take some big bumps but the match was pretty damn boring until the finish. I thought he over-bumped early on the Crush shine falling out of the ring for what amounted to a love tap. Crush misses a charge. We get some throat thrusts and some nerve pinches. Crush fires up and knocks him down with a lariat. Again I would have had Yoko absorb two and bump on the third. One crazy thing about the crowd was that they sang the Star Spangled Banner a capella unprompted and busted out into USA chant. This shit was over in 1993 Manhattan, brutha. Back to the match, so Crush gets a flying clothesline goes up for a second but Fuji hits him with the Japanese flag. Yoko slams him on the floor, belly to belly and BANZAI~! For the win!

Post-match angle is better, Yoko hits three additional Banzai with eventually Savage seeing enough and saving Crush which I believe sets up the Crush heel turn and Mania match with Savage. Pretty boring match just really need to watch the finish. 

WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty - WWF RAW 7/19/93

These two definitely know how to whip a match into a fever pitch. Shawn has since added Diesel to his act which paid immediate dividends as he won the IC belt back. Marty turns his back to Shawn to look at Diesel and Shawn attacks. Great way to get over the presence of the big man. Marty impressively lands on his feet on a back drop. Another great shine with Marty looking crisp and Michaels bumping like a madman. Nothing out of this world. Everything is upbeat and well-done. Marty hits a DDT. 1-2-3! Lightning strikes twice! Wait! Michael's foot was on the ropes, Diesel points it out and the match is restarted. I like this use of Diesel. Not can he intimidate and interfere, but he can watch Michaels' back if injustice is to occur. Jannetty continues with the shine suplex and backbreaker. Jannetty should have been a solid mechanic in the midcard and tag scene if not for personal demons. Definite anchor on this match is Michaels' heat segment. Nothing memorable transition and chinlock city otherwise. Michaels would get better on top, never his strong suit, but very weak here. Jannetty crotching him to get out of a front facelock almost makes the front facelock worth it. Again they work a ton of great nearfalls for Jannetty that get awesome heat. Jannetty takes an insane bump flying over the top rope on a missed crossbody down on the floor. Diesel helps him back in 1-2-3! I actually dug the finish a lot. The bump was insane and really puts over the move as high risk.

 PWI Match of the Year for 1993 and I don't even think it is the best match in WWF in 1993. Fun shine, lame heat segment and red hit finish, a great way to spend 15 minutes of your life, but nothing that will change your life. ***1/4

Bret Hart vs Bam Bam Bigelow - WWF RAW 7/26/1993

What a disappointment this match was. It was hovering between average and sucking but when Lawler came out bombed about as hard as any stand up comedian has ever bombed, this was an atrocity. It didnt help that this was half the episode of RAW. Stu & Helen Hart were in attendance at the Manhattan Center. Lawler comes out as Bret is about to put on the Sharpshooter. It shouldve been three jokes top. The first time he said he couldnt understand Stu it was funny and the couple produced more tragedies than Shakespeare is a legitimately good line, BUT they needed to go home after that. Lawler's stand up routine dragged and Bam Bam's beatdown dragged. It was brutal. You could hear a pin drop in the arena. Bret made his comeback to crickets. He hit a DDT and got counted out, but he was too late Lawler had already fled.

As for the body of the match, I was shocked at how heatless and plodding the match was. I remember really liking the KOTR finals match and I read my review after watching the match and writing this review and it sounded great. This match was anything but. A large part of that is Bam Bam Bigelow just isnt really all that good. I am just underwhelmed over and over by him. He has the great Lawler match when he was green. He has unexpectedly great match with RVD and the super fun squash with Spike. I have not seen the Spain 1993 match against Bret in forever and I know that is liked even more than KOTR finals so I should check that out. His offense is the definition of plodding clubbering. People like Hogan and Taker get accused of being slow, and it is such bullshit, Bigelow is brutally dry, BUT he can do a cartwheel. Gimme a break. Massive eye roll. Bret does his best. This pales in comparison to the Taker/Samu match I just watched and the Bret/Fatu match from earlier in the year. Bret gets beat down early, makes a mini-comeback. He does a senton sort of move which hurts his knee. Bigelow does a couple slams and headbutts. I like that it is missed moves by Bam Bam like a missed headbutt or a missed dropkick that gives Bret his opportunity to go on offense. Bret does not really respect the size difference or the knee selling with a belly to back suplex and back body drop. The sleeper was a nice touch by Bret. It was the usual moveset otherwise. Oh the Bulldog came out really good. 

Stick with KOTR '93. This match is not good to begin with and it craters once Lawler comes out. One thing I will say is Luna with Bam Bam made Bam Bam feel like a main event act. Not the best Bret match. 

Randy Savage vs Doink The Clown - WWF RAW 8/2/93

I knew I should temper my expectations with a baby face Randy Savage match but Doink has such a killer 1993 I thought maybe just maybe this would be great but no it is just fine. The Randy Savage baby face formula is take a ton of heat and come back with 2-3 big moves for the win. We didn’t even get the Elbow Drop. 
 

It does start promising with Savage revved up bringing a chair in the ring but in the chaos Doink takes over. He works a great Boston Crab using the ropes and working the leg. He works some more holds. He misses the Whoopie Cushion and Savage rolls to the floor and goes under the ring and the Macho Midget appears. Savage gets a body slam outside the ring and an inside cradle to win. Predictably the Macho Midget bites Doink’s ass and he sells it well.

There are two things that could’ve easily made this match better. If Dink or another Doink (Doink promised three Doinks the week prior on RAW) interfered then the Macho Midget makes sense to even the odds. Without that, I don’t understand the point of the Macho Midget. The heel needs to cheat first to necessitate the baby face throwing it back in his face. I think a more climatic finish would be the other thing that would help. It was a solid match but not as great as it could’ve been. 

WWF World Tag Team Champions Steiners vs Quebcers - WWF RAW 9/13/93 Quebec Province Rules 

Reading some other reviews of this match, it seems the Quebecers were very new and that there was not much of build. It seems likely that Steiners were having a contract dispute this was a way to get the titles off them without hurting them in case they did re-commit or if they suddenly left they wouldn't be champs. The key clause in Quebec rules is of course the title can change on DQ which pretty much telegraphs the finish. There was apparently no build to this or why the hell the Steiners would agree to this. The Steiners shine is a bit clunky. The moves are good. I liked Rick's powerslams and Scotty's Tiger Driver which The Brain tries to sell as a piledriver as piledrivers are illegal in this match. They did a great job teasing DQs like Rick almost doing a piledriver, jumping off the top or clotheslining someone over the top and each time Scotty has to stop him. There was a lot of awakwardness in the beginning. Rick hit this weird splash and sold like he was on the hurt. Weird transitions and then Scotty would just hit a massive suplex. Once Johnny Polo came out and they went to the heat segment I thought this picked up. Basic transition Pierre clobbers Scotty from behind running the ropes and then Jacques slugs him. The heat segment was terrific just big bomb after big bomb. In terms of offense this match was great. It was juts four big dudes chucking each other. I loved the double team snake eyes on ropes. Tons of great double teams involving slamming the partner onto Scott. Jacques and Pierre looked vicious. Loved the cheating nonstop. Great climax with Boston Crab/legdrop combo only for Rick to save. Finish was pretty lame Rick cleans house, Scotty hits the Frankensteiner, but then gets the hockey stick after clobbering Johnny and cant resist the temptation of using it and that triggers the DQ and the loss of the titles. 

It is a Steiners match so it is big, dumb fun. Quebecers felt like heel Steiners with all their BIG offense and tons of great double teams. Some awkwardness early on, not much in terms of flow, but the heat segment ruled. I love some big offense so this was a good fireworks match. ***1/2

WWF World Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs 1-2-3 Kid & Barry Horowitz - WWF RAW 9/27/93

The Quebecers had just defeated The Steiners two weeks back in an awesome match under the convoluted Province of Quebec Rules match. Highly recommend that match. This kicks off the Quebecers vs 1-2-3 Kid feud which climaxes with Kid & Marty winning the Tag Team Titles at the 1 year anniversary of RAW in an awesome match which I have called one of two best non-Bret, non-Shawn matches of WWF 93-97.

Quebecers claim they will have a high profile title defense. Raven as Johnny Polo is just so weird to me. It doesn’t feel right. They are in New Haven so he is wearing Harvard gear. That popped me. Instead it is against Miracle Jobber Connection of Barry Horowitz & Reno Riggins. Vince feels robbed and cheated. Wait! What’s that?!? Reno has the flu! Barry wants to choose a new partner and he chooses the 1-2-3 Kid. The Quebecers laugh it off and say you’re on. Bobby is worried about this.

The Quebecers were the 90s WWF answer to the Midnight Express. Good stooges, great bumpers and killer offense. The whole match is 1-2-3 Kid, Horowitz does two maybe three moves. Kid starts off red hot with his karate and speed. The Quebecers are betwixt and between. It is dropkicks for everybody as even Horowitz gets in on the action. A cheap shot from behind sets up the heat segment on the Kid. Lots of MX style offense. Total Elimination looked killer. They take turns body slamming each other on the Kid. Lots of double teams. Jacques misses a reverse crossbody. Kid BLASTS him with a kick. Jacques collapses to the floor and he is out cold! This sold more for comedy than it would be today and that fits the Quebecers style. That crooked ref Earl Hebner says the match must continue as a virtual handicap match! Johnny Polo do something!

Pierre is kicking Horowitz ass with a middle rope leg drop and a middle rope headbutt. Pierre slams Horowitz at the Kid’s feet to prove a point. He sends the Kid flying. He wants revenge for Jacques! Pierre plays with his food. KID BLASTS PIERRE WITH A KICK! Pierre out of instinct pulls the top rope down and Kid careens to the floor! I think we have a double KO situation. Polo tosses Kid back in and Pierre drapes the arm over for a cover.  

This is a nice piece of business. You get the Kid’s feet over as lethal. Jacques had to be carted out and Pierre was essentially knocked out. Kid has gone from plucky underdog now to a lethal weapon. The campy Quebecers are the perfect people to put him over. They still treat Horowitz as a total jobber so Kid looks like a superstar in this Herculean effort taking on and taking out both World Tag Team Champions. Now if only he had a better partner… ***

Razor Ramon vs Rick Martel - WWF RAW 10/11/93 Vacant WWF Intercontinental Championship

Vince McMahon brings history teachers to tears across the country when he declares that Christopher Columbus was Hispanic and sailed for the Queen of England (Columbus was Italian and sailed for the King & Queen of Spain). Usually when someone says "they dont teach you this in history class", it is either wrong or it was taught and they just werent paying attention. 

Fantastic match. I could have sworn I seen this match, well if I did, I dont remember it being this good. I thought Martel was fabulous in this match, his last best match until his brief resurgence in WCW in 1998. Martel really pushed the pace. I loved during the shine, he would pepper in offense thus making Razor EARN the shine. It was a slight wrinkle and it forced Razor to overcome and walk through Martel's offense making Razor's offense more compelling. Razor worked his usual specialties like the Sack O' Shit (Fallaway Slam) and his solid base of arm work. Martel even took his slingshot splash into the ring. The match really picked up after the ad break where Martel had a very strong heat segment. This was different from your run of the mill WWF heat segment. Martel really threw out the bombs. This felt more like All Japan than WWF. Bodyslam on the outside kicks off. Great Saito Suplex and general back work. TWO Boston Crabs! Razor gets the ropes on the first, Martel peppers in a sidewalk slam and then a second Boston Crab. Razor muscles out of the Boston Crab, great series of nearfalls. Razor comes back a little too neatly for my tastes. Something more creative OR Martel missing a move would be better. I did like Martel fighting through the apparent, customary Super Back Suplex from Razor to hit a crossbody to get one last nearfall. Then Razor polished it off with a Razor Edge. I think one missed Martel move, a consolidation move by Razor followed by the Razor's Edge would have elevated match slightly more. This was awesome! 

Cagematch has this as Scott Hall's 8th best match. I dont disagree with their rating. I have this at *** 3/4 which on their scale is 7.5 and the aggregate rating is 7.24 so pretty close. I just cant believe this is Scott Hall's 8th best. I feel like he has to have more top ranked matches. I will definitely have to make a list. Regardless, this match is a ton of fun, highly recommended. *** 3/4 

Marty Jannetty vs 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 10/25/93

There’s a world where Marty & Kid are the Rockers of the 90s and they rule the WWF New Gen tag team scene in glorious fashion. Their title victory over the Quebecers is 1 of 2 matches I think is the best non-Bret, non-Shawn WWF Matches of 1993-1997. After the DiBiase addendum to the Ramon program, the Kid has struck out on his own. Last month, he single-handledly showed up both Quebecers, WWF World Tag Team Champions. He knocked out Jacques to the point where he got farted to the back and he knocked out Pierre and it was only due to instinct and Johnny Polo that the Quebecers retained. Now here he is pitted against fellow baby face and recent IC Champion. 
 

Pretty basic baby face vs baby face wrestling here. Basic chain wrestling, lots of symmetry. I thought Kid was more aggressive than Marty. I don’t know if that is by design or if that is just a difference in their personalities. Kid gets some nice kicks and a Victory Roll. Marty gets a nice counter powerbomb. The aggrieved Johnny Polo is out to watch. He trips Marty and Kid has no problem immediately pouncing on Marty for a near fall. Kid misses a somersault splash from the top. Now it is Polo’s turn to trip Kid. Marty at least shows some frustration but Marty takes the cover. Kid nails a beautiful German after a series of suplexes from Marty. I agree with Brain Marty is wrestling this match lethargically. Marty wakes up with a stiff elbow. Kid nails the same Karate Kick that KO’d Jacques. Marty collapses to the outside. Polo pushes Marty out of the way of a diving Kid! SPLAT! Double Countout! Polo is very amused by his antics. 
 

Marty & Kid team up and kick Polo’s ass. Great double super kick that feels very 21st century. Marty & Kid feel perfect as a tag team. I want to rewatch the title change with Quebecers now. This match is alright. I thought Kid brought it but Marty dragged ass. *** 

Lex Luger vs Pierre - WWF RAW 11/15/93

A couple of interesting notes: this is the highest rated match of Luger’s derided WWF tenure according to Cagematch. It is non-obvious what the answer to the question is and if this ends up being the case then it was truly a pathetic run. Also interesting is this would be the peak of Luger’s push which would roughly date from July 4, 1993 to WrestleMania X. It seems this was his longest, most high profile RAW singles match of that stretch. He is likes but he is NOT over. He is nowhere near Hogan or Savage. The fans seem to be more into the USA vs World storyline but you could probably stick any American wrestler in Luger’s spot and expect the same reaction. As a Luger fan, that’s a bummer.

The match is good but that’s more thanks to Pierre than Luger. Pierre really brought the energy. He took some hard bumps and did some big high spots. I love Luger but he just not wrestling like he did in that 88-91 stretch. Way too many punches which is not his style. He jumpstarts the match with punches. He whips Pierre from pillar to post with Pierre taking great buckle bumps BUT the shine just doesn’t have any oomph. Raven as Johnny Polo is just so weird. Pierre has a couple false starts into heat but when Luger is In the ropes he charges and knocks Luger out of the ring. He slams Luger into hard metal objects. Polo teases hitting Luger with the mallet but never does. We get some cool highspots from Pierre like Vaderbomb, Piledriver, a crazy top rope leg drop and a missed Cannonball. Luger puts the brakes on as Pierre takes a hard Bret Bump into the buckles. Couple clotheslines, powerslam, decks Johnny Polo and Bionic Forearm finishes it for our American Hero.

I get some clarity around Survivor Series. So apparently Tatanka was originally slated to be on the All-Americans but was injured by Foreign Fanatics which is why Undertaker is on the team aaaahhhhh that makes so much more sense. Luger blasting Pierre with his Bionic Forearm is why Crush joins the Foreigners. I will say based on the highlight package to open RAW that Crush heel turn had some juice! So a good idea to get him in a main event slot. Pierre’s offense & bumping pushes this above average but Luger is just not clicking in the WWF. ***

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Diesel - WWF RAW 11/29/93

A non-title bout. Shawn Michaels is back in WWF and he is disputing Ramon's Intercontinental Championship as Michaels has never lost it. This leads to of course the very famous Ladder Match. It is a great angle and a perfect use of the Ladder Match. It makes sense that Ramon takes on HBK's heater prior to the match to put some stank on the feud. 

Short match, but we do see, is pretty good. It is a Kliq Match so Razor is very giving and really lets Diesel shine. You can see the Diesel push is starting. He got his own program coming out of Summerslam with Mr. Perfect. While IRS was the leader of his team at Survivor Series, he was definitely the star of the team (also included Adam Bomb & Rick Martel). They establish Diesel's size advantage (although Razor is a big boy). Diesel works the back really well. It is laser-focused. It is varied and he keeps it moving. The use of the straddle on the back, the sidewalk slam. The bearhug. The Big Boot & Snake Eyes coming out of the first bearhug into the second bearhug. Good stuff. Razor makes his comeback out of his second bearhug with the second rope bulldog (love that move) and punches. He is going to do the Razor's Edge, but Shawn Michaels comes in and attacks Razor. He wants to piledrive Razor on the IC Title, but Razor reverses and 1-2-3 Kid makes the save. All nothing like a Kliq love-in. This sets up Shawn Michaels vs 1-2-3 Kid the next week. Looking forward to that. This could have been great, but more of a set up for next week and thats fine. I like their Superstars Sprint the next year thats the IC Title switch.  

Shawn Michaels vs 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 12/6/93

This looks fan-fucking-tastic when you’ve been watching a metric shit ton of New Generation WWF. This is during HBK’s fake IC title reign. I am surprised this isn’t talked up more because this completely different than anything else on WWF TV. This is downright Japanese workrate shit a precursor to WCW cruiserweight stuff. It is very avant-garde for WWF and really foreshadows what is to come. 

Kid comes out red hot. The one thing is Kid’s punching sucks. It will be interesting to see if he ever gets better at that. I can’t remember Syxx or X-PAC’s punch. They cut a great pace. Here are some of the high spot highlights: Strong dive to the floor by Kid. Shawn takes a weird bump into the post. He hooked it and spun out that I thought maybe he blocked it but I think he was supposed to hit. Kid eats a beautiful power slam off the apron to the floor. That was wicked. Beautiful German Suplex! Lots of movement, a dive and a suplex. Very different than most WWF.

Also this is an interesting combination because Kid can actually slam/suplex Shawn which he normally can’t do that in WWF. Also Shawn can play the bigger bully heel a role he usually couldn’t play in WWF.

Kid works a great side headlock but runs up the ropes one too many times and Michael’s suplexes him. Michaels works the backbreaker and in a rarity can really be that bully heel here. Kid gets a   heel kick. Kid misses a somersault splash from the top rope. Crashes and burns. Back from commercial and Superkick (not quite sweet or musical yet). Shawn who was feuding with Razor over who was the real IC Champion hits TWO Razor Edges and they looked GREAT! Again that’s Shawn getting to play bully heel which he never gets a chance. Razor saves on the third attempt. The match gets thrown out. Diesel slugs Razor from behind the curtain. Shawn HITS TWO RAZOR EDGES ON SCOTT HALL! Damn I mean that is a big boy for Shawn to get up! He must have ate his Wheaties that morning. It didn’t look super good because it had to be done on concrete/floor so Shawn safely put Razor down but just hoisting him up and down was impressive.

It was a spot fest but with character. Shawn was the bully heel and Kid was the plucky underdog. It was not overtly cooperative. It was not a weird a motion smoothing match. They took their time and made the high spots stand out. A really good 90s workfare match. *** 3/4