Raw History: Episodes 15-16

Episode #15

May 3rd, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

This week, Raw instantly opens with the theme of the Intercontinental Champion as Shawn Michaels will be defending the belt in our opening contest. For the second straight week, we have Vince McMahon, Macho Man and Bobby Heenan on commentary, which is great.

WWF Intercontinental Championship

Shawn Michaels (c) vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan

Jim Duggan is wearing a singlet, which is not a good look but something he probably should have worn during his 2007 run because I wouldn’t have to see his body. He starts a “USA” chant, which I will always find stupid when he’s facing an American. He starts hot, forcing Shawn Michaels to catch a breather outside. After a commercial break, Michaels has gained control and hits a double axe handle that Macho Man would be proud of. Shawn is very good at the little things that make him a better heel. After being knocked outside, Duggan gets hyped by more “USA” chants, but the apparently evil foreigner Shawn Michaels uses a rake to the eyes. He goes back to his third headlock of the match. Hacksaw rallies and does the old school ten punches in the corner before hitting a body slam. Man, his offense is basic as fuck huh? A big clothesline sends Michaels to the floor and he tries to leave but Duggan stops him. Like a moron though, he throws him into the crowd and Shawn is able to escape.

Winner via countout: “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan in 11:06

I thought this was decent. You could tell they needed to go like 10 minutes as Shawn Michaels applied some rest holds. The finish was alright to set up a rematch. **¼

Jim Duggan gets on the microphone and says that it’s not right that he can beat Shawn Michaels up, but when the Champion runs away, he doesn’t win the belt. He issues a sit down strike, but is standing when we return.

Mean Gene bring us the King of the Ring Report! Bret Hart is the one seed, while everyone else has to qualify. Lex Luger qualified, while Mr. Perfect and Doink wrestled to a draw on Superstars. Also, Hulk Hogan will defend the WWF Championship against Yokozuna. He also reports that Jim Duggan has left the ring and is calling Jack Tunney. This week on Superstars, El Matador faces Razor Ramon in a qualifying match, and Duggan takes on Papa Shango.

Doink the Clown vs. Kamikaze Kid

Yes, Kamikaze Kid is Sean Waltman. Doink attacks at the bell and just dominates this completely. Vince McMahon is more interested in figuring out which of the multiple Doinks this is than calling the match. The Stump Puller forces Kid to submit.

Winner: Doink the Clown in 2:07

You know what this was. SQUASH

Bob Backlund vs. Dwayne Gill

Look at all of these recognizable jobbers today. Dwayne Gill would go on to compete in the Deadly Game Tournament for the WWF Title at Survivor Series 1998 and then be the longest reigning Light Heavyweight Champion. He fares much worse here. We are informed that Jim Duggan had success with Jack Tunney and gets a rematch next week in a Lumberjack Match! Gill gets in more offense than the Kid did at least. Backlund wins with another odd pinning combination.

Winner: Bob Backlund in 3:40

Not a squash, which surprised me. It wasn’t very good, but it was at least somewhat competitive. *½

Jim Duggan is brought back out. This is like the Jim Duggan Power Hour. They use this to inform the live crowd of next week’s match. Duggan claims that Shawn is pretty and wrestles well, but he can’t fight.

Another vignette for the Smoking Guns is shown. Before the next match, a legend is announced in Captain Lou Albano!

The Headshrinkers w/ Afa vs. Jim Bell and Tony Roy

Captain Lou Albano gets on commentary and they discuss him possibly managing the Headshrinkers. So Afa is chopped liver? They get in pretty much all of the offense here. We get told that Yokozuna will be a Lumberjack next week and he has issues with Jim Duggan. The Headshrinkers allow the other team to tag in and out because it doesn’t matter. They just keep pounding away. A double team piledriver is hit as Afa jumps around outside. Heenan and Albano are just going at it on commentary. A double Stroke, for you Jeff Jarrett fans is followed by a splash and it’s over.

Winners: The Headshrinkers in 5:41

Longer than I expected, though it was still pretty much a squash. However, it was important as Lou Albano discussed their ruthlessness. *¾

Kamala vs. Rich Myers

More information on the Lumberjack match as Mr. Perfect is going to be outside of the ring. Rich Myers offers a handshake but Kamala wants no part. He instead hits Myers with his rear end and slams him down. He splashes Myers and he does his whole, “I’m trying to pin him on his stomach and flip him over too much” gimmick. The crowd seems to like it. He figures it out and wins.

Winner: Kamala in 2:29

Basic squash. SQUASH

Bobby Heenan interviews Shawn Michaels backstage, but we are also informed of a King of the Ring Qualifying match next week between Bigelow and Typhoon. Shawn complains that it’s unfair but has something up his sleeve that he tells Bobby about in his ear.

Overall: 5/10; Mediocre. This wasn't the worst episode as it featured a decent Intercontinental Title match as well as some forward movement towards King of the Ring. The Headshrinkers match was okay and involved the Captain Lou Albano angle. However, there was a bit too much Jim Duggan. He appeared or was mentioned in nearly every single segment, which was too much.

Raw History
Episode #16
May 10th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

Raw opens with a clip from earlier tonight, at 7:02PM, as Shawn Michaels is interviewed by Lord Alfred Hayes. I didn’t know he was still employed. Suddenly, Mr. Perfect attacks and we have a big outdoor brawl! I’ve stood exactly where they’re fighting before, which is cool. Shawn gets slammed on the hood of a car and officials try to break them up. See, I think that Mr. Perfect was red hot in late ’92-early ’93 and should have been in the WWF Title picture but instead, is feuding with the Intercontinental Champion.

Once again, commentary is Vince McMahon, Macho Man and Bobby Heenan. I’m gonna stop pointing this out weekly unless there are changes to the booth.

King of the Ring Qualifying Match
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Typhoon
Well, I honestly think the outcome to this is pretty foregone. They try shoulder blocking each other, but it’s like running into brick walls. Bigelow gets the upper hand with a slam and elbow, but misses a standing headbutt. He does end up hitting a nice suplex before being knocked outside. Typhoon follows, but falls for a classic heel tactic as Bigelow nails him when he tries to get back inside. He stops Typhoon from getting inside a few more times, before applying a chin lock of sorts. Surprisingly, this has lasted through a commercial break. It doesn’t last much longer though as a top rope headbutt gets Bigelow the W.

Winner: Bam Bam Bigelow in 5:23
Decent big man match. I didn’t expect a classic from Typhoon, but Bigelow continues to do very well. *½

PJ Walker vs. Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji
At the bell, we are told that Yokozuna will face Kamala next week. PJ Walker is the future Aldo Montoya and Justin Credible. They actually lock up and Yokozuna just tosses him. He follows with a belly to belly, leg drop and corner splash. A chop leads to the Banzai Drop and this thing is over.

Winner: Yokozuna in 2:11
This was every other Yokozuna match on Raw. SQUASH

King of the Ring Report time! We are reminded of Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna and then told that Bret Hart, Razor Ramon, Lex Luger, Jim Duggan and Bigelow have all qualified. This weekend, the three spots are up when Mr. Perfect meets Doink in a rematch and Tatanka faces Giant Gonzalez. What do I have to do to get Wrestling Challenge on the WWE Network?

“Iron” Mike Sharpe vs. Mr. Perfect
I love Mr. Perfect, but he’s got his work cut out for him against “Canada’s Greatest Athlete.” There’s a fat ring girl in the ring, who gets “Bobby’s girl” chants and it looks like Perfect is gonna kiss her. Instead, he put his gum in her mouth. Yuck. Perfect dropkicks Sharpe and then fires off with some chops. Sharpe comes back with some of his own and they are just hammering away at each other. Perfect takes one strap down because he means business now. Bobby Heenan is channel surfing again, which is something you shouldn’t do when Mr. Perfect is wrestling. Sharpe ducks for a back body drop, but eats the Perfect Plex to end this.

Winner: Mr. Perfect in 4:38
A solid little match. Once again, Mr. Perfect doesn’t just do a straight squash and has a competitive match that’s fun. **

Cannonball Kid vs. Mr. Hughes w/ Harvey Wippleman
You know, I never understood why Mr. Hughes would get random pushes. No word is given on his random team up with Wippleman. Last week, we had the Kamikaze Kid and now he’s the Cannonball Kid. I sense another name coming soon; one that will stick. Hughes dominates and hits a big two handed Chokeslam that I would have used to win. Instead, he does a bit more offense before mercifully pinning him.

Winner: Mr. Hughes in 2:18
Totally one sided. SQUASH

An ad airs for All-American Wrestling, which is hosted by Mean Gene and Bobby Heenan. I miss weekend afternoon wrestling. The lumberjacks start to pour in as our main event is near. Before the match starts, Jim Duggan attacks Yokozuna, who broke Duggan’s ribs a few months back with multiple Banzai Drops. Mr. Fuji calms Yokozuna down though. Shawn Michaels comes out in street clothes and on crutches, but when Mr. Perfect comes for him, he runs, showing he’s faking.

WWF Intercontinental Championship Lumberjack Match
Shawn Michaels (c) vs. “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan
I believe this is the first ever gimmick match in the history of Raw. With Shawn Michaels in street clothes and being caught off guard, Jim Duggan is in the driver’s seat. Some atomic drops and an elbow get the challenger two. More “Shawn is Gay” chants. Duggan is doing his generic awesome that hasn’t evolved since his prime in the 80’s and Shawn has barely gotten in any offense. I also forgot to mention that every Lumberjack is wearing lumberjack flannels. Except for Yokozuna since there aren’t 600 pound lumberjacks and no shirt would fit him. They come into play when Duggan tosses him outside and he’s forced back in when he tries to run. After a commercial, Shawn takes his boot off and clocks Duggan with it, which sends him outside. The heels rolls him back in without attacking which is strange. Shawn is now working over Duggan for a bit as the crowd chants “USA” against an American again. Stupid. He does rally though and elevates Shawn on a big back body drop. For some reason, the crowd has chosen to do the Atlanta Brave Tomahawk Chop. Duggan’s three point stance tackle sends Shawn outside before another commercial. Vince McMahon mentions that we’re low on time. Bigelow gets on the apron, which distracts Duggan, allowing Shawn to nail him and send him outside by Yokozuna, who sits on him. When he’s rolled back in, Mr. Perfect has seen enough and he nails Shawn to cause the disqualification.

Winner via disqualification: Shawn Michaels in 13:09
They got a ton of time and this was solid. I think that Duggan was in control for too long considering his ability though. **¼ 

Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect brawl, which leads to all of the lumberjacks entering the ring and giving us a huge brawl. Jim Duggan clears the ring with his 2x4 though as we come to a close.

Overall: 5.5/10; Decent. You know, for the first time in a while, the show is on an upswing. We had three competitive matches here. The IC Title was a big main event for the time and was pretty well done, we had a King of the Ring Qualifying match and a Mr. Perfect appearance. Not a bad way to spend 45 minutes at all.

Random Match Reviews: AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels vs. Samoa Joe

Championship: X-Division
Show: Unbreakable
Date: 9/11/05
Location: Orlando, Florida

The first ever TNA Pay-Per-View that I ordered was Unbreakable. This was the main event, not the NWA World Title match. I had seen these guys before this but never together. They went out and headlined a show for the X Division Title, which had never happened before and I don't believe has happened since (not counting the Angle/Joe match for every title). The coolest thing about TNA when I first started watching was the X Division and this match is everything that was right about it.

You had three guys who were, and still are, bonafide stars. Each guy had their role in the match. Christopher Daniels came in as the heel, who had a chip on his shoulder as the longest reigning X Division Champion in history. AJ Styles was pretty much the franchise and the face of the X Division. Samoa Joe was the hottest thing in TNA, entering undefeated. I would like to point out that commentary was good here. Mike Tenay is usually pretty knowledgeable and while Don West can be grating, his excitement added something here. The same that I said about Don West could be said about the Impact Zone crowd.

The match itself is the definition of total nonstop action, pun intended. Everything is enjoyable starting with Daniels talking trash in the beginning and getting destroyed by both challengers. Styles is magnificent, showing why he was one of the best high flyers in the world. His springboard shooting star press and spiral tap were breathtaking to 15 year old Kevin. I loved how they came up with moves that involved all three guys, which I hadn't seen much of to this point. Joe came out looking like the unstoppable monster that he needed to, since he didn't eat the pin. Speaking of the pin, I absolutely loved the finish to this match. I remember watching it live and wondering what the hell would be enough to end this, so the fact that it came from out of nowhere and was a shock, was great. This is still the best match in TNA history to me. 

Lastly, despite all of TNA's mishandling of the three, it speaks volumes to their abilities that all three guys are still major players (Joe in NXT, Daniels is one half of the ROH Tag Team Champions and AJ Styles was IWGP Heavyweight Champion this year) ten years later.

Match Time - 22:50 *****

Smackdown 9/10/15 Review

The Wyatt Family come out to open Smackdown, cutting a promo on the attack they put on Randy Orton on Raw. They warned anyone who tried to align themselves with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. I guess the Wyatts miss the original Shield and don't want any knockoff versions. That's pretty much all they say. The opening contest is a Raw rematch between Cesaro and Miz. Unlike Raw, this one is actually competently booked as Cesaro gets the win. He also does so with the Sharpshooter, making me miss his tag team with Tyson Kidd even more. I like that Cesaro won, but like his win over Rusev, it came on Smackdown, so nobody will really remember it.

Continuing the old fashioned theme of Raw rematches, we now get Paige vs. Sasha Banks. Since getting the main roster call up, Sasha Banks is, as far as I can tell, unbeaten in singles matches. She's beaten Paige twice but was unable to win here, however, she also didn't lose. After nearly ten minutes of solid work, they brawled outside and it went to a no contest once their respective teammates joined in. The match itself wasn't bad, but I'm not sure what the plan here is. Anyway, moving on, not content with just giving us Raw recaps on Thursday nights, Smackdown basically just airs the Raw main event. It's like a good 80% of the match and the aftermath. Have they really gotten that lazy? Seth Rollins is then interviewed about what Sting did to his statue. He is pissed about it and threatens to make Sting pay at Night of Champions. Sheamus shows up to tease his cash in again because they have nothing else for Sheamus to really do. In our biggest match so far, the New Day takes on Reigns, Ambrose and Reigns' cousin, JImmy Uso. The match itself was fine stuff, as Jimmy looked happy to be back in action, but then the Wyatts showed up to ruin things. They took out Jimmy and then his partners went to save him but they disappeared. I think New Day won by countout, but they might have called a no contest. We get no word on exactly what the decision was either way. It was cool to see Jimmy back and New Day always delivers, while this built the Wyatts/Reigns and Ambrose stuff. This did what it had to.

After abandoning the Cosmic Wasteland so the Ascension could get squashed on Raw, their partnership with Stardust was back on here. They took on the Lucha Dragons with Stardust at ringside. It was another fine match and once Stardust distracted the Lucha Dragons, the Ascension capitalized to pick up a rare victory. Now please let this carry over to Raw. They go to attack but Neville runs out to make the save. Backstage, Renee Young interviews Nikki Bella about her match this Monday against Charlotte. Nikki calls Charlotte delusional and says that she will not stand in the way of history.

Our main event is, you guessed it, a rematch from Raw between Seth Rollins & Ryback. This time, there's a twist though as it is a Lumberjack match. Similar to their Raw match, this was solid but unspectacular. The lumberjacks all get into a big brawl except for Kevin Owens, who just watches like he doesn't have time for their shit. He then trips Ryback, allowing Seth to get the win. Overall, a decent episode of Smackdown. No real bad or useless matches, but nothing you need to go out of your way to see. Re-airing the Raw main event was just lazy also, but this wasn't a bad two hours, just a mediocre one. 5/10.

NXT Report

The show goes right into the opening video. We are told that the Finn Balor & Samoa Joe vs. Lucha Dragons main event will air from Providence, Rhode Island and not Full Sail.

Carmella vs. Peyton Royce

Peyton Royce actually gets an entrance. They do a slight handshake at the start before moving to some mat work. Both girls get near falls and Carmella does a moonwalk. It’s actually pretty good. Peyton gets points from me for hitting a fisherman suplex for two. Peyton works a chinlock type move to wear down Carmella. Peyton runs into an elbow and Carmella hits a hurricanrana. Carmella goes into a flurry, pulling Peyton down for two after some shoulder thrusts. Peyton gets out of a wear down hold by backing Carmella into the corner and following in with some kicks. She comes off the second rope with a cross body for a near fall. Carmella then plants Peyton and makes her tap to her finisher.

Winner: Carmella in 5:04

Pretty solid little match here. I thought it would be a squash but they made sure that Peyton Royce got in a good chunk of offense. *3/4

Samoa Joe and Finn Balor get ready backstage and they tease Joe wanting the NXT Title.

Clips are shown from a recent NXT live event where Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady advanced in the Dusty Tag Team Classic against Angelo Dawkins and Sawyer Fulton. Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson also beat Tucker Knight and the Drifter, Elias Sampson.

A Nia Jax vignette is shown.

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: Bull Dempsey and Tyler Breeze vs. Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa

Bull Dempsey does Tyler Breeze’s corner taunt. Breeze and Ciampa start. Breeze takes him over and taunts but when Ciampa chops him, he tags out. A “Bull is gorgeous” chant breaks out. Ciampa stays in to face both Bull for a bit and Breeze for a bit. Gargano tags in and spears Breeze before rolling through with a kick and a jumping neckbreaker. He’s off to a good start. Tyler tags out again. Gagano tries to takes down Bull, but he’s too big, so Gargano goes with an enziguri instead. Ciampa comes in and hits a knee for two. After a commercial, we return to see Ciampa working a sleeper on Bull. Bull fights out and Gargano tags in. He dropkicks Tyler off the apron but is taken down by Bull. Bull looks to tag, but Tyler is on the floor. Punches with the fans chanting BULL for each, ending with the Dusty elbow. Tyler gets on the apron but Bull runs the ropes and knocks him off. Gargano and Ciampa go into an interesting team up roll up sequence to win.

Winners: Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa in 6:21

Another decent match here. Johnny Gargano definitely looked better of the two new guys, but this was a solid start for them. Hopefully, they can stick around. **1/4

Tyler Breeze is pissed and takes it out on Bull Dempsey.

The Lucha Dragons cut a promo backstage. Most of it is in Spanish though Kalisto translates.

Dana Brooke gets interviewed and says that seeing Bayley win the NXT Title upset her because she’s beaten her before. She’s in action next.

There is a pretty cool Tye Dillinger vignette.

Billie Kay vs. Dana Brooke

Billie Kay gets an entrance making me happy since I love me some Jessie McKay. They lock up and Dana overpowers her and pats her on the head. Billie takes her over with a headlock and talks a bit of trash. They get to their feet and Dana applies a headlock before slamming Billie by her hair. She goes into a flurry of right hands. Dana does her handstand foot choke in the corner and hits a clothesline. Handstand knee drop goes right into a chinlock. She gets two on an elbow. Dana goes into a headscissors, even doing something similar to Carmella’s finisher. Billie rallies, hitting some cool offense and getting two on a big boot. Dana nails an enziguri gefore hitting her AA like finisher.

Winner: Dana Brooke in 5:21

Not as good or fun as the opening women’s match. Dana Brooke still needs tons of work, but she seems to be winning some people over. Billie Kay and Peyton Royce both showed loads of potential tonight though. 1/2*

Devin Taylor interviews Apollo Crews. He calls his fans the Apollo Nation, playing off of the Uhaa Nation name and says he’s gonna take over NXT.

A quick recap is shown of Bayley winning the NXT Women’s Championship in Brooklyn. They show Izzy, Bayley’s biggest fan, celebrating with her family at home. Then, Izzy and her family was invited to the Performance Center to welcome home Bayley. She was also allowed to do an entrance with Bayley. Bayley returns next week!

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic: Finn Balor and Samoa Joe vs. The Lucha Dragons

Finn Balor starts with Sin Cara. The crowd is hot, chanting “NXT” and “this is awesome” right from the bell. They start with mat work until Finn hits a dropkick. Kalisto leaps in but is sent outside. Slingblade takes down Cara and Finn then hits a big kick that sends Cara out with Kalisto. He then runs off the ropes and dives onto both, getting the crowd going even more. Returning from commercial, Joe gets in offense but the tag comes back to Finn. He gets caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two. The Lucha Dragons work some quick double teams on Finn for a while. Finn makes a relatively hot tag and Joe does his thing. He kicks the shit out of Kalisto and squashes him with a senton. Cara comes back with an ugly tornado DDT but Finn breaks up the pin. Cara hits him with an Aasi moonsault. Joe goes for a Muscle Buster but Cara gets free only to eat a ton of strikes. Joe sends Cara into the ropes, Kalisto blind tags in and Cara suicide dives out onto Finn. Kalisto does some cool offense on Joe but then eats the STJoe. Joe hits Kalisto with a Muscle Buster and the Coup de Grace from Balor wins it.

Winners: Finn Balor and Samoa Joe in 8:29

Really fun tag match. Up there with last week’s main event as the best match of the tournament so far. Pretty non-stop in action and the big, hot crowd added something to it. ***1/4

Raw History: Episodes 13-14

Raw History

Episode #13

April 19th, 1993 – Mid Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York

Money Inc. is shown on a side close-up saying that the Beverly Brothers are ungrateful. The Beverly Brothers also do one, claiming they will bankrupt Money Inc. Two teams that I don’t particularly enjoy watching, challenging each other.

Razor Ramon vs. VirgilIt never fails to amuse me to hear how excited Vince McMahon gets for Virgil of all people. They open with some basic wrestling as Vince gushes over how Razor “oozes machismo.” Virgil gets two with a small package, which is the same way that Razor beat Bob Backlund the last time we saw him, at WrestleMania IX. Razor stops in his tracks to avoid a dropkick and he puts the boots to Virgil. He applies an abdominal stretch and I will admit that Razor probably had the best looking one of all time. Virgil attempts a rally and hits a second rope clothesline, but the crowd isn’t buying this. He misses his next move leading to the Razor’s Edge.

Winner: Razor Ramon in 7:13While this took longer than it should have, it wasn’t bad. Razor Ramon picks up more momentum and, for some reason, Virgil looked decent. **
The Giant Gonzalez w/ Harvey Wippleman vs. LA GoreYou wish that you could have a mustache like LA Gore. He is outside of the ring at the bell, so Gonzalez pulls him inside. I don’t expect this to last long. He does a clothesline and a terrible looking kick. He wins with a Chokeslam.

Winner: The Giant Gonzalez in 1:18Completely one sided. SQUASH.
A pre-taped promo from Luna Vachon airs. She says a bunch of stuff about “evil” and such, with her incredibly deep and raspy voice. She sounds like a 65 year old dude who smoked his entire life. Clips are also shown of their brawl last week. 

Art Thomas vs. TatankaDo we really need another Tatanka match? He just won last week. Art Thomas attacks at the bell as Vince McMahon claims that the person who defeats Tatanka will be famous. Well that person, spoiler alert, would be Ludvig Borga, so you were wrong Vince. Tatanka gets on the offensive though Thomas dodges an elbow. Tatanka starts to get hyped up and does his rain dance thing in between moves. Samoan Drop hits to end this thing.

Winner: Tatanka in 2:30Another relative squash. I’d be more okay with this if we didn’t just see Tatanka do this last week. SQUASH. 
Non-Title Match
The Beverly Brothers vs. WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc.Before the bell, IRS says he’s not giving any of the tax cheats in the arena an extension on their taxes. I always thought this made for an odd tag team. The rich guy and the tax man shouldn’t be pals. We get yet another attack before the bell and it’s odd that Vince blatantly says “I don’t think the crowd cares who wins this one.” Well, I get that they’re both heels, but this is a terrible plan. Ted and Beverly #1 start and do some of the most basic offense possible. The Beverly Brothers are in control, cutting the ring in half on Ted Dibiase. That’s odd because I would assume they want the crowd to cheer more for the brothers. IRS gets the tag and the crowd doesn’t care. More basic and boring stuff. Earlier, the referee didn’t see the Money Inc. tag and made IRS go back out, but now, he just takes Ted’s word for it. The Beverly Brothers are working better as a team, until a miscue leads one to hit the other and Dibiase rolls up one of them to win. 

Winners: Money Inc. in 10:56Incredibly dull. Two heel tag teams that nobody likes and they actually tried to work tag formula, which failed hard. Terrible match. DUD.
Vince McMahon is in the ring to bring out the former WWF Champion, Bret Hart. Bret says that he was the underdog at WrestleMania and he’s been one before so it didn’t bother him. He claims that he’s not done because he’s lost titles before and come back, which he will do once again. Bret says the number one guy on his hit list is the Narcissist though I don’t think this feud went anywhere.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Phil ApolloDespite Phil Apollo applying a headlock early, Bigelow wastes no time in taking down Apollo. He misses a splash, but as Apollo tries a dropkick he just swats him like a fly. As Bigelow beats him down, Doink is out to mess with fans. Bigelow does more offense, but seems to just be killing time. He hits the diving headbutt and this is over.

Winner: Bam Bam Bigelow in 4:40An extended squash. Bigelow was killing time. SQUASH.
Because he’s a heel, Bigelow nails his finisher one more time on poor Phil Apollo. Friar Ferguson walks out to the ring and checks on Apollo. He tells Bigelow not to attack anymore. He gets in Bigelow’s face and this show really just ended with fucking Friar Ferguson.

Overall: 3/10; Poor. Man, these post WrestleMania Raws have been a rough watch. At least this one had Bret Hart and we got wins for guys who need it like Razor Ramon and Bigelow. That tag team match sucked hard and killed my interest. If that wasn’t enough, Friar Ferguson is a focal point again, making me even more disappointed.

Raw History

Episode #14

April 19th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

Vince McMahon, Macho Man and FUCK YES, Bobby Heenan are the commentary team tonight. They hype up a big match between Lex Luger and Crush tonight.

Damian Demento vs. Mr. PerfectYes, Damian Demento is still billed from “the Outer Reaches of your Mind.” I guess his WWF paychecks weren’t enough for him to move yet. His haircut is dreadful too, so he hasn’t been spending his money there either. Some leap frogs from Perfect and a dropkick forced Damian to regroup and talk to himself outside. Perfect gets knocked outside shortly after and takes out a cameraman by accident. Demento is getting in way more offense than I expected. I always just knew him as the guy Undertaker beat in the first Raw main event, but I’m surprised that he’s still around. Time for Perfect to get in his offense, with a high knee and his neck snap. He gets his knees up on a Demento splash and wins with the Perfect Plex.

Winner: Mr. Perfect in 4:56Solid little opener. In no way was this a great match, but Damian Demento looked decent and Mr. Perfect got in all of his signature stuff. **
Commentary informs us that Mr. Perfect is heading towards a WWF Intercontinental Title shot. I had no clue. We move to a clip of a kid who won an essay contest or something. She reads her essay, saying there’s no hope with dope. I had no idea where this was going until the FUCKING Undertaker randomly appears and says “there’s no hope with dope.” I nearly burst out laughing.

Bobby Heenan claims that he has it on good authority that a couple in the crowd is going to get engaged tonight, but he will make sure the girl says no.

Crush vs. The NarcissistVince McMahon tells us about the DREADED metal plate in Lex Luger’s forearm. Crush has, quite possibly, the greatest/worst mullet in history. I don’t expect a clean finish as both guys are relative stars during this time period. After Crush overpowers Luger, which he’s not used to, the woman who is going to be proposed to is shown. There’s another ugly woman behind her and Vince asks Bobby which is which, leading him to respond with “BOTH. SHE’S TWO HEADED.” I love the Brain. A test of strength ends when Crush gorilla press slams Luger. The crowd is hype for this, brudda. Vince tries to tell us that we can see the protrusion of Luger’s metal plate. Sure. We go to commercial and Crush is still kicking ass, with a belly to belly suplex. Luger does knock Crush outside and drives his back into the ring post. Inside, Luger gets two with a powerslam. This has been better than I expected. Crush comes back with a series of suplexes before applying the Coconut or Kona Crush or whatever it’s called. Luger is fading quickly but when Doink appears in the rafters, Crush stupidly breaks the hold. BUT WAIT! There’s two Doinks in the rafters! Luger levels Crush with an elbow that takes him outside and he’s counted out.

Winner via countout: The Narcissist in 10:47That was much better than I expected. Crush looked better than he usually does and I can’t remember any good Lex Luger matches, so this surprised me. **¾
An ad appears for King of the Ring, which I’m looking forward to getting to. Qualifying matches being on Superstars next weekend as Mr. Perfect takes on Doink on Superstars and Bob Backlund faces Lex Luger on Wrestling Challenge.

Mr. Hughes vs. Jason KnightOh crap. It’s the “sexiest man alive” Jason from ECW fame. Mr. Hughes drops him like a bad habit instantly. In the middle of the match, Bobby Heenan is actually flipping through channels. He laughs at the Braves before catching the “Baby Got Back” video and his reaction is great. Almost anything is better than a Mr. Hughes match. The squash is over with a slam.

Winner: Mr. Hughes in 2:08
Totally one sided. SQUASH 
A vignette airs for the Smoking Guns because they’ll be debuting soon. Cut to Vince McMahon in the ring as he introduces the WWF Intercontinental Champion, Shawn Michaels. He badmouths New York City and Vince McMahon talks about “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan wanting a title shot. “Shawn is gay” chants bust out which shocked me for 1993. They bring up Lex Luger brawling with Mr. Perfect backstage at WrestleMania IX, which reminds me of why Perfect has a title shot coming. Shawn messes up a Sesame Street joke and Mr. Perfect shows up for a fight, but referees are holding him back. Shawn gets in a cheap shot and runs as Perfect gives chase.

We are taken to clips from Superstars where Bam Bam Bigelow was bullying Sherri until Tatanka came out and dropkicked him. Tatanka then came out to wrestle his match but was attacked and knocked unconscious by Bigelow, who then cut some of Tatanka’s trademark hair.

Typhoon vs. Von KrusThis is seriously going on last? Von Krus hammers away at the start, but it has no effect. Jim Duggan calls in because he gets an Intercontinental Title shot next week. It is his first shot at a title. Von Krus is actually getting some offense in. Typhoon splashes him to end this.

Winner: Typhoon in 2:37Despite Von Krus doing some stuff, this was a squash. SQUASH 
Bobby Heenan gets up and goes to the couple he’s been talking about all night. The man asks and Bobby Heenan nearly ruins it by being rather funny. She says yes and cries as we go to commercial.

Overall: 6/10; Average. The first show in a while that I enjoyed but it should have been structured better. Mr. Perfect’s win opening was great, but Crush/Luger should have gone on last. It was a good match and featured two big stars. Instead, we get to useless squashes the rest of the way. Or at least end the show with the Shawn Michaels interview, which at least built towards Shawn’s defense next week and his eventual clash with Mr. Perfect.

Labor Day Raw Review

In typical Raw fashion, we kick off with the WWE US & World Champion, Seth Rollins. He goes over the usual stuff that he discusses and the crowd chants "boring" for a bit. Seth did a good job with this, telling them that as the champ, he can talk for as long as he wants. Sting appears on the Titantron with Seth's statue and dares him to come get it. Then Sheamus comes out to basically say that he MIGHT cash in at Night of Champions since Seth is working twice. That's it. After a commercial, Seth complains to Stephanie and Triple H appears. He says that Sheamus will face Randy Orton tonight (eww) and Seth will wrestle twice. This should have been covered in the first segment because our opening match had to go to a quick commercial due to this. That match was Paige vs. Sasha Banks. They had a good match a few weeks back but last week's 1:40 stuff sucked. This was better, but not as good as the their first match. Things went well until we got a shitty finish where Naomi distracted the referee and Sasha got a rollup for the win. At least Sasha won and Paige looked devastated at the loss. I think it'll lead to Paige turning on her team since she's struggled so much since joining them.

So one of my favorite things about actually watching Smackdown last week was seeing the Ascension join Stardust as the Cosmic Wasteland. What happens on Raw? The Ascension appear with no Stardust and get sent to job in under three minutes to Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns. Couldn't some other jobbers have done this? Was this dropped? Why can't creative just be consistent for once? I get that Reigns and Ambrose had to win but they should have had different opponents. Where was Fandango or Adam Rose or something? The Wyatts cut a post match promo about their upcoming Night of Champions match but this wasn't very good.

We get a horrible TMZ like video package for the Summer/Dolph/Rusev/Lana angle. Then, Seth Rollins' first match of the night is Champion vs. Champion against The Ryback, with zero build. These matches are good ideas on paper but are kind of lose/lose. Either one guy eats a clean pin or one guy wins in rather cheap fashion and either way, nobody gains anything. They had a decent little match and Seth worked well with Ryback and of course, we get a distraction finish from Sting, allowing Ryback to roll him up. So far, a pretty bad show. Then things got amazing as New Day ran into Seth backstage with their trombone. Edge and Christian showed up and Seth left. E&C busted out their kazoos against the trombone and Big E ate one of the kazoos. Then the Dudley Boyz showed up, saying that it's New Day vs. PTP next week for the belts and the winners face the Dudleys at Night of Champions. It was surreal to see E&C and the Dudleys on TV next to the New Day, there were kazoos and a trombone, it was silly and generally all around enjoyable. New Day continues to be the highlight of Raw each and every week.

The awful TMZ like video airs again for some godforsaken reason and Summer Rae comes to the ring. She calls out Rusev to apologize to him. She blamed Ziggler, but also seemed to get way into the idea of a naked Dolph. Rusev accepted her apology and called her submissive. Ziggler showed up and Rusev called him a bad boyfriend for not being at Lana's side, now that she's injured. Dolph superkicks him and Rusev scurries with Summer. Overall, this was pretty dull, but Rusev continues to be the only relatively enjoyable thing about this entire program.

Up next, it's match number 121 in the never ending series between Orton & Sheamus. As usual, they have a match that is technically fine, but it's just there. There isn't much effort and it isn't very good. Orton wins with an RKO. Why couldn't Cesaro, who needs the win a million times more than Orton, have beaten Sheamus on Smackdown? Did Orton need this? Then, because Orton was talking with Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns backstage, the Wyatt Family show up to take him out to avoid him being Ambrose and Reigns' partner at Night of Champions. So they beat up Orton but Ambrose and Reigns don't care enough to show up and try to help him. They pulled their best "John Cena" and didn't help their friend.

The Dudley Boyz appeared next for a tag team match against Los Matadores. They worked a short match, which is good since Matadores are a team going nowhere. For some reason, a Matador randomly attacks El Torito, so the Dudleys come in and put him through a table. I'm pretty sure Torito will still be Los Matadores this Friday since creative can't keep something going. Speaking of things not continuing, remember that Cesaro push we seemed to be headed towards? Well, it doesn't seem like we are. The crowd popped for him as he faced the Miz. Now, Miz plays a great cowardly heel and isn't in the midst of a push, so this should be a win for Cesaro. Easy booking right? Wrong. Big Show shows up to ruin things, we get a fucking double countout, so Cesaro can't even roll inside and win by countout while Show chases Miz. Then, to top things off, Big Show knocks out Cesaro. Why? What the fuck was this? 

Team Bella shows up to cut a promo about the party that will take place after Nikki breaks the record. It will be a "Bellabration." Sheesh. This brings out Team PCB and Charlotte says that her title match has been moved up to next week, where she can stop Nikki from breaking the record. They brawl and she makes Nikki tap to the figure eight. This was short, to the point and built to the match next week. I do think that they should have the clock on the tron during the match and have it tick down, adding some tension to it. That could be really good.

The main event was New Day and Rollins facing John Cena and the Prime Time Players. This was a fun match. Xavier Woods may top my Fave Five this week, purely for his trombone antics at ringside. He made this a million times better than it actually was. I thought Seth would take the loss, but instead, they had Cena pin Kofi after an AA. That was a better idea and still sold Seth being upset at two losses. Sting then showed up on the tron and destroyed Seth's statue in a trash compactor. So, after last week's dreadful Raw we get another bad episode. The only good thing was the New Day. Everything else was either average, bad or flat out completely dumb. Creative's lack of direction or ability to keep something going really hurts this show on a weekly basis. At least there are two matches for next week's "Season Premiere" that should be fun, but this was a lifeless episode. 3/10