Raw History: Episodes 21-22

Raw History
Episode #21
June 14th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York – Attendance: 1000

Just one night removed from King of the Ring, we get footage of Yokozuna dethroning Hulk Hogan to win the WWF Championship for the second time. Mean Gene interviews Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji. Man these guys desperately need an American promo guy to help out. They say they will celebrate on July 4th, which outrages the patriotic side of Mean Gene.

Commentary tonight consists of Vince McMahon, Macho Man and Bobby Heenan. It must have been recorded recently though because this a taped episode but they discuss the amazing Mr. Perfect/Bret Hart match from the previous night.

Mr. Perfect vs. LA Gore
LA Gore has the most absurd looking mustache. Maybe I’ve mentioned that before, I can’t recall. Perfect is in control but Gore actually gets in some offense. The Perfect Plex ends this one rather quickly.

Winner: Mr. Perfect in 2:45
Not much here, but a win for Mr. Perfect to bounce back from the tough loss at the King of the Ring. SQUASH

Razor Ramon is introduced and he’s carrying a bag like he’s Jake the Snake or something. They bring up the 1-2-3 Kid not wanting to get back in the ring with Razor. Razor calls him “stick mang” which gives me a chuckle. He wants to prove the loss was a fluke and offers $10,000.

Doink the Clown vs. Marty Jannetty
As Doink makes his entrance, he goes under the ring and a clearly different one emerges to spray something at the commentary team. Doink attacks at the bell but Jannetty uses his speed to get the early upper hand. He outsmarts Doink and goes to working the arm as we head to a commercial break. The action spills outside for a brief moment but Jannetty comes back in with a cross body for two. Doink busts out a sweet powerslam and there is paint ALL over Marty’s chest. “Let’s go Doink” chants can be heard as he takes Marty to school on the mat. Doink nails the Whoopee Cushion but it’s not his finisher at this time so it only gets two. Vlad the Superfan is a smooth dude as he has a chick sitting on his lap in the front row. Doink goes to the well too many times and is slammed from the top. Marty gets in a back elbow, dropkick and suplex for two. The match goes outside again and Marty connects on a superkick and hurricanrana as the referee counts to ten.

Double Countout in 9:12
Entertaining match here. Doink has been one the more impressive guys I’ve watched in 1993 and since his return, Marty has been motivated. Good stuff. ***½

Marty Jannetty and Doink continue to brawl after the bell, which leads me to believe we’re getting a nice little TV feud out of this.

Owen Hart vs. Dan Dubiel
Dan Dubiel is a jobber that we’ve yet to see n Raw. Owen Hart is still sporting his absurd parachute pants with the checkered pattern. Vince McMahon mentions that they are trying to get in touch with the 1-2-3 Kid, who is over in Japan. They get in touch with him and he brings up how he’s been getting booked by other promoters. It’s so interesting to hear the WWF acknowledge other wrestling. The Kid accepts the challenge, and why wouldn’t he? The worst that can happen is that he loses, which is no big deal. Owen wins but the focus was on the Kid throughout.

Winner: Owen Hart in 3:50
Not a total squash, which was fine since Owen Hart wasn’t yet high up in the card. His flurry at the end was cool. **

This week on All-American Wrestling, Owen Hart will take on Bastion Booger. Booger is Friar Ferguson, whose gimmick was scrapped after his two awful appearances on Raw.

We now go to extended footage from this past week’s episode of Superstars. The Undertaker took on PJ Walker, who is the future Aldo Montoya and Justin Credible. We get the entire match and entrance before Giant Gonzalez appears. Where was this feud in between WrestleMania and King of the Ring? Not that I miss it, but what happened to continuity. They brawl before Mr. Hughes gets involved, slams Paul Bearer and lays out Undertaker with the urn. I’m not sure what this would lead to, since I don’t remember an Undertaker/Hughes program.

Jerry Lawler vs. Mark Thomas
Commentary points out that Jerry Lawler is wearing black and pink, which is significant since he attacked Bret Hart the previous night. However, he wore it last week so it lessens the impact. The fans are all wearing Burger King crowns. This is your typical dull Lawler affair. Blah.

Winner: Jerry Lawler in 3:51
Completely dull. Jerry Lawler’s WWF stuff nearly always blows. SQUASH

Next week, Raw emanates from Poughkeepsie! They’re always a hot crowd. A big episode is set as Razor Ramon meets the 1-2-3 Kid and we’ll get a rematch between Doink and Marty Jannetty. And its Two out of Three Falls! Sweet.

Overall: 5/10; Mediocre. Another run of the mill show with nothing much happening. The fact that it was prerecorded hurt but we’re starting to get some solid matches on a more consistent basis. Jannetty/Doink was impressive and next week’s card looks solid.

Raw History

Episode #22
June 21st, 1993 – Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, New York – Attendance: 3,000

Our opening highlights the 1-2-3 Kid’s memorable upset over Razor Ramon because we get the rematch tonight. The crowd is Poughkeepsie is red hot as usual as Vince McMahon tells us that it’s the first day of summer. That means SummerSlam is around the corner.

Non-Title Match
WWF Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers vs. Barry Hardy and Reno Riggins
You read that correctly. The Steiner Brothers have finally captured the straps from Money Inc. Interestingly, they won the belts, dropped them back to Money Inc. and took them back again. House Show title changes for the win. The Steiners normally have fun against jobbers and it shows quick when Scott absolutely murders Riggins on a suplex. Rick and Hardy enter and Rick just rams him into the corner. Vince continues to hype the Body Slam Challenge on the 4th of July because both Steiners are going to attempt. Scott comes in and nails a sweet overhead belly to belly suplex on Hardy. He allows Reno to tag back in so he can suplex him too. They botch the Frankensteiner finish though.

Winners: WWF Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers in 3:51
The Steiner Brothers are always a fun team to watch when they demolish jobbers and this was no different. **

Two out of Three Falls Match
Doink the Clown vs. Marty Jannetty
Alright, these two put on a good match last week. Doink comes out riding a unicycle because he’s a boss. Early on, Doink fails to give a tough break and works a headlock while laughing. They do a crisscross spot where Jannetty hits an arm drag. Doink plays great mind games before slamming Jannetty to the mat. Marty does the crisscross thing again but Doink is pissed now and just nails him with a forearm. Vince McMahon hypes up Mr. Hughes’ appearance later, which may ruin a shot that’s been good so far. Jannetty hits a monkey flip for our first near fall. A backslide earns him another but he misses a high risk move in the corner. This allows Doink to hit the Whoopee Cushion and score the first fall at 7:16. After a commercial, the second fall begins. Doink comes out aggressive and Marty takes the signature Bret Hart corner bump. Doink says sorry a bunch while smiling because he’s awesome at playing his character. Randy Savage gets upset when Doink steals his double axe handle to the outside. Back inside, Jannetty starts to rally and hits a suplex. He connects on a SICK sounding superkick but Doink gets his foot on the rope. Jannetty doesn’t let up and hits the top rope fist drop to even the score at 4:38 of the second fall. This has been excellent and it’s time for our final fall. After a stalling atomic drop from Jannetty, Doink takes control and slams his knee on the ring post. He locks in a figure four but Marty turns it over only for Doink to reach the ropes quickly. Doink goes back to the knee, taking out Marty’s high flying offense. Hell, when Marty does a back body drop, his leg gives out, so Doink goes to an STF. Some fantastic selling and submissions here. Doink makes the mistake of going up top, so he’ slammed to the mat. A second Doink runs out and hides under the ring, so Marty searches for him. As he does so, Doink kicks he crap out of him. Inside, Marty barely connects on a dropkick that knocks Doink back out, allowing him to switch out. Well, we think he does but he doesn’t. He’s knocked back outside and switches this time. New Doink nails a piledriver to wrap this thing up. However, Randy Savage reveals the second Doink, so the referee reverses the decision, giving Marty the second fall via disqualification.

Winner: Marty Jannetty in 20:38
Well damn that was a cracker. They went for twenty minutes and almost never slowed the pace. It had technical wrestling, high flying, psychology and selling. A criminally underrated bout that is my Raw match of the year right now. ****

Mr. Hughes w/ Harvey Wippleman vs. Bobby Who
Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan run the “who” jokes. I feel like that’s the only reason he was given this name. Mr. Hughes is one of the worst workers on the roster, but I guess this works as a cool down between big matches. Vince McMahon has the nerve to say that Mr. Hughes can wrestle. Hughes takes long to win because he keeps picking Bobby up. Bossman slam ends it.

Winner: Mr. Hughes in 3:02
Total squash, but I’m going to start rating these because some can be entertaining. This wasn’t. ½*

1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon
If you’ve been following you know that $10,000 is on the line tonight. The 1-2-3 Kid doesn’t even have theme music yet. Right at the bell, Kid gets a sunset flip near fall and the crowd is absolutely electric. They’re popping for everything that he does, which proves the angle of his upset worked to perfection. He makes a crucial mistake by trying a cross body which gets caught into a fallaway slam. Kid is nearly broken in half by a Chokeslam. Razor wants to make Kid suffer though and puts on abdominal stretch before slapping him up to humiliate him. Second rope back suplex from Razor who signals for the finish. However, he throws Kid outside and EXPOSES THE CONCRETE! God, I miss that spot. He wants the Razor’s Edge on it but Kid counters with a back drop. He climbs up for a dive but slips and hits the concrete hard. I have no idea how he’s not concussed. Inside, we get the moonsault spot that ended it last time but it’s not enough. Kid decides to say forget it, as he brags the bag of money and escapes, leading to the double countout. As the bell rings, the camera follows them outside where Kid hops in a cab and leaves.

Double Countout in 5:17
The match itself was pretty fun. Kid bumped like a madman and Razor looked like a dominant star who was pissed. The finish made sense as well so I don’t mind it here. ***

Overall: 9/10; Incredible. Easily the best episode of Raw in history so far. The Steiners killed some jobbers for my entertainment before we got the Raw match of the year in Doink vs. Marty Jannetty. Seriously, go out and watch this and enjoy it for yourself. The main event was a fun angle as well and the only blemish on the show was Mr. Hughes but even that was kept short. I seriously hope for more shows like this down the road.

Top Five 10/5/15-10/11/15

1) Bayley: There honestly could be no other choice. The best match this week, easily, saw Bayley and Sasha Banks make history by main eventing NXT TakeOver: Respect in the first ever female Ironman match. The match wasn't equal to the excellent one they had in Brooklyn, it was still pretty fantastic. They went for 30 minutes, it was never boring and was actually pretty brutal. Bayley is officially solidified as THE woman in NXT now that the other three "Horsewomen" are on the main roster. I think that in both matches, Sasha outperformed her slightly, but Bayley was the winner both times and the matches did their job in being great and putting Bayley over big time. The fact that two women went out and had my second favorite Ironman match in history (only behind Angle/Lesnar) is a phenomenal feat and both girls absolutely should be commended for their efforts.

2) Madison Eagles: While I haven't been able to catch much SHIMMER lately, a big change came this week.Nicole Matthews has reigned at SHIMMER Champion since October of 2014, when she threw a fireball into the face of Madison Eagles to win the gold in a four way match. Their rivalry was hot at the time and a year later, they met in a No Disqualifications match to headline SHIMMER Volume 77. Eagles was able to dethrone Matthews, becoming the second ever two time Champion in the history of the company. Eagles' first reign with the belt was very good and this should be more of the same. For those unaware of her, she trained current NXT star Billie Kay before teaming with her. Eagles is damn good and added to the week by successfully retaining the title on Volume 78 shortly after winning.

3) Sasha Banks: When I originally made this list, I left Sasha Banks off. I thought about the success that other people had during the week and chose to rank them. After thinking it over, I realized that just because Sasha Banks lost at TakeOver: Respect, it doesn't mean she was unsuccessful. She, along with Bayley, certainly made history and she, I believe, outperformed Bayley during the match. Sasha has been giving the big stage several times and has absolutely delivered each and every time. The girl is on another level from any other in company history. She was given an emotional farewell from NXT and should be a major star on the main roster.

4) Finn Balor and Samoa Joe: The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic was a big part of TakeOver: Respect. Baron Corbin and Rhyno defeated Jason Jordan and Chad Gable in the best match of the tournament (and a potential star making performance for Gable and Jordan). Finn Balor and Samoa Joe beat Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson in the Semi-Finals before overcoming Corbin and Rhyno to win the entire tournament. I didn't agree with the booking of the tournament as a whole, but this was an accomplishment that deserved a spot on this list. I'd like to point out how good this week was and I wish I had more than five spots to give some love to Sasha Banks, Asuka and the team of Gable and Jordan.

5) The New Day: I've said it time and time again but it remains true. The best thing about the Raw each week seems to be the New Day. During this week, they showed off a more serious side by viciously attacking Dolph Ziggler before Big E accepted John Cena's US Title Open Challenge. The match itself was decent and Cena retained, but it was what happened next that really helped them make the list. The New Day proceeded to attack Cena. This brought out Ziggler and the Dudeley Boyz, but the New Day would leave all four men laid out in the ring. They got to stand tall to close out Raw, which is something that is only reserved for the top heels in the company. I don't know if I've ever seen a heel turn save a gimmick so well. The New Day went from getting no reaction to top heels in a short period of time.

NJPW King of Pro Wrestling Review

King of Pro Wrestling
October 12th, 2015 | Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan | Attendance: 8,302

Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, Mascara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask def. David Finlay, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu in 8:47
In an interesting start to the show, the young lions attacked their opponents right at the bell. They did a pretty good job playing the heels throughout this. Juice Robinson got more time to shine in this match than usual, which might be because he officially signed a new deal. He seemed more comfortable but still hasn't wowed just yet. The only thing I didn't really like was Taguchi as he's never entertaining. Mascara Dorada was able to get the pin for his team in what I would consider a fun opener. That was all I wanted from this. ***

Tomoaki Honma def. YOSHI-HASHI in 8:55
As usual, Tomoaki Honma was his insanely over self. YOSHI-HASHI is someone that I don't know much about, but I did rather enjoy his singles match against Michael Elgin during the G1 Finals. I also enjoyed this match. It featured the typical Honma fun, which was enjoyable and made better by the aforementioned hot crowd. Honma picked up the victory following a really fun finishing sequence. I suspect he moves into some sort of big match at Wrestle Kingdom since he's so incredibly over. ***1/4

Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata def. Captain New Japan, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata and Kota Ibushi in 12:12
Another standard New Japan multi-man tag team match. Granted, I'm not saying that like it's a bad thing. These are usually solid and this was no different. What impressed me here was seeing these guys go at it like there were big time feuds in the middle of all of this. Shibata and Nagata were absolutely beating on each other throughout. I bought into a fair amount of the false finishes throughout this, even one from Captain New Japan. Think about that. Of course, once he got left in the ring alone though, I knew the finish was coming. The winning team hit him with two double team moves, possibly setting up for the Tag League. I just wish Kota Ibushi was doing more. He's had a fantastic year and deserves something big heading into WK10. ***

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: reDRagon (c) def. Roppongi Vice in 15:21
As I've mentioned before, the Jr. Heavyweight divisions are a bit of a problem point for me. The tag division has been a revolving door of four teams, but the right guys hold the belts right now. reDRagon are a breath of fresh air in this division, breaking up the monotony that the other three teams seem to bring. I enjoyed this match but it wasn't on the level of the last two reDRagon matches against the other two teams in the division. I think some new teams need to be brought in because a lot of this stuff seems to be things we've seen over and over again. There was a cool double leg lock spot between Kyle O'Reilly and Rocky Romero where Bobby Fish and Baretta stomped on their opponents. That was pretty cool. The finish was incredibly awkward though as it seemed like the pin was broken up but the three was counted. **3/4

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega (c) def. Matt Sydal in 15:26
I don't get the love for Kenny Omega and I haven't seen first seeing him in 2009. It's hard to get into his matches as he overacts everything in such a campy way that it's off-putting. It's like, overdoing things in the worst possible way. This division is in DIRE need of some variety. The only Jr. Title matches I've really liked this year were Omega/KUSHIDA at Dominion and KUSHIDA/Ricochet. Still, the division is really only Omega, KUSHIDA, Sydal and sometimes Ricochet. They need some new talent, especially a technician similar to how Dean Malenko helped the WCW cruiserweights. Anyway, the match itself wasn't very good. I've seen some people give it more than four stars and I'm confused. Omega controlling the match was dull and the crowd did not care, which is probably due to the lackluster division. The finish was pretty cool though, picking up steam and keeping Sydal strong. Still, not a match that I would go out of my way to see. **1/2

Kazushi Sakuraba, Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano def. Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson in 7:03
This was mainly here to build towards the eventual Shinsuke Nakamura/Karl Anderson Intercontinental Title match. It was kept short and entertained throughout. Anderson was playing the dick heel very well, shouting at commentary that Nakamura sucks. These guys did their work, Toru Yano was his comedic self and rolled up Fale to win. Simple, but effective. I really do hope that the Anderson/Nakamura program is a bridge to Nakamura/Styles at Wrestle Kingdom. They are the only guys to have never faced of the "big four" in NJPW. ***

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii def. Togi Makabe in 17:54
Going into this show, I was not looking forward to this match. Tomohiro Ishii and Togi Makabe have wrestled more than enough this year and none of them really stood out to me. However, they were on their game in this one. I feel like this was their best match together this year. As one would expect in a match between these two, they beat the fuck out of each other. Ishii even busted out Makabe's King Kong knee drop at one point. For the most part, they didn't do anything really new, but something about this just worked. Ishii was able to take back the title and Tomoaki Honma came out after the bout. Hopefully this sets up one more Ishii/Honma match, maybe in the Tokyo Dome, as they work magic together. ****

Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Tetsuya Naito in 19:54
I have to commend the excellent video package that aired before the match, going all the way back to the finals of the G1 Climax in 2013. Two men in suits and masks came out, with one being Tetsuya Naito and the other not revealing himself, but staying at ringside. They worked a slow build match, with Naito being fantastic as the dick heel once again. He just nails this in a way that not many people are nailing their characters. This was moving into great status when we got a ref bump. The second man revealed himself to be Takaaki Watanabe. They beat on Tanahashi until Shibata and Goto run out, giving us a brawl. During this scuffle, Tanahashi won with the High Fly Flow. Really good match hampered by the interference in the end. ***3/4

IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) def. AJ Styles in 30:15
There have been plenty of matches between these two men, but the two that I have seen were in the G1 Climax 24 and at Dominion. I thought the former was good and the latter was great, in my top 10 matches this year. I'd put this match in the middle of those. Similar to the last match, there was a fair amount of Bullet Club involvement throughout. I get that they're heels, I really do, but it ends up hurting the match when it is overdone. That's what made their Dominion match so good. The interference was kept to a relative minimum. As usual with Okada matches, this was good but didn't cross into great territory until the finishing sequence. Again, it wasn't on the level of the finish at Dominion, but was pretty great and saw Okada win with three Rainmakers. ****

Overall: 8/10. A really good effort from New Japan again. I've noted it before and a lot of people share this feeling, but the in ring work nearly always delivers with this company, while the booking is sometimes strange. I agreed with most of the decisions here and overall, the show delivers. The only things that I thought were skippable were the Jr. matches. Nothing was MOTY level, but there were two really damn good matches, surrounded by mostly fun stuff.

NJPW King of Pro Wrestling Predictions

As I did with my Destruction in Kove predictions, I won't be predicting the entire card, but just the bigger matches.

The first featured match pits two guys who don't particularly have the best win/loss record. I haven't seen much of YOSHI-HASHI's work, but I've seen a lot of Tomoaki Honma. He went winless in the 2014 G1 Climax, but his performances and efforts made him a crowd favorite. He nearly went winless this year again, but managed to defeat rival Tomohiro Ishii in the tournament. YOSHI-HASHI is stablemates in Chaos with Ishii. It'll be tough to pick a winner here, since it's hard to pick either as a winner ever, but I'm going with the undeniably popular Honma.

Winner: Tomoaki Honma

The IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship has been hotshotted back and forth very often since I started watching NJPW. reDRagon to the Young Bucks to Roppongi Vice back to the Young Bucks and now back to reDRagon. Personally, I want the titles to stay on reDRagon. They are a breath of fresh air and break up the monotony of the division, bringing something different to the table. They are also, in my humble opinion, the best tag team in pro wrestling today. Now, I do like Roppongi Vice and, with the booking of the division, I can totally see them leaving with the belts, but I'm picking the titles to stay home. I have to be optimistic.

Winners: reDRagon 

Speaking of hot shotting titles, we come to the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship. KUSHIDA won the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament and dethroned Kenny Omega to become champion. That should have been the start of a great run with the strap for KUSHIDA. Instead, he lost the title at Destruction back to Omega, setting the division back to where it started and giving us next to no forward movement. Matt Sydal is the challenger here, having just made his New Japan debut in some impressive matches. Sydal pinned Omega in Kobe, so I see Omega defeating him with Bullet Club shenanigans here.

Winner: Kenny Omega

While this title hasn't gone back and forth the way that the Jr. Titles have, it has pretty much involved the same dudes all year. Tomohiro Ishii lost the title to Togi Makabe, who then vacated it due to injury. Ishii won it there, only to lost it back to Makabe and lose the rematch. These two have faced off very often and it's never exactly what I would call a must see match. I'm not really looking forward to this but I kind of see Ishii winning the title here. Or at least, I hope he does. Maybe it can lead to one final Honma/Ishii match for the title.

Winner: Tomohiro Ishii

Hiroshi Tanahashi won the G1 Climax this year, getting himself an IWGP Heavyweight Title at Wrestle Kingdom in the Tokyo Dome. He has to defend that shot against the men who beat him during the tournament. So far, he avenged his loss to Bad Luck Fale at Destruction and now has to face Tetsuya Naito. I've grown to really love Naito's heel persona and would honestly love to see him win here. A heel Naito beating Kazuchika Okada at WK10 by countering the Rainmaker into Desinto and then reigning with the belt while being a total dick would be excellent. That won't happen though. Tanahashi wins here so he can officially put over Okada in the Dome.

Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi

Another match that has happened multiple times is our main event. AJ Styles gets a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Kazuchika Okada. These are two of the three men who have traded the title over the past four or five years. Okada won the strap from AJ back in July in one of my favorite matches of the year. Their interactions in multiple tag team matches this year have also managed to deliver, so this should be another excellent match. The main issue is that it's another where the outcome seems fairly obvious. Still, I'm excited for it.

Winner: Kazuchika Okada

Random Match Reviews: Low Ki vs. Samoa Joe

Show: Glory by Honor
Date: 10/5/02
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

For my first random review of a Ring of Honor match, I had this match recommended to me. It's from the early days of Ring of Honor, coming in their first year. It also happens to be the debut of Samoa Joe, who would go on to become an icon of the company. He was brought in as a hired gun for the Prophecy to take out Low Ki. For a debut match, this was arguably the best way to go for Joe. The match was something that, at least I, wasn't really accustomed to seeing from something in 2002. They went at it in what seemed like an MMA style war, featuring tons of strikes. I feel like it had to have been different from anything else on the card. They legit just beat the fuck out of each other for the entire match, with the shots getting more and more brutal by the minute. Admittedly, this isn't for everyone. There were two parts in particular that made me cringe a bit. First, Joe lands rough on a suplex and second, he just takes several kicks right to the face, not blocking a single one. As for why it was such a good debut, it showed that Samoa Joe was not only a serious threat, taking someone like Low Ki to the limit and we saw that he was something completely different.

Match Time - 16:26 ****

Raw History: Episodes 19-20

Raw History
Episode 19
May 31st, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

Jim Duggan opens the show with a patriotic speech outside of the arena because it’s Memorial Day. He looks ridiculous standing outside in his onesie.

WWF Intercontinental Championship
Marty Jannetty (c) w/ Sensational Sherri vs. Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Luna Vachon
Bigelow and Luna is probably about as perfect a pairing as you could get in wrestling, while Marty Jannetty didn’t fit alongside Sherri. Oh well, at least it continued the Sherri/Luna rivalry and Sherri attacks her before the match even begins. While they’re being broken up, Bigelow attacks Jannetty to kick things off officially. He is in firm control until Marty hits an odd looking forearm. He gets two with a top rope one but runs into the classic bearhug. Bigelow places Marty on the tope but he comes off with a weird head scissors attempt that came off wrong. He does another but his third is countered into an electric chair drop of sorts. Bigelow continues to impress and was always one of the more agile big men in history. Marty begins to make the face rally but Bigelow stops him with a backbreaker. Sherri cheats for him by pulling his leg and when he goes to hit her, is knocked outside. Baseball slide and dive outside follow from Marty. The champion gets inside, but a Sherri distraction leads to a countout.

Winner via countout: Marty Jannetty in 9:06
There was potential here but Marty was sloppy throughout. Bigelow did his best, but it was tough when the face is doing things that come off bad. Still better than most Raw matches though.**¾

Bigelow attacks Marty after the match and we go to commercial. Returning, Sherri screams into the microphone that she wants Luna Vachon one on one. Luna answers, they brawl and Bigelow comes out to help Luna. Of all people, Tatanka makes the save. Well Sherri did manage him at WrestleMania so I guess it makes sense.

The Steiner Brothers vs. The Executioner and Rich Myers
This Executioner is not to be confused with the one from the 80’s or Terry Gordy during the Undertaker/Mankind feud in 1996. Commentary continues to hype the eight man tag set for the King of the Ring. I still don’t understand why it’s not the Steiners getting a Tag Team Title shot. Bobby Heenan calls Rich Myers a ham and egger, but Vince McMahon reminds him that a “ham and egger” beat Razor Ramon last week. This is all Steiners, which is how it should be.

Winners: The Steiner Brothers in 4:14
Completely one sided, but I will admit, it sure is fun to see the Steiners kill these guys. SQUASH

Mr. Hughes vs. Bert Centeno
Okay, Bert Centeno is a totally new jobber. A “Mr. Hughes, tie my shoes” chant begins, which just makes me love a New York crowd a little bit more. Actually, a “Hogan sucks” chants breaks out, but Vince tries to cover it as “Heenan sucks”. Hughes dominates, but I never saw the appeal in him. Commentary is plugging the King of the Ring Hotline like it’s the WWE Network.

Winner: Mr. Hughes in 3:01
Mr. Hughes sucks. SQUASH

Mean Gene brings us the King of the Ring Report. None of the news brought to us is new.

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs. Mark Thomas
Oh gee, look. It’s gonna be another squash. Before the match, we get our classic ICOPRO and WWF figures commercials. This is literally all Hacksaw as he does a powerslam and suplex before the big three point stance clothesline ends this.

Winner: Jim Duggan in 2:23
Blah. Another day, another lopsided match. I guess he needed a win heading into the King of the Ring. SQUASH

After the bell, Jim Duggan brings the American flag in and we do the Pledge of Allegiance. Even Bobby Heenan participates because I guess patriotism is not something to mess with.

The 1-2-3 Kid cuts an interview about the offer Razor Ramon made to him. The offer has been raised to $5000. 1-2-3 Kid doesn’t accept because he’s scared of the consequences. He struggled through this.

Razor Ramon vs. Tony Roy
Macho Man and the fans are doing the “1-2-3” chant to get under Razor’s skin. Tony Roy gets an INCREDIBLY close near fall with a roll up. I’m glad they went with the false finish route. Razor takes him down with a clothesline but suffers another near fall. A superplex and Razor’s Edge finishes this.

Winner: Razor Ramon in 3:28
Razor Ramon dominates, but I liked the two false finishes. He needed this following the 1-2-3 Kid stuff. SQUASH

Yokozuna appears and he supposedly just made it to the building. He’s scheduled for the King’s Court next week but Mr. Fuji is out waving the Japanese flag which infuriates Vince McMahon. Mr. Fuji just basically says that at King of the Ring, Hulkamania will die.

Overall: 5.5/10; Decent. I liked the Intercontinental Title match though it could have been better. Everything else was just squash matches but they all made sense this week. Mr. Hughes, Razor and Duggan are all going into the King of the Ring and the Steiners have to be the next Tag Team Champions. Right?

Episode 20
June 7th, 1993 – Manhattan Center in Manhattan, New York

Tonight’s broadcast opens with a random announcer introducing the new WWF Intercontinental Champion, Shawn Michaels! He must have won the title back on Superstars or a live event or something. He is flanked by a large man that we could come to know as Diesel.

Non-Title Match
WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels w/ Diesel vs. Ross Greenberg
We get no introduction of the guy he’s facing. Vince McMahon informs us that Shawn Michaels won the belt last night in Albany back from Marty Jannetty. He then tells us this guy’s name, as he gets a one count when he does a small package. Throughout the match, commentary is trying to figure out Diesel’s name. Shawn busts out the top rope elbow and this might be the earliest I’ve ever seen it. He wins with a piledriver.

Winner: WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels in 3:51
An expected one sided bout. Wait, this was a title match? The announcer makes it seem as such. SQUASH

King of the Ring Report time as we now add Shawn Michaels vs. Crush to the card. What happened to Mr. Perfect vs. Shawn Michaels? I feel like we were clearly headed towards that. Back to ringside and Shawn Michaels complains to the commentary booth about having to defend the belt against a 300 pound Hawaiian this Sunday.

Adam Bomb w/ Johnny Polo vs. El Matador
So, Adam Bomb’s intro now has the addition of trash looking footage of an explosion. They focus on Adam’s contacts, which look incredibly cool for the time period. I like this booking as I expect it to get Adam a win, but it won’t be a squash because people know who El Matador is. In classic Heenan fashion, he calls Matador Desi Arnez. Matador is attempting to wrestle his much bigger opponent. He gets a near fall with a rollup but runs into an uppercut. Both guys continue to trade stuff and Matador gathers some near falls. He tries another rollup but Adam holds on and he hits the mat hard. Adam goes to the apron and slingshots in with a flying clothesline to win.

Winner: Adam Bomb in 5:32
I was pleasantly surprised by this. It wasn’t ground breaking or anything, but it did a better job of establishing Adam Bomb than squashing a jobber would. Plus, the slingshot finish was innovative for the time considering his size. **½

Tatanka vs. Peter Weeks
Good lord, another Tatanka match? I swear, in 20 episodes, I’ve watched like 15 Tatanka matches. They are giving out fake Tomahawks in the crowd and the Tomahawk chop begins. I laugh at the Mets fans in this New York crowd doing the signature cheer of the Atlanta Braves. Weeks is a hefty fella, but Tatanka has no problem with him. Weeks get beaten down for the whole match, does one move, which somehow causes Tatanka to “Hulk Up”. Really? Tatanka wins.

Winner: Tatanka in 3:14
If you’ve seen one Tatanka squash, you know how this went. Blah. SQUASH

Near the side of the entrance, a small setup has been constructed for the King’s Court. Jerry Lawler shows up in pink, which is odd but he should have worn this during his rivalry with Bret Hart down the line. He badmouths New York City for a bit before introducing Yokozuna. I think your first guest should maybe be someone who speaks English. Just a thought. I guess Mr. Fuji does the talking but his English isn’t great either. Lawler’s material was even outdated back in 1993. Fuji brags that Yokozuna is up to 550 lbs. because he eats 15 meals a day. I don’t think this is a sound strategy.

Rick Steiner and Billy Gunn w/ Scott Steiner and Bart Gunn vs. IRS and Fatu w/ Ted Dibiase, Samu and Afa
As stated, these eight men will meet in a big tag match at King of the Ring. The Headshrinkers are eating WWF Ice Cream Bars, causing Heenan to claim they get through the ice cream to make it to the stick. This is billed as a mixed tag match which made me giggle. Fatu and Billy start, reminding me that in about six years both guys would reach their peaks. Rick gets the tag and shows off his impressive strength, while IRS wants to avoid him. IRS does get the tag and seems winded even though he’s done next to nothing. IRS is knocked outside and he takes out Fatu, causing dissension between the two heel teams as we go to commercial. During the break the Headshrinkers are paid off but they just eat the money. Rick gets worked over for a bit now, which is surprising as they are the more over team. Billy gets the hot tag and comes in hot, resulting in him being called a one man gang. See, that’s why he became Akeem. IRS gets in a cheap shot and pins Billy.

Winners: IRS and Fatu in 7:59
Decent main event as it put the focus on the Tag Team Titles. Money Inc. needs to drop the titles soon but this was fine. **¼

Next week’s show is hyped, which features Doink vs. Marty Jannetty, and Mr. Perfect and Jerry Lawler in action. Razor Ramon appears for an interview and he announces that the 1-2-3 Kid has agreed to face him for $7500. According to Vince, this hasn’t been confirmed and he also states that only 7% of the fans believe Razor will beat Bret Hart in the King of the Ring Tournament. The Hotline = precursor to WWE App.

Overall: 5.5/10; Decent. Not a bad episode by any means. While it only did an okay job of building King of the Ring, it wasn’t riddled with squash matches. Shawn Michaels got to be featured, and the Adam Bomb/El Matador match was better than expected. Our main event tag match was decent and the only real blemish was Tatanka.