The SmarK Legacy Rant for Monday Night RAW - June 14 1993
- Live from New York.
- Your hosts are Vince, Bobby and Macho.
- Random thoughts before we start:
1. I'm thinking of recreating the star rating system after tonight's So You Think You Can Dance, with ***** on top, DUD at the bottom, negative stars for truly offensive crimes against humanity, and then if something is REALLY bad, "Katie Holmes".
2. So I won a PSP at a work BBQ a couple of weeks back, and I absolutely love it. Smackdown vs RAW 2009 is a surprisingly fun game, annoying control issues aside, but I'm frustrated by the limited number of CAW layers available, which means that I can't create a really badass 1987 Macho Man to kick the shit out of HHH in a "She was (allegedly) mine before she was yours" grudge match or a really good Brock Lesnar for a "I drew more money in 15 minutes of work than 75% of the WWE roster did during the whole fiscal year" showdown with John Cena. Oh well, there's always No Mercy 64 to go back to.
3. Don't forget to check out my new column, "Seven Things in Wrestling That Bug The Crap Out Of Me", in the new Pro Wrestling Press magazine, available for FREE right now at www.thewrestlingpress.com.
4. RAW is finally coming back to Western Canada, as they hit Calgary on August 10 and I figured, what the hell, I might as well go. So look for a live report, although I don't get The Score so don't look for a TV report. Hopefully I don't run afoul of Shane McMahon this time.
OK, we're good now.
- So it's the night after King of the Ring, and a quick look at Yokozuna standing triumphant over Hulk Hogan is basically the last we'll see or hear of the Hulkster on WWF TV for the next 9 years. The times they are a changin'.
Mr. Perfect v. L.A. Gore
Gore tries to get some offense in, but Perfect dropkicks him out of the ring, while Heenan is in his glory describing the defeat of Hulk Hogan. Back in, Perfect throws chops in the corner and follows with the necksnap, and now you're gonna yada yada at 2:33.
Razor Ramon ups his offer to the 1-2-3 Kid to $10,000, as now Randy Savage is putting Ramon over as a great athlete instead of a scumbag. And you know this is a legit offer, because it's a big sack with dollar signs and "10,000" written on it. Do they issue those at banks? Because they really should.
Doink the Clown v. Marty Jannetty
Doink attacks in the corner to start, but Marty slugs back and gets a sloppy faceplant for two. He goes to the armbar, but Doink chops out and puts him down with a shoulderblock. Marty evades a kneelift and gets two, however, and goes back to the armbar. And we take a break. Back with Marty applying another armbar and working the arm, but Doink tosses him for a quick brawl on the floor. Back in, Marty comes off the top with a bodypress for two, but Doink powerslams him. Doink goes with a crossface chickenwing, but that goes nowhere and he hits him with a backdrop suplex. Doink actually does some nice mat wrestling, stretching Marty with a sugar hold, and then he goes up with the WHOOPIE CUSHION~! That move got infinitely lamer once he turned babyface and started using it as a finish. Anyway, that gets two. Doink with the Hangman's Neckbreaker, speaking of cool moves, and he drops down for two. Doink pounds the arm again and goes up, which allows Marty to slam him off and make the comeback. Dropkick and snap suplex gets two. Clothesline gets two. Faceplant gets two, but they tumble to the floor and brawl to a double countout at 8:40. Well at least Marty didn't jump RIGHT into jobbing again. Quite an entertaining match. ***1/4
Owen Hart v. Dan Dubiel
Another crack at a singles push for Owen begins. He works the arm to start while Vince converses with 1-2-3 Kid via the phone. Kind of funny bit as Vince asks what the people of Japan think of Yokozuna's win and Kid goes "Oh yeah, he won the belt!" and Vince corrects him "Yes, he's the CHAMPION" because of course "belt" is a bad word. And then Kid says "Yeah, people were happy to see him win the belt" again, which had to be driving Vince nuts. Owen finishes Dubiel with a missile dropkick and northern lights suplex at 3:45 as Kid finally accepts Razor's challenge.
Undertaker v. PJ Walker
From Superstars for some reason. UT chokes Walker out in the corner and flattens him with a big boot, and the chokeslam kills him dead at 1:08. Sadly, Giant Gonzalez and Mr. Hughes head out and do a Katie Holmes-level beatdown on him and (say it with me) steal the urn. You almost have to feel bad for Undertaker in the 90s, getting stuck with whatever lump they were overpaying that week.
Jerry Lawler v. Mark Thomas
The King is wearing Bret's pink-and-black robe from the night before, kicking off their LOOOOOONG running feud. Lawler pounds away in the corner and puts Thomas down with a clothesline, but misses a fistdrop. Meanwhile, Bobby Heenan announces that Yokozuna will be hosting a competition on July 4 to see which great American hero can slam him. Lawler stalls and yells at the front row to kill time, allowing Thomas to come back with a backdrop, but the piledriver finishes at 3:47.
Next week: Marty Jannetty v. Doink in a 2/3 falls match!
Related Posts:
- The SmarK Legacy Rant for Monday Night RAW – May 24 1993
- The SmarK Legacy Rant for Monday Night RAW – June 21 1993
- The SmarK Legacy Rant for Monday Night RAW – October 4 1993
- The SmarK Legacy Rant for WWF Monday Night RAW – January 18 1993
- The SmarK Legacy Rant for Monday Night RAW – December 27 1993
Tags: Bobby Heenan, Canada, HHH, Hulk Hogan, John Cena, Macho Man, Monday Night RAW, Mr. Perfect, Randy Savage, RAW, Shane McMahon, Smackdown, Sting, The Score, TV, Undertaker, WWE, WWF
One thing that bugs me is how now little kids(and some not so young people) think that the word “title” means a visible piece of metal. It’s a fucking BELT. The “title” is the recognition you get for being a champion. Even if some other guy steals the BELT you still have the TITLE.
Scott, what are your feelings about UT at this time? Watching this show it’s weird how everyone on it is either dead, retired, oer if they’re still wrestling on some high school gym indie show somewhere. Except Undertaker who is still a Main Eventer.
I don’t get why “belt” is such a dirty word to Vince. It sounds corny and forced to make the announcers refer to the belt at the “title” or “championship” all the time, although I guess it’s no more stupid than calling your fans the “WWE Universe”.
My only guess is it’s too “rasslin’” for him?
To continue, it’s just his never-ending quest to make the WWE “beyond wrestling.” Which never works, cause as Jim Cornette said, no matter what they say or do, most people will still refer to the product as “wrestling.”
Speaking of Cornette, BUY THE BOOK! (Seriously, and this goes to Scott, did you buy or are planning to buy the MX Scrapbook? It’s AWESOME.)
Exactly. No one says, “hey, the longest running action adventure show that has been on the air longer than Seinfeld and the Simpsons and had more male viewers than baseball last week is coming to town in a few months. Let’s buy tickets!”
Off-topic but I was just reading The Rick’s new update on OOWrestling and does it annoy anyone else that he uses the word “gravitas” in every goddamn thing he writes? Dude, pick up a thesaurus. Weightiness, substance, seriousness, hauteur are all perfectly acceptable.
Yeah that annoys me, along with Him Turning Everything Into a Capitalized Title, and his Yankees love.
I agree, Katie Holmes was pretty terrible.
Also, I enjoyed the article in PWP. Was this a one-time thing or will you be writing for them every issue?
Apparently it’s the price paid for having her attached to the charity?
Personally, I didn’t find the routine to be horrid, but contrived, boring and not even close to living up to the hype. Doesn’t help when you’ve got stuff like the three Emmy-winning routines preceding it.
Speaking of which, how does Taboleon’s “Bleeding Love” routine get nominated instead of “No Air”, which was so much better.
And speaking of Taboleon, Laurie Ann Gibson’s “Battlefield” routine out-Taboleoned Taboleon, if that makes any sense.
Now that you’ve joined our cult, Scott, I highly suggest three games for the PSP.
1. Star Ocean (First Departure)
2. Monster Hunter 2
3. Dissida: Final Fantasy (check out the demo for free on the PSN)
When I got the PSP I got rid of my DS and most of my DS games. I honestly do not miss it at all.
Speaking as a member of the cult that’s played the Dissida demo……….seriously? Someone honestly thought the Kingdom Hearts combat system was good enough to make a fighting game around it?
I just watched SummerSlam 1993 on 24/7 last night. It’s funny that 1993 was such a good year and a bad year at the same time. The Bret/Lawler stuff was good…Undertaker/Gonzales was bad. The Razor/DiBiase/Kid stuff was fun and created two stars in Razor & the Kid….but Yoko/Luger was boring.
I also realized after watching the show and checking History of WWE that Luger wrestled 2 times between July 4 and SummerSlam. Not on TV, just two times total. Why didn’t they have him beat up some heels? At least at house shows?
And lastly…if its the match I’m thinking of, the 2/3 falls Janetty/Doink match is the bomb.
Big Nasty… do you not remember the LEX EXPRESS? After the slam, they put Luger on the big red, white, and blue tour bus and did TONS of apperances in that thing til SummerSlam. He went to a lot of children’s hospital, military bases, historical sites, and even did Regis and Kathy Lee. They used some of the footage for the “I’ll be your Hero” song they used to build up Lex and at the end of SummerSlam.
No, I remember the Lex Express all too well. I just don’t understand they didn’t have him wrestle on tv a couple times. Seeing a wrestler kiss a baby or pose near the Liberty Bell doesn’t really make me want to root for him.
Like the WWF couldn’t have found some evil foreigners for him to beat up a couple times on Raw?
Oh, and on 24/7, they didn’t show the closing Lex Luger montage after his “win” over Yokozuna. I wonder if that was song rights related. I was bummed.
That song was made by WWE specifically for the Lex Express video, so it belongs to them.
On the Anthology DVDs of Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, and SummerSlam, a lot of the shows are cut off a few seconds eariler than the PPV versions. I have no idea why. In the case of the SummerSlam ‘93 DVD, they end it with Luger celebrating instead of showing the music video (or the hilarious cutback to the arena after the music video where Bobby Heenan begs for some to come help Yokozuna, who is still out cold on the floor).
The Anthology versions are the ones 24/7 shows, so that’s why there’s no music video on the current 24/7 airing of the event.
You know what’s weird…they did show the cutback when Heenan is begging for someone to help Yoko. Is it possible the Lex video was added on the Coliseum video release?
Haha, I love the stupid things I wonder about as a wrestling nerd. I was actually just upset they didn’t show the cheesy video.
I just watched it on 24/7, and the cutback isn’t there. It’s the same edit as on the DVD. Bobby Heenan did call for help before the music video played, but I was talking about what happend after the video.
The cutback doesn’t show Luger at all and doesn’t have commentary from McMahon. After the music video, they cut back to the arena. Yokozuna is shown lying on the floor, when it’s been at least 4-5 minutes since he was hit, and Heenan starts freaking out, begging for someone to help, finishing by saying “My God!” That’s where the live PPV and the Coliseum Video version ended. The Anthology version doesn’t show this or the music video. It just ends with Luger celebrating, and this is the version that’s been shown on 24/7 right now.
What’s really is that the Yoko-Luger match was shown in the Shorties section of 24/7 last year, and at that time, it showed the music video, Heenan’s outburst, and even kept the original “Copyright 1993, TitanSports” graphic on the screen.
Oh yea…now you’ve reminded me where I first saw the video.
I also noticed on the latest viewing how many people leave or just standing there in silence as Luger celebrates. And Vince yelling, “Next time, he’ll DEFINITELY will win the WWF Championship!” in his SundaySundaySunday voice doesn’t help.
Wow, can’t remember the Marty/Doink matches, but it’s a match I’ll love to watch today.
According to History of WWE, this show was taped at the previous week’s Raw, meaning it was taped prior to King of the Ring. Lawler wearing a pink-and-black robe would be a pretty big spoiler if the crowd made the connection.
They did an awesome job of post-production then, because I couldn’t even tell it was a taped show.
Yeah, they did a great job. It’s really hard to distinguish the live Manhattan Center shows from the taped ones just watching them.
Apparently, the schedule went like this:
June 7th:
Live Raw
Taped June 14th Raw
June 13th:
King of the Ring
June 14th and 15th
Wrestling Challenge taping first night, Superstars taping the next