The SmarK Legacy Rant for Monday Night RAW - December 13 1993
- Live from Poughkeepsie, NY.
- Your hosts are Vince McMahon & James E. Cornette.
Randy Savage v. Fatu
So I guess Savage is now officially out of retirement again to build up for the Crush match at Wrestlemania. Fatu slugs away to start, but Savage rams his head into the mat. Well that ndoes nothing, so we get the cool spot where Fatu no-sells it and superkicks Savage in response. Macho bumps out of the ring and they brawl on the floor for a bit, with Savage meeting the stairs as a result. Back in, Fatu drops a headbutt for two. He tosses Savage and hits him with the SHRUNKEN HEAD OF DOOM for two, but Savage makes his usual comeback with a clothesline and the big elbow for the pin at 5:50. Usual Savage babyface formula here, as the people go nuts for him whether he's trying or not. *1/2
The Smoking Gunns v. Steve Smyth & Jim Massenger
The Gunns hit Smyth with a double legsweep and a Rockerplex, while Captain Lou scouts talent at ringside. Bart works on the arm of Massenger, but the jobber comes back with weak shoulderblocks in the corner. Bart DDTs him and brings in Billy with a top rope bulldog to finish at 2:46. If they were doing the "Which team will Albano mentor?" gimmick, I'm kind of surprised they didn't go with an obvious choice like the Gunns, rather than the out-of-left-field payoff we got instead.
Last week, Shawn Michaels and Diesel beat the hell out of Razor Ramon.
IRS v. Todd Mata
In a historic moment, we finally see the contents of IRS' briefcase, and it turns out that he's carrying Razor Ramon's gold around with him. Something's gonna happen to him now, I bet. Irwin with the snapmare and legdrop, and he puts Mata down with a back elbow and drops one. Mata comes back with a sunset flip for two, but IRS dumps him and brings him back in with a backdrop suplex for the pin at 1:43.
Meanwhile, Yokozuna has a nightmare about being nice to kids while working as Santa Claus.
The Undertaker v. J.S. Storm
We take a break and return with UT tossing Storm and sending him into the stairs. Back in, Taker hangs the jobber in the tree of woe and beats on him while the announcers discuss the upcoming casket match between Undertaker and Yokozuna. Cornette's view: "It's gonna be bad." Truer words have never been spoken. Chokeslam and tombstone finish at 1:55.
Jeff Jarrett…now in montage form! Apparently we've run out of silly country music promos, so it's time for him to finally debut next week.
Rick Martel v. Tim McNeany
Martel slugs on McNeany, but gets hiptossed. Bodypress gets two. Martel slams him and stomps away, but the jobber gets two with a small package. McNeany with a sunset flip for two, but he charges and hits boot. Martel with a front facelock and a clothesline, but McNeany catches Martel with his head down. Martel avoids a charge, however, and finishes with the Boston crab at 3:00.
Meanwhile, on Superstars, Owen Hart sits down for an interview with Vince, and challenges Bret to a match.
Bret Hart v. The Brooklyn Brawler
Bret works on the arm while Cornette accuses Vince of always taking Bret Hart's side in disputes. Oh, the irony. Bret with a bodypress for two and back to the armbar. Brawler tries to slam out to no avail, but goes to the eyes and chokes away in the corner. Slam and he goes up, but Bret was faking and slams him off. Bret drops the leg and gets the legsweep. Second rope elbow gets two. Backbreaker and Sharpshooter finish at 4:15.
Next week: Men on a Mission! Owen Hart! Jeff Jarrett! Tatanka v. Ludvig Borga!
Related Posts:
- The SmarK Legacy Rant for Monday Night RAW – March 1 1993
- The SmarK Legacy Rant for Monday Night RAW – July 26 1993
- The SmarK Legacy Rant for Monday Night RAW – November 15 1993
- The SmarK Legacy Rant for Monday Night RAW – February 28 1994
- The SmarK Legacy Rant for Monday Night RAW – June 7 1993
Tags: Bret Hart, Jeff Jarrett, Monday Night RAW, Randy Savage, RAW, Santa Claus, Shawn Michaels, Undertaker, Vince McMahon, Wrestlemania
Oh, you know IRS is in trouble, because every time Razor hands off his gold he gives the point along with some words of reassuring harm should this guy make off with them. How much does a gold razor go for, anyway?
So, did Raw hit a period where it was nothing but just superstars against jobbers? These shows have degenerated over the year [1993]
- Caliber
Hey, kids. I made a msg board for all the Blog of Doom fans, give us a place to freely get our wrasslin’ talk on. Dig it, baby. Dig it.
http://wrassliniscool.proboards.com/index.cgi
Did you actually never watch professional wrestling before 2000, or do you just pretend to be ignorant as part of a troll gimmick?
What the heck is wrong with asking “So, did Raw hit a period where it was nothing but just superstars against jobbers? These shows have degenerated over the year [1993]” after Scott’s rant? Christ, should we screen all our questions through you before we post?
Didn’t you know, Chad is the self-proclaimed expert on who is acceptable to post and be a wrestling fan or not. God forbid anyone who might not be as familiar with the product ask a question or have an opinion.
I’m confused why some folks are busting “Caliber’s” balls. I’ve been posting on Scott’s blog a long ass time, been through the “cruise trolls” and “mrobert21″ debacle; and Caliber seems like an ok guy. Just one man’s opinion.
“I’m confused why some folks are busting “Caliber’s” balls.”
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that he’s an obvious troll, and the blowhards of the pseudo-smart “IWC” like Comdookie always seems to line up to fall for blatant pretenders.
dude, because we argued about statistics on ppvs, you are going to show your maturity level and call me dookie? Sad. Grow up, plain and simple. Grow the fuck up.
Take your own advice, and stop being a mark for troll gimmicks that wouldn’t have cut the mustard on RSPW ten years ago. Otherwise, you’re a puppet that can easily be made to dance.
It seems we have hit that point in ‘93. But it started me thinking about the real importance of squash matches.
I happened to flick on ECW Tuesday night and saw the tag match squash for the debuting team whose names I can’t remember. It was great to see that formula utilized. I can’t remember the last time I saw a segment where all the emphasis was just on debuting a new team without it starting some sort of angle. I haven’t watched regularly in a few years, though.
It was just nice not to have to digest too much and that is the way I think the TV, or at least part of it, should be.
yeah squashes served their purpose, but I don’t think fans are willing to go back to those days. Nitro and Bischoff took the genie out of the bottle and there is no putting it back. I have mixed feelings on it. On one hand squash matches got guys over and kept feuds fresh. On the other hand it’s nice to see top guys square off on free TV. It’s also possible to argue that the top guys working against each other on Raw and Nitro helped spark the wrestling boom of the late 90s. But it does take away the “specialness” of the ppvs. I always looked forward to SNME because you got to see top guys wrestle. In fact I remember Primetime being a must watch in 1987 because you got see “big” matches like Paul Roma and Greg Valentine squaring off.
The biggest match that ever takes place on free television should be one main eventer vs. a high mid-carder. Giving away main event performers in main event matches (especially gimmick matches with no build or reasoning) makes PPV matches seem meaningless. When it first started happening in WCW it was nowhere near as bad as it is now. Each and every week we have main event matches on RAW. This week the Superstar of the Year, the biggest heel in the company Chris Jericho took on the undisputed king of WWE, the biggest merchandise seller Triple H.
Besides that, the biggest problem is that these feuds are getting exhausted. John Cena has had more matches against Triple H on television since 2005 than Hulk Hogan had matches on television from 1986 to 1990. That’s a proven fact based on my own research. Same goes for Orton/Cena and Orton/Triple H.
The main eventers are being over exposed. There’s no mystery or excitement for the fans at home when these guys are wrestling every week and making multiple appearances per show. What happened to using them to build the show? Remember when you’d see graphics and whatnot for a main eventer all throughout the show? You thought “He’s coming! He’s coming!” while watching other Superstars. The first match you saw was some jobber vs. a low carder, not an interview featuring a shitload of main eventers.
It makes a lot of sense when you look at the recent RAW ratings and how they are decreasing as the show goes on.
Agreed. But how do you put the genie back in the bottle? The fans have come to expect it. Part of it is the nature of the 12 ppvs a year. You have to have guys feud for longer periods or put the feuds on hyperdrive. As a result we get tired of the top stars. How often did Hogan appear on TV back in the 80s? It was a big deal. Maybe 5 squash matches a year, I would guess. Add in a few promos (nowhere near weekly) and the SNME stuff. Look at the slowburn they did with Orndorf and Hogan or Savage and Hogan. The andre/Hogan feud lasted for over a year. All because we didn’t see Hogan and Andre wrestling each other or in some form of tag match every single week. But when ratings were king, Vince and Eric were throwing out whatever they could to attract fans. Title changes on Monday nights, top matches, ppv matches given away like Goldberg/Hogan. And I just don’t see fans willing to go back to seeing Cena once a month and seeing HHH beating Johny Jobber each week.
I may be wrong about this, but I’ve always wondered if reducing the ppvs to 6 per year and letting feuds run longer might increase buyrates to a point where 6 ppvs (remember you save on the costs of the 6 ppvs you don’t do too) would be more profitable than 12. It would certainly make each ppv a bigger event like the old days when there were only 5 or even less.
“Agreed. But how do you put the genie back in the bottle?”
I think you could do it the same way they weened the audience off of the high-impact, hardcore, everybody kicking out of/stealing each others’ finishers style of the Attitude era and, through guys like Angle, Benoit, Lesnar, Guerrero, etc. conditioned the fans to get into the ground, mat-based style and accept a working style that was lower-impact, less reliant upon weapons, and where finishers/foreign objects meant something again.
Just start integrating jobber matches into Raw one by one. Start out by still giving fans high caliber main events, with jobber matches littered in between your usual feud progression, promos, and #1 contender matches. Then phase out a different element one at a time and replace them until fans are conditioned to accept that that’s how the product simply is now. Replace title matches with contests between top contenders. Build up the new guys or reinvigorate existing superstars via squash matches. Give interview time or a vignette/segment to a guy that wouldn’t normally get one. Have sit-down interviews. Hell, bring back “Special report” and highlight a feud that might not get A-show coverage. Then main event the show with an upper midcarder or plain old midcarder (but a credible one) taking on a main eventer. For spice, make it a tag match. If there’s a midcard title match, such as tag team or US/IC, give it the main event slot. The viewership plateaus by 10:00pm anyhow.
I mean really, the viewership for the product has basically plateaued anyway. People will watch no matter what. But people aren’t going to buy PPVs no matter what, and the idea that “oh well, even if nobody buys TLC, EVERYONE buys the Royal Rumble, and everybody buys Summerslam, and nobody would DARE think about not buying WRESTLEMANIA, so we’re good.” Because buyrates for all of those shows have been slowly, but surely, on the downtrend. Time to make PPV matches feel important again.
It would be interesting to see if it worked. I just don’t think with the built in profit they have now and being a public company that they are willing to take that risk. I would love to see more of the profiles they used to do, showing guys working out or sit down interviews like the one with Foley. That advances characters and feuds without putting guys in the ring. But my gut says that it wouldn’t work because of the way fans have been conditioned. Even if you did it gradually at some point the the demographic they have been shooting for lately would complain that Cena wasn’t on the show every week wrestling big matches.
I started watching wrestling in May of 1995. It must have been the Raw after the first In Your House, because I was flipping through the channels, and saw this dude with a jerri curl, and pink and black tights beating the hell out of this guy dressed like a King who was sitting at an announcing booth. The guy with the jerri curl was swearing, and being all crazy. It was the greatest thing I’d ever seen.
So, that’s when I started watching. I’ve never had the access to watch the older Raws.
Also, Chad, if you would stop eating your monitor for a second, you might have the ability to see that all of your posts as of late have just been you, following me around, and trying, in vain might I add, to insult me. All I do is talk wrestling with the guys around here. I understand people really dig your wit, as it’s about as sharp as your gut, but if anyone is eating Billy Goat Scruff around here, it’s you, Slimfast. Now go read my website, learn how to actually be funny and entertaining, and stop clogging up Scott’s site with your pointless, boring, crap. Later.
- Batman
http://scrublife.wordpress.com – Oh, I’ve got The Top 5 Wrestling Video Games, recapping when Robocop saved Sting, oh, and horror movies, I talk about those too. Dig it.
Just in case anyone really needs the troll status of “Caliber Winfield” confirmed…
http://groups.google.com/group/rec.sport.pro-wrestling/browse_thread/thread/b8329e08e92a5f21#
Good job, genius.
I’d just like to point out that while anyone can troll a website, doing so while simultaneously stealing Simon Dean’s gimmick takes, um…..something.
I for one am entertained.
Dude, bragging about having “someone going” is ultra weak.
As near as I can tell this guy’s worst crime is listing Blink 182 as one of his favourite bands, why so much rage?
I meant this as a reply up top.
lmao.
Damn funny.
Awww, I really miss the Superstars match of the week feature.
to ChadBryant. This will be my last post to you. If anyone is a troll it’s you. I’m not sure how I’ve become attached to Caliber’s name other than the fact that you got embarassed by me in that discussion on ppv buyrates on Halloween Havoc 98. You have a personal vendetta against me since then. Fine. Feel free. But I, along with several other people are merely pointing out that Caliber has every right to post just like you or I. I have seen nothing from him that makes me think he is a troll in the slightest. Not everyone has the same level of wrestling knowledge. I applaud him for being man enough to ask questions and not pretend to know everything. I suggest you stop the personal attacks on myself, Caliber, or anyone else and try discussing wrestling.
You “embarrass” nobody but yourself, ‘dookie. Your buyrate rant was hysterical (especially thinking that your satellite dish in the midst of California’s toilet was something special). The fact that you can’t see an obvious troll is proof positive both of your ignorance and your status as a latecomer to the so-called “IWC”. Maybe you should try educating yourself before to attempt to “discuss” anything with anyone who has an IQ over 90.
Moving on to non-retarded matters, the next few weeks of programming after this will be Savage’s last televised wrestling appearances for the WWF, as he was pretty much put out to pasture after WMX.
Yeah, I never understood why WWF thought Savage was through so early. I think his work with WCW and Flair proved that he could still go and that he was still marketable. Maybe it was a cost thing, I’m not sure.
Pretty simple; Vince wanted Savage to be content with the “special attraction” role he had originally planned for Hogan (which Hogan also shot down).
Then again, if you consider the time period in which all of this took place, and note the difference in Savage’s physique between WMX and his WCW debut (less than 9 months apart), you can probably figure out the real issue.
Good point. Many of the stars were having to get off steroids at this point. I understand the special attraction thing, but I just don’t know that Savage was the guy for it. Hogan worked because his act was tired and he had the whole bad movie gig going. Savage could still work and he wasn’t booked as so dominating like Hogan that he couldn’t work normal feuds and put guys over. Just my take, but I think Vince could have squeezed a couple more years out of him and used him to help make Hart, HBK, even Nash or Razor.
I think ultimately, Savage was better off in WCW, if only for the fact that he probably made more money inside of his five-or-so years there than he ever did during the rest of his career, and now has no need to go crawling back to Vince for a discount payday. Of course, we now have to deal with the World’s Worst Urban Legend to “explain” his WWF departure, but that’s better than if we had to hear another sad story of a broke wrestler sticking around too long told about Savage.
I also wasn’t thrilled with his DVD set. Great matches, solid promos, but I would have loved more of a documentary or career retrospective. Not a big fan of Maria hosting either.
Yeah, I didn’t enjoy Striker or Maria. Striker does a fine Macho impression, but would it have killed them to just have Mean Gene do it? Or at least throw a few bucks towards some stars of the past.
I was just stoked to get the Flair match from WM7.
I’m not sure what else I would have liked from Macho, but I’m sure Scott could drum up quite a list of great stuff.
They probably didn’t do the documentary because Savage is not in good standing with McMahon, although if they did do a documentary it may have been a hatchet job like the Ultimate Warrior one was.
Oh I’m sure that’s why there was no documentary. With no Savage involvement (for whatever reason that he is on bad terms with WWE) they weren’t going to do a documentary. And I’m sure Vince isn’t going to burn bridges with Savage by doing a hatchet job, nor would the fans accept one for Savage. I would have liked to see various wrestlers comment on his career though, and I’m not sure why they couldn’t go that route. I’m sure there is no shortage of guys in WWE, past and present, who would be willing to talk about Savage’s influence.
One of these days we should get a topic on DVD sets we would like to see. Off the top of my head I would love to see 2nd sets for Austin (more WCW stuff in particular), Rock, Savage, and Bret. In the never going to happen category I could go for sets for Angle and Lesnar, and another Foley set. And I wouldn’t mind some sets for guys like Tito, Greg Valentine, Hall, Nash, the Steiners, or Steamboat.
We’ll get a WWE-produced Angle DVD sooner or later – he’s destined to return at some point. If they wait long enough, it’ll have TNA matches on it, too.
You think Vince would bother to purchase the TNA library once they go under? I guess if he can get it for the prices he paid for ECW and WCW he would. As much it sucks to have one guy writing the history of the sport, it is also nice to get career retrospectives that can cover different places.
Something clicked in Vince’s head around the time of the WCW buyout that has him convinced that it is his destiny to own every frame of professional wrestling footage known to man. Not even ten years later, very little U.S. or Canadian footage that exists in any marketable form has eluded him.
So there might be a good market for the St. Louis and Mid-South UWF footage then since he hasn’t been able to get either of those yet?
As for sets I’d like to see, I’d love a Chris Jericho one but apparently WWE just isn’t ready to do one yet for whatever reason.
WWE is negotiating a deal for the Mid-South/UWF footage, if only to cut off a certain pirating scumbag who did/does offer a “Jim Ross blooper tape” compiled from unaired footage.
WWE already owns a fair amount of what still exists of the St. Louis footage from purchasing other territorial archives. Before 1984, most NWA members openly shared tapes.
I don’t see anything wrong with Vince having the biggest library of professional wrestling footage as long as it means we continue to get sets like we’ve gotten this past year. Give TNA some time with Hogan and Vince should be able to have that, too.
And I second the Chris Jericho DVD set. The man is brilliant and I would pay the price of admission for a collection of his promos alone.
Hmm, that makes me ponder…I know I used to see compilation tapes mentioned somewhere that had nothing but Ric Flair/Jim Cornette promos from the NWA in the 1980s. I wonder what WWE could put together if they put together a 3-DVD set of the greatest promos ever?
It would be worth Vince buying it if he also has a bunch of ex-TNA wrestlers under contract and thinks that the TNA footage will allow him to a make a boat load of money selling boxed sets about them.
So its probably not worth buying for footage of (say) Sting as Vince has a ton of NWA/WCW matches he can use already. But if by some miracle AJ Styles or Samoa Joe is a major star in the Fed at some point in the future then sure he would.
Same goes for Ring of Honor if it ever fails – I bet Vince would buy the library just to get the early CM Punk matches.
TNA produced one on Angle about six months ago. I’ve not seen it as its only just been released in the UK this month, but its supposed to be pretty good. The matches are all TNA (and there is a lot of Angle vs Joe), but the interview / documentary apparently covers his time in WWE as well.
Its actually been about a year now since it was released but from a TNA archiving standpoint, it looks pretty awesome.