*** Scott & JT’s Vintage Vault Refresh reviews are a chronological look back at WWE PPV and TV history that began with a review of WrestleMania I. The PICs have revisited these events and refreshed all of their fun facts that provide insight into the match, competitors and state of the company as well as their overviews of the match action and opinions and thoughts on the outcomes. In addition, Jeff Jarvis assists in compiling historical information and the Fun Facts in each of the reviews. Also, be sure to leave feedback on the reviews at our Facebook page. Enjoy! ***
Monday Night Raw #21
June 14, 1993 (Taped June 7, 1993)
Manhattan Center
New York, NY
Announcers: Vince McMahon, Randy Savage & Bobby Heenan
*** The show opens with a clip of Yokozuna defeating Hulk Hogan to win the WWF World Title followed by Gene Okerlund interviewing the new champ and Mr. Fuji. Fuji reveals that they will have a big celebration on July 4th followed by Yoko stating that Hulkamania is dead. ***
1) Mr. Perfect defeats LA Gore with the Perfectplex at 2:46
Scott: One night after the King of the Ring, Mr. Perfect takes on the iconic LA Gore. Perfect defeated Mr. Hughes in the quarterfinals last night but lost in the semifinals to Bret Hart in a match that I personally think was better than their SummerSlam 1991 match. Perfect is still the man, and the eventual IC Title match with Shawn Michaels is around the corner. Despite not being live, the announcers dubbed in conversation about KTR, including Yokozuna regaining the WWF Title. They even talk about Bret Hart getting his long deserved rematch with Yoko after the shenanigans at WrestleMania. Oh, Perfect wins this match easily. Grade: *
JT: We are officially airing one night after King of the Ring but this episode was taped the week prior, so we can’t expect too much fallout to be showcased except on commentary throughout this one. Mr. Perfect opens things up, coming off a tough semifinal KOTR loss to Bret Hart, but he still has work to do with his sights set on the Intercontinental Title. As Perfect and Gore locked up, the announcers discussed Perfect’s hard fought night in Dayton as well as mentioning that the Manhattan Center is the “house of upsets”. Perfect dominated early forcing Gore to reset on the floor while Heenan and McMahon discussed the closing moments of Yokozuna’s big WWF Title win, trashing Hulk Hogan along the way. Perfect beat on Gore bell to bell, giving him not a second to breathe until he finished him off with the Perfectplex while McMahon noted that Bret Hart should now be lined up for a title shot with Yoko coming off his KOTR tournament win. Grade: DUD
*** Vince McMahon welcomes Razor Ramon to the ring. As he saunters down with a sack of cash slung over his shoulder, Savage and Heenan talk about his loss to Bret Hart the night before, with Heenan saying he was too preoccupied with the 1-2-3 Kid. Ramon ups the ante of his challenge, saying Kid doesn’t even have to beat him since nobody can. He then offers the Kid $10,000 and discusses all the things he could do with the money if he accepts the challenge. McMahon asks Ramon what would happen if Kid wins again but Razor laughs that off and says he won’t be stopped by some punk. ***
2) Marty Jannetty and Doink the Clown wrestle to a double countout at 8:45
Scott: Vince made me laugh out loud when he screamed “THERE’S TWO DOINKS UNDER THERE!”. Neither of these guys wrestled at KOTR and Jannetty has settled into his role as Raw enhancement after his cup of coffee with the Intercontinental Title. Doink came down the ramp without a jacket, then went under the ring, then came out with a jacket! However I actually think it’s still Matt Borne, and he put the jacket on under the ring. At least we knew we would get a pretty good match here and indeed both guys came back and forth, and after Jannetty superslammed Doink off the top rope I thought the match was over. Jannetty kept working Doink over and I thought this match would end eventually. Doink keeps kicking out of all the attempts, then they both spill out onto the floor. They continue brawling until the bell rings, and both men are counted out. I’m sure a RAW rematch is in the offing soon. This was a fun match with a bummer ending and a rematch will likely happen. Grade: **
JT: Raw favorite Doink the Clown is up next and he wastes no time getting into the antics as he sashays to ringside and then ducks under the ring before emerging on the other side. However, Vince notes that the Doink that came down the aisle didn’t have a jacket on like the one that crawled out. Double vision abound! Marty Jannetty charged to the ring but played things cautiously before yanking Doink to the floor. The Clown quickly turned the ride and clobbered Marty before shoving him back inside. Jannetty has quickly lost steam since his IC Title loss but is becoming a Raw mainstay, which is great considering his strong in ring abilities. Jannetty punched his way back into things before taking Doink down into an armbar. Doink fought to his feet and tripped Jannetty up before knocking him to the edge of the ring. Marty thwarted his attack and grabbed a near fall with a cross body before going back to the arm. After a break, Jannetty still kept pressure on the arm as McMahon still fretted over the double Doink conundrum. Jannetty headed to the top rope after a brief slugfest and hit another cross body for a near fall but the Clown regained control with a powerslam. Doink kept the pressure on, hooking a half nelson and grinding Jannetty’s face to the mat. The Clown followed with a whoopee cushion but Jannetty kicked out before three. Doink didn’t give up from there as he kept kicking away before heading up top where Jannetty blocked him and slammed him hard to the mat. Jannetty cut Doink down with a pair of dropkicks and hit a suplex for two and followed with a face spike for another near fall. Both men would tumble to the floor where Jannetty leveled Doink with a super kick and took him over with a head scissors but as they brawled, the bell sounded for a double countout. The brawl continued with Jannetty hitting a cross body off the apron and then hammering away at Doink’s head until the Clown eventually was pushed to the back. This was a pretty fun little match that was definitely cut too short, but based on the finish it seems things aren’t over just yet. Jannetty is great in this type of role and Doink is as awesome as always, playing the heel stud wrestler role to perfection. Grade: **
3) Owen Hart defeats Dan Dubiel with a bridge suplex at 3:48
Scott: I still laugh whenever I see “Themis” the Raw card girl, as she is now a state representative for the State of Connecticut. We have the Raw debut of Bret’s little brother, still in his High Energy gear. During the match the 1-2-3 Kid is on the phone “from Japan” (or really the hallway of the Manhattan Center) and he finally accepts Razor Ramon’s offer of $10,000 to face him again. Owen looks crisp, hitting a missile drop kick and then a bridge pin for the victory. We will see more of Owen over the next few months. Incidentally after the match Vince does a promo for Sunday’s All American, and he mentions a “Bastion Booger”. Who? Grade: *1/2
JT: Up next we have a Raw debut of a superstar that has been around for well over a year. Owen Hart had been battling a knee injury since the winter but he is back in action now and seems to be lined up for a bit of a push. Dan Dubiel is ugly as shit. Themis is not, and she is also an attorney per McMahon. Hart went at the arm to start as the announcers welcomed 1-2-3 Kid in via phone from Osaka, Japan. Kid talks about how excited everyone in Japan was about Yokos title win as well as all of his success since he knocked off Ramon and then accepts Razor’s challenge, unable to turn down the $10 Gs. Kid asks if Razor will have cash and Vince confirms, which is what sealed the deal. During that, Dubiel actually got a little offense in but it was short lived as Owen cracked him with a leg lariat and a perfect missile dropkick before hitting a Northern Lights suplex into a bridge for the win. Vince confirm Ramon vs. Kid for next week as Hart celebrates his big Raw win, but a big t tussle with newcomer Bastion Booger this Sunday on All American. Grade: 1/2*
*** We head back to Superstars from two days earlier for highlights of an Undertaker match against PJ Walker. However, just as Taker picked up the win, Harvey Wippleman and Giant Gonzalez made their way to the ring. Taker went right at Gonzalez, but the Giant eventually tied him up until Mr. Hughes joined the fray. Hughes wiped out Paul Bearer with a sidewalk slam, allowing Harvey to take hold of the urn. He handed it to Hughes, who clocked Taker with it. He continued to pelt Taker and Bearer with the urn, leaving them both unconscious in the ring. ***
4) Jerry Lawler defeats Mark Thomas with a piledriver at 3:50
Scott: The King comes out dressed in Pink and Black, which is a great heel touch after what he did to Bret Hart the night before at King of the Ring. Now he takes on perpetual jacked jobber Art Thomas. Lawler did get through his career with minimal workrate, from punches and kicks to the one piledriver. He wins this easy match, but obviously the build is growing for the eventual battle with Bret Hart. Grade: *
JT: Closing out this week’s show is Jerry Lawler, decked out in pink and black as a shot at the new KOTR Bret Hart, who Lawler beat the piss out of in Dayton the night before. Mark Thomas is clearly ingesting quite a bit of ICOPRO. King grabs the mic and shits on the fans, demanding they stop any Burger King chants. Lawler stalled a bit more as Heenan walked out in protest of the crowd. Lawler clubbed away at Thomas while also playing the hostile crowd. Heenan showed back up as King dropped Thomas with an inverted DDT and proceeded to break some news, saying Mr. Fuji & Yokozuna’s Fourth of July celebration will take place at an American landmark and will be a challenge to any American athlete to show up and slam Yokozuna so he can embarrass them all like they did Hogan. Lawler kept jawing with fans before finishing Thomas off with a Piledriever for the win. It made sense to get the King into the ring as he is clearly lined up for a big feud with Bret Hart. Grade: DUD
Final Analysis
Scott: Jerry Lawler dressed in pink and black still makes me laugh. Unfortunately instead of Bret Hart being installed in a feud with the NEW WWF Champion Yokozuna, he’s thrust in a feud with the King. Bret was owed better. We get Owen Hart’s RAW debut which is very cool. The Doink/Jannetty feud starts with a fun match. The build is also growing for a Razor Ramon and the Kid One guy who hasn’t really been a part of Raw since the show started was Undertaker. He’s on Superstars more than Raw. I think that is still Vince not quite realizing that Raw has to be his #1 priority and that the weekend syndi-shows are mere fodder now. It’s 1993, not 1983. This show was ok but the big players need to step up and be on camera. Final Grade: C
JT: While this episode was certainly tighter and more exciting than the episode the night after WrestleMania, we still didn’t get too much in the way of hot action. We did get a couple of major developments, though, with Kid finally accepting Ramon’s challenge and Mr. Fuji revealing his grand plans to ruin Independence Day. We also got to check out the big attack on Undertaker as his feud with Harvey Wippleman’s crew rages on. In the ring, the Jannetty/Doink match was solid but the squashes were all pretty bland and really used as a chance for the dubbed announcing to discuss the fallout from KOTR. It was actually a quick moving episode but one of the weaker ones over the past two months. Final Grade: C-
