*** 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 #31
September 13, 1993
Manhattan Center
Manhattan, NY
Announcers: Vince McMahon, Randy Savage & Bobby Heenan
Fun Fact: This is the first episode of Raw in nearly a month. On 8/23, Raw was a 1-hour condensed version of the SummerSlam Spectacular that aired the night before. Over the next 2 weeks (8/30 and 9/6), Raw would be preempted due to the US Open tennis tournament.
1) The Quebecers defeat The Steiner Brothers to win WWF Tag Team Titles in a Province de Quebec Rules Match when Scott Steiner was disqualified at 22:00
Fun Fact I: The Quebecers are made up of Jacques Rougeau (formerly The Mountie) and Pierre (Carl Ouellet). The duo met while in Puerto Rico and Rougeau brought Ouellet into the WWF. The two were put together as a tag team and pushed very quickly to the top of the tag division. The team dressed in red and black, similar to the Mountie uniforms that Rougeau had worn before in singles competition.
Fun Fact II: Johnny Polo (Scott Levy) makes his debut as the manager of the Quebecers. In the early part of his career, Levy wrestled in Puerto Rico, Canada, in the Pacific Northwest and in Texas before signing on with WCW. Under the surfer gimmick, Scotty Flamingo, he would win the WCW Light Heavyweight championship from Brian Pillman in 1992. He would leave the promotion after a disagreement with promoter Bill Watts. After spending some time in the USWA, Levy came into the WWF as Johnny Polo, a spoiler rich kid persona. He managed Adam Bomb initially before switching over to be the Quebecers manager here.
Scott: We take a big skip in dates for Raw from our last outing, due to both SummerSlam and the US Open on the USA Network. There’s no wrestling competition for them on TV so the time off doesn’t hurt them in any way. At SummerSlam the Steiners successfully defended the Tag Team Titles against the Heavenly Bodies and are still the top team in the promotion. Our good friend Jacques Rougeau returns dressed as The Mountie, but this time he has a tag team partner, and it’s not Raymond. It’s Pierre. They were on Superstars before being in this spot but they’ve not been on Raw at all before this point. The Quebec Province Rules means the belts can change by countout or DQ, no piledrivers, and coming off the top rope and being thrown over the top rope is illegal. That actually makes the flow of this match really good, as both teams avoid a lot of cheating and crazy maneuvers and instead we get some solid ground and pound workrate with a lot of close falls. About a third of the way into the match, out comes Adam Bomb’s manager Johnny Polo who is wearing a Montreal Canadiens jersey (should have been the Nordiques) and he apparently manages the Quebecers now as well. Eventually Johnny Polo’s hockey stick gets in the ring, and Jacques and Scott Steiner are battling with it. Scott grabs it and just as the referee turns around he clocks Jacques with it. Thus, this out of nowhere tag team is the new champions. That was one of the best matches in the show’s history and possibly one of the biggest upsets. I really enjoyed that match and a trio of great heels are the top of the tag team food chain. Grade: ***1/2
JT: It has been nearly a month since our last episode of Raw thanks to preemption due to the SummerSlam Spectacular, SummerSlam itself and the US Open. And it almost feels like a bit of a reset for the promotion in ways. As we discussed at the Spectacular, some old faces were phased out and others have changed allegiances or made their debuts. And we open with some fresh talent here. The Quebecers had debuted on WWF TV back in the summer but this is their Raw debut and they immediately are into a big Tag Team Title match with the dominant Steiners. I love how they shifted names to the Quebecers to avoid any more heat with the RCMP like they battled through the last time around. Vince McMahon states that history will be made here tonight as the titles will defended under Quebec Province rules, meaning the titles can change hands on DQ and countout and also stuff like coming off the top rope, piledrivers and chucking guys over the top rope were DQs. These rules certainly seem to favor the challengers here. The Quebecers brought tons of energy to the division as happy, over-the-top assholes with strong chemistry and workrate. It was a strong boost to the heel slate, especially with Money, Inc and the Beverly Brothers both finished. The Steiners were still on top of the mountain and were looking pretty unbeatable at this point. Rick and Jacques opened things up and traded some offense, including a Rick powerslam and clothesline that nearly sent Jacques over the top rope. The Steiners kept dominating, this time picking apart Pierre by working his arm and cracking him with power moves. Pierre found an opening and was able to hit a clothesline off the second rope on Scott for a near fall. Pierre kept pressing on Scott but Steiner hit a back drop and tagged out to reset the match. Rick erased a piledriver but Scott reminded him of the rules so he punched in the face instead. After a break, Jacques was back in control of Rick but Steiner cut his momentum and shoved him to the floor. Scott and Pierre came in and Steiner grabbed hold of his head but Pierre broke free and wrecked him with a hard clothesline. Scott recovered and hit a belly-to-belly for two and grabbed a single leg crab before tagging to Rick, who hooked the same hold. Jacques came in and broke it up but Rick went right back to the leg, Pierre regained control and as he did, Johnny Polo showed up at ringside in a Canadiens jersey that also pretty much spelled out that he was with the Quebecers on the back. Good use of Polo and a more natural fit and clear upgrade from Adam Bomb for him. Pierre would eventually bail to the floor, where he huddled up with Jacques and Polo in the aisle as we took a second break.
Upon returning, Scott was working over Jacques until Pierre clobbered him from behind to give the challengers the upper hand. Vince took a shot at Monday Night Football here, saying it was a boring game and welcoming anyone who switched over. The Quebecers double teamed and quick tagged for a bit, including a stiff stun gun, and a leg sweep/clothesline combo for near falls. Scott would eventually get a desperation DDT on Jacques but Pierre knocked Rick off the apron to block a tag. Rick finally came in and busted up a double team but it wasn’t enough to free up Scott for a tag. A moment later, Scott hit both Quebecers with a double clothesline and finally made the big tag. Rick mowed through the challengers and Scott came right back in and hit a Frankensteiner on Pierre. Just when this looked like a defense for the champs, Polo hopped on the apron and wielded a hockey stick. Rick clobbered Polo but Jacques grabbed the stick, which Scott yanked from his hands and drilled him with, drawing the DQ… and leading to a title change. Polo and the Quebecers did it, they leveraged the absurd rules and outsmarted the champs. This was a really damn good match with lots of back and forth and really good selling blended with a few high impact moves. The finish was a bit goofy but it paid off the stipulations perfectly and also put over the intelligence of this newly aligned threesome. The Steiners’ reign is shockingly over already but time will tell just how long the Quebecers can hang on to the gold. Grade: ***1/2
2) Mr. Perfect defeats Tony DeVito with the Perfectplex at 2:47
Scott: After failing to win the IC Title at SummerSlam thanks to Diesel, Mr. Perfect takes out one of the resident jobbers in the WWF. Looks like they are transitioning Perfect off of Shawn Michaels and to his bodyguard. Not much more to say here. Grade: DUD
JT: Mr. Perfect is back this week, looking to shake off his tough loss at SummerSlam thanks to the assist from Shawn Michaels’ bodyguard Diesel. The match had been hyped as potentially the greatest IC Title match of all time but didn’t quite meet those lofty expectations. The announcers are still stunned about our title change from earlier and discuss that in addition to Perfect wanting revenge on Diesel as Perfect makes very quick work of the rotund DeVito. Grade: DUD
*** We check out exclusive footage from SummerSlam when Ludvig Borga confronted Lex Luger in the locker room after the show ended. Borga promised to crush Luger, who is the backbone of America. ***
3) Razor Ramon defeats The Executioner with a back suplex off the second rope at 2:36
Scott: I can comfortably say this ISN’T Buddy Rose playing the Executioner here. Razor is coming off his big SummerSlam win over Ted DiBiase and it looks like he’s going to have a match with IRS as well. Money, Inc is effectively dead anyway, as DiBiase is gone. Razor actually wins the match with a suplex off the second rope for the victory. Then he hits the Razor’s Edge after the match. Not much there, but Razor is one of the top faces now, after being a top heel at the beginning of the year. Grade: DUD
JT: Razor Ramon is on a roll, coming off his solid win over Ted DiBiase at SummerSlam and looking to keep moving up that ladder. We get a little digression in the announce booth as Heenan discusses Conan O’Brien’s test run on NBC. Vince also discusses how IRS is prepping to eventually battle the Bad Guy in the near future. Executioner gets a few strikes in but that is about it as Razor polishes him off with the back suplex off the second rope. Ramon would hit the Razor’s Edge after the bell as he stays locked in and on fire. Grade: DUD
*** Vince McMahon welcomes out the Quebecers and Johnny Polo for a chat. They discuss making history as the first ever French Canadians to become WWF Tag Team Champions. Vince asks if the Steiners will get a rematch and after a huddle, Polo states that if one of the Steiners can beat one of the Quebecers, they will get a title shot. Vince goads Polo into accepting that singles contest for next week as the Steiners head to ringside while being held back by officials. ***
*** We are shown footage of Randy Savage and Bobby Heenan appearing on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon that occurred over Labor Day weekend. ***
4) Doink the Clown defeats Rich Myers with the Whoopee Cushion at 2:10
Scott: This was a squash (although Doink beating a heel jobber was interesting at that time). The main focus during this match was that Crush called into the announcers table. We haven’t seen Crush since June when he was attacked after a match with Yokozuna. Vince asks him a few questions, and after a dopey Bobby Heenan question, Randy Savage gives Crush well wishes. Crush asks if that’s Savage and then the line cuts (or it sounds like Crush hung up?). Interesting. To clarify my query about Doink facing a heel jobber, he walks around the ring after the match with a bucket of water and instead of throwing it Vince or Savage he throws it at Bobby. Do we see a Doink face turn? Grade: DUD
JT: Time for our final bout of the evening as Raw favorite Doink the Clown shuffles to ringside with a pair of buckets in his hands. He empties the buckets into the crowd, revealing confetti, before sliding in the ring and going right at the Mullet King, Rich Myers. Vince pimps tonight’s Silk Stalkings as Doink snaps off a great German suplex. While the Clown keeps the pressure on, Crush calls into the commentary team and discusses his rehab and promises to return with unmatched power and intensity. The conversation goes fine until Randy Savage speaks and the line cuts out. Savage ponders what happened there as Doink finishes Myers with the Whoopee Cushion. Doink grabs another win but as we see in a moment, times may be a changing for the evil Clown. Grade: DUD
*** Doink grabs another bucket from under the ring and sneaks around the ring. Bobby Heenan pops up and asks Doink to empty it on Randy Savage but Doink swerves him and dumps the pail of water all over the Brain instead. Doink then comes back out and chucks more confetti into the crowd. ***
Final Analysis
Scott: So we have the official babyface turn of Doink and some possible bad blood brewing between Randy Savage and Crush. Once again we have some timeliness issues as it has been three weeks since the last episode and SummerSlam is two weeks old now. Again some television wrinkles that will be fixed as time progresses. We do have a huge title change as the Steiners, who really didn’t get a big run as champions, laid down to the Quebecers. Razor Ramon continues to grow as a babyface which was a great choice by the bookers. He’s a big fan favorite and will just get more popular. Another episode where the storylines are better than the matches. Final Grade: C+
JT: We are back from our SummerSlam vacation and waste no time in getting right back in some hot action. The show opened with a massive tag team title change that came at the end of a very good and long match. That was followed by a series of squashes, each of which was kept short but allowed for the advancement of a few storylines. Tack on the interesting Crush development and Doink’s apparent title change and this is quite the memorable episode. They also did a great job hyping up next week’s show with the Scott Steiner/Pierre singles match on tap. This episode definitely felt like a refresh in many ways as new storylines are being fired up, the roster has shaken up a bit and the overall tenor of the show just felt renewed after the SummerSlam angles had all closed out. We also get the debut of the new ad campaign for the fall season. I have always dug this episode thanks to the historical title change and overall pacing throughout. There was a lot accomplished and two very memorable moments, can’t ask for much more. Final Grade: B
