With the success of the Retro RawViews SummerSlam edition I put out a poll and with overwhelming response you asked for another series and wanted Retro Monday Night Raws. So I thought about it and what better place to start than episode one of Monday Night Raw back in January of 1993. I can tell you I watched this Raw and remember it vividly, you know I was seven and for some reason already had a tv in my room. Unfortunately I won’t be able to do one every day in September however I plan on dropping about two of these a week and then putting out a poll for October. So let’s dive in and see how it is watching episode one of Monday Night Raw.
We open the show with Bobby Heenan trying to get into the building and apparently he’s been replaced by Rob Bartlett. Man I miss this theme song for Raw there is nothing more nostalgic than that and Vince McMahon welcoming you to the show. We have Vince, Randy Savage and Rob Bartlett on commentary. I believe Bartlett just called Yokozuna “Zokozuma” and awkwardly described his attire.
We now have hall of famer KoKo B. Ware taking on Yokozuna and I have a feeling this isn’t going to go well for the Birdman. Man I love the entrance and presentation of Yokozuna here and the announcers make a point to say he hasn’t even been knocked off his feet yet in WWF. Rob Bartlett goes on to call Yokozuna a “big butted oriental” and I can’t imagine this guy is on commentary for long. I think Yokozuna could work in any era he can move, has a great look and a good mouthpiece can certainly get him over. Yokozuna just goes to work on KoKo B Ware and throws him from one side to the other. He drops a leg on KoKo and then hits a running back splash into the corner and hits the bonzai drop for the win. Yokozuna is so impressive and I think could be a great heel today.
They promote the Royal Rumble next and raise your hand if you remember that Razor Ramon was in the WWF title match at rumble ‘93. We then have a girl in the ring to walk around like a boxing round girl. She’s in a tight one piece and Savage mentions that he has x-ray vision. We now have a Bobby Heenan promo saying he has a new superstar coming to WWF and calls him “Narcisses” so many times it’s ridiculous. Vince after the promo even makes a comment at how many times Heenan says “Narcisses”..
The Steiner Brothers are up next and they are taking on the Executioners . In the background you can see Doink running around in the audience. Scott Steiners mullet here is next level great. The commentary team has no idea what Doinks name is as they call him Dork many times. The Steiner Brothers are throwing these guys around like crazy. How many tag teams would you put ahead of the Steiners all time? It can’t be many that’s for sure. The Steiners his the top rope bulldog doomsday device move for the win. They would be great in today’s WWE imagine a Steiners vs. Usos feud.
We go outside and Sean Mooney is there with a woman or so we think. Really it’s Bobby Heenan dressed as “Rob Bartletts Mom” to get into the arena. Next up is an interview with Vince McMahon and Razor Ramon. I forgot about this attire for Razor with the different colors in a crazy pattern and the gold chains. You can say what you want about Scott Hall and how great of a character that was but it doesn’t compare to Razor Ramon in my mind. Vince and Razor build up the match for Royal Rumble and they put over how long Bret has worked for the title and that Razor is relatively new to the WWF. They talk about how Razor beat down Owen Hart and how Razor is taking the title at Rumble and there isn’t anything Hart can do about it.
We have an intercontinental title match next and Max Freakin’ Moon is in this match. He’s shooting streamers out of his arm along with some bad pyro and he’s taking on the champion Shawn Michaels. We are graced with the blue Intercontinental Title and the Sherri version of his theme song. Michaels shows off his wrestling ability to begin this match and as silly as Max Moon looks, he’s pretty big. I forgot about the HUGE IcoPro banner that was hung in the balcony section for Raw back then. Moon actually gets some offense in early in this match. Seriously can someone hit up @heyheyitsconrad and have him ask Bruce Prichard who booked this shit with Max Freakin’ Moon. Something else that catches my eye during this match is the WWF logo in the entrance ramp and now we have Doink in a floral sling again now around the ring. They do a really bad Mike Tyson interview impression during this match with Vince and Bartlett. Seriously Shawn Michaels is performing and they have Doink dancing around the ring and Rob Bartlett doing a bad Mike Tyson impression. This match is getting a ton of time and if you forget that Shawn Michaels is facing Max Freakin’ Moon you may actually enjoy this match. Max Moon hits an over the top rope plancha and a corner spinning kick to Michaels for a two count. Michaels hits a Superkick out of nowhere but ladies and gentlemen that’s not his finisher here. He then hits the slingshot suplex for the win.
We get a promo for Damien Freakin’ Demento and Undertaker for later in the night. Then we get Mene Gene doing promos for Royal Rumble and it starts with Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty who cut a promo I would expect from Tex Ferguson and Chad 2 Badd. Seriously go back and listen to Marty Jannetty here and close your eyes and tell me you couldn’t hear Tex Ferguson there. Mene Gene announces the participants for the Royal Rumble which I kind of dog as it allows for some intrigue and build. Mr. Perfect does a promo when he’s announced and this kind of thing would do so much for superstars today. Even if they did them and put them on the website, YouTube or Twitter. We get some more promos including from Yokozuna and then we end up with “Uncle Morty” trying to get into the arena. Of course it’s Heenan dressed as a Jewish fellow and screaming that he needs to get in. We then get a promo for Kamala and his last match on WWF Primetime and how he is now affiliated with the reverend Slick.
The Main Event is up next with Damien Freakin’ Demento already being in the ring and we get the Undertaker’s iconic entrance. Damien Freakin’ Demento is from the “outer reaches of your mind”. Undertaker is no selling all of Damien Freakin’ Demento’s offense and we get the Undertaker walking the ropes early. He looks so young here when you can see his face through his hair. We find out that we have Papa Shango and El Matador on the show next week oh joy. Also a promo from Bret Hart is there anything that makes me want to watch Raw Episode two more than a Bret Hart interview? Undertaker hits the tombstone and the pin for the victory and afterwards he and Paul Bearer sell the powers of the urn.
We now have an after match interview with Dork…ahem I mean Doink the Clown. They put him over as an evil clown and not a good clown. Apparently Crush and Doink have some issues and Crush comes out with an awful Hawaiian accent. I’m going to make myself look stupid but this character Crush I was all in on as a kid. The music the finisher and everything man I thought he was cool. Crush chases Doink around the ring and Crush ends up in the ring with Doink on the outside laughing at him. The last thing we see is Sean Mooney letting Bobby Heenan in the arena.
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That’s is all for episode one of Monday Night Raw and it went by quick (maybe because it’s as forty five minutes long). The highlighted he stars (Steiners Brothers, Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon and Undertaker). They gave time to Doink and Crush to further their feud it’s actually a well done show as far as professing stories and building characters. Have you watched this episode and did you share similar opinions to mine? Let me know your thoughts and please comment below, Like and share. Until next time be awesome.