WWF Monday Night RAW (July 5, 1993)

Original Airdate: July 5, 1993

From New York, New York; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan, and Randy Savage.

We start with a really long opening segment aboard the USS Intrepid the day before, where WWF Superstars and professional athletes alike participate in the Superstars and Stripes Challenge, attempting to bodyslam Yokozuna. A whole bunch of failures (Crush came closest, for the record), until suddenly, a helicopter arrives on the deck of the Intrepid with Lex Luger aboard. He stares Yoko down, whacks him with his loaded forearm, and hits the bodyslam to a great pop. This was a great payoff to the angle, and the atmosphere of a wrestling ring on the deck of an aircraft carrier was really unique, though the Luger face turn came out of nowhere, as he’d been built as a heel right through King of the Ring, then sort of disappeared for a month, and suddenly he’s an All-American babyface hero.

Opening Match: 1-2-3 Kid v Blake Beverly: Kid appears to have no eyebrows here, so I'm assuming he was partying with Curt Hennig over the weekend. Kid offers Beverly a handshake, so Blake condescendingly slaps him across the face. Kid responds by dropkicking him to the floor, and baseball sliding him into the rail though, so I'd say he got the best of that exchange. Inside, Blake tries a flapjack, but Kid counters into a dropkick in midair, and then covers for two. Enzuigiri gets two, but a bodypress is countered with a powerslam, and Blake snaps his little neck with a neckbreaker. Blake gets cute with a suplex INTO the turnbuckles (never seen that before, it was cool), which Kid sells by bumping over the top. Beverly follows him out for some abuse on the floor, and rolls him in for a diving headbutt. Blake decides Kid needs to bump a little bit more tonight, and press slams him out to the floor, then back inside for an Oklahoma stampede for two. Blake with a short-clothesline, but a diving shoulderblock hits so hard that Kid gets knocked out to the floor again. Beverly follows with a flying axehandle, but Kid sidesteps, and dives onto him with a flying somersault seated senton on the floor! Back in, Kid tries to criss cross, but ends up getting side suplexed. Blake goes to the middle rope for a flying headbutt, but Kid rolls out of the way, and kills him with a flying legdrop at 8:30. Hard work from both, with really innovative stuff for mainstream in 1993, and really got Kid over as an underdog. Sean Waltman had so, so much promise in early 1993 - it makes it all the more depressing to watch what he eventually become. ** ¼

Men on a Mission vignette. Wow, thank God the WWF capitalized on that rap fad while they could

Bam Bam Bigelow v Joey Maggs: Bigelow destroys him with a shoulderblock and a pair of avalanches, then finishes with a splash at 0:40. DUD

The Undertaker v Samu: The idea here is that Undertaker lost the urn to Mr. Hughes, and doesn't have Paul Bearer with him, so he may be vulnerable. Samu doesn't know quite what to make of the 'Taker, so he tries punching, but that goes nowhere. Shoulderblocks go nowhere, but then Samu finds his weak spot: poor wrestling skill, as 'Taker messes up a leapfrog, and goes down like a ton of undead bricks. 'Taker no-sells, and takes him down with a drop-toehold, so Samu bails to the floor to regroup with manager Afa. 'Taker stalks him out there, and inside, actually busts out a dropkick. WHAT?! Samu is confused as well, and rolls back to the floor to get himself together. I, unfortunately, have no such luxury, and must sit through this with a vertical smile on my face. Inside, 'Taker hits the ropewalk forearm, but a jumping clothesline misses, and Samu rams him into the post and steps on the floor. Inside, another criss cross goes off without a hitch, and Samu powerslams him for two. Bodyslam, but 'Taker sits up, so Samu clotheslines him over the top - 'Taker landing on his feet. Inside, Samu tries a sidewalk slam and a falling headbutt, but 'Taker sits up again. Flying headbutt seems to work, so he goes for a second, but 'Taker sits up to dodge it, and chokeslams him - finishing with the Tombstone at 9:20. Not a great match, but much better than I expected, and good effort. *

Vince McMahon brings Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji out for a ringside interview, where Fuji let's us know that Lex Luger achieved NOTHING yesterday, since it was a mere hiptoss. McMahon wonders if they will grant Luger a shot at Yoko's WWF Title, but Fuji says no, since he's a cheater with a loaded forearm. Hey, guy has a point. Before he suddenly decided he was an All-American patriot, Jack Tunney was on him for that exact thing. Anyway, Fuji says Lex is shit out of luck, but Yoko will defend the title against anyone else, anytime. Crush comes out to accept that challenge, so tune in next week!

SummerSlam promo

Fat RAW Girl Sign of the Week: That Was Clearly RAW

Mr. Perfect v Brian Costello: Perfect with a side-headlock, but Brian wants to criss cross, so Perfect dropkicks him. Chopfest goes Perfect's way, and the Perfect-Plex finishes at a brisk 0:56. DUD

BUExperience: Good episode. Kid/Beverly and Undertaker/Samu kept the in-ring quality up, the squashes were ultra short, and the Yokozuna/Luger angle was off to a fine start – even if it fell apart later.