WWF Monday Night RAW (October 18, 1993)

Original Airdate: October 18, 1993

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

Opening Match: The Steiner Brothers v PJ Walker and Tony DeVito: Scott Steiner starts with DeVito, and whips him to the canvas with an armdrag, then does it again with a legwhip. Criss cross goes Scott's way with a dragon suplex, and he drags the poor jobber into the corner to force a tag. Scott tags as well, and Rick Steiner wins a criss cross of his own with a powerslam. Lariat, and Scott tags back in with a dropkick, then creams poor Walker with a Steiner Screwdriver. Tag back to DeVito, and the poor kid looks terrified. Scott gives him a tilt-a-whirl slam, and they put him out of his misery with an elevated flying bulldog at 3:07. Nothing quite like a Steiner's squash to get the party started. ¾*

Vince McMahon announces that tonight, we are going to hold a vote (via telephone) to decide whether or not Shawn Michaels' suspension should be lifted by WWF President Jack Tunney. Listening to McMahon's kayfabe reasoning for Shawn's suspension (no-showing dates, refusing to defend the title against certain individuals), now sounds like an eerie bit of foreshadowing for what his actual problems would be three years later. Diesel and Mr. Perfect offer their own thoughts on the subject via a Fox News-style split screen, and you can guess who says what there

IRS v Scott Taylor: IRS thwarts a sneak attack with a kneelift, and hits a quick vertical suplex and an elbowdrop. Into the ropes, IRS with a backelbow, but Taylor counters a backdrop with a sunset flip for two - only to get punted in the ribs before he can capitalize, and suplexed. Snapmare takes us into the chinlock, but IRS lets off as the fans taunt him with 'Irwin' chants. Abdominal stretch goes nowhere, so he clobbers Scotty with the Write Off for the pin at 3:30. Started off well enough, but went on for too long (yes, even at three and a half minutes), and turned into a resthold-fest. ¼*

Jeff Jarrett vignette. Love the part where McMahon declares that this is 'not the Nashville Network' when introducing the clip. Well, not yet, sir

Cute RAW Girl Sign of the Week: I Want My RAW

We take a look back at Superstars over the weekend, where Tatanka got into a backstage altercation with Ludvig Borga. God, you'd think they'd find common cause there, but nope. Tatanka is a Native American, and that's got too much 'American' in it for Ludvig

Tatanka v Mike Sharpe: Standard Tatanka squash, which I'm going to ignore since Randy Savage spends the entire match talking about something REALLY interesting on commentary. He starts by saying that he doesn't want his friendship with Crush to go down the drain like his friendship with Hulk Hogan did, and that Hulk is a prima donna, a backstabber, and a liar. Oh, and he thinks he's the Messiah walking the earth. Vince tries to segue it back to Crush, but Savage won't have it, and goes back to tearing into Hulk - saying his ego is bigger than he is. Vince finally segues it back to the match, but we're already into the JIG UP!! and Tatanka finishes him with the End of the Trail at 3:01. Nothing match, but Savage on commentary is well worth a listen, and is really strange to hear in 1993 WWF. Not really sure what the issue between them was at this point, but clearly something went down, as Savage was still singing Hogan's praises only a few months before, and now suddenly he's done a complete 180. Dude should get his feelings down, maybe write a song. DUD

Survivor Series Report! Unfortunately, Gene Okerlund has bailed for WCW (before it was even the vogue thing to do), so we have to suffer through Joe Fowler

Backstage, Crush arrives at the arena, and is greeted by Bobby Heenan. This is pre-Attitude Era, so bits like this were actually intriguing, and not near cliché yet

Bam Bam Bigelow v Dennis Diamond: That's a hell of a jobber name, actually. Bigelow tosses Diamond around with ease, and hits a vertical suplex, followed by a series of falling headbutts. Enzuigiri, dropkick in the corner, and a slingshot splash finishes at 3:00. Really dull. DUD

Vince McMahon gives us an update on the Shawn Michaels hotline numbers, and Shawn is way behind. Diesel (sounding like a proud mother) pleads with people to call, and compares the WWF without Shawn to 'visiting the Louvre and not seeing the Mona Lisa!'

Bobby Heenan brings Crush out to the ring to host the Savage/Crush Summit! Crush brings Mr. Fuji with him, and starts tearing into Savage with accusations that Randy set him up to get injured by Yokozuna, and waited way too long to save him from further damage. Instead, he sat at the commentary table while Crush took Banzi Drop after Banzi Drop. Guy actually has a point, but the fans are behind Savage all the way with this. Putting Crush with Fuji right away was a smart move, because otherwise, people might have actually started cheering him. Anyway, Randy doesn't apologize or admit fault, but says he's willing to shake Crush's hand, and move on. After some consideration, Crush shakes his hand (to a huge pop), but of course, Crush blasts him with a clothesline as they walk out together, and delivers a beat down - even dropping Savage across the railing. Jim Cornette quickly leads Yokozuna down (well, as quickly as Yoko moves, anyway), and it's Banzi Drop time for Savage! This was a great, long segment, with both Savage and Crush playing their roles perfectly, and Heenan, Yoko, and Fuji providing great support - the crowd buying it all, big time

McMahon announces that the final tally in the Shawn Michaels poll is 36% Yes, 64% No. Oh well, I guess that’s the end of Shawn Michaels in the WWE. Too bad, he was getting good, and I think he could have really been something

BUExperience: Nothing special in-ring, but the Crush/Savage Summit is just awesome, awesome stuff that is totally worth seeing if you never have, and Randy’s Hogan rant is one of the more bizarre things you’ll hear from the era.