WWF Monday Night RAW (December 6, 1993)

Original Airdate: December 6, 1993 (Taped November 29)

From White Plains, New York; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan.

Opening Match: Shawn Michaels v 1-2-3 Kid: Shawn taunts him to start, and shoves the little guy into the corner for a beating, but Kid slugs back, and wins a nice criss cross with a lightning kick combination to knock Shawn over the top. Kid with a springboard bodypress out after him, and a suplex back in, but Shawn counters into a German suplex - only for Kid to reverse for two. He takes Shawn down with a side-headlock, and holds Michaels there through a series of escape attempts. Shawn goes high impact with a side suplex to break (a nice spot, as Kid had blocked Shawn's previous escape attempts by setting himself up for a side suplex, and this time, Michaels capitalized), and a headscissors takedown sends Kid bumping out to the floor. To the outside, Shawn tries a whip into the post, but gets reversed, and Kid follows up with a dive off the apron - only to get powerslammed on the floor. Back in, Shawn gives him a pair of backbreakers for two, and adds a hard cross corner whip. Superplex, but Kid blocks and tries a flying bodypress - only for Michaels to dropkick him on the way down! That gets two, so Shawn tries another backbreaker into a backbreaker submission, but Kid slugs free, and catches Michaels with a spinheel kick - leaving both men down. Kid manages to get an arm across the chest for two, but another criss cross ends in a double-knockout spot. Slugfest goes Kid's way, and he shoves Shawn into the corner for more lightning kicks. Flying moonsault gets two, and a bodyslam sets up a swanton bomb - which misses. Shawn hits the Superkick, and calls for the Razor's Edge - hitting it for two, when Shawn himself pulls Kid up. Another Edge hits, but Razor comes out to put a stop to a third one. Shawn objects, and heads out to the floor to slap the taste out of Ramon's dirty whore mouth, and both guys get counted out in the chaos at 15:00. As Razor chases Michaels around ringside, Diesel ends up clobbering him, and Shawn adds a pair of Edge's on the floor for good measure. Hell of a good match here! Pretty much the only high profile match between the two, and it was loaded with fast paced stuff, good psychology, selling, and a great angle with Ramon at the end. Plus, you had the interesting dynamic of SHAWN playing the big man, which we almost NEVER see! Too bad they never got a proper pay per view showdown at, like, SummerSlam '94, or something, because it would have likely been awesome. *** ¼

The Quebecers v Mike Walsh and Bert Centeno: The Quebecers are WWF Tag Team Champions at this point, but this is non-title, so manager Johnny Polo doesn't even bother paying attention - instead relaxing with a magazine in a lawn chair at ringside. In the ring, Jacques starts with Centeno, and ends up getting slapped around when offering to fight on his knees. Centeno bails to Walsh before Jacques can get his hands on him though, and Pierre tags in as well, and kills Walsh to force a tag back to uppity Bert. He pounds him down, and brings Jacques back in to get his revenge. Jacques ends up backdropping Pierre onto Centeno, and a piledriver follows before they finish with the assisted Cannonball at 4:26. Squash, but I appreciated that they actually bothered to tell a little story with Centeno in there. ¼*

Royal Rumble Promo

McMahon and Heenan interview Owen Hart via split-screen, and he promises a big surprise in the near future

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

Doink v Tony DeVito: Doink brings Dink out with him, since apparently they weren't satisfied with that as a one-off joke. And he spends the whole match playing to the fans from the apron, like some deranged mascot, while Doink squashed DeVito in dull fashion. Whoopee Cushion ends things at 5:58 - the Doink character officially useless now. DUD

Jeff Jarrett Vignette. This week, he hates souvenirs, apparently

Crush v Tony Roy: Roy tries to stick and move early on, but walks into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, as Randy Savage calls in to talk about his issues with Crush, as well as being suspended as a broadcaster. Crush with a tree of woe, and a press slam across the top rope finishes at 4:10. Really slow, plodding stuff. DUD

Gorilla Monsoon marches out to let Bobby Heenan know he's won a free trip - literally kicking Heenan to the curb (and even adding an 'and stay out!' for good measure) in what would be Heenan's last WWF appearance until WrestleMania X-7 in 2001. Great way to end Bobby's long run, and he looks legitimately choked up as he gives a half-hearted salute at the end

BUExperience: There’s a couple of really dull squashes, but they’re more than made up for by an excellent Michaels/Kid match, and Bobby Heenan’s historically significant exit from the promotion. Definitely worth a look.