WWF Monday Night RAW (November 1, 1993)

Original Airdate: November 1, 1993 (Taped October 18)

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

Cute RAW Girl Sign of the Week: When Was The Last Time You Got It RAW

Opening Match: Razor Ramon v Bastion Booger: Ramon is still Intercontinental Champion at this point, but this is non-title. Stalling to start, as Ramon objects to Booger's stench. You know, I think the Bastion Booger character was ahead of its time. Had he been around today, the goofy outfit and the silly dance would have made him a comedy babyface, ala Emma or Rikishi. Anyway the non-challenger gets Ramon down for a splash, but takes too long dancing afterwards, and gets tossed out of the ring. Back in, Ramon hammers him, and a backelbow leaves Booger tied up in the ropes. He bails once the referee frees him, but this time suckers Ramon out after him, and avalanches him against the ringpost. Inside, Booger works the back with a bearhug, but Razor slugs free - only to have the back give out when he tries a slam. Booger gives him a slam of his own for two, and goes back to the bearhug. Avalanche, but Razor blocks with his boot, and bodyslams the big guy to a solid pop. Razors Edge, but Booger backdrops to block, and hits a sit-down splash - only for Ramon to sunset cradle him at 7:09. Nothing special, but totally watchable. ½*

Survivor Series Report! The big news this week is that Tatanka suffered an injury at the hands of the Foreign Fanatics on Superstars over the weekend, and his participation is in jeopardy

Vince McMahon brings the Foreign Fanatics (Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, and The Quebecers) out for an in-ring interview regarding Survivor Series. Jim Cornette is just great on the mic here. His addition made all the difference for Yokozuna - those Mr. Fuji led promos from the earlier shows were just brutal

Mr. Perfect v The Executioner: They trade hammerlocks to start, and Perfect blasts him with a backelbow to win that exchange. Executioner with a hiptoss, but a blind charge misses, and Perfect destroys him in the corner. Perfect with a somersault snap to the knee and a spinning-toehold as he works the leg while Bobby Heenan discusses why he would never bother trying to become President. Perfect with a somersault necksnap, and the Perfect-Plex finishes at 4:51. Kind of lengthy for what they were going for, but certainly competent. ¼*

Jeff Jarrett vignette. He talks about Miley Cyrus' dad, since apparently he is the guy to beat in the WWF

The Smoking Gunns v Well Dunn: Billy Gunn starts with Timothy Well, but it goes nowhere, as both guys just kind of dance around until Well tags partner Steven Dunn. He trades headlocks with Billy on the mat to a stalemate, and Gunn gets Dunn in an armbar. Atomic drop knocks him into a punch from Bart Gunn, and Billy armdrags him. Tag to Bart with a flying axehandle, and the Gunns take turns working the arm, until Bart gets stungunned across the top rope during an illegal double-team. Well Dunn cut the ring in half on him, but Bart manages to catch Dunn with a facebuster when Steve tries a backdrop, and there's the tag to Billy. He's a barn of fire, but Well Dunn manager Harvey Wippleman trips him up when he runs the ropes, and there's a DQ at 7:31. Decent, but certainly nothing special. ¾*

Randy Savage calls in to let us know he'll be back next week, and he's gunning for Crush

Adam Bomb v Virgil: Wow, technically three 'star/star' matches on this show this week - a lot for pre-Monday Night Wars shows, actually. Virgil tries to stick and move in the early going, and catches Bomb with a bodypress out of a criss cross for two. Armdrag sends Adam scurrying out to the floor to regroup, but Virgil is right on him out there with a couple of closed fists. Virgil actually busts out a plancha, and back inside, he slaps on a standing hammerlock. Bomb powers out and hits a backbreaker, followed by a standing dropkick. Hiptoss sets up a clothesline, but a blind charge misses, and Virgil hits a sorta-missile dropkick for two. 2^nd rope bodypress, but he ends up bouncing off of Bomb and splating on the mat (looked like Bomb was supposed to catch him there, but they messed up), and Adam finishes with the Atom-Smasher at 5:31. Nice well paced, back-and-forth match, though Virgil was sloppy as hell - a frequent problem for him during this period. *

BUExperience: Another dull episode this week, with the only real highlight being the decent Bomb/Virgil match. They are starting to build to Survivor Series in a much more direct way though, which is nice to see, but not a whole lot going on this week. Back to live TV next week though, so there is hope!