Monday, February 22nd, 1993
Manhattan Center
New York City, New York
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Rob Bartlett is in the crowd and does a cheesy rip off of Saturday Night Live. Bartlett couldn't be more of a dork.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Scott Taylor
Bartlett asks if Taylor is some guy off the street. Taylor ducks a clothesline and hits one of his own. It doesn't phase Bigelow and he ends up hitting a clothesline this time around. Taylor ends up on his shoulders and eats an electric chair. It may just be due to it being the opening match, but Bam Bam is over with the crowd tonight. Bam Bam goes up to the top rope and hits a headbutt and follows up with another one. Bam Bam gets an impressive squash.
Match Rating: 1/2* (out of 5)
Vince McMahon takes us to an interview taped earlier this week with Vince McMahon and Hulk Hogan. Yes, Vince introduced himself. Hogan is rocking an ICOPRO shirt. Hogan says that whenever you are at the top of your profession that people start digging in your past. He says that he is a human being and he made some mistakes. He then starts talking about the media reporting things that aren't true. He wants to focus on the positive vibes of Hulkamania.
Shawn Michaels & The Beverly Brothers vs. Tatanka & The Nasty Boys
As far as 1993 Raw matches go, this is a pretty big one. Tatanka runs in and goes right after Michaels. He hits a double chop on the Beverly Brothers and then tosses Michaels over the top rope. The Nasty Boys give the Beverly's a double Pit Stop. Michaels is tagged in and hits a reverse elbow on Knobbs. In a hilarious moment, Vince messes up his own "Uncut, uncooked, uncensored" slogan. They go to commercial with Knobbs working on Beau. Beau then drops Knobbs over the top rope. Michaels then throws Knobbs into the ring post. The Bros keep working on the Boys. Michaels is tagged in and Knobbs kicks him in the face, but no tag. They collide in the middle of the ring and both men are down. Hot tag to Tatanka, but his pin attempt is quickly broken up by Blake. He hits a couple of chops on Michaels and then hits one off the top rope. The ref loses control of the match and Michaels goes for his suplex finish, but Tatanka turns it into a pin attempt and gets the victory. That was a fun 1993 style WWF wrestling match.
Match Rating: **1/2
Sean Mooney is outside with fans outside the building. They're here to see Hulk Hogan.
Crush vs. Terry Taylor
Crush hits a dropkick and then a body press. Taylor tries to leave, but Crush grabs him by the hair. Taylor gets a thumb to the eye to take control. For some reason Bartlett pretends to be Arnold Schwarzenegger on the phone with Vince and it's as terrible as it sounds. Crush kicks out of a pin attempt with authority. Crush is just not over at all here with the crowd. Crush hits his spinning backbreaker and then signals for his finisher, which gives him his biggest reaction of the night. Taylor was better than the role he was playing here.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They show highlights of last week with Brutus Beefcake getting his face smashed. After the commercial, Vince McMahon is in the ring to bring out Hulk Hogan. Something, something, brother. He gives his usual shtick and then introduces Beefcake as the "Bionic Barber", who is sporting a pretty terrible makeup job and a bandage on his nose. They then introduce their manager, Jimmy Hart. This is all just so strange. I wasn't watching wrestling during this time, but when I went back to watch WrestleMania IX a few years later, this was all very lame to me then. I never was a Hogan fan, so that's not much of a surprise. So they will be taking on Money, Inc. at WrestleMania. I don't quite understand how anyone thought that was a co-main event match?
Undertaker vs. Skinner
They join the match in progress and Skinner clotheslines Undertaker out of the ring, who lands on his feet. Skinner jumps on Taker's back to try and choke him. Taker wasn't ready and he hits head-first into the guardrail. Skinner then starts choking him and they say that we're all out of time and we'll see you next week. Not the TV production crew's finest moment here. No match rating, as it was about 30 seconds of nothing.
The first half of the show was solid 1993 era WWF wrestling. From there it fell off, but I suppose if you're a Hogan fan this is essential viewing as it was his comeback moment. I would put this one in the so-so category.
Overall Rating: 50%
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