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We begin the show with clips from the previous morning on U.S.S. Intrepid, where multiple wrestlers and athletes tried to slam Yokozuna. They then sort of awkwardly cut to the Raw intro and then to the Manhattan Center. Vince and crew then bring us back to the highlights. This was actually a pretty unique idea, I just couldn't imagine how boring it was to watch live. Plus, it was extremely hot, so I can only imagine. Crush came close, but it wasn't enough. Randy Savage was last...or was he? In comes the helicopter and it's none other than Lex Luger sporting a red, white and blue collared shirt. Luger then throws out some stupid racial stereotypes at Yoko and Fuji and attacks Fuji. He hits Yoko with the forearm that Vince used to complain about an then body slams him. This recap was legitimately 25% of the show.
Blake Beverly vs. 1-2-3 Kid
This is a low key 1993 dream match. Blake slaps Kid, so he follows up with a dropkick. Blake is knocked outside, so he hits a dropkick through the ropes. Back in the ring, Kid hits a pop up dropkick and an enziguiri. Blake catches Kid and hits a powerslam to slow things down. Blake hits a vertical suplex onto the top turnbuckle and that now sends Kid to the floor. Blake hits a nice looking leaping headbutt and then tosses him over the top rope just as if he was a "sack of garbage" according to Vince. Blake works on him in the ring before hitting a shoulder tackle to once again send him out of the ring. Blake misses off the second rope to the floor and then the Kid hits a top rope somersault to the floor. Blake sells like he is injured, but ends up catching Kid again and hits a suplex. He misses with a second rope headbutt and Kid immediately heads up top. He hits the leg drop and scores the victory. Good TV match here. I'll gladly take either guy on here more.
Match Rating: **3/4 (out of 5)
We get a Men On A Mission rapping hype video. They're on a mission.
Luna lets us know that the Beast From The East is coming up next.
Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Joey Maggs
Bam Bam hits two splashes in the corner, falls on Maggs and that's it. Well, that certainly was short.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Samu vs. Undertaker
After a nice little opening sequence, Undertaker goes for a leapfrog, but doesn't quite get over him there. Taker then hits a drop toe hold, which is a rarity. Taker is pulling out all the tricks today, hitting a dropkick. After Samu takes a break outside, Taker hits Old School before it was Old School. Taker gets distracted by Afa, allowing Samu to attack him from behind. Back from a commercial break, Samu is still on the attack. Samu hits a nice powerslam for a 2 count, but Taker quickly sits up. Samu clotheslines him over the top rope and Taker lands on his feet. Taker throws Samu into the turnbuckle and his face hits the ring post. Paul Bearer is not at ringside and they are still selling the storyline of Mr. Hughes stealing the urn. Samu hits a top rope splash, but on the second attempt, Taker sits up and Samu comes crashing down. This sets up the Tombstone and the victory. It was nice to see Samu look competitive there and Taker had his working boots on. One of the better matches of the early Taker era that I can remember.
Match Rating: **3/4
Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji join Vince McMahon outside the ring. Mr. Fuji disputes that what Lex Luger did yesterday was not a slam. They say that they denied Luger's challenge because he is a cheater with his steel plated forearm. Out comes Crush and he thanks Luger for embarrassing them. Crush then accepts the challenge and will take on Yokozuna next week.
August 30th...it's SummerSlam time.
Mr. Perfect vs. Brian Costello
Perfect hits a dropkick and it sends Costello out of the ring. He chops him and quickly puts on the Perfect Plex. I'm not sure why they felt the need to put two squashes that are so short on here tonight?
Match Rating: 1/4*
This was a really enjoyable show. The highlight package probably could have been a little bit shorter, but it still allowed for us to get two really solid TV matches on here. There wasn't a ton of movement for the SummerSlam card, but they do still have almost two months to start on that. If you're an Undertaker fan, I think his match with Samu is worth checking out.
Overall Rating: 70%
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