WWF RAW April 19 1993 Review (No Direction)

April 19, 1993 Taped show (on April 12, 1993)
Location: Poughkeepsie, New York, USA (Mid-Hudson Civic Center)
Announced attendance: ca 3 500
TV rating: 2.9 (USA Network) [down 14.71% from the previous week’s 3.4]

Welcome everyone to another RAW review on the blog. This week, Money Inc. take on The Beverly Brothers in the marquee match. Aside from that, Razor Ramon faces Virgil, and the likes of Giant Gonzalez and the undefeated Tatanka are in action as well.

Here is the list of champions in WWF heading into this RAW (reign duration considering the air date):

• WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan [15^th day of his reign] – previous champion: Yokozuna
• WWF Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels [174^th day of his reign] – previous champion: The British Bulldog
• WWF World Tag Team Champions: Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster) [188^th day of their reign] – previous champions: The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon)

Note: in title matches, the defending champions’ names appear underlined

Enjoy the review!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Randy Savage & Rob Bartlett

Money Inc. & The Beverly Brothers address their match coming up later on in quick backstage promos.

The intro plays and we go straight to the ring for this week’s opening match.

Razor Ramon vs. Virgil

They fight over a wristlock for a while to start, until Razor has enough and takes the easy way out by placing a foot on the ropes and forcing the break. Razor does it a second time and tries to catch Virgil with a quick back elbow shot, but Virgil ducks and takes him down with a headscissors. Virgil reverses a powerslam and turns it into a cradle for two, and goes to work on the arm as the crowd chants for Virgil. That’s the cue for Virgil to f*ck everything up, as he totally botches a hiptoss and then a rollup. Man. Razor holds on to the ropes to avoid a dropkick and chokes away on the ropes. Razor with the abdominal stretch, Virgil blocks it with a hiptoss but misses a follow-up elbowdrop. Razor connects with one of his own and slams Virgil. Ramon gets all cocky with the little bitchslaps, opening the door for Virgil to faceplant Razor and he makes the comeback. Virgil raises his boot to avoid a blind charge in the corner, and Virgil hits a flying clothesline. He completely misses a crossbody though, and the Razor’s Edge is academic at 6:56.

• Rating: This wasn’t a bad opener, and it could’ve been even better had Virgil not messed up a few moves. *1/4

Giant Gonzalez vs. LA Gore

LA Gore doesn’t want to get in the ring, so Gonzalez brings him all the way in and clotheslines him. Gonzalez hits some kind of kick before finishing with a Chokeslam at 1:20.

• Rating: Nothing Gonzalez does in the ring looks intimidating. DUD

Luna Vachon narrates what has happened between her and Sherri ever since WrestleMania while the clips play.

Tatanka vs. Mark Thomas

Mark jumps Tatanka before the bell and remains on top for a while. Tatanka turns things around and goes after the arm, but he misses an elbowdrop. Mark rams Tatanka’s head into the turnbuckle, which sends him ON THE WARPATH. Tatanka makes the comeback and the Not Samoan Drop finishes at 2:29.

• Rating: Just a normal squash. 1/4*

Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster) vs. The Beverly Brothers (Beau & Blake Beverly)

A big slugfest breaks out to start and Money Inc take a powder. Blake takes it to DiBiase as the Beverlys take turns going after his arm. The ref misses DiBiase’s tag to IRS which allows the Beverlys to continue the beating on him. DiBiase finally catches a break by raising his elbow to block a blind charge, and this time IRS finally comes in. However, he misses an elbowdrop and the Beverlys go after IRS’ arm now. The Beverlys keep cheating behind the ref’s back, which leaves the crowd even more confused than they already were to begin with. We take a break.

Commercial break

We come back with Money Inc doing the cheating this time, as DiBiase pulls a switcheroo behind the ref’s back, who still doesn’t notice it when he turns around. IRS misses a clothesline on Beau and ends up eating one himself. Beau with a swinging neckbreaker on DiBiase and he makes the hot(?) tag. Blake runs wild with a backdrop and a powerslam and… tags Beau back in. This match just doesn’t click for multiple reasons. IRS comes in to break up a pin, which draws Blake in to clean house, but then Beau clotheslines Blake by mistake and DiBiase rolls up Beau for the lame ending at 12:30.

• Rating: After the build over the last couple of weeks on RAW, with both teams attacking each other backstage and everything, I expected a lot more than this. Instead they had a by-the-numbers tag team match and took turns trying to cheat, which only confused the crowd even further, since this was already a heel vs. heel match. The finish was really poor and overall this was a very forgettable culmination of their mini-feud. This turned out to be The Beverlys’ final match in WWF outside of some house shows, as Beau left the company after the European tour later that month. Blake remained in the company a little longer, doing jobs until leaving in the summer. *1/2

WWF Mania ad with Todd Pettengill.

Vince McMahon interviews Bret Hart

Vince asks about losing the title to Yokozuna. Bret says he’s always been considered an underdog, and he’s not finished yet much like he wasn’t when he lost the Tag Team or the Intercontinental titles in the past. Bret says he’s made a hit-list on his way back to the top, and #1 on the list is Lex Luger after he attacked him on the WrestleMania brunch. Vince asks him about the questionable forearm, and Bret says he thinks there’s definitely more to it than bone. Bret warns Luger that this is wrestling and not bodybuilding, and finishes by promising he’ll go after either Yokozuna or Hulk Hogan to eventually reclaim the WWF Championship. Solid promo by Bret that got the point across.

Main Event

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Phil Apollo

Bigelow runs over poor Apollo with a series of shoulderblocks to start. Bam Bam snaps Phil’s neck in half, but misses a blind charge. However, Bam Bam totally whiffs Phil on a dropkick attempt. Vertical suplex by Bigelow as Doink the Clown comes down to ringside with an umbrella. Bigelow destroys Apollo with a running splash in the corner. Phil tries to make a comeback, but Bigelow casually puts him down and squashes him with a senton. Bam Bam follows it up with the diving headbutt for the win at 4:43.

Bigelow gives Apollo a second diving headbutt, but Friar Ferguson comes out to prevent Bam Bam from hitting more. Ferguson dumps Bigelow with a dropkick from behind to begin a feud that went nowhere as Friar Ferguson was quickly dropped.

• Rating: Dominant win by Bam Bam Bigelow, throwing the jobber around for fun before casually putting him out. 1/2*

Next week: Crush vs. Lex Luger.

END OF THE SHOW

Final thoughts: We’re in that weird transitional period where WrestleMania is already well behind us, but it’s still way too soon to start building King of the Ring either, so we’re kinda stuck in limbo. Money Inc vs The Beverlys was pretty disappointing given the build throughout the last few weeks, and the rest of the show was essentially just squashes. The Bigelow/Ferguson tease in the end ultimately went nowhere (thankfully), and the highlight of the show quite frankly was Bret Hart’s interview. Needless to say, this is not a recommended episode of RAW. 3/10

POINT SYSTEM

That’s gonna be all for this week’s post. Don’t miss any of the other RAW reviews, as well as the upcoming WCW Slamboree review in May and later June’s WWF King of the Ring as well. Download our web-app for an easier and quicker access to our reviews, which can be found in the link bar. See you all next time!

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