WWF RAW August 2 1993 Review (Savage Vs. Doink)
- Tomás Cunha
- Sep 17, 2023
- 7 min read
Updated: 7 days ago
August 2, 1993 Taped show (on July 25, 1993) Location: Alexandria Bay, New York, USA (Castle Recreation Center) Announced attendance: ca 1000 TV rating: 2.9 (USA Network) [down 3.4% from the previous week’s 3.0 rating]
Hi everyone. Welcome to yet another Monday Night RAW review here on the blog. After the ending of last week’s show, Randy Savage returns to the ring to battle Doink the Clown. What is Savage’s surprise that he promised last week? Let’s tune in to find out! Plus, Mr. Perfect and The Steiners are in action tonight.
Here is the list of champions in the WWF heading into this RAW: (considering the air date)
WWF Champion: Yokozuna [50th day of his 2nd reign] – previous champion: Hulk Hogan
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels [57th day of his 2nd reign] – previous champion: Marty Jannetty
WWF Tag Team Champions: The Steiners (Rick & Scott Steiner) [44th day of their 2nd reign] – previous champions: Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster)
Enjoy the review!
Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan
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The show begins with a recap of Doink issuing the challenge to Randy Savage at the end of last week. Doink promised Savage won’t be seeing double vision, he’ll be seeing triple vision. But Savage replied saying he had a surprise of his own, which wasn’t shown in this recap.
Heenan and McMahon address the viewers by themselves while Randy Savage cuts a very short promo from his dressing room.
The Steiners (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. Barry Horowitz & Dwayne Gill
Take a look at this all-time jobber combination! They were both great. Scott wastes little time sending Horowitz flying with a hiptoss out of the corner. Horowitz claims Scott used the tights. Horowitz tries a hiptoss out of the corner of his own, which is quite hilarious. Scott misses a blind charge leading to Horowitz patting himself on the back, which earns him an overhead belly to belly suplex when he turns around. Rick gets tagged in, Horowitz goes to punch him but nearly sh*ts himself when he sees Rick’s in there. That got a laugh out of both Scott and Rick, as well as the crowd. Horowitz tells the fans to shut up and tags in Dwayne Gill, who immediately eats a Steinerline. Rick brings Scott back in, who hits a pumphandle slam and the Frankensteiner for the win at 2:45. The commentators announce The Steiners have an open contract for a title shot at SummerSlam, in their home state.
Rating: Fantastic squash, one of the best in RAW history up until this point. Barry Horowitz was an extremely talented jobber, and the Steiners looked great to boot. *
We see a Lex Luger interview. He talks about his childhood, being shy as a kid and how his father wouldn’t allow him to participate in athletics if he didn’t get A’s in school. This had “CHANT LEX LUGER DAMN IT” written all over it.
Vince announces there will be a contract signing next week between Luger and Yokozuna. Heenan reminds us of the last contract signing Yoko had, with Bret Hart before WrestleMania 9.
Adam Bomb (w/ Johnny Polo) vs. Tony Roy
Bomb manhandles Tony Roy while Vince plugs the USA Network premiere of Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair, and Bobby says whatever you hear happened between him and Marilyn is not true! Bomb slams Roy on the ropes before hitting a backdrop suplex. Adam Bomb goes up top for the flying clothesline and the Atom Smasher finishes Roy in 2:18.
Rating: This was there. The interactions between Heenan and McMahon on commentary were more entertaining. 1/4*
Video package promoting next week’s featured match – Mr. Hughes vs. Tatanka.
But now, it’s time for tonight’s featured match…
Randy Savage vs. Doink the Clown
Savage looks under the ring before the match to see if there are more Doinks in there. He sees nothing and comes back in to start us off. Doink misses a cheapshot on the ropes and laughs at it. He mocks Savage’s mannerisms afterwards while the crowd chants “Macho” loudly. The crowd is into this match big time. Doink pulls the hair and bites Savage to get the advantage, and Savage goes outside to pick a chair. The referee gets it away from him, which in turn allows Doink to take over. Clothesline by Doink and he locks in a Boston Crab. Doink grabs the ropes for extra leverage until the referee eventually catches him. He goes to work on Savage’s leg, stomping on him. Savage tries to fight back, moving out of the way on a blind charge and driving the knee to Doink’s back, sending him all the way to the outside.
Commercial break
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We come back with Savage fighting a neckbreaker submission back inside the ring. Doink hits a dropkick and he puts pressure on the neck with another submission. Savage fights back by ramming him into the buckle. Doink whips Savage into the buckle in return, as Savage’s leg is too hurt for him to follow up on it, and Doink hits a belly to belly for two. Abdominal stretch by Doink, Savage reverses with a hiptoss but his back gives out again. Doink hammers away in the corner and goes to a reverse chinlock while ramming his knee to Savage’s back. Very impressive limb work by Doink in this match. Savage escapes the hold yet again, runs the ropes but charges right into a slam by Doink. He sets up for the flying buttsplash, but Savage moves out of the way and Doink lands on his ass. That finally opens the door for Savage’s comeback, but Doink whips Savage to the outside. Savage crawls under the ring and appears on the other side… except it’s a midget! Mini Macho Man throws Doink off his game, who leaves the ring to go after Macho Midget. That’s the cue for Randy Savage to reapper and slam Doink out on the floor. Savage brings Doink back in, but Doink is still distracted, and Savage cradles Doink for the win at 11:22.
Doink complains about the numbers advantage after the match, so Macho Midget attacks from behind and Savage knocks him down. They celebrate in the ring together while Doink walks away.
Rating: On one hand, this was ridiculous. One the other hand, it was pretty fun because of it! Doink had been using the numbers advantage to beat all of his opponents for months, so it was nice to see Savage outsmarting him. This was a very fun TV match that clearly showed Savage should still be inside those ropes and not on commentary. ***1/4
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SummerSlam Report w/ Mean Gene
The WWF Title match will be Yokozuna vs. Lex Luger, with Lugger wearing an elbow pad. They will be in a contract signing next week on RAW.
Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler will battle over “royalty”. Mean Gene thinks the Hart Family will be at the show.
Added to the show this past weekend, Shawn Michaels will defend the Intercontinental Title against Mr. Perfect.
The Undertaker will face Giant Gonzalez in a RIP Match.
Back to the broadcast, Ted DiBiase is on the phone after losing to The 1-2-3 Kid on Wrestling Challenge. DiBiase hangs up as soon as Vince says we’ll see a recap.
They proceed to show the recap, with Razor Ramon getting involved when Ted had him in the Million Dollar Dream. DiBiase did a cocky pin and Kid stole it with a crucifix pin.
Jim Cornette Debuts!
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Jim Cornette makes his unannounced WWF debut walking into the ring with the crowd booing him. Bobby Heenan loses his mind as soon as he sees him, joining Cornette in the ring. Heenan puts Cornette over big time, calling him the greatest manager in the sport. Cornette returns the favor, saying he’s only the greatest because Heenan doesn’t manage anymore. Also, Cornette thanks Heenan for the roses he sent to his mother! Heenan wants to know what’s going on with Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Cornette wastes no time in insulting the fans to establish himself as a mega heel. Cornette says he’s done it all in wrestling except appear in the WWF. He waited this long because now he finally has the knockout blow – the greatest combination he’s ever managed, Jimmy Del Ray & Tom Prichard, The Heavenly Bodies. But he’s got another surprise. He’s here in the WWF for one reason: the Heavenly Bodies have dominated Smoky Mountain for a year and a half, so they want to challenge The Steiners. They’re the WWF Tag Team Championship, but they’re not the best team in the world. Cornette says the Steiners can either take the challenge for SummerSlam (and get beat, of course) or overlook the challenge like cowards. Heenan puts Cornette over one last time, saying he’ll set the WWF on fire, before giving him a huge hug. The crowd boos them out of the building. This was a fantastic segment. Here’s a clip below.
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Bobby Heenan brings Jim Cornette over to the commentary table to announce the final match.
Main Event
Mr. Perfect vs. Barry Hardy
Perfect takes Barry to the corner and chops him. Barry Hardy hiptosses Perfect and spits his own bubble gum like Perfect. Perfect quickly turns things around and throws more chops. He does the necksnap while Cornette mocks McMahon already. Perfect removes Hardy’s singlet and finishes him with the Perfectplex in 2:40.
Rating: Pretty fun squash here. Hardy had a singlet and bubble gum like Perfect and tries to steal his mannerisms, and they worked around that. 1/2*
They show more clips of Lex Luger’s Lex Express on the road.
Next week: the Yokozuna/Luger contract signing and Tatanka vs. Mr. Hughes. Also, Cornette adds the Heavenly Bodies will be here as well.
END OF THE SHOW
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Final thoughts: Very entertaining episode of Monday Night RAW this week. Savage vs. Doink was a really fun match, as WWF continues to deliver at least one good match per week, the Steiners and Mr. Perfect squashes were very enjoyable, and Jim Cornette’s WWF debut was a fantastic segment. They did a very good job of building up to SummerSlam as well as next week’s episode. The only thing that was “just there” was Adam Bomb’s squash, but it wasn’t terrible either. I personally enjoyed this RAW a lot overall. 8/10
POINT SYSTEM
That’s gonna be all from me. Make sure you don’t miss the upcoming reviews here on the blog. Until next time!
Written by:
Tomás Cunha
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