WWF RAW February 15 1993 Review (Just Bring Him In Already)
- Tomás Cunha
- Sep 26, 2022
- 8 min read
Updated: Apr 25
February 15th, 1993 Location: Manhattan, NY (Manhattan Center) Taped show (on Feb. 1st 1993) Announced attendance: ca 1 000 (capacity: ca 1 000) TV rating: 3.3 (USA Network) [up 0.3 from the previous RAW’s 3.0]
Welcome everyone to yet another review of WWF RAW. RAW is back after a one-week absence, as The Dog Show aired on USA Network the previous week instead of RAW. Tonight’s show features a 15-man battle royal and Brutus Beefcake’s return to the ring, against ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase. Let’s get to it.
Here is the list of champions in WWF heading into this episode of RAW (air date):
WWF Champion: Bret Hart [126th day of his reign] – previous champion: Ric Flair
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels [111th day of his reign] – previous champion: The British Bulldog
WWF World Tag Team Champions: Money Inc (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster) [125th day of their reign] – previous champions: The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon)
Note: in title matches, the defending champions are underlined
Enjoy the review!
Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Randy Savage & Rob Bartlett
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– We hear from Brutus Beefcake and Ted DiBiase to start the program. Brutus says he’s ready for action, while Ted promises something bad will happen. Jimmy Hart doesn’t think it’s necessary, but Ted says everything will be just fine!
– The RAW intro plays to kick off the show
The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. Glen Ruth & Bobby Who
Really, Bobby Who!? Scott easily overpowers Ruth in the beginning. Impressive dragon suplex by Scott while Savage faces some problems with his microphone. Damn it, why couldn’t it be Bartlett’s!? Rick with an explosive belly-to-belly on Bobby Who, and Scott follows it up with a dropkick on Who. Scott gets him up in Razor’s Edge position, and Rick comes off the top with a flying elbowdrop for the double-team. Rick with a chinlock for a while. The jobber actually hits Rick with a bunch of wussy forearms to the chest, which earns him THE MOTHER OF ALL CLOTHESLINES. What are you even thinking, Mr. Who?? Scott follows it up with the butterfly powerbomb, and then The Steiners end it with the Doomsday Bulldog at 3:32.
Rating: The Steiners are always exciting to watch, even if it is just a squash. Very explosive, hard-hitting bout. The Steiners came out of it looking awesome as usual. Effective squash. *
WrestleMania IX Report w/ Mean Gene
Brought to you by IcoPro!
Gene promotes the main event: World Champ Bret Hart against the Royal Rumble winner Yokozuna for the WWF Championship
The first preliminary matches have just been added to the card: The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez (good lord almighty…) and Crush vs. Doink the Clown, with Crush looking for revenge from Doink’s vicious attack last month on Superstars
Call your local cable company for availability. What are you waiting for? DO IT NOW!
Yokozuna vs. Ross Greenberg
Savage’s microphone is still not working. Greenberg charges right into a clothesline from Yoko to start. Yoko with a massive belly-to-belly suplex. Vince puts over Jim Duggan’s recent feat of being the first wrestler to ever knock Yokozuna off his feet. Yeah, talk about a wasted star-making moment. Jim f*cking Duggan…. Anyway, Yoko drops the big leg on Greenberg, kills him with the corner Avalanche and adds the exclamation point with the Banzai at 2:01.
Rating: Another easy win for Yokozuna as he heads towards his WWF Title shot at WrestleMania. 1/2*
Meanwhile, Savage steals Bartlett’s mic. YESS!!
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Special Report w/ Lord Alfred Hayes
Hayes recaps Yokozuna’s showdown with Jim Duggan a couple of weeks earlier on Superstars. Duggan was successful in getting the huge man off his feet, only to get squashed like a bug by the angry Yoko immediately afterwards. Yoko gave him a handful of Banzais, the last with the American flag covering Jim’s body. Duggan was bleeding internally and had to be taken out on a stretcher.
– Vince announces all the participants in the upcoming battle royal refused to have Giant Gonzalez join the field. We then see a recap of three jobbers walking away from their 3-on-1 handicap match against Gonzalez on the last episode of Superstars
– PROMOTIONAL CONSIDERATION PAID FOR BY THE FOLLOWING: Bret Hart tells you what IcoPro is all about! WWF Figures are sold separately DIG IT! Need a little excitement? You know what to do, OHHH YEAAH!
15-Man Battle Royal
Your list of official participants: Bob Backlund, Damien Demento, Typhoon, The Berzerker, El Matador, Razor Ramon, Terry Taylor, Tatanka, Iron Mike Sharpe (did someone no-show!??), Kamala, Skinner, IC Champion Shawn Michaels, Koko B. Ware, Owen Hart and Kim Chee.
Big melee to start with everyone going at it in the corners, while Kim Chee waits outside. He sneaks in rather quickly and joins everyone else, though. Backlund backdrops Sharpe over the top for the first elimination. It’s pretty impossible to follow the action. Kim Chee sneaks out once again. Koko tries toss Shawn out, but ends up charging into a backdrop by HBK for another elimination. Tito goes up top for a flying fistdrop on Berzerker, which is never good strategy in a battle royal. It works here, but it’s still dumb. A bunch of near-eliminations going on near the ropes on all corners of the ring. What is even the purpose of this battle royal? Maybe something huge is on the line here and I totally missed the announcement like a dumbass. I honestly don’t know. Skinner stops to dance on the ropes like a complete moron, and Typhoon clotheslines him out. Tito rams Razor’s head into the turnbuckle numerous times, while Kamala dumps Demento out. Berzerker gets rid of Owen. Santana tries to capitalize and quickly eliminate Berzerker from behind, but he’s unable to do it. HBK slugs away on Tito in the corner. Kamala eliminates Berzerker with a terrible “superkick”… well it’s the thought that counts! Kim Chee comes in from behind while Typhoon attemps to eliminate Kamala, eliminating him. Kamala goes back in and gets rid of Kim Chee, who runs away through the crowd into the concession stand. Kamala chases him while we take a break.
Commercial break
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We’re back with Kamala still chasing Kim Chee all over the arena. Terry Taylor is no longer there, apparently getting tossed out sometime while the cameras were focusing on the whole Kamala/Kim Chee stuff. Courtesy of Tatanka. Backlund went out too, at the hands of Razor. Thanks Cagematch! Typhoon squashes Michaels in the corner. However, he misses a blind charge in the corner and Michaels manages to throw the big man out. It’s down to Michaels, Razor, Tito and Tatanka. Again, what is this for? I’m genuinely lost! Shawn goes after Tatanka aggressively, with Savage bringing up Tatanka’s huge pinfall win over Shawn last week on Superstars. I recommend that one, by the way. What a huge pop for what used to be a rare non-title over a champion. Tito gives Tatanka a hand, though, and both babyfaces manhandle the Intercontinental Champion. Razor is just hanging out watching. A double-whip into the buckle leaves Michaels laying on the top rope, as then both Tatanka and Tito kick HBK to the outside for the elimination. They go after Razor together next… but Giant Gonzalez is here. Razor smartly leaves the ring and watches as Gonzalez tosses Tatanka. Gonzalez chops Tito and tosses him as well. Gonzalez walks away alongside Harvey Wippleman. Razor sneaks back inside the ring and Finkel announces him as the official winner after 13:37. Apparently this was for nothing… yep.
Rating: A near 15 minute battle royal as a set-up for a 30-second Giant Gonzalez run-in so he can toss a couple of dudes over the top rope and leave. About as exciting as it sounds. What a waste of TV time. How about… I don’t know, an actual interaction between Bret and Yokozuna? No? Anyway, this was pointless and boring. 1/2*
Main Event
Ted DiBiase (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Brutus Beefcake
This is Beefcake’s first wrestling match since July 1990. Lockup and Brutus sends DiBiase flying into the turnbuckle. Beefcake hammers away with a series of rights on DiBiase, who bails. Back inside, Beefcake remains in control with a side headlock. Beefcake sends him flying with yet another series of punches, and Ted is getting quite irritated. DiBiase goes after Brutus back inside, only to get sent into the buckle. Back to the side headlock goes Beefcake, as IRS comes down to ringside. Jimmy Hart asks IRS what he’s doing out there, but IRS doesn’t wanna hear it. DiBiase whips Beefcake into the ropes, and IRS hits him with a shot with the briefcase to Brutus’ back for the DQ at 4:26.
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IRS joins the ring for the beatdown on Brutus afterwards. DiBiase holds Beefcake’s arms for a briefcase shot to the face. Jimmy Hart begs IRS not to do it, so IRS shoves Jimmy to the outside. IRS charges and destroys Beefcake’s broken face with a shot with the briefcase. Jimmy checks on Beefcake inside the ring while Money Inc walk away without their manager. Jimmy begs for someone to come and give some help. Great selljob by Jimmy Hart, who was the MVP of this whole angle in my view. There are shots of blood all over the ring canvas. Vince tells us no major damage was done to Brutus’ face, though.
Rating: The angle was pretty good, it did a good job of setting up Hulk Hogan’s eventual return. It made sense for the heels to target Beefcake’s legitimately broken face. As far as the actual match goes, though, it was very basic and it wasn’t very good. I didn’t like how Beefcake, who hadn’t wrestled any match at all in nearly 3 years, totally dominated not only a veteran, but a reigning champion in WWF. DiBiase literally got no offense in. I understand their match was nothing but a set-up for the angle, but it wasn’t a good match. 1/4*
Next week: Money Inc are in action, which means Hulk Hogan might actually show up. Plus, a six-man tag team match.
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: I liked the first two squashes and the final angle was good too. However, everything else was completely skippable, especially that pointless battle royal. I’m not the biggest fan of battle royals to begin with, but a 15-minute one with nothing on the line where someone who wasn’t in the match “won” makes it even worse. I didn’t like the main event match either, but they made up for it with the post-match angle to close the show. I didn’t think it was terrible, but some actual build towards WrestleMania would help. Silent Rob Bartlett did help, though, so there’s that! 4/10
POINT SYSTEM
That’s all from me here. Make sure you don’t miss my upcoming review of the WCW PPV, SuperBrawl III. Don’t miss any of the other RAW reviews either. See you next time!
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Written by:
Tomás Cunha
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