June 7, 1993
Location: Manhattan, New York, USA (Manhattan Center)
Announced attendance: N/A
TV rating: 2.5 (USA Network) [down 3.8% from the previous week’s 2.6]
Hey there everyone. Welcome to yet another RAW review here on the blog. With the inaugural King of the Ring PPV just six days away, a major title change from a live event the previous night is revealed. Shawn Michaels introduces his new bodyguard. Plus, with the inaugural King of the Ring PPV just six days away, a strange bedfellows “mixed” tag team match takes place in the main event.
Here is the list of champions heading into this RAW:
- WWF Champion: Hulk Hogan [64th day of his 5th reign – previous champion: Yokozuna]
- WWF Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels [1st day of his 2nd reign – previous champion: Marty Jannetty]
- WWF World Tag Team Champions: Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster) [237th day of their 2nd reign – previous champions: The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon]
Note: Shawn Michaels beat Marty Jannetty for the IC title at a live event the previous night
Enjoy the review!
Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan & Randy Savage
This week kicks off with ring announcer Bill Dunn introducing the new Intercontinental Champion, Shawn Michaels, who comes out with a new bodyguard.
The RAW intro plays.
We go to the commentators at ringside, and Shawn introduces his nameless bodyguard. It’s Kevin Nash of course, who was recently working in WCW as Vinnie Vegas, and would soon be known as Diesel in the WWF.
Shawn Michaels (w/ Diesel) vs. Russ Greenberg
Shawn takes down Russ and dominates him rather easily, while the commentators put over his “insurance policy” at ringside. Shawn slams Russ a couple of times, but he stops to strut and Russ rolls him up for one. It seems to anger Shawn, who pounds away viciously in the corner before hitting a delayed vertical suplex. Shawn works a headlock while the announcers continue to talk about Diesel and hype KOTR. Shawn with a swinging neckbreaker, and he goes up for a Macho Elbow. Bobby Heenan: “what a move… he’s got moves you haven’t even seen, Savage”! Shawn wins it with a piledriver at 3:53.
- Rating: This was essentially done to put Diesel over. Shawn Michaels did a great job in the ring, as always. 3/4*
King of the Ring Report w/ Mean Gene
- The main event will be Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna for the WWF Championship
- One final look at the KOTR tournament brackets
- Finally, Mean Gene announces HBK vs. Crush will now be for the Intercontinental Championship
- He’s forced to end the segment as apparently something’s going down in the arena…
Shawn Michaels is yelling at the commentators at ringside about the news. He should be in a beach in Hawaii, not defending his title against a giant Hawaiian. Everyone is jealous of him, but he’ll be fine because he has his new “Wall of China” by his side!
‘El Matador’ Tito Santana vs. Adam Bomb
Tito goes to work on the arm to start, and Bomb goes to the ropes to break. Scoop slam by Adam Bomb, but he misses an elbow and Tito goes back to the arm. He’s overpowered by Bomb, but Bomb eats buckle on a blind charge and Tito armdrags him to take control again. Sunset flip gets two for Tito, but Bomb cuts him off with a punch and chokes away on the ropes. Tito keeps trying to fight back, but Bomb is able to remain in control and gives him a sidewalk slam. They get into a slugfest, and Tito hits the Flying Jalapeno for two. Bomb no-sells a dropkick though, and shrugs Tito off on an O’Connor Roll attempt. Adam Bomb follows it up with a slingshot clothesline to Tito’s back for the win at 5:32.
- Rating: Solid TV match that served as the first real test for Adam Bomb in the WWF. Tito Santana brought the best in him, in what was one of his last matches before leaving. **
An ad for Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna at King of the Ring plays.
Tatanka vs. Peter Weeks
Tatanka chops away to start and hiptosses Weeks all the way to the outside. Tatanka slams him and drops an elbow. Peter tries to get some offense going, but Tatanka IS ON THE WARPATH and makes the comeback with chops. Tatanka goes up top, and a flying karate chop of doom does it at 3:16.
- Rating: Did I mention chops already? This was a nothing squash – the jobber’s work looked awkward, and Tatanka continues to fail to impress despite getting TV time on RAW nearly every week. DUD
The King’s Court With Yokozuna & Mr. Fuji
First of all, Jerry Lawler makes sure to clarify the winner of the KOTR tournament on Sunday will be nothing but a pretender to the real King. Yoko and Fuji are greeted with Hogan chants upon arrival, which Lawler apologizes for. Lawler wants to see Hogan go up against 505 lbs… Fuji interrupts and mentions Yokozuna is now 550 lbs. He’s been having 15 to 20 meals a day in “preparation” for this match, and he will crack Hogan’s bones when he comes down on Hogan. Yokozuna actually speaks to close the promo – “Hulk Hogan, you’re going down!” Good segment to establish Yoko as an even bigger threat.
Main Event
“Mixed Tag Team Match” – Irwin R. Schyster & Fatu (w/ Ted DiBiase, Afa & Samu) vs. Rick Steiner & Billy Gunn (w/ Scott Steiner & Bart Gunn)
DiBiase hands the Headshrinkers some money before the match, but Afa eats the bill. Fatu pounds away on Billy Gunn. Billy fights back with a drop toehold, dropkick and a swinging neckbreaker for two. Rick Steiner comes in and turns Fatu’s leapfrog attempt into a sick powerslam. However, a Rick blind charge finds nothing but Fatu’s elbow, and then Fatu explodes with a clothesline out of the corner. IRS wants to pick up the pieces, but ends up getting clotheslined to the floor by Rick. Bart sends IRS back inside quickly, allowing Rick to Steinerline him for two. IRS calls for a double-team move, only to end up hitting Fatu by mistake instead. The Samoans are pissed as we go to break.
Commercial break
We’re back with Steiner and IRS in the ring, as they show us DiBiase giving The Headshrinkers more money during the break to calm them down. Back to live action, IRS dumps Steiner out of the ring so Ted and Samu can ram Rick’s head into the stairs. The heels double-team Rick inside the ring while the ref’s busy, before Fatu hits a great clothesline for two. Fatu up top for a splash, but Steiner gets his knees up to block it. Hot tag Billy Gunn, and he runs wild on the heels. Backdrop to IRS, backdrop to Fatu, clothesline to IRS, dropkick to Fatu, even DiBiase gets knocked off the apron. However, IRS sends Billy throat-first onto the top rope with a clothesline from behind, stealing the win at 11:30.
- Rating: This was a fun chaotic match that featured some nice interactions between Money Inc and The Headshrinkers. Fatu and Rick had good chemistry, which we already knew after their fun tussle at WrestleMania. The finish was very weak, but it was a decent match altogether. **1/2
Razor Ramon cuts a quick promo to end the show, addressing both The 1-2-3 Kid and Bret Hart.
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: I thought this was a good go-home RAW for King of the Ring. The King’s Court with Yokozuna put Yoko over massively before the title match, the main event was a fun preview of the eight-man tag coming up at the PPV, and Diesel was introduced as Michaels’ new bodyguard. While I wouldn’t call this a must-see episode, a lot of stuff happened and stories were developed here. Good RAW this week. 6/10
POINT SYSTEM
Read more about the point system here
That’s gonna be all for today. Don’t miss the King of the Ring 1993 review, which is coming up next. Have a great day. See you next time!
