WWF RAW October 11 1993 Review (Razor Ramon Vs. Rick Martel)

October 11, 1993 Taped show (on September 27, 1993) Location: New Haven, Connecticut, USA (New Haven Coliseum) Announced attendance: ca 5,500 TV rating: 2.9 (USA Network) [same as the previous week’s rating]

In the fallout of last week’s 20-man battle royal, Razor Ramon and Rick Martel battle over the vacant Intercontinental Championship on RAW. Plus, The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express and more in action.

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

• WWF Champion: Yokozuna [120th day of his 2nd reign] – previous champion: Hulk Hogan

• WWF Intercontinental Champion: vacated [for 14 days] – previous champion: Shawn Michaels

• WWF Tag Team Champions: The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre) [28th day of their 1st reign as a team (individually: Jacques’ 1st reign & Pierre’s 1st reign] – previous champions: The Steiners (Rick & Scott Steiner)

Note: in title matches, the defending champions appear underlined

Enjoy the review!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan & Randy Savage

The episode begins with a spectacular video package narrated by Vince McMahon promoting tonight’s Intercontinental Championship match.

RAW’s intro plays immediately after that package.

The announcers talk about the upcoming title match. Heenan picks Martel while Savage thinks Ramon will win. The referee is in the ring with the championship belt in hand and we’re ready for action.

Razor Ramon vs. Rick Martel

WWF Intercontinental Championship

Martel gets in Razor’s face and he gets the toothpick in his face in return. They lockup, Martel wrestles Razor down and bitchslaps him in the back of the head. Razor overpowers Martel and pounds away in the corner. Martel brings it to Razor as well, but he gets caught as Razor hits the fallaway slam. Martel bails for a while. Back in, Martel takes over with a headlock but Razor uses his power and places Martel on the apron. The referee asks for a break, Razor blocks Martel’s cheapshot attempt and slams Martel back inside the ring the hard way. Razor stays on top with big shoulderblocks while going after Martel’s arm. Ramon with an aggressive armbar, but Martel escapes the hold and we take a break.

Commercial break

We return with Martel ramming Ramon backfirst into the edge of the ring apron. Bodyslam on the floor and Martel takes a second to taunt the fans back inside the ring. He’s still selling the arm in his celebration, which is a great detail. Martel whips Ramon into the turnbuckle a number of times and delivers a backdrop suplex. Martel covers with his feet on the ropes but gets caught by Earl Hebner. Martel stays in control, driving his knees into Ramon’s back which sends Ramon into the turnbuckle. Boston Crab by Martel, but Razor makes it to the ropes to escape. Sidewalk slam by Martel and he applies the Boston Crab in the middle of the ring. Great counter by Ramon who explodes right into a pinning position for two. Martel rolls over into his own pin for two, and Martel hits a dropkick for another nearfall. The crowd is very much into it. Ramon blocks a kick by Martel and takes him over to the corner for a backdrop superplex, but Martel elbows him off. Martel comes down with a high crossbody, but Ramon lands on top for two. A clothesline takes Razor down and Martel gets two. Razor avoids a backdrop with a knee smash. He’s thinking Razor’s Edge, Martel tries to fight it but Ramon eventually hits it (to a gigantic pop!) and wins the IC Title at 10:42.

Winner & new Intercontinental Champion: Razor Ramon

• Rating: We could be talking about how good of a match this was – because it was really good – but the awesome crowd reaction and Ramon winning the title are what elevate this to the next level. It was one of the best moments of the first year of RAW’s history. Like I said, the match itself was great too. There was good psychology with Martel targeting Ramon’s back throughout the bout, while Ramon went after Martel’s arm. Ramon’s strength also came into play multiple times here, and it proved to be the deciding factor as he muscled Martel up for the Razor’s Edge while Martel desperately tried to avoid it. This felt like a struggle and it was a tremendous title match on free TV. ***3/4

After the match, Ramon celebrates his first title win with the fans still going crazy. Razor Ramon wants us to “say hello to the new Intercontinental Champion”! This was a great title win and a very special moment that the crowd loved to see.

The Headshrinkers (Fatu & Samu) (w/ Afa) vs. Sid Curtis & Tommy Morrison

The match begins with Samu unloading on both jobbers. Gutwrench suplex by Samu. Fatu comes in with a superkick and a headbutt. He throws Curtis outside for a slam by Samu on the floor while Fatu distracts the referee. Back in, The Headshrinkers destroy the poor guy some more. They hit a double clothesline before forcing the tag so they can destroy the other guy as well. They beat up Morrison and Fatu finishes with the Flying Splash at 3:49.

Winners: The Headshrinkers

• Rating: A regular squash with The Headshrinkers destroying both guys quite easily. 1/2*

Owen Hart vs. Scott King

It’s been a while since Owen last had a singles match here on RAW. Owen works on the arm to start before throwing a clothesline. Owen with a hammerlock, which Scott King escapes with an elbow smash to the face followed by a shoulderblock. Owen quickly turns things around and hits a dropkick. Suplex by Owen as he’s in full control now. Gutwrench suplex followed by a delayed vertical suplex. Owen goes up top and hits a flying elbowdrop. He hits the chinlock for a while before delivering an overhead suplex. Owen follows it up with a missile dropkick and finishes King with a northern lights suplex at 3:38.

Winner: Owen Hart

• Rating: Another decent squash here. Nice to see Owen showing off his skills on RAW. 3/4*

Ludvig Borga interview

Vince McMahon is in the ring to conduct this interview. Borga cuts your foreign heel promo as he calls Lex Luger a loser who already got his chance at SummerSlam. Lex Luger comes out to confront Borga and he gets a pretty big pop. Luger is tired of Borga’s anti-American comments while he collects a paycheck in America. Luger is ready to go now and teach Borga some respect, but Borga says he only fights when it’s worth it and he walks away. This segment was nothing crazy but the crowd absolutely loved Luger and elevated it.

Adam Bomb (w/ Harvey Wippleman) vs. Russ Greenberg

Adam Bomb is now managed by Harvey Wippleman after only a few months with Johnny Polo. Bomb chokes away in the corner as Savage claims he’s an “obvious contender” to the new IC Champion Razor Ramon. Not really, but okay. Bomb on the attack and he hits a dropkick. Slingshot clothesline. Greenberg shows some life with a few weak punches, and Bomb puts him back down with a backdrop suplex. The Adam Smasher powerbomb puts Greenberg away at 2:34.

Winner: Adam Bomb

• Rating: Fine squash. 1/4*

Main Event

The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) vs. Duane Gill & Barry Hardy

Morton & Gibson come out with the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Team Championship belts. This is their debut match on Raw. There’s a small “rock and roll” chant at the start of the match. Gibson takes Hardy down with an enziguiri. Running kneelift by Morton. Duane Gill gets tagged in and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express hit a variation of the Hart Attack on him. Hardy breaks up the pin at two. Hardy goes after Morton from there and Earl Hebner does nothing, apparently forgetting the rules of tag team wrestling. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express comeback with some double-team moves and a double dropkick finishes Hardy, with Gibson getting the pin at 2:18.

Winners: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express

• Rating: A fine way to introduce Morton & Gibson. It could’ve been better, but it was just a two-minute squash after all. 1/4*

We see a recap of Razor Ramon’s title win earlier tonight.

Next week: the still undefeated Tatanka, IRS, The Steiners and Crush’s return.

END OF THE SHOW

Final thoughts: This episode was all about the Intercontinental Title match between Rick Martel and Razor Ramon. Their match was fantastic and ate up most of the episode, so it has to be considered a good show. The rest of the show was filled with the usual squashes, which were fine. The confrontation between Lex Luger and Ludvig Borga was basic, but the crowd reaction elevated it. Fun episode of RAW with a very good Intercontinental Championship bout. 7/10

POINT SYSTEM

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That’s all from me today. Thank you so much for taking the time to read. Make sure you don’t miss any of the upcoming reviews here on the blog. Until next time, everyone!