Monday Night Raw: January 18th, 1993
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, and Rob Bartlett
Main Event: Ric Flair vs. El Matador Tito Santana
We are back with another exciting episode of Monday Night Raw. Today, we are going to review the January 18th, 1993 edition of Raw (Episode #2). This show set up one of the all-time great matches in Raw history for the following week so before we get to that we must get through this one. So let’s get started, shall we.
We open up the show with Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, and Rob Bartlett standing ringside welcoming every to Raw. Bartlett has a picture of Bobby Heenan and as he is ripping it up he says “fight the real enemy.” Vince kind of just looks at him like “what are you doing?”. Meanwhile, the Repo Man comes out of nowhere and nails Macho Man from behind. Wow, that was out of nowhere! Savage gets laid out on the ground as the Repo Man steals Savage’s hat and runs off. They then cut to the opening video.
Match 1: Mr. Perfect vs. Terry Taylor
Interestingly enough Terry Taylor comes out first, to his old Red Rooster music (minus the crows). Pretty awesome to hear that if you ask me. Perfect comes out and the match is underway. They start the match jawing at each other and having a stare down. Perfect just looks at like Taylor like are you serious my friend? Perfect takes Taylor down and he rolls on his back then when he gets up he slaps Taylor on the back just to infuriate Taylor some more. They go for a collar and elbow tie-up and Taylor pushes Perfect back into the ropes and during the break Taylor pushes him. They go for the collar and elbow tie-up again but this time Perfect gets out of it and slaps Taylor in the face. Taylor backs up and runs a little doing some stall tactics. They go for the collar elbow and tie-up one more time and Taylor gets Perfect into the corner and nails him with a couple of chops. Taylor attempts to irish whip Perfect into the other corner but Perfect reverses it and hits Taylor with a hip toss. Taylor then gets up and Perfect nails him with a perfect drop kick. Taylor rolls out to the ring and Perfect jumps over the top rope with ease and chases after him.
Both men get back in the ring and Taylor attempts to attack Perfect on his way in by running up against the ropes but Perfect stops him in his tracks while Taylor rolls outside again while Perfect poses for the crowd. Perfect gets Taylor in a side headlock then gets him on the ground and tries to pin him but gets a 2 count. During the match Bobby Heenan calls into the broadcasting team to talk about Rob Bartlett. Perfect stays in control and gets Taylor in the corner and nails him with a few chops. Perfect irish whips Taylor again and gets him in a hip toss and gets him in an arm bar. Taylor gets back to his feet and irish whips Perfect into the ropes and hits him with a hip toss. Perfect then kicks Taylor from the ground and then he gets him in a body slam. Perfect tries to lift Taylor up but Taylor returns the favor by kicking Perfect. Perfect gets up and gets Taylor into the hip toss into an arm bar again. We come back from commercial right when Taylor throws Perfect to the outside and smashes him into the guardrail. Taylor gets Perfect back into the ring and hits him with a pretty good jaw breaker to keep control of the match.
Taylor keeps control and gets Perfect in a side headlock and behind the refs back he nails him with a thrust right to the throat. Taylor then gets Perfect in a side slam and goes for the pin but only gets a 2 count. Taylor continues to pound away at Mr. Perfect then gets him in a reverse chin lock. Perfect fights out of the chin lock and bounces off the rope but Taylor nails him with the Arn Anderson style spine buster and gets a quick 2 count. Taylor then picks Perfect back up and nails him with a nice gut wrench power bomb right into a pin but gets a 2 count only. Taylor gets up and scolds the referee for a slow count. Taylor and Perfect then start to trade punches and Taylor gets the upper hand. Perfect starts to wake up and they trade punches more and more and Perfect gains control. Perfect rings the ears of Taylor then slams his head into the top turnbuckle. Perfect then whips Taylor into the ropes and nails Taylor with a HUGE atomic drop. Perfect then hits his patented flipping neck breaker. Just when Perfect is about to finish off Taylor, Ric Flair comes out and distracts Perfect. Taylor knocks Perfect outside the ring and Flair attacks him. He slams him into the steel steps then rolls him back into the ring. Taylor tries to get Perfect in a suplex but Perfect reverses it and nails Taylor with the Perfect Plex for the 1-2-3. After the match Perfect rolls right out of the ring and goes after Flair in the back.
(Post match thoughts: This was a real fast paced match and it kept you interested throughout. There were a few rest holds but they didn’t last long at all and the action kept going. Also, some great moves by Taylor here. Such as the Anderson style spine buster and gut wrench power bomb into a pin. You really weren’t seeing those type of high impact moves on a regular basis back then so it was cool to see them here. Also, the interference from Flair was a given considering the feud they have been having since right before Survivor Series. Overall, a very good match between two very good performers.)
We come back from commercial break with the lovely Raw girl holding up her Monday Night Raw sign as she walks around the ring. This leads us into an interview with the WWF Champion Bret “Hitman” Hart. Razor got the interview last week so it is Bret’s turn this week. He discusses his match with Razor Ramon coming up at the Royal Rumble and he talks about how Ramon is going to pay for what he did to his brother Owen. Bret says he doesn’t have any respect for a guy that would attack somebody the way Razor attacked Owen. He also says that Razor is at the bottom of the barrel as far as scum is concerned. Bret got in all of his favorites during this promo. Bret says at the Royal Rumble he is going to throw out the rule book and that he is going to “kick him down Unconscious Street.”
(Post interview thoughts: Just your typical Bret Hart promo here. Nothing special but he covered all of his bases and it made the match seem important because it felt personal. Especially, after Razor threatened to slap his father and after what he did to Owen. That to me is why Bret Hart was always good because he made it personal with everyone. It was very subtle things that he would say or do that would make all of his matches feel personal and when things feel personal the matches tend to be better.)
After the Bret Hart interview we go right into an Undertaker and Paul Bearer promo talking about WWF’s Headlock on Hunger to help the Somalian relief efforts.
Match 2: Marty Jannetty vs. Glen Ruth
Bartlett says Glen Ruth is Babe Ruth’s illegitimate son. I think that’s all you need to know about Bartlett. Ruth and Jannetty shake hands to start the match then Jannetty turns around to take off his shirt and Ruth attacks him from behind. Ruth throws Jannetty into the corner but Jannetty nails him with an elbow then jumps off the second rope and drives Ruth to the canvas. Ruth backs down into the turnbuckle but Jannetty comes in and irish whips him to the other turnbuckle then hits him with a hip toss into an arm bar. During the match Shawn Michaels calls into the broadcast and talks about his match with Marty Jannetty. Jannetty whips Ruth into the ropes then drops down and Ruth jumps over him, Jannetty then leap frogs Ruth and tries to go for a kick but Ruth catches the leg and spins Jannetty around and he tries to hit Jannetty with a clothesline but Jannetty ducks and nails Ruth with his own clothesline.
Jannetty arm drags Ruth over and gets him in another arm bar. Ruth gets back to his feet and pushes Jannetty into the ropes and knees him. Ruth then whips Jannetty into the ropes and ducks like he’s going for a backdrop but Jannetty grabs him and gets him in a nice snap suplex. Jannetty gets Ruth in another arm bar. Ruth gets back up and reverses it and gets Jannetty in his own arm bar. Ruth drops a couple of elbows but Jannetty reverses it and gets Ruth in another arm bar. It seems to be a trend at this point. Ruth gets back up and gets Jannetty into the turnbuckle and punches him a couple of times but Jannetty reverses that and nails him with 5-6 straight shots to the face. Jannetty whips Ruth into the turnbuckle and then he picks him up and gets him in another arm bar. Ruth whips Jannetty into the ropes but Marty slides through Ruth’s legs then he punches him in the gut. Jannetty then nails him with the Rocker Dropper and gets the 1-2-3.
(Post match thoughts: This match was complete trash if you ask me. It was different to see the jobber, in this case Glen Ruth (the future Headbanger Thrasher), get some offense in on Jannetty. However, this match just dragged on because Jannetty kept going back to the arm bar when he’s not even going to finish the match with a move that goes after the arm. I always found it dumb to go for a move the whole match, such as the arm, when your finisher or your ending move has nothing to do with that part of the body. If you are going to use a figure four work the leg the whole match. But if you are going to use the Rocker Dropper (the famouser) then why work the arm the whole match? Just a complete waste of time and if you have to happen this show just skip this match.)
They show highlights of Doink attacking Crush from this past weekend’s Superstars. Vince announces that Crush will no longer be a part of the 1993 Royal Rumble Match. Vince announces that they believe Crush has suffered a concussion and that they hope to have more information this weekend.
They go outside where Sean Mooney interviews the Repo Man. Repo Man talks about how Macho Man was late on his payments for his hat and that is why he took his hat. How much did that damn hat cost anyway? Repo Man challenges Macho Man to a match for next week’s show. Macho Man leaves the broadcast area and goes outside where the Repo Man was standing. Savage walks right through the traffic to try and find the Repo Man.
Gene Okerlund does the Royal Rumble report. We get a promo from Razor Ramon talking about his WWF Title Match.
Match 3: Ric Flair vs. Tito Santana
This should be a great match just because of the two people involved. The match starts out with Flair stalling and doing his infamous woo chant. Flair also taunts Savage before the two get going. They start with Tito getting the upper hand by putting Flair into a headlock. Flair backs him into the ropes and Tito hits him with a shoulder block. Flair stalls some more and gives the fans the woo chant. Flair gets shoulder blocked again and then Tito gets Flair in a body slams. Tito then gets Flair in a takeover into a headlock. Flair gets his back to his feet and Tito gets walked into the corner and Tito walks up to the top rope and flips back over and continues to hold Flair in the headlock. Flair breaks it gets whipped into the ropes again. Tito hits Flair with another shoulder block. Tito then hits the ropes and nails Flair with a clothesline then a nice drop kick. Tito grabs Flairs head and drags him over into the head lock again as the show goes to commercial break.
We come back from commercial with Flair in the corner and Tito going for a monkey flip but Flair holds on and Tito falls back to the mat and Flair goes for the cover but gets a 2. Both men get up and Flair pokes Tito in the eyes. Flair then lays in a few punches in the corner. Flair snaps Tito over then drops the big knee right on Tito’s face. Afterwards Flair goes over and taunts Savage again. Flair then drops another knee on Tito’s forehead. Flair picks up Tito and puts him in the corner and nails him with a vicious chop. Flair attempts to irish whip Tito into the other corner but Tito reverses it and then hits Flair with a huge back body drop. Tito gets up first and backs Flair down in the corner. Flair is begging Tito to back up but Tito comes in anyways and lays in a few punches. He climbs to the top and gets in 5 more punches. However, Flair pokes Tito in the eye again then Flair climbs to the top rope. Tito catches him and throws him off the top rope. Flair then cowers down in the corner once again and again Tito comes after him. Tito irish whips Flair into the other turnbuckle and Flair does his infamous flip over the top rope but instead of running to the next turnbuckle he falls to the outside.
Tito goes outside after Flair and nails him with a clothesline that nearly took Flairs head off according to Vince McMahon. Tito rolls Flair back into the ring and then irish whips him and hits flair with another back drop. Tito then hits Flair with a knee lift then nails him with his flying forearm. Tito hits the ropes and tries to hit Flair with a flying cross body but Flair ducks and Tito goes flying over the top rope. Flair is trying to regroup in the ring but out comes Mr. Perfect and he pulls Flair under the bottom rope and starts attacking him. Flair and Perfect brawl on the outside as the referee calls for the bell. Ric Flair will win the match by disqualification. Referees and officials come out to separate the two men. Flair throws Patterson to the ground and gets back at Perfect.
(Post match thoughts: This was a pretty good match and it accomplished what it was supposed to. Both men came out looking good and it set up the Flair vs. Perfect match for next week after both men interfered in each other’s matches on tonight’s show. The match itself seemed kind of rushed because neither man really had the upper hand for long. All in all though, it was a pretty good match and I enjoyed it. Also, having these guys brawl and interrupting matches gave Raw that feeling that anything could happen and you really don’t have that feeling anymore when you watch today’s product. That is one of the key elements that are missing today. It was fresh and unique then, almost a throwback to the old studio wrestling format of other territories. Everything seems over scripted today and it takes away from the unpredictability.)
They go to commercial break with both men running backstage. When they come back from commercial Vince McMahon wants to interview Ric Flair but when they come out from the backstage area both men are fighting. Flair finally gets separated from Perfect so Vince gets the interview in. Ric Flair says the “WWF isn’t big enough for both of us.” So, Flair challenges Mr. Perfect to a career ending match. During the interview Flair gets a kiss in from one of the fans at ringside. Flair then says that Perfect isn’t man enough and doesn’t have the guts to take on Ric Flair.
Mr. Perfect then comes out and he accepts the challenge of Ric Flair to the career ending match. Vince McMahon tries to tell Mr. Perfect that he is risking too much by putting his career on the line and he tries to talk Mr. Perfect out of it. However, Perfect doesn’t back down and he accepts the challenge and next week we have Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair in a career ending match.
Right before the show goes off the air Repo Man is shown outside repossessing Rob Bartlett’s car. Repo Man jumps on the back of the tow truck as it drives off the show goes off the air.
Overall thoughts on the show: The matches featuring Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair were both really good and fun to watch. They got a good amount of TV time and they delivered. I really liked the Perfect/Taylor match just because of the moves that were involved and just the way the match went. It was fast paced from the get go and was really entertaining. The best part about this show was the ending with Flair and Perfect brawling throughout the building. I also like the interviews at the end where they set up next week’s show perfectly. Also, the opening scene where Repo steals Savage’s hat was very good as well. Just simple things like that to set up a match for the following week is all it takes. If they just announced Repo Man vs. Randy Savage nobody would care. But since Repo stole Savage’s hat and attacked him from behind, you will want to tune in to next week’s show so you can see Savage get his revenge. Little things like that go a long way in making matches matter and it seems like today’s product doesn’t really have that. They just throw matches together and hope people care.
Anyways, enough of the rant. I hope you enjoyed the review and I can’t wait to get into next week’s show when we have Ric Flair vs. Mr. Perfect in a career ending match as well as Randy Savage seeking revenge against the Repo Man for stealing his hat. Join me next time as we go over the January 25th, 1993 edition of Monday Night RAW!!!
