Monday Night Raw: January 25th, 1993
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan, and Rob Bartlett
Main Event: Loser Leaves the WWF: Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair
Well it looks like we have finally made it. It is Monday Night Raw from January 25th, 1993. It took the WWF all of three weeks to produce an instant classic on their new showcase of shows. This card features the infamous “Loser leaves the WWF” match between the “Nature Boy” Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect. So, sit back and relax and join me while I take you on this roller coaster ride known as the Monday Night Raw Review.
We open up the show with Sean Mooney standing outside. The Repo Man pulls up outside in a tow truck with Bartlett’s car and Randy Savage’s hat. Sean Mooney interviews Repo Man and Repo Man says that he is going to repossess Randy Savage’s career just like he repossessed Savage’s hat. He finishes up the interview with this great line “you better be ready for me because I am ready for you.” Then he runs inside to the Manhattan center as they cut to the opening video for Monday Night Raw.
Vince, Bobby Heenan, and Bartlett run down the card. It’s great to have Bobby Heenan doing the commentary. Heenan says he doesn’t care about a crappy car or an ugly hat. All he cares about is the match between Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect. Vince McMahon sends it up to the ring for opening match featuring Randy Savage and Repo Man.
Match 1: Randy Savage vs. Repo Man
Repo Man is in the ring showing off Savage’s hat as Savage runs into the ring and attacks Repo before the bell could even ring. Savage hits him with a big double ax handle and sends him to the ground then Savage gets on top and starts choking him out. Savage jumps to the outside and drags Repo out with him. He gets him in a side headlock and punches him right in the face. Savage then snaps him over and drops a big knee to the throat of Repo. Savage throws Repo back into the ring and he gets back on top with another choke and he’s raking his face. Savage then goes up to the second rope and drops the knee on the mid-section again.
Savage picks up Repo and punches him in the face then Repo returns the favor. Repo throws Savage outside over the top rope but Savage lands on his feet. Savage then nails repo with a high knee to the back and Repo falls to the outside. Repo tries to leave the match but Savage goes after him and hits him with another double ax handle to the back. Savage drags Repo back to the ring. Repo cowers down into the corner trying to keep Savage away but Savage comes in and stomps on Repo 3 times then pushes the boot down into Repo’s throat and chokes him some more. Savage won’t let go of the choke so Earl Hebner has to get between the two and break them up. Repo rolls to the outside again then Savage goes out after him. Savage tries to ram Repos head into the steel steps but Repo reverses it and smashes Savage’s face into the steps. Repo does it a second time then throws Savage into the ring post. Repo rolls back into the ring as Savage lays out on the floor. Repo then goes back out after Savage and he rolls him back into the ring.
Repo grabs Savages and smashes his head into the turnbuckle. Repo then irish whips Savage into the other turnbuckle. Repo then goes in for a choke. Repo gets into with the referee. Repo then gets Savage in a reverse chin lock while he has his legs wrapped around Savage. Repo is yelling at the camera saying he is “going to break his neck.” Also, during this time it appears that they cut off Bartlett’s mic and Heenan goes “Vince where did you get this guy?” Vince wasn’t going to say anything then he says “Well we found him coming off the Subway and felt bad for him.” Pretty funny banter between Heenan and McMahon talking about how terrible Bartlett really is. Savage breaks the hold and goes after Repo again as he hits him with another ax handle to the back. Savage then runs off the ropes and hits Repo with a shoulder block. Savage goes off the ropes again and Repo ducks down then Savage hits the other rope. Repo tries to kick Savage in the cut but Savage catches the leg as the show goes to commercial break. They come back from commercial and the Repo Man is in control. He has Savage in the corner and he hits him with an ax handle then snaps him over with a snapmare. Repo then drops a leg drop on Savage and goes for the cover and gets a two count. Repo gets Savage in a submission hold where he locked his legs around Savages stomach. Savage breaks out of the hold and hits Repo with a kick to the gut but Repo turns around and nails Savage with a vicious clothesline.
Repo picks Savage up off the mat and drapes him over to the top rope and chokes him. He then flings the rope in and sends Savage down to the mat. Savage gets up but the Repo Man gets him in a belly to back suplex for the 2 count. Repo then gets Savage a reverse chin lock. Savage gets up and gets 3 elbows to the midsection. Savage goes off the ropes and hits Repo with a clothesline. Savage comes off the other rope and Repo tries to get him in a hip-toss but Savage sort of runs through it and clotheslines him. Savage tries to pick Repo up but Repo punches Savage in the throat then he bashes his head into the turnbuckle. Repo then gets Savage in a backbreaker. Repo looks to the crowd and yells “Yeah Macho what.” Repo tries to come off the second rope but Savage nails him with a jumping clothesline. Savage then body slams Repo Man. Savage then goes to the top rope and nails the big elbow drop onto the Repo Man for the 1-2-3. After the match Savage picks up Repo Man and throws him to the outside.
(Post match thoughts: This match was pretty good because of the intensity that Savage fought with here. He made you believe that he was really upset that the Repo Man stole his hat and it showed at the very beginning of the match. The match went a little longer than I expected but it was definitely good for what it was. Wasn’t too many rest holds and Repo Man was always entertaining to me because of the way he interacted with the crowd. Overall a fun match and definitely a good start to this episode of Monday Night Raw.)
We come back from commercial with the lovely Raw lady walking around holding up the Raw sign. Heenan on commentary is hitting on the woman telling her to give him a honk later on and that his area code is then he gets cut off. Loving Heenan on commentary even if it is for one night. They then go to a hype video for Wrestlemania 9. After the video we come back to the ring and Brooklyn Brawler is in the ring waiting for his opponent.
Match 2: Kamala vs. Brooklyn Brawler
Brooklyn Brawler attacks Kamala with some forearms to the back before the bell could ring. Brawler tries to irish whip Kamala but Kamala blocks it and gets the upper hand on the Brawler. Kamala chops the Brawler in the head twice then irish whips the Brawler into the turn buckle. Kamala goes in for a big splash but the Brawler gets out of the way and Kamala crashes into the turnbuckle. Brawler then tries to slam the Brawler but he can’t get him up. Kamala then slams the Brawler. After a little bit of stalling, Kamala tries to shake hands with the Brawler. When the Brawler goes in for the shake Kamala chops him in the head. Kamala irish whips the Brawler and Kamala tries to chop him but the Brawler hangs on to the top rope. When the Brawler turns around Kamala nails him with a nice side kick to the chin of the Brawler. Kamala then gets the Brawler down in the corner and he sits on his chest. He then jumps up and drops a butt drop on the Brawler in the corner.
Kamala picks up the Brawler and chops him in the head. Kamala then drapes the Brawler over the top rope then he puts his leg on the throat of the Brawler while it’s draped over the top rope. Kamala then goes for the cover on the Brawler but he pins him with the Brawler laying on his stomach. Kamala stays in control by hitting Brawler with a few kicks and chops. Kamala then irish whips the Brawler into the ropes and hits him with a kick to the chest. Kamala then rings the dinner bell, as Bobby Heenan would say, then he runs and slides into the Brawler and goes for the cover again with the Brawler laying on his chest. Kamala then stands on the back of the Brawler. Brawler gets up and Kamala irish whips him into the turnbuckle and he goes shoulder first into the post. Kamala then hits him with the huge splash. Kamala then rolls him around on the mat a few times and he tries to pin him again with him on his stomach. Slick tells Kamala to roll him over and he does then he pins the Brawler for the 1-2-3 after the giant splash.
After the match Vince McMahon goes up to the ring to get an interview with Slick and Kamala. Vince McMahon commends the Slick for everything that he has done for Kamala. Slick says it wasn’t him but it was the people who opened up their hearts for Kamala and that we are responsible for the transformation of the Ugandan Giant Kamala. Slick says that Harvey Whippleman and Kimchee better stay out of the way of Kamala because he will not be responsible for what happens to the two.
(Post match & interview thoughts: This was your typical squash match. Nothing special here to see. Just was there to have filler. The interview wasn’t bad because it got Kamala over as a face but that was pretty much it. Overall nothing to see here and it can be something that you skip if you go back and watch this episode of Raw)
We go to Gene Okerlund with the post Royal Rumble report. Gene Okerlund recaps what happened at the Royal Rumble from the previous day.
After the post Royal Rumble report we go to commercial break and when we come back we get the promotional consideration paid for the by following from Lord Alfred Hayes. We get an ICOPRO commercial featuring the WWF Heavyweight Champion Bret “Hitman” Hart. After this we come back to the ring where we get to the main that we have all been waiting for.
Match 3: Loser Leaves the WWF: Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair
Ric Flair makes his way to ringside where awaits the entrance of Mr. Perfect. The bell rings and we are off. The match starts with both men just staring each other down and getting a feel for what they are going to do. The action starts with a collar and elbow tie up. Flair backs Perfect into the corner and he pushes him then Perfect slaps Flair. Flair pushes Perfect again and again Perfect slaps Flair. Both men stare each other down again before they get in another collar and elbow tie up. Flair gets Perfect in a headlock but Perfect backs Flair down and gets him on the ropes. Perfect pushes off and Flair hits the rope then he hits Perfect with a shoulder tackle. Perfect gets right up as Flair comes off the ropes again but this time Perfect gets Flair in a drop toe hold and then Perfect gets on Flairs back and messes up Flair’s hair. Flair gets up and Perfect slaps him across the face again. Flair is sitting on the ground looking up at Perfect as Perfect taunts him. Flair rolls out of the ring while Perfect taunts for the crowd. Heenan calls Flair over to the commentary table. Heenan then shows Flair a hammer as Vince and Bartlett scold him on commentary.
Flair gets back in the ring and they tie up once more. Flair gets Perfect in an arm bar type maneuver but Perfect reverses it and gets Flair in the arm bar hold himself. Flair gets out of it by getting Perfect in a drop toe hold. Flair tries to get a submission maneuver on Perfect but Perfect rolls out of it and gets Flair in an hammerlock on the mat. Flair gets back up and elbows Perfect in the face. Perfect doesn’t let go so he backs Flair into the corner and nails him with another elbow. Perfect lets go and then Flair nails Perfect with a couple of chops. Perfect reverses it and nails Flair with 3 very stiff chops as Flair walks out of the corner and does the Flair flop and goes down. Both men stare each other down. Both men are being very cautious at the beginning of the match. They get in another tie up and Flair gets Perfect in a head lock and flings him over. Perfect reverses it by getting Flair in a headlock using his legs. Flair quickly gets out of the hold as they come up to a standoff where they both look like they are going to punch each other.
Perfect already drops a strap before they go into another tie up. Flair hits Perfect with a knee to the gut then he backs Perfect into the corner and hits him with a chop. Flair then punches Perfect right in the face a few times. Perfect gets out of it then puts Flair into the corner and chops him twice. Perfect then lays in a few left hands. Flair gets back up and backs Perfect off. They do a hand lock but instead of finishing it off Flair pokes him in the eye. Flair then throws Perfect over the top rope. Flair rolls out with him and gabs a chair. Before Flair could hit Perfect with the chair the ref jumps off the apron and takes the chair from Flair’s hands as the show goes to commercial break.
We come back from commercial with Flair in control of the match. Flair irish whips Perfect into the turnbuckle. As Perfect hits the buckle he goes flying up and over and it didn’t look to pleasant for Perfect. Looked like it went wrong for him but it could have been Perfect selling like he usually did. Perfect gets back in the ring and Flair gets him in a headlock and lays into Perfect 2-3 times with right hands. At this point Perfect is busted open so Flair starts working over the cut. Flair irish whips Perfect into the turnbuckle and once Perfect hits it he flips out of it and lays on the mat. Flair goes for a chicken wing looking cover while he has his feet on the middle rope. He gets a 2 count 3-4 times before Flair gets up. Flair takes his boot laces and rakes it across Perfect’s forehead. Perfect bounces off the rope and bunches Flair in the chest but it doesn’t affect Flair. They trade punches and chops then Flair kicks Perfect in the gut and irish whips him into the turnbuckle. Perfect reverses it and nails Flair with a big forearm to the face. Perfect goes for the cover and gets a 2 ½ count. Flair gets up and punches Flair in the gut to regain control. Flair irish whips Perfect into the ropes and tries for a hip toss but Perfect blocks it and gets Flair in a backslide for another 2 ½ count.
Both men get up and Flair tries to whip Perfect into the turnbuckle but Perfect reverses it and hits Flair with a big back body drop. Flair tries to hold Perfect off but Flair grabs him by the feet and drops him on his back. Perfect then picks Flair up and gets him in the turnbuckle and he nails Flair with the 10 punches but Flair reverses it midway through and gets Perfect with an atomic drop. Flair gets Perfect in a roll up and gets a 2 ½ count of his own. Flair then rolls outside the ring to get a breather while Perfect stands in the ring waiting for him. Flair gets back up on the apron and Perfect nails him with a vicious sounding chop. Perfect then suplex’s Flair back into the ring and goes for the cover for a 2 count. Flair then gets Perfect into the corner and he kicks him in the gut. Flair then gets Perfect in the sleeper hold. The ref checks on Perfect and the arm goes down twice but not the third time. Perfect then starts to get to his feet and he takes Flair into the turnbuckle. Perfect dunks and Flair knocks his head on the top turnbuckle.
Both men get up and Perfect irish whips Flair into the ropes. It looks like Perfect was going for a leap frog but he jumped a little early so instead of jumping over Flair he just grabs him in a headlock move and goes down for a cover and gets a 2 count. Perfect keeps the headlock on and gets a few more 2 counts before Flair gets back up to his feet. Flair gets Perfect in a belly to back suplex as both men are laid out on the mat. Flair gets up first and he drags Perfect to the middle of the ring and he gets Perfect in the Figure 4 leg lock. Flair grabs the top rope for extra leverage as the ref checks on Mr. Perfect. Flair was caught by the referee holding the top rope so the ref makes Flair release the hold. Perfect gets up favoring his leg. Flair gets Perfect in the turnbuckle and he works on the leg with a couple of knees to the leg. Flair then snapmares Perfect over and goes to the top rope. Perfect gets up and slams Perfect off of the top rope as the show goes to the last commercial break.
We come back from commercial with Flair next to the ropes. Flair gets into his knee pads and grabs a brass knuckle type deal and nails Perfect with it. Flair drops a knee drop then goes for the cover but gets a 2 count after Perfect gets his leg on the bottom rope. Flair then nails Perfect with multiple punches to Perfect’s open wound. Flair picks Perfect up and gets him in the corner. Flair gets Perfect in chops and punches but it’s not affecting Perfect at all. Perfect then comes out of the turnbuckle as Flair backs himself into the corner. Perfect then nails Flair with 3 chops of his own then whips Flair into the opposite turnbuckle. Perfect then gets Flair in a huge back body drop. Perfect tires to hit Flair with a clothesline but Flair’s head is down to low so Perfect hits him with a forearm to the head. Flair gets up and Perfect whips him into the corner. Flair does his infamous flip over the top and runs to the other rope and jumps off but Perfect hit’s him with a clothesline and goes for the cover. Perfect gets a 2 count.
Flair gets back down near the corner and Perfect is following him in but Flair grabs Perfect’s legs and brings him to the mat. Flair gets him in a pin with his feet on the second rope. Perfect keeps kicking out but Flair stays on top and tries to get the pin 3-4 different times. The ref finally sees the foot on the rope so he kicks it off and Perfect rolls up Flair for a 2. Both men get up and Flair whips Perfect into the ropes, Flair dunks down and Perfect grabs him by the head and gets him in the Perfect Plex for the 1-2-3. Bobby Heenan goes on a cursing tirade on commentary as Perfect celebrates in the ring.
(Post match & interview thoughts: Well what can I say. This is one of my favorite matches of all time. I remember getting the Royal Rumble on PPV and taping it then the next night I recorded this Raw. So whenever I watched Royal Rumble 1993 I would always watch this Raw afterwards. So, I have seen this match maybe 30-40 times in my day and I must say it never gets old. It has everything you could want in a match. A great storyline, a great stipulation, two great wrestlers, Bobby Heenan on commentary with a vested interest, and blood. Everything you could want is in this match. I really wish there was a hard copy of this match that showed everything that happened during the commercial breaks because I bet the match is even better if you could see all of it. This was the first of many great matches that will show up on Monday Night Raw and it set the bar pretty high if you ask me.)
Overall thoughts on the show: This was an awesome episode of Raw. It got off to a hot start with the Macho Man vs. Repo Man match and it ended with one of the best matches in Monday Night Raw history between Ric Flair and Mr. Perfect. I really have no complaints as far as this show goes because the two main matches delivered. Another aspect that these two matches did was make you tune in the next week because you don’t know if you would be getting another match like it and if you were you didn’t want to miss it. Back then you really didn’t get these type of matches on television live so it was great to see what Raw could be in its infant stages of existence. I know if you have good match and good storyline after good match and good storyline you will continue to tune in and this show right here laid the ground work on how to accomplish that. I know for me I wanted to tune in the next week so I could see if there was going to be another great match like the one Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair had.
Anyways, that wraps up another episode of Monday night Raw. Stay tuned for the next review where we review the February 1st, 1993 edition of Monday Night Raw featuring Doink the Clown vs. Typhoon.
