💥 Monday Night RAW #1 – January 11th, 1993 💥
Opening
Fun opening with Sean Mooney. Bobby Hennan trying to get into the building but he is told he has been replaced. It set’s up a show long storyline of Hennan wanting in the building to be part of the historic first show. I also loved the original music and intro package. What I didn’t love is Rob Bartlett. What a cunt of a man.
Koko B. Ware vs. Yokozuna
Starting the show with a Yokozuna showcase was a great idea. He was the companies new monster heel and a larger than life figure that would draw in new viewers. The match isn’t much more than a squash, but Koko was a good opponent as he is a name fans know which makes it mean more. Also man you forget, but at this weight Yoko was an incredible athlete. The Samoan, eh… I mean Japanese superstar wins with the bonzai drop.
Bobby Hennan Pre-tape
Hennan cuts a promo about the upcoming debut of Narcissist. If I was debuting in the WWF I’d want Bobby bigging me up before I arrived as well. The guy is phenomenal.
Steiner Brothers vs. The Executioners
Bartlett asks which Steiner is which because he’s a prick and didn’t do his homework. Even worse, when he asks Vince goes dead silent, clearly because he doesn’t know himself despite hiring them. Savage finally steps and ends the shambolish twenty seconds of commentary. Rick and Scott don’t fuck about when it comes to jobbers, you can tell they are happy to take liberties.
Literally two minutes after not knowing what Steiner is what, Vince agrees with Bartlett that Doink the Clown, who had appeared through the crowd, was actually called Dork. He then corrects himself a few seconds later. Vince is on fire tonight 🙄
Steiners pick up the win in quick order with the tag team bulldog off the top.
In-ring Interview with Razor Ramon
Pretty poor promo. Razor is leaning too far in to the Tony Montana stuff. Thankfully he will scale it back a bit soon and find his way.
Max Moon vs. Shawn Michaels
Not much to say about this one. Funny to hear Vince refer to Shawn ducking out the ring as ‘taking a powder’. Max Moon was never a character that was going to take off. Konan was right to get out of dodge. Bartlett goes into ultra-annoying mode here with a Mike Tyson impression that’s about as funny as a staple gun to the testicles. Young Shawn wins with his super lame side suplex finisher.
Following the Michaels match we basically get ten minutes worth of adverts, recaps and a Royal Rumble report. I always liked Mene Gene’s reports, it’s a shame they don’t do a similar style segment today as it made the PPV’s feel like a really big deal. The ten minute sidebar finishes with footage of Kamala turning face on Superstars the weekend before. Future main eventer right there…
Damien Demento vs. The Undertaker
Demento doesn’t have many claims to fame in his short WWF run, but being in the main event on the first ever Monday Night RAW is something no-one can take away from. Anyway he gets smashed and pinned in under three minutes.
The final segment is Doink finally being interviewed after prancing about all night. Crush comes out and chases him around a bit but the super BRAH is too slow.
Overall
It’s a good introduction to what they wanted the show to be. Yokozuna, Undertaker, The Steiner Brothers and Shawn Michaels all got showcased. Razor cut an uneventful promo but the idea was sound; build up the title match with Bret at the Rumble. It’ll be Bret’s turn next week so we will see how hw gets on. Spoiler: Shite. Had this episode came a few months down the line it would have scored lower, but as a first show to set the scene and capture the WWF landscape at the time it does well.
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💥 Monday Night RAW #2 – January 18th, 1993 💥
Opening
Episode two kicks off with the Repo Man attacking Randy Savage at ringside. It’s pretty well done to be honest and the fact that it isn’t over produced really adds to the realism. Repo, a real bastard, even steals Macho Man’s hat after the beatdown. I really like the decision to have show long storylines. It’s a good hook to keep watching and something new for the company.
Mr. Perfect vs. Terry Taylor
A decent back and fourth opener, but clearly just a back drop for the Perfect/Flair feud to continue. In these early shows you can see that Vince and Co are trying out different ideas. During the match we have Bobby Hennan calling into the commentary desk via telephone. In the second match we have Marty Jannetty in a squash match and Shawn Michaels dials in to give his two cents. It’s not a terrible idea and both guys do a decent job, but unfortunately technical limitations of the time mean the audio quality isn’t good enough. The match ends when Flair interferes, but instead of a distraction finish like we would get these days Perfect is able to overcome and hook a Perfect Plex out of nowhere and then chases Flair to the back.
In-ring Interview with Bret Hart
Very weak interview from Bret. He was never a great promo guy aside from the 1997 heel turn. He is annoyed at Razor for attacking Owen and slagging off his old man. They face off at the Royal Rumble six days after this show.
There is a massive slice of nostalgia with advertisements for both ICO-PRO and Slim Jims following the interview. Being from the UK I have never tried either and from reviews it seems I lucked out. It is amazing how something as simple as an advert that was drilled into your brain as a child can bring back so many memories 25 years later.
‘El Matador’ Tito Santana vs Ric Flair
They have a pretty good ten minute match before Mr. Perfect appears and has a ringside brawl with the Nature Boy causing the match to be thrown out. Despite brawling to the back, when they come back from commercial break both Flair and Perfect brawl back through the curtain and into the isle. At this point officials separate them and Flair comes over to Vince and announces that the WWF isn’t big enough for the both of them and he wants a loser leaves town match the following week. Flair then toddles off allowing Perfect to come out to the commentary table looking confused. He proceeds to accept Flair’s proposal and the match is set for the following week.
Overall
The show going off the air promising the Flair/Perfect match as well as Repo Man vs Randy Savage for the following week is good storytelling. It’s good logical week to week booking and they are settling into the live weekly format well. Building up small storylines and paying them off over a couple of weeks. Savage/Repo is a great example of this. It makes people more likely to tune in next week.
Because of the emphasis on week to week booking, a ten minute Ric Flair match and the Savage angle that I liked, I’d rate this slightly better than week one. The show is gathering momentum and with a HUGE Mr. Perfect vs Ric Flair loser leaves town match set for the following week it seems like the only way is up. BAYBEE.
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💥Monday Night RAW #3 – January 25th, 1993💥
Opening
Repo Man arrives outside nearly running over Sean Mooney. Good in character stuff from Repo. It was a campy gimmick but he went all in and embraced it and I have fond memories of it because of that. What I don’t have fond memories of is Rob Bartlett who returns again this week. Hennan is filling in for Savage though which is a positive, especially in the main event.
Repo Man vs. Macho Man
A decent opener. Savage treated it like a grudge match despite the silly premise and eventually picked up the win with his signature elbow off the top.
Brooklyn Brawler vs. Kamala
The camera pans the fans at the beginning of this match and manages to spot a woman with the most early 90’s haircut of all time.
She has to be devastated with that choice looking back with 2018 eyes. As you’d expect the match isn’t much, Kamala dominates and then despite being in the business for fifteen years at this point doesn’t know how to pin his opponent. You know, because he’s a savage apparently.
We get a post Royal Rumble report with Gene Orkerland and then a RAW girl walks around with a sign. The bikinis on these girls are getting smaller by the week. I don’t remember this lasting long…
Ric Flair vs. Mr. Perfect
This match starts just over half way into the show. I am glad they gave it the time it needed because it’s one of the best TV matches in a long time at this point. There are many who say this is the match that put RAW on the map and it’s hard to dispute it. Even Bartlett praises the match which is probably the first sincere thing out of his mouth since he started.
Flair is in tremendous shape for the match. A little bit leaner than usual and even flashing some abs. Mr. Perfect picks up the win after sixteen minutes countering a back body drop attempt with the Perfect Plex. This is the type of win that should propel Perfect into the top mix in the WWF. We’ll see what happens.
Overall
An excellent show. Savage v Repo was good and tied up a nice little story arc from the previous week. The Kamala match was a waste of time but it didn’t last long and they will give up on the idea of pushing the big man almost immediately. The main event delivered big time and has now set the bar for future shows.
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So that concludes the first RAWÂ Diaries. I’ll aim to fit three episodes into an article for the time being. If I keep going long enough for the shows to become longer and more involved I can change it accordingly. What did you think of the first three RAW episodes? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter @VizualDze.
VdZe.
