Monday Night Raw – March 15, 1993: When Gorilla And Bobby Heenan Agreed
IMG Credit: WWE
Monday Night Raw
Date: March 15, 1993
Location: Mid Hudson Civic Center, Poughkeepsie, New York
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan, Rob Bartlett
It’s the first time the show has left the Manhattan Center, which is mainly due to a blizzard so it’s more along the lines of necessity rather than innovation. We have less than three weeks before Wrestlemania and that can’t come and go soon enough. Hopefully we get a little better build, or at least as much as there can still be. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Rob Bartlett is playing Vince McMahon, down to the tuxedo with red bow tie. Heenan thinks it’s really him and we get the show preview.
Opening sequence.
Razor Ramon vs. Russ Greenberg
After his traditional threat to the ring attendant, Ramon hammers away on Greenberg and sends him flying with the fall away slam. We hit the abdominal stretch with the slaps to the head before taking him down into something like a weak STF. Bartlett continues with a bad Vince impress (How hard is it to impersonate VINCE MCMAHON?) and there’s the chokeslam to plant Russ again. The belly to back superplex into the Razor’s Edge is good for the pin on Greenberg at 3:08.
Rating: D+. Nothing match, but you can see the superstar potential in Razor. He was still a heel here, but you can see the mega face in him waiting to break out. Ramon had all of the tools to be a star and while he certainly came close, it never felt like he got all the way to the heights he could have reached. The big turn is coming though and it should help a lot.
Typhoon vs. LA Gore
Gore looks like a great 90s impression of the 80s. Typhoon runs him over to start but has to shrug off the shoulders in the corner. There’s a back elbow to the face and a powerslam sets up the big splash to finish Gore at 2:57. For some reason, this was advertised as Typhoon vs. Bam Bam Bigelow last week but we got this instead. Probably blizzard related.
In between a break and Promotional Consideration, Bobby Heenan is having some issues with his cue in pure Heenan fashion.
Back from the ads and Heenan brings out Giant Gonzalez, with Harvey Wippleman, for a chat. Harvey talks about how everyone is scared of Gonzalez and promises to bury the Undertaker, who is the only one stupid enough to not be scared. Heenan thinks Harvey should knock out Paul Bearer and Gonzalez promises a giant surprise.
Papa Shango vs. Bob Backlund
This should be…I really don’t know actually. Bartlett keeps going with the Vince stuff as Backlund takes Shango down and does his weird dance. A test of strength goes to Shango Backlund reverses into a wristlock as Bartlett is now just rambling incoherently and making noise disguised as words.
Shango grabs a backbreaker as Gorilla and Heenan are clearly fed up with Bartlett, as they should be. There’s a headbutt between Backlund’s legs and we hit the chinlock. The chinlock goes on again as Bartlett reads ad copy and even THAT gets on Gorilla and Bobby’s nerves. Backlund fights up but gets clotheslined back down, only to grab a small package to finish Shango at 6:59.
Rating: C. Yeah it was actually ok with Shango doing his power thing and Backlund winning with the wrestling technique. That’s a nice preview for what is coming at Wrestlemania, which is often a good idea for a match on the way to the big one. The chinlocks took something away from it, but sweet goodness Bartlett is a nightmare with this Vince stuff.
It’s the Wrestlemania Report. Gene Okerlund is rather excited about the idea of the toga party. It’s on to the main event, starting with Yokozuna squashing a jobber.
Money Inc. is ready to destroy the Mega Maniacs and they’re making an armor piercing briefcase.
Paul Bearer and Undertaker are ready to take Giant Gonzalez to Undertaker’s personal graveyard.
Nasty Boys vs. Headshrinkers
Knobbs kisses the rather large Raw Ring Girl and Bartlett talks about human sacrifice. Some clotheslines put Samu down to start and there’s a backdrop for the same. A flying armbar takes Fatu down and it’s still a little weird to hear the Nasty Boys being cheered so loudly. The arm wringing continues and Sags comes back in to bite the arm.
We take a break and come back with Heenan telling wild stories of brawling involving the tables and stairs during the commercial. I’ve never known him to lie so I buy it. Fatu grabs a chinlock on Sags but Fatu misses a top rope headbutt. Knobbs comes in to start cleaning house, including a double DDT as everything breaks down. They fight over to a well placed concession stand and the match is thrown out at 10:54.
Rating: D+. This didn’t work so well, though a regular match wasn’t the best choice for something between these guys. Let the Nasty Boys do their kind of brawl that they would do with Harlem Heat in WCW. I’ve always liked the Headshrinkers but the Nasty Boys in a regular match wasn’t the best choice.
Video on the WWF’s charity work.
The preview for next week’s show wraps us up.
Overall Rating: D. I could take Bartlett as Elvis a few weeks back but this was an absolute nightmare with the Vince stuff not even being funny. Vince is one of the easiest people in the world to parody and for some reason we had Bartlett being….completely unfunny I guess would be the right term. Bad show, and mainly due to one person.
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