WWF Monday Night RAW – May 10th, 1993

May 10, 1993

From the Manhattan Center in New York City, NY

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and Bobby Heenan

We see Shawn outside with Lord Alfred Hayes before the bell saying tonight we will find out why he is the Intercontinental Champion. However, Mr. Perfect comes out and attacks Shawn from behind then throws him on top of a car and it cracks the windshield. Perfect is then finally held back by security as the fans outside cheer. Good brawl and fun fact about that car: it belonged to Howard Finkel and apparently Mr. Perfect used it as a rib on him because this was done without Finkel’s knowledge.

The announcers hype up tonight’s Lumberjack match as we go back outside to see the cracked windshield. Heenan screams about Duggan paying off Perfect to attack Shawn then they talk about Yokozuna also being a lumberjack.

King of the Ring Tournament Qualifying Match: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Typhoon

Both guys try to knock each other down then Typhoon scoops up Bigelow for a slam. Typhoon works the arm until Bigelow rakes the eyes. Bigelow then hits a slam but misses an elbow drop as Typhoon goes back to working the arm. Bigelow escapes and hits a back suplex but Typhoon comes back to clothesline Bigelow through the ropes. Typhoon heads outside but Bigelow outsmarts him and send him off the apron then into the post. Heenan still goes on about Duggan paying off Mr. Perfect as Bigelow once again knocks Typhoon off of the apron. Back inside, Bigelow uses a chinlock. We go to break and return with Typhoon knocking down Bigelow but misses an avalanche then Bigelow uses a Samoan drop and heads up top with the flying headbutt and the win (7:00) *1/4.

Thoughts: A couple of decent power spots here but overall it was a fairly lousy match and since Typhoon was barely pushed anymore it wasn’t too hard to see Bigelow winning.

A vignette to hype up the Smoking Gunns debut airs. Vince tells us that this Saturday on “Mania” the Gunns will make their debut. And I will be recapping that later tonight.

Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji vs. PJ Walker

The future Aldo Montoya makes his second appearance in an enhancement role here. Vince tells us that Yokozuna will be facing Kamala next week on RAW. Yokozuna overpowers Walker and follow with a leg drop. He then chops Walker in the corner and crushes with an avalanche before the Bonzai Drop gets the win (2:12).

Thoughts: They pushed Yokozuna’s match for next week and how he will be appearing as a lumberjack later on tonight. And Walker sure did know how to sell a shitkicking.

King of the Ring Report with Gene Okerlund. With Bigelow winning that leaves only 3 more spots in the tournament. Okerlund puts over the other qualifying matches this weekend like Tatanka vs. Giant Gonzalez and Perfect vs. Doink.

Mr. Perfect vs. Iron Mike Sharpe

Before the match, Perfect call over the heavy-set ring girl and frabs her face then sticks his gum inside of her mouth as she chews it and walks around before stepping outside. Sharpe is really heavy in the mid-section here. Perfect takes control early and rams his head into the corner ten times. Perfect then chops away and hits his neck snap as the announcers talk about his rematch against Doink. Perfect and Sharpe then trade chops as Perfect wins that battle. Perfect uses a jackknife cover for two as Heenan starts flipping through the channels as he would rather watch anything else than Perfect wrestle. Perfect hits some more chops then puts Sharpe away with a Perfect Plex (4:40).

Thoughts: This was a decent little match here. The part where they traded hard chops got the crowd involved and with this match and the attack before the show they’ve really done a good job in pushing him for the IC Title feud.

Heenan is now on the apron trying to get the phone number for one of the ring girls.

Mr. Hughes w/ Harvey Whippleman vs. Cannonball Kid

Whippleman surprises everyone by accompanying Hughes to the ring. Kid is now the Cannonball Kid after being “Kamikaze Kid” this week as Vince even had to correct himself. Hughes overpowers Kid as Vince believes Hughes is one of the lumberjacks tonight. Hughes kicks Kid in the face as Vince plugs the world premiere of the “Sex, Love and Cold Hard Cash” movie that premiers Wednesday on USA. Hughes stays in control then uses a sidewalk slam for the win (2:19).

Thoughts: After a couple weeks of the announcers stating how Hughes would be great for any manager, leading to insert promos from Slick and Whippleman himself wanting his services, we now have the surprise of Whippleman being Hughes’s manager. Kid was just fantastic here at selling for Hughes. Even getting squashed you could see the talent.

We get a plug for “All-American Wrestling” with hosts Okerlund & Heenan. Vince also plugs Crush vs. Blake Beverly as an exclusive match next week for All-American. Savage then makes fun of Heenan for not being able to get the RAW girl’s number.

The lumberjacks head to the ring. Everyone but Yokozuna is wearing the lumberjack shirt. I like that as it makes stand apart from everyone else which should be the case given the fact he is the #1 contender to Hogan’s title.

WWF Intercontinental Title Lumberjack Match: Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs. Shawn Michaels (c)

Duggan goes right after Yokozuna before entering the ring and that pumps up the crowd. Shawn then comes out wearing street clothes and on crutches as Heenan says its because he went through the windshield of a cheap, little car Perfect pulled up in as Shawn says he cannot compete. However, Perfect attacks Shawn and rolls him inside as Shawn stands up on his own without any problems. Duggan then tosses Shawn outside as Shawn is tossed right back in and the bell rings with Shawn begging for mercy. Duggan slams Shawn and drops an elbow that gets two. Duggan tears off Shawn’s shirt and fires away as Vince says this has more action than the Lennox Lewis fight from last Friday. Duggan gets a few more nearfalls as Shawn takes all sorts of bumps. Duggan now chokes out Shawn then uses a reverse chinlock. Duggan briefly uses a bearhug and turns that into a slam as that gets two. Heenan screams about Shawn being attacked tonight and giving Duggan a major advantage. Duggan uses a front facelock then beats on Shawn in the corner as Shawn looks half dead. Shawn is now tied up in the ropes and after that gets thrown over the top rope. Shawn tries to escape up the aisle but Perfect & Bob Backlund carry him back as we go to commercial. The action returns with Duggan hitting a slam but missing a knee drop. Shawn then takes off his boot and whacks Duggan in the face as Duggan spills outside. Duggan is thrown back in where Shawn stomps away before sending Duggan back outside. Duggan returns and tries to fight back but Shawn rakes the eyes. Duggan then uses a turnbuckle smash but eats boot on a charge then Shawn covers for two. Shawn now uses a chinlock on the mat but Duggan fights out then skies Shawn with a back drop. Duggan now chokes out Shawn in the corner before firing away. Shawn fights back but Duggan catches a crossbody attempt and turns that into a slam for a nearfall. Duggan now uses a chinlock as the camera shows Yokozuna staring into the ring. Duggan then signals for the Three Point Stance and uses that to knock Shawn outside as we go to another break. We return with Shawn now in control but he misses a corner splash. Duggan then gets distracted as Bigelow is up on the apron. Shawn hits a high knee from behind then tosses Duggan outside in front of a Yokozuna. Bigelow distracts the ref as Yokozuna beats the crap out of Duggan. Yokozuna now rolls Duggan back inside as Shawn covers with one foot but Perfect runs in to break up the pin and the ref rings the bell for the DQ (17:20) ***1/4.

Thoughts: Really good match here with Shawn carrying things. And Duggan deserves some credit too as he looked better here than any other match since returning from the Yokozuna injury angle. The finish wasn’t the greatest but remember, Hogan was not working house shows yet and Yokozuna/Duggan was a top match on the house shows, and would be for several more weeks, so Duggan needed to be protected. Besides getting over Yokozuna/Duggan this match and entire show really put over the Shawn/Perfect feud and built up a lot of heat for that one as Perfect got revenge after the sneak attack at WrestleMania IX. This match also made it on several video releases such as “Monday Night RAW Prime Cuts,” “Grudges, Gripes, and Grunts,” “Most Unusual Matches Ever,” and “Best of RAW Seasons 1 & 2.”

Final Thoughts: Fun show this week. The lumberjack match was a quality main event, Perfect and Sharpe was a fun enhancement match and the other two squash matches were both effective. We did not get a preview for next week but it would end up being a memorable show so stay tuned for that recap.