WWF Monday Night RAW – September 27th, 1993

September 27, 1993

From the New Haven Coliseum in New Haven, CT

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

The show starts off with WWF President Jack Tunney. He tells us that due to Shawn Michaels failure to appear to a number of Intercontinental Title defenses that he must vacate the Intercontinental Championship. Thus, a battle royal will be held next week and the final two men in the ring will then face off the following week to determine a new champion.

This week, The Quebecers will defend the Tag Team Titles against a “deserving” team. Also, Jimmy Snuka returns for tonight and Rick Martel is back to face Tatanka.

Tatanka vs. “The Model” Rick Martel

Vince talks about Martel mixing it up using “roughhouse” style. Savage mentions the bad blood between Martel and Tatanka as Vince says they could both possibly become the next Intercontinental Champion as the two take it to the mat. They now trade hammerlocks as the announcers talk about Doink the Clown. Tatanka catches a kick then spins Martel around for an atomic drop before taking him through the ropes with a clothesline. Martel stalls outside then has Tatanka chase him around and attacks Tatanka in the ring. Martel fires away then Tatanka messes up a spot where he was supposed to land on the middle rope and come back with a crossbody so he repeats that and Martel ducks. Martel then hits a back suplex then kicks Tatanka outside as we go to break. The action returns with Martel kicking Tatanka’s back. Tatanka comes back with a sunset flip for two but Martel immediately stomps away. Martel now works an abdominal stretch with Heenan mocking Tatanka. Martel targets the back after Tatanka escapes then Tatanka reverses an locks on an abdominal stretch of his own. Martel rakes the eyes then kicks Tatanka in the corner and avoids a charge to hit another back suplex that gets two. Martel hits a backbreaker then tries a slingshot splash but Tatanka got his knees up as both men are down. Vince tells us that Martel is back after some time off as Martel now applies a reverse chinlock. The announcers now talk about Bill Clinton as Vince makes a joke about his healthcare program as Tatanka hits Martel with a crossbody for two. Martel uses a turnbuckle smash but Tatanka fires up then runs wild. Tatanka hits a flying chop but Martel is able to then toss Tatanka over the top rope. Martel tries to win via count out and keeps kicking Tatanka away but Tatanka drags Martel outside and they brawl until getting counted out (10:48 shown) **. Vince says they might be in the battle royal and we will find out more about that soon.

Thoughts: Martel looked decent in his return but this was a poor performance from Tatanka. He had a few noticeable rough spots. The finish was easy to predict but still uninspired as Tatanka’s winning streak says intact. I mean, they’re just trotting Tatanka out for the sole purpose to mention that he is undefeated so the sooner someone beats him and gets the rub, the better.

Joe Fowler is shown in the Event Center. He tells us about Shawn Michaels being stripped of the Intercontinental Title and how next week a 20 man battle royal will take place with the last two men in the ring facing off the following week for the title. The participants include: IRS, Randy Savage, Adam Bomb, Giant Gonzalez, Mr. Perfect, Owen Hart, Rick Martel, Jimmy Snuka, Bob Backlund, Pierre, Jacques, Razor Ramon, Mabel, Diesel, MVP, 1-2-3 Kid, Bam Bam Bigelow, Marty Jannetty, Tatanka, and Bastion Booger. I know I’ve said it many times since his debut but good lord does Fowler suck at this job.

“WWF Unbelievable” ad with a girl toddler bored over a kids toy then smiling when turning on the TV and hearing Vince announce RAW. Heenan jokes that the girl is the 1-2-3 Kid.

Ludvig Borga vs. Phil Apollo

Borga attacks Apollo before the bell and hammers away. Borga then hits a clothesline and plants Apollo with a spinebuster as the announcers talk about the Borga/Luger feud. Borga then points at a sign of his in the crowd as Vince accuses Borga of “planting” that person. Borga then takes Apollo back inside for a delayed vertical suplex and soon after that uses a torture rack for the win (3:16).

Thoughts: Another squash win to showcase Borga but again, the crowd does not care. Its bad enough that Luger did not win the title at SummerSlam and now he has to feud with a newcomer that is not over.

Vince plugs an exclusive interview from Randy Savage with Lex Luger this Saturday on “Mania.” We then get an ad for Mania. I’ll post a recap of that show later on today.

“Superfly” Jimmy Snuka vs. Paul Van Dale

Snuka attacks Van Dale before the bell. Snuka then takes Van Dale over with a hip toss and hits a slam as Vince puts Snuka over as a battle royal competitor. Snuka ducks his head for a back drop and gets elbowed as Heenan has called up Crush. Heenan then asks Crush if he is in the battle royal and Crush says no and was surprised he was not invited. Crush says he has been saying for the past two weeks he has been in the best shape of his life then Heenan alerts Crush that Savage is in the battle royal. Snuka piledrives Van Dale as Crush then believes Savage played politics to get into the match then hangs up as Savage wants Crush to talk, mentioning Crush never answers when he calls. Snuka stays in control and hits a backbreaker before going up to for the Superfly Splash and the win (4:34).

Thoughts: The crowd seemed confused when Snuka attacked Van Dale before the bell because he had been presented as a face for so long and they were dead for all of this except the Superfly Splash. However, this served as a back drop for the new Crush/Savage feud which will heat up in the coming weeks.

Clip of PJ Walker upsetting IRS on last week’s show.

IRS is then shown in his office flanked by two secretaries. Vince calls him “Mr. Rotundo” and asks about what happened last week. IRS says Razor Ramon has a nice audit coming to him then promises to get a shot at Razor during the battle royal. Odd to hear Vince refer to IRS as “Mr. Rotundo” more than once

The Quebecers & Johnny Polo head out to the ring right before the break as we will soon find out who they will face for the titles.

We return as Heenan is in the ring with Barry Horowitz. Heenan wants to know his partner. Horowitz says that his partner, Reno Riggins, is home sick with the flu and wants to pick a substitute. After a conference, Polo says it depends who it is and after Horowitz names 1-2-3 Kid, Polo & The Quebecers laugh. Heenan says that Kid has caused a lot of trouble but they do not care and Kid comes out. I get the Quebecers are chicken shits afraid of the Steiners but this was a weak reveal.

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Quebecers (c) vs. Barry Horowitz & 1-2-3 Kid

The crowd gets behind Kid as he drops Jacques with a spinning heel kick. Jacques now laughs and brushes it off as Vince plugs an episode of “Silk Stalkings” but Kid & Horowitz end up clearing the ring. The Quebecers return to the ring and ambush Kid. Polo distracts the ref so his team can use illegal double-team moves but Kid is still able to kick out. Jacques tries a crossbody but Kid ducks then Kid sends Jacques outside with a spinning heel kick. Jacques acts like he is out cold with Polo screaming that he is knocked out. Polo then waves out the medics and Jacques is stretchered out. However, Finkel tells us the match must continue as we go to break. Pierre is now beating on Horowitz and out there by himself. Jacques is shown in an insert out cold backstage as Pierre hits a flying leg drop for a nearfall. Pierre then slams Horowitz but in the process tosses him right at Kid, who tags into the match. Pierre beats on Kid now but Kid fights back and lands a kick to the face. Kid then tries a running spinning heel kick but Pierre ducks and Kid goes flying outside. Polo rolls Kid inside, almost on top of Pierre, then Pierre rolls on top and covers for the win (9:58 shown) **.

Thoughts: This match fell flat and there was no point to any of this unless the Steiners showed up to give The Quebecers comeuppance. And since that never happened it ended up being a terrible payoff after the constant hype on syndicated TV. And it made zero sense for Kid to lose seeing that Horowitz was his partner.

Razor Ramon heads to ringside with the announcers. Vince asks Razor about IRS trying to single him out in the battle royal. Razor tells the “tax man” that he is easy to find. The show ends with the announcers plugging next week’s battle royal.

Final Thoughts: The big news here was learning the Intercontinental Title has been vacated. Besides that the Quebecers payoff was a dud and Martel/Tatanka did not deliver. They also did more with the Crush/Savage angle which at least has some intrigue and sold us next week on the battle royal and the IC Title match the following week to keep viewers hooked.