WWF Monday Night RAW – November 15th, 1993

November 15, 1993

From the Fernwood Resort in Bushkill, PA

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan

We start off with a video package on the Savage/Crush confrontation from last week.

Vince reminds us how WWF President Jack Tunney has banned Randy Savage from the broadcast booth. The announcers then plug Lex Luger vs. Pierre on this show.

Razor Ramon vs. Brooklyn Brawler

Vince alerts us that Radio WWF this past Saturday broke the news that Shawn Michaels has been reinstated and will take the place of Jerry Lawler at the Survivor Series due to Lawler’s legal problems. Vince also says that Razor is probably mad that his “nemesis” Shawn is back. Brawler attacks Razor before the bell and hammers away in the corner. Razor boots Brawler then hits a bulldog before firing away. Brawler rakes the eyes then grounds Razor with a chinlock as Heenan talks about Bret defeating Shawn Michaels at last year’s Survivor Series and that Shawn has not forgotten. Brawler then ducks his head for a back drop but Razor puts on the breaks and uses the Razor’s Edge for the win (2:53).

Thoughts: Huge news here with finding out that Lawler is now on hiatus and has been replaced by the recently reinstated Shawn Michaels. And with Vince quickly saying Lawler was gone due to the problems its clear this is not a storyline. With that, the feud with the most heat in the company has been iced. And, as we saw on “All-American Wrestling” on how hard they were pushing Radio WWF, they are trying to use that as a to break news so fans will listen or call radio stations to create a demand so Radio WWF can be on their stations.

We now hear from Crush as he talked about warning Savage to stay out of his way and gloats over the fact Savage got the beating of his life and lost his broadcasting job. He then warns Savage he’ll get beat even worse the next time their paths cross. Crush comes off much better as a heel than his corny face gimmick.

An ad for the Survivor Series Showdown that features Yokozuna vs. Bret Hart for the WWF World Heavyweight Title with the idea Bret can get revenge over what happened at WrestleMania IX

The Headshrinkers w/ Afa vs. Mike Bucci & Mike Maraldo

Heenan says that his buddy Reo Rogers will be Vince’s co-host on “Superstars” this weekend and says he is related to Roy Rogers. Bucci & Maraldo manage a nearfall on Fatu but Fatu ends up nailing Bucci with a thrust kick. The Headshrinkers continue to beat down Bucci as the announcers talk about all sorts of non-WWF stuff then Fatu puts Bucci away with a top rope splash (4:25).

Thoughts: The Headshrinkers destroy more enhancement talent as we learn of a man named Reo Rogers joining Vince on Superstars. And boy was he something. Despite being bad asses, The Headshrinkers were not that protected.

We see the clip from “Superstars” with The Undertaker being introduced as Tatanka’s replacement in the All-Americans Survivor Series team.

Pierre w/ Johnny Polo vs. Lex Luger

Luger immediately hammers away as Vince once again talks about Luger winning the fan vote to face Pierre. Luger gets a two count with a back suplex then Pierre rolls outside for a breather. Pierre returns and hammers away in the corner but eats boot on a charge then Luger gets another nearfall this time with a clothesline. Pierre bails again but Luger heads out but does not fall for Polo’s distraction and back drops Pierre as we go to break. The match returns with Luger working the arm. Pierre comes back with a clothesline then grabs a front face lock. Luger fights back but Polo grabs his leg then Pierre sends Luger outside with a high knee. Pierre heads out to send Luger into the steps as Polo laughs then Pierre rams Luger into the post. Back inside, Pierre targets the back as we get a “USA” chant from the crowd. Pierre gets a two count with a Vader Bomb then uses a reverse chin lock. Luger powers out as we head to break then return with Pierre once again grounding Luger with a reverse chin lock. Pierre then piledrives Luger for two as Heenan brings up how Luger has a “hardware store” inside of his forearm. Pierre heads up top and hits a sorry-looking leg drop for two. He was lucky not to break his leg. Pierre then goes back up top after a backbreaker but whiffs on a somersault senton as both men are down. Pierre is up first and rams Luger into the turnbuckle but wastes too much time and allows Luger to send him into the corner. They slug it out as Luger wins that battle then he starts to run wild. Luger hits a powerslam for a nearfall then slams Pierre off of the top rope before knocking Polo out of the ring. Luger then takes off his protective forearm padding and knocks out Pierre with a forearm smash for the win (13:33) **1/4.

Thoughts: The match itself was fine, if not a little boring, but the real story was the crowd being mostly dead for the match and another example of Luger not being over despite a top push. And cheating to beat Pierre was also stupid. First off, it made Luger look like a dick and also, its Pierre. I know he is a tag champion but is also the least over guy in the main event by a wide margin. He can afford a clean loss.

We return from break as Luger celebrates as Jacques is now out to check on his partner.

An ad for the Survivor Series airs.

We now see Pierre being taken out on a stretcher. They are playing it up as his Survivor Series status being in question.

The same ad we saw earlier hyping the Survivor Series Showdown airs.

Diesel vs. Sid Garrison

Heenan tells us that the Reo Rogers roundup will make its debut with Shawn Michaels and Stu & Helen Hart. Garrison avoids an attack then works the arm for a bit until he is caught in a backbreaker. Garrison avoids an elbow drop but is taken down with a forearm smash as Heenan plugs Diesel vs. Marty Jannetty this weekend on “Wrestling Challenge.” Diesel tosses Garrison around then uses a neck vice before a big boot and elbow drop get the win (3:29).

Thoughts: Not only does Reo appear on commentary but he will also have a talk-show segment as it seems he is going to replace Lawler in both regards.

Survivor Series Report with Todd Pettengill.We learn that Pierre has sustained a “slight concussion” tonight and questionable for the Survivor Series. And there was no mention of the Hart Family vs. Shawn Michaels & The Knights. The All-Americans are apparently abiding by Hammurabi Code in trying to eliminate Pierre.

We now see Jeff Jarrett inside of his recording studio. He is not happy and has apparently been through 25 auditions that have all failed. His assistant is played by Miss Texas (Jacqueline of WWE fame) then Jarrett said he will have to do everything himself to get to the top of the WWF and Country Music world. Not as good as the previous vignettes.

The announcers plug the Survivor Series Showdown one last time.

Final Thoughts: The big news here was learning about Lawler’s suspension and how he will be replaced by Shawn Michaels at the Survivor and by the unknown Reo Rogers on commentary and doing a talk-show segment. Luger also beat Pierre and might have taken him out of the Survivor Series with a concussion as we will see how that develops this weekend. Plus, we got a lot of hype for the Survivor Series Showdown with a big world title match and next week RAW will air an abbreviated version of that show so the next new RAW will be in two weeks.