WWF Monday Night RAW – December 13th, 1993

December 13, 1993

From the Mid-Hudson Civic Center in Poughkeepsie, NY

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jim Cornette, who is replacing Bobby Heenan for this week.

This week, we have Randy Savage vs. Fatu. Also in action is Bret Hart.

Randy Savage vs. Fatu w/ Afa

Savage grabs the mic from Howard Finkel before Fatu comes out and says “oh yeah!” Vince says that Savage is wanting to be in the Royal Rumble match then hypes a potential match against Crush. Fatu clotheslines Savage then drops him with a headbutt in the corner. Savage ducks a clothesline then kicks Savage but Fatu comes right back with a thrust kick. Savage rolls outside where Fatu roughs him up. The match heads back inside where Savage fights back but ends up getting dumped outside with a back drop. Cornette makes fun of Savage’s hair as Fatu heads up top but Savage cuts him off by shaking the ropes. Fatu heads outside and Savage flies out with a double axe handle then rolls Fatu back inside. Savage turns Fatu inside-out with a clothesline then decks Afa before using a flying elbow drop for the win (5:51) **.

Thoughts: The match was fine with the goal of telling us that Savage still has it after not wrestling regularly for a while.

We see Todd Pettengill on the set of “Mania” as he says this time was paid for by his own money. Pettengill calls out WWF President Jack Tunney for barring Savage from Mania and how he deserves to be on the show and to vote “yes” on “Referendum M.” Vince now plugs the 1-900 line to vote on whether or not Savage should be able to co-host Mania. This is now the new cause to get fans to dial up the 1-900 number.

The Lex Luger “Just Say No” to drugs ad airs.

Smoking Gunns vs. Jim Massenger & Steve Smyth

The announcers talk about Lex Luger with Cornette saying that Luger is unable to participate in the Royal Rumble because he can never have another title shot against Yokozuna due to the contract stipluations at SummerSlam. Cornette even said he is flying to Tunney’s office in Toronto tomorrow to make sure Luger will not be at the Royal Rumble. The Gunns take control as we now see Capt. Lou Albano scout the Smoking Gunns from ringside. Cornette now makes jokes about Dr. Kevorkian as Billy uses a flying bulldog for the win (2:50).

Thoughts: The story with Luger now is that his contract stipulations from his match at SummerSlam prevents him from getting a title shot against Luger and since Yokozuna is the champion, Luger should not be able to compete since the winner of the Rumble match will face the Champion at WrestleMania.

A video package on last week’s confrontation between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon airs.

IRS vs. Todd Mata

IRS tells the crowd that they will be paying their fair share come April 15th. The camera peeks into IRS’s open briefcase as we see Razor’s gold chain. IRS beats on Mata then Mata comes back with a sunset flip for two. IRS dumps Mata outside as Cornette claims to be seeing Princess Diana on the side then IRS hits a back suplex for the win (1:47).

Thoughts: We now see that IRS possesses Razor’s gold chain and that their feud is in fact not slowing down amid Razor’s heated with feud Shawn.

Next, is a vignette on “Yoko Claus.” This of course is Yokozuna dressed as Santa Claus with Fuji wearing a stocking cap. It ends with Yokozuna waking from this nightmare of being nice to kids and ends with the “WWF Unbelievable” tagline. I found this amusing enough.

The Undertaker & Paul Bearer make their entrance.

The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer vs. JS Storm

We are joined in progress after the break as Undertaker beats down Storm while Cornette is all worked up about Yokozuna being in a casket match at the Royal Rumble. Undertaker stays in control and hits a chokeslam before using a tombstone for the win (2:12) shown. After the match, Undertaker shoves Storm into a bodybag as Cornette accuses Vince of turning people against Yokozuna while acting frightened over what is happening.

Thoughts: More hype for the Undertaker/Yokozuna match at the Royal Rumble.

The Jarrett vignette montage airs.

A video package hyping up a Ludvig Borga vs. Tatanka match airs.

“The Model” Rick Martel vs. Tim McNeany

Cornette says that Tatanka is dangerous as Martel beats on McNeany. Vince now teases Cornette about The Undertaker as McNeany comes back with a crossbody for two. Martle regains control as Vince hypes the world premiere of “Jericho Fever” this Thursday on USA. McNeany uses a rollup for a two count but after that Martel beats him in the corner. Martel catches McNeany with a knee smash then does some jumping jacks as the announcers talk about Luger possibly being in the Royal Rumble match. Martel then dropkicks McNeany before using the Boston Crab for the win (3:00).

Thoughts: Just a backdrop for the announcers to talk about the top storylines in the promotion.

We are now shown the Owen Hart interview with Vince from the 12/11 edition of “Superstars.”

Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs. Brooklyn Brawler

Bret takes Brawler over with a hip toss then works the arm as Cornette says Owen is trying to be professional and wants to see who is the best wrestler between Bret and himself. Bret continues to work the arm as Vince says that Shawn Michaels will be in the broadcast booth with Cornette saying that he loves Shawn. Brawler fights back and hits a slam but gets slammed off of the top rope as Bret now fires away. Bret stays in control then puts Brawler away with the Sharpshooter (4:19).

Thoughts: A win for Bret as the announcers talked about the Bret/Owen storyline. We also learn that Shawn will be a guest commentator for next week.

The Hotline to vote on whether or not Savage should be allowed to co-host “Mania” is up on the screen.

Next week in action are Men on a Mission, Owen Hart, and the debut of Jeff Jarrett. Plus, the featured match of Tatanka vs. Ludvig Borga.

Final Thoughts: We got some storyline advancement on the show, with the big news being the 1-900 Hotline to vote whether or not Savage should be able to co-host Mania. Besides that they plugged Borga vs. Tatanka and Shawn on commentary for next week’s show. Cornette did fine with Vince but Vince himself seemed a bit checked out which is completely understandable given what was happening at the time. Expect more PPV hype in the coming weeks.