WWF Raw
May 17, 1993
New York, NY
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, & Bobby Heenan
The show opens with a highlight video showing Macho Man cheering some Special Olympians on, which is quite cool.
The recap the brawl between Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect from the week before.
Lord Alfred Hayes is outside talking about someone being there today that will surprise everyone.
The Smoking Gunns vs. Glenn Ruth & Tony Vajda
The Smoking Gunns make their Raw debut, taking on these two jobbers. Bart starts but quickly tags out to Billy. They both beat both men all around the ring until they hit a ridiculous piledriver where Billy hits a back drop and Bart catches Ruth and hits a piledriver. I don’t think that finish will last long. They almost killed Glenn Ruth.
Vince McMahon is in the ring and he brings out Shawn Michaels for an interview. The fans chant a rather vulgar chant at Shawn, but Shawn ignores it. Shawn says that he’s a man of his word and that he told everybody that he would be the IC champion. He also told everyone that he was better than Mr. Perfect, and he’s still champ. Michaels says that he will defend the title against anyone. A guy gets in the ring to challenge Michaels, and it’s Marty Jannetty! Vince asks Shawn if he’s a man of his word, and Shawn replies with yes and reluctantly accepts the challenge for later tonight. Great segment.
Razor Ramon vs. The Kid
The Kid still has the L on his tights, so why not call him The Lightning Kid, Vince? Razor throws the Kid around to start the match, and hits a massive chop that makes the whole crowd scream “Ohhhh!” Even though he’s a heel, the crowd chants Razor. Razor hits a big fall away slam. Razor tries to hit The Kid in the corner, but Razor misses and stuns himself. The Kid hits a moonsault and The Kid gets the 1-2-3! The crowd goes nuts for the The Kid!
RATING: 2/5 – I only give this a 2/5 because of how short it was. However, this was a really memorable moment on Monday Night Raw, and one of the great moments in the show’s history. This basically launches the career of X-Pac, and leads to a long and successful run in the WWF/E.
Tatanka vs. Scott Taylor
Tatanka smashes Taylor with several hard chops and gets the win with a Samoan Drop after a few minutes.
Mean Gene talks about who has qualified for the King of the Ring Tournament. A few matches of the first round have been decided, with Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon being the biggest one.
Kamala vs. Yokozuna
Oh dear. This should be horrible. It was. Yokozuna wins in a few minutes with a Banzai Drop, and it’s a few minutes too long.
Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty – WWF Intercontinental Championship
This match starts fast with Jannetty taking to Michaels. Jannetty counters a hip toss by flipping onto his feet. He hits a baseball slide dropkick, skins the cat, and then hits a tope on Shawn. Marty is on fire in this match. Jannetty dodges a superkick and hits an arm drag followed by a head scissors. Jannetty sends Michaels to the corner, and Shawn flies over the top rope, grabs his belt, and tries to leave.
He gets to the curtain, but Mr. Perfect is there to chase him back to the ring. They go to break, and when they come back Jannetty is still in control. Michaels hits a huge hotshot on Jannetty and Shawn starts to get the heat on him. Shawn slows it down a bit and locks on a headlock on Jannetty.
The pace pick up and Jannetty hits a huge body slam. Jannetty hits a huge flying body press, and Shawn kicks out. Jannetty rolls him up, but Shawn rolls through and pulls the tights, but Jannetty kicks out. Shawn hits a huge superkick and taunts Mr. Perfect. Perfect throws his town in Michaels’ face, and Marty rolls up Shawn for the 1-2-3! We have a new Intercontinental Champion!
RATING: 4/5 – Awesome match from these two. If there was any doubt that Shawn Michaels is one of the best wrestlers of all time, look at the last three Monday Night Raw episodes where he stole the show every time, each week with a better match than the last.
OVERALL RATING: 3.75/5 – Another very good episode of Raw with two great surprises with the 1-2-3 Kid beating Razor Ramon (and thus earning the name 1-2-3!), and Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty tearing the house down.
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