WWF Monday Night Raw - February 15, 1993
by SamoaRowe
-Brutus Beefcake opens the show promising to prove to Ted Dibiase that he’s back and ready to compete. Dibiase cuts a rebuttal promo, though his manager, Jimmy Hart, is still worried about the match.
-They are airing a prerecorded episode taped at the Manhattan Center. Our hosts for the evening are Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, and Rob Bartlett.
The Steiners vs. Glen Ruth and Bobby Who
(Editor's Note: Bobby Who? This means "Who's up first" Bwahahaha! I kill me...)
Scott Steiner starts the match for his team. Scott has no problem dominating Glen Ruth, nailing a full nelson suplex! Rick gets the tag and jogs around the ring. Ruth backs into his corner, tagging Who. Rick dominates Who, hitting a belly to belly suplex. Scott tags and hit’s a drop-kick. On commentary, Randy Savage is bitching about his broken head set. In the ring, Steiner lifts Who over his shoulders, tags for a smash off the turnbuckles. Rick applies a chinlock. Who fights out and smashes the chest, but Rick takes him down with a devastating clothesline. Scott tags and hit’s a double underhook slam. Steiners hit the doomsday bulldog, allowing Scott to get the win at 3:31. Hart-hitting squash, ¾*.
Winners: The Steiners
Yokozuna (with Mr. Fuji) vs. Ross Greenberg
Hmm, I wonder if this will be a short squash. By this point, Yokozuna was the official #1 contender to Bret Hart’s WWF Championship for Wrestlemania IX. The match starts off slow, with Yokozuna dropping Greenberg with a clothesline. Belly to belly suplex by Yokozuna. Leg drop by Yokozuna. Greenberg gets whipped into the corner and suffers a splash. Yokozuna hit’s the Banzai drop and it’s over at 2:01. Squasherific! ¼*.
Winner: Yokozuna
-Lord Alfred Hayes takes a look back at WWF Superstars, where Jim Duggan and Yokozuna squared off. The story of the match was based around whether or not Duggan could knock Yokozuna off his feet. Duggan eventually managed to with a tackle. Duggan was celebrating to “USA” chants when Yokozuna threw salt into his eyes! Yokozuna managed to hit the Banzai drop, complete with the American flag draped over Duggan.
-We get a taped promo with Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji. Fuji is laughing over how Duggan got squashed.
-McMahon talks about the 16 man battle royal, and how no one wanted to compete with Giant Gonzales. We get another look back at WWF Superstars. Gonzales pulls Louis Spicolli into the ring. Gonzales drops him as the other wrestlers run to the back.
16 Man Battle Royal:
Everyone spills into the ring, except for Shawn Michaels, who is casually taking a stroll. Kim Chee hides out at ringside as well (trying to avoid Kamala). The Bezerker is notably strolling around the ring, attacking people at random. Koko B. Ware tries to eliminate HBK, but is unsuccessful. HBK drops Koko to the floor. Razor Ramon trades shots with Kamala and Damien Demento tries to rip open Typhoon’s face. Skinner and Tatanka have been fighting for most of the match. Owen Hart tries to eliminate HBK, but he’s resilient. Skinner dances and gets clotheslined out by Typhoon. Demento is tossed out by Kamala. The Bezerker dumps Owen Hart, and almost gets eliminated by Tito Santana. The Bezerker is soon eliminated anyhow. Kim Chee tries to help Typhoon eliminate Kamala and they are successful. Typhoon immediately turns on Kim Chee. Kamala storms back into the ring and tosses Kim Chee out. Kamala chases Kim Chee into the crowd. We head to a commercial.
After the break, Tatanka, Razor Ramon, Typhoon, Tito Santana, Bob Backlund, and Shawn Michaels are still in the match. Kamala is still chasing Kim Chee, now they’re on the balcony. HBK blocks Typhoon and drops him over the top rope. Michaels and Ramon talk strategy, as Tatanka and Santana appear to be on the same page. Tatanka and HBK tie up while Santana backs Ramon into the corner. Tatanka unleashes a flurry of smashes on HBK, but Ramon gets the upper hand on Santana. Santana and HBK collide in the ring, but HBK takes a moment to drop-kick Tatanka. HBK blocks a hard Irish whip, but runs into Santana’s fist. Santana and Tatanka double team HBK, eventually eliminating him. Ramon jumps both baby faces. Tatanka and Santana are resilient and fight back. They try to eliminate Ramon, when Giant Gonzales storms in and attacks all three men. Gonzales appears to have eliminated everyone, as Ramon runs away. Gonzales leaves, and Ramon reenters the ring for the victory at 13:40 (shown). This was dull by battle royal standards, and had a screwy finish, *¾.
Winner: Razor Ramon
Ted Dibiase (with Jimmy Hart) vs. Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake
Beefcake struts in a mocking fashion, which annoys Dibiase. They lock up, and Dibiase gets tossed head-first into the turnbuckles. Dibiase uses a knee lift to gain control momentarily, but Beefcake fires back. Beefcake works a headlock. Beefcake smashes Dibiase out of the ring and invites Dibiase to kiss his butt. Dibiase returns, but gets knocked around the ring and trapped in the headlock again. IRS shows up at ringside with the steel briefcase. IRS cracks the case into Beefcake’s back, causing the DQ at 4:27. Nothing much happened before the abrupt finish, ½*.
Winner by DQ: Brutus Beefcake
-IRS storms the ring and helps Dibiase beat down Beefcake. Hart tries to stop IRS from smashing the case into Beefcake’s face, while being held still by Dibiase. IRS tosses Hart to the floor! IRS charges and cracks the case into the previously broken face of Brutus Beefcake! Hart returns to the ring and tries to stop Money Inc from inflicting any more punishment. Dibiase and IRS share a good laugh and head to the back. Hart checks on Beefcake, as he gets stretchered out.
-Next week: Money Inc. will be in action! Tatanka and the Nasty Boys face Shawn Michaels and the Beverly Brothers. Also, Hulk Hogan? Perhaps!
Final Thoughts: The wrestling was nothing special, but a big step up from last week’s squash-o-ramma. Yokozuna looks unstoppable heading into his match for the WWF Championship against Bret Hart. Giant Gonzales got put over (whether we’d like him to or not), and the Money Inc/Beefcake rivalry really heated up. As a standalone episode, this was nothing to go out of your way to see, but as a small piece to a bigger picture, it was worthy.
Thumbs in the middle.
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