WWF Monday Night Raw May 24, 1993
by SamoaRowe
-As per usual, they are airing from the Manhattan Center. Our hosts are Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan, and Randy Savage. Tonight, Razor Ramon addresses his loss to the 1-2-3 Kid from last week, the King of the Ring tournament continues, and Adam Bomb makes his Raw debut!
-Doink comes out for his match and hides under the ring. Meanwhile, Lord Alfred Hayes is outside the building with another Doink! This Doink says it’s all merely an illusion and runs away. Back in the Manhattan Center, the other Doink sneaks out and gets ready in the ring.
King of the Ring qualifying match:
Doink the Clown vs. Mr. Perfect
Doink charges Mr. Perfect as he’s getting into the ring and chokes with his towel. Doink mockingly uses Perfect’s towel to dry himself off. Perfect connects with midsection shots and clotheslines with the towel. A slug fest erupts, Perfect hits a takedown and works over the leg. Mr. Perfect slams Doink’s leg into the ring post as we head to a commercial…
…after the break, Perfect is stomping a mud hole on Doink in the ring. Doink kicks back and takes the momentum. Doink tosses Perfect to the floor and clubs off the apron. Doink introduces Perfect’s skull to the ring post and pulls him back into the ring by the hair. Perfect fights back but gets knocked back to the floor. Doink directs Perfect to the ring, nails a fireman’s carry, but Perfect counters with a head scissors. Doink rolls into a pinfall situation but Perfect gets his shoulder up. Mr. Perfect almost counters Doink’s takedown but manages to quickly escape. Leg snap by Perfect causes Doink to beg for mercy. Modified figure four by Perfect, and Doink has to struggle to keep his shoulders off the mat. Doink slugs out and bites the head. The brawl heads to ringside, and Perfect is thrust into the ring post. Doink drives Perfect’s arm into the ring post. Doink works the arm. Hammerlock scoop slam by Doink gets a cover for 2, and we head to another break.
After the commercial, Perfect has countered with an atomic drop and hits a clothesline. Doink pulls Perfect into the turnbuckles but misses a clothesline. Perfect clotheslines Doink to the floor. Another Doink runs in and hides under the ring. Perfect misses it when the new Doink pulls the worn out Doink under the ring and takes his place! Perfect tries to snapmare the fresh Doink, but gets overwhelmed. Perfect manages to hit a Perfect-plex out of nowhere to pin the fresh Doink at 11:41 (shown). This was a very good television match, and Perfect fighting through Doink’s cheating at the end didn’t hurt at all, ***.
Winner: Mr. Perfect
-After the match, both Doinks beat down Mr. Perfect. Heenan claims that Perfect didn’t win the match because he beat the wrong Doink. Crush runs in for the save and chases off both Doinks.
-Ted Dibiase and Irwin R. Shyster, collectively known as Money Inc, come to the ring for an interview. They still hold the World Tag Team Championship. Dibiase is offering a hundred bucks to anyone willing to shine his shoes. They pull a young man with a pony tail out of the crowd, Heenan mistakes him for a girl. The fan shines the shoes. IRS says the one hundred is earned income and taxes it so that the fan only makes $30. And that ends the segment. Well, that was certainly amusing.
Money Inc. vs. Mike Bell and Tony Devito
The tag titles are not on the line. Mike Bell is probably best known for getting stiffed by Perry Saturn during a dark match in 2001, and Tony Devito would go on to be in the Carnage Crew in Ring of Honor (Editor's Note: Wasn't DeVito also one of "Da' Baldies" in ECW, circa 1999?). Dibiase kicks the match off against Mike Bell. Shoulder block by Dibiase and a hard face slam. IRS tags and hits an elbow off the top. IRS slams Bell into the turnbuckle, and Devito gets a tag. IRS overpowers Devito and tags Dibiase, who hits a double axe handle off the top. Dibiase clotheslines Devito to the floor and directs him back to the ring. IRS tags and clubs away before hitting a leg drop to the lower regions. Dibiase tags and continues to abuse poor Devito. Suplex by Dibiase gets a cover, but Dibiase willingly breaks it. IRS tags and connects with a double underhook suplex. Dibiase tags and hits a big power slam. Hard clothesline by IRS gets the cover and the win at 3:58. Good for a squash, *.
Winners: Money Inc.
Crush vs. Bobby Who
Full nelson by Who is quickly broken by Crush. Crush backs Who into the ropes, but Who turns the tide and slugs away at the midsection. Spin heel kick by Crush and a delayed vertical suplex. Leg drop by Crush sends Who to ringside to recover. Crush pursues and hits a clothesline at ringside. Back to the ring, Crush locks in a bear hug. Belly to belly suplex by Crush and a press slam. Crush locks on the head claw and is declared victorious at 3:24. This was on the sloppy side, and those rest hold finishers don’t make for an exciting finish, ½*.
Winner: Crush
-Vince McMahon conducts an in-ring interview with Razor Ramon. When asked about how it felt to lose to the Kid, Ramon goes on a rant about how that "cockroach" did not really beat the Bad Guy. The crowd chants "1-2-3" at Ramon. Ramon says he is someone important and offers 2,500 dollars for a rematch. He claims anyone in the crowd would sell their mothers for this type of money. Vince changes the subject to the King of the Ring tournament, when Bret Hart joins them. Hart takes a microphone and criticizes Ramon for concentrating on The Kid when he should be doing his homework for the King of the Ring. Hart makes his exit, leaving Ramon to throw a temper tantrum.
-After the break, Heenan is channel surfing again. Johnny Polo appears on Heenan’s monitor, hyping Adam Bomb. Well, that was something else.
Adam Bomb (with Johnny Polo) vs. Phil Apollo
Apollo is completely overwhelmed from the very going. Bomb connects with a drop-kick and a back suplex. Bomb says he is destruction. He goes back to work on Apollo, tossing him to the floor and driving him into the barricade. Back to the ring, Bomb goes high risk and connects with a flying clothesline. Johnny Polo is liking what he sees (I'm sure everyone knows that's Raven, but I'll mention that anyway (Editor's Note: who?!!)). Big power bomb by Adam Bomb finishes the match at 2:35. Just a squash, ¼*.
Winner: Adam Bomb
-McMahon talks to Bam Bam Bigelow on the monitor, who is gearing up for a shot at Marty Jannetty and the Intercontinental Championship. Bigelow will have Luna Vachon in his corner, and Sherri Martel will be in Jannetty’s. This big match will take place next week.
Final Thoughts: After two straight episodes filled with big surprises and classic moments, Raw settled down this week. This would have fit my criteria of being a "good" episode had the last two editions not completely raised the bar. Having said that, Perfect/Doink was a good television match and Ramon’s promo was good storytelling. Everything else was squash-mania.
Thumbs in the middle, leaning up.
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