Sunday, April 19, 2015

A Taste of the New Generation: Shadow of Hulkamania: WWF Monday Night Raw: May 10th, 1993



Prior to the May 10th edition of Monday Night Raw starting, Shawn Michaels cuts a promo with Lord Alfred Hayes assuring his victory tonight in the lumberjack match with Hacksaw Jim Duggan. When suddenly  from out of nowhere Mr. Perfect shows up and begins to attack Shawn. He attacks Shawn near a car in front of the building and throws him on the front, breaking the windshield in the process. Before the brawl can escalate further, WWF officials get in between the two, breaking the fight up.



Our opening contest is a king of the ring qualifier as Typhoon takes on Bam Bam Bigelow.  Both men don't go down after some shoulder block attempts. Typhoon gets a body slam and begins to work on the wrist. Bam Bam goes for a flam, but doesn't get him as high as he was hoping. Typhoon gets back control, and starts headbutting the shoulder of Bigelow. Bam Bam counters and gits a big back suplex, which Typhoon decides to not sell. Bigelow manages to ram Typhoon into the steel post.

Every time Typhoon tries to get in the ring, Bam Bam denies him, and sends him back into the buckle. Bigelow has a rather hard gash atop his head. Typhoon finally gets back in, and Bigelow keeps the offense on him with a headlock. Eventually Typhoon breaks it, but the hold is reapplied as we go to break. When we get back from break Typhoon is back in control, until he misses a corner splash. Massive samoan drop from Bam Bam as he ascends the top rope and gets the headbutt for the three in an impressive ending to a rather basic big man match.



We get another vignette for the debuting Smoking Gunns tag team. This time with text telling they're coming. In one of the more hilariously redundant moments of this, the text says "Billy and Bart", then goes to footage we've seen before, and as if they remembered that they didn't really elaborate on who they are, they then put up the text "Billy and Bart Gunn", just in case you were confused.



Up next is Yokozuna in action against PJ Walker. Vince advertises that next week Yoko will also be in action against Kamala. Bobby actually says that Yokozuna jobbed at Mania, which is weird to hear on WWF TV. A throw early from Yoko starts things off, and he follows up with clubbing blows and a massive belly to belly, followed by a leg drop. Irish whip in the corner and a massive bump. Yoko finishes it off with the Banai Drop, and it looks like ol' Justin Credible took all of that one.



Mr. Perfect takes on Iron Mike Sharpe in our next match. He gives one of the fat Raw girls his chewing gum, and she seems to enjoy it. Perfect applies a headlock, but Sharpe breaks. After a leapfrog, Mr. Perfect gets a dropkick. Perfect lays in some hard chops, and then rams Sharpe's head into the buckle several times. More chops followed by Mr. Perfect's patented neck snap. Sharpe regains offense and hits chops of its own. This turns into a chop fest between bpth men until Perfect goes low.

Meanwhile, Bobby pulls the channel changing shtick again. He seems particularly transfixed on the Marky Mark underwear ad. Meanwhile, Perfect goes for a roll up for a two count. Sharpe goes for a whip, but it's countered into a Perfect Plex for the three.



Next up is Mr. Hughes, now aligned with Harvey Whippleman taking on the Kamikaze Kid, although this week he's going by the new name "Cannonball Kid". Irish whip and a big powerslam by Hughes. He grabs the kid by the ears and gives him a powerbomb. Meanwhile Vince shills a movie called "Sex, Love, and Cold Hard Cash". Super hard whip into the buckle. Irish whip and a big boot by Hughes, and he follows with a massive sidewalk slam for the three. You know what, despite the odd gimmick, I don't think Hughes is a bad big man at all.



Next up is the lumberjack match, and they literally are dressed in flannel. Well, everyone but Yokozuna because where the hell were they gonna get a flannel shirt that big?



Hacksaw head to the ring, but immediately targets Yokozuna. After finally going in the ring, we await Shawn Michaels, who comes down the aisle in crutches, overselling the beating Perfect gave him last week. Perfect doesn't believe him, and throws Shawn into the ring, where HBK miraculously recovers. Hacksaw throws him out, and Perfect throws him in.

Hacksaw rams Shawn into the buckles and body slams him for a two count. He rips off Shawn's shirt and lays lefts and rights into HBK while the crowd once again chants "Shawn is Gay". Cover only gets a two count.  Massive irish whip wih a patented Shawn flip. More clubbing blows. Hacksaw locks in a chinlock, and then rips the rest of Shawn's shirt. This is followed by a bearhug and a body slam for a two.

More clubbing offense by Hacksaw as we've gone five minutes at least where Michaels has yet to get any offense at all. Shawn gets tied up in the ropes as Duggangets more offense, and follows with a massive toss over the top rope. Shawn tries to escape, but Mr. Perfect and Bob Backlund drag him back as we go to break. When we return, things haven't chanted. Shawn is still being killed. But Duggan misses a knee drop as Shawn finally gets some hope. He uses his cowboy boot on Duggan as he finally gets offense in his favor.



Duggan runs into a boot by Shawn, but only stays down for a two count. Headlock applied by Shawn. Duggan breaks up, ducks a clothesline, and lands one of his own. He then follows up with a big back body drop. Hacksaw chokes Michaels in the corner as Yoko stares intently. Michaels tries a cross body, but gets caught into a body slam for another two. Duggan sets up the battering ram clothesline, but it sends Shawn over the ropes and into the heel corner for another break.

Michaels is back in control shortly as he misses a splash in the corner. Bam Bam distracts Hacksaw for a cheap shot by Michaels, who throws Hacksaw into Yokozuna, who lays him out with a leg drop. Yoko throws the prone Hacksaw back into the ring as Shawn tries a nonchalant pin. Put Perfect gets involved, but in the process he disqualifies Hacksaw. However, Shawn tries to brawl with Perfect, and Raw ends with every lumberjack brawling with each other. Duggan grabs the 2X4 and chases everyone off.

This was a fine Raw. Nothing offensive, save for the vulgar crowd chants. I actually found Curtis Hughes impressive, I enjoyed Yoko's squash, and Bam Bam vs Typhoon was also surprisingly decent. Shawn and Hacksaw was also a good main event, albeit perhaps a bit too long. It concluded this mini-feud while still continuing the more prominent feuds with Hacksaw Vs Yokozuna and Mr. Perfect Vs Shawn. Overall, a Raw that's not important to catch, but still entertaining. A B+ effort.