Monday Night Raw - September 13th, 1993

• We’re back in the Manhattan Centre, two weeks after Summerslam. Tonight’s big match is a Tag Team title match held under Quebec Province rules. Titles can change hands via DQ or count out, which is ironic given how Summerslam ended. It also means lots of mundane things like going to the top rope can cause a disqualification. This is my first look at the Quebecers. Jacques and Pierre debuted in July but of course Jacques is former Intercontinental Champion The Mountie. They play up the unusual rules a few times here with Rick going for a piledriver and having to be reminded that's illegal in this match, and the commentators debating whether someone being thrown over the top rope should count as a disqualification. As the match gets into deep water, Johnny Polo comes down to the ring wearing a Montreal Canadian hockey jersey. This is the confirmation that he’s now the manager of The Quebecers. The match continues with close near falls and Jacques saving Pierre from being pinned off a Frankensteiner. He brings Polo’s hockey stick into the ring and manages to trick Scott Steiner into using it, right in front of the referee. The Quebecers win by disqualification and because of the Quebec Province rules they’re the new WWF Tag Team Champions! 

• Mr. Perfect takes on Tony Devito. Weirdly, Devito decides he doesn’t like his chances and just leaves, running all the way backstage. Perfect follows, catches him and brings him back to the ring where he beats him up and finishes him off with the Perfect-plex. There was a small, vocal group of fans who started a “Perfect sucks” chant which also struck me as odd. I think he’s better as a heel too really but it definitely got to him as he shoves the referee out of his way and looks pissed off afterwards, staring daggers at the fans in the front row who were giving him grief. 
• Vince throws to some exclusive footage from backstage at Summerslam. After the main event, Ludvig Borga barged into Lex Lugar’s locker room and with other babyfaces like Macho Man and The Steiners looking on, told Lugar that he’s not impressed by him or by America and if they were to ever step in the ring, he’d crush him.

• Razor Ramon battles the masked Executioner. It’s Duane Gill under the mask, which I think I’d said before. Razor slaps him around and runs through all his trademark moves, finishing with a back suplex off the top rope. He gives him the Razor’s Edge after the match for good measure. 
• This is the first of the WWF’s “Unbelievable” videos. Vince McMahon in particular took to saying Unbelievable about 50 times per show during this period. I’ll probably mention it periodically. 

• Vince McMahon brings the new Tag Team Champions down to the ring for an interview. Jacques talks about all the other great Canadian sporting victories lately and Johnny Polo calls them the greatest tag team champions of all time (they won them 20 minutes ago). Vince asks them about a rematch for The Steiners and that brings Scott and Rick down to the ring. They but are held back by referees. Johnny Polo says that next week if one of the Steiners can defeat Pierre in a singles match, they can have their rematch for the Tag Team titles. 

• Doink the Clown takes on a no-named jobber. He throws a couple of buckets of confetti into the crowd during his entrance. During this match, Crush calls in with an update on his condition. We haven’t seen or heard from Crush since Yokozuna dropped four Banzai drops on him a couple of months ago. He tells Vince that he’ll be back any time soon, stronger than ever. Macho Man made a big deal about the fact that he and Crush are friends so when he tries to join in, it’s a shock that Crush appears to just hang up on him. Must have been satellite difficulties? Doink wins the match and then Bobby Heenan goes to get him, encouraging him to throw the contents of his bucket at Vince and Macho rather than the crowd. Vince has a big smile on his face as he warns Doink not to do it - he’s the real life boss, so that comes across as quite genuine. Doink shocks everyone when he throws the water at Bobby Heenan instead! That gets a big cheer and the giggling clown leaves as The Brain does a spectacular job of slipping and falling in the water, throwing a hissy fit. I love you Bobby. 

• From there, Raw ends with the usual hyping up of who’ll be in the house next week as well as what is now confirmed to be Scott Steiner vs. Pierre.

Monday Night Raw - September 20th, 1993

• During last weeks show Vince mentioned a couple of times that people need to watch Raw “and not that boring football game” and they must have been concerned about people missing the show because of football because this week’s show starts with a lengthy Vince narrated video recap of The Quebecers winning the Tag Team Championships via disqualification last week (Province of Quebec Rules), That was only the second title change in Raw history. Tonight, Scott Steiner has to defeat Quebecer Pierre to earn a rematch for himself and Rick. That match opens the show. You can tell this was taped the same night as the previous episode because Scott Steiner’s usually dry bushy mullet is already wet with sweat. Pierre is totally overmatched and actually just takes a walk, disappearing backstage with Johnny Polo. The show goes to a commercial break on a cliffhanger - whether he’ll return? - but after the break not only does he return, he brings Jacques out to ringside with him. Bizarrely, Bobby Heenan has a cold and keeps sneezing which feels like an odd plot point to include until I remember that Doink the Clown threw a bucket of cold water at him last week. Rick Steiner comes down to the ring to cheer on his brother and to make sure Jacques behaves himself and stays out of this match. This was a longer match than I expected and the tag partners on the outside don’t come into play. Scott scores with the Frankensteiner to pick up the win and guarantee himself and Rick a rematch down the line.
• Bam Bam Bigelow with his main squeeze Luna takes on one of the bigger jobbers I’ve ever seen - he’s taller than Bam Bam! During this match, just like last week Crush calls in with a medical update and once again seems to have no interest in talking to his long time friend Macho Man. This time he’s less ambiguous - he tells Macho Man Randy Savage in no uncertain terms that he will never speak to him again and then hangs up. Macho has no idea what he’s done to upset Crush. A delayed suplex and a senton splash on the mat gives Bam Bam the victory.
• In the ring, Vince McMahon interviews Bret Hart about what Jerry Lawler did to antagonise him and his family and of course the events at Summerslam itself. Vince recaps all of the events and Bret says he has no regrets. His family honour is the most important thing to him - more important than a crown or championships and his only regret is not holding onto the Sharpshooter for even longer. He tells Jerry Lawler that he’ll have to get back in the ring with him at some point and next time he’ll finish him off for good.

• The second WWF Unbelievable commercial plays - I like this one even more

• Mr. Perfect takes on a jobber who’s name I didn’t catch. I’m actually not sure they even told us his name. The same group of fans from last week who were so anti-Perfect are once again all over him, this time chanting “we want Shawn”. It doesn’t fluster him as much this week. Vince McMahon mentions Diesel having made his in-ring debut the previous weekend in a match with Mr. Perfect. It ended with a no-contest. We’ll see Diesel wrestling here on Raw very soon. Perfect wins this with the Perfect-plex in the middle of the ring. 

• Finland’s Ludvig Borga shares more of his thoughts on the filth of America from a polluted river bank. He specifically targets Lex Lugar for standing up for filthy, disgusting Americans. Lex is garbage and this river stinks just like America itself. Brutal.The idea of Finland of all countries picking a fight with America - that’s like Ireland going to war with Russia.

• Just like a couple of months ago, Bobby Heenan helps a fan in the front row propose to his girlfriend. Heenan is a jerk to them but I’m sure he was lovely to them off camera and as WWF fans of the era, being insulted by Bobby would be a badge of honour. 

• Irwin R. Schyster battles PJ Walker. IRS cuts a promo on the coward Razor Ramon beforehand, and says he’ll take his aggression out on Walker instead. Razor comes sauntering down the ramp and taunts IRS from the entrance way, distracting him. The fans go nuts chanting for Razor. PJ Walker rolls up IRS and gets the win! The future Justin Credible joins the 1-2-3 Kid in the jobbers-who-got-shock-wins club. IRS desperately wants to fight Razor but he’s held back by referees and officials. 

• Backstage, Bobby Heenan interviews the WWF Tag Team Champions The Quebecers and Johnny Polo. He asks if The Steiners will get their tag team title rematch next week? Polo says that there’s LOTS of great tag teams so no, the Steiners won’t get a rematch next week but they will defend the Tag Team titles against “someone very worthy”.

• At the end of the show, Vince runs down the matches for next week and then sneezes! Oh no, he’s caught Bobby’s cold. Goodnight everybody! (I tease, I do quite like it when they do a little bit of silly comedy with the commentators, just not when Rob Bartlett did it)

Monday Night Raw - September 27th, 1993

• Raw opens with some big news. Shawn Michaels has failed to meet the contracted criteria that he appear and defend his Intercontinental Championship every 30 days and so he is suspended and will be stripped of the Intercontinental title. The real story is that he was suspended for failing a drug test. Next week on Raw there will be a 20 man battle royal and the final two men in the ring will then square off in a singles match the following week for the vacant Intercontinental Championship. 

• This is the first Raw to ever take place somewhere other than New York. New Haven Connecticut. Hartford Connecticut is the location of the WWF’s headquarters so it’s still very much the East Coast and still very much in their home territory. This show is also another first; the first episode of Raw to have the WWF logo in the corner of the screen! That’s been a staple for over 30 years now but it looks odd to my eye because it’s on the right hand side rather than the left. 
• Tatanka opens the show with a match against The Model Rick Martel. This is a long match - Martel hasn’t been on Raw much was still pretty well protected on the WWF’s other weekly shows at the time. He’s been a staple of the roster for close to 10 years by this point. I’ll get the chance to talk about him more during the next couple of weeks. After a lengthy back and forth, the two fight on the outside and the match ends as a double countout. It’s a draw, so Tatanka remains undefeated and The Model still looks strong. Vince calls this the closest thing to a loss Tatanka has ever suffered.
• Joe Fowler gives us The Raw Update, which sounds needlessly sexual. Specifically he’s here to talk about next week’s Battle Royal and confirm who’ll be in it. It’s all the people you’d expect but there is a nice surprise in Macho Man Randy Savage taking part, as well as the returning Superfly Snuka. More on him in a bit. The 500lbs Mabel and Shawn’s bodyguard Diesel will also be in the match. Joe is filling in for Mean Gene here who has now more or less fully left the company. He also replaced Gene as the co-host of All American Wrestling with Bobby Heenan. 

• Ludvig Borga takes on Phil Apollo. I talked about Borga plenty at Summerslam. His offense here consists mostly of punches to the body like the last match of his I saw. He slowly works over Apollo and points out a pro-Borga sign in the crowd. Vince calls the fan a plant by Borga, which was very quick of him. Borga wins with the same torture rack submission he used on Marty at Summerslam. 
• Superfly Jimmy Snuka makes his in-ring return. “One of the WWF’s all-time greats” says Howard Finkle and Vince McMahon. Snuka has been the subject of an episode of the Dark Side of the Ring documentary series as well as plenty of controversy. I’m doing my best to focus on these shows as they come and not dwell on the sad and/or sinister stories that have come out about many of these men in the years since. During this match, Crush calls in to speak to Bobby Heenan. He’s upset that he hasn’t been invited to take part in next week’s Battle Royal, and gets upset to learn that Macho Man is in it. Vince follows up on it and tries to find out what he’s getting at - Crush believes Macho has stabbed him in the back. Macho tries to talk to Crush and get to the bottom of this but he hands up on him once again. Macho calls him a liar. Snuka wins the match with his splash off the top rope which, in fairness, does look great.

• After a replay of his shock loss to PJ Walker last week (thanks ot Razor Ramon), IRS cuts a promo from the back. Weirdly, Vince keeps calling him Mr. Rotundo, which is his real name. I think he misspoke because after about three of those, he switches to Mr. Schyster. IRS promises to not only eliminate Razor Ramon from the battle royal personally, but that he will be one of the two left in at the end and will be the next Intercontinental Champion.

• The Quebecers defend their WWF Tag Team Championships. Vince rattles off a list of all the current teams - Headshrinkers, Men on the Mission, The Bushwackers, Well Dunne (who I haven’t seen on Raw yet) - because all they’ve said is that it will be one of the top teams in the WWF, just not the Steiners. After a commercial break, their opponents are revealed to be Barry Horowitz and Reno Riggins. Reno sadly couldn’t make it tonight so Barry has a replacement partner - the 1-2-3- Kid. The Quebecers aren’t worried but Heenan reminds them how many big shock upset victories the Kid has had lately. This is really just a showcase for the 1-2-3 Kid as he’s worked over for a long time but continues to battle back, wiping out Jacques with a spinning heel kick which might have knocked him out cold! Pierre and Johnny Polo are pretty funny over-selling it and Polo calls for a stretcher, which he gets. The referee insists on the match continuing, even with only one Quebecer so it's now a handicap match for Pierre. They show a picture-in-picture with the still unconscious Jacques backstage while Pierre goes it alone. The bigger Quebecer still wins despite the odds, even if Johnny Polo has to knock 1-2-3 Kid’s foot off the ropes which should have broken the pin.

• The episode closes with Razor Ramon coming to ringside to discuss next week’s Intercontinental title battle royal. Macho Man is also out there and also in the battle royal so they have a tense little “may the better man win” moment.