One thing that I have started to do lately is watch old professional wrestling television shows and pay-per-view events that I had not seen before, or at least not seen in a good few years.
Today I got the opportunity to sit down and watch the very first episode of WWF Monday Night Raw, which was first aired on Monday 11th January 1993. The quality of the footage was not great as it had been stored on a video tape for nearly ten years and must have been played many times over the years.
The commentators are Vince McMahon, (who must have drunk five gallons of coffee before the show started) Randy Savage and some guy I have never heard of before by the name of Rob Bartlett.
Koko B. Ware (Without his bird Frankie) Vs. Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji
This was not a bad match to get the show off the ground. I think that you would call this encounter a squash match. Koko B. Ware got a couple of offensive moves in, including a couple of nice dropkicks, but Yokozuna took the win with his combo of the splash in the corner and that bonsai drop.
The commentating in this match was awful. Vince McMahon does not make a good play-by-play guy and this Rob Bartlett was worse than Michael Cole, and nobody is worse than Michael Cole!
Winner: Yokozuna
[Tag Team Match]
The Steiner Brothers Vs. The Executioners
It has been quite a few years since I last saw the Steiner Brothers together as a tag team, it has especially been a few years since I last saw a normal Scott Steiner before he bulked up to the freak you see today.
Back in the day I was one of the biggest Steiner Brothers fans around, I loved Rick Steiners power moves combined with the awesome-looking suplexes of Scott Steiner (the guy would make up suplexes I never thought were possible to pull off!).
This was another squash match, The Executioners did not even manage to get one offensive move in apart from one Irish whip. Total domination to put over the newly arrived Steiner Brothers.
Winner: The Steiner Brothers
[Intercontinental Championship]
Max Moon Vs. Shawn Michaels
A little bit of trivia for you readers. Max Moon, for those of you that were unaware, is currently in TNA as Konnan.
This match was typical Shawn Michaels of that era. From the start Max Moon delivered every single piece of offense, nevermind how badly delivered it was, and had Shawn Michaels on the back foot for the first third of the match.
I do not believe that any other wrestler from that time period would put over a jobber like Shawn Michaels did with Max Moon.
Shawn Michaels finished the match with a back suplex, I’ve never seen him finish a match with that move before.
Winner: Shawn Michaels
Damian Demento Vs. The Undertaker
This is the original Undertaker, not one of his second-rate later versions that have been forced down our throats over the years. This is the one that would no sell almost every single offense – The one the oldies fondly remember.
It was another quick squash match. Damian Demento started off the match with some nice punching but apart from the odd Irish whip and a couple of kicks to the face, that was about it for Damian Demento.
Winner: The Undertaker
Not a bad show considering the time frame from which it came from. The only negative thing I will say is the commentating was disgraceful. Vince McMahon may be a good wrestling promoter but a play-by-play guy he certainly is not.