Monday Night Raw
April 26, 1993
New York City
Manhattan Center

The current WWF champs were as follows:
World Champion: Hulk Hogan (4/4/1993)
Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels (10/27/1992)
World Tag Team Champions: Money Inc. (10/13/1992)

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, and Bobby Heenan. YES!

• Mr. Perfect vs. Damien Demento
  

Savage dances around the reason Bartlett isn’t here, but doesn’t really tell us anything. Demento shoves off a headlock and takes a dropkick out to the floor where he starts to hear the voices. Back in, Demento telegraphs a backdrop, but yanks Perfect to the floor. He hammers Perfect for a while and Perfect takes some good bumps for him. It’s not too long before Perfect fires back with chops and a knee lift. Perfect Neck Snap is delivered. Demento goes to the throat though and tries a splash off the ropes, but hits knees. PERFECTPLEX! Good night. (4:57) Perfect really made this twerp look good for five minutes. ½*

Some kid from the inner-city (black) reads an anti-drug essay she wrote. There’s no hope with dope, folks. Then the Undertaker appears to confirm this statement. HA!

Back in the Manhattan Center, Bobby Heenan is hell-bent on making sure this one guy’s marriage proposal fails. Hilarious.

• “The Narcissist” Lex Luger vs. Crush
  

Hah, Vince and Bobby make a lawyer joke. They show X-rays of Lex Luger’s steel-plated forearm, but there’s nothing really that the WWF can do about it. It wasn’t long before the WWF told him to start wearing a protective forearm pad to soften some of the blow as if that could make a difference when we’re talking about a STEEL PLATE attached to your forearm. Luger flexes his physique around a bunch early on, but Crush is overpowering the crap out of him. Crush wins a test of strength where Luger has to kick on Crush to bring the man to his knees, but then Crush press slams Luger and Lex has to take five after that. Back in, Crush nails Lex with a dropkick and as things start to get good, we take a commercial break. When we come back, Crush refuses a hiptoss and gives Luger a belly to belly suplex for two. Now Luger avoids a corner charge and knees Crush out to the floor. He has some fun backing Crush into the apron and then slamming him into the ringpost. See, that’s when you should take a commercial break – when the face is in trouble. NOT when the babyface is getting fired up. Back inside the ring, Luger grabs a bearhug. Crush fights out into a powerslam for two. Lex tries a suplex, but Crush counters with one of his own. Back suplex and a legdrop scores a nearfall. Oh wait, here comes the KONA CLUTCH! Just when things look bad for Luger, Doink appears up in the balcony and *that* demands Crush’s attention. While Crush is challenging Doink to come down and meet him in the ring, we look over to see that there’s ANOTHER Doink on the other side of the balcony. WHAT. It’s like WrestleMania all over again for Crush. Anyways, this distracting allows Luger to nail Crush with his STEEL PLATED FOREARM SMASH to knock him to the floor for a countout victory. (10:46 shown) Hey, Luger made Crush look like a million bucks here. Good match considering the talent involved. **¾

Vince announces the first KOTR qualifying matches: Mr. Perfect v. Doink the Clown airing this weekend on Superstars and then the Narcissist v. Bob Backlund airing this weekend on Wrestling Challenge.

A big pink heart outline surrounds the ringside couple. Bobby makes some comments.

• Mr. Hughes vs. Jason Knight
  

Hughes is big, mean, and bad. Heenan watches other cable shows on his monitor while this match is going on. That’s actually some kind of brilliant. The Braves game, a Sir Mix-A-Lot video, and TNT. Can you imagine this EVER happening now? Back to the match, you better believe the ANGRY BLACKMAN SLAM wins this one at 2:09.

Vince McMahon brings out the IC champ Shawn Michaels. This is the first we’ve seen of him on Raw since before WrestleMania. Vince announces the IC title match planned for next week with HBK against Hacksaw Jim Duggan. Shawn berates NYC and particularly some gay dudes who marched on Washington DC. It’s funny because Shawn is playing a pretty boy character and we all know pretty boys MUST be gay, which the crowd points out with the ‘Shawn is gay’ chants. Again, this would NEEEEVER happen today. What a difference twenty years makes on a culture, huh? Bobby thinks they are chanting ‘Shawn is great’. This chant pretty much trumps anything Shawn is saying about Mr. Perfect who happens to be ‘breathing down his neck’. Now they air the backstage fight they had at WrestleMania IX, which brings out Mr. Perfect in real time. WWF officials try to hold him back, but he gets loose and chases Shawn back to the locker room. We’ll be back.

As they try to make Sensational Sherri babyface, they air Bam Bam Bigelow giving her some domestic abuse last week on Superstars. Tatanka makes the save and knocks Bigelow off the stage. On that same day, Bigelow interrupted Tatanka’s entrance before he could even make it through the curtain. The video wall shows Bigelow standing over a downed Tatanka backstage as he starts cutting off the SACRED red hair. Uh oh.

• Typhoon vs. Von Krus
  

You know what I just realized? Von Krus is Big Vito from minor WCW and WWE fame. He actually gets most of the offense here as Hacksaw Jim Duggan calls into the show and talks to Vince. He tells Shawn he better prepare to get beaten up, tough guy. HOOO! Heenan wishes Duggan was there so he can slap him so hard, he’d straighten out his eyes. AWESOME. Man, I missed Bobby. Von Krus is still in control. It’s a bit much. Okay, now Typhoon lands a forearm blow and avalanches Von Krus for the TIDAL WAVE at 2:39.

Bobby Heenan approaches the couple and makes fun of them both as he proposes to his girl. Bobby actually walks this putz through this thing. She says yes. Bobby wants them to get married on Monday Night Raw, but wrestling weddings are ALWAYS a bad idea. This guy knows it too. Bobby continues to bother these two until it’s time to go. Hilarious.

NEXT WEEK: IC Champ Shawn Michaels defends against Hacksaw Jim Duggan! Also appearing will be Kamala and the Headshrinkers – in separate matches, mind you. C’mon, it’s free TV. Let’s not get crazy here!