Monday Night Raw
September 27, 1993
New Haven, CT
New Haven Coliseum

The current WWF champs were as follows:
World Champion: Yokozuna (6/13/1993)
Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels (6/6/1993)
World Tag Team Champions: The Quebecers (9/13/1993)

Before we see anything else, WWF President Jack Tunney appears on the screen and tells us that the WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels has been suspended for not defending his title within thirty days. Therefore, the WWF had no choice but to vacate the Intercontinental championship. Next week, a 20-man battle royal will be held and the final two competitors will meet to determine a NEW WWF Intercontinental champion. Thirty days since his SummerSlam IC title defense would be September 29, but wrestling companies never could tell time. Shawn had actually quit the WWF around the same time as other unrelated suspensions such as the Steiner brothers and Doink the Clown. A bombshell has just been dropped, ladies and gents!

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

• Rick Martel vs. Tatanka

Rematch from Survivor Series 92! This is the first we’ve seen of the Model since March. Headlocks and hammerlocks to start. Tatanka atomic drops and clotheslines Martel to the floor, which leads to Martel playing mind games with Tatanka. He gets Tatanka to chase him back into the ring so he can put the boots to him. Tatanka tries a crossbody out of the corner, but misses. Heenan and Savage discuss how Tatanka is being too aggressive and thus why he made a mistake. Commercials! When we come back, both men use abdominal stretches. Martel scratches and claws his way out and delivers a back suplex for two. He lands a backbreaker near the ropes and tries a slingshot splash, but Tatanka brings up the knees. Tatanka isn’t able to capitalize though as Martel sits on his back for a chinlock. He escapes and hits a desperate crossbody block. Martel smashes Tatanka’s face on the turnbuckle, but that’s just a bad idea. HERE COMES TATANKA! Flying head chop connects, but then Martel dumps Tatanka over the top rope! Martel is fine with getting the countout win, but Tatanka pulls him out to exchange shots for the double-countout. (10:49) Better than the Survivor Series match now that Tatanka is a little more “seasoned”. Still not a must-see encounter. **

From the WWF control center, Joe Fowler (or Not Gene Okerlund) explains the plans again for crowning a new WWF IC champ. Battle royal participants include: IRS, Randy Savage, Adam Bomb, Giant Gonzales, Mr. Perfect, Owen Hart, Rick Martel, Jimmy Snuka, Bob Backlund, the Quebecers, Razor Ramon, Mabel, Diesel, MVP, the 1-2-3 Kid, Bam Bam Bigelow, Marty Jannetty, Tatanka, and Bastion Booger.

• Ludvig Borga vs. Phil Apollo

This is the RAW debut of Borga. We have a fan in the audience with a “Ludvig Borga” sign. Vince thinks they were planted there by Borga. How could anyone possibly like someone who says bad things about America?! Anyways, Borga is full of power moves. I think Michael Elgin takes his stalling suplex from Ludvig here. He finishes Apollo with Lex Luger’s own TORTURE RACK in 3:16.

• Jimmy Snuka vs. Paul VanDale

This is the one night only return for Snuka that turns into two nights since he’ll be competing in next week’s 20-man battle royal. Fun fact: Snuka wrestled Brian Christopher in MSG on September 25. Another fun fact: Jimmy Snuka is the ECW TV champion at this present time. Snuka could have finished off VanDale in probably two minutes, but Heenan needed some time to call Crush. He just loves to make things worse between Crush and Savage. Turns out, Crush wasn’t invited to be in the 20-man battle royal. Of course, Randy Savage was the first guy to enter. Crush blames Savage for playing politics. That’s the straw that breaks the camel’s back. He gets more defensive than in the previous two weeks and wants to meet Crush face-to-face so they can sort this out. Oh, Crush hung up again. SUPERFLY SPLASH ends VanDale in 4:34.

They replay PJ Walker getting the upset win over Irwin R. Schyster last week thanks to Razor Ramon’s presence at ringside.

From over at Irwin’s office, he’s very tightly wound right now. More than usual. He tells Razor Ramon that he’s got a nice audit coming at him. His two lady employees are just such busy beavers standing next to him. In the 20-man battle royal, he can’t wait to get his hands on Razor and then become one step closer to winning the Intercontinental title. Now get lost, McMahon. IRS is busy!

Before the next match, Barry Horowitz tells us that his original partner Reno Riggins is sick and can’t make the match, but asks the Quebecers if he can have a replacement partner. This is never good. Johnny Polo says it depends on who it is. When it’s revealed to be the 1-2-3 Kid, Polo and the Quebecers have a good laugh and agree to the match despite Bobby Heenan (who was conducting the interview) that this wasn’t a good idea.

• WWF Tag Team Champions The Quebecers (w/Johnny Polo) vs. The 1-2-3 Kid & Barry Horowitz

The Quebecers were supposed to defend their tag titles against some real competition, but you could see where this was going. Kid and Horowitz sneaking in spinning back kicks and dropkicks frustrating the Quebecers to start. Once they regroup, Pierre pearl harbors the Kid so that Jacques can put the boots to him. The Quebecers run through their double-teams on the Kid. They even deliver a pair of double-team hotshots, which Kid sells like death. However, Jacques misses a crossbody out of the corner and takes a kick to the floor. It looked like a standard dump out on the floor, but Jacques appears to be unconscious to get out of the match. Some referees bring down a stretcher and carry him out, but then Finkel announces that this match *must* continue. Commercials! Pierre levels Horowitz with flying legdrops and headbutts. He slams Barry over towards the Kid to bring in the fresh man. McMahon thinks that’s a dumb move, but Savage knows Pierre is trying to make a point. Kid catches Pierre with an enziguri to turn the tide. Heenan doesn’t like this! Oh, but then Pierre pulls the top rope down to avoid a spinning heel kick that takes the Kid over the top rope crashing to the floor. Holy crap. While Horowitz protests with the ref, Johnny Polo rolls the Kid back into the ring. Pierre crawls over to the Kid and covers for the 1-2-3. (9:56 shown) Apparently Vince liked this idea of the 1-2-3 Kid messing with the Quebecers as they would pick up where they left off come January. **½

After the break, Razor Ramon comes out for a very special interview with our esteemed commentators. IRS: you want some, come get some. He’s 6 foot 7 and more handsome than ten movie stars. Heenan tries to point out that Savage doesn’t think Razor has much of a chance in the battle royal. What a troll!

NEXT WEEK: The 20-man battle royal! The final two men will battle the following week to find the NEW WWF Intercontinental champion! Don’t miss it!