By Haydn Gleed

WWE Raw on the USA Network

New York City, New York at the Manhattan Center

Brutus Beefcake popped up on the screen for an opening promo prior to the into. He told Ted DiBiase that he’s 100 percent, and that he will show it tonight. He said the Barber is back..

A graphic flipped, and we see Ted DiBiase and Jimmy Hart. Ted reminded us that two years ago, Brutus’s face was smashed in the parasailing accident, but tonight that would be the least of his worries. Jimmy said he’s not sure that’s a good idea, but DiBiase said everything would be fine. This led into the Monday Night Raw opening credits…

Retro Verdict: Nice novel way of opening the show, I liked it. Brutus looking wild eyed and happy to be back, and DiBiase as the smarmy heel that we want to see lose. Again, basic but effective. This also sowed some more seeds into the Jimmy Hart face turn.

Vince welcomed us to the Manhattan Center. He was standing at ringside with Rob Bartlett and "Macho Man" Randy Savage. He stated that tonight we will see the comeback of Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake and also a 16-man battle royal.

Macho Man said Brutus should get the comeback of the century award and that we needed to expect the unexpected. He said that Brutus had two guys watching over him, the big man upstairs and Hulk Hogan, and that’s one hell of a combination. Vince asked Rob if he was entering the battle royal, to which Rob responded that he didn't want to ruin his suit...

The Steiner Brothers music hit and they made their way to ringside, and the crowd were really into them. Their opponents were Glenn Ruth and Bobby Who. Bobby Who was essentially a local jobber, who was brought in for three or four squash matches, but didn’t do anything of real note in the national wrestling scene afterwards…

1. The Steiner Brothers vs. Glenn Ruth and Bobby Who. Scott and Glenn Ruth started, they locked up and Scott arm dragged Glenn about half way across the ring. Vince let us know that Macho is having some technical issues.

Scott had Glenn in a full nelson, and hit a big suplex which looked vicious! Rick tagged in and tackled Glenn into his corner. Bobby Who tagged in and was met with a knee to the stomach. Rick hit a big belly to belly suplex on Who and then tagged Scott in. Intermittently, we heard Macho Man going crazy that his microphone was not working. At one point he threatened to beat up Bartlett for his.

Bobby was whipped into the ropes where Scott hit him with a big suplex. Scott lifts Bobby onto his shoulders and he tagged in Rick who climbed to the top and dropped an elbow into Who’s throat. Who eventually got back to his feet and got a few shots into Rick’s chest. Rick whipped him into the ropes, and hit a really stiff looking clothesline. The Steiners hit the Steinerizer for the 1-2-3... [C]

The Steiner Brothers beat Glenn Ruth & Bobby Who by pinfall in 3:32

Retro Verdict: Squash match. Another strong showing by The Steiners, who came off as really powerful bad asses. At first I thought the technical problems with Macho Man was a work, but it continued in one way or another through the whole show so I doubt that it was.

We came back from the break, and Yokozuna’s music was playing and he was making his slow entrance towards the ring. His opponent, who was already in the ring, was Ross Greenberg. We could still hear that Macho was having problems with his headset.

2. Yokozuna vs. Ross Greenberg. Before the match, Yoko threw some salt into the corner, and struck the sumo pose while Ross was edging close to him. Ross suddenly decided that running at Yoko was a good idea and was met with a big clothesline.

Yoko hit a big belly to belly suplex and then a legdrop. Yoko threw Ross across the ring with one hand and followed up with a huge splash in the corner. Yoko hit a big right hand, then climbed to the second rope and hit the bonsai drop for the win...

Yokozuna beat Ross Greenberg.

Retro Verdict: They are making Yoko look an absolute beast heading into WrestleMania 9.

Vince threw to broadcast team member Lord Alfred Hayes, who was in WWF Studios. Alfred said that it is well known that Mr Fuji was proud that his star Yoko had never been knocked off his feet in singles competition. Hayes said let's take a look at what happened on WWF Superstars over the weekend between Yokozuna and Hacksaw Jim Duggan. We were shown highlights of the Yoko/Duggan match where Duggan knocked Yokozuna over before falling victim to the Bonsai drop. We were shown that Yoko hit several drops, including one where Duggan had the American flag drapped over him. [C]

Retro Verdict: Good little recap there, and good to see the late Lord Alfred Hayes as well. Yoko showing that he has no respect for America, is there anyone big and strong enough to stand up for American pride?

We then saw the announcers at ringside discussing what we had just seen. Vince said it was a mighty effort by Hacksaw. Vince then talked about the 16 man battle royal and that the word going around the locker room was, that the Giant González wanted to enter the battle royal, but the other competitors wouldn’t compete if he was involved.

We were then shown highlights of Superstars with Giant González standing in the ring, with his ridiculous bodysuit on. We saw three jobbers at ringside arguing who was going to get in the ring first. Giant leaned over the top rope, picked one of them up by his head and dragged him into the ring. The other two jobbers ran to the back as quickly as they could…

Retro Verdict:When this was first aired, I would have been roughly 10 years old, and this is the sort of gimmick that would have had my friends laughing at me for watching wrestling. I mean, come on, either we are meant to believe the body suit is his muscles or he has no muscles and has to wear a bodysuit. Either way it doesn’t look good.

3. A 16-Man Battle Royal. The participants were Shawn Michaels, Bob Backlund, Owen Hart, Koko B Ware, Razor Ramon, Kimchee, Damien Demento, Typhoon, Kamala, The Bezerker, El Matador, Skinner, "Iron" Mike Sharpe, Tatanka, Terry Taylor, and Giant Gonzalez. All 16 men started at ringside. Once in the ring, they all paired off. Kim Chee was trying his hardest to stay away from Kamala.

Typhoon picked up Razor but couldn’t quite get him out. Bob Backland eliminated Iron Mike Sharpe. Kim Chee kept running out of the ring through the middle rope to escape Kamala. Koko charged at Michaels who sent him over the top rope with a back body drop. Shawn Michaels eliminated Koko B Ware.

Vince commented on the fact that there was a lot of kicking and punching and chopping at this point. Bob Backlund saved Razor Ramon from Typhoon. Skinner did a random dance right by the ropes, to which Typhoon clotheslined him straight over the top Skinner eliminated by Typhoon. Kamala eliminated Damien Demento with a clothesline over the top El Matador slams Razor’s head into the turnbuckle over and over again. The Bezerker picks up Owen Hart and dumps him over the top rope The Bezerker eliminated Owen Hart.

There was more punching and chopping in the ring until Kamala kicked The Bezerker right over the top to eliminate him.. Kamala turned around and Typhoon tried to eliminate him. He got him half way over the top rope and Kim Chee gave the extra needed push. Kamala was eliminated by Typhoon and Kim Chee.

At ringside, Kamala was furious. Kim Chee was in the ring pointing at Kamala and saying "what you gonna do?" Kamala jumped back in the ring and chopped the whole hell out of him. Kamala then threw Kim Chee over the top rope. Kim Chee ran through the crowd with Kamala in pursuit. [C]

Vince announced that Kamala and Kim Chee were fighting in the car parking lot. The camera angle changed and we saw Kim Chee running across the top of the second tier with Kamala behind him. It looked like something from the Benny Hill show. Back in the ring, we could see that Bob Backland and Terry Taylor had been eliminated, but I’m not sure by who as it looked like those eliminations occurred during the commercial break.

Typhoon had Michaels in the corner and was splashing him repeatedly. Typhoon went for a big splash but Michaels moved and Typhoon fell over the top. Shawn Michaels eliminated Typhoon. We were left with Shawn Michaels, Razor Ramon, El Matador and Tatanka. The four remaining split into heels and babyfaces, with Razor and Shawn on one side and El Matador and Tatanka as the babyfaces.

Both pairs locked up and the heels are in charge. The commentators comment they think that El Matador is the best contender to win. We see the babyfaces regroup and double team Shawn Michaels by throwing him into the turnbuckle over and over again, until he’s balancing on top of one and both drop kick him to the floor. Tatanka and El Matador eliminated Shawn Michaels.

The babyfaces were in control when all of sudden Giant Gonzalez came down the aisle. With their back turned, the giant grabbed both Tatanka and El Matador and literally threw them both over the top of the rope. For no reason, Gonzalez stepped over the top rope and onto the floor. Giant Gonzalez eliminated himself. Razor was the winner...somehow.

Razor Ramon won a 16-man battle royal in 15:03.

Retro Verdict: What a complete and total mess. The match started off really slowly with nothing going on to hold any interest. People were being eliminated and the commentators weren’t acknowledging it. You had Kim Chee and Kamala recreate light 70s British comedy. Then it came down to the last 4 and the action was really good, until the giant came down. He threw both babyfaces out and then stood there grunting and then stepped over the top rope. Added to all of this, is that we had no idea why all this was happening. What happened if you won? Do you get a title shot? It just felt like a waste of 15 minutes. Only redeeming feature of this battle royal was Macho Man stole Rob Bartlett’s headset, so I’m guessing they legitimately didn’t have one headset working.

As the show headed into a commercial, a graphic showed that Brutus and Ted DiBiase would be up next… [C]

Ted DiBiase made his entrance, and Jimmy Hart looked concerned, while Ted looked confident. Brutus made his entrance to a tepid reaction which Vince sold as a "standing ovation."

4. Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs. "The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase. DiBiase went to lock up but Brutus moved and strutted away. Ted went for another lock up, but again Brutus moved and strutted. They locked up, and DiBiase hit Brutus with a knee to the mid section. He whipped him into the ropes and wound up for a big punch to the face, but Brutus ducked and hit the Million Dollar Man with a few punches in the face himself. Ted rolled to the outside, where Jimmy Hart said, "He’s not a push over, be careful."

Back in the ring, Brutus got DiBiase in a side headlock. DiBiase pushed Brutus against the rope, dropped down, and then Brutus jumped over and got a few more punches in to his face. Brutus signaled Ted to "kiss his ass" from inside the ring. DiBiase got the upper hand, and was about to plant Brutus's face into the turnbuckle, but Brutus reversed and Ted faceplanted into the turnbuckle. Brutus reapplied the headlock as IRS started to make his way down the aisle.

Ted whipped Brutus into the ropes nearest to IRS, who clocked him with the metal briefcase. The ref instantly waved for the bell…

Brutus Beefcake beat The Million Dollar Man Ted DiBiase via DQ in 4:26

With Brutus down, all three men jumped in the ring, and put the boots to Beefcake. Jimmy Hart seemed to be trying to talk some sense into them to stop. Ted held Beefcake, with IRS holding the briefcase. Jimmy Hart begged IRS not to do this. IRS threw Jimmy Hart out of the ring and clocked Brutus right in the face.

Brutus was down holding his face, and the commentators were shouting that this was not right. Jimmy Hart climbed back into the ring and went straight over to Brutus and laid on top of him while asking if he was ok. Million Dollar Man went to hit him again with the briefcase but Jimmy Hart blocked them.

IRS let out a huge laugh as the tag team champions left the ring. DiBiase screamed into the camera, "Welcome back, Beefcake!" Jimmy Hart gestured to the back to get a stretcher. Jimmy cradled Brutus’s head in his lap. They put Brutus on the stretcher with Jimmy saying, "I’m sorry, Brutus." The camera showed a shot of the ring where there was a puddle of blood and Vince solemnly said that he can’t remember there being a cut on the Million Dollar Man or IRS.

They showed the incident again twice and Vince told us that we would get an update after the break [C]

After the break, Vince told us that Brutus was apparently on his feet and that there was no major damage, perhaps a broken nose. He said it wouldn’t surprise him if Brutus would be back next week, as Money Inc. will be in action. He also teased the fact that he wouldn’t be surprised if Hulk Hogan has something to say...

Retro Verdict:The whole match was a setup to the big angle at the end. In 1993, these sort of angles were few and far between so this was a big deal at the time. Jimmy Hart seemingly becoming a babyface was huge as well as he had been the annoying but effective heel manager for man y years, and here he was finally showing that he had a heart. This was all obviously a lead in to the reintroduction of Hulk Hogan, and Vince might as well have just said that Hulk would be back the following week to address what just happened.

I really enjoyed the whole angle and to be honest, it’s the only thing I did like on the show. The two squash matches at the start were effective for the winners, but nothing we hadn’t seen a couple of times the previous couple of weeks. The battle royal was just a complete mess, but I’ve ranted enough about that. All in all, a missable show up until the big angle at the end, which was very good.

If you have any feedback, I would love to hear it. Send me an email to haydn.gleed@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at Twitter.com/haydngleed. You can also search for me on Facebook.

RECOMMEND THIS ARTICLE: