WWF Monday Night RAW – February 15, 1993
Manhattan Center
New York, New York

Announcers: Vince McMahon, “Macho Man” Randy Savage and Rob Bartlett

Raw begins with promos from Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake and “Million-Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase. Brutus says tonight he’s out to prove to DiBiase and to everybody else that he’s 100 percent healed and ready for action. “‘The Barber’ is back!!!” DiBiase, meanwhile, tells Beefcake that the least of his worries tonight is that parasailing accident from 2+ years ago when his face was shattered. Jimmy Hart tries to calm the hyperbole as DiBiase cautions him that everything will be just fine. DiBiase laughs as the credits roll.

Vince welcomes the TV audience to a raucous Manhattan Center. Macho calls Brutus’ comeback tonight the comeback of the century and touts Beefcake’s unbeatable team of God and Hulk Hogan. Vince asks Bartlett if the rumors are true in that he considered entering tonight’s 16-man over the top rope battle royal. Bartlett passes on the chance because he doesn’t want to soil his suit. Yet more bad humor from Bartlett. Has he had a good joke?

The Steiner Brothers [Rick & Scott] vs. Glen Ruth & Bobby Who

Result/Analysis: The Steiner Brothers via pinfall (3:33) when Scott pins Who following a double team top rope bulldog. Yet another dominant and impressive showcase match for The Steiner’s. They haven’t been remotely challenged as of yet and that includes their Royal Rumble match versus The Beverly Brothers in January. The commentary is awful here with Bartlett making bad dog jokes along with Yokozuna wise cracks surrounding Valentine’s Day. As for Savage, well, he has trouble with his microphone/head set and he’s only heard during the match complaining to the producers to fix his faulty eauipmdnt over-and-over again. Vince, meanshile, is stuck on Bobby Who. Yeah, that’s “Who!” Anyway, The Steiner’s were on point with everything they were doing. The WWF fans had really taken to them in just a short while.

Rating: *

“Mean” Gene Okerlund gives a WrestleMania IX report. He first touts Las Vegas, Nevada as “the family entertainment capital of the world.” Okerlund must have just watched “National Lampoons: Vegas Vacation” to come with that absurd notion as no family thought of Las Vegas as a hub to take their kids to. Had Gene said “adult capital of the world” then OK no argument! As for the WrestleMania card as it stands right now, Gene says WWF Champion Bret “Hitman” Hart will be defending the title against 505-pound “Japanese” phenom Yokozuna, the winner of last month’s Royal Rumble. But that’s not all as two new matches have just been inked for WrestleMania by WWF officials. The Undertaker will be locking up against the eight-foot tall Giant Gonzales. In addition, Crush has his chance for revenge against Doink The Clown.

Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Ross Greenberg

Result/Analysis: Yokozuna via pinfall (2:02) following the banzai drop. If you’ve seen other Yokozuna squash matches against enhancement talent then you know this was a rinse and repeat of those. Greenberg had any “green” taken out of him here. Bret Hart didn’t need to appear on television to build the WrestleMania match. It was by design to keep running Yokozuna out there to bury his opposition. It was working. After the match, Savage takes Bartlett’s microphone / head set which now leaves Bartlett with the faulty equipment. That’s a fair trade-off.

Rating: 3/4*

From the pages of WWF Magazine, it’s Special Report with Lord Alfred Hayes. His Lordship takes us back to the February 6 WWF SuperStars and the Yokozuna/“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan match and its aftermath. Fuji revels in delight in pre-taped remarks with Yokozuna satisfied by his conquest of Duggan and his desecration of the American Flag. “Yosh. Yosh.”

Back live, Vince displays his obvious disgust by what happened to Duggan by Yokozuna but he transitions to the upcoming battle royal that’s next up. He tells us that Giant Gonzales wanted to enter the battle royal but when the other competitors found out about Gonzales entering they were all going to back out. Savage chimes in that it’s the intimidation factor of being in the same ring as Gonzales. We then see Gonzales’ debut WWF match from SuperStars two days earlier. Gonzales opposed three jobbers in a handicap match. Louie Spicolli was the sacrificial lamb as his two partners abandoned him in what resulted in a count-out victory for Gonzales.

15-man Battle Royal
Participants: “The Heartbreak Kid” Shawn Michaels [Intercontinental Champion], Razor Ramon, Bob Backlund,
“El Matador” Tito Santana, Koko B. Ware, “The Rocket” Owen Hart, Kimchee, “Terrific” Terry Taylor, The Berzerker,
“Iron” Mike Sharpe, Damian Demento, Skinner, “Native American” Tatanka, Kamala and Typhoon

Result/Analysis: Ramon (13:39 shown). Giant Gonzales is in fact the 16th man though unofficially so. He appears with Ramon, Santana and Tatanka as the remaining three men and eliminates both Tatanka and Santana. Ramon slides outside the ring to hide until Gonzales exits then he re-enters the ring to be declared the winner. Lame. It’s an uneventful battle royal save for when Kimchee eliminates Kamala (assisting Typhoon), then Kamala eliminating Kimchee, before Kamala chases Kimchee everywhere in the building, even through the duration of a commercial break, as Reverend Slick follows suit. Savage proclaims Kamala to be a track star during his chase of Kimchee and he says Kamala is his new favorite wrestler in one of those WTH did Macho just say on commentary moments. Michaels, meanwhile, does take some bumps as Santana and Tatanka double team him, but his overall impact in the battle royal is minimal. The point of the battle royal was to again insert Gonzales where he could create some upheaval. Had Gonzales not been used in this way considering the big to-do Vince made of the other SuperStars not wanting to participate would have then meant nothing. All that said, the battle royal is entirely blah. The fact Tatanka had just defeated Michaels in a non-title match on WWF SuperStars two days earlier was barely even played up as a storyline. Savage does mention it on commentary but by no means is it a theme for the match. But hey, Beefcake versus DiBiase is next as it’s Main Event time on Raw.

Rating: 3/4*

“Million-Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase (w/ “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart) vs. Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake

Result/Analysis: Beefcake via DQ (4:27) due to the outside interference by I.R.S. The match was going nowhere prior to the finishing angle so I’ll just highlight that. Irwin hits Beefcake in the back with his haliburton briefcase to prompt the DQ. From there, Money Inc. continues its assault on Brutus as Jimmy Hart pleads with them to stop having proved their point. Irwin wields the briefcase again, however, as DiBiase holds Beefcake upright. Hart is shoved out of the way by Irwin and then he runs at Beefcake with the briefcase slamming into Brutus’ face. Loud boos at Money Inc. for this as Beefcake writhes in pain on the mat clutching at his face. Hart re-enters the ring and comes to the aid of Brutus as Money Inc. exits the ring to laughter. Hart attends to Brutus as he’s medically attended to and carried backstage. It appears Brutus, at least in storyline terms is really hurt. Vince tells the TV audience he’ll update everyone after the final commercial break as news of what’s scheduled for Raw next week is shared.

Rating: 3/4*

Vince updates that Brutus is alert backstage and he’s standing on his feet. There appears to be no significant injury other than perhaps a broken nose. Jeez. They made that determination awfully fast. The takeaway we’re to have is that Brutus needs protection and a team around him. Vince says Money Inc. will compete on Raw next week. Also, in a six-man tag-team match, Tatanka and The Nasty Boys will oppose Shawn Michaels and The Beverly Brothers. Perhaps, too, McMahon wonders, Hulk Hogan will show up.

The Verdict: Beefcake got what Money Inc. had promised him. Jimmy Hart is now a babyface manager? It’s clear Hulk Hogan is returning. This Monday Night Raw is entirely about the last 10 minutes. The first 50 minutes might as well have been an episode of Wrestling Challenge. Bret Hart is the WWF Champion, the supposed face of the company, but yet he couldn’t get a match on Raw while instead Beefcake is drudged up with Hogan coming next. Bizarre.