Raw #182 - October 28th, 1996

Tonight’s Raw opens with the return of Double J (by which I mean The Roadie), who enters to “With My Baby Tonight,” perhaps the most inappropriate wrestling entrance theme until X-Factor’s theme by Uncle Kracker. His opponent is Salvatore Sincere. And, this episode was taped a week ago. Take that, Nitro!

Raw #181 - October 21st, 1996

Sid opens the show to take on Owen Hart, who is still one half of the tag team champions. Sid, who earned a title shot last night by defeating Vader, looks to get his mitts on the Slammy Award-winner on this month’s live episode of Raw. More important, however, is the return of Vince McMahon to the RAW commentary desk. How many times will he say, “maneuver”? It’s hard to say, but he’s already said, “individual” twice in the first five minutes.

Raw #180 - October 14th, 1996

Tonight, the vicious Stone Cold Steve Austin warms up for his match with Savio Vega by taking on the WWF champion in a non-title match. Austin tells Shawn that it’s not the good book, it’s Austin 3:16, and tonight he’s going to whip his ass. That would be a lot more effective a taunt if Shawn Michaels were a bible-thumper, so I guess this promo is a decade before its time. By the way, since Shawn hasn’t defended his title since Mind Games on September 22nd, isn’t he coming up on 30 days without a title defense? Hopefully, Gorilla Monsoon won’t be as strict as Jack Tunney.

Raw #174 - Championship Friday - September 6th, 1996

Tonight’s Raw is a special “Championship Friday” edition, featuring Goldust vs. Shawn Michaels for the WWF title. The opening narration wonders whether Goldust’s mind games will be able to defeat HBK. I doubt it; if anyone in the WWF is secure with his sexuality, it’s the earring-and-chaps-wearing Boy Toy.

Raw #164 - June 17th, 1996

Vince opens tonight’s Raw with a suggestion to the viewer to “expect the unexpected.” The opening match is Steve Austin vs. Savio Vega, wrestling on television for the fifth time in three months, not including Beware of Dog 1. Very unexpected indeed.

Raw #159 - May 13th, 1996

The WWF has just finished its tour of the Middle East, and Ahmed Johnson made history just yesterday as the winner of the first-ever Kuwait Cup, or, as Sgt. Slaughter would call it, the 19th Province of Iraq Cup. How will Ahmed deal with the jet-lag of crossing 9 time zones on a 21+ hour flight from Kuwait City to Sioux City? Just kidding! This episode was taped two weeks earlier, before the Kuwait Cup tournament even took place. As an amusing side note, i just discovered that the initials for Sioux City’s airport are SUX. After a brief and barely intelligible promo where he appears to say “Jeff Jarrett’s retarded” (actually, he says, “Jeff Jarrett’s guitar didn’t stop me”), Ahmed is interrupted by an obviously dubbed-in Jerry Lawler. Sunny then helps him prep for the match by rubbing oil on his chest, but Ahmed rebuffs her advances, saying that he was taught to take the trash out, not in. “He dissed her, McMahon!” says an outraged King. Ahmed takes on Zip of Sunny’s Bodydonnas.

Raw #154 - April 8th, 1996

With Jerry Lawler facing Shawn Michaels in tonight’s main event, the King has been replaced on commentary. You could say that tonight’s announcing will be “perfect.” You’d be wrong, though, as Vince is still at the announce table. Our opening contest is Vader vs. Yokozuna, the match that was originally scheduled for Wrestlemania.

Raw #58 - April 11th, 1994

After last week's disgraceful green-screening, Vince McMahon welcomes us to Raw, which emanates live tonight from an arena he is actually standing in. Macho Man is back on commentary tonight, and he's looking to burn Utica to the ground a la Michael Scott. Raw gets colored lights over the ring and a smoke machine tonight. Diesel comes down the aisle with Shawn Michaels to open the show. His opponent in this battle of the bodyguards is the wrestling superstar himself, Virgil.

Raw #57 - April 4th, 1994

Tonight's Raw is a night of firsts. It is the first time a cancelled Wrestlemania match will take place on the program, the first time a Wrestlemania rematch will take place, and the first time the announcers will appear at "ringside" via an obvious green screen. Vince asks guest commentator Gorilla Monsoon whether Earthquake will give Adam Bomb "The Big One" (referring to the Earthquake Splash, I hope). In an effort to completely throw any illusion of being "live" out the window, Vince asks for and catches a baseball thrown from off screen, supposedly signed by Cincinnati Reds owner and racist Marge Schott, and gives it to Gorilla. This is when Raw jumps the shark (for the first time).

Raw #38 - November 1st, 1993

Bastion Booger is stuffing himself before the thirty-eighth Raw even gets underway. Not only is this food unhealthy, it's all raw! And that's the name of the show you're watching! Vince speculates that we're going to have a Maalox moment tonight when Booger takes on Razor Ramon in a non-title match. Vince runs down tonight's card, and apparently, Adam Bomb isn't facing some jobber after all, like I had thought at the end of last week's show. He's actually wrestling Virgil. There's a world of difference. Tonight is the night after Halloween, but there will be no Halloween theme for tonight's Raw, since it's 1993 and everyone is already in goofy costumes. Case in point: The Smoking Gunns battle Well Dunn on tonight's show.

Raw #36 - October 18th, 1993

Forget Brian Pillman. Randy Savage was shooting on Raw back in 1993. 

The thirty-sixth episode of Raw is one for the history books. Like such important meetings as Reagan and Gorbachev or Kennedy and Krushchev (Not Crusher, but Nikita. Not Koloff, but Krushchev), the Crush-Savage Summit will change the course of history. The confrontation will take place after "months of speculation and accusation" (actually less than one month). The opening montage of Americans and Soviets highlight the fact that wrestling feuds have really been running out of fuel ever since the Cold War ended.

Raw #32 - September 20th, 1993

Raw's 32nd episode, which will feature two future ECW World Champions, opens with a replay of last week's tag title change, wherein the Steiners lost the belts due to DQ to the Quebecers. We see clips of all the different points of the match in which the Steiners almost got disqualified, including a very awkward aerial attack by Rick that his opponent may or may not have countered with his knees (it's impossible to tell; I don't think either wrestler even knew). Finally, Scott hits a Quebecer with a hockey stick like an idiot, giving the French Canadians the championships on their first Raw match.
 

Tonight, Scott Steiner takes on Quebecer and future pirate Pierre, as future ECW valet Francine looks on in the audience. Bobby Heenan is sick tonight after having been doused in cold water by Doink, despite the prank taking place an entire week before, and despite the fact that you can't catch a cold from being cold. Maybe Doink tainted the water. Heenan mentions buying up as collectors' items a half dozen WWF Magazines with the Steiners on the cover with the titles, assuring us that we'd ever see the Steiner Brothers with those belts again. That's classic heel hyperbole, diminished slightly by the fact that he's right.

Raw #31 - September 13th, 1993

Tonight's Raw, number thirty-one, is the first after Summerslam 1993, which saw Lex Luger fulfill his two-months-long dream of beating Yokozuna (except for the part about winning the title). The show opens with Vince McMahon explaining the rules to tonight's tag team title match. The Steiners will defend against the Quebecers, a team only even mentioned once before on Raw, under Province of Quebec Rules. Under these stipulations, the titles can change hands on disqualification or countout, and disqualifications can be brought on by top rope moves, piledrivers, and throwing your opponent over the top rope. Why the Steiners would agree to these rules, I have no idea. It's not like the Quebecers were even anywhere near the front of the line for the tag titles.

Raw #28 - August 2nd, 1993

Episode twenty-eight emanates from "waaaay upstate New York," Alexandria Bay. Vince and Bobby are at ringside, but not Randy, who is competing tonight against Doink, who last week appeared with two other Doinks in the Manhattan Center. Randy tells us he is "jacked up and pumped up to the max" in Alexandria Bay, "land of a thousand islands." Too bad Raw would stop holding shows here once Vince found out that the Land of a Thousand Islands was actually just the Land of Ketchup and Mayonnaise Mixed Together. Macho Man promises a "little surprise" for Doink.

Raw #24 - July 5th, 1993

The twenty-fourth Raw starts off with a brief recap of the Stars & Stripes Challenges from the previous day, presented without commentary but with austere military music playing over top of footage of guys not picking up Yokozuna. After the Raw theme hits, the fans with miniature American flags chant USA and Vince shows a more complete recap with commentary. We first hear a voice-cracking rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner by Lee Rouson, followed by a shot of the Chevrolet Silverado, which is white, not blue as promised. Lee Rouson, former running back of the New York Giants, is the first to attempt a slam. Bobby Heenan advises him "to keep running and get some singing lessons." The Charlotte Hornets' Scott Burrell gives up without even attempting to lift the champion, while Bob Backlund, Scott Steiner, and other professional athletes all give a "gallant effort." Yokozuna at one point takes a break to eat rice. Tatanka attempts to fight Yoko, but the champion counters with a Devastating Maneuver (#1), a savate kick to the chin area (I say "chin area" because it clearly did not connect), followed by a leg drop. Crush lifts Yokozuna quite easily, but then just gives up, perhaps remembering that he's not booked to win. Randy Savage is the last contestant, but he doesn't come close to lifting the champion. 

Raw #21 - June 14th, 1993

The twenty-first episode of Raw begins with an interview taped after last night's King of the Ring, featuring Mr. Fuji and new WWF champion Yokozuna. Fuji plans to celebrate on July 4th at an American historical landmark, much to Mean Gene's shock. A foreigner celebrating something in America? Sick.

Raw #18 - May 24th, 1993

We start off the eighteenth episode of Raw (available online in WWE re-relase and VHS rip forms) with a re-re-match of Mr. Perfect vs. Doink for the final spot in the King of the Ring tournament. Adam Bomb makes his debut tonight, while his future WCW tag team partner Crush is in action tonight, as well. Doink comes down the aisle only to crawl under the ring. Outside the arena, Lord Alfred Hayes is with Matt Borne-Doink, who tells him that he's not standing out there, it's an illusion! Borne squirts Hayes in the eye and runs off. The referee checks under the ring and pulls out Borne-Doink, who faces Mr. Perfect.

Raw #17 - May 17th, 1993

It's that episode! Well, it's not literally the episode in the picture, but it summarizes tonight's Raw nicely.

Like Mark Henry, except in serious contention for a medal.

Tonight's Raw, the seventeenth episode, is considered one of the best ever. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's because of the Tatanka/Scott Taylor match. Earlier in the day, Randy Savage and the debuting Smoking Gunns were on hand for a demonstration with Special Olympians. The Special Olympics, Vince says, begin on June 13th, which is also the date of the King of the Ring pay-per-view. Never try to compete with a WWF pay-per-view; just look at Starrcade '87. Razor Ramon is going to be in action tonight, and "whoever Razor's opponent is," Bobby Heenan predicts, "he's gonna cut him to ribbons." The Native American Tatanka will be in action as well, and Vince McMahon will interview Shawn Michaels. Tonight's scheduled main event is Yokozuna vs. Kamala in  match no one remembers, despite this Raw being one of the most famous of all time.
 

Raw #16 - May 10th, 1993

The sixteenth episode of Raw opens with footage from earlier in the evening. A fight breaks out between Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect outside the Manhattan Center. Perfect tosses Michaels onto the hood of Perfect's car (actually, Howard Finkel's car). Federation officials try to pry the two apart as Michaels leaps at the restrained Mr. Perfect.
 

Raw #14 - April 26th, 1993

The fourteenth episode of Raw is back in the Manhattan Center. Vince welcomes us, accompanied by Randy Savage and Rob -- no, wait. That's Bobby Heenan! Tonight we will see Lex Luger vs. "The Original Hawaiian Crush," according to Vince. I think he means, "The Original Hawaiian Punch, Crush," unless Crush is at least 1200 years old and was the first settler on the islands.