[1993-05-17-WWF-Raw] Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

The upsets continue! Marty Jannetty wins the IC title from Shawn Michaels in a solid, fast-paced 10-minute TV match.

[Bix]

Is there any argument against this being the best/most memorable WWE TV episode before the Raw is War era?

[Loss]

I don't think there's another episode that comes close.

 

I would say even post-Monday Night Wars, it still has a case.

[Cox]

Is there any argument against this being the best/most memorable WWE TV episode before the Raw is War era?

It's weird, because this is probably the one episode of Raw I didn't watch in its entirety in 1993. For whatever reason, I was out that day for some reason I've long since forgotten, and didn't come home until the very end, just as Jannetty won the IC title (which was obviously a shock to me, since I missed the opening angle). Of all the episodes of Raw to miss in 1993...

[Kevin Ridge]

This episode will be part of the Best 20 Raw shows DVD set coming out. I wasn't looking at this one as an upset but the announcers were talking up that angle on commentary of what if Jannetty won. Shawn was working mini feuds with Duggan, revisits his long term feud with Jannetty and still also battling it out with Perfect. Reminds me of DiBiase with multiple things going on. Good match though I question why Perfect would be helping Jannetty with the title on the line. Nice towel toss by Perfect in Michaels face.

[PeteF3]

This was already a memorable Raw before the Kid upset--Michaels was gloating in an in-ring interview about how he'd defend the IC title against anyone, when a man in a hoodie and sunglasses hops the guardrail and enters the ring--MARTY JANNETTY, back after a 5-month absence. Vince goads Michaels into keeping his word and, in what might be a first in WWF history, a match is signed to take place on that very same episode. Hard to imagine a time when that booking move was considered revolutionary, at least for this company.

 

More good action as you'd expect, as these guys seem amped. Michaels' bumping is top-notch of course but I can't help but notice that Jannetty pretty clearly outclasses him on offense. I know I'm beating this drum to death, but Michaels on top is something that I don't know will ever get that interesting. As much as I hated his babyface push that may ultimately be the in-ring role that suits him the best. Jannetty stuns the world for the second time tonight by capturing the Intercontinental title, with some timely help from Mr. Perfect.

 

A ranking of the best episodes of WWF/E television would be an interesting one. Prior to this, I think the only other contender would be the 2/7/87 episode of Superstars: on one show you had the Andre heel turn on Piper's Pit and the Hart Foundation winning the tag titles--not to mention the debut of Outback Jack. I don't think another contender would emerge until the Austin/Bret streetfight episode of Raw, and maybe not another contender after that until the Austin/Vince challenge (that broke Nitro's win streak) and the Dallas Raw of February 2000.

[jdw]

A ranking of the best episodes of WWF/E television would be an interesting one. Prior to this, I think the only other contender would be the 2/7/87 episode of Superstars: on one show you had the Andre heel turn on Piper's Pit and the Hart Foundation winning the tag titles--not to mention the debut of Outback Jack. I don't think another contender would emerge until the Austin/Bret streetfight episode of Raw, and maybe not another contender after that until the Austin/Vince challenge (that broke Nitro's win streak) and the Dallas Raw of February 2000.

I wonder about some of the SNME. Hogan-Race and Savage-Ted before Mania IV? Savage-Hart the year before also had a Hogan-Bundy match, and I seem to recall one of the posters here liked one of those two 1987 Hogan-Bundy SNME matches quite a bit (or both of them a good deal). Savage-Jake in 1986 also had a Hogan-Herc match that I recall was pretty solid for a Hogan SNME match.

 

Don't know if anything else would fit. The Hogan-Bossman cage match show had a 9 minute Arn & Tully vs Demo match, and maybe Demo Fans like that one. Hogan-Bossman was great.

 

John

[PeteF3]

I deliberately didn't count SNME. Without getting into the "weekly episodic television" counting-game shit, they really weren't the same thing as normal TV shows. I won't say they were a dead-on equivalent to the Clashes, but on the scale of free-to-air television they were closer to that than they were to an average Superstars, Prime Time, or 1993-95 Raw.

[Gregor]

The RAW after Survivor Series 1995 could be a dark horse contender with the concussion angle, the Diesel promo, and a couple of good matches.

[jdw]

I deliberately didn't count SNME. Without getting into the "weekly episodic television" counting-game shit, they really weren't the same thing as normal TV shows. I won't say they were a dead-on equivalent to the Clashes, but on the scale of free-to-air television they were closer to that than they were to an average Superstars, Prime Time, or 1993-95 Raw.

Misread the original, didn't think it was just weekly stuff.

[Loss]

Previously at PWO:

 

Before I begin the review, I just want to clarify something. This is *not* the match that got PWI MOTY honors in 1993. That's the most common misconception there is on the Internet, I think. PWI MOTY was a match they had on 07/19, which was a Shawn Michaels title defense that involved instant replay and the match being restarted.

Shawn Michaels v Marty Jannetty - WWF RAW 05/17/93

This took place in an hour that was probably considered the most famous hour of WWF programming in the post-Hogan era, at least until the Monday Night Wars kicked into full gear. Earlier in the evening, the 1-2-3 Kid had upset Razor Ramon in a very memorable angle and Marty Jannetty had come out of the crowd incognito to accept Shawn Michaels' challenge to a title match, a challenge made when Michaels was too busy jacking his jaw and offering to defend the title against anyone except Mr. Perfect. Because of all the big stuff we'd already seen going into this match, it's greatly benefitted by atmosphere, as the small Manhattan Center crowd was a nice, intimate place to hold a wrestling show, a concept that was later copied by ECW. It was also a nice place to pull off a title change with an audience that would be receptive to it.

On the surface, this is a good match. It's energetic, it keeps a fun pace, it doesn't drag, there's some cool bumping and the babyface goes over in an unexpected twist. Beyond that, there's not really much holding it all together, which makes the match less good every time it's viewed; some of the moves that seem like transitions don't actually go anywhere because they don't shift the momentum in a meaningful way, and in that sense, they're useless. For the first third of this match or so, all we see is a lot of Irish whips, ducks, missed moves, girly swatting, quick jabs and nothing of any real long-term consequence, long after they'd made the point that they could wrestle a fast pace. The match doesn't head anywhere specific until Marty grounds Shawn, and Shawn has to fight out of the headscissors, which is the most fun part of the match that could have easily been milked a little more than it was. Shawn goes into overdrive, taking some great bumps in and out of the ring, but they seem to be there for show, just to prove to us that he can do it, not to convey a message or make his opponent look like something more than ... well ... the Marty Jannetty of their former tag team. The match finally takes a turn in a clear direction when Shawn catches Marty with a stun gun and gets in some nice looking boxing-style punches. He focuses on Jannetty's neck with some of his more low-tech stuff, such as a kneedrop and a chinlock.

One thing about Shawn Michaels matches in 1992-1993 is that he's great when he's on the defensive, but when he's left to control the action, the match meanders. It happened with Bret at Survivor Series '92 and it happens here with Jannetty; Marty doing his babyface a fire routine is way more fun than Shawn Michaels dominating things. He'd improve on that by 1994 when he started developing a killer instinct, but it was Shawn's biggest glaring weakness at this time. That said, Marty makes a very good opponent for Shawn because they know each other so well, and this was easily the best *wrestling* feud the promotion put together in 1993. Fun once, but not worth watching more than that.

 

 

The match was a fun one, but this is one of those instances where the moment superceeds the actual match. This was in 1993, when title changes never happened on WWF TV. Shawn had built a rep on costing himself the match via DQ or countout to ensure he retained the title. Going into this one, I'm sure that's what most expected to see. I know that's how I felt. But when Perfect made that entrance and cost Shawn the match, I was in utter shock and remember it being one of the last times I actually marked out for something.

 

 

This was a definite mark out moment for me. When the match started I thought Marty had no chance. Shawn had already beat him at the Rumble, Jannety was not the type of wrestler that the WWF pushed or gave titles to, and title changes NEVER happened on TV. I thought it would end in a DQ or Shawn would cheat to retain. When Marty won the title, 3 of my friends called me right after in disbelief. I couldn't believe what had just happened. Probably the stand out moment for RAW before the Monday Night Wars started.

[Blazer]

This was already a memorable Raw before the Kid upset--Michaels was gloating in an in-ring interview about how he'd defend the IC title against anyone, when a man in a hoodie and sunglasses hops the guardrail and enters the ring--MARTY JANNETTY, back after a 5-month absence. Vince goads Michaels into keeping his word and, in what might be a first in WWF history, a match is signed to take place on that very same episode. Hard to imagine a time when that booking move was considered revolutionary, at least for this company.

 

More good action as you'd expect, as these guys seem amped. Michaels' bumping is top-notch of course but I can't help but notice that Jannetty pretty clearly outclasses him on offense. I know I'm beating this drum to death, but Michaels on top is something that I don't know will ever get that interesting. As much as I hated his babyface push that may ultimately be the in-ring role that suits him the best. Jannetty stuns the world for the second time tonight by capturing the Intercontinental title, with some timely help from Mr. Perfect.

 

A ranking of the best episodes of WWF/E television would be an interesting one. Prior to this, I think the only other contender would be the 2/7/87 episode of Superstars: on one show you had the Andre heel turn on Piper's Pit and the Hart Foundation winning the tag titles--not to mention the debut of Outback Jack. I don't think another contender would emerge until the Austin/Bret streetfight episode of Raw, and maybe not another contender after that until the Austin/Vince challenge (that broke Nitro's win streak) and the Dallas Raw of February 2000.

This is just a perfect post and 100% on the ball. And, of course, SNMEs don't count. Great stuff, Pete.

[WingedEagle]

Really fun, hot TV match that sees Michaels bump all over the place for Jannetty and even look to bail, but Perfect meets him in the aisle and forces him back to the ring. Before the finish, was this the softest Superkick ever hit? Lot of fun looking back at this.

 

***1/4

[soup23]

Raw was such a nothing show for most of 1993 until this happened. The Flair loser leaves town match is the only other thing of consequence that comes close. I will be interested to see if another Raw is this noteworthy until 1997 but I remain doubtful. Anyway, this is a good match but more about the result than the actual action. Shawn does some decent stuff of top but doesn't really target anything or have a prolonged theme to his attack. ***

[garretta]

This was one of those matches that would have been on ​Superstars before there was a ​Raw​. It's wrestled in a similar style, as Marty and Shawn work double-time to get their stuff in, plus there's interference from Shawn's "proper" feud partner Curt. Why would Curt help Marty win the title? Because personal grudges trump titles in the WWF. As long as Shawn lost the belt and looked stupid in the process, it really didn't matter to Curt if he won it. Kind of backwards, I know, but that was the thinking at the time.

 

This was a ton better than the November house show match that we got in full on the '92 set; Marty looked motivated and fit, and Shawn was trying his damndest to back up his big mouth, which will always inspire a heel to try his best. I would have liked a bit more of a back-and-forth contest instead of Marty taking the first half and Shawn the second, but that's just me.

 

Even this early on, before it got its name, Sweet Chin Music is sold as a big deal. I don't see what makes it weaker than any other kick used by a wrestler, though I could do without the elaborate "warm up the band" stuff that Shawn did to set it up later. It made the poor soul who was gong to take it look foolish for not getting out of the way.

 

The commentary was pretty nondescript; everyone played the roles you'd expect about as well as you'd expect. Savage had the Line of the Night, though: I forget exactly what Marty did to set it up, but Randy responded with, "Marty Jannetty on Ico-Pro, no doubt." Considering what Marty had just come back from, that line was hilarious.

 

Heenan had the runner-up after Shawn almost pulled Marty's trunks off while trying to pin him: "It's ten o'clock, We should be seeing the moon by now anyway."

 

The best episode of WWF TV that I saw was the 2/7/87 ​Superstars.​ The Harts beating the Bulldogs, Andre's turn on Hogan, and the unexpected nature of both makes it stand out in my mind even today, almost thirty years later. If you count NBC specials (which I know Pete didn't) it would still be number one. The 2/5/88 ​Main Event would have made it if Savage had beaten Honky for the IC belt as planned, but as it was, Hogan-Andre II was the most memorable thing about it, and that was mostly because of Dave and Earl Hebner, not the match itself (which was noticeably worse than Mania III even to my thirteen year-old eyes and doesn't hold up at all today). Plus, they had to dump out of the Strike Force-Harts match because everything else ran too long.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs Marty Jannetty - WWF RAW 5/17/93

 

The May 17, 1993 episode of RAW has to go down as one of the all-time great RAWs between the red-hot Razor Ramon/1-2-3 Kid angle and this angle where Marty Jannetty returns to the WWF in disguise as a civilian and forces the cocky Shawn Michaels into a match. Fast-paced TV sprints. Nothing really extraordinary. Just solid, basic pro wrestling. Jannetty gets some nearfalls early and then gets some fun babyface offense which Shawn bumps great for. Loved the slingshot crossbody to floor. Shawn clearly overwhelmed looks to hightail it out of there, but Mr. Perfect who is feuding with Michaels stops him. Loved the heel heat transition with Shawn dropping Marty throat first on the rope during a headscissors attempts. They would some double hot nearfalls down the stretch like the catapult of Shawn into the post and the top rope reverse cross body. Michaels hits proto-Sweet Chin Music, taunts Perfect who throws his towel at him and Marty cradles him for the victory and upset title change! Wasn't in love with the finish think there was a better way to make everyone come out looking there, but still a HUGE moment with Marty winning the title in a good little TV match with a hot finish stretch. ***

[cactus]

Marty Jannetty looks like the biggest star in the business on this night. He returns after a 5 month absence to challenge his former tag team partner. This is a total sprint and Jannetty dominates with some quick roll ups and headscissors. HBK tries to bail only for Mr. Perfect to block his escape. Michaels takes back control after dunking Jannetty onto the ropes after a failed headscissors attempt. After the Razor Ramon upset earlier in the night, every Jannetty nearfall feels like it could end the match. It's only after Mr Perfect launches a towel in Michaels' face that Jannetty manages to secure the win.

Excellent TV match that made everyone involved look great.

★★★★