[1993-10-11-WWF-Raw] Razor Ramon vs Rick Martel

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Martel gave Razor exactly the match he needed to make the title win a big moment, and they really did a good job building Razor up throughout the year. And he really improved quite a bit as the year progressed too.

[Matt D]

This was a pretty good match. Fun back work by Martel, a nice visual reversal out of the crab, and the way Razor really had to struggle to get him up for Razor's Edge worked very well, whether it was a flub or not. Crowd loved the finish.

[Kevin Ridge]

Martel has been mostly invisible since Royal Rumble and here he is in match to determine new IC champion. Thought it was a good match and showed Martel had more to offer though the gimmick might have had little left. Crowd excited to see Razor win the match. Thought he was the right guy at that point to be Intercontinental champion and he would be involved with the belt for much of the rest of his WWF run. Vince talks about the Gold looking good on Razor and I totally agree. The belt seemed perfect around his waist.

[PeteF3]

I thought this was a hell of a match. Real good work around Razor's back to set up Martel's Boston crab (a story well told by Heenan and Vince), sparking a good comeback from Razor. Also some nice hot near-falls down the stretch before Razor decisively puts this away. If anything Razor would be pigeonholed in this role for the next two years, but it's a good spot for him right now. I can't think of too many really good Model matches--Rick seemed to start phoning it in once he turned heel. So leaving aside the blindfold match as an "N/A" I think this may rank at the top.

[garretta]

I liked this as much as most of you did, but not because of Hall. He was as good as he had to be, but this was Martel's show all the way. He showed that he still had plenty in the tank as a wrestler, especially with the way he worked on Hall's back to set up the Boston crab. That kind of body part work wasn't often seen in the WWF at this point, but it makes the match here. I disagree that Hall struggled tp get Martel up in the Razor's Edge; though; this seemed to me to be one of those times where selling took second place to making sure a wrestler hit his finisher with no problem.

 

As good as some of the ring work was, the commentary threatened to make it meaningless. Vince was puking all over everything in sight all match long, and his attempts to tie the match into Columbus Day just because the Razor Ramon character happened to be Hispanic were pathetic reaches at best. He also makes an unconscionable error by stating that Columbus was working for the Queen of England when he discovered America. Every child over the age of seven knows that Queen Isabella was Hispanic, and when it's demonstrated on national TV that you know less than some of the younger members of your target audience, you know you're going downhill fast. Add to that the usual reluctance to call moves correctly (he calls a Martel back suplex a side suplex, then doesn't bother to call a legit side suplex later in the match at all), and you have a bad performance, even by Vince's rapidly sliding standards.

 

Heenan was good here, although the constant ghetto jokes got to be a little much. It was he who remembered to put over Martel's Boston crab as a credible finisher, and Vince was smart enough to pick up on it and go along. He also put the match over as a battle of wills and guts, which would have fit even better than it did here if they'd done it directly after the battle royal as they should have. Finally, I liked how he got Savage to admit that he would cheat to regain the title if he was in the match, even though Vince probably didn't want him to.

 

Savage has become more and more intolerable as 1993 has progressed. It's to the point now where he offers almost no insight whatsoever. Not only that, but his inflections and intonations are becoming stranger and stranger. I guess he thinks he's being unique; what he's really being is annoying to the point where I either want to use the mute button or reach through my computer screen and slap his glasses and hat off. If it wasn't for his work in Memphis and the few decent matches he's had in the WWF, he might be my leading candidate for Biggest Waste of Time for the year.

 

By focusing so much on the commentary, I don't mean to slight the in-ring work; as I said earlier, it was well-done, but not spectacular enough to rave about. I liked Hall's celebration with the IC belt; he seemed to realize that he was now the mover and shaker he'd wanted to be since he arrived in the WWF. The fans seemed to truly be behind him, and I didn't even mind the "Oozing Machismo" T-shirts, even though that's a stupid catchphrase in my opinion. I much prefer "Say hello to The Bad Guy", or in this case, "the new Intercontinental champion".

 

Line of the Night goes to Savage: "This is the toughest match I've never been in!" Sometimes the man makes sense without even knowing it, which is more than he does intentionally these days.

[soup23]

Good match, Martel was still a fine mechanic and this was one example where the booth for the early year of Raw worked with everyone finding their spot. Ramon had grown as a worker over the past year and now seemed fitting for an upper mid card spot that the IC belt secured him. The best two spots were the reversal of the Boston Crab and the struggle for the Razor's Edge. ***

[Superstar Sleeze]

Razor Ramon vs Rick Martel - WWF RAW 10/11/93 Vacant WWF Intercontinental Championship

Vince McMahon brings history teachers to tears across the country when he declares that Christopher Columbus was Hispanic and sailed for the Queen of England (Columbus was Italian and sailed for the King & Queen of Spain). Usually when someone says "they dont teach you this in history class", it is either wrong or it was taught and they just werent paying attention. 

Fantastic match. I could have sworn I seen this match, well if I did, I dont remember it being this good. I thought Martel was fabulous in this match, his last best match until his brief resurgence in WCW in 1998. Martel really pushed the pace. I loved during the shine, he would pepper in offense thus making Razor EARN the shine. It was a slight wrinkle and it forced Razor to overcome and walk through Martel's offense making Razor's offense more compelling. Razor worked his usual specialties like the Sack O' Shit (Fallaway Slam) and his solid base of arm work. Martel even took his slingshot splash into the ring. The match really picked up after the ad break where Martel had a very strong heat segment. This was different from your run of the mill WWF heat segment. Martel really threw out the bombs. This felt more like All Japan than WWF. Bodyslam on the outside kicks off. Great Saito Suplex and general back work. TWO Boston Crabs! Razor gets the ropes on the first, Martel peppers in a sidewalk slam and then a second Boston Crab. Razor muscles out of the Boston Crab, great series of nearfalls. Razor comes back a little too neatly for my tastes. Something more creative OR Martel missing a move would be better. I did like Martel fighting through the apparent, customary Super Back Suplex from Razor to hit a crossbody to get one last nearfall. Then Razor polished it off with a Razor Edge. I think one missed Martel move, a consolidation move by Razor followed by the Razor's Edge would have elevated match slightly more. This was awesome! 

Cagematch has this as Scott Hall's 8th best match. I dont disagree with their rating. I have this at *** 3/4 which on their scale is 7.5 and the aggregate rating is 7.24 so pretty close. I just cant believe this is Scott Hall's 8th best. I feel like he has to have more top ranked matches. I will definitely have to make a list. Regardless, this match is a ton of fun, highly recommended. *** 3/4