[1993-03-08-WWF-Monday Night RAW] Mr. Perfect vs Rick Martel

[Superstar Sleeze]

Mr. Perfect vs Rick Martel - WWF RAW 3/8/93

I believe I only have two Lex Luger matches left that I want to get through before I complete his WWF run and up next is his WrestleMania IX match against Mr. Perfect. I watched the Royal Rumble debut of The Narcissist and I thought it was great. Heenan was a bit repetitive, but I agree with popular opinion this was a much better fit than Made In The USA. I like the tie-in of how Perfect turned babyface on Heenan and Flair and with Flair gone, this was Heenan's new & last hired gun. There is something about Luger and Heenan that just feels like such a good fit. I liked the first Luger squash I saw against Jason Knight on the 2/1 RAW and they were playing up the Bionic Forearm immediately. Mr. Perfect has a tune-up match against Martel. Since Summerslam 1992, Martel was used mostly against Tatanka and Virgil. He did get a house show title run against Bret Hart. He was still midcard heel player but definitely on a downward trajectory. I dont know if I have ever seen a Martel promo before, but the one with Bartlett before this match was not great, but he has the look down pat. He gets a mini-push at the end of 1993 being the one who Razor Ramon defeats to win his first IC Title, but then he is gone by by mid-94. 

A battle of two AWA Champions; a true dream match circa 1986. It is a match that still could have rocked in 1993, but RAW is not the right format for it. They start off with kind of a babyface vs babyface start with each slamming and kangaroo kicking the other. A pretty standard start. Martel cartwheels out of a precarious situation so Hennig follows suits. A nice tit for tat. Martel uses two illegal punches to take control. Hennig sends him careening over the top rope as we go to commercial. We come back Martel is working the back. Martel goes for his signature AWA finish the slingshot splash. Hennig gets the knees up. I enjoyed Curt's comeback. Atomic drops, chop, kneelifts. It was good standard high energy stuff. Oddly enough the finish occurs during the break when Perfect gets the win with the Perfectplex. I get argument that the finish can happen at any time, but still it is weird. A match that would have been better in 1986 and would have been better in a different context, but still good. ***