Customer Reviews

Raw "The Beginning": The Best of Seasons 1 & 2

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

DISC ONE:

Koko B. Ware vs. Yokozuna
January 11, 1993

The Undertaker vs. Damien Demento
January 11, 1993

Loser Leaves the WWE
Ric Flair vs. Mr. Perfect
January 25, 1993

10 Bell Salute to Andre the Giant
February 1, 1993

Lex Luger vs. Jason Knight
February 1, 1993

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake vs. "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
February 15, 1993

The Megamaniacs
February 22, 1993

Bret Hart vs. Fatu
March 1, 1993

Doink the Clown Pie-Faces Elvis
March 1, 1993

Crush on the sands of Hawaii
March 1, 1993

Mr. Perfect vs. Rick "The Model" Martel
March 8, 1993

Doink the Clown vs. Kamala
March 22, 1993

Lex Luger vs. Crush
April 26, 1993

Mr. Perfect attacks Shawn Michaels
May 10, 1993

Lumberjack Match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
"Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs. Shawn Michaels
May 10, 1993

The Kid vs. Razor Ramon
May 17, 1993

Intercontinental Championship Match[/b]
Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels
May 17, 1993

King of the Ring Tournament Qualifying Match
Mr. Perfect vs. Doink the Clown
May 24, 1993

DISC ONE EXTRAS:
The Smoking Gunns ride into the WWE
April 26, 1993

Go get him Champ!

It's only 9 o'clock
April 11, 1994

DISC TWO:

Shawn Michaels vs. Russ Greenberg
June 7, 1993

2 out of 3 Falls Match
Marty Jannetty vs. Doink the Clown
June 21, 1993

Yokozuna Body Slam Competition on the U.S.S. Intrepid
July 5, 1993

Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
July 26, 1993

Jim Cornette arrives in the WWE
August 2, 1993

"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs. Doink the Clown
August 2, 1993

1-2-3 Kid vs. "Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase
August 16, 1993

The Quebecers are new Tag Team Champions
September 13, 1993

Doink the Clown vs. Corey Student
October 4, 1993

Intercontinental Championship Match
Razor Ramon vs. Rick "The Model" Martel
October 11, 1993

Crush hires Mr. Fuji as his new manager
October 18, 1993

"Macho Man" Randy Savage attacks Crush
November 8, 1993

Bret Hart is Wrestler of the Year
November 29, 1993

Razor Ramon vs. Diesel
November 29, 1993

1-2-3 Kid vs. Shawn Michaels
December 6, 1993

Gorilla Monsoon throws out Bobby Heenan
December 6, 1993

Thurman "Sparky" Plugg is ready to race
December 20, 1993

Jeff Jarrett vs. P.J. Walker
December 20, 1993

DISC TWO EXTRAS:
That's Double J, Jeff Jarrett
December 13, 1993

King Kong Bundy
September 26, 1994

IRS taxes the dead
October 31, 1994

Jeff Jarrett does Vegas
December 12, 1994

Christmas at the Heartbreak Hotel
December 19, 1994

Bret Hart wishes everyone a Happy New Year
December 26, 1994

DISC THREE:

Is Yokozuna afraid of the casket?
January 17, 1994

WrestleMania X Coin Flip
January 31, 1994

Bret Hart vs. Bruce Prichard
February 21, 1994

World Tag Team Championship Match
The Quebecers vs. Razor Ramon & The 1-2-3 Kid
February 21, 1994

Shawn Michaels Locker Room Interview
February 28, 1994

WWE Championship Match
Yokozuna vs. "Macho Man" Randy Savage
February 28, 1994

"Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase buys front row seats
March 28, 1994

Lex Luger vs. Rick "The Model" Martel
March 28, 1994

10-Man Tag Team Match
IRS, Jeff Jarrett, Rick "The Model" Martel, & The Headshrinkers
vs.Tatanka, The 1-2-3 Kid, Thurman "Sparky" Plugg, & The Smoking Gunns
April 4, 1994

Debut of The Heartbreak Hotel
April 4, 1994

Jerry "The King" Lawler is dropped on his head
April 11, 1994

Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett
April 25, 1994

World Tag Team Championship Match
The Quebecers vs. The Headshrinkers
May 2, 1994

Sumo Match
Yokozuna vs. Earthquake
May 16, 1994

King of the Ring Qualifying Match
Owen Hart vs. Doink the Clown
May 23, 1994

Duke "The Dumpster" Droese makes his Raw debut
May 23, 1994

The King's Court with Bret Hart & Diesel
May 30, 1994

Not-So-Rowdy on The King's Court
June 6, 1994

The King's Court with Duke "The Dumpster" Droese
June 20, 1994

The King's Court with The King of Harts
June 27, 1994

DISC FOUR:

WWE Championship Match
Bret Hart vs. The 1-2-3 Kid
July 11, 1994

Intercontinental Championship Match
Diesel vs. Lex Luger
July 18, 1994

$10,000 Challenge Match
Tatanka vs. Nikolai Volkoff
July 25, 1994

Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano
August 1, 1994

Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon
August 1, 1994

Owen Hart vs. The 1-2-3 Kid
August 15, 1994

The Undertaker vs. Kwang
September 12, 1994

Mr. Backlund demonstrates The Chicken Wing
September 19, 1994

Intercontinental Championship Match
Razor Ramon vs. Yokozuna
October 24, 1994

Jeff Jarrett vs. The British Bulldog
December 5, 1994

Bob Backlund vs. Doink the Clown
December 12, 1994

The British Bulldog vs. Tatanka
December 24, 1994

The King's Court with WWE Champion Diesel
December 24, 1994

The Undertaker vs. The Brooklyn Brawler
December 24, 1994

I've been asking for more footage of earlier Raws and i'm not disappointed. If they keep those stupid pop up facts out of this release, then it'll be the greatest WWE dvd release of all time right next to Saturday Nights Main Event, bank on that. Cannot wait for this set to be released.

I recently picked up WWE's Raw: The Beginnings: Best of Seasons 1 & 2. As an old school wrestling fan who clearly remembers the inception of Monday Night Raw, this set is a must have. As you may have noticed, the WWE has already released a few others DVDs featuring the early days of Raw (e.g. Raw 10th Anniversary; Raw 15th Anniversary). With Beginnings, however, the WWE has really nailed the formula in a comprehensive manner. This review will consider several aspects of the product, including packaging, menus, video/audio, the content itself, and other aspects as necessary.

The packaging really pops off the store shelf. The front cover prominently features a rare but spectacular photo of the Undertaker. Surrounding him are various other wrestlers including Yokozuna, Doink, HBK, and Bret Hart. The fact that Undertaker is center and enlarged definitely speaks to how he is regarded today as a legend that led the WWE into the future. The set itself is comprised of 4 DVD's, split into 2 different cases according to the year (1993 and 1994). The DVDs are well protected in a plastic flap, and a program of matches is included on the inside left cover. Packaging overall is extremely solid in terms of both function and visual appeal.

Despite the fancy packaging, the remainder of the product is no frills, but this is not a negative. Instead of including tons of filler interviews and commentary, the WWE packed in as many matches straight from Raw. As such, the menus are straightforward and simplistic. Perhaps the WWE was going for an early 90s unsophisticated approach. The menu includes three items: Play, Chapters, and Bonus Features (bonus features only available on 1993 discs). The menu music is confusing, as I do not recognize it. It is definitely not the traditional Raw theme song. Maybe it's an older theme song that was quickly replaced over time.

The video presentation is stellar, very faithful to the original broadcasts. A couple slight gripes however - the WWE still does not provide support for widescreen or subtitles. In this modern day, this blows my mind. Anyways, I will say I was pleased to discover that censorship of the WWF logo has not taken place. The only censorship I noticed is where the phrase "W.W.F." is found. In these instances, they have smoothly edited it to display "W.W.E.". It looks very natural. Any additional titles/displays added since 1993 have been designed to blend in naturally as if it were 1993. Brilliant! I'm just happy to see all of the old W.W.F. logos in tact!

On the audio side of things, it appears most, if not all, theme songs have been retained. In addition, the commentary is brilliant. Over the course of two years, you'll mainly hear Vince McMahon and Randy Savage call the shots, but also featured are Jim Ross, Bobby Heenan, Shawn Michaels, Harvey Wippleman. Some of the commentary is laugh-out-loud funny, and you'll many repeated phrases such as "What a devastating maneuver!" and Savage will often comment that "the ring just moved 6 inches!" Regarding censorship, when the words "W.W.F." are spoken, the "F" is muted. This is not terribly distracting.

The matches included are among some of the finest from the early 90's. While I won't list every single match, there are well over 30 complete matches. Most commonly featured are Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid, Doink, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Lex Luger, Rick Martel, Undertaker, Mr. Perfect, Crush, Yokozuna, Ted DiBiase, Jeff Jarrett, Tatanka, Owen Hart, the Headshrinkers, and the Quebecers. The matches represent the very best from Raw, but I was disappointed not to see the Razor Ramon vs. 1-2-3 Kid $10,000 match. In addition to the matches, several promos are featured, including the creation of the Megamaniacs, the King's Court, the Yokozuna Slam Challenge, and the Heartbreak Hotel.

More than anything, this is a nostalgic timepiece. You'll see the WWF navigate the frontier of live televised wrestling before any of its competitors. In addition, this time marked a radical change for the WWF - it's biggest star, Hulk Hogan, was gone, and several of its others superstars were on their way out. In reaction to their departure, the WWF invested in young talent that was colorful, quick-moving, and captivating. Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid really steal the show. Razor just oozed charisma, and the Kid was pulling moves we wouldn't see again until the Hardyz' arrival six years later. Also included are some amazing technical matches. In particular, the Flair/Perfect match is a must-see, and Rick Martel's matches are severely underrated. The Headshrinkers title win is also unforgettable. You'll also see the W.W.F. struggle to get Lex Luger over, despite his astounding physique and athleticism. You'll also be reminded how rarely the Undertaker was featured on TV, but every time he was, the audience went nuts.

I recommend this DVD to anyone who remembers this era fondly, as the set is definitely loyal to the period. I would also encourage newer/younger fans check out this DVD. You'll better appreciate the Undertaker's transformation over the years, the prominence of the I.C. belt, and the overall progress of the W.W.F.

I think this a must have DVD for any die hard WWE fan. The best thing about the DVD is the full matches, no clips or highlights...

With its current product getting worse and worse as time goes on, It's quite refreshing to see that WWE actually went and opened the vault to give us 4, you count em, 4 full discs of the greatest segments and matches from the first 2 years of Monday Night Raw's existence!!!!!! And man, what an EXCELLENT job WWE has done here! As somebody who started watching wrestling in the mid-90's i knew i had to buy this set as soon as possible especially since i didn't get into watching Raw until 1997 meaning that i missed out on Raw's first four years. If you decide to get this set, Be prepared to be taken back to the WWF'S most underrated era: The New Generation. During this era, Hogan was on his way out the door which finally paved the way for some new blood to take over and rise to the occasion and although this was a dark period for WWF, They actually had one of the best rosters they've ever assembled during the 1993-1994 time period. If you ever wanted more footage from the earlier years of Raw, Then you've finally got your wish!!!!!! Here's my thoughts on the matches [which are plentiful AND uncut]:

Disc 1:

Yokozuna [RIP] VS. Koko B. Ware
Nothing special just a match from the first ever episode of Monday Night Raw. **

The Undertaker VS. Damien Demento
Just another squash match from the first episode of Monday Night Raw which happened to be its main event. **

Loser Leaves WWF Match
Ric Flair VS. ''Mr. Perfect'' Curt Hennig [RIP]
A pretty good match between the late great Mr. Perfect and Ric Flair. WWF careers were on the line in this one and after this hectic battle, Flair lost and eventually returned to WCW. Bobby Heenan is HILLARIOUS here especially after the end of this match! ****

Lex Luger VS. Jason Knight
One thing Raw had a lot of in the earlier years were squash matches between superstars and jobbers and this is another one of them. Never was a fan of Luger so i didn't think much of this one. **

Ted Dibiase VS. Brutus Beefcake
It's hard to believe Brutus Beefcake was still around during this time but this was a decent match. ***

Bret Hart VS. Fatu
A decent match between Bret Hart and Fatu [Later known as Rikishi]. ***

''Mr. Perfect'' Curt Hennig [RIP] VS. Rick Martel
This was a decent match. ***

Doink Vs. Kamala
Thank goodness Doink was cool as a heel otherwise this match would've been a total waste of time. **

Lex Luger VS. Crush
Average match nothing special. ***

Lumberjack Match For The WWF Intercontinental Championship
Champion Shawn Michaels VS. Hacksaw Jim Duggan
One of the worst matches i've ever seen from HBK and no wonder: his opponent is the untalented Jim Duggan!!!! **

The Kid VS. Razor Ramon
Before he was X-Pac and before he was Syxx, Sean Waltman was The Kid and this is the famous match where he defeated Razor Ramon [Scott Hall] in what was considered an upset. A decent match. ***1/2

For The WWF Intercontinental Championship
Champion Shawn Michaels VS. Marty Jannetty
One of the best matches on this set and this proves that Jannetty was a very underrated wrestler. Jannetty deserved the I-C title that he won here. ****1/2

King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
''Mr. Perfect'' Curt Hennig [RIP] VS. Doink
An ok match. ***

Disc 2

Shawn Michaels VS. Russ Greenberg
Another squash match but this was fairly watchable. **1/2

2 Out Of 3 Falls Match
Doink VS. Marty Jannetty
WOW i was not expecting this to be as good as it was!! Jannetty was excellent here and Doink actually wasn't too bad himself from a wrestling standpoint. In what is possibly Doink's best match, Doink and Jannetty deliver an underrated gem. ****

Bret Hart VS. Bam Bam Bigelow [RIP]
Despite the countout ending, this was actually a good match. Jerry Lawler did at least add some comic relief once he started messing with Bret's parents who were sitting on the 2nd floor in the audience. ****

Randy Savage VS. Doink
Another average match. Doink was really put over good on this set seeing how he has quite a presence throughout all 4 of these discs. ***

The 1-2-3 Kid VS. Ted Dibiase
Pretty good match with some great moves from The 1-2-3 Kid. ***1/2

Doink VS. Corey Student
We get yet another squash match but this time unfortunately Doink is the Superstar being showcased and he's not really a good wrestler. **

For the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Champion Razor Ramon VS. Rick Martel
Interesting match. ***1/2

Razor Ramon VS. Diesel
In what has got to be the first time Kevin Nash and Scott Hall ever wrestled each other, The two put on a quite decent big man's match. ***1/2

The 1-2-3 Kid VS. Shawn Michaels
This should've easily been a 5-star match!!! But it wasn't. What it was however was a pretty good match for the time it did run and it's a shame these guys never really wrestled each other often because as evidenced here they really had good chemistry in the ring. ***1/2

Jeff Jarrett VS. PJ Walker
This was Jarrett's debut WWF match. Nothing special but it is of interest to Jarrett fans like me. **

Disc 3

Bret Hart VS. Tom Pritchard
Although this was an average match at best it was nice to have another Bret Hart match. **1/2

For The WWF World Tag Team Championships
Champions The Quebecers VS. Razor Ramon & The 1-2-3 Kid
A good back and forth match with plenty of nice action to be seen from both teams. The match unfortunately ends in a disqualification. ****

For The WWF World Heavyweight Championship
Champion Yokozuna [RIP] VS. Randy Savage
Not a bad match at all as the Macho Man attempted [albeit unsuccessfully] to win the WWF title for a third time. ***1/2

Lex Luger VS. Rick Martel
This was an ok match. ***

Irwin R. Schyster, Jeff Jarrett, Rick Martel, & The Headshrinkers VS. Tatanka, The 1-2-3 Kid, Sparky Plugg, & The Smoking Gunns
This was the 10 man tag match that was scheduled for Wrestlemania 10 but got cancelled at the last minute. This was a pretty good match with several recognizable faces like Bob Holly [he's Sparky Plugg here] and Billy Gunn who'd later be Mr. A*s. It's worth the watch. ***1/2

Razor Ramon VS. Jeff Jarrett
Given the fact that Jeff Jarrett pretty much founded TNA which is WWE'S current competitor, I'm surprised Jarrett is seen on this set as much as he is. A good match that unfortunately ends in a disqualification when Shawn Michaels interferes. ****

For The WWF World Tag Team Championships
Champions The Quebecers VS. The Headshrinkers
A great match in which The Headshrinkers win the tag titles. ****1/2

Sumo Match
Yokozuna [RIP] VS. Earthquake
For a sumo match, this was actually watchable. **1/2

King Of The Ring Qualifying Match
Owen Hart [RIP] VS. Doink
Another average match. It is nice to see the late great Owen Hart though. **1/2

Disc 4

For The WWF World Heavyweight Championship
Champion Bret Hart VS. The 1-2-3 Kid
EXCELLENT MATCH!!!! Midway into this match, Bret pins The Kid and the referee declares Bret the winner despite the fact that The Kid had his leg on the rope during the three count what happens? Bret notices this and he actually pleads with the referee to CONTINUE THE MATCH!!!!! Both men put on a great match full of suspense and fast-paced action and no matter what anyone says, Sean was much better here as The 1-2-3 Kid than he ever would be later on as X-Pac!!!! I saw this match on Youtube a couple of years ago and i'm happy to finally own this classic underrated match on DVD. Bret retains the title in this classic match. ***** [Best match on the set]

For The WWF Intercontinental Championship
Champion Diesel VS. Lex Luger
An ok match at least it does feature Kevin Nash in the prime of his career. ***

$10,000 Challenge Match
Tatanka VS. Nikolai Volkoff
Ted Dibiase was pretty much gonna award $10,000 to whoever won this match which turned out to be Tatanka. This was the beginning of Tatanka's heel turn. **1/2

Alundra Blayze VS. Bull Nakano
Hard to believe that even the women were having pretty good matches at one time in the WWF. For a women's match with some actual good wrestling in it, Look no further. ***1/2

Shawn Michaels VS. Razor Ramon
In this rematch from their classic Ladder Match encounter at Wrestlemania 10, HBK and Scott Hall deliver a good match that should please fans of both of these guys. ****

Owen Hart [RIP] VS. The 1-2-3 Kid
Another good match that should be seen. ****

The Undertaker VS. Kwang
This was a good match and even though i'm not familiar with Kwang, I think he put up a good fight here against the deadman. ****

For The WWF Intercontinental Championship
Champion Razor Ramon VS. Yokozuna
Pretty good match. ***1/2

Jeff Jarrett VS. The British Bulldog [RIP]
Jarrett is an underrated wrestler and this match proves he can hang with some of the best in-ring performers around plus we finally get a Bulldog match on this collection. ****

Bob Backlund VS. Doink
This was a boring match. **

The British Bulldog [RIP] VS. Tatanka
We get a pretty decent match here as the late great Davey Boy Smith takes on a heel Tatanka. ***

The Undertaker VS. The Brooklyn Brawler
This was simply a squash match i don't even think the brawler even got a hit in on this match. *1/2


In between all these matches there are plenty of classic segments presented in their entirities [Such as the open challenge to slam Yokozuna] and unlike now, even the commentators of these segments and matches were often entertaining [Especially when Vince Mcmahon, Bobby Heenan, and Randy Savage were commentating]. My only gripe with this collection is that i would've loved to have seen a Steiner Brothers match [They do appear in a couple segments]. Ignore WWE: The Best of RAW 15th Anniversary which had stupid pop-up's and censored footage which very nearly ruined that collection and instead buy this. Although it's a little expensive, it's well worth it for fans of the pre-Attitude Era 90's WWF and 90's wrestling fans in general. STRONGLY RECCOMENDED. PLEASE HURRY UP AND RELEASE THE BEST OF SEASON 3 & 4!!!!!!!!!!

I purchased this gift for my fiance for his 32nd birthday... He loves it!! He was glued to the tv watching it!

I really did enjoy this. The majority of the matches were classics. Also, if you are a nostalgic person you will enjoy this collection. You have all the stars that are either retired or dead such as Randy Savage, Scott Hall, Sean Waltman, Ted Debiase, Owen Hart, Bret Hart, Crush, Shawn Michaels, Mr Perfect, Lex Luger, and many others. I particularly enjoyed this from the aspect that they emphasized wrestling and not spectacle. Thus we get to see forearms, Piledrivers, aerial moves, back body drops and many others which you don't see today. Highly recommended for anyone who wants to see how this show has evolved.Also the trivia is nice.

1993 and 1994 are wrestling years that don't exactly scream "awesome" but the matches they picked for this set are actually really good. I'd say 80% of the matches on this set are worth watching. The old interviews and skits are why this DVD is fun to watch. It's also just amazing to watch this set and see how far RAW has come from a small show to a cable monster!

The other fun thing to do is spot today's stars! For instance D'lo Brown is one of Jerry Lawler's servants in an old clip. I loved looking for guys that were jobbers back then, but became stars.

Pick it up. It takes awhile to watch it all but that is a good thing!

"Welcome everyone to the longest running episodic television show on cable television" is what Michael Cole tells us every single week but in order for his to be able that, the show had to start somewhere so on this collection, we go back to where it all started in the early days of RAW. Now this is one of those "no-frills" collections in that there isn't a host & you don't hear from any other wrestlers or talents looking back at the show, you just get the moments & matches with a special fact regarding either the performer or incident beforehand. (like finding out one of the "RAW girls" who held up the signs before the matches went on to become a member of the U.S. Senate) You already have a full list of the matches & moments so I won't repeat that here but here's a review of the matches.

Koko B. Ware vs. Yokozuna - This was only signifcant of being the first match in RAW history but past that, this was nothing more than a squash.
January 11, 1993

Undertaker vs. Damien Demento - Just like the previous match, this was a squash that's only significant for being the first main event in RAW history.
January 11, 1993
["RAW X: 10th Anniversary"]

Loser Leaves WWE: Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair - It was only the second episode of RAW and we already have our first historic match here as the stipulation for this one was that the loser must leave the WWE. This went going back & forth with even Perfect bleeding early into the match. It was a good match for television standards at that time (doesn't match their series years later in WCW though) as Flair lost & wouldn't return to the WWE for almost 9 years. As a side note, pay attention to the commentary by Bobby Heenan in this match as he was just so biased towards Flair & against Perfect that it was just comical.
January 25, 1993
["Best Of RAW: 15th Anniversary"]

Lex Luger vs. Jason Knight - This was during the period where Luger was doing his "Narcissist" gimmick & we get treated to a Mr. Perfect feature right before in setting up their match for the upcoming WrestleMania but past that, a quick squash. As a side note, this is the same Jason from the original ECW who went on to manage Justin Credible.
February 1, 1993

Brutus Beefcake vs. Ted DiBiase - This was Beefcake's first match back since his career ending facial injury years earlier with Jimmy Hart, Dibiase's manager, showing extra concern than usual. Beefcake dominated here with Dibiase constantly trying to go for his face only for Beefcake to keep blocking it before fellow Money Inc. partner I.R.S. got involved giving the DQ victory to Beefcake. The bigger story here was the aftermath when Money Inc. did something so vicious to Beefcake that Jimmy Hart tried to prevent it from happening only to get shoved to the side & came to Beefcake's aid once the deed was done.
February 15, 1993

WWE Champion Bret Hart vs. Fatu - For those who don't know, Fatu is the name better known in later years as Rikishi but this was during his time as part of the "Headshrinkers" with Wild Samoan Afa as his manger. Fatu had the weight & strength advantage here so Bret relied on his quickness & technical ability. Fatu's partner Samu came to ringside & did get involve causing Bret to bleed from the nose with Fatu capitalising with headbutts & bites to the nose. Bret was able to recover & turn it up causing the Headshrinkers to resort to dirty tactics like trying to switch places before Bret had to take out all 3 men on his way to victory...with the referee doing a funny botch at the end.
March 1, 1993

Mr. Perfect vs. Rick Martel - You got exactly what you would expect in the early moments knowing both men's personalities in that they tried to show each other up early. This was a nice match up with "The Model" got the advantage with a thumb in the eye & worked over Perfect's back with a chinlock & punches but it ended in a way that we've rarely seen before & since...during the commerical break.
March 8, 1993

Kamala vs. Doink The Clown - This was during the short period where Kamala turned babyface & was managed by the former "Dr. Of Style" turned Pastor in Slick. Doink had a gift at ringside & kept playing mind games with Kamala by teasing him with the gift to the point where he outsmarted him out of a victory. The aftermath was more entertaining than the match itself when Kamala went under the ring while Doink decided to grab a chair & wait for him to come out.
March 22, 1993

Crush vs. Lex Luger - A year before they would have their more memorable feud, they met here under completely different gimmicks & roles. It was revealed before the match that Luger's ability to keep knocking out people with his forearm was because a metal plate was screwed in his arm because of his motorcycle accident a year earlier. Crush did what few were able to do during that time & overpower Luger's strength as shown in the test of strength & military pressing Luger before slamming him. Luger tried working on Crush's back with bearhugs & powerslams while resorting to heelish tactics like ramming it into the post. This was a good back & forth match until the appearence of multiple Doinks caused a distraction for Crush to get knocked out by Luger's steel plated forearm.
April 26, 1993

Lumberjack Match: WWE Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs. Jim Duggan - Earlier in the night (as you will see in the segment before this match), Shawn Michaels got attacked outside the building by Mr. Perfect & was even thrown on top of Howard Finkel's car so Shawn came out in his street clothes & crutches claiming he was too injured to get compete before Mr. Perfect again showed that wasn't the case. Also before the match, Jim Duggan went outside & got a few shots in on Yokozuna for revenge due to the fact that Yokozuna put him out of actions for several weeks. Duggan dominated the match here as Shawn kept trying to run away only to be constantly stopped by the lumberjacks to the point where he almost made it backstage before Perfect picked him up & hauled him back in the ring. Duggan missed a knee drop finally letting Shawn get the advantage with Bam Bam Bigelow later causing a distraction allowing Yokozuna to get his reciept for the attack earlier before Perfect just couldn't take it anymore & got involved in the match...which as you expected resulted in all hell breaking loose with all the lumberjacks, Duggan, and his 2x4 in what was a fun match.
May 10, 1993

The Kid vs. Razor Ramon - All I can say is don't take a bathroom break here as you'll miss what is still concidered to be one of the biggest upsets in not just RAW but probably WRESTLING history here.
May 17, 1993
["Best Of RAW: 15th Anniversary"]

WWE Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty - On the same night that we saw the biggest upset in RAW history at that time, we also saw the first title change in RAW history. Shawn Michaels was bragging about being a champion & threw out an open challenge which was accepted by his former tag team partner & the guy who over a year earlier threw through a window in Marty Jannetty. This was highly competitve as both men mixed it up with some ground moves along with occassionally flying around. With Shawn being distracted by a "perfectly" thrown towel, Marty won the championship...while months later, both men would win the honor of his match being voted on as the Match Of The Year.
May 17, 1993
["Best Of RAW: 15th Anniversary"]

Mr. Perfect vs. Doink The Clown - This was just a nice average match with Perfect working over Doink's leg while Doink was up to his old tricks like trying to choke Perfect with his own towel.
May 24, 1993

Russ Greenberg vs. Shawn Michaels - This was a squash match that was only relevant in that it was the TV debut of Diesel (Kevin Nash).
June 7, 1993

2 Out Of 3 Falls Match: Marty Jannetty vs. Doink The Clown - This was a return match from the previous week that saw Doink constantly trying to play mind games early with Jannetty by attempting to lure him into a corner & daring him to punch him in the face. This match had some highlights such as seeing Doink's "Whoopie Cooshion" finisher, Jannetty giving a superkick that knocked Doink across the ring, the appearence of another Doink, and Randy Savage being the deciding factor in the end.
June 21, 1993

Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow - A rematch from the King Of The Ring tournament finals with Bret's parents, Stu & Helen Hart, in the audience. Bret used his speed to counter Bigelow's power but that played against him at one point when he missed a move off the top rope & ended up hurting his knee. This was a back & forth competitive match but the bigger story was the appearence of Jerry Lawler in the stance hurassing Bret's parents where it kept distracting Bret to the point where he couldn't take it anymore & went after Lawler to no avail.
July 26, 1993

Randy Savage vs. Doink The Clown - After Savage's involvement in his match against Jannetty earlier, Doink got Savage in a match here & to make sure Doink didn't play any tricks, Savage checked under the ring for another Doink only to see there wasn't one. Doink resorted to dirty tactics early that got "Macho Man" fired up real quick to the point where he was going to use a chair before the referee stopped him. They went back & forth in this match before Savage used a "little" of Doink's tricks against him to help him win this match.
August 2, 1993

1-2-3 Kid vs. Ted DiBiase - This was a rematch from the previous time Dibiase fought The Kid & took him too lightly causing Kid to get the victory & Dibiase embarred in the process. Dibiase dominated most of this match but it didn't go far afterwards as when 1-2-3 Kid started to build momentum, I.R.S. interfered.
August 16, 1993

Doink The Clown vs. Corey Student - This was around the time that Doink had done a babyface turn but was nothing more than a squash match that was only relevant because of what Doink did to Bobby Heenan before the match.
October 4, 1993

WWE Intercontinental Championship Match: Razor Ramon vs. Rick Martel - With Shawn Michaels being suspended & stripped of the Intercontinental Championship in the process, this was the vacancy match to declare a new champion after both men were the last two standing in a battle royal a week earlier. Razor worked over Martel's arm early with a bunch of wrenching & twisting early along with various armbars. Martel countered by punishing Razor's back with stomps, kneedrops, and even doing his signature Boston Crab. They weren't back & forth getting very competitive over time before Razor Ramon went on to win his first of many then-record breaking Intercontinental Title reigns.
October 11, 1993

Razor Ramon vs. Diesel - This was more of a preview for their later matches against each other within the next year but this purpose here was the continue the issues between Razor & Shawn Michaels with their associates Diesel & 1-2-3 Kid all getting involved.
November 29, 1993

1-2-3 Kid vs. Shawn Michaels - As a result of the interference the previous week, these two faced off against each the week after. The Kid showed superious quickness against Shawn early before Shawn finally caught the Kid with a back suplex from an attempted headlock & even took a page out of Kid's playbook with a flying headsissors on Kid to the outside & later catching the Kid in mid-air with a dropkick. Shawn slowed the pace down & worked over Kid's back with various backbreakers & hard irish whips in the turnbuckles. Both men were so evenily matched that both men were exausted after a while. Shawn was able to gain the advantage & delievered a Razor's Edge to Kid before making it clear he wanted to punish Kid instead of beating him by doing another Razor's Edge causing Razor Ramon to come out & save the Kid from it being done a third time. This caused the brawl to the back between Shawn & Razor that saw Diesel get involved leading to Shawn giving Razor his own Razor's Edge two times on the floor.
December 6, 1993

P.J. Walker vs. Jeff Jarrett - Nothing special past this being a squash match for "Double J's" debut.
December 20, 1993

Bret Hart vs. Tom Prichard - Tom Prichard was one half of Jim Cornette's Heavily Bodies tag team but was just an average match that's only purpose was the continued built of tension between Bret & Owen Hart afterwards.
February 21, 1994

WWE Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs. Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid - Kid walked into this match with a previously hurt leg that the Quebecers tried to go for early to no avail before Johnny Polo got involved & took a Razor's Edge on the outside for his troubles. Razor & Kid were in control for most of this match before Diesel made an appearence that had the advantage switch back to the Quebecers who were able to focus on Kid's leg building to the hot tag to Razor before Shawn Michaels once again let his presence felt.
February 21, 1994

WWE Champion Yokozuna vs. Randy Savage - This was relevant in that we didn't know this at that time but this would be Randy Savage's last shot at the WWE Championship along with the fact that Savage was looking for revenge against Yokozuna for his assist in Crush's attack on Randy Savage weeks earlier. Savage started the match out with a bang early by jumping Yokozuna from behind & eventually knocked Yokozuna out of the ring but his massage weight worked against Savage trying to get him back in. Savage was able to break Yokozuna down by constantly coming off the top rope onto Yokozuna but he was able to get the advantage back from Savage with constantly chopping him down. Mr. Fuji attempted to have Yokozuna use the salt bucket against Savage but Savage used it against Yokozuna & was close to winning the championship before Crush saved Yokozuna causing Yoko's two challengers in Bret Hart & Lex Luger also getting involved.
February 28, 1994
["Macho Madness: The Ultimate Randy Savage Collection"]

Lex Luger vs. Rick Martel - Lex Luger came into his match very "hot headed" after what happened to him at WrestleMania thanks to Mr. Perfect so he was very aggressive from the start dominating with hard headlocks causing Martel to turn it up himself in this match with various chokes & chinlocks & even using the ropes to his advantage in what turned out to be a nice match.
March 28, 1994

Tatanka, 1-2-3 Kid, Sparky Plugg, Smoking Gunns vs. I.R.S., Jeff Jarrett, Rick Martel, Headshrinkers - This was originally suppost to happen at WrestleMania X but got cut from the card at the last minute & put on RAW instead. This was pretty short & sweet as it was face paced from beginning to end with everyone getting a spot in at one point.
April 4, 1994

Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett - A little over a year before they would have their more memorable matches for the Intercontinental Championship, they met here in a non-title match. Like Razor's earlier match against Diesel, this was more of a preview of that later series of matches to come as they went back & forth here with Jarrett resorting to dirty tactics like using the ringsteps while Razor showing some athleticism for a guy his size like his sunset flip but the bigger story here was the involvement of Shawn Michaels & Diesel resulting in Razor on the recieving end of two powerbombs.
April 25, 1994

WWE Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs. Headshrinkers - Around this time, the Headshrinkers had just turned babyface & gained the managerial services of Captain Lou Albano as well. The Headshrinkers dominated this match in the early moments to the point where Quebecers tried to use the rules to their advantage by walking out to purposely get a countout win but keep the belts before the referee forced them back in the ring. Quebeckers were able to keep the advantage with double teaming & cheating such as a choke. At one point, Samu's head got caught in the ropes hurting his neck with the Quebeckers capitalising on this with a piledriver. Both Afa & Albano got their shots in on Johnny Polo before the Quebeckers ended up getting into a fight with each other that had Headshrinkers take advantage & win the tag team championship.
May 2, 1994

Sumo Match: Yokozuna vs. Earthquake - For those who never seen a sumo match in a wrestling ring (see WrestleMania 21 w/Big Show), the ropes are removed from the ring with the object being that the first man to knock the other guy out of the ring is the winner. There wasn't much to talk about here past the fact that Earthquake actually had a legit background as a sumo wrestler that he used to his advantage to get the victory here.
May 16, 1994

Owen Hart vs. Doink The Clown - This was a King Of The Ring qualifing match that saw Owen attempt to get the early advantage by jumping on Doink when he was entering through the ropes in what turned out to be an average match that was only there to further the feud between Jarrett, Doink, and Doink's "little" friend Dink.
May 23, 1994

Duke Droese vs. Barry Horowitz - This was nothing special past the debut of "The Dumpster" (yes, a trash man gimmick).

WWE Champion Bret Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid - This was the match that defined the image WWE was trying to establish under it's "New Generation" era. This was during the time when Bret Hart as champion took on all challengers regardless if they were a face/heel or any other factor leading to rare matches like this one where his opposition in The Kid was actually faster than Bret and used a martial arts type of offense which was also different than most of his others challengers did. I don't know how else to describe this as anything less than a pure athletic contest that showcased Bret as an honorable champion, left both men leaving strong, & worthy of the reception it got afterwards.
July 11, 1994
["Best Of RAW: 15th Anniversary"]

WWE Intercontinental Champion Diesel vs. Lex Luger - Diesel showed his power early by just easily shoving Luger to the outside of the ring before going to work on him in the ring with his hard punches & shoulderblocks & boots with Luger trapped in the corner. Luger was able to give Diesel a reciept for that by returning the punches to Diesel & knocking him to the outside. Diesel not only pounded on Luger but also tried to break him down with moves like a chinlock & sleeper with Luger breaking Diesel down with a DDT, top rope clotheslines, and even applying the Torture Rack on him (what a sight) before Shawn Michaels got involved causing Razor Ramon to come out & get involved as well but for two men having the reputation of being very limited in what they could do in the ring, they put on a great match here.
July 18, 1994

Tatanka vs. Nikolai Volkoff - This was a $100,000 Challenge match where if Tatanka won, he got the money from Ted Dibiase. It should be noted that during this time, Dibiase was forming his "Million $ Corporation" with Nikolai Voloff being one of the first members due to him falling on hard times financially causing him to work for Dibiase against his will. Volkoff was able to get some shots in such as kicks to Tanaka's head but it wasn't until Dibiase verbally abused Nikolai on the outside that he got more motivated but to no avail as Tananka overcame the challenge. The match was nothing special but the bigger issue afterwards was the continued tease by Ted Dibiase stating that he bought the services of Tananka's friend, Lex Luger.
July 25, 1994

Alundra Blayze vs. Bull Nakano - Bull Nakano was brought to the WWE by Luna Vachon so she could do what Luna couldn't do & that's take out then-Womens Champion Alundra Blayze. Nakano showcased her dominance with various moves like a hairtoss that kept flipping Alundra inside out while Blayze tried to rely on her martial arts offense with various kicks. Throughout the match, Bull made it clear that she was out to hurt Alundra more than win a match after pulling her up from a piledriver only to deliever a sitting powerbomb as well. The match went to the outside where it got really out of control causing nothing to be solved in this match & setting up the SummerSlam rematch, this was a quality womens wrestling match not only for that time but would still standup today.
As a side note, check out their match from April '95 that was also released on the the "Greatest Wrestling Stars Of The 90's" DVD set as that was possibly one of the greatest womens matches in WWE history.
August 1, 1994

Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels - This was a rematch from their Ladder Match at WrestleMania X but also Shawn Michaels' first match since that event. Shawn tried to show up Razor early but payed for his arrogance with Razor delievering a hard punch & knocking Shawn to the outside. From there, this went on to be a long competitive match that saw Diesel get involved throughout the match when the referee was distracted & ultimately becoming the deciding factor towards the end.
August 1, 1994

1-2-3 Kid vs. Owen Hart - This was a rematch from the semi-finals of the King Of The Ring with the Kid starting the match off in a fast pace causing Owen to try & slow the pace down to his advantage. With both men being the "high flyers" at that time, you saw moves like Kid doing a flying cannonball dive to the outside while Owen suplexed Kid from the inside of the ring to the floor before delievering a flying dive himself to the outside. Owen hurt his knee after missing a top move move causing The Kid to focus on the knee with kicks & even a half crab at one point to the point where Jim Niedhart had to come save Owen from defeat causing a disqualification but this was definately a quality match.
August 15, 1994

Undertaker vs. Kwang - Eventhough Kwang was able to get a few shots here & there, this was all Undertaker to the point where Kwang used the mist on Taker only for Taker to throw it right back in his face.
September 12, 1994

WWE Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs. Yokozuna - Yokozuna attacked Razor from behind to start the match off but Razor was able to recover & get the advantage with his "stick & move" offense. Yokozuna got real aggressive as the match went on to the point where he just pounded Razor down in the corner with constant punches & chokes while keeping Razor Ramon down with nerve holds. However, the bigger issue here was what happened when Yokozuna saw the one thing that scares him to death to the point where he completely forgot about the match & ran for cover.
October 24, 1994

British Bulldog vs. Jeff Jarrett - This match was imfamous for the debut of the man who would reach bigger fame later in his career as part of the New Age Outlaws, "Road Dogg", and B.G. James in TNA but here, he was Double J's assistant in "The Roadie." At first, nobody knew that he was working with Jarrett as Vince & Shawn Michaels (who was doing the commentating during this period after Randy Savage left for WCW) as they kept mistaking him for a ring attendant & cable puller. Jarrett showboated early only for Bulldog to return the favor shortly after he gained the advantage. Bulldog had the power advantage & clearly showed that when he just ran over Jarrett during an irish whip attempted & even shoving him to the floor. Jeff used his speed to gain control but when Bulldog got the better of him too many times, he tried to walk away only for Bulldog to gorilla press Jarrett back into the ring before being unable to return to the ring in time thanks to the Roadie.
December 5, 1994

Doink The Clown vs. Bob Backlund - This started off with Doink playing some mind games with Bob was Dink came to the ring alone & teased that he wanted to fight Bob only for Doink to attack from behind. Backlund relied on his amature background with various takedowns before Doink suprised Bob & everyone else by countering Backlund with some takedowns of his own. They alternated momentum here before Bob eventually came out on top in an average match.
December 12, 1994

British Bulldog vs. Tatanka - Bulldog showed off his strength & agility for his size early on like his attempt at a cruifix pin & his famous delayed suplex with Ted Dibiase eventually getting involved to derail Bulldog's momentum before Lex Luger came to his aid causing fellow Million $ Corporation member Bam Bam Bieglow getting involved leading to everyone brawling but this match was more significant in that this was the beginning of the formation of the "Allied Powers" tag team between Luger & Bulldog.
December 24, 1994

Undertaker vs. The Brooklyn Brawler - This was nothing more than dominate performance by Undertaker.
December 24, 1994

This DVD is a four disc set with each year/season having two disc each of content so WWE tried to load this set up with as much content as possible. That caused this set to take a very long time to get through which hurts the project more than helps as a bunch of moments could/should have been easily reduced to just so the imporantance of that moment (like when Shawn introduced Diesel as his bodyguard or Doink scaring Bobby Heenan, we didn't need the irrelevant squash match afterwards) while other various moments we could have easily done without (does anyone care about Duke "The Dumpster" Drose's debut & the various unimportant squash matches?) as well as some matches (I love Bret Hart but his match against Tom Prichard wasn't anything I would watch again & did we really need the two Undertaker squash matches?). This could have easily been reduced to a 3 disc set as I know that 1/4 of the stuff on here I'm going to just skip over in the future. Despite those cons, this set does have it's share of positives in that we get various moments on here that were enjoyable to watch again along with lost matches that were that either brought back memories, just great in quality, or that I can value now that I'm older (like how good the Doink character was at being a evil villian...almost like WWE's version of The Joker from Batman) along with the fact that there was a very low amount of repeats from other sets. In the end, this is something I would recommend for fans of the WWE during this time period but again be cautious in that your going to need a bunch of time on your hands to get through all of this & be prepared to use the skip button various times depending on your taste.

This takes you back to the very start of raw with some classic match ups of yokozuna, bret hart, the undertaker macho man randy savage and
many more i recomend picking this one up if you're a wrestling fan.

I Just got this DVD set today and am very much looking forward to watching it! Takes me back to my days in college with some of these great matches... (Some of which I remember seeing live when the episode aired on USA!) You get superstars that haven't been seen in WWE for a long time. For example... Razor Ramon, Bret Hart, Jeff Jarrett, Randy Savage, Crush, and many others... This one ranks high on my list. Be sure to check it out!