WWE Vintage Collection TV Report
May 17, 2009
Aired in the U.K. on Sky Sports
Report by Cody Endres, PWTorch contributor

WWE's Vintage Collection show airs in the U.K. and is hosted by Mean Gene Okerlund. They show a varied assortment of older matches every week, similar to WWE's "Classics On Demand" pay subscription service.

-Host Gene Okerlund welcomes us from WWE Studios. Over his time in the industry, Mean Gene has seen many champions. One of the responsibilities of being champion is defending your title on a regular basis. In 1993, then WWE President Jack Tunney had to take business into his own hands when IC champion Shawn Michaels went 30 days without defending his gold. Tunney stripped him of the belt and gave 20 hungry superstars a chance at the strap in a battle royal. The final two participants will square off in our main event for the vacant IC title.

1 – 20-MAN BATTLE ROYAL

This match is from the October 4, 1993 episode of Monday Night Raw. Participants include: IRS, Marty Jannetty, Bam Bam Bigelow, 1-2-3 Kid, The MVP (Steve Lombardi), Bastion Booger, Tatanka, Mabel, Mr. Perfect, The Quebecers, Adam Bomb, Diesel, Randy Savage, Razor Ramon, Giant Gonzalez, Owen Hart, Jimmy Sunka, Rick Martel, and Bob Backlund.

Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan are calling the action. Savage is the last person to enter and immediately hits a double axe handle off the top rope onto Gonzalez. Multiple superstars team up and toss Gonzalez out of the ring. Well that's a good start. Heenan says he thinks The Quebecers will win. Vince thought he picked Bastion Booger. Heenan explains that he picked a booger earlier, but not for this match. They put over Backlund as a former world champion. Right before the break, Diesel dumps Mabel to the floor.

[Commercial Break]

Apparently the match continued during the break as numerous people have been eliminated. Bigelow chucks Mr. Perfect easily over the top rope. Savage manages to get caught in the ropes, but Jannetty helps him out. Moments later, Adam Bomb backdrops Jannetty to the floor. Tatanka charges at Bigelow, but Bigelow yanks the ropes down to eliminate him. Savage disposes of Booger. Ramon clotheslines Bigelow over the top. Hart hits a beautiful standing dropkick to eliminate The MVP. Jacques quickly tosses out Hart. The remaining heels consisting of The Quebecers, Martel, & Adam Bomb form an alliance to battle Savage & Ramon.

[Commercial Break]

-A video aired hyping Randy Orton vs. Batista at Judgment Day.

Heenan mentions that Johnny Polo (Raven) is well represented since he manages The Quebecers and Adam Bomb. Savage eliminates Bomb. The three Canadian heels toss out Savage. The trio shoots Ramon to the ropes but miss a triple dropkick. Ramon tosses out both Jacques and Pierre to eliminate The Quebecers.

WINNERS: Razor Ramon & Rick Martel in 15:05 of what aired. Decent action. Scott Hall was super over.

[Commercial Break]

-The "Please do not try this at home" video aired.

-Okerlund explains that one of the top tag teams in 1993 were The Steiner Brothers. Over the summer, The Steiner Brothers defeated Money Inc. to capture the WWE Tag Team Titles. The #1 Contenders - The Quebecers - challenged The Steiner Brothers to defend the titles in a match held under "Province of Quebec Rules." Besides a pinfall or a submission, the titles can also change via a DQ or a count out.

2 – THE STEINER BROTHERS vs. THE QUEBECERS – "Quebec Province Rules" for Tag Titles

This match is from the September 13, 1993 episode of Monday Night Raw. This match is joined in progress with Vince McMahon, Bobby Heenan, and Randy Savage on commentary. Heenan mentions that Lou Holtz used to coach at the University of Quebec. Scott works over Pierre with a headlock. Vince tells everyone to check out Scott's guns. Indeed. Pierre almost decapitates Scott with a sick lariat. Scott comes back with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex before sinking in a half-crab. Rick tags in and continues the half-crab on Pierre. Johnny Polo, making his debut as The Quebecers manager, comes to ringside wearing a hockey jersey and carrying a hockey stick. Rick horribly botches a move off the second rope. Rick was supposed to jump off the ropes to attempt a splash but get caught with Pierre's knees. However, Pierre was not in the correct position. Thinking on his feet, Rick just lept off the top rope and purposely landed on Pierre's knees. Ugh. Polo calls a meeting with his team on the outside.

[Commercial Break]

-A video hyping Judgment Day aired.

The Quebecers work over Scott for an extended period of time. Rick finally just runs in to stop all the double-teaming. Scott hits a double-clothesline and makes the hot tag. Rick goes to town with clotheslines and scoop slams galore. Scott hits a Frankensteiner for a nearfall. For some reason, the ref counts even though Scott isn't the legal man. Polo distracts Rick and tosses the hockey stick to Jacques. Scott steals the stick and hits Jacques with it in front of the referee prompting a DQ and a title change.

WINNERS: The Quebecers in 10:01 of what aired to win the Tag Titles. I think I've seen enough Quebecers for one week. However, it was interesting to see Polo's debut with the team.

[Commercial Break]

-A video montage on Chavo Guerrero aired.

-Okerlund set up the main event based on the Battle Royal from earlier. Razor Ramon and Rick Martel outlasted 18 others to get a shot at the vacant IC Title. This match is from the October 11, 1993 episode of Monday Night Raw.

3 – RICK MARTEL vs. RAZOR RAMON –for vacant IC Title

Ramon tosses his toothpick at Martel to begin the match. Both men trade holds. Martel hits a drop toehold and paintbrushes Ramon before doing some jumping jacks. Back and forth action continues until Ramon catches Martel in the air and drops him with a fall away slam. Martel ducks out of the ring to take a break on the floor. Back in the ring, Martel works a front-facelock. Ramon counters and work's over Martel's left arm with his signature offense.

[Commercial Break]

-A video montage on Randy Orton aired.

Martel hits a back suplex for a nearfall. Martel begins to focus his attack on Ramon's lower back. Heenan mentions that if Martel wins the IC Title, no Americans will have any titles as The Quebecers hold the Tag Titles and Yokozuna holds the World Title. Martel sinks in the Boston crab, but Ramon reaches the ropes. Heenan refers to Ramon as Desi Arnaz. The Model hits a sidewalk slam and locks Ramon in the Boston crab again. Ramon powers his way out. Ramon places Martel on the top turnbuckle for a back suplex, but Martel shoves him off. Martel connects with a flying crossbody and Ramon floats over for the nearfall. Ramon hits a running knee lift followed by The Razor's Edge for the clean win.

WINNER: Razor Ramon in 9:15 of what aired to win the vacant IC Title. Nice to see Hall during the prime of his career in terms of in-ring action. Fun match.

-Okerlund wraps up the show by mentioning that Razor Ramon now joins the likes of Pat Patterson, Bret Hart, and Mr. Perfect as IC champions. Later in the year, Shawn Michaels would return and claim to be the real IC champion. This would eventually lead to their classic ladder match at WrestleMania X. No matches were announced for next week.

Torch Reader Alert: VIP Torch subscribers can access Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter back issues from 1993 detailing the time period from this week's WWE Vintage TV show. Back issues from 1993 are available for VIP subscribers. Not a subscriber? Learn how to subscribe!

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