On the very first ever Monday Night Raw, which took place on January 11, 1993, it certainly made sense that Shawn Michaels was on the card. Though he was still a year or so from becoming the “Showstopper” and the “Main Event”, he was still a star, and few had any question that he was on the path to greatness.
While it wasn’t a surprise that Michaels was on the show, it will likely be a shock to even the most hardcore mark who was standing across the ring. One would think that one of the big stars of the day, such as Ric Flair, Mr. Perfect, or even Bret Hart would have made an excellent opponent for the Heartbreak Kid.
Not even close. Though, to be fair, Michaels’ opponent was out of this world.
Literally.
Yep, it was none other than Max Moon, aka Maxamillion Moves, the Comet Kid, and about 50 other stupid nicknames.
Max’s gimmick, of course, was that he was not of this earth. Stop and think about THAT one for a minute. He would come to the ring with a little jet pack on his back that would lift him into the ring. The only problem was that, despite costing some outrageous sum of money, the thing never actually worked; it just puffed out little plumes of smoke, as poor Max would jump up the steps one at a time.
Later, the backpack was abandoned and replaced with armbands that shot Roman Candle-style fireworks into the crowd. Eventually, that was dumped too, and he shot confetti into the air. Because nothing says “outer space” like confetti, I guess.
Moon was originally scheduled to be portrayed by Mexican star Konnan, and apparently, he did make an appearance or two under the suit. However, that was short-lived, as Vince McMahon and Konnan had a falling out and he left the Federation (which also explains why, when given the opportunity to leave WCW in the late 90’s, Konnan decided to stay). Moon was replaced under the mask by journeyman Paul Diamond, who long-time WrestleCrappers might recall as Kato in the Orient Express.
And why was Diamond given this opportunity?
Because he fit the suit. And no, that’s not a joke.
Despite the fact that he was given a decent initial push, Moon failed to rocket to the top of the company. It is only now that he has returned to his homeworld.
Planet WrestleCrap, that is.