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I recently got about 10 episodes of WWF’s Wrestling Challenge from 1993 and it should be an interesting look back. I remember watching this shows back when I was a young mark and seeing all the squash matches they had. I plan on reviewing all the episodes I received and this will be the first.
They start with photo still from the Royal Rumble with Yokozuna winning.
This event is brought to you from the Beaumont Arena in Texas and your announcers are the great tandem of Bobby Heenan and Gorilla Monsoon.
-Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Jim Something?
I didn’t catch the jobbers name and I really don’t want to rewind it to find out. Bam Bam controls early (of course) and tosses Jimmy around, then hits a suplex. Bam Bam continues tossing and turns a suplex into a powerslam. He heads to the top and hits a flying head drop for the three. I forgot to time the match but it wasn’t more than a minute and a half. Jimmy No-Name got absolutely NO offense. ¼*.
We go to a taped Bret Hart intverview talking about facing Yokozuna at Wrestlemania. He says he can’t worry about him now, since he’s a fighting champion and all and needs to fight other people first.
-Skinner vs. Dave Silguero
Another squash match? Or will Dave pull off the upset? I forgot to start the timer again for the match time on this match, but I don’t think any of you reading will care. Skinner takes control early of Dave and runs his face into the mat. He hits a double underhook into a fireman’s carry and covers. He picks Dave up at two though. Normally, that’d be a huge no-no for heels, but he IS fighting a jobber. Skinner hits a full nelson on the mat then slaps the back of Dave’s head. Dave tries to hiptoss Skinner but gets elbowed in the face instead. Skinner hits the reverse DDT (the alligator neckbreaker sez Bobby) and gets the victory. DUD.
Sean Mooney joins us at the WWF Headquarters and hypes some upcoming house shows. HBK will be fighting Backlund and Bam Bam challenges Bret. Another Bret interview follows. We then hear from the Beverly’s and the Steiners. I miss these old taped interview hyping house shows or PPV’s. Scott Steiner looks completely different now than how you know him now, and newer fans wouldn’t even recognize him back in 93.
-Kamala vs. James Santos
This is during Kamala’s horrible face run, where Reverend Slick “saved” Kamala from Kimchee and Wippleman and showed him how he can be good and shit like that. All I can remember is a WWF Magazine article showing Kamala bowling or something ridiculous like that. Santos basically has no chance and I don’t think I’ll bother recapping this match. Brain says Kamala would’ve won this match already had Kimchee and Wippleman been managing him. Man, I miss Bobby. Kamala goes to choke Santos but Slick tells him not too. Usual Kamala finish as he splashes Santos, doesn’t cover the right way. See, Santos isn’t on his back but laying on his front, and Kamala tries to cover anyway. I hated when he did that, even when I was 11 and watching this. DUD
Bobby then starts talking about Lex Luger and we hear from Lex himself. This happened shortly after Perfect beat Flair on Raw in a loser leaves town match. Of course Brain had a shit fit since his man was thrown out of the WWF so he went out to find someone to take on Perfect. In one of the most borderline homosexual segments ever in WWF History, Bobby unveiled The Narcissist Lex Luger at the Rumble and basically ogled him and talked about his muscles and shit like that. Anyway, Lex says it’s hard to compare ice cream (him) to cow manure (Perfect).
-Money Inc. vs. Jerry Stevens/Robert Taylor
Ted and Stevens start off and Ted hits a clothesline and tags to IRS. IRS takes down Stevens and hits an atomic drop. Stevens flies to his corner and tags in Taylor. Money Inc. quickly hit a double team clothesline. Ted hits a suplex and follows with a powerslam. IRS tags in and hits a flying clothesline, followed by an elbow drop for three. You know you’re a jobber when you get pinned with an elbow drop. ¼*
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Hype for WM 9.
Next up is a special Hacksaw Jim Duggan interview from Superstars. Duggan responds to Yokozuna’s/Mr. Fuji’s claim that Americans are lazy now and can’t make good cars anymore. Duggan basically challenges “Yokozuma” and promises to knock him off his feet and he will not stop until he has no air in his lungs and no blood in his heart. The crowd eats it up like crazy, until a few weeks later when the match happened and Yokozuna killed Duggan dead with like 4 Bonzai Drops.
-Marty Jannetty vs. Mike Williams
They shows clips of the fans pre-match and they are marking out like crazy for Jannetty. Jannetty brings out Sensational Sherri and the crowd goes apeshit. Barry Williams, it should be noted, is wearing pink trunks and knee pads. Marty connects with a hiptoss then steps on Barry’s face. We go to split screen with a Sherri interview saying she’s in Marty’s corner now instead of HBK’s. Marty applies a headlock which Barry tries to power out of. The banter between Heenan and Monsoon during this match are classic. I think I should be recapping THEM instead of this match. Hearing them talk about Jannetty/Michaels/Sherri situation is hiliarious. Marty hits the Rocker Drop out of nowhere for three.
We see clips of The Giant Gonzalez taking out the Undertaker at the Rumble
-El Matador Tito Santana vs. Some Masked Guy
Ok, I missed the masked guys name. For reference in this match, we’ll call him Masky. The Masked guy has an S on his mask, so his name probably starts with an S. They wonder who is under the mask and Bobby thinks it is Sherri (it’s the best she’s ever looked) and then guesses it could be Todd Pettingill. We cut to an El Matador interview about Headlock for Hunger. (REMEMBER THAT!?) The match by the way sucks balls, but Heenan and Monsoon again are hilarious talking about Todd and Bobby having no idea who it is. Gorilla mentions it’s a matter of time before more gold goes around his waist, which we know never happens, and Tito hits his flying jalapeno or whatever for three.
-Bob East vs. Doink
This is the ORIGINAL Doink with the KICK ASS music and this happens to be Doink’s first ever WWF Match. The original Doink character was pretty neat. An evil clown? That’s money. Of course, before this, he had tripped Bossman on TV, poured a bucket of water on Jannetty (?) and attacked Crush with a cast full of lead. Doink controls early and hits an enzuguiri on East. Doink actually had some wrestling talent and I remember a pretty good Raw main event from 94 featuring Doink and Bob Backlund. Doink hits a nice dropkick then a nicer snap suplex and gets an interesting pinning combination for three. He sits over him, grabs his leg then rolls over to get the pin.
More hyping of house shows by Mooney. We get interviews from Bob Backlund, Shawn Michaels, Big Bossman,
It looks like the lineup for that houseshow looked like this:
-Bret Hart(c) vs. Bam Bam Bigelow for the WWF Title
-Shawn Michaels(c) vs. Bob Backlund for the IC Title
-Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair!!!
-The Steiners vs. The Beverly Brothers
-Big Bossman vs. Razor Ramon
Shit, I’d like to see a fancam of that one day.
We get the list of performers who’ll be here next week (Ramon! High Energy! Virgil! Headshrinkers!) and we end with a Mr. Fuji/Yokozuna Interview.
Well, nothing of note AT ALL on this tape, except the first Doink match. I wouldn’t go out of my way at all to get this episode, but if you have some, definitely watch them for the great Heenan/Monsoon commentary. It’s classic.
Overall Wrestling Challenge Rating:
Match Rating: .5/6 = .083
Interview/Backstage Segments Rating: = 0
Overall Enjoyment: 2.5
FINAL Wrestling Challenge RATING: = 2.5+.083/2 = 1.291
5.0 = Perfect: Highest Recommendation Ever
4.1-4.9 = Near Perfect: Highly Recommended
3.1-4.0 = Perfectly Acceptable Show: Recommended
2.5-3.0 = Some flaws but overall it’s good: Mildly Recommended
2.0-2.4 = More flaws than above: Middling, thumbs in the middle
1.1-1.9 = Bad show, few redeeming qualities: Recommendation to Avoid
0.1-1.0 = Horrible, don’t watch. Strong Recommendation to Avoid
0.0 = WORST, EPISODE, EVER
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