I thought I’d review this match since it fits along with my timeline and the fact these guys, to the best of my knowledge, never had a televised match. It took place at the 10/20 “Superstars” tapings at the Burlington Civic Center in Burlington, VT. and featured on the “WWE Unreleased Never Before Seen Matches 1986-1995” DVD. These matches do not contain any commentary.
Ludvig Borga vs. Lex Luger
The “Coliseum Home Video” banners are up for this match. Borga barely gets any heat during his entrance and Luger’s reception from the fans is mild to say the least. The crowd actually gets a decent enough “USA” chant going as Luger and Borga feel each other out before locking up. Borga shoves Luger into the corner then they lock up again where Borga shoves Luger again. Some fan in the front row taunts Borga and even takes off his shirt and flexes, which easily gets the biggest reaction out of anything from this taping. Luger now grabs a side headlock as Borga escapes then taunts the crowd. We get some more USA chants then Luger works the arm for a bit. Borga catches Luger with a back elbow smash then the two collide before Luger hits a crossbody for a two count. Luger goes back to the arm but eats boot on a charge in the corner then Borga hammers away. Borga punts Luger in the ribs a few times and takes in between to taunt the crowd. Borga now chokes out Luger a few different ways as the crowd is dead. Borga drops an elbow after a slam that gets two then applies a reverse chin lock. We get a feint USA chant then Luger finally escapes. Luger hits a back suplex but Borga comes right back with a clothesline that gets two. Borga lands a few shots but ducks his head and is kicked in the face. Luger fights back and drops Borga after a pair of clotheslines as the crowd briefly wakes up. Borga decks Luger in the face then knees him in the ribs but whiffs on a clothesline and Luger takes him out with a running forearm smash and gets the win (12:21) 1/2*.
Thoughts: Reports from correspondents in the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter” and “Pro Wrestling Torch” at the time were panning these matches and even Bruce Prichard talked about how bad these two were in the ring together on his “Something to Wrestle With” podcast. Their stuff at the end of the Survivor Series match was bad but this match was even worse. The crowd cared more about the good who took off his shirt as this was wrestled as a terrible, slow-paced early 80’s house show match. With all the hatred these two had and Luger promising to stand up for America by fighting this guy and all they go out and use basic holds and stalling tactics. And Borga’s heel act in the ring was what you would expect from a lower card wrestler plus his in-ring stuff here was horrendous. His strikes did not look forceful whatsoever. Luger did not do much here but was at least competent. The finish was also anticlimactic as Luger did not get much of a comeback before the sudden win. No wonder they did not even bother putting this on a home video release.
Final Thoughts: Its not a shock that they had Luger pin Borga clean at the Survivor Series as evidenced by the lack of crowd heat and terrible match they had in the ring. Borga would be gone from the company a few months after this match took place while Luger would still get a push but it would decrease the deeper we get into 1994.