What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – January 23, 1993

WWF Mania had one exclusive match that was taped on January 18 at the Manhattan Center.

Virgil beats Mike Sharpe after the side Russian leg sweep at 5:33:

Sharpe was trained by Dewey Robertson (the Missing Link) and was a second-generation talent. He made his debut in 1975 and worked for Gene Kiniski’s NWA All Star Wrestling and Stampede Wrestling, holding tag team titles in each promotion. He came to the WWF in February 1983 and got a strong push, headlining a show at the Philadelphia Spectrum against WWF Champion Bob Backlund. After that he moved down the card into an opening act and television enhancement talent. In 1992 he came back to the WWF are not appearing at any shows in 1991, wrestling in 11 squash matches, all to babyface acts.

Virgil is now carrying a bucket to the ring with the Red Cross symbol, collecting money for the “Headlock on Hunger” campaign. His quest for donations would be easier if he had not turned on Ted DiBiase a few years ago. Sharpe gets the most crowd support of arguably any WWF match he has had in the last decade as fans work up several “Let’s go Mike!” chants. They pop big for a clothesline, which is the only high impact move Sharpe hits in the bout. With better offense, the match would have come off better. It takes Virgil a while to put Sharpe down in a competitive bout. Rating: ¾*

Now onto WWF Superstars, hosted later in the day by Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Randy Savage. They kick off a new taping cycle in San Antonio, Texas. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on January 5 and drew a near sellout crowd. This is the last Superstars before The Royal Rumble.

McMahon announces that Crush suffered a severe concussion at Doink’s hands last week and will not be able to participate in the Royal Rumble. Savage and Lawler spend time arguing about their respective Rumble chances.

Opening Contest: The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) (3-0) pins Dave Silguero after the Tombstone at 1:52:

In the split screen, the Undertaker drops dirt out of his hand, saying that there will be “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust” in the Rumble. As the Undertaker lays waste to Silguero, McMahon discusses Harvey Wippleman’s anger with the Undertaker because he changed Kamala at Survivor Series. After the Undertaker gives Silguero the Tombstone, Lawler says that he would love to see the Undertaker do that to Savage. Silguero goes into a body bag when the match is over.

Gene Okerlund’s Update segment shows off Doink’s prosthetic arm that is “loaded with lead,” knocking it on a table to put over its effect. There is a replay of Doink’s attack on Crush. Okerlund finds it reprehensible that Doink kept Crush out of the Royal Rumble and denied him a chance at the WWF Championship.

Marty Jannetty (3-0) pins Ken Johnson after the Rocker Dropper at 1:10:

Johnson was a Johnny Valentine trainee who started working in 1979. He had been used as an enhancement talent on WWF television since 1988 and made seven appearances in 1992. Four of those appearances were in tag team matches where he lost twice to the Natural Disasters.

Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels does an insert saying that he does not care what corner Sensational Sherri is going to appear in at The Royal Rumble but is certain she will be in his because she is in love with him. Jannetty works much faster than he did on Monday night, needing only 70 seconds to pin Johnson.

PapaShango beats Rudy Gonzalez after the reverse shoulderbreaker at 1:38:

Shango, a heel wrestler who practiced voodoo, caused a stir after coming to the WWF in February 1992. The WWF was hoping that he would be a great foil for the Undertaker and plans were made for a program between the two that was quickly scrapped in the weeks after WrestleMania when Sid Justice quit. As a result, Shango was switched into a feud with the Ultimate Warrior. The WWF went overboard with Shango’s powers as he made the Warrior vomit green bile and have black liquid ooze from the former WWF champion’s head. He also made Gene Okerlund’s wrist bleed black goo, made a jobber’s hand catch fire, and set another jobber’s boots on fire. All of this did not make fans see Shango as a threat to the Warrior, though, and it did not help that the Warrior destroyed him in quick matches around the house show circuit. Shango had a long unbeaten streak on television but his biggest clean win was against El Matador, hardly befitting the push he was receiving. Prior to SummerSlam he cursed Intercontinental Champion Bret Hart, which was used to explain Bret’s loss to his brother-in-law, the British Bulldog, at the show. However, Bret won the WWF Championship weeks later, which made a mockery of Shango’s powers, and Bret submitted Shango on the last episode of Saturday Night’s Main Event before Survivor Series. It was also not good for Shango that he did not get a pay-per-view match in 1992. As 1993 began the WWF slotted him into a house show program with the Undertaker but even that went awry as Shango suffered a shoulder injury.

Gonzalez started wrestling in 1982 for Southwest Championship Wrestling in San Antonio, Texas, trained by Manny Fernandez, Tully Blanchard, and Chavo Guerrero, Sr. He did a few enhancement matches for Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling in the 1980s and also worked for WCW in that role in 1991. In 1992 he started doing enhancement work for the WWF, appearing in four matches. In 1999 he partnered with Shawn Michaels to create the Shawn Michaels Wrestling Academy in San Antonio, which later became known as the Texas Wrestling Academy.

During Shango’s entrance, McMahon acknowledges Shango’s recent shoulder injury but says that voodoo has helped Shango recover so he can compete in the Rumble. In the split screen, Shango has a book burn as he discusses possessing 29 minds in the Rumble. The crowd does not react much to Shango during the quick squash and afterward Shango sprays fireworks out of his staff.

After a replay of Razor Ramon’s attack on Owen Hart on WWF Mania, Ray Rougeau interviews WWF Champion Bret Hart. Or at least that is the plan before Ramon appears on the video screen and interrupts. Ramon lists off Bret’s accolades and talks of slapping Stu Hart, explaining why Bret referenced that in his interview on RAW. Bret dares Ramon to fight him immediately but Ramon declines because no one tells him what to do. There was a good build to this interview and Ramon’s habit of speaking slowly was a great way to irritate fans.

Bam Bam Bigelow (3-0) defeats Gary Jackson after the flying headbutt at 1:48:

Jackson entered the wrestling business in 1984, working as an enhancement talent for Central States Wrestling. He started in that role for the WWF in 1986 and for WCW in 1990. In 1991 he had an opening match role in Memphis as Night Train Jackson and JoJo Jackson. Jackson made six appearances for the WWF in 1992, losing to the likes of the Legion of Doom, Razor Ramon (twice), Money Incorporated, Nailz, and Rick Martel.

The Big Bossman does an insert promo about how Bigelow might be a big man but no one is bigger than the law. Bigelow continues his strong push by making quick work of Jackson, using a stun gun as a set up for the flying headbutt. After the match, Lawler uses the Royal Magristrator to draw Bigelow munching on the Bossman’s nightstick.

The Nasty Boys hype the “Headlock on Hunger” campaign.

Gene Okerlund does The Royal Rumble Report. In Rumble promos, Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji hype how he has never been knocked off his feet, Mr. Perfect says that men of all sizes are competing in the Royal Rumble but he is perfect and Ric Flair will not win because he does not have Perfect advising him, Bob Backlund argues he has been patient for ten years to get a chance at the WWF Championship, and Flair guarantees a second Rumble victory.

Kamala (w/Slick) (1-0) pins Dale Wolfe after a splash to the back at 1:51:

This is Slick’s first time at ringside since November 1991. In the split screen, Harvey Wippleman says that Kamala will not do well against Kim Chee. McMahon says that a match between Kamala and Kim Chee is imminent. Kamala gives Wolfe a splash to the back but does not cover him correctly, so Slick gets fans to urge Kamala to turn him over for the pin. That is a cute way to get fans involved but Kamala is going to have to show improvement week-to-week to make this gimmick work. And Slick is already failing as a manager because his man is not entered in the Royal Rumble.

Bobby Heenan says that Narcissus will be unveiled at The Royal Rumble and no one on the WWF’s roster stack up to him.

Savage and Lawler keep arguing over who is going to win the Royal Rumble. McMahon is not able to restore order before the show ends.

The Last Word: As expected, providing late Royal Rumble hype was the goal of the broadcast and it did a good enough job with that. Bret Hart and Razor Ramon have not been given a lot to work with for their feud but they have done what they can on the mic to build it. Their segment was easily the best on the show today.

Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for January 24!

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