What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – January 31, 1993

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan provide commentary, taped from Beaumont, Texas.

Opening Contest: Bam Bam Bigelow (6-0) pins Jim Hunter after the flying headbutt at 1:41:

Bigelow has new ring gear with purple outlines on the flames of his tights. It looks better on television than the bright yellow flame tights he was using that were a relic of the previous decade. Bigelow is discussed as a WWF title contender as he lays out Hunter with some suplexes and the flying headbutt.

Skinner (0-1) defeats Dave Silguero after the Alligator Neckbreaker at 2:27:

Skinner is homeless on the roster as he spent much of 1992 as an exclusive competitor for Prime Time Wrestling, a show that no longer exists. Monsoon tries to talk Skinner up, talking about how he likes his inverted DDT finisher – now called the Alligator Neckbreaker – and that he has compiled “quite a record” in the WWF. That makes one wonder if the WWF is building Skinner for a feature match in a few weeks. Skinner spends much of the match rubbing Silguero’s head into the canvas. It is not a thrilling effort but it gives Skinner his first win of the year.

Kamala (w/Slick) (3-0) pins James Santos after a splash to the back at 2:46:

Slick wants Kamala to wrestle cleanly, so he is urged not to choke Santos. Poor Kamala still struggles to get a pinning combination right. This match must have happened later at the taping because the crowd is not as willing to give Kamala advice.

Lex Luger joins the broadcast via television hookup. Luger says comparing him to Mr. Perfect is like comparing “ice cream to horse manure.” So far Luger’s promos have been weak. The rhetoric is good but he talks in a halting manner and keeps bulging his eyes so he looks mentally unstable.

Non-Title Match: Money Incorporated (WWF Tag Team Champions w/Jimmy Hart) defeat Jerry Stevens & Robert Taylor when Irwin R. Schyster pins Stevens after an elbow drop at 2:35:

Money Incorporated, a tag team of Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster, had a few matches together in 1991 but the pairing became permanent in 1992. They won the Tag Team Championship from the Legion of Doom at a house show in February and feuded for most of the year with the Natural Disasters, who blamed Jimmy Hart for giving Money Incorporated their title shot. The teams traded the titles and when that feud was over it branched into a program against the Nasty Boys, who also blamed Hart for giving away a title match that they thought they deserved.

Stevens popped up a times in 1991 and 1992 as an enhancement worker. He made two appearances the previous year, losing to Razor Ramon and the Legion of Doom.

Taylor was used just like Stevens, wrestling a few times for the WWF in 1991. He had one match in 1992, partnering with Dale Wolfe in a losing effort against the Nasty Boys.

The fact that this is the first time that Tag Team champions are appearing on television this year shows how low of a priority those belts have become. Monsoon and Heenan hype the WWF’s upcoming European tour, where Money Incorporated will defend their titles. The highlight of the match is a funny spot where IRS tries to do some amateur wrestling with Taylor but Taylor is not good at it so IRS traps himself in a head scissors with Taylor’s legs.

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Marty Jannetty (w/Sensational Sherri) (4-1) defeats Mike Williams after the Rocker Dropper at 2:47:

Williams was a Texas-based talent who made an average of four appearances per year for the WWF from 1988-1991. He was not used in 1992, receiving a small push in the Global Wrestling Federation (GWF) as Mike Lane.

Heenan, who has been infatuated with Sherri for years, is now critical of her for choosing Jannetty over Shawn Michaels. In the split screen, Sherri says she will be at Jannetty’s side. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of chemistry between them but this storyline was abandoned by Jannetty’s firing. The squash is not good as Jannetty works some rest holds and finishes Williams when Williams tries to take a shot at Sherri.

El Matador (1-0-1) pins the Predator after El Paso del Muerte at 2:55:

Even though the Predator was a gimmick given to Michael Bollea, a nephew of Hulk Hogan who would later work in WCW as Horace Hogan, this is not him under the mask. El Matador does a split screen promo to put over the “Headlock on Hunger” campaign. There is nothing flashy in this squash as an unmotivated El Matador goes through the motions.

Doink the Clown defeats Bob East with a stump puller at 1:44:

Doink was longtime veteran Matt Borne, a second-generation wrestler who was trained by his father Tony Borne and Sandy Barr. Borne started his career in 1978 in the Pacific Northwest, making stops in the early 1980s in Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and Mid-South Wrestling. He was a tag team champion in each, winning gold with Buzz Sawyer and Ted DiBiase. Borne had an unsuccessful run with the WWF from 1985-1986 as he never made it past preliminary status. However, did appear at the first WrestleMania, losing to Ricky Steamboat. After runs in World Class and Memphis where he won heavyweight titles, Borne signed with WCW, who gave him the gimmick of an outdoor wrestler called Big Josh. While there he was a six-man tag team champion with Dustin Rhodes and Tom Zenk. The WWF signed him in late 1992 and Borne adopted a villainous clown gimmick that he claimed was an idea pitched to him by Road Warrior Hawk. Borne did not wrestle at any televised events in 1992, simply appearing in the crowd and playing jokes on fans and other wrestlers.

The character has great entrance music, starting with a carnival beat and seconds later turning into something from a horror film. Doink does a fun insert promo about how Crush learned that he was “armed and dangerous.” He demonstrates good wrestling acumen, taking East down and hitting a nice enzuigiri. The finish is supposed to be a stump puller but Doink falls down, so the referee counts East’s shoulders to the canvas rather than asking for a submission.

Tune in next week to see Razor Ramon, High Energy, the Headshrinkers, and Virgil in action!

The Last Word: Doink had a good debut, establishing that the character had more depth than a clown who liked to play jokes. It was also a novelty to see Sensational Sherri manage Marty Jannetty. However, it is hard to see Sherri working well as a babyface manager because it takes away most of her tools for getting over as her interference opportunities will be limited and she is confined to trying to get the crowd to cheer for whomever she is supporting.

After doing television tapings after The Royal Rumble, the WWF held several house shows in the Northeast. Here were the results of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

New York, New York – Madison Square Garden – January 29, 1993 (12,000): There was a ten-bell toll in tribute to Andre the Giant and the WWF presented the Red Cross with a $100,000 check as part of its “Headlock on Hunger” campaign…El Matador pinned Skinner after El Paso del Muerte at 8:38…Randy Savage pinned Ted DiBiase with a DDT at 14:00…Tatanka pinned Damien Demento with a tomahawk chop at 9:02…WWF Champion Bret Hart pinned Bam Bam Bigelow with a victory roll at 11:42…Mr. Perfect beat Ric Flair via disqualification after Razor Ramon interfered at 17:00. Bobby Heenan was sent backstage during the match by Sergeant Slaughter after passing Flair brass knuckles…The Headshrinkers defeated Virgil & Jim Powers (substituting for Hacksaw Jim Duggan) at 6:20…Typhoon pinned the Berzerker with a splash at 6:00…Razor Ramon pinned the Big Bossman with a roll up…The Undertaker pinned Irwin R. Schyster with the Tombstone at 4:30…The Steiner Brothers defeated the Beverly Brothers when Scott pinned Blake with the Frankensteiner at 10:00…Bob Backlund defeated Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels via count out at 18:00.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Maple Leafs Gardens – January 31, 1993 (6,500; matinee): Tatanka beat Damien Demento…Randy Savage defeated Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels via count out…El Matador beat Skinner…Typhoon defeated the Berzerker…Jim Powers beat the Predator…WWF Champion Bret Hart defeated Yokozuna (substituting for Bam Bam Bigelow) via count out. After the match, Yokozuna beatdown Bret until Sergeant Slaughter and WWF officials broke it up…The Steiner Brothers defeated the Beverly Brothers…Razor Ramon beat the Big Bossman…Mr. Perfect defeated Ric Flair.

Backstage News*: Former WWF Champion Andre the Giant passed away in Paris, France on January 28 of congestive heart failure. He was 46 years old.

-The WWF decided to shorten Crush’s injury time because of criticism of the angle from The New York Daily News. The plan was going to be to keep Crush out longer and return him closer to WrestleMania but now his serious concussion has been downgraded to an injury that will keep him out for a couple of weeks.

-The WWF had a big walkup for the Superstars taping in San Jose, creating a sellout of 5,000 fans. The company also made sure that the taping was done by 10:50 p.m., which kept a large part of the crowd there versus past tapings where the WWF filmed past midnight.

-As part of its talent agreement with the USWA, the WWF will be sending more talent to Memphis in the coming months. Doink the Clown, Lex Luger, and Randy Savage are pegged as talents that will have some matches there.

-Vince McMahon held a press conference for the Japanese media in Fresno, California on January 26, announcing that WWF talent would be appearing for Genichiro Tenryu’s Wrestle and Romance (WAR) promotion. McMahon also announced that Tenryu would participate at WrestleMania IX.

-Hulk Hogan was reportedly at Titan Towers with Brutus Beefcake on Thursday. There is talk that an agreement was reached to bring Hogan back as the WWF is anxious to do so because of falling pay-per-view buyrates.

-Ray Rougeau has become the WWF’s lead interviewer because Joe Aiello, got a radio station morning DJ job in Winnipeg, Ontario, Canada and it was a better offer for him.

-Former Championship Wrestling ring announcer Joe McHugh passed away in Allentown, Pennsylvania on January 31. He was 88 years old.

-In talent relations news, the WWF gave a tryout to Volcano Kid (James Aoino), a Samoan wrestler from Southern California.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for February 1 and 8.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for February 1!

And if you would like to read a compiled breakdown of 1990-1992 WWF, 1993 ECW, or of various promotions in 1995, check out my Amazon author page to purchase e-books or paperback copies!