What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – February 7, 1993

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan do commentary for the last show of the taping cycle in Beaumont, Texas.

Opening Contest: High Energy (2-0) beat Dale Wolfe & Ken Johnson when Owen pins Johnson after a Koko B. Ware missile dropkick at 1:57:

An elderly gentleman near the front row does Ware’s bird dance. Probably not the target audience for High Energy’s gimmick but every bit of support helps. Heenan is puzzled how High Energy moves in their parachute pants, making that a funny commentary bit in a quick, basic squash effort.

Damien Demento (2-2) pins Bobby Perez after the knee drop at 1:29:

Monsoon and Heenan spend more time talking about Gonzalez and Wippleman. Heenan has some funny bits about how Wippleman can control Gonzalez with money and his views on money and love. Demento recovers from his RAW loss and Monsoon at least tries to sell the unfairness of what Demento does to load up his knee pad for the knee drop finisher.

Virgil (1-0) beats Tommy Knight after the side Russian leg sweep at 1:38:

Since Virgil does not have a storyline the WWF has him do an insert about the need to continue the “Headlock on Hunger” campaign. While many guys sliding down the card as dogging it in their squash matches, Virgil is still giving effort, squeezing a lot of sustained action into the 98 seconds he has to work with in this squash.

The Headshrinkers (w/Afa) (3-0) defeat Jim Brunzell & Gary Jackson when Samu pins Jackson after a flying headbutt at 2:34:

Monsoon makes the wild claim there used to be five Headshrinkers and that the weaker ones were eaten by the Samu and Fatu. He also says he would like to see them face High Energy but fans were already treated to that at Survivor Series. Brunzell gets out of taking any bumps as the Headshrinkers focus exclusively on Jackson. Samu gets the winning pin, which is a nice touch for the team because it gives them multiple go-to moves to end a match against better competition.

Razor Ramon (3-1) pins Rudi Gonzales after the Razor’s Edge at 2:55:

The newest edition of WWF Magazine has Ramon on the cover. It has a story about how Cubans in Florida do not like him. Ramon follows his usual squash formula to keep rebuilding himself after The Royal Rumble loss to WWF Champion Bret Hart. Heenan makes some comments about a program with Mr. Perfect but most have forgotten that is going on because of the focus on the Perfect-Luger program.

Typhoon argues that Ramon will not be so macho when he gets into the ring with him next week. Ramon rebuts that he is going to carve Typhoon up.

Tune in next week to see Typhoon face Razor Ramon! Also, Doink the Clown, Bam Bam Bigelow, and the Undertaker will appear!

The Last Word: While Wrestling Challenge has been a C-show for a long time, the WWF would at least give it a few bones every now and then with an exclusive segment or interview. So far in 1993, though, that is not the case as the show is replaying a lot big matches and segments that aired on Superstars. Since it is sweeps month, next week provides a feature match but that will be a fleeting boost for a show that is running on fumes.

The WWF splits its crew as one group toured the United States and another went to Europe. Here were the results of some of its house shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Bayreuth, Germany – Oberfrankenhalle – February 5, 1993 (sellout): Max Moon (substituting for Marty Jannetty) beat Repo Man…Papa Shango defeated Virgil…Ric Flair beat the Big Bossman…WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated defeated the Bushwhackers…The Nasty Boys beat the Headshrinkers…The Undertaker defeated Bam Bam Bigelow…WWF Champion Bret Hart pinned Rick Martel.

Boston, Massachusetts – The Boston Garden – February 6, 1993 (4,000): El Matador pinned Skinner with El Paso del Muerte at 9:08…Jim Brunzell defeated the Predator with a dropkick at 9:10…Terry Taylor pinned Jim Powers at 10:18. Both men came out to Jimmy Hart’s “Crank It Up” song…Tatanka pinned Damien Demento at 12:47…Razor Ramon beat Mr. Perfect via count out at 11:00…The Steiner Brothers defeated the Beverly Brothers when Scott pinned Blake after a Frankensteiner at 10:51…Kamala pinned Kim Chee with a splash at 4:11…Yokozuna defeated Randy Savage with a belly-to-belly suplex at 5:15…Bob Backlund beat Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels via count out at 20:43.

Hamburg, Germany – Sporthalle – February 7, 1993 (5,728; sellout): Virgil pinned Repo Man with a roll up at 8:56…Rick Martel defeated Max Moon (substituting for Marty Jannetty) via submission to the Boston Crab at 15:12…The Undertaker pinned Papa Shango after a chokeslam at 9:32…The Nasty Boys defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated via disqualification when Jimmy Hart hit Brian Knobbs with one of the WWF Tag Team title belts when he had Ted DiBiase covered…The Headshrinkers defeated the Bushwhackers at 17:00…Bam Bam Bigelow pinned the Big Bossman with a flying headbutt at 8:45…WWF Champion Bret Hart beat Ric Flair via submission to the Sharpshooter at 29:02.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Philadelphia Spectrum – February 7, 1993 (5,725; matinee): Skinner pinned Jim Powers with the Alligator Neckbreaker…Jim Brunzell (substituting for El Matador) beat the Predator with a dropkick…El Matador (substituting for Tatanka) pinned Damien Demento after El Paso del Muerte…Terry Taylor defeated Glen Ruth with a sidewalk slam…The Steiner Brothers beat the Beverly Brothers when Scott pinned Blake with a Frankensteiner…Kamala beat Kim Chee after a splash…Yokozuna pinned Randy Savage after a belly-to-belly suplex…Bob Backlund defeated Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels via count out…Tatanka (substituting for Mr. Perfect) pinned Razor Ramon with a small package.

Backstage News*: The federal government is continuing its investigation into the WWF and broadened it to include tax evasion, child labor violations, pedophilia, drug use beyond steroids, and whether drugs were used as a form of payment for employment.

-KTTV in Los Angels refused to air The Yokozuna-Hacksaw Jim Duggan segment on Superstars after complaints from the Association of Asian Pacific American Artists (AAPAA). The group argues that the match and angle promote negative stereotypes. KTTV said that it will decide whether to air future Yokozuna matches on a case-by-case basis. Fans in that market got a replay of the Mr. Perfect-Ric Flair match from Monday Night RAW, with Lord Alfred Hayes explaining that Duggan-Yokozuna was too graphic to air.

-It is very likely that Hulk Hogan will be returning to the WWF and will be put into a tag team with Brutus Beefcake. He could return to television as soon as the end of the month. Hogan’s previous contacts with Turner Broadcasting have been seen as a way to get contract leverage out of Vince McMahon.

-The WWF’s European tours continue to give the company important cash flow. Shows in Germany from February 5-7 were sellouts and recovered a total gate of $700,000. A house show in Newcastle, England brought in a gate haul of $200,000. The WWF will conclude its present tour on February 10 and return to Great Britain, Northern Ireland, and Ireland in April.

-Mr. Perfect blew out his knee during a match with Razor Ramon at the Boston Garden on Friday. Perfect was on crutches afterward and he is expected to miss three weeks.

-There have been strong advance ticket sales for Undertaker-Yokozuna matches, which will begin at house shows on February 19.

-Even though the recent Monday Night RAW was not strong, it drew a 3.0 rating, the highest rating for the show to this point. This could mean good things for Matt Borne and the Doink character.

-There is heat on road agent Ray Stevens for telling Vince McMahon that Marty Jannetty was passed out at the San Jose Superstars taping. Some wrestlers are coming to Jannetty’s defense and saying that he was just sleeping. The pro-Jannetty camp is unhappy that Stevens, a former wrestler, would be more loyal to management than the talent.

-In other talent relations news, the WWF was interested in acquiring Johnny B. Badd from WCW but he is now more likely to stay with WCW after negotiations with Bill Shaw.

*Backstage news provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for February 15.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for February 13!

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!