What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – February 20, 1993

WWF Mania featured two exclusive matches on Saturday morning. On the show, host Todd Pettengill confirmed that Hulk Hogan would be returning on Monday Night RAW.

El Matador & Virgil (0-1) beat the Beverly Brothers (1-1) when El Matador pins Beau with a small package at 8:44:

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan commentate the bout, with Heenan giving a funny “rise to riches” backstory of how the babyface team used to park cars at Madison Square Garden. In a bad sign for the Beverly, Monsoon cannot tell Beau or Blake apart even though they are not a new act. After the Beverlys put Virgil in peril they nearly win after a Blake powerslam but El Matador breaks the count. The Beverlys argue after the hot tag when Blake inadvertently has the ropes pulled down and Beau tumbles out. In the ring, El Matador hits Blake with the flying forearm but Beau breaks that up behind the referee’s back. An illegal switch does not work, though, as El Matador traps Beau in a small package and gives the babyfaces a win. This match had a good pace and it had some nice spots at the end to keep the crowd guessing as to who would prevail. Rating: **¾

Typhoon (0-3) pins Ed Moretti after the Tidal Wave at 1:03 shown:

Moretti entered the wrestling business in 1978, wrestling for Vancouver All Star Wrestling and Pacific Northwest Wrestling as Moondog Moretti. He stayed there throughout the 1980s, winning tag team gold four times, until working six televised jobber matches for the WWF in 1991.

The WWF cuts this squash match down, with Typhoon getting a much needed win after losing three consecutive singles matches to start the year.

Wrestling Spotlight also featured an exclusive enhancement match. In that match, El Matador (2-0-1) beat Tim Patterson with the flying forearm at 5:01. Footage of that match could not be obtained.

Now to WWF Superstars that had Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Randy Savage on commentary, taped from San Jose, California. When Lawler jokes about Brutus Beefcake’s face, Savage takes exception.

Earthquake and Bam Bam Bigelow do a nice back-and-forth promo setup where both men’s faces appear and are shrouded in darkness. Bigelow promises that Earthquake will feel the heat of his fire. Earthquake promises to smother those flames with a quake.

Opening Contest: Razor Ramon (5-1) pins Buddy Wayne after the Razor’s Edge at 2:14:

Ramon makes liberal use of the second rope in today’s squash, doing a super fallaway slam and then a super backdrop suplex to prime Wayne for his finisher.

Gene Okerlund’s Update recaps Brutus Beefcake’s return on Monday Night RAW and his subsequent beatdown by WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated. Okerlund says that Beefcake suffered a fractured nose and some of the metal plates in his head were dislodged. Despite that, Beefcake will appear on RAW. Afterward, McMahon adds that Hulk Hogan will be on RAW as well.

Mr. Perfect (4-0) defeats Bobby Young after the Perfectplex at 2:19:

Perfect destroys Young with some dropkicks. He looks into the camera and asks if Ramon likes what he sees. An objective observer would say that Ramon’s squash was more impressive because of the moves used. After the bout, Lawler uses the Royal Magistrator to draw Dennis the Menace because that is who he says Perfect reminds him of. The WWF has decided not to make an issue of Lawler causing Perfect to be eliminated from the Royal Rumble.

Bam Bam Bigelow (9-0) beats Earthquake via count out at 4:04:

Earthquake, a former sumo wrestler, had been with the WWF since 1989. In 1992 he wrestled almost exclusively in tag team matches with Typhoon as the Natural Disasters. They started the year as heels and got a count out win over WWF Tag Team Champions the Legion of Doom at The Royal Rumble but were unable to win the belts. When manager Jimmy Hart helped Money Incorporated get a title match in Denver, Colorado and beat the Legion, the Disasters turned babyface off-camera and feuded with Hart’s new team. They won the titles in July and won a short program against the Beverly Brothers but they lost the belts back to Money Incorporated three months later because of interference from the Headshrinkers. The WWF planned a program between the Disasters and the Headshrinkers but it was cut short by Earthquake giving his notice.

Bigelow beat Earthquake’s former tag team partner a few weeks ago on Wrestling Spotlight. Like that one, Bigelow suplexes a bigger man, giving Earthquake to back suplexes. A missed falling headbutt lets Earthquake do a few corner avalanches but he tries one too many and flies out of the ring, getting counted out. The crowd hates the finish and no one can blame them. This would be Earthquake’s last WWF match for close to a year as he would depart to work for Genichiro Tenryu’s Wrestle and Romance (WAR) promotion in Japan. Rating: ½*

Kamala (w/Slick) (4-0) beats Mike Starr after a splash to the back at 2:24:

Starr was trained by Billy Anderson and records suggest that his career began in 1985. He started doing enhancement matches for the WWF in 1987 but did not do any in 1992. He had his best success in Vancouver All-Star Wrestling in 1988 and 1989, winning matches under the names Blue Demon and Michelle Starr.

Lawler’s criticism of Kamala as someone who is not as feared as he was hits close to home. During the squash, Kim Chee comes to ringside and Kamala wants to come after him. Slick gets Kamala re-focused until Kim Chee decides to go back to the locker room. If the goal of Kamala’s character is to get fans more involved it is not working as people are not reacting much to the pinfall sequences anymore. Also, Kamala’s matches need to open the door more to audience participation beyond the finish.

Debra Duggan, wife of Hacksaw Jim Duggan, lists the injuries she has nursed him through in his career. She says that she does not want Hacksaw to wrestle anymore because they have a baby on the way. The segment emphasizes that the United States is not at war with Japan and the battle between Hacksaw and Yokozuna has been over a sport.

Okerlund does the WrestleMania IX Report. New matches announced are Mr. Perfect vs. Lex Luger, Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka, and the Steiner Brothers vs. the Headshrinkers.

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) (5-0) pins Raven Clark after the Tombstone at 1:54:

The Undertaker does a better job making the narrative of being a new wrestler today, taking Clark down with a Fujiwara armbar. How that is going to help him against Giant Gonzalez at WrestleMania is uncertain. After the Undertaker does the Tombstone, McMahon insists that the Undertaker could do that to Gonzalez in Las Vegas. The novelty of seeing the Undertaker as a technical wrestler made this a fun squash. When the match is over, the Undertaker and Bearer seal Clark in a body bag.

Crush says that seeing kids in Somalia starve crushes his heart so he urges fans to donate to the “Headlock on Hunger” campaign.

Doink the Clown tells the Big Bossman that he needs to loosen up and their match next week will be no laughing matter. The Bossman rebuts that he is going to hurt Doink and make him serve hard time.

Tune in next week to see the Big Bossman face Doink the Clown! Also, Yokozuna and Lex Luger will be in action! And there will be a special interview with Giant Gonzalez!

The Last Word: The squash matches were mostly good on this show. The only hiccup was Kamala’s paint-by-numbers squash that fans have seen a lot. The WWF is gradually evolving how they are doing feuds as there have been more direct interactions between wrestlers rather than lots of insert promos back and forth until a pay-per-view or house show. That is a consequence of having the Monday Night RAW show in place of Prime Time since RAW is trying to be more of a storyline driven show. It is a welcome change of pace and signifies that quality television is starting to become a larger part of the WWF’s business model.

Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for February 21!