What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – February 28, 1993

With the end of Prime Time Wrestling the WWF started to farm some feature matches out to All American Wrestling, which aired on Sundays on USA Network. On the February 28 episode Virgil (2-1) pinned Gary Key with the side Russian leg sweep at 4:03.

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan provide commentary for the last episode of the taping cycle in Fresno, California. Heenan talks about Hulk Hogan’s return and how he is trying to get more information about it.

Opening Non-Title Contest: Shawn Michaels (Intercontinental Champion) (6-1) pins Bobby Young after two superkicks at 2:16:

In the split screen, Sensational Sherri is angry that Michaels never called her after Marty Jannetty hit her with a mirror last year and argues that Michaels is not man enough to hold the Intercontinental title. Young tries to outmaneuver Michaels but his reverse flying body press off the second rope gets countered with a belly-to-belly suplex. After two superkicks, Michaels opts not to finish with the Teardrop Suplex because Young is already on dream street.

Gene Okerlund does the WrestleMania IX Report. Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji promise to squash WWF Champion Bret Hart. Bret fires back with a promo where he casts himself as an underdog. Giant Gonzalez and Harvey Wippleman claim that the Undertaker fears being buried in Las Vegas. Lex Luger argues that Mr. Perfect is nervous about facing him.

The Bushwhackers defeat the Intruder & Casey Cleric when Luke pins the Intruder after the Battering Ram at 2:48:

The Bushwhackers were the longest tenured team in the tag team division at this point, coming to the WWF in 1988. They always worked babyface, oriented as a wild Kiwi act for children, but that permanent role also meant that their act had grown stale and there was not a lot left to do with them. In 1992 the team was used sparingly, often to put over the promotion’s other teams. The Bushwhackers lost a feud to the Beverly Brothers and posted a meager 9-7 record in televised matches. Their biggest wins were in six-man tags, teaming with Bret Hart to beat the Nasty Boys and the Mountie on a May episode of Prime Time Wrestling and teaming with Hacksaw Jim Duggan to beat the Nasties and the Mountie at SummerSlam in a match that did not make the U.S. pay-per-view telecast.

The Intruder was Jesse Hernandez, a trainee of the Great Goliath who worked in West Coast independent promotions starting in 1977. Hernandez worked his first WWF squash match under his own name in 1983 and started appearing in them as a masked wrestler called the Intruder in 1988. In 1992 Hernandez worked two matches, losing to the Big Bossman and teaming with Barry Horowitz to lose to Sergeant Slaughter and Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

The Bushwhackers wear “Headlock on Hunger” shirts, casting their lot with many of the lower tier babyfaces that have been promoting that campaign. Since the WWF has brought in better workers as of late the Bushwhackers in-ring deficiencies stand out more. They gingerly work over their opponents for an easy win.

Ring announcer Bill Dunn tells fans that Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels has left the building.

Mr. Perfect (5-0) pins Gary Key after the Perfectplex at 2:53:

After Perfect applies a headlock, Key throws some weak elbows to escape. Perfect methodically wears Key down as Monsoon and Heenan hype his feud with Lex Luger. That program does not have a fraction of the heat as the Perfect-Flair feud and it has stalled Perfect’s rise up the card.

The Headshrinkers (w/Afa) (4-0) beat Scott Bazo & Allen Reed when Fatu pins Reed after the splash off the top rope at 2:50:

The Headshrinkers, like the Steiner Brothers, love to brutalize jobbers with high impact offense. They do need to retire the backdrop-into-powerbomb spot as it does not work today and they have to slowly lift Reed into the powerbomb position. The commentary does not clarify which of the Headshrinkers is wrestling Bret Hart on Monday Night Raw tomorrow night.

Kamala (w/Slick) (5-0) pins Ed Moretti after a splash to the back at 1:36:

One wonders if the girl who was deathly afraid of Kamala and cried during an interview segment featuring him last year has changed her tune now that he turned babyface. Slick does an insert promo thanking WWF fans for embracing his new charge. Heenan tries to argue that Kamala has more finesse since his turn but this is the same Kamala squash that fans have a lot already.

Tune in next week to see Doink the Clown, the Steiner Brothers, Lex Luger, and Yokozuna will be in action! There will also be a special interview with the Undertaker!

The Last Word: There was nothing of substance on this episode. Most of the squash efforts were poor and any storylines or angles were played out on other broadcasts.

Here is a sampling of the WWF’s house show business for the end of February, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada – The Saddledome – February 25, 1993 (4,200): El Matador beat Damien Demento…Tatanka defeated the Predator (substituting for the Berzerker)…The Headshrinkers beat High Energy…Mr. Perfect defeated Doink the Clown (substituting for Razor Ramon)…Bob Backlund beat Repo Man…WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated defeated the Nasty Boys…WWF Champion Bret Hart beat Lex Luger (substituting for Bam Bam Bigelow) via count out.

Auburn Hills, Michigan – The Palace – February 27, 1993 (6,000; 5,000 paid; matinee): Skinner pinned Jim Powers at 11:12…Crush beat Papa Shango via submission to the head vice at 9:46…Virgil pinned Terry Taylor at 8:41…Bam Bam Bigelow (substituting for Doink the Clown) defeated Typhoon at 10:40…Randy Savage beat Jerry Lawler (substituting for Shawn Michaels) via count out at 10:05. After the match, Lawler was forced to return to the ring by Crush and Savage gave Lawler the flying elbow drop with Crush counting the pin…Kamala defeated Kim Chee after a splash…The Steiner Brothers beat the Beverly Brothers when Scott pinned Beau after the Frankensteiner at 17:28…The Undertaker beat Yokozuna via disqualification after Yokozuna used a salt bucket as a weapon. After the bell, the Undertaker cleared Yokozuna from the ring after Yokozuna missed a sit-down splash off the second rope.

Backstage News*: The WWF plans to use Hulk Hogan in house show matches against Yokozuna after Hogan does a show for New Japan on May 3. Hogan’s run might be short as he is going to film a television pilot for a show called “Thunder in Paradise” after WrestleMania.

-The WWF has lost its television syndication in Japan and WOWOW Channel, which aired edited WWF pay-per-views, will not be airing pay-per-view events anymore. Also, JVC, which handled WWF video releases, dropped its partnership with the WWF. Hogan’s return might help the WWF recover from these setbacks but the Japanese market is not interested in the WWF’s new generation of stars right now.

-Razor Ramon had arthroscopic knee surgery on February 26 and will be out of action until a week before WrestleMania. Ramon has had knee issues for the last few weeks and it blew out against Mr. Perfect on February 20. Shawn Michaels’ separated his shoulder after running into the ring post on Monday Night RAW and he is also expected to be out until WrestleMania. That scuttled plans for Michaels to go to Memphis and work against Jerry Lawler on February 25.

-The Ultimate Warrior’s lawsuit against the WWF is for $5.8 million, claiming that he owns the Warrior gimmick because he created it in Texas. He also alleges underpayment for services rendered as per a 1991 agreement he worked out with Vince McMahon and that the WWF encouraged the use of steroids by wrestlers. Another piece of the lawsuit claims that the WWF’s steroid enforcement policy is haphazard and unfair to talent.

-Blowback from the Hacksaw Jim Duggan-Yokozuna angle continues as a man named Robert Burke filed a claim against the WWF in the U.S. District Court in Boston over the WWF’s desecration of the American flag in the angle. Burke is seeking a televised apology from the company, something that it told him over the phone that it would not be doing.

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

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for March 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!