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

All American Wrestling had two exclusive matches at noon on USA Network earlier in the day.

Typhoon (2-3) pins Tim Patterson after the Tidal Wave at 2:56:

Patterson tries to attack Typhoon before the bell but it does no good. After starting the year 0-3, Typhoon manages to get back to .500 after using his size to brutalize Patterson. He also does a snap suplex in the squash, which does not fit with his other offense.

Owen Hart beats Jim Gorman after a flying body press at 2:42:

Owen returns to the singles ranks and takes the High Energy theme as his own now that the tag team has been retired. It would be great if he ditched the parachute pants look because it casts him as a lower midcarder. Compared to his singles run last year, Owen only uses one aerial move, a consequence of a recent knee injury. The company does not have many plans for Owen at present, telegraphed by Gorilla Monsoon and Lord Alfred Hayes talking more about other events in the WWF throughout the bout.

Wrestling Challenge had Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan calling the action. The episode started a new taping cycle in San Diego, California. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on February 16 and drew 4,000 fans.

Opening Contest: Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) (10-1) pins Raven Clark after the sit-down splash off the second rope at 2:16:

Yokozuna must not have liked something about Clark, giving him a hard slap after a corner avalanche and not doing much to cushion his fall onto Clark for the finishing sit-down splash.

The Steiner Brothers (9-0) beat Dan Farren & the White Shadow after a Doomsday DDT at 3:13:

This time the Steiners face the non-masked Farren. After Scott destroys the Shadow he forces a reluctant Farren to tag in. In the split screen, the Headshrinkers and Afa talk about how the Steiners have never faced a team like them before and that they are going to take their heads off at WrestleMania. For today’s squash, the Steiners show their versatility by using a Doomsday DDT to win instead of the Steinerizer or Frankensteiner.

Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report segment recaps Tatanka’s recent victories over Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. Michaels does a taped promo where he insists that he is walking out of WrestleMania with his title. The only fun thing about this segment was Hayes’ pronunciation of Tatanka’s name.

Lex Luger (5-0) pins Bobby Young after the running forearm at 1:41:

Monsoon wonders if Luger will bring slaves with him to WrestleMania since it has a Roman Empire theme. Luger needs to work on giving the running forearm more of a flourish as it looks like a generic running shoulder block on this show and does not get a reaction. After winning, Luger throws Young to the floor and makes fun of Young’s physique.

The Undertaker and Paul Bearer do a taped bit that looks like it is set in the place where Jake Roberts turned on the Ultimate Warrior in 1991. The Undertaker tells Giant Gonzalez that he must be held accountable for attacking him at The Royal Rumble. He warns Gonzalez that he might look up at him now but will soon look down at his corpse.

Bob Backlund (3-0) pins Al Burke with a Lou Thesz press at 2:11:

Backlund takes time during his entrance to talk to young fans in the aisle. His ironman run in the Rumble appears for naught as the WWF did not capitalize on any of the momentum from it. After Backlund wins following an armbar and Thesz press he offers Burke a handshake but Burke refuses it.

Gene Okerlund does the WrestleMania IX Report. WWF Champion Bret Hart talks about studying Yokozuna and how he respects his challenger but is not getting respect in return. Giant Gonzalez and Harvey Wippleman repeat that the Undertaker will rest in peace after the pay-per-view. Tatanka talks about how Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels will “feel the power of the Great Spirit” in Las Vegas.

Crush is on a Hawaiian beach and has a pineapple in his hand. He tears it apart, saying that it is what Doink will look like after WrestleMania.

Doink the Clown (5-1) defeats Joey Maggs via submission to the stump puller at 2:11:

Maggs began wrestling in 1987 for the Georgia-based Deep South Wrestling where he won the company’s heavyweight title. He worked in the USWA between 1990-1991, forming a tag team called the Dirty White Boys with Rex King. The team won the Tag Team titles and Maggs also won the USWA Junior Heavyweight Championship. He worked as an enhancement talent for WCW in 1988 and 1991. In 1992 he worked for Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling and wrestled nine matches for the WWF. All of those matches ended up as loss to heel workers like Rick Martel, Ric Flair, Razor Ramon, Shawn Michaels, and Yokozuna.

In the split screen Doink asks Crush if he wants a Hawaiian punch. The WWF production team got segments out of order today as Doink called Crush a “pineapple head” in that promo and that is what Crush was rebutting in the video that aired before this match. Doink has no difficulty with Maggs, giving time for Monsoon and Heenan to hype his WrestleMania battle with the man from Kona, Hawaii.

Tune in next week to see Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels, Kamala, and Razor Ramon in action!

The Last Word: Aside from a few new promos, this episode did not give fans anything new as the WWF inches closer to WrestleMania IX.

The WWF’s house show circuits ran in Kentucky and Texas before doing television tapings at the end of the week. The Texas shows do not have complete results but here is one of the Kentucky cards, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Bowling Green, Kentucky – E.A. Diddle Arena – March 6, 1993 (3,500; matinee): Terry Taylor beat Reno Riggins…Damien Demento defeated Jim Powers…Doink the Clown beat El Matador…Giant Gonzalez beat Virgil…Crush defeated Skinner …Jerry Sags beat Irwin R. Schyster in a match that was originally booked to be WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated vs. The Nasty Boys…Mr. Perfect beat Papa Shango (substituting for Razor Ramon)…WWF Champion Bret Hart pinned Bam Bam Bigelow.

Backstage News*: The WWF is pleased with the early ratings for Monday Night RAW. The show is doing consist business at a 3.0 level, outstripping the 1.7 and 1.8 ratings that Prime Time Wrestling was pulling its last few years. However, syndicated television is another story as the March 1 edition of Media Week reported that the WWF’s syndicated programs suffered a 26% drop in viewership in 1992. Most of the decline came from teenagers and males aged 18-34. Young children aged 6-11 kept watching, even though that demographic also had a 7% decrease in viewership.

-The Honky Tonk Man called into John Arezzi’s radio show on Saturday and claimed to have been subpoenaed by the Department of Justice in its investigation of the WWF.

-Advance sales for WrestleMania IX have been slower than normal. The show is still expected to sellout as the venue will have a capacity of 15,000 but only 6,000-9,000 tickets have been sold to this point for the biggest WWF event of the year.

-The WWF threatened legal action against WCW if it aired a Steiner Brothers-Hell Raisers IWGP Tag Team title match for a WCW-New Japan supershow pay-per-view on March 7. The bout took place on January 4 and the WWF argued that the Steiners were under contract with them as of November 30 so they had control over featuring them on television. WCW thought of dismissing the threat but eventually caved at the last minute, yanking it off the air despite heavily advertising the match.

-House show audiences were cheering Doink the Clown this week, which was frustrating for his opponent, Tito Santana.

-In injury news, Ted DiBiase missed house shows this week with a herniated disc. As a precaution he may not see action until WrestleMania. Owen Hart blew out his knee while working at a television taping on March 8 against Bam Bam Bigelow.

-In talent relations news, the Night Stalker, Killer Karl Wallace, Todd Champion, and Mike Shaw were given tryouts at television tapings this weekend. Of the four, Night Stalker got the best reaction from the crowd. Rush Limbaugh said on his radio show that he was contacted to be a part of WrestleMania.

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

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for March 8!

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!