What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – March 14, 1993

WWF All American Wrestling had an exclusive match on Sunday afternoon.

Giant Gonzalez (w/Harvey Wippleman) beats Jim Powers after a chokeslam at 1:42:

Gonzalez’s size makes Powers look like a child. His height would make any normal move like a body slam or suplex look devastating because of the drop another wrestler would have to take. That is the case for his finishing chokeslam. Gonzalez looked fine in this squash but the big question is what he would look like in a competitive match.

Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary for Wrestling Challenge, taped from San Diego, California.

Opening Contest: Crush (8-0) beats Larry Ludden via submission to the head vice at 3:12:

Crush takes his time destroying Ludden as Monsoon and Heenan talk up his WrestleMania match. Although not discussed by announcers, Crush has a undefeated streak of 35 matches since returning to the company last year.

Bam Bam Bigelow (12-0) pins Jim Powers after the flying headbutt at 2:45:

Powers love punishment in the same day. He does better against Bigelow than Gonzalez, throwing a few clotheslines after avoiding a corner avalanche and getting a near-fall from a body press off the ropes. Bigelow uses his head to stop that. He also uses his rear later to block a sunset flip. This was a fun, quasi-competitive squash that would have been better to slot into the opening of the show.

Non-Title Match: Shawn Michaels (Intercontinental Champion) (7-1) defeats Buddy Wayne after a superkick at 2:37:

Michaels plays cocky, jawing with fans at ringside about how he already has their money and deciding not to do the Teardrop Suplex because Wayne has taken enough punishment after a superkick.

Gene Okerlund does the WrestleMania IX Report. Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji insist that WWF Champion Bret Hart will be squashed. Bret rebuts that he knows his opponent’s gameplan and he is going to not going to let it happen. The Undertaker and Paul Bearer promise to make Giant Gonzalez’s nightmares a reality.

Kamala (w/Slick) (6-0) beats Tim Patterson after a splash to the back at 3:15:

It is unusual that Kamala’s feud with Kim Chee is not getting a WrestleMania blowoff as something like that would have been plugged into the card last year. Kamala does his usual chops and kicks. Monsoon says that Slick has made it his mission to teach Kamala English, something that is always the death of a babyface act in the WWF. The act of Kamala not knowing how to pin anyone has grown stale, and he is not showing any signs of getting better. After the bell, Kamala goes to the top rope but Slick talks him down.

Felton Spencer, center for the Minnesota Timberwolves, sees Mr. Perfect put on a perfect shooting display.

Razor Ramon (7-1) pins Brian West after the Razor’s Edge at 3:22:

Heenan has a good joke about how when he went to Las Vegas last time he had several gold coins in his room to gamble with. Monsoon tells him that those were chocolate candies. Ramon cruises to a win as Monsoon and Heenan choose to discuss the Perfect-Lex Luger feud instead of Ramon’s WrestleMania bout with Bob Backlund.

Tune in next week to see the Nasty Boys, the Headshrinkers, Owen Hart, and Lex Luger in action! There will also be a special interview with WWF Champion Bret Hart!

The Last Word: Half of the squash matches were decent but again, Wrestling Challenge offers little in the way of unique content for viewers who also saw Superstars.

The WWF’s house shows took it to the Northeast and Canada. Here were some results of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Peterborough, Ontario, Canada – Memorial Centre – March 10, 1993 (2,200): Tatanka defeated Papa Shango…Crush beat Doink the Clown via disqualification…Jerry Sags beat Irwin R. Schyster…The Headshrinkers defeated High Energy…Typhoon defeated Terry Taylor…The Undertaker beat Yokozuna.

Johnstown, Pennsylvania – Cambria County War Memorial – March 11, 1993 (2,000): Skinner beat Jim Powers…El Matador defeated Repo Man…Kamala beat Kim Chee…The Steiner Brothers defeated the Beverly Brothers…Mr. Perfect wrestled Lex Luger (substituting for Razor Ramon) to a double count out…Bob Backlund beat Damien Demento (substituting for Shawn Michaels)…WWF Champion Bret Hart pinned Bam Bam Bigelow.

Backstage News*: The WWF is insistent on keeping a smaller card for this year’s WrestleMania, sticking to the eight matches that have been announced on television. The company got tired of the show running long and having to cut matches later in the show, which is why the British Bulldog-Berzerker match did not air at WrestleMania VIII and Owen Hart’s match with Skinner went less than two minutes.

-Casey Cleric messed up his role in the Yokozuna squash on Superstars. Instead of staying in the ring, he left. He was sent back to the ring where he laid down motionless for the interview and let Yokozuna squash him again.

-The June pay-per-view will be a King of the Ring tournament. This is a risky move because tournaments have typically done poorly as pay-per-view attractions. In the past, King of the Ring was a house show gimmick for Providence, Rhode Island. It was last held in 1991 when Bret Hart beat Irwin R. Schyster for the crown.

-House shows scheduled for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Rochester, New York, and Binghamton, New York had to be rescheduled because of poor weather.

-The WWF has regained its syndicated television in New Zealand after a two-year absence.

-Former WWF wrestler Dino Bravo was found murdered at his home in Lavel, Quebec, Canada on March 10. Bravo was shot seven times and twice in the head. Montreal newspapers have reported that Bravo may have been killed for trafficking in illegal cigarettes. Bravo was 44 years old.

-The Ultimate Warrior has dropped his lawsuit against the WWF. He says this is just temporary, though, as he wishes to change his legal counsel.

-In talent relations news, former WCW broadcaster and executive Jim Ross, who resigned from WCW on February 26, is going to be coming in. Ross was backstage for a television taping in Augusta, Georgia on March 9. He could debut as soon as WrestleMania if his six-month non-compete with WCW can be worked out. That would require Ross to give up his severance package that pays him a reported $3,000 to $3,500 per week. Turner Broadcasting would also want Ross to give up his WSB radio show if he signed with the WWF. Other talents who could be coming in soon include Luna Vachon, the Night Stalker (Bryan Clark), Mr. Hughes, Mike Shaw, and the tag team of Kip Sopp and Mike Polchlopec. Sopp and Polchlopec work as the Long Riders for Florida’s International Championship Wrestling Alliance.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for March 22.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for March 15!

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