What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – May 23, 1993

All American Wrestling had a new feature match:

Doink the Clown (14-2-2) defeats Virgil (6-4) after an elbow to the back of the head at 5:17:

This match took place in Portland, Maine on May 5. Virgil tries to beat Doink with technical wrestling, a bad decision as Doink works over his adversary’s left leg. Virgil does not get much of a comeback as Doink blinds him with something spread out of the flower of his jacket after Virgil lands some mounted corner punches and a sloppy elbow to the back of the head puts him down for the count. This ended Virgil’s three-match win streak. And Virgil’s sloppiness in the ring was becoming a liability for him as the WWF brought in new workers that looked smoother. Rating: *

Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan are handling commentary, starting a new cycle of episodes from Portland, Maine. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on May 5 and drew a crowd of 2,700.

Opening Contest: Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) (20-2) pins Scott Taylor after the sit-down splash off the second rope at 3:02:

Taylor never stands a chance. He goes up high for a backdrop spot before getting swallowed up in Yokozuna’s fatness in a belly-to-belly suplex.

The Smoking Gunns (3-0) defeat Mike Bell & Tony DeVito when Bart pins DeVito after the backdrop-piledriver combination at 2:47:

Bell was trained by David Schultz and Paul Roma after playing Division I college football at the University of Cincinnati. He started doing WWF enhancement matches the year prior, appearing in three tag team matches against the Natural Disasters, the Headshrinkers, and Money Incorporated.

At this point fans would be forgiven if they forgot that the WWF tag team division featured anyone other than the Gunns as no other team has been seen in weeks. Even though Heenan makes fun of Billy Gunn going to Sam Houston University on a rodeo scholarship, he does not laugh about the Gunns finisher, which finally looks aesthetically pleasing against the smaller DeVito.

Jerry Lawler hosts a new interview segment called “The King’s Court” and his first guests are the Giant Gonzalez and Harvey Wippleman. Lawler is not given a lot of props to work with, just a curtain and a few columns. It also does not help that the camera has to pan back because of Gonzalez’s size so that exposes the dimensions of the set and makes it look like something out of an independent promotion. The segment just recaps how Gonzalez is Wippleman’s attempt to get revenge on the Undertaker because of what he did to Kamala last year. Gonzalez closes by saying that he owns the Undertaker.

Tatanka (18-0) pins Gus Kantarakis after the Papoose to Go at 3:03:

Kantarakis wrestled five matches for the WWF in 1992, losing to the Natural Disasters, Nailz, Lance Cassidy, the Nasty Boys, and Razor Ramon.

Ross and Heenan speculate about the possibility of Bam Bam Bigelow and Tatanka meeting in the King of the Ring semi-finals if they win their respective matches. All Kantarakis can do is throw strikes but that just makes Tatanka go on the war path, inching him closer to 20 wins for the year. After the match, Tatanka points to a fan that has a red streak through his hair and vows to avenge himself against Bigelow.

Footage of Randy Savage appearing at an unidentified school district and giving a pep talk about school and drugs airs.

Lex Luger (16-0) defeats Tim McNeany after the running forearm at 2:35:

McNeany was a Killer Kowalski trainee that started his career in 1991. He appeared in one enhancement match in 1992, losing to Money Incorporated.

The WWF usually struggled to get McNeany’s name right and today Ross calls him “McNeary.” Ross puts over Luger’s Canadian Football League (CFL) career before Luger runs over McNeany with the running forearm. Last week made it seem like Luger was going to have to start wearing a protective cover over his forearm but that was not enforced today.

Gene Okerlund does The King of the Ring Report. Bam Bam Bigelow argues that nothing is going to stop him from becoming King of the Ring. Hacksaw Jim Duggan says there is no way “a tattooed bald man” is going to beat him. Mr. Perfect guarantees that he will qualify for the tournament on Monday Night RAW against Doink the Clown.

King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Mr. Hughes (w/Harvey Wippleman) (7-0) beats Kamala (13-3-1) via count out after Kim Chee interferes at 2:45:

Kamala finds himself in a hoss battle for the second time in a week. The match is bad as each man takes turn exchanging strikes until Kamala blasts Hughes with a thrust kick and splashes his back. Before Kamala can figure out how to get the pin, Kim Chee runs out and provides a distraction. Kamala chases his former manager around the ring and slams and splashes him in the aisle. That causes Kamala to get counted out and what makes it funny – or tragic depending on your point-of-view – is that Kamala pins Kim Chee in the aisle and does it correctly! It was expected that there would be some smoke and mirrors to make Kamala job but pulling Kim Chee out of mothballs was certainly a choice.

After the match, Kamala charges into the ring and knocks Hughes out. He tosses Wippleman into the ring but Wippleman exits on the opposite side and Kamala chases him to the locker room.

Get your copy of Royal Rumble for the Super Nintendo! It releases on June 8!

Adam Bomb and Johnny Polo promise that fans will understand a new meaning of destruction next week.

Tune in next week to see Virgil face Adam Bomb! Also, Crush will be in action! And Luna Vachon will be a guest on the King’s Court!

The Last Word: The King of the Ring qualifier was counterproductive for each participant. Mr. Hughes looked bad in victory and Kamala looked like an idiot in defeat. But at least fans were treated to a feature match, a trend that continues next week.

The WWF’s house show action stayed in the Northeast and went to Canada. Here were the results of some of its notable cards, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Hershey, Pennsylvania – Hersheypark Arena – May 21, 1993 (2,800): El Matador pinned the Brooklyn Brawler after the flying forearm at 13:30…Luna Vachon pinned Sensational Sherri with an elbow drop after Bam Bam Bigelow interfered at 5:03. After the match, Sherri attacked Vachon and slapped the referee. It was then announced that Sherri was fined $500 for striking the official…Intercontinental Champion Marty Jannetty (substituting for Mr. Perfect) pinned Papa Shango with a roll up at 7:46…Yokozuna defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan with the sit-down splash off the second rope at 6:05…Bob Backlund pinned Damien Demento with a sunset flip at 12:45…Lex Luger pinned Bret Hart after adjusting his forearm pad when the referee was down and blasting Bret with the running forearm at 20:55…The Undertaker pinned Bam Bam Bigelow after a chokeslam at 5:05.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Philadelphia Spectrum – May 22, 1993 (8,415; matinee): Owen Hart beat Terry Taylor…The Headshrinkers defeated the Steiner Brothers when Fatu pinned Rick…Doink the Clown pinned Crush…Randy Savage defeated Giant Gonzalez via disqualification…Virgil defeated Blake Beverly…Tatanka beat Razor Ramon…The Mega-Maniacs defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated via disqualification. Sergeant Slaughter was the special guest referee.

Oshawa, Ontario, Canada – Oshawa Civic Auditorium – May 23, 1993 (1,862): Luna Vachon defeated Sensational Sherri…Owen Hart beat Terry Taylor…Bob Backlund defeated Mr. Hughes via disqualification…El Matador (substituting for Kamala) beat Papa Shango…Crush defeated Doink the Clown…WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated defeated the Smoking Gunns…Yokozuna beat Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Backstage News*: Box office returns for Hulk Hogan’s first set of house show matches since WrestleMania IX were deemed disappointing as crowds were equal or down from when Hogan was not on the card the last time the WWF visited. For example, the WWF’s show in Pittsburgh on May 21 drew 2,000 fewer fans than March and the 11,000 fans drawn to the Meadowlands on May 22 was equal to what the WWF drew for its “Headlock on Hunger” show in Madison Square Garden in January. Hogan is expected to wrestle Yokozuna in Philadelphia in July.

-In talent relations news, the WWF gave a tryout to Harry del Rios, who works as the Spellbinder in the USWA, at the Manhattan Center on May 10.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for May 31.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for May 24!

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!