What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – June 20, 1993

All American Wrestling had an exclusive match, taped in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada on May 25:

Bastion Booger (0-1) beats Owen Hart (5-2) after a splash at 4:05:

These two had a feud in Stampede Wrestling in the late 1980s when Booger wrestled as Makhan Singh. One feels bad for Mike Shaw watching the match as his movement is limited and he bumps gingerly. Owen tries to make him look good by going up high for a flapjack and bouncing into the ropes during a kickout sequence. Due to those efforts, this is a tolerable match as Owen’s takes one too many risks and misses a missile dropkick, allowing Booger to win his first match with a splash off the ropes. One questions what WWF bookers were thinking when they let Virgil beat Booger a day before on Superstars but sacrificed Owen in this bout. Those roles should have been reversed. Rating: *

Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan commentated Wrestling Challenge, also taped from Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Opening Contest: Doink the Clown (17-3-3) defeats Bob Backlund (13-2-1) with a small package at 4:35:

These two wrestled a couple of months ago on All American Wrestling and Backlund beat Doink via disqualification. As expected, these two put on a good showcase of mat wrestling with takedowns and reversals. Neither establishes much of an edge and Doink traps Backlund in a small package out of nowhere for a surprising clean win over a former WWF champion. Rating: **

After the match, Backlund offers his hand and looks foolish when he keeps offering and Doink does not take it. Doink grabs his jacket from the ring post and squirts Backlund in the eye with a substance that blinds him. A wild punch hits Doink and sends him to the floor and WWF officials run out to help Backlund.

El Matador (8-3-1) pins Bert Centeno after El Paso del Muerte at 2:14:

Since El Matador has a match with Mr. Hughes on the next Superstars he gets a squash win to build him up.

Papa Shango (6-5-1) beats Tony Roy after the reverse shoulderbreaker at 1:49:

One wonders what Shango is spending his time doing as he has not tried to put a curse on a WWF superstar in a long time. Maybe he is trying to work on a curse that works since his last one resulted in Bret Hart becoming WWF champion. In any case, Shango is not bothered by Roy and ends a two-match losing streak.

Mr. Perfect (20-2-2) pins P.J. Walker with the Perfectplex at 2:24:

Like RAW, the announce team puts over Perfect’s hard-fought King of the Ring semi-final match with Bret Hart. However, since Perfect lost that match it is not doing much for his standing, which has steadily trickled downward in 1993. Still, he does have a feud going with Shawn Michaels and Ross notes that if Perfect captures the title that he would be the first three-time Intercontinental champion. Walker absorbs many hard chops before getting pinned with a Perfectplex.

Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report replays Mr. Hughes’ attack on the Undertaker on last week’s Superstars. Hughes and Harvey Wippleman talk of taking the Undertaker’s power and Hughes promises that the Undertaker will not get it back.

A new Men on a Mission vignette shows the New York City subway system. The rapper announces his name as Oscar.

The Headshrinkers (w/Afa) (15-2-1) beat Ralph Musca & Scott Despres when Samu pins Despres after a double flying headbutt at 2:41:

If the Headshrinkers were as brutal as they are in this squash they would have cut through El Matador and Bob Backlund without difficulty on WWF Mania. Despres could be beaten after a stun gun but the Headshrinkers opt for a spike piledriver and double flying headbutt. The camera angle was good for the finish as fans only saw Despres on the canvas and the Headshrinkers flew into the screen.

Owen Hart (5-3) pins Mike Sharpe after a missile dropkick at 2:32:

Heenan writes down all of Ross’ insults toward Jerry Lawler so that he can pass them along. In kayfabe, Owen already wrestled earlier in the day so Sharpe seizes the advantage for about 30 seconds. Since Sharpe would be a big man to lift for the Northern lights suplex, Owen wins with a missile dropkick instead.

Tune in next week to see Adam Bomb, Lex Luger, and Bastion Booger in action!

The Last Word: Most of the show was filled with lower tier acts and Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan struggled to find interesting things to talk about. At least Bob Backlund and Doink the Clown put on a unique-looking match for the era. And it would have been better if given five to ten more minutes.

Here is a recap of the WWF’s house show action for the week after The King of the Ring, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Louisville, Kentucky – Louisville Gardens – June 18, 1993 (1,700): This was a co-promoted show with the USWA…Razor Ramon beat El Matador…Kamala defeated Damien Demento…Crush beat Doink the Clown via count out when Jeff Jarrett interfered…WWF Champion Yokozuna beat Hacksaw Jim Duggan…Jerry Lawler defeated USWA Unified Champion Papa Shango via disqualification…Blake Beverly beat Virgil…Jeff Jarrett defeated USWA Southern Heavyweight Champion Brian Christopher in a non-title match…USWA Tag Team Champions Rex King & Steve Doll defeated the Smoking Gunns…Bret Hart pinned Lex Luger.

St. Louis, Missouri – St. Louis Arena – June 19, 1993 (2,200): Owen Hart beat Terry Taylor…Luna Vachon defeated Sensational Sherri…The Undertaker defeated Giant Gonzalez via disqualification when Gonzalez used a chair…Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels pinned Marty Jannetty…Mr. Hughes defeated Bob Backlund…Tatanka beat Bam Bam Bigelow via count out after doing the Papoose to Go on the arena floor…The Steiner Brothers defeated WWF Tag Team Champions Money Incorporated to win the titles when Scott pinned Ted DiBiase with the Frankensteiner.

Backstage News*: Hulk Hogan, Brutus Beefcake, and Jimmy Hart pulled themselves out of their house show commitments except for appearances in Chicago, Boston, and the WWF’s next European tour. Hogan was heavily advertised for all those towns and he decided to show up because of that. However, he has decided not to work SummerSlam, where it was expected that he would wrestle Yokozuna. Bret Hart will be filling in for Hogan at other house shows in July but will not get the SummerSlam main event, which will go to whomever answers the body slam challenge on July 4. The reason given for Hogan’s departure is that he was not happy with the direction of the company. Business was also down for shows he headlined, which could hurt Hogan’s ability to generate more interest in Hollywood. The WWF is expected to keep Hogan’s latest departure quiet because they do not want to lose merchandising and licensing opportunities that Hogan is a part of.

-King of the Ring is expected to gross $2.6 million. While the pay-per-view buyrate was one of the lowest for the WWF, the revenue generated can make up for poor summer house show business. Also, Dave Meltzer notes that it is not surprising that the show did not have a high buyrate because more pay-per-views makes each one less special.

-Some of the declining attendance at WWF house shows could be due to the company slashing its advertising budgets as a cost-saving measure. Talent are still upset at lower payoffs and how they have to stay in the expensive New York City area for Monday Night RAW and to film “Face to Face” segments the next day. However, an exodus to WCW is unlikely because WCW is also engaging in its own cost-cutting program.

-Men on a Mission got a good reception at television tapings.

-In talent relations news, Ted DiBiase has given notice that he will be leaving after SummerSlam to work for All Japan. There has been talk of bringing in Mike Graham as a road agent. Rick Martel will be returning in late July. For the “Stars & Stripes Challenge,” the WWF is contacting Bill Fralic of the Detroit Lions and retired football players from the New York Giants and New York Jets.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for June 28.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for June 21!