What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – July 11, 1993

Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan are handling commentary, taped from Columbus, Ohio.

Opening Contest: Adam Bomb (w/Johnny Polo) (9-0) pins Bob Clancy after the Atom Smasher at 2:47:

Clancy was a Canadian wrestler who was trained by Doug Chevalier. He makes his professional debut in 1990 and went by “Irish” Bob Clancy on the Canadian independent circuit. At the time of this taping he was a Tag Team champion for Border City Wrestling with Otis Apollo.

Polo carries a hockey stick to the ring for today’s match. Bomb throws around his opponent with ease, doing a slam with emphasis on the arena floor, and gets to double digit wins for the first time in his WWF career.

Lord Alfred Hayes’ Special Report highlights how Bret Hart-Jerry Lawler is the first match booked for SummerSlam. Bret yells about how Lawler beat him up at the end of King of the Ring and he promises to get even.

Owen Hart (6-4) pins Dave Kiner with the Northern lights suplex at 3:25:

In the split screen, Lawler tells Ross to ask Owen after the match if he will be a guest on the King’s Court next week so he can figure out if the Hart family are cowards. Owen is struggling in this opening match role, especially because his aerial offense has been taken away from him by a bad knee. This squash does him no favors as he works long holds to account for Lawler’s promo before doing a spinning heel kick, missile dropkick, and Northern lights suplex.

Bastion Booger (3-3) pins Marc Hargrove after a sit-down splash at 2:44:

Hargrove did not spend long in the wrestling business, doing a few appearances for the WWF before going to business school. He is now a private equity CEO.

After Booger avalanches Hargrove against the ring post, Owen appears in the split screen and accepts Lawler’s invitation to appear on the King’s Court. Due to Hargrove bouncing around, this was Booger’s best match to date. He gets above .500 again after a powerslam and sit-down splash.

Bam Bam Bigelow & the Headshrinkers (w/Afa) wrestle Tatanka & the Smoking Gunns until television time expires at 12:55 shown:

Luna Vachon does not join the heel team at ringside until five minutes in and appears to understand Afa’s crazy ramblings. Most of the match features Tatanka and Bigelow going back-and-forth for near-falls in the middle to continue their feud. Bart Gunn tags in and becomes the second babyface in peril, taking quite a beating as the Headshrinkers give him a double backdrop and take him into the ring steps. When Billy finally gets the hot tag and starts cleaning house, the show runs out of time and goes off the air, denying fans a finish that Ross promises to reveal next week. There was good action in the match but the use of commercial breaks killed some of the drama. Also, the heels could have scored a few more near-falls to believe that the babyfaces were on the verge of losing. Rating: **½

Tune in next week to see Marty Jannetty face Mr. Hughes! Also, Owen Hart will be a guest on the King’s Court!

The Last Word: There was good chemistry in the six-man tag team match, especially between Tatanka and Bam Bam Bigelow. It is a shame that the WWF chose to do the “Sorry fans we are out of time!” finish that WCW would be criticized for in the late 1990s instead of airing the actual finish to the match here as it irritates fans to invest in a bout and not get a payoff.

After doing some television tapings, the WWF continued to sweep through the Northeast and West Coast. Here are the results of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Seattle, Washington – The Seattle Center – July 10, 1993 (5,500): Bastion Booger pinned Jim Powers after a sit-down splash…Mr. Hughes pinned Kamala with a roll up…The Headshrinkers defeated the Smoking Gunns…Bret Hart pinned Lex Luger with a reverse roll up. After the match, Luger raised Bret’s hand in victory…Owen Hart beat Damien Demento after a missile dropkick…Sensational Sherri defeated Luna Vachon via disqualification when the referee would not let Vachon wrestle with a cast on her arm…Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels pinned Mr. Perfect with a superkick after Diesel interfered.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada – Montreal Forum – July 10, 1993 (4,200): Ted DiBiase offered $10,000 to anyone who could slam Yokozuna. Several fans tried but failed. Papa Shango beat El Matador…The 1-2-3 Kid defeated Terry Taylor…Marty Jannetty beat Blake Beverly…Doink the Clown defeated Virgil…Tatanka beat Razor Ramon…WWF Tag Team Champions the Steiner Brothers defeated Money Incorporated…WWF Champion Yokozuna defeated Hacksaw Jim Duggan.

Backstage News*: The post-Stars & Stripes Challenge edition of Monday Night RAW only pulled a 2.9 rating. That cannot be seen as a success because there was a lot of hype placed on the event and fan curiosity should have produced a higher share.

-When Lex Luger wrestled Bret Hart on house shows this week he did not do the Narcissist gimmick.

-Kevin Nash will not work exclusively as Shawn Michaels’ bodyguard as the WWF has plans for him to wrestle matches in a few weeks.

-Luna Vachon broke her wrist in Atlantic City, New Jersey on June 30. As a result, her matches with Sensational Sherri have been reduced to two-minute affairs before they are thrown out.

-In talent relations news, the WWF has signed New Japan’s Tony Halme and will give him an anti-American gimmick. They have also decided to bring back Nikolai Volkoff and Jacques Rougeau and have also signed French Canadian wrestler Pierre Ouellet and Memphis’ Rex King and Steve Doll. Rougeau and Ouellet will be put in a tag team called the Quebecers and King and Doll will form a team called Well Dunn. At recent television tapings, the WWF gave a tryout to Chuck Williams, who works as the Rockin’ Rebel in ECW.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for July 19.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for July 12!