What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – August 7, 1993

Wrestling Spotlight had another exclusive match, taped in Salisbury, Maryland on July 7. Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon commentated:

Mr. Perfect (26-2-2) beats Bastion Booger (6-3) with a roll up at 6:50:

One can read on Curt Hennig’s face that he is not sure what he can do with Booger. Booger’s lack of offensive acumen is showcased again when his forearm blows to Perfect lack power. Perfect survives several bearhugs and tries to do the Perfectplex. He gets Booger over but cannot keep his hands locked through the hold. Booger gets up no worse for wear and there is a nonsensical finish where Perfect takes Booger’s sit-down splash finish and immediately shrugs it off roll him up sunset flip style. Rating: ½*

WWF Superstars concluded its run in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Vince McMahon, Jerry Lawler, and Randy Savage commentated.

Opening Contest: The Smoking Gunns (10-1) defeat Well Dunn (1-1) when Bart pins Steven Dunn after the backdrop-piledriver combination at 4:07:

Well Dunn have no entrance music, telegraphing the WWF’s lack of interest in the team. McMahon’s jokes about their name is not a ringing endorsement either. There is some good action between the teams as they pack a lot into the four minutes given to them. Well Dunn do a lot of illegal switches to maintain an advantage on Bart. The Gunns clear the ring after Billy get the hot tag without much difficulty and then finish Dunn with their backdrop-piledriver combination move. Rating: **

Gorilla Monsoon’s Update segment recaps the Razor Ramon-Ted DiBiase feud. He announces two new matches for SummerSlam. Ramon will face DiBiase and the 1-2-3 Kid will face Irwin R. Schyster. Since Ramon and the Kid were not technically friends yet, it made sense not to combine them into a tag team match against Money Incorporated. DiBiase does a taped promo about how Ramon has a high bill to pay for embarrassing him on national television.

Adam Bomb (w/Johnny Polo) (15-0) pins Chaz Ware after the Atom Smasher at 2:14:

McMahon tells Lawler that he and Savage have started interviewing for Lawler’s replacement because they do not think he is going to escape SummerSlam in one piece. The crowd had already seen Bomb wrestle a jobber at this taping so reaction to this bout is muted.

The Lex Express is shown rolling into Worcester, Syracuse, Buffalo, Erie, and Cleveland. He poses with a special needs kid, slaps hands, and talks to a radio station about SummerSlam.

Doink the Clown (22-6-3) pins Joey Maggs after the flying butt splash at 1:31:

This is the second time that Doink and Maggs have wrestled this year, with Maggs losing to Doink on the March 7 edition of Wrestling Challenge. Maggs attacks Doink before the bell and knocks him out of the ring but a kneebreaker stops Maggs’ momentum after 16 seconds. Savage does not make any reference to his match against Doink on the previous RAW as the deranged clown gets back on the winning side of the record book today.

Gene Okerlund does the SummerSlam Report. Bret Hart warns Lawler that he never should have crossed the line of messing with his family. Another match added to the card is a six-man tag team bout that is a rematch of a Wrestling Challenge contest several weeks ago as the Tatanka & the Smoking Gunns face Bam Bam Bigelow & the Headshrinkers.

Another Ludvig Borga vignette says that he is going to destroy all of America’s top athletes. Why did these vignettes not air before Borga debuted?

El Matador (9-4-1) defeats Barry Hardy after El Paso del Muerte at 2:29:

El Matador’s has not appeared since a June 26 Superstars loss to Mr. Hughes. It is a pedestrian effort as Tito Santana seems to have lost motivation. This would be his last WWF televised match, leaving the company less than a week later after a conversation with McMahon where he reportedly voiced it was time to go and McMahon concurred. Santana was the longest tenured wrestler on the roster, working for the company since 1983. His departure passes that torch to Bret Hart, who had been with the WWF since August 1984.

Bastion Booger (6-4) pins Mike Bell after the sit-down splash at 2:08:

Lawler takes shots at Savage’s physique, saying he has a lot in common with Booger. Booger uses his girth for the win, avalanching Bell against the ring post and squashing him with a splash off the second rope. After Booger wins, Savage steals the Royal Magistrator to draw Lawler’s kingly attire on the big man.

Tune in next week to see Razor Ramon, the Heavenly Bodies, Ludvig Borga, WWF Tag Team Champions the Steiner Brothers, and Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels!

The Last Word: Three new matches were added to the SummerSlam card so that pay-per-view is finally coming into focus. The three biggest matches are Yokozuna-Lex Luger, Bret Hart-Jerry Lawler, and Razor Ramon-Ted DiBiase based on screen time. More focus will be put on the WWF title match after next week’s contract signing. This show had a good opener but the rest of the action was filler and skippable.

Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for August 8!