What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – August 29, 1993

All American Wrestling had a feature tag team match, taped in Poughkeepsie, New York on August 16. Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon provided commentary:

The Smoking Gunns (13-1) defeat Well Dunn (1-2) via count out at 6:31 shown:

Well Dunn lost their most recent match to the Gunns a few weeks ago on Superstars and this is their attempt to get their win back. There is not much flow to the action as a commercial break skips over how Well Dunn gain the advantage. Bart fights his way out of a few sleeper holds and Billy’s hot tag generates little crowd response. To his credit, he brings them into it with the ten punches in the corner spot and goes over the top rope on a failed body press. That leads to arguably the dumbest finish of the year as Well Dunn chase Bart around in a two-on-one situation but run into each other and then roll to the floor rather than stay in the ring. After that happens Bart rolls Billy in, beating the ten count and giving the Gunns a weak win. Rating: *

Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan commentate the “go home” show for SummerSlam, concluding the taping in Plattsburgh, New York.

Opening Contest: Marty Jannetty (17-3-1) pins Mike Sharpe after the flying fist drop at 3:53:

Jannetty is too amped up for his entrance and nearly runs over ring announcer Mike McGuirk when he gets into the ring. He also takes the Lex Luger wristband deal to parody levels by wearing five on each arm, giving Heenan some material. In the split screen, Jannetty struggles to pronounce Ludvig Borga’s name and admits it took him more than a week to do it. He weaves that into an odd statement of how that means he can only fight forward at SummerSlam. Heenan cannot believe his luck and uses Jannetty’s poor pronunciation and admission to make some jokes for the rest of the contest. Jannetty wins a long squash by slamming Sharpe’s head into the canvas when Sharpe tries a backdrop and wins with the flying fist drop.

Mr. Hughes (w/Harvey Wippleman) (22-2-1) defeats Dan Dubiel after the sidewalk slam at 2:00:

Another black wreath is delivered to ringside as Hughes and Wippleman jaw about the Undertaker. Hughes rips it up afterward. Unfortunately, Hughes’ program with the Undertaker would never be settled as this was his last televised match. He was fired for a failed drug test and would not return to the company until 1997. Hughes was used a lot on WWF television in the spring and summer, ranking in the top 15 for appearances. When it came to the urn, Adam Bomb was asked to retrieve it from Hughes’ home as it was the only urn that the WWF had.

Tatanka (29-0-2) defeats Bobby Who after the Papoose to Go at 2:08:

Heenan insists that Tatanka has been sending secret smoke signals to Luna Vachon. In the split screen, the Smoking Gunns talk about looking forward to teaming with Tatanka at SummerSlam. Tatanka annihilates another jobber to earn 30 singles wins, second only to his rival Bam Bam Bigelow.

Gene Okerlund does the SummerSlam Report. Bret Hart says that Jerry Lawler cannot be the King of the WWF because that title belongs to him. Razor Ramon argues that Ted DiBiase will have no one to blame when he gets carved up. This would be the last pay-per-view report that Okerlund would do, closing another door on Golden Age talent.

Non-Title Match: Shawn Michaels (Intercontinental Champion w/Diesel) (23-5-1) pins Rich Myers after the piledriver at 2:52:

Mr. Perfect does an insert promo reminding Michaels that no one beats him. Michaels is clearly putting on weight as his tights keep getting pulled further up his chest. He incorporates a convoluted move where he hops over the top rope when being whipped into the ropes and then stun guns Myers when he gets close. After the bell, Michaels pulls Myers off the canvas so Diesel can hit him.

The Last Word: Other than serving as the syndicated departure of Gene Okerlund and Mr. Hughes there was nothing significant about the show.

In the days before SummerSlam the WWF continued its house show loop through the Northeast. Here were the results of some of the action, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Long Island, New York – The Nassau Coliseum – August 27, 1993 (6,800): Men on a Mission beat Well Dunn (substituting for Money Incorporated) when Mabel pinned Steven Dunn with a spinning heel kick at 12:00…Tatanka wrestled Doink the Clown to a time-limit draw…Mr. Perfect pinned Bam Bam Bigelow with a roll up while Bigelow was checking on Luna Vachon after Perfect appeared to bite her ear at 14:00…The Undertaker & Randy Savage defeated Giant Gonzalez & Adam Bomb (substituting for Mr. Hughes) when Savage pinned Gonzalez after the flying elbow drop. After the match, Gonzalez attacked Johnny Polo. Bomb briefly saved his manager before Gonzalez cleared him from the ring…The 1-2-3 Kid pinned Bastion Booger after reversing Booger’s sit-down splash into a roll up at 8:00…Razor Ramon defeated Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels via reverse decision. Michaels initially won the match by pinfall after Diesel interfered but Mr. Perfect came out with another referee to dispute the call. This led to the original referee reversing the decision. After that was done, Michaels and Diesel attacked Ramon and Perfect, giving each a spike piledriver…WWF Tag Team Champions the Steiner Brothers beat the Headshrinkers when Rick pinned Samu with a roll up at 15:00.

London, Ontario, Canada – London Gardens – August 29, 1993: Mo beat Steven Dunn…The 1-2-3 Kid defeated Doink the Clown…WWF Tag Team Champions the Steiner Brothers beat the Headshrinkers…Tatanka defeated Bastion Booger…Mr. Perfect & Razor Ramon beat Shawn Michaels & Diesel…Randy Savage defeated Irwin R. Schyster (substituting for Giant Gonzalez)…The Undertaker beat Adam Bomb (substituting for Mr. Hughes).

Backstage News*: Only six radio stations have picked up the WWF’s weekly show, which is hosted by Jim Ross. The WWF is trying to incentivize stations by allowing them to broadcast pay-per-views. Ross and Gorilla Monsoon will provide commentary on those shows, thereby sidelining Ross from being the lead television play-by-play announcer. The WWF sent a memo to its employees that encouraged them to call into Ross’ show so that the “right types of questions” were asked.

-The WWF is reneging on its desire to only run one house show loop. The “B” loop will restart sometime in October. However, the “A” loop is going to get the major superstars and angles and will run in larger venues. The “B” circuit will be booked for local charity and fundraiser cards and run in high school gyms.

-KPLR-TV in St. Louis will stop airing WWF Superstars in a few weeks because of declining ratings and viewer complaints. It will mark the first time that the station will not air wrestling in 34 years. KPLR was the first station to switch from a local territory to the WWF in 1983 when it abandoned the St. Louis Wrestling Club’s Wrestling at the Chase for a WWF version of that show.

-Hulk Hogan signed a deal with Arista Records and did an appearance for Brian Blair’s Gold’s Gym in Tampa, Florida. There are reports that he reached out to Mexico’s AAA promotion but they refused his asking price and even if they did, they had no interest in using Brutus Beefcake and Jimmy Hart.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for September 6.

Up Next: SummerSlam ’93!

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