What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – October 10, 1993

All American Wrestling’s exclusive match had the debut of the Rock N’ Roll Express. It was taped in Portland, Maine on September 29. Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon provided commentary:

Well Dunn (w/Harvey Wippleman) (5-3) defeat the Rock N’ Roll Express via count out at 11:41 shown:

The Express, composed of Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson, began teaming together in 1983 in Memphis as a stand-in for the Fabulous Ones. They achieved their greatest fame in Jim Crockett Promotions in the mid to late 1980s, winning the NWA World Tag Team Championship four times and feuding with teams like the Midnight Express, Ivan Koloff & Krusher Khrushchev, and Ole Anderson & Arn Anderson. The duo’s run ended in 1988 over a pay dispute, although they would return to the newly named WCW in 1990. Unable to find their past success, Morton turned on Gibson in 1991 and they had a disappointing pay-per-view match at The Great American Bash that year, which Morton won. In the summer of 1992, the team reunited in Jim Cornette’s Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Positioned again as a top act, they engaged in a long feud with the Heavenly Bodies that got some play in WCW until Bill Watts was fired as Executive Vice President.

The Express are announced as the Smoky Mountain Tag Team Champions and come to the ring with the titles. Monsoon even argues that everyone, including people in the WWF, want a shot at them. Again, this was mind blowing for wrestling fans because the WWF had typically refused to recognize the existence of other promotions. If the Express were wresting somewhere in the South they would have gotten a better reaction for their entrance. As it is, the Portland crowd still gives them a decent reception. A few minutes into the match, Jim Cornette comes to ringside to provide managing assistance to Well Dunn, eventually providing a distraction to give them an edge on Morton. If Well Dunn had better offense, this match would flow nicely but they literally choke off its potential with chinlocks. After Gibson receives the hot tag, the Express blast Dunn with their double dropkick but Cornette gets in the ring and hits Gibson with his tennis racquet while the referee is trying to get Morton out of the ring. Gibson chases Cornette down the aisle and Cornette trips. Gibson thinks he has Cornette where he wants him but the Bodies run out and attack Gibson, allowing Cornette to get in a few additional racquet shots. The referee is not seeing any of this, focused on Well Dunn and Morton in the ring and when the referee starts his ten count, Gibson cannot make it back in. The Express were protected in this defeat, which was meant to put heat on the Express-Bodies feud. The only reason they lost is because Well Dunn is a WWF product, which will always win these political games. The outcome is Well Dunn’s fifth-straight victory. Rating: **¼

Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan were tasked with commentating Wrestling Challenge, concluding the taping in Saginaw, Michigan.

Opening Contest: The Smoking Gunns (17-2) beat Steve Moore & Brian Costello when Bart pins Moore after the backdrop-piledriver combination at 3:09:

Ross promotes future matches between the Gunns and Headshrinkers, which are meant to decide who will face the Quebecers for the Tag Team titles. There is nothing notable about this squash as the Gunns roll through their moves on Moore and Costello, who do a few tags before losing.

Lord Alfred Hayes uses his Special Report segment to recap the Doink the Clown-Bam Bam Bigelow feud. Bigelow and Luna Vachon say that Doink has crossed a line and will pay. Doink rebuts that everyone likes confetti and he thought Vachon needed to have her hair washed. He closes by saying that he is not afraid of Bigelow.

Irwin R. Schyster (5-2) pins Kevin Kruger after the Write Off at 3:08:

IRS reminds the crowd before the bout that he hates tax cheaters. Kruger tries to lead the crowd with “Irwin!” chants so IRS stretches him with the help of the ropes. IRS takes his time between moves, winning a third-straight bout since the P.J. Walker upset a few weeks ago.

Tatanka (33-0-3) pins Tom Bennett after the Papoose to Go at 2:27:

Bennett mocks Tatanka’s salute to the four sides of the audience and Tatanka lets him go through with it. There is more talk about Tatanka’s undefeated streak. Tatanka’s recent matches have not been good and he lacks his usual energy.

After providing highlights of the 20-man battle royal on RAW, Rick Martel says that he is going to show that he is back. Razor Ramon fires back that he is going to carve Martel up to get more gold.

Bastion Booger (11-6) pins Sonny Rogers after the sit-down splash at 2:25:

Ross and Heenan note that Booger is still using the same pair of tights since his debut and that he has not washed them. Rogers should sell the Booger avalanche against the ring post like death but he gets back up after getting rolled into the ring. So Booger powerslams him and wins after the sit-down splash. After the match, Bigelow grabs a hot dog from the timekeeper’s table and quickly eats it. A camera zooms in to catch that action.

Marty Jannetty (21-4-1) defeats Jack Reno after the Rocker Dropper at 3:01:

Reno sells what Jannetty does too long, forcing Jannetty to wrestle a slower pace. He has good intentions but one can tell Jannetty is antsy to do more. Reno plants Jannetty with a side suplex but misses an elbow drop to close the door on his chances to win the match. After a superkick, Jannetty prevails with the Rocker Dropper.

Mr. Perfect is a guest on the King’s Court. Perfect blames Diesel for costing him the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam, daring him to try to get his hands around his 21-inch neck. Perfect had good back-and-forth with Lawler in this segment and it gave a much-needed jolt to his program with Diesel.

Ludvig Borga (11-0) beats Gary Jackson via submission to torture rack at 2:44:

Ross announces that Luger has signed a contract to face Borga. Borga focuses his attack on Jackson’s kidneys and lower back, all done to set up the torture rack submission. Jackson did a great job selling Borga’s body blows.

Ross provides some hype for Hulk Hogan’s new film Mr. Nanny.

Tune in next week to see the Steiner Brothers, Diesel, and Doink the Clown will be in action!

The Last Word: Since Survivor Series hype is around the corner that might help some of these Challenge shows as they have been boring. The only good thing on the show was Mr. Perfect’s appearance on the King’s Court but it was nothing fans had to go out of their way to see. One wonders if Perfect channeled his frustrations with his booking into the promo.

The WWF ran split crews as one group of stars did shows in the Midwest while another went abroad. Here are the results of some of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Haifa, Israel – October 8, 1993 (4,000; sellout): The 1-2-3 Kid beat Doink the Clown (Steve Lombardi)…Razor Ramon beat Irwin R. Schyster via count out…Bob Backlund defeated Papa Shango…The Headshrinkers beat the Smoking Gunns…Diesel defeated the Brooklyn Brawler (substituting for Mr. Perfect)…The Undertaker beat Adam Bomb in a casket match…Lex Luger defeated Ludvig Borga (substituting for Yokozuna).

Des Moines, Iowa – Veterans Memorial Auditorium – October 9, 1993 (1,500): The Bushwhackers beat Well Dunn when Butch pinned Steven Dunn…Owen Hart pinned Barry Horowitz…Randy Savage (w/the Macho Midget) defeated Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Luna Vachon) via count out…Tatanka pinned Bastion Booger…WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers beat Men on a Mission when Jacques pinned Mo…Marty Jannetty beat Tom Stone…WWF Champion Yokozuna defeated Bret Hart in a steel cage match by escaping through the door when Bret tried to climb out.

Backstage News*: Bret Hart appeared on Jim Ross’ WWF radio show on October 9. They called the Jacksonville Coliseum, which was hosting a WCW event that night, to try to get a hold of Ric Flair so he could rebut Bret’s prior comments about him. However, this was done in bad faith because WCW was not going to let Flair appear.

-There were rumors that Hulk Hogan was going to appear on WCW Saturday Night to promote Mr. Nanny. Hogan reportedly decided against it because the WWF gave the film some promotion on its own and wrote a positive article about he and Jimmy Hart in the recent WWF Magazine. In interviews Hogan has said he is open to working as a part-time talent but Vince McMahon cannot build the WWF around him anymore because he will not work enough.

-Even though they are suspended, Doink the Clown and Shawn Michaels will work some dates in Memphis until they return to the road.

-In talent relations news, the Big Bossman might return after Survivor Series to referee matches between Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for October 18.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for October 11!

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!