What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – October 30, 1993

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler provide commentary, wrapping up the taping in Worcester, Massachusetts. Lawler is dressed in a Randy Savage Halloween costume, also pulling out a broom to represent Helen Hart, who he calls a witch.

Opening Contest: The Smoking Gunns (18-3) defeat the Executioners when Bart pins Agony after the backdrop-piledriver combination at 2:24:

Barry Hardy and Duane Gill bump around nicely for the Gunns. They act like they are dead for the finish as Agony is wiped out with the Gunns finisher while Pain does a flip sell from a Billy clothesline.

Gorilla Monsoon’s Update segment has a promo by Lex Luger’s All American team. Tatanka is missing because he has a match later in the show. Luger puts over his teammates as capable of winning their matches today. The Steiner Brothers argue that they will survive the Survivor Series.

Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Luna Vachon) (37-3-1) pins Tim McNeany after an avalanche in 36 seconds:

As Bigelow comes to the ring, Doink the Clown appears on the video screen with two metal buckets that he says are meant for Bigelow and Vachon. He says that they will see four buckets at Survivor Series. An irate Bigelow quickly takes care of McNeany, using a simple avalanche to win. After the match, Lawler uses the Royal Magistrator to draw a mace on Vachon’s face to communicate his thoughts on what Bigelow will do to Doink at Survivor Series.

The Steiner Brothers (37-1) defeat Bert Ceteno & Chris Duffy when Scott pins Centeno after the Steinerizer at 2:20:

McMahon announces that Rick Steiner will face Jacques on next week’s program. The Tag Team champions and Johnny Polo do an insert promo about how Jacques is going to give Rick a beating that he will never forget. Centeno takes the Steiner Screwdriver but since it is late in the taping it does not get much of a reaction from the fans facing the hard camera.

Razor Ramon plays WWF Royal Rumble on the Sega Genesis as McMahon puts over a Royal Rumble ticket contest if fans buy the game through K-Mart.

The Heavenly Bodies (w/Jim Cornette) (9-1) defeat P.J. Walker & Mark Thomas when Jimmy Del Ray pins Walker after the moonsault at 1:26:

Thomas is dangerously close to infringing on Adam Bomb’s gimmick with bright red and yellow striped tights. The Bodies destroy Thomas in 30 seconds, throwing him into the jobber corner so Walker can tag in. The Rock N’ Roll Express do a split screen promo about how they are coming after the Bodies at Survivor Series and that the match will be for the Smoky Mountain Wrestling Tag Team Championship. McMahon observes that it is odd that the Express, who are champions, are chasing after the Bodies. This was a good, fast squash for Cornette’s team.

Joe Fowler does the Survivor Series Report. Family Feud host Ray Combs does a promo on his set, urging fans to order the show.

Ludvig Borga gets an insert during his entrance, saying that he is seeking Tatanka’s destruction.

Ludvig Borga (15-0) pins Tatanka (37-0-3) after using a steel chair at 10:13 shown:

The battle of undefeated wrestlers is a lengthy squash for Borga as he shakes off everything Tatanka does. Tatanka fights out of several chinlocks after Mr. Fuji comes to ringside but his warpath comeback is quickly cut off by the Hellraiser from Helsinki. Borga throws Tatanka over the top rope and referee Danny Davis hops out of the ring to keep his eyes on Fuji. However, that allows Borga to pick up a chair and blast Tatanka across the back. After posing, Borga rolls Tatanka into the ring and pins him with one finger, putting an end to Tatanka’s 20-month unbeaten streak in singles competition that ran across 84 matches. The match was not built to be a classic but it did what it needed to do from a storyline perspective. The one finger pin was a great touch. Rating: *½

Following the match, Fuji has WWF Champion Yokozuna come to the ring. The champion gives Tatanka a Banzai Drop while Borga holds Tatanka on his side, a nice touch because of the rib damage Tatanka sustained during the match. Lex Luger’s inability to break things up is explained by the camera cutting to the back where WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers keep him at bay. Luger finally makes it to the ring and clears the heels in a classic “Send the fans home happy” ending. What was funny about Luger’s run-in is that he was running to the ring while slapping a few fans hands, which should not be his priority when helping a friend.

Fowler reiterates the Survivor Series card, saying that Tatanka’s participation in the event is now questionable. He was not a good sell guy after a big angle so this should have been handled by McMahon.

Footage is shown of Tatanka being carried away on a stretcher. McMahon says that the Steiner Brothers could not assist Luger because the door of their dressing room had been padlocked.

Tune in next week to see Rick Steiner wrestle Jacques! Also, the 1-2-3 Kid and Crush will be in action!

The Last Word: Tatanka losing his unbeaten streak in singles competition is what got people’s attention. The streak is a lost piece of WWF lore today because unlike Bill Goldberg in WCW years later, the biggest victory Tatanka had during the streak was against Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels. Most of his 84 matches were against enhancement talents or lower midcarders. One could question whether Ludvig Borga was the right guy to elevate by breaking it due to his lackluster crowd reactions but the WWF was short on heels and needed to build another tier of talent behind Yokozuna. The angle that followed the Borga match shows that the Foreign Fanatics were trying to wipe out the All American team before the event. So that raised the questions of whether the All Americans would retaliate and who they might choose as a substitute if Tatanka cannot make the pay-per-view. For the last show of a taping, this was a good episode for fans to watch as the squashes were fun and the big angle at the end worked.

Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for October 31!

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