What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – November 14, 1993

Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan call today’s action, taped from Glens Falls, New York. Heenan complains about the Undertaker replacing Tatanka at Survivor Series and argues that it should not be allowed.

Opening Contest: Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Luna Vachon) (38-3-1) beats Rich Myers after a stun gun at 3:05:

With Tatanka selling an injury, the door is open for Bigelow to end up with more singles wins than anyone else this year. Myers does better than his loss to Bigelow on Monday Night RAW on August 16. They do a creative near-fall spot where Bigelow avalanches Myers but when he tries to do it again a beat up Myers falls out of the corner and Bigelow collides with the buckles. A dazed Myers covers and the crowd bites on it. When Bigelow rolls out of the ring, Vachon gets in and slaps Myers. That does not trigger a disqualification for some reason. When Bigelow re-enters, a blind charge misses and Myers schoolboys him for two. But Myers squanders the edge by getting caught with a stun gun on his own charge at Bigelow, losing one of the more entertaining squashes of the year.

The Smoking Gunns (20-3) defeat Tony DeVito & Todd Mata when Bart pins DeVito after the backdrop-piledriver combination at 1:33:

Ross puts over the Gunns as being in the Tag Team title hunt in a nod to some house show matches they were having with the Quebecers. The enhancement talents offer no competition, vanquished in a little more than 90 seconds.

Diesel plays Royal Rumble on the Sega Genesis as Shawn Michaels.

The Foreign Fanatics are guests on the King’s Court. Johnny Polo says that Pierre will cripple Lex Luger on RAW and the All Americans will not have a replacement for that. Ludvig Borga says he will eliminate the All Americans at Survivor Series like he did Tatanka. And Jim Cornette argues that the All Americans cannot match the brains or brawn of the Foreign Fanatics. Overall, this was just a generic heel promo that did not add any more juice to the match.

Irwin R. Schyster (9-2) pins Dennis Diamond after the Write Off at 1:55:

Diamond gets a near-fall from a body press off the ropes but botches a reverse of getting taken to the buckle so IRS just tosses him to the floor. After that, some stretching sets up the Write Off. Ross opts to put over the Survivor Series Hotline more than IRS’ ongoing feud with Razor Ramon.

Bret & Owen Hart beat Well Dunn (w/Harvey Wippleman) (6-4) when Bret makes Steven Dunn submit to the Sharpshooter at 4:56 shown:

This marks the first time that Bret and Owen teamed together on WWF television. It is also Bret’s first tag team match since May 4 the previous year, when he teamed with the Bushwhackers in a six-man tag team match on Prime Time Wrestling. There is no color coordination as Owen sticks to his light blue rocket tights and Bret has his pink, black, and white gear. The match is a quick, abbreviated match where Well Dunn get a few minutes of offense but do not do anything interesting. Bret and Owen also do not show any coordination, doing no double team moves. Bret runs through the moves of doom on Dunn and submits him with the Sharpshooter as Owen knocks Timothy Well out of the ring with the flying forearm. Rating: *½

Crush (w/Mr. Fuji) (24-4-2) defeats P.J. Walker (1-8) with a claw hold at 1:59:

Walker spams too many dropkicks, leading to Crush batting his third attempt aside and working him over. After a gorilla press drop across the top turnbuckle, Crush pins Walker with a claw hold. After the bell, he leg drops Walker across the back of the head to please Fuji.

Diesel says that Marty Jannetty is going to find out what he is all about next week. Jannetty fires back that he is going to find out if Diesel is the man he says he is next week by rocking and rolling.

Tune in next week to see Marty Jannetty battle Diesel! Also, Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon and Ludvig Borga will be in action!

The Last Word: It was nice to see Bret and Owen tagging but the match was not given enough time to mean anything. Then again, going a long time with Well Dunn probably would have lowered the status of the Harts rather than elevated them. Well Dunn’s defeat also reinforces their status as the worst tag team. The only decent thing on the broadcast was Bam Bam Bigelow’s opening squash, although he should have lost that match when Luna Vachon interfered.

The WWF did a new series of television tapings to start the week. Here were some of the results of their weekend house shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – Winnipeg Arena – November 12, 1993 (6,000): Owen Hart beat Bastion Booger…Diesel defeated Bob Backlund (substituting for Mr. Perfect)…Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon beat Irwin R. Schyster via count out…The Undertaker beat WWF Champion Yokozuna via disqualification…Rick Martel defeated the 1-2-3 Kid…The Steiner Brothers beat WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers via disqualification…Lex Luger defeated Ludvig Borga.

Dupo, Illinois – Dupo High School – November 13, 1993 (700): Men on a Mission beat Barry Horowitz & Tom Stone…Tiger Jackson defeated Little Louie…The Headshrinkers defeated the Smoking Gunns…Doink the Clwon beat the Brooklyn Brawler (substituting for Bam Bam Bigelow)…Crush defeated Marty Jannetty…Bret Hart beat Adam Bomb via submission to the Sharpshooter.

Backstage News*: Jerry Lawler was indicted in Louisville, Kentucky on November 12 on one count of second-degree rape (statutory), three counts of second-degree sodomy, and one count of harassing a witness stemming from an alleged encounter with a 13-year-old girl in the city on June 6 and July 7. Lawler is also accused of trying to dissuade a 14-year-old girl from giving testimony against him on October 4. There are reports of a similar investigation also taking place in Southern Indiana. The WWF immediately suspended Lawler the day that the indictment was announced. Jim Ross’ Radio WWF program announced that Shawn Michaels will replace Lawler at Survivor Series. Michaels, who is returning from a six-week suspension, will replace Lawler against Bret on house shows until Jeff Jarrett arrives in December. Lawler’s suspension also messes with the Survivor Series Showdown program as he was prominently featured when it was taped on November 10. Lawler beat Owen Hart by disqualification in a match that will not air and Owen got upset at Bret for interfering on his behalf. In terms of broadcasting duties, Lawler will be replaced on Superstars by Bruce Prichard, who will do a character called Rio Rodgers that is a heel imitation of Dusty Rhodes. For his part, Lawler has proclaimed his innocence, saying that he has taped phone conversations that will exonerate him.

-The Randy Savage-Crush angle was a draw for Monday Night RAW, which returned to posting a 3.0 number.

-The WWF has resumed its relationship with Genichiro Tenryu’s Wrestle & Romance (WAR) promotion. WWF Japanese representative Akio Sato attended a WAR show on November 11. It was also announced that Tenryu, the Great Kabuki, and another WAR wrestler will appear at The Royal Rumble. In exchange for those appearances, WAR talent will appear at WWF shows in Japan in April.

-In talent relations news, Jerry Jarrett is said to be heavily involved in the WWF’s booking and is now living, at least part-time, in Connecticut. At its recent television tapings the WWF gave a tryout to a wrestler named Tarantula. Bobby Heenan’s contract expires in December. It is not clear whether it will be renewed.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for November 22.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for November 15!

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!