What the World Was Watching: Survivor Series 1993

Lex Luger welcomes fans to the show with his family, wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving. Like many of Luger’s recent segments, it is awkward. In a shoot interview, Luger said part of the awkwardness was that he was cheating on his wife. Bruce Prichard has also said that it took five hours to shoot this 30-second bit.

An unidentified gentleman sings the national anthem.

Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan are in the booth, live from Boston, Massachusetts. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show drew a sellout crowd of 15,509. The pay-per-view drew a buyrate of 0.82 (180,000 buys), a substantial decline from the 1.40 buyrate (250,000 buys) the event received the previous year. This would end up being the last pay-per-view that Heenan would call for the WWF. It was not his last pay-per-view appearance, though, as he would return to call the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven in 2001. One wonders how McMahon could stay focused on doing this show when he was arraigned on his federal steroid indictment a day earlier.

Opening Contest: Razor Ramon, the 1-2-3 Kid, Marty Jannetty & Randy Savage beat Irwin R. Schyster, Diesel, Rick Martel & Adam Bomb (w/Harvey Wippleman) when the Kid and Jannetty are the survivors after Jannetty pins Bomb with a sunset flip from the apron at 26:58:

Other Eliminations: Randy Savage pins Diesel after the flying elbow drop at 10:19; IRS pin Savage after a schoolboy roll up at 16:47; Ramon pins IRS after the Razor’s Edge at 20:32; Ramon is counted out at 21:43; The Kid pins Martel with a sunset flip at 26:48

Before the match, Ramon announces that Mr. Perfect has bailed on the team so Savage is named as a replacement, getting a big pop. Dissension between Martel and Bomb, which unfolded two weeks ago on Superstars, shows up in a heel miscommunication spot early, leading to Martel slugging Wippleman and the heels having to huddle to get back on track. Diesel gets to throw around the Kid for a bit but makes no impression otherwise, summarily beaten by Savage, who takes out the whole heel team by himself in a hot sequence. As expected, Crush shows up later and that prevents Savage from eliminating IRS. The distraction lets IRS recover and he eliminates Savage, who quickly runs to the locker room to get revenge on his rival. Team captains Ramon and IRS battle for a decent amount of time, with Ramon getting the better of the tax man. However, IRS gets even by blasting Ramon with his briefcase in a melee when Ramon tries to give the Razor’s Edge to Martel, causing the Intercontinental champion to be eliminated via count out. The Kid shines against Martel and Bomb, earning a loud pop when he surprises Martel with a sunset flip on a blind charge to eliminate him and then getting a tag to Jannetty, who sunset flips an overeager Bomb in the babyface corner to win. This was a well booked match that flowed nicely from one elimination to the next. The end was a bit abrupt but it put over the potential of a Kid-Jannetty tag team. Rating: ***½

Todd Pettengill interviews Shawn Michaels, who is wearing the Intercontinental title. Michaels argues that he is the undisputed Intercontinental champion. An interview with the Hart Brothers and Stu Hart with Ray Combs is shown in the middle of the segment. Bret tries to spin the interview as Michaels deserving a beating for the segment that aired on Survivor Series Showdown. It is funny how Bruce wants interview time and only gets to say that all the Harts are in town. When the Michaels interview resumes, Michaels says he has score to settle with Bret over last year’s Survivor Series. This segment showed how far Bret and Michaels had come on the mic over the past year.

Members of the Hart Family, including Helen Hart, are recognized by Combs before the next match. Owen’s wife, Martha, does not look thrilled to be there. The crowd gets restless when Combs tries to tell jokes instead of just getting the next match going.

Bret Hart, Keith Hart, Bruce Hart & Owen Hart (w/Stu Hart) defeat Shawn Michaels, the Blue Knight, the Red Knight & the Black Knight when Bret, Keith, and Bruce are the survivors after Michaels gets counted out at 30:55:

Other Eliminations: Owen pins the Black Knight after a missile dropkick at 10:47; Bret submits the Red Knight to the Sharpshooter at 18:07; Owen submits the Blue Knight to the Sharpshooter at 23:45; Michaels pins Owen with a schoolboy roll up at 27:15

The knights are masked. The Blue Knight is Greg Valentine, the Black Knight is Jeff Gaylord of the USWA, and the Red Knight is Barry Horowitz. The original plan was for Terry Funk to be the Red Knight but he reportedly backed out just prior to the event when he found out that the knights would be unmasked after they were eliminated. This led to a famous story where Funk wrote a note to McMahon that his horse was sick and he needed to go home to his ranch. There were also discussions with Jimmy Snuka to be one of the knights.

The Harts have singlets but Bret’s is pink while his brothers wear black. Nothing about this match works because the knights do not fit Michaels’ gimmick so they look like goofs. Also, Jerry Lawler was meant to be the heat machine for the match. Combs, who is on commentary, does not understand the rules and celebrates after the first elimination, thinking that is the finish. If only. The crowd does not care about Keith, Bruce, or any of the knights, so long stretches of the match garner no reaction. It does not help that the match is booked to last 30 minutes. The fans finally come to life when Stu punches Michaels and the Harts punish the former Intercontinental champion. Things go well until Owen runs the ropes and collides with Bret, who is on the apron and dazed after a Michaels eye rake. Bret takes a nice dive into the guardrail, knocking it over, and the distraction leads to Michaels pinning Owen. An unhappy Owen yells at Bret over the incident, exiting the ring while screaming “What about me?” Michaels tries fighting alone for a few minutes but is still outnumbered three-to-one. It is funny how Keith thinks the crowd wants to see an abdominal stretch as the match gets into its endgame. Bret understands the WWF style better, tagging in and beating on Michaels some more until Michaels calls it quits. Again, with Lawler involved this match is different. The story was that he would hide behind his knights until they were all eliminated, take a long beating from the Harts and Stu, and would have pinned Owen to kick off a feud between the two brothers. Lawler probably would have gotten pinned or submitted at the end too instead of getting counted out like Michaels did. Rating: *½

After the match, Owen comes back to the ring. Instead of celebrating with his brothers, Owen pulls Bret off the second rope and shoves him. After a long argument, the crowd boos Owen as Heenan says that Owen is tired of living in Bret’s shadow. Later, Owen argues with Stu that he never gets any recognition. Helen Hart cries as ringside as Owen poses for the crowd and the other Harts head to the locker room. Pettengill tries to talk to Owen in the aisle but Owen blows him off. The crowd reaction to Owen’s actions showed that a feud between he and Bret had legs.

McMahon and Heenan switch places with Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon, who have been doing a Radio WWF broadcast. Heenan does not want to move because he does not want to cross paths with Monsoon. During the switch, Monsoon pins Heenan against the ring post and thinks about punching him.

It is announced that Madison Square Garden will be the host of WrestleMania X on Sunday, March 20.

There is a recap of the All Americans-Foreign Fanatics feud.

Smoky Mountain Tag Team Championship Match: The Heavenly Bodies (w/Jim Cornette) (10-1) beat the Rock N’ Roll Express (Champions) (2-1) when Tom Prichard pins Robert Gibson after Jimmy Del Ray hits him with Cornette’s tennis racket at 13:41:

Even though the Express has had a few matches on WWF television, fans in the Boston area are not familiar with them because it was not an NWA territory in the 1980s and Smoky Mountain Wrestling was not aired in this part of the country. As a result, the crowd does not react to their babyface spots and even when the action is going at a good pace a few fans yell “Boring!” It takes seven minutes for the Bodies to get into an offensive rhythm, putting Ricky Morton in peril and scoring close near-falls. Robert Gibson has to save his partner after a Del Ray moonsault and receives the hot tag shortly thereafter. Morton traps Del Ray in an O’Connor roll but gets thrown over the top rope, which would be a disqualification in Smoky Mountain but is not in the WWF. Prichard breaks up a pin attempt after a Morton flying body press on Del Ray and the Express hit their double dropkick finish. That leads to a botch where referee Joey Marella is not supposed to count but does, so Prichard kicks out. When Marella escorts Morton to the babyface corner, Cornette does a nice toss of his tennis racquet to Del Ray on the top rope, who comes down onto Gibson’s back when he has Prichard covered and the Bodies win the titles. If this match took place in the South it would have had an electric reaction. There were a few small miscommunications but it was a good tag team match between two accomplished teams. Rating: ***¼

Todd Pettengill interviews Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger, and the Headshrinkers, who are with Luna Vachon and Afa. The Headshrinkers, Booger, and Afa feast on Thanksgiving turkeys as Bigelow puts over his team as hungry for success.

The Four Doinks (w/Oscar) beat Bam Bam Bigelow, Bastion Booger & the Headshrinkers (w/Luna Vachon & Afa) in a clean sweep when the Doinks pin Bigelow after a Mabel splash at 10:58:

Other Eliminations: Luke pins Samu with a schoolboy roll up at 3:01; Mabel pins Booger after a leg drop at 6:01; Butch pins Fatu with a jackknife cover at 8:31

Afa and Booger bring turkeys to the ring to eat and Fatu has a lot of bananas. Fans were expecting to see Doink the Clown and three copies wrestle. Instead, they get the Bushwhackers and Men on a Mission in Doink gear, which was reportedly a gametime decision. The crowd is unhappy to not get Doink, working up a “We want Doink!” chant but they do pop for MOM’s entrance and Mabel looks like he is having the time of his life under the face paint. This is not a match to be taken seriously as the heels bludgeon the babyfaces but every time they are on the verge of making an elimination the Doinks pull a prank to turn the tables. For example, Samu is eliminated after busting open two balloons with his teeth only to have a third one explode with water. That dazes him and he is rolled up and pinned. Booger does the Trip to the Batcave on Butch but stops his cover to eat a banana in the corner. When he tries to do the move again, Mabel pulls Butch from under him and a Battering Ram and big leg drop put Booger away. Fatu does his splash off the top rope onto Mo but instead of keeping with the cover he gets fascinated with a banana peel. Butch sneaks in and acts like he is going to throw a bucket of water on Fatu, who slips on a banana peel and gets pinned. It could be conceivable for Bigelow to win four-on-one considering his credentials but when he has Luke pinned after a body slam, Butch throws water on Vachon. The distraction causes Bigelow to break the cover but get avalanched in the corner by Mabel, leading to his elimination after a Mabel splash. This was another case of the WWF having to pivot a match because of a firing. Some of the spots were funny but the Doinks had lots of illegal tags and the referee did not seem to care. Heenan’s funny, baffled commentary is enough for me to give it a star, though. Rating: *

As Bigelow and Vachon make their way to the locker room, Doink appears on the video board. He blows a kiss to Vachon, who sells it like it is real. Doink laughs at his team crushing Bigelow’s.

Pettengill talks with the Foreign Fanatics. Jim Cornette does a good promo about how one can take out one’s mind, heart, and soul if they want to win a battle and that the Fanatics will do all three to prevail.

Lex Luger, the Undertaker & the Steiner Brothers (w/Paul Bearer) beat Yokozuna, Ludvig Borga, Jacques & Crush (w/Jim Cornette, Mr. Fuji & Johnny Polo) when Luger is the sole survivor after using the running forearm at 27:57:

Other Eliminations: Borga pins Rick Steiner after a powerslam at 5:02; Crush is counted out at 11:34; Luger pins Jacques after an elbow drop off the second rope at 14:04; Yokozuna pins Scott Steiner after a leg drop at 16:56; The Undertaker and Yokozuna are counted out at 23:24

The Undertaker’s American pride only extends to his coat as he does not wear the red, white, and blue tights of his All American teammates. The best parts of the match involve Scott Steiner and the Undertaker. In Scott’s case, he wrestles most of the first 16 minutes. His undoing is attempting to give Yokozuna a Frankensteiner and the WWF champion holds onto the ropes and stops that move, eliminating Scott with a leg drop. The Undertaker gets the best reaction of the match, tagging in at the 21-minute mark and having a mini-battle with Yokozuna. The Undertaker does not stop coming even after taking Yokozuna’s biggest moves, including a belly-to-belly suplex, leg drop, and Banzai Drop. He and Yokozuna end up fighting on the floor and get counted out, with Bearer pulling the Undertaker off the WWF champion. The Randy Savage-Crush feud contributes to Crush’s elimination as Savage is held back from the ring twice by WWF officials and Crush decides to run after Savage and attack him. No one wins their exchange but it keeps that program hot. Lex Luger does his own showdown with Yokozuna and Borga but neither excites the crowd. The lack of reaction for his tussle with Yokozuna had to disappoint McMahon. In the end, good triumphs over evil as Luger kicks out of Borga’s attempt to win after hitting Luger with Fuji’s wooden bucket. Luger leapfrogs over Borga and hits him with the running forearm, a finish they were using on house shows. Overall, the match was decent but suffered from focusing too much attention on things that were not over. Rating: **½

Luger waves the U.S. flag to celebrate and snow falls in the ring as Santa Claus makes an appearance.

The Last Word: Fans got to see all the babyfaces win their elimination matches, something that had never happened before at Survivor Series. It was good for the WWF to pivot back to the elimination match concept but the card was wrecked by backstage issues. That created some boring matches, like the Harts-Knights, or wacky reworkings like the Four Doinks battle with Bam Bam Bigelow’s squad. The pay-per-view could not be considered a success because of the alarming decline in households that bought it compared to previous editions. It was another indictment of Lex Luger’s push, showing that he had lost significant traction since SummerSlam. Luger’s feud with Ludvig Borga has not elevated him or kept him at par with other stars, and coming out of this show fans were more invested in the Undertaker-Yokozuna, Randy Savage-Crush, and Bret Hart-Owen Hart programs than anything involving him.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for November 27!

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