What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – December 25, 1993

Vince McMahon and Stan Lane are commentating the last Superstars of the year, which aired on Christmas Day. They are taped from Utica, New York.

Bret and Owen Hart appear on the video board, having resolved their differences. They are going to be a tag team going forward and will face the Quebecers for the Tag Team Championship at The Royal Rumble.

Opening Contest: Shawn Michaels (28-5-2) pins Phil Apollo after a reverse flying fist drop at 2:59:

Michaels talks trash to Apollo as he works a hammerlock. McMahon relays that Michaels is not happy that Irwin R. Schyster is getting an Intercontinental title shot at The Royal Rumble. After doing a superkick, Michaels hops on the top rope and does a weird fist drop variation where he twists his body in mid-air like he is doing a reverse flying body press.

Men on a Mission (w/Oscar) (20-0) defeat Mike Sharpe & Mike Bell when Mabel pins Bell after a spinning heel kick at 2:56:

MOM’s squashes show that Mo does not have a lot to add to the team as the matches get dull when he enters. To win today Mo whips Bell toward Mabel, who flattens his opponent with a spinning heel kick. This is the fourth time Sharpe has lost to MOM this year and each time he had a different partner.

McMahon announces that Tatanka will face Ludvig Borga at The Royal Rumble per the orders of WWF President Jack Tunney.

Adam Bomb (w/Harvey Wippleman) (33-0) pins Bryan Walsh after the Atom Smasher at 2:40:

Walsh bumps well for Bomb, making the big man’s offense look great. That makes this the best Bomb squash in some time.

A vignette airs for a martial arts wrestler named Kwang. Compared to what they did for Jeff Jarrett it is terrible as you have a guy doing bad imitations of martial arts moves. The WWF does not splurge on a proper setting either so it looks like someone did it in their garage and sent the tape to Titan Towers.

Doink the Clown (w/Dink) (34-7-3) pins Reno Riggins after the flying butt splash at 2:48:

A young kid named David Vaughn is the guest fan ring announcer. He gets so excited for the role that he almost forgets to announce the wrestlers. Doink brings Dink out in a shopping cart and Dink hands out some Christmas gifts. Doink also gives Vaughn a Christmas present and shakes his hand. As Dink cheers him on, Doink notches another win but slams Riggins in the wrong direction to take the flying butt splash, which makes the move riskier for Riggins to take as his head is facing the corner rather than his feet.

Todd Pettengill does The Royal Rumble Report. The Undertaker and Paul Bearer have a sketch for the Yokozuna casket in their workshop. The Undertaker warns Yokozuna that he will soon be gift wrapped and does a menacing “Ho, ho, ho.” New participants in the Royal Rumble include Adam Bomb, Bam Bam Bigelow, Randy Savage, the 1-2-3 Kid, the Headshrinkers, Rick Steiner, Bob Backlund, and Greg Valentine. Jim Cornette provides taped comments about how Yokozuna was cheated in contract negotiations with the Undertaker.

Irwin R. Schyster (14-3) beats Ralph Mosca after a double underhook suplex at 1:01:

IRS attacks Mosca before the bell but Mosca manages to reverse a whip into the ring post. With IRS incapacitated, Mosca tries to open IRS’ briefcase but it is combination locked. That freshens up the usual IRS squash formula.

Jacques and Johnny Polo warn Lex Luger that they are seeking revenge for Pierre on next week’s program. Luger rebuts that Jacques is about to see what “Made in America” is all about.

Tune in next week to see Lex Luger wrestle Jacques! Also, Ludvig Borga and Owen Hart will be in action! And Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon appears for an interview!

The Last Word: Even though this was a Christmas episode where it would have been easy to load up the program with meaningless content, the WWF decided to reveal two new matches for The Royal Rumble. Seeing Bret Hart back in a tag team was weird after a long singles run but one also had to wonder if his tensions with Owen were really resolved. Also, the decision to give the Hart brothers a title shot against the Quebecers at The Royal Rumble had to anger every other tag team in the company, who have been building solid win-loss records since the Quebecers won the titles and have nothing to show for it.

Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for December 26!

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!