What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – December 26, 1993

All American Wrestling featured the finals of the six-woman tournament that was held to crown the WWF Women’s Champion. It was filmed in Poughkeepsie, New York on December 13, making one wonder why the WWF chose not to air it as part of the live broadcast that night. Vince McMahon and Stan Lane are the commentators.

WWF Women’s Championship Tournament Finals: Alundra Blayze beats Heidi Lee Morgan after a German suplex to win the title at 6:41 shown:

Blayze was best known to wrestling fans as Madusa. She started her career in 1984 after being trained by Brad Rheingans and Eddie Sharkey. She got her first big break in the AWA in 1986, working as a wrestler and a manager and won the AWA Women’s Championship in 1987. After undergoing additional training as part of All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling from 1989-1991, Madusa resurfaced in WCW as part of the heel Dangerous Alliance stable, eventually winning a feud against Paul E. Dangerously at the end of 1992. As part of her contract negotiations with the WWF she was not allowed to use the Madusa name because it was not a WWF trademark.

Morgan was a Fabulous Moolah and Johnny Rodz trainee, breaking into the business after a career in bodybuilding in 1987. Prior to 1993 she worked in the Buffalo-based National Wrestling Federation (NWF), where she feuded with former WWF Women’s Champion Wendy Richter; the Ladies Professional Wrestling Association (LPWA), where she was a Tag Team champion with Misty Blue Simmes; and the World Wide Wrestling Alliance (WWWA), where she was Women’s champion twice.

To get to this point, Morgan beat Black Venus, another Moolah trainee, in the quarter-finals and Rusty Thomas, an experienced independent wrestler, in the semi-finals. Blayze had a bye to the semi-finals and beat Allison Royal, a veteran of Herb Abrams’ UWF. Neither participant gets theme music, another demonstration of the lack of effort the WWF is expending on the rebooted Women’s division. Within a few minutes, one can see that Blayze has better offense, combining Japanese-like strikes with technical wrestling. But Morgan has some good moves, too, diving off the top rope onto Blayze after dropkicking her off the apron and countering a Northern Lights suplex near-fall into a front facelock. Some could argue that too much of the match is spent in rest holds but the technical work to maneuver into those holds – and escape them – is better than what a lot of the men were doing on the roster in 1993. There is a frenzied finish where both women miss dives off the ropes, Morgan gets a near-fall from a Samoan drop, and Blayze goes under a clothesline attempt to trap Morgan in a German suplex to win the title. Rating: **½

Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon called the last Wrestling Challenge of the year, taped in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Opening Contest: The Steiner Brothers (43-1) beat Mike Bell & the Executioner when Scott pins the Executioner with the Frankensteiner at 2:52:

Scott shows impressive power with the Executioner, lifting him in a gorilla press position and carrying him to three sides of the ring. Even though the Steiners have not lost a conventional tag team match in their WWF run that was not enough to get a title shot against the Quebecers at The Royal Rumble.

Lord Alfred Hayes is not happy about the Harts reunion, saying that Bret is using Owen as a sacrificial lamb for his own greed. So heel Hayes resumes as the WWF is not sure what they want to do with him.

Crush (w/Mr. Fuji) (30-4-2) defeats Mike Davis (0-2) after a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker at 3:17:

Crush now has theme music. It has ominous sounds with a tribal-like drumbeat joined with it. Ross ascribes Crush’s methodical martial arts offense to Fuji. After winning his tenth-straight singles match, Crush puts Davis in the head vice for a few seconds and does a heart punch.

Owen Hart (15-6) beats Paul Van Dale via submission to the Sharpshooter at 1:52:

Monsoon talks about recent conversations he had with Owen and how he has known the Harts for a long time. Owen looks smooth in beating Van Dale, showing that he will be an asset when he teams with his brother to go after the Tag Team titles.

Stan Lane does an in-ring interview with Irwin R. Schyster, who argues that Ramon has lost his edge after losing his gold chains. He denies that he has Ramon’s gold but also refuses Lane’s request to open his briefcase. Then, he vows to take Ramon’s Intercontinental Championship at The Royal Rumble. Lane did a good job sparring with IRS in this segment. The WWF should use him more as an interviewer than a color commentator.

Jeff Jarrett (2-0) pins Scott Taylor after the DDT off the ropes at 3:38:

Like Vince McMahon on Superstars, Monsoon wonders why Jarrett is wearing a weird attire and chalks it up to being flamboyant. In the split screen, Jarrett puts himself over as the greatest wrestler in the soon-to-be-called JJF. This follows the same formula as Jarrett’s other squashes so far as he calls out other superstars when he beats on his opponent and then cuts off his opponent’s comeback with his finisher.

Tune in next week to see Tatanka, the Headshrinkers, Doink the Clown, Men on a Mission, and Shawn Michaels in action! And WWF Champion Yokozuna shows up for an interview!

The Last Word: Most of the show was a recap of events that had transpired on other shows this week. It is good that Wrestling Challenge is getting some interview segments back, though, as that gives the show some purpose.

The WWF took most of Christmas week off but resumed house shows the day after December 25. Here were the results of some of its December 26 events, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Maple Leaf Gardens – December 26, 1993 (7,000; matinee): The Smoking Gunns defeated the Red & Black Knight (Steve Lombardi & Barry Horowitz)…Owen Hart defeated Adam Bomb…Irwin R. Schyster beat the 1-2-3 Kid…Crush defeated Randy Savage in a best-of-three falls, falls count anywhere match after Savage was attacked by Yokozuna before the third fall and had to forfeit…The Steiner Brothers beat WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers via count out…Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon defeated Shawn Michaels via reverse decision…The Undertaker beat WWF Champion Yokozuna via disqualification.

Saginaw, Michigan – Saginaw Civic Center – December 26, 1993 (2,100): Bastion Booger beat Virgil…Doink the Clown defeated Bam Bam Bigelow…Jeff Jarrett beat Marty Jannetty…Lex Luger beat Ludvig Borga in a flag match…The Headshrinkers defeated Men on a Mission…Tatanka beat Diesel.

Backstage News*: Last month the WWF sent out a casting call for martial arts performers in Hollywood for use on live shows.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for January 10.

Up Next: WWF Monday Night RAW for December 27!

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!