WWF Superstars - May 8, 1993
by Scrooge McSuck
- We're back with another episode of Superstars, and surprisingly, it actually goes along with another episode recapped. We're back in May of 1993, with more build up to the King of the Ring PPV. Last week, on SuperStars, Mr. Perfect and Doink went to a "Draw" in their Qualifying Match, but with so much going on in the WWF, what else has gone down in the last week?
- We're back from the same television taping in Tuscon, AZ, with McMahon, Randy Savage, and Jerry Lawler calling all the action. I'd like to mention that the opening video has one very interesting inclusion: Roddy Piper. Seriously, since WrestleMania VIII, how many appearances has Roddy Piper made his presence felt on WWF Television? Outside of SummerSlam '92's surprise appearance, I can't think of any.
The Nasty Boys & Kamala (w/ Reverend Slick) vs. Money Inc. & Mr. Hughes:
This is certainly an interesting combination of partners. Mr. Hughes is still without a manager, and yes, everyone wants his services, including the Slickster. The Nasty Boys/Money Inc. program was dead thanks to Hulk Hogan's return for WrestleMania, and the freshly pushed Steiner Brothers taking that spot afterwards. Slick teaches Kamala how to shake hands with the Nasty Boys. The heels have a meeting in the corner, ending with Dibiase coming in the ring to offer Kamala a wad of cash to take a walk. Kamala takes it and gives it to Slick. A portion of that donation will be going to your local church, as soon as they can figure out how to give change for a penny. Slick yells at Kamala to attack, and he does with his usual stuff (chops). Whip to the corner, then back across to the opposite side. Knobbs tags in and yells at Dibiase a lot. Dibiase responds with a knee to the midsection, followed by chops and rights. Knobbs turns things around with his own offensive flurry, then drops Dibiase with a clothesline. Irish whip is reversed, and Dibiase with another knee to the midsection. I.R.S. tags in and quickly misses an elbow. Knobbs whips him to the buckle, and gives him the Pit Stop. Commercial break, and we return with Sags in control of I.R.S. Whip to the corner, and Kamala tags in, but misses a splash to the corner. Hughes tags in and hammers away on Kamala. Vince slips up and calls him "Curtis". Kamala fights back with shoulder blocks, but it takes three to drop Hughes. The Nasty Boys come in for some illegally double teaming, but Money Inc. balances it out with a double clothesline. Hughes' suspenders broke in that little bit of a mess. Hughes with a clothesline on Knobbs, followed by stompin'. Dibiase comes in, with an axehandle from the second rope. Irish whip, and Knobbs comes back, slamming Dibiase face-first into the canvas. I.R.S. and Sags get the tags, and Sags hammers away with rights, then plants I.R.S. with a piledriver for a two count. Everyone comes in and brawls. Knobbs sends Dibiase over the top rope with a clothesline, and Kamala dumps out Hughes. The Nasty Boys whip I.R.S. into a reverse kick from Kamala, then he hits the splash, but he CAN'T PIN HIM! I.R.S. recovers and rolls Kamala up for the three count at 6:40. Match was surprisingly fun, for the most part, but that shouldn't be confused with being a good match. Is this the last we'll see of the Mr. Hughes saga? Who knows.- Instead of the Event Center, we go to a segment called Face-To-Face, hosted by Mean Gene Okerlund. It's basically the same thing, but not quite. He's here to moderate dueling promos from Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect. They're trying to say they're talking to each other live, but it's pretty obvious these were taped seperately. For whatever reasons, this angle was dropped suddenly, then brought back in time for SummerSlam, where they went on to have the Greatest Intercontinental Title Match Ever™.
Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Sean Dakota:
Weird to see a recent World Champion wrestling on a syndicated shows, but then again, that was only done back in the days of someone like Hulk Hogan who's big drawing power was for house shows. Yokozuna was bulking up for his title match, and wrestling much more aggressively, treating every one of his opponents like they were Hulk Hogan. Yokozuna hammers away on his opponent, slams him, then drops a super-fat-ass'ed leg. Yokozuna with a belly-to-belly suplex, as we shill the latest issue of WWF Magazine. Yokozuna sends Dakota to the corner, then follows in with his massive ass avalanche. The Banzai Drop is next, and it's thankfully all over at 2:54. A lot of that time was Yokozuna's traditional pre-match stalling. At least Yokozuna looked like he was trying to make it look like he was killing his opponent.- It's time for the WWF King of the Ring Report, brought to us by Mean Gene Okerlund. It's sponsered by Ico-Pro, you know. You've got to want it! Scheduled so far: WWF Champion Hulk Hogan defends the strap against Yokozuna, who, along with his talker, I mean manager, Mr. Fuji, cut a seething promo. Also, there's the King of the Ring Tournament. So far, Bret Hart is in, due to recieving a bye, and last week on Challenge, The Narcissist defeated Bob Backlund to qualify. This week, in more qualifying matches: Jim Duggan vs. Papa Shango on Wrestling Challenge, and Typhoon vs. Ba Bam Bigelow on the next episode of Monday Night Raw. Oh, and later in this broadcast, Tito Santana takes on Razor Ramon.
Crush vs. Steve Vega:
I don't know what the WWF was trying to do with Crush. He seemed pretty popular, but was never treated as much more than some big goof who lost all the time. Call me crazy, but Crush might've been a better option than Luger for the big SummerSlam push. He just seemed a hell of a lot more believable as the smiling baby kisser who loves his country, and he wasn't that bad of a worker at this point, either. Lockup to start, and Crush shoves Vega off. Lockup #2, and this time Vega rakes the eyes, then pounds away with some weak punches. Crush responds with an equally pathetic heel kick. Irish whip to the corner, and Crush takes Vega down with a belly-to-belly suplex. Crush with a gorilla press slam, and the Cranium Crunch (or the Head Vice, whatever you want to call it) is enough for the victory at 2:00. Not a terribly exciting squash match. Where's Doink The Clown to bitch out Crush again?- From the pages of WWF Magazine (featuring Hulk Hogan on the cover advertising results for WrestleMania IX), it's Update, hosted by Gorilla Monsoon. Last week, Luna Vachon and the Sensational Sherri had a pull-clothes-apart cat-fight on Monday Night Raw, because cat-fights haven't been done in the WWF before. We follow this with promos from both women. Luna seems to be taking a vacation from a torture chamber or something, judging by the chains hanging against the wall. I wonder what the plans were for this, had Sherri not left the WWF soon after. Was this going to re-introduce the Women's Title, or something?
King Of The Ring Qualifying Match:
"El Matador" Tito Santana vs. Razor Ramon:
I can't imagine this having much suspense to it. Razor Ramon was in a weird limbo since a one-shot main event spot at the '93 Royal Rumble. At least he got to win his match against Bob Backlund at WrestleMania IX. For whatever unGodly reason, Razor threatens Santana by acting like a bull. Seriously, any time I watch this match, I can't help but call attention to this. He even does a hand gesture to represent having horns! Santana with a waistlock to start, but Ramon casually makes it to the ropes, then elbows Santana across the face for his troubles. Ramon puts the boots to Santana and talks some trash. Irish whip, and Santana comes off the ropes with the Flying Forearm, but Ramon gets a foot on the ropes at the count of two. Matador blocks a boot and thumbs the eyes! Santana grabs the arm and works a wristlock. Irish whip to escape, but Santana goes back to the arm. Irish whip, and Ramon with a stun gun (dropping the opponent throat-first across the top rope). Ramon puts the boots to him, then unloads with roundhouse rights. Santana fights back and plants Ramon with a pair of slams. Santana heads to the top rope, and comes off with a crossd body press, but Ramon rolls through and hooks the tights for the three count at 3:20. As usual with Santana, his violent attempts to kick out include actually getting his shoulders off the canvas, and it looked more like Ramon giving him a wedgie rather than just grabbing the trunks for leverage.
- We go back to the Face-To-Face Control Center, with Mean Gene Okerlund. Doink (the Clown) cuts a promo on Crush, who I guess hasn't been abused enough by the evil clown. Next up is a promo from Jim Duggan, who is still pissed off at the fact Yokozuna tried to end his career. Come on, it's not like Yokozuna was the first fat fuck to drop ass on you over and over again. I will say this, though: Jim Duggan's matches with Yokozuna were surprisingly entertaining, and did a good job to make Yokozuna look like a monster, while also keeping Duggan looking respectable. We get a commercial break afterwards, with one being an advertisment for the Hasbro wrestling figures. This commercial features the set including Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Virgil, Skinner, and I.R.S.
- Raymond Rougeau is here for a very special interview on that raised platform. This week, his guests are the Giant Gonzales and Harvey Wippleman. If you thought the interview with the Undertaker from last weeks episode was pretty bad, this one is even worse, with Wippleman doing all the talking. Sadly, this program would keep going up until SummerSlam. The funny thing about it, though, is that it briefly turned into a feud between the Undertaker and Mr. Hughes, but then reverted back to Gonzalez once Hughes left the company. I honestly don't know which match would've been worse. The show ends like that, without any promoting of what next week will feature, or even a goodbye from the commentary team.
Final Thoughts: Not a terrible episode. There's two feature matches that are both watchable, which is always a major plus, and the Update segment was almost always worth something. The downside is the lame Face-to-Face segments, which seemed like an incredibly lamer version of the Event Center, proving that without Sean Mooney, you couldn't have the Event Center, anymore. Also, the squashes, all two of them, were pretty bad, at least in the way you can judge squash matches on the watchable scale.
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