ROYAL RUMBLE (1993) continued ...

WWE Title: Bret Hart © vs. Razor Ramon
(Go to 51:45 on video)

* I love Bret but a lot of his early-90s promos were pretty rough. Absolutely love Razor flicking his toothpick at the kid Bret gave the glasses to, that's classic. Bret takes offense and starts fast on Razor and the two slug it out, with Razor getting the upper hand. Eventually he misses a high knee in the corner and Bret goes to work on it. He slaps on a figure four but Razor quickly gets to the ropes. Bret keeps working over the leg and Razor sells it pretty good. Gorilla: A few words of encouragement from Stu Hart." Brain: "Yeah, I heard him go, 'Ehhhh uhhhhh ehhhhh uhhhhhh.'" Gorilla: "Will you stop!" Hahahaha!!! Razor reverses Bret into a short-arm knee lift, then whips him to the corner and Bret slides and bumps into the post with his ribs. Razor goes to work on the ribs outside with a couple backbreakers before slamming Bret into the post. Inside, Razor hits his fallaway slam for two. A chest-first turnbuckle bump gets two. Razor slaps on an abdominal stretch, which is a great move on hurting ribs, a nice time for it. Bret reverses the hold but gets hip tossed. Razor then misses an elbow drop, but connects with a shoulderblock for two. Bret hits a crossbody for two but gets sent to the outside on the kickout. Bret comes back in with a shoulder and a sunset flip attempt, but Razor drops down on Bret for two before Brett completes the flip for a two of his own. Razor gets back in control with a stomp to the face and a Camel Clutch-like chinlock, then applies a bearhug. Bret's arm drops twice, then he gets out of the hold by biting. He then backdrops Razor over the top to the outside, before hitting a suicide dive through the ropes. Back inside, Bret slugs away uncharacteristically, looking kind of unsure what to do. An inverted atomic drop and clothesline get two. Side backbreaker and clothesline from the second rope get two. Bulldog gets two. Russian leg sweep gets two but hurts Bret's ribs. Bret grabs the legs and Razor instantly slides to the ropes. Bret brings him to the middle but Razor grabs the referee to prevent the turn. Razor then goes back to Bret's ribs. Razor sets Bret up for the back suplex from the second rope but Bret hits an elbow, then rolls over Razor to set up his own back suplex. Then Bret goes for his second-rope elbow but Razor gets his foot up in Bret's mug. Pretty good stuff here. Razor calls for his Razor's Edge and gets Bret up but he slips out of it and hits a backslide for two. Bret gets whipped hard into the corner and Razor taunts him with slaps. Bret works him into a pinning combination for two, then works his way into the sharpshooter (not his best-looking one) for the win. This was a pretty good effort if not a classic, I liked the working over of Razor's leg and Bret's ribs early, and they switched up a lot of the usual sequences with counters late. I'll give it 3.5 stars ... thought about 3.75 but that feels just a touch too high as there was nothing extraordinary here.

WRESTLEMANIA IX (1993)
Location: Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas



IC Title: Shawn Michaels © vs. Tatanka
(Go to 8:30 on video)

* I truly did not think a Tananka match would wind up on this list, but A) it's a Shawn Michaels match, and B) ... well, it's a Shawn Michaels match. This got an average of 3.25 stars. I'm a little skeptical. Luna Vachon and Scary Sherri are at ringside. Pretty basic stuff at the start before Tatanka bridges up out of a top wrist lock and flings HBK to the mat. HBK walks the turnbuckle to gain leverage for a headlock takedown, then tries it a second time and Tatanka hits a pretty nice delayed back suplex. HBK dodges a corner charge, then comes off the top but gets caught in an arm drag counter, that was pretty sweet. Another arm drag and a dropkick sends HBK into the corner. He gets sent to the other corner and does the Flair flip, then gets chopped off the apron to the floor. I'm less skeptical, this has been good. Tatanka keeps chopping HBK off the apron as he tries to get back in. HBK eventually gets an eye poke in. He comes off the top with a sunset flip for two. HBK gets caught on a leapfrog and gets reverse atomic dropped. A few seconds later Tatanka hits a DDT, then goes to work on HBK's arm/shoulder. HBK tries a clothesline with the hurt arm, nothing doing, that was pretty well done from a storyline standpoint. Tatanka dodges an HBK charge in the corner and HBK slams his shoulder into the post. Tatanka hits a shoulderbreaker and an elbow drop, then goes up top for a flying chop. He goes up again and jumps right into sweet chin music. The lack of covers/nearfalls is hurting the match a bit. HBK dumps Tatanka to the outside. HBK hits a flying clothesline from the apron to the floor. Inside, a swinging neckbreaker gets two. A standing dropkick gets two. After a few moments of hesitation, an awkward victory roll gets two. HBK sets up for another victory roll but Tatanka brings him out of the corner and drops back with a vicious elevator slam. A delayed cover gets two. Tatanka misses an elbow. HBK hits a double axehandle from the second rope but Tatanka no-sells and starts hulking up. He catches sweet chin music, spins HBK and hits multiple chops. A crossbody from the top gets two. HBK gets caught trying a dropkick and gets slingshot to the corner/post, then a rollup gets two. HBK wiggles out of a samoan drop position and hits a rollup for two. HBK goes up top and gets caught in a counter powerslam for two. HBK uses the tights to send Tatanka to the outside. HBK misses another flying clothesline from the apron and hits the steps. HBK drops the ref and drags him outside, then gets inside and gets samoan dropped by Tatanka. He makes the pin but the ref DQ's HBK for the earlier transgression. You know what, 3.25 stars hit the nail on the head here, this was quite entertaining. The women didn't get involved (until after the match) and the action was pretty good.

Steiners vs. Headshrinkers
(Go to 34:00 on video)

* For as wretched a card as this was, I was surprised to wind up with two matches that made the cut, this being the second (at an average of 3 stars, which is five more than Taker/El Gigante got, and I'm not kidding). Scott wins a slugfest with Fatu before turning him inside out with a clothesline. The Shrinkers wind up dumping the Steiners to the outside, but they regroup, climb the same turnbuckle and deliver flying clotheslines, nice spot. Samu gets the best of Rick and hits a charging clothesline in the corner. He gets whipped to the other corner, but this times comes out with his Steinerline, then sends Samu over the turnbuckle to the post. Scott hits a double-underhook powerbomb on Samu and dropkicks Fatu. Samu catches Scott and appears to go for a stun gun but instead dumps Scott right on his head out on the floor! Wow, that was nasty looking and I'm 99 percent sure was unintentional. Scott then gets drilled by Afa's cane. Scott gets slammed on the floor. Back inside, Fatu hits a side backbreaker, then a diving headbutt from the second turnbuckle for two (with a Rick save). A spinning side kick floors Scott. He gets whipped to the corner but catches Samu with a boot coming in. Fatu gets the tag and sends Scott to the floor. He gets rammed into the post. Scott rams Fatu's head into the mat ... bad idea as Fatu rightfully no-sells it (he's Samoan!) and hits a wicked side kick to Scott's jaw. Samu hits a standing dropkick. Samu sets Scott up in a backbreaker position and Fatu drives an elbow to his head. A falling headbutt gets two. A double clothesline gives Scott a ray of hope but Samu gets tagged in and stops Scott. It's starting to drag. Samu slams Scott and goes to the top, but he misses a HUGE flying headbutt. Scott finally makes the tag. A backdrop and three clotheslines clean house, but then Rick slams the Shrinkers' heads together. Bad idea. The Shrinkers rightfully no-sell it (they're Samoan!) and double-headbutt Rick to stop him cold. Hey, if you combine Steiners and Shrinkers, you get the Shriners! Sorry, I had to. Put the pitchforks down. The Shrinkers do a double-team reverse russian leg sweep. Fatu then hoists Rick on his shoulders and Samu comes off the top with a crossbody, but Rick reverses it into an awesome powerslam, and Fatu has to make the save at two. Rck gets sent to the floor but tags in Scott, who promptly gets clotheslined. Scott hits a sweet belly-to-belly throw on Fatu, but Samu nails him with a side kick. Scott catches Samu with a Frankensteiner (Jim Ross, in his WWE debut, blows the call and calls it a Steinerline) for the three. This was a nice hard-hitting match with some real good high spots, but not as good overall as HBK/Tatanka. A 3 is right.

COMING SOON: King of the Ring 1993, a.k.a. The Bret Hart Show.

Note: I downgraded Savage/Steamboat to 4.75 stars. That 5 has been bugging me for a while. Yes, the match was great, and GREAT in its time period ... but it’s not quite on the save overall level as Bret/Bulldog for me.

ANTIDAN’S TOTALLY SUBJECTIVE AND MOSTLY MEANINGLESS RATINGS:
5 — IC Title: Bret Hart vs. British Bulldog, Summerslam 1992
4.75 — IC Title: Randy Savage vs. Ricky Steamboat, Wrestlemania III (1987)
4.5 — IC Title: Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart, Summerslam 1991
4.25 — The Royal Rumble (1992)
4.25 — WWE Title: Ric Flair vs. Randy Savage, Wrestlemania VIII (1992)
4 — WWE Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Ultimate Warrior, Wrestlemania VI (1990)
4 — Retirement Match: Ultimate Warrior vs. Randy Savage, Wrestlemania VII (1991)
4 — IC Title: Roddy Piper vs. Bret Hart, Wrestlemania VIII (1992)
4 — Brain Busters vs. Hart Foundation, Summerslam 1989
4 — Rockers vs. Orient Express, Royal Rumble 1991
3.75 — IC Title: Rick Rude vs. Ultimate Warrior, Summerslam 1989
3.75 — Tag Team Survivor Match: Demolition, Brain Busters, Bolsheviks, Rougeau Brothers & Los Conquistadores vs. Powers of Pain, Rockers, British Bulldogs, Hart Foundation & Young Stallions, Survivor Series 1988
3.5 — WWE Title: Randy Savage vs. Hulk Hogan, Wrestlemania V (1989)
3.5 — WWE Title: Randy Savage vs. Ultimate Warrior, Summerslam 1992
3.5 -- WWE Title: Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon, Royal Rumble 1993
3.5 — WWE Title: Bret Hart vs. Shawn Michaels, Survivor Series 1992
3.5 — WWE Title: Randy Savage vs. Shawn Michaels, UK Rampage 1992
3.5 — The New Foundation vs. The Orient Express, Royal Rumble 1992
3.5 — Tag Team Survivor Match: Demolition, The Islanders, The Hart Foundation, The New Dream Team & The Bolsheviks vs. Strike Force, The Rougeau Brothers, The British Bulldogs, The Young Stallions & The Killer Bees, Survivor Series 1987
3.5 — Rockers & Tito Santana vs The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers & Rick Martel, Summerslam 1989
3.5 — Rockers vs. Haku/Barbarian, Wrestlemania VII (1991)
3.25 — WWE Tag Titles, Demolition vs. Hart Foundation, Summerslam 1988
3.25 -- IC Title: Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka, Wrestlemania IX (1993)
3.25 — The British Bulldogs vs. The Rougeau Brothers, Summerslam 1988
3 — IC Title: Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude, Wrestlemania V (1989)
3 -- Steiner Brothers vs. Headshrinkers, Wrestlemania IX (1993)
3 — WWE Tag Titles, Dream Team vs. British Bulldogs, Wrestlemania 2 (1986)
3 — Elimination Match: Ric Flair, Ted DiBiase, The Mountie & The Warlord vs. Roddy Piper, Bret Hart, British Bulldog & Virgil, Survivor Series 1991
3 — Million Dollar Title: Ted DiBiase vs. Virgil, Summerslam 1991
3 — Shawn Michaels vs. Rick Martel, Summerslam 1992
3 — IC Title: Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty, Royal Rumble 1993
3 — Best 2 of 3 Falls: Dino Bravo & The Rougeau Brothers vs. Jim Duggan & The Hart Foundation, Royal Rumble 1989
3 — Mr. Perfect vs. Blue Blazer (Owen Hart), Wrestlemania V (1989)
3 — King Haku vs. Harley Race, Royal Rumble 1989
3 — The Royal Rumble (1990)
2.75 — Snake Pit Match: Jake Roberts vs. Ricky Steamboat, The Big Event (1986)
2.5 — WWE Tag Titles: Hart Foundation vs. Nasty Boys, Wrestlemania VII (1991)
2.5 — Randy Savage & Mr. Perfect vs. Ric Flair & Razor Ramon, Survivor Series 1992
2.5 — Steiner Brothers vs. Beverly Brothers, Royal Rumble 1993
2.5 — Big Boss Man vs. Barbarian, Royal Rumble 1991
2.5 — WWE Title Tournament, first round, Greg Valentine vs. Ricky Steamboat, Wrestlemania IV (1988)
2.5 — The Royal Rumble (1989)
2.5 — WWE Tag Titles, best-of-3 falls: Demolition vs. Hart Foundation, Summerslam 1990
2 — WWE Title Tournament, final, Ted DiBiase vs. Randy Savage, Wrestlemania IV (1988)
2 — WWE Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Andre the Giant, Wrestlemania 3 (1987)
2 — WWE Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Paul Orndorff, The Big Event (1986)
2 — WWE Title Tournament, Greg Valentine vs. Randy Savage, Wrestlemania IV (1988)
2 — Elimination Match: Dusty Rhodes, Koko B. Ware & Hart Foundation vs. Ted DiBiase, Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine and Mystery Partner (Undertaker), Survivor Series 1990
1.5 — Submission Match: Greg Valentine vs. Ronnie Garvin, Royal Rumble 1990

Charitable, you could have also gone with the Stinkers!

(I mostly just wanted you to know that yes, people are reading this stuff, keep doing it.)

I had actually made a typo that was close to Shriners, which is why I made the joke.

sweet, thanks. I completely forgot about this as I thought they both missed each other between rounds in NJPW (steiners) and AJPW (miracle violence)

KING OF THE RING (1993)
Location: Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio



Note: As a Bret Hart fan, this time period from Wrestlemania IX through Summerslam 1993 pisses me off. The original plan was for Hogan to successfully defend against Yokozuna at KotR while Bret won the tournament, then have Hogan pass the torch to Bret at Summerslam. Hogan and Bret even did a photo shoot for WWE Magazine with each guy holding one end of the WWE Title, with a cool (to 13-year-old me) story about how Bret would try to wrestle and beat Hogan if the two should meet. How do I know this (aside from Bret writing about it in his book)? BECAUSE I OWNED A COPY OF THE ****ING MAGAZINE! I should have kept it because there aren’t many copies of it out there now and it’s kind of a forgotten collector’s item, but dumbass 13-year-old me pitched it. Anyway, Hogan decided he didn’t want to lose to Bret and would rather bow out in horrible fashion to Yoko. Bret was rightfully pissed off, vowed to make King of the Ring his greatest night (which he pretty much succeeded) and chewed out Hogan in the locker room after his loss to Yoko. **** you, Hogan. I’ll always wonder how awesome that Summerslam 1993 main event could have been. Yes, I’m fired up. I’m 33. I need a life.

First Round: Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon

* This leads off the show and is a rematch of the Royal Rumble 1993 WWE Title match. Obviously this came on the heels of 1-2-3 Kid’s epic RAW upset of Razor. Razor flicks his toothpick at the kid that got Bret’s glasses again, I still love that. It’s slow in the beginning until Razor blocks a hip toss attempt and drills Bret with a clothesline. He misses an elbow, Bret hits an arm drag and keeps working over the arm. Bret gets slammed but hangs onto the armbar. Razor pokes Bret’s eye, whips him to the ropes and hits an elbow for two. Bret then quickly counters into a hammerlock. Razor breaks it with an elbow. Bret reverses a whip into the corner but eats a knee coming in, then gets sent shoulder-first between the turnbuckles to the post. Razor beats on Bret for a bit and stomps on his right hand. A sweet fallaway slam gets two. A running powerslam gets two. Razor hits a side suplex, but Bret rolls away from three elbow drops and Bret rallies. An intervted atomic drop and clothesline gets two. A russian leg sweep gets two. Side backbreaker gets two. The second-rope elbow gets two. A rollup gets two. Razor counters a bulldog by shoving Bret into the turnbuckle. Razor calls for his finisher and sets up for it. Bret gets out of it and at first tries for a backslide (blocked), then uses the turnbuckle to backflip over Razor, after which a small package gets three. Pretty basic Bret Hart match all in all, I don’t think it quite warrants three stars, I’ll go 2.75.

Semifinals: Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect
(Go to 56:15 on video.)

* This match was likely the best in the WWE in 1993. I actually like it more than their Summerslam 1991 encounter because it’s a little faster paced and a little more intense. Bret reverses a hip toss with one of his own, then does a headlock takedown that Perfect quickly reverses into a headscissors. Bret works his way out and applies a headlock. Perfect takes him to the corner and lands a wicked chop. Bret reverses a whip, sends Perfect to the corner and slams him but gets kicked away, then Perfect slams Bret and gets kicked away before Bret hits a headlock takedown to reenact a Summerslam 1991 sequence (I’m sure the two did that sequence a million times at house shows, too). Bret hits a crucifix for two, then goes back to the headlock. Bret hits a crossbody for two. The kickout sends him to the floor, but Bret gets to the apron, buries a shoulder to Perfect’s gut and comes in with a sunset flip for two. Bret goes back to the headlock. Perfect hits a knee against the ropes to take control. He hits a standing dropkick and Bret winds up on the floor. Perfect holds the ropes open for Bret but cheap-shots him coming in and aggressively pounds away. A big knee lift gets two. Bret winds up outside again and takes a monster chop before getting rammed into the apron. He gets slingshot off the apron into the railing, and “hurts” his knee on a bin of drinks that’s there (some of that may have been legit). Perfect drags him in and hits another big knee lift for two. Perfect goes up top and hits a flying dropkick. Bret breaks the count with his foot on the rope, then kicks out at two when Perfect hooks the leg. Perfect drills him with a chop in the corner, then whips him for a hard chest-first bump into the opposite corner for two. It’s picking up steam now. Perfect goes up top again but Bret catches him and hits a superplex from the second rope for two. Bret kicks Perfect’s legs out a couple times, then applies a figure four. Perfect sells it great before getting to the ropes. Bret keeps working on the leg but Perfect drives a leg into Bret’s face to get away. Perfect throws Bret across the ring by his hair. Perfect applies a sleeper. Bret gets to the ropes after 30 seconds. Perfect hits another ridiculous chop and goes back to the sleeper. Bret sends Perfect face-first into the corner to break it. Bret hits a massive european uppercut, then flings Perfect by the hair and Perfect crotches himself on the post (more shades of Summerslam 1991). An interted atomic drop and russian leg sweep gets two. A side backbreaker and second-rope elbow gets two. Bret goes for the sharpshooter but Perfect grabs Bret’s hurt fingers (from the Razor stomp) to avoid the hold. Perfect sets up for a Perfect Plex but Bret blocks it and winds up suplexing Perfect and himself over the ropes to the floor, an amazing spot you don’t see often. Perfect gets back in but “sells” a knee injury. Bret comes in and goes for Perfect, who hits a small package, but at two Bret reverses it for the three. Perfect’s right shoulder is clearly up, but whatever. Fantastic match. I prefer this one to Summerslam but it’s a very close call and makes for a great debate. I’m going to give it the same score as Summerslam, 4.5 stars.

Final: Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
(Go to 2:17:00 on video)

* Bret dodges BBB’s opening charge but BBB wins a slugfest. BBB presses Bret but Bret falls on top of BBB for two. Bret works on the arm but BBB rakes the face, then whips Bret off the ropes and lands a hard shoulderblock. He presses Bret and tosses him all the way to the floor. BBB dominates for a while and hits a big back suplex for two. Bret gets whipped hard into the corner. A jumping diving headbutt gets two. A bearhug leads to Bret’s arm dropping twice before BBB turns it into another huge back suplex for two. BBB dumps Bret outside but Bret reverses an irish whip into the barricade and Bret rallies for a bit. Bret tries a clothesline from the apron but BBB catches him and drives him into the post. BBB then slams Bret onto the floor at the foot of the aisle where there’s no padding. Luna Vachon then comes down and hits Bret in the back with a chair. BBB tosses Bret back inside, slams him and heads to the top for his flying headbutt and a three-count, but a second ref comes down and restarts the match because of Luna’s involvement. BBB beats on Bret some more before going back to the bearhug, then putting him in a backbreaker (a torture rack variant). The arm drops twice, then Bret flips backward out of the hold and back suplexes BBB. BBB misses a back splash but rakes Bret’s face to stay in control. He whips Bret into the corner and he collapses. BBB puts him back in the backbreaker but Bret rakes the face to get out of it, then applies a sleeper. BBB flips Bret over his head to the mat to get out of it. Bret gets up and hits a dropkick to BBB’s back, then dumps him to the floor before slingshooting over the top rope onto BBB. Back in the ring, Bret hits a sweet clothesline from the second rope for two. A russian leg sweep leads to a bulldog from the second turnbuckle. He tries to apply the sharpshooter but BBB kicks him off. BBB goes for another bear hug, Bret bites him, then tries a back suplex and BBB counters and lands on top but only gets two, great false finish. Bret gets whipped to the corner but gets a foot up as BBB charges, then climbs onto his shoulders for the victory roll and the three. This was a nice match, certainly better than Bret/Razor but not nearly as good as Bret/Perfect. I’ll give it 3.5 stars. These two did have nice chemistry.

Why Bret didn't get the big WrestleMania rematch at SummerSlam 1993 I'll never know. Vince's obsession with muscleheads really bit him in the ass during this time period.

Lex got himself over pretty damn good in that run up to Summerslam. Say what you will about his lasting power, but I don't think people were really clamoring for a Bret Hart/Yokozuna rematch.

No, we wanted a ****ing Bret Hart/Hulk Hogan match. Hogan weaseling out at King of the Ring left Vince with a big problem.

After Hogan left, I think Yoko/Luger at Summerslam was fine. I was shocked when Luger didn't get strapped there. Given that, I probably would have tried to find a way to give Bret the belt back at Survivor Series. Survivor Series and Royal Rumble were pretty bad.

At least what Bret was involved in led to Bret/Owen, so not all bad came of it.

I've heard, probably in this thread or somewhere in the forum, that the original plan was for Lex to get the title until he went out and got drunk at the bar and blabbed to someone.

As a nine year old kid, Lex winning by countout still stands as the most disappointing moment of my pro-wrestling fandom when I still thought it was "real."

I think I've told this story before, but I was so pissed off by the balloon drop and celebration after this match. Even as a little kid I was smart enough to know that winning a championship match by DQ/countout was one of the worst/most disappointing things to happen. This was especially true with the whole "no-rematch" clause that Jim Cornette added.

I still don't understand why the hell they did that. It's not like we needed another several months of a Yokozuna title reign.

Lex himself has dispelled that myth saying that he knew before the Royal Rumble that he wasn't getting the title.

I think thebigeasy is asking about whether Lex was supposed to be strapped at Summerslam. He was never supposed to win the belt at Wrestlemania.

That Lex rumor involved the WM match.

SUMMERSLAM (1993)
Location: The Palace, Auburn Hills, Michigan



Note: Surprisingly (to me), there’s three matches that made the three-star cut here (OK, four, but I combined Bret/Doink and Bret/Lawler since it’s all part of the same angle/sequence), and one of them is NOT the Shawn Michaels/Mr. Perfect IC title match, which was highly disappointing and averaged just 2.25 stars (I’m tempted to watch it just to see if it really is that poor). The Tatanka/Smoking Gunns vs. Bam Bam Bigelow/Headshrinkers six-man tag stole the show according to a couple reviewers. Go figure.

WWE Tag Titles: Steiner Brothers vs. Heavenly Bodies
(Go to 39:10 on video.)

* The Steiners get a nice pop in their home state, then get jumped before the bell. Rick gets double suplexed (he jumps early, whoops) and double backdrop drivered, ouch! I think that was a miscommunication. Scott finally gets in and one Heavenly Body, then another gets whipped to the corner before Scott hits a monkey flip on Del Ray. Prichard gets double hip tossed, then Rick gives Del Ray a clothesline in the corner after Prichard ducks it. Prichard then gets belly-to-belly suplexed by Scott. Del Ray takes a tilt-a-whirl suplex from Scott. Amazing start to this match! Scott press slams Prichard, then Del Ray comes in and gets launched by a backdrop. Prichard tries to reverse a Rick hip toss with one of his own, and Rick drops him with a clothesline. Del Rey comes in and gets decked, then slammed and the Bodies regroup outside. Scott hits reverse atomic drops on Prichard and Del Ray, but Del Ray slides under Scott as Prichard hits a bulldog, nice spot. Prichard hits an enziguiri, then tosses Scott outside, where Del Ray comes off the apron with a front flip dive on him (I have no idea what that’s actually called, someone enlighten me, I’m sure there’s some mexican name). Back inside, Del Ray tags in and hits a double axehandle from the top rope. Scott reverses an irish whip but Del Ray counters a clothesline with a floatover DDT that draws oohs. Prichard tags in and Del Ray hits a drop toe hold to set up Prichard’s running knee drop. This has been awesome. Del Ray whips Scott off the ropes and hits a nice side kick to the face for two. Cornette gets involved, slugging Scott with the racket while he’s on the ropes. Scott reverses a whip and sends Del Ray off the ropes. Del Ray tries to hit his floatover DDT again but Scott reverses it with a sweet Northern Lights suplex. Prichard stops the hot tag, but telegraphs a backdrop and Sctt hits a double underhook powerbomb. Now the hot tag comes. Rick hits two Steinerlines and slams both Bodies. Scott comes in and hits two weak dropkicks. Rick hits the bulldog from the top on Del Ray and gets two but Prichard makes the save. Prichard tosses Scott out of the ring to get out of the 10-punch corner beating. Rick powerslams Del Ray but Cornette tosses Prichard the racket and he waffles Rick. Del Ray covers but gets just two. Prichard holds Rick as Del Ray goes to the top for a moonsault, but Rick dodges and Prichard gets flattened. Scott hits Del Ray with the Frankensteiner for three. This was fantastic, better than I ever expected. It averaged 3.5 stars on reviews but I’m giving it a full four.

(I just finished this match and was going to wait until I reviewed all the Summerslam 1993 stuff before posting it, but I enjoyed this so much I decided to post it now. I'll hopefully get to the rest of the card later this week.)

Bret Hart vs. Doink/Jerry Lawler
(Go to 1:19:45 on video.)

* This is being rated as a combination deal because of the angle involved, which is classic heel Lawler. I don't know what was up with Bret's late entrances over the years. Apparently he was late to everything (that's the subject of many jokes by others in books and Legends of Wrestling shows). I couldn't stand Lawler as a kid mainly because I didn't buy him as an athlete, but his psychology was superb and I'm better able to appreciate him now. On crutches with a bladder taped to his knee, he cuts a fantastic promo and says his court jester Doink is taking his place. He douses one of the Hart brothers with a bucket of water, and Bret grabs him and starts the beatdown. They get in the ring, then Bret clotheslines Doink out. A clothesline on the floor drops Doink again, and then Bret sends him into the post. The beatdown continues for a while before Doink, on the apron, drives a shoulder into Bret's gut. He goes to the top but gets punched and crotched on the turnbuckle. Bret drops him face-first to the mat. Owen goes into cheesy face mode, he's hilarious. Vince: "Doink the Clown, considered one of the greats in terms of technical skill here in the WWF." You just threw your company under the bus! (Doink actually was pretty good, but this obviously isn't that kind of match.) Bret goes after Lawler and Doink jumps him from behind, then rams him into the steps (weakly). Doink goes to the top and hits a double axehandle. Doink snuffs out a Bret rally with a kneebreaker, then slams his leg around the post twice. A pin gets two. Doink applies an STF. Bret works his way up, elbows out of a chinlock but gets caught by a knee coming off the ropes. An elbow drop gets two. Doink applies his stump puller finisher and grabs the rope for added leverage (not that it would help at all). The ref catches it and breaks it up. Doink slams Bret and goes up top but Bret gets his knees up to thwart the butt splash (yeah, I know, that's not what it's called, but that's what it SHOULD be called!). Russian leg sweep and a second-rope elbow lead to the sharpshooter, but Lawler comes in (knee perfectly fine) and BLASTS Bret with the crutch across the shoulder, which legit hurt Bret and pissed him off (see his book). Doink is obviosuly DQ'd. Heenan: "It's a miracle!" Funny. Jack Tunney comes out and tells Lawler he has to wrestle Bret or he's gone from WWE. Bret clocks Lawler in the aisleway and they head to the ring. Fantastic payoff time. Bret hits a backdrop and a legdrop, then teases a sharpshooter but drops a headbutt into the bread basket. Outside, Bret picks up Lawler's other crutch and hits him in the back, then takes him into the guardrail. Lawler's running for his life but gets the crutch he snapped and rams Bret in the gut, then the throat before choking Bret with it. He clocks Bret again in the face with it. Lawler rolls Bret into the ring, then drags him over and crotches him on the post. How has a countout not happened?!? While the ref is distracted by the Hart brothers outside, Lawler jams the crutch in Bret's throat again. Lawler's bicep flex pose is hilarious. Lawler grabs Bret from behind and Bret kicks backward to crotch Lawler (it wasn't a clean shot, double meaning intended!) and Bret does the whole "strip my singlet top and look pissed and invincible" as Lawler begs off. He asks to shake hands, which is fantastic. Lawler sheds his singlet strap! I couldn't appreciate any of this at 13. Bret backdrops Lawler, then hits his side backbreaker for two. Bret hits a perfect piledriver and his second-rope elbow, then applies the sharpshooter for the win ... but doesn't let go of the hold and eventually gets DQ'd. Bret was legit pissed about the crutch shots and put this sharpshooter on as hard as he could, he wanted to make Lawler legit suffer (see his book). OK, so the actual wrestling in this match may not be much better than two stars, but the storytelling and the amount of heel heat generated is awesome. I'm giving this 3.25 stars.

Tatanka & Smoking Gunns vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Headshrinkers
(Go to 2:19:00 on video.)

* I never, ever thought I'd see the day when a six-man tag match where one team is Tatanka and The Smoking Gunns would make this chronology, but by all accounts this match was very good. Heenan's "time for cowboys and indians" line is great. This was Heenan's last WWE announcing appearance. We missed you, Bobby. Match starts with a triple clothesline by the heels. BBB puts Tatanka down with a shoulderblock. Tatanka rocks BBB with a shoulderblock and drops him with a nice standing dropkick before backdropping him. They both go for a crossbody and suffer the consequences. Two tags later, Fatu clobbers Billy with a nasty side kick. Billy hits a counter DDT (a modified version) and goes up top for a flying clothesline that Vince absolutely butchers the call on. Fatu gets back in control with a hard shoulderblock. Samu tags in and they hit a double headbutt. Samu hits a sloppy stun gun across the top rope. Samu hits a side kick that sends Billy into his corner, where he tags Bart. He hits a crossbody for two. He ducks a clothesline and tries another crossbody but eats Samu's elbow (with a nice chianti). Samu hits a facebuster, then tags in BBB. Bam Bam whips Bart to the ropes and hits a running dropkick for two. Fatu enters and nails a powerslam for two. Samu gets tagged and pounds away before the Shrinkers hit another double headbutt. BBB sores with another shoulderblock. It's starting to drag a bit. Bart catches Fatu with his head down and slams him to the canvas, but he pops up and hits a clothesline, turning Bart inside-out. It's starting to drag a LOT. BBB finally misses a splash in the corner and Bart makes the hot tag to Tatanka, who cleans house. He slams BBB and DDTs him, then goes up top and hits a flying crossbody. BBB has to kick out at two when a Shrinker is late on the save. BBB gets back in control. Tatanka starts hulking up but BBB ends that with a sweet enziguiri, nice to see a hulking up get stopped cold. Samu (I think) hits a diving headbutt from the second turnbuckle for two. Bart makes the save and get sidekicked by Fatu, then Billy enters and dropkicks Fatu. BBB clotheslines Billy over the ropes to the floor. The Shrinkers whip BBB into a splash on Tatanka in the corner. A triple headbutt later, all three heels go up top and they all miss diving headbutts, kind of comical. The Gunns jump from the ring to the outside on BBB and one of the Shrinkers, and Tatanka rolls up the other Shrinker for three. Once Bart made the hot tag, it picked up steam, but before that this was very pedestrian and disappointing given what I'd been led to expect. I'm giving it 2.75 stars.

SURVIVOR SERIES (1993)
Location: Boston Garden



Elimination Match: Razor Ramon, 1-2-3 Kid, Marty Jannetty & Randy Savage vs. Irwin R. Schyster, Diesel, Rick Martel & Adam Bomb
(Go to 25:00 on video.)

* And we get an Adam Bomb appearance on this chronology. 1993, the year of Tatanka and Adam Bomb. Good year for the WWE. This actually averaged 3.75 stars on reviews, but a little like the Summerslam 6-man tag, I'm dubious. Razor and Martel start and do some wrestling before Martel nails an elbow, but Razor half no-sells it and slaps Martel. Martel gets whipped to the corner but leapfrogs Razor, then runs to the other corner and hits a twisting crossbody from the second turnbuckle that Razor rolls through into a pin for two. Razor misses a clothesline but hits hits fallaway slam for two. Razor hits an atomic drop and Martel staggers to Savage, who decks him, before Razor hits another atomic drop and two clotheslines. AB tags in and he and Razor stare down each other. AB shoves Razor down twice, then shoulderblocks him down. Boring. A test of strength is won by AB. Razor rallies but gets kicked back down. Give me more Razor/Martel please! Razor rallies again and hits a nice northern lights suplex for two. Martel comes in for the save but hits AB with the elbow. Harvey Whippleman gets in the ring and confronts Martel, who decks him, and that leads to AB and Martel going at it. Diesel gets in to break it up and the heels regroup. Kid tags in and puts AB in a headlock which is goofy looking. AB shoves him off and shoulderblocks him like a gnat. Kid tries to counter a backdrop with a sunset flip and AB grabs him with both hands around the neck and heaves him off the mat and over his head like it's nothing before flinging him hard to the mat, ouch. Diesel gets tagged and he tosses Kid halfway across the ring. He hits a gutwrench powerbomb. Kid is getting absolutely crushed. Diesel hits a big boot, then tries a side suplex and Kid counters with a spinning headscissors takedown. He tags Savage, who goes up top and hits a double axehandle. The other heels come in and Savage cleans them out with elbows, slams and an atomic drop. AB halts the rally, but Savage reverses a whip and AB and Diesel collide. Savage gets rid of AB with a running high knee, then slams Diesel and hits his top-rope elbow for three. Needless to say, Diesel's push hadn't come just yet. Martel attacks Savage from behind but a reversal sends him to the corner and Savage hits a backdrop. IRS tags in and gtes control for a bit, but misses a clothesline and Savage hits a crossbody for two. Two clotheslines later, Savage tags in Razor, who goes to work on the arm/shoulder. Razor gets whipped to the ropes and Martel hits a knee from the apron. Martel tags in and comes off the second turnbuckle with a double axehandle. Martel hits a backbreaker, drops a knee into Razor's back, then hits an elbow drop. AB tags in, but thankfully isn't in for long as he tags Martel, who hits another double axehandle from the second turnbuckle. IRS tags in and hits an elbow drop and a legdrop for two. This match has been good for periods and really bad for periods. Martel and IRS switch places illegally. Martel drops his head early and Razor nails him with a kneelift. Martel tags IRS and grabs Razor's ankle to avoid the hot tag. IRS runs into a boot in the corner and Razor makes the not-so-hot tag to Savage, who instantly gets caught with a knee to the gut. IRS drops his head early and takes a kick, then Savage hits his running knee before lifting and dropping him across the top rope. Savage slams IRS and goes up top, but Crush comes down the aisle and Savage abandons ship to go after him. The faces try to keep Savage in the match and do temporarily. IRS rolls up Savage while he's distracted for the three. Then we get to watch Savage go after Crush in the back. Yippee. Back in the ring, AB hits Jannetty with a back suplex. He beats on him some more and tags in Martel, who applies an abdominal stretch, with AB helping add leverage. Jannetty dodges a charge in the corner and Martel rams his shoulder into the post as Jannetty tags in Razor. Martel tags in IRS. Not good for IRS, who gets whipped to the corner twice, then chokeslammed. A Razor's Edge finishes him off for three. Martel jumps Razor from behind and soon all five survivors are brawling. Razor gets Martel up in Razor’s Edge position but IRS sneaks in and cracks Razor with his briefcase. Heenan: “But IRS is out of the match, right? That means he can do anything he wants!” Razor gets counted out to make it 2-on-2. Kid hits Martel with a nice Japanese arm drag to take control briefly. AB gets in, misses a clothesline and Kid yanks his legs out. Kid comes off the ropes, ducks a clothesline, then gets sent skyward by AB but turns it into a dropkick that sends AB to the floor. Kidd tries a suicide dive between the ropes to the floor, but AB catches him and slams him hard. Poor Kid. AB tosses him back inside, then comes in with a pretty sweet slingshot clothesline, the first thing he’s done all match I actually liked. Kid gets whipped to the corner and collapses. He gets sent to the other corner, but dodges a charge and a rollup gets two. AB catches a kick but Kid does a sort of reverse enziguiri to the face to knock AB down. AB holds Kid’s leg to prevent a tag and tags Martel, who drops an elbow. A gutwrench suplex gets two. Martel tries a double axehandle from the second turnbuckle and Kid buries a punch in his gut, then tags Jannetty. He drops Martel with a flying elbow, then a kneelift. A 10-count head slam into the turnbuckle leads to a two-count. Jannetty and Kid hit a double-team elbow. Martel reverses a whip and sends Kid in the corner, but when he charges, Kidd leapfrogs and turns it into a sunset flip for three. Kid tags Jannetty as AB tries to prevent it, and Jannetty slingshots into a sunset flip for three and the win. This averaged 3.75 stars?!? What crack were people on? It’s a 3 at the absolute most and I’m giving it 2.75.

Smoky Mountain Tag Titles: Rock ‘n’ Roll Express vs. Heavenly Bodies
(Go to 1:51:30 on video.)

* Now here’s a match I’m looking forward to. For a brief period, Jim Cornette and the WWE had a talent exchange going to bring in Cornette’s Smoky Mountain boys, almost all of whom wrestled a faster, more athletic style. Given how fantastic the Steiners/Heavenly Bodies match was, and how good the Rock n’ Roll Express were, I’m pretty sure this one will be entertaining. It starts fast with all four guys going at it before the Bodies clear the ring. Gibson gets slingshot back in. They try to do it to Morton, but he reverses it and sends both Bodies to the floor. Gibson then holds open the ropes and Morton comes flying through them onto the Bodies on the floor. Gibson walks the turnbuckles and backflips out of the corner before hip tossing Del Ray, then hits a headscissors takedown. The Express hit a double elbow before Morton hits a series of hip tosses on both Bodies, then dodges as Del Ray sidekicks Prichard. First Del Ray, then Prichard get sent into the corner, where Morton monkey flips Prichard out and Gibson follows with the same on Del Ray. Two atomic drops send the Bodies into each other before the Express “row the boat” on them ... if you don’t know what that means, you have to watch it. The crowd is pretty dead and I can’t really blame them, it’s been a little cartoony even if the pace is great. Gibson kicks Prichard’s leg out and tags in Morton, who slingshots over the top rope and drops both his knees across Prichard’s leg, that looked painful. The Express keep working over the leg. Del Ray finally gets tagged in and Morton hits an arm drag. The Express keep one step ahead for the next couple minutes and a “boring” chant can be heard (strangely, I have to agree). Prichard finally snaps the crowd into it with a sit-down powerbomb on Morton. Prichard slams Morton, then helps Del Ray backflip onto him for two. Prichard sends Morton to the floor and Del Ray, standing on the second rope, does a twisting moonsault/crossbody onto Morton for more oohs. Finally it’s picking up. Morton’s sent back in and Prichard covers for two. Morton tries to rally but gets powerslammed for two. Del Ray hits a snap suplex and drops a couple knees. The Bodies do a double-team move with Del Ray holding Morton in side suplex position and Prichard coming off the ropes with a clothesline-like move to the mat for two. Prichard hits a vertical suplex. Del Ray comes off the top and drives a double stomp/legdrop type move into Morton while Prichard held him about a foot off the mat. It gets two. Del Ray goes for a massive powerbomb but Morton reverses with a hurricanrana. A small package on Prichard gets two. Prichard holds Morton up and Del Ray hits a moonsault for two, with Gibson making the save. The Bodies go for a double backdrop and Morton DDTs them both. Morton rolls and tags in Gibson. He backdrops Del Ray and hits an enziguiri on Prichard. All four wind up in the ring. Morton rolls up Del Ray but Prichard tosses Morton to the outside. Gibson also winds up getting tossed out, but Morton sneaks to the top and hits a flying crossbody on Del Ray. However the ref is talking to Prichard, who then makes the save. The Express hit a double dropkick on Prichard. Gibson makes the cover for two as Cornette gets on the apron and gets blasted by Morton. Gibson covers again (I think the initial count/kickout was a botch) but the ref is distracted and Del Ray comes off the top with Cornette’s racket, blasting Gibson to score the three and the titles. This match has two distinct halves, the first was pretty disappointing, but once the Bodies took control and hit some nice high-impact stuff, it was pretty solid. I’m going to give it 3 stars.

For all of the **** that Cornette talks about Vince McMahon, James sure did get a lot of chances in WWF.

An RnR match in 1993 is bound to disappoint.

Cornette got a lot of chances for the same reason Heyman did (and still does) -- he's got an incredible mind for the business and Vince thought he could help make the WWF money. He just wears out his welcome after a while.

ROYAL RUMBLE (1994)
Location: Providence (R.I.) Civic Center



Note: This was a pretty bad card. The Rumble match itself got about 3.25 stars on average, but it’s gonna take more than anything this match has going for it to get me to review a Rumble. They just take too long. There was one good match (with a superb angle) …

WWE Tag Titles: The Quebeckers © vs. Bret Hart & Owen Hart
(Go to 20:00 on video for match, or 14:00 for Bret/Owen recap.)

* Bret and Pierre start things off and Pierre catches Bret trying a crossbody and slams him. Pierre runs the ropes and gets caught by a knee to the gut. Owen tags in and comes off the top with a double axehandle. Owen does some gymnastics to reverse an arm ringer, then gets snapmared and shoulderblocked but comes back with a hip toss and lands on Pierre for two. Pierre yanks Owen down by the hair and tags in Jacques, but Owen kips up. Jacques tries to get in Owen's head about turning on Bret. Owen and Jacques botch a spot but Owen recovers quickly and suplexes Jacques, then hits a dropkick and Jacques scurries to his corner. Owen hits an enziguiri for two. Owen puts Jacques in backbreaker position and Bret comes in with an elbow drop across his head for two. A small package gets two. A sunset flip gets two. A rollup gets two but Pierre comes in and pops Bret, then Owen comes in and we get a four-way brawl. The Quebeckers whip the Harts toward each other but Bret drops down and Owen launches into a rollup on Jacques, who grabs the rope. Bret hits Jacques with a reverse atomic drop and buries a punch to the abdomen. Pierre tags in and gets slingshot in over the ropes. Owen tags in and hits a nice clothesline for two. A gutwrench suplex gets two. A legdrop gets two. Bret tags back in and gets caught in a powerslam for two. Jacques tags in and the Quebeckers start dominating Bret, using the tag rope for a choke. Bret sells a kick to the gut terribly (a rare misstep) and Jacques gets a two. A double-team double chop drops Bret, and Pierre pounds away. He drapes Bret across the second rope and runs across the ring, jumping on Bret's back for two. Pierre comes off the second turnbuckle but eats a boot. Owen makes the hot tag and hits two dropkicks, backdrops Jacques and hits a sweet belly-to-belly suplex on Pierre. He tries a spinning leg lariat on Jacques, who doesn't take it right. Owen then slaps the sharpshooter on Jacques as Bret cuts off Pierre, but while the ref deals with Bret, Pierre slams Owen head-first to the mat. Owen gets launched in a double-team stun gun and Jacques covers for two. Owen ducks a double-team clothesline and comes back with a dropkick on both men. Owen makes the hot tag and Bret cleans house, hitting Jacques with a russian leg sweep and Pierre with a side backbreaker. Pierre gets atomic dropped over the top to the floor. Owen holds Jacques and has Bret run off the opposite ropes, but Johnny Polo (remember him?) pulls the ropes open and Bret tumbles to the outside, selling a knee injury. The Quebeckers do a double-team move outside with Pierre coming off the steps and crashing down onto Bret's knee. Jacques uses a chair. Owen tries to help and gets slammed into the barricade. Owen and Pierre wind up at it again and Jacques uses the distraction to crack Bret's knee with Polo's cane. Owen rolls Bret back in and Jacques pounds him. A double-team wishbone adds to the pain. Jacques applies a single crab but Owen breaks it up. Pierre then comes off the second turnbuckle with a legdrop on the back of Bret's neck. The Quebeckers set up to do their finishing move on Bret's knee, but he moves and Pierre hits the mat. Bret doesn't go for the tag, instead applying the sharpshooter on Pierre, but his knee gives out and the ref ends the match because of it. Owen famously chews out Bret for not tagging out, then kicks Bret's leg out. This was a good tag match, though nothing superb, and of course it set up a great Wrestlemania match. 3.25 stars.

COMING SOON: More additions to the 5-star list.

Can't wait for the WM X matches. As (deservedly) hyped as the HBK v Razor Ramin ladder match is, I think Bret v Owen may have been my favorite from the card. It's such a cleanly wrestled NA style match that shows why they are as regarded as pure wrestlers as they are.

That's better.

I think Rumble 94 is easily the best of the 93-96 rumbles (92 and 97 are my clear 1 and 2 alltime) but understand why you wouldnt want to sit through all of it.

My attention span just doesn't work for Rumbles, so yeah, unless the reviews I read speak of a Rumble in glowing terms, I'm going to pass on them.

Sounds like I may have to watch the 1997 version.