Nickrj’s rant for Summerslam 1993
Live from the Palace Of Auburn Hills in Detroit Michigan on August 30th 1993. A Huge title match is set up as Lex Luger now made in the USA faces Yokozuna. In fact Lex criss crossed America on his bus entitled the Lex Express to get that title shot from Jack Tunney.
Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan
Ramon turned face when he refused to sell out to Money Inc. Later he cost Dibiase a match against the 1-2-3 Kid although I don’t know when that match aired. Dibiase jumps Razor before the bell. Razor comes back with a backdrop and a fallaway slam. Razor hammers on Teddy some more and clotheslines him to the outside. Back in Dibiase suckers Razor into the corner. He chokes him on the top rope. Back breaker by Dibiase for 2. Clothesline by Ted for 2. Snapmare into a chinlock. Razor gets out but takes a knee to the gut. Neckbreaker by Dibiase. Suplex and he goes for the Dream but Razor nails him. Clothesline by Razor. Razor is rammed into the buckle and sent to the outside. Dibiase takes of the turnbuckle cover off. But of course it backfires on him and Razor hits the Razor’s Edge for the pin at 7:30. Decent match to start. ** This was Dibiase’s last match because on that Razor’s Edge I think he suffered a herniated disc in his neck.
Tag Team Title Match: The Steiner Brothers VS The Heavenly Bodies (with Jim Cornette)
The Steiners are in their hometown for this title match. They hug their family in the ringside area. The Bodies jump the Steiners before the bell as well. Double Suplex on Rick Steiner. Double back drop. Scott comes in and goes to work on the Bodies. A Monkey flip followed by a double hip toss. Tilt A Whirl suplex by Scott on Jimmy Delray. Tom Pritchard continues with Scott and he takes a press slam. Delray takes one as well. Rick is in and he nails Tom and slams Delray. The Bodies regroup with Corny who goes ballistic at the cameraman. Scott is tagged back in and an inverted atomic drop to both Bodies. Nice double team allows a double team by Tom. Enzurguri by Tom and he’s thrown out of the ring. Cannonball on the apron by Delray. Back in Delray goes to the top and a double axhandle. Nice DDT by Jimmy. Drop toe hold and a knee drop to the neck by Tom and a choke into a chinlock. Another toe hold/knee drop combo. Superkick by Delray for 2. Tom gets the tag and does the backrake. Corny gets a cheapshot on the throat with his racket. Nice suplex by Scott on Delray. A double underhook suplex on Pritchard. Rick gets the hot tag and some steinerlines and slams. 4 man brawl breaks out. Rick gets the top rope bulldog for 2 on Delray. Scott is dumped over the top rope as Rick gets a powerslam. Tom nails Rick across the back with the tennis racket and it only gets 2. Delray accidentally hits his own partner on the moonsault and Scott hits the Frankensteiner on Pritchard for the pin at 9:28 to retain! Great one ***1/2
A lot of people were excited about this match before it first aired. Shawn goes to work on the left arm. Snap mare by Perfect. Side headlock by Shawn. Hip toss by Perfect and he goes to work on the left arm of Shawn. Hammerlock by Perfect reversed 3 times. Nice takedown by Michaels and he misses an elbow. Tie up by Shawn and Perfect gets some chops but he catches an elbow. Shawn misses a reverse moonsault and oversells a punch. Armbar by Perfect. He misses a charge and Perfect catches Shawn from the top and armdrags him twice for 2. Back to the armbar. Perfect catches Shawn and slingshots him all the way to the floor. Diesel distracts Shawn and Shawn superkicks Perfect on the floor and Shawn with a double axhandle on the apron. Back in Shawn goes to the back which was injured two Summerslams ago. Backbreaker by Shawn and he holds him. Perfect starts to fight out of it and does. Dropkick by Perfect. Backdrop and a kneelift. Inverted Atmoic drop for 2. Forearm to the head for 2. Hiptoss blocked by Perfect and he goes for a backslide and can’t get it. Perfect hooks the Perfect Plex and gets it but Diesel pulls him out of the ring. Perfect brawls with Diesel and Shawn and as Shawn gets back in Diesel throws Perfect into the steps and Perfect is counted out at 11:19. Perfect is not done yet. He tries to attack Diesel but Big Daddy Cool knocks him out with a forearm. Good match bad ending. ***1/4
1-2-3 Kid VS Irwin R Schyster
The Kid pulled off a string of upsets prior to this night here. IRS starts pounding on the Kid to start but the Kid gets a heel kick for 2. Irwin drops the Kid from10 feet in the air. He tries it again but the Kid gets a dropkick. Elbow by Irwin. The Kid is thrown over the top rope. Forearm takes the Kid down again. Kid lands on his feet getting back in the ring and rolls up Irwin for 2. Elbow by Irwin for 2. Ab Stretch using the rope for leverage. Snapmare into the chinlock by Irwin. Kid gets up and starts hammering on IRS. He goes for his moonsault and hits it but only gets 2. ¾ nelson gets 2. Reverse Enzuguri gets 2. IRS hits the flying clothesline for the pin at 5:44. Well that ending made no sense. *1/4
This match is because of what happen after Bret won the KOTR tournament and Lawler the self professed King destroyed Bret with whatever was on the podium. After that Lawler started to make fun of Bret’s parents and family. Bret’s brothers Owen and Bruce are in the front row. However Lawler comes out on crutches and an ice pack on his left leg. Bret doesn’t believe it and three refs have to come out to restrain him. Todd Pettingill interviews Lawler and Jerry insults Bret and his family and Detroit as well. Jerry says that when he got off the plane and rented a faulty limo. He started driving to the Palace and a little old lady pulled in front of Lawler and caused a 10 car pileup in front of I-75. Bobby “Must’ve been Helen Hart.” He says he could beat Bret with one leg but his doctors couldn’t let him participate tonight. However he still promises a match and he brings out his court jester. Doink the Clown!
Doink brings out two buckets and a cigar with him. He throws out confetti in one bucket and in the other he throws water at Bruce. This enrages Bret so he jumps Doink in the outside. Owen and Bruce want to get in the ring. Bret hammers on Doink and clotheslines him to the floor. King watches out in the aisleway. Clothesline on the floor by Bret and he throws him to the ringpost. Bobby tells the story of the so called wreckage and he’s hilarious. Bret continues to pound on Doink and knocks him out of the ring. Shoulder by Doink and he goes to the top and is crotched and he drops him from there. Slugfest develops and Bret gets a headbutt. Bret goes to the outside and goes after the King but a high knee from Doink from behind. He rams Bret to the steps. Doink nails Bret from the top. Bret fights back but takes a knee smasher. Doink rams the leg of Bret to the post. Cover by Doink for 1. Doink hooks a crippler cross face. He turns it into the chinlock. Knee to the gut by Doink. Elbow for 2. Stomp Puller by Doink and he uses the top rope. The ref sees it and breaks it. Slam by Doink and he goes to the top and tries the Whoopie Cushion but Bret gets the knees up. Bret starts hammering Doink. Russian legsweep and 2nd rope elbow. He goes for the Sharpshooter and hooks it and Lawler comes in the ring and nails Bret with the crutch for the DQ at 8:57. Bobby: IT’S A MIRACLE! IT’S A MIRACLE! HE CAN WALK! His leg wasn’t broken after all and he breaks the crutch on Bret. Owen and Bruce want in that ring. Lawler and Doink walk arm and arm to the locker room but President Jack Tunney comes out and has a word with Lawler. Bret wants to get at Lawler. Tunney goes over to Howard Finkel who announces that if Lawler does not come to the ring to face Bret Hart he’ll be suspended for life.
Bret starts pounding on Lawler and hits him with the pail. Inside Bret bites on Lawler. Backdrop by Bret. Right hand by Bret. Bret nails Lawler with the other crutch. Lawler gets the crutches and nails Lawler and he taunts Owen and Bruce. Lawler chokes Bret with the crutch and acts like he didn’t do it. Lawler grabs Bret and crotches him on the post and Bobby does a hilarious Mr. Bill imitation. Lawler grabs the crutch again and jams it in the throat again. Bret with a low kick and Lawler offers a handshake. Nice try Jerry. Headbutt and backdrop by Bret. Backbreaker for 2. Piledriver obviously embarrassing Lawler there. 2nd rope elbow. He goes for the Sharpshooter and hooks it for the submission at 6:34. However Bret holds on wanting to give Lawler what he deserves. All the officials come out to try to break the hold. Bret finally breaks it after 3 and a half minutes. However the ref reverses the decision because of it and Lawler wins the KOTR title by DQ. The Harts and this crowd cannot believe it! Bret and his brothers beat on Lawler some more and Lawler is taken out on a stretcher while pointing his finger in the air. This my friends is truly epic booking. They don’t make feuds like this anymore. ***** for the entire spiel.
Borga is a newcomer to the WWF from Helsinki Finland and Vince wanted to make him the WWF champ? Marty turns his back stupidly on Borga. Clothesline. Headbutt and he roughs him up in the corner. He drops Marty high in the air and punches him on the way down. High choke hold. He continues to pound on Jannetty. He misses an avalanche though but is brought down immediately. Headbutt by Marty. Sunset flip by Marty but can’t bring him down. Bear hug. Marty punches out of it with a headclap. He tries a slam but can’t and he oversells a clothesline. Sunset flip but Borga misses the punch. Two superkicks can’t bring down the monster. Borga catches Marty from the 2nd rope and powerslams him. Kidney punch and he hooks the Torture Rack for the submission at 5:15. Squasher 1/2* Borga was supposed to win the title but fortunately he screwed up his ankle and was released.
Rest In Peace Match: The Undertaker VS Giant (Don’t Call Me Speedy) Gonzalez (with Harvey Whippleman)
There are no DQ’s or countouts as the BEST FEUD EVER continues. Harvey has the urn that he and Mr. Hughes stole right before the KOTR. Paul Bearer is nowhere to be found here either. UT goes after the Giant. High choke in the corner. UT runs into a boot and Giant goes into control with his offensive offense. UT can’t knock down the giant but the giant knocks him down but UT sits up. UT is thrown out of the ring and Giant follows him. They brawl out there and UT is thrown into the steps. He grabs a chair and whacks him across the back. He throws UT hard across the steps. The Giant continues to say Fee Fi Fo Fum on UT. UT tries to get the urn but can’t. UT starts to fight back again. UT tries the urn again but Harvey grabs it. UT is thrown hard into the corner. A Gong is then heard and Paul Bearer comes out with a wreath! Crowd pops for it. Harvey takes off his jacket but is knocked down and Paul grabs the urn. Slam by Giant and he sees Bearer with the Urn. Bearer hold the urn and UT sits up. UT with some shots and some clotheslines. He gets the big man to one knee and he climbs to the top rope and hits a flying clothesline for the pin at 8:04. Bad match but at least this wretched feud is finally over. DUD. Giant takes out his frustrations on Harvey. He made one more appearance one month later at the IC battle Royal and was eliminated in 30 seconds as a final slap in the face by Vince before leaving.
Six Man Tag: Tatanka and The Smoking Gunns VS Bam Bam Bigelow and The Headshrinkers (With Afa and Luna Vachon)
6 man brawl to start and the faces are nailed. Bam Bam starts pounding on Tatanka. Shoulderblock and dropkick by the Indian. Backdrop. Both go for crossbodies and hurt each other. Billy and Fatu get tags. Superkick by Fatu. DDT out of nowhere by Bill. He goes to the top and gets a reverse bulldog. Shoulderblock by Fatu. Samu gets the tag and a double headbutt. Samu drops Billy on the top rope. Afa gets a lick on the outside. Superkick by Samu but Bart comes in with a crossbody for 2. Armdrag but Samu catches Bart with an elbow in mid air. Faceslam by Samu. Bammer comes in again. Dropkick for 2. Fatu is in again. Powerslam for 2. Samu is in now. He start biting on Bart. Fatu in again and a double headbutt. Bammer is in again and a shoulderblock. Bart is in the wrong corner now and Fatu is in again. Faceslam by Bart but no effect and he no sells a clothesline. Triple team in the corner. Thrust shot by Samu. Bammer is in again and a double elbow. Bammer misses an avalanche and hits the post. Tatanka is in now and he goes to town. Slam by Tatanka on Bammer. DDT. He goes to the top and hits a cross body for 2. Bammer hits a gut shot and throws Tatanka in the corner but he starts the wardance. Enzuguri knocks him down though. Samu is in again. He goes to the 2nd rope and hits a headbutt for 2. 6 man brawl erupts. 3 on 1 on Tatanka now. Avalanche by Bammer. Triple Headbutt. All 3 of them go to the top and miss headbutts. Tatanka rolls up Samu for the pin at 11:16. Pretty good match **3/4
Before the matchup we have some festivities. Kiotika Suzuki sings the Japanese National anthem and draws heat in the process. Bobby likes it. The MC’s are announced. Randy Savage comes out with Aaron Neville. Neville sings the American national anthem. Bobby likes the Japanese version better because Aaron sang so loud. Onto the match. Of course during the contract signing on Monday Night Raw, Jim Cornette slipped a clause in the contract that this is Luger’s one and only title shot. Luger had hastily turned babyface by slamming Yokozuna on the USS Intrepid on July 4th. Luger comes out with an elbow pad on his loaded right forearm. Staredown to start. Fuji comes up from behind but Luger doesn’t fall for it and he hammers away at Yokozuna. Elbow doesn’t send him down. Luger comes out of a slam but is nailed. Yoko misses an elbow and Lex starts going for the quads. Yoko goes down and Luger hits an elbow smash for 2. Slam by Yoko and he misses another elbow. Luger with some shots. Charge in the corner by Luger. He does the 10 punch count in the corner. Shot by Yoko brings Luger down. Yoko starts choking. Fuji comes up from behind but misses the salt throw. Luger tries a slam but hurts his back. Superkick by Yoko. Luger is knocked to the outside. Yoko chokes Luger with the strings on his trunks. He flattens Luger on the ring post. He grabs a chair and misses Luger. They go back inside. Luger goes to the 2nd and hits a double axhandle. He goes to the top and hits another axhandle. He goes up top again and nails Yokozuna with his left forearm not the right for 2. He nails him with the covered forearm for 2. Double clothesline occurs. Corny distracts the ref and Fuji gives Yoko the salt bucket and nails Luger with it. He clears the cobwebs before covering Luger for 2. Chops by Yoko. Backrake. Belly to Belly suplex for 2. Yoko’s starting to get frustrated. He chokes Luger on the 2nd rope. Back suplex for another 2 and Yoko wants a faster count. Snapmare and Yoko goes to the traps. Luger gets out and tries to slam but Yoko falls on top for 2. Legdrop by Yoko for 2. He drags him to the corner for the Banzai drop and he misses. Luger starts fighting back. Chops by Yoko. He goes for the avalanche and misses. Slam by Luger!! He nails Fuji. He takes off the elbow pad and nails Yoko with the MENARDS ELBOW OF DOOM sending him to the outside unconciouss and he’s counted out at 17:57. Luger does not win the title though. I’m not sure why they booked this ending. The Steiners and Tatanka and Savage come in the ring to celebrate and they drop balloons from the ceiling and show a music video even though he didn’t win the title. Good matchup though despite the ending **1/4
Summary: A very good show. Nothing outright sucked
aside from the RIP match and the ending of the title match. Does anyone know
why Luger didn’t win the title though? Anyways check this show out. RECOMMENDED