WWF started off 1994 with the Royal Rumble PPV as usual. Apart from the 30-man Royal Rumble match, Yokozuna defended his WWF Title against The Undertaker in a Casket match. In addition, The Hart Brothers challenged The Quebecers for the tag team titles, and Razor Ramon defended his Intercontinental Title against IRS. Find out the best and the worst matches from the show in this post.
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5. Yokozuna vs. The Undertaker (WWF Championship: Casket Match)
IMG credit: WWE & cleveland.com
I initially went into this match expecting another sh*tty 90s Undertaker match. After the initial brawl between Yokozuna and Undertaker though, I started liking the match. However, after that they overbooked the match to death. We saw many heels interfere in the match and attack The Undertaker. Undertaker kept fighting, but more heels kept arriving and attacking him. It was a pain to go through the whole sequence as Undertaker was finally locked in the casket. But it wasn’t enough as we saw an Undertaker promo from the casket. I found all of this to be quite corny. I can see myself going crazy for it if I were watching it as a kid or as a casual, but as someone who actually reviews wrestling, it wasn’t fun for me. I feel they should have just had ‘Taker and Yokozuna brawl, as their brawling sequence was enjoyable. (DUD)
4. Razor Ramon vs. IRS (WWF Intercontinental Championship)
IMG credit: WWE & classicwrestlingreview.com
This wasn’t a great bout, but it was solid enough to be watchable. We saw Shawn Michaels involved in the match to continue his rivalry with Razor Ramon. Shawn hit Razor with his Intercontinental belt, and the referee counted to three and awarded the victory to IRS. But the match was restarted, and Razor hit the Razor’s Edge on IRS for the win. (**3/4)
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3. Tatanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
IMG credit: WWE & whatculture.com
This match was originally going to be Tatanka taking on Ludvig Borga, but due to an injury to Borga, Bam Bam Bigelow replaced him. Usually, I get disappointed when the original match doesn’t happen, but in this case, I was glad we got this match instead. The match was a very good opener. Bam Bam stopping Tatanka’s comeback was a very unexpected moment, and I was shocked when I saw that. Bam Bam attempting the moonsault was also great, even though he didn’t connect. Tatanka hit a crossbody on him to win the match. I was quite satisfied with what we got but wouldn’t have minded the match to go for some more time as I was really enjoying the contest. (***1/4)
2. 30-man Royal Rumble Match For A WWF Championship Match At WrestleMania X
IMG credit: WWE & sportskeeda.com
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This Royal Rumble was certainly better than the 1993 rumble, and actually one of the better Royal Rumbles of the 90s. Diesel had a great performance to set the tone initially as he kept eliminating wrestlers, until many wrestlers worked together and eliminated him. The match was enjoyable for most part, but it did get boring in the middle. The finish is quite well-known, and while it isn’t the best, I can understand what they were going for and I don’t mind the finish as it was kind of unique. Other than the winners Bret Hart and Lex Luger, Crush, Shawn Michaels and Bam Bam Bigelow also had good performances in the match. (***1/2)
1. The Quebecers vs. The Hart Brothers (WWF Tag Team Championships)
IMG credit: WWE & pinterest.com
On to the best match of the night. All four men in the match played their parts perfectly, and we got a great tag team contest with solid action throughout. In the final minutes, I could really feel the frustration Owen Hart was going through. After such a great tag team contest, the kind of finish we saw here wouldn’t be ideal, but storyline wise it made perfect sense. Bret Hart’s selling of the leg was absolutely incredible, and Owen’s frustration was also great. Absolutely loved the way they are building up this rivalry. (****)
And that’s all for today’s post, thank you all for reading. Stay tuned for the next post of this series where we will rank the matches of WrestleMania X. Have a nice day!
Welcome to part 7 of The Blog Of Kane. On this edition, Kane challenges The Rock for the WWF Championship on the August 28 2000 edition of Monday Night RAW.
PREVIOUS ENTRY –>
KANE VS. THE ROCK
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The Story
Kane & X-Pac’s friendship was a positive boon for the Big Red Machine. They won the Tag Team Championship twice in 1999 and were voted the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Tag Team of the Year in 1999. Unfortunately, the alliance/bond didn’t last as WWF Champion Triple H rebuilt D-X, married Stephanie and ushered in the McMahon-Helmsley Regime. X-Pac followed suit, betraying Kane for the money and the power. Alas, the subsequent Kane/X-Pac feud was arduous, lacklustre and just daft. Kane somehow ended up dating Tori (DON’T ASK!), Tori ultimately ended up ditching Kane for X-Pac and joined D-X’s ranks, none of the bouts were particularly special…and FINALLY the tedious storyline ended at WrestleMania 16 when Kane & Rikishi defeated X-Pac & Road Dogg.
During this time, Kane joined the likes of the Rock, Cactus Jack, Rikishi & Too Cool and the Dudley Boys in the war against the McMahon-Helmsely Faction. Paul Bearer returned to his son’s side for a time, but he disappeared again. The Undertaker returned after a long absence to help destroy the McMahon-Helmsley Regime once and for all. The Rock won the WWF Championship from Triple H and Mick Foley ultimately took power as the new WWF Commissioner. But whilst Kane had been fighting on the front line, he seemed to have got lost in the shuffle.
That all changed when he turned heel in the summer of 2000, attacking his brother to restart their rivalry. Now sporting new attire, Kane was also in contention for a WWF Championship Match with The Rock the night after SummerSlam. Could he get back on top?
The Match Itself
Both combatants have entered the ring, and Kane’s staring deep into the Rock. As ever, Dwayne’s facials & mannerisms are PERFECT. The Great One knows EXACTLY how to express the correct emotions; whatever the mood and circumstances. He’s the WWF Champion, and the Rock KNOWS he’s got a major challenge ahead of him tonight. 24 hours after retaining the title at SummerSlam…he’s got KANE. It’s no surprise that Dwayne Johnson transitioned to Hollywood so successfully…he LIVES the story. He reflects it PERFECTLY.
IMG credit: WWE & Dailymotion
The Greensboro Crowd begin with the “Rocky!” Chants, JR & King are selling Kane as the challenger brilliantly, we have a big-time match on our hands…it’s the WWF IN 2000, BABY!!! The bell rings, the fight is on! Champion and challenger exchange blows! Rock ducks a clothesline and smacks Kane with some right-hands. Kane reverses an Irish-whip and smacks the Brahma Bull with a big boot! Already in control, Kane has Rock firmly on the ropes, but the Rock is able to connect with a side-Russian leg-sweep for a two-count.
Kane’s back-up quickly and is soon pummelling Rocky in the corner. Kane’s brutal blows…Rocky’s SELLING…things of beauty! Kane takes a moment to intimidate Earl Hebner, but that gives Rocky enough time to recover and start laying the SmackDown on his challenger! But Kane turns the tide with a NICE running power-slam! AGAIN, Dwayne sells the impact fabulously!
Meanwhile, Kane kicks the Rock whilst he’s down, as Good Ol’ King says that the Monster wants to represent the People as their champion! The fantastic crowd rally behind the Great One with “Rocky! Rocky! Rocky!” as Kane batters Dwayne (Hey, that rhymed! Sorry…). Anyway, Kane follows up with a great suplex on the People’s Champion for a near-fall. Rocky won’t go down without a fight, though! But another comeback attempt is shut-down courtesy of Kane’s brutal sidewalk slam!
Kane heads-up for the top-rope and then nails the Great One with a SPECTACULAR flying-clothesline! The WWF Champion is in trouble! But the Rock manages to kick-out before 3! Rocky tries again to fight back, but Kane is far too powerful and soon has him on the ropes again. However, the Rock manages to reverse an Irish-whip into a Samoan Drop! Which buys the Champion some much-needed time! However, Kane sits-up first as the ‘Rocky’ chants start-up again. The Great One manages to land a terrific-right, and another, and another, and another! He now has the Big Red Machine on the ropes! As usual, JR and King put over both combatants big on commentary!
The Rock scores a fantastic clothesline on Kane to take him down! Then he nails a DDT, but that only gets a two-count. Kane then reverses the next Irish-whip attempt and flings the Rock into the ref. Poor Earl is down again. The Rock counters a Tombstone attempt into a spine-buster! The crowd knows what’s coming next! WE ALL DO! Most Electrifying Move in ALL Sports-Entertainment – THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE! – The People’s Elbow! Rocky covers Kane, but of course, Earl’s too hurt to count! As soon as Dwayne leaves to check on the ref, Kane is back up to deliver an almighty choke slam to the champion!
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
Earl manages to recover enough to make the count…1…2…NO! The Rock JUST kicks out in time! That was genuinely close! Kane clutches his hair tightly in frustration and roars monstrously at the ref! Kane batters the Rock furiously! He has him on the ropes again! But the Rock suddenly counters with a ROCK BOTTOM! OUT OF NOWHERE! 1…2…NO! KANE KICKED OUT OF THE ROCK BOTTOM!!! ANOTHER CLOSE NEAR-FALL!!!
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The crowd’s unglued, Dwayne can’t believe it, JR asks’ “What does the Rock have to do to beat this monster?!” …this is a REALLY good match, y’know!
The Brahma Bull clotheslines his challenger over the top-rope to the floor, Kane lands on his feet, the fighting now spills out to ringside and into the crowd itself…and then, Kid Rock’s “American Bad Ass” starts playing! The Undertaker’s here! Kane finishes pummelling the Rock and then goes off to play with his brother! The crowd still love Taker and Kane slugging each other! However, Earl is too busy checking on the Rock (awww…!) to notice Taker nail Kane with a thunderous choke-slam in the ring!
IMG credit: WWE & TJR Retro
Rocky finally manages to crawl back into the ring after all the abuse he’s taken! Earl is right there to count! 1…2…NO! Kane kicks out AGAIN?! Incredible! Rocky’s had enough now! With a look of sheer anger and determination, he nails the Big Red Machine with a SECOND THUNDEROUS Rock Bottom! THAT gets the 3-count! THE ROCK RETAINS THE WWF CHAMPIONSHIP AT 8:08!
IMG credit: WWE & Online World of Wrestling
Jim Ross: “The Rock knows he had Lady Luck on his side tonight!” Jerry Lawler: “AND the Undertaker!”
Verdict
THIS was simply a great Raw main-event! Was it classic or memorable? No, but it was a standard, hellacious match that you’d expect to find consistently on television during the World Wrestling Federation’s most successful period. 2000 was simply THE year for WWF, and it shows here. Amazing crowd, fantastic action from start-to-finish, unmatched commentary, and two proven main-eventers who are simply legends of this industry.
As we know, the Rock is one of the greatest wrestlers/WWF Champions of all-time. Interviews, personality, charisma, timing, in-ring ability, facial expressions, selling…Rocky VERY seldomly made a mistake. And very much like Triple H in 2000, it wasn’t JUST the big-time Pay-Per-View matches that Rocky delivered in as WWF Champion. It was night-after-night on Raw AND SmackDown too! Just like Triple H made you believe he could lose to the likes of Chris Jericho, Tazz and Taka Michinoku…Rocky could make both himself and his opponent look good whilst defending the belt. In this case, it was Kane.
Kane looked a legitimately credible threat to the WWF Title again; something he hadn’t looked like in ages thanks to that stupid storyline with X-Pac & Tori. But it’s also important to remember that Glenn Jacobs was also really starting to show what he could do as in-ring worker here. Obviously, his body-language and character-work were stellar from the get-go, but now Kane was getting to showcase more of his wrestling ability. Here, he competed in a fast-paced, exciting match with the Rock, and Kane would go-on to wrestle some excellent bouts against the likes of Austin, HHH, Angle, Jericho, Benoit and Edge over the following years. Of course, you can take or leave the Undertaker interference, but it made sense given that Rocky would soon be booked to defend the WWF Championship against Taker, Kane and Chris Benoit at Unforgiven. As for this match, I recommend watching this one!
OVERALL RATING
8/10
Join us again next time in 2001 where Kane goes after the Hardcore Championship!
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After an abomination of a show that was WrestleMania IV, we’re back once again with yet another installment of my retrospective WM series. This time, we will be looking at an event worth one year of build-up, the place where the Mega Powers explode – the fifth edition of WrestleMania! Elsewhere, The Rockers make their ‘Mania debut against the Twin Towers, Rick Rude defends the Intercontinental strap against the Ultimate Warrior, Strike Force battle the newly-arrived Brain Busters, and much more. And with the introduction out of the way, let’s head to the show.
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Date: April 2nd, 1989
Venue: Trump Plaza Convention Center
Location: Atlantic City, NJ
Attendance: 18.946
Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon & Jesse Ventura.
WWF Women’s Champion Rockin’ Robin sings ‘America The Beautiful’ to open the show. Dang, they must’ve run out of famous singers to hire. She didn’t do very well, by the way.
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Hercules vs. King Haku [w/ Bobby Heenan]
IMG credit: WWE & Sportskeeda
Hercules is now a babyface after Bobby Heenan attempted to sell him to DiBiase as a personal slave. He got a nice shine at the start before Heenan’s interference allowed Haku to take over, giving us a short heat segment in this throwaway undercard opener. Haku catching Herc coming down with a Savate kick was a cool spot that I didn’t expect. Hercules eventually won this one at 6:54 with a bridging belly-to-back suplex. Just a simple, inoffensive match to kick off the PPV. Not too shabby. [**]
The Rockers vs. The Twin Towers
IMG credit: WWE
The former Midnight Rockers of the AWA faced the colossal duo of Twin Towers in this exciting tag team battle of power versus speed. The Rockers overwhelmed their much-larger opponents using innovative, fast-paced tandem offense. Bossman, Akeem, and Jannetty all looked great, but it was Shawn who stood out from the pack. He bumped all over the place like a pinball and took a helluva beating from the Towers, including a vicious lariat from Akeem that looked like it could’ve decapitated him! We got a badass finish, with Bossman catching the future HBK with a spinning powerbomb in mid-air, before an Akeem splash brought this one to an end at 8:04. [***]
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Ted DiBiase [w/ Virgil] vs. Brutus Beefcake
IMG credit: WWE
Beefcake’s WrestleMania stinker record continued with another abysmal matchup. DiBiase did his best to carry this with all his bumping and heel work, but it was hopeless when you’re in there with the legendarily bad Bruti. Beefcake would improve himself by the summer of ‘89, but I’m afraid he’s as awful as he’s ever been in this one. This got thrown out the window at 10:01 after Virgil intervened, and both men won’t stop fighting on the floor past the referee’s count. The finish was like a rotten cherry on an already messed-up cake. They did a post-match brawl afterward, but DiBiase retreated to fight another day. This was a chore to sit through. [*]
The Fabulous Rougeaus [w/ Jimmy Hart] vs. The Bushwhackers
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
I refuse to believe the Sheepherders and the Bushwhackers are the same teams. That’s just impossible! You know the deal when you’re watching a Bushwhackers match that lasted more than five minutes. They went through their usual bullsh-t comedy routine, making their opponents look like fools as a result. The Rougeaus made the common heel error of celebrating too early, and they paid their price for it in the form of a Battering Ram and a double gutbuster at 5:10.Absolutely horrendous. I gave it a quarter star for The Rougeaus as they were actually TRYING something to make this watchable. [¼*]
Mr. Perfect vs. The Blue Blazer
IMG credit: WWE
Mr. Perfect and Owen Hart made their WrestleMania debuts in this underrated, action-packed sprint from the Trump Plaza. They both went all out here, dazzling the crowd with a string of high-impact maneuvers that were rarely seen within the Fed at the time. The fact they managed to pack this much into 5 mins is certainly impressive! After getting a nearfall off a crucifix and arguing with the ref about it, Blazer got nailed from behind for his trouble before a PerfectPlex put things to an end at 5:38. A fun sprint from a horrible ‘Mania. [**¾]
American hip hop group Run-DMC performed a WRESTLEMANIA RAP. Moving on.
IMG credit: WWE
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WWF Tag Team Title: Demolition (c) vs. The Powers of Pain & Mr. Fuji
IMG credit: WWE
This showed slight potential in the first few minutes with some solid clobberin’ from all four hosses. Mr. Fuji became the deciding factor of the bout when his distraction allowed the POP to gain the advantage on the Demos. They worked over Ax in a decent segment until a Smash hot tag finally brought some life to this insufferable New Jersey crowd. The finish, which saw Mr. Fuji misfiring the salt and taking the loss for his team via a Demolition Decapitation at 8:55, actually received a nice pop from the crowd, much to my surprise. Far from good, but watchable enough overall. [*½]
Dino Bravo [w/ Frenchy Martin] vs. Ronnie Garvin
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
What’s worse than a regular squash on a PPV? A squash by the absolute WORST. Yes, you read that right. This was done simply to reestablish Bravo as one of the top WWF midcard heels, but no one could have cared less. Ronnie Garvin is making his singles PPV debut here in the WWF, and he couldn’t have been any more unlucky being fed to the Canadian strongman. Bravo put a stop to Garvin’s comeback with his side suplex, and that’s all she wrote at 3:58. Another thing to note is that Jimmy Snuka made a cameo appearance before the bout, and he got no reaction from this deader-than-dead crowd. [½*]
The Brain Busters [w/ Bobby Heenan] vs. Strike Force
IMG credit: WWE
Strike Force made their return after Martel’s injury put a stop in the team’s tracks for almost a full year. They gained the early upper hand on the former Horsemen as Jesse questioned how well Tito and Martel can work together after not teaming up for so long. Martel became visually pissed after he was on the receiving end of an accidental Flying Burrito by Tito, and soon his frustration came clean when he refused to accept Tito’s tag and left him all alone against the Busters. Tito tried his luck, but it was no use, as he fell victim to a Spike Piledriver at 9:17, marking the end of the duo known as Strike Force. I was expecting a 10+ mins barnburner between two of the best tag teams North American wrestling has to offer at the time, but what I got was a classic heel isolation segment before a tremendously well-executed angle kicked in. [***]
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Piper’s Pit, w/ Brother Love & Morton Downey Jr.
IMG credit: WWE
Holy cow, this show just won’t end, will it? I love Hot Rod, but this segment wasn’t needed whatsoever. Piper barely got any pop from the crowd during his entrance. He insulted Brother Love and sexually harassed him before taking off his pants – ahem, I mean kilt – and sending him running in horror. Roddy then cut a promo on Morton Downey, as I struggled to make any sense of, well, whatever this was. And FINALLY, we ended this stupid segment with Piper blasting Downey Jr. with a fire extinguisher. Hooray… except we still got about an hour and a half left on this never-ending show.
Andre The Giant [w/ Bobby Heenan] vs. Jake Roberts
IMG credit: WWE
Big John Studd is your special guest referee here, and he looked like a man hanging onto his last legs. He did nothing of value until the last few minutes of the contest. Andre was done by this point – I mean, the man can barely wrestle a proper match, let alone take a bump. Jake put in a decent effort, but there’s only so much you can do here. Andre choked and held Roberts for what felt like an eternity before Ted DiBiase made a run-in to steal Damien, causing Roberts to chase him to the back. Meanwhile, Andre attacked Studd, earning him a disqualification at 9:39. We finally ended this mess with Roberts returning to the ring and scaring the Giant away with his pet snake. Giving Andre ophidiophobia in this feud wasn’t ideal, but it at least provided some amusement to this feud. [DUD]
The Hart Foundation [w/ Jimmy Hart] vs. Rhythm & Blues
IMG credit: WWE & 411Mania
The Harts opened this with a fun opening shine that Valentine and Honky did a solid job bumping and feeding for. Valentine stopped the shine by evading Bret’s patent elbow drop, and they worked a short but worthwhile FIP segment into this time filler bout. Neidhart came in with a hot tag and actually woke up the crowd a bit with the fire he showed. Things slowly broke down, but as Jimmy Hart distracted the ref so his team could use the megaphone, Neidhart intervened, giving Bret said object instead. Hart then used it to knock Honky out for the win at 7:40, foiling the heels’ plan to a shockingly good pop from the audience. A perfectly acceptable tag match placed in a dead slot of a dead PPV. [**½]
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WWF Intercontinental Title: The Ultimate Warrior (c) vs. Rick Rude [w/ Bobby Heenan]
IMG credit: WWE & Sportskeeda
Rick Rude carried the Ultimate Warrior to his first-ever good match. Rude tried to blindside Warrior at the bell, only to end up kneeing the belt instead in a funny spot. Warrior still looked awkward and clumsy in his movement, although that was redeemed by Rude’s humorously over-the-top bumping. Rude bumped huge for Warrior to make him look like a million bucks! Warrior’s two bearhugs might’ve been overblown, but Rude being unable to do the hip swivel as a result of that was a nice little payoff from it. Heenan eventually got involved, tripping Warrior and holding his feet down so Rude could pin him for the three at 9:42. The finish was clever, though the execution was far from it, as Warrior clearly had both his feet under the ropes. It put over how much Warrior was screwed here, at least if you wanna look at it the other way. [***]
Bad News Brown vs. Jim Duggan
IMG credit: WWE
Brown jump-started the bout by attacking Duggan right at the bell, only for Hacksaw to withstand it and send him bailing. Brown picking Duggan’s head as a body part to target was an interesting move. They brawled outside and we got a 2×4 v. steel chair showdown in the ring. They both went for the shot at the same time, and the ref called it a double DQ at 3:49. Another utterly pointless filler, but hey, at least it was short. [¼*]
Bobby Heenan [w/ The Brooklyn Brawler] vs. The Red Rooster
IMG credit: WWE
More filler to fill time between the IC Title match and the World Title main event. Heenan came out with an injury to sell the post-match assault from the Warrior earlier, which was reported to be legit. Anyway, the less said about this, the better. Taylor ducked a blind charge from Heenan and then pinned him in a mere 0:31 for a quick win. [N/R]
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WWF World Heavyweight Title: Randy Savage (c) vs. Hulk Hogan
IMG credit: WWE
This has tons of backstories behind it, arguably dating back to late 1987 when the Mega Powers initially united. Miss Elizabeth was in a neutral corner, and Jesse Ventura hilariously accused her of being a gold digger as she walked down the aisle. I consider this one of my top Hulk Hogan bouts ever, but truth be told, his opponent was actually the one who did most of the heavy lifting. Savage turned in an amazing heel performance, cheating like a maniac and riling up the crowd with his shady antics. Macho using Liz as a human shield was a genius heel move that you can’t help but smile at. Hogan received colors after getting kicked square in the forehead, and Savage was just a crazed man targeting that cut. Elizabeth finally got ejected from ringside after her troublesome appearance nearly caused a brawl that could’ve halted the whole match. Savage continued his onslaught by jamming away at Hogan’s throat in a brutal fashion. He went up top and landed the Macho elbow, but Hogan immediately hulked up, landed the boot, and dropped the big leg for the win at 17:54.
I’m of the opinion that Savage should’ve gone over and held the belt until SummerSlam, but it’d be counterproductive in this era to see a heel standing tall or having a non-finish of any kind to end a show, so I get why they’d go with their decision. Regardless, this is a very underrated WrestleMania main event, easily the best of its kind up to this point, and one that should garner more praise among fans. This was a marquee bout between two of the biggest stars in wrestling, with spectacular build-up and off-the-chart heat. [***¾]
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Overall
Much like its predecessor the year before, WrestleMania V was a way-too-long-of-a-show that simply never ceased to end. While there are some gems on this card – and that main event absolutely belongs in the conversation of most iconic ‘Mania main events of all time – the show just felt wayyyy too darn long overall, making it a mission impossible to sit through the whole thing in one round. Furthermore, this rotten Atlantic City crowd didn‘t give a crap about 80% of the show, giving off a tepid atmosphere that is more than enough to kill an entire PPV event by itself.
Score: 4/10
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rating: 4 out of 10.
That’ll be all for today, people. Thank you so much as usual for checking in. And make sure to be alert for my next review, where we will take a look at the first time WrestleMania INVADED Canada! Stay tuned!
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February 15th, 1993 Location: Manhattan, NY (Manhattan Center) Taped show (on Feb. 1st 1993) Announced attendance: ca 1 000 (capacity: ca 1 000) TV rating: 3.3 (USA Network) [up 0.3 from the previous RAW’s 3.0]
Welcome everyone to yet another review of WWF RAW. RAW is back after a one-week absence, as The Dog Show aired on USA Network the previous week instead of RAW. Tonight’s show features a 15-man battle royal and Brutus Beefcake’s return to the ring, against ‘The Million Dollar Man’ Ted DiBiase. Let’s get to it.
Here is the list of champions in WWF heading into this episode of RAW (air date):
WWF Champion: Bret Hart [126th day of his reign] – previous champion: Ric Flair
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels [111th day of his reign] – previous champion: The British Bulldog
WWF World Tag Team Champions: Money Inc (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster) [125th day of their reign] – previous champions: The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon)
Note: in title matches, the defending champions are underlined
Enjoy the review!
IMG credit: WWE & thesmackdownhotel.com
Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Randy Savage & Rob Bartlett
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– We hear from Brutus Beefcake and Ted DiBiase to start the program. Brutus says he’s ready for action, while Ted promises something bad will happen. Jimmy Hart doesn’t think it’s necessary, but Ted says everything will be just fine!
– The RAW intro plays to kick off the show
The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. Glen Ruth & Bobby Who
IMG credit: WWE & tapemachinesarerolling.tumblr.com
Really, Bobby Who!? Scott easily overpowers Ruth in the beginning. Impressive dragon suplex by Scott while Savage faces some problems with his microphone. Damn it, why couldn’t it be Bartlett’s!? Rick with an explosive belly-to-belly on Bobby Who, and Scott follows it up with a dropkick on Who. Scott gets him up in Razor’s Edge position, and Rick comes off the top with a flying elbowdrop for the double-team. Rick with a chinlock for a while. The jobber actually hits Rick with a bunch of wussy forearms to the chest, which earns him THE MOTHER OF ALL CLOTHESLINES. What are you even thinking, Mr. Who?? Scott follows it up with the butterfly powerbomb, and then The Steiners end it with the Doomsday Bulldog at 3:32.
Rating: The Steiners are always exciting to watch, even if it is just a squash. Very explosive, hard-hitting bout. The Steiners came out of it looking awesome as usual. Effective squash. *
WrestleMania IX Report w/ Mean Gene
Brought to you by IcoPro!
Gene promotes the main event: World Champ Bret Hart against the Royal Rumble winner Yokozuna for the WWF Championship
The first preliminary matches have just been added to the card: The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez (good lord almighty…) and Crush vs. Doink the Clown, with Crush looking for revenge from Doink’s vicious attack last month on Superstars
Call your local cable company for availability. What are you waiting for? DO IT NOW!
Yokozuna vs. Ross Greenberg
Savage’s microphone is still not working. Greenberg charges right into a clothesline from Yoko to start. Yoko with a massive belly-to-belly suplex. Vince puts over Jim Duggan’s recent feat of being the first wrestler to ever knock Yokozuna off his feet. Yeah, talk about a wasted star-making moment. Jim f*cking Duggan…. Anyway, Yoko drops the big leg on Greenberg, kills him with the corner Avalanche and adds the exclamation point with the Banzai at 2:01.
Rating: Another easy win for Yokozuna as he heads towards his WWF Title shot at WrestleMania. 1/2*
Meanwhile, Savage steals Bartlett’s mic. YESS!!
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Special Report w/ Lord Alfred Hayes
Hayes recaps Yokozuna’s showdown with Jim Duggan a couple of weeks earlier on Superstars. Duggan was successful in getting the huge man off his feet, only to get squashed like a bug by the angry Yoko immediately afterwards. Yoko gave him a handful of Banzais, the last with the American flag covering Jim’s body. Duggan was bleeding internally and had to be taken out on a stretcher.
– Vince announces all the participants in the upcoming battle royal refused to have Giant Gonzalez join the field. We then see a recap of three jobbers walking away from their 3-on-1 handicap match against Gonzalez on the last episode of Superstars
– PROMOTIONAL CONSIDERATION PAID FOR BY THE FOLLOWING: Bret Hart tells you what IcoPro is all about! WWF Figures are sold separately DIG IT! Need a little excitement? You know what to do, OHHH YEAAH!
15-Man Battle Royal
IMG credit: WWE & tapemachinesarerolling.tumblr.com
Your list of official participants: Bob Backlund, Damien Demento, Typhoon, The Berzerker, El Matador, Razor Ramon, Terry Taylor, Tatanka, Iron Mike Sharpe (did someone no-show!??), Kamala, Skinner, IC Champion Shawn Michaels, Koko B. Ware, Owen Hart and Kim Chee.
Big melee to start with everyone going at it in the corners, while Kim Chee waits outside. He sneaks in rather quickly and joins everyone else, though. Backlund backdrops Sharpe over the top for the first elimination. It’s pretty impossible to follow the action. Kim Chee sneaks out once again. Koko tries toss Shawn out, but ends up charging into a backdrop by HBK for another elimination. Tito goes up top for a flying fistdrop on Berzerker, which is never good strategy in a battle royal. It works here, but it’s still dumb. A bunch of near-eliminations going on near the ropes on all corners of the ring. What is even the purpose of this battle royal? Maybe something huge is on the line here and I totally missed the announcement like a dumbass. I honestly don’t know. Skinner stops to dance on the ropes like a complete moron, and Typhoon clotheslines him out. Tito rams Razor’s head into the turnbuckle numerous times, while Kamala dumps Demento out. Berzerker gets rid of Owen. Santana tries to capitalize and quickly eliminate Berzerker from behind, but he’s unable to do it. HBK slugs away on Tito in the corner. Kamala eliminates Berzerker with a terrible “superkick”… well it’s the thought that counts! Kim Chee comes in from behind while Typhoon attemps to eliminate Kamala, eliminating him. Kamala goes back in and gets rid of Kim Chee, who runs away through the crowd into the concession stand. Kamala chases him while we take a break.
Commercial break
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We’re back with Kamala still chasing Kim Chee all over the arena. Terry Taylor is no longer there, apparently getting tossed out sometime while the cameras were focusing on the whole Kamala/Kim Chee stuff. Courtesy of Tatanka. Backlund went out too, at the hands of Razor. Thanks Cagematch! Typhoon squashes Michaels in the corner. However, he misses a blind charge in the corner and Michaels manages to throw the big man out. It’s down to Michaels, Razor, Tito and Tatanka. Again, what is this for? I’m genuinely lost! Shawn goes after Tatanka aggressively, with Savage bringing up Tatanka’s huge pinfall win over Shawn last week on Superstars. I recommend that one, by the way. What a huge pop for what used to be a rare non-title over a champion. Tito gives Tatanka a hand, though, and both babyfaces manhandle the Intercontinental Champion. Razor is just hanging out watching. A double-whip into the buckle leaves Michaels laying on the top rope, as then both Tatanka and Tito kick HBK to the outside for the elimination. They go after Razor together next… but Giant Gonzalez is here. Razor smartly leaves the ring and watches as Gonzalez tosses Tatanka. Gonzalez chops Tito and tosses him as well. Gonzalez walks away alongside Harvey Wippleman. Razor sneaks back inside the ring and Finkel announces him as the official winner after 13:37. Apparently this was for nothing… yep.
Rating: A near 15 minute battle royal as a set-up for a 30-second Giant Gonzalez run-in so he can toss a couple of dudes over the top rope and leave. About as exciting as it sounds. What a waste of TV time. How about… I don’t know, an actual interaction between Bret and Yokozuna? No? Anyway, this was pointless and boring. 1/2*
Main Event
Ted DiBiase (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Brutus Beefcake
IMG credit: WWE & capricorncity.com
This is Beefcake’s first wrestling match since July 1990. Lockup and Brutus sends DiBiase flying into the turnbuckle. Beefcake hammers away with a series of rights on DiBiase, who bails. Back inside, Beefcake remains in control with a side headlock. Beefcake sends him flying with yet another series of punches, and Ted is getting quite irritated. DiBiase goes after Brutus back inside, only to get sent into the buckle. Back to the side headlock goes Beefcake, as IRS comes down to ringside. Jimmy Hart asks IRS what he’s doing out there, but IRS doesn’t wanna hear it. DiBiase whips Beefcake into the ropes, and IRS hits him with a shot with the briefcase to Brutus’ back for the DQ at 4:26.
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IMG credit: WWE
IRS joins the ring for the beatdown on Brutus afterwards. DiBiase holds Beefcake’s arms for a briefcase shot to the face. Jimmy Hart begs IRS not to do it, so IRS shoves Jimmy to the outside. IRS charges and destroys Beefcake’s broken face with a shot with the briefcase. Jimmy checks on Beefcake inside the ring while Money Inc walk away without their manager. Jimmy begs for someone to come and give some help. Great selljob by Jimmy Hart, who was the MVP of this whole angle in my view. There are shots of blood all over the ring canvas. Vince tells us no major damage was done to Brutus’ face, though.
Rating: The angle was pretty good, it did a good job of setting up Hulk Hogan’s eventual return. It made sense for the heels to target Beefcake’s legitimately broken face. As far as the actual match goes, though, it was very basic and it wasn’t very good. I didn’t like how Beefcake, who hadn’t wrestled any match at all in nearly 3 years, totally dominated not only a veteran, but a reigning champion in WWF. DiBiase literally got no offense in. I understand their match was nothing but a set-up for the angle, but it wasn’t a good match. 1/4*
Next week: Money Inc are in action, which means Hulk Hogan might actually show up. Plus, a six-man tag team match.
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: I liked the first two squashes and the final angle was good too. However, everything else was completely skippable, especially that pointless battle royal. I’m not the biggest fan of battle royals to begin with, but a 15-minute one with nothing on the line where someone who wasn’t in the match “won” makes it even worse. I didn’t like the main event match either, but they made up for it with the post-match angle to close the show. I didn’t think it was terrible, but some actual build towards WrestleMania would help. Silent Rob Bartlett did help, though, so there’s that! 4/10
That’s all from me here. Make sure you don’t miss my upcoming review of the WCW PPV, SuperBrawl III. Don’t miss any of the other RAW reviews either. See you next time!
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In 1993, we saw many different champions holding different championships. The 3 championships in the year were the WWF Championship, Intercontinental Championship and the Tag Team Titles. Let’s review all the title reigns from the year and find out which title reigns were good, and which were bad.
WWF Tag Team Championship
Money Inc. – Ted Dibiase & IRS (October 13, 1992 – June 14, 1993)
IMG credit: WWE & pinterest.com
Money Inc. won the tag titles for a 2nd time from The Natural Disasters in late 1992. They held the titles for a long time and had a pretty decent reign. It was quite similar to their previous title reign. They were entertaining champions but didn’t have many good matches. This reign could have been better if they had a series of matches with The Steiners on PPVs.
Rating: 5.5/10
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The Steiner Brothers – Scott Steiner & Rick Steiner (June 14, 1993- June 16, 1993)
IMG credit: WWE & pinterest.com
The Steiners won the tag team championships from Money Inc. for the first time at a house show, only to lose it back to them 2 days later….
Rating: 0/10
Money Inc. – Ted Dibiase & IRS (June 16, 1993 – June 19, 1993)
IMG credit: WWE & pinterest.com
After winning back the titles from The Steiners, Money Inc. had a grand title reign of 3 DAYS! They lost it to Steiners once again at a House Show. Yeah…
Rating: 0/10
The Steiner Brothers- Scott Steiner & Rick Steiner (June 19, 1993 – September 13, 1993)
IMG credit: WWE & pinterest.com
Recommended Matches:
Vs. Money Inc. in a Steel Cage match – SummerSlam Spectacular 1993 (****)
Vs. The Heavenly Bodies – SummerSlam 1993 (***1/2)
Vs. The Quebecers in a Quebec Province Rules match (***1/2)
It is really unfortunate this title reign didn’t last longer. The Steiner Brothers were on fire and were having great matches. However, the reign came to an abrupt end as they lost the titles to The Quebecers. This title reign could really have been historic if they hadn’t lost, because for the time it lasted, the reign was absolute fire.
Rating: 7/10
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WWF Intercontinental Championship
Shawn Michaels (October 27, 1992 – May 17, 1993)
IMG credit: WWE & pinterest.com
Recommended Matches:
Vs. The British Bulldog – SNME #31: November 14, 1992 (***1/2)
Vs. Marty Jannetty – Royal Rumble 1993 (****)
Vs. Tatanka – WrestleMania IX (***1/2)
Vs. Jim Duggan in a Lumberjack match – RAW: May 10, 1993 (***1/4)
Vs. Marty Jannetty – RAW: May 17, 1993 (***1/2)
Shawn Michaels won his first singles title against The British Bulldog and started 1993 as the Intercontinental Champion. And what a reign he had! Having great matches with the likes of Marty Jannetty, Tatanka, Jim Duggan among others. Yes, you read it correct, he actually had a good match with Jim Duggan of all people. He even managed to carry Kamala to a decent match during this reign. Even though Shawn was a heel, he defended the title on free TV, and actually felt like a workhorse champion. The end of this title reign was also very good as he lost the title to Marty Jannetty in a very memorable moment. This reign really showed the potential of Shawn as a singles star, and we all know how much he achieved in his career. This was the beginning of it, and it was the absolute perfect beginning.
Rating: 8/10
Marty Jannetty (May 17, 1993 – June 6, 1993)
IMG credit: WWE & whatculture.com
Recommended Matches:
Vs. Shawn Michaels – RAW: May 17, 1993 (***1/2)
Vs. Bam Bam Bigelow – RAW: May 31, 1993 (***1/4)
This title win is a very iconic part of RAW, as it was the first-ever title change on RAW, and also one of the first shocking moments to take place on RAW. However, it didn’t last long as Marty Jannetty lost the title just 20 days after winning the title. I wish this reign lasted more, because this had a lot of potential.
Rating: 2/10
Shawn Michaels (June 6, 1993 – September 27, 1993)
IMG credit: WWE & pinterest.com
Recommended Matches:
Vs. Marty Jannetty – RAW: July 19, 1993 (****)
After the brilliant first reign with the Intercontinental Title, this reign is a bit of a stepdown, but this was also quite entertaining. Shawn continued to impress more and more as he had another banger with Marty Jannetty. The two wrestlers he feuded with mainly during this reign were Crush and Mr. Perfect, and the feuds were decent. During this reign, Shawn also hired a bodyguard who was Diesel. The reign came to a disappointing end as Shawn had to vacate the title as in storyline, he hadn’t defended the title in 30 days. In reality, he was suspended for testing positive for steroids. Unfortunate end as this reign could have been better had it continued.
Rating: 6.5/10
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WWF Championship
Bret Hart (October 12, 1992 – April 4, 1993)
IMG credit: WWE
Recommended Matches:
Vs. Ric Flair – House Show: October 12, 1992 (****1/4)
Vs. Shawn Michaels – Survivor Series 1992 (****1/2)
Vs. Ric Flair in a 60-Minute Iron Man match – House Show: January 9, 1993 (****1/2)
Vs. Razor Ramon – Royal Rumble 1993 (***1/2)
Vs. Fatu – RAW: March 1, 1993 (***1/4)
Vs. Yokozuna – WrestleMania IX (***)
This reign didn’t really set the world on fire or anything, but it felt quite different than the previous title reigns. Bret Hart was constantly promoted as a workhorse champion and he was really defending the title a lot, even on free TV. Bret felt different than the others because he was someone who didn’t win the title because of his charisma or over the top character but because of his wrestling ability. He was really the perfect choice to be the face of the company after the steroid scandal. As far as his promos are concerned, he was weaker in that aspect compared to the previous titleholders, but an argument can be made that fans could relate more to a guy like Bret Hart in that cartoonish era and which is why he gained the support of fans. This reign is quite overlooked which I feel is not fair, obviously Bret would go on to have better reigns but this first reign of his had quite a different feel to it and cemented his place as a main eventer for years to come.
Rating: 7/10
Yokozuna (April 4, 1993)
IMG credit: WWE & pinterest.com
Recommended Matches:
Vs. Bret Hart – WrestleMania IX (***)
Well, this “reign” existed is all that I can say. Everyone knows what happened and I don’t even want to talk about it because the decision was so bad.
Rating: 0/10
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Hulk Hogan (April 4, 1993 – June 13, 1993)
IMG credit: WWE & wwfoldschool.com
I seriously want to know what WWF was thinking putting the title once again on Hulk Hogan, when clearly no one wanted him as the champion. He didn’t even show up on RAW after winning the title and then lost it to Yokozuna at King of the Ring and left the company. Good riddance.
Rating: 0/10
And that’s all for today’s post, thank you all for reading. Stay tuned for the next post where we will rank all the matches from WWF Royal Rumble 1994. Have a nice day!
February 1st, 1993 Live from Manhattan, NY (Manhattan Center) Announced attendance: ca 1 000 (capacity: ca 1 000) TV rating: 3.0 (USA Network) [up 0.4 from the previous RAW’s 2.6]
Thank you for joining me for yet another 1993 RAW review. It’s the fallout from the previous week’s Loser Leaves WWF Match which saw Ric Flair leave the company. Tonight, Brutus Beefcake makes his return to WWF. Doink the Clown and “The Narcissist” Lex Luger both make their televised WWF in-ring debuts as the build towards WrestleMania continues.
Here is the list of WWF champions heading into this week:
WWF Champion: Bret Hart [112th day of his reign] – previous champion: Ric Flair
WWF Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels [97th day of his reign] – previous champion: The British Bulldog
WWF World Tag Team Champions: Money Inc (Ted DiBiase & Irwin R. Schyster) [111th day of their reign] – previous champions: The Natural Disasters (Earthquake & Typhoon)
Note: in title matches, the defending champions are underlined
Enjoy the review!
IMG credit: WWE & thesmackdownhotel.com
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Your hosts are Vince McMahon, Randy Savage & Rob Bartlett
– RAW’s intro plays to kick off this week’s show
– We’re going straight to the ring for the first match of the evening
Tatanka vs. Damien Demento
IMG credit: WWE & fishbulbsuplex.tumblr.com
Demento takes control early on, until Tatanka surprises him with a small package for two. Tatanka with a hiptoss, a slam and a clothesline dumps Demento over the top to the floor. Demento stops to talk to the voices in his head (they talk to him, they understand too?) allowing Tatanka to chop away on the outside. That’s pretty dumb if you ask me. Back inside for a few more chops, but Demento takes him down with a clothesline. Back elbow smash by Demento and he follows it up with a legdrop for two. Demento goes to a headlock while the crowd chants “we want Flair”. Tatanka escapes the headlock, marches around the ring as he makes the comeback before finishing with the Not Samoan Drop at 4:10.
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Rating: Extended squash for Tatanka. Basic but not awful. *
– A clip airs of Bret Hart, representing the company as the reigning WWF Champion, presenting a 100.000$ donation check at the “Headlock on Hunger” charity event
Brutus Beefcake returns to the WWF
IMG credit: WWE
Vince McMahon joins Beefcake in the ring for an interview. Brutus wants to make his return to action, but Vince wonders if it’ll be a good idea due to the parasailing accident. Brutus explains that it wasn’t just the accident, as shortly before his mother passed away. His dad went right after her, due to a heart attack. And THEN his wife left him for some other guy. She was probably just tired of having Hogan around the house, I honestly can’t blame her. Beefcake continues by saying that then the parasailing accident occurred. He was just about to quit, he was broke, he was destroyed, his jaw had 8 steel plates, 30 screws, 500 stitches but the first thing he saw… was the red and yellow as Hulk Hogan reached his hand and all went well. Oh dear god. His career is in shambles, but Hogan told him “go for it, Brutus” so he’s decided to do so. He kinda had me there at the start, but then it all turned into “Hulk Hogan saved the world” territory and he totally lost me. But hey, Brutus is back to the ring. Yey!…
High Energy (Owen Hart & Koko B. Ware) vs. Iron Mike Sharpe & Von Krus
Well, this one shouldn’t take too long. Sharpe overpowers Owen with a shove off the early lockup. Shoulderblock by Sharpe, but Owen kips up and cuts him off with a dropkick. High Energy with a double-team backdrop to Krus, as then Koko takes care of Iron Mike Sharpe by dropkicking him off the apron. That leaves Von Krus alone, allowing High Energy to finish him with Koko’s missile dropkick straight into Owen’s jackknife roll-up combination for the easy squash at 1:31. Von Krus is the future Big Vito, by the way.
Rating: In ‘n’ out squash. 1/4*
– Recap of Doink taking out Crush last month on Superstars
Typhoon vs. Doink the Clown
IMG credit: WWE & Twitter
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This is Doink’s in-ring debut in the WWF, if you don’t count the already-taped matches on Superstars that only aired later that month. Doink immediately takes Typhoon off his feet with a single-leg takedown. Typhoon sends Doink flying with a huge hiptoss, but Doink manages to take him down yet again, into a front facelock. Typhoon overpowers Doink to escape the hold, only for Doink to wrestle Typhoon down once more as he goes to work on the arm now with a hammerlock. Doink switches into a headlock, but Typhoon rams him into the turnbuckle to block it and puts the clown in a bearhug. Typhoon with a powerslam, only to miss an avalanche in the corner. Doink takes advantage with a flying clothesline and he steals the pin with a handful of tights at 3:10.
Rating: This was there to show that Doink actually knows a thing or two about this wrestling stuff. It wasn’t good or exciting, but it got the point across well enough. 1/2*
– WWF Mania ad followed by a short interview with the show’s host, Todd Pettingill
– 10-bell salute to Andre the Giant, who died the previous week.
– PROMOTIONAL CONSIDERATION PAID FOR BY THE FOLLOWING: Try some IcoPro! How about these WWF Figures! Oh, and don’t forget… snap into a Slim Jim ooooh yeaaah!
Yokozuna vs. Bobby DeVito
Good luck out there, Mr. DeVito. Yokozuna is fresh off winning the Royal Rumble the week before. DeVito charges into a superkick from Yoko right off the bat. Yoko with a belly to belly followed by a legdrop, as we hear from Jim Duggan on the phone. Yeah, good luck to you too, Duggan. Yokozuna destroys the poor jobber a bit more for fun before ending him with the Banzai Drop at 2:38.
Rating: Another squash. Effective way to put Yokozuna over as a pretty big deal on his way to WrestleMania. 1/2*
Interview with Money Inc
IMG credit: WWE & tapemachinesarerolling.tumblr.com
Vince asks how does it feel to get into an arena and get such a negative reaction. DiBiase tells him that the only thing that bothers him is an empty bank account, which he never experienced. Hahah! They accept Brutus Beeefcake’s open challenge for his return bout and flip a coin to see who will take on him. However, this draws Jimmy Hart to ringside, who doesn’t exactly agree with the idea since one of them can get hurt and risk the team’s success. The champions tell him not to worry about it, but Jimmy still isn’t into the idea at all.
– Mr. Perfect vignette airs
Main Event
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“The Narcissist” Lex Luger vs. Jason Knight
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
Yet another debut here as this is Luger’s first match in WWF. Luger takes Jason down with a hiptoss and immediately stops to pose. What, a man has priorities! Luger destroys Knight with a hard clothesline out of the corner and poses some more. Stungun by Luger and more posing. Powerslam by Luger followed by a running clothesline. Luger ends Knight with a forearm and pins him with his pinky at 2:38.
Rating: Basically what I said about all the other matches. 1/4*
Vince closes by saying RAW won’t air next week because The Dog Show will be on. RAW returns in 2 weeks with Brutus Beefcake vs. Ted DiBiase.
END OF THE SHOW
Final thoughts: Well, this was a pretty discreet episode filled with squashes all over the broadcast. I wouldn’t say it was terrible as a number of things happened here, including a return and multiple in-ring debuts, but I wouldn’t exactly recommend this one to anyone, especially compared to the previous episode which had Perfect/Flair. But it’s not like it will make you question your life choices after watching it or anything like that. 4/10
That’s all from me. Make sure you don’t miss any of the next reviews. Also, download our web app which you should be able to find on top of the page, near the link bar. See you all next time!
Do you enjoy the content we put out here on SmarKDown? If so and you would like to support us, please consider donating as it would help us improve. You can donate yearly, monthly or just once, choosing one of the amounts below or a custom one as you wish. All donations are appreciated!
WWF had a huge roster in 1992, but when they moved on to 1993, they lost many wrestlers. However, WWF kept signing new wrestlers and managed to have a pretty decent roster in 1993 despite many wrestlers going out. Let’s take a look at the top 5 wrestlers from the year who stood out from the rest.
5. Razor Ramon
IMG credit: WWE & aiptcomics.com
Razor Ramon made his debut in 1992, and he became one of the most popular wrestlers of the roster by 1993 itself. Razor Ramon started 1993 as a heel with a feud against WWF Champion Bret Hart. He lost the title match at Royal Rumble, but he showed his potential as a singles wrestler. After winning his WrestleMania debut against Bob Backlund, Ramon started a mini feud with The 1-2-3 Kid. Later he would become friends with The Kid as he turned face and feuded with Ted Dibiase and IRS. After Shawn Michaels had to vacate the Intercontinental Title, Razor Ramon won the vacant belt in a Battle Royal on the October 4 episode of RAW. He started a feud with Shawn Michaels and ended the year as the Intercontinental Champion, going into 1994 with huge momentum. Overall, a great year for The Bad Guy as he had shown potential of a future main-eventer in his first full year.
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4. Shawn Michaels
IMG credit: WWE & pinterest.com
Shawn Michaels started off the year as the Intercontinental Champion. For the majority of the year, he feuded with his former tag team partner, Marty Jannetty. The two had some really good matches, which were some of the best matches of the year. Apart from Jannetty, Shawn consistently had good matches on RAW against other opponents as well. He somehow managed to have decent matches with the likes of Kamala and Jim Duggan, which seems impossible for any other wrestler. In the year, he also hired a bodyguard in Diesel. His title reign was going well, and I would have ranked him higher, but he missed out a chunk of the year after SummerSlam due to a suspension for testing positive for steroids. He also had to vacate his Intercontinental Title, which hurt his momentum. Despite vacating the title, Shawn would carry the IC Title around and claimed he was the real champion, as he feuded with Razor Ramon.
3. The Steiner Brothers
IMG credit: WWE & uproxx.com
Usually, it is hard for tag teams in WWF to have a good ranking as the WWF doesn’t focus much on their tag team divison. However, the tag team of Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner, known as “The Steiner Brothers” had a fire year in 1993. They were great from their debut as they had many great matches in the year against the likes of The Beverly Brothers, The Headshrinkers, Money Inc., The Quebecers. Basically, they had good matches against every tag team they faced. Even their squash matches were very entertaining. Their explosive style of wrestling was awesome. They also managed to win the tag team titles during the year. Although the reign could have lasted longer, they had a very strong reign for the time it lasted. Their run wouldn’t last very long in the WWF, as they would be gone from WWF in 1994, but what a year they had in 1993!
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2. Bret Hart
IMG credit: WWE & tapemachinesarerolling.tumblr.com
After WWF lost a few top stars, Bret Hart stepped up as the top star and received a big push. Bret Hart started the year as the WWF Champion and successfully retained the title against Razor Ramon at Royal Rumble. He lost the WWF Title to Yokozuna at WrestleMania IX. He was supposed to beat Hulk Hogan, but of course Hogan’s ego wouldn’t allow it. Bret won the King of the Ring tournament and began a feud with Jerry “The King” Lawler from there on to determine the real king of WWF. The feud was very personal as Lawler repeatedly insulted Bret’s family. The two had a match at SummerSlam where Bret unleashed his anger on Lawler. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see a proper conclusion to the feud as Lawler had to be taken off TV. Towards the end of the year, tensions rose between Bret and his brother, Owen Hart as WWF slowly built up the story between them. Overall, Bret didn’t have as many good matches as he had in 1992, but he had a pretty solid year as he cemented himself as the Face of the company in 1993.
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1. Yokozuna
IMG credit: WWE & lans18-wrestlingworld.blogspot.com
1993 was the year of Yokozuna. It was hard deciding between Yokozuna and Bret Hart for the top spot, but in my opinion, Yokozuna had a more impressive year. He received a monster push as he won the Royal Rumble and later won the WWF title from Bret Hart at WrestleMania IX. He lost the title immediately to Hogan which hurt Yokozuna, but he regained the title not long after at King of the Ring. Following that, he feuded with Lex Luger, as they had a typical “American Hero vs. Foreign Villain” storyline. They feuded for a long period of time as they faced off at Survivor Series as well, with Yokozuna leading The Foreign Fanatics against Luger’s All-Americans. At Survivor Series, Yokozuna started a rivalry with The Undertaker which would continue to 1994. Overall, Yokozuna had a very good year and was truly the top wrestler of the year. He did have his flaws like his mic work, but they were taken care of by Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette. It is unfortunate that Yokozuna didn’t remain at the top of WWF for a long time as he had a lot of potential.
And that’s all for today’s post, thank you all for reading. Stay tuned for the next post where we will review all the WWF title reigns from 1993. Have a nice day!
The 2000s was a beautiful decade for the Intercontinental Championship. Starting with the year 2000 – the single-greatest year for then-called World Wrestling Federation – the Attitude Era was still going strong, with new faces rising to take their rightful place in history, and the overall product being virtual perfection. The mid-card was SO strong, and a new generation of gladiators claimed Intercontinental Gold to continue its legacy as one of the most prestigious championships a wrestler could hold.
When the Attitude Era ended, and the Ruthless Aggression Era began, the Intercontinental Championship scene remained strong and glorious (we WON’T talk about the title being temporarily retired from October 2002 to June 2003, alright?), with so many newcomers building & building upon the championship’s prestige and make more epic history, former tag-team specialists now looking for their big break as a singles star, and even legends who had moved away from the world title picture gave themselves and thus the IC title a new lease of life. Overall, the 2000s really gave us some absolute legends as Intercontinental Champion.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
Christian
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
When Christian became absolutely jealous of Edge’s success as the 2001 King of the Ring, and then the Intercontinental Champion…Christian turned heel with a one-man Con-Chair-To to his former-best chum. Then won his first Intercontinental Championship at Unforgiven 2001, subsequently joining the Alliance during the whole Invasion storyline. Fast-forward to 2003, Christian got a new haircut, upgraded his heel persona and enjoyed another two dastardly reigns as IC Champ before finally losing the title to Rob Van Dam in one of the greatest Ladder Matches ever on Monday Night Raw. Captain Charisma used his time as IC Champ wisely to get to where he is today. For his Peeps, of course.
Johnny Nitro/John Morrison
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
When MNM sensationally split-up in 2006, Johnny Nitro went from SmackDown to Raw, and picked up his first Intercontinental Championship at Vengeance 2006 in a spectacular triple-threat against Carlito and Shelton Benjamin. After that came a great feud with Jeff Hardy, which saw the belt change back-and-forth in various ladder and cage matches. Then when the real-life John Hennigan upgraded himself to John Morrison, he defeated the legendary Rey Mysterio to win his third & final IC Title in 2009 for an impressive run. John, you did alright with this one, mate.
Kurt Angle
IMG credit: WWE & Shitloads of Wrestling – Tumblr
On paper, Kurt Angle’s sole IC Title reign seems inconsequential compared to his glorious world title reigns; especially given that his run only lasted 35 days. But it was EVERYTHING that Kurt did with the championship in that time that was so unforgettably brilliant! Beating Chris Jericho at No Way Out 2000 for the title whilst already European Champion, Angle became the third, final and most successful ‘Euro-Continental’ champion of all time. And when he lost both titles at WrestleMania 16, Angle wasn’t even involved in either loss! Kurt Angle would never have ascended to main-event status if not for his brilliance as the Euro-Continental Champion! It’s true! It’s true!
Kane
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
Already a former world champion, tag champion and established main-eventer, Kane picked up his first Intercontinental Championship at Judgement Day 2001 by beating Triple H in a brutal chain-match (the best bout ever in Kane’s career, in my opinion) and although his first reign only lasted 39 days, Kane was a fighting champion, successfully defending it on weekly TV against the likes of Kurt Angle, Edge, Christian and Rhyno before dropping it to Albert (of all people!) after some incredibly good matches between the two. Kane won his second IC Title in 2002 by beating Chris Jericho, and although his second reign lasted 20 days, Kane remained a fighting IC Champ, as well as a Tag Team Champion simultaneously, winning one of the greatest TLC matches all by himself! The Big Red Machine can be proud of his work as Intercontinental Champ!
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Ric Flair
IMG credit: That Shit Was Hot – Tumblr
In the twilight of his career, Ric Flair won his only Intercontinental Championship from Carlito at Unforgiven 2005. He became the oldest champion in history at 58-years-old, his reign lasted 155 days before dropping the title to Shelton Benjamin, and he feuded with the likes of Edge and his former Evolution bestie Triple H. The greatest moment of that run was unquestionably a classic cage match at Taboo Tuesday 2005, which saw the Nature Boy retain the title against Triple H. It was one of the greatest IC Championship bouts in the title’s history and another classic courtesy of Ric Flair. WOOOOOOOO!!!
Santino Marella
IMG credit: WWE
Santino was absolutely ace. Ergo, he was an absolutely ace Intercontinental Champion. Picked at RANDOM by Vince McMahon (yeah, right!) from the Milan, Italy audience during 2007 to challenge then-champ Umaga on Raw, Santino scored a shocking upset (with Bobby Lashley’s help!) to win his first title in WWE! Marella reigned for 77 days before dropping the title back to Umaga. In 2008, Santino was now partnered with Beth Phoenix and ‘Glamarella’ became a successful power-couple, holding both the Intercontinental and Women’s Titles respectively, after Beth scored the win at SummerSlam 2008. And of course, there was the genius ‘Honk-A-Meter’; Santino’s week-by-week attempt to break the Honky Tonk Man’s unbeaten 64-week reign. He failed miserably…but it was STILL genius!
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10. Eddie Guerrero
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
Shortly after Eddie Guerrero’s fantastic run as the European Champion came to an end in 2000, Latino Heat soon moved onto the Intercontinental belt, albeit ‘accidentally’. Shortly after his beloved “Mamacita” Chyna picked up another historic Intercontinental Championship, Eddie asked Commissioner Mick Foley to insert him into her title defence against Kurt Angle. Chyna had been knocked out by Kurt, Eddie took care of him and then ‘accidentally’ pinned Chyna whilst trying to revive her. Only a legend like Eddie could’ve pulled that off…!
Of course, it was a precursor to Eddie’s inevitable lying, cheating, & stealing. Eddie turned heel, and reigned with the Intercontinental Championship for 80 days before dropping it to Billy Gunn. At Backlash 2002, Eddie Guerrero won his second Intercontinental Championship from Rob Van Dam and held it for 36 days, feuding with RVD throughout the entire reign, retaining the title at Insurextion and Judgement Day before finally dropping it to Van Dam in one of the best Ladder Matches ever on Raw. Eddie had one of the greatest careers of all time, and the Intercontinental Title remains an important part of his legacy.
9. Triple H
IMG credit: WWE & Twitter
Triple H had already picked up two Intercontinental Championships in the 90s. His first reign lasted 115 days as Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and his second reign came after defeating the Rock at SummerSlam 1998 but was cut short when Hunter had to vacate the title due to a knee injury. Helmsley used his IC Title victories to get to the main-event level. But even after HHH had cemented his legacy as a THAT-DAMN-GOOD WWF Champion…Triple H went back to the Intercontinental Title in 2001 and continued to be an amazing champ
Uniting with former arch-nemesis Steve Austin to form the Two-Man Power Trip, ‘The Game’ defeated Chris Jericho to win his third IC Title. This reign only lasted 7 days before he was shockingly upset for the title by Jeff Hardy! Hunter got the belt back three days later, and with Austin, renewed his hostilities with the Undertaker & Kane. The Two-Man Power Trip beat the Brothers of Destruction for the Tag Titles at Backlash 2001, with Hunter becoming the second-ever Grand Slam Champ, and he and Austin (who was WWF Champion) now had all the gold and power in their possession.
Triple H was finally dethroned by Kane for the IC Title at Judgement Day after 34 days, and then in 2002, Hunter unified the IC Title with the World Heavyweight Championship. Although Triple H’s time with the championship was brief in the 2000s, the Intercontinental Belt transcended to the main-event whilst in his hands.
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8. Chris Benoit
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
Obviously, it’s very hard to discuss Chris Benoit without thinking about the horrific and inexcusable Benoit Tragedy. But in the context of this list, Benoit the WRESTLER remained a fighting Intercontinental Champion. Determined to make an impact in the WWF after jump-shipping from WCW in February 2000, Benoit immediately set his sights on championship gold, and found himself in the two-fall triple-threat match at WrestleMania 16 for the European and Intercontinental Titles with Kurt Angle and Chris Jericho.
Benoit won the Intercontinental Championship that night, and then took on all-comers on Raw, SmackDown and Sunday Night Heat, with his heated-rivalry with Chris Jericho standing above all other challengers throughout 2000 and into 2001. The title switched back-and-forth between the fierce rivals in an excellent series of matches, with the greatest being an epic Ladder Match at Royal Rumble 2001. Benoit picked up his fourth & final Intercontinental Championship in 2002 before losing it to Rob Van Dam at SummerSlam. Benoit’s reigns may have been brief, but he always made them count, and then he ultimately claimed the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 20.
7. Edge
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
Edge had already won his first Intercontinental Championship in July 1999 from Jeff Jarrett. Alas, his reign only lasted 24 hours, but the groundwork had been laid for Edge’s success as a singles-wrestler in the 21st Century. After becoming 2001 King of the Ring, Edge again set his sights on Intercontinental gold and regained the title from Lance Storm in a damn-fine match at SummerSlam. He lost the belt a month later to a jealous Christian at Unforgiven, but got his revenge in a Ladder match at No Mercy. Sadly, it was another brief reign when he lost the belt to Test 15 days later, but Edge scored another thrilling triumph at Survivor Series when he unified the IC title with the United States Championship.
Edge’s fourth reign lasted 63 days before he was defeated by William Regal at Royal Rumble 2002, and then Edge picked up his fifth & final championship by ending the Legend Killer Randy Orton’s almighty reign at Vengeance 2004. After 57 days, Edge surrendered the title due to injury. Although his reigns were brief, Edge was a happy & proud Intercontinental Champion, using his time with the belt to grow as a performer, wrestler and superstar, before going-on to be the world champion. Another classic success!
6. Jeff Hardy
IMG credit: WWE & WhatCulture
The Hardy Boys rank among the greatest tag teams of all time, and both Matt and Jeff had already proved that in their feud with Edge & Christian and the Dudleys from No Mercy 1999 to WrestleMania 17. But it was during April 2001 when Jeff received his first big break as a singles-wrestler. During Team Extreme’s feud with the Two-Man Power Trip, Jeff Hardy scored a shocking upset over Triple H for the Intercontinental Championship on SmackDown! He also made history as the youngest Intercontinental Champ ever, winning the title at 23-years-old! Jeff sadly lost the belt back to Hunter three days later, but the victory cemented Jeff’s single-status as a superstar.
Hardy would win his second Intercontinental Championship over five years later on 02.10.2006, then embarked on wicked feuds with Johnny Nitro and Umaga in some absolutely fantastic matches (the best being a cage match at New Year’s Revolution 2007 with the former, and a rollercoaster match with the latter at the Great American Bash later that year). Defending the title regularly on weekly TV and on pay-per-view, Jeff even challenged for the WWE Championship whilst Intercontinental Champion! From 2006 to 2008, the Charismatic Enigma had captured the belt four times at this point, spent a combined total of 323 days as IC Champ, and became yet another wrestler who successfully went on to be WWE World Champion. So amazing was Jeff as the Intercontinental Champ, he won the belt for a fifth & final time in 2020.
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5. Shelton Benjamin
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
From late 2002 to early 2004, Shelton Benjamin was one-half of the World’s Greatest Tag Team (with Charlie Haas); and they had plenty of credentials to back up that claim. When the World’s Greatest Tag Team was split-up in the 2004 Draft Lottery, Shelton ended up on Raw and immediately became a huge singles-star by beating Triple H for three weeks running! Fast-forward to Taboo Tuesday 2004, the fans voted for Benjamin to challenge Chris Jericho for the Intercontinental Championship…and Shelton won!
Shelton’s first run with the title was a spectacular 244-Day reign (the LONGEST of the 2000s), resplendent with first-class title defences against Christian at Survivor Series 2004 and Chris Jericho at Backlash 2005. Shelton entered the first-ever Money in the Bank Ladder Match at WrestleMania 21 as IC Champ, and raised the value of the title even higher with his performance in that bout, becoming the MVP of MITB matches going forward.
Shelton picked up another two great Intercontinental titles in 2006, feuding with the likes of Ric Flair and Rob Van Dam (the highlight being an excellent Winner-Takes-All match for the IC Title and MITB briefcase at Backlash 2006), before dropping the championship in a fantastic triple-threat at Vengeance 2006 involving Carlito and Johnny Nitro. Although Shelton Benjamin may never have reached world-title heights in WWE, as an Intercontinental Champion, there ain’t no stoppin’ him! NAAAAHHHH!!!
4. Rey Mysterio
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
On paper, Rey’s two Intercontinental Championship reigns from 2009 may not seem impressive (his first lasted 63 days, his second lasted 68 days), but Mysterio MAXIMISED his time as champion to not only provide one of the best Intercontinental Title runs in years, he also reminded us why Rey Mysterio is one of the most spectacular & awe-inspiring wrestlers of all time.
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Beating JBL in a shocking 21 seconds at WrestleMania 25 to become Intercontinental Champion, Rey became the 21st Triple Crown Winner in WWE, then embarked on a legendary feud with Chris Jericho. A series of classic matches on PPV (Judgement Day and Extreme Rules) – with each one better than the last – saw the title change hands between the rivals. And it culminated in an epic Title-vs.-Mask affair at The Bash 2009, with Rey ending the feud, and moving-on to a rivalry with Dolph Ziggler, with the title-defence at SummerSlam really putting Ziggler’s name on the map. After losing the title to John Morrison, Rey Mysterio became involved in high-profile feuds with Batista & CM Punk, regained the World Championship in 2010, and then won the WWE Title in 2011. The Intercontinental Title brought Rey back to the Promised Land, and vice versa.
3. Rob Van Dam
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
One of the most popular newcomers to have come to the WWE during the whole Invasion storyline, Rob Van Dam immediately achieved success as the greatest Hardcore Champion of all time. Then in 2002, he won his first Intercontinental Championship at WrestleMania 18 from William Regal. One of the most spectacular, innovative and amazing athletes of all time, RVD also cemented himself as one of the greatest to have ever held this championship.
Although Van Dam didn’t enjoy an undefeated, record-breaking run like his unforgettable 23-month reign as the ECW World TV Champion, Mr. Monday Night nevertheless made history many times as IC Champ. From 2002 to 2006, Rob was a six-time champion, involved in thrilling feuds with the likes of Eddie Guerrero, Brock Lesnar, Chris Benoit, Christian, Randy Orton and Shelton Benjamin, partook in several classic matches on TV and PPV, unified the Intercontinental Title with the European and Hardcore Championships, briefly held the IC Title and MITB briefcase simultaneously…and of course, went on to become WWE Champion at ECW One Night Stand 2006. Just like every other time, RVD was the Whole F’N Show as Intercontinental Champion.
2. Randy Orton
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
Randy Orton’s sole Intercontinental Championship reign from Armageddon 2003 to Vengeance 2004 stands above most in the title’s lineage. Lasting 210 days, it was the longest reign of any IC Title-holder since The Rock’s 264 day run from December 1997 to August 1998. Having joined the ranks of Evolution and established himself as the Legend Killer, Randy simply shined brighter than ever with the gold. Improving more-and-more as a heel, on the mic and in the ring, the Legend Killer reigned supreme with Evolution; who now had every male championship on the Raw roster.
Defending it routinely on TV, Orton’s IC Title reign also revolved around his legendary feud with Mick Foley. Having dared to spit in the Hardcore Legend’s face, Orton scored the winning pinfall on Foley at WrestleMania 20 when Evolution beat the Rock ’n’ Sock Connection, and then at Backlash 2004, the Legend Killer retained his title against Cactus Jack in one of the bloodiest, most brutal classics EVER waged for the Intercontinental title; a No-Holds-Barred Match that remains the greatest bout in both Randy and Mick’s careers. And when Orton was finally dethroned by Edge at Vengeance 2004, the WWE Universe rejoiced!
A month after that, Orton became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion of all time and the rest was history.
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1. Chris Jericho
IMG credit: WWE & Pinterest
Really, who ELSE could it have been for single-greatest Intercontinental Champion of the 2000s? After beating Chyna for his first Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon 1999, Chris Jericho brought the championship into the new millennium, and from 2000 to 2009, the man dominated the decade overall as IC Title holder; being involved in so many legendary storylines/feuds and classic matches involving the championship.
Feuding with a who’s-who of wrestling, Jericho battled Chyna, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, William Regal, Triple H, Kane, Rob Van Dam, Christian, Shelton Benjamin, Jeff Hardy, Kofi Kingston and Rey Mysterio over the Intercontinental Title; continuing to make the title one of the most prestigious in all of wrestling, as well as put over so many new stars/titleholders for the belt. Jericho even has the distinction of co-holding the IC Championship with Chyna in a storyline that worked brilliantly!
Although Jericho’s accumulated total of 311 days as Intercontinental Champion is surpassed by others, Y2J nonetheless still holds the record for most title victories with a staggering NINE IC Championship wins! Not just one of the greatest technical wrestlers/performers who ever lived, Chris Jericho easily ranks in my Top 10 Intercontinental Champions of ALL TIME.
So…what do YOU think of this list? Agree with the picks? Who were YOUR favourite Intercontinental Champions of the 2000s?
WWF hosted a total of 5 PPVs in the year 1993. In addition to the usual Big Four PPVs, WWF also held the first-ever King of the Ring PPV in 1993. How good were all those PPVs? Find out in this post as we rank all the PPVs from worst to best.
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5. WrestleMania IX
IMG credit: WWE & prowrestlingstories.com
Date: April 4, 1993
Attendance: 16,891
Buyrate: 430,000
Main Event: Yokozuna(c) vs. Hulk Hogan (WWF Championship)
Match of the Night: The Steiner Brothers vs. The Headshrinkers (***1/2)
Let’s start off with the worst PPV of the year, WrestleMania IX, which is also considered to be one of the worst ‘Manias ever. I am not quite sure if this is the worst WrestleMania but it is definitely one of the worst. It started off very well with two solid matches in Shawn Michaels vs. Tatanka and The Headshrinkers vs. The Steiner Brothers, but then we had a number of mediocre matches with retarded finishes up until the main event between Yokozuna and Bret Hart. It was a good match but unfortunately, it gets overshadowed by the post-match Hogan bullsh*t. Hogan had no right to win the belt here. It was horrendous booking and one of the worst PPV endings ever.
Overall Rating: 3.5/10
4. Survivor Series
IMG credit: WWE & themoviedb.org
Date: November 24, 1993
Attendance: 15,509
Buyrate: 180,000
Main Event: The All-Americans vs. The Foreign Fanatics (4-on-4 Survivor Series elimination match)
Match of the Night: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express vs. The Heavenly Bodies (***1/2)
It seemed like the theme of this show was every match being changed. We got none of the originally promoted survivor series matches, and there were changes in all of the matches. Coming to the match quality, the show had mostly decent matches along with one completely bad match, which was the Four Doinks Survivor Series match. The opening Survivor Series match was the best Survivor Series match among the four. We got a good tag team match between The Heavenly Bodies and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express which ended up as the best match of the night. The other two survivor series matches weren’t very good but overall decent. The show saw the beginning of two feuds in Bret/Owen and Undertaker/Yokozuna. Overall, a watchable show but not recommended.
Overall Rating: 5/10
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3. Royal Rumble
IMG credit: WWE & blogofdoom.com
Date: January 24, 1993
Attendance: 16,000
Buyrate: 300,000
Main Event: 30-man Royal Rumble match for a WWF Championship match at WrestleMania IX
Match of the Night: Shawn Michaels vs. Marty Jannetty (****)
If we go by the undercard of this show, it had some really good matches. The Steiners had a great WWF PPV debut against The Beverly Brothers. The WWF Title match between Bret Hart and Razor Ramon, and the IC Title match between Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty both were also good. The only bad part of the undercard was Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Big Boss Man. Despite the great undercard, the PPV’s main part which made up for most of the show- the royal rumble match didn’t deliver at all. Yokozuna was a good winner, but the rumble match was very boring. The undercard makes this PPV watchable but overall, it was disappointing.
Overall Rating: 6.5/10
2. SummerSlam
IMG credit: WWE & themoviedb.org
Date: August 30, 1993
Attendance: 23,954
Buyrate: 250,000
Main Event: Yokozuna(c) vs. Lex Luger (WWF Championship)
Match of the Night: Bret Hart vs. Jerry “The King” Lawler (***3/4)
I didn’t have high expectations from the show, but I enjoyed it and it was easy going through the event. There were only two bad matches on the show, and the rest of the matches ranged from being okayish to good. The whole Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler stuff was my favorite part of the show. The two tag team matches were also great. Post-match aside, the main event between Yokozuna and Lex Luger was also a solid WWF title match. The only problem with this show is probably the fact that it didn’t have a GREAT match which would be talked about for years. Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Perfect had the potential of being that match, but unfortunately it didn’t live up to the hype. All things considered, this was a solid PPV and deserves more love among the people as it seems to be underrated.
Overall Rating: 7/10
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1. King Of The Ring
IMG credit: WWE & cagesideseats.com
Date: June 13, 1993
Attendance: 6,500
Buyrate: 245,000
Main Event: Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow (King of the Ring Final match)
Match of the Night: Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect (****3/4)
This was really the Bret Hart show. He had three really good matches, each of them being with opponents who worked completely different styles and the matches also ended up being very different from each other with unique finishes. His match with Mr. Perfect was the match of the night, and in fact, also the match of the year. Other than Bret’s matches, the rest of the card was fine, but nothing was very good and memorable. The only bad part of the event was Hogan/Yokozuna but that also had a positive which was Hogan losing the belt and leaving the company for good.
Overall Rating: 7.5/10
And that’s all for today’s post, thank you all for reading. Stay tuned for the next post where we will talk about the top 5 wrestlers of 1993. Have a nice day!
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