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By: Brian Hoops, Nostalgia Specialist

This week’s flashback to wrestling nostalgia takes us back to August 20, 1993 and the WWF summer PPV, SummerSlam. The show was held in Auburn Hills, Michigan and was built around Lex Luger challenging Yokozuna for the WWF World Heavyweight Title. Luger had entered the WWF in early 1993 as a heel called the Narcissist, however Hulk Hogan left the WWF in June and the WWF was trying to create the next babyface to take Hogan’s place in Luger. Since Luger’s bodyslam of Yokozuna on July 4th on WWF Wrestling Challenge, Luger was the lead babyface and speculation was running high on Luger becoming new world champion at the PPV.

The announce team was Vince McMahon doing play by play with Bobby Heenan handling color commentary and Todd Pettingill and Gene Okerlund doing the backstage interviews.

1. Razor Ramon defeated Ted DiBiase with the Razor's Edge and clean pinfall victory in 7:31. This was DiBiase’s last match in the WWF as he was leaving to work full time in Japan. Ramon had recently turned babyface and would be in line for a major push as a face. Good match although I personally felt it was too short. DiBiase’s neck/back was really hurting him and he didn’t take a lot of bumps to protect himself. Razor gave DiBiase the Razor’s Edge but really protected DiBiase on the finish, practically laying DiBiase on the mat.

2. The Steiner Brothers defeated the Heavenly Bodies to retain the WWF World Tag Team Titles in 9:27. For the second straight match, the heels attacked the faces before the bell rang to gain the early advantage. Bodies were great at bumping for the Steiner’s big moves. Bodies worked on Scott, building to the hot tag to Rick. It worked and the home town crowd popped big when Rick tagged in and cleared the ring. Finish came when Scott gave Del Ray a Frankensteiner and Rick covered for the pin. A very good tag team match. The Bodies were always underrated in my opinion and were really good opponents for the Steiners as they were excellent at selling the Steiners big moves.

3. Shawn Michaels retained the Intercontinental Title by countout victory over Mr. Perfect in 11:38. Hennig had turned face and Michaels was the cocky heel. Michaels was good at bumping for Henning’s offense, but Hennig’s strength was also bumping for someone else, not wrestling on offense. Michaels gained the upper hand and started working on Hennig’s lower back. Hennig began his comeback with an awesome looking dropkick and a high knee lift. Hennig reversed a backslide into a Perfect Plex, but Diesel (Kevin Nash) pulled Hennig outside. Michaels followed and when Hennig tried to go back into the ring, Diesel rammed Hennig into the post, allowing Michaels to get back into the ring and earn the countout victory. Flat ending to an otherwise solid match. Hennig attacked Diesel and Michaels backstage.

4. IRS defeated 1-2-3 Kid in 5:45. With DiBiase leaving, IRS was going to be pushed as a singles wrestler. This was the 1-2-3 Kid’s first PPV match. Kid was on the offensive the entire match, which meant IRS was going over. Not a terrible match as Kid looked good and IRS was effective at selling Kid’s offense.

5. Bret Hart defeated Doink the Clown by disqualification in 9:28. Hart was feuding with Jerry Lawler in the summer of 1993 and this was to be their big PPV match. However, Lawler claimed an injury to extend the feud till Survivor Series, however that match never took place; and Doink was Lawler’s replacement. As far as hype for SummerSlam went in 1993, this was one of the matches I was most looking forward to, so it was a disappointment the match wouldn’t take place. Doink worked on Hart almost the entire match, trying to build heat for the Hitman’s comeback. Hart put Doink in the sharpshooter, but Lawler climbed in the ring before Doink submitted and hit Hart with the crutch for the disqualification. Lawler revealed he wasn’t hurt at all and the crowd went nuts. Lawler was so awesome at working angles.

6. Bret Hart defeated Jerry Lawler by submission in 6:31. However the decision was reversed and Hart was disqualified and Lawler was named the winner. Aftyer President Jack Tunney found out Lawler wasn’t really injured, Tunney announced Lawler had to wrestle Hart or face a ban from the WWF. So the match restarted with Lawler taking all kinds of bumps from Hart. Lawler was so good in this role. Match broke down as they went to the floor and Lawler used the ring post on Bret and another crutch to gain the advantage. Lawler was simply awesome at working the crowd and building heat. They were building to a Hart family against Jerry Lawler feud at Survivor Series and the cameras kept showing Owen Hart and other Hart family members at ringside. Hart finally made the comeback and locked Lawler into the sharpshooter where Lawler submitted. Hart refused to break the hold and referee Bill Alphonso, later of ECW fame, disqualified Hart and awarded Lawler the dq victory. Howard Finkel announced Lawler as the undisputed king of the WWF to keep the feud alive. Lawler made this match the best on the PPV.

7. Ludvig Borga (Tony Halme) defeated Marty Jannetty in 5:17. Borga was pushed as another foreign heel that would feud with Lex Luger. Borga attacked Jannetty before the bell, seems to be a pattern on this PPV. Borga wasn’t very impressive in the ring as his offense was mostly punches, clotheslines and a bear hug. This match was a glorified squash match that tried to establish Borga as a monster heel. Borga used a backbreaker for his finisher, similar to Lex Luger’s torture rack. Borga was brought in to feud with Luger.

8. The Undertaker pinned Giant Gonzalez in 7:05. Gonzalez attacked the Undertaker at Wrestlemania to set up the feud. This match and feud were at best forgettable and one of the worst programs of 1993. Gonzalez worked over the Undertaker until Paul Bearer made his way to ringside and retrieved the urn, which allowed the Undertaker to climb the top rope and hit a clothesline for the pin. Negative stars.

9. In a six man tag team match, Tatanka and the Smoking Gunns defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and the Headshrinkers in 9:16. Pretty decent action with the finish coming when Bigelow and the Shrinkers went to the top rope and all missed diving headbutts. The Gunns cleared the ring of Bigelow and one of the Shrinkers and Tatanka rolled up the other Shrinker from behind for the pinfall victory.

Randy Savage accompanied recording artist Aaron Neville to the ring to sing the national anthem before the main event. Neville was a big wrestling fan.

10. Lex Luger defeated Yokozuna by count out in 18:03. This match was for the WWF World Heavyweight Title and Yokozuna retained the title by the count out victory. Luger was heavily pushed as an American hero while Yokozuna was the latest foreign monster. Luger was muscular, but noticeably smaller than in his NWA/WCW days. Needless to say by the participants, this was not the best technical matchup the WWF could put on. It was effective in telling a story of Luger overcoming the odds to standup to the monster that no one else could even slow down. Luger hit Yokozuna with his forearm clothesline, knocking Yokozuna out of the ring for the count out victory. Luger celebrated like he won the world title with balloons falling from the ceiling and a video tribute to Lex Luger ending the show.

Summary: This was a decent show, highlighted for me by Jerry Lawler’s performance. It’s hard to believe the WWF didn’t do more with Lawler as he was one of the best all around performers in 1993. Lawler was excellent on the mike and one of the best in getting angles over. The Luger story was clearly the main event, although it was far from the best wrestling match on the card. I would recommend viewing this PPV.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me at bhoops@iw.net. Also, check out my blog site at www.midwestmarketsolutions.com/blog.

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