My wrestling fandom continued to be at an all-time high as we progressed into the spring and early summer months of 1993. Arguably, this era, between Wrestlemania IX and SummerSlam might be the greatest memory stretch ever for me as a fan. In the final months of grade 6, Matt and I talked endlessly about the WWF.
I remember May and June 93 like it was last night, things like – sitting in Matt’s parent’s living room and watching a tape he got from his grandma with several weeks of Raw taped off of satellite, making signs for the WWF’s upcoming June 1993 tour card that Matt was lucky to be going to with his dad, bike riding around the neighborhood the next day and Matt telling me all of the results in great detail, funny tidbits like Rick the Model Martel pointing at the sign we made for him, as little heel smarks in training, and I strongly remember the excitement leading up to a brand new PPV, King of the Ring.
A new WWF PPV was equal only to Christmas morning. Whenever i hear that 93 King of the Ring theme, I’m immediately right back in spring 93, counting down the days till the end of elementary school, unlimited hours of playing Super Nintendo, and counting down the days to the King of the Ring.
Because KOTR was brand new, the qualifying matches definitely caught us by surprise. I remember when they announced Bret as the first seed and it was a little confusing figuring out what this meant and how the other wrestlers would be decided. It also caught me by surprise when Matt called to let me know that there had been a qualifying match on Challenge, a show I rarely was able to catch at this time. And then we found out that there were qualifying matches on Raw, which often operated in its own bubble during this time. So much excitement!
I was thrilled then, a few years ago, when some awesome person compiled all of these KOTR qualifying matches into one watchable pack. It unlocked years of intrigue as I would finally get to see some of these matches that I had only ever heard about. This is my second time watching this collection of matches, and damn, so many amazing memories.
Mr. Perfect fought Doink the Clown to a time-limit draw at 6:39 as Perfect had Doink down in the Perfect Plex (WWF Superstars – 5/1/93, Tucson, AZ)
Earlier in 93 I remember Matt was at a house show which featured this match and him telling me how amazing it was. We were huge fans of both Doink and Perfect, and it’s really too bad that this wasn’t a first round match in the tournament. Would have made way more sense to have the awesomeness of Doink in there, rather than the useless Mr. Hughes. Anyway, this is the first in the trilogy of Doink-Perfect qualifying matches, and I still remember seeing this on Superstars the first time. It’s a fun match, but definitely the weakest of the three. The time limit draw was super confusing at the time, and both Matt and I were pissed that Perfect and Doink would be out of the tournament. We had no idea that they would be allowed to compete in subsequent rematches. In hindsight, they should have booked just a regular victory first, to help ease the confusion of this new qualifying system.
Lex Luger defeated Bob Backlund via count-out after Backlund sustained Luger’s running forearm (Wrestling Challenge – 5/2/93, Phoenix, AZ)
In the early 90s I rarely watched Challenge. Sundays were for going to Sunday school, getting homework done, visiting grandparents, doing family outings, etc. So imagine my surprise when Matt called late one Sunday afternoon to tell me that the Narcissist qualified by beating Bob Backlund. It left me with an empty feeling of disappointment that not all qualifying matches would be on Superstars and I wouldn’t get to see the “complete” KOTR tournament. I loved finally getting the chance to see this all these years later. Most surprisingly – it was a great match! Backlund comes at Luger fast and is aggressively going for near falls! Great continuity following up on the the time limit draw from the “day before”. Both guys are wrestling with energy as Luger is just hanging on in the early going. The Narcissist turns things around and gets some time wearing down Backlund. Luger catches Bob on the apron with the running forearm, knocking him out cold on the floor and winning by countout. What a fantastic TV match!
One thing I missed from not watching Challenge at this time was the HILARIOUS commentary of Jim Ross and Bobby the Brain Heenan. I talked about it in my UK Rampage review, but Ross was still commentating in his old WCW fashion. In this match he starts running down the stats of Luger and Backlund, like he always would do in WCW, and talks about Backlund graduating from North Dakota State University, to which Bobby sarcastically replies “Wooooooooowwwwwwww!” I laughed so hard. Heenan spends the whole match making fun of Ross and North Dakota. No doubt Ross was told to cut out the stats as the year went on, but man, Heenan riffing on him here was outstanding.
Razor Ramon pinned Tito Santana at 3:19 by grabbing the tights for leverage after the momentum of a flying crossbody by Santana put Razor on top for the pin (WWF Superstars – 5/8/93, Tucson, AZ)
We’re only a couple months away from the Santana’s last TV match unfortunately. Like all of the Superstars qualifying matches, I also remember this one crystal clear. It was fun seeing this match after just having watched the Razor-Matador dark match last week. A year later and the Razor character has been perfected. He’s hugely over even as a heel, and you could feel that a face turn was needed. Quick, but fun match that sees Razor cheating once again to beat Tito.
Jim Duggan pinned Papa Shango with the running clothesline at 4:39 (Wrestling Challenge – 5/9/93, Phoenix, AZ)
Another Challenge match that I never got to see at the time, and another result that Matt revealed to me. Duggan seemed to have a renewed fire in 93 and was really cooking with the fans. This was a basic power match and Duggan simply mowed through Shango in short order to qualify. They probably should have ran a match like this first to better introduce the qualifying concept. More Heenan hilarity, as Jim Ross says that Duggan graduated from Southern Methodist University, which he mocks and laughs at, irritating Ross. Heenan claims he went to UCLA, a real school – not some hick school, but backpedals on his claims as Ross presses him further.
Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Typhoon at 5:08 with a Samoan Drop and the diving headbutt after Typhoon hit the corner (Raw – 05/10/93, New York City, NY)
This match is a huge memory, as Matt and I would eventually get to see it on the tape of Raw episodes he received from his grandma, a tape which we would watch over and over again. Even though I’ve seen this a hundred times, I had to watch it again. The Manhattan Centre crowd is full of heel fans, hugely into Bigelow. Damn I love the atmosphere of these early Raws! This was a fun battle of two huge heavyweights, and Bigelow finishing off Typhoon with a Samoan drop was unreal! Bigelow was sorely underutilized throughout his 92 – 95 WWF tenure.
Tatanka defeated Giant Gonzalez (w/ Harvey Wippleman) via disqualification at 2:53 when Gonzalez shoved referee Bill Alfonso with one hand as he had a choke applied on Tatanka with the other (WWF Superstars – 5/15/93, Tucson, AZ)
Hahaha! What a farce! They were still trying to pretend Gonzalez was a terrorizing menace, but he sucked even more by this point. This was a nothing match, as stupidly Gonzalez kept choking Tatanka, eventually getting DQ’d. What a maroon! The Superstars announce team was McMahon, Savage, and Lawler, and they were a pretty great trio. During all of these matches McMahon kept badgering Lawler about entering the tournament, but Lawler insisted that this tournament is a sham because everyone already knows he’s the real king of wrestling.
KOTR Qualifying Match: Mr. Perfect fought Doink the Clown to a time-limit draw; after the bell rang, both men continued brawling, with Perfect hitting the Perfect Plex; after the bout, Perfect grabbed the mic and asked for 5 more minutes but then ended up chasing Doink backstage (Wrestling Challenge – 5/16/93, Phoenix, AZ)
The second Perfect-Doink match was even better than the first! Doink comes down to the ring eating popcorn and squirting fans with his flower. He even sprays a little boy in the face, which Heenan loves and enrages Ross. Perfect comes down and lights into Doink with a hard knife edge chop, sending the popcorn flying, and immediately takes control. This is far more aggressive than their first match, and Perfect really takes it to Doink for the first half. He grinds Doink down with the rarely seen Indian deathlock, one of the oldest holds ever, notes Ross, and Doink counters with a poke to eyes, an even older hold declares Heenan lol. The pace is excellent and the action never lets up. The time expires right as it looks like Perfect is about to win. The fans are unhappy and so is Perfect. He demands five more minutes with “Bozo” and at first Doink laughs and stalls, before sneak attacking Perfect and fleeing the scene. Amazing!
Crush fought WWF IC Champion Shawn Michaels to a double count-out at 5:25 as Crush prepared to throw Michaels back inside the ring as the two were battling on the floor (WWF Superstars – 5/23/93, Worcester, MA)
I was laughing so hard the other day when I was a reading a post from someone who reeeeeally hated good guy Crush. He basically said that Crush is like that asshole jock from high school that you always hated – big mullet, quick temper, always saying “brah”, always picking fights, etc. So funny and true! Good guy Crush is certainly a polarizing character. This Michaels-Crush feud was completely pointless and stupid too, as it should have been Michaels winning the IC title back from Jannetty at KOTR. Instead, the Michaels-Jannetty stuff only really took place in the Raw bubble and never really crossed over beyond that. And Crush didn’t even deserve an IC shot. I don’t think he beat anyone on TV other than jabronies through early 93.
Mr. Perfect pinned Doink the Clown with the Perfect Plex at around the 15-minute mark after the initial Doink switched places with a second Doink underneath the ring (Raw – 5/24/93, New York City, NY)
The third and final Doink-Perfect qualifying match – what a brilliant series of matches! Doink is easily one of the MVPs of early 93! This was pretty much the peak for the character and he would go to shit by the end of summer. Matt and I have watched this match a hundred times too, as it was also on the same legendary Raw tape. This was definitely the best of the three and brings that aggressive intensity into the raucous environment of the Manhattan Centre. We get all the added fun of seeing a second Doink outside with Lord Alfred, still maintaining that it’s all an illusion! The action is nonstop, and the crowd is hugely into both Doink and Perfect. What a huge fucking mistake it was turning Doink face. I love the wacky finish with the Skinner Doink rolling out from under the ring, only for the plan to backfire and Perfect putting him away with the Plex right away. The whole time Heenan is maintaining still that it’s all an illusion and that Perfect pinned the wrong Doink. He’s so rattled and confused and McMahon and Savage are tormenting him. Tremendous!
Mr. Hughes (w/ Harvey Wippleman) defeated Kamala via count-out at 2:45 when Kamala chased an interfering Kimchee around the ring, ultimately attacking him in the aisle and hitting a bodyslam (Wrestling Challenge – 5/30/93, Portland, ME)
The last qualifying match is another weird one I missed. Much like Santana, Duggan, and Shango, Kamala’s time was almost up. He too would be gone in the coming months. Apparently there was an angle where all the managers were competing to acquire Mr. Hughes’ services, something I have no memory of. Kamala and Hughes have a rugged big man battle and surprisingly Kamala is getting the best of the newcomer Hughes, much to the dismay of his former manager Wippleman. Kamala splashes Hughes and of course tries to pin him on his stomach, which was beyond old at this point, when suddenly fucking KIMCHEE runs down!!! Holy shit – that feud was still going on??? We’re talking SIX MONTHS by this point! Kamala looks like he’s seen a ghost, then goes after Kimchee on the floor and beats him down and splashes him in the aisle, stupidly trying to pin him. Hughes wins by countout. What a ridiculous finish! I laughed so hard!
Man, what an awesome and memory set of matches! I loved watching through all of this stuff again. I can’t wait to sit my ass down and watch KOTR 93 next. It’s one PPV that I never watched nearly as much as the other classics from the early 90s.
the RepoDan Wrestling Institution 