WrestleFest 1993 is the third tape from the elusive mail order collection advertised in WWF Magazine. Much like Grudge Matches and UK Rampage, my interest was sky high for this tape. In the early 2000s when I first started getting big into eBay I was super excited to win a bid on this tape for cheap. I remember how excited I was the day it arrived and I was finally able to pop it into the VCR and give it a watch.
Also much like Wrestling Grudge Matches, this tape features mainly recycled TV matches, something that I never knew at the time, as they were almost all new to me. Another similarity is that this is a packed tape, with 12 matches and a two hour plus run time. This tape would have been a huge hit for me as a kid, as I really couldn’t get enough of this stuff. I would have definitely watched this tape to death.
We’re in the backseat as Mean Gene Okerlund and Bobby the Brain Heenan are hosting this video on a car trip. Unfortunately for them, the car soon breaks down. Dumb hilarity ensues as Okerlund knows nothing about car repairs, and the Brain insists that any idiot can fix an engine, leading to all sorts of wacky hijinx. I just love the chemistry between Heenan and Okerlund. We return to them a few times throughout the tape, each segment more ridiculous than the next. Great fun.
1) WWF Tag Team Champions Ted Dibiase & IRS (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated the Nasty Boys at 13:23 when IRS pinned Jerry Saggs after Dibiase hit Saggs with one of the title belts (12/15/92; Madison, WI)
The tape kicks off with Money Inc defending the titles against the recently turned Nasty Boys. This was a pretty great feud for the time, but unfortunately was derailed by the Mega Maniacs. The fans really got behind the good guy Nasties and the arena was coming unglued at points throughout this match. Money Inc were so reviled at this time that fans just desperately wanted to see them get the shit kicked out of them. I was imaging how much better this grudge match would have made Wrestlemania IX, especially after so many months of build up. Both teams worked hard through this match and Money Inc surprisingly picks up the pinfall victory after Dibiase drills Sags. I really enjoyed this title match.
2) Crush defeated Papa Shango via disqualification at 6:44 after Shango sprayed sparks into Crush’s face (10/12/92; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
Well this sucked. I’m pretty sure this exact match was on my grade 5 list of wacky dream matches, so no doubt I would have loved it as a kid, but objectively it was a piece of shit with two clumsy oafs. The more good guy Crush matches I see, the more I can’t stand him. His work just stunk as a face. This match plods along until Papa Shango rolls to the floor to retrieve his voodoo stick, and sprayed sparks in Crush’s face. That was definitely the coolest point of this mess.
3) The Big Bossman fought Rick Martel to a double disqualification when Martel brought the Atomizer in the ring as Bossman brought in the nightstick (9/1/92; Hershey, PA)
Some really weird and unique combinations on this tape! The Model was a really fun antagonist and the Bossman was still hugely over as face. This match wasn’t much though and ended in a predictably cheap DQ when they brought their respective weapons into the ring. After clearing out Martel, the Bossman stomps on the arrogance spray, smashing it to pieces. Was this the end of arrogance? I don’t really recall the Model having it anymore in 93.
4) Earthquake pinned Repo Man at 4:21 with the sit-down splash (11/24/92; Dayton, OH)
A match recycled from Smack Em Whack Em, which I just watched a couple months ago, so fast forwarded through this.
5) WWF IC Champion Shawn Michaels pinned Virgil at 7:07 with the side suplex after the challenger hit the corner (10/28/92; Louisville, KY)
This match was also recycled from another 93 Coliseum Vid, but I haven’t come across it yet. Virgil was surprisingly much improved by the end of 92 and this match with Michaels was a hell of a lot better than their MSG match from early 92 that was featured on another Coliseum Vid. Virgil is also hugely over, despite dropping so far down the ranks. I love that Virg got a few title shots in late 92 before becoming a true jabroni in 93. Lots of fast paced action here, with Virgil scoring a few near falls, before Michaels put him away with the awesome teardrop suplex.
6) The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) pinned the Berzerker (w/ Mr. Fuji) with the tombstone (6/1/92; Hamilton, Ontario; Copps Coliseum)
It’s still surprising to me that this match never made the SummerSlam card. The feud with the Undertaker was the only thing of note the Berzerker ever really did in the WWF, but the feud never really went anywhere other than house shows and a handful of Coliseum Video matches. This definitely was a great brawl, with a lot of more speed than the typical Undertaker match of the era. The Berzerker was a great opponent, being able to match size and power and take all kinds of wacky bumps. They brawl all around the ring, with the fans just going crazy for the Undertaker. Surprisingly we get another clean pin as the Undertaker tombstones the Berzerker to put him away. Taker tombstones Fuji post match for good measure. I definitely enjoyed this match and thought it was great, but I’m surprised at the net nerds being into it as well.
7) Jim Duggan fought IRS to a double count-out at 8:01 after Duggan threw IRS into the ringpost but failed to get back into the ring before the 10-count (7/9/91; Edmonton, Alberta)
What the fuck! Why feature this ancient match from summer of 91? Seemed to be no rhyme or reason behind this choice. IRS still has his mullet and wrestles a somewhat more aggressive style at this point. This match wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected, and I enjoyed Duggan’s roughhouse tactics countering IRS’s technical wrestling. It’s also fun seeing these TV tapings in classic Canadian arenas. The Taker-Berzerker match was from Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, which was purposely built to house an NHL team, which just never happened. It looked just as impressive as the old Northlands Coliseum where this taping was from. The double countout was cheap, but I liked how IRS tried to attack Duggan with his own 2×4 after the match, something that bad guys rarely did.
8) El Matador, Owen Hart, & Koko B. Ware defeated the Nasty Boys (w/ Jimmy Hart) & Repo Man via disqualification when Knobbs brought Repo Man’s bullrope into the ring (7/21/92; Portland, ME)
Hahaha, what a wacky six man tag! The front of the WrestleFest box advertises an El Matador-Repo Man singles match, but it’s not the case, as they’re in this zany six man tag instead. The commentators, Lord Alfred and Sean Mooney I believe, loosely explain that this match was from before the Nasty Boys had a change of heart and sort of pretend that they had reconciled with Jimmy Hart for this match. Why bother? It was clearly months old. Owen is the punching bag for a lot of the match and I enjoyed seeing the sneaky Repo Man working him over. Repo and the Nasties teamed up a lot throughout 92 and were always highly entertaining together. I had a chuckle when Lord Alfred argued that Repo Man is the brains of the team. Fun spot towards the end as Owen reverses Knobs into a pitstop, which I laughed hard at. Don’t remember seeing that in many other Nasty Boys matches. Sure enough the match breaks down and ends in a bullshit DQ. Oh well, fun while it lasted.
9) Randy Savage pinned Terry Taylor at 9:44 with the flying elbowdrop (11/23/92; Erie, PA)
Wow! This match was excellent! This was from Taylor’s lackluster return as a jobber to the stars in late 92. This was the main event of a Prime Time and is definitely a hidden gem on this tape. It’s by no means an all-time classic, but it’s got a quick pace and Taylor and Savage were working hard. There was a great sequence of near falls, and some really awesome chain wrestling. Another cool point is that Savage is wearing his SummerSlam 92 tights. It was awesome to see Savage in a competitive match for a change, rather than mainly selling for the majority of the contest. What a great treasure to find on this tape!
10) WWF IC Champion Bret Hart defeated Kamala (w/ Kimchee & Harvey Wippleman) via disqualification at 10:08 after Kimchee interfered (8/10/92; Huntsville, AL)
Haha, man was I excited to see another Bret-Kamala match. A different Bret-Kamala match was featured on Smack Em Whack Em, so I was pumped to see how much different this one would be. It’s a little bit longer and even though they pulled off a lot of the same spots, we got a little bit more back and forth action in the beginning. I could care less if the internet consensus is that Kamala was shit worker. His matches were always unique and highly entertaining. Too bad he wasn’t as much of a monster at this point, but could still go against an opponent like Bret. The ending plays out exactly the same, with Kimchee causing the DQ and Bret pulling Wippleman in the way of the big splash. Great stuff, and I liked this Bret-Kamala match better.
11) Razor Ramon pinned Tito Santana at 4:42 with the Razor’s Edge (10/13/92; Regina, Saskatchewan)
A random Wrestling Challenge match thrown on here. This is the third El Matador – Razor match I’ve watched in the last couple months lol. Pretty basic TV match showcasing Ramon over an established opponent. It’s cool that he won convincingly with the Razor’s Edge.
12) Mr. Perfect pinned Ric Flair in a Loser Leaves the WWF Match at around the 23-minute mark with the Perfect Plex as Flair attempted a backdrop (1/18/93; Manhattan Center)
A true all-time classic that I’ve seen a ton of times over the years. Definitely one of the greatest Raw matches of the 90s, just an undisputed classic. So of course I had to watch it again! They fucked around with the commentary, I guess trying to get rid of that piece of shit Rob Bartlett, but we do still hear him chime in a few times. It’s like they used part of the original commentary and mixed in re-recorded commentary with McMahon and Heenan. It made for a jarring experience, and next time I won’t bother with this edited version of the match. Still, the action in the ring is fucking top notch. And again, it makes you think about how much better of a card Wrestlemania IX could have been, especially if they convinced Flair to stick around for a few more months. This match would have been one of the greatest Wrestlemania matches in history, and would have featured historic Jim Ross commentary.
the RepoDan Wrestling Institution 