House Show/TV tapings random happenings

[air_raid]

May 1993

MAIN EVENTS

The magic of Hulkamania is back! Hulk Hogan & Brutus Beefcake vs Money Inc draws 6600 to Pittsburgh on 21st, 8415 to the Spectrum on 22nd afternoon and 11,000 to the Meadowlands that night. If those don't sound like "Hogan" numbers, then I'd challenge you to find the last time 19,000 paid to see the WWF on one day in the US. Except it was clearly Mania 8. Randomly, Sgt Slaughter is the ref for those matches.

A main event run of Bret Hart vs Lex Luger predictably draws fuck all to the Capital Centre but 8400 at Nassau is OK for the era. Providence Civic, the Palace and Chicago all get less than 4000 and 5000 to LA Sports shouldnt feel successful but its still a pretty big gate for 93, and for reasons unknown apparently 8500 squeeze into thr Niagara Falls Civic on 27th. They do the finish where Razor Ramon interferes, as per the match they had on Coliseum, except in Niagara Bret gets the pin with a backslide and 31st in Biloxi Luger pins the Hitman via loaded forearm. For some reason 3rd in Hartford Bret's with Razor instead and Luger drops a fall to Tatanka.

The Undertaker vs Giant Gonzalez and Money Inc vs The Steiners is our double main event on B shows to bookend the month before there's a brief split supporting either Bret or Hogan. On 23rd Taker's supporting Bret in Hamilton so our main event in Oshawa is Jim Duggan vs Yokozuna. No idea where the Steiners are that night, Money Inc work the Smoking Gunns.

THE CARDS
Support on Bret's shows are runs of Shawn Michaels vs Mr Perfect for the Intercontinental title and Tatanka vs Razor Ramon. Crush vs Doink of course is still going. Bam Bam Bigelow vs Kamala that was supposed to happen at Mania is happening every night, except month end Kamala is back winning again with former "handler" Kimchee. With the Nasty Boys departed, its the Smoking Gunns feuding with the Headshrinkers. Owen Hart is going over Terry Taylor every night. Mr Hughes is on the road going over Virgil for a few days then El Matador. Tito also loses a few to Damien Demento but ends the month better, picking up wins from Papa Shango. Virg meanwhile picks up wins for a week off Brooklyn Brawler, then about a week off Blake Beverly, then finishes his month with Demento. Bob Backlund bookends his month with Blake with a couple with Demento in the middle. Typhoon drops a few losses to Shango but spends most of the month with Demento.

Random event - the Steiners beat Money Inc for the tag team titles on May 16th in Fresno but for reasons unknown, unlike the changes that take place in June, its never acknowledged and nor do Money Inc need to win the belts back, they're still the champs for their next house shows with the Megamaniacs.

VARIATIONS

When the Steiners aren't fighting Money Inc on those Hogan cards they're surprisingly losing to the Headshrinkers. 21st in Hershey there's a lone defence by new Intercontinental champ Marty Jannetty, over Shango. Hershey also has Undertaker vs Bam Bam and one of a handful of Sherri Martel vs Luna Vachon matches throughout the month. Same day on the Spectrum/Meadowlands double and the night before in Pittsburgh, Giant Gonzalez works Macho Man who otherwise isn't used. Other random matches on occasion include a reprise of Shawn vs Backlund in Hartford, Backlund vs Mr Hughes, Typhoon vs Beau Beverly and Brawler vs Tito or Owen. In Biloxi it's the Bushwhackers & Tiger Jackson vs Damien Demento, Blake Beverly, & Little John. Rough.

TVS

Early month TVs have the first tapings Adam Bomb with Johnny Polo and the King of the Ring Qualifiers - a notable one involves Shawn going to a double count-out with Crush, where Shawn's entrance isn't shown on TV as for the live crowd he carries the Intercontinental belt but by the time it airs he will have lost it. Dark match looks at The Harlem Knights (who will become Men On A Mission) and The Tazmaniac (yes, Taz(z)) and unused test interviews by Boni Blackstone are of note, as are a few Coliseum matches - Macho Man vs Gonzalez, Bam Bam vs Tatanka and vs Taker - and a few unused matches, Tatanka vs Doink, Lex Luger vs Crush, Taker vs Gonzalez for the thousandth time and a couple of DQ wins for the Hitman over Yokozuna.

Dark after Raw on May 10th there's a repeat of last month where Mr Perfect gets a DQ win over Yoko when Shawn interferes. Technically there's nothing dark on the 17th taping, Bret vs Bam Bam for international Superstars, however, this is the night of the live Raw which may be the best ever where The Kid upsets Razor and Marty winning the belt from HBK, AND they tape the week after which has a slept-on belter, the third and final KOTR qualifier between Perfect and Doink. WHAT A FUCKING NIGHT in the Manhattan Center. Marty will tell you the loss for Shawn was punishment because Perfect told Vince about Shawn's soma problem being the real reason the Rumble match sucked, as part of getting Marty re-hired.

Month end TVs have some interesting stuff dark too. In Halifax Crush puts a really rare (at this point) pinfall loss on HBK who on the night is still without the Intercontinental title, Luna goes over Sherri, there are Taker vs Gonzalez and Bret vs Narcissist matches that make Coliseum and another win for Yoko over Hacksaw Duggan. Next night in Sydney those last four matches happen again, and Shawn does ANOTHER job - for Perfect.

Finally, dark at the 31st Raw, a HELL of a planned match of Steiners vs Yokozuna & Bam Bam is scuppered when Scott doesnt show for reasons undocumented so Duggan fills in - no finish.

DEPARTURE

May 27th in Ottawa, Beau Beverly does a job for Typhoon which will be his last in the company. There are plenty of matches booked that look like he's subbed for (injured) but this is the end for him - Blake will soldier on.

Here's Providence - Bret vs Luger, Yoko vs Hacksaw, Shawn vs Perfect

 

 

Here's Hartford and its loaded - 3 title matches, Bret vs Razor, Yoko vs Hacksaw, Tatanka vs Luger

 

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by air_raid

[air_raid]

June 1993

A hell of a month for the course of the future with a new WWF Champion crowned AND the first (in canon) King of the Ring. The Hulkster's not sticking around to pass the torch to him but... long live the King. This is, in general, a bonkers month for stuff going on that only the people in the buildings got to see. Ins, outs, injuries and subs, matches you didn't know happened, the winds of change blowing, and there's some brilliant wrestling going on in front of meagre crowds.

MAIN EVENTS

The last domestic house show run for Hulk Hogan in the 1990s start before the PPV in 4th in Winnipeg (6500), Minneapolis on the 5th (3300), Albany on the 6th (3000), Richmond on the 11th (1850 only!!!) and Indiannapolis on the 12th (2500). These are more of last months tags with The Barber against Money Inc with Bob Laughter as the ref. I don't know what's more shocking, some of those numbers or that Hogan was in Indiana on the 12th instead of being given a silent send off at MSG. They drew only 11,600 between two shows with Hogan at Market Square Arena (site of one of his most famous defeats) and Bret/Taker/Perfect/Shawn/Razor in NYC, I think they could have near doubled that if they'd put the Hulk in the Garden as WWF Champion and pushed it heavily. The tags pick up 25th at the Rosemont and 26th in Boston (3500) with pinfall finishes since Ted and Irwin have lost the belts by then.

Hogan aside, we've got a real mixed bag. Orlando on 6th is another round of Bret Hart vs Lex Luger (Hitman doing the job) then 11th in Baltimore and 12th at a half full MSG (9100) Lex is back with (and beating) Mr Perfect as the grudge return matches from Mania while Bret's having babyface matches with Bob Backlund underneath. Bret hurts his ankle at MSG but works King of the Ring hurt - THAT performance, hurt. Bret vs the Narcissist resumes after King of the Ring in small towns (plus Nashville) going almost 50/50 with wins. New Haven, White Plains and Allentown all get the Yokozuna vs Hitman rematch for the belt, with the rare finish of Yoko pinning Bret with the Banzai Drop after interference from Mr Fuji.

B shows are also a jumble. We've got a continuation of Hacksaw Jim Duggan vs Yokozuna supported by two title matches for a few small towns before the PPV although its debatable what the main event really is, the Intercontinental title match being Marty Jannetty vs Shawn Michaels. Later in the month, Yoko/Hacksaw becomes a lumberjack match. After Yoko wins the title and is moved to Bret's cards (apart from 27th at Nassau), the title matches prop up Undertaker vs Giant Gonzalez. Crowds are rubbish. There's a California loop where a heel vs heel Lex Luger vs Razor Ramon is on with Taker, Shawn and the tag belts underneath, paying off the finishes from Luger's DQ losses to Bret last time out. 7000 for the debut in Anaheim with that setup. Shawn's with Mr Perfect again on those so again, double main event in truth. In San Bernardino and Las Cruces NM there's a reshuffle due to no shows and - here's one you didn't know happened - Lex drops a couple of losses by DQ or count-out to Taker.

A New Jersey double of Morristown on 29th and Atlantic City on 30th are as close to C shows as we'll find (they do actually run 3 on those dates) with Steiners vs Money Inc on last and some real oddities underneath (see below) but hell - for the skills and storytelling of Randy Savage vs Doink half way up, you'd be glad you went.... except it was Steve "Skinner" Keirn doing Doink, Borne was working Crush in bigger towns.

THE CARDS

Fucking hell, where do you start??

The Undertaker, as you probably guessed, is still with Giant Gonzalez most nights. Shawn Michaels starts the month losing to Marty Jannetty on the 3rd and 5th before winning the belt back 6th in Albany when Diesel makes his first appearance to aid Shawn in victory, either side of a loss to Mr Perfect 5th in Winnipeg. 11th-12th in Baltimore and at MSG, HBK actually does count-out defeats to Razor Ramon who's still a heel on TV, which is bizarre but probably testing the waters again on Razor as the hero. Michaels mostly spends the next two weeks with Marty but the last week of June he's back with Perfect, with finishes and interference from Bam Bam Bigelow after the bell that prompts a save from Tatanka, which will lead to some six-man tags down the road. Straightforward for Marty - he's booked with Shawn or he's not booked. Perfect doesn't actually wrestle much and may be working hurt - his matches with Shawn early and late month and mid-month matches with Lex Luger close to KOTR have long gaps between them. Razor has a mid-month run against El Matador apart from his couple with Shawn, although a scattering of other bookings early in the month (and scheduled for later, see subs) have him going over Kamala. The latter gets a few mid month wins over Damien Demento and is supposed to close his month doing jobs for Papa Shango but its curtailed by a family emergency (see subs). Tatanka vs Bam Bam Bigelow happens nearly every night as does Crush vs Doink with a wide variety of finishes, wins for either and plenty of double count-outs. Tito works a few with Brooklyn Brawler and mid month gets a few more wins from Shango to carry on avenging SummerSlam. Virgil does a few more jobs to Mr Hughes and then a few more, pathetically, for Blake Beverly. 1-2-3 Kid is on the road month end, going over our mate Terry Taylor. "Terrific" otherwise spent the rest of the month losing to Owen Hart, who wraps his month up with wins over Demento. Hacksaw Duggan does a few jobs for Mr Hughes when the Yoko run takes a break. Other than what we cover above and will below, Bob Backlund also has to spend time losing to Curtis then ends the month winning a couple from Blake. There are more Sherri Martel vs Luna Vachon matches with some really odd finishes (see below).

Money Inc vs The Steiner Brothers of course is going on all month for the tag team titles, with the Steiners winning the belts dark at Columbus TVs, losing them in Rockford then winning them back for keeps in St Louis. On some nights of the Hogan cards later in the month, Rick & Scott have to put up with the thrown-together crap of Damien Demento & Blake Beverly. The Headshrinkers spend the month (usually) beating the Smoking Gunns.

VARIATIONS
Some great stuff here. Kamala's absence month end means a shuffle and they call Tonga Kid (Tama) to come do a couple of jobs to Papa Shango, and in San Bernardino to Razor, but in Las Cruces they do some storyline and Kid does double duty, pinning Terry as scheduled then beating Razor by DQ later.  As well as Savage vs Doink and Money Inc/Steiners those New Jersey towns also have The Tazmaniac doing jobs for Jim Powers, Virgil going over Iron Mike Sharpe (the cleanest wrestler alive) and Adam Bomb doing his first road gigs going over El Matador. In Winnipeg, The Model is on hand to do one job for his enemy forever, Tatanka, who does double duty as he beats the Brawler earlier too - no idea where Bam Bam was. An early month run of Steiners vs Headshrinkers on Hogan nights is cursed and Bob Backlund has to sub for Scott. Early and late month there is a smattering of The Bushwhackers and Tiger Jackson (who will eventually land the Dink gig) against Little Louie, Blake Beverly and either Demento or the Brawler. Japes. Louie Spicolli gets one run out losing to Papa Shango. In New Haven there's a totally random win for Blake over Jim Powers. Up up up the zigurat, Blake! In White Plains and Allentown, Horace Boulder as back as The Predator actually doing jobs for the Brawler. Baltimore and MSG have a few oddities we already covered (Bret vs Backlund, Shawn vs Razor), but there's also fun sounding nonsense six-man tags of the Headshrinkers & Afa against the Smoking Gunns & Kamala.

The finish to Sherri vs Luna tends to be Bam Bam interfering so Luna wins but some nights him and Tatanka are booked on the other town. In Indiannapolis right before the PPV Mr Hughes interferes, for no other reason than getting more over as a heel, perhaps? In Chicago and Morristown its Doink doing the interfering to Luna's benefit but in New Haven and at Nassau the ref figures out post-pinfall that Doinks water bucket was involved and reverses his decision giving Sherri the win by DQ. I can only think they were considering, based on Sherri doing some work in Crush's corner after Marty got sacked, that there might be a crossover with the Crush/Doink feud in the making, even though TV was geared towards Tatanka & Sherri vs Bam Bam & Luna already. Of final note, in Atlantic City Sherri wins their final match - final because Luna breaks her wrist, abruptly ending the run. Future matches between the two will be non-starters/forfeits, and there won't be many of them either.

TVs

7th Raw taping is best remembered for Shawn coming out having regained the belt in Albany the night before and the TV debut of Diesel with him but they also tape the first Marty v Doink match and dark, there’s a Perfect vs Jerry Lawler match too! Manhattan was the place to be in 93. In Columbus there's LOADS of bonus content. On top of the aforementioned Money Inc bouts losing to both the MegaManiacs and dropping the gold to the Steiners, you've got the Randy Savage vs Doink match from the Inside The WWF tape, there's Yokozuna vs Hacksaw, Undertaker vs Gonzalez, a babyface Tito vs Virgil match that only airs in the UK, the dream match we all wanted of Kamala vs Bastion Booger that only airs in Canada, Dave Heath (Gangrel) losing a tryout to long term jobber Kevin Kruger, and Barry Horowitz losing to on/off partner Reno Riggins. Plus the first squashes recorded for Men On A Mission and 1-2-3 Kid having a competitive match with Riggins but beating him. Next night in Huntington its a lot of the same except Owen Hart loses to Doink by count-out, Randy does a job for the Narcissist, and the MegaManiacs vs Money Inc match is a lumberjack match after which there is the staredown between Hogan and Gonzalez which everyone has seen the photo of few, few know where is from, and of course, went precisely nowhere. There's also a job for Matador and Virgil to Rex King & Steve Doll who will shortly be repackaged as Well Dunn. They also tape a match for Wrestling Spotlight where the Headshrinkers beat the dream team of Kamala and Hacksaw - squeezing as many jobs out of Hacksaw as they can at this point. On a personal note, there's also the Crush vs Doink grudge match from the 10th July Superstars where 16 Doinks appear on the video wall, which I remember vividly as one of the first matches I saw from a friends borrowed tape, taped from WWF TV as opposed to on Coliseum, since 1991. They also tape a Steiners vs Money Inc TV rematch - Steiners by Dusty finish. Raw taping 21st in Poughkeepsie they're also treated to Yoko vs Hacksaw (lumberjack) and Shawn (with Diesel) vs Marty rematch, a Crush vs Doink double count-out, and Kid beating Riggins again, taped for Superstars - the finish is a Tornado DDT, which on a show featuring the Frankensteiner might still be the most state of the art move on a WWF show in 1993. This also being the night they tape the Marty/Doink best of three match and the Razor/Kid $10,000 rematch. What a night you had if you were in New York that night.

DEPARTURE
Jim Powers is not long in following the other Killer Stallion out the door - besting Taz in Morristown NJ is his last booking as a regular. What a servant he was! Don't fret - they'll be calling him again in January when Kid hits the bench.

Here's one for the Hulkamaniacs

 

 

Edited July 17, 2022 by air_raid

[Loki]

Is there a reason that Hogan did no more US house shows in this run, but continued working for WWE until August?  This was post-steroid scandal right?  Maybe he was off filming Thunder In Paradise.

Hogan's last house shows really does feel like the end of an era.  You can see that even with business on its arse he pops some larger numbers than other stars at the time.  

He's also going over to Japan this year and having good matches against guys like Muta.  You could argue that 93 is his peak year in performance terms, the slimmer physique probably helped.

 

[air_raid]

2 hours ago, Loki said:

Is there a reason that Hogan did no more US house shows in this run, but continued working for WWE until August?  This was post-steroid scandal right?  Maybe he was off filming Thunder In Paradise.

Well, not to spoil my July post, which I could happily "drop" now if not risking overkill.... and to steal from DA MELTZ - plans change. The Hulk will tell you that prior to Mania IX he will ask Vince if they can do one more gravy train, and he'll drop the belt to Yoko and fuck off, which is why he got the belt to begin with, and any grief he gets from Bret about reneging on losing the belt to him at SummerSlam is unfounded because he was never meant to stick around after King of the Ring... which is proven BULLSHIT.

[Chili]

Always been fascinated by what Jim Powers must have been making around 1990-1993 when he was enhancement and mustn't be making much. Never heard of him having a training school or anything. Always wondered how some got by when they don't list working any indies.

[NavigatorFan]

12 hours ago, Chili said:

Always been fascinated by what Jim Powers must have been making around 1990-1993 when he was enhancement and mustn't be making much. Never heard of him having a training school or anything. Always wondered how some got by when they don't list working any indies.

Jannetty said in a random shoot thing I once saw that Jim Powers was a sound business man and had shares in a successful gym. No idea if there is any truth in that but guess a man who looked as good as he did wasn't sleeping rough!

I also remember that a list of wages from WCW in 1998 surfaced on the internet and Powers was the lowest paid wrestler on the list, earning $60k

[air_raid]

July 1993

The July 4th Bodyslam Challenge abroad the USS Intrepid changes the main event picture - Lex Luger is an American hero, boards his Lex Express and starts his Call To Action campaign. I bet you can't wait to read what he gets up to on house shows to touch the hearts and minds of his new fans on the way to SummerSlam.

MAIN EVENTS
Bret Hart vs Lex Luger in lumberjack matches with the obvious result main events Edmonton and Calgary although attendance is about half capacity at the Saddledome which no doubt bruised Bret's pride. He also pins Lex in Seattle and babyface raises his hand afterwards.

Early month we have a run of Yokozuna vs Hacksaw Duggan for the belt through Toronto and Montreal. We move to Yokozuna vs Bret for the belt on 16th In Philadelphia (4500). This was originally advertised well in advance as Yoko vs Hulk Hogan, so added to the confrontation with Giant Gonzalez they filmed in June then didn't use, it's clear that all claims that the Hulk was always scheduled to drop the belt to Yoko at King of the Ring then leave, including by Hulk himself, are FALSE. Sub 3000 crowds everywhere including Hershey. After TVs half the roster is off to Europe so with Shawn/Perfect supporting, Bret has to slum it with Mr Hughes. As if. And LOSES TO HIM once, 29th at North Tonawanda (NY) Fair. This is the specific night that Bret mentions in his book where he wonders if he should give his notice due September 30th if he wants his deal not to roll over at the end of the year.

Over in Europe, we're getting monster business for the farewell shows of Hulk Hogan, beating Yoko by DQ.

B shows and C shows both happen! Shawn Michaels vs Mr Perfect main events Hyannis on 18th while Randy Savage is stuck with Curtis AND LOSING same night in Warwick. On 23rd there are only 2 shows so both those matches take place in Syracuse.

THE CARDS
Shawn Michaels vs Mr Perfect is every night. Mix of fuck finish wins for Perfect and Diesel-related wins for Shawn. Tatanka vs Razor Ramon goes around a few times early month before TV makes it clear that Razor's turned, whereupon its Tatanka vs Bam Bam Bigelow and - here's a run you didn't know happened - the Bad Guy vs Jerry Lawler every night. Marty Jannetty has fallen a lot, he's beating Blake Beverly most of the month then spends a week doing jobs for Doink, aside from the occasional DQ win. Earlier Doink's been beating Virgil every night while Crush is off selling injury from Yoko. 1-2-3 Kid is beating Terry Taylor every night, but for the last week or so of the month he's in there with a returning Rick Martel. Owen Hart is back on the road full time, beating Damien Demento early in the month then swapping wins with Papa Shango in Austria and Germany. Undertaker is nursing a knock and doesn’t wrestle this month.

El Matador is all over the place doing a job for anyone who needs one - Adam Bomb, Shango, Demento - but on the Europe tour he's beating The Predator (you may not remember, this is Horace Boulder). Bastion Booger is on the road, going over Jim Powers (whoops) at the start of the month and Kamala at the end of it, until doing jobs for Hacksaw Jim Duggan overseas. Powers actually goes over Shango at the Capital Centre, the Spectrum and in Syracuse. Kamala spends the start of the month losing to Mr Hughes, before the latter moves onto his run with Macho Man. It's not all bad news for Virgil - he may lose to Doink but month end he wins matches against Iron Mike Sharpe and even Demento. They've dusted off Brutus "the Barber" Beefcake again, he's with the Rooster in Europe.

The Steiner Brothers vs Money Inc for the tag titles goes on for most of the month but for the last couple of nights in Germany its the Headshrinkers instead - who otherwise beat The Smoking Gunns all month. There are more of the terrible Bushwhackers & Tiger Jackson vs Blake Beverly, Brooklyn Brawler & Little Louie matches.

DEPARTURES
After near two months without a booking, the day of three shows on 18th Typhoon goes over The Predator in Tampa, and that’s his last match in the company until 94. Kamala's matches putting Booger over this month are his last for the company - he'll be announced for the Royal Rumble but that falls through. Beating Shango in Syracuse is the actual last hurrah for Jim Powers until 94. July 10th in Seattle is the final Sherri Martel vs Luna Vachon forfeit non-matches as Sensational is given her marching orders for failing a drug test, putting the kibosh on the planned Tatanka/Sherri vs Bam Bam/Luna match for SummerSlam. Interestingly the WWF will make her exit as amicable as possible, publishing a brief article in WWF Magazine that she was taking a hiatus to go back to school and potentially go back to the beauty industry. She ends up working for the WWF-affiliated Smoky Mountain before going to WCW.

VARIATIONS
17th in West Palm as part of his latest trial, Predator does a job for Marty. Same night, the same Mr Hughes who's going over Randy Savage and Bret Hart this month, drops a fall to Hacksaw. 18th in Tampa, Warwick and Hyannis Port it’s a real “as many bodies as possible” day with that Typhoon/Predator outing in Tampa and Chris Duffy vs Scott Taylor and Phil Apollo vs Mike Sharpe on the other shows. In Hyannis there's a lone win for Bob Backlund over Demento, Kamala actually wins a match in Warwick - against Papa Shango. Also in Hyannis Fatu misses it so Afa subs with Samu against the Gunns - who win for a change - and Men On A Mission beat two ham n eggers. In Syracuse Steve Keirn as Doink gets a one-off win over Tito (real Doink is with Marty in Scranton) and Owen looks at the lights for Adam Bomb. There's a couple of losses to Booger for Backlund, and The Tahitian Savage (LA Smooth from the Samoan Gangster Party) gets a look on the Philly loop, losing to Demento, who must have had the most haphazard month of bookings ever. And here's the best one-off ever - 31st in Pittsburgh, its RANDY SAVAGE VS JERRY LAWLER - DQ finish when The King tricks a ringside Bret Hart into interfering, by spitting at him.

TVS
Raw at the Manhattan Center on 5th has only two dark matches - Bret beats Mr Hughes by DQ when Bam Bam interferes to set up their upcoming match in the same building, plus another round of Steiners/Money Inc. At Wilkes-Barre TVs we've got the first match for that bastard Ludvig Borga, a totally random win for Glen Ruth (who will be Headbanger Thrasher), Macho Man going over Shawn by Dusty finish DQ reversal, Taker putting a clean pin on Mr Hughes, a random Nikolai Volkoff as a babyface going over Barry (to test to see if Nikolai was still over, I guess), and Bret beating Yoko by DQ when Mr Fuji interferes - Lex makes the save. They also tape Sherri Martel's last TV appearance in confrontation with Luna (non-start) Bam Bam and Tatanka, to hype the SummerSlam mixed tag that never happens. In Salisbury a TV squash has MOM going over Thrasher and John Rechner who becomes Balls Mahoney. "Chaz Ware"/Warrington who becomes Mosh is jobbing too. You've got a few of the same dark matches plus Shawn going over Hennig, Tatanka putting a loss on Adam Bomb, and the first matches for Well Dunn under their new names.

After the Raw taping on 19th, new babyface Razor goes over Mr Hughes, that sounds awful. Then on 25th TNT (who becomes Savio Vega) does a job for Reno Riggins and there's also Bret/Yoko, Shawn/Perfect, Kid/Demento and Bam Bam/Marty. Next night at Utica TVs TNT jobs to Thrasher and Virgil goes over Van Hammer (really), on top of Bret/Yoko, Shawn/Perfect and the Steiners against the Heavenly Bodies who are taping squashes too to build to SummerSlam. Hammer drops a match to - yup - Damien Demento next night in Plattsburgh NY (???) too. We've also got Randy Savage vs Mr Hughes and the Razor & Marty vs Shawn & Diesel match from Coliseum... far earlier in Razor's face run than I expected to find it, laying the table for a feud with Shawn that will hit some towns in August and was planned in advance of Shawn's suspension, even though ultimately that turn of events may have helped the storyline, culminating in the duelling belts drama. At both sets of TVs The Quebecers are taping their first matches including a loss to The Bushwhackers I didnt know happened on All-American. Fucking hell. Final note from Salisbury TV - its Barry Horowitz vs Chuck Williams dark.... HOROWITZ WINS! HOROWITZ WINS!

AND FINALLY
Did I forget to mention (again).... apart from losing to Bret three times, new main event babyface Lex Luger does not wrestle on house shows in July.

Here's Dortmund ;

 

Edited March 19 by air_raid
NEW video

[Loki]

Hacksaw was clearly super over at house shows, he seems to be perennially near the top of those cards even though he’s never near a title on tv afaik.

MR HUGHES!  One of my earliest memories of US wrestling is on a visit over there around this time, turning on the telly and seeing a large blues singer beating up a jobber.  I’m guessing this was an early Raw?

 Also, Diesel has arrived - business is about to pick up.

[wandshogun09]

I’m gonna have to go back and watch some of these Shawn Michaels vs Mr Perfect matches you’ve embedded in here Raid. Surely they had better matches than their disappointment at SummerSlam 93. 

[air_raid]

AUGUST 1993

.......... And thus did Hulkamania stop running wild.

THE MAIN EVENTS
13,000 are in the building for the return to MSG on 13th for Yokozuna vs Bret Hart for the WWF title in a cage. That’s very good numbers for the times. We have the same main event in Stockton, at the Cow Palace, in San Antonio, and incredibly 15,000 turn up Anaheim - only the second show at the building, clearly a market that's not bored of the product yet! Otherwise - Providence on 13th is randomly headlined by Yoko & Bam Bam Bigelow challenging The Steiner Brothers for the tag belts - you know who gets pinned there, I imagine. 14th in Hartford Yoko defends the gold against Macho Man, he's dropping a DQ to The Undertaker 15th in Worcester.

At Nassau Coliseum and in Niagara Falls, Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon might be considered the main event but I bet the dream team of Randy Savage & The Undertaker had something to do with the draw - against Giant Gonzalez & Adam Bomb. In London (Ontario) Gonzalez no shows so Savage works IRS and Taker with Bomb, so we get a star-laden tag of Razor & Mr Perfect vs Shawn & Diesel. B shows in Wildwood NJ and a fundraiser at Wilton High School are headlined by the new tag title feud - Steiners vs Quebecers.

There is, of course, the matter of Hulk Hogan's final run, wrapping up his European jaunt of DQ wins over Yoko and bidding the WWF fans adieu... in Sheffield, of all places.

THE CARDS
The Undertaker wrestles Mr Hughes almost every night, pinning him or beating him in casket matches. A huge six-man elimination match takes place in many markets with Mr Perfect, Marty Jannetty & Tatanka going over Shawn Michaels, Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow, with Perfect pinning Shawn at the climax via the old slingshot into cornerpost or with the PerfectPlex, although the booking is altered for MSG. Shawn vs Razor Ramon, warming up for a planned longer run, takes place three times in New York and Rhode Island. Tatanka vs Bam Bam is happening every night there isn't the six-man, of course. Marty is only booked in tags on the road this month. Randy Savage is working Giant Gonzalez every night, getting himself disqualified with a chair but pinning the Giant in those tag matches. 1-2-3 Kid gets some strong booking this month, getting a regular win over Doink. Bastion Booger has a fair few exceptions but most nights he's going over Owen Hart.

Post Europe, the main events covered above are the only nights that the Steiner Brothers are not defending the tag titles against the Headshrinkers. Fatu and Samu fill up those other dates with the Smoking Gunns who actually beat them for a change at MSG ; the Gunns are otherwise not booked on the road. Men On A Mission hit the house shows and start getting a nightly win over Well Dunn.

Europe concludes with the same card as that which ended July - Hogan v Yoko, Steiners vs Headshrinkers, Tatanka vs Bam Bam, The Barber vs Terry Taylor, Hacksaw Duggan vs Booger, El Matador vs Predator, Owen Hart vs Papa Shango.

Lex Luger, on his way to SummerSlam, works no house shows. Ludvig Borga similarly isn't on the road yet. Apart from TVs, IRS receives no bookings other than his sub against Randy Savage and Ted DiBiase also works only TVs and dark matches because he's fucked and needs time out of the ring. All Money Inc scheduled matches on the road (against Men On A Mission) are scrubbed and the cage match with Rick & Scott for the SummerSlam Spectacular is the last match of Money Inc. After one more little people six man on 1st, the Bushwhackers are not on the road again until October. The Quebecers two main events with the Steiners are their only road bookings but we'll of course be seeing much more of them.

VARIATIONS
1st in Richfield is generally a conclusion of previous month's runs - Bret Hart vs Mr Hughes, Shawn vs Perfect one on one, Macho Man vs The King, Doink and Marty, Kid and The Model. Savage vs Lawler also happens at MSG which features a unique match - Bastion Booger vs Brooklyn Brawler. Owen gets two wins over Blake Beverly at MSG and in Hartford. Also in Hartford there's one run of Perfect & Marty vs Shawn & Diesel. Two nights where Shawn is wrestling Razor, Perfect works with Bam Bam. At the B shows in Wildwood and Wilton High School, Razor beats Iron Mike Sharpe (sub for Doink, sadly) and Mr Hughes respectively. After Hughes is booted, Undertaker works a few singles matches with Adam Bomb.  A still green Bomb gets to go one on one with Macho Man in Worcester. Also in Worcester, Bret works Doink while Yoko is with Taker. Richfield and Wilton are the only repeats of Damien Demento vs Virgil (who otherwise isn't booked). Wilton also has the last win of his WWF tenure for Hacksaw, over Sharpe. Kid gets to beat Brawler in Providence, Papa Shango in Worcester and Booger at Nassau and in Niagara Falls. Booger also does one loss to Tatanka in London (Canada). In Nassau and Niagara Falls, Tatanka works Doink, which sounds pretty fun. Bob Backlund is used sparingly this month but he does pretty well, upsetting Bomb in Wildwood, beating Terry Taylor in Hartford and then Booger in Wilton. In Providence, Mo and Mabel work one and only one match with the Headshrinkers (and lose). Also, the joy of Randy Savage vs Matt Borne's Doink, featuring Macho Midget (Tiger Jackson/Dink). El Matador comes back from Europe and does one final job for Booger at the Providence Civic and then pins Demento in Wildwood.

TVS
16th Raw taping at Poughkeepsie features the recording of the SummerSlam Spectacular which is a bit of a wave goodbye to a couple of the old guard, and dark matches of Shawn vs Perfect with their usual finish, and Yoko vs Undertaker with THEIR usual salt bucket DQ. Next night in White Plains we've got Yoko vs Macho Man, Bret Hart vs Mr Hughes, Tatanka vs Bam Bam, a tryout for local boy Tommy Dreamer losing to equally local Brawler, and the famed Shawn/Marty cage match that made it to Coliseum. Next night in Lowell I've mentioned before, with Bret vs Borga, Yoko vs Razor, Tatanka beating HBK by DQ and the Savage/Perfect vs Gonzalez/Hughes match you can see on Randys Unreleased DVD, or YouTube. The night after SummerSlam in Grand Rapids, they tape Shawn vs Luger, Bret vs Bomb and Steiners vs Headshrinkers which both make it to Coliseum and after the latter the Heavenly Bodies steal the tag belts to explain to the live crowd why the Steiners later tape a squash without them ; they're already pencilled in to lose them soon to the Quebecers, with a plan to win them back at Mania which of course, will not happen. As part of the USWA talent exchange there's also a tryout for the Texas Hangmen, Savage squashing Gonzalez, ANOTHER Yoko vs Taker DQ, and the first dark match for the original MVP gimmick - Brawler with his face painted like a baseball. Interestingly, they already tape the first Bigelow vs Doink confrontation to start turning the Clown face. Which coupled with Borne losing his job, will be the end of the character being interesting.

DEPARTURES - FUCKING HELL
You have to start with Hulk Hogan, of course. On top of Terry, Europe are the last bookings for Brutus Beefcake as that particular favour doesn't need to be done anymore either. Papa Shango's losses to Owen and Kid are his last matches on the full time roster, although he'll make up the numbers on tour in October. Mr Hughes is binned before he run with Taker is even over, despite such strong booking last month. After losing to Backlund in Hartford, Terry Taylor isn't booked again. After flying solo for a couple of months without Beau, this is also the end for Blake Beverly. You might as well call this the end of Giant Gonzalez too, after SummerSlam he'll do a couple of TV matches with Savage, one battle royal on Raw and tape a couple of walk downs that never air, but that's it. Tito Santana says farewell to the WWF as well, what a servant he was. Another long-termer out the door is Hacksaw Jim Duggan, who does his final high profile job for Yoko at the SummerSlam Spectacular and that's his end, after spending a lot of 1993 flat on his back or coughing up blood. Famously, SummerSlam is the last WWF match for the Million Dollar Man as well, and he'll fuck up his back in All Japan, calling time on his career before the year is done. Also, far less lauded, 31st TV tapings are the last use of Boni Blackstone for interviews.

Here's that six-man from MSG, and through his account you can see most of the rest of the card too.

If you watch only one other match, make it Doink vs Kid

 

 

[Chili]

Always wondered about Santana. He retired from the big time and just worked occasional indies and kept apparently in grand shape for his age. Seems nice that someone just called time and we're still really good. 1993 is such a weird arse year. 

[air_raid]

17 minutes ago, Chili said:

1993 is such a weird arse year. 

This is completely the truth. Looking at the roster/cards for the March/April shows they look complete bare bones, then in August they let a load of guys leave, yet the scene between September and New Year feels very fresh and vibrant. If you ignore the million Luger/Borga matches, it feels very much like "the New Generation" is coming to the forefront, and the veterans that are still around such as Macho Man and The Model have something left in the tank.

[air_raid]

SEPTEMBER 93

MAIN EVENTS
Yokozuna vs Bret Hart for the belt is a main event around the country for the first half of the month although while the match makes a Canada loop, the cage doesn't. We then flip to another few rounds of The Steiner Brothers vs Yokozuna & Bam Bam Bigelow, and just like last month that leaves Bret with Doink. In Chicago, at MSG and at the Spectrum before TVs and Fresno after them its back to Yoko vs The Undertaker which puts a decent 11,500 in the Garden. MSG is one of the venues that will get the casket match when that comes around. There is only one show every night at this point.

CARDS
The Undertaker is wrestling Adam Bomb most nights he isn't with Yoko. Shawn Michaels & Diesel vs Mr Perfect & Marty Jannetty is a logical tag team match to run the house shows until 13th at TVs where Vince tells HBK he's failed a drugs test for steroids, and he flounces. After that, Perfect vs Diesel becomes an easy singles match to slot in, often ending with interference from The Model. Marty is taken off the road, fuck Marty. Razor Ramon VS IRS is off and running as a feud borne out of their SummerSlam wins and prior aggro. These won't be for the belt until October, however. After a couple of weeks with Irwin, Razor works the last week of the month with The Model either side of taping winning the vacant title by pinning him. 

The Steiner Brothers will defend the tag team titles against The Headshrinkers every night until 13th where they lose the tag titles on Raw due to Province de Quebec rules, then work their main event run (see above) which ends abruptly when they're suspended and miss a month on the road, only working TVs until late October. Their absence precipitates a highly amusing heel vs heel run of The Quebecers vs Bam Bam Bigelow & Adam Bomb, where Luna and Johnny Polo don't get on. These spell the end of the lengthy run Bigelow's had with Tatanka, right up until the first couple of weeks of September. Smoking Gunns vs Headshrinkers and Men On A Mission vs Well Dunn are going every night, on and off. 1-2-3 Kid continues wrestling Doink but now he's losing to him, then post-Shawn departure he starts losing to Bastion Booger - including with interference from Johnny Polo at the Spectrum, which is pretty clever as next night on Raw is when Kid will surprise Polo by becoming Barry Horowitz' partner against Polo's Quebecers.

Fewer shows means far fewer feuds!

VARIATIONS
Allentown on the 6th has a one off Bob Backlund vs Damien Demento which is the only gig of the month for either. Same night, rather more excitingly, Perfect misses it so we have Razor & Tatanka going over HBK & big Kev when Shawn looks at the lights for Tatanka yet again. In Halifax its Perfect & Tatanka teaming, and I wonder if its because Marty had problems getting into Canada? 12th in Springfield The Undertaker has one match with Bam Bam. Same night is the final Shawn vs Marty one on one of this epic run. At the Rosemont, the Shawn-created shuffle lands Perfect doing a one-off 20 minute broadway with IRS, and Kid does a one-off job to Diesel. There's a few random matches for Tatanka after he's divorced from Bam Bam - he works Adam Bomb, Booger and a couple with IRS. 30th in Fresno, Lex Luger VS Ludvig Borga FINALLY hits the road after both have been sat on their arses for months.

TVS
On 1st we're still coming out of SummerSlam, and we've got Bret beating Yoko by DQ, Virgil getting a rare win over Damien Demento, Undertaker beating Adam Bomb and two matches that make Coliseum - Shawn vs Razor for the belt and Tatanka vs Bam Bam for the hundredth time. On 13th live Raw there's an excellent dark main - Bret & Randy Savage vs Yoko & Bam Bam - and on the 27th taping its Lex Luger & Savage vs Yoko & Borga, neither have finishes. Also 27th in New Haven, Bret vs Fatu and Undertaker vs Adam Bomb before the taping. We're now taping Bomb with Harvey Whippleman so Polo can concentrate on the Quebecers, and the Rock N Roll Express are taping TV matches. 28th in Worcester we have Bret & Lex vs Yoko & Borga, plus Taker/Bomb and Randy Savage vs Jerry Lawler for Coliseum. They also tape the infamous Tatanka/Borga match. Next night in Portland we have Bret vs the King from Coliseum as well as Luger vs Borga, Yoko vs Undertaker and a Steiners/Quebecers rematch.

DEPARTURES
Matt Borne loses his job over substances at the same TVs that Shawn leaves, thereafter its Steve Lombardi under the makeup against Bret. Allentown is the last booking for Damien Demento, spare some fairly random bookings in 94.

What else do we have in Portland? Barry Horowitz vs Scott Taylor - HOROWITZ WINS! HOROWITZ WINS! HOROWITZ WINS!

No idea on a date or place for this Yoko/Bret cage match but by numbers, its most likely to have been September than any other month ;

You cant not watch this daft mess ;

 

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by air_raid

[The King Of Swing]

Bastion Booger has a fair few exceptions but most nights he's going over Owen Hart.

[Chili]

1 hour ago, The King Of Swing said:

Bastion Booger has a fair few exceptions but most nights he's going over Owen Hart.

There is a fair chance they weren't that bad. That had a series in Stampede six years prior that's a fine bit of a TV feud. Admittedly Owen jobbing to that gimmick is rotten mind.