House Show/TV tapings random happenings

[sivy]

12 minutes ago, air_raid said:

Is that as crazy as his first 6 months? Where he has a series of belters with Shawn on the road then a disappointing outing at the Rumble, gets fired for it for being hungover for the night before but then re-hired and given the belt first night back because Perfect grassed Shawn in for being off his face on pain pills the night before. If Marty had been able to keep himself sober, his 92-95 would have looked MARKEDLY different. He could have been a standby Intercontinental champ for a decent run or multiple times, hot potato'd it with Michaels more than once then become gatekeeper for Razor. He'd have been the guy Diesel, IRS, Double J etc would have gone through. And been right there when babyface Shawn and big D needed another partner in 1995.

Crazy is probably the wrong word specially when it comes to marty. I just think it shows the constant change in 93. So many guys had short runs, or was changing to baby face quite quickly. 

 

What is also obvious is after the flair fued they had no high hopes on Perfect. 

Edited July 13, 2022 by sivy

[UnitedEmpireEra]

It seems the mods on here have joined 

The New Jersey inbredio cheer squad.

grotesque as they look, you have to laugh. 
 

Now you can remove me 

because I don’t want to stay here with a guy that has a face like a pillsbury dough boy and genome of an Austrian Duke 

[Snitsky's back acne]

You okay, hon? 

[RIDDUM_N_STYLE]

7 hours ago, UnitedEmpireEra said:

It seems the mods on here have joined 

The New Jersey inbredio cheer squad.

grotesque as they look, you have to laugh. 
 

Now you can remove me 

because I don’t want to stay here with a guy that has a face like a pillsbury dough boy and genome of an Austrian Duke 

I see Shit Poster of the Year is tied up already

[DavidB6937]

That was a pretty fast meltdown.

[poetofthedeed]

On 7/12/2022 at 12:47 PM, air_raid said:

The Steiner Brothers vs Yokozuna & Bam Bam Bigelow,

Steiner's vs Vader and Bigelow is one of my favorite matches ever so this has me intrigued, any footage floating about?

[The Reverend]

When it was happening I absolutely despised 1993. I suppose after how big 1992 was, it just seemed a complete let-down. Not only the in-ring stuff, but the fact that it had suddenly become very uncool. There was no merch in the shops and all the kids in school had turned their backs on it too.

But now I really like watching it for the sheer diversity of it all. I always used to think if it like an Indy promotion, but watching now it actually seems more like someones Hasbro Figure Fed come to life! 

[air_raid]

7 hours ago, poetofthedeed said:

Steiner's vs Vader and Bigelow is one of my favorite matches ever so this has me intrigued, any footage floating about?

I've searched buy wrestlers names AND by the city names that the match happened in and sadly I cant find any, although its possible that someone has it somewhere. Increasingly stuff gets uploaded without company initials, wrestler names etc to avoid getting taken down by the copyright cops. But you have to know the channels to check.

 

NOVEMBER 1993

Yokozuna vs The Undertaker is rolling on, and it isn't all big cities - 1st they're at Sunrise Musical Theatre (Florida) in front of 1000. They're in Winnipeg, Hartford and all over in a split of pinfall/DQ finishes in straight title matches, and non-title casket matches which Taker is winning. Pittsburgh right before the PPV is stacked with all three title matches plus Bret Hart vs Jerry Lawler and Lex Luger vs Ludvig Borga. Yoko/Taker is still your main after Survivor Series in Ottawa and Montreal, then Taker is putting the champ in the box again at MSG in front of 12,600 which for 1993 is FUCKING HUGE, then Albany and TVs are the last stops of the month. With Taker vs Yoko drawing decent money, by year end Meltzer will report there is consideration for Taker to BEAT Yoko at the Rumble for the title, and wrestle Luger at Mania X. Whether it was Undertaker asking for time off that scuppered that, or the babyface vs babyface match making ZERO sense, I'll leave up to you. But it's not as mad as "then Taker loses it to Borga on Raw and its Borga vs Luger at Mania" which I've also heard.

Early month through Canada, Richfield and Indianapolis we have Lex Luger vs Ludvig Borga and Bret Hart vs Jerry Lawler in a cage as a double main event, then "the American Original" is moved to Yoko's cards and through some TINY towns in the Southern states we have Hitman vs Adam Bomb as a main event with little support to mention. Suddenly the desperation call is made to Shawn Michaels and he goes into the cage with Bret, and Luger is moved back to those shows through New York and at the Spectrum. After Survivors the small towns on the Canada loop get Luger vs Borga and Bret's with Bomb again, as Shawn's with the A crew already.

THE CARDS
Razor Ramon is defending against IRS up to the PPV, then since they'll be wrestling at the Rumble, Razor moves to Diesel. Irwin then moves into doing similar comedy count-outs to Doink (still Steve Lombardi) on the Canada run ; doing having spent the rest of the month losing to Bam Bam Bigelow, except 28th in Albany the Clown actually beats Bam Bam to continue some great form (see "Variations"). Prior to Survivors, Diesel has been picked up by Bob Backlund who initially beats him by small package or DQ until TVs, thereafter they realize that's fucking ridiculous and Kev pins him every night. 1-2-3 Kid bounces from losing to Adam Bomb, to jobs to The Model, then gets a few wins over Johnny Polo, then ends up back with Bomb. Marty Jannetty does a week of jobs to Martel, then by 11th he's putting over the newly-heeled Crush until the PPV. On the New York loop after it, even though he's not turned heel properly yet, Owen Hart is beating Marty with the Sharpshooter. Owen usually beats Bastion Booger ever night until the PPV except Booger also works a short run with Virgil and Owen's left with some right dross (see "Variations").

The Quebecers start the month in Canada with The Smoking Gunns then spend the majority of the month doing DQs and Duty finishes with The Steiner Brothers, who similarly did a couple with The Headshrinkers in Canada. To the surprise of nobody reading, the Gunns and the 'Shrinkers spend most of the month with each other. Men On A Mission are usually with Well Dunn.

VARIATIONS
In Peterborough (Ontario) we've got Razor & Owen vs Diesel & The Model. Doink's run of losses to Bigelow is interspersed with subs when Bigelow takes a knock and he beats Mike Sharpe and Brooklyn Brawler (irony!) on those shots. 26th in Montreal, there's an upset that you might not believe - via distraction from Razor, Shawn drops a pinfall to Doink. At this point I believe all Doink appearances are Ray Apollo rather than the Brawler, but I don't think that makes it any better - although HBK avenges it next night at MSG when Bam Bam interferes. Diesel misses 28th in Albany so we hot shot to Bad Guy vs HBK. Neither Shawn or Irwin make it to Ottawa so Doink gets shuffled to Bastion Booger (another win) leaving Owen Hart against reliable desperation insert, Johnny Polo. Owen also occasionally wrestles Adam Bomb (big win), or losers like Brian Costello or Duane Gill. Bit of a renaissance for Virgil's wallet this month - he makes up the numbers with Johnny Polo in Canada and does a job for Crush at Shamokin High School.

When Pierre is "injured" on TV by Luger, there are a run of shows where Rick wrestles Jacques one on one or Polo substitutes, to sell it - those are non-title so the Steiners win. There's a one off in Pittsburgh of Quebecers vs Men On A Mission - Mo and Mabel otherwise have a disjointed run with Well Dunn, and I think there's an unresolved injury issue there somewhere as early month Barry Horowitz & Pat Tanaka sub and throughout the month there's also Barry & Tom Stone when Tim & Steve aren't there. A three night loop in Michigan, Marty's missing it so on a card already featuring Virgil losing to Booger and Stone/Horowitz doing the honours for MOM - Brooklyn Brawler gets a win over Costello. In Sunrise, Little Louie, Cuban Assassin and Dave Heath (Gangrel) avenge Palmetto by beating The Bushwhackers & Tiger Jackson. Should have saved that for PPV, lads. There are also a fair few Tiger vs Louie singles matches going on.

TVS
8th we're FINALLY taping Raws at the legendary Fernwood Resort in Bushkill PA, commonly cited as "look how business was in the shitter" by stars of the era. Nothing too exciting dark - Hitman vs The King and Yoko vs Undertaker again. Next night at Carbondale High School is slightly more interesting - Quebecers vs Steiners, Undertaker going over Lawler and another Bret & Lex vs Yoko & Borga. Next night in Delhi NY its Taker/Lawler again and Luger vs Borga, plus they tape King vs Owen for Survivor Series Showdown but end up not using it after he has to be suspended on TV given that he's facing a legal battle. I'm not convinced Shawn was brought back only because Lawler was going to be gone - Shawn's back taping TV squashes 9th/10th at the same time they're still recording Lawler matches, so I think this was serendipity. Also on these tapings is the first appearance of Tiger Jackson as Dink (while Doink goes over the future Thrasher).

In White Plains month end, we've got Yoko vs Bret (salt DQ) and Flexy Lexy putting a rare pinfall loss on Bam Bam, plus a fascinating heel vs heel Quebecers vs Headshrinkers where Polo's lads take a walk to save the gold. Next night in Springfield MA we've got Virgil actually going to the pay window against Brawler, two quarter final matches in the Womens title tourney featuring eventual finalist Heidi Lee Morgan and nobody else you've heard of, Taker/Crush which made it to Coliseum, Quebecers v Steiners with a DQ, Bigelow needing his feet on the ropes to beat Doink, and a non title win for Yoko over Razor where HBK interferes leading The Bad Guy to get sat on. Also, we're taping the first squashes for Hello folks! Double J here, Jeff Jarrett. That's J E double F (ha ha ha) J A double R E double T!

Finally, YES, I'm aware of some of the venue names this month that give away how they'll go anywhere that will pay them. How does Sullivan County Community College in Loch Sheldrake NY sound? The "Fieldhouse" (basketball court) has a legal capacity TODAY of only 2300, after it was expanded in 2008, so fuck knows how many they squeezed inside in 93.

Here's the casket match from MSG

 

2 hours ago, The Reverend said:

When it was happening I absolutely despised 1993. I suppose after how big 1992 was, it just seemed a complete let-down. Not only the in-ring stuff, but the fact that it had suddenly become very uncool. There was no merch in the shops and all the kids in school had turned their backs on it too.

Lies.

That was in my first WWF Magazine, with Luger on the front, which marked me out as a big gaylord for buying it according to the other kids. I felt like 1993 was still pretty buzzing in the West Midlands, although I would given that lads were JUST starting to get Sky and lend me a tape of Crush vs Doink going to a double count out on Superstars, then I'd hear at Youth Club that the Narcissist came out of the sky in a helicoptor, powerslammed Yokozuna and pinned him, and now he's the WWF Champion, causing me to run home and update his "Titles held" in the sticker album in felt tip.

[Chili]

Blimey, is this the first month in god knows to not have any departures? 

[air_raid]

3 hours ago, Chili said:

Blimey, is this the first month in god knows to not have any departures? 

Heh, well, Perfect is omitted on a technicality because he last actually wrestled in October. Next month we’ve got one that I’ve left out on a technicality, because you think his bookings finished aaaaages prior….

[air_raid]

DECEMBER 1993

THE MAIN EVENTS
A European Tour is up with Yokozuna vs Undertaker main events, to predictably good business although (example) 9500 at the NEC isn't quite a sell out. Domestically, Lex Luger vs Ludvig Borga (sometimes a flag match) supported by Bret Hart vs Double J is the other run up until 13th-15th TVs. 2500 in San Diego and 2600 at the Cow Palace are diasasters, 6400 in Anaheim is down more than 50% too. 7000 without Bret at the Meadowlands on 12th is desperately clawing at "acceptable."

There are 2-3 shows a night between Boxing Day and New Years. It's Yoko vs Taker 26th in Toronto, 28th in Canton OH, 30th in Johnstown PA, Luger vs Borga 26th in Saginaw, 28th at the Rosemont, 29th in Fort Wayne and 30th in Cincinnati (those last three supported by Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels in a cage match). 27th in Pittsburgh and 31st in Columbus OH its Lex & Tatanka vs Yoko & Borga. 27th in Toledo its Razor Ramon and Shawn in a ladder match (Taker vs Adam Bomb underneath), 29th at Warren Music Hall (OH) its Yoko vs Tatanka (Razor vs Diesel undeneath), and 31st in Williamsport PA its Bret vs IRS with Taker/Bomb supporting.

THE CARDS
In Europe Razor Ramon is putting away IRS every night. 1-2-3 Kid avenges his previous losses and pins The Model every night. Wonderfully, Macho Man VS Shawn Michaels is every night of the tour too. After TVs Randy exclusively works Crush in the muddled falls anywhere/death match gimmick they did at Mania except here Crush is usually beating him after inteference from Borga or Yoko. That's about the only constant, post-TV. Tatanka has a very useful run of wins over Diesel. Doink and Bam Bam Bigelow are swapping wins every night. The Quebecers are losing by DQ or count-out to The Steiner Brothers all month. Virgil's jobbing to Adam Bomb in Europe. At home, Marty Jannetty is going back to doing the honours for Bastion Booger and Owen Hart is running Johnny Polo duty. The Headshrinkers work Men On A Mission in Europe, at the Meadowlands and Boxing Day in Saginaw, thereafter its The Smoking Gunns. Otherwise, in Europe and a Canadian double on 26th, the Gunns beat Red Knight & Black Knight who are Steve Lombardi and Barry Horowitz. Mo & Mabel work the Knights 27th-31st.

VARIATIONS
The Meadowlands hosts a packed card of one-offs underneath Luger/Borga on 12th between the European crew getting home and TVs. The Model gets to beat Virgil, Marty does a job for Irwin, Macho Man and Crush work a regular match that ends in double count-out, and a totally random Razor & Kid tag against Johnny Polo & former client Adam Bomb. Post TV mess ; on top of the one ladder match with Razor and cage matches with Bret, HBK works Razor in straight matches in Toronto and Columbus, and beats Kid in Kitchener, Ontario. Razor is with Diesel or IRS when he isnt with Shawn. Kid gets to beat Brooklyn Brawler and Johnny Polo but loses to Double J and Irwin. When Tatanka isnt in the main event tag he's with Diesel or Adam Bomb. Marty gets to beat Brawler or Iron Mike Sharpe but also loses to IRS and Jarrett. Owen beats Booger but also a couple of decent wins over Bomb. Bob Backlund loses to Diesel and IRS but gets to beat Sharpe and Horowitz. Virgil gets a Christmas bonus cheque doing one favour for Booger and one for the worlds greatest singer, the worlds greatest entertainer, and the worlds greatest wrestler. Ain't he great?

TVs
In Utica on 1st we have everything you'd expect for the time - Steiners/Quebecers, Luger/Borga, Razor/IRS and the Bret/Shawn cage match that they used on Coliseum. Plus, Heidi Lee Morgan wins her semi in the Womens title tournament. 13th at the Raw taping, MOM vs Headshrinkers and Savage vs Crush don't get finishes and Yokozuna gets another win over Razor. Hilariously, Alundra Blayze makes her company debut in the Womens title final (taped for All-American) having not been required to win a quarter or semi in the WWF (winning a quarter in the USWA as Madusa). Next night in Lowell I've covered before - Taker/Yoko, Razor/Borga from Coliseum and Bret & Owen vs The Headshrinkers. Finally next night in Augusta, its Doink vs Bam Bam, Luger vs Borga and Razor/Crush plus a Bret/Yoko cage match which both make Coliseum.
 

DEPARTURE
Big Boss Man is probably the last name you'd expect to show up this late into 1993, but he's been booked in December which is a story in of itself ; he's the special guest ref on a couple of shows when Bret beats Double J. It's interesting because back in March, Boss Man was teaming with both Jarrett and Jerry Lawler in the USWA - where of course, Jeff and Jerry were babyfaces - against the Harlem Knights a/k/a Men On A Mission as monster heels. The Observer had Boss Man down to return in 1994, but that goes to hell when he shows up in Atlanta for WCW TVs on 13th to replace dear Smithers in the Rick Rude feud (apparently when negotiations with Roddy Piper broke down).

[wandshogun09]

8 hours ago, air_raid said:

A European Tour is up with Yokozuna vs Undertaker main events, to predictably good business although (example) 9500 at the NEC isn't quite a sell out.

I was at this one. Yoko vs Taker had the old salt in the eyes non-finish, I think. Razor vs IRS was a highlight just because I loved Razor. But I was gutted there was no Bret. Diesel was supposed to face Mr Perfect but they announced Perfect couldn’t make it so we got Diesel vs Tatanka. Sadly, I barely remember anything of Savage vs Shawn or 123 Kid vs The Model but I bet they were both belters.

There was an Adam Bomb vs Virgil squash match on there as well but it doesn’t seem to be listed on the results I’ve found online. It was brief but it definitely happened. I remember my old man took me to get an ice cream between matches and we heard Virgil’s music playing. By the time we got back to our seats it was over and he was already rolling out under the bottom rope a beaten man. Completely missed it and that’s probably the only reason I even remember it happened.

Edited July 15, 2022 by wandshogun09

[air_raid]

What if there was a PPV every month?

January 1993
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Ric Flair
The Undertaker VS Papa Shango
Randy Savage VS Yokozuna
Mr Perfect VS Razor Ramon
ICT Shawn Michaels VS Marty Jannetty
Big Boss Man VS Bam Bam Bigelow 
TTT Money Inc VS Nasty Boys
Tatanka VS Damien Demento
Crush VS Skinner
High Energy VS Headshrinkers 
El Matador VS Repo Man
The Steiner Brothers VS The Executioners
Bob Backlund VS Berzerker 
Virgil VS Brooklyn Brawler
Jim Powers VS Terry Taylor

February 
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Ric Flair
The Undertaker VS Yokozuna
Randy Savage VS Jerry Lawler
Mr Perfect VS Razor Ramon
ICT Shawn Michaels VS Crush
Big Boss Man VS Bam Bam Bigelow 
TTT Money Inc VS Nasty Boys
Tatanka VS Damien Demento
Typhoon VS Doink
High Energy VS Headshrinkers 
El Matador VS Skinner
The Steiner Brothers VS The Beverly Brothers
Kamala VS Kimchee
Max Moon VS The Model
Bob Backlund VS Papa Shango
Virgil VS Repo Man
Jim Powers VS Terry Taylor
Jim Brunzell VS The Predator

MARCH
WWF TITLE Bret Hart VS Bam Bam Bigelow
Hulk Hogan & The Barber VS Money Inc
The Undertaker VS Yokozuna
Macho Man VS Giant Gonzalez
Mr Perfect VS Lex Luger
Crush VS Papa Shango
Tatanka VS Doink
Nasty Boys VS Headshrinkers 
Typhoon VS Repo Man
The Steiner Brothers VS The Beverly Brothers
El Matador VS Skinner
Bob Backlund VS Damien Demento 
Jim Brunzell VS Terry Taylor
Virgil VS Reno Riggins
Jim Powers VS Brooklyn Brawler

APRIL 
Bret Hart VS Bam Bam Bigelow
The Undertaker VS Giant Gonzalez
Mr Perfect VS Lex Luger
Hacksaw Duggan VS Yokozuna
Crush VS Doink (Borne)
ICT Shawn Michaels VS Bob Backlund 
NON TITLE Money Inc VS Steiner Brothers
Tatanka VS Papa Shango
Nasty Boys VS Headshrinkers 
Kamala VS Kimchee 
Typhoon VS Damien Demento
El Matador VS Doink (Keirn)
Virgil VS Terry Taylor

OK, they probably wouldn’t have two Doink matches on the same show.

MAY
Hulk Hogan & The Barber VS Money Inc
Bret Hart VS Lex Luger
Hacksaw Duggan VS Yokozuna
The Undertaker VS Giant Gonzalez
ICT Shawn Michaels VS Mr Perfect
Tatanka VS Razor Ramon
Crush VS Doink
Kamala VS Bam Bam Bigelow 
Steiner Brothers VS Headshrinkers
Typhoon VS Damien Demento
Owen Hart VS Terry Taylor
El Matador VS Papa Shango
Sensational Sherri VS Luna Vachon
Virgil VS Mr Hughes
Bob Backlund VS Blake Beverly

JUNE
Bret Hart VS Lex Luger
Hacksaw Duggan VS Yokozuna
The Undertaker VS Giant Gonzalez
ICT Shawn Michaels VS Marty Jannetty
Crush VS Doink
Tatanka VS Bam Bam Bigelow
TTT Money Inc VS Steiner Brothers
Hacksaw Duggan VS Mr Hughes
El Matador VS Razor Ramon
Smoking Gunns VS Headshrinkers
Kamala VS Damien Demento
1-2-3 Kid VS Terry Taylor
Sensational Sherri VS Luna Vachon
Bob Backlund VS Blake Beverly

JULY
WWF TITLE Yokozuna VS Bret Hart 
ICT Shawn Michaels VS Mr Perfect
Tatanka VS Bam Bam Bigelow
Razor Ramon VS Jerry Lawler
Macho Man VS Mr Hughes
TTT Steiner Brothers VS Money Inc
Marty Jannetty VS Doink
Smoking Gunns VS Headshrinkers
El Matador VS Adam Bomb
Kamala VS Bastion Booger
1-2-3 Kid VS Terry Taylor
Owen Hart VS Damien Demento
Jim Powers VS Papa Shango 
Virgil VS Iron Mike Sharpe
The Bushwhackers & Tiger Jackson VS Blake Beverly, Brooklyn Brawler & Little Louie

AUGUST 
WWF TITLE Yokozuna VS Bret Hart (cage match)
The Undertaker VS Mr Hughes
Macho Man VS Giant Gonzalez
Mr Perfect, Marty Jannetty & Tatanka VS Shawn Michaels, Diesel & Bam Bam Bigelow (elimination match)
TTT Steiner Brothers VS Headshrinkers
1-2-3 Kid VS Doink
El Matador VS Damien Demento
Bob Backlund VS Adam Bomb
Men On A Mission VS Well Dunn
Owen Hart VS Bastion Booger

September 
WWF TITLE Yokozuna VS Bret Hart (cage match)
Mr Perfect & Marty Jannetty VS Shawn Michaels & Diesel
The Undertaker VS Adam Bomb
Razor Ramon VS IRS
Tatanka VS Bam Bam Bigelow
TTT Steiner Brothers VS Headshrinkers 
1-2-3 Kid VS Doink
Men On A Mission VS Well Dunn

October
WWF TITLE Yokozuna VS The Undertaker
Lex Luger VS Ludvig Borga
Bret Hart VS Jerry Lawler
ICT Razor Ramon VS IRS
Mr Perfect VS Diesel
TTT The Quebecers VS Men On A Mission
Doink VS Bam Bam Bigelow
1-2-3 Kid VS Adam Bomb
Smoking Gunns VS Headshrinkers
Marty Jannetty VS The Model
Tatanka VS Bastion Booger
Bushwhackers VS Well Dunn

November 
WWF TITLE Yokozuna VS The Undertaker
Lex Luger VS Ludvig Borga
Bret Hart VS Jerry Lawler
ICT Razor Ramon VS IRS
TTT The Quebecers VS Steiner Brothers
Doink VS Bam Bam Bigelow
Bob Backlund VS Diesel
1-2-3 Kid VS Adam Bomb
Smoking Gunns VS Headshrinkers
Owen Hart VS Bastion Booger
Marty Jannetty VS The Model
Men On A Mission VS Well Dunn

December 
WWF TITLE Yokozuna VS The Undertaker
Lex Luger VS Ludvig Borga
Bret Hart VS Double J
Randy Savage VS Crush
ICT Razor Ramon VS IRS
TTT The Quebecers VS Steiner Brothers
Tatanka VS Diesel
Doink VS Bam Bam Bigelow
1-2-3 Kid VS The Model
Men On A Mission VS Headshrinkers
Marty Jannetty VS Bastion Booger
Virgil VS Adam Bomb
Smoking Gunns VS Red Knight & Black Knight
Owen Hart VS Johnny Polo

[air_raid]

Here's today's instalment of the monthly digests and it's one of my favourite months yet. We are 100% in the eye of the storm of 1993 calming down in terms of clearing out some deadwood from the Hulkamania era, a bunch of guys taking their ball and going home leaving the cupboard bare for a few months, but making way for younger guys to take spots opening up, a younger more vibrant midcard, and the key spots being Bret and Taker as the "leaders" and the match quality ramping up due to the consistency of actual wrestling and character work by four guys in particular - Shawn, Diesel, Razor and Kid. In other words, "The New Generation." The month has departures, arrivals, HUUUUGE turning points in a few major arcs, and some incredible developments and wrestling action both at the live gates and in the dark matches at TV. What a time to be alive.

JANUARY 1994

THE MAIN EVENTS
There are two crews again, one with the champ and another. Up until the Rumble, there's two different mains on the A run. Lex Luger & Tatanka vs Yokozuna & Ludvig Borga is a tag that runs through the Palace (3500 just a few months since Lex' big night out at SummerSlam), the Capital Centre (1800), San Jose, Inglewood CA (?) and Hershey - we're getting in the mood to give Lex the feel of threat on the way to Rumble, he's pinning Yoko via surgical steel forearm. The tag is meant to continue after the PPV but Borga has destroyed his ankle so our sub is the brand new Kwang at the Spectrum (5000), in New Haven and at Boston Garden (4500). Otherwise Yoko vs Tatanka for the belt is getting onto plenty of shows including Phoenix, Richfield and at MSG in front of 9000 although that show is better remembered for the MSG Rumble, the tag title switch, and Borga doing his ankle in. After the Rumble they put a cage on it in Baltimore but they still only draw 4500. Nassau Coliseum on 30th is an anomaly, as it usually is, as Lex goes over Crush in a submission match in the main (with a crab, not the Rebel Rack just yet) and underneath, a best of three falls hampered by an injury to both teams promoted has Rick Steiner & Randy Savage go over Yoko & Kwang with a deeply unsatisfying DQ finish to the third fall when Crush runs in.

The B towns are usually headlined by The Undertaker vs Adam Bomb in a casket match to get that over - Harvey Whippleman of course goes in the box too. Hitman often supports, and the exception is 16th in Stockton where they swap their usual opponents so Taker puts IRS in the box. Taker's obviously needing time off with his back, so 20th in Torrington CT (?) Bret and Irwin are the main event. Post Rumble our secondary main is Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels which is another practice ladder match in Bristol CT, a Razors Edge finish in Monaca PA, and a schoolboy pin at the charity fundraiser at Mount Pleasant High School in Pittsburgh (ahhh).

THE CARDS
Lex Luger is beating Ludvig Borga in flag matches until the Rumble, when he isn't in that main event tag. Bret Hart works mostly with IRS, with a short run with Double J sandwiched in the middle. Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels happens literally every night with a variety of pinfall and count-outs, plus a few ladder matches. Randy Savage vs Crush is fairly constant, they swap wins in straight matches but Macho Man loses all of the falls count anywhere matches, some of which are explicitly best of three falls too. Diesel comes back from injury to win a series with 1-2-3 Kid (Snake Eyes), then after the show he's usually with Bob Backlund - after trialling a few finishers, first recorded Jacknife wins included. Before Big Daddy Cool, Kid gets a few wins over Bastion Booger before his injury at MSG knackers the plan for after the PPV - so the honour of losing to Jeff Jarrett gets handed to our old mate Jim Powers. Double J had also previously worked Marty Jannetty, whenever he wasn't with Bret. Owen Hart also works often with Booger before the Rumble. Doink vs Bam Bam Bigelow continues to be a surprisingly even feud on the road - did you know the Clown used to beat Bam Bam fairly regularly? I didn't. Most of the month The Steiners are with The Quebecers whether the belts are involved or not. It's usually The Smoking Gunns vs The Headshrinkers and Men On A Mission vs two masked Knights played by Steve Lombardi & Barry Horowitz.

VARIATIONS
I get the impression that there's a lot of beer mat booking this month.

In Baltimore, the lone exception for Lex is a tag with him and Macho Man going over Crush and new enemy Kwang. 16th in Stockton is the only time Bret wrestles Adam Bomb. Nassau Coliseum has Tatanka going double count-out with Diesel, which is the only night of the month he isn't main event. In Baltimore and Hershey only, either side of the Rumble, Kev's beating Marty and new boy Sparky Plugg is in there with Rick Martel. Sparky's pinning Booger by the time they wrap the month up in Pennsylvania. Marty has a whole month of variance, before Kev and mixed up with the Jarrett matches, he does a few jobs for IRS and to Owen at Nassau and beats The Model by DQ in Landover. He also has to occasionally work jobbers like Louie Spicolli and Fidel Sierra (Bill Alfonso's cousin). Rocket's also got a messy month, beating Cuban Assassin in Daytona, Powers at the Spectrum and Scott Taylor in Boston. Jim also puts over Booger in Bristol and sadly has to finish his month at Nassau losing to Johnny Polo. At MSG Razor works Double J and famously Kid & Marty lose the tag belts back to the Quebecers. Jeff's a bit all over the place, in Torrington he works a one-off with future tag partner Owen. In Elizabeth NJ (made "wrestling famous" by ROH) Kid works one match with Johnny Polo. 28th in New Haven Bret has transport issues so they call PJ Walker to drop a match to his most famous TV scalp to this point, IRS. Irwin also works a couple with Backlund and PJ loses to Booger in Torrington.

Really famous one off at MSG, where the Quebecers regain the tag belts from Marty & the Kid. Otherwise the tag teams are a bit mixed up - the Quebecers make defences against both Men On A Mission and the Gunns, the Gunns have to work the Knights a few times, and there's a few instances of MOM vs Headshrinkers. The Gunns miss a California loop so the Bushwhackers get the call to do three jobs to Fatu & Samu. I'm not sure how "in the bad books" the Steiners are at this point but when they aren't with the Quebecers, they have the night off. When Scotty gets hurt, Rick crushes Polo in Monaca, and at that fundraiser Jacques & Pierre lose by DQ to the Dog-Faced Gremlin and his sub partner, Bob Backlund. Rick's slightly more famous variation is his brawl with Borga at MSG. Bob also works a few with Iron Mike Sharpe (winning) early in the month, young Spicolli in Stockton (winning) and with Adam Bomb (losing) later. Bomb also works a couple of the dates doing heel vs heel matches with Martel at the very end of the month, building off a falling out they had after a televised tag match. Finally at MSG - in the arena of his dad's biggest wins, young Scott Putski gets another try out, against Sharpe.

TVS
CHRIST. 10th Raw taping dark matches, we have a standard Yoko/Taker DQ, and The Steiners go over Bomb & Model, who have another spat. Luger beats Borga in a submission match where the cornerman has to wave their flag to indicate submission rather than throw in the towel. In this case Crush taps the ref on the shoulder with the Finnish flagpole after Lex uses his "Illegal" forearm, and the ref calls it a submission. Dodgy wins, always what your babyface hero needs. Also Sparky Bobcore makes his debut beating our Barry and Kwang goes over Horowitz' usual partner, Reno Riggins. This is of course is the Raw where Kid and Marty wins the tag belts. Next night in Florence there's Bret vs Shawn from Coliseum and FUCKING HELL, there's Kid & Marty vs The Headshrinkers for the tag belts which is loads of fun and the LEGENDARY Bret & Owen vs Steiner Brothers match, both of which you saw on WrestleFest 94. Next night in Fayetteville is nowhere near as fun ; Yoko vs Tatanka as featured on Bloopers Bleeps & Bodyslams (which didnt get a UK release but I had a ropey copy as "Dark Matches" from a trader) and another Razor/Borga Dusty finish the same as last month in Lowell. Finally 31st in Bushkill for the Raw taping, we have Doink beating Bam Bam, a huge six man of Lex, Tatanka and Macho Man beating Yoko, Crush and Kwang, and Bret going over a distracted Shawn when the returning Earthquake comes out to equalize Diesel. He tapes squashes for future Raw episodes too, although he won't wrestle Diesel, ever. Lucky for him. It's purely to reintroduce Quake to the fans as a face before they have him flatten jobbers.

DEPARTURE
Ludvig Borga totally destroys his ankle against Rick Steiner at MSG. They will hope to have him back and even promote him against Earthquake at WrestleMania for the next month, but this is the end of his run with the company. He'll wrestle again in Europe, but that's the end of his US success, if you want to call it that.

Here's that Rumble! You can also find the whole card on YouTube too, if you fancy trying to spot the exact moment Borga fucked himself.

And here's San Jose. You may enjoy the Michaels/Razor ladder match, or you can skip to the last minute if you just want to say you've seen Lex pin Yoko.

 

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by air_raid

[sivy]

That rumble it seemed there was guys wanting to join borga on the shelf. Diesal and steiner spot man that's scary. Same with Bigelow