SummerSlam 1993 Review

Monday, August 30th, 1993
Palace Of Auburn Hills
Auburn Hills, Michigan

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I still will never understand why you would run a pay-per-view this late in the summer on a Monday night. 

Ted DiBiase vs. Razor Ramon

This of course is DiBiase's last WWF match and it certainly is an interesting choice for an opener. DiBiase attacks Razor before he gets his vest off. Razor quickly fights him off and hits the fall away slam. DiBiase baits Razor and throws him into the middle turnbuckle. I will say that in going back and watching this era of WWF, my appreciation for Scott Hall has grown. Razor fights out of the chinlock, but gets a knee to the midsection for his efforts. DiBiase hits the vertical suplex and signals for the Million Dollar Dream. Razor is able to block it and hits a clothesline. DiBiase is able to get Razor out of the ring and then exposes the top turnbuckle. Razor is able to counter DiBiase's attempt and hits the Razor's Edge for the victory. That was kind of a weird finish for this match. This was perfectly acceptable. 

Match Rating: **1/4 (out of 5)

Todd Pettengill interviews the Steiner Brothers mom and sister, but is interrupted by Jim Cornette's introduction of the Heavenly Bodies.

WWF Tag Team Championship Match

Heavenly Bodies vs. Steiner Brothers

The Steiners get the Detroit billing despite actually being from a city 115 miles north of there. We get another match with an attack before the bell. The Steiners end up getting the better of the Bodies of course and Cornette is flipping out. Scott body presses Prichard and tags in his brother. Rick clotheslines both Prichard and Del Ray. Scott greets the both with inverted atomic drops, but as a result of an illegal double team, Prichard hits a nice bulldog. Del Ray hits a cannonball off the apron, which Heenan calls a moonsault. That was a rare miss by the WWF production crew. Del Ray hits a DDT and hits a superkick. Del Ray was so good. Cornette gets a cheap shot in with the tennis racket. Del Ray goes for a DDT again, but this time Scott turns it into a suplex. Prichard cuts off the tag attempt, but is greeted with a double underhook powerbomb. This time Rick gets the hot tag and hits a top rope bulldog on Del Ray. Prichard dumps Scott over the top rope and it distracts the ref, allowing them to use a tennis racket shot for a nearfall. Del Ray misses the moonsault and hits Prichard instead. Scott hits the Frankensteiner on Del Ray and gets the victory to a huge pop. This was two great tag teams putting on a really good match here. Both of these teams deserved better runs. 

Match Rating: ***1/2

Shawn Michaels and Diesel are here and Michaels says that tonight he is going to prove that he's the greatest Intercontinental Champion of all time. 

Intercontinental Championship Match 

Shawn Michaels vs. Mr. Perfect

This one always gets mentioned when people talk about the most disappointing matches. They go back and forth a little bit to begin. Perfect hits a big clothesline on Michaels and goes to work on the arm. Perfect baits Michaels off the top rope and counters it with a hip toss. Perfect then catapults Michaels over the top rope and to the floor. Diesel distracts Perfect when he goes outside and eats some Sweet Chin Music when he turns around. Michaels goes to work on the back of Perfect. Perfect quickens the pace and hits a dropkick. Perfect hits the Perfect Plex, but Diesel pulls him out of the ring. Perfect gets some shots in on Diseel and then hits Michaels in the midsection as he jumps off the apron. This allows Disesel to attack him, which causes Earl Hebner to call for the bell. Perfect attacks both men, but Diesel knocks him out with a right hand. Pettengill interviews Michaels in the aisle and Michaels says that he proved he is the greatest Intercontinental Champion. Perfect runs to the back. I'm not really sure why you book this match if that's the finish you come up with. This actually was the first 2/3rd of a really good match and then it ended with what you would expect from a TV main event. We all knew Diesel was going to cheat, but make it clever and not a disqualification. 

Match Rating: ***

1-2-3 Kid is here for a promo and gee whiz, he's so nervous. 

IRS vs. 1-2-3 Kid

Kid hits a spin kick and that's way too fast paced for IRS, so he has to stall a little bit. IRS pops up Kid and slams him face first. He goes for it a second time, but this time Kid hits a dropkick out of it. Kid gets a roll up and almost steals the victory. Kid fights back again and hits a moonsault for a 2 count. IRS seems like he's not on the same page with Kid. RS hits a big clothesline and that's...it? That certainly was an anti-climatic finish. 

Match Rating: **

Owen and Bruce Hart are interviewed giving us an update on their parents. 

Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler Doink

Jerry Lawler comes out on crutches and cuts a promo saying that his Detroit made car and an old lady causing him to have a car accident. He announces that his court jester will be delivering a beating to Bret instead of him. Doink throws a bucket of confetti into the crowd. From there he throws another bucket at Bruce Hart, but this time it's water. Bret comes out and attacks Doink from behind and we are underway. Bruce and Owen go over the barricade and try to get involved. Bret continues to beat down on Doink in a one sided affair thus far. Eventually Lawler is able to distract Bret and Doink capitalizes by slamming him into the steps. He brings it back in the ring and works on Bret with some submission holds. Doink goes up top for the Whoopee Cushion, but Bret gets his knees up. Bret puts on the Sharpshooter, but in comes Lawler, who the proceeds to smash Bret with his crutch. The match never really got going and the story here felt a little forced. 

Match Rating: **

As Lawler and Doink are headed to the back, Jack Tunney comes out and gets into it with Lawler. Bret tries to go after Lawler and Tunney tells the Fink to announce that Lawler will have to retire if he doesn't fight Bret tonight. 

Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler

Bret gets him back to the ring and we have begun. This one starts off similarly to it's predecessor. Lawler uses his crutch, well, as a crutch. He slides Bret balls-first into the ring post and hits Bret in the throat with the crutch. Bret's able to get away with a low blow and now Bret takes his straps down. Bret uses Lawler's piledriver and follows it up from the second rope. Bret locks in the Sharpshooter and Lawler submits. However, Bret refuses to release the hold. Numerous officials try break it up and after several minutes, he finally lets go. Fink announces that Lawler is the King of the Ring as a result of the disqualification. Bret eventually is finally able to get to Lawler and Bruce and Owen join in on the attack. Bret gets the standing ovation as he and his brothers stand in the ring together. I liked this match and more importantly story than the Doink match. 

Match Rating: **1/2

Ludvig Borga is here to insult America. 

Marty Jannetty vs. Ludvig Borga

This is pretty much the bathroom break match, which is a shame because Marty was putting in good work at this time. Borga hits a nice pop up toss and punches him in the gut on the way down. Borga misses a splash in the corner, but gets squashed before he can make a comeback. Marty tries to body slam Borga, but instead Borga takes his head off with a clothesline. Jannetty gets two superkicks in, but Borga catches his second rope crossbody and slams him to the mat. Borga puts Jannetty in the Torture Rack and that is all. Man, that was a big time squash there. Jannetty did everything he could to make Borga look here. His move set was solid for a big man at this time, but he couldn't be much less interesting. That and he's a racist. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Rest In Peace Match

Giant Gonzalez vs. Undertaker

Yes, this feud actually lasted all the way up until SummerSlam. The only positive that I can come up with on this feud is that I do enjoy seeing Undertaker work as the clear smaller man. Taker comes out of the gate strong, but it eventually leads to Gonzalez manhandling him. This is pretty much exactly what you would expect between these two. Gonzalez throws him into the steps and then we get a pause in the action. Taker struggles into the ring and is reaching for the urn, but Harvey Wippleman teases him with it. Out of nowhere, a bell rings and out comes Paul Bearer with a black wreath. Bearer hits a clothesline on Wippleman and grabs the urn. This all gets a pop, but a pretty mild one. Bearer raises the urn and eventually Undertaker sits up. Taker makes his comeback and hits a second rope clothesline for the finish. What a terrible storyline. After the match Wippleman slaps Gonzalez and eats a chokeslam for his troubles. We still also have no clue what a Rest In Peace Match is. There is nothing good that you can say about this match. 

Match Rating: 0 Stars

Interview time with Jim Cornette, Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji. Cornette goes on a rant about his Heavenly Bodies match earlier. 

Smoking Gunns & Tatanka vs. Headshrinkers & Bam Bam Bigelow

Bam Bam and Tatanka start things off and eventually collide with a double crossbody. Billy Gunn comes in and hits a couple of odd looking moves before getting a double headbutt. Billy then seemingly mistimes his jump when being tossed on the ropes. He seems a little off here. The heels then cut the ring in half on Bart. He finally makes the hot tag to Tatanka and he hits a top rope crossbody on Bam Bam for a 2 count. Samu is in and he hits a splash for a nearfall. The match breaks down and Tatanka eats a splash from Bam Bam. They then hit a triple headbutt. They try the triple headbutt off the top rope, but all three miss. The Gunns hit splashes on the outside and Tatanka gets a roll up for the victory. The match was decent for the most part, but the last minute or two were a lot of fun. 

Match Rating: **1/2

They are with Hank Carter, the driver of the Lex Express. They then interview a guy in the crowd whose mom made his patriotic outfit. 

Before the match, we get the Japanese national anthem and then Macho Man come out with Aaron Neville. 

WWF Championship Match

Yokozuna vs. Lex Luger

Fuji sneaks behind Luger in an attempt to distract him, but Luger isn't having it. Luger gets hit with a back elbow, but avoids the big leg drop and starts going after Yoko's leg. In a weird spot, Fuji goes to throw salt at Luger, but he kind of blocks it but it just looks like Fuji purposely missed instead. Either way, the distraction works and Yoko is still in control. I'm not sure why they gave Bret such a short match at WrestleMania, but felt that Luger was the guy to give him an almost 20 minute match. Yoko squashes Luger into the post outside, but misses with the chair. They've already kind of lost the crowd here. Luger goes up to the top rope and hits a double ax handle. It's not enough to knock him down, so he hits a top rope forearm shot and almost pulls off the victory. They both hit a clothesline and are both down and out. Fuji hands Yoko the bucket and he uses it on Luger behind Earl Hebner's back. Yoko is slow to cover and Luger is able to kick out. Yoko hits a belly-to-belly suplex, but again is slow to cover. Yoko now puts on the dreaded trapezius hold and this match is still going on. Luger gets out, but goes for a body slam and Yoko falls on him for another close call. Yoko follows it up with a legdrop and again Luger kicks out. Yoko misses the Banzai Drop and the crowd is waking up. There is no doubt that move is over with the fans. Yoko misses in the corner and Luger hits the big body slam. Luger hits the illegal forearm on Yoko, knocking him out of the ring. Yoko gets counted out and Luger celebrates like he won the Super Bowl. Tatanka, Randy Savage and the Steiners come into the ring to celebrate. I guess when you book yourself into a corner, this is the result you come up with. I will say that both guys did work hard here despite their limitations. They were just stuck with one of the lamest endings to a main event in WWF history in a year that already. 

Match Rating: *1/2

They show a cheesy music video of Luger's journey and then go to the locker room. Borga comes in and confronts Luger to close out the show. 

I have to say I remembered liking this show a lot more than I did this time around. The show started off well, with the tag team match being the highlight of the show. Unfortunately from there the show dragged and we ended up with an unsatisfying conclusion. Yokozuna was definitely the right guy to hold the title at this time, but it was a weird collision of them trying to build the next Hulk Hogan and keeping the monster heel champion. It just didn't work. 

Overall Rating: 54%