World Wrestling Federation: It's SHOWTIME

[Dubble J]

WWF's Stars & Stripes Challenge
July 4, 1993
The U.S.S. Intrepid


Independence Day.
1993.


The largest competitor in World Wrestling Federation, Yokozuna, stood seemingly victorious along side his manager Mr. Fuji. The challenge had been issued - could any American show up and do the damn near impossible - bodyslam the nearly 600 pound Sumo Wrestler?

Many had shown up - both WWF superstar and pro athletes alike. Among them: Peter Taglianetti of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Scott Burell of the Charlotte Hornets, Keith Sims of the Miami Dolphins, Gary Baldinger of the Buffalo Bills, Bill Frallic of the Detroit Lions, Bob Backlund, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner and Crush. The penultimate competitor, the Hawaiian Crush, actually got Yokozuna's legs off the mat but it was all for naught.

It had appeared that WWF had one last chance on the back of former WWF Champion, "The Macho Man" Randy Savage. Savage, dressed in his Independence Day best - an outfit only The Macho Man could pull off - decked in red, white and blue stars and stripes both across his pants and long sleeved shirt, decked with red and white streamers coming off his arm, capped off with his red, white, and blue Macho Man hat.

A face off between "Macho USA" and Yokozuna ended with Yoko shoving the Macho Man back to the mat. An infuriated Savage popped back up to his feet and immediately went in for the scoop...but Yokozuna barely budged!

An upset and embarrassed Savage tossed away his hat in frustration and it seemed like the day had been lost. It appeared that, in fact, Yokozuna had humiliated America.

Mr. Fuji triumphantly waved the flag of Japan, taunting the fans in attendance aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid. Todd Pettingale seemed ready to admit defeat as he thanked the competitors and fans for coming out...

But then...something else happened aboard the Intrepid.

"Something happened on America's birthday," Vince McMahon said with his emphatic growl.

"ONE MORE COMPETITOR WOULD ARRIVE"


One more competitor would step forward, arriving aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid by way of a chartered helicopter. One more competitor would step forward and attempt to save what "had indeed been an embarrassment for America."

Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji stood in he ring, staring as the helicopter made its landing. Wondering along with the fans in attendance and the rest of the world of just who, in Vince McMahon's words, had the "gall" and "audacity" to step forward at the very last possible moment.


A sea of people swarmed around the helicopter...the camera zoomed in to try and get a look. Finally the crowd parted and Yokozuna, Mr. Fuji, and the world would meet the hero stepping forward to redeem America.


This is...


WWF in 1993 - It's SHOWTIME​

 

[Dubble J]

Those from WrestlingClique may recognize this as it was my main BTB during that time period and I'm looking to bring it back. I don't plan on doing a full repost, but more recaps/highlights with some full shows thrown in (mainly PPVs).

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Prologue: Something Happened Aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid

Chapter 1: Three Months Earlier

[Road to King of the Ring]
-A Disputed Championship-
-An Indecent Proposal-
-Everybody Has A Price-
-Not Just Smoke & Mirrors-
-The Royal Competitors-
-The 1993 King of the Ring-
​

 

[RDT]

The BTB that inspired me to get back into BTB writing! I'm super excited for this to be back!

 

[BattleTank]

Ohh man I can’t wait for this. Might have to dust off some old graphics for you haha. I’m ready for the nostalgia!

 

[Dubble J]

Three Months Earlier


Yeah, I know what you're thinkin' - I reeled you, built up the reveal and now we're getting a flashback?

Yep. We are. Because our story doesn't begin at The Stars and Stripes Challenge. Oh no, to properly tell this story we need to start at Wrestlemania IX.

That's right, the WrestleMania that regularly somewhere on the "Top 5 Worst" lists anytime someone wants to make one of those things.

But for our story, we're not messing with it. We're leaving this baby as is and working with it. So yes, that means Yokozuna still goes over Bret Hart for the WWF Championship only to immediately lose it to everyone's favorite red and yellow savior, Hulk Hogan seconds later. Yep...that still happened, baby.

And yes, Giant Gonzalez is still a thing. For now anyway.

On the plus side, it means that 2 Doinks is also still a thing.

Well without further a due, let's look back at perhaps the worst WrestleMania of all time.

WrestleMania IX
April 4, 1993
Caesars Palace - Las Vegas, NV


WWF Intercontinental Championship Match: Tatanka (w/Sensational Sherri) def. Shawn Michaels (c) (w/Luna Vachon) by countout

Built up to this one was that Tatanka was in the midst of an undefeated streak and had pinned the champion Michaels twice during the leadup to WrestleMania, once in a non-title match and another time in a six-man tag match. Meanwhile, Michaels' former manager Sherri had taken to Tatanka's corner after Michaels used her as protection when Marty Jannetty tried to hit him with his own mirror causing her to leave him at the Royal Rumble.

Tatanka would go on to pick up the win but by countout, so unfortunately for him it means that while he remains undefeated - Michaels remains champion. Post match, Luna viciously attacked Sherri both in the ring and backstage after Tatanka had helped her to the back.


The Steiner Brothers def. The Headshrinkers

A match with little to no build as the Steiners probably should've been challenging for the tag titles, but we'll get to that in a bit. Instead they get this match with the Headhrinkers. Still a relatively competitve match with the Steiners looking impressive in the ring. It was a Scott Steiner Frankensteiner to Samu that won the match for the Michigan born brothers.


Doink the Clown def. Crush

Unfortunately for BattleTank, Crush spent the real 1993 losing to Doink the Clown, not winning the Intercontinental Title. Doink and Crush had been feuding since January when Crush confronted the evil clown for his dastardly act of htorwing a ball at a child in the audience. Doink would feign injury following Crush grabbing him by the arm - to the point where Doink actually beat Crush with a prosthetic arm and actually kept him from competing in the Royal Rumble. Doink would continue to prank Crush in the weeks leading up to WrestleMania once he had returned.

For the most part, this match was all Crush and it seemed like he was on his way to victory, locking in the Cranium Crunch to Doink but unfortunately for the Hawiaaian, Doink was able to make it to the ropes to break the hold and then took out the referee. With the referee down, a second Doink showed up and attacked Crush with a prosthetic arm allowing Doink to pick up the win.


Razor Ramon def. Bob Backlund

Razor Ramon continued to showcase why he was one of the top up and coming stars of WWF - unfortunately after feuding with two of the top stars in WWF in Bret Hart and Randy Savage, but instead of getting a high profile Mania match - he was put in this filler match with no build to it with the legendary Backlund. At least Ramon looked strong here as he would win the match in less than 4 minutes.


WWF Tag Team Championship Match: Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster and Ted DiBiase) (c) defeated The Mega-Maniacs (Brutus Beefcake and Hulk Hogan) (with Jimmy Hart) by disqualification

In 1990, Brutus Beefcake was put out of action for 3 years due to a parasailing accident that forced him into reconstructive surgery on his face. He returned in February of 1993 in a match against Ted DiBiase which ended with both members of Money Inc. attacking him and IRS nailing Beefcake in his reconstructed face with a briefcase. Money Inc's manager, Jimmy Hart, actually wanted to "do the right thing" and tried to stop the attack but ended up being hit with the briefcase as well. Jimmy Hart began to manage Beefcake and soon a returning Hulk Hogan would return to help his friend and challenge Money Inc to this match for the titles.

During the actual match, Beerfcake wore a protective titanium facemask. Hogan and Beefcake dominated most of the match until Money Inc got themselves counted out only to have referee Earl Hebner threaten to strip them of the titles if they didn't continue the match. Money Inc was able to finally take control after removing Beefcake's facemask though Beefcake would battle back to lock in his sleeper only for a referee bump to prevent the match from ending. Hogan would take Beefcake's mask and knock out both DiBiase and IRS with it before going for the pin - but there was no referee. For some reason, Jimmy Hart's jacket was reversible into a referee jacket and he made the three count and declared the Mega-Maniacs the champions. This was, of course, in no way legal so referee Danny Davis came out and reversed the decision, disqualifying Hogan for using the facemask as a weapon. Overbooking at it's finest.


Lex Luger def. Mr. Perfect

Back in 1992, Mr. Perfect was managed by Bobby Heenan along with Ric Flair. But eventually Perfect would turn on Flair and Heenan when he joined the opposing side of a Survivor Series tag team match. The Flair/Perfect feud was unfortunately cut short when Flair left WWF to return to WCW. This is when Lex Luger made his official WWF debut at Royal Rumble 1993 as Heenan's latest client and picked up the feud in Flair's place.

Possibly one of the better matches on the show, Perfect and Luger had a solid back and forth match with Perfect focusing on Luger's knee while Luger worked on Perfect's back. Unfortunately for Perfect, he would come up on the losing end after Luger scored a pin using the ropes as an advantage. Post-match, Luger attacked Perfect while he was arguing with the referee - knocking Perfect out cold with a forearm shot leading to much speculation about a possible loaded elbowpad...

After recovering, Mr. Perfect had a confrontation backstage with Shawn Michaels that lead to Michaels attacking Perfect with a trash can.


The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) def. Giant Gonzalez (w/Harvey Wippleman) by disqualification

Undertaker had been in a long feud with manager Harvey Wippleman. Undertaker had defeated Wippleman's client Kamala at Summerslam of 1993 and then againt at Survivor Series in a Coffin match. Wippleman vowed revenge which lead to him introducing Gonzalez at Royal Rumble 1993, attacking and eliminating The Undertaker from the Rumble match.

This one...wasn't pretty and that's probably an understatement. Gonzalez could barely move in the ring and clearly had no business being out there much less at the grandest stage. After 7 and a half dreadful minutes, this one would mercifully end with Gonzalez using a chlorform rag to knock out The Undertaker but also get disqualified - which only meant this wasn't over.


WWF World Heavyweight Championship Match: Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) def. Bret Hart (c)

Yokozuna debuted in 1992 and had been absolutely unstoppable and showed his dominance in the Royal Rumble by winning the first Rumble match that gauranteed the winner a title shot at WrestleMania. Along the way, Yokozuna showed how vicious he could be by performing 4 Bonzai Drops to "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan and putting him on the shelf for two months. Meanwhile, Bret Hart had been a fan favorite, fighting champion since picking up the title back in October of '92.

Bret worked his ass off to try and make this a decent match but the crowd was certainly invested (though chanting U-S-A in support of the Canadian Bret Hart is certainly a choice). Yokozuna overpowered Bret for a good portion of the 9 minute match, but Hart fought his way back - eventually taking advantage of an exposed turnbuckle to take the big man down and lock in the Sharpshooter. Unfortunately Mr. Fuji used his Fuji Dust to blind Hart and allow Yokozuna to get the pin and win the title.

After the match, our beloved hero Hulk Hogan arrived to plea with the referee about Mr. Fuji's cheating. Hogan, who had foreshadowed this moment in a pre-Main Event interview by saying he wanted the first title shot at whoever won, was then challenged by Mr. Fuji on behalf of new champ Yokozuna. The crowd ate it up and Hogan accepted...uh oh...


WWF World Heavyweight Championship Match: Hulk Hogan def. Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji)

In a mere 21 seconds, Hogan would be World Champion once again. Yoko had grabbed Hogan from the bell as Mr. Fuji went to toss the Fuji Dust, only for Hogan to duck and it got in Yokozuna's eyes instead. Clothesline to Yokozuna took him down and the Legdrop of Doom was enough to end Yokozuna's reign of terror as WWF Champ.
​

 

[Mach]

I remember this project from back in the day on WC and super excited to see it back and honestly Sting would’ve been the perfect face of the company for the WWF in 93 - Vince really signed the wrong half of the Luger/Sting tag team if you ask me. You’re keeping Mania 9 the same which is fair enough interesting to see the next steps.

 

[Dubble J]

:::A Disputed Championship:::

WrestleMania IX saw not one but TWO title changes for the WWF World Championship as first, Royal Rumble winner Yokozuna picked up a very tainted win over champion Bret Hart thanks to Mr. Fuji's Fujidust. But moments later, Hulk Hogan would show up and was challenged by Fuji, which Hogan gladly accepted and promptly defeated Yokozuna in six seconds after Fuji's Fujidust went awry.

Much of the discussion on Raw and Superstars of Wrestling this week centered around the status of the WWF Championship following WrestleMania IX (well that and why you should order the replays, as well).

On Raw, Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna appeared for an interview with Gene Okerlund, clearly not satisfied with the outcome of WrestleMania.

And sure enough, we would get the news - but would it be the news that Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna were hoping to hear? We found out during the WWF Update on Superstars of Wrestling.

Despite being granted rematch at King of the Ring, Yokozuna was still not pleased to have been embarrassed by Hulk Hogan and he went on a war path in the lead up to King of the Ring. One such victim was jobber Scott Taylor who during a match on Raw was victim of not one, not two, but three Bonzai Drops.

One roadblock on Yokozuna’s Road to King of the Ring came in the form of a returning “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. A man that was put on the shelf months earlier by Yokozuna. With retribution on his mind and heart, Duggan jumped on the opportunity to face Yokozuna again when Mr. Fuji issued a challenge to anyone bold enough to take on his Sumo Superstar. Duggan went even bolder by suggesting that Fuji and Yokozuna even pick the stipulations for the match.

Would that end up being a mistake? Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna threw down the gauntlet by making it a Bodyslam Match.

Meaning the winner of the match will be the first to bodyslam his opponent. According to Mr. Fuji, Yokozuna clocks in at 560 pounds...so bodyslamming him is no easy feet. In fact, it's Herculean!

Sure, Duggan had a warm up match against Kamala where he was able to get the 300 pounder off the mat for a slam, but there's a big difference between even Kamal and Yokozuna.

To this point in his WWF career that started in late 1992, no one has come close to slamming Yokozuna to the mat.

Jim Duggan had hoped to be the first

For Jim Duggan it was not the end of this war with Yokozuna he was hoping for, but at least this time he wouldn't leave on a stretcher as he did in his first meeting with Yokozuna. Meanwhile, with Jim Duggan now in the rear view mirror, Yokozuna had his focus completely on winning back the WWF Championship from Hulk Hogan at King of the Ring.

With just one more week leading up to the event, it was now Brutus Beefcake who had become the target of Yokozuna. While the WWF Champion Hulk Hogan had been off filming a TV movie that was now in discussions to become a TV series (Thunder in Paradise), he hadn’t actually appeared in front of a WWF audience since WrestleMania. The match had primarily been built through on location interviews with Hogan and Jimmy Hart, much like this one..

But on the Memorial Day edition of Raw, it was revealed Hulk Hogan would be on hand for Raw so that he could be in the corner of his old pal Brutus Beefcake when he challenged Yokozuna, less than one week before Hogan would defend the title!

Needless to say, this was heavily promoted on WWF television this week and most of Raw was spent discussing how later that night we would get to see Hulk Hogan!

The two opponents for King of the Ring finally stood face to face on the Raw before the PPV - we wouldn't get to see them go at it that night but it at least gave us a bit of a taste of what was to come this Sunday on Pay-Per-View. Would Hulk Hogan be able to pin Yokozuna once again, this time in a match Yokozuna has had time to prepare for? Or will Yokozuna defeat Hulkamania and walk out as a TWO TIME WWF Champion?

STILL TO COME...

Chapter 1: 3 Months Earlier

[Road to King of the Ring]
-A Disputed Championship-
-An Indecent Proposal-
-Everybody Has A Price-
-Not Just Smoke & Mirrors-
-The Royal Competitors-
-The 1993 King of the Ring-
​

 

[Dubble J]

:::AN INDECENT PROPOSAL:::

At WrestleMania IX, Shawn Michaels defended the Intercontinental Championship against the undefeated Tatanka. Tatanka would win the match, remain undefeated, but still would not be champion - because Micahels ended up losing by countout. While Tatanka would still be in the title picture for now, he wasn't the only one gunning for Shawn's title.

Mr. Perfect had set his sights on becoming a three-time Intercontinental Champion after Michaels attacked him backstage at WrestleMania.

But in the midst of things starting to heat up between the two, Shawn Michaels would decide to interrupt one fan’s special moment on WWF Raw…

We seemed to be heading towards a collision between Perfect, however, things would take a bit of a turn on the May 17th episode of Raw.

Starting out the show on Raw, we immediately cut in on the parking lot to find Mr. Perfect lying, beaten on the hood of a Black Cadillac. While we don't get to see what happened, he was truly in bad shape. The cameras panned around to reveal the license plate of the car was a vanity plate reading "HBK."

Now clearly, that pointed the finger at one man, but as the show got under way - Vince McMahon revealed on commentary that Michaels had already been questioned by WWF Security and he was adamant that he had nothing to do with this but Vince was clearly skeptical. But he'd get the chance to ask some questions himself when Michaels joined him in the ring.

After a commercial break, Vince McMahon had returned to the booth and confirmed that the match was indeed on for later that night, despite Shawn Michaels arguing extensively backstage. But the "verbal contract" precedent had been set a few weeks ago by President Jack Tunney when he declared the Yokozuna/Hogan match at WrestleMania binding

For Jannetty, this was the chance of a lifetime and an opportunity at retribution.

Marty had been feuding with his former partner to start the year, but actually ended up being released by the WWF due to some allegations of being intoxicated at the Royal Rumble. Ironically, it was his friend Mr. Perfect who got Marty Jannetty a second chance. Granted none of this was talked about on air, but there would be a storyline connection between the now named fan, Chris Candido, and Jannetty - but that's more story to come.

While WWF would use this momentum for weeks and months to come as an illustration of how ANYTHING can happen in the WWF, it was a moment in his career Shawn Michaels would no doubt want to quickly forget as it had to be far be a low point for him. But, after embarrassing Candido two weeks ago in front of his girlfriend and the world watching at home - on that night, Michaels got to experience embarrassment of his own.

An embarrassment that he wouldn't soon live down, as we would find out in the coming weeks.

The following week, the hype centered around the debut of The King's Court interview segment hosted by Jerry "The King" Lawler and his first guest would be none other than the NEW Intercontinental Champion, Marty Jannetty.

And with that, the stage would be set for the rematch at King of the Ring. Two out of Three Falls to determine the Intercontinental Championship.

STILL TO COME...

Chapter 1: 3 Months Earlier

[Road to King of the Ring]
-A Disputed Championship-
-An Indecent Proposal-
-Everybody Has A Price-
-Not Just Smoke & Mirrors-
-The Royal Competitors-
-The 1993 King of the Ring-​

 

[KingBoggs23]

How did I miss this? This was one of my favorite BTBs back in the WC days. I can't wait to see this story continue.