SUMMERSLAM 93
The Palace at Auburn Hills
Auburn Hills, Michigan
August 30, 1993
Commentators: Vince McMahon and Bobby "The Brain" Heenan
The Lex Express has finally made it to Summerslam damn near two months after bodyslamming Yokozuna on the deck of the Intrepid. Lex Luger finally has his title shot against the WWF Champion but Jim Cornette has made sure this is Lex's only shot. Bret Hart and Jerry The King Lawler settle their feud in a one on one showdown after what happened at King of The Ring. Razor Ramon and Ted Dibiase settle their beef which started when the 123 Kid upset Razor. Speaking of Kid, he takes on Ted's partner IRS as well. The Undertaker takes on Giant Gonzalez in a Rest In Piece match to settle that feud once and for all. Smoky Mountain Wrestling's The Heavenly Bodies battle The Steiner Brothers for the WWF Tag Team Championship and Ludvig Borga makes his ppv debut against former Intercontinental Champion Marty Jannetty. Also we got a six man tag as Tatanka and The Smoking Gunns face off with Bam Bam Bigelow and The Headshrinkers. Last but not least is what should be one of the best matches of all time, Mr. Perfect vs Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship. Both of them had classics with Bret Hart so everyone is buzzing on what they can do together. All in all it sounds like a great show. Before the show officially started there was a dark match for the crowd.
Dark match:
"The Rocket" Owen Hart vs Barry Horrowitz
Apparently Bret's brother Owen opened the night with jobber Hall of Famer Horrowitz. No photo or video exists of this match but Owen got the victory.
Winner: Owen Hart
The show opens with Gene Okerlund making his final ppv appearance for 8 years in the form of a voice-over saying Lex Luger has arrived at Summerslam before we go to the opening graphic. Vince welcomes us with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan at ring-side and they run down the card. After that, its time for the first official match, let's go to the Fink.
Match 1
"The Million Dollar Man" Ted Dibiase vs Razor Ramon
This all goes back to the May 17th Monday Night Raw where Razor Ramon was upset by the 123 Kid. One month later Razor put up $10,000 for Kid to wrestle him again which ended with Kid running off the with the money. Fellow heels Money Inc laughed at Razor causing him to turn face. Razor got his revenge by costing Dibiase a match on the August 1st episode of Wrestling Challenge against the Kid. Now they split up Money INC for tonight's show with Kid against IRS and Dibiase facing Razor. Ramon comes out in the pink tights and Ted attacks him in the corner before the bell rings. Dibiase kicks away at Ramon who still has his vest on and Dibiase slugs away at him. Ted chops Razor in the corner but Razor reverses a whip and backdrops him. Razor hits a fallaway slam and drops Ted with a right hand. Ted bails to the outside as Razor finally sheds his vest. Vince says 123 Kid will be making his ppv debut as Heenan cracks a joke saying Razor should have been a domestic servant for Dibiase. Ramon drops Ted with a series of clotheslines including one over the top rope to the floor. Razor brings Ted in the hard way and he begs off. Razor stalks him but Ted sends Razor tights first into the buckle. Ted chokes Razor across the top rope as Heenan screams for Ted to choke him. Ted snaps Razor of the top and chokes him on the mat as well. Ted catches Razor with a back elbow smash and a backbreaker. Ted covers for 1...2....nope. Ted drops Razor with a clothesline and covers again for 1...2....no. Ted snaps Razor over and locks in a chinlock as Vince says its a choke. Referee Jimmy Korderas doesn't seem to notice as Razor begins to fade. Vince says Razor is "having his problems" as Razor revives and rallies with elbows but Ted stops him with a knee to the ribs. Ted executes a swinging neckbreaker and Heenan says he's setting him up for the Million Dollar Dream. Dibiase hits a snap suplex and calls for the Dream. Razor counters with an elbow and a clothesline to drop Ted. Dibiase rams Razor to the buckle and Ramon falls out of the ring. While the ref counts Razor, Ted takes off the buckle pad from the far side of the ring. Razor counters and sends Ted into the exposed steel. Razor then sets up for the Razor's Edge as Heenan screams "TEDDY NOOOOOOO!" Ramon hits the Razor's Edge and covers for 1....2....3 that's it. Heenan scoffs but Razor is your winner. This was the end of the road for Dibiase as an active competitor as he had 2 bad cervical discs in his back and decided to retire after a one-off in Japan. He'd be back though, but for now he puts Razor over as a future star.
Time of match: 7:28
Winner: Ramon by pinfall
Now we go to a WWF Hotline plus with none other than The Undertaker taking a call. Thank goodness for Coliseum Video because this part is NOT on the Peacock version. After that's over we go to Todd Pettingill at ringside with Crystal Rechsteiner and her mother....as in The Steiner Brothers sister and mother, Bronn Breaker's aunt and grandmother. Apparently their dad couldn't be there because he isn't feeling well. Todd asks what childhood was like and she just goes with what Todd is saying. He asks Crystal what her life was like and she said "No boyfriends, they see Rob and Scott and go I'm outta here!" Love how she used Rick's real name Rob. Todd tries to continue but Jim Cornette cuts him off in the ring to get to the next match.
Match 3
The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) vs The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) for the WWF Tag Team Championship
Cornette is wearing a neckbrace and Tom has a thigh bandage on to showcase injuries sustained in Smoky Mountain Wrestling. Tom Prichard has the distinction of wrestling a ppv match in both WCW & WWF while working for Smoky Mountain. For those that don't know, Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a regional territory like ECW and USWA and by the middle of 93 had a working agreement with Vince McMahon to send him The Heavenly Bodies for shows here and there. Somehow they got a tag team title shot but that's more to do with teams like Money INC splitting up and The Beverly Brothers & Nasty Boys leaving. The Steiners hug their mom & sister on the way in and they're wearing Michigan University style singlets for the hometown crowd. The Bodies jump the Steiners before the bell rings and Jimmy throws Scott out. The Bodies hit a double suplex on Rick and nail Scott off the apron. The Bodies hit a double flapjack then dumps Scott again. They double team Rick in the ring but Scott comes in like a house off fire and drops Tom into the corner where he sends Del Ray into him. Scott monkey flips Jimmy then hiptosses Prichard. Prichard ducks a clothesline but Del Ray eats it and Tom walks into an overhead suplex by Scott. Scott hits a tilt-a-whirl slam on Del Ray as Vince yells at the ref to take control. Cornette throws a tantrum outside as referee Danny Davis gets order restored. Scott and Tom lock up but Scott hits a vertical press slam as Heenan pretty much doxxes the Steiners on national ppv. Rick punches Tom as Del Ray nearly hits the ceiling on a backdrop. Scott tags Rick in as Tom gets a thumb to the eye. Tom tries a hiptoss but eats a lariat and Del Ray eats one as well. Rick scoop slams Del Ray as Vince says they're manhandling the Bodies. Cornette screams at the camera man as the heels regroup outside before Prichard comes in. Rick locks in an arm-ringer and Scott tags in to kick him. The crowd starts a Michigan "Let's go blue" chant and Scott hits atomic drops on both men, but Prichard sneaks up and drops Scott with a bulldog. Tom hits an enziguiri and heaves Scott out of the ring. Del Ray cannonballs onto Scott and throws him back in. Del Ray tags in as he goes off the top with an axehandle smash to the back. Jimmy hits a tilt-a-whirl DDT which had never been seen on WWF TV before. Prichard tags in as Tom hits a knee drop after Del Ray drops Scott with a drop-toe-hold. Prichard chokes Scott but then foolishly tries to outslug Scott but Del Ray tags in with a knee to the head. Del Ray hits a superkick on Scott and covers for 1....2...nope. Prichard tags in and kicks away at Scott before raking the back. Cornette gets a cheap-shot in as Heenan asks Vince if he wants a Diet Coke because he didn't see it. Del Ray tags in and goes for another DDT but Scott counters with a northrn lights suplex. Prichard tags in but Scott counters with a double underhook suplex. Del Ray tags in and Rick gets the hot tag. Rick cleans house as Heenan says Mrs. Steiner just gave her daughter a clothesline. Scott hits dropkicks on both Bodies as Rick hits Jimmy with a top-rope bulldog. Rick covers for 1...2...nope, Prichard stops the count. Steiner goes to punch Prichard in the corner but Tom dumps Scott over the top to the floor. Rick hits a powerslam on Del Ray but Cornette gets on the apron. For some reason Korderas starts counting Scott out even though he's not the legal man and Cornette tosses Prichard the tennis racket. Prichard hits Rick in the back with it and dives out of the ring. Del Ray covers for 1......2...NOOOO. Prichard holds Rick for Del Ray's moonsault but Rick moves causing Jimmy to hit Tom with it. Scott gives the sign for the Frankensteiner and hits it. Rick covers for 1...2...3.....that's it. That was one of the BEST tag matches of the year bar none. No rest-holds, fast paced action and since it was 4 guys Cornette loved, no funny business either. The sad part was those kinds of matches were standard for Smoky Mountain but new to WWF used to slow paced, formulaic matches. This should have been the opener of the show but oh well, damn good match and hats off to everyone involved.
Time of match: 9:26
Winners: Steiners by pinfall (Still champions)
We're brought to a backstage interview with actor/newscaster Joe Fowler. If you don't know who that is, he was a legitimate broadcaster who got himself into movies such as Cobra, Independence Day and Mighty Ducks 2....of course the last two were after his WWF stint. Bottom line was this was Vince and Kevin Dunn once again forgoing actual wrestling announcers for legitimate newscasters with Mean Gene on his way out. Anyway Joe is with Shawn Michaels and his bodyguard Diesel. Joe asks if Shawn can hang on to the belt and Shawn hypes up what everyone was thinking at the time, who's the greatest IC champ of all time, him or Perfect. Shawn says obviously is he himself is the greatest Intercontinental champion. Joe makes a good point that Perfect cost him the belt but Diesel got it back for him. Diesel himself still talks like Vinnie Vegas and he says he's just here to keep the chicks off the champ. Joe sends it back to Vince. Vince asks Bobby who the greatest champ is but then sends it to Howard Finkel before he can answer, hahaha.
Match 3
Mr. Perfect vs "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (with Diesel) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
The buzz for this match was something else as both of them were masters of the ring and great IC champs. Bret Hart put on a clinic with Perfect in 91 and topped it with British Bulldog in 92 so Vince tried to make it 3 in a row with Perfect vs Shawn. Now they did meet on Coliseum Video years earlier but this time its Shawn that's the heel. Heenan says Diesel taught Roberto Duran how to punch and Vince says Heenan has brains of stone, ha! Heenan says no one had ever 3-peated as IC champ and Perfect would definitely be the one to do it, problem is he has to face Shawn at the top of his game and Diesel outside. We also get shown Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon doing Radio WWF up in the balcony as Perfect makes his entrance. Heenan tries is his best not to knock his former protege while still showing bias to Shawn. Shawn Starts with an armringer as Vince says this is going to be one of the best matches ever as Shawn drops Perfect out of it. They exchange go-behinds before Shawn gets in a headlock. Perfect sends Shawn off the ropes as Shawn slides under Perfect, rolls over his back and they completely botch an arm drag spot. Shawn sells it anyway as Perfect drops knees on Shawn's left arm. Shawn and Perfect trade hammerlocks but Shawn runs up the ropes and does a nice headlock takeover that Perfect scissors out of. Shawn misses with an elbow drop and gets frustrated. Vince says the loser will be the one who makes a mistake. Shawn punches Perfect in the corner and he responds with chops to the chest. Shawn nails Perfect with a back elbow smash then rolls out of the corner only to do a 360 on a lariat by Perfect. Perfect covers for 1....2...nope. Perfect goes back to the arm-bar as Vince hypes up Mr. Perfect and Heenan once again tries his best not to diss Perfect but still put over Shawn. Shawn comes off the top but right into an arm-drag and Perfect takes Shawn down with another one and covers for 1...2.....nooooo, that was much closer than it should have been. Perfect works over the left arm again with the camera panning on Diesel. Heenan tries to diss the Steiner family as Shawn gets to his feet and misses with a clothesline. Perfect catches Shawn mid-air and slingshots him over the top rope to the floor. Perfect goes outside but sees Diesel stalking him and turns around. Perfect turns around into Sweet Chin Music and Shawn comes off the apron with an axehandle smash. Heenan tries to hand the monitor to Shawn and say "use this" but Vince stops him, hahaha. Perfect rolls inside and Shawn goes to work with knees to the back. Shawn rallies with elbow drops to the back and whips Perfect into the corner. Perfect sells the back and lands a forearm to the back. Shawn whips Perfect into the corner again as Heenan says "The ring moved us to Flint". Shawn drops down on Perfect's bad in the corner as Perfect shouts "Goddammit!". Shawn lands a backbreaker and holds him there for a submission attempt as Heenan says to snap him like a Slim Jim. Vince says this may be the first time Perfect ever submits completely forgetting he did it against Bret two years earlier. Perfect punches his way out of it and Heenan praises him for it. Perfect rallies with right hands, leapfrogs over Shawn and lands a dropkick followed by a back-body drop. Perfect lands a knee lift that nearly takes out referee Earl Hebner. Perfect then hits an inverted atomic drop and covers for 1...2....nope. Perfect lands a big forearm and covers for 1...2..nope. Perfect blocks an arm-drag then they struggle to get a backslide only for Perferct to catch Shawn with the Perfect Plex! 1....2....,noooo Diesel pulled out Perfect. Perfect clubs away at Diesel outside as Heenan says "HE HIT A MAN WITH GLASSES!" Shawn jumps off the apron into a forearm to the chest by Perfect. Perfect throws Shawn in but with the ref still counting, Diesel heaves Perfect into the ring post. The ref completes the count and that's it, Perfect is counted out. The crowd is livid as are anyone who thought this was going to be the greatest match of all time. Diesel celebrates with Shawn but Perfect gets in and knees Diesel in the back before dropping Shawn with right hands. Perfect clubs away at Diesel but Shawn grabs Perfect's arms. Diesel lands a knockout punch to drop Perfect as the heels leave. Shawn retains the title in a passable match but way too overhyped. I said it for years the reason Bret vs Perfect worked was both get down and mat wrestle and put on a believable second generation wrestling match. The reason Bret vs Shawn worked so well was Shawn could bounce around like a rubber ball and do the arial stuff Bret couldn't. Shawn couldn't get down with Perfect the way Bret could and Perfect couldn't rag doll Shawn like Bret could so Shawn could do his super bumps. It all added up to a disappointment, but Shawn is still the champion.
Time of match: 11:19
Winner: Michaels by count-out (still IC Champ)
Todd catches Shawn coming out of the ring and says he can't be happy with the way he won and Shawn says he just proved he's the greatest IC Champ of all time. Vince plugs the hotline with Razor Ramon and Jim Cornette on it with Perfect running to the back. We're back with Joe Fowler who's with the 123 Kid who says its both their first pay-per-view. Kid is nervous to wrestle IRS and he can barely talk. Fowler says IRS is bigger and stronger but so is anyone that's against the Kid. Kid says he's going to do his best and Joe says IRS is already in the ring, go get him. Fowler's style actually works, he'll never be Mean Gene but nobody can be.
Match 4
123 Kid vs IRS
Like I mentioned earlier, in the fallout of Razor vs Kid we saw Money INC turn Razor face and break off into side feuds with Razor & Dibiase being the first. Now the story here is can the upset Kid face a determined IRS that's not about to take Kid lightly like Razor & Ted did? IRS on the mic "Detroit used to be known as the motor city, now its known as the tax cheat city!" Heenan says this is the first time Kid's been up past 8 o'clock. Vince says he's an inspiration to kids around the country as the bell rings. Heenan calls Vince "tuxedo breath" and says Dibiase only lost to Kid because of Razor. They lock up with IRS backing Kid into the corner before waffling him. IRS gets a headlock, sends Kid off the ropes and drops him with a shoulderblock. He tries it again only this time Kid hits him with a spinning roundhouse kick. He covers for 1....2..no. Vince thought for sure it would be over as IRS slowly gathers himself. Heenan says not to take Kid lightly and Irwin gets a knee to the ribs. Kid takes a high faceplant bump as Heenan says he was thrown higher than Michael Jordan ever dunked a ball. We're in Detroit, not Chicago.....you were better off with Isiah Thomas. IRS sends Kid off but misses a clothesline and eats a dropkick. Kid covers for 1...2....nope. Kid goes off the rope but IRS stops him with an elbow to the jaw. Referee Tim White admonishes IRS for heaving Kid over the top rope to the floor. IRS lands a forearm to the Kid's chest and he falls off the apron. Kid crawls back on the apron and IRS nails him with a right hand, but Kid slingshots himself back in to roll up IRS for 1...2...nooooo. Even Heenan thought he had him that time. IRS drops him with another back elbow smash then drops an elbow on the mat. He covers for 1...2...nope. IRS locks in an abdominal stretch and uses the rope for leverage. IRS locks in a chinlock but Kid powers out of it and rams Irwin's head into the buckle. He does his kicks in the corner that drop IRS then goes up to the top. Kid hits a moonsault for 1...2..nooo. Kid rolls into a cradle for another near count as Heenan frantically screams for IRS to do something. IRS catches the leg and Kid hits an enziguiri then covers for 1...2.....nope. Kid sends IRS but IRS drops down and catches Kid with the Write Off clothesline. IRS covers for 1...2...3 that's it. Heenan goes to the Brain Scan to show the Kid was written off with the 1040. Anyway, IRS wins to show that luck doesn't last forever in a damn good crash style match. I hate to say it but the only dud so far was the IC title match hyped to be the best ever and even then it wasn't that bad.
Time of match: 5:40
Winner: IRS by pinfall
We go over to Todd who's with the Hart Brothers Bruce and Owen. The backstory to this feud was Bret Hart won King of The Ring only for Jerry "The King" Lawler to crash Bret's coronation and attack him. A month later Lawler berated Stu & Helen Hart, Bret's parents during a Bret match with Bam Bam Bigelow on Raw. Now Bret takes on Lawler to decide who's the real king of the company. I used to wonder why Owen's hair was so wet in this interview and now I realize it was because he wrestled earlier on the show. Bruce and Owen say Stu couldn't be there because he twisted his knee and needed surgery following Jerry Lawler's tirade on Raw. In real life Stu needed surgery anyway but Stu was more than happy to claim he hurt it because of a wrestling storyline. Owen and Bruce say they're there to support Bret tonight. Bret makes his entrance but all of a sudden Jerry Lawler hobbles out on crutches with a big ice pack on his knee. Heenan says he knew something was wrong with Jerry but didn't want to say something. Vince sends Todd to find out what's going on and Lawler goes into this fantastic promo. Referees Danny Davis, Bill Alfonso and Jimmy Korderas have to hold Bret back as Lawler claims this was going to be the biggest night of his entire life. He hates the whole Hart family and wants to snap Bret's neck but then says when he got to Detroit, the Detroit rental car he had didn't work and an old lady caused a 10 car pileup. Lawler goes on saying he pulled himself from the wreck and nurses claimed he couldn't wrestle, but he's going to Summerslam anyway. Lawler said the doctors in the back that he won't be wrestling as Vince says this is a ripoff. Owen, Bret and Bruce all shout at Lawler as Jerry says "Oh yeah I guess you'd come down here and beat up a cripple huh?" Lawler says Bret isn't getting off easy as a lot of wrestlers came up and said they'll take Jerry's place. Lawler says he picked his replacement, his personal court jester DOINK THE CLOWN!
Match 5
Doink The Clown vs Bret "The Hitman" Hart.
Doink comes out with two buckets and smoking a stogie as he looks at Lawler's knee all concerned. Vince says "This is the biggest ripoff I've seen in a long time." Doink throws a bucket of confetti on the fans but throws a bucket of water on Bruce. Bret wrote in his book that Owen in the back said if Doink got a single drop on him he'd rib him till the end of time. Doink got it all on Bruce and Bret attacks him outside of the ring, dropping the stogie on the protective mat outside. The bell rings as Heenan laughs hystrically with the refs holding Bruce back. Bret unloads with right hands in the ring then clotheslines Doink over the top to the floor, guess this official now. Bret hammers away on Doink and clotheslines him to the ground. Bret rams Doink into the ring post as Doink crawls back inside. Vince says Bret is in the bad mood as Doink begs off as Heenan tries to confirm Jerry's story. Bret goes to town on Doink in the corner and snaps him into the other corner. Bret pulls Doink to the center, spins him around and lands a big right hand to send Doink through the ropes to the outside. Lawler hobbles over to help Doink who nails Bret on the apron before going upstairs. Bret stops him with the punch to the gut then snaps Doink off the top rope. Bret drops an elbow on Doink as Owen from the outside says save a piece of him for Lawler. Bret nails Doink with right hands and a headbutt before going outside to get a piece of Lawler. Doink nails Bret with a knee to the back and sends him into the ring post. Doink sends Bret back in the ring and Lawler screams to massacre Bret. Bret rallies with right hands but Doink counters with a one leg atomic drop. Doink works over the left leg and rams it into the ring post. Doink drags Bret to the center and covers for 1...2...no. Doink locks in an STF as the crowd chants for Bret. Bret makes it to the ropes so Doink drags him to the center and applies the stump puller. For some reason he lets go and stomps away at Bret on the ground. Doink scoop slams Bret and goes upstairs for the Whoopie Cushion. Bret gets his knees up at the last second....ow. Bret takes over and slugs away at Doink before running through his offense of forearm to the gut, russian leg sweep, second rope elbow and the sharpshooter. Bret taunts Lawler as he applies the sharpshooter and Lawler takes his robe off showing he's not hurt at all. He grabs a crutch, gets in the ring and waffles Bret with it for a disqualification. This was definitely shaping up to be a story tonight and this was a good first act. Bret and Doink had a solid match but this was not over.
Time of match: 8:53
Winner: Bret Hart by disqualification
Lawler goes to town on Bret with the crutch as the WWF referees & Tony Garea run out to keep Owen and Bruce from interfering. I can understand Bruce but Owen was under contract so why hold him back? Lawler continues to go nuts on Bret before gathering Doink up and walking to the back. Just before he walks through the curtain, WWF President Jack Tunney comes out and sticks a finger in Lawler's face. Doink walks of as Tunney backs Lawler back up the apron with Bret now trying to plow through the referees to get at him. Rene Goulet, Blackjack Lanza, Pat Patterson. Dave Hebner and Chief Jay Strongbow come out to assist Jack in getting Lawler to the ring. Tunney walks over to Howard Finkel to make a statement. Howard says if Lawler doesn't wrestle Bret then he'll be banned for life from WWF. Bret doesn't even give Jerry a chance to think about it as he attacks Lawler in the entrance as the Suit Brigade clears out. Bret stalks Lawler back to the ring with right hands and a headbutt. Bret hits Lawler with one of Doink's buckets and Jerry rolls into the ring. The bell rings and its finally official.
Match 6
Jerry "The King" Lawler vs Bret "The Hitman" Hart in a Winner is The Real King of the WWF match
Bret wastes no time and clubs away at Jerry as Heenan says every punch is for a member of his family. Bret bites Lawler as Vince says THIS is the match fans wanted. Bret backdrops Jerry and teases the sharpshooter but hits a headbutt between the thighs. Owen cheers on Bret as Lawler bails outside. Bret cracks Lawler in the back with the crutch and sends Lawler into the barricade. Lawler grabs the crutch and nails Bret with it which turnabout is fair play. Jerry tells the ref to deal with Owen as he chokes Bret with the crutch. Referee Bill Alfonso tells Lawler to get in the ring as he nails Bret with the crutch again. Jerry grabs Bret's legs and sends him nad first into the ring post. Lawler grabs the crutch and gets in the ring as Alfonso turns his back to yell at the Hart brothers. Lawler nails Bret in the throat with a crutch before ramming Bret into the buckle. Lawler poses for the irate crowd but Bret kicks him square in the balls. Bret pulls his singlet straps down which was ironically Lawler's babyface MO in Memphis. Bret rallies with right hands and a headbutt. Bret hits a backdrop and delivers a backbreaker before covering for a deuce. Bret hits a piledriver and a second rope elbow drop. Bret gives the thumbs down signal as Heenan knows the reference and says "they want to see the King slaughtered," Bret locks in the sharpshooter and Lawler gives it up to end the match. One problem, Bret won't let go despite the bell ringing and Alfonso telling him to release the hold. Bret's old pal Danny Davis gets in the ring to try to pry Bret off but can't. Tim White hits the ring to help out but Bret still won't let go. Referee Joey Marella joins in and still can't get Bret to let go. Owen and Bruce cheer Bret on from ringside and all four officials still can't get Bret off. The Suit Brigade hits the ring and tries to get Bret off and Bret wrote in his book some of them leaned on Lawler as a rib. Patterson tells Alfonso to do something and goes outside to talk to the brothers. Finally Owen and Bruce get in the ring to tell Bret to let go. Heenan frantically screams to get Bret off of Lawler and finally Bret let's go. The fans erupt as the officials talk with each other. Finkel then says the official has reversed the decision since Bret refused to let go and Bret has been disqualified. Lawler is now the undisputed king of the WWF as Heenan laughs it up. The Suit Brigade calls for a stretcher as Bret goes nuts and starts punching Lawler again. Lawler is placed on a stretcher and Bruce & Owen start throwing punches at him before Jack Doane hauls Lawler off. In an iconic image, Lawler is hauled off on a stretcher holding his finger in the air the winner. Bret, Bruce and Owen celebrate in the ring as we finally end this segment. That was an incredible half hour for sure with everything that happened from Doink to Lawler faking to Bret winning only to get DQ'd for not letting go. I loved that match even if the twist was not for babyface lovers.
Time of match: 6:30
Winner: Lawler by reverse disqualification
Vince sends us to a Ludvig Borga vignette of him walking around the slums of Detroit. Borga is front of an abandoned building and says Luger won't win tonight. Ludvig says the crumbling building is a sign of the times for the country with people dropping out of school to collect welfare checks. "You call this the land of opportunities, well I'm gonna take my opportunity to show all you show all you so called wrestlers and Marty Jannetty what Ludvig Borga is all about.
Match 7
Marty Jannetty vs Ludvig Borga
The former Intercontinental Champion takes on the new monster heel. Heenan says Borga is undefeated while Vince says he's only been around for a month. Bell rings and Jannetty yells at Borga before turning his back. Naturally Borga clobbers him with a forearm to the back. Borga then goes for the uppercuts to the ribs as Vince brings up Borga's legit boxing past as a teenager. Borga sends Jannetty into the corner who walks right into a lariat. Borga knees Marty in the ribs in the corner, sends him off the ropes and heaves Jannetty high in the air. Borga hits an uppercut on the way down like out of Mortal Kombat as Heenan is impressed. Borga continues to uppercut Marty in the ribs and then Vince calls him the Scandanavian deadlift champion. Ludvig sends Marty into the corner but misses the big splash. Jannetty clotheslines Ludvig but it doesn't faze him. Marty tries another but gets dropped by Borga. Heenan says Tatanka is undefeated too but Vince says Tatanka's been in the company for over a year while Borga's only been around since July. Jannetty goes for a sunset flip but eats a right hand before Ludvig applies the bearhug. Jannetty goes for a slam but gets caught with a 360 clothesline. Borga sends Marty off before Jannetty tries another sunset flip. Borga punches the mat and Marty rocks mhim with a superkick. Marty hits him with a second one but Borga still doesn't go off his feet. He tries a crossbody off the second rope but Borga catches and powerslams him. Borga punches Marty in the ribs and finally puts Jannetty in the torture rack. Jannetty gives it up and Borga is your winner. Heenan says that's the former Intercontinental Champion that Borga just destroyed. That felt like a Superstars main event where a top heel squashes the mid-card babyface. It was clear ability wise he had what it took to be a main event player but we'll see.
Time of match: 5:17
Winner: Borga by submission
We go to an ad for Survivor Series narrated by the departing Gene Okerlund as Vince says we're going back to tag team Survivor Series matches after last year wasn't. Vince says it will be taking place on Thanksgiving Eve and sends it to the Fink for the next match.
Match 8
Giant Gonzalez (with Harvey Whippleman) vs The Undertaker in a Rest In Peace Match
This was just a fancy way to say its a No Holds Barred match to finally end this feud. At the Royal Rumble Gonzalez eliminated The Undertaker and they got it on at Wrestlemania 9 with Taker winning by disqualification. Then just before the King of The Ring Mr. Hughes, Gonzalez and Harvey attacked Taker and Bearer, stealing the urn. This was supposed to be Taker vs Mr. Hughes who was Taker's main opponent after the urn was stolen, but Curtis left leaving Taker with one more match with Gonzalez. Harvey still has the urn as Taker makes his entrance without Bearer. Taker attacks Gonzalez at the bell with chops in the corner. Taker chokes Gonzalez as Heenan says this a new side of Taker being the aggressor. Harvey gets on the apron as Heenan says Harvey would knock Vince out in a minute. Taker charges but eats boot and Gonzalez hits slow forearms to the back followed by a headbutt. Gonzalez hits a forearm but Taker clotheslines Gonzalez twice. Taker goes for a third one but Gonzalez headbutts him down. Taker sits up but Gonzalez throws him through the ropes to the outside. Gonzalez continues to land forearms to the back with Taker trying to fight back. Gonzalez sends him head first into the apron then into the steel steps. Gonzalez grabs a chair and nails Taker in the ribs and back with it. Its no DQ so its all legal. Gonzalez sends Taker knees first into the steps. Never knew why he took that bump so much, that bump hurts. Taker slowly starts to get up as Vince speculates that without Bearer in control of the urn, he doesn't have his usual energy. Gonzalez throws Taker back inside as Taker crawls toward the urn. Harvey grabs it as Gonzalez drags Taker to the center of the ring. Gonzalez lands more forearms to the back but Taker rallies with throat thrusts. Taker reaches for the urn but Harvey snatches it away at the last second. Heenan says there's no way Gonzalez can lose as Taker takes a bump in the corner. All of a sudden Paul Bearer makes his way to ringside with Heenan screaming "He's aliveeeee!!!" Paul brings a black wreath as Gonzalez chokes Taker in the corner. Bearer hadn't been seen since the middle of June and Harvey takes his jacket off. Harvey charges Bearer and Paul decks him with a clothesline. Paul grabs the urn and the crowd pops as Taker's strength has been returned. Gonzalez scoop slams Taker and starts stalking Bearer. Bearer holds up the urn and Taker sits up. Taker chops Gonzalez and clotheslines him twice to stun the big man. Taker lands a third clothelsine then a fourth that still doesn't put him down. A fifth one has Gonzalez down to one knee as Taker goes up to the top rope. Taker lands a top rope clothesline and covers for 1....2.....3 that's it. Bearer sets up the wreath next to Gonzalez as Taker salutes the urn as Heenan says he's got the urn & Bearer back. Taker and Bearer leave as Gonzalez gets up with Whippleman in his face. Gonzalez stalks Whippleman around the ring and then grabs him by the throat in the corner. Gonzalez browbeats him and hits a poor looking chokeslam. Gonzalez gets a tiny pop from the crowd as he puts the wreath over Whippleman. Harvey's year long quest to find someone to beat Undertaker is over, and he failed miserably.
Time of match: 8:01
Winner: Undertaker by pinfall
Backstage Joe Fowler is with WWF Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna, Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette. Fowler sticks it to Cornette by saying he's 0-1 and Cornette responds by calling him a hatchet head. Cornette bitches about the Heavenly Bodies but segues saying its not gonna lose to Yokozuna. Joe Fowler says we've had surprises tonight and the next one could be Lex winning the belt. Cornette says the only surprise is Fowler's employment and Cornette says Yokozuna will be the last thing Lex Luger will ever see. Cornette says draw power from everyone he met on the Lex Express and all that strength won't be enough. Cornette says the last thing Lex will hear is Yokozuna who says "Banzaiiiiiii." Back to Heenan and Vince for the next match.
Match 9
The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) and Tatanka vs The Headshrinkers (Samu & Fatu) & Bam Bam Bigelow with Afa and Luna Vachon in a Six-Man Tag Team Match
Bam Bam and Tatanka have been beefing since before King of The Ring and the Gunns & Shrinkers were perennial opponents so it made sense to put the six of them together for a six-man tag match. Bell rings and the heels attack immediately with clotheslines. Bam Bam stomps Tatanka and we're starting with them. Bam Bam drops Tatanka with a shoulder block but misses a clothesline. Tatanka stuns Bam Bam with a shoulderblock but drops him with a dropkick. Tatanka backdrops Bam Bam but they hit each other with crossbodies. Bam Bam tags in Fatu as Billy Gunn tags in. Billy wins a slugfest but Fatu counters with a savate kick. Billy hits a facebuster and hits a reverse bulldog off the top rope. Fatu stops the momentum with a shoulderblock and Samu tags in. They do a double headbutt and Samu slams Billy off the top rope. Afa hits Billy on the outside while the ref is busy with Tatanka and Bart. Samu hits his own savate kick but Billy lands in his corner to tag in Bart. Bart hits a bodypress for a two count then arm-drags Samu. Samu denies a bodypress attempt with an elbow to the face then grabs Bart mid-air and slams him down by the neck. Bam Bam tags in and hits a big dropkick before covering for a two count. Fatu tags in and axehandles Bart in the back before executing a powerslam. The cover gets two as Samu tags in to land a punch to the body. Samu bites Bart against the ropes and chops him in the corner. Fatu tags in and they do a double head-butt. Fatu tags in Bam Bam who drops Bart with a shoulderblock. Heenan says the Headshrinkers are having so much fun out there against the Gunns that tomorrow they'll attack the merry-go-round horses kids ride on for 25 cents, hahahaha. Bam Bam rams Bart's head into both the Shrinkers heads before Fatu tags in. Bart rams Fatu's head into the ground and Fatu no-sells it before dropping Bart with a clothesline. Fatu tags in Samu for the double chop as Afa and Luna have a conversation outside....THAT I'd love to hear. Bart gets triple teamed in the corner with Samu tagging in for a throat thrust. Samu rams Bart's head into Fatu's head and Heenan says "they don't care and its hard to beat a guy that don't care how much you beat on him." Bam Bam and Samu drop Bart as Heenan sings "Happy trailllllsssssssss". Bam Bam sends Bart into the corner and Bam Bam misses so bad he hits the ringpost. Tatanka gets the hot tag and he chops away at Bam Bam. Tatanka scoop slams Bam Bam and hits a DDT before going up to the top rope. Tatanka hits the crossbody off the top for 1....2....noooooo. Samu was supposed to break the count but he was too late forcing Bam Bam to kick out. Tatanka then does the warpath dance Strongbow used to but Bam Bam drops him with an enziguri. Bam Bam tags in Samu who goes up to the second rope and hits a diving headbutt. Samu covers for 1...2...nope. Bart breaks up the count and he eats a savate kick from Fatu. Billy dropkicks Fatu in the corner as Bam Bam and Fatu double clothesline Billy out of the ring. Tatanka is sent into the corner as Vince says "this isn't the Survivor Series!" Ironic as Bam Bam & the Headshrinkers would be teammates at the upcoming one. Bam Bam is whipped into Tatanka in the corner as referee Jimmy Korderas orders the Headshrinkers out of the ring. All three men headbutt Tatanka as all three men go upstairs. Somehow Tatanka rolls out of the way of all three of them. Billy Gunn does a plancha on top of Bam Bam as Bart hits a plancha on Fatu. Tatanka rolls up Samu inside the ring for 1....2.....3...that's it. That was 10 times better than I thought it was going to be, helps that all three heels can move well for bigger guys. The Gunns and Tatanka leave together after a job well done. Good job to all six of them.
Time of match: 11:14
Winners: Tatanka & The Smoking Gunns by pinfall
Back to Joe Fowler who's with the driver of the Lex Express out in the parking lot. Wow, couldn't have at least let the guy in or something? The dude's name is Hank Carter and at least he's got Summerslam on the monitor in the bus. Hank says Lex is a genuine person especially with the children. Fowler asks which city was his favorite on the road to Summerslam and Hank answers Philadelphia because they went to a children's hospital. He says the kids lit up when he walked into the room even though they had terminal diseases. Fowler says he's going to ask a stupid question and asks who's gonna win. Hank naturally answers Lex as Fowler sends us to Todd Pettingill at ringside with some fan.....they could have had another match in the time they're wasting before the main event. The kids in the crowd chant USA as the fan's name is Bruce and he's wearing a red white and blue toga his mom made from material she got at Sears. Ha, least he's honest about it. Back to Vince & Bobby at ringside who tries to hype up the main event but Bobby gets in a funny quip saying President Carter drove the bus. Vince says HANK Carter drove the bus but Bobby says "well they sounded the same." Vince sends us to the Fink who has the crowd rise for the singing of the Japanese national anthem which gets a round of boos from the crowd. Kiotika Suzuki belts out the tune which is rather unfair since he's getting booed for no reason. R & B singer Aaron Neville and "Macho Man" Randy Savage come out to sing the US national anthem. After that's over, we sent it to Finkel for the main event.
Match 10
Lex Luger vs Yokozuna (with Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji) for the WWF Heavyweight Championship
For those that need the long backstory. Hulk Hogan had left the company and Vince was looking for a new American hero to go up against his monster heel representing Japan (by way of Samoa). Lex Luger had the best physique in the company so Vince decided to turn him face. On July 4th on the deck of the USS Intrepid, Luger came in last via helicopter and slammed Yokozuna. After that he was put on the Lex Express bus to gain steam for the main event of Summerslam. Vince was giving Lex all this hooplah when he could have saved money on the bus and campaign by putting Yoko with Bret Hart. Lex makes his entrance and gets a decent pop but not the deafaning pop that Vince wanted, that should have been a sign. Bell's gone and they have a staredown where Lex is actually taller than Yokozuna. Fuji sneaks in but Luger chases him away then moves out of the way of Yokozuna's charge. Luger sends Yokozuna off the ropes and rocks him with an elbow. Luger blocks a slam and goes for a running roll up, denied by Yokozuna. Yoko goes for the leg-drop but misses as Lex rolls out of the way Lex kicks the legs of Yoko who falls down. Lex hits an elbow drop and covers for 1...2....nope. Luger runs off the ropes but is caught and slammed by Yokozuna. Yoko misses an elbow drop and Lex kicks away in the corner. Luger rams Yoko in the buckle and sends him into the other corner. Lex hits a clothesline in the corner and hits 3 punches on the corner. Referee Earl Hebner pulls Lex off and Lex moves him out of the way only to eat a double chop to the throat. Yoko distracts the ref and Fuji goes to throw salt in Luger's eyes, only for Lex to block Fuji from doing it. Luger fires away at Yoko with right hands and goes for a slam, but can't do it. Yoko hits a savate kick and throws Lex through the ropes to the outside. Cornette and Fuji try to swarm Lex as Yoko headbutts him off the apron. Yokozuna goes to the outside and chokes him with his sumo straps. Yoko chops Lex in the chest against the ringpost and avalanches him. Yokozuna grabs a chair and swings, but misses. Lex moves out of the way and rallies with right hands outside. Yoko rolls back inside as Luger goes up to the top. Luger hits two straight axehandle smashes that don't drop him so he goes up for a third. This time he drops Yoko with a forearm from off the top and covers for 1...2.....nooooo. Lex hits a clothesline to the back of the head and covers for 1..2....nope. Yoko kicks out at the last second as Heenan calls Luger a dummy. Ha, it was Heenan that introduced Luger just 8 months earlier at the Royal Rumble. A double clothesline drops both men as Cornette hops up on the apron. Fuji throws the salt bucket to Yoko who waffles Lex with it. Vince pleads for the match not to end this way as Heenan says he's heard of kicking the bucket but not like this. Yoko covers for 1.....2.....noooooo. Yoko chops away at Lex and rakes the back with Vince cheering Lex on. Yoko hits a belly-to-belly suplex and covers for 1....2...nope. Fuji screams from the outside to end it as Yoko chokes Lex on the middle rope. Cornette yells at Luger from outside as Yoko hits a back suplex before covering 1...2....nope, not over yet. Yoko locks in a nerve hold before Lex rallies with elbows but foolishly goes for a slam. Yoko falls on top of him for 1...2....no. Yoko goes for the banzai drop but Lex moves at the last second. Yokozuna rams Lex's head into the buckle but Lex rallies with elbows. They slug it out but Yoko gets the upperhand with chops to the chest. Yoko whips Lex off and goes for the avalanche but Lex moves. Yokozuna walks right into a scoop slam and Lex punches Fuji off the apron. Lex calls for the forearm and he nails Yoko with it through the ropes to the outside. Yokozuna is out cold but Lex doesn't care to go get him. Lex punches Cornette off the apron as Hebner completes the count. Lex wins the match.....but not the title. WHAT AN IDIOT! Vince puts over Lex as doing the impossible as Savage, Tatanka and The Steiners come out to celebrate with Lex. They put him on their shoulders as Heenan correctly points out that Yokozuna didn't win the title. Lex waives the American flag as red white and blue balloons fall from the ceiling. Vince on commentary hypes up Lex as the next champion the next time they meet. Heenan frantically calls for someone to help Yokozuna as Vince calls Lex an American hero. The match itself was pretty decent given who was involved but this was a monumental miscalculation by Vince. His thinking was holding off Lex vs Yokozuna for Wrestlemania with Lex chasing him....only problem was that wouldn't be for another six months and a lot could go wrong. The excessive celebration with the babyfaces holding him up with balloons falling made this look foolish. If Vince wanted to book Luger chasing, he should have had had Luger hit Yoko with the forearm and try to get him back in the ring to no avail. He can pound the mat in frustration knowing he blew his chance then the babyfaces can come out and console him for not winning the title. You can still have the moral victory but at least have Luger aware that he choked.
Time of match: 17:55
Winner: Lex Luger by count-out (Yokozuna retains)
After the show, we get a music video montage for Lex called I'll Be Your Hero......little late on that now that he's blown his chance to be the champion. Then we go to Joe Fowler with Lex celebrating with the guys in the locker-room and Lex says it was an honor. All of a sudden Ludvig Borga barges in and says he's not impressed with Lex, his friends or the USA. Borga says if he steps in the ring with him, he'll crush him like America is crumbling piece by piece. Vince signs off and we're finally done here. As I said earlier, Vince's thinking was having Luger chase Yoko to Wrestlemania when it would have been a lot better for business to have Lex win and be the babyface champion, especially with Borga coming in to challenge him. As for the rest of the show, it was excellent. The opener was good, the second match was great, the IC match was a dud but everything else sans Gonzalez/Taker was solid. One of the few times Vince outsmarted himself as the ending is still being laughed at 30 years later. But at least we have a few feuds moving forward with Bret/Lawler, Lex/Yoko with Borga factoring in and Perfect/Shawn is far from over. Since Summerslam 93 was on a Monday night, we'll see you at WWF Mania this Saturday.
