WWF Stars and Stripes Challenge 7/4/1993

WWF Stars and Stripes Challenge 7/4/1993

We are on the USS Intrepid in NYC. 

This from the WWE Vault channel. There will be various athletes and wrestlers trying to bodyslam Yokozuna. Everyone gets one chance only. There is a red, white and blue Silverado for the person who can slam Yoko.

Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna are interviewed in the ring by Todd Pettengill. Fuji says no athlete can slam Yoko. Fuji later says Yoko has bulked up to 568lbs for this.

Lee Rouson, a former NY Giants running back, is up first. He grabs Yoko by the leg and pushes him back some and that's it. "Macho Man" Randy Savage calls Lee a friend for life.

Joe Morris, another former NY Giants player, is up next. Joe tries to lift him and immediately gives up.

John Cronin, a Philadelphia Flyers defensemen is up next. John says Yoko is a big man but he'll give it his best shot. Todd says he has one shot. John goes for it, gets nowhere and backs off.

Bob Backlund is next up. Bob says he's going to put an emphasis on getting Yoko off his feet. Macho says let's do it for our country. Bob goes for it and gets nowhere.

Julio Pezua, a Belmont Park horse jockey, is next up. Macho says he's a dark horse and says to do it for the US. Julio tries and looks like he's feeling Yoko up. Julio fails and his Yoko with his whip. He then runs for it.

Keith Sims, a guard from the Miami Dolphins is next up. Todd asks his strategy and Sims says he will give it his best. Keith goes for it, Yoko puts his hand on Sims' head and he backs off. Fuji's flag blocked some of that one.

Bobby Heenan comes out. A fan says, "you can do it" and we get a "weasel" chant. Heenan says no one will slam Yoko and no one has yet.

Peter Taglianetti, a hockey player, is next. He says he will go after this the best he can. He says it'd be interesting to get Yoko on the ice. Peter goes to slam him and backs him up some but not much else.

Scott Steiner is next in. Scott says he will do his best. He slaps Yoko but gets nowhere on the slam attempt. The ref Earl Hebner does yell at him for the cheapshot.

Scott Burrell, a basketball and baseball player is next. He says he'll try and Todd says Yoko is a lot girthier than he is. Scott backs off without even trying. 

Mark Higgs, a Miami Dolphis running back, is next. He says usually he run away from guys like Yoko but he'll try. Mark tries to slam him and falls over.

Mr. Fuji requests a bowl of rice for Yoko. Yoko is given a huge bowl and he eats it with chop sticks. Macho tells him to take the rice home as he is going airborne in a few seconds.

Gary Baldinger, a defensive lineman is next up. He says the buffet line is closed in 5 minutes. He tries to slam Yoko but quickly gets nowhere.

Tatanka is next up. Tat says he's ready and happy to celebrate one of the biggest days in American history in front of the fans. He says he's here to slam Yoko through the depths of the ship. Tatanka hits running chops on Yoko then top rope diving chops him. Tatanka goes for the slam and hurts his back. Tatanka chops him. Yoko superkicks him down and legdrops him.

Thoughts: Tatanka was a poor sport here, hitting Yoko multiple times and hitting him after the failed slam attempt. That's against the rules.

Todd says this is a slam competition only. Backlund and Peter check on Tatanka and help him out. 

Heenan says he's not the type of guy to say I told you so, but he says he told you so. He says Yoko is not leaving the ring. Heenan then mocks Tatanka.

George Martin, a football player, is next in. He says he thought it was "Yoko Ono" not Yokozuna. George says he has a secret weapon and we will have to wait and see it. George tries to pay Yoko off and fails to get him up.  

Billy Taylor is next. He isn't high on his chances as a former NFL player and radio host and opts not to try.

Bill Fralic, who competed at the Wrestlemania II battle royal, is next in. He says other guys softened Yoko up and he's ready to go. Bill gets Yoko on one leg and gets the closest of anyone so far. Fuji says Yoko wasn't concentrating. 

NFL wide receiver Joey Smith is next in. He says he will go straight at it and let the best man win. Joey tries but can only back him up.

Rick Steiner is next in. Rick doesn't have his headgear on and looks like a normal dude with a weird mustache. Rick lariats Yoko twice and stupidly tries to belly to belly suplex him in true stupid Rick Steiner fashion. He fails and loses.

James Campen of the Green Bay Pakcers is next up. He says he's going to pick Yoko up and put him on the big red dot of his Japanese flag. Jim tries to double leg him and gets one of his legs up but that's it.

Jim Jensen, a football player, is next up. He says he hopes Yoko took his vitamins. Jim backs him up but that's it.

Crush is next up. Crush lifts Yoko off the ground and into the air but can't slam him. 

Todd says it's time for Macho Man to get his shot. Macho says Todd jumped the gun on him. He says he wasn't lined up for this but he feels the spirit of the people and will do it anyway. Heenan tells Macho to forget it and enjoy the holiday. Heenan says it won't happen and tells Macho to call AAA. Todd says Heenan is un-American. 

Macho spits at Yoko and is pushed over. Macho then goes for the slam and fails. Todd says he wants to thank everyone for coming. Macho says he wants one more shot and a fan yells, "No". 

We see a helicopter arrive. Todd says they don't know who it is. The crowd chants for Hulk Hogan. It's Lex Luger, who gets booed. Todd tries to start a Lex chant and succeeds. 

Lex is in a USA shirt and jeans which is much different than his usual Narcissist attire. Lex pushes Heenan and the chant for Lex gets louder. Lex fires up and the crowd buys it. Todd asks Lex to say why he is here. Lex says he wouldn't miss this for the world. He says he takes pride in his belt and country. He says we aren't leaving here until we slam Yokozuna.

Fuji says the contest is over. Lex says since King of the Ring, he realized Fuji is a cancer. Lex says there's nothing wrong with America, just blood sucking leeches like Fuji and Yoko. Lex says they will clean house right here and right now. Lex then throws Fuji out.

Lex takes off his shirt and poses. They bump chests and go face to face.Yoko runs at Lex and is sent into the buckles. Lex hits him with the steel plate in his forearm and slams him. All the participants in the contest surround the ring and come in and greet Lex. 

Macho congratulates Lex. Lex says it feels great. He said he felt the energy and the big man went down.they then play the US national anthem.

Lex is put on The Steiner's shoulders and grabs two US flags. And that's the end.

Thoughts: Lex has seemingly not only inherited Hulk Hogan's gimmick but his dirty tactics as well. There's been a ton of controversy about Lex using the forearm with the steel plate in it, leading to Jack Tunney making him wear a forearm pad. He of course nailed Yoko with that forearm without a pad and that was cheating. Yes, Yoko was a jerk here but the contestants weren't that kind either as they hit Yoko with whips, slapped him and did lariats and chops. 

They didn't build this up well at all. Lex has been a heel and there's been nothing to suggest he's turning. The turn did work, but it's a total overnight change of character that could have been done better. The Narcissist gimmick wasn't working or doing much for Lex, so I don't have a big issue with the turn.

As I said in my King of the Ring 1993 report, Yokozuna finally defeated Hulkamania. The crowd chanted for Hulk here and Lex came out instead. Lex has clearly taken up Hulk's new role as the wrestling patriot and we'll see where it goes. I was surprised Jim Duggan wasn't at this event as he would have been perfect for it.

Overall thoughts: The WWF really hyped this event. If you weren't paying attention, you would think this was airing either on PPV or TV. The event didn't actually air in full until 25+ years later. There's no real explanation or reason for it. They had 6 weekly shows at this point, PPV and Coliseum Video. 

The event wasn't that interesting. It went a little long and watching people fail to slam Yoko got boring. Because it wasn't being used for TV, they didn't have graphics, trons, music or other things that would have made this more exciting.

If I had to re-do this event, I'd probably go all out and make it either a PPV, a Coliseum Video release or a TV special. They'd have some matches, maybe talk about the history of the ship or 4th of July then go to the main event body slam challenge. If nothing else, the scenery of a wrestling match on a battle ship would have been cool.

I wouldn't really recommend this one as the good parts will be shown soon on Raw and Lex slamming Yoko will likely be replayed a million times going forward.