WWF Summerslam Spectacular 1993 8/22/1993

WWF Summerslam Spectacular 1993 8/22/1993

We are in Poughkeepsie, NY. Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon are on commentary. This place has all kinds of Monday Night Raw banners all over it.

The announcers hype up the show.

Yokozuna vs "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan

This is a somewhat of a rematch from a while back. There was a challenge between these two and Yoko put Duggan out after. Yoko has Mr. Fuji with him as usual.

Jim hits Yoko from behind and hits a bunch of punches. Jim grabs his 2x4. The ref takes it and Yoko hits uppercuts on him. Yoko chops him on the ropes. Fuji trips Jim. Yoko stomps on Jim and foot chokes him. Fuji chokes Jim with his flag. 

Yoko headbutts Jim down and throws him out. Jim fires up outside. Jim hits some punches and Yoko drops him with a punch. Yoko legdrops Jim. Yoko bearhugs him. Jim fights his way out. Jim goes for a slam but Yoko falls on him for 2.

We go to break and return. Yoko bearhugs him. Jim hits punches and bites Yoko's nose. Yoko shoves him down. Yoko chokes him in the corner. Jim hits punches. Yoko boots him in the gut. Yoko misses a corner charge. Jim hits punches and lariats Yoko. 

Jim hits flying lariats and drops Yoko. Fuji trips Jim. Yoko corner splashes Jim from behind then banzai drops him. Yoko pins him.

Thoughts: Yoko got the win as expected. I liked the match. Jim sticks to the basics so it doesn't get super exciting but he sold, made his comebacks and was a solid face here. The crowd was super hot for this.

Yoko goes for another banzai drop after but refs come down and get Jim out of there.

Vince McMahon interviews Yoko, Jim Cornette and Fuji in the back. Jim says Yoko was never asleep and has always been a beast. He says he's a rapid animal, a mad dog and he's ready to chew up Lex. Jim says Lex asked for this match and says the actions Lex took will be on him. Jim says Yoko has no conscious. Jim says Lex will beg Yoko to stop at Summerslam and Jim will tell him he can't. He says he will ask Fuji to stop him and Fuji will say he can't stop the beast. He says Lex will look in the eyes of the devil and says his career will be finished. Jim then says the heartbeat of America will be silenced.

Razor Ramon vs Blake Beverly

BB has white trunks with purple stars on it and he is now clean shaven. Razor has armbands on in support of Lex.

Razor gets big pops from the crowd. Razor throws a toothpick in BB's face. BB backs up RR in the corner and slaps him around. BB boots him and chops him in the corner. RR chops him in the corner. BB goes out to stall and RR chases him.

BB stomps him as he gets in. BB side headlocks him. RR takes him down by the hair. BB goes for a test of strength and boots him in the gut. RR hits punches and discus punches him. BB back body drops RR over the top.

BB takes off a turnbuckle pad. BB neckbreakers him. RR is sent into the exposed buckle. BB backbreakers him. BB powerslams him for 2. BB does a cocky cover and RR tries a pin. BB then lariats him.

RR's head is banged off the buckles. BB is sent into the exposed buckles. RR does a razor's edge on BB and pins him.

Thoughts: I liked it and thought it was a good match. Blake did a lot of basic cheap heel tactics but they worked. He showed some personality and bumped well. RR got the win as expected here and the crowd is definitely into his new face role. 

We see Lex Express clips.

Jerry Lawler is with an Elvis impersonator in a pink convertible. Lawler says we have 2 kings here. King says the car is the real deal and fake Elvis says he bought this in 1959 for his momma. King says Bret's mom was 70 years old by then and they laugh. Fake Elvis says he's seen people impersonate him his whole life. He says he just had dinner the other day with JFK and they talked about dating Marilyn Monroe. Fake Elvis asks how King feels when he sees Bret impersonate a king. King says it makes his blood boil. He says it won't work. He says there's only one king in the WWF and Bret is looking at it.

Bret Hart says Jerry Lawler has crossed lines no one else has crossed before. He says he hates when people try to drag his family into things as it is too personal. He says it's impossible to describe how much anger he will take out on him. He says Summerslam will be a mutilation. He said he told his parents not to come to Summerslam but they want to see Bret destroy Jerry. Bret says his family and friends will be scattered all over Summerslam. He said King make a big mistake in dragging his family into it and will pay. He says King will always be a bogus and phony king.

Tatanka & The Smoking Gunns (Bart Gunn & Billy Gunn) vs. Barry Horowitz, Reno Riggins & The Brooklyn Brawler

The faces have Lex armbands on. Barry and Reno have matching green and black gear on.

Billy and Barry go at it. Billy side headlocks him and hammerlocks him. They trade hammerlocks. Barry eye pokes him. Billy boots him in the head then Japanese armdrags Reno. Bart comes in and hiptosses Reno. Brawler comes in and Bart trips him into an armlock. Tat top rope chops Brawler's arm.

Tat powerslams Brawler and armlocks him. Brawler boots Billy in the gut. Barry northern lights suplexes Billy for 2. Brawler neckbreakers Billy for 2. Reno side slams Brawler for 2. Billy cradles him for 2. Barry jawbreakers Billy and knee drops him.

Brawler hit a hard lariat on Billy then stomps him in the gut. Reno eye rakes Billy. Billy sunset flips him for 2. Reno eye rakes him. Billy is double teamed in the corner. The announcers say the faces don't look sharp here. Barry forearms Billy. 

Brawler eye pokes Billy and rakes his eyes on the top rope. Billy flying forearms Reno. Tat is tagged in. He drops the jobbers multiple times. The Gunns hit double dropkicks. Tat back body drops Reno. Tat chops Brawler then top rope crossbodies Reno to win.

Thoughts: This was a reverse squash here. The faces got beaten up for most of this before winning. Even the announcers acknowledged that the faces didn't do well here. It was nice to see a somewhat competitive match but it did nothing for the faces.

We see more Lex Express clips.

Mean Gene interviews The Undertaker (without Paul Bearer) in the ring. Gene asks what the rules are for the Rest in Peace match. Taker says a day of reckoning where you have to pay for your actions is coming at Summerslam for Giant Gonzalez. He says Giant tried to destroy what can't be destroyed. He says he has no Paul Bearer and no urn, he has the power from the creatures of the night. Taker says he will extract every living organ Giant has. He says before the night is finished, he will posess the soul of one Giant Gonzalez.

Giant Gonzalez and Harvey Wippleman come out. Giant says this time Taker won't get up. He says he will rest in peace this time. Taker takes his jacket off and Giant walks out with Taker ready to fight. Taker follows Giant as Giant leaves.

We get more Lex Express clips.

WWF Intercontinental Title Match - Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Bob Backlund

The WWF has pretty much given up on Bob at this point. He hasn't done much of note lately. I can't say I blame them as Bob looks so dated in the ring. This is a random bout though SM has been defending his title a lot lately.

They lock up and SM slams Bob twice. SM lays on the top rope. Bob does an armdrag, a hiptoss and a slam. Bob backslides him for 2. SM then slides out. SM spits at him and Bob chases him around the ring. We go to break and return.

SM hits punches on Bob. SM double axe handles him off the buckles then front facelocks him. Bob puts him on the top rope and slaps him. Bob back body drops him then dropkicks him. Bob hits a swinging neckbreaker for 2. Bob atomic drops him. Diesel gets on the apron and the ref is distracted.

SM grabs Bob's tights, takes him down and pins him.

Thoughts: The finish was poor here with Shawn winning solely by taking him down by grabbing the tights. Bob hit a nice dropkick here and I was surprised to see him bust out the swinging neckbreaker. It was short and there really wasn't that much action here. I didn't enjoy this that much.

Lex Luger talks more about his life. He says he was around 235 coming out of high school and the same height. Lex talks about Don Reinhoudt teaching him how to weightlift. 

Lex says it's a responsibility to be a famous athlete and you will have people looking up to you. He says you have to keep that in mind. Lex takes conducting himself in public seriously. Lex says to never let anyone tell you that you can't do something. He says you might not always succeed but try your best at all times.

Vince McMahon talks to Ludvig Borga in the back. Borga talks in his language. Vince asks him to speak English and Borga calls the fans stupid Americans. He says it'll be the last Summerslam for Marty Jannetty. He says he will fight Marty and the whole Us at the whole time. He says he will give him pain he never had before that won't go away. He says he's not here for titles but just wants to destroy everybody. 

Marty Jannetty vs Duane Gill

They lock up. Gill armlocks him. MJ arm wringers him then armdrags him into an armlock. MJ monkey flips him into an armlock. MJ spinning headscissors him then armdrags him into an armlock. MJ tries to flip out of a back body drop but falls. He rolls him up for 2 and superkicks him.

MJ back body drops him. MJ snapmares him and chinlocks him. MJ 2nd rope diamond dusts him. MJ top rope fist drops him and pins him.

Thoughts: It wasn't the best MJ squash here as he botched a back body drop landing. I liked him doing an early diamond dust variation though. They talked all about Jannetty/Borga at Summerslam here which MJ is certain to lose.

Summerslam Report

Mean Gene says Aaron Neville will sing the national anthem at Summerslam. Gene talks about the card but doesn't really have any new news. 

WWF World Tag Team Title Steel Cage Match - The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner) (c) vs. Money Inc. (Irwin R. Schyster & Ted DiBiase)

Money Inc has lost a few times already to The Steiner's so this is make or break here. This has escape the cage rules as both members of a team need to exit to win. Why they did this here and not at Summerslam is unknown.

Ted is clubbed on by the faces. IRS goes to climb the cage but kind of has to stall before he is pulled down. The faces go for him then Ted tries to climb out. The cage is rather shaky here. Scott works on Ted and bangs his head off the cage. The faces climb the cage but get stopped. Ted backdrops Scott. IRS back elbows Rick.

The heels climb the cage. Ted's trunks get pulled down. The faces grab IRS by the tie as he climbs the cage. Scott hits mounted corner punches on IRS. Rick's head is banged off the cage. Scott is crotched on the top rope. Ted climbs the cage and Rick crotches him on the top of the cage. 

Scott goes to escape and is stopped up top. Ric clubs IRS and Scott makes it over the top of the cage. Ted grabs Scott and does a very awkward suplex to bring him back in. Rick is held for shots from Ted. Ted back elbows Rick. Scott is double teamed. Rick is pulled down off the cage.

Scott climbs the cage. IRS follows him. Rick then goes up and Ted grabs him at the same time. IRS superplexes Scott down. Rick is pulled down by Ted. We go to break and return. The heels are climbing the cage. IRS is suplexed down. Scott bangs Ted's head off the top of the cage. The faces climb the cage. Scott makes it over the top. The heels pull Scott's throat over the cage rung. Scott is pulled back in. Rick lariats IRS. Scott is hurting up top.

Scott makes it over the top again and IRS uses his tie to hold him. Rick is hanging upside down on the cage and is pulled down. Scott hangs IRS by the tie. Scott is over the top and Ted pulls him back in.

Ted is on the top rope and clubs Scott. Scott electric chairs IRS and IRS hits him to escape that hold. Ted and Rick are sent into each other. IRS and Scott climb at the same time. They both escape the cage. 

Rick and Ted are left in the cage. IRS climbs back in and blocks Rick from escaping. Scott then tries to climb back in. Scott gets on top of the cage and double axe handles IRS. The heels' heads are banged together. Rick climbs the cage and Ted pulls him down by his headgear. Ted chokes Rick with a tie. 

We go to break and return. Scott has escaped the cage again but now Rick is double teamed. Ted backbreakers Rick. Scott gets back in the cage and Rick is double clotheslined. IRS climbs the cage and escapes. Ted goes to escape but he gets grabbed by the foot. IRS pulls on Ted's arm at the same time. Ted's trunks get pulled down again and he is back in the cage.

Ted is hanging upside down on the ropes and is booted. IRS climbs back in as The Steiner's climb the cage together. IRS blocks The Steiner's. Ted atomic drops Scott. Rick climbs the cage and escapes. 

Scott is 2v1'd inside. IRS chokes Scott with his tie. Scott double lariats the heels. Rick cheers on Scott from outside the cage. IRS tries to climb out of the cage. Rick electric chairs him from the outside. IRS has not escaped. Ted climbs out. Ted clubs Rick to try and break the electric chair. Scott then climbs out while Ted does this. The Steiner's win!

Thoughts: This was great.Tag team and 6-man escape the cage matches are pretty rare but the few times I have seen them, they have been good. It's a fun match because it has a lot of strategy to it. Do you escape and leave your partner to face a 2v1? Or do you let your opponents escape and double team your opponent? 

The shaky cage oddly helped this one. It looked dangerous with the way it shook and you could clearly see the wrestlers hanging on for dear life. The wrestlers also started actually getting tired climbing the cage which helped with the selling and drama. It was like watching a real life see-saw play out as the second someone would get the advantage, they'd end up giving the other team the advantage in return. The finish was great. IRS was nearly out but Rick electric chaired him to block him touching the ground. Ted then went after Rick to help IRS and Scott escaped in the meantime. This was a classic and one of the best bouts of year. You've gotta see this one.

As I said earlier, this kind of has to be the end of Money Inc. They've lost multiple times now and have no obvious path back to the tag titles. They haven't fought The Smoking Gunns or Men on a Mission though, so there are still some fresh matchups.

We go back to the announcers who talk about Raw and Summerslam. We then see a Lex Luger rap video by Macho Man and Men on a Mission. 

Overall thoughts: The commentary was really good here. We had two GOAT's with Ross and Gorilla and they worked well together. We had a good opener with Duggan/Yoko. Blake Beverly worked his butt off and did well with Razor. The trios match was odd with the jobbers getting more in than the face did. Shawn/Backlund was short and not much. Jannetty won an easy squash. We then had a classic tag team cage match with The Steiner's vs Money Inc. that was a must see affair. This was a great special mostly due to the main and the commentary that really made you want to see Summerslam. Lex continuing to not be on any TV is odd though and he should have been out in front of the crowd. I'd give this a 7 out of 10. Go check out the tag team cage match.