Sage Cortez
With King of the Ring ahead, they hadn’t exactly stated that this was going to be a Bret Hart showcase, but that’s exactly what the card needed. This is one of my favorite shows, in large part because of Bret’s performances, but also because they did interesting things. The first time I saw this, i was extremely impressed by the way the whole show had turned out. I’m ready to get right to this. I need to see it again.
– June 13th, 1993, from the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio
For this one, we have Jim Ross, Bobby Heenan, and Randy Savage on commentary. Hell of a PPV team. If they’d been able to keep that trio going for a few years, it would have been perfect.
King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Razor Ramon vs. Bret Hart
Pre-Match Thoughts: It’s strange to see a rematch of a title bout from an earlier PPV open another PPV in the same year with no title at stake. I need to see if it happened any other times. Not too sure if it did or not. At least everyone knew the brackets heading into the PPV, so there was no false advertising going on here. Ross was hyping the 1-2-3 Kid pretty hard during Razor’s entrance. The crowd is HYPED for this match.
Match Review: Bret and Razor lock up, and nothing really comes of it. After a few more tries at a lock up, Bret goes to a headlock. Bret lands some big rights, then arm drags Razor down. Bret has a wristlock on Razor, then goes for a hip toss only for Razor to level him with a clothesline. Razor misses an elbow drop, so Bret’s able to go back to the arm drag. He forces Razor to whiff on a charge to the corner, then goes back to the arm. Razor tries to get out with a bodyslam, but Bret keeps holding on. Razor pokes him in the eye, then nails him with a back elbow for 2. Razor tries to go to the chinlock, but Bret counters with a hammerlock. Razor gets out with another elbow, and Bret misses a charge to the corner this time. Razor then throws him through the ropes and into the post, then the crowd gets those “1-2-3” chants going again. Razor stomps on Bret’s hands, then takes him down with a fallaway slam for 2. Razor picks Bret up and drops him with a running powerslam, that also gets 2. Razor drops an elbow on him, then gives Bret a side slam. Razor goes for another elbow drop and misses, and Bret capitalizes with an inverted atomic drop. A clothesline from Bret gets 2, then a Russian leg sweep gets 2. Bret dishes out a backbreaker for 2, then an elbow smash from the second rope gets 2. Bret’s rolling cradle gets 2, then a bulldog is blocked by Razor, who shoots Bret hard into the corner. Razor signals for his finisher, but Bret goes out the backside and flips out of the corner with a small package that gets 2. That near fall was amazing. Razor hits Bret with a clothesline from behind as he argues with the referee, then takes Bret to the corner for his BACK SUPERPLEX. Instead, Bret counters by falling on top and hooking the leg, and that gets the victory at 10:27.
My Thoughts: This was better than their Royal Rumble match and quite a good start to the show. The near falls here got the crowd into the match more and more the longer things went on. These two had pretty good chemistry and their pace in this match was very quick. I think the 1-2-3 Kid angle added to this match in that the crowd thought Razor could theoretically lose the match every time he was pinned. That’s a big deal in wrestling, the fans need that sort of suspense in every match. It’s really lacking from the product today. ***1/4.
King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Mr. Hughes (w/Harvey Wippleman) vs. Mr. Perfect
Pre-Match Thoughts: It’s the battle of the Misters! In theory, this seems like a good matchup. To explain why the Undertaker wasn’t on the show, they showed Hughes and Giant Gonzalez destroying both Taker and Paul Bearer with the urn. The angle had nowhere near the heat that they would have hoped for by the look of it. Hughes also stole the urn and had it with him during this match.
Match Review: These two lock up, and Hughes shoves Perfect into the corner. Perfect arm drags him in response, then hits him with a great looking dropkick. Hughes hits Perfect with a big right to send him over the top, then drags him in for a headbutt. Hughes goes to a head vice, then Perfect gets out and Hughes boots him in the face. Hughes hits him with a clothesline, and it’s back to the head vice. Perfect takes a silly bump after a whip to the corner, and we have an insert promo from Bret Hart. Hughes and Perfect then botch a spinebuster, and Hughes chokes Perfect at the ropes. Hughes misses his jump on Perfect’s neck, crotching himself on the ropes. Perfect hip tosses him, and follows that up with a backdrop. Perfect then neck snaps Hughes, at which point Hughes has just about had enough. He grabs the urn, and pops Perfect with it for the DQ at 5:59.
My Thoughts: This match stunk, with the botched spot making it look particularly silly. Neither man had the intention of giving much of a serious effort, so this is what we got. A total Superstars match. DUD. Let’s see if this match cooled the crowd off.
Before the next match, we got to hear what Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna had to say about their match later. Fuji says that Hogan stole Yokozuna’s belt. Yokozuna’s talking bits were always funny to me. AMERICAN HERO, YOU GO DOWNNNNNNNNNN.
King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Jim Duggan
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is another Superstars quality matchup, but that’s what we got on a lot of PPV’s at this stage. This being a tournament PPV, it was more likely for something like that to take place. Hacksaw looked quite happy for somebody about to get squashed.
Match Review: Hacksaw gets the crowd into it, but Bigelow’s ready too. They lock up, and collide with each other a few times, until Hacksaw starts clotheslining Bigelow to knock him down. They trade punches for a little bit, until Bigelow misses a charge to the corner. Hacksaw hurt his ribs, though. He goes for a bodyslam, but Bigelow stops him. Bigelow puts a bear hug on Hacksaw, and when Hacksaw breaks it, Bigelow goes to the eyes. Bigelow tosses Hacksaw to the canvas and misses a diving headbutt, then Hacksaw goes for another slam that Bigelow blocks for 2. Bigelow goes back to the bear hug, which Hacksaw breaks by biting Bigelow. Hacksaw trips Bigelow to knock him down, then he’s able to slam him this time. Hacksaw goes to the THREE POINT STANCE, but wipes out and goes head-first into the buckle. Bigelow goes up top, FLYING HEADBUTT, see ya at 5:00.
My Thoughts: This wasn’t any good either, but at least it was short. Bigelow was on the way up in the WWF and Hacksaw was on the way down. Pretty simple booking, although to some extent I’m surprised Hacksaw did a clean job to a newer guy. 1/2*. Hopefully the next match is better.
Haha, Terry Taylor is on interview duty. That’s terrible. He’s interviewing the Smoking Gunns and Steiner Brothers. At least Rick Steiner seemed to care about this promo, he got a bit loud over it.
King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Lex Luger vs. Tatanka
Pre-Match Thoughts: Despite the last two matches being pretty bad ones, they were also quite short. That’s a good thing. Tatanka in a 15 minute match sounds a bit scary to me, but we’ll see how it goes. I actually don’t remember if this is good or not. Luger’s entrance with the mirror was a good gimmick, you know. The referee wanted Luger to cover up his loaded forearm, and he was forced to comply or be eliminated from the King of the Ring.
Match Review: Luger attacks Tatanka as soon as he gets in the ring and throws him over the top, but Tatanka comes back in and dumps the mirror on top of Luger! He chops Luger over the top, and follows him out there for a bodyslam. Back in they go, and Tatanka takes Luger down with a backdrop. Tatanka follows up with a clothesline that gets 2, and goes to an armbar. Luger tries to slam Tatanka to break it, but that doesn’t work. They slowed things way down from that quick start. Bigelow pops in to cut a promo on THE INDIAN, right as Luger breaks the armbar and hits Tatanka with an elbow. Tatanka comes back with a cross body for 2, and it’s back to the armbar. Luger makes the ropes and elbows Tatanka, then stomps on Tatanka in the corner. Luger knees Tatanka in the gut, then an elbow smash gets 2. Luger picks Tatanka up for a backbreaker, then drops an elbow on him for another 2 count. Luger drops another elbow, it gets 2 again. Tatanka comes back with a roll up for 2, as Luger argued with the official like a dummy. Luger cuts off Tatanka’s chops with another elbow, then goes to a chinlock for the first and probably not last time. When Tatanka gets out, Luger cuts him off with a clothesline to stop his momentum. An elbow smash follows that, and Luger gets 2 on another cover. Tatanka comes back with a cradle for 2, but Luger kicks him down again. Luger goes for a backdrop, but Tatanka takes him down with a sunset flip for 2. Luger lines Tatanka up for a punt to the gut, then rams him into the buckle only for Tatanka to stop selling everything. Tatanka hits Luger with some big chops, then covers for 2. Really close fall that time. Tatanka then powerslams Luger for 2, then a bodyslam follows that. Tatanka goes up top and comes down with his flying chop, the cover getting 2 again. Tatanka goes up top for a cross body and misses, so Luger nails him with a clothesline for 2. Luger powerslams Tatanka for 2, then backdrops him. Now Luger goes for a suplex, and it gets 2 for him. The time limit is so close to expiring and the crowd doesn’t even know. Luger drops Tatanka with a backbreaker for 2, and the bell rings for the time limit after 15:00.
In a strange turn, Luger asks for five more minutes. The heel never does that! Listen to the cheer, that’s a good test of a potential babyface reaction. Instead of five minutes, Luger KNOCKS Tatanka out with the LOADED FOREARM.
My Thoughts: This was okay, but it was really bothering me that they didn’t have Howard Finkel doing a time countdown. The crowd didn’t realize that the time limit was coming up, and that took me a bit out of the match. They finished things up well, but I think the timing suffered due to a lack of a time call. They didn’t get that big finishing moment that a time limit draw needs despite their solid wrestling. **.
King of the Ring Semifinal: Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart
Pre-Match Thoughts: Sadly, there’s only one. Hence, “semifinal.” I’ve read before that Hennig didn’t quite understand why Bret was being pushed instead of him. I totally understand why, it’s the injuries and lackluster work from time to time. Before the match, Bret and Perfect had an interview done at the same time. Bret and Perfect got a bit disagreeable. They argued about whose dad could beat the others, and about SummerSlam ’91 too. Good interview.
Match Review: These two lock up, and Bret makes clear that he has a finger issue. So, Bret has taped fingers. Bret goes to a headlock, and hip tosses Perfect after being shot into the ropes. Bret takes Perfect down with a headlock, but Perfect counters with a head-scissors. Bret counters and goes back to the headlock, which Perfect stops with a big chop. Bret comes back with a bodyslam, and Perfect replies with his own. Bret takes Perfect back down with the headlock, and a crucifix gets 2. Back to the headlock again, and when Perfect gets out, a Bret cross body gets 2. Bret winds up on the apron and sunset flips his way in for 2, then takes Perfect down with another headlock. Perfect gets up and knees Bret a bit low, then stomps on him. I guess he’s the heel. Perfect knocks Bret to the outside with a dropkick, then kicks him on his way back into the ring. WHAT A SCUM. Perfect hits Bret with some hard shots to follow up on that, then a knee lift gets 2. They go to the outside again for Perfect to ram Bret into the apron, and Perfect then shoves him off the apron into the rail. Hell of a fall right there. Perfect brings Bret in for another knee lift, this one gets 2. Perfect heads up top now, and down he comes with a MISSILE DROPKICK for 2. Bret takes the big bump in the corner, and Perfect covers for 2 again. Perfect goes up there once more, but Bret stops him and takes him over with a SUPERPLEX that gets 2. Bret starts working on Perfect’s legs, and locks a FIGURE-FOUR on him. Perfect takes some time and makes the ropes, but Bret trips him again and elbow drops the knee. Perfect rakes the eyes to stop that, and starts pulling some hair and throws Bret across the ring with it. SCUM. Perfect puts a sleeper on Bret, who also makes the ropes. Perfect goes back to it and cheats by putting his feet on the ropes, but Bret stands up and rams Perfect head-first into the buckle. Bret wallops Perfect with a European uppercut, then returns the favor on Perfect by pulling his hair and throwing him across the ring. An inverted atomic drop follows that, then the Russian leg sweep gets 2. Bret’s backbreaker is next, then the elbow smash from the second rope gets 2. Bret goes for the SHARPSHOOTER for the first time, but Perfect grabs Bret’s BROKEN FINGERS TO BLOCK IT. The fans didn’t understand. Perfect steps on Bret’s fingers, then goes for the PERFECT-PLEX only for Bret to block it. Bret SUPLEXES Perfect out of the ring instead! They get back in there and Perfect tries to cradle Bret up, but Bret reverses it and picks up the pin at 18:55!
After the match, Perfect teases an issue, but shakes Bret’s hand in the end.
My Thoughts: I’m also in the crowd that thinks this match is better than their SummerSlam match. They built up perfectly to the finish, with that suplex out of the ring being a particularly big spot. This was such a great match. It’s nice to see guys mix in high spots while being able to maintain the storyline of the match, that being Bret having an injured hand and making sure neither man went full heel. Really enjoyed this one. ****1/4. Won’t find many, if any better from the WWF in 1993. Maybe I will though!
Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) vs. Hulk Hogan (w/Jimmy Hart) for the WWF Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Jimmy Hart’s presence in Hogan’s interviews is extremely annoying, but I suppose that I need to get used to it. Oddly enough I haven’t watched all but one show of the red and yellow Hogan era in WCW. That’s an absolute truth. Hogan only showing up on three shows in 1993 is bizarre. Hart was there to deal with Mr. Fuji, of course. The placement of this match is a bit suspicious to me. At least I’d think so if I was a fan at the time. They showed a lot of photographers at ringside, giving the match the “Japanese feel.”
Match Review: Yokozuna had gotten a LOT bigger in his time in the WWF. Anyway, these two lock up, and Hogan can’t move him with his shoves. On the other hand, Yokozuna shoves Hogan across the ring. He chops away at Hogan for a bit, and slams him after that. Yoko keeps pounding away at Hogan, and Hogan does the bit where he grabs at the challenger’s leg. Yoko then sets Hogan up in the corner, but misses a splash and Hogan starts getting in some punches. Hogan beats Yoko up in the corner, then clotheslines him. Hogan then goes for a bodyslam, but he can’t. Of course he can’t. IT’S YOKOZUNA. Hogan gets in more punches, and his bodyslam gets blocked again. Hogan starts clotheslining Yokozuna, but Yoko cuts him off with one of his own. Yoko misses a diving headbutt, but shoulders Hogan down when he gets up. Yoko then puts Hogan in a bear hug, which seems to take forever. Hogan fights out but has a hurt back, so Yoko elbows him in the face. Yoko takes Hogan down with a belly to belly suplex, which gets the SEIZURE SELL from Hogan. Yokozuna covers, but it’s Hogan NO-SELLING TIME. He HULKS UP, then hits Yoko with the big three punches and the big boot. Those don’t knock him down. Hogan hits him with another big boot, but he’s still standing. A third big boot knocks him down, so Hogan DROPS THE LEG. Yoko kicks out quickly at 2, so Hogan goes to beat up Fuji. Hogan signals for the bodyslam, but we have a PHOTOGRAPHER ON THE APRON. HE’S SNEAKY. HE SHOOTS A FIREBALL IN HOGAN’S FACE, YOKOZUNA DROPS A LEG ON HOGAN, AND WE HAVE A NEW CHAMPION AFTER 13:10!
After the match, Hogan puts Yokozuna all the way over by taking a BANZAI DROP.
My Thoughts: This was a hell of a finish, they caught the crowd completely unawares. Nobody thought that was coming. A lot of people thought the WWF would be doing Hogan vs. Hart at SummerSlam, definitely not having Hogan lose the belt right here. Funny to see how things go sometimes. Obviously, this was great booking. Don’t really know how they got Hogan to do that, but I assume they lied to him about winning the title back at SummerSlam or something like that. The match was okay and almost felt short. Can’t complain about what happened, really. *1/4. Obviously this was a big turning point for the WWF and business went way for the worse, but Hogan wasn’t sticking around forever.
Mr. Perfect talked about his loss, and put Bret Hart over as a great wrestler. He didn’t really want to talk about it though.
We also got an interview from Shawn Michaels, and his new bodyguard has a name. That name is DIESEL.
Money Inc. (WWF Tag Team Champions) and the Headshrinkers (w/Afa) vs. The Smoking Gunns and the Steiner Brothers
Pre-Match Thoughts: This could be a good match, but it’s obvious that this was thrown out there to give the crowd a rest. Weird to see the tag team situation in the WWF at this time. Was quite barren. Their #2 babyface tag team had literally just got to the WWF. Obviously they needed a new addition. Scott Steiner had just been hurt so I wonder how much he does here.
Match Review: Scott and DiBiase will start this one, and DiBiase arm drags him twice. Scott trips him, then they trade hammerlocks for a bit. Scott stops that and dropkicks DiBiase, then hits him with a STEINERLINE to send him over the top. Rick pops DiBiase with a right hand and throws him back in the ring for another STEINERLINE to send him over the top. DiBiase decides to take a break, and tags Fatu in right after he’s done. Bart Gunn tags in too, and Bart nails Fatu with a dropkick. A drop toe-hold follows that, then a facebuster from Bart, but Fatu’s head is too hard, so he superkicks the newcomer. The Headshrinkers then hit Bart with a double clothesline, and IRS tags in there for a back elbow. IRS drops a leg on Bart’s lower area, and DiBiase tags in for another back elbow. This crowd is DEAD. DiBiase suplexes Bart, then the Shrinkers get in there for a double backdrop. Samu headbutts Bart’s…nuts, and Fatu covers Bart for 2. Fatu drops Bart with a backbreaker for 2, and tags in IRS for a big right hand from the top that also gets 2. Bart sunset flips IRS for 2, then they clothesline each other. Billy and DiBiase make tags in, and Billy backdrops the Million Dollar Man. Some clotheslines follow that, then DiBiase drops Billy with a hot shot. DiBiase puts the MILLION DOLLAR DREAM on him, then releases it because he thinks he’s out. He’s not. Billy cradles Dibiase up, and picks up the victory after 7:02! Now we get a big brawl, and the heels get cleared from the ring.
My Thoughts: The Steiners hardly got in the match, which obviously was not cool. People probably wanted to see them more than anything else and didn’t really get to. This was absolutely standard stuff and felt totally unimportant in every way imaginable. *3/4. Savage appeared to be getting a bit restless by this point of the show, by the way.
Jack Tunney was in the locker room with Yokozuna, presumably to congratulate him or something like that. Fuji’s promo was boring and terrible.
Crush vs. Shawn Michaels (w/Diesel) for the WWF Intercontinental Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: These guys did really well with the six or seven minutes they had on Superstars. By these guys, I mean Shawn Michaels letting Crush throw him all over the place. Michaels taking great bumps. You know, that kind of thing. Diesel was a hell of a name choice for Kevin Nash. He was immediately treated more seriously by the WWF than he ever was in WCW.
Match Review: Michaels and Crush lock up, and Crush goes straight to a headlock. Michaels can’t break that headlock, then Crush shoulders him all the way out of the ring. Great bump. Crush goes back to the headlock when Michaels gets in there, until Michaels hits him in the kidneys. Michaels resorts to jabbing, but Crush isn’t hurt or anything like that. Michaels goes to an armbar, but I can’t see that going anywhere. Crush dodges a superkick, dropkicks Michaels twice, and sends him over the top and out to the floor in the process. Michaels gets back in there, trips Crush, and gets kicked in the face. Crush arm drags him, then picks him up for a big press slam. That looked effortless. Crush follows that with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, then signals for his finish. So, Diesel pulls Michaels out of the ring to save him. Smart guy. Crush follows Michaels to the outside, but Diesel gets in Crush’s way and distracts him so Michaels can send Crush into the post. Diesel posts Crush as well, and Michaels then rams the back of Crush’s head into the post repeatedly. WHAT A THUG. Crush appears to be knocked out and Michaels has to deadlift him back into the ring, which takes quite some time. Michaels only covers for 2, which was a bit of a surprise. Michaels goes up top and comes down with a double axehandle, which gets 2. Michaels goes to a front face-lock, which Crush eventually powers out of by throwing him on his stomach. Michaels tries to go for it again and Crush launches him across the ring, then he throws him onto the top rope and knocks him out of the ring. That looked cool. Michaels tries to go up top quickly, and Crush dodges him, knocking him down to the canvas. Crush backdrops Michaels, then drops him with a backbreaker for 2. Crush hits Michaels with a big boot to the face, and a leg drop gets 2. Michaels blocks a slam, but Crush clotheslines him over the top anyway. Now Crush teases a dive over the top, but we have TWO DOINKS. TWO DOINKS SMOKING CIGARS. They march towards the ring and distract Crush, who gets SUPERKICKED by Michaels and pinned at 11:13. Haha.
My Thoughts: Talk about a humiliating finish for a guy. It’s pretty clear to me that the KONA CRUSH idea wasn’t working as well as they’d wanted it to. They changed things up not too long after this. Michaels did a good job with the match, his bumps were consistently entertaining. The guy was putting on insane performances, I’m shocked he didn’t physically deteriorate even sooner than he did. **1/4. Perfect use of Doink, here.
King of the Ring Final: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Bret Hart
Pre-Match Thoughts: Before this match, Bigelow cut a promo on Bret and went nuts. I liked that. I am obligated to mention that a lot of fans left before and during this match. I love this bout, it’s a great one. Bigelow and Bret had fantastic chemistry. I’d consider this a personal favorite. This has been the Bret Hart show so far.
Match Review: Bret dodges a Bigelow charge to the corner, but Bigelow pounds him with right hands to knock him down. Bigelow then picks Bret up for a press slam, but Bret falls on top for 2. Bret grabs onto the arm and attacks it, at which point a lot of people hit the exits. Bigelow shoulders Bret down, then picks him up and press slams him out of the ring! The camera work there was great because we didn’t get to see how Bret fell down. Bigelow throws Bret back into the ring for some headbutts, then throws him hard into the corner. Bigelow lands another big headbutt, and covers for 2 after this one. Bigelow follows up with a back suplex, and gets 2 on the cover. Bret tries to fight back, but instead Bigelow throws him into the corner again. Bigelow follows with another diving headbutt, and it gets 2. Bigelow puts Bret in a bear hug, and turns that into a back suplex eventually. Bigelow then throws Bret to the outside, but Bret throws him hard into the railing. Bret does that again, then jumps off the apron with a forearm to Bigelow’s back. Now Bret goes for another one, but Bigelow catches him and rams him into the post. Bigelow picks Bret up and slams him in the aisleway, then gets back in the ring. LUNA VACHON runs down to ringside with a chair, cracks it over Bret’s back, and runs backstage as quickly as she can. It was never spotted, of course. Bigelow throws Bret back into the ring, slams him, and heads up top for the FLYING HEADBUTT. It lands, Bigelow covers, and picks up the win at 9:24.
Or not. Earl Hebner walks straight out there, and tells Joey Marella what happened. So, the match restarts! Bigelow goes right on the attack with more headbutts, then goes to a bear hug again. Bigelow then picks Bret up for a backbreaker submission, but Bret will not give up. He drops Bigelow with a back suplex, but Bigelow gets up first only to miss a senton splash. Bigelow goes for the backbreaker again, but this time Bret grabs his nose to force him to let go. Bret counters with a sleeper too, but Bigelow pulls him off his back. Bret then dropkicks Bigelow over the top, and follows that up with a PLANCHA. Bret throws Bigelow into the ring next, and lands a flying clothesline from the second rope for 2. Bret follows up with a Russian leg sweep, then drops Bigelow with a BULLDOG from the second rope. Bret goes for the SHARPSHOOTER, but Bigelow kicks him away. Bret charges at Bigelow again and goes for another back suplex, but Bigelow falls on top for 2. Bigelow misses a charge to the corner, so Bret climbs up his shoulders for a VICTORY ROLL, and gets the pinfall at 18:18. HE’S THE KING OF THE RING!
My Thoughts: This match holds up for me, but there were a few dead spots. I found it interesting the way they were able to draw the match out to be so long without it being boring. All of Bret’s matches on this show were completely different, with completely different styles of opponent. This was a great exercise in putting together three separate wrestling matches on one show. Bigelow did a great job making sure Bret was able to look like a legitimate winner. ***1/2.
It’s funny how quickly the road agents ushered Bret up to his coronation. Okerlund put the crown and robe on Bret, who looked goofy wearing it. That goes on until Jerry Lawler walks out there. Lawler says that Bret is a PRETENDER AND IMPOSTOR. This is bordering on comical. Lawler asks Bret to kiss his feet, and Bret just isn’t going to do that. Bret said that Lawler had no integrity. Bret gets a “BURGER KING” chant going, so Lawler takes his scepter and pops Bret in the face with it. After that, he stomps on Bret’s crown, and picks up the king’s chair and hits Bret with it. He chokes Bret too, makes Bret kiss his feet, and the PPV ends with LAWLER STANDING TALL.
This was a hell of a show, one that is a big sign the WWF was moving on from one era to another. Obviously this wasn’t ideal, but they had to take a big jump. They did exactly that. The feel of the shows after this are different, from my recollection. Obviously, there was some intrigue as to what would happen with the WWF Championship. In the end, it wasn’t quite what people were expecting. Bret vs. Lawler on the other hand did turn out very well to my recollection. I’m interested to see what’s ahead with the WWF, but first it’s time to see the next Clash of the Champions.
Wrestling Time: 1:45:04. This was a heavy wrestling show, for sure.
Best: Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart. Fantastic match, one of the best the WWF did this year.
Worst: No Undertaker on the show. Hard to justify this.
Card Rating: 7/10. Good show, I’d say. The Bret Hart show is what it was, he carried the action.
