1993-94 WWE MVP

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

So here we are from the night after WrestleMania IX to WrestleMania X. We are right in the middle of the transition to the Next Generation and for me the MVP of this time frame has to be Yokozuna. This year has to mark this first time since the beginning of the Golden Era that we have a heel on top for as long as Yoko was. Although he was coming off of his 5 minute title reign at Mania IX. He was still kept strong and beat Hogan on his way out at the inaugural KOTR. From that point on he was on top of the mountain holding Luger and Bret at bay until Mania X. A big part of me wants to go with Bret for winning the KOTR and having three great matches in one night to do so, but outside of that night and his work from Rumble to Mania he was stuck in weird mid card stuff that writes him off for me. Luger is intriguing as he was given the massive push after slamming Yoko but the count out win at SummerSlam really killed his momentum.

 

[TheICChampion]

Yep, gotta be Yoko. Case can be made for Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon though as this was the year they started coming into their own. Both had IC title reigns and they stole the show at WrestleMania X.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

Respectfully disagree.
Yoko was a VP but not an MVP that year. That accolade has to belong to Bret Hart. WWF business was down in the USA, WM9 had been (and still is) one of the worst WM's ever (although I have fond memories of it). Bret Hart winning the King Of The Ring was epic. His 3 different matches against 3 different opponents were excellent and world class; truly the point Bret became a certified lifelong main eventer. His appearance on overseas tours kept the WWF afloat, and his star shone brightly across Europe, particularly within Germany and the UK. The masterful Lawler v Hitman storyline was the highlight of WWF that summer; because Lex Luger flopped. (I would be mindful to agree if Yoko had lost the belt to Luger clean at Summerslam, because he could have set up a luger v yoko rematch at Survivor series if he had attacked him after the bout and left him with 4 bonzai splashes and chucked the belt on Lex and walked off). Lawler and Bret took it to each other and their verbal spats were 1st rate. The then slow build to Bret V Owen began, and carried through the autumn and winter, and spring to be the fantastic WM10 match between Bret and Owen.

If you ask most 31 year old wrestling fans today; I would dare say that they would say Bret was the MVP in 1993/1994 period.

Lex flopped, Yoko was a big guy but he didnt set the audience on fire, Diesel had yet to debut in ring until Rumble 1994, Taker had Giant Gonzales and a crap Survivor Series run to contend with before a poor casket match which made him miss WWF tv for about 7 months. Nobody came close to Bret. HBK was out of shape and although he had decent efforts with Jannetty (the IC title match on Raw was one of the highlights of that year), he did not do much else. Bret was king of the ring for more than just one PPV in 1993!

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Bret Hart is always a contender... although he was used with guys like Lawler predominantly this year he anchored the later part of the year with the beginning of his feud with Owen, helped save the Survivor Series when Lawler's sex case took him out and led to Shawn replacing him and was perhaps the most memorable Rumble (co) winner until Vince himself took the honor. Bret wasn't always used right but this was arguably his best year on the roster...but there are some others to consider.

Bam Bam Bigelow... forget how it turned out for the big man...starting at King of the Ring he was one of the midcard highlights in this year. The idea of he and Luna as a couple had fans throwing up in their mouths, but it worked well. Bigelow was in the match of the year in my view with Bret at KOTR and continued to build. It was a shame they went cold on him... I think even then Scott and Shawn's politics were coming into play for Bam Bam.

Diesel - While he didn't really build his push solidly until after Wrestlemania, Diesel was a major figure in just his "bodyguard" role and really made the Shawn character work. Add to that a strong showing in the Royal Rumble and he's a breakout figure in the year if not the MVP... but its what he did in this period that convinced VKM to get behind him seriously the following year.

The Quebecers - The Steiners were good in the WWF, they don't really seem to get much credit but the Quebecers came from out of nowhere and became, for that year the best team in the WWF, only being beaten by the Blondes over in WCW for the honor of best in the business. Remember this was a BAD year for tag teams in the WWF, despite such promise as the Steiners, MOM and The Headshrinkers and veterans like Money Inc, WWE consipred to screw up the division in the main... but the Quebecers were a random team, that quickly became the best they had. They got great heat, put on strong matches and kept the division from shitting the bed completely. They had great matches with The Steiners, Owen and Bret amongst others and were the prototype for the WWF "random but great team" that later the New Age Outlaws came. If you're being precise... Jacques probably is more important, but Pierre was an exciting talent... go back and watch them, they are definite contenders.

Doink - Yes, Doink, Matt Borne's original incarnation was easily one of 1993's MVP candidates. He was creepy, put on great matches and great moments, like the double Doink/cast moment against Crush or his DQ loss to Bret at Summerslam. It's a real shame Borne couldn't control his partying and it led to the watered down version of Doink we got, that original, heel character was gold.

To me though, this is the first time there is a legit tie...

It's between Tatanka and Lex Luger.

Luger debuted at the Royal Rumble as the Narcissist, while the slightly homoerotic pantings of Bobby Heenan while he posed detracted, it was definitely memorable. He had a poor match with Hennig at Mania, but a lot of that was not his fault, Hennig was not who he once was and this showed in his matches. I can remember being genuinely stunned when Luger exited the chopper and slammed Yoko... I figured Hogan would be back or they'd brought Sting in or even Davey... but Lex made the slam and got his push.

In the main he carried his end too, he was always watchable during that run - the fans never got into it in a way Vince wanted though and it was clear Bret was the fans choice. The Rumble co winners thing was shocking again, as was the DQ finish at Mania X ending his run... to me that was where the ball was dropped with Luger, he should have taken out Bret right after he won the title and formed an alliance with Owen. But for a WWF looking to replace Hogan with a new hero, Luger pretty much did enough... right guy, just a year too late... would have been something if they'd signed him instead of Sid in 1991.

On balance, I think Tatanka just edges it.

Tatanka was the best guy they had on the midcard at the time, he was exciting, over with the fans and while not on the level of ring work of Shawn or psychology of Hennig he had a great package that didn't get used to it's full. Not giving him the IC title at Mania 9 was a major mistake and pretty much destroyed his chance... but for that period he was on fire, in terms of consistancy in the ring, being over and entertaining people he was right up there and I think he was the MVP... that they didn't see it themselves is pretty sad... Shawn, Razor, Diesel all moved ahead of Tatanka... and the Kliq gets formed in that period... but if I was going to a show in 1993, Tatanka would be the guy I wanted to see.

 

[FromGlasgow]

If its purely WWE at this time I would go with Bret Hart, Yokozuna was a good dominant champion but Bret Hart was the one consistantly having five star matches throughout the year.

 

[Goldie]

I would have the Hitman as MVP constantly from late 1992 right up to Wrestlemania 12.
Sure Bret was moved down the card after losing the title to Yoko, but his fued with Jerry Lawlar that summer was a scorcher!, it completely outshone Lex Lugers quest for the world title & summerslam showdown with Yoko.

To compensate losing the world title, Bret won the King of the Ring (1st time as a PPV event) and put on 3 very different but exciting matches.
Bret was pushed into several midcard fueds, but he was still the guy that the fans wanted to see. At the 1994 Royal Rumble when Hart and Luger were declared co-winners, it was Bret not Luger who got the crowd approval (no matter what the WWE announcers would have you believe by claiming opinion as split).
Luger had a big big push at the time... but it bombed. Vince tried to recreate Lex as the next American hero.... the Hulk Hogan #2... but Luger was bland and unlikeable as a face. He was much better suited as the heel Narcissist character he played.

Yoko was a dominant champ over this period, but wasn't the most interesting or charismatic heel.

 

[HBKperfect23]

I will go with Yoko. Bret is a close second. After the year Bret had in 92, it would be virtually impossible to follow that up. Yoko was new and fresh and a very agile big man. His matches were good and he had the look. I enjoyed yokos feuds with Bret (both) and taker, but my favorite was his feud with Lex....build up was great.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

The MVP from WM9-WM10 is definitely Bret "Hitman" Hart:
- Main evented WM9
- Won KOTR 1993
- Won Royal Rumble 1994
- Great match with Owen at WM10
- Main evented and won the title at WM10

Hogan left the company. Lex took his place, got a huge push and didn't really connect with the crowd. Meanwhile Bret was there all along, and he was the guy. He was so over they couldn't hold him back, despite them preferring Lex.

 

[MrTDG]

I can't even believe this is a question. Sometimes it's good to debate things, but when you look at it, Bret Hart was clearly the MVP from January 1, 1993 to December 31, 1994.

Following his title lost at WM 9, Hart came back strong by winning the KOTR and had a great feud with Jerry Lawler. I loved everything about it, including the match (and first match with Doink). It lost a bit of steam when Lawler didn't perform at the Survivor Series, but the WWF planted the seeds for the Owen heel turn at that event. It led into WrestleMania and those two had a great feud.

In the meantime, there was him tying the Royal Rumble with Lex Luger and ultimately winning back the title from Yokozuna (poetic justice). He helped Diesel get over in a big way at KOTR 1994, gave the 1-2-3 Kid his best match that summer on Raw, and even had an interesting feud with Bob Backlund. Whoever Bret Hart worked with at the time, it went over well. He by far and away was the MVP.

 

[FlairFan2003]

Hart during this time was the same thing Flair was in WCW. When the money was down he was the guy you always went with to prop up a show or drive a rating, when you needed someone new to get over with audience or needed a feud advanced he was the guy you went with, regardless of whether he was booked to win or lose he gave you very good matches, and he worked hard regardless of whether he was facing ridiculous comedy acts like Isaac Yankem and Papa Shango or legit stars like Yoko, Lex, and HBK.

Hart was essential in establishing Yoko as the company's top heel, and legit heel main eventer. As a previous poster pointed out he was front and center in one the top matches on virtually every show.

A strong case can be made for Yoko, and I can see giving cred to HBK, Luger, and maybe Scott Hall, but essentially although all of them did well and made major contributions their was one guy who was the glue, holding it all together and that was Brett Hart, at least during this time frame.

The fact that WWE seemed to always be looking for an alternative to him and yet always ended up coming back to him to make money (what makes him most comparable to WCW Flair during this period) speaks volumes, a lot of guys were good and had moments, but Hart was the one consistent go to guy this whole time, and no matter what else they tried they always ended up going right back to him. He's the MVP during this time.

 

[FlairFan2003]

.

Luger had a big big push at the time... but it bombed. Vince tried to recreate Lex as the next American hero.... the Hulk Hogan #2... but Luger was bland and unlikeable as a face. He was much better suited as the heel Narcissist character he played.

.

Part of Luger's problem was how improbable his face turn was. Remember he had been booked as a lead heel pretty much straight his last two years in WCW, including all of his fairly long WCW Title run. Most fans were aware of this and watched (or at least were familiar) with both shows. WWE making Luger a heel when he came in, playing off his physique, etc, I feel worked well because it was very similar to his previous heel persona he played in WCW, the whole random out of nowhere I care about America face turn was too abrubt and made no sense. Now out of nowhere he was a completely different person, not the "Narcissist" at all, signing autographs for small kids and proudly proclaiming his patriotic lineage, too abrubt , and too nonsensical.

The NWA tried a similar thing with Flair vs Nikita Kolloff in 1985, However, although Flair in the storylines was fed up with the Kolloff family constantly running down both the country and the NWA company (despite being at the height of cocky, womanizing, heel persona) he didn't do a complete about face in his turn, he was still cocky and basically played the same character, he just had a more altruistic motivation than simply holding onto the power and or money associated with being Champ. Fans bought it because it wasn't so far fetched, if the NWA started suddenly having Flair diss his designer suits for Flag Shirts and start proclaiming Hogan-like family values it would have been too much of a stretch, but a jerk who admits he is kind of a jerk but gets fed up with a much bigger jerk denigrading everything and everyone around them isn't such a far ride to take.

WWE really rushed the Lex "Mr America" push and it made no sense storyline wise (as opposed to his "Narcissist" gimmick which was perfectly in tune with the "Total Package" we had been watching on TBS in recent years). I feel that is why it didn't work.

 

[MrTDG]

Part of Luger's problem was how improbable his face turn was. Remember he had been booked as a lead heel pretty much straight his last two years in WCW, including all of his fairly long WCW Title run. Most fans were aware of this and watched (or at least were familiar) with both shows. WWE making Luger a heel when he came in, playing off his physique, etc, I feel worked well because it was very similar to his previous heel persona he played in WCW, the whole random out of nowhere I care about America face turn was too abrubt and made no sense. Now out of nowhere he was a completely different person, not the "Narcissist" at all, signing autographs for small kids and proudly proclaiming his patriotic lineage, too abrubt , and too nonsensical.

The NWA tried a similar thing with Flair vs Nikita Kolloff in 1985, However, although Flair in the storylines was fed up with the Kolloff family constantly running down both the country and the NWA company (despite being at the height of cocky, womanizing, heel persona) he didn't do a complete about face in his turn, he was still cocky and basically played the same character, he just had a more altruistic motivation than simply holding onto the power and or money associated with being Champ. Fans bought it because it wasn't so far fetched, if the NWA started suddenly having Flair diss his designer suits for Flag Shirts and start proclaiming Hogan-like family values it would have been too much of a stretch, but a jerk who admits he is kind of a jerk but gets fed up with a much bigger jerk denigrading everything and everyone around them isn't such a far ride to take.

WWE really rushed the Lex "Mr America" push and it made no sense storyline wise (as opposed to his "Narcissist" gimmick which was perfectly in tune with the "Total Package" we had been watching on TBS in recent years). I feel that is why it didn't work.

This is a pretty good point. When Ric Flair feuded with Koloff, he still propped up his lifestyle as a way of life, how he was free to live it because we're in America, etc. It made perfect sense. Also, as soon as he had his match with Koloff, it was back to business as usual and shortly there after, he aligned himself with the Andersons, while STILL proclaiming his dislike for the Koloffs. Great booking by JCP.