For those who don't know the main event for SummerSlam 93 was Yokozuna vs Lex Luger (who went from a heel who was somewhat struggling to get over even though he was shoved down everyone's throats as the Narcasist gimmick for going on 6 or 7 months). Now Luger was still fresh to the WWF but his original gimmick didn't get over as well as planned. I think if they would have let the narcissism evolve he could have had a better run than he got with that gimmick. Now, this was a bizare build to your WrestleMania "B" ppv (and make no mistake SummerSlam had a lot more clout back in 93 than it does today). If you don't know the history of it then look it up, but my question is how should wwf have booked this card without centering it around Luger (which could have worked if they had him win the belt, but he lost all the momentum he had by not winning and from that point on became pretty irrelevant despite wwf desperately trying to get the momentum he had from the original face flip back). I have a few scenarios they could have gone with...I believe they should have had Savagevgo after the title (he and Yoko had a small history since they were the last two in the Rumble), have Savage try to make up for Hogans loss at King of the Ring, only to have Yoko defeat Savage and send him packing (either for good or temporarily) from wwf. In that scenario Yoko has ended the careers of both Hulk Hogan and Savage within months...then have everything go the same as they did with Yoko until WM 10 and Yoko would have been as much of a threat as Andre back in the mid to late 80's. The whole point to the thread is I really think the All-American Lex Luger push hurt more than just his career, and it all started because Vince felt he had no main-event for SummerSlam 93, so if you had to rebook that event how would you do it ?
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Looking back on SummerSlam 93
- Thread starter Killercam
- Start date
I think Luger was a good choice for the main event. It did seem a little strange for the Narcissistic heel to suddenly become the flag waving, baby kissing face of the company but I thought the push was really well done that summer. His Lex Express tour got him over to the point where by SummerSlam the Narcissist gimmick was a distant memory despite him having that gimmick only two months earlier.
Savage isn’t a bad idea but there are a couple reasons he wouldn’t have worked. The WWF had just begun the New Generation campaign. Hogan leaving was obviously a major turning point in the company and the WWF was in a phase where they were distancing themselves from their past. Savage just didn’t fit into the main event scene anymore in 1993. He didn’t even wrestle at WrestleMania that year. Since WWF was in this out with the old in with the new phase Yoko taking Savage out could have worked but that would have meant SummerSlam ending on a down note for the fans. Pay per views usually didn’t end with the heel on top in those days. These days with PPVs every month and a three hour Raw and two hour Smackdown every week a heel winning the main event of a ppv is more acceptable. There’s another show just around the corner for justice to be served. In 1993 there were only five PPVs per year and the weekly shows typically only featured squash matches. The ppv needed to send the fans home happy.
I would have left Luger in the main event. I’ve always kind of been on the fence about putting the belt on him that night. I get that they were waiting for mania before dethroning Yoko but not winning the title at SummerSlam really killed Luger’s momentum that he spent the summer building. That push was strong enough to crown a new champion. I think I would have booked Luger to win the belt that night. He would have either kept his momentum and sustained his popularity by winning the title, and if not there was plenty of time to get the belt back on Yoko and have Hart take it at mania.
Savage isn’t a bad idea but there are a couple reasons he wouldn’t have worked. The WWF had just begun the New Generation campaign. Hogan leaving was obviously a major turning point in the company and the WWF was in a phase where they were distancing themselves from their past. Savage just didn’t fit into the main event scene anymore in 1993. He didn’t even wrestle at WrestleMania that year. Since WWF was in this out with the old in with the new phase Yoko taking Savage out could have worked but that would have meant SummerSlam ending on a down note for the fans. Pay per views usually didn’t end with the heel on top in those days. These days with PPVs every month and a three hour Raw and two hour Smackdown every week a heel winning the main event of a ppv is more acceptable. There’s another show just around the corner for justice to be served. In 1993 there were only five PPVs per year and the weekly shows typically only featured squash matches. The ppv needed to send the fans home happy.
I would have left Luger in the main event. I’ve always kind of been on the fence about putting the belt on him that night. I get that they were waiting for mania before dethroning Yoko but not winning the title at SummerSlam really killed Luger’s momentum that he spent the summer building. That push was strong enough to crown a new champion. I think I would have booked Luger to win the belt that night. He would have either kept his momentum and sustained his popularity by winning the title, and if not there was plenty of time to get the belt back on Yoko and have Hart take it at mania.
wrestler36
Championship Contender
Good question. First things first - why did they push Luger to the moon, only to have him win by countout and not get the title? You're completely right to say that was a momentum killer for him. They had the helicopter bring him in to slam Yoko on the USS Intrepid and the whole Lex Express going cross country. To not have him win the title was pretty lame.
Personally, given the time frame, I would have had Bret Hart to get his rematch at SS 93. He lost the title at wrestlemania, only to have Hogan win it a few minutes later. Bret went on to win the inaugural King of the Ring PPV. It would have made perfect sense to have him automatically be the number one contender at the time. To add a stipulation, they could have made it a cage match, since Mr. Fuji cheated the first time they fought, and to delay Bret's feud with Jerry Lawler, so Jerry couldn't interfere in the match either. That would be the only way I could see them sidestepping the Bret/King feud in the short term.
Other than that, the only thing I can think of short term is, like you said, Macho Man somehow getting challenged or miraculously, the Ultimate Warrior challenging. Looking back, WWF lacked some real starpower at that time.
Personally, given the time frame, I would have had Bret Hart to get his rematch at SS 93. He lost the title at wrestlemania, only to have Hogan win it a few minutes later. Bret went on to win the inaugural King of the Ring PPV. It would have made perfect sense to have him automatically be the number one contender at the time. To add a stipulation, they could have made it a cage match, since Mr. Fuji cheated the first time they fought, and to delay Bret's feud with Jerry Lawler, so Jerry couldn't interfere in the match either. That would be the only way I could see them sidestepping the Bret/King feud in the short term.
Other than that, the only thing I can think of short term is, like you said, Macho Man somehow getting challenged or miraculously, the Ultimate Warrior challenging. Looking back, WWF lacked some real starpower at that time.
dd23beatlesfan1
Getting Noticed By Management
I think that Summerslam 93 would've been a success had they given the belt to Luger. The whole event was centered on Lex taking the title from Yoko and triumphing for America. So with them copping out basically and having Luger win by countout but not getting the title, it killed the entire idea of the ppv. Not to mention HBK/Perfect was underwhelming when it should've been a match for the ages. The best parts of the ppv was the Steiners/Heavenly Bodies match and the Bret Hart/Jerry Lawler/Doink saga.
I've discussed before how I would've booked most of 1993, including Summerslam 93, but that was quite a while ago, so I'll briefly go back into it. I would've centered Summerslam 93 as the conclusion of the main feud of 1993 (in my booking dream world) Bret Hart and Randy Savage.
I would've had Randy win the 93 Rumble instead of Yoko, though Yoko would've dominated in the Rumble like he did in real life, only to fall short against Savage in the end. The main event of Wrestlemania IX would've been a babyface/babyface matchup against Bret and Randy with Bret winning with one of his fluke-roll-ups that he used to do. This would make Savage frustrated and mad, but ultimately give him his respect, and this would continue the storyline. Basically they become allies against the heels of the WWF up to the King of the Ring. Bret would face someone like Razor Ramon in the championship match (or maybe Bam Bam Bigelow?) while Savage and Yoko would face off in the finals of the King of the Ring (instead of the Bret/Perfect semi-final match we got at the real King of the Ring, why not a semi-final match between Savage and Perfect which we never got and would've been a bona-fide classic). Mr. Fuji would interfere, Bret would try to help Savage, but ultimately it would backfire and Yoko would win the King of the Ring. This would result in Bret and Savage nearly fighting only for them to get on the same page. Then a week or so later, Savage would turn heel on Bret and become back to his maniacal heel that he did so well, out to prove that Bret was just a fluke and he was still the "King" or so of the WWF (especially with Hulk being gone).
So the main event at Summerslam would be a No DQ (cause that's what they were called back then) match between Bret and a heel Savage for the title, with Savage ultimately passing the torch and Bret retaining the title.
So what about the Jerry Lawler/Bret Hart feud, which was frankly, the best thing going in the WWF in 1993 IMO? Well I say keep that feud going even during the summer. They could still be feuding, just not having a match, more like a teasing. I'd say still have Lawler feud with Bret and Owen and the rest of the Hart family, and have a match between Lawler and Owen at Summerslam with Lawler getting the cheap win. Then after Summerslam at some point Yoko would become the next main challenger (who by this time, again is the King of the Ring) and he would ultimately take the title from Bret with Lawler costing him the match, and thus officially kickstarting their feud into Survivor Series (which of course would end up being HBK and the "Knights" against the Hart Family due to Lawler's legal troubles).
As for Luger and Yoko, I say keep the exact same storyline as they had and even have them fight at Summerslam. It just wouldn't be for the title. So that way Luger could get the countout win against Yoko (thus making Yoko not take a clean loss and not ruining his King of the Ring momentum), but Luger still looks strong by getting the win.
Then when Yoko wins the title after Summerslam, then Luger becomes the No. 1 contender and they feud for the title for the rest of 1993.
I just feel that Bret should've never lost the title at Wrestlemania IX and should've gotten more of a run with the title then he did. Plus, a lot of what hurt Bret's first reign is that none of the "old guard" ever put Bret over and passed the torch. Bret's first reign was viewed as a failure because he was a new champion and he had nothing but new challengers. He had no one to establish him. Jake Roberts left, Ted Dibiase and Mr. Perfect were doing other things plus weren't ever former WWF champions, Hogan wouldn't put him over, Flair wouldn't put him over on national television and left, Warrior left, and Vince felt Savage was done with wrestling. Savage is by far the best choice with what they had as being someone from the old guard to help put Bret over. A good 6-8 month feud/program (which was pretty normal for back then) with an established superstar/legend would've done wonders for Bret.
Plus, who would really rather see Luger and Yoko feud for the title over Bret and Savage?
Other than those minor changes, I would've kept the card largely the same.
The Razor Ramon/1-2-3 Kid/Dibiase/IRS situation was perfect as you created two stars out of that program in Kid and Razor, plus within a month or so, Dibiase would get injured in Japan and be forced to retire. So I would've kept those two matches. Again, the Steiners/Heavenly Bodies match was awesome so it definitely would've stayed. And even though HBK/Perfect was underwhelming, it was still the right match to go with for the I-C title. Jannetty and Borga was fine as it was meant to build Borga up. Taker and Giant Gonzalez was fine as it was the conclusion of their feud. Bam Bam/Headshrinkers against Tatanka/Smoking Gunns was fine as Bam Bam and Tatanka had a good mid-card feud going and the Smoking Gunns and the Headshrinkers were good teams, so they killed two birds with one stone by combining the two rivalries.
So I'd keep the rest of the card essentially, but cut out the Doink/Jerry Lawler/Bret Hart match and make it a good 6-7 minute match between Lawler and Owen Hart. Cut a little time off the Luger/Yoko match (beings it's not the main event it wouldn't need to be almost 20 minutes). And the main event would then be the conclusion of the epic Bret Hart/Randy Savage feud for the WWF title.
That's what I'd do with Summerslam 93.
I've discussed before how I would've booked most of 1993, including Summerslam 93, but that was quite a while ago, so I'll briefly go back into it. I would've centered Summerslam 93 as the conclusion of the main feud of 1993 (in my booking dream world) Bret Hart and Randy Savage.
I would've had Randy win the 93 Rumble instead of Yoko, though Yoko would've dominated in the Rumble like he did in real life, only to fall short against Savage in the end. The main event of Wrestlemania IX would've been a babyface/babyface matchup against Bret and Randy with Bret winning with one of his fluke-roll-ups that he used to do. This would make Savage frustrated and mad, but ultimately give him his respect, and this would continue the storyline. Basically they become allies against the heels of the WWF up to the King of the Ring. Bret would face someone like Razor Ramon in the championship match (or maybe Bam Bam Bigelow?) while Savage and Yoko would face off in the finals of the King of the Ring (instead of the Bret/Perfect semi-final match we got at the real King of the Ring, why not a semi-final match between Savage and Perfect which we never got and would've been a bona-fide classic). Mr. Fuji would interfere, Bret would try to help Savage, but ultimately it would backfire and Yoko would win the King of the Ring. This would result in Bret and Savage nearly fighting only for them to get on the same page. Then a week or so later, Savage would turn heel on Bret and become back to his maniacal heel that he did so well, out to prove that Bret was just a fluke and he was still the "King" or so of the WWF (especially with Hulk being gone).
So the main event at Summerslam would be a No DQ (cause that's what they were called back then) match between Bret and a heel Savage for the title, with Savage ultimately passing the torch and Bret retaining the title.
So what about the Jerry Lawler/Bret Hart feud, which was frankly, the best thing going in the WWF in 1993 IMO? Well I say keep that feud going even during the summer. They could still be feuding, just not having a match, more like a teasing. I'd say still have Lawler feud with Bret and Owen and the rest of the Hart family, and have a match between Lawler and Owen at Summerslam with Lawler getting the cheap win. Then after Summerslam at some point Yoko would become the next main challenger (who by this time, again is the King of the Ring) and he would ultimately take the title from Bret with Lawler costing him the match, and thus officially kickstarting their feud into Survivor Series (which of course would end up being HBK and the "Knights" against the Hart Family due to Lawler's legal troubles).
As for Luger and Yoko, I say keep the exact same storyline as they had and even have them fight at Summerslam. It just wouldn't be for the title. So that way Luger could get the countout win against Yoko (thus making Yoko not take a clean loss and not ruining his King of the Ring momentum), but Luger still looks strong by getting the win.
Then when Yoko wins the title after Summerslam, then Luger becomes the No. 1 contender and they feud for the title for the rest of 1993.
I just feel that Bret should've never lost the title at Wrestlemania IX and should've gotten more of a run with the title then he did. Plus, a lot of what hurt Bret's first reign is that none of the "old guard" ever put Bret over and passed the torch. Bret's first reign was viewed as a failure because he was a new champion and he had nothing but new challengers. He had no one to establish him. Jake Roberts left, Ted Dibiase and Mr. Perfect were doing other things plus weren't ever former WWF champions, Hogan wouldn't put him over, Flair wouldn't put him over on national television and left, Warrior left, and Vince felt Savage was done with wrestling. Savage is by far the best choice with what they had as being someone from the old guard to help put Bret over. A good 6-8 month feud/program (which was pretty normal for back then) with an established superstar/legend would've done wonders for Bret.
Plus, who would really rather see Luger and Yoko feud for the title over Bret and Savage?
Other than those minor changes, I would've kept the card largely the same.
The Razor Ramon/1-2-3 Kid/Dibiase/IRS situation was perfect as you created two stars out of that program in Kid and Razor, plus within a month or so, Dibiase would get injured in Japan and be forced to retire. So I would've kept those two matches. Again, the Steiners/Heavenly Bodies match was awesome so it definitely would've stayed. And even though HBK/Perfect was underwhelming, it was still the right match to go with for the I-C title. Jannetty and Borga was fine as it was meant to build Borga up. Taker and Giant Gonzalez was fine as it was the conclusion of their feud. Bam Bam/Headshrinkers against Tatanka/Smoking Gunns was fine as Bam Bam and Tatanka had a good mid-card feud going and the Smoking Gunns and the Headshrinkers were good teams, so they killed two birds with one stone by combining the two rivalries.
So I'd keep the rest of the card essentially, but cut out the Doink/Jerry Lawler/Bret Hart match and make it a good 6-7 minute match between Lawler and Owen Hart. Cut a little time off the Luger/Yoko match (beings it's not the main event it wouldn't need to be almost 20 minutes). And the main event would then be the conclusion of the epic Bret Hart/Randy Savage feud for the WWF title.
That's what I'd do with Summerslam 93.
remembering Hulk Hogan is what completely ballsed the title picture up in the first place. Bret Hart was the champion going into Mania 9 and was promised a lengthy initial title reign by McMahon. Once Hogan returned and then Vince pulled the switch and wanted Mania 9 to end with Hogan winning the title instead of Bret retaining. So Yoko having the title once Hulk dropped it back, really Bret Hart should have been the guy to dethrone Yoko then at Summerslam 1993 instead of being thrown Lawler to carry and put over. Hart was the chosen one and beating Yokozuna at Summerslam 1993 could have still led to Hart going into Mania 10 as champion and either facing his brother still but in the main event, or a new feud could have been cultiavted between Hart and Luger, using the double elimination from the 1994 Rumble as a reason to settle up at Mania.10
Jonyboyuk2
Getting Noticed By Management
I think to spend the money they did on Lex's push and to not put the belt on him at SummerSlam was a stupid thing to do! It not only stopped people investing their belief in the Luger character, but it was a real insult to fans who had purchased the PPV for it to be finished by a count out! Like others have noted on here - in those days SummerSlam was second only to Wrestlemania in terms of importance. Summerslam had a rich history of great matches and moments.
In terms of the Main event - the main event at 1992 (Bret v Bulldog) and at 1994 (Bret v Owen in a cage match) were miles better.
For me the Bret Vs Lawler match was the main event of Summerslam 1993 but they messed that up when they introduced Doink to the match.
If you review the entire show it was a letdown from every single match.
Razor V Ted Dibease was poor but at the time TD was working with a very bad back that led to his retirement very swiftly afterwards.
The Stiener Bros V Heavenly bodies was poor because the audience did not care about the HB's!
HBK V Mr. Perfect should have been better but HBK was working with a hangover apparently (I apologise to HBK if that is not the case but I think I read that in his Book Heartbreak and Triumph).
IRS V 123 Kid was as forgettable as it sounds.
Ludvig Borga v Marty janetty was a waste of time. LB was a bully and not over in the slightest. MJ was and they let it get wasted.
The less said about Undertaker v Giant Gonzales the better!
Tatanka and The Smoking Gunns v Bam Bam Bigelow and the Headshrinkers was boring too!
I think SS 1993 was awful!
In terms of the Main event - the main event at 1992 (Bret v Bulldog) and at 1994 (Bret v Owen in a cage match) were miles better.
For me the Bret Vs Lawler match was the main event of Summerslam 1993 but they messed that up when they introduced Doink to the match.
If you review the entire show it was a letdown from every single match.
Razor V Ted Dibease was poor but at the time TD was working with a very bad back that led to his retirement very swiftly afterwards.
The Stiener Bros V Heavenly bodies was poor because the audience did not care about the HB's!
HBK V Mr. Perfect should have been better but HBK was working with a hangover apparently (I apologise to HBK if that is not the case but I think I read that in his Book Heartbreak and Triumph).
IRS V 123 Kid was as forgettable as it sounds.
Ludvig Borga v Marty janetty was a waste of time. LB was a bully and not over in the slightest. MJ was and they let it get wasted.
The less said about Undertaker v Giant Gonzales the better!
Tatanka and The Smoking Gunns v Bam Bam Bigelow and the Headshrinkers was boring too!
I think SS 1993 was awful!
Makaveli31
Championship Contender
Only Vince knows the TRUE reason Luger wasn't given the belt at 'Slam '93 but according to multiple shoots with guys who were there at the time (Bret, Shawn, Nash, Hall) Luger simply wasn't getting over despite the mega push and money spent on the "Lex Express." Luger was pushed an All-America baby face....but we just had over a DECADE of that with Hogan....Luger was just a carbon copy with a better body and more hair...and MUCH less charisma. I think I read somewhere they actually had Luger come out with the title at a few house shows and the reaction was less than enthusiastic to say the least!! Given those sets of circumstances it's plausible than Lex simply wasn't over enough to carry the title.
1993 was a weird time in the WWF. It was a transition period. Vince had lost A TON of talent due the new drug testing policies that he put in place and guys like Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels and even Bret Hart and Undertaker to an extent were trying to establish themselves as legit main event guys. Also, I believe the trial was still going on at the time and Vince wasn't as involved in the booking as previous. I think they brought in guys like Bill Watts to help with the booking if I'm not mistaken.
1993 was a weird time in the WWF. It was a transition period. Vince had lost A TON of talent due the new drug testing policies that he put in place and guys like Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels and even Bret Hart and Undertaker to an extent were trying to establish themselves as legit main event guys. Also, I believe the trial was still going on at the time and Vince wasn't as involved in the booking as previous. I think they brought in guys like Bill Watts to help with the booking if I'm not mistaken.
THTRobtaylor
Once & Future Wrestlezone Columnist
The roid scandal did for Summerslam 93... Vince had lost several guys but most notably, Davey Boy...
Let's say Vince fudges and keeps him with a bit of time off screen, he drops the IC to Shawn as he did then 93 in general is based on the one true feud of 92 that caught imagination... Bret v Davey. Bret escapes Mania 9 with the belt beating Yoko with an assist from Davey, who beats Bam Bam... Davey shockingly turns on Bret, powerslamming him into the concrete outside the ring... When asked why, Davey "shoots" saying how he was the star of Summerslam but Bret came out better, while he was nearly fired cos of someone elses crime... And he thinks Bret was behind it... Davey takes a manager in Jerry Lawler and begins a tear through the roster, Davey wins KOTR beating Perfect and Savage while Bret defends the belt against Lex Luger... As Davey is crowned "King David", Bret runs in and ruins his moment... The match is signed for Summerslam and two years in a row, Smith wins the belt... He trashes Canada and says no American could do what he's done... Raising the ire of Lex Luger who comes down and lifts The Bulldog over his head, press slamming him into the plants at ringside... You have a new hot heel, Bret the wronged face and Luger where he ended up just three months later instead...and better matches..
Let's say Vince fudges and keeps him with a bit of time off screen, he drops the IC to Shawn as he did then 93 in general is based on the one true feud of 92 that caught imagination... Bret v Davey. Bret escapes Mania 9 with the belt beating Yoko with an assist from Davey, who beats Bam Bam... Davey shockingly turns on Bret, powerslamming him into the concrete outside the ring... When asked why, Davey "shoots" saying how he was the star of Summerslam but Bret came out better, while he was nearly fired cos of someone elses crime... And he thinks Bret was behind it... Davey takes a manager in Jerry Lawler and begins a tear through the roster, Davey wins KOTR beating Perfect and Savage while Bret defends the belt against Lex Luger... As Davey is crowned "King David", Bret runs in and ruins his moment... The match is signed for Summerslam and two years in a row, Smith wins the belt... He trashes Canada and says no American could do what he's done... Raising the ire of Lex Luger who comes down and lifts The Bulldog over his head, press slamming him into the plants at ringside... You have a new hot heel, Bret the wronged face and Luger where he ended up just three months later instead...and better matches..
Makaveli31
Championship Contender
While talented....anyone who bets their company on Davey Boy Smith is asking for trouble. It's well documented Davey had a slew of personal problems and drug addiction. I doubt Bret would've even vouched for him in '93.
EastCoastFan
Championship Contender
It basically boiled down to a few simple things: Hulk Hogan left the WWF in 1993, and Vince had to find someone else to be the figurehead of the company. It's well-known that Vince likes big, muscular guys and he probably saw Luger as someone he could build up into a big star. They changed his gimmick from "The Narcissist" to "Made in the USA" because they wanted fans to get behind him. The WWF did everything they could to hype Luger going into SummerSlam, including the famous "only one shot" stipulation. All the signs seemed to point to Luger becoming the new champion.
As to why Luger didn't win the WWF title that night, the story I always heard was that Vince felt Luger hadn't gotten over enough with the fans to justify giving him the belt, so they gave him a countout so he could still win the match.
As to why Luger didn't win the WWF title that night, the story I always heard was that Vince felt Luger hadn't gotten over enough with the fans to justify giving him the belt, so they gave him a countout so he could still win the match.
Jonyboyuk2
Getting Noticed By Management
Luger was such a flop that even at Royal Rumble 1994 they had to use sound machines to sound like Luger was as popular as Bret Hart. Luger would have gotten over more if he had been on TV competing after he had slammed Yokozuna, why he as sent around in a big bus for 6 weeks I don't know! Madness.
The Eighties
Forward Thinking Nostalgist
At the time I didn't have access to wrestling as easy as I do now so I wouldn't see shows until a bit after they happened, sometimes not until they hit video, but I recall hearing the results and being surprised that Luger hadn't won given the amount of hype they had built up around him with the Lex Express stuff.
Personally I was more interested in Mr Perfect threepeating than Lex but that ended in a dud count out as well. I didn't like Lex and was disappointed that he was being pushed ahead of Bret, but Vince didn't pull the trigger as it was plainly obvious that he wasn't nearly as over as Bret.
20 Years on one of the biggest disappointments in my time as a wrestling fan remains Summerslam 93, as I was expecting Bret Hart vs Hulk Hogan from the moment Mania 9 ended until KOTR.
Personally I was more interested in Mr Perfect threepeating than Lex but that ended in a dud count out as well. I didn't like Lex and was disappointed that he was being pushed ahead of Bret, but Vince didn't pull the trigger as it was plainly obvious that he wasn't nearly as over as Bret.
20 Years on one of the biggest disappointments in my time as a wrestling fan remains Summerslam 93, as I was expecting Bret Hart vs Hulk Hogan from the moment Mania 9 ended until KOTR.
If you believe the rumours that it was originally booked to be Hogan vs Bret for the belt so the Hitman could win and kick off the New Generation properly (I do believe them) than it's hard to look past Luger vs Yoko as being the back up plan.
I wouldn't want the Hitman vs Yokozuna rematch at Summerslam because I think Bret needed to be protected around that time if he was to get over fully as a main event guy. Not being able to beat Yoko again could have killed his credibility.
As for what happened in Luger vs Yoko I guess it was as simple as Vince looking at the money poured into Luger's push and not seeing a return. WWF was on very shaky grounds as the time so I guess he switched his plans and kept the belt on Yoko whilst he worked out a new strategy to go forward.
I wouldn't want the Hitman vs Yokozuna rematch at Summerslam because I think Bret needed to be protected around that time if he was to get over fully as a main event guy. Not being able to beat Yoko again could have killed his credibility.
As for what happened in Luger vs Yoko I guess it was as simple as Vince looking at the money poured into Luger's push and not seeing a return. WWF was on very shaky grounds as the time so I guess he switched his plans and kept the belt on Yoko whilst he worked out a new strategy to go forward.
I had stopped watching WWF in late 1992, only popping in here-and-there. But the Lex/Intrepid thing was pretty huge. I remember a local rock radio station (officially the "AOR" format) was promoting the heck out of a Lex Luger/Lex Express appearance at a Toys R' Us that summer.
Yokozuna as an unstoppable EVIL monster worked, too. A lot of casual fans would say stuff like: "holy sh*t! Have you seen this big sumo sumbitch in the WWF?" I have an Indy music "sampler CD" from 1993 and the cover has a collage of random images, including Yokozuna.
It seemed like SummerSlam was a formality and that Luger would be getting the WWF Title and become their new Hogan. So I tuned in, sometime in late September 1993, and was confused as to why this was not the case. I really feel they dropped the ball by not giving Luger the title at that time.
I finally saw SummerSlam 1993 a few years ago and the main event confirmed what I had thought. It's really quite weird how Luger celebrates a count-out victory like it's a title win. In fact, this may be the Greatest Count-Out Win in WWF History!
My other thought from finally watching the show was: damn, Ludvig Borga was bad-ass.
Yokozuna as an unstoppable EVIL monster worked, too. A lot of casual fans would say stuff like: "holy sh*t! Have you seen this big sumo sumbitch in the WWF?" I have an Indy music "sampler CD" from 1993 and the cover has a collage of random images, including Yokozuna.
It seemed like SummerSlam was a formality and that Luger would be getting the WWF Title and become their new Hogan. So I tuned in, sometime in late September 1993, and was confused as to why this was not the case. I really feel they dropped the ball by not giving Luger the title at that time.
I finally saw SummerSlam 1993 a few years ago and the main event confirmed what I had thought. It's really quite weird how Luger celebrates a count-out victory like it's a title win. In fact, this may be the Greatest Count-Out Win in WWF History!
My other thought from finally watching the show was: damn, Ludvig Borga was bad-ass.
THTRobtaylor
Once & Future Wrestlezone Columnist
While talented....anyone who bets their company on Davey Boy Smith is asking for trouble. It's well documented Davey had a slew of personal problems and drug addiction. I doubt Bret would've even vouched for him in '93.
Perhaps, but who is to say whether a pushed Davey, given the proper heads up wouldn't have straightened out? He was massively over and it would have popped a second big PPV in the UK. His main bad influence was Neidhart, had he been on the road with Bret and Owen seeing how things would be as champ rather than in WCW with Sting and Neidhart in tow he would very likely have had a much different life.
He was never a long term solution, but at that time, with the momentum he and Bret both had, it would have worked if Warrior had shredded his damn reciepts...after all Luger was hardly a paragon of virtue either... Nor Yoko...
Makaveli31
Championship Contender
Perhaps, but who is to say whether a pushed Davey, given the proper heads up wouldn't have straightened out
The proof is in the pudding. How much more of a push could Davey have gotten? He was booked to win the I-C strap from Bret Hart in the main event at 'Slam '92 in his home country. The entire PPV was built around him and according to Bret he was massive wreck going into the PPV. Bret basically had to design and carry him the entire match.
Then he goes to WCW in the MAIN EVENT spot with Sting then gets hit up with assault charges and is out of the company within the year!! And with Vince staring down steroid distribution charges there's NO WAY a jacked up Davey Boy would've been the face of the company. Receipts or no receipts.
He just wasn't mentally prepared to handle the pressure of being of the top guys. He always had someone to kind of watch over him and take care of him...and when he didn't....well he know what happened and it didn't end well.
Davey was a hardcore partier...it wasn't just Sting and Niedhart...he was there in Syracuse pilled up with Michaels and Waltman too. He was no saint and easily influenced. Two bad combo's.
THTRobtaylor
Once & Future Wrestlezone Columnist
And you think Luger and Yoko weren't using pills and in Luger's case roids?
Davey got caught cold cos of the reciepts, Lex would have had a prescription cos of his bike crash... So it really is semantics. He got an assault charge cos someone pretty much assaulted his wife...sure it went south and followed him but onscreen he was doing great business with Vader.
With Davey instead of Luger, Vince would have been able to sell Wembley out a second time, once that was off the table he tried to recreate that buzz in America with Lex... And Europe tanked...
At the end of the day it would have been academic had Vince not let Rude go or given up on Savage and DiBiase... His insistance on monsters cost him.
Davey got caught cold cos of the reciepts, Lex would have had a prescription cos of his bike crash... So it really is semantics. He got an assault charge cos someone pretty much assaulted his wife...sure it went south and followed him but onscreen he was doing great business with Vader.
With Davey instead of Luger, Vince would have been able to sell Wembley out a second time, once that was off the table he tried to recreate that buzz in America with Lex... And Europe tanked...
At the end of the day it would have been academic had Vince not let Rude go or given up on Savage and DiBiase... His insistance on monsters cost him.
Makaveli31
Championship Contender
And you think Luger and Yoko weren't using pills and in Luger's case roids?
Not in '94 he wasn't. Vince's drug testing was one of if THE most strictest in the country at that time. Look at Luger's build in the WWF...he was good 20 pounds lighter than he was in NWA/WCW. He was still ripped and lean but that's a sign of getting off the drugs as steroids make you retain water and give you a "bloated" look hence most of the athletes using them in the "off-season." A guy with Luger's natural size and genetics can look like that without drugs by using a strict diet and workout regimen.
I don't want to get into a whole discussion about that but I believe Luger was not on steroids in 1994. But we can agree to disagree on that.
Well WWF did big business in Europe regardless. Bret was just as over as Davey in the UK. I believe they could've sold out Wembley a second time but the costs of doing a whole PPV in the UK must be astronomical. The WWF was in dire financial straits at the time. Vince took a huge loss on the WBF plus was fighting the federal government with no limit on money. They were doing PPV's in much smaller venues.
My point is....Vince did the best we could with what he had. Young stars like Bret, Owen, Shawn and Razor were ready to take that next step.
bitesthedust
Dark Match Jobber
The problem with 1993/94 is that were not enough heels for a face champion to work with, whereas there were plenty of faces (Bret, Luger, Razor, Undertaker etc) for a heel champion to work with, put over; Bob Backlund was turned heel to hold the world title for six or seven days before dropping to Diesel (newly turned face).
Anyway, back to Summerslam 1993. Personally I would have booked Luger to win by DQ, so Yokozuna keeps the belt, work a finish where Luger slams Yoko, then hits the forearm, goes for the pin and Fuji breaks the count. Luger complains that he was robbed. This eventually leads to a heel turn the night after Wrestlemania 10.
If Luger wins the belt at Summerslam, then who will he face in his run as champion? A rematch with Yokozuna for sure, but after that? Ludvig Borga?
Anyway, back to Summerslam 1993. Personally I would have booked Luger to win by DQ, so Yokozuna keeps the belt, work a finish where Luger slams Yoko, then hits the forearm, goes for the pin and Fuji breaks the count. Luger complains that he was robbed. This eventually leads to a heel turn the night after Wrestlemania 10.
If Luger wins the belt at Summerslam, then who will he face in his run as champion? A rematch with Yokozuna for sure, but after that? Ludvig Borga?
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