Remembering the Yokozuna Bodyslam Challenge

[Nikkolas]

[YOUTUBE]h_Nav0ekG2w[/YOUTUBE]

So I actually got into wrestling about this time. Maybe it was a year or two later but I definitely remember WMX and stuff being some of the first wrestling I saw.

Sadly Lex isn't quite what I remember. I liked him when I was six but man oh man, not very impressive there.

So I'm wondering - what did he even do to Yoko? That doesn't qualify as a bodyslam does it?

Also does it seem to anyone else like Crush could have done it too but he obviously was told not to?

 

[The Brain]

The bodyslam challenge was an excellent idea. Yokozuna just beat Hulk Hogan for the WWF title and was the man to finally end Hulkamania in the WWF. Vince needed a new hero and he wasn’t 100% behind Bret yet. Looking at the roster in 1993 Luger was the logical choice to replace Hogan. He was doing well with the Narcissist gimmick but that had to be sacrificed for bigger and better things.

Here we had the foreign Yokozuna, the man who just sent the most popular star ever out of the WWF, issuing an open challenge for any American to slam him. On top of that it was not just in some random arena. This was on the USS Intrepid and it was on the 4th of July. After many wrestlers and other athletes failed to slam him it looked like the hated foreign champion was going to get the last laugh on American’s birthday. Then all of a sudden one more challenger arrived in style by helicopter. It was Lex Luger. Pushing his manager Bobby Heenan aside Luger entered the ring to accept Yoko’s challenge. Within just a couple minutes the WWF took a mid card heel and transformed him into their number one face. It was brilliant. Don’t worry about minor things like Luger not getting Yoko up very high. Who cares if Crush could have slammed Yoko? The WWF needed a new face and they did a great job of making Luger that guy. The Lex Express tour was one of the greatest pushes anyone had ever received. Of course we all know this experiment became a failure but that’s a story for another time. Everything from the USS Intrepid until SummerSlam 93 was well done to get Luger over as the top guy.

 

[Aotearoa (Bushwacker)]

How awesome does Scott Steiner look, LOL
It was not Technically a bodyslam. Bobby Heenan even announced that it was in fact a hip toss as Yokozuna was running towards Luger at the time (it's funny what you dont notice when you're a kid though, I remember seeing this in 1993).
It was a Stars and Stripes Challenge so of course the guy in the stars and stripes shirt is going to win it, LOL.
In addition to this I also liked Kurt Angles gold medal challenge he'd do each week and Dino Bravo's push up challenge. I also used to like Chris Masters master-lock challenge as well. I am sure there are others I cannot think of but I like them. It add a bit of variety and something different.

 

[Pedigree1]

First and foremost i have been a wrestling fan for over 30 years!! As a kid i was sick couldnt go out and play with my other friends! So wrestling became my friends my heroes and well didnt make fun of me!! Plus i have always liked the heels still do!! Now on to the topic at hand!

This was a major push for Flexy lexy! As the brain has already said taking a mid carder and pushing him into the top position after Yoko Dethroned hulk hogan and sent him packing for the E! Challenger after challenger failed and then i remember like it was yesterday helicopter landing and Lex hitting him with that foreign object he calls an elbow!!

Now whether or not it was a slam is irrelevant (I love the Brain it was a hip toss i happen to agree and who am i to argue) it sent Luger into damn there the top position but it failed!! Sorry for my rambling hope u get my point

 

[HBKperfect23]

Also does it seem to anyone else like Crush could have done it too but he obviously was told not to?

I think he means this as Crush being able to legit slam him...not the angle. Yes, he was probably told not to. I am wondering what they told other pro athletes that werent in the WWF that entered the challenge. Did they let them in on the angle? Or just tell Yoko, none of these guys can slam you...dont let it happen.

 

[HBsam31]

Pretty much what The Brain said. I remember this as a kid, and I went from not liking Luger at all in WWE to wanting him to beat Yoko very bad. This was a huge push given to Luger and it was all done perfectly that summer. Watching the video though it wasn't a horrible slam. It looked like crush could have done it as well, but these last two things don't really matter as Luger went from mid card to top face in just a few minutes time.

 

[sTyLnK]

I remember watching this as a teenager. I loved the WWE back then. It was essentially what the WWE is now. PG. People loved it back then, so why do they hate it now? Simple. Back then the wrestlers and characters were larger than life. The WWE doesn't really have that anymore.

As for this specific moment, I remember watching it and thinking that yes, Crush could have done it. And I was upset when he didn't. lol. I never cared for Lugar much, but looking back on him and this entire moment, it vaulted him from mid card status to a top guy. As The Brain mentioned, the entire thing was absolutely brilliant.

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

I was still a kid when that happened. Think I was 10. I remember being confused as I had been in to WWF for 4 years by that point, but thought Bret was the best at the time. I also thought perhaps undertaker may put in a shock appearance but was off screen since rumble 93. When I saw Bret give an interview on Superstars where he said "I know I can't slam Yokozuna, but I can beat him. When he gives me my rematch - I will end his reign cos I am the best there is, best there was and the best there ever will be!" and then this guy who had always been an obnoxious bad guy in WWF, gets out of a helicopter and hits Yoko in the face with his steel plated arm, and slammed him.

The next 6 weeks was all about the Lex Express - the most expensive push in WWF history at that time. And to end SummerSlam with Lex going over by a count out was awful story telling. The fans would have gotten in to a short term luger title win. Who knows why? Perhaps it was politics or Lugers conduct behind the scenes. Either way, I liked the original storyline telling between Survivor Series - Lex carried on with Yoko and their respective teams, and then the Royal Rumble was set up excellently - with Bret and Luger co-winning. It gave WM X an extra buzz, and allowed Bret to have a great match at WMX (he would have struggled (and indeed did) against the large Yoko), and help get his Brother Owen over as a credible WWF title contender, and kept the fans guessing who the headline bout would be.

That Bodyslam "heard round the world" has aged badly, but at the time, it was patient storytelling and defined WWF to a generation of kids.

 

[something]

I totally loved this when I was a youngster - thought it was a great idea for a segment (and a resulting big big patriotic face push for Luger)

I seem to recall that there was a fracas resulting in this, didn't Fuji claim it was an powerslam (as a result of an illegal 'steel plate elbow' to Yokozuna).

Its a shame, but these days, this would fail so hard.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

The bodyslam challenge was a genius idea from all angles.

Yokozuna just beat Hogan, The All American Hero a few weeks back for the title at KOTR so on July 4th, America's birthday, on the USS Intrepid no less they hold a bodyslam challenge to see who can lift the evil foreigner Yokozuna. Then you have almost every big wrestler try to bodyslam him not to mention Football players (a very American sport) and no one can do it. Then all of a sudden on a chopper out comes Lex Luger, someone who until this moment was a heel as the Narcissist. He come out in a Red, White and Blue shirt and does what no man has ever done before, one ups the evil foreigner by picking him up and slamming him to the mat on July 4th on the USS Intrepid and instantly he becomes the #1 face in the company (even moreso than Bret Hart for a window of time there). If you talk about ways to make someone look no further than this moment.

The whole concept from the timing of Luger slamming Yoko, to the day, to the place it all took place was perfect. It was a great feel good story, was a great way to get people behind Luger and was the best possible way to change Luger from a heel that no one liked to the most popular man in the WWE. Just flawless booking from top to bottom.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

I definitely do remember this happening, I'm of the mind that it was more or less a hiptoss, but with a guy the body structure of Yokozuna, I think even the most powerful folks like a Lex Luger would have a hard time performing the technique to body slam someone whose build is unorthodox to say the least. I think even Crush would have had some issues doing the same thing, and I'm sure it's possible that Crush was told to mind his own strength and not get carried away so that they could get Luger in there at the end to work that "WOW" moment in. Again who really knows?

But I would like to touch on something else, this angle right here is my justification for why I always counter back to fellow members of the IWC, when they present their argument that SummerSlam 1993 was originally slated to be Hogan vs Bret for the World Heavyweight Championship. That's not to say they weren't considering a match between the two...but the Body Slam Challenge on the Intrepid in my view shows that Vince wanted to make Hogan's latest World Title win look like a fluke, and give Yokozuna back the championship so he could have his monster heel run with it.

This event, and the turning of Luger to a face gives credibility to the idea that Hogan vs Bret for the World Title was not a big consideration for SummerSlam that year. Onto the event itself though, I do indeed remember WWF Superstar and professional athlete alike trying to do the impossible in bodyslamming Yokozuna. It was a memorable time for me as a wrestling fan and to be honest I wanted that Bret Hart rematch with Yokozuna a lot sooner than when we actually got it. However, WrestleMania X was such a good rematch between Yoko and Bret, and it played off a lot better in the long run to do it that way, that in all honesty I can't really complain too much now. But Luger, I was never truly behind as the replacement for Hulk Hogan. Nothing against Hogan at that time but in the WWF, it ran its course, while I admit I was still a fan of his, I was starting to take notice to the incredible performances that Bret Hart put on in the WWF as the World Champion. So Hogan stepping away from the title scene and leaving the WWF was a welcome thing, and in the long run it worked out better since Hogan went to WCW and helped reinvent wrestling once again (we all know the story there, lol).

Anyway, Yokozuna's feud with Luger was lackluster, following this bodyslam challenge we saw Luger only get a moral victory in that he beat Yokozuna by countout, and he did not receive the World Title. Later on at the same WrestleMania that Bret and Yoko had their rematch, Luger once again unsuccessfully challenged for the World Title, this time via a DQ loss to Yoko. All in all, a disappointment, now there has always been speculation that Luger blabbed the ending to his WM match with Yoko and therefore they punished him by not giving him the belt. In my opinion that is a possibility but not a certainty.

Whatever the case may be, I was glad to see Bret Hart back with the World title as opposed to Luger, I was more sold on Bret's style, and despite Luger having the better physique than Hogan, he had a tall order to follow. Bret Hart I think was the better choice to be World Champion.

But in retrospect, I was entertained by the Intrepid angle and all the other stuff that happened before and after it. Good post, and thanks for the walk down memory lane.

 

[oogieboogie]

now there has always been speculation that Luger blabbed the ending to his WM match with Yoko and therefore they punished him by not giving him the belt. In my opinion that is a possibility but not a certainty.

I thought he blabbed about winning the title at Summerslam. He was in a bar drunk and blabbed it. So that is why he didn't win the title. That makes sense cos after the whole Lex Express tour thingy he did. It mad sense for him to win and then he blabbed and got punished for it.

I didn't see the bodyslam challenge till later. As i did not have Sky (UK) so could not watch it at the time. But i remember my friend talking about it and i so wanted Crush to do it. I was disappointed when he didn't. Though i was shocked when i heard that Lex had done it.

 

[TheHitMark-SirJoseOle]

I thought he blabbed about winning the title at Summerslam. He was in a bar drunk and blabbed it. So that is why he didn't win the title. That makes sense cos after the whole Lex Express tour thingy he did. It mad sense for him to win and then he blabbed and got punished for it.

That's very possible too, I could definitely be wrong on how I heard the rumor. Either way, I do know there was some speculation about him leaking something to someone about winning the World Title. Good looking out though, because now I am starting to wonder more about what exactly went on. Who knows, the pre-internet days, man they were a hell of a time to be a wrestling fan, weren't they? Especially with this topic that the OP brought up, imagine if more of us had access to the internet then, we'd definitely be talking about this as well as the whole hiptoss vs bodyslam debate in regards to this topic, lol.

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

But I would like to touch on something else, this angle right here is my justification for why I always counter back to fellow members of the IWC, when they present their argument that SummerSlam 1993 was originally slated to be Hogan vs Bret for the World Heavyweight Championship. That's not to say they weren't considering a match between the two...but the Body Slam Challenge on the Intrepid in my view shows that Vince wanted to make Hogan's latest World Title win look like a fluke, and give Yokozuna back the championship so he could have his monster heel run with it.

It could be possible that the whole Bret/Hogan SummerSlam match could have been something that was scheduled before the events of WM 9 but weather it be Hogan or Vince not wanting to go along with it the plans could have then changed and set forth into motion the events that occurred after mania.

I guess what I'm tryin to say is that the main event at KOTR and the body slam challenge could have been a plan B after plan A (Bret/Hogan at SummerSlam) was nixed for whatever reason.