Summerslam 1993: A Retrospective Look

[Dagger Dias]

This summer I'll be looking back on each of the previous Summerslam events, one by one. Every few days I will submit a new topic until we reach 2014's edition of the 2nd biggest brand in WWE.

This thread will be for discussing.... Summerslam 1993!

Summerslam 1993 took place on August 30, 1993. It was held at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Here are the results of the matches from this show:



0. Owen Hart defeated Barry Horowitz in a singles match (08:32)

1. Razor Ramon defeated Ted DiBiase in a singles match (07:32)

2. The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) (c) defeated The Heavenly Bodies (Tom Prichard and Jimmy Del Ray) (with Jim Cornette) in a tag team match for the WWF Tag Team Championship (09:28)

3. Shawn Michaels (c) (with Diesel) defeated Mr. Perfect by countout in a singles match for the WWF Intercontinental Championship (11:20)

4. Irwin R. Schyster defeated The 1-2-3 Kid in a singles match (05:44)

5. Bret Hart defeated Doink the Clown (with Jerry Lawler) by disqualification in a singles match (09:05)

6. Jerry "The King" Lawler defeated Bret Hart by disqualification in a singles match (06:32)

7. Ludvig Borga defeated Marty Jannetty in a singles match (05:15)

8. The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) defeated Giant Gonzalez (with Harvey Wippleman) in a Rest in Peace match (08:04)

9. Tatanka and The Smoking Gunns (Billy and Bart) defeated Bam Bam Bigelow and The Headshrinkers (Fatu and Samu) (with Afa and Luna Vachon) in a tag team match (11:15)

10. Lex Luger defeated Yokozuna (c) (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) by countout in a singles match for the WWF Championship (17:58)






Now, here are some discussion questions concerning the event:

What was your favorite match on this show, and why did you like it the most? What about the worst match of this show, why did you like it the least?

If you could change a few things about Summerslam 1993, what would it be and why?

You may only use wrestlers who were available at the roster at that time or make changes that could have realistically taken place in August 1993. Please keep in mind the situations going into the show such as who could actually have been pushed into a title match, or what songs existed back then if you wanted to change the show's theme music, and so forth.

You may only discuss Summerslam 1993 in this thread. The remaining Summerslam events will be getting their own retrospective threads, any posts regarding other events will be considered spam and you risk getting an infraction.

Discuss!

 

[The Brain]

We're into the New Generation now and the transition seemed a little rough earlier in the year with WrestleMania but things were looking better by SummerSlam. Just two months earlier no one would have expected Lex Luger to be the top face challenging Yokozuna for the title in the main event but the WWF did a great job building Luger up with the Lex Express campaign. That falling apart after SummerSlam is another story.

Looking at the card the obvious choice for favorite match would seem to be Mr. Perfect vs. Shawn Michaels. That's not the case for me. It was a good match but when you say Mr. Perfect vs. Shawn Michaels for the IC title at SummerSlam you would think five star classic. It just didn't happen and while not a bad match I was definitely disappointed. My favorite match was The Steiner Brothers vs. The Heavenly Bodies. Unlike the IC title match I did not have high expectations for this one. Mostly because I didn't know who the Heavenly Bodies were. I was impressed with the match, and while not a classic I think it was the best match of the night.

My least favorite match was Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzalez. For years I've defended Taker vs. Gonzalez at mania. I thought that was the right call. By SummerSlam the novelty of Gonzalez had worn off and the lame "Rest In Peace" stipulation did nothing to add to the match. This match was just boring as the feud had run its course. That leads me into the changes.

The Undertaker should have wrestled Mr. Hughes instead of Giant Gonzalez. That was the feud during the summer. That would have been a better match. I always thought Gonzalez was put in the match because Hughes left the company so quickly in 1993. While watching some old Raw episodes on WWE Network I saw the match with Gonzalez was announced while Hughes was still in the company. I thought Hughes was gone by SummerSlam but if not he should have had the match with Taker.

I wasn't crazy about the six man tag. Rumor has it the original plan was Tatanka & Sensational Sherri vs. Bam Bam Bigelow & Luna Vachon. That would have been good but Sherri left the WWF during the summer. Instead of the six man I would have preferred Tatanka vs. Bigelow one on one. No need to involve the tag teams in this feud.

The match that's going to be discussed most is the main event. Should Luger have won the title? With the push he received going into SummerSlam it sure seemed like he should have. It's hard for me to wish for the change because I kind of like how it worked out in hindsight but going into the event I would have definitely put the belt on Luger that night.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

I cant remember my favorite and/or least favorite matches on this card, because I was fairly young when I attended this show. But I do remember being there, sitting main floor, 10th or so row. Just a few seats off of the isle.

I remember being so upset with Jerry Lawler for attacking Bret Hart. Then Bret got his revenge, & Jerry was sent to the back on a stretcher. A stretcher I (as a 13/14yr old) tried to push over, as it was rolled by. Its hard to find video of "the push"...but I have found it in the past. Neeless to say: The stretcher didn't tip over, it just kinda slid to the side a little bit.

The other thing I most remember on that show was: Red, White & Blue balloons being clearly visible sitting up in the ceiling of The Palace. I guess this was before they likely started using disguising covers up in the rafters. Rather than just a clear net filled with balloons, obviously showing us what the outcome of the main event between Luger & Yoko would be.

I also remembering wonder if the main event finish was what was supposed to actually happen. Everything seemed confusing and chaotic at the end of that match. Why a count out win? Did Yoko really get KO'd, & legitimately couldn't get back into the ring? I had no clue at that time. But I remember it seeming like a very odd ending to a match.

Best show I've ever been to, to this day. Just because of the seats we had. Good times! Thanks for the flashback memories Dagger!

 

[Cub McCallister]

This could of been one of the best Summerslams in history in Hogan didn't walk out which is why I will include hogan in my card and I would change as many things around as possible on this card to try and make it a better card such as:

Dark Match
I.R.S Vs 1-2-3 Kidd
Singles Match. Have this as a dark match and put IRS over.

1) Owen Hart Vs Doink The Clown
Singles Match. The reason I've done this is because bret had a match against doink on the night but scrap that so I put doink against Owen and pull off the biggest upset in history with the help of the King.

2) Razor Ramon Vs Ted Dibiase
Singles Match. Stays the same.

3) The Steiners (C) Vs The Heavenly Bodies Vs The Smoking Gunns Vs The Headshrinkers
Tag Team Title Four Corners elimination Match. Put all these men teams together and have the Steiners go over.

4) Ludvig Borger Vs Macho Man Randy Savage.
Changed this because I want Borga to face someone who will stand up for America and go up against Borga and Savage will lose.

5) The Undertaker Vs Papa Shango
Singles Match. Undertaker goes over after a hard fought match and has to be helped out.

6) Lex Luger Vs Yokozona
#1 Contenders Match. Have Yoko go over and become the new #1 contender.

7) Shawn Michaels (C) Vs Mr Perfect
Intercontinental Title Match. Have this a 5 star match and let Michaels go over by the skin of his teeth.

8) Hulk Hogan (C) Vs Bret Hart
Wwf Title Match. This has to be the main event and let Hart go over and have the torch passed onto him Mcmahon would of made a lot of money of this match alone the crown would of gone wild and then have the whole firework shebang to end a great night.

 

[Pedigree1]

This time period was a transitional time period! This summerslam card was the best they could have hoped for.. The HBK vs Mr Perfect match should have been perfect,but sadly it just didnt deliver.. The Tag team match,was the best match on the card the steiners liked i have said,just didnt stick around long enough for them to grow on me... Not in the WWE anyway..

The Undertaker Vs Gonzalez match was just awful.. No offense to the Late Giant Gonzalez but by the time,that match came about it ran its course at WM! The buried alive match just did not do anything for the feud.. The big question is Should have Luger won the title at Summerslam?? The Whole Lex Express him hip tossing Yokozuna,on that battleship,the whole lex express was a waste to have him only win by countout.. I just would have thought with all that foresight that Luger would have won the title that night..

 

[THTRobtaylor]

This was the year the chickens came home to roost for WWF talent, Vince and the fans... From January 1993 onwards, 3 years of poor decision making began a big cascade effect that really showed most on this card.

What decisions? Well Warrior's decisions from 1990-92 for one... not letting Rude have a short run with the belt, holding up Vince, the steriod bust on him... Hogan too with flat out refusing Rude as an opponent, picking Slaughter, not putting over Sid or Flair and then basically screwing Bret... Vince allowed a massive portion of proven talent simply leave over those 3 years, starting with Rude but major lynchpins of Summerslam were no longer part of the roster come 1993's event... There was no Tito Santana, Rick Martel, Big Bossman, LOD, Duggan, The Mountie and sacriligiously... Randy Savage... some were aging but most were having more than a fine time in WCW... Rude was the best heel in the business bar none, Bossman was transitioning back to his Bubba character but doing fine...

The final nail in this process was the end of Ted DiBiase's active WWE career, while he was still very much a valuable commodity at this show to Razor Ramon, sure they got their IC champ for the next 2 and a half years from it but the poor decision to axe Ted led to his ill fated Japan trip and like that, his career was gone.

Vince had brought in a massive number of cheaper new signings that in the main hadn't caught to replace these guys. Ramon till that point had been a dud, The Steiners hadn't caught the imagination in the same way LOD did as a debuting team, the Headshrinkers were buried under an awful stereotype 10 years out of date and even promising talent like Doink, Crush and Tatanka were beginning to feel politics wrecking their chances.

They were also relying on some "older" talent with a bit more name value like Mr. Perfect and Jerry Lawler rather than the proven guys they had active a year earlier like Savage and even Flair... Lawler was seen as a cheaper version of Flair by Vince, and the fans...

At the top of the card you had seen Hogan completely derail any value Bret had had with his Mania stunt. To this day there is no viable reason for how that whole situation could be "good for business". It ruined Bret, damaged Yoko almost irrepressibly and forced Luger onto the masses before he was ready.

Ah the Lex Express... what seemed a good idea at the time quickly became the worst idea of the year until Jim Crockett nailed a board across the walkway for Shockmasters entrance. Luger himself wasn't a bad pick but the fans had no time to get used to him even as the Narcissist before he'd 180's and was being literally rammed down people's throats... then he didn't win at Summerslam? It made it all redundant.

Was the show itself terrible... hmmm bad but not terrible, the best matches were the ones with nothing riding on them... Bret v Doink was great as they sold Doink correctly in those days, before Borne got in strife and Apollo took over. DiBiase showed why Vince was mad to be letting him go and helped people see Razor as something more than the whole rest of the year had let him be and IRS v The Kid was a great if short contest.

No one who was really supposed to "look good" did though... Luger and Yoko both came out looking weaker for there not being a proper finish... even if they'd screwed Luger and had him pinned, it was better than what they gave. Ludvig Borga was supposed to be a monster and Jannetty did his best to sell the offense, but it was an awkward matchup and Shawn and Perfect vomited a match out seemingly... it was not what it could and should have been because neither trusted the other cos of the Janetty situation. Shawn screwed Marty, told Perfect and he not only told Vince but got Vince to re-hire Janetty and give him the belt as originally planned... You can imagine the tension between them...

How do you fix it?

Well lets assume anyone gone is gone... no keeping Flair on or the like... Hogan has been a dick and refused to face Bret...

First off you make the title vacant after King Of The Ring... there was enough shenanigans with Hogan's awful attempt at using flash paper to strike a line through it. As KOTR is done with it can't be for the belt but as Bret is King he is in the match for the title.

The 4th of July challenge still happens but with the stipulation that it will be Yoko v Bret unless someone can slam Yoko... cue the same thing happening, Savage gets close but Luger arrives and pulls it off.

Of course this is not gonna be simple as Cornette is involved, he threatens to sue unless Yoko is involved and so what basically happens at Wrestlemania 10 happens now at Summerslam 90 with the 4th man in the equation being determined by a battle royal.

At the battle royale, Yoko reveals his alliance with newcomer Ludvig Borga and they severely "injure" Owen, Bret is powerless to stop the attack but Randy Savage manages to get Owen to safety by eliminating Borga from behind only to fall prey to the winner of the Battle Royal, Ted DiBiase.

Summerslam arrives and Bret faces off against Yokozuna in the first match of the tournament... he is heartened when Owen recovers enough to come to be in his corner but Owen's temper gets the better of him and he inadvertantly costs Bret the match... Yoko thus advances. Next, Luger faces DiBiase who has purchased the services of Bam Bam Bigelow... Bam Bam manages to do a number on Luger during a ref bump but Luger rebounds to stun DiBiase with his "illegal" forearm and get the win.

Elsewhere on the card, Razor Ramon teams with Mr Perfect and the 1-2-3 Kid to take on Shawn Michaels, Jerry Lawler and the mysterious Doink with the stipulation that if Michaels is pinned, his IC title is lost. He does indeed lose... to the 1-2-3 Kid in a stunning upset.

The Steiners take on The Headshrinkers for the titles (WTF were they Smoking putting the Heavenly Bodies in that match, they can face the Gunns) and Borga faces Randy Savage with Savage getting a "reverse decision" when Borga refuses to stop attacking Randy after the bell... Savage is saved by the "bell" and darkness... When the lights come up Savage has gone and the Undertaker stands in the ring staring down Borga... I keep Taker off this show on purpose, he was better in no match than with Gonzales.

For an opener use IRS v Janetty - nice short match but Janetty deserved better than he got at the time.

In the main event, Lex defeats Yoko to lift the title when DiBiase and Bam Bam's interference backfires - this sets up DiBiase v Luger for the title and a face turn for Yoko to face Bam Bam...

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

Before I begin some awesome re-imaginings from Cub and THT.

The event was pretty bad but I always look back at this event positively and seem to re watch it every so often because this was the first ppv I saw live. Seemed weird at the time and it still seems that way today that Lex didn't win the title against Yoko. What was the point of building up Luger as fast and hard as they did for him not to win the title at SummerSlam? You could argue that it was done to build Yoko up further for Bret at Mania X but that was not set in stone at the time.

The other problem with this card is the lack of star power. Outside of Yoko and Luger (who aren't really stars but were two of the biggest they had) the only other established star was Bret and he was barely a year into the main event scene. So the lack of star power saw Bret take on Doink and Lawler and everyone else on the roster was either an up and comer, new talent, or old talent.

 

[JoeyJoeJoe]

The problem with Summerslam 93 was that it had the WWE swerved off of the path that it had set up in the minds of fans. It's something that has happened many times since...in trying to keep fans guessing, they sometimes move away from the "right" decision, just to fool people. Obviously the whole Lex Express thing was telegraphing a Luger win. So why not give the fans what they were paying to see that night? A Luger win and title change. It didn't have to remain that way. Come Survivor Series, they could've had a rematch and put the strap right back on Yokozuna if they were so inclined.

The other match that would've made this card would've been a feud between Hart and Savage. I had pitched this as the main event for WM 9 when we were going through the WM history threads. Savage was just out of the main event at this stage, and could've easily stepped back in. Hart was still over with the fans, and that match in either a face vs. heel or face vs. face type contest would've helped deliver.

 

[Judah's Lion]

SummerSlam 93 was odd, both then and now. Luger went from heel to top face in the span of 2 months, Bret went from being the top face to still a top face in a match against a major heel, but still felt very overshadowed at this event, Perfect/HBK fell flat and didn't even have a conclusive decision, etc. just overall this event disappointed, and that's not even including the weird reverse swerve that the WWF threw us. EVERYONE was expecting Luger to win. he was built and booked to win. and he did. via COUNTOUT?? too bizarre.

my changes are pretty major and date back to the Royal Rumble...

Hogan vs. Flair for the WWF Title would happen at the Rumble. Hogan wins the first ever dream match between the two. he walks into Mania 9 as the champ.
Bret Hart wins the Royal Rumble Match itself and goes on to face Hogan for the World Title in the main event of Mania 9.
Yokozuna also debuts at the Rumble but never enters the match. he simply enters the ring, destroys several guys, then leaves.

at Mania 9, Yokozuna meets Hacksaw Jim Duggan in a Flag Match and utterly destroys him, draping the Japanese Flag over his prone body after a Banzai Drop or two.
Flair takes on Perfect in a Career vs. Career Match, which Perfect wins, sending Flair to WCW.
Luger can debut here in a vignette similar to how he did at the Rumble, but only it happens at Mania instead.
Hogan vs. Hart for the WWF Title is the Main Event. Hart wins and Hogan passes the torch to the new generation.

now, on to SummerSlam 93 for my changes.

Tag Team Titles: Steiner Brothers vs. Head Shrinkers vs. Smoking Gunns. i liked all three of these teams at the time. i think i'd let the Gunns take it as the Steiners and Head Shrinkers mostly eliminate each other.

IC Title: HBK vs. Jannetty maybe. or HBK/Perfect. HBK/Diesel. HBK/Owen. Perfect/Owen... lots of options here. maybe throw all of them in there with Razor and make it a 6-Pack Challenge. or any combination of the 3 in a Triple Threat.

Tatanka and Bigelow had a one-on-one already at the Rumble, so i'd do Tatanka/IRS for SummerSlam. set up a mini feud between the Native American and the Million Dollar Corporation to make his turn at next year's event all the more shocking.

i'm trying to decide if i'd do Lawler vs. the 123 Kid or not. i loved the angle with Kid getting the upset over Razor on Raw. how about doing that at SummerSlam with Lawler instead? it'd be a pretty memorable moment and give Kid some credibility since Lawler was a pretty big deal at the time.

given his feud with the Million Dollar Corporation, and especially given his match for next year, i'd do Taker vs. Ted Dibiase this year. maybe make it a Casket Match given what's in store for Taker later on down the road. it'd be fitting.

on July 4th, Luger goes face and bodyslams Yokozuna. he does it for America, of course, and as such, is gonna destroy the foreign monsters. at SummerSlam, he begins by taking out Ludwig Borga in a hard-hitting one-on-one match. he wasn't ready for a World Title match in the WWF just yet. it was too soon into his debut with this audience and it was way rushed. let it build and burn slowly. Luger vs. Ludwig happens here instead. Lex Express can happen after Lex wins the 94 Rumble, alone. he can then challenge Yokozuna, one-on-one, at Mania 10 for the World Title. he can win it there.

World Title: Bret Hart vs. Yokozuna. this would essentially be a combination of their Mania 9 and 10 matches. Yoko wins to become World Champion for the first time. he'll hold the belt till Mania 10, when he drops it to Luger.

those are my 7 matches for this year. almost exactly the same talent as was actually on the card, but switched up a lot. still, i think it'd be better than what we got and it'd be less swerve-y.

 

[bitesthedust]

Best match of the card in my opinion was Bret v Lawler, just for the storyline progression.

Worst match was definitely Undertaker vs Giant Gonzalez. I agree with previous posts that the WM 9 match should have been the feud ender, and a rematch with a rest in peace stipulation was not necessary. If Mr Hughes was still around, then he should have filled in.

I've mentioned in previous topics about the Face/Heel divide in 1993/94 and how there were few viable heels for a face champion, so keeping the belt on Yokozuna was the way to go. Luger winning the belt down the line may have worked but I'd have eventually booked him to turn heel in 1994. This would be a slow burn starting at SS 93, Luger would win by DQ after hitting the forearm smash, Mr Fuji interferes by hitting him with the flagpole.

Dibiase was the right man to put Razor Ramon over and help elevate him. I'd have changed the ending to Shawn vs Perfect to a clean win for Shawn to maintain his push and carried on as in real life until the battle royal. If it wasn't planned for Perfect to win the belt then he should have put Shawn over; a countout loss doesn't help anyone.