411's Roundtable Review: Summerslam 1993

Posted by Ryan Byers on 08.13.2006

Let the lean years begin.

411's countdown to Summerslam continues on this fine Sunday morning as our panel of writers takes a look at Summerslam 1993! This time around we've got a mix of young fans and old fans alike, all of whom will bring a fresh perspective to this thirteen year old show. Who comprises this merry band of rapscallions? Read on, good sir . . .

- If this feature were Match Game, Stuart Carapola would be Charles Nelson Reily. As always, I'll plug his This Week in Hardcore and That Was Then columns.

- Jullian Williams of Top Ten fame is back for his second appearance on the panel. We already saw him handing out his patented letter grades to Summerslam 1992, and it'll be interesting to see whether 1993 gets a better report card.

- If you load 411, close your eyes, and click on column at random, there's a 90% chance it was penned by Larry Csonka.

And there's our panel. The three of '93, if you will. They'll be taking on a show that fell right at the beginning of what many people consider to be a dark period for the WWF. Business plummeted after guys like Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior decided that they no longer wanted to be a regular part of the roster, and crowds were growing tired of a product that became majory overexposed in the 1980's. Those who did stick around were treated to some great matches by the likes of Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, Marty Jannetty, and Curt Hennig, but it was beginning to look like there were just as many hits as there were misses thanks to the Lex Lugers and Crushes of the world. Will the talented roster of this time period overcome the unmitigated crap? That's for the panel to decide . . .

Match Number One: Razor Ramon vs. Ted DiBiase

Stuart Carapola: The outcome of this match was never in question for me, I was smart enough (in the pre-Internet way) to know that DiBiase was leaving the WWF after this show, but I couldn't wait to see what Razor was going to do now that he was a good guy.

Jullian Williams: This was actually Dibiase's last match before becoming a manager as his carer was dwindling down to this point. Razor was the up and comer and this match came about as a result of Razor losing to the 1-2-3 Kid and Dibiase making fun of it for it, so Razor caused Dibiase to lose a match against the Kid which of course pissed Ted off. This was a quick little match to get the crowd riled up and it ended when Razor hit the Razor's Edge. Decent opener, nothing special. Match Rating: C

Larry Csonka: Unfortunately this would serve as DiBiase's retirement match, due to lingering and severe back/neck issues. It wasn't much of a match as DiBiase was slowly starting to fall apart, and just wasn't that capable of much. He tried, but all we got for his last hurrah was a short job match. Thanks for the memories Ted, thank you very much.

Match Number Two: The Steiner Brothers (c) vs. The Heavenly Bodies for the WWF Tag Team Championship

Stuart Carapola: Like the year before, I was certain that the new champs would lose the title here and was puzzled when they didn't. After seeing how the Bodies were treated after this show, I think they were probably better off keeping the titles on the Steiners. All the same, I thought the match could have been a lot better that it was considering who was involved.

Jullian Williams: This was before Scott blew up to ungodly proportions and Rick was a snail so the Steiners were actually GOOD at this point. The Bodies were Tom Pritchard and Jimmy Del Ray. This match had some seriously good action with Scott being beat down most of the match and having the crowd rally behind him. Imagine Scott Steiner playing the face-in-peril nowadays? Yea, it just wouldn't work. The end comes when Scotty boy hits the Frankensteiner on Del Ray for the pin. It's still incredible to see Scott hit that move knowing that a few years later he could barely climb the turnbuckle. Very fun stuff here.
Match Rating: B

Larry Csonka: The Heavenly Bodies BITCHES! This was maybe the Steiner's best WWF match, as by this time they were starting to go down hill as the great workhorse team that they had been. The match was really good as the Steiner's got to run wild to begin the match, but then The Heavenly Bodies got to work their magic and the match really started to take shape. Unfortunately they only got 10-minutes or so, but it was a damn good match and I wish that The Heavenly Bodies would have gotten more of a big time run in WWF or WCW.

Match Number Three: Shawn Michaels (c) vs. Mr. Perfect for the WWF Intercontinental Championship

Stuart Carapola: Speaking of matches that had the potential to be light years better, Shawn Michaels scored an incredibly unpopular countout win over Mr Perfect to retain the title in what I consider the most disappointing Shawn Michaels match ever. I really, even to this day, question how these two men could have put on a match as boring and bad as this one. Mr Perfect would disappear soon after this and Michaels would be suspended and stripped of the IC Title, and the two men never had a chance to try and have a better match.

Jullian Williams: They were hyping this match up as THE GREATEST IC TITLE MATCH IN THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION before the bell even rang. As it turned out, not so much. Diesel was just HBK's heavy at this point so he hadn't started doing anything significant yet. Match ended after Diesel posts Perfect on the outside to get him counted out. The crowd shitted on that finish and I can't blame them. Quite disappointing considering the talent in the ring. Match Rating: C

Larry Csonka: PPV count out…urge to kill growing…must kill someone. This match disappointed me a lot, as I was expecting something special, but ended up feeling like I had been robbed. They did some good stuff, but almost seemed like they were trying to hard. I thought things would maybe pick up, but Diesel ended up pulling Perfect to the floor and tossing him to the steps and we got the lame ass count out. BOO URNS~!

Match Number Four: Irwin R. Schyster vs. The 1-2-3 Kid

Stuart Carapola: Disappointment #3 rears its ugly head. The Kid (known since by various names such as Syxx, X-Pac, and his real pornstar name of Sean Waltman) was on a huge roll, scoring upset wins over Razor Ramon, Ted DiBiase, and others leading up to this show. Even then, I couldn't believe they cut his storyline like this, because what it basically said was "yeah, he was lucky, but now his luck has run out. See him team with Virgil next week on Superstars."

Jullian Williams: This was just a glorified squash with Kid getting in a few shots here and there, but ultimately he fell victim to the Writeoff clothesline and that was that. Keep moving, nothing to see here. Match Rating: D

Larry Csonka: Well joy, squash time! Kid bumped like a crazy man, got killed, end of story.

Match Number Five: Bret Hart vs. Doink the Clown

Stuart Carapola: Looking back, the whole Bret Hart/Jerry Lawler/Doink thing that sat here was some great actual wrestling, but terrible storytelling. Lawer was scheduled to wrestle Hart here, but came out claiming to have been injured in a car accident, and sent Doink to wrestle Hart for him. Hart beat him.

Jullian Williams: This match came about after Bret won the King of the Ring, which of course offended Lawler because he's the only king in wrestling. Except Harley Race. And Booker T. Lawler tries to do the old bait and switch by having Doink wrestle Bret instead of him claiming he's injured. Bret beats the holy hell out of Doink until Lawler hits him a crutch. HE'S HEALED!! PRAISE JEBUS!! (Yes, I meant to put Jebus instead of Jesus)

Larry Csonka: We were supposed to have Lawler vs. Hart, but Lawler was "injured" and said that he couldn't compete. Lawler explains that the injury came from saving a bus full of orphans after a car wreck earlier on the day, but he had a replacement, Doink. Doink gets control, but Bret does the usual comeback and wins clean with the sharpshooter.

Match Number Six: Jerry Lawer vs. Bret Hart

Stuart Carapola: Lawler, miraculously healed, jumped in the ring and attacked Hart. Jack Tunney sent him back to the ring to wrestle Hart, and actually submitted, but ended up getting the win by reverse decision when Bret wouldn't release the Sharpshooter. I guess it doesn't sound as stupid as it seemed at the time. I guess I just hate Lawler matches. This was all supposed to lead to a Lawler and partners vs Bret and brothers match at Survivor Series, but Lawler ended up getting pulled from that for aLlEgEdLy being a kid toucher, which the taste he's shown in women since then would certainly seem to disprove.

Jullian Williams: Jack Tunney then comes out and orders Lawler to wrestle or he's fired and banned for life. Bret proceeds to now beat the holy hell out of Lawler and locks in the Sharpshooter and pick up the win. BUT WAIT!! Bret refuses to let go of the hold so the ref reverses the decision and gives the match to Lawler. Thus, The King was the only true king in professional wrestling. Very good stuff here with Lawler playing the part of chickenshit heel to perfection. Lawler raising his hand in victory while getting carted away on a stretcher is priceless. Match Rating: B

Larry Csonka: Things were not over though, as old school WWF president Jack Tunney says that Lawler must wrestler or be suspended for life. Hart goes ape shit on Lawler for a while, but Lawler would use the crutch and gain an advantage as the crowd is eating it all up. Bret eventually makes his comeback and gets the sharpshooter for the win. But he would refuse to release the hold as officials fill the ring and Hart eventually gets disqualified. Lawler gets stretchered out, but Hart continues to whoop his ass all the way out. Great booking as this DQ made sense. Awesome segment from beginning to end.

Match Number Seven: Ludwig Borga vs. Marty Jannetty

Stuart Carapola: I knew Jannetty was going to lose, but I thought he was squashed way too bad here. Even then I thought he was sorely underused and unfairly buried. I guess he just had that short IC Title reign so when guys like Borga beat him, they can say "wow, he just beat the former Intercontinental Champion!"

Jullian Williams: SQUASH!! Just take the IRS/Kid match and rinse, wash, and repeat. Borga finishes the match with the Torture Rack. Match Rating: D

Larry Csonka: Another one of those "Superstars" style squash matches that annoys the shit out of me. I really hated these matches at the older WWF PPV's. They would have so many damn matches; like the old WrestleMania's that I went through. Marty bumped really well and Borga looked good, so it served its purpose, I just don't think that it belonged on PPV.

Match Number Eight: The Undertaker vs. The Giant Gonzalez in a Rest in Peace Match

Stuart Carapola: Disappointment #4. This match was billed as a Rest In Peace match, with the rules to be disclosed at the show. We get to the show and find out it just means no countout or DQ. At no time did they leave the ring to risk a countout, nor use any normally illegal tactics that could have caused a DQ anyway. To really put the bullet in this match, we get disappointment #5 when Undertaker put him away with a flying clothesline instead of the Tombstone. That would have been really cool. Come to think of it, he never Tombstoned Yokozuna either. What a loser.

Jullian Williams: Remember Giant Gonzalez? Yea, I try not to either. This was a Rest In Peace match which is just a cooler way of saying a No DQ match. Take every Taker match against big scary newcomer and follow the recipe. Taker wins this after a top rope clothesline. I really think Taker would be a lot more respected amongst us internet types if he didn't get stuck fighting stiffs like this for years and even now(Khali). Poor Undertaker. Match Rating: F

Larry Csonka: Oh sweet Jesus, a rematch of one of the worst WWF matches of all-time. This was a "Rest in Peace" match, although no one knew what the hell that meant because they never explained it until the match took place. In a major disappoint meant it was nothing cool, just a no DQ and no Count Out deal. You would think that this would maybe help them, maybe use some gimmicks and all but it didn't. It was ass and a match that I wish I could purge from my memory.

Match Number Nine: The Smoking Gunns & Tatanka vs. The Headshrinkers & Bam Bam Bigelow

Stuart Carapola: This was only notable because the Gunns were both disabled and Tatanka was in the ring getting the crap beat out of him and taking a shitload of headbutts from the three masters of the headbutt, and when they were going to come off the top with a triple flying headbutt, I was sure Tatanka was going to suffer his first loss. Instead Tatanka rolled up one of the Samoans and got the three count. This was just wasting time for me.

Jullian Williams: Ok, I admit to loving The Smoking Gunns when I was a kid. Come on they came out with cap guns, what's cooler than that?! I also dug Tatanka, I was on pot as a kid. Cowboys and Indians unite in Brotherhood! Now I bet you're looking at the participants in this match and thinking DUD, right? Wrong! Match of the Night! Billy Gunn was actually good in this match, Bam Bam did his usually good big man stuff and the rest of the guys were on point this night. The end comes when the heels try to hit a triple headbutt but all three miss and Tatanka rolls up Samu after the Gunns hit a double pescado on Bam Bam and Fatu. Awesome stuff here. Match Rating: B+

Larry Csonka: If I told you that this combination of guys, all tossed into one match would have the best match on the card would you honestly believe me? Well, they did and it rocked all kinds of ass. Tatanka must have smoked the peace pipe a ton before the match because his opening stuff with BBB and hot tag sequence were awesome, and the crowd was insanely into the match. Billy busted out some nice stuff and Bart played Morton while the heels tagged in and out very quickly, leaving no rest time and keeping things hot. Everything just clicked in a big way, and a match that I thought would be ok and a down play before the main event actually ended up ruling the show. Who the hell would have thought it?

Match Number Ten: Yokozuna (c) vs. Lex Luger for the WWF Championship

Stuart Carapola: I thought Yokozuna was going to be a short term champion. Little did I know his reign was going to go on for another seven months after this. The WWF really screwed us all on this one, as after all the buildup by slamming Yokozuna on the Intrepid, the weeks with the Lex Express meeting the WWF fans to build to the match, signing the contract stipulating this as his only title shot, and the weeks and weeks of hype, we get disappointment #6 (a big one at that) because Luger did win, but by countout, meaning he didn't get the title. I guess the theory was that they'd build to a second, even more anticipated title match at Wrestlemania where Luger would finally get the title, but that never happened either, so we get a retroactive disappointment #7 for this whole thing not even getting a payoff down the line.

Jullian Williams: So the buildup to this match was that Lex bodyslammed Yoko on the deck of USS Intrepid and the E tried to reform him from a heel into a good old American hero. They started The Lex Express with him touring around the US trying to gain supoort in his quest for the title. Kids took on to it, but most of the fans didn't really buy into Lex. This match was actually decent with Lex showing lots of fire and it seeming that he was really going to come away with the title. Then they fucked it all up with an absolutely horrible ending that saw Lex hit Yoko with the big forearm and send him to the floor where he got counted out. So Lex didn't win the title, obviously, because the title can't change hands on a countout. But the absolutely idiotic part comes when the faces storm the ring and celebrate with Lugar like he just won the title! Hey jackasses, YOU CANT WIN THE TITLE ON A COUNTOUT! I guess they were trying to send the fans home happy without giving the title to Lex, but this was just a crappy ass way to do it. Still a decent match before the ridiculous ending.
Match Raing: C+

Larry Csonka: I think we all know the history here. Yoko challenged all American dogs to try and slam his fat ass on the deck of the USS Intrepid. Lots of people tried and failed, until "The Narcissist" was delivered via helicopter to the Intrepid, jacked Yoko with the loaded forearm and slammed fatty. The Narcissist was dead and they created "Made in the USA" Lex Luger. Then we had to deal with the whole Lex Express deal designed to get him over as the next Hulk Hogan, unfortunately we got Lex Luger. They had a solid match which built up to the end where Lex nailed the loaded forearm of destructivity, only for fatty to fall to the floor and get counted out. Yes, the PPV main event and we got the count out, fuck those guys. This was world's better than their WM X match that they would have, that was absolute shit, this was actually pretty decent with a hot crowd.

Final Thoughts

Stuart Carapola: Summerslam 1993 disappointed me more than any other PPV until we got to Halloween Havoc 1998. I had such expectations going into this show, and all were completely dashed by the end. Terrible, completely disappointing show. Easily my least favorite Summerslam ever, unusual for a show that is traditionally so good.

Jullian Williams: Well this one surprised me. I hadn't watched it in a while and remembering the time period it was from, I was expecting to watch the worst Summerslam ever, but it was quite an enjoyable show. There was only one atrocious match(Taker/Gonzalez) and everything else was very good or passable. Fun show, check it out if you get a chance. Overall Show Rating: B-