- Another random episode of weekend syndication fun! This time we've set the WAYBAC Machine for the Winter of 1993. We're only a couple of weeks removed from the Royal Rumble, which featured Yokozuna winning a Rumble with the most watered down field since the inaugural show, the debuts of the Giant Gonzalez and the Narcissist, and the announcement from Julius Caesar and Cleopatra themselves that Wrestlemania IX will be a giant toga wearing affair in Las Vegas, NV! Wow, no wonder everyone hates that show.
- I always like to pay attention to the effort put behind the intro videos for these shows. While the footage in the opening isn't incredibly out-dated to the point it features no-longer employed performers, but the footage used is mostly a year old, give or take (espeically with the likes of Virgil, Shawn Michaels, and Tatanka, to name a few). Correction: On second viewing, I spied Roddy Piper and Ric Flair, but to be fair, the latter was still working arena shows at this point, but was technically "gone" according to his losing to Mr. Perfect.
- We're coming to you from the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, TX. Our hosts this week, as usual for the time frame we're trapped in, are Vince McMahon, the Macho Man Randy Savage, and Jerry "The King" Lawler. Knowing now how much of a legend Lawler was, I find it surprising he wasn't used as anything more than "annoying broadcaster", outside of his short feud with Bret Hart, of course. Did McMahon sign him just for the sake of it, or because he wanted his territory? Who knows... We hype up a confrontation between the good ol' USA and Japan, Jim Duggan vs. Yokozuna. Also, in action is the Nasty Boys, Doink, Bam Bam Bigelow, and the Beverly Brothers.
WWF Update! Brought to you by the all NEW WWF Merchandise Catalog, featuring merchandise of WWF Champion Bret "Hitman" Hart! For those who didn't catch the Royal Rumble, we saw the incredible debut of the Giant Gonzales. We take a look back in time, a whole two weeks ago, where Gonzales manhandled and eliminated the Undertaker from the Rumble Match. Oh, and the Royal Rumble will be available on Coliseum Video on February 11th. Afterwards, we get a promo from the Giant Gonzales and his manager/handler Harvey Wippleman. Have they ruined the Undertaker? Only time will tell!
The WWF Event Center, brought to us by Sean Mooney! February 26th from the Nassau Coliseum, Shawn Michaels is defending the Intercontinental Title against... the Big Boss Man?! With Sherri in his corner? Oh yeah, because Marty Jannetty got canned right after the Rumble for being coked out of his mind. Also, the Undertaker takes on Yokozuna in the Main Event! We get promos from both men. I guess the Undertaker is feeling fine since the beating he took from Gonzales.
We flashback to the Royal Rumble, where Bobby Heenan introduced us to the Narcissist... Lex Luger. Seriously, how much of a closet homosexual is Vince McMahon to feature Lex Luger posing in a speedo for 5 minutes, while Heenan hypes it up with a verbal orgasm? Somehow, they managed to work in a challenge to Mr. Perfect in between all the posing.
We cut to a promo from Mr. Perfect, who seems to have been just finished wrestling. Perfect pulls back the curtain and unveils some 5'6" punk posing, then puts him on his ass with a nasty chop. That was a message to Lex Luger, courtesy of Mr. Perfect.
Promotional consideration paid for by the following... ICO-PRO, with Bret Hitman Hart. Snap into a Slim Jim with the Macho Man Randy Savage!
The victory celebration doesn't last long, as Yokozuna dumps an entire buckets worth of salt in Jim Duggan's face! That level of salting could result in permanent damage and even blindness! Yokozuna takes Duggan down with a belly-to-belly suplex, then drops a fat-assed leg acros the face. Vince McMahon somehow compares THIS to Pearl Harbor ("That's exactly what it's like all over again!"), but his terrible attitude towards real life disaster isn't even worth mocking anymore. Yokozuna drags Duggan into the corner, and proceeds to Banzai Drop him over and over again. To add insult to injury, Fuji drapes the american flag over Duggan's body, and Yokozuna drops on him for a FOURTH time. Duggan even sells internal injuries with a blood packet in his mouth. By 2011 standards, this is whatever, but in 1993, even though he wasn't that big of a deal anymore, watching Yokozuna destroy Duggan was pretty intense. As Duggan gets carted out, the camera zooms in on the crumpled flag laying near the corner in the ring. Duggan would disappear from television for about 6 weeks, then came back for one last hurrah before putting over Yokozuna in his final television appearance leading up to SummerSlam.
Tatanka cuts a promo for the Headlock on Hunger. Please make checks payable to American Red Cross/WWF Headlock on Hunger. P.O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. For those who forgot or weren't around, the WWF did a fundraiser at Madison Square Garden to raise money for the Samalia relief effort.
The Event Center Part Deux! The WWF comes back to the Nassau Coliseum on February 26th. In tag team action, the Steiner Brothers take on the Beverly Brothers in a rematch from the Royal Rumble. Scott cuts a pretty bad promo and I'm sure he was trying to impersonate his brother rather than cut a good one. Also, Kamala with the Reverend Slick takes on the evil Kim-Chee. As mentioned earlier, the card also includes the Boss Man vs. Shawn Michaels and the Undertaker vs. Yokozuna.
Promotional Consideration paid for by the following... WWF Action Figures (including the British Bulldog and Sgt. Slaughter)! WWF Video Games available on all video game systems! We return to the Event Center briefly as Sean Mooney hypes up the return of Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake, and drums up his near-fatal parasailing accident. Enough already with the face crushing.
- Stick around for next week, as Shawn Michaels takes on Tatanka in a Non-Title Match! Also, Crush returns to be in action! The debut of the Narcissist Lex Luger! The Giant Gonzales against THREE men in a Handicap match! The Steiner Brothers will be here, as well as the Tag Team Champions, Money Inc. Also, a special Update on the condition of Hacksaw Jim Duggan!
Final Thoughts: While the squash matches were rather "Meh" for this show, the feature actually presented something worth watching for once and took up a substantial amount of time (about 1/3 of the episodes running time). The downside to that, though, is that the limited amount of "upper level" talent around to feed to Yokozuna includes a guy who hasn't done much of note since maybe 1990, and used his patriotism to get a reaction out of the crowd. The roster depth is visibly weak too, but that's a rant for another day.