WWF Mania (February 13, 1993)

Original Airdate: February 13, 1993

 

Your Host is Todd Pettengill. This week, Todd is very excited that he's wearing his red leather pants, in honor of Valentine’s Day. Maybe it was one of his New Year’s resolutions?

 

The Nasty Boys v Robert Taylor and Dave Silguero: From the February 6 Superstars (taped January 5) in San Antonio Texas. Vince is still hyping the Nasties as challengers for Money Inc's tag title, but the Brutus Beefcake return angle is already in motion, so I imagine those plans were already in the toilet. And it was definitely the right move from a drawing perspective, but I always felt bad that they didn't even get another spot on the card. I actually kind of wish they got the Headshrinkers' spot against the Steiner Brothers. Jerry Sags dives with his flying elbowdrop at 2:15. DUD

 

Back in the studio, Hillbilly Jim has arrived, and he's ready to rock out with his cock out

 

Meanwhile, Randy Savage is hanging out with the Reverend Jesse Jackson as part of Headlock on Hunger, and Jesse looks embarrassed to be associated with the WWF, which shows just how far wrestling had fallen in the mainstream by early 1993. 1985 you've got Cyndi Lauper and Andy Warhol, 1993 even Jesse Jackson doesn't want to touch it

 

Speaking of 'touching it,' Hillbilly is having an in-depth conversation with his cock, trying to get it to work. Well, we've all been there. Todd certainly looks sympathetic

 

Damien Demento v Bobby Perez: From the February 7 (taped January 4) Wrestling Challenge in Beaumont Texas. Why are they still wasting airtime on Demento? Especially on a clip show. That same episode had squashes from Razor Ramon and the Headshrinkers, you'd think they'd want to focus on those guys instead of this go-nowhere character. Demento with a neckbreaker to set up a kneedrop at 1:25. DUD

 

Back at the Royal Rumble, Bobby Heenan nearly had an orgasm over the debut of Lex Luger. I actually liked the Narcissist gimmick, but his debut was super flat, and dumb. Two giant misses on that show, it really looked like Vince had lost his touch. Meanwhile, Mr. Perfect is having literal fits of laughter over Lex Luger's stupid debut, and he continues mocking him by unveiling some scrawny kid in tighty whities doing his own posing

 

Todd is pretty pumped up about the potential Perfect/Luger match, but mostly because he's excited about all the blond hair. Whatever does it for you, big guy

 

Yokozuna v Jim Duggan: From the February 6 Superstars. The idea here is that Duggan must knock Yoko off of his feet to win. Give it to Vince though, he works HARD to get this silliness over. They take forever to get going here, between entrances, flag wavings, ceremonial stuff, and then all kinds of posturing. Finally, both guys charge each other out of three-point stances... and Hacksaw goes down. He kicks up a 'USA' chant to try and psych him up for another go... but Yokozuna wrecks him again. Third try also goes Yoko's way... but Duggan manages to stagger him this time. Jim goes right into a fourth attempt, so Yokozuna tries to clothesline him, but Duggan ducks. Hacksaw comes off the far side with another shoulderblock, and he manages to knock Yokozuna off of his feet at 3:08. The crowd was surprisingly into this, and they did a great job getting it over. Afterwards, Duggan celebrates with the flag, but Yokozuna attacks him with the salt, and though he badly misses, Jim is still kind enough to sell. Well, Americans are super nice, it's known. And with Duggan blinded, Yokozuna destroys him with multiple Banzai Drops, all set to the soundtrack of Vince's brilliantly over the top commentary. This was a good segment, and a much better way to get someone over as a monster than whatever the fuck they were doing with Giant Gonzalez. ¼*

 

Todd notes that you have to give Jim Duggan credit, because at least he did what he set out to do. Yeah, I'm sure that gives him lots of comfort in his hospital bed

 

WrestleMania IX ad

 

Bob Backlund v Iron Mike Sharpe: From the January 30 Superstars, also taped January 5 in San Antonio. Kind of weird that we're jumping back two weeks, but I guess they were short on content since RAW was preempted by the dog show that week. Hey, I never really realized that Gonzalez was meant as Harvey Wippleman's response to blaming Undertaker for losing control of Kamala. That's actually an interesting bit of motivation, and definitely not something I remember them mentioning much after this. Backlund split screens in to get us excited about Headlock on Hunger... by speaking about it in a slow monotone. Did Al Gore watch this guy and base his entire political persona on him? Bob with a bridging cradle at 2:36. DUD

 

Back in the studio, Todd is eating an ICOPRO bar in honor of Bob Backlund's win. He actually takes a bite this week, and holy shit, he looks like he's about to cry

 

ICOPRO Infomercial. They really must have been short on content that week. Also, would it kill them to have the wrestlers doing the weightlifting in those bits? Who are these random WBF rejects?

 

Virgil v Tommy Knight: From the February 7 Wrestling Challenge. The announcers are giving the Yokozuna/Duggan segment the hard sell here, and it's ironic that it's happening during the Virgil match. I mean, he tried to warn us at Survivor Series. If only someone had listened. Russian legsweep finishes at 1:37. Virgil was looking rather lethargic out there this week. ¼*

 

Back in the studio, Hillbilly Jim and Todd are having a sing along. Luckily Jim has finally put his cock away, and found another outlet for his energy

 

Koko B. Ware v Repo Man: From San Jose California on January 25 1993. Repo with a takedown to start, and he works Koko over for a bit, but Ware comes back with a dropkick, and starts running wild until Repo ends up on the outside. Back in, Repo slows things down by calling for a test-of-strength, but Koko blocks the cheap shot, and gets him down in a wristlock - as Gorilla Monsoon already calls WrestleMania IX the 'greatest WrestleMania of all time' two full months before it even happens. That has to be a record, even for him. Koko misses a corner splash to turn the tide, and Repo goes to work. Clothesline works, but an elbowdrop doesn't, and Ware starts coming back. Bodyslam leads to a missile dropkick, so Repo rolls to the outside to avoid getting covered. Koko is on his tail, but Repo blocks getting dragged back in, and he hits a legdrop on the apron. He hooks a ropechoke from there, but it not mindful of the referee's count, and gets disqualified at 4:59. Would a clean finish have killed them here? Neither guy needed to be protected. ¼*

 

Back in the studio, Hillbilly has got his cock in his hand again

 

Todd hypes up the next week of WWF action, as Jim puts his cock away so he can pull his hog out instead. This scares Todd even more, somehow

 

BUExperience: I really don’t like Hillbilly Jim, and they were kinda stretching for content to show this week, so let’s move past this one.