WWF Superstars (May 22, 1993)

Original Airdate: May 22, 1993 (taped May 4)

From Worcester, Massachusetts; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, and Jerry Lawler

The Smoking Gunns v Duane Gill and Chris Duffy: Savage gets a funny line about how he thought he was back in New York taping RAW when the Gunns shoot off their pistols during the entrances. The Gunns put Duffy away with a backdrop into a sitout powerbomb combo at 2:30. That’s a cool finish that no one ever really bothered to steal, probably because it’s really difficult/dangerous. Even the Gunns abandoned it after a while. This was a much better showing for the Gunns than fighting from underneath like they did in their debut match on Mania. ¼*

Gorilla Monsoon is in the control center with a recap of last week’s episode of Monday Night RAW, with Marty Jannetty upsetting Shawn Michaels for the WWF Intercontinental title (via still photos of their altercation in late 1992), as well as Kid upsetting Razor Ramon. Also via still photos, which is weird, considering there would be no other way for a fan to see it (like with a pay per view replay/home video), so why not just show it? Especially considering that they showed it on Mania earlier in the day anyway

Bam Bam Bigelow v Jerry Seavey: Lawler hypes up his new talk show, the King’s Court, which will be debuting on RAW. Bigelow is walking around with a lock of Tatanka’s hair here, which is more than a little weird. It’s interesting how they were perfectly positioned to give us Bigelow/Tatanka in the semifinals of the King of the Ring tournament, and then just… didn’t. I get why (Tatanka’s undefeated streak needs to remain in tact, and Bigelow needs to give Bret Hart a heel to beat in the finals), but it still feels like a missed opportunity. And then they never even got to the blow off until Royal Rumble ‘94, and even then it was only a last minute thing after Ludvig Borga got himself injured. Bigelow with a flying headbutt drop at 2:23. Bigelow celebrates by eating Tatanka’s hair, taking the ‘weird’ up a level. ¼*

Gene Okerlund hosts Face to Face, with guests Yokozuna, Mr. Fuji, and Mr. Perfect this week. Though, they don’t actually interact, as we just get separate interviews with Yoko/Fuji and Perfect. Fuji notes that Yoko will win the WWF Title and take it back to Japan. I think Hulk Hogan was doing a pretty good job of that on his own. Meanwhile, Perfect has been given one last chance to qualify for the tournament against Doink the Clown this Monday night, which is really weird, considering that on Mania Gene was hyping the Shawn Michaels/Crush qualifier and the Mr. Hughes/Kamala qualifier for the final two slots. This segment really should have aired after the next match

King of the Ring ad

King of the Ring Tournament Qualifying Match: Shawn Michaels v Crush: Crush powers him around in the early going, and teases press-slamming Shawn out of the ring, before settling for dropping him on the mat. Clothesline sends Shawn over the top anyway, but Crush misses a corner charge on the way back in, and Michaels knocks him to the outside with a high knee. Shawn follows to feed him the steps and the post, and he works a chinlock on the way back into the ring. Crush escapes, so Shawn tries a superkick, but Crush blocks. Clothesline and a big boot give Shawn a chance to bump around, and Crush adds a legdrop. Cross corner whip lets Shawn do some more overselling, and Crush dumps him to the outside. Shawn suckers him out after him, and they slug it out for a double countout at 5:23. So, why did Perfect and Doink get three chances, but these two never got another? Anti-Hawaiian bias! I’ll say it! *

Gene is in the studio with the King of the Ring Report, and he clarifies that both guys are out, with no additional explanation offered. Also, just added, WWF Tag Team Champions Money Inc team with the Headshrinkers to face the Steiner Brothers and the Smoking Gunns in an eight-man tag

Adam Bomb v Bert Centeno: This is Bomb’s debut (though he worked a dark match as Nightstalker back in March), along with the WWF debut of Johnny Polo. Why is Polo carrying around a golf putter instead of his polo mallet? Bomb immediately looks imposing and impressive, much more so than he did in WCW. Which is somewhat surprising, since WCW had smaller rings, and such. Meanwhile, the announcers have a funny conversation about whether or not ‘Adam Bomb’ is his real name, with Lawler saying that of course it is, just as ‘Gorilla Monsoon’ is his birth name, since that was the first thing his parents thought when he was born. Bomb with a powerbomb at 2:27. Bomb looked physically impressive, but the match lacked energy. Ironically. DUD

There’s No Hope with Dope! A message from the early 90s wrestlers!

King of the Ring ad

Jim Duggan v Brooklyn Brawler: Lawler notes that if there’s ‘no hope with dope,’ what hope does Duggan have? A silly joke, sure, but still funny. Brawler pounds him into the corner to start, but Hacksaw reverses a cross corner whip, and unloads until Brawler falls out of the ring. Brawler suckers him into a chase, but fails to properly hold the high ground, and eats a backelbow. Jim with a spinning bodyslam, and the three-point stance finishes at 1:43. DUD

Gene hosts a proper Face to Face with King of the Ring quarterfinal opponents Bret Hart and Razor Ramon

BUExperience: A lot of interesting things going on in this promotion at the moment, though this episode wasn’t especially reflective of that. They’re doing a hell of a job building up King of the Ring, though - even with their world champion literally mailing in his involvement.