WWF at Hartford Civic Center (May 3, 1993)

Original Airdate: May 3, 1993

From Hartford, Connecticut 

Bam Bam Bigelow v Kamala: This version of the show omits the Owen Hart/Brooklyn Brawler opener. Bam Bam attacks before the bell, and hammers him. They spill to the outside, where Bigelow feeds him the post, but Kamala beats the count. Bam Bam welcomes him with a flurry of forearms, and a series of headbutt drops find their mark. To the top, but Kamala shakes the ropes, and Bigelow gets crotched on the way down. Kamala makes a comeback, and a splash looks to finish, but he can’t figure out which side of Bigelow to cover. While he’s trying to figure it out, Bam Bam recovers, and a schoolboy puts Kamala away at 4:40. ¼*

Crush v Doink the Clown: Doink tries a sneak attack, but Crush has him scouted, and pounds the clown down. Crush goes to work with an atomic drop and a clothesline to set up a bootrake, and a standing dropkick knocks Doink to the outside. He stalls out there, so Crush chases, but gets stomped when giving the high ground up on the way back into the ring. Doink pounds him, but a whip into the ropes gets reversed, and Crush delivers a backbreaker. Hanging vertical suplex sets up a legdrop, and a big boot sends Doink to the apron. Crush hammers him with forearms out there, but Doink goes to the eyes, and snaps the big man’s throat across the top rope. That allows Doink a flying axehandle, and a 2nd rope version follows. Doink goes back to the top with another flying axehandle, and a piledriver follows. Doink dumps him to the outside, where Crush stays for an extended period. Doink with a swinging neckbreaker once the big man finally makes it back inside, and the clown works a reverse chinlock from there. Crush fights to a vertical base, so Doink lets off, and pounds him back down. Back to the hold, but Crush keeps fighting, so Doink tags him with a 2nd rope clothesline. That allows Doink to go up with a Whoopie Cushion, but Crush gets a boot up to block. Crush makes a comeback, but Doink dives to the outside to block a headvice attempt. He suckers Crush into a chase, but still gets caught in a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on the inside. Meanwhile, a second Doink appears in the aisle. He goads Crush into chasing him, but the real Doink follows as well, and we get a double countout at 10:12. Pretty boring. ½*

Bret Hart v Razor Ramon: Razor powers him around to start, but a wristlock gets reversed on him, and Bret holds on to it for a little while, until Ramon makes the ropes. Ramon grabs a standing side-headlock after the break, but Bret forces a criss cross, and takes the Bad Guy down with a drop-toehold. Hart goes to work on the leg from there, and a figure four has Ramon in trouble. He makes the ropes, but Bret stays on the part, pounding the leg in the corner. Razor takes a cheap shot to fight him off, and a corner whip rattles the Hitman. Ramon goes to work on the back, and a bodyslam gets him two. Abdominal stretch is applied, but Bret reverses, so Razor hiptosses his way free. Ramon tries elbowdrops, but Hart dodges a trio of them, and makes a comeback. Clothesline gets him two, and a small package is worth two. Russian legsweep gets him two, but Razor goes to the eyes during a backbreaker attempt to buy time. Ramon tries a backdrop, but Hart counters with a swinging neckbreaker, only to have a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop blocked. Razors Edge, but Bret slips out, and hooks a backslide at 13:14. This was well below the level of both of their 1993 pay per view bouts. ¾*

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Money Inc v The Steiner Brothers: The challengers charge in after getting taunted, and clean house to kick start the contest. The dust settles on Ted DiBiase and Rick Steiner from there, and Ted takes it to the mat in a side-headlock. Rick forces a criss cross, so Ted throws a shoulderblock, but goes back to the well one time too many, and Rick belly-to-belly suplexes him. Tag to Scott Steiner, and the challengers take turns working DiBiase’s arm. Ted manages to throw a knee during a criss cross, allowing the tag to Irwin R. Schyster, who promptly misses an elbowdrop, and ends up in an armbar. The Steiner’s work the part as they did with Ted, but Irwin forces a criss cross, and bails to frustrate Scott. Scott chases him around and snaps his throat across the top by the necktie for two, so Ted takes a cheap shot from the outside, and Schyster dumps him to the outside. Ted is right on him with a bash into the guardrail out there, before rolling Scott in for Irwin to elbowdrop for two. Money Inc work Scott over, until IRS misses a dive off the top, and Rick takes the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Scott hits Ted with a dive to block a piledriver, giving Rick a two count, and Rick powerslams DiBiase from there. The challengers go for the kill with the flying bulldog combo, but IRS nails Scott with his briefcase, allowing Ted the pin to hand the Steiner’s their first loss in the WWF at 16:11. This was a very simple (but watchable) formula tag match. * ¼ 

Tatanka v Lex Luger: Lots of posturing to start, and Tatanka dominates once they engage. Tatanka with a bodypress for two, and he armdrags Lex into an armbar. He holds onto that for a good while, until Lex is able to sidestep him on a criss cross, and Tatanka takes a bump over the top. I appreciate the effort and dedication, but man, why take such a big bump for 2,000 people at a nothing house show? Bret definitely had a point with his theory of saving the big bumps for major shows. Luger takes control and works Tatanka over, but a corner charge hits boot, and Tatanka gets all fired up… until Lex pokes him in the eye. Well, that’ll calm just about anyone down. Luger with a bodyslam, but Tatanka counters a second one with an inside cradle for two. Lex responds with a backdrop, but Tatanka counters with a sunset flip for two. Lex with a vertical suplex, but Tatanka reveses. Lex tries cutting him off with a turnbuckle smash, but now Tatanka is done with selling, and goes on the comeback trail. Backdrop gets him two, and a knife-edge chop is worth two. Criss cross ends in both men looking up at the lights, and Lex is up first, but Tatanka schoolboys him for two. Luger responds with a bridging side suplex, but Tatanka lifts his shoulder at two, pinning Lex’s in the process at 12:59. I will go to my grave arguing that these two, with this face/heel alignment, could have a great match at around seven or eight minutes, yet they kept getting booked to go longer than they should have. They were obviously gearing up for the time limit draw at King of the Ring with the way they structured this one, though interestingly, this was the one and only meeting between them before the pay per view. Also, was this Lex’s first pinfall loss in the WWF? I can’t find a conclusive answer, as he’d lost to Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect at some house shows prior, but I’m not certain if those were countouts/DQs. *

WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Shawn Michaels v Bob Backlund: Shawn was coming off of a classic against Mr. Perfect at a house show the day prior, so hopefully he has another one in him. Shawn stalls to start, so then Bob does the same thing to him, prompting a tantrum from the champion. More stalling all around, and it’s over three minutes before the first contact is even made. They move on to measuring each other, and Bob takes it to the mat in a headlock, but Shawn quickly counters to a headscissors. Michaels works that for a while, before switching to a hammerlock after Backlund fights to a vertical base. Bob fights it off, so Shawn goes back to the mat with a headlock, but this time it’s Backlund who counters with a headscissors. Shawn escapes, and bails to regroup, coming back in with a full-nelson. I think that’s the only time I’ve ever seen Michaels use that hold. Backlund reverses, so Shawn tries a victory cradle, but Bob counters back into the hold. Michaels makes the ropes, so Bob tries a ten-punch count, but the referee gets in his way. That allows Michaels a running dropkick, but Backlund counters with a catapult into the corner, and he bootrakes the fallen champion. Earringer and a swinging neckbreaker follow, but Shawn backdrops his way out of a piledriver, and bails - taking the countout at 15:02. So, I guess not another classic, then. This was more of Backlund’s act from ten years before, which is all about mirrored bits on the mat, and lots of playing to the crowd. Not that there’s anything wrong with that for him at this stage, but it’s a waste of a talent like Shawn Michaels. ½*

Main Event: Yokozuna v Jim Duggan: Interesting that this was deep in the undercard on the show the day before, but it gets the main event slot here. Duggan slugs in the corner to start, but the referee blocks his use of the 2x4, allowing Yokozuna to fight back. Yokozuna with a ropechoke, but Jim fights back with a series of rights, before getting dumped by the big man. Jim comes back in with a flurry, but Yokozuna easily fights him off, and chokes him down. Bearhug, so Jim bites him to force a break. Yokozuna tries an avalanche, but Duggan dodges, and makes a comeback. Series of clotheslines take Yokozuna off of his feet for the first time in the bout, but Mr. Fuji trips him up as he tries the three-point stance, allowing Yokozuna an avalanche. Banzai drop follows at 4:41. Some main event. DUD

BUExperience: No hidden classics on this one, but it does feature the Steiner Brothers’ first loss in the WWF (and maybe Lex Luger’s first pinfall loss), so it at least has some significance going for it. 

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