WWF Superstars (June 5, 1993)

Original Airdate: June 5, 1993 (taped May 4)

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

Papa Shango is ready to curse Bret Hart

Bret Hart v Papa Shango: Hart’s got the all hot pink gear tonight, which was always a great look, maybe even his best. Shango pounds him into the corner right away, and manages a cross corner whip, but a charge misses, and Hart unloads. Rollup, but Papa blocks, so Hart tries criss crossing, but Shango is ready with a sidewalk slam. Hart tries a sunset flip, but Shango blocks, and goes to work on the Hitman. Hart escapes a chinlock, so Papa gives him a backbreaker, and a headbutt drop to the groin. The way Vince is putting Bret over on commentary here, it almost sounds like he was ready to go back to him now that it was obvious the Hulk Hogan experiment wasn’t going to work. Maybe that was the plan, before they decided to do the Lex Luger babyface turn. Hart makes a comeback, and a Russian legsweep gets him two. 2nd rope clothesline gets him another two, but Shango reverses a cross corner whip, and delivers a shoulderbreaker. He looks to add a legdrop, but Hart dodges, and the Shaprshooter ends it at 7:30. Solid enough. *

The Steiner Brothers play Royal Rumble on SNES

The Headshrinkers v Scott Taylor and Tim McNeany: I know they say tournaments don’t draw, but I was definitely into the King of the Ring concept as a kid, and I still love the idea of it today. Though, really, after the first two versions, there was rarely a good one. The Headshrinkers with the flying splash combo at 1:39. “Very impressive this week,” notes Vince. Well, to each their own. DUD

Gene Okerlund is in the studio with Face to Face, with guests Jim Duggan, Razor Ramon, and Bret Hart to talk about their King of the Ring matches. Hart and Ramon are great here, Duggan… not so much

King of the Ring ad

Kamala v Phil Apollo: Reverend Slick is no longer with Kamala, after leaving the promotion. Meanwhile, you can call in to the Hotline to hear Jim Ross interview all eight competitors in the tournament. Kamala with a splash at 2:44. Slick or no Slick, stink is stink. DUD

This past Monday on RAW, 1-2-3 Kid politely declined Razor Ramon’s offer for another match

Lex Luger v Jason Knight: Savage is guaranteeing that Tatanka will advance over Luger in the tournament, which seems like a pretty bold statement to be making. You know, after seeing that A&E biography piece on Luger, and learning how horrific his motorcycle crash actually was, it’s amazing what great shape he’s in at this point. Lex with the forearm smash at 1:52. DUD

Randy Savage visits a school in Brooklyn, New York. Always good to see a guy getting an education. Kind of hilarious to see a dude in that outfit telling people to stay off drugs. Also, legitimately neat to hear Macho using something much closer to his non stage voice when addressing the children

Mr. Hughes v Russ Greenberg: Lawler, of course, has all kinds of one liners at the ready after the last segment. Meanwhile, Harvey Wippleman splitscreens in to gloat about signing Hughes to a contract, which would lead to another feud for him with Undertaker. He turned out to be 0 for 3 in those. I think Ted DiBiase ended up with the same track record in ‘94-95, actually. Hughes with a scrapbuster at 2:07. DUD

Gene Okerlund is in the studio with the King of the Ring Report. This title reign was so lazy for Hulk Hogan that they didn’t even bother shooting a new promo picture for him

The Smoking Gunns v Dale Wolfe and Gus Kantarakis: The referee hitting the deck when the Gunns shoot off their pistols is a nice touch. The Gunns with a backdrop/piledriver combo on Dale at 1:39. The Gunns were showing some fire here. ¼*

Gene is in the studio with another Face to Face with Mr. Perfect, Shawn Michaels, and Crush. Shawn is still sore about losing the WWF Intercontinental title, but Crush isn’t bitter about losing his shot at the title, he’s happy for Marty Jannetty, brudda! No wonder he had to turn heel

BUExperience: A pretty boring show this week, that was sitting in the can for over a month at this point, and didn’t have much fire power left to push King of the Ring.