WWF Superstars (September 4, 1993)

Original Airdate: September 4, 1993 (taped August 17)

From White Plains, New York; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon, Randy Savage, and Jerry Lawler

We start with the ‘Japanese media’ coverage of Lex Luger not winning the WWF Title at SummerSlam

WWF Champion Yokozuna, Mr. Fuji, and Jim Cornette gloat about how stupid Luger was for agreeing to the ‘no rematch’ clause in the SummerSlam contract. Or, well, Cornette gloats. Yokozuna just glares. And Fuji just kind of stands there. Cornette is a hell of a promo

The Quebecers v Mike Khoury and Aaron Ferguson: The babyface announcers just can’t stop talking about how Luger was ‘dominant,’ ‘stood tall,’ and is a ‘national treasure.’ Lawler responds with one simple question: “is he the champion?” That guy gets it. “He’s the greatest uncrowned champion,” notes Vince. What does that even mean? We then get more, with Vince asking Randy what Lex was like backstage after the match, with Randy talking about how ‘proud’ he was. This is becoming something of a parody now. The Quebecers with a combo at 2:23. The announcers falling over themselves to try and push Luger was really annoying here, and it’s no wonder the fans lost interest in him. ¼*

SummerSlam Encore ad

Vince catches up with Luger in a pre-taped interview, looking to get Lex’s thoughts about SummerSlam. Why is Luger wearing a huge smile, and doing a ‘thank you’ promo? The fans were so great! The pay per view viewers were so great! The atmosphere? It was electric! It was a thrill! 

Doink the Clown v Mike Moraldo: Lawler giving us the post-mortem on his match with Bret Hart at SummerSlam is worth watching this episode for. Like, seriously, it’s just incredible. Coupled with Cornette’s rant at the top of the show, there’s some great promo work this week. Doink with the Whoopie Cushion at 2:28. DUD

Gene Okerlund is in the studio with Face to Face, with guests Razor Ramon and Bam Bam Bigelow. Apparently promoters in the WWF are ‘desperately’ trying to sign a match between them ‘for obvious reasons.’ Well, I guess they weren’t too desperate, since it didn’t happen until King of the Ring nine months later

WWF Unbelievable ad

Men on a Mission v Russ Greenberg and Mark Thomas: Mabel was getting some pretty good reactions, and you can just hear in Vince’s voice that he can’t wait to push him to the moon. Meanwhile, Vince relates that after SummerSlam, Ludvig Borga challenged Lex Luger to a match. “Who does he think he is?” Vince wonders. I dunno, sounds like a wrestler, doing exactly what a wrestler does. Mabel with a spinheel kick at 2:23. Are all the squashes tonight on a specific two and a half minute budget, or something? DUD

Bastion Booger v Ralph Mosca: Booger snacks on ice cream during the match, and he’s such a crappy gimmick that all the announcers band together to rip on him. When even the heel commentators are taking shots, you might as well pack it in. Booger with a sitdown splash at 2:22. Budget! DUD

WWF Fundraisers ad

Undertaker warns children about the dangers of drugs

Razor Ramon v Reno Riggins: Featuring Razor immediately after a segment encouraging people to stay off drugs is… something. Ramon’s got some pretty noticeable back hair this week, which is surprising. Even at his worst periods personally, he always made sure to look impeccable on TV. Razor’s Edge finishes at 2:05. DUD

SummerSlam Encore ad

Ludvig Borga is hanging around in a bad neighborhood somewhere, wishing viewers a ‘happy’ Labor Day, while noting that the USA is crumbling like the homes in the slum he’s in. Borga wasn’t a bad character, and this act could have gotten over fine, it’s just too bad the guy had nothing in the ring to carry things

WWF Fan Club ad

The Steiner Brothers v Brooklyn Brawler and Fred Williams: The WWF Tag Team title is not on the line here. It’s interesting that they took the belts off of them shortly after this (in a match they’re already hyping here), thus making all the champions in the promotion heels. That’s just very odd booking for the WWF in that period. But then the Shawn Michaels suspension happened, and they got the Intercontinental belt on Razor, at least. The Brothers with a combo at 2:32. Oh! Oh! Over budget! Over budget! No wonder they took the gold away. ¼*

Gene is in the studio with another Face to Face with guests Doink the Clown and Tatanka. They make basic threats at each other, which went nowhere, as Doink turned babyface not long after, and they never even had so much as a house show match before then. The odd thing is that they’d already had a bunch of house show matches together earlier in the year

BUExperience: A parade of dull squashes this week, but the post-SummerSlam stuff at least kept things interesting enough.