WWF Superstars (December 11, 1993)

Original Airdate: December 11, 1993 (taped November 10)

From Delhi, New York; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Stan Lane

The Quebecers v Paul Jones and Chaz Ware: The WWF Tag Team title is not up for grabs here. The jobbers attack before the bell, and parade around with the belts, which is probably a legitimate career highlight for each of them. Or, well, one of them. The Tower of Quebec finishes at 1:49. ¼*

Gorilla Monsoon is in the control center with Update, taking a look back at booting Bobby Heenan from the building this past Monday on RAW, which wrote Bobby out of the promotion. But wait, there’s more, as Gorilla announces WWF Champion Yokozuna defending the title against Undertaker in a Casket match at the Royal Rumble. Gorilla seemed like he was in a mood when they shot this

Bastion Booger v Tony Webb: Lane trying to analyze Jim Cornette’s managerial career (while discussing Yokozuna) is a fun little bit that would have totally went over my head in 1993. Booger with the sitdown splash at 1:40. Boy, they were booking lightning squashes at this taping. DUD

Jim Ross is in the studio for Face to Face with guest Jeff Jarrett. Odd format to this one, as they acknowledge that it’s pre-taped, instead of just pretending it’s live like every other one of these segments

Irwin R Schyster v Mike Moraldo: They do the fan guest ring announcer bit here, and they pick an actual adult for once. Were they really hurting for kids at these tapings, or something? Did the Attitude Era start when I wasn’t looking? Or maybe it was a literacy thing? IRS with the jumping clothesline at 1:41, and he’s already absolutely covered in sweat, of course. DUD

Bret Hart does a PSA against drinking and driving

Tatanka v Brooklyn Brawler: This is Tatanka's first TV appearance since losing to Ludvig Borga/taking a beatdown from Yokozuna on the October 25 episode. And he’s getting a quality jobber for his trouble! Brawler takes a swipe at him right away, but Tatanka wins a criss cross with a drop-toehold, and he adds an elbowdrop. Tatanka with a pair of cross corner whips, but an avalanche misses, and Brawler hammers him. Tatanka quickly fights him off with chops, however, and a powerslam follows. Backelbow connects, but Brawler fights back with a neckbreaker, so Tatanka starts no-selling. He makes a comeback, and the Samoan drop finishes at 2:35. ¾*

Royal Rumble ad

Earlier this week, Vince caught up with Owen Hart to talk about, you know, what the fuck his problem is, and basically Owen is just very, very bitter at all the attention Bret has been getting for years. Owen moaning about how he single handedly eliminated two guys before Bret got in the way is nicely done, and Owen was great here in general. His motivations felt real, the angle felt grounded. This is the angle that drew me into becoming a wrestling fan, and it’s still one of the very best ever done, even all these years later

The Smoking Gunns v Cory Student and Joe Brennon: Lane is all broken up about the fact that all this Hart family tension is coming up right in the thick of the holiday season. Yeah, I mean, obviously Stan Lane would know a thing or two about ‘family values.’ The Gunns with a combo at 2:25. The Gunns weren’t quite a well oiled machine at this point, but they were filled with effort, clearly glad to have this opportunity. ½*

Jeff Jarrett vignette. Supercut version!

Rick Martel v JS Storm: I know the gray was part of his usual wardrobe, but Martel should have stuck to the pink gear. He looks like just another guy in gray. Wouldn’t kill him to get some shoelaces that don’t make me so nervous while he’s at it. Rick with a Boston crab at 2:16. Why are there blood stains on the mat? Who was possibly blading at this taping? ¼*

Ross is in the studio for another Face to Face with Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji. Ross’s entire line of questioning seems to be ‘how do you feel about the fact that Undertaker has never lost a casket match,’ which may technically be true, but how many of them have there actually been at this point? I can only think of one (v Kamala at Survivor Series ‘92). There were some non-televised ones, but if we’re counting those, well, technically he lost a bunch of them to Sid Justice. I know I’m over thinking, but that’s kind of my whole deal, so

BUExperience: Fun episode this week, as we put Survivor Series into the rear view, and start focusing on the more interesting angles and programs that branched out of it.