WWF SuperStars – January 9, 1993
Brown Coliseum – Green Bay, WI
Announcers: Vince McMahon, Jerry “The King” Lawler & “Macho Man” Randy Savage
SuperStars comes on the air with a look back at Wrestling Challenge from the previous weekend and the interview segment featuring Kamala. Both Kimchee and Doctor Harvey Wippleman were blantantly mistreating Kamala during the interview which prompted Reverend Slick to come out in an attempt to persuade Kamala to take a stand, telling him, that he’s not an animal, but a man.
Now “live” in the arena, Kamala is introduced for the first match of the show.
“The Ugandan Giant” Kamala (w/ Kimchee & Doctor Harvey Wippleman) vs. Todd Becker
Result/Analysis: Kamala via pinfall (1:40) following a splash. Becker was just there. Kamala got the pinfall after hesitating on how to actually go for a pin. Kimchee and Wippleman enter the ring and berate Kamala for being such an idiot. Funny. Reverend Slick runs down and steps in between the three. Slick motions to Kimchee and Wippleman that they’re done. Kimchee takes exception, however, and decks Slick. Kamala shows concern for Slick and chops Kimchee out of the ring. He then chases Wippleman off. This was the expected development but the WWF could have milked Kamala’s eventual face turn for a few more weeks I think.
Rating: DUD
Vince tells the television audience what’s still to come on SuperStars. The Steiner Brothers debut, The Undertaker is in action and “The Beast From The East” Bam Bam Bigelow will also compete.
Vince segues to the update segment with “Mean” Gene Okerlund. We are shown the Owen Hart interview from WWF Mania where Razor Ramon attacked Hart. We then hear from both Razor and Bret Hart in the same exact promos we heard on Mania. Lame. The WWF must have got the ratings in very quickly to see that no one watched. Of course, once we saw Todd Pettengill’s act, everyone tuned out. No joke. Okerlund is appalled at the actions of Ramon. There will be hell to pay, he says.
Butch Banks & Rock Werner vs. The Steiner Brothers [Rick & Scott]
Result/Analysis: The Steiner Brothers via pinfall (3:16) when Scott pins Banks following the frankensteiner. In two matches, both wrestling clinics, The Steiner’s had shown the WWF audience they were already the top tag-team. It wasn’t even close. WCW exec Bill Watts had lowballed The Steiner’s on a contract renewal so they left and Vince McMahon swooped in to sign Rick and Scott which greatly jumpstarted the tag-team division that had been weakened in recent years by The Rockers break-up and before that the end of The Hart Foundation when Bret Hart embarked on his HOF singles career. At the beginning of their WWF run, The Steiner’s dismantled jobber tag-team one-by-one as fans saw how technically flawless both Rick and Scott were. It was a treat. Anyway, this was televised match number two with The Beverly Brothers a step up in competition awaiting The Steiner’s at the Royal Rumble.
Rating: *
Sean Mooney again discusses the Somalia Relief Fund that the WWF has for the January 29th live event at Madison Square Garden. Mooney had previously announced this live event the previous week. As for the Royal Rumble, “Million-Dollar Man” Ted DiBiase and “Macho Man” Randy Savage give promos on their respective outlooks on winning the match.
Bobby “The Brain” Heenan discusses “Narcissus” again as he says Mr. Perfect is the horse manure to the ice cream that is “Narcissus.” That’s a comparison isn’t it? Heenan continues to froth at the mouth during the promo over how beyond perfect “Narcissus” is, unlike Mr. Perfect, and that we’ll all see this for ourselves at the Royal Rumble when he unveils “Narcissus” to the world.
George Petrovsky vs. Lance Cassidy
Result/Analysis: Cassidy via pinfall (2:52) following a running bulldog. If you didn’t know, Cassidy was a repackacked Steve Armstrong portraying a cowboy from Texas. The gimmick had no substance and Armstrong, as “Lance Cassidy,” failed to gain any traction in his three-month WWF stint. It’s impossible to remember Armstrong as a WWF SuperStar because he appeared on television only a few times and couldn’t even dent an overall sub-par lower card long enough to stick around. Jerry Lawler says on commentary here that Cassidy won’t enter the Royal Rumble knowing he, “The King” is in it. Armstrong had in fact left the WWF prior to this television match.
Rating: 1/4*
Mr. Perfect is on the cover of the latest WWF Magazine.
Raymond Rougeau is at the interview stage now and he has “The Clown” come out to chat with him. It’s here that “The Clown” tells us his name: Doink. Rougeau asks Doink to clear up why he tripped The Big Boss Man on his way to the ring, why he put a mop in Tatanka’s eye, why he threw water at Marty Jannetty (to which Doink says, “Ha! He needed a bath anway.”) and what made him have Bob Backlund slip on a banana peel. Rougeau tells Doink he’s the only one laughing when a clown is supposed to make other people laugh. Doink responds that he loves to give the kids balloons or toys to play with to get them to smile, but then, he loves it even more to take their smiles away. Rougeau calls that despicable as we see a disgusted young boy at ringside. LOL. Doink asserts he’s just having a good time. Rougeau, however, tells Doink that his jokes are always at someone else’s expense. Doink responds by squirting water from the flower on his jacket in Rougeau’s eyes and falls over onto the stage in a fit of laughter. Interview over. This was hilarious.
Scott Zappa vs. The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer)
Result/Analysis: The Undertaker via pinfall (2:47) following a tombstone piledriver. Zappa was mere carcas here awaiting his body bag. With the Monday Night Raw debut only two days away, The Undertaker was signed to face Damien Demento. With his feud with Kamala completed at the Survivor Series two months earlier, Taker was working with Papa Shango, at least on the house show circuit. The King, using his Royal Magistrator, speculates that inside the urn which Paul Bearer holds so near and dear is actually a genie, but the genie will turn out to be Papa Shango. The illustration was good but alas the Papa Shango feud with The Undertaker never truly materialized. That’s because Harvey Wippleman unveiled his Giant Gonzalez soon.
Rating: 1/2*
“Mean” Gene Okerlund has a Royal Rumble report. As announced on WWF Mania hours beforehand, Shawn Michaels will defend the Intercontinental Title against his former tag-team partner Marty Jannetty. Okerlund says Sensational Sherri will be at ringside for the match but in whose corner? Michaels, in a pre-recorded promo, says no one is less deserving of an Intercontinental Title shot than Jannetty. Shawn is also confident Sherri will be in his corner. Jannetty, meanwhile, proclaims January 24th, the day of the Royal Rumble, as “Marty Jannetty Day” saying he’ll take the IC Title, end Shawn’s career and he alludes to Michaels not knowing Sherri as well as he thinks he does. As for the 30-man Royal Rumble, Okerlund runs down the confirmed entrants. We hear from Mr. Perfect and Yokozuna (really, Mr. Fuji). The newest entrants are Tenyru, “El Matador” Tito Santana, Typhoon, both Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu), and “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan. The winner will meet the WWF Champion at WrestleMania IX.
Red Tyler vs. Bam Bam Bigelow
Result/Analysis: Bigelow via pinfall (2:26) following a diving headbutt. Poor Tyler was seeing “RED” after taking this beating from Bam Bam. During the one-sided match we hear from The Big Boss Man, Bigelow’s Royal Rumble opponent, and Boss Man promises Bam Bam he’ll be serving hard time. The WWF was giving Bam Bam a sustained push with TV squash after TV squash while Boss Man wasn’t seen nearly as much heading into the PPV. That previewed what lay ahead.
Rating: 1/2*
Sean Mooney is at the Events Center to update us on the Royal Rumble. We hear from “El Matador” Tito Santana, who focuses his comments on the luck of the draw and having the duration to last an hour or more if need be to come out on top. Afa babbles something unintelligible as The Headshrinkers make faces. The Undertaker says he’ll collect 29 other souls. Meanwhile, The Beverly Brothers proclaim themselves as the number one tag-team in the WWF and promise to take care of The Steiner Brothers at the PPV to show everyone they’re washed up.
Vince informs us that next week on SuperStars, Yokozuna will be in action. Lawler says The Nasty Boys will also compete. Savage breaks it that Shawn Michaels will have a special interview. Finally, Crush and Razor Ramon will have matches.
SuperStars concludes by looking back on Kamala’s face turn from the top of the broadcast.
The Verdict: The talk of the Royal Rumble was where everything was. Doink, as we finally learned, kept clowning around. The Steiner Brothers look awesome! Bam Bam and The Undertaker each showcased their dominance. Kamala finally gets free of Kimchee and Harvey Wippleman.
The Sharpshooter’s Verdict 