This is an all time disaster of a show and somehow even worse than I remember (good for someone if you like me getting angry).

King of the Ring 1993
Date: June 13, 1993
Location; Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio
Attendance: 6,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Bobby Heenan, Randy Savage

It’s another WWE Vault special as we’re looking back at one of the company’s on again/off again concepts. That could make for a good way to go, but this show has a bit of a hit and miss reputation. Bret Hart is the #1 seed and that’s good enough for me, though this is hardly a strong time for the company. Oh and Hulk Hogan is defending the WWF Title against Yokozuna in a Wrestlemania rematch. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at the tournament and runs down the brackets:

Bret Hart
Razor Ramon

Mr. Perfect
Mr. Hughes

Jim Duggan
Bam Bam Bigelow

Tatanka
Lex Luger

Commentary previews the show, including the non-tournament stuff.

King Of The Ring First Round: Razor Ramon vs. Bret Hart

Heenan and Savage bicker about the 1-2-3 Kid’s famous upset of Ramon so JR ignores them to call the match as Hart starts in on the arm. Hart works on an armbar but can’t get a hiptoss, instead getting dropped by a hard clothesline. An elbow misses though and Hart is back on the arm, including another armdrag into an armbar.

Ramon gets evil by going to the eye before elbowing Hart in the face for two. The chinlock doesn’t work though as Hart reverses into a hammerlock and cranks away. Back up and Hart misses a charge into the post, allowing Ramon to really take over for the first time. A fall away slam gives Ramon two and he nails a running powerslam for the same.

Hart fights up and hits the atomic drop into the running clothesline for two as the fans are way into the comeback. The Five Moves Of Doom are cut off with the chest first crash into the buckle but the Razor’s Edge is blocked as well. A small package gives Hart a VERY near fall so Ramon takes him up top for the belly to back superplex. That’s reversed into a crossbody to give Hart the pin at 10:24.

Rating: B. It’s a good sign for Hart that he’s gotten this much better in just a few months, as this was quite a bit better than his match against Ramon at the Royal Rumble. This was Hart figuring out a bigger and stronger opponent, which is where he tends to shine. Good stuff here, though if Hart is the #1 seed, Ramon is dead last? Really?

We look at Mr. Hughes taking out the Undertaker, who needed a new monster to slay. The villains stole the Urn as well.

King Of The Ring First Round: Mr. Perfect vs. Mr. Hughes

My money is on Mr. Before the match, Heenan uses his Brain Scan to mock Perfect’s form on the gum swat, because he’s still bitter over Perfect deserting him. Hughes powers him into the corner to start and shrugs off a dropkick. Perfect is sent outside and comes back in to slug away with limited success. A neck crank keeps Perfect down for a bit and a big boot makes it even worse. The neck crank goes on again before a big whip into the corner has Perfect down again.

Bret Hart gets an insert interview, where he says he’d rather face Perfect in the second round. Back up and Perfect tries to jump over Hughes but both of them go down, with Perfect slugging away to keep things going. A missed charge in the ropes gives Perfect a breather and he manages a backdrop (Hughes doesn’t even lose his sunglasses) and there’s the necksnap. That’s enough for Hughes, who grabs the Urn and clocks Perfect for the DQ at 6:01.

Rating: C. Yeah there isn’t much that Perfect can do here, as they didn’t have time to go anywhere and the ending was just lame. Hughes is getting one of his biggest shots ever and he just hits Perfect for the lame DQ? It’s just a weird way to go, though Hughes was just a successful enough monster to feel like he could win, giving Hart another monster to slay in the semifinals.

Mr. Fuji and Yokozuna are ready for Hulk Hogan, who cheated at Wrestlemania. Not exactly but Hogan was hardly on fair footing there either.

King Of The Ring First Round: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Jim Duggan

Duggan is in the singlet style gear here so you know this isn’t going to go well. Bigelow grabs a headlock to start as JR is firmly in NFL resume mode. Heenan: “CAN IT! WHO CARES???” Duggan slugs back with a running shoulder to the floor, with Savage getting on him for spending way too much time playing to the crowd.

Back in and Duggan can’t pick him up, allowing Bigelow to start in on the ribs. The bearhug doesn’t last long and Bigelow misses a headbutt but Duggan still can’t slam him. The second bearhug works a bit better but Duggan fights out again. This time the slam works but Duggan misses a charge into the buckle. Bigelow’s top rope headbutt finishes Duggan at 5:01.

Rating: D+. I love Duggan but the magic was gone by 1993. That made this little more than a formality, though Duggan still did have the ability to slug it out with a big man. Bigelow was clearly the right way to go here as he was always worth a look and they didn’t waste an opponent on him, but yeah not much to see here.

The Steiner Brothers and the Steiner Brothers are ready for Money Inc. and the Headshrinkers in an eight man tag. This is from the Coliseum Video version of the show so it isn’t even the original broadcast.

King Of The Ring First Round: Tatanka vs. Lex Luger

Luger does his mirror entrance and has the steel forearm for a bonus. Hold on though as Luger has to put on an elbow pad or he’s out of the tournament. As Heenan panics over the pad ruling, Luger jumps Tatanka to start fast but stops to pose, with commentary losing it over how stupid he is here.

Tatanka is back in to chop him to the floor for a slam, followed by a clothesline for two back inside. The armbar slows Luger down again and Tatanka chops away at the shoulder as this is already feeling like the time limit draw of the tournament. Bam Bam Bigelow joins us for an insert promo which we can’t hear to start, but he seems to want to face Tatanka next.

The armbar goes on again but this time Luger fights out as you can hear the crowd getting rather quiet. A backbreaker out of the corner puts Tatanka down again and a rather delayed elbow gets an also delayed two (oh yeah the time limit draw is coming and they’re not hiding it). Luger actually hits his big jumping elbow for a VERY delayed two and we hit the chinlock.

Tatanka fights up and chops away as we have three minutes left. A big chop gets two as the fans are responding to actually seeing someone working faster. The top rope chop gets two but Luger knocks him down again and we get a double breather. A backdrop puts Tatanka down again and a suplex gives Luger a near fall with thirty seconds left. Another suplex gets another two and time expires at 15:00.

Rating: C-. This was one of the most frustrating things you can see in wrestling, as it was just a countdown until the obvious finish. There was no reason for them to do some of the things they were doing here other than killing time and that made for a tedious match. Tatanka’s comeback was good and they needed to do this to protect his undefeated streak, but find a more interesting way to do it.

Post match Luger talks about wanting to keep going and then takes the pad off to knock Tatanka silly.

Mr. Perfect doesn’t like Bret Hart saying he would prefer to face Perfect, with Gene Okerlund egging things on. Then they argue over whose dad could beat the other before bringing up Hart beating Perfect at Summerslam 1991. They do at least shake hands.

King Of The Ring Semifinals: Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect

Hart has a bandaged hand after the first round. They start slowly until Perfect takes him down by the head as commentary discusses whether or not Heenan was managing Perfect when Hart beat him for the Intercontinental Title. Ignore that he wasn’t, but Heenan seems to have forgotten that. Hart blocks a slam and kicks him away, setting up a headlock to grind away a bit.

Perfect gets up and gets pulled into another headlock, which is broken up as well. A nice dropkick sends Hart outside and Perfect hits a rather loud chop as the fans approve of what they’re seeing. Back up and Hart gets shoved off the apron for a huge crash (near a cooler full of ice, water and Pepsi). Hart is back in and Perfect’s missile dropkick gets a pair of near falls. Perfect goes up again but gets caught in a superplex, allowing Hart to start in on the leg. The Figure Four has Perfect in trouble until he makes the ropes, meaning Hart can grab another leglock to keep him in trouble.

That’s broken up and the sleeper goes on, with Perfect putting his foot on the ropes because he’s still a bit of a heel. Hart gets out again and starts the comeback, including the backbreaker into the middle rope elbow. The Sharpshooter is loaded up but Perfect gets smart by grabbing Hart’s bandaged hand. Back up and the PerfectPlex is blocked as Hart suplexes him out to the floor for a huge crash. Back in and Perfect tries a small package but Hart reverses into one of his own for the pin at 18:54.

Rating: A-. There are certain people who work very well together and these two have some very underrated chemistry. Hart continuing to get the better of Perfect is a cool thing to see as you know Hart had to work for this one. Perfect was game here too and I could have gone for a heck of a lot more of hero Perfect than we got over the years. He really was that good and it was on display here. Outstanding match.

Post match respect is (eventually) shown.

Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart give a VERY pro-America speech about how they’re protecting us from the evil Japanese threat. This would have been over the top during World War II.

WWF Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna

Yokozuna, with Mr. Fuji, is challenging and there are a lot of Japanese photographers at ringside. Heenan says this is a fresh Yokozuna, not one who wrestled a “thirty minute match” before Hogan faced him. That’s a stretch even for Heenan. Hogan comes out and sweet goodness he’s probably….oh 40lbs down from his traditional size or so?  Happy steroids trial everyone.

Hogan can’t shove him around to start but Yokozuna can shove him down rather quickly. A big slam drops Hogan again and Fuji is certainly approving. Back up and Hogan avoids a charge in the corner before hammering away with right hands. The running corner clothesline rocks Yokozuna but it’s way too early for the slam. Another attempt gets a leg up but Hogan falls down and is in trouble again. Hogan fights up and hits some running clotheslines but Yokozuna drops him with a single clothesline.

The big splash misses and Hogan has an opening, which is cut off with a bearhug. That stays on for a good while until Hogan fires off some right hands to free himself. Yokozuna drops him again though as Hogan just can’t keep anything going. The belly to belly suplex gets two (and Yokozuna gets some height on the kickout) as it’s time to Hulk Up. The big boot rocks Yokozuna but doesn’t drop him and a second has the same result.

A third big boot finally drops Yokozuna and the legdrop connects…for two, with the kickout putting Hogan back on his feet. Hogan has to deck Fuji but a photographer (with a huge beard) gets on the apron. Hogan goes over to him and the camera causes a fireball to go off in Hogan’s face. The big leg gives Yokozuna the pin and the title back at 13:07.

Rating: D+. There is only so much you can do for a match like this, but that’s how Hulkamania officially ends in the WWF in the 90s. They went out of the way to make sure Hogan didn’t get to slam him and that’s the big sign that things are changing. Hogan never should have gotten the title back in the first place and he had some protection with the camera, but Yokozuna kicking out of the legdrop was a big moment. Not a good match as expected, but it certainly has the historical significance.

Post match Hogan tries to get up but he can’t see. Yokozuna hits the Banzai Drop and Hogan is helped out, not to appear on WWF TV for nearly nine years.

Mr. Perfect is disappointed with his loss but he’d rather not talk about it.

Gene Okerlund talks about the love that Detroit has shown to the WWF (I’m thinking there was a promo for Summerslam 1993 cut out here) but wants to talk to Shawn Michaels and his new bodyguard. Michaels dubs the new bodyguard as Diesel (who had been around for all of five minutes at this point) but says he (as in Michaels) does the talking.

Steiner Brothers/Smoking Gunns vs. Money Inc./Headshrinkers

Welcome to the death slot guys. Scott and DiBiase start things off with Scott getting the better of things and sending DiBiase outside. Rick sends him back in, where Scott hits a Steiner Line out to the floor. Back in again (thanks Rick) and it’s off to Fatu vs. Bart, with latter of whom hits a dropkick into an armbar. Bart makes the mistake of ramming him head first into the mat, earning a shot to the face from Fatu.

IRS comes in for a back elbow and it’s back to DiBiase for a nice suplex. Samu drops a headbutt and a backbreaker gets two. IRS’ top rope right hand connects as IRS is fascinated by Money Inc.’s briefcase. Bart gets in a shot of his own though and it’s off to Billy to clean house. The Million Dollar Dream cuts Billy off though, only for DiBiase to let him go for some reason. Billy grabs a quick small package for the pin at 6:50.

Rating: C. There’s nothing to see here as the idea was just to put people in the ring after the big devastating title change. That’s what you need to do in a spot like this, even if the match meant pretty much nothing. It’s kind of a shame too, as there were some good tag teams in there.

Post match the brawl is on with the good guys cleaning house in a hurry. The Steiners would win the titles from Money Inc. the next day (and lose then two days later, only to win them back again three days later).

Jack Tunney congratulates Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji on the win. Fuji brags about doing exactly what they said they would do.

Intercontinental Title: Shawn Michaels vs. Crush

Michaels, with Diesel, is defending. They take their time to start until Crush grabs a headlock and then shoulders him down. The headlock goes on again before some leapfrogs frustrated Michaels. The superkick misses and Crush hits a pair of dropkicks to put him out on the floor. Back in and Crush gorilla presses him (with reps) and drops Michaels so casually that it’s kind of funny.

There’s the tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and Diesel pulls Michaels to the floor for a breather. Crush goes after him but gets in a staredown with Diesel, allowing Michaels to get in a diving shot off the apron. Diesel sends Crush head first into the post and Michaels rams Crush’s head into the post over and over (GEEZ).

Back in and Crush actually kicks out so Michaels grabs a front facelock. That’s broken up with pure power as Crush sends him out to the floor and then swats away a dive off the top. Crush hits a big boot and drops the leg for two (not a good combination on this show)….and we have two Doinks. The distraction (it could be their cigars) lets Michaels hit a superkick to the back of the head to send Crush into the buckle and retain at 11:15.

Rating: C+. I’ve long since had a soft spot for Crush and I could have gone for seeing him do something more. Maybe not being the guy getting the Luger spot, but doing something else could have been interesting. This was memorable due to the RAM CRUSH’S HEAD INTO THE POST spot but there was pretty much no way that Michaels was losing when his new bodyguard was getting his big debut.

Bam Bam Bigelow is fresh and ready to become the first King Of The Ring. Short and to the point here.

King Of The Ring Finals: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Bret Hart

Hart is pretty banged up with a band hand and a slight limp. Bigelow goes with the big forearms to the back to start but Hart counters a gorilla press into a crossbody for two. More pounding drops Hart again and Bigelow launches him over the top for a big crash. Back in and Bigelow slowly hammers away, setting up a hard whip into the corner (back first for a change). Thankfully JR is right there to sell the impact and the pain, which is where he shines like few others.

A jumping elbow gives Bigelow two and we hit the bearhug. That’s broken up and they go outside, where Hart reverses a whip into the barricade. Back up and Hart is rammed into the post so Bigelow goes back inside. Cue Luna Vachon with a chair to drop Hart again but he actually makes it back inside. The top rope headbutt gives Bigelow the pin and the crown at 9:27….but here is another referee to point out the chair shot.

For some reason that isn’t a DQ and instead we keep going. Bigelow isn’t happy and hammers away again, with a headbutt knocking Hart silly again. The bearhug goes on again so Hart escapes, only to get headbutted into an over the shoulder backbreaker. That’s broken up as well and somehow Hart manages a belly to back suplex. Bigelow misses a backsplash and Hart fights up again, this time with a dropkick out to the floor.

The slingshot dive hits Bigelow and Hart hammers away as this feels like his last shot. Back in and a middle rope clothesline gives Hart two and the middle rope bulldog gets the same. The Sharpshooter is broken up so Hart tries another belly to back, with Bigelow landing on him (nice call back to earlier in the match) for two. Back up and Hart gets a boot up in the corner and grabs a victory roll for the pin at 18:21.

Rating: B+. Just in case you needed another great Hart match to close things out. As usual, Hart can do some of his best work against a monster and also as usual, he knows how to make you believe that he’s near death before making the comeback. Having Bigelow get a pin in there was kind of weird, but Hart was cheated to make it happen so it hardly brought anything down.

Post match Randy Savage runs in to hug Hart and they RUSH him over to the platform for the coronation. Hart gets the robe and the crown…and Jerry Lawler comes in, saying he’s the only king in the WWF. Lawler offers him the chance to kiss his feet, but Hart asks why he was never in the tournament in the first case. Hart starts the BURGER KING chant and Lawler jumps him from behind, beating him down with the scepter and kicking off a two year feud. JR is AGHAST and Lawler kicks Hart in the face, which he says is making Hart kick the royal feet. Hart is out to end the show.

Overall Rating: B. It’s so weird to see a show divided in half between Bret Hart and everything without Bret Hart. This was a one man all star performance from Hart, who had three awesome matches and…well everything else. What was the best match without him? The Intercontinental Title match I guess, and even that was just decent. Absolutely incredible work from Hart, with the Perfect match being outstanding, and not much else in the way of quality.

At the same time though, it’s a huge change of course though with Yokozuna taking the title back and getting rid of Hogan, who would be off to Hollywood and then WCW. That’s quite the big night, with Hart pretty clearly turning into the next star…but we had to deal with Luger’s face run first. In other words, 1993 WWF didn’t make a ton of sense, but Hart is awesome.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: May 6, 2024
Location: XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Commentators: Michael Cole, Pat McAfee

It’s tournament time as we are starting the King and Queen of the Ring tournaments this week. With the finals less than three weeks away, there isn’t much time so they are likely going to cover quite a bit this week. Unfortunately Drew McIntyre has been pulled due to injury but we should have a replacement of some kind on hand. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a long Backlash recap.

Here is the Judgment Day for a chat. Damian Priest is proud to have retained the title and apologizes for what happened after the match. He shouldn’t have attacked his teammates because they are his family. As for now though, the Judgment Day is still the dominant faction in WWE and Finn Balor is going to be the next King Of The Ring. Drew McIntyre is out of action so Balor is getting a first round bye. Cue Adam Pearce to say not so fast as we have a replacement right now.

King Of The Ring First Round: Jey Uso vs. Finn Balor

Balor grabs an armbar to start but Uso fights up with some yeeting right hands. A headlock slows Uso down again but he sends Balor outside for a dive. Uso gets posted and sent over the announcers’ table though and we take a break. Back with Balor’s basement dropkick connecting for two and we hit the chinlock.

That lasts as long as your average chinlock as Uso fights up and hits a high crossbody. A superkick drops Balor again but it’s way too early for the Superfly Splash. Instead Uso hits the spear for two but here is Drew McIntyre for a distraction. The fans want CM Punk though they seem to settle for Uso hitting another spear for the pin at 13:34.

Rating: C+. The McIntyre interference didn’t really do anything but this is going to give the fans something to like to start the show while also continuing Judgment Day’s issues. Balor got to showcase himself a bit as well but Uso moving forward makes sense as he could very well be a dark horse (or better) to win the whole thing. Assuming McIntyre doesn’t kick his head off that is.

We look at Gunther vs. Sheamus from Clash At The Castle back in 2022.

Drew McIntyre yells at Adam Pearce and leaves (with another QR code popping up). CM Punk pulls into the parking lot just as McIntyre leaves and heads to the ring (fist bumping Chad Gable on the way) for a chat. Punk talks about being locked in WWE Headquarters over the weekend and then realized the show was so close by so here he is. Punk mocks the 5:46 McIntyre title reign and knows that McIntyre is scrolling through Twitter so what if the fans lets him know he’s here.

While we’re waiting, Punk tells us about how he was hurt in the Royal Rumble when McIntyre DDT’ed him. He was upset over missing Wrestlemania but now he’s waiting to get his dream back. Punk is a five tool player but McIntyre is just a tool. McIntyre picked a fight with the pettiest man on earth and Punk thinks it’s because McIntyre hates himself. Punk already broke McIntyre’s elbow and next time he’ll break his face and heart. The music plays and Punk threatens to show up in Glasgow, Scotland. This is another week that Punk stays in the fans’ minds while he recovers, with his return getting closer and closer.

Ricochet is ready for the King Of The Ring when Braun Strowman comes in. Strowman stood up to Judgment Day last week because he can’t stand bullies.

Queen Of The Ring First Round: Iyo Sky vs. Natalya

Damage CTRL is here with Sky. Natalya spins out of a wristlock to start before grabbing a quickly broken leglock. They head outside with Sky being sent face first onto the apron as commentary talks about not knowing what any of the French chants were about at Backlash. Back in and Sky’s springboard missile dropkick gets two and we take a break.

We come back with Natalya grabbing a Michinoku Driver for two, followed by a top rope superplex (dedicated to Owen Hart, whose birthday would have been tomorrow) for the same. Sky is right back with a crossface before they trade rollup for two each. Natalya’s sitout powerbomb gets two more but the Sharpshooter attempt is broken up. The running knees in the corner set up Over The Moonsault for the pin at 10:24.

Rating: B-. That’s Natalya in a nutshell: makes opponent look good, does her own good things, loses in the end. It’s a good role for her and they didn’t try to do anything further than that. At the same time, Sky gets a win and some of her momentum back after losing at Wrestlemania.

Post match Damage CTRL promises to win the Queen Of The Ring and they’re coming for the Women’s Tag Team Titles again.

Video on Ilja Dragunov.

Ilja Dragunov vs. Ricochet

Ricochet doesn’t even bring the Speed Title with him. They start fast with Ricochet hitting a knee to the face and we’re already in a break. Back with Ricochet hitting a springboard clothesline into a standing shooting star press for two. Dragunov is back up with a waistlock but Ricochet backflips out of a German suplex.

Instead he sends Dragunov outside, where a moonsault is countered into the German suplex to put Ricochet down. Back in and a missile dropkick gives Dragunov two but Ricochet snaps off a super hurricanrana to the floor. Multiple dives drop Dragunov again and we take another break.

We come back again with Dragunov hitting the Constantine Special (rebound clothesline) and dropping a top rope backsplash for another near fall. They trade kicks to the face until Ricochet hits a Death Valley Driver. Ricochet tries a springboard but gets knocked out of the air. The H Bomb (a hard right hand on the mat) looks to set up Torpedo Moscow (running headbutt) but Ricochet Recoils him down instead. Dragunov catches him on top with another superplex and the second H Bomb is enough for the pin at 16:35.

Rating: B. If this didn’t have the two breaks in there, it would have been even higher. This was getting into Dragunov’s bread and butter as he feels like he would rather die than lose and throws everything he has out there to win. It makes his matches feel like wars and that was showing up again here. Heck of a match here for Dragunov’s more official Raw debut.

Respect is shown post match.

Sheamus can’t stand the idea of King Gunther so tonight he’s going to give Gunther the beating he’s been deserving.

Video on the European tour.

Queen Of The Ring First Round: Ivy Nile vs. Zoey Stark

Nile goes right after her to start but Stark runs her over. A rather delayed vertical suplex puts Stark down but she manages to pull Nile throat first into the rope. Stark hits a springboard missile dropkick for two, with commentary saying it was like a sniper. They both go up top where Nile wins a quick slugout and hits a super bulldog for two of her own. Nile misses an enziguri so Stark hammers away, with commentary getting into a weird discussion about ground and pound. Stark drops her face first onto the buckle and hits Z360 for the pin at 5:20.

Rating: C. This started well but they hit a wall in the middle and it kind of dragged to the finish. The top rope bulldog was a unique spot and Nile was fighting here but something seemed a bit off. I could go for seeing Nile get more of a chance, though she is going to need more polish and experience first.

R-Truth brings in UConn men’s basketball coach Dan Hurley because he thinks Awesome Truth should face the basketball team. Miz tries to explain things to Truth but Truth insists that a sport is a sport. Miz says he’ll get back to Adam Pearce about their next title defense (An exasperated Pearce: “Thank you.”). Awesome Truth leaves and Pearce needs a drink but gets to talk to Bron Breakker, who wants to know why he isn’t in the King Of The Ring. They’ll talk later.

We look at Gunther vs. Sheamus II.

Judgment Day consoles Finn Balor over his loss when Dominik Mysterio comes in with Carlito. Damian Priest doesn’t want Carlito here after what happened at Backlash last year but Carlito offers to trade back scratches. Priest tells him to get out.

Chad Gable vs. Bronson Reed

No Alpha Academy here with Gable, who chops away to start but gets Death Valley Drivered (that move is making a comeback around here) for his efforts. Gable manages to muscle him over with a German suplex for two so Reed goes up top. That’s fine with Gable, who kind of t-bone superplexes him down, only to have Sami Zayn run in and jump Gable for the DQ at 1:42.

Post match the beating is on but Reed cuts off the Helluva Kick and plants Zayn. Reed beats up Gable as well and stands tall. The camera follows Reed to the back, where Adam Pearce asks why Reed can’t control himself. Reed wants the Intercontinental Title and tells Pearce to do what he needs to do if he wants control.

Video on Lyra Valkyria. It’s smart to preview new stars like her as it helps when she’s being thrown into a pretty important match.

Gunther is ready to win King Of The Ring and doesn’t mind going through Sheamus to do it.

Here is Becky Lynch for a sitdown interview with Michael Cole. Becky loves these people but Cole brings up her appearance at the Kentucky Derby and her…interesting outfit choice. Cole: “What is that hat? Is it a hat?” Lynch got it on Etsy and the fans think it works. Cole moves on to the title, which Lynch will have to defend against a variety of the new stars brought over in the Draft.

Lynch is ready for people like Alba Fyre, Isla Dawn, Kiana James and in particular, Lyra Valkyria. As for Wrestlemania, yes she had strep throat but Rhea Ripley was the better woman that night. Then she won the title two weeks later in a battle royal…and here is Liv Morgan to interrupt.

Morgan is sick of Lynch not talking about her and brings up everything she’s done. Lynch cuts her off and says the title match is on at King And Queen Of The Ring (that show needs a better name) but Morgan. Morgan says she has a purpose now but here is Damage CTRL to interrupt. That’s enough for Morgan to bail so the fight is on but Lyra Valkyria runs in for the save.

Sami Zayn says it should be over with Chad Gable and Bronson Reed so he’ll fight them both at King And Queen Of The Ring. He’ll be at his best because he’s up against the wall.

Queen Of The Ring First Round: Lyra Valkyria vs. Dakota Kai

Valkyria takes her down with a headlock to start but let’s go split screen for a preview for Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes. The northern lights suplex gives Valkyria two but she gets pulled off the corner for a crash onto the buckle. We take a break and come back with Valkyria striking away, including a dropkick through the ropes. A suplex gives Valkyria two but Kai slips out of a fireman’s carry. The running kick to the face in the corner hits Valkyria for two more but she ducks another kick to the face. Nightwing (Samoan driver) finishes Kai at 8:50.

Rating: C+. The substitution is a good thing for Valkyria as she wasn’t likely to defeat someone at Asuka’s level in her debut. Beating Kai is certainly not a step too far though and this could help Valkyria up as one of the new stars around here. The division could always use fresh blood and Valkyria has all of the tools to move up the ladder in a hurry.

Kofi Kingston says this was supposed to be Xavier Woods’ tournament but Gunther put Woods on the shelf. Now Kingston is going to win the tournament instead and he’ll start with Rey Mysterio this weekend. He also gets in a Kendrick Lamar/Drake reference that I don’t understand.

King Of The Ring First Round: Gunther vs. Sheamus

Ludwig Kaiser is here with Gunther and Sheamus has already slimmed down a bit from his return a few weeks ago. They waste no time in chopping it out until Gunther kicks him out to the apron. Gunther tries his own ten forearms to the chest but has to block Sheamus from doing the same. Sheamus backdrops him to the floor and hits a dive off the apron as we take a break.

Back with Gunther dropping him again with a hard chop to the back, which even has Kaiser cringing. Gunther starts in on the neck by grabbing a cravate but Sheamus is up with the Irish Curse. One heck of a clothesline gives Gunther two, with White Noise giving Sheamus the same. Now Sheamus can hit the forearms to the chest but the Brogue Kick misses. Kaiser gets in a cheap shot to the knee but gets ejected (McAfee: “NEIN!”) as we take another break.

Back again with Gunther working on the bad knee until Sheamus kicks his way to freedom. Gunther goes right after the knee again but Sheamus manages a clothesline. The jumping knee gives Sheamus two of his own but the knee is banged up. The knee gives out on a powerbomb and Gunther hits a powerbomb into a half crab. Sheamus is in the ropes so Gunther goes up, only to be countered into a Celtic Cross for a delayed two. Some knees put Gunther down for a delayed two but the knee gives out again. Gunther grabs the half crab again and this time Sheamus has to tap at 21:00.

Rating: B+. This was the heavyweight slugfest that you would expect from these two, with those welts on Sheamus’ chest making me cringe more than once. The ending is something that makes perfect sense for Gunther, as he exploited an injury. Granted it’s an injury that was caused by Gunther’s stooge but that’s what a heel should be doing.

Overall Rating: B. They were focused this week with a good chunk of the show looking at the tournaments. It helps that the action ranged from awesome to just rather good with the main event being more than worth a look. Two matches got added to the pay per view card as well, making this an efficient show that never hit any really bad part. Pretty great show this week and that’s always nice to see.

Results
Jey Uso b. Finn Balor – Spear
Iyo Sky b. Natalya – Over The Moonsault
Ilja Dragunov b. Ricochet – H Bomb
Zoey Stark b. Ivy Nile – Z360
Chad Gable b. Bronson Reed via DQ when Sami Zayn interfered
Lyra Valkyria b. Dakota Kai – Nightwing
Gunther b. Sheamus – Half crab

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Monday Night Raw
Date: April 21, 2008
Location: BiLo Center, Greenville, South Carolina
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s a special three hour show as the King Of The Ring is back. The tournament was announced last week and now we get the whole thing wrapped up in one night. Other than that, it is the go home show for Backlash and that means it is time for the final push towards the four way match for the Raw World Title. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

King Of The Ring First Round: Chris Jericho vs. MVP

Non-title. MVP slugs away to start but Jericho drapes him ribs first onto the top. Jericho takes it to the floor but MVP hits something like a hanging Nightmare On Helm Street back inside. Something close to a seated abdominal stretch has Jericho in trouble but he’s right back up and hits a running shoulder. A big boot gives MVP two, only to get taken down with a clothesline as the back and forth continues. The Playmaker is broken up though and Jericho gets the Walls for the clean tap.

Rating: C. It was intense while it lasted but they had no other way out besides having the US Champion tap out? Losing to Jericho isn’t some huge upset but MVP already has a title match on Sunday so why have him lose here? I’ve never gotten the thinking behind this, though it doesn’t do the loser’s title any favors.

King Of The Ring First Round: CM Punk vs. Matt Hardy

They trade forearms to start and Punk blocks the Side Effect with some elbows to the head. Punk knocks him down into a chinlock before putting him on top. What looked to be a superplex is broken up and a middle rope elbow to the back of the head rocks Punk for a change. Back up and Punk’s running knee and bulldog get two so Punk loads up the GTS. Hardy reverses into a sunset flip attempt but Punk sits down on it for the pin to advance.

Rating: C+. This was another fast and to the point match, though they kept things going so qquickly that it was entertaining. At the same time, the US Title match at Backlash has taken quite the hit in the first twenty five minutes of the show. This one isn’t as bad as the champ losing, but the title match doesn’t have quite the shine anymore.

Here’s what Barack Obama vs. Hilary Clinton looks like in Smackdown vs. Raw 2008.

We look back at JBL/HHH/Randy Orton attacking each other last week.

The Raw World Title match is now a four way elimination match.

JBL says tonight is about crowning the King Of The Ring but he will be crowned champion on Sunday. There is even an article about him on the front page of the New York Times!

King Of The Ring First Round: Finlay vs. Great Khali

Hornswoggle is here with Finlay. Some shots to the knee manage to put Finlay down to start but Khali chokes him from the mat. A big boot drops Finlay so Hornswoggle tries to bring in the shillelagh. With that broken up, Khali wraps Finlay’s leg around the post and that’s a fast DQ.

Post match here is Big Show for the showdown with Khali. That’s enough to send Khali bailing to wait for Sunday. With Finlay being helped to the back, here is William Regal for the final first round match.

King Of The Ring First Round: Hornswoggle vs. William Regal

Regal Stretch finishes Hornswoggle in about 20 seconds.

Video on the European tour.

Here is Shawn Michaels for a chat. Shawn didn’t think he would be out here dealing with one of Ric Flair’s best friends in Batista. He needs to ask Batista something here though, so come on down. Cue Batista, with Shawn bringing up what Chris Jericho said on Smackdown: did Batista want to be the one to retire Flair? Batista asks if it would be easier if the answer was yes. Either way, Batista is ending this at Backlash, but Shawn promises to show Batista why he is the Heartbreak Kid. Shawn is willing to do anything to win, so be ready. Violence is teased but they leave.

In light of the Pennsylvania Presidential Primary, Hilary Clinton joins us and says the election is starting to sound like King of the Ring. This time though, the Last Woman Standing may be a woman. Whoever wins will have a lot of challenges to overcome but she will stay in the political arena and won’t come after Randy Orton. She might drop the People’s Elbow though. This was as eye roll inducing as you could have imagined but points for actually showing up.

Hardcore Holly vs. Carlito

Cody Rhodes and Santino Marella are here too. Holly starts fast and hammers him into the corner. An atomic drop hits Carlito but he knees Holly in the ribs and takes over. We hit the chinlock with a knee in the back before an elbow to the face cuts off Holly’s comeback. The Alabama Slam is countered into the Backstabber to give Carlito the pin.

Rating: C-. This was as interesting as a Carlito vs. Hardcore Holly match to set up Carlito/Santino Marella vs. Holly/Cody Rhodes Tag Team Title match was going to be. This feud is pretty horrible, but it isn’t like the titles have felt important in a good while. Just find some better teams. It really shouldn’t be that hard.

Post match Santino promises to win the Tag Team Titles but Cody clears the ring.

HHH promises to win the title at Backlash.

King Of The Ring Semifinals: CM Punk vs. Chris Jericho

Non-title. Jericho grabs a headlock takeover and gets absolutely nowhere. Back up and Punk starts kicking away at the leg but gets dropped ribs first across the top rope. Jericho stays on the ribs until a hammerlock lariat gives Punk two. They go to a pinfall reversal sequence and Punk’s snap powerslam gets two more. The Walls have Punk right back down, sending him over to the rope for the break. Jericho goes up but gets kicked in the head, setting up the GTS for the clean pin.

Rating: C+. It was fun while it lasted but they got out of there really fast. Maybe their time was cut short, but the Intercontinental Champion losing in about six and a half minutes completely clean is a strange thing to see. That being said, Punk is getting a push here and points for trying to make someone new.

Senator Barack Obama says it’s a chance to change business as usual and get rid of people trying to become King (of the ring). Do you smell what Barack is cooking? He certainly has charisma.

King Of The Ring Semifinals: William Regal vs. Finlay

This should be fun and Finlay is very banged up coming in. Finlay sends him outside but his band knee is sent into the steps. Back in and Regal goes after the knee like a true villain (or smart wrestler) should. Finlay forearms away and a backslide (which falls apart on the way down) gets two. Regal’s running knee knocks Finlay silly though and the Regal Stretch knocks Finlay out to send Regal to the finals.

Rating: C. Another short match here, which continues the issue of a one night tournament needing to be rushed, even if there is an extra hour. Regal and Finlay could have a heck of a fight if given the chance, but three and a half minutes with Finlay being banged up coming in isn’t going to allow that. Instead we got Regal being a villain who exploited an injury, which might just be a bit better.

Senator John McCain uses a bunch of wrestling catchphrases and promises to introduce Osama Bin Laden to the Undertaker and tells us to vote. All three of these were pretty bad, but they did take the time to appear.

Backlash rundown.

John Cena is tired of talking and wants to fight. He talks about how he knows he has a chance on Sunday and the other three have to go through him.

WWE has helped with a literacy program. Nothing wrong with that.

Barack Obama vs. Hilary Clinton

Let’s get this over with as I’m sure Vince McMahon finds this hilarious. Clinton comes out to Real American and has a Bill Clinton impersonator. Before the match, Hilary cuts a promo for the Hilamaniacs and there is an eerie silence as she stops to bicker with Bill. Fans: “MONICA! MONICA!”

Obama, with big fake ears, comes out to Rock’s theme. His Rock impression isn’t well received but Bill cuts him off. Hilary jumps him to start and gets two off a slam into a legdrop. The Rock Bottom connects (Bill: “Honey are you go???) but Bill breaks up the People’s Elbow (Bill: “I did not have inappropriate conduct.”). Umaga finally comes in and the match is thrown out.

Umaga wrecks both of them, ending one of the dumbest segments that probably had a certain someone howling backstage.

Here are a bunch of the more popular Divas for a chat. Last week, Mickie James won the Women’s Title from Beth Phoenix, which they never thought possible. Mickie is brought out for a chat, plus a lot of hugging. Cue the evil Divas, with Beth Phoenix promising to get the title back. McCool slaps Beth and the big brawl is on.

Mr. Kennedy is back next week. He was gone?

King Of The Ring: William Regal vs. CM Punk

Regal takes him into the corner to start and hammers away but Punk sends him into the buckle. A belly to back suplex drops Punk for two and Regal cranks on both arms. Punk finally slips out and kicks him in the head. It’s too early for the GTS though as Regal grabs the rope and knees him in the head. The Regal Stretch makes Punk tap and Regal is King.

B: C. So that’s the tournament, with the longest match not even breaking seven minutes. This was another match that just came and went because there wasn’t time to do much. Punk’s ribs were tied throughout the matches he wasn’t even in the ring for fifteen minutes throughout the night. I like Regal winning though, as he is great when given a chance to showcase everything he can do. Just do better with the tournament next time, or stretch it out to a second week.

Post match Regal sits on the throne and we’re off to a break rather quickly.

Here is Randy Orton for the main event, but first he says he is tired of everyone talking about taking his title. He has nothing to say except for listing off the shows where he retained.

Randy Orton/John Bradshaw Layfield/Chavo Guerrero/Edge vs. HHH/Kane/Undertaker/John Cena

That’s a pretty outstanding group of good guys. Edge tries to jump Undertaker to start and gets caught with a quick Old School. We take a break and come back with Edge charging into HHH’s spinebuster, allowing the diving tag to Cena. The Shuffle is broken up thanks to a Chavo low bridge though and it’s Orton coming in to kick him in the ribs.

JBL gets two off a neckbreaker as the villains start taking turns on Cena. Orton grabs the chinlock with a bodyscissors until Cena powers up for a ram into the corner. The tag brings in Kane and everything breaks down. Kane chokeslams Chavo but Edge comes in off a blind tag and hits a spear for the pin.

Rating: C+. This felt like a house show match where you get your big names in the ring to end the show. It worked for what it was, in that it previewed multiple pay per view title matches at once, though there was no reason to believe it was going to be anything great. Kane taking the fall when Chavo is there is a bit weird, but maybe they feel they have beaten him into the ground enough.

Post match we hit the parade of finishers, with Undertaker chokeslamming Orton and JBL to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. This was a strange show in that they tried to pack in a lot and it was too overcrowded. Between the tournament, the political stuff and the build towards the pay per view, this felt like it needed to be about four hours, or two regular weeks, to make it work. What we got did work and they covered a lot, but it felt like it could have been that much better rather than just doing ok with everything. Cut some of this stuff out and let the show breathe a bit more and it’s that much better. Or just get rid of the Obama vs. Hilary match because that was an audience of one deal if I’ve ever seen one.

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IMG Credit: WWE

Smackdown
Date: April 14, 2006
Location: Resch Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin
Commentators: Michael Cole, Tazz

It’s tournament time as we have the first match in the King of the Ring. That could mean a few different things going forward, but this time around it means Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton in a first round match. Then there is some new giant around to go after Undertaker so it’s kind of like old days. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

Here are Booker T. and Sharmell for a chat with a robe and throne in the ring. They like the way the stuff looks but Booker is much more excited about his restraining order against the Boogeyman. That has made Smackdown a Boogeyman Free Zone, but last week Booker lost to Gunner Something, which will never happen again. He is going to prove his greatness in the King of the Ring tournament, because this has made a lot of great careers.

Booker lists off everyone else in the tournament and none of them are as great as he is. He would like everyone to rise up and bow down to their next king. With that out of the way, Booker has to try on the robe and starts knighting the robe, allowing Sharmell to debut ALL HAIL KING BOOKER! Cue Bobby Lashley to spear Booker down, with Booker’s legs staying in the air long after Lashley leaves for a good visual.

Johnny Nitro vs. Brian Kendrick

Melina, Joey Mercury and Paul London are all at ringside. Kendrick starts fast with the forearms but gets sent throat first into the middle rope. The chinlock is on early but Nitro misses a charge into the corner. Kendrick’s spinning facebuster sets up another shot to the face but Mercury shoves Kendrick off the top. London dives onto Mercury and Melina gets knocked down, leaving Kendrick to victory roll Nitro for the pin.

Rating: C-. They did what they could in the time that they had but you can’t get too far in just over three minutes. The interference looks to set up the Tag Team Title match later on and that works out well enough, though I’m not exactly thrilled with the idea of sitting through the partners facing each other next week and then probably a six person tag down the line.

We recap Paul Burchill beating William Regal last week, meaning it’s buxom wench time.

Burchill sees Regal (off camera) and Regal isn’t happy because the shoes hurt and the knickers are out of his selection box.

This Week In Wrestling History: Barely Legal, focusing on Tazz vs. Sabu. The recap given by the voiceover is more details than I remember Joey Styles telling us on the show.

Paul Burchill vs. Rasheed Brown

Before the match, Burchill introduces Lady Regal, who falls off the rope swing and can’t stand up in the dress (which he has to wear until Burchill loses a match). Regal finally gets to his feet and comes to the ring, where Burchill pulls out a sword to poke him in the skirt. The rather large Brown shoves Burchill into the corner to start but gets taken down with a quick shot to the back. Regal gets on the apron with brass knuckles to nail Burchill but hits Brown by mistake, setting up Walking The Plank to give Burchill the easy pin.

Post match Burchill and Regal leave, arm in arm.

Kurt Angle congratulates Rey Mysterio on winning the World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestlemania and blames Randy Orton for the title loss. Tonight, Angle is going to take out all of his frustrations on Orton.

We look at Bret Hart winning the first King of the Ring.

Matt Hardy vs. Road Warrior Animal

Fallout from Animal jumping Matt on Velocity last week. The brawl starts on the floor before the bell with Animal being driven into the apron. They try to bring in a chair and the bell actually rings, with Matt hitting the Twist of Fate for the pin in about twenty seconds. And so much for that, thank goodness.

We look back at Rey Mysterio winning the Royal Rumble and then the title at Wrestlemania. How many times are we looking back at all of this stuff???

Palmer Cannon says that the following video is not endorsed by WWE.

Video of Miz wrecking havoc at WWE Headquarters. Didn’t we see this last week?

US Title: Chris Benoit vs. John Bradshaw Layfield

JBL, with Jillian Hall, is defending in a match that was supposed to be a celebration. Before the match, cue Teddy Long to say we’re having a change. The title is going to be on the line in a steel cage, which just happens to be above the ring and no one seemed to notice it yet, aside from all of the times that it was shown earlier in the night. JBL begs the referee to not make this happen so Benoit hammers away to start, sending JBL from one corner to another.

An early JBL escape attempt doesn’t work as Benoit pulls him back down and onto the mat. JBL is back up with a belly to back superplex but Benoit chops him down without much trouble. It’s too early for the Sharpshooter as JBL kicks him away and drops some elbows. Benoit is back up with some knees and chops in the corner before catching JBL on top again.

They both come crashing back down though and it’s time for a quick breather. It’s JBL up first with Two Amigos but Benoit pulls him into another failed Sharpshooter attempt. The Crossface doesn’t work either so Benoit hits the full Three Amigos. The Swan Dive connects for no cover as Benoit would rather go up than cover or walk out the door. JBL is back up with a super Russian legsweep and we take a break.

Back with Benoit climbing the cage again and getting electric chaired back down for two. A sleeper has Benoit in more trouble but the arm stays up the third time. Another suplex drops JBL and it’s time to roll the German suplexes. Benoit can only get two though and JBL boots him in the face. JBL goes for the door but the confused Jillian accidentally slams it on Benoit’s head. The Crossface goes but there is no referee to see the tap. Instead JBL rolls him over for two before kicking Benoit low, which is enough to retain the title.

Rating: B-. This was rolling until the messier than necessary ending. The Jillian stuff didn’t need to be there and seemed to be more of an idea for the sake of having one. JBL shouldn’t be dropping the title yet anyway, and especially not to Benoit after a long reign. The match was good, but having it in a cage didn’t add much of a note.

We look at Great Khali debuting and destroying Undertaker last week.

Here are Daivari and Great Khali for a chat. Daivari talks about how we have heard about Undertaker being a phenom for a long time now, but Khali is a real monster. We will all fear and worship him because Undertaker is gone.

Gymini vs. Mexicools

Jesse cleans house on the Mexicools early on and the old Harris Brothers H Bomb should finish Psicosis off early. The delayed cover only gets two though as Super Crazy has the referee. Crazy comes in to clean house but some twin magic lets Jesse hit a high collar suplex for the pin.

King of the Ring First Round: Kurt Angle vs. Randy Orton

Orton hides in the rope to start but Angle is patient enough to hit some clotheslines. A trip to the floor doesn’t last long as Orton is thrown inside for the ankle lock. That is broken up as well but Orton catches him with some shots on the way back in. Choking on the rope ensues and we’re already in the chinlock (I’ll let you figure out who is doing what).

Angle fights up and gets to the apron, where he manages to suplex Orton over the top and out to the floor in a nasty crash. That’s good for a nine count so Angle hits the German suplexes. The Angle Slam is countered into the backbreaker to give Orton two, meaning it’s the ankle lock to make Orton tap.

Rating: C+. The time hurt them again here but Angle getting a win back is the best thing for him. He doesn’t need to win the tournament, but he needs to show that he can still dominate at this level. That’s where this win came from and the extra part about Orton being the one who took the fall to lose Angle’s title makes it better.

Post match Angle puts the ankle lock on again, lets go and leaves, then comes back to do it again to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. They kept things moving tonight and I can always appreciate that. There was a lot of stuff crammed into the two hour show and it started to set the stage for the next pay per view in May. I liked the show rather well and nothing was bad, though the cage match ending left a bit to be desired. Good enough effort this week.

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King of the Ring 1994
Date: June 19, 1994
Location: Baltimore Arena, Baltimore, Maryland
Attendance: 12,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Randy Savage, Art Donovan

It’s tournament time and that means it’s not likely to be the most interesting show in the world. On top of that, this is one of the weaker fields they’ve ever had, which makes for a rather dull few hours. Finally, this show is infamous for the commentary, which really was a disaster and a horrible idea. Let’s get to it.

Earlier today, Jeff Jarrett came up to the official bracket board and tried to advance himself. This brought in Bam Bam Bigelow, Owen Hart and IRS to start a big argument.

Opening sequence which explains the tournament (including running down the card) and the rest of the card. They’re REALLY stretching to fill in time here.

National Anthem.

The announcers welcome us to the show with Monsoon referring to Donovan as “Art O’Donnell”. Donovan, a former NFL player in his 70s who has NO IDEA what is going on here, picks Razor Ramon to win the tournament, which seems to be the only wrestler he’s been told about.

Before we get started, here are the brackets:

Razor Ramon

Bam Bam Bigelow

IRS

Mabel

Owen Hart

Tatanka

1-2-3 Kid

Jeff Jarrett

King of the Ring Tournament First Round: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Razor Ramon

Ramon throws the toothpick at Luna Vachon and gets beaten down for his efforts. So Bigelow is just being chivalrous? Bigelow hammers him down and drops a headbutt as Art says he can’t stand to watch it. That’s one of the only things he’s said all match because, in theory, he has no idea what he’s watching here (not his fault).

Razor gets a running start and slides underneath the ropes to crotch Bigelow against the post. The middle rope bulldog gets two and it’s off to a leglock. Art realizes that Bigelow has Luna in his corner and asks about her as Bigelow misses an enziguri. A missed charge sends Razor flying over the top for a crash as the announcers talk about how tough you have to be to win one of these things. For some reason Savage doesn’t bring up the whole winning a one night tournament to win the WWF World Title at Wrestlemania IV, which they would never let him get away with today.

Bigelow kicks him in the face for two and Donovan is impressed. Well Bigelow has certainly made it then. Some headbutts to the back have Ramon in trouble and it’s off to a torture rack of all things. The hold stays on for a good while and Art thinks Razor is dead. Bigelow finally flips him down and gets caught in a belly to back suplex to put both guys down. Art: “What happens now?” Bigelow is too big for the Razor’s Edge so he slams Razor and loads up the moonsault. Razor is right back up though and kind of powerbombs Bigelow off the top into a rollup to advance.

Rating: C-. Pretty slow and plodding here but there’s only so much Razor can do with someone Bigelow’s size. It helps that Bigelow is able to move around far better than most giants and it made for a watchable power match. Putting Razor, probably the most popular guy in the tournament, through to the second round, was pretty much mandatory here.

We go to Todd Pettengill at the big board where IRS gives one of the most awkward interviews ever about beating Mabel and then wanting to face Tatanka in the finals. Mabel says he’ll never have his shoulders pinned to the mat. Mo agrees and is lucky that no one punches him out.

King of the Ring Tournament First Round: IRS vs. Mabel

Art as IRS comes out: “Randy, is this one of the wrestlers?” Then he doesn’t know Mabel’s name, which thankfully is ignored by the other announcers. I get that the guy doesn’t know any better but he’s already getting annoying. IRS tries to jump him from behind and gets sent into the corner over and over for his efforts.

Art wants to leave because of the danger of IRS having to fight someone twice his size and you can tell Gorilla and Randy are already sick of him. A Samoan drop sets up a big elbow as Art wants to know who the guy in the white suit (Mabel’s manager Oscar) is. Mabel misses a charge and gets kneed out to the floor. Back in and IRS hits a good looking jumping clothesline, which Savage says might be the best one in the history of the company. That’s a Michael Cole style line as commentary is just all over the place tonight.

In the HUH spot of the match, IRS tries a slam and gets small packaged for what looked like three, though the referee stops counting at two because I don’t think IRS could kick out. We hit the chinlock with Art thinking Mabel is wealthy because he has gold in his mouth. Mabel fights up and hits a backdrop followed by a bad looking Boss Man Slam. What looks like a middle rope splash is broken up though and IRS grabs a rollup (and a rope, which makes Mabel look like he’s on fire) for the pin.

Rating: D. I’ve actually seen worse as they just let IRS do his basic yet well done stuff while Mabel just looked imposing. The ending was the only real way to have Mabel get pinned and it didn’t even feel forced. We’ll call this a pleasant surprise, despite it still being a pretty weak match.

Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji are ready to have Crush and Yokozuna win the Tag Team Titles.

King of the Ring Tournament First Round: Tatanka vs. Owen Hart

Oh you can imagine how Art is going to handle someone like Tatanka. With Art annoyingly asking how much Owen weighs (WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE???), Tatanka jumps him to start in a rather heelish move. The announcers basically make it clear that Owen is the favorite, more or less guaranteeing an Owen vs. Razor final (not that that’s a bad thing). Tatanka gets two off a suplex and Art asks how much he weighs.

Monsoon just starts talking over Donovan as Owen works on a headlock. Tatanka gets sent over the top but lands on his feet to drag Owen outside for a chop off. Owen posts him and we cut to the back where Razor and IRS are in a fight. That goes nowhere so Owen hits the running crotch attack to the back of the head that needs a better name than the running crotch attack to the back of the head.

A missile dropkick gives Owen two and we hit the chinlock. Monsoon is now flat out ignoring Art’s questions, which is probably the best possible option. Back up and Tatanka hits the war path, including a DDT for a close two. Another near fall off a powerslam annoys Tatanka and Owen sits down on a sunset flip for the pin to advance.

Rating: C. The match was perfectly fine but sweet goodness Art is getting old. There’s just nothing there from him and it takes a lot to really get on Monsoon’s nerves. As mentioned though, Owen winning is the most obvious result in the world for this show and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially when the first match was certainly watchable.

Shawn and Diesel liked hurting Bret and promise another Jackknife tonight. They’re not worried about any family member being in Bret’s corner either.

King of the Ring Tournament First Round: 1-2-3 Kid vs. Jeff Jarrett

Donovan thinks the Kid looks like a boxer. I don’t know many boxers with 1-2-3 on their singlet, or one with a singlet on in general for that matter. Jarrett starts fast and whips Kid hard into the corner and let’s keep hitting that NEW GENERATION catchphrase, which actually officially started tonight. So this is where the blame got started.

They trade clotheslines as Donovan thinks Kid has no chance here. Kid misses a Swanton but Jeff crotches himself (Donovan finds it HILARIOUS), setting up a high crossbody for two. The Bronco Buster misses and Jeff, who Art calls “a cutie” tries the Figure Four but gets small packaged for the pin.

Rating: B-. This is the kind of match where Jarrett excelled: fast paced, doing his basics and letting someone else do the hard work. Jarrett gets a bad reputation for not being the best character (he wasn’t) or not having the best matches (he didn’t), but he was going to give you a perfectly acceptable match, which is more important than a lot of things.

Post match Jeff snaps and piledrives Kid three times in a row.

The final four:

IRS

Razor Ramon

Owen Hart

1-2-3 Kid

New Generation ad, focusing on old vs. new, including Hogan listed as old of course.

Bret is ready for Diesel, no matter how devastating the Jackknife is. He won’t stand for injustice though and has a surprise to deal with Shawn.

WWF World Title: Bret Hart vs. Diesel

Diesel is challenging but his Intercontinental Title isn’t on the line. For the sake of clarity, I’ll only refer to Bret as champ. Diesel’s pyro from the ceiling only goes down a few feet instead of nearly halfway down to the ring as usual. Maybe they just didn’t have the formula down yet. Bret’s surprise is…..Jim Neidhart, who hasn’t been around in a few years. Savage makes the mistake of mentioning that Neidhart played football, prompting Art to NEED to know if Diesel was a football player too.

Diesel elbows him in the face to start and easily wins a slugout. That’s pretty out of character as Bret isn’t going to start slugging away until things are a lot more even. He’s smart enough to avoid a charge though and it’s time for the headbutt to the abdomen. A thumb to the eye cuts Bret off, which Art says isn’t kosher. Diesel misses another charge though and that’s your story for the match: Bret can’t match him for size and power but he’s smart enough to avoid Diesel’s reckless offense.

It’s already time to go after the knee, including the Figure Four. Diesel kicks him away so we hit the spinning toehold as the match flashes back to days when Donovan was just ancient and not….well Art Donovan. Bret wraps the leg around the post (Savage: “Go ahead and do it. I won’t look!”) but Shawn clotheslines him down, sending Neidhart into the chase.

Back in and Diesel grabs a bearhug but Bret bites his way to freedom, only to miss a dive to the floor. Donovan wants to know how these guys get out of bed in the morning (I’d assume they stand up) and Monsoon cuts him off with a level of rudeness you’ll never hear from him again. We hit the backbreaker with Bret being bent over the knee for a bit before hitting the running crotch attack to the back.

Another backbreaker gets another two as Diesel doesn’t exactly have his full offensive skill set yet. I mean, he only had about six or seven moves at his peak so you can imagine how bad things are here. Diesel grabs an over the shoulder backbreaker as Shawn tries to take off a turnbuckle pad. Bret slips out and starts trying a sleeper, only to be shoved into the referee.

NOW the buckle pad comes off but, of course, Diesel eats the steel instead. Bret slugs away (makes sense now, which is often the case with him) and gets two off a clothesline. That means the Five Moves of Doom but Shawn’s distraction breaks up the Sharpshooter. Bret tries to slug away a bit more and walks right into the big boot.

Diesel stands over him and gives the Jackknife sign but Bret rolls into a Boston crab (with the legs crossed but Bret’s legs are spread instead of intertwined). Of course it doesn’t last long as Diesel goes outside, allowing Shawn to hit Bret with the belt. There’s the Jackknife but Neidhart comes in for the DQ.

Rating: B. I actually like that finish as it keeps Diesel looking strong, meaning he wasn’t taking a pin while still Intercontinental Champion. Bret was carrying Diesel here and that’s exactly why they were put together. Diesel was VERY weak in the ring at this point but he could do a few things well, which Bret was more than capable of working with to make a good match. These two always had great chemistry together and that’s all you need a lot of the time.

It was all Diesel needed too, as this was the match that made Vince decide to push him to the moon, including making him champion in about five months. The problem was he didn’t have much beyond looking cool, a good finisher and a strong Royal Rumble performance. DOES ANY OF THIS SOUND FAMILIAR TO ANYONE TODAY???

Neidhart leaves for some reason (Dun dun dun?), allowing Diesel and Shawn to lay Bret out.

Lawler insults Donovan a bit and says he’s the true king and that’s the bottom line. He loves the idea of beating Piper so the kids in Toronto (who Piper had promised some of his winnings to) get NOTHING. Now that’s as heelish as you can get: “I want to beat you so poor sick kids are left out in the cold!” And people wonder why Lawler is considered one of the best of all time.

King of the Ring Tournament Semifinals: Razor Ramon vs. IRS

Razor jumps him in the aisle as Monsoon thankfully reminds us that these two fought at the Royal Rumble. IRS gets in a few shots but Razor takes him outside and sends him into the steps to really stagger him. A kick to the knee slows Razor down though and we hit the chinlock. Razor fights up without too much effort (because it was a kick to the knee and a chinlock), only to get caught with the running clothesline. Not that it matters as Razor hits a quick Razor’s Edge for the pin.

Rating: D. I wonder if Razor was injured here. There was barely any offense from Ramon until the very end and he spent a good chunk of a five minute match in a chinlock. Injury or not though, you have to put Ramon against Owen in the final, just for the sake of ANY star power/a threat to Owen in the last match.

Bret is looking for Neidhart.

There’s no update on the 1-2-3 Kid’s status after the attack.

King of the Ring Semifinals: Owen Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid

This one is kind of famous. Kid is fine enough to get in the ring, making the previous backstage segment rather worthless. Owen baseball slides him through the ropes and hits an even harder suicide dive to start things off. A top rope splash is good for two on the Kid but he sends Owen chest first into the corner, setting up a twisting high crossbody for two of his own. Kid gets the same off a crucifix as we’re not even a minute into this yet.

Some spinning kicks drop Owen again but the enziguri gets him out of trouble. Kid gets two more off a northern lights suplex with Owen going to the ropes for the break. Owen bails so it’s a BIG flip dive over the top and Savage announces his retirement from this level of action. Back in and a German suplex gives Owen two, followed by a snap overhead belly to belly for the same. A victory roll gives Kid another near fall but his hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb, setting up the Sharpshooter to send Owen to the finals.

Rating: A-. That’s the best under five (four actually) minute match I’ve ever seen as they beat the heck out of each other and packed in about fifteen minutes of stuff into just over three and a half. Kid saves face because he came in injured so it’s even well booked on top of being entertaining. Check this out and see what these two could do when they were trying to show off.

Roddy Piper cuts a promo about taking his pants off, not remembering what town he’s in, loving Hershey bars, spaghetti with mosquito bites, various movies he’s been in, eating flies, not trusting people with no necks, “King Toady”, Don King, King the Dog and there being no such thing as a king. Piper is known for his crazy interviews and this was one of the weirdest I’ve ever seen from him. That includes the time he took over Alcatraz or the time he rambled about Hulk Hogan and hopped away for no apparent reason.

Tag Team Titles: Yokozuna/Crush vs. Headshrinkers

The Headshrinkers are defending of course. For once, Art asks the right question when he wants to know Yokozuna’s weight. He also brings up a good point: why are there eight people out here (Mr. Fuji/Jim Cornette/Lou Albano/Afa are all out as well) for a two on two match? The staredown (kind of a family reunion save for Crush) leads to a big brawl until the Headshrinkers start fighting each other for no apparent reason.

Yokozuna gets headbutted to the floor and we settle down to Yokozuna vs. Samu to start. A spinning kick to the face and a dropkick stagger Yokozuna and knock him outside again. It’s off to Crush vs. Fatu, who will have none of this faceplant nonsense. A piledriver plants Crush and a middle rope headbutt gets two. Fuji gets in a cheap shot from the floor and Crush grabs a piledriver of his own to really take over. It’s off to Yokozuna for the big fat leg but he misses a charge in the corner.

Samu comes in for a powerslam (I’ll let you guess to whom) and everything breaks down. A double superkick knocks Yokozuna outside for the third time (not a good sign less than eight minutes in) but he’s still able to crotch Samu on top. More managerial interference brings out Lex Luger (oh yeah he’s still around) to stare at Crush, allowing Samu to get in a superkick to retain.

Rating: D+. This was a decent power brawl but it was clearly just there to offer some extra flavor to go with the tournament. The Headshrinkers are one of my favorite teams from this era (or the 90s in general actually) and they were beating the heck out of Yokozuna here. That would be part of the huge downfall for Yokozuna, who went from beating Hogan the previous year to this in twelve months. It’s the problem with being a monster and someone whose gut probably has its own zip code.

Crush beats on Luger until the Headshrinkers make the save.

Owen promises to win and wishes his dad a Happy Father’s Day.

King of the Ring: Razor Ramon vs. Owen Hart

Razor punches him down and stares at him because they’re filling time despite the match not likely having much of it to work with in the first place. They do an awkward slam spot and Owen slaps him in the face to earn himself a catapult into the corner. A slow motion bridge into a backslide gives Razor two and Art changes his pick to Owen. The spinwheel kick drops Razor, who Art cheers for three seconds after changing his pick.

We hit an abdominal stretch to stay on the ribs but Razor hiptosses out and grabs a chokeslam for two. The belly to back superplex looks to set up the Edge but Razor gets backdropped to the floor. Here’s Neidhart to check on Razor and then deck him, setting up Owen’s top rope elbow for the pin and the crown.

Rating: C-. Obvious ending and unnecessary interference aside, this was the only way they could have done. Owen was still hot from beating Bret at Wrestlemania and needed a major win without changing the Intercontinental Title from one heel to another. Giving him the crown was as good of an option as they had and it made him look like a real threat in his big title shot against Bret.

Owen and Neidhart beat Razor down with a Hart Attack and CANADIAN (and American) stomping. Bret doesn’t save for no apparent reason.

We go to Bret in the back and he has no comment. Is there ANY reason why he didn’t come out here? I guess he’s supposed to be shocked but that doesn’t quite endear him to Razor. Not that he needed to do so but it would have made sense given how much he wanted to go after Neidhart.

Donovan asks Monsoon and Savage if they acted like that when they wrestled. Monsoon COMPLETELY ignores him and asks Randy about Neidhart’s sanity.

It’s already coronation time with Neidhart standing at Owen’s side. Owen brags and dubs himself the King of Harts, an awesome nickname.

Long recap of Piper vs. Lawler, which is mostly just them doing the exact insults you would expect from both of them. Like I mentioned, there’s also a children’s hospital shoehorned in here for the sake of some emotion.

Roddy Piper vs. Jerry Lawler

Lawler being a king confuses Donovan even more. Before Piper comes out, Lawler does his usual crowd insults and again promises to keep all the winnings. As is his custom for a big match, Piper is played to the ring by a pipe and drum corps. In the first pay per view main event ever between two wrestles over forty years old, Monsoon has the gorilla testicles to call this a NEW GENERATION match.

Piper even comes out with the imitator from Raw, who was rather insulting to him during the King’s Court. Apparently Piper has forgiven him….and I guess we’re supposed to be impressed. Uh, right. The kid (who is about seventeen at the youngest) does some Piper jokes (to be fair he does a great impression) and we’re FINALLY ready to go. Piper hammers away to start and Monsoon dubs it vintage. In the NEW Generation.

The kilt is thrown over Lawler’s head and Piper bites in the corner as I don’t expect much in the way of wrestling here. A big right hand sends Lawler bailing to the floor and the kid gets in a poke to the eye. Back in and Piper slugs away before telling Lawler to bring it. Piper starts going to the hamstring (psychology you see) and an atomic drop sends Lawler outside again.

Lawler’s hand is sent into the post as there’s nothing resembling wrestling anywhere in this match. The kid gets dragged inside and instead of BEATING LAWLER UP, Piper shoves the kid back to the floor. A bunch of punches set up….even more punches and we hit the sleeper on Piper. Monsoon says that’s a patented hold, even though I don’t think I ever remember seeing Lawler using one.

The piledriver (to NO reaction, just like most of this match) gets two (no reaction again) as Savage is trying everything he can to make this interesting. Piper spits at him and slugs back, followed by a pair of bulldogs. The ref gets bumped (you knew this wasn’t ending clean) and it’s a foreign object to knock Piper out. Lawler gets two with the kid making the save, allowing Piper to grab a belly to back suplex for the pin.

Rating: OG. For Old Generation. This was straight out of the nightmares of Memphis in front of a bored crowd who wanted to go home after a not great night. I get the idea here but this needed to go on about second, as there was no way these dinosaurs were going to be able to produce anything worthwhile. It just wasn’t a story that people were going to care about and there was no way around that. Terrible main event, and perhaps the worst in company history.

Piper celebrates with the kid…..and we go to Shawn telling Diesel that he’ll get the title soon enough to end the show. I guess the main event was so bad that it screwed up the show format. You know, even worse than it already did.

Overall Rating: D+. Art Donovan issues and main event aside, there’s enough good stuff going on here to help carry it over the line. The problem here is the lack of interest from the backstage forces, mainly due to trying to keep Vince out of jail and all that good stuff. There’s enough good wrestling to keep the show from flatlining but you’re much better off watching those individual matches rather than the full two hour and forty five minutes, which crawl by on more than one occasion.

The interesting thing here is how fast the show got through its ten matches though. Outside of Bret vs. Diesel, nothing breaks thirteen minutes with none of the tournament matches even getting nine minutes. To be fair though, it’s not like there was a reason to stretch out a predictable tournament and the World Title match more than makes up for it. Not as bad as remembered, but still not great or even good for the most part.

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King of the Ring 2002
Date: June 23, 2002
Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 14,198
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

I haven’t been looking forward to this one and I have a feeling that’s going to be proven right. The triple main event is Hulk Hogan vs. Kurt Angle, HHH vs. Undertaker for the World Title and the tournament final, none of which would be interesting in the first place but here they’re getting a ton of focus. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of some great King of the Ring winners with 1995 obviously being omitted. Does anyone want to see Savio Vega anyway? The regular opening video talks about the tournament and the two regular matches, as you would expect.

The awesome huge metal chair is back but unfortunately Kurt Angle and Shane McMahon won’t be beating the heck out of each other around its legs this year.

King of the Ring Semifinals: Rob Van Dam vs. Chris Jericho

Non-title. Jericho works on the arm to start as they’re going pretty slowly here, suggesting there’s going to be a lot of time for this one. That’s not a bad thing either as I’d rather two talented guys get time than two people who are going to kill the crowd right off the bat. Both guys try dropkicks so we have a standoff, meaning it’s time for Van Dam’s signature post.

A quick kick to the face sends Jericho outside, setting up the required flip dive. Back in and the referee is sent into the ropes to crotch Rob on top, setting up a butterfly superplex for two. Jericho unhooks a turnbuckle pad because that was only done in Thursday’s main event so it’s more than long enough. The running crotch attack only hits the ropes but Jericho kicks him down and starts cranking on the arms.

Back up and a springboard kick to the face gives Rob two, followed by the cartwheel moonsault for the same. Jericho shrugs off a few more kicks and sends Rob into the exposed buckle for two. The Lionsault gets the same and the Walls send Van Dam bailing for the ropes. They head up top so Jericho can get shoved off and very obviously crawl to the middle of the ring so the Five Star can put him away.

Rating: C+. Just a match really, which isn’t the best thing in the world. There wasn’t much heat here and the near falls didn’t get either guy anywhere. Jericho has just been crippled since the title reign ended and he’s in a big need of some freshening up. Van Dam going forward to face Lesnar was obvious but I was expecting a lot more here.

Lawler goes in to talk to Van Dam but Jericho chairs Rob down and puts him in the Walls.

Heyman fires Brock up.

King of the Ring Semifinals: Test vs. Brock Lesnar

Why they’re even bothering with this is beyond me. Brock sends him into the corner for the shoulders to the ribs as the GOLDBERG chants start up. A hard clothesline puts Brock down and Test hammers away in the corner, actually to some avail. More shoulders to the ribs have Lesnar right back in control and he throws Test around with ease.

A belly to back suplex gives Brock two, followed by a powerslam for another delayed two. The side slam and full nelson slam get two on Brock, followed by the pumphandle slam for the nearest fall in Lesnar’s career to date. The big boot makes it even worse and the fans actually buy into the two count this time. Test loads it up again….right in front of Heyman. I think you can figure out the next step and how it sets up Brock’s F5 to advance to the finals.

Rating: C-. This could have been a lot worse as Brock needed to survive a slugout. I know Test wasn’t the best choice here and it would have made more sense to have him go over someone like Bubba here (which wouldn’t have been possible due to the Raw vs. Smackdown rules) but Test actually lived above his head here.

Bubba Ray Dudley says he’ll bounce back but picks…..well no one in the finals actually.

Lance Storm and Christian would rather rant about people being anti-Canadian instead of picking a winner.

Cruiserweight Title: Hurricane vs. Jamie Noble

Noble is challenging after his girlfriend stole Hurricane’s gear for reasons that aren’t quite clear, mainly because they’ve blazed through this story. Helms takes it straight to the mat to start but can’t get anywhere. Instead he goes with the opposite by superkicking the heck out of Noble.

Speaking of Nidia, she completely misses while trying to trip Hurricane, who doesn’t sell the thing, thank goodness. The distraction lets Noble get in a shot from behind to take over though and things slow down again. An electric chair gets two for Jamie and it’s off to a seated abdominal stretch. That’s switched into a sleeper for a few moments before Hurricane comes right back with a neckbreaker and jumping clothesline.

The Overcast gets the same and frustration is setting in. With nothing else working, Hurricane grabs the cape and throws Jamie outside for a high crossbody, sans cape of course. Jamie gets right back up and takes Hurricane to the top but the champ grabs a super swinging neckbreaker of all things for a huge crash. Nidia climbs onto and is promptly knocked off the apron, setting up a chokeslam for two on Noble. Hurricane gets crotched on top though and a powerbomb gives Jamie the title with Nidia shoving Hurricane’s foot off the ropes.

Rating: C. Well that happened. The ending really sucked the life out of this one as it was really picking up until then. Nidia continues to be completely useless but she won some reality show and therefore has to be around. Noble isn’t a great heel but he’s a great character and I have no issue with him winning the title. The division has the potential to go somewhere at the moment but there’s a lot of work to be done.

The replay shows that even though Nidia moved the foot off the ropes, Hurricane’s hand was under the ropes. She really can’t do anything right.

Eddie Guerrero isn’t worried about ticking Ric Flair off because he needs to say hi to his family, name by name. This of course includes Little Timmy, the foster kid they picked up off the street, leaving Terri stunned. Or maybe that’s just how she looks in general.

Eddie Guerrero vs. Ric Flair

Feeling out process to start with Eddie showing Flair up a bit in the athleticism department until a big chop sends him outside. A low blow has Eddie in trouble but, as always, it’s cool when Flair cheats as a face. Back in and Eddie stomps away in the corner before starting in on the knee. Flair’s leg is wrapped around the post and then the ropes, meaning we get some very un-PG language from Ric.

Of course we hit the Figure Four because all Flair matches must see him put in the Figure Four. Flair eventually (and I mean very eventually) gets out so Eddie grabs a chinlock. JR isn’t sure on the strategy as it would make sense to stay on the legs but maybe he doesn’t understand lucha. A suplex sets up the frog splash but Flair rolls away before Eddie even dives.

Guerrero does the splash anyway and the crash means it’s time to start in on Eddie’s legs. This brings out Chris Benoit as the Figure Four goes on. That’s broken as well and they can’t seem to do the bridge into a backslide spot. Eddie can however hit a tornado DDT for two and Benoit pulls Ric to the floor for the Crossface. The referee quickly ejects the Canadian (Maybe Storm and Christian are onto something) and it’s Bubba Ray running in with a Bubba Bomb to give Flair the cheap pin.

Rating: C. This was much more long than good and that’s not really a positive sign. The ending was more confusing than anything else, unless it’s ANOTHER wrestler signing up to pay tribute to Flair. It didn’t help that the fans didn’t seem to care and the wrestling wasn’t exactly inspired stuff. Still though, not the worst and I’d rather this get the extra time than something else.

William Regal and Chris Nowinski are annoyed at the service at the World. That’s your transition to the Women’s Title match.

Women’s Title: Trish Stratus vs. Molly Holly

Molly is challenging after Trish, the face in this feud, laughed at her for being allegedly fat. Trish is annoyed at Molly for using Trish’s own underwear to choke her, which is apparently the real injustice in this feud. The champ gets taken down into an armbar as Lawler wants to know what color thong JR might wear. Trish gets two off a neckbreaker and a modified victory roll gets the same. They’re setting a really fast pace here and it’s working so far.

A trip to the floor sees Trish sent into the crowd before coming back in with the Stratusphere. They slug it out and Trish hits the Chick Kick but gets German suplexed for two. Molly misses the Molly Go Round and JR thinks she might have broken the ring. I’ll let that one go as Molly grabs a rollup and the tights for the pin and the title. Lawler: “It was survival of the fattest!”

Rating: B-. Several points for the action here and several dozen more taken away for the angle and commentary. Remember when Michelle McCool and Mickie James did a similar story and it was called bad taste even though McCool was the heel? Well here it’s Trish being treated as the face for the exact same thing. I still can’t believe I’m watching this but hopefully this wraps it up.

Angle wants to know why he and Hogan are both considered American heroes. After all, Hogan is only considered a hero because Vince wanted him to be. “If Mr. McMahon wanted Hogan to be a zookeeper, Hogan would be a zookeeper!”

We recap Hogan vs. Angle, which is over Vince wanting to screw with Hogan for wanting to retire. Angle seems to be Vince’s first goon to go after Hogan, which doesn’t really make sense. If Vince wants to keep Hogan around, why is he sending someone out there who could hurt him? Wouldn’t it make more sense, and embarrass Hogan more, to have him at the bottom of the card?

Kurt Angle vs. Hulk Hogan

They fight over headlocks and top wristlocks to start until Angle is powered out to the floor. So far they’ve just had Angle run around and bounce off Hogan, which is pretty easily their best possible outcome. Back in and Hogan sends him head first into the buckle nine times before a low blow puts Hulk down.

Kurt gets two off a belly to back suplex because Hogan would probably break after one German suplex, let alone the rolling version. A sleeper into a chinlock has Hogan down as the announcers debate which of these two have more fans in Iraq. The Angle Slam gets two but Hogan comes back with the big boot. There’s no legdrop though as Hogan goes for the wig. Naturally he puts it on and Angle’s chair shot hits himself in the head. The legdrop is countered into the legdrop though and Hogan starts rolling…..but he actually taps out a few feet from the ropes.

Rating: D. You could tell Angle was working WAY more slowly than usual here but the ending was the right call. There comes a point where there’s no way to accept Hogan being able to hang with someone at Angle’s level and Hulk tapping out because he just couldn’t keep up was the right move. Now if Hogan drops way down the card and leaves the main event picture alone, everything will be fine.

Goldust is dressed up as Rock, much to Booker’s dismay. We actually get a heck of an impression until the real thing pops up behind Goldust, who immediately begs off. Rock shows him the proper way to do FINALLY so Goldust starts rubbing his chest. Booker says don’t worry about Goldust because Rock is jumping in the wrong face. Goldust: “What about me?”

He tries a few catchphrases of his own before backing away because it’s not his style. Booker liked the speech so Goldust does the chest rub again, messing with Rock even more. Rock is here to watch the main event because the title is bigger than the People’s Elbow, the Spinarooni and, to Goldust, “What do you do? You got a finishing move?” Goldust talks about the ammunition in his cannon to finally send Rock over the edge. Rock: “STOP RUBBING YOURSELF MAN!” Everyone uses a catchphrase though Booker cuts Goldust off again. Funny stuff here, as you would expect.

King of the Ring: Brock Lesnar vs. Rob Van Dam

Non-title again of course. Rob hits and runs to start, including a few kicks to the legs. Brock takes as much as he’s going to though and crushes Van Dam with a powerslam. Some backbreakers set up the bearhug until some more kicks get Rob out of trouble. Rolling Thunder gets two and there’s the Five Star, only to have Heyman snap Rob’s throat across the ropes…..sending Rob onto Lesnar for two in a great false finish. The F5 makes Brock King a few seconds later.

Rating: D+. This was just a step above a squash, even though Rob got in most of his signature stuff. The win wasn’t clean as Rob couldn’t get a good cover and took a little extra time due to the Heyman interference so it’s not as bad of a loss as it could be. Lesnar isn’t ready for the main event but they have to put someone new in that spot, especially with Austin gone.

HHH runs into Kevin Nash and Shawn Michaels, who offer their help tonight if needed.

We recap HHH vs. Undertaker with HHH challenging after beating Hogan and….that’s it actually. There’s really no reason to care about him and there’s not much to their feud other than Undertaker has the title and they’ve punched each other a lot.

Heyman jumps in on commentary to say the winner of this is keeping the title warm for Lesnar until Summerslam.

WWE World Title: Undertaker vs. HHH

HHH is challenging and comes out second for no apparent reason. They slug it out to start (get used to that kind of exchange) with neither really getting an advantage. HHH mixes it up with a choke before the fight heads outside for more punching. The slow punching continues until Undertaker misses a running boot in the corner. A modified Snake Eyes gets Undertaker out of trouble and he drops an elbow for two.

Somehow we’re five minutes into this already and they’re both looking tired. Even more punching, this time on the floor, goes to Undertaker and a legdrop gets two. HHH breaks up a superplex and scores with a backdrop as Heyman goes on about Lesnar beating Rock up backstage. A turnbuckle pad is ripped off (third time in two shows) but Undertaker is sent into it back first, setting up a neckbreaker for no cover. The jumping knee gets two more….and the ref gets bumped.

Cue the Rock to take Heyman’s place on commentary as Undertaker grabs a chair. HHH knocks it away and sends Undertaker outside where he kicks Rock in the face. Rock hits HHH in the head with the chair by mistake and we’ve got some blood. After sending Rock into the post, Undertaker gets a delayed two off a Last Ride and this crowd is just gone.

The new ref gets bumped and it’s a Rock Bottom for Undertaker. Rock just leaves and HHH gets the slowest cover in years for another two. The Pedigree connects but since this is a main event match, Earl Hebner is STILL DOWN after nearly ten minutes. HHH goes to wake him up but it’s a low blow into a rollup with trunks and ANOTHER ridiculously slow count retains the title.

Rating: F. You’ll often hear people joke about how they think they’re watching something in slow motion but that actually happened to me here. The ref was down for so long and the falls too so long that I really did forget that the show was still going at regular speed. This was nearly twenty five minutes of punching and finishers, which is far from enough to carry a main event. Just terribly boring here but that’s what you have to expect from the main event scene around this time.

Post match Undertaker talks trash to Rock and gets Rock Bottomed, setting up a Pedigree to Rock to end. Undertaker chokeslams HHH to end the show.

Overall Rating: D-. The following criticisms apply to all of the matches except for the women, who worked hard despite having a horrible story and almost no time to work with. Their match doesn’t line up with the rest of the show, which was one of the most lifeless cards I’ve ever seen. The matches were far from the worst I’ve ever seen but there was no energy almost all night.

This was a show with WAY too much talent on it to be this dull but that’s exactly what happened. It felt like no one was interested in trying because they could just do their matches and then go on to the week’s TV. I had almost no interest in anything on here and the whole thing seemed to be something they had to get through before either next month’s pay per view or Summerslam. I expected better here and it’s more disappointing than bad.

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King of the Ring Network Special
Date: April 28, 2015
Location: iWireless Center, Moline, Illinois
Commentators: Michael Cole, John Bradshaw Layfield, Jerry Lawler

This is a one off special with the returning King of the Ring semi-finals and finals taking place tonight. It’s just an hour long so the matches should have some time to build up instead of having to run through everything in just a few minutes. There’s potential for some good matches tonight so let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of the history of the tournament and some of the stars who have won before.

Jerry Lawler is brought out to introduce a package on how the final four advanced. It’s a bad sign that they seem to be stalling for time four minutes in.

Here are the final four:

Neville

Sheamus

Bad News Barrett

R-Truth

Sheamus says he’ll become the two time King and get rid of that little English guy to do so.

Neville was in NXT just a few months ago but now he could be King of the Ring. No one expects him to win tonight, but he’s defied expectations all his life. He was fine on the mic here so I wouldn’t mind hearing more from him.

King of the Ring Semi-Finals: Sheamus vs. Neville

Cole mentions Sheamus potentially becoming a two time King, just like Bret Hart. That’s a rare reference to the tournaments held when it was still just a house show feature. Sheamus makes fun of Neville’s height to start and takes him into the corner with ease. Neville comes back with some right hands and does his front flips followed by a spin kick to the ribs. A quick Irish Curse stops Neville cold though and the big man takes over. It works so well that Sheamus hits a second Irish Curse as the fans are entirely behind Neville.

Sheamus gets a bit too cocky though, allowing Neville to come back with forearms tot he face. He fights out of the ten forearms as well but gets sent face first HARD into the announcers’ table. Neville barely makes it back in time though, earning him another beating in the corner. Sheamus is starting to get cocky but here’s Ziggler to remind him what happened at Extreme Rules. The distraction lets Neville duck a Brogue Kick and kick Sheamus in the head. The Red Arrow gives Neville the pin and the BIG upset at 5:47.

Rating: C+. I believe in Neville. This is one of the first pushes in a LONG time where they’re strapping a rocket to a newcomer’s back and letting him ride it all the way, though there’s a good chance Barrett winds up winning the crown tonight so they can have him lose his next ten matches. Still though, I’m digging the heck out of Neville right now as they’re totally nailing his push.

Post match Ziggler wants to get what he earned at Extreme Rules and the brawl is on. Security breaks it up, but not before Sheamus’ eye is busted open badly.

Barrett says R-Truth shouldn’t be worried about his arachnophobia because it’s time for Bull Hammer-phobia. After he gets done with the has been Truth, he’ll move on to the never was Neville.

Truth has a plan tonight: win the King of the Ring and then declare a ban on spiders. That includes all the spiders, even the kinfolks. They’ll build a castle with a drawbridges and a moat. He isn’t sure about water in the moat because that might bring water spiders. Saxton: “What about your opponent, Bad News Barrett?” Truth: “Does he has experience killing spiders?”

King of the Ring Semi-Finals: R-Truth vs. Bad News Barrett

Truth grabs a quick rollup to start but takes a right hand to the ribs. Barrett puts him in the ropes for the big boot to the face and it’s off to the chinlock as the announcers discuss Nero. Back up and Truth hits some clotheslines and the front suplex for two. The ax kick misses but the side kick is good for another near fall. Truth’s Lie Detector gets two but the Winds of Change gets the same. Back up and the Bull Hammer sends Barrett to the finals at 4:40.

Rating: D+. What do you want me to say here? Truth had as much of a chance as I have of being Miss Nevada 1974 and everyone knew it. Barrett is a good option for the crown and there’s a good dynamic considering what happened on Sunday. Dull match here but at least they kept it short.

Video on Verne Gagne who passed away yesterday.

Dolph Ziggler says he couldn’t take Sheamus’ bullying last night or tonight so he had to do something.

We look at Neville beating Barrett on Sunday.

Barrett says it’s not fair that he has to fight so soon after beating Truth, but it’s also unfair that Neville has to fight him period.

King of the Ring: Bad News Barrett vs. Neville

Barrett goes after the ribs to start but Neville flips forward and snaps off a headscissors, followed by a kick to the jaw. That’s fine with Barrett as he clotheslines Neville to the floor to take the first real advantage. Barrett puts on something like an abdominal stretch on the mat but Neville fights up with more kicks to the ribs and legs.

A running kick to the side of the head and a German suplex get two on Barrett. Winds of Change gets the same and Wasteland is eventually good for another near fall. The Bull Hammer is countered into a rollup for two and Neville kicks him in the head. Neville has to bail out of the Red Arrow and charges into the Bull Hammer for the pin and the crown at 6:10.

Rating: B-. Eh yeah that’s probably the right move but man alive they could have pulled the trigger on something big here with Neville. At least there’s a story ready for a third match between the two of them, which might work better if they can manage to give then more than six minutes next time.

Barrett crowns himself and promises to rule with an iron Bull Hammer.

Overall Rating: C. Well they made good time. WWE does realize that they have all the time they need on their own network and don’t have to have this wrapped up with seven minutes to go in the hour right? They were flying through this match and the entire tournament when you think about it. It’s like they needed to get this whole thing wrapped up as fast as they could to get to the end result. It wasn’t bad but my goodness, slow down a bit.

Results

Neville b. Sheamus – Red Arrow

Bad News Barrett b. R-Truth – Bull Hammer

Bad News Barrett b. Neville – Bull Hammer

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of 1998 Pay Per View reviews at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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I’ve seen worse.Dean Ambrose
Sheamus

Neville
Luke Harper

R-Truth
Stardust

Dolph Ziggler
Bad News Barrett

Not bad other than basically giving Barrett/Ziggler a bye into the finals.  I’m assuming it winds up with Sheamus vs. Ziggler again because WWE loves their rematches.

King of the Ring 1993
Date: June 13, 1993
Location; Nutter Center, Dayton, Ohio
Attendance: 6,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Bobby Heenan, Randy Savage

Back when I was starting doing reviews, one of the first series I checked out was King of the Ring. Looking back at them, much like most of my original reviews, these things are HORRIBLE so it’s time I do them again and make them a bit more polished. We’ll start back in 1993, with of course the tournament itself and the rematch from Wrestlemania IX with Hulk Hogan defending the World Title against Yokozuna in an actually announced match. Let’s get to it.

The opening video is a rundown of the brackets:

Bret Hart

Razor Ramon

Mr. Perfect

Mr. Hughes

Jim Duggan

Bam Bam Bigelow

Tatanka

Lex Luger

If you can’t figure out the winner from here, you’re not paying close enough attention.

The announcers make a huge deal out of this being the Heartland of America. This was almost the tagline for the show.

All first round matches have fifteen minute time limits.

King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon

Bret had a first round bye and Ramon beat Tito Santana. This is just after Ramon lost to the 1-2-3 Kid so you know what the fans are chanting. JR sounds extra excited tonight. Bret is announced as the #1 seed, which (in theory though never actually stated) means Ramon should be the #8 seed, putting him beneath guys like Mr. Hughes and Jim Duggan. Really? I don’t think a single loss would drop him that far down.

JR mentions that Bret is a two time Tag Team and Intercontinental Champion and would like to make it a triple double. That’s a very rare reference to the other King of the Ring tournaments that took place before the show aired on PPV or any TV whatsoever as far as I know. This is also somewhat connected to the King’s Crown title, held by people such as Jim Duggan and Harley Race. That was introduced when Race won the second King of the Ring tournament in 1986, but the King’s Crown winners had nothing to do with the King of the Ring. Bret is actually the defending King here, having won the last tournament in 1991.

Hart cranks on a headlock to start and they have a bit of miscommunication off an Irish whip but it doesn’t screw up much. They hit the mat with Bret cranking on the arm as you can hear the energy in JR here. He’s snapping off Hart Family facts and the brackets as only Ross can in these situations. Ramon scores with a hard clothesline but Bret goes right back to the arm to keep control. Nice power vs. technical story here so far.

Razor fights up again but gets caught in yet another armbar. Well he’s consistent if nothing else. Bret charges into a boot and gets thrown shoulder first into the post to finally change control. Back in and Razor stomps in the hands and slaps Bret in the back of the head. Fall away slam gets two as the crowd is staying uninterested so far. A powerslam gets two for Razor, which doesn’t make the most sense given that he had Bret in perfect position for a shoulder breaker to stay on the bad arm.

The Canadian avoids some elbows and starts up the Five Moves of Doom but gets sent chest first into the buckle. The Razor’s Edge is countered as Bret kicks off the ropes into a small package for a VERY close two and the fans wake up to boo the referee. Razor loads up a belly to back superplex but Bret turns onto him for the pin to advance.

Rating: B-. This was fine but I would have liked the arm stuff to actually go somewhere. It’s still a good match though as you had Bret working hard out there. However, you can see the major problems with tournament shows: it’s kind of hard to get into the flow of a match when your matches have to be crammed into a pretty short time limit. You also can’t let the guys do everything they need to do in one match because you might need to save stuff for later.

We recap Mr. Hughes and Giant Gonzalez teaming up to take Undertaker’s urn. This would be one of the earlier instances of the 19,284 times this story took place. It did however include a great looking urn shot to Paul Bearer’s head.

King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Mr. Hughes vs. Mr. Perfect

Hughes, a career bodyguard (almost literally. Once he switched to that gimmick, he didn’t change a thing for the rest of his career, which last I heard is still going on in the indies), beat Kamala while Mr. Perfect took three times to beat Doink the Clown. Perfect is in a short lived face run here and takes Hughes down with an armdrag as we can see some empty seats pretty close to the ring. Heenan talks about all the things he did for Perfect to make him great and takes credit for the success he’s had. Ross in that deadpan voice of his: “Wrong.”

The big Hughes takes him down and cranks on the neck before just kicking Perfect in the jaw. Simple yet effective move for a simple yet effective character. Back to the neck crank and we get a quick word from Bret where he says he’d rather face Perfect for the wrestling abilities. It’s very rare that someone actually has a preference for their opponent but it makes sense for Bret. That’s not something you get in today’s wrestling and I’d love to see it more. Hughes crotches himself on the ropes and gets backdropped down, setting up the neck snap. That’s enough for Hughes though as he blasts Perfect with the urn for the DQ.

Rating: D+. Again, there’s only so much you can do when the winner is obvious and your opponent is Mr. Hughes. There’s nothing wrong with him as an enforcer, but did anyone buy him as a potential winner here? The ending makes sense too as you had to keep him strong for Undertaker, but that didn’t do this match any favors. Perfect looked great here though and there was some serious money in a face run with him as the awesome athlete who could wrestle a great match with almost anyone.

Mr. Fuji says Hogan cheated at Wrestlemania by taking advantage of Yokozuna after a twenty minute match. Apparently being an evil Japanese man takes away your ability to tell time. Yokozuna promises BANZAI.

King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Jim Duggan

Duggan beat Papa Shango and Bigelow defeated Typhoon. This is in Duggan’s weird looking singlet phase. They slug it out to start as Heenan calls Duggan’s career with the Atlanta Falcons an amateur run. Bigelow gets knocked to the floor but comes back in to use the power of fat to avoid being slammed. Duggan’s ribs are hurt so we hit the bearhug. That goes nowhere, so Duggan hurts his ribs trying to slam Bigelow and gets caught in a bearhug.

Heenan tries to pepper things up by talking about Duggan being a quitter in Glenn’s Falls, New York but it’s not quite as good as hearing about the Duggan family history of fighting in taped fist matches in WCW. Seriously. The third attempt at a slam works but Duggan misses a charge into the corner, setting up the flying headbutt to give Bigelow the pin.

Rating: D-. This was horrible as Duggan was WAY past his expiration date, but to be fair this was his next to last match in the WWF, save for a one off Superstars squash. Bigelow wasn’t the guy he used to be but he was still good enough as a monster to put people over. Thankfully they kept this short and did what they were supposed to do, even though the match sucked.

The Smoking Gunns and the Steiner Brothers are ready for their eight man tag later. That match is just there to give the fans a breather after the World Title match and there’s nothing wrong with that.

King of the Ring Quarterfinals: Lex Luger vs. Tatanka

Luger beat Bob Backlund and Tatanka beat Giant Gonzalez (by DQ of course) and both guys are undefeated coming in. Luger is forced to put a pad on his forearm with a metal plate inside. Tatanka tries to break up the posing but gets sent over the top like a schmuck. That’s fine with him as he just turns the mirror over and starts chopping. A big chop sends Luger to the floor before hitting every stereotypical face move you can think of. Makes sense for a stereotypical character.

We hit the armbar as JR and Heenan argue over names. JR: “I never figured out why they call you Brain.” Heenan: “Well why do they call you Jim Ross?” Tatanka stays on the arm so Savage puts over the tournament by saying the winner is equal to the WWF Champion. Yeah it’s a stretch, but you have to say things like that to make people think they’re watching something very important. Bigelow pops in to say he wants to face Tantaka.

The hammerlock stays on until Luger uses the free arm for an elbow to the jaw. Luger starts in on the ribs with a backbreaker and some slow motion elbows for two. We hit the chinlock with a knee in Tatanka’s back and Luger brags to Heenan. They trade some rollups for two each with Heenan stopping to look at the crowd time after time. It’s almost like he’s trying to kill the clock. We hit four minutes to go and Tatanka goes on the warpath. Rating

A bunch of chops get two on Luger and a powerslam gets the same. Tatanka hits a top rope chop to the head for the closest near fall yet as the fans wake up a bit. He misses a high cross body though and we’re at two minutes left. Luger hits a powerslam of his own for two but really doesn’t seem interested in picking up the pace. There’s a suplex for a delayed two and Luger is frustrated. Luger backbreakers him for two more and time runs out in an anti-climactic ending.

Rating: D. When Luger isn’t trying, it’s one of the most painful things you can see. Tatanka is a fine midcard gimmick but he went about as far as he could have ever gone. This is how you keep two guys strong though and get the required bye. That’s one thing I’ve never understood though: if you want to save time, why let one match go the time limit? Just do two faster matches with a fluke ending. Doesn’t that balance things out? This would also be Luger’s last major appearance before turning face as the new Mr. USA, so it might be better that he didn’t have a great performance here.

Luger wants five more minutes but uses the distraction to knock Tatanka out with the forearm.

Here are the updated brackets:

Bret Hart

Mr. Perfect

Bam Bam Bigelow

BYE

Okerlund is with Hart and Perfect and of course Gene starts making trouble. He thinks Hart wants to face Perfect because it’s an easier opponent. Perfect owes him one for Summerslam 1991 and it turns into an argument over whose father would win in a match. Stu’s in ring career really isn’t talked about that much due to his success as a trainer so that’s kind of an odd thing to think about.

King of the Ring Semifinals: Mr. Perfect vs. Bret Hart

So this is a pretty well known match. Thirty minute time limit here and Bret has a taped up hand from Razor stomping on the fingers earlier. They go to the ropes to start and you can see fans leaving to get food. You horrible people. An early hiptoss sends Perfect flying and they hit the mat for some counters. Perfect gets back up and rips Bret’s skin off with a chop in the corner.

Bret kicks him away and we hit the mat for a hard headlock from the Hitman. Perfect fights up for a crucifix but gets pulled right back into the headlock. After several moments, Perfect gets to his feet and drives a knee into the ribs to send Bret outside. He’s nice enough to hold the ropes open but kicks Bret as he comes back in. Some hard kicks to the head have Bret in more trouble and Perfect is clearly wrestling as the heel here.

Hart rolls outside and Perfect whips him hard into the barricade, right next to a cooler full of water and Diet Pepsi. Bret might have hurt his knee but you never can tell with him. Back in and a suplex and missile dropkick get two for Perfect and frustration starts to set in. That means bad things for Bret as Perfect gets more aggressive with the chops in the corner. Mr. goes up again but gets superplexed down for a close two as the fans are into this one.

Bret’s knee is ok (to be fair it wasn’t too hurt in the first place and Perfect didn’t follow up on it) and he goes after Perfect’s leg, setting up a figure four in the middle of the ring. A long crawl gets him over to the ropes but Bret takes him back into the middle again and cranks on the knee. Perfect escapes that as well and just throws Bret down by the hair. We hit the sleeper on Bret but again he’s too close to the ropes. Perfect makes sure to hold until four like a villain is supposed to do.

Unlike a villain though, he puts the hold back on, wisely turning Bret away from the ropes. Perfect even throws his own foot on the ropes to channel his inner Flair. Hart gets up and sends Perfect face first into the top turnbuckle before just blasting him with a European uppercut. Now it’s Bret throwing him down by the hair, sending Perfect into the post for that signature bump of his. Russian legsweep gets two for Hart and we hit the Five Moves of Doom.

Perfect smartens up again and grabs the injured hand to block the Sharpshooter with Heenan saying he taught Perfect to do that. Bret blocks a PerfectPlex attempt and suplexes Perfect over the top, sending them into a huge crash on the floor. Both guys get back in but Perfect goldbricks a knee injury and tries a small package, only to have Bret show him how it’s done and reverse into a small package of him own for the pin, despite Perfect’s shoulder clearly being up.

Rating: A. I think I like Bret’s chemistry with Perfect better than his stuff with Shawn. These two just compliment each other so well and their styles mesh, shall I say, perfectly. This is outstanding stuff with Perfect going old school and trying to cheat to win, only to get caught using one of Bret’s tactics and getting pinned as a result. Trading knee injuries here was good stuff and the whole match is just great. Check it out and watch Summerslam 1991 while you’re at it.

Perfect is livid with the referee but shakes Bret’s hand post match.

So it’s Bret vs. Bigelow for the crown.

Hulk Hogan is ready for Yokozuna and cuts the same promo you’ve heard him use for about ten years now. Manager Jimmy Hart doesn’t like Fuji and Yokozuna putting down America though. Hart as Hogan’s manager never fit for me and they never really gave a good explanation for why they were suddenly best friends. Of note here though, a lot of Jimmy’s lines would be in the American Made song that he performed for Hogan in WCW.

WWF World Title: Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna

Hogan is defending in the Wrestlemania IX rematch. Ross, doing his job as a commentator, points out all of the Japanese photographers at ringside for this match. Keep that in mind. Heenan mentions Hogan trimming down, which is code for steroid trial. That’s an understatement too as Hogan is probably 40lbs lighter than usual. Yokozuna stalls a lot as Hogan starts talking about Hogan being a coward as only he can. Hogan shoves him back a foot or two and Yokozuna shoves him into the corner with ease.

Some martial arts chops have Hogan in early trouble as we hear about a methodical pace. I’d rather do that than have Yokozuna blow up three minutes into the match. A whip into the corner sets up Hogan grabbing the foot, as is his custom. Yokozuna misses a charge in the corner and Hogan starts hammering away. Savage says the fans would pop if Hogan slammed him. That’s quite the rare term.

The slam doesn’t work though and Savage is in shock. Instead he tries some All American right hands (trademark Jim Ross) but more slam attempts go just as badly as the first. Even more right hands have Yokozuna staggered but he puts Hogan down with a clothesline. The big fat splash misses though and both guys are in trouble. Hogan gets up and bounces off Yokozuna before we hit the bearhug. After nearly two minutes in the hold, Hogan punches his way to freedom (like an AMERICAN) but he runs into an elbow to the jaw.

A BIG belly to belly suplex gets two (and an even bigger kickout) and it’s Hulk Up time. Several right hands and three big boots finally put Yokozuna down. The legdrop connects and Yokozuna THROWS Hogan off of him, sending the fans from a frenzy to stunned silence faster than anything I’ve ever seen. In an ending that almost made me cry back in the day, a Japanese photographer (rumored to be Harvey Wippleman) gets up on the apron. His camera explodes in Hogan’s face, setting up a shot to the throat and the Hulkbuster legdrop to give Yokozuna the title back, shocking the crowd all over again.

Rating: D. And that’s it for Hulk Hogan in the WWF for nearly nine years. Other than a few house show matches in Europe that were barely ever mentioned, Hogan would be off to retirement for nearly a year until he went over to WCW. This was the first monster to destroy Hulkamania, meaning that whoever beat him would be the next big thing. In theory that should have been Luger (or Crush) but for some reason they didn’t pull the trigger on him at Summerslam like common sense would have said. Pretty big moment here and a big way to crush Hogan before he left the company.

Yokozuna Banzai Drops him post match and fans are stunned. Hogan may have been a relic in 1993, but this is similar to the Streak being broken: you would never believe it happened until you saw it.

Hogan is helped out and the remaining Japanese photographers take a lot of pictures. One more thing: after all the managers Hogan beat up over the years, it’s FUJI that takes him out?

Mr. Perfect promises to prove what perfect is all about in the future. Not exactly.

Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels and brand new (as in like a week ago) bodyguard Diesel (named for the first time here), who helped him win the title back from Marty Jannetty at a house show, say maybe lightning can strike twice, even though Michaels is a far bigger star than Hogan.

Steiner Brothers/Smoking Gunns vs. Money Inc./Headshrinkers

Total cool down match here and no one believes anything else. Money Inc. has the belts at this point. Scott Steiner and DiBiase get things going. How can Rikishi (Fatu here) be in the Hall of Fame but the Steiners aren’t? DiBiase armdrags him down to start but Steiner is fine with going amateur.

A dropkick puts Ted down and a clothesline puts him on the floor. Rick throws him back in and another clothesline sends Ted right back to the floor for a nice spot. He finally stays inside for a tag to Fatu but Bart dropkicks the Samoan down, setting up an armbar. Fatu no sells a faceplant and superkicks Bart right in the face. Heenan has a blast when JR mentions Billy going to college on a rodeo scholarship. You can’t give Heenan prime material like that.

The Headshrinkers double backdrop Bart for two but he gets the same off a sunset flip to IRS. A double clothesline allows for the hot tag to Billy as the crowd really doesn’t care. DiBiase catches Billy with a hot shot though and slaps on the Million Dollar Dream, sending Heenan into a chorus of Happy Trails. Ted lets go of the hold for some reason and gets small packaged out of nowhere for the pin.

Rating: D+. What a random ending with the Steiners not doing anything in the second half of the match. It sounded like they had to run out of there because of time or something and it made for a sudden ending. It could have been a lot worse, but this match was just there to give the fans something to see as they came out of their comas.

Mr. Fuji says America is finished but doesn’t like Okerlund bringing up anything about cameras.

Intercontinental Title: Crush vs. Shawn Michaels

Crush is challenging while on the role of a lifetime, which just kind of ended soon after this with Crush being knocked off TV for several months before returning as a heel. A big shoulder sends Shawn to the floor and we hit the headlock. With wrestling not working, Shawn just punches him in the jaw. Well that’s another way of going about it.

The champ grabs an armbar but misses the superkick and gets dropkicked out to the floor. Back in and Crush throws him around again before gorilla pressing him over his head with more than a few reps. Savage: “HE CAN SLAM YOKOZUNA!” A tilt-a-whirl backbreaker plants Michaels again but Diesel pulls him away from the head vice. Crush shows that all faces have to be stupid (though snappily dressed in orange, yellow and purple) by going after Diesel, allowing Shawn to knee him from the apron.

In a really painful looking spot, Shawn rams him head first into the post five straight times. Back in and Shawn fires off right hands to the head before putting on a front facelock. Crush eventually just throws him off to break the hold with some incredible looking power. Shawn’s top rope ax handle doesn’t work and a backbreaker gets two. A big boot and legdrop (brother) get the same for Crush and he clotheslines Shawn to the floor. Cue the cigar smoking Doinks for a distraction, allowing Shawn to superkick him in the back of the head to retain.

Rating: C. I liked this match more than I should have but I was a Crush fan back in the day. He was similar to Ryback’s push when he got to the top of the company: he was insanely strong, had a good look, and never actually won anything. Allegedly Vince was going back and forth on giving either Crush or Luger the Hogan push and went with Luger, which didn’t go all that well. Crush getting that run would have been very interesting to see, but I’m not sure if it would have worked in the end.

Bigelow says he’ll win.

King of the Ring: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Bret Hart

One hour time limit. Bret has a band hand and is still selling the knee from the Perfect match. JR says they’re out of satellite time in 25 minutes, which would put the show at 2:44 max. Bret tries to speed things up to start but has to counter a gorilla press attempt to put Bigelow on the mat. An armbar doesn’t get Bret anywhere as Bigelow just throws him out to the floor for a big crash.

Back in and Bigelow sends him back first into the buckle. I was expecting the chest bump there. Given that it’s Hart, that’s likely setting up something for later. That’s quickly proven correct as Bigelow goes for the back with some headbutts and forearms. More hard Irish whips have Bret reeling and we hit the bearhug. That goes nowhere so Bigelow just drops him with a belly to back. Bret’s selling is incredible here as he’s making every single move look like a bullet to the back.

They head outside again with Bret sending him into the barricade a few times, only to have Bigelow shrug it off and slam him on the concrete. Cue Bigelow chick Luna Vachon with a chair to Bret’s back, which is too much for Bret to survive. Bigelow throws him back inside for the top rope headbutt (clearly didn’t connect) and……that’s it as another referee comes in to explain the chair shot.

The match continues and you can almost hear Bret kill the referee for making him continue. Heenan is livid but Savage correctly points out that it should have been a DQ so Bigelow should be grateful. Bigelow hammers on the back and puts on a bearhug to keep up the psychology. Bret finally pulls him down into a DDT but Bigelow shrugs it off. A running backsplash misses but he whips Bret hard into the corner and Hart just falls down. There are FAR too many empty seats opposite the camera for the main event.

Bret counters an over the shoulder backbreaker into a sleeper but opts to dropkick him to the floor instead. A plancha sets up a bunch of right hands to the face cause Savage to spell pride p-r-y-d-e. Back in and Bret gets two off a middle rope clothesline and the middle rope elbow gets the same. Bam Bam just kicks off the Sharpshooter and we hit another bearhug, so Bret just bites out of it. Not liking being treated like a bowl of macaroni, Bigelow plants him with a powerslam for two. With frustration setting in, Bigelow puts him on the top rope but gets victory rolled for the pin and the crown.

Rating: B. It’s not a classic but this was a great performance from Hart as he went over forty five minutes tonight and didn’t have a really bad match in the whole bunch. Bigelow was really just a dragon to be slain but he had enough power that it sent Bret into some of his better selling.

The interesting thing here though is how this ending came back later. Think about it: the match is restarted, a guy gets his already weakened back worked on even more but gets caught by a sudden move for the pin. If that doesn’t ring a bell, think back to Wrestlemania XII and the overtime in the Iron Man match. It’s almost the exact same thing but with a victory roll instead of a superkick. Oddly enough, the ending to the regulation of that match is even more move for move to the end of their Survivor Series 1992 match. I wonder if that’s a Bret thing or just a REALLY big coincidence.

Anyway, Bret is rushed over for the coronation but Jerry Lawler shows up, trade some insults, gets annoyed by a Burger King chant and BLASTS him in the back with a scepter (actually injuring Bret’s back) and kicking off a feud that lasted over two years. Of note here: Bret looks really, REALLY stupid with a big golden crown on his head.

Overall Rating: C. This show is more memorable than good, but the question is which part is more memorable. Hogan losing is far more important historically, but Bret winning is the part people remember more than anything else. That being said, the show itself is just ok. Hart vs. Perfect is well worth checking out but the rest of the show is really nothing all that great. Check it out for historical purposes but that’s about it. Other than the classic of course.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book on the History of Saturday Night’s Main Event at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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And check out my Amazon author page with wrestling books for under $4 at:

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