WWF Mania – January 9th, 1993

January 9, 1993

This is the debut episode of this show.

Todd Pettengill, in his WWF debut, is the host. We see a cartoonish opening montage complete with wacky sound effects as this is an attempt to appeal to kids and come off as family-friendly entertainment. The show is also hosted from inside of a studio.

Pettengill tells us this show will cover everything hot in the world of wrestling every Saturday morning then proceeds to do an impersonation of Reverend Jim Ignatowski from the TV show “Taxi” to show us how lame it is to watch re-runs of Taxi. We then learn that our exclusives this week (he says there are two like its a huge deal, meaning this is going to be a recap show. Remember, the format was not announced prior to debuting) and that is Jim Duggan vs. Repo Man and an interview with Owen Hart hosted by Raymond Rougeau.

We are no shown the clown messing with various stars such as Tatanka, Marty Jannetty, Bob Backlund, and Big Bossman. After that we cut back to the studio with Pettengill giving us more obnoxious comedy at the expense of a staffer.

Crush defeats Dave Sigfritts from the 1/2 edition of “Superstars.”

We then see Crush’s interview with Rougeau at the end of Challenge where he talked about his grandfather working hard to be a clown while this clown at the shows is hurting people and mean to the kids, which pisses him off.

Pettengill then proceeds to do what I believe is a Marv Albert impression to tell us that Gene Okerlund & Bobby Heenan will be hosting “All-American Wrestling” tomorrow live on location in New York.

Repo Man vs. Hacksaw Jim Duggan

This match is from the 1/4 “Wrestling Challenge” tapings in Beaumont, TX. Sean Mooney and Lord Alfred Hayes are your announcers. Duggan leads the crowd into a “USA” chant then has them clapping before finally locking up as the announcers hype up Mania as being an informative show. Duggan hits a few clotheslines then Repo Man bails. Duggan leads the crowd into another “USA” chant then blocks a sunset flip and hits an atomic drop. Repo Man snaps Duggan’s neck off of the top rope to finally take control of the match. Repo Man chokes Duggan out against the ropes but runs into an elbow smash in the corner. Duggan lands mounted punches then hits a slam before using the Three Point Stance for the win (3:49) 1/4*.

Thoughts: A match between two washed up performers. It sucked but at least the crowd got into Duggan. Repo Man was treated like an enhancement talent guy as his run as a midcarder seems over. And he’s in terrible shape to boot.

Pettengill continues his nonsense in the studio as he does some truly wretched bit about Elvis Presley, complete with a terrible impression.

Yokozuna defeats George Anderson from the 1/2 edition of “Superstars.”

Pettengill continues to not make us laugh with a Yokozuna impression then acts serious to say we will learn about the WWF’s “Headlock on Hunger.”

We get an Event Center promo from Paul Bearer & The Undertaker talking about how no one should die from hunger before we go back to Pettengill, acting like he is about to cry, saying he’s been around the WWF superstars for a long time and how they care about this cause, which goes to help the Somalia Relief Fund. The show takes place on January 29th at Madison Square Garden. I will be recapping that show. An address flashes on the screen where you can send a donation. This segues into Pettengill flashing a corny smile before introducing the next match. Nice to

Shawn Michaels defeats Jim Brunzell from the 1/3 edition of “Wrestling Challenge.”

Raymond Rougeau has Owen Hart for a sit down interview in the locker room. He asks Owen about things going his way as Owen says 1993 will be even better for High Energy. Raymond then asks Owen about being Bret’s brother and how Bret is on pace to burn himself out as Owen does worry. Owen is then asked about his parents basement, called “The Dungeon,” where his father taught them all to wrestle but Razor Ramon runs in and clotheslines Owen off of the chair then chokes him out to asks if his daddy taught him that before telling Owen to send his brother a warning. Razor then throws his toothpick at Owen’s face before leaving. The interview itself was a boring setup for the attack, which they telegraphed poorly by drawing the shot back. This was a really poorly produced segment. I don’t know how much heat this added to Bret vs. Razor but it felt like a letdown after the hype it got on the syndicated shows.

We then hear from both Razor and Bret to hype up their match at the Royal Rumble.

Royal Rumble Report is shown.

An ad for Monday Night RAW. We are told that its live as well as “uncut, uncensored, and uncooked.” Also, the beginning of the ad said how it will not be seen on TBS, just the USA Network. shots fired I guess.

Mr. Perfect defeats The Berzerker from the 1/2 edition of “Superstars.”

Next week on Mania we will see The Clown and Kamala.

Heenan talks about revealing The Narcissus at the Royal Rumble.

Final Thoughts: We now know that this will primarily be a recap show. The exclusive stuff sucked and Pettengill was the most grating WWF personality I’ve ever seen during this timeline. The story was that Vince hired him after listening to Pettengill on a radio show so Vince probably wanted that shtick for this as well as having Pettengill try to shill shows and merchandise so Pettengill was likely just doing what Vince wanted and Vince is not known for loving subtle humor. Pettengill also admitted he was never a wrestling fan prior to getting hired. Anyway, this did not seem like a show I would want to watch again.

Here is my schedule for the rest of the week:

Wednesday: WWF Boston Garden 1/9/93

Thursday: WWF Superstars 1/9/93, WWF Wrestling Challenge 1/10/93

Friday: WWF Monday Night RAW 1/11/93