WWF Superstars – June 5th, 1993

June 5, 1993

From the Worcester Memorial Auditorium in Worcester, MA

Your hosts are Vince McMahon, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, and Jerry “The King” Lawler

The show starts off with Papa Shango on the video wall talking about no one leaving his dark circle to plug his match against Bret Hart.

Papa Shango vs. Bret “The Hitman” Hart

Savage puts Bret over for giving his sunglasses to kids. Shango hammers away but misses a charge in the corner then Bret takes control. Shango catches Bret with a side slam then knocks him back down with a headbutt. Shango now chokes Bret out in the corner but Bret comes back with a sunset flip for two then we go to break. We return as Shango works a chinlock. Shango then hits a backbreaker and takes his stick but is stopped from using it as a weapon by the referee. Shango picks up Bret for a lifting choke as Vince puts over Bret’s resilience ever since joining the WWF. Bret comes back with a dropkick as both men are down. Bret then hits an inverted atomic drop and runs wild until he is caught with a shoulderbreaker. Shango then misses a leg drop and after that Bret locks on the Sharpshooter for the win (6:43) *1/2.

Thoughts: Not much of a match as Shango’s offense sucked but it was designed to give Bret a win over a name opponent heading into the King of the Ring. With two losses on TV in the past few weeks its clear that Shango’s days are numbered.

We now see The Steiner Brothers playing the “WWF Royal Rumble” game for Super Nintendo.

The Headshrinkers w/ Afa vs. Tim McNeany & Scott Taylor

Afa is carrying a pineapple to the ring. Samu beats on Taylor to start as the announcers talk about the King of the Ring PPV. Samu spikes Taylor’s face off of the mat then tags out as Fatu beats down McNeany. The Headshrinkers then uses a double facebuster before Fatu hits a top rope splash for the win (1:59). After the match, Samu smashes the pineapple off of Taylor’s head then the Headshrinkers use to beat on McNeany before they eat the pineapple.

Thoughts: Headshrinkers look good as once again we see Taylor shine as an enhancement talent.

Kamala vs. Phil Apollo

Vince tells us that Slick has left, saying he has done everything he can for Kamala, and is now back as pastor of the Mt. Ephraim Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX. Probably the best way to end this dud of a pairing. Kamala knocks down Apollo as Vince believes that Slick and the fans have shown Kamala the way. Lawler says that Kamala ate slick as Savage messes up by saying that is a rumor you cannot “deny” when he meant to said it was false. Kamala drops Apollo with a thrust kick then works the arm as the announcers plug the King of the Ring Hotline hosted by Jim Ross then Kamala finally puts Apollo away with a splash when he finally rolled him over on his back (2:43).

Thoughts: Without Slick around it really appears Kamala’s days are numbered. And speaking of that gimmick since they did not make any changes to Kamala after he turned and Kamala remains a dummy unable to properly turn over someone for a pin the whole thing fell flat.

The Kid segment from RAW is shown where he declines the $5,000 offer from Razor Ramon for a rematch. And the reason for Kid’s stuff all being pretaped since his win over Razor was that he was over in Japan as part of the NJPW Top of the Super Juniors Tournament.

“The Narcissist” Lex Luger vs. Jason Knight

Knight is all oiled up here. And for those unaware this is the future Jason, Sexiest Man Alive from ECW. Lawler guarantees that Luger will defeat Tatanka in the 1st round of the King of the Ring Tournament. Luger beats on Knight to start. Knight tries to fight back but whiffs on a dropkick as Vince talks about the metal plate in Luger’s forearm then Luger hits the running forearm smash for the win as he covered with one foot (2:32).

Thoughts: They focused on Luger’s tournament match against Tatanka and the steel plate in his forearm.

The clip of Randy Savage speaking at the school is shown again.

Mr. Hughes w/ Harvey Whippleman vs. Ross Greenberg

Hughes drops Greenberg with a right hand then continues to punch away. Hughes then hits a powerbomb and pulls Greenberg up after a one count. Whippleman is shown in an insert promo saying he is glad to have Hughes in his army. Hughes continues to beat on Greenberg then puts him away with a sidewalk slam (2:19). After the match, Hughes tosses Greenberg outside.

Thoughts: Same as any other Hughes squash match as it looks like he will get more to do with Whippleman as his manager.

King of the Ring Report with Gene Okerlund. We get another Hogan promo in which he refers to Yokozuna as “555 lbs of sushi.” Christ his promos to build this match have been shit.

Dale Wolfe & Gus Kantarakis vs. Smoking Gunns

The Gunns work over Kantarakis as Lawler makes rodeo jokes. Wolfe tags in and the Gunns remain in control until using the backdrop into the piledriver for the win (2:15).

Thoughts: The Gunns gimmick is so corny that you’d think it was designed as fodder for heel commentators.

Next week in action are Money Inc., The Undertaker, Steiner Brothers, and Razor Ramon. Plus, an interview with Yokozuna.

The show closes with a replay of Bret defeating Papa Shango with the Sharpshooter.

Final Thoughts: Besides a longer than usual featured match there was not much else of note to speak of here. And with the PPV just one week away the show was hyperfocused on getting it over as much as possible.