WWF Stars & Stripes Challenge

July 4, 1993

From the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York. Now, this was never broadcast on TV but rather shown on raw camera footage on the WWE Network under the Hidden Gems section. It runs for just over 50 minutes.

Your hosts are Todd Pettengill and “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

We hear from fans. One guy wants Yokozuna to get slammed by anyone who is an American. Well dipshit, they are all Americans in this contest.

It was an extremely hot day here too and in his podcast, Bruce Prichard said that Yokozuna kept dancing around because his feet were burning on the mat and how Fuji kicked Yokozuna’s sandals out of the ring as a rib.

First contestant is New York Giants running back Lee Rouson as he fails. Savage’s pal and also running back for the New York Giants, Joe Morris, is up next. He’s dressed like my dad on vacation and gives a truly pathetic effort. Way to show up, Joe. I going to assume ungodly hangover for him and it was funny because he got just about the most promo time of all the athletes on TV.

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Shawn Cronin is next as Pettengill lets us know that Yokozuna has bulked up to 568 lbs. Cronin also fails.

Bob Backlund is the first WWF superstar to come out and says he is proud to represent the USA and even the NCAA. He gives a good effort but is unable to get Yokozuna off of his feet.

Next, 5’2 and 110lbs jockey Julio Pezua is out next, whose strategy is to try his best. Savage jokes that Pezua is the “dark horse” of the contest. He at least gave a better effort than Joe Morris. Pezua even smacks Yokozuna with his crop before leaving. After that is guard Keith Sims from the Miami Dolphins. He is a huge dude. He also fails but gives a good effort.

Bobby Heenan comes out to say his prediction about no one being able to slam Yokozuna is correct but Pettengill says its not over yet.

Peter Taglianetti from the Pittsburgh Penguins is out next. Pettengill makes some lame hockey references then Taglianetti gives a good effort but fails.

Scott Steiner is out next and he even gets his theme music. And the best reaction of the day up until this point. Steiner tries and drives Yokozuna back a lot but unable to get him up.

Charlotte Hornets 1st round pick Scott Burrell comes out. He gets into the ring and says he is going to try then backs off and leaves. After that Miami Dolphins running back Mark Higgs is out next and falls down during his attempt.

Fuji then stops the competition to request a rice break. I guess we need some stereotypes to build up the evil foreigner on America’s birthday. Yokozuna is then given a giant bowl of rice and chopsticks and eats for a minute. Pettengill then talks about how he still feels someone will be able to slam Yokozuna today then starts up a USA chant.

Up next is Buffalo Bills defensive lineman Gary Baldinger. He says something about giving effort then awkwardly attempts a slam that looks goofy.

Tatanka comes out next. He is happy to celebrate one of the greatest days in American history and is here to slam Yokozuna through the deck of the Intrepid. Tatanka runs around and hits a few chops but still unable to slam Yokozuna. Tatanka attacks Yokozuna again but runs into a thrust kick then Yokozuna hits him with a leg drop. Pettengill reminds the competitors that its a slam competition. The crowd then cuts to the crowd with some guy in a what appears to be a homemade Bret Hart jacket that’s on the verge of passing out from heat stroke.

Heenan once again talks about no one being able to slam Yokozuna then mocks Tatanka.

Next competitor is George Martin from the New York Giants. He jokingly refers to Yokozuna as “Yoko Ono” then pulls out $5 for some sort of half-assed bribe attempt then fails to slam. Another former Giant and current radio host, Billy Taylor, comes out and decides he does not even want to attempt this because Yokozuna looks too mean.

Detroit Lion and WrestleMania 2 battle royal participant Bill Fralic is next. Fralic gets one leg up as that pops the crowd but still not enough to get the job done. Eagles receiver Joey Smith is next and also fails.

Rick Steiner is out now minus his trademark headgear. Rick lands a few clotheslines before proceeding to attempt an overhead suplex but that predictably fails.

Jim Kampmann (sp?) of the Buffalo Bills and Jim Jensen of the Miami Dolphins also fail.

We get some chants for Crush then we hear his music. Crush comes out looking confident then stares down Yokozuna. He actually has Yokozuna up but is unable to slam him as Yokozuna lands on his feet. Crush wants another chance and the crowd chants “one more time” but he is done.

Savage is up now as the last participant but before he takes his turn, Heenan comes out to say how he was right all along. Pettengill wears Savage’s sunglasses and starts up another USA chant as Heenan comes back. Pettengill says Heenan is un-American for saying Yokozuna will not be slammed. Pettengill then tries to pump up Savage with Heenan’s remarks but it fails.

Pettengill now thanks all of the Americans that came out today to attempt and slam Yokozuna as the ref backs off Savage. However, we see a helicopter touch down as the fans cheer. The fans chant for Hulk Hogan as everyone is in anticipation as to who is going to step out. Pettengill then announces that it’s Lex Luger, which at first gets boos. We then hear some chants for Luger and now see Luger, wearing jeans and an American flag shirt head down to the ring. Heenan comes over to him but Luger shoves him away then a “Lex” chant breaks out. According to Luger in his 1993 WWE Timeline with Kayfabe Commentaries, he was scared on the helicopter because the pilot was doing all sorts of stunts.

Luger poses on the apron then tells Pettengill he is here due to the fact he takes pride in his country then pumps up the fans before vowing to slam Yokozuna. Fuji says the contest is over and he arrived too late but Luger calls Fuji a “cancer” to the WWF and that nothing is wrong with America except for blood-sucking leaches like him. Luger then tosses Fuji through the ropes and rips off his shirt and flexes. Both men square off now with Yokozuna charging but getting sent into the corner. Luger then hits Yokozuna with a forearm smash before slamming him down. The other competitors join Luger in the ring and celebrate with the Steiners lifting him on their shoulders.

Savage congratulates Luger then asks him how it feels to slam Yokozuna. Luger says it feels great then waves the American flag as the crowd chants USA. Luger now holds up two flags as the Steiners lift him up on their shoulders while the Star Spangled Banner plays.

Final Thoughts: Well, seeing how he was shown on “Superstars” the day prior still using the Narcissist gimmick it was quite a shock that Lex Luger was the one who came out of the helicopter. And despite you thinking this would lead to Hulk Hogan returning it was not the case even though the fans were chanting for Hogan, thinking he was on the helicopter. And on TV they were never questioning whether or not Hulkamania was in fact dead and a week or so later is when Hogan officially gave notice to the WWF so they must have known Hogan was not sticking around long or as Prichard claims it was always the idea for Hogan to come back and leave in the Summer.

Luger himself said he was shocked they switched him from the Narcissist gimmick thinking that it was going well. And now going forward we will see the fallout and with Luger as a patriotic babyface here expect him to get a title shot against Yokozuna, likely at SummerSlam as we were told by Ross this coming week is when we would find out about the main event.