WWF Wrestling Challenge – July 18th, 1993

July 18, 1993

From the Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, OH

Your hosts are Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan

We are shown the rest of the Bam Bam Bigelow & The Headshrinkers vs. Tatanka & Smoking Gunns six-man tag match from last week. Billy tags and runs wild but gets distracted a Fatu puts him away with a thrust kick. The match ended a little over a minute after the show went off the air.

This week, we have Marty Jannetty vs. Mr .Hughes and Owen Hart as guest on the “King’s Court.”

WWF Special Report with Lord Alfred Hayes. Same as we saw from “Superstars” telling us about the Lex Express.

Doink the Clown vs. Ken Hamilton

We get some double vision camera work to make it seem like there are two Doinks in the ring. Doink hits a suplex before grounding Hamilton on the mat. Heenan thinks he has an idea of Doink’s identity then Doink uses a flying sit-down splash for the win (2:41). We then see some mime work from Doink with the other Doink on the video wall.

Thoughts: They kept putting over that there are at least two Doinks and possibly more as Doink’s feud with Crush is now over since Crush is at home injured due to Yokozuna.

An ad for SummerSlam airs.

Mr. Hughes w/ Harvey Whippleman vs. Marty Jannetty

Hughes challenges Undertaker to come get his urn. Marty tries to elude Hughes but ends up bouncing off of him. Marty hits a dropkick then uses a pair of arm drags as Hughes bails to regroup with Whippleman. Hughes returns and tries to bait Marty into a test of strength but Marty ducks under and works the arm. Hughes slams Marty but misses an elbow drop then grabs Marty by the hair and knees him in the back as we go to break. We return with the action outside of the ring then Hughes drops Marty on top of the guardrail after the latter attempted a flying headscissors. Hughes rolls Marty back inside and hits a vertical suplex. Hughes hammers away as Marty tries to fight back. Hughes then eats boot on a charge and after that Marty uses a flying bulldog. Marty lands on his feet after a back drop and connects with a super kick. Marty then hits a pair of missile dropkicks for a nearfall then he sends Hughes through the ropes with a shoulder tackle. Marty flies out with a fist drop then slams Hughes’s head off of the apron. Marty is back up top and tries a crossbody but Hughes turns that into a powerslam and the win (11:28) **1/2.

Thoughts: Decent match here and its all thanks to Marty, who was just on a roll at this point. Hughes look was awesome and he occasionally looked impressive in squash match wins but he had some very bad matches with really good opponents and a general disappointment in his brief run. Its also fair to say this loss does not give Marty much momentum heading into his title match.

SummerSlam report.

We see what happened to Crush at RAW with Yokozuna hitting him with four Bonzai Drops. Crush was taken out on a stretcher and now home recuperating in Hawaii.

King’s Court with guest Owen Hart. Lawler shits on Owen before bringing him out. Owen says he promised Bret, his parents, and even himself that he would not rip Lawler apart in order to save him for Bret. Owen says he is a man of his word as Lawler laughs then asks Owen what he thought of Bret at King of the Ring. Owen says Bret is the real king and once again wants to rip Lawler’s head off but Lawler laughs about him promising “mommy and daddy” then crack jokes about his family. Owen then says if Lawler has guts he will face him in the ring next week after a fiery promo but Lawler says the Hart family is stupid to want to face him after what he did to Bret and will prove that he is the king of wrestling. Owen says Lawler is the “Burger King” of wrestling. Strong segment to amp up the Bret/Lawler feud with Lawler now going after the Hart family. It also sets up a featured match for next week.

Shawn Michaels w/ Diesel vs. Chris Hahn

Shawn beats on Hahn then scoops him up with a slam. Heenan scoffs at Ross’s mentions of the Lex Express as Shawn avoids a dropkick then has Diesel look at Hahn, who is hanging over the middle rope. Shawn hits a flying clothesline as the announcers talk about his match against Marty on RAW this coming Monday then Shawn hits a superplex and follows with a piledriver for the win (3:08).

Thoughts: Good showcase for Shawn heading into his Intercontinental Title defense the following night against former partner Marty Jannetty.

Next week in action are Men on a Mission, Mr. Perfect, the debuting Ludvig Borga, and featured match of Jerry Lawler vs. Owen Hart.

Final Thoughts: Much better than your typical episode of Challenge with a solid featured match and a good angle involving Lawler and Owen. And next week Owen vs. Lawler will take place.