WWF Wrestling Challenge – July 25th, 1993

July 25, 1993

From the Wicomico Youth & Civic Center in Salisbury, MD

Your hosts are Jim Ross and Bobby Heenan

Jerry “The King” Lawler vs. “The Rocket” Owen Hart

Lawler tells Owen he will offer him the chance to leave and save himself from embarrassment by kissing his feet. Owen refuses then slaps Lawler after the bell rings. Owen slaps Lawler again then Lawler retreats to the corner. Lawler bails and hears it from the fans on the outside. Lawler gets up on the apron and finally returns but Owen once again gets the upper hand. Owen fires away then drops Lawler with a dropkick as Lawler crawls over to the referee in the corner. Lawler now reaches into his tights as Ross says he can easily have something concealed but Owen stays in control. Lawler reaches back in then drops Owen with a right hand. The fans boo as Lawler fires away then chokes Owen out on the ropes. Lawler ducks his head for a back drop and gets hit with an uppercut. Owen uses a spinning heel kick and a back drop before a missile dropkick gets a two count. Owen whips Lawler into the corner but misses a charge and rams his shoulder into the post then Lawler uses a piledriver and grabs the tights for the win (6:33) **. After the match, Lawler grabs the mic to say that was easy and hopes Bret & Stu Hart were watching so they all know who is the real king of wrestling. Lawler then cheap shots Owen before celebrating as Ross says Lawler will pay for his actions.

Thoughts: The match was decent enough but the real story is Lawler taking his feud with Bret personal by insulting and embarrassing the Hart family.

Back to the announcers as Ross tells us we will find out about President Jack Tunney’s decision regarding Lex Luger receiving a title shot.

Men on a Mission w/ Oscar vs. Glen Ruth & John Rechner

The future Headbanger Thrasher and future Balls Mahoney are your enhancement talent. Mo hammers away on Ruth as Ross tells us the WrestleMania album will be released on Tuesday. MoM beat on Ruth then do the same to Rechner until they put him away with a clothesline/assisted splash combo (2:10).

Thoughts: Easy win for MoM as they try to establish them as an act. Unfortunately, they get cornier with each appearance. We also had a plug for the WrestleMania album.

WWF Special Report with Lord Alfred Hayes. Same as the update segment on “Superstars” where we hear President Tunney tell Vince that Luger will get a title shot against Yokozuna at SummerSlam provided he wears a protective forearm pad.

Ludvig Borga vs. Jason Headings

Borgan drops Headings after a lifting choke as Heenan tells us that Borga is a mean man with Ross adding Borga has a disdain for American athletes. Borga uses a delayed vertical suplex but covers nonchalantly and Headings kicks out at two. Borga then follows with an elbow drop then tells us “Americans are pigs” before using a flying clothesline for the win (1:58). Ross says we will be hearing a lot more about Borga.

Thoughts: Borga’s character was focused a lot more here than his match on Superstars. With how heavy they pushed him as anti-American its clear they are going to set him up as a future opponent for the newly patriotic Luger.

We get a video package to hype next week’s Ted DiBiase vs. 1-2-3 Kid match.

Papa Shango vs. Chaz Ware

Ware is Chaz Warrington, who was the future Headbanger Mosh. The announcers talk about Luger vs. Yokozuna at SummerSlam with Heenan saying Luger will use his forearm as a weapon and not wear the padding. Ware goes on the attack but is cut off with a clothesline. Shango now gouges Ware’s face before hitting a back suplex then Ross plugs the upcoming shows in these really small towns in the Northeast as Shango uses the reverse shoulderbreaker for the win (2:20).

Thoughts: Just a backdrop for the announcers to discuss Luger/Yokozuna and hype up house shows in towns such as Wildwood, NJ (which, according to thehistoryofwwe.com, featured Tito Santana’s final match with the company) and Wilton, CT (which was a benefit show). And speaking of Shango this was his final TV appearance. He hung around until an overseas tour in October, although did not appear to be in any domestic matches after August 6th. Shango was in the list of names featured in the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter” that were either quitting or getting fired as the company was cutting back to one house show tour per night. In his shoot interview with RF Video, Shango said he left due to barely making any money then later on said he quit after being asked to job to X-Pac at a PPV (SummerSlam? King of the Ring dark match?).

SummerSlam Report airs.

Mr. Perfect vs. Reno Riggins

Riggns takes Perfect down with a hip toss as Perfect looks shocked. Perfect then fights back and chops Riggins the corner. Perfect then uses a neck snap as Ross says Perfect could become the first three-time Intercontinental Champion if he beats Shawn Michaels. Perfect chops Riggins down then uses the Perfect Plex for the win (2:02).

Thoughts: They’re still hyping a yet to be announced title match between Shawn and Perfect, which seems destined for SummerSlam. Guess we will have to wait and see.

The announcers talk about the 1-2-3 Kid vs. Ted DiBiase match for next week with Heenan pretending to talk to Hillary Clinton on the phone and asks if she is including children on her insurance plan so Kid can have coverage after DiBiase destroys him.

Darren Trujillo & Bret Tyler vs. Well Dunn

Well Dunn are Timothy Well (Rex King) & Steven Dunn (Steve Doll), who were teaming as Simply Devine in the USWA and before that known as the Southern Rockers. Dunn starts off by beating down Trujillo. We now hear Kid in an insert as he is honored to face DiBiase and will do his best. Heenan makes fun of Kid as Well Dunn hug each other after using a double-team move. Well Dunn now use a double bulldog as Heenan continues to make fun of the Kid. Tyler tags and dropkicks Dunn but eats boot on a charge in the corner and soon after that we see Well Dunn use a double DDT for the win (3:08).

Thoughts: Well Dunn were solid in the ring but no one in the crowd cared about them and they were treated as afterthoughts on commentary with Heenan spending the whole match ragging on Kid. Clearly, Well Dunn is just added for depth.

Next week in action are The Quebecers, Adam Bomb, Tatanka, and the featured match of 1-2-3 Kid vs. DiBiase plus The Undertaker as guest on the “King’s Court.” We then hear from DiBiase as he laughs about how he will beat Kid next week then Heenan once again makes fun of kid. The show also closes with the Lex Express dates.

Final Thoughts: The featured match was fine but more importantly it added heat to a top program. Other than that it was more hype for the Lex Express plus hype for next week’s DiBiase/Kid match as the road to SummerSlam continues.

Here is my schedule for the next several days:

Thursday: WWF Monday Night RAW 7/26/93

Thursday: Shoot Interview TBD

Friday: WWF Superstars 7/31/93, WWF Wrestling Challenge 8/1/93

Monday: WWF RAW 8/2/93

Tuesday: WWF Superstars 8/7/93, WWF Wrestling Challenge 8/8/93

Wednesday: WWF All-American Wrestling 8/8/93