WWF All-American Wrestling – December 19th, 1993

December 19, 1993

Vince McMahon is your host. Since Heenan is gone, Vince is now the solo host and they have a new set complete with a video screen.

This week’s featured match is the Smoking Gunns & 1-2-3 Kid vs. The Headshrinkers & Bam Bam Bigelow

Vince talks about the Bret & Owen Hart feud and how we will get the answer as to whether or not Savage was reinstated as co-host of “Mania” after his match against Fatu.

Randy Savage defeats Fatu from the 12/13 edition of “Monday Night RAW.”

We then see that Savage returned as co-host of Mania, winning 91% of the vote.

Vince is now speaking with WWF President Jack Tunney over the video screen. Tunney said he met with Jim Cornette, Mr. Fuji, and Yokozuna this past Tuesday and that “anything can happen” regarding whether or not Lex Luger can enter the Royal Rumble. Tunney said he is not bothered by making the popular decision and tries to decide what is right but that there is a legal issue involved due to the clause in Luger’s SummerSlam contract. Tunney said he is not ready to make a decision then wishes the fans a happy holidays. The story here is that Tunney is conflicted about whether or not to allow Luger into the Rumble match but will do what is correct and not here for a popularity contest. I thought it was a nice segment for the story as we actually got to see Tunney’s point of view before his decision is made.

An ad hyping Tatanka vs. Borga for RAW airs.

Another clip of RAW, this time where we saw Razor Ramon’s gold chain inside of IRS’s briefcase.

Razor Ramon defeats Ralph Mosca from the 12/19 edition of “Wrestling Challenge.”

The Quebecers defeat Virgil & Mark Thomas from the 12/19 edition of “Wrestling Challenge.”

Undertaker’s Workshop segment airs.

Jeff Jarrett defeats Chris Duffy from the 12/18 edition of “Superstars.”

Vince now runs down those names announced for the Royal Rumble then segues into the comments made by Owen and Bret where Owen issued a challenge but Bret refused to wrestle his brother.

Smoking Gunns & 1-2-3 Kid vs. Headshrinkers w/ Afa & Bam Bam Bigelow

This is from the 12/1 “Superstars” tapings in Utica, NY. Jim Ross & Gorilla Monsoon are your announcers. Gorilla actually says the crowd is “jam-packed to the rafters and standing room only” as we see empty seats everywhere with fans walking to the concession stands. He’s just completely phoning it in now. Bigelow tosses Kid across the ring then beats him down. Kid manages a dropkick then sends Bigelow through the ropes with a spin kick. The Headshrinkers run in but Kid ducks a double clothesline then flies out onto Bigelow with a somersault plancha as the Gunns clear the Headshrinkers from the ring. Kid now kicks Bigelow in the corner but ends up getting caught in a press slam. The Headshrinkers now beat on Kid then we go to commercial. The action returns with Bart now the one in trouble. Bart manages to catch Bigelow with a DDT then manages to avoid Bigelow and tag out. Kid hits a missile dropkick for two as the Headshrinkers make the save. The match breaks down with Kid and Bigelow left in the ring. Kid takes Bigelow down with something I have no idea how to describe as it was botched but comes off the top and powerslammed as Bigelow gets the win (8:24) **1/2.

Thoughts: Good action here although the commercial break took out a chunk of the match. The comments about the arena being full were embarrassing.

We see the clip of Borga beating Tatanka six weeks ago then Vince is in the studio hyping up their match on RAW.

Next week on the show are The Steiner Brothers, Doink the Clown, and highlights of Tatanka vs. Ludvig Borga.

Final Thoughts: I liked the featured match and the Tuneny interview was a nice touch to the Luger storyline as this was a solid edition of All-American. Vince alone as a host was fine and I felt not having constant banter with a co-host helped move the show along even if the studio stuff does come off as passe.