SummerSlam 1993 is over, and this is the first Monday Night Raw broadcast in a month. SummerSlam PPV was largely unremarkable, with no championships changing hands. We have a really active month of Raw to make up for it.
Venue – Manhattan Center (Manhattan, NY)
For the first time since July, Raw returns to the Manhattan Center. This episode had a particularly raucous and enthusiastic audience.
The Steiner Brothers are defeated by Quebecers (Tag Team Title Match)
The Quebecers shocked the Steiner Brothers to capture the Tag Team Titles, making for an explosive opening to Raw. You might be wondering who the Quebecers are. Because this was their first appearance on Monday Night Raw, it’s a legitimate question.
Jacques and Pierre, two Canadians, were the Quebecers. Jacques was most recently known as the Mountie, for whom he held the Intercontinental Championship for a brief while in early 1992. He and Pierre are dressed similarly to how he was when he did the schtick. Fans would likely remember him from his time as a member of the Fabulous Rougeau Brothers tag team in the late 1980s. Most spectators were undoubtedly perplexed by this encounter because the Quebecers had only been together for a few months at this time.
At SummerSlam, the Steiner Brothers defended their belts against the Heavenly Bodies, and they’ve opted to face them in a “Province of Quebec Rules” battle. Piledrivers, maneuvers from the top rope, and throwing somebody over the top rope will all result in disqualification. A title change will also occur if a player is counted out or disqualified.
The match itself is a clumsy mess. It largely focuses on the Steiners almost disqualifying themselves by ignoring these strange rules. The most significant development is that Johnny Polo comes down to the ring to assist the Quebecers throughout this bout.
Polo tosses a hockey stick into the ring, which Jacques tries to use behind the ref’s back on Scott Steiner. Scott is able to steal the stick from Jacques and use it to whack him many times. Unfortunately, the referee turns around just in time to see him defeating Jacques and signals the end of the match. The Tag Team Titles are awarded to the Quebecers based on these unusual regulations.
MUST-READ: How To Become An MMA Fighter? Read To Know!
Mr. Perfect def. Tony DeVito
Mr. Perfect failed in his effort to dethrone Shawn Michaels as Intercontinental Champion at SummerSlam. Because the announcers constantly mention that he has a score to settle with Diesel, that match was most certainly tainted by outside meddling.
Many people are glued to their seats tonight, as is typical of the Manhattan Center. People in the front two seats are chanting “Perfect stinks” and “We want Shawn.” Perfect is unusually aggressive and upset in this bout, and I’m not sure if it’s because of the crowd or because of his SummerSlam defeat. He dispatches this scumbag in a flash.
Ludvig Borga Confronts Lex Luger
Lex Luger’s victory at SummerSlam was bittersweet, according to Vince McMahon. He defeated Yokozuna via count-out, winning the bout but not the WWF Championship.
Luger was hanging out with other face wrestlers after the match when Ludvig Borga stepped in. The unique backstage footage, where Borga largely makes fun of Luger and America, is available exclusively on Raw. It’s a good promo by Borga, and it sets up a fascinating new conflict.
Vince McMahon Interviews the Quebecers and Johnny Polo
In the ring, Vince McMahon interviews the newly crowned Tag Team Champions. The major goal of the interview is for Vince to question them about a rematch with the Steiner Brothers. After a few huddles, Johnny Polo believes the Steiners might be able to obtain a rematch if one of them can beat one of the Quebecers. The Steiner Brothers make their way down to the ring, but the referees manage to keep them at bay.
NEXT-READ: Are F1 Drivers Athletes? Know The Answer Here!
Doink def. Rich Myers
Rich Myers’ match does not go as planned, but a significant development occurs thereafter. Doink fetches a pail of water and teases the audience by tossing it at them. Bobby Heenan approaches him before he tosses it, telling him to splash Vince McMahon and Randy Savage instead. Doink appears to be preparing to squirt them with water until he turns around and drenches Bobby Heenan instead.
Doink’s visage will soon change from terrifying wicked clown to silly fun-loving clown, and this would be the start of his transformation. He was already well-liked by most fans before turning face, much like Razor Ramon. Nonetheless, I believe that the majority of his supporters cheered him on due to the wicked clown shtick.
Doink reappears and teases tossing another bucket of water on Vince McMahon and Randy Savage in one of the oddest moments of the show. Instead, he throws it at the audience, but it turns out to be confetti. As a result, he departs and nothing further occurs. It’s so haphazard.
Crush calls in to offer an update on his condition, which is a fascinating tidbit from this match. For those who don’t recall, he’s been out since Yokozuna demolished him in July. Randy Savage gives Crush some words of encouragement before the phone conversation hangs up. Technical issues, according to Vince McMahon.
Kayfabe was accidentally broken by the Steiner Brothers’ sister.
SummerSlam 1993 was held in The Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan, the home state of World Tag Team Champions Rick and Scott Steiner at the time. Their bout against Jim Cornette’s Heavenly Bodies was a fast-paced sequence of spectacular moves, with the Steiners emerging victorious (long before someone in WWE decided that every wrestler should lose in their hometown or state).
Todd Pettengill interviewed the Steiners’ mother and sister at ringside prior to the bout, and what an interview that was. The true comedy came from Mama Steiner behaving as if she didn’t want anything to do with Pettengill (“Yes, whatever you say.”), but their sister Crystal made a cute little gaffe of her own, incorrectly calling to brother Rick “Rob.”
She wasn’t entirely wrong: his true name is Robert Rechsteiner, after all. Can you really blame a lady for addressing her brother by the genuine name she’s known her entire life?
Bret Hart Was Supposed To Wrestle Hulk Hogan
According to Bret Hart, when Hulk Hogan won the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 9, the Hulkster informed the previously-deposed champion that he would gladly repay the favor. Hart and Hogan reportedly took part in a picture session at the May 24 Superstars tapings in Halifax, when the two babyfaces participated in a tug-of-war with the Heavyweight championship. Days later, Hart alleges McMahon informed him that he would get the belt back.
When Hogan apparently refused to put Hart over at SummerSlam, McMahon opted to have Hogan drop the belt to Yokozuna instead at King of the Ring. Hogan later allegedly told Hart that Vince attempted to modify the match to a non-title affair. When questioned by the two, Vince is claimed to have told Hart, “I never, ever stated it would be a title fight.”
Hart blamed the whole thing on a bizarre battle of wills between Hogan and McMahon, and reluctantly accepted that he would be working with Jerry Lawler instead.
MUST-READ: Is UFC Wrestling? The Answer Is Here!
Hart Tried To Legitimately Hurt Lawler
Lawler abandoned the injury fake by sneaking into the ring and walloping Bret with one of his crutches. Hart had already been hurt by Lawler in the show-ending attack at the 1993 King of the Ring, and he was still in agony as a result of The King’s seeming carelessness. Hart chose to repay Lawler as he was left seeing stars from the stiff crutch to the head.
According to the angle, Lawler was ordered into the bout with Bret, and “The Hitman” would win with the Sharpshooter at first. He would then refuse to release the hold until an army of authorities pulled him off, wasting critical minutes. The decision would then be overturned, giving Lawler the victory by DQ.
When Hart performed the hold, he tightened up hard, leaving Lawler in excruciating pain and yanking at his own hair in anguish. Hart had the hold on Lawler for more than three minutes, allowing him plenty of time to hyperextend his legs and fold his lumbar area with a sharp crease. Hart recalls Lawler being unable to walk when he returned to the dressing room.
It Was The First SummerSlam Where No Titles Changed Hands
WrestleMania and SummerSlam were the only pay-per-views that saw titles changing hands prior to 1991. The majority of champions competed in the Royal Rumble, whilst Survivor Series was just for tag team elimination warfare. It’s one of the reasons why the Intercontinental championship changed hands at the first five SummerSlam, while the Tag Team straps were traded at two of them: a significant title transfer would be witnessed by the largest potential audience.
When Luger’s shoo-in championship win at SummerSlam 1993 turned out to be everything, it closed off a fairly lackluster evening in which very little precedent was created. Both singles championship battles were counted out, but the Steiners retained their Tag Team titles with a victory against a newcomer team to the WWE fold.
Although the fight between Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler was supposed to define the actual “King” of WWE, SummerSlam 1993 produced a type of unimpressive history in terms of the regularly-defended championship.
