Steve-a-mania Reviews: King of the Ring 1993

King of the Ring 1993 took place in Dayton, Ohio and main attractions are the tournament itself as well as Hulk Hogan defending the WWF title against Yokozuna. Although not officially the first King of the Ring, it is the first PPV named as such.

Venue: Nutter Center

Attendance: 6, 500

Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon- King of the Ring Quarter-Finals

-Razor and Bret grapple up, Razor shoves Bret off. Off the ropes Bret dodges a clothesline and a reverse elbow, he attempts a hip toss but its blocked. Razor hit’s a clothesline on Bret. Bret begins working on the arm, locking in the arm bar. Razor does his best to power off Bret from the arm but Bret finds a way to get back to it. Bret runs at Razor in the corner, he throws an elbow up sending him groggy. Razor throws Bret into the ring post and stomps angrily at him. A chant of 1-2-3 echoes throughout the arena (Razor Ramon had recently lost on Raw to the 1-2-3 Kid). Razor hits a fall away slam which is followed up by a power slam for a near fall. Razor is able to maintain control with stomps and various power moves. Razor attempts 3 elbow drops on Bret, but he manages to roll away from danger each time. Bret hits Razor with some right hands along with a Russian Leg sweep and back breaker in quick succession. Razor shifts the momentum and looks to end it when he picks Bret up for the Razor’s Edge. Bret tries to reverse out of it, close to the turnbuckle he kicks off landing on his feet, Inside cradle from Bret but only 2. Razor has Bret on the top turnbuckle, Bret moves his body mid air to land on Razor for the cover 1…2…3! 10:25 Good opener. I liked how Bret Hart was prevented the style he wanted to wrestle with Razor having so much of a size advantage. The finish was great to make them both look good, with Razor off the back of a loss to 1-2-3 Kid.

Winner: Bret Hart
Rating: **¾

– We get a video recap of Giant Gonzalez and Mr. Hughes attacking The Undertaker and Paul Bearer from Superstars. Mr. Hughes putting the final touches on it by hitting Undertaker with the urn and taking it.

Mr. Perfect vs. Mr. Hughes- King of the Ring Quarter-Finals

They grapple up, Mr. Hughes shoves Perfect off. Perfect bounces off the ropes and leap frogs over Mr. Hughes, bouncing to the ropes again hits a drop kick and knocks him out of the ring. Back in the ring, Mr. Hughes hits Perfect with a big boot and takes control of the match. Mr. Hughes Irish Whips Perfect and hits a clothesline, then locks in the cravat hold. Mr. Hughes has Perfect in the second rope, he bounces off and jumps in but Perfect moves and Hughes gets hung up. Perfect hits Mr. Hughes with some rights in the corner, as an act of desperation Mr. Hughes grabs the urn and nails Perfect with it for a disqualification. 6:02 Mr. Perfect’s selling and bumping was great. He gave the match short spurts of energy that Mr. Hughes drained from it.

Winner: Mr. Perfect
Rating: *

“Hacksaw” Jim Duggan vs. Bam Bam Bigelow- King of the Ring Quarter-Finals

-In the early going it’s a test of power as they take turns trying to knock the other guy down. Duggan passes the test with after 3 clotheslines. Bigelow is in the corner, Duggan charges in but Bigelow moves out of the way sending Duggan into the turnbuckle causing some damage to his ribs. Bigelow works on the ribs locking in the bear hug and laying some rights to the ribs. Bigelow goes back to the bear hug, out of desperation Duggan bites him. Duggan charges at Bigelow in the corner, he moves and goes head first in the turnbuckle. Bigelow follows up with a head butt and covers for 3. 4:59 Decent match for what it was. Bigelow working on the ribs was a nice touch.

Winner: Bam Bam Bigelow
Winner: *½

-Terry Taylor interviews the Smoking Gunns and The Steiner Brothers ahead of the 8 man Tag Team match tonight. Scott Steiner hadn’t yet become hilarious with his promos.

Lex Luger vs. Tatanka- King of the Ring Quarter-Finals

-Lex Luger is posing in front of the huge mirror he has in the middle of the ring, he is the narcissist after all. Tatanka pushes/slides it, but then another try and it goes over onto Luger. Tatanka starts throwing chops and knock downs to Luger and then focuses his attention on the arm, locking in the arm bar. Tatanka prevents any attempt of escape out of it from Luger, but he does eventually find a way and takes control with kicks and elbow drops. Luger puts in the reverse chin lock, Tatanka fights his way up and out of the hold but is caught with a clothesline. Tatanka looking for a quick win rolls up Luger but he kicks out, to their feet he gets the inside cradle but another kick out. Luger bashes Tatanka’s head into the turnbuckle but has caused no effect. He gains some steam now hitting Luger with knife edge chops and a power slam. Luger is quickly back in control with a power slam of his own, followed up by a back breaker. He is in no rush as he saunters over to Tatanka, but oops time expires. 15:00 Luger’s failure to capitalise on the final moment of rush for the cover with taking his time could have added something to the match. The idea of the time limit draw was good with protecting both guys, unfortunately without someone in there who can wrestle an entertaining 15 minute match this fell flat.

The fans want 5 more minutes, but the ref insists that he cannot allow 5 more minutes. Luger takes off his elbow pad and charges at Tatanka knocking him down with the exposed elbow.

Winner: Draw
Rating: ¾*

-Gene Okerlund is standing by with Bret Hart and Mr. Perfect and becomes quite the shit stirrer as he claims Bret wanted to face Perfect because he thought he would be the easier target. Gene goes through how they are both second generation wrestlers and asks if their Dad’s ever wrestled each other. Bret claims his Dad beat Perfect’s Dad, Perfect prevents any school yard bickering and says that he owes Bret one from Summerslam ‘91.

Bret Hart vs. Mr. Perfect- King of the Ring Semi-Finals

-In the early going they exchange holds with each other, both having an answer to the other guys questions. Bret bounces to the ropes and hit’s the crucifix pin but only for 2, without hesitation goes for a side head lock. Perfect adopts a more aggressive approach when he buries his knee into Bret’s ribs. Bret is climbing back in the ring, Perfect sits on the second rope allowing him to get in but is straight on the attack with aggressive kicks to the head. Bret is forced to the ring apron, Mr. Perfect pulls back on the rope and pushes forward sending Bret into the barricade with his knee crashing against a plastic box and concrete. Perfect goes up top and hit’s a drop kick, he covers but Bret gets his foot on the rope. Perfect tries his luck again, but it appears to have run out as Bret levels him with a right hand. Bret hit’s a super plex and covers but only gets 2. Bret kicks at Perfect’s legs with some force behind it, he then locks in the figure 4. Perfect does eventually drag himself over to the ropes, and Bret goes back to work on the legs. Bret hit’s the Russian leg sweep followed up by an Inverted atomic drop, he goes for the sharp shooter but Perfect pulls on the broken fingers of Bret. Perfect hooks him for the Perfect Plex, Bret reverses it and Suplexes him out of the ring. Back in the ring, Perfect appears to be groggy but is just a ploy as he gets the inside cradle quickly. Bret shifts the weight of it into a cover of his own for 3. 18:56 Fantastic match. Very crisp and exciting sequences that was pitch perfect. It had a truly competitive feel to it, which I think a tournament like this needed.

Winner: Bret Hart
Rating: ****½

-Hulk Hogan is interviewed backstage where he talks about Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji playing up the pro-USA factor as well as his other lines of eating vitamins and saying prayers.

Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna- WWF Championship

-Yokozuna shows his power advantage early on when he shoves Hulk Hogan off from the grapple. He uses various chops and head butts to force Hogan into the corner. Yokozuna charges in the corner, Hogan moves out of the way to send Yokozuna in the corner. Hogan levels Yokozuna with some right hands and tries to pick him up and slam him down but he cannot pick him up. Hogan ducks the clothesline and attempts the slam again but another failed attempt. Yokozuna has Hogan in the bear hug, Hogan manages to get his hands free and lay some shots on him to release the hold. Yokozuna hits the belly to belly suplex but only gets a near fall. Hogan starts his hulking up routine. He hits a big boot but only sends Yokozuna staggering, a second one can’t get him down either, third times a charm as he gets the big man down. Hogan hits the leg drop but only gets a 2. A cameraman appears on the apron, no one shows any intention to get him off there. Hogan in sheer confusion walks over to the cameraman and a fireball is flashed in his face from the camera. Yokozuna finishes it off with a leg drop and the 3 count. Yokozuna isn’t finished yet as he drags Hogan over to the corner and hits the Banzai drop as he celebrates in the ring Hogan is carried to the back. 13:09 Standard Hulk Hogan match. The excitement factor wasn’t really helped with having Hogan against someone slower than he is.

-Pretty typical Hulk Hogan match, but with Yokozuna being slower and having as much of an exciting offence as he does it didn’t really make waves as being an exciting encounter.

Winner: Yokozuna
Rating: ¼*

The Smoking Gunns & The Steiner Brothers vs. Money Inc. & The Headshrinkers

-Ted DiBiase starts in with Scott Steiner, they trade some holds with DiBiase looking the stronger hitting some arm drags. Off the ropes Scott leap frogs over DiBiase and hits a drop kick forcing DiBiase out of the ring. Rick Steiner levels him with a right hand and throws him back in the ring. DiBiase tags in Fatu and Scott Steiner tags in Bart Gunn, they exchange arm locks, Bart Gunn hits a drop kick. Fatu gets back in control with a super kick, Money Inc. and Headshrinkers start to take control and dominate Bart Gunn. They manage to keep him down, with all of the four man team being tagged in and using various power moves. Bart Gunn finds his way into the match when he hits IRS with a clothesline, and he dives over to make the tag to Billy Gunn, IRS tags DiBiase. Billy knocks down DiBiase several times, off the ropes charges to DiBiase but is lifted up and dropped on the ropes. Ted DiBiase locks in the Million Dollar Dream, shaking the life out of Billy, he drops him and taunts to the other 3. He picks up Billy but is caught by an inside cradle for 3. 6:49 There was too many guys involved in such a short match. It just became too compressed and rushed with Rick Steiner not having a chance to get involved as well as most being unable to make their mark in the match.

Winners: The Smoking Gunns & The Steiner Brothers
Rating: *½

Shawn Michaels vs. Crush- WWF Intercontinental Title

-Crush puts the side head lock in on Michaels, he throws him off to the ropes. Crush comes back and shoulder blocks Michaels out of the ring. Michaels back in jabs Crush in the face, sending him into the ropes Crush leap frogs twice over Michaels. Crush connects with two drop kicks, the second one knocking him out of the ring. Crush uses his strength to stay in control, hitting a gorilla press slam and sending Michaels to the ropes hitting a tilt a whirl back breaker. Diesel drags Michaels out to recover, he hides behind Diesel and sneaks back into the ring and quickly to the outside shoving Crush into the ring post. Michaels bashes his head several times into the ring post. From the top rope he hits an axe handle and keeps him down with a front face lock. Crush escapes out of it and clotheslines Michaels out of the ring. Two Doink the Clowns walk to the ring, one in front of the other. Supposed to be a mirror image but are walking completely out of sync. Michaels hits the super kick to the back of his head and covers for 3. 11:14 It had some pacing issues, with the pay off being two Doinks unable to move in sync with each other.

Winner: Shawn Michaels
Rating: **

-Bam Bam Bigelow is being interviewed, he yells that he is as fresh as a daisy and that he will become King of the Ring tonight.

Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow- King of the Ring Final

Bigelow charges at Bret but he moves out of the way and they both slug it out with each other. Bigelow takes control of the match when he throws Bret outside of the ring with a gorilla press slam. Back in the ring, Bigelow starts to work on the back of Bret with a head butt and a strong Irish Whip into the corner. Bret tries to fight back, but he is cut off by a head butt and another Irish Whip into the corner. On the outside, Bret finds his way into the match when he Irish Whips Bigelow into the barricade. Bret jumps off the ring apron but he is caught by Bigelow and rammed into the ring post. Luna walks down the ramp with a chair in hand and hits Bret on the back with a chair. Back in the ring Bigelow slams down Bret and off the top rope hits a diving head butt and he covers for 3. Earl Hebner runs down to the ring and tells Joey Marella of the interference, the decision gets reversed! No, wait! The match has been forced to restart. Bigelow goes back to work on the back of Bret hitting some head butts and locks in another bear hug. Bret is able to get out of it, out of desperation hits Bigelow with a back suplex. Both guys are to their feet, Bret hits a big drop kick sending Bigelow out of the ring. Bret dives over the top rope knocking Bigelow down. Back in the ring, Bret remains in control with a Russian leg sweep and bulldog from the second rope! Bret sets up the sharp shooter but Bigelow kicks Bret off. Bigelow charges at Bret in the corner, Bret gets a foot up and jumps on Bigelow’s shoulders, Bret rolls him up for 3! 18:11 This was a good big guy vs. small guy match, with both being able to play their role to perfection.

Winner: Bret Hart
Rating: ***

– After the match Bret Hart is being coronated, he has the crown on and the sceptre in hand. Jerry Lawler interrupts and calls Bret Hart out for being an impostor but he says that he might allow Bret to be the Prince. As long as he begs and kisses his feet, Bret Hart questions the integrity for not entering the tournament. Bret Hart encourages the fans to chant Burger King at Jerry Lawler. Lawler becomes frustrated and hits Bret Hart with the sceptre, he trashes the crown and continues to hammer Bret Hart with the sceptre in the ribs and back.

The 411: Pretty good PPV, Bret Hart deserves a lot of credit for his 2 good matches and great match with Mr. Perfect. The tournament really helped the PPV overall with having numerous matches on the card actually mean something and give the fans a reason to care about what‘s happening. The two title matches sort of fell flat though, with them being completely forgetful.
Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]