Manhattan Center - New York, NY
Attendance: 1,200
Commentary team: Vince McMahon, Randy Savage & Bobby Heenan.
Let the build to SummerSlam '93 commence! The show kicks off with highlights of the Lex Express tour, including an inspirational speech from Lex Luger. He's angling for a title match with Yokozuna at SummerSlam and following the advice of The Doobie Brothers by takin' it to the streets!
Match #1: Marty Jannetty vs. Shawn Michaels (c) (w/ Diesel) - WWF Intercontinental Championship.
Jannetty won the title back on 5/17 in a surprise return, but lost the title back to Michaels on a house show about three weeks later with help from Diesel, who made his debut that night. Of course, at this point Diesel was previously known as Vinnie Vegas in WCW, and would go on to bigger and better things in the near future. Here, he's just a simple bodybuard wearing simple stone-washed outfits.
The match was pretty good, with a false finish about six minutes in when the referee made the three count after Michaels got his foot on the rope. With the replay help of Bobby Heenan, the match continued. After some near falls, Jannetty misses a crossbody coming off the ropes and rolls to the floor, where he is kindly, gently assisted back inside by Diesel. Michaels get the three count to retain the title. ***½ (23:00-ish)
Vince McMahon is in the ring to interview Money Inc. They have a title shot at The Steiner Brothers on the 7/24 episode of WWF Superstars, which was still the A-show at this point. Their focus shifts from The Steiners to Razor Ramon. DiBiase is embarassed the way Razor was played by the 1-2-3 Kid over $10,000, which brings out Razor to the ring. DiBiase promises to beat the Kid in thirty seconds and then offers Razor a job as his janitor. Of course, Razor takes offense to this and flips out on Money Inc, clearing them from the ring. And there is your face turn. The fans had been cheering the guy for a few weeks now and since Money Inc were still drawing the heel heat, who better to pit him against to complete the turn.
Match #2: Men On a Mission (w/ Oscar) vs. Rich Myers & Hank Harris.
This is the RAW debut for M.O.M and it's a squash. Not much else to tell you about this. They appeared to be over with the Manhattan Center crowd thanks to the lyrical wizardy of Oscar. No ratings for squashes.
That brings us to an special edition of The King's Court, as Jerry Lawler insults the fans to start and then brings out.....Tiny Tim. I'm not sure how this helps anyone out from a booking standpoint. It seems like it's a stunt-casting by Vince who must have just discovered Tiny Tim, because even in 1993 the guy was irrelevant. He insults Lawler by calling him "Dairy Queen" and Lawler proceeds to destroy his ukelele. Tiny Tim is left in very fake tears, including requisite crying hanky. This segment was horrible and unfunny and unnecessary.
Match #3: Bastion Booger vs. Scott Despres.
More squash action, as Booger beguiles us with his limited moveset and overall strange appearance. Booger had a very limited shelf-life with this gimmick. Booger was a character to pity rather than boo. No rating.
Match #4: The 1-2-3 Kid vs. Chris Duffy.
Squash for the Kid who becomes a regular on the roster at this point. The Kid was over and was bringing a style of offense not seen often in the WWF. The Kid finishes with a legdrop off the top. Money Inc saunters down to ringside to taunt the Kid, but Razor Ramon also shows up. The Kid, not wanting to attempt to get by either party, opts to leave through the crowd. Leaving Razor and Money Inc to get separated by officials as the show signs off.
Next week, we're promised the main event of Bret Hart vs. Bam Bam Bigelow!
THE FINAL WORD: A few squashes to get some guys over, including the debut of Men On a Mission, plus a good match between Jannetty and Michaels over the IC title leaves us with a good taste in our mouth as far as in-ring action goes. The Lex Express is in full gear as the main event for SummerSlam begins to take shape. The only misstep, really, was Tiny Tim appearing on The King's Court.
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