WWF Survivor Series Showdown 1993 Review (Yokozuna Vs. Bret Hart)

November 21, 1993 Taped show (on November 8 & November 10) Nov. 8 Location: Bushkill, Pennsylvania, USA (Fernwood Resort) Nov. 10 Location: Delhi, New York, USA (Farrell Hall) Announced attendance: ca 2,500 TV rating: 2.9 (USA Network) [down 6.5% from the previous RAW’s 3.1 rating]

Welcome to my review of WWF Survivor Series Showdown 1993. This event, which is essentially a preview of Survivor Series, is headlined by Yokozuna vs. Bret Hart for the WWF Championship, in a rematch from the main event of WrestleMania 9. Plus, Marty Jannetty takes on IRS, Crush battles Virgil and Doink the Clown faces Bastion Booger.

Here is the list of WWF’s champions heading into this TV special:

• WWF Champion: Yokozuna [161st day of his 2nd reign] – previous champion: Hulk Hogan

• WWF Intercontinental Champion: Razor Ramon [41st day of his 1st reign] – previous champion: Shawn Michaels, before it was vacated

• WWF World Tag Team Champions: The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre) [69th day of their 1st reign; Jacques’ 1st individual reign & Pierre’s 1st individual reign]

Note: in title matches, the defending champions are underlined

Enjoy the review!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan (Bushkill) and Gorilla Monsoon & Jim Ross (Delhi)

The broadcast begins with a recap from Superstars. As Bret Hart was facing IRS on the last episode, Mr. Fuji came down to ringside. The Hitman attacked him, prompting Yokozuna & Jim Cornette to show up as well. Fuji nailed Bret with the Japanese flag to cause the DQ, before Owen Hart ran in to save his brother from a post-match beatdown by the heels.

Doink the Clown vs. Bastion Booger

We’re in for one hell of an opener… Bastion Booger comes to the ring with a pizza box. Before the match starts, Booger gets on Doink’s scooter and falls on his ass like an idiot. The match finally starts and Doink shoots some water on Booger’s eyes. Then, Booger tries to wrestle him but an arm trick by Doink stops him in his tracks. How funny. More “comedy” spots follow until Booger bails. Booger pushes Doink to the outside by the legs and splashes Doink on the post. Back in, Booger delivers a back elbow smash to the face. Booger stops to celebrate a bit before applying a chinlock. Booger remains in control for a few minutes, hitting a legdrop and choking Doink on the ropes. When Doink finally starts fighting back, Booger rakes the eyes. He misses a clothesline, but Doink wastes too much time mocking him and Booger ends up hitting the clothesline. Booger covers, but releases the pin (thinking he won) after Doink taps him on his shoulders. This is so lame. Doink rolls him up from behind and wins at 7:37. Doink then puts hot sauce on Booger’s pizza to humiliate him some more.

Winner: Doink the Clown

• Rating: Stupid “comedy” match that nobody over the age of ten finds funny. Horrible start to this show. DUD

Recap of Ludvig Borga ending Tatanka’s undefeated streak three weeks ago on Superstars. An interview with The All-Americans is coming up next.

Interview with The All-Americans

Raymond Rougeau interviews them on the platform by the stage. Lex Luger says the eliminations have already begun (Tatanka and Pierre were both taken out) and The Foreign Fanatics’ final elimination is saved for Survivor Series. Rick Steiner is ready because he’s with the greatest All-Americans in the world and they will be the survivors. Scott Steiner says The Foreign Fanatics will be eliminated and then buried by The Undertaker. Finally, The Undertaker claims Survivor Series has been changed to Elimination Series because no one knows more about eliminations than him. Prepare to rest in peace.

Then, we see a recap of the Crush/Randy Savage feud.

Crush (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Virgil

Virgil doesn’t even get an entrance at this point in his career, although he still gets a solid reaction. Crush jumps Virgil as soon as he enters the ring. Virgil actually delivers a clothesline and takes out Crush outside with a dive. Back in, Crush reverses an O’Connor Roll before kicking Virgil right in the kisser. Meanwhile, the crowd hates on this evil Foreign Fanatic (from Hawaii!) with the ‘USA’ chants. Crush no-sells Virgil’s offense and takes him down. However, Crush misses a blind charge in the corner and Virgil gets a sloppy sunset flip for two. Crush takes control again, though he misses another blind charge, this time eating Virgil’s feet. Virgil goes up and hits a flying clothesline. He unloads on Crush and sends him to the outside, only to get caught by Crush who rams Virgil onto the apron. Crush goes for a suplex back inside the ring, which Virgil reverses with a cradle for two. Virgil is thinking Million Dollar Dream, but Crush sends him into the buckle to escape. Crush slams Virgil throat-first on the top rope, and the headsqueezer of doom puts Virgil away at 07:55.

Winner: Crush

• Rating: To say my expectations weren’t high would be a huge understatement. And while it wasn’t technically pretty, it was quite fun and the crowd was into it. Far from a bad match. **

We see an extended recap of Razor Ramon’s successful IC Title defense over Rick Martel last week on Superstars.

Meanwhile, Reo Rogers (Bruce Prichard impersonating Dusty Rhodes) is in Calgary with Shawn Michaels, who has his Intercontinental Championship belt with him. They mock the Hart Family with two old people pretending to be Stu and Helen Hart. Stupid segment.

Marty Jannetty vs. Irwin R. Schyster

The fans piss IRS off with the ‘Irwin’ chants. IRS slams Jannetty to start. Jannetty shows a lot of fire with a slam of his own, a hiptoss and a dropkick, as IRS regroups. Back in, Jannetty applies an aggressive wristlock. IRS cuts him off with a shoulderblock, but he wastes too much time and Jannetty uses his quickness to take back control. Jannetty goes back to the wristlock, which IRS can’t escape. He ends up reaching the ropes to cause the break, though, before leaving the ring once more. Headlock by Jannetty. IRS tries to block it with a backdrop suplex, but Jannetty rolls over and keeps the headlock applied. IRS pulls Marty’s hair into a headscissors, which Jannetty blocks. He goes back to the wristlock, and IRS is in the ropes again. Jannetty is starting to lose his patience a bit. They’re telling a nice story here. Marty runs the ropes preparing for a running attack, but IRS moves out of the way and Jannetty’s own momentum dumps him outside. IRS meets him there, ramming Jannetty’s head into the steps. IRS tries to suplex Jannetty off the apron into the ring, but gets rolled-up for two instead. IRS cuts him off immediately, though, and stays in control with a chinlock. Jannetty rams IRS into the buckle, but he still can’t make the comeback as IRS applies an abdominal stretch. Marty uses a hiptoss to escape, and IRS tastes the turnbuckle yet again after missing a blind charge. Kneelift by Jannetty for two. Sunset flip gets two. Marty gets another nearfall with a jumping back elbow smash. However, IRS turns Jannetty inside out with the Write Off to finish him at 12:36.

Winner: Irwin R. Schyster

• Rating: This was a technically solid match that I was enjoying until it got a bit repetitive in the final moments. Still a nice match. **3/4

The Foreign Fanatics cut a promo on The All-Americans.

Survivor Series Report with Todd Pettengill.

Main Event

Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Bret Hart

WWF Championship

Rematch from WrestleMania 9. Bret takes it to Yoko as soon as the bell rings. A crossbody is turned into a big slam by Yokozuna. He tries to follow it up with a big fat elbow, which Bret avoids before dropkicking Yoko to the floor. Bret then leads a ‘USA’ chant, which is hilarious in many ways. Yoko takes his time getting into the ring, until Bret crotches the big man as he was entering the ring. Bret tries a sleeper, which doesn’t work. He quickly gets back up and takes it to Yoko, who then explodes with a huge clothesline to cut him off. Yoko unloads on Bret, drops an elbow on him and sends him to the floor. Fuji adds a shot with the Japanese flag as we take a break.

Commercial break

We return with Bret showing some life inside the ring, but Yoko low blows him after Fuji distracts referee Earl Hebner. And it’s nerve hold time. Bret fights out of that and goes for a shoulderblock, which only takes Bret down. Yoko dumps Bret again and meets him outside, where Bret rams Yoko’s head into the stairs a few times. However, Fuji distracts the ref again, allowing Yoko to hit Bret with chair shots to the back and the head.

Commercial break

We’re back again with Yokozuna still on top. He slugs away on Bret in the corner, who keeps fighting back. A dropkick is avoided by Yokozuna, who delivers a huge legdrop. Yoko chokes away but he misses a blind charge in the corner. That opens the door for Bret’s comeback. A series of three quick clotheslines finally puts the big man down for a nearfall. Bret nails Fuji on the apron and goes up, but Yoko catches him going for a flying clothesline. Bret bites his ear to escape that predicament. Yoko misses yet another blind charge in the corner, this time only finding Bret’s boot. Bret follows it up with a flying bulldog off the middle rope for a big pop and a two count. Middle rope elbow gets another nearfall. The crowd is getting really loud now. Bret sets him up for a running clothesline, which Yoko blocks with a belly-to-belly. Yoko’s running splash finds no water in the pool, though, and the fans go crazy once again. Bret locks in the Sharpshooter. Owen Hart comes in to celebrate before the bell even rings, for whatever reason. Hebner gets distracted with Owen, so Fuji jumps in and hits Bret with the bucket of salt to release the hold. Owen proceeds to attack Fuji and Yokozuna, causing the DQ at 15:52.

Winner by DQ & still champion: Yokozuna

• Rating: This was really exciting until the lame yet somewhat understandable DQ ending. Bret Hart had the fans in the palms of his hands, and his comeback sequence got a tremendous reaction. Fans desperately wanted to see him become the new champion, which led to a fun back-and-forth contest. In fact, this might be their best televised match against each other. ***1/2

The announcers promote Survivor Series one last time, and Men on a Mission come out with a special Survivor Series rap to close the show.

END OF THE SHOW

Final thoughts: Not exactly the greatest TV special out there. Honestly, I can’t say this made me want to see the Survivor Series PPV, which (I believe) was their ultimate goal. However, it did have a really good main event, and it did plant a tiny seed for the upcoming Bret/Owen rivalry. With that said, I can’t say I’d recommend anything from this show other than the main event. 4/10

WWF Survivor Series Showdown 1993 Full Results

WWE recently uploaded this event on their YouTube channel, WWE Vault. Check out the full show here:

POINT SYSTEM

Click here to read more about the point system.

That’s all from today’s post. Make sure you don’t miss any of the upcoming WWF RAW reviews, as well as WWF Survivor Series and WCW Starrcade before we close the book on 1993. Thank you for reading!

Written by:

Tomás Cunha