Whatever your thoughts on the WWE product in 2017, at least we can take comfort from the fact that we will never have to endure 1993 ever again. For many, that year, at least in terms of entertainment value, was the worst year the company has seen.
Only 1995 seems to come anywhere close to rivalling the sheer amount of cringe fans had to endure in one, mercilessly long calendar year. But amidst all the Repo Man, Doink and Bruce Hart matches, there were things about 1993 that we can conceivably look back on as not totally horrendous. Here are ten things that made WWF 1993 somewhat bearable.
#10 Money Inc.
By the time 1993 came around, fans were already well aware of what a talent the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase was. He was instrumental in ending Hogan’s first title reign back in 1988 and had incredible rivalries with Savage and Warrior.
He is perhaps the founder of a long list of rich, white heel personas looking down at the rest of us. Dibiase played it like a natural. Throw into the mix a man who was the literal personification of the despised Internal Revenue Service, and you have the makings of a genius tag team.
The concept of the team was so simple – nobody likes paying taxes, rich men are normally despicable – that you struggle to understand why it wasn’t invented sooner. Imagine the impact Money Inc. would have today in the post-2008 financial crisis world, with tax evasion and the 1% being the target of so much animosity.
Money Inc. could also really go in the ring and had solid matches with the Mega Maniacs (Hogan and Beefcake) and the Steiner Brothers. No matter how tiresome you may have found episodes of Monday Night Raw in 93, the sound of Money Inc. approaching the ring with their recognisable theme song playing, would at least give you some hope.
9 Jerry Lawler vs. the Hart Family
Jerry ‘ the King’ Lawler has been a real drain on the commentary team over the past 10 years or so, but there was a time when his sharp wit, and over the line bullying of Superstars, made him one of the most watchable characters on the roster.
He was, at least for a time, the king of one-liners in the WWF, and like Bobby Heenan, he had this ability to gather so much heat that anyone who worked with him would receive instant crowd support. It can easily be said that a lot of Bret Hart’s time in the mid-90s was wasted wrestling Jerry Lawler.
But every now and then the King would remind us of his talents, poking particular fun at Bret’s parents. One of the more memorable lines from the King came when talking about Helen Hart, Bret and Owen’s mother: ‘’When she was a teenager, her acne had liver spots’’. Oh you awful, hilarious man!
The feud, if nothing else, was a nice little way to keep Bret Hart ticking along while the company was trying to work out what to do with him, and for that Jerry Lawler deserves his recognition on this list.
8 Andre the Giant’s induction into the Hall Of Fame
1993 saw the introduction of the WWE Hall of Fame and its first inductee was none other than the eighth wonder of the world, Andre the Giant. Andre had been struggling with illness for a number of years and finally lost his last battle in January 1993, succumbing to heart failure.
The company clearly had to find a way to recognise Andre for his many many years of service, and the way he was able to elevate not just the company, but the entire industry high above his massive shoulders. Andre can be credited with supplanting Hulkamania as synonymous with the WWF, and for that at alone he was worthy of the biggest send-off imaginable.
The Hall of Fame has become a staple of the WWF calendar ever since and remains to this day the highest accolade a former Superstar can hope for.
It has brought old wrestlers back into the fold after years in the wilderness, helped the company’s male and female employees find some stability in their lives and now serves as the spiritual home of Conor’s Cure, a charity set up to tackle paediatric cancer, and it all started with Andre the Giant in 1993.
#7 The Lex Express
Granted, Lex Luger’s run as the company’s main babyface throughout 1993 was perhaps forgettable at best. The fact that the man never even held a major title in this time tells you all you need to know about Vince’s idea to create Hulk Hogan 2.0 with Luger.
Yet, the initial signs were actually quite promising. After Yokozuna gained his second WWF Championship at King of the Ring 1993 (we’ll get to that later), the company needed a hero to wrestle the belt away from his massive fingers and bring it back to the USA.
Yoko’s heel Championship run was so dominant that there were signs that someone would step up and vanquish him. Say what you will, but we’re lucky if we get storytelling like that these days.
Lex’s ascent all began when Yoko’s manager Mr Fuji set up an open challenge to body slam his Sumo champion. This took place on the 4th of July aboard the USS Intrepid. You knew whoever the company was going to choose as the successor here was destined for great things down the line.
After attempts from people like Crush, Bob Backlund and even the Macho Man, up steps Lex Luger who we hadn’t seen in quite some time. The fact that nobody was expecting it, strangely made it work.
The fans approached it in an ‘Ok, yeah, why not?’ sort of a way. All this would trigger Lex’s ‘Lex Express’ nationwide tour as if he was running for President. Obviously, he wasn’t, he was merely trying to win Yokozuna’s championship, and the less said about the end result the better.
#6 The (actual) death of Hulkamania
1993 was clearly a year of transition for the WWF. They could no longer rely on guys like Warrior, Flair, Andre or Savage (at least not in the ring anyway). Hulk Hogan was also on his way out, and 1993 should have really been the official ‘passing of the torch’ year.
If rumours are to be believed, Hulk Hogan refused to job for Bret Hart as he was a ‘smaller guy’ and did not want to see Hulkamania end that way. Instead, we got a mediocre match-up between the Hulkster and Yokozuna at King of the Ring.
The WWF clearly weren’t quite ready to end their attachment to Hogan. Rather than Yoko getting the dominant clean victory, Hogan fell to shenanigans involving a cameraman, whose flash was set just a little too sharp.
It was a frustrating way to see such a career end, especially since nobody really benefited from it. However, this was finally the chance for the WWF to end their reliance on Hogan and start to look around for fresh talent. 1993 was, therefore, the start of something new at a time when fans desperately needed it.
5 The Evolution of Owen Hart
Taking Owen Hart’s contributions to the company as a whole, he would normally appear much higher on these types of lists. However, in 1993 he was still very much finding his feet. He began the year pairing with Koko B. Ware as part of the tag team High Energy.
They wrestled fairly well together, but they looked like two guys who turned up to a fancy dress party just a little too late to grab the last available Aladdin costume. Not good at all! When you consider what Owen Hart would eventually become, I think it’s important to realise that 1993 was the year to start it all off.
In one of the most disappointing Survivor Series events of all time, the one saving grace of the show was that it led to 1994’s principle feud, Owen against his big brother Bret. Owen was furious with Bret for accidentally distracting him during their 4 on 4-elimination match with Shawn Michaels and his Knights (oh dear God, the Knights!).
Subsequently, Owen was the only Hart brother of the four to be eliminated. This sparked jealousy and resentment and culminated in one of the most compelling feuds the company has ever seen. Once again, thanks 1993!
#4 Yokozuna
It is impossible to talk about WWF 1993 without mentioning Yokozuna. Which is strange because today’s fans don’t really seem to give him the recognition he deserves. On paper, the semi-racist Yokozuna character (he was Samoan dressed up and presented as a Japanese sumo wrestler) had no business getting over in the way it did.
Maybe it was his work rate and in ring versatility, despite his massive 500+ pound weight, that just made you sit up and take notice whenever he was on your screen. Something about Yokozuna spelt gold for the WWF in a time when bigger guys weren’t being as prominently featured as they once were.
Of course, a lot of the credit has also got to go towards Mr Fuji and Jim Cornette. The guy was so awesome that he had two managers! They were able to get heat on themselves and Yoko to the point where feuding with him always came with a ready-made storyline.
As fans of the WWF in 2017, we are well used to seeing anti-American heels stomp their way through the babyface roster, but Yoko’s size, demeanour and intimidation factor made his one of the most successful anti-American characters we have ever seen.
#3 The Birth of Monday Night Raw
So the show’s ratings have been taking a massive hit over the years and we just aren’t as enthusiastic about tuning in as we might have been in the 90’s or mid 00’s. But anyone who has been a WWF/E fan at some point in their lives has some unforgettable, cherished memories of watching RAW.
It is the company’s flagship show and pretty much has been since its inception back in 1993. True, the presentation of the show was very different back then.
They seemed to be doing broadcasts in the middle of a shopping mall, and all of the hokey early 90’s characters like the Repo man and Doink the Clown were running around throwing various buckets over the presenters, which is a far cry from the days of Austin and his beer truck.
But from a business standpoint, 1993 was able to equip the WWF with what is still the longest running weekly episodic show on American TV (apart from the News I guess?).
And RAW ‘93 did have some memorable moments too. The 123 kid causing a shock upset against Razor Ramon. Money Inc bashing in the surgically repaired face of Brutus Beefcake. It wasn’t exactly the attitude era, but things have to start somewhere.
#2 King of the Ring
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when winning the King of the Ring tournament actually meant something for your career (sorry, Wade Barrett). At the start of 1993, fans were still used to seeing the traditional four PPVs.
There had been King of the Ring tournaments before 1993, but the idea to give it its own PPV began here. King of the Ring forced itself into that time of year between Wrestlemania and Summerslam when fans desperately need to be retained and was a way to give somebody the spotlight without necessarily having to put a belt on them.
When somebody won the tournament, they were able to use the ‘King’ moniker throughout the year, further elevating them from the rest of the roster.
Typically, the tournament has been used as a way to give heels something to obnoxiously brag about, but the first King of the Ring PPV was won by the babyface, Bret Hart. Possibly as a result of not being able to give him Hogan’s torch that he probably deserved, Bret instead has the honour of referring to himself as 1993’s king.
This was a launching pad to greater things for the Hitman, something the tournament was also typically designed to do.
The PPV itself wasn’t at all bad. Hart himself had some great matches with Razor and Bam Bam Bigelow. Yokozuna also became the new WWF Champion in the main event, defeating Hulk Hogan, as previously mentioned.
#1 Bret Hart
Of course, it had to be him. If there’s anything about the WWF in the early 90’s you can cling to, it’s the Hitman Bret Hart. He has spoken himself about the change in the company during this time.
Gone were the muscle-bound dinosaurs who didn’t really do anything in the ring, and in came the smaller, athletic performer who left it all between the ropes to the sheer delight of the fans.
For all the deserved credit we give to guys like Hogan, the Rock and Austin, you can’t ignore the fact that they all had the luxury of a rich, talented roster to work with. Bret Hart was ‘the guy’ in a time when the rest of the talent had to be virtually carried to passable matches.
The fact that we still talk about Hart as the talent he was is incredible, when you consider his fellow main eventers at the time were guys like Crush, Luger, and Diesel. 1993 was a terrible year, and with the main draws all leaving, it was not inconceivable that the company could have folded back then.
The fact that we still love the WWE today is a direct result of the brilliance of Bret Hart. The man was the new generation’s poster boy and will forever remain in our own hearts as one of the greatest individuals to lace up a pair of wrestling boots.
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