FEEDBACK: WWF King of the Ring '93

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This Friday on Rewind-A-Wai, Wai Ting & John Pollock return with Rewind-A-Wai # 12.

This week’s Espresso Executive Producer is @Irkush, who chose the WWF King of the Ring '93 card from Dayton, Ohio a.k.a. “The Heartland of America”.

If you have questions, comments, or feedback please post them here and tune into Rewind-A-Wai on the POST Wrestling Cafe this Friday.

WWF KING OF THE RING '93
Sunday, June 13th, 1993
Dayton, Ohio at the Nutter Center
*Hulk Hogan vs. Yokozuna for the WWF title
*Shawn Michaels vs. Crush for the Intercontinental title
*Money Inc. & The Headshrinkers vs. The Steiner Brothers & Smoking Gunns
*Bret Hart vs. Razor Ramon in the KOTR tournament
*Mr. Hughes vs. Mr. Perfect in the KOTR tournament
*Jim Duggan vs. Bam Bam Bigelow in the KOTR tournament
*Lex Luger vs. Tatanka in the KOTR tournament
*KOTR semi-finals
*KOTR final

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Brandon from Oshawa

Another Rewind-A-Wai and another favorite childhood memory for me, this time at the hands of Yokozuna, destroying Hulk Hogan. I certainly was not one of the kids that Ross & Heenan were talking about that were crying. I was pissed at Wrestlemania when Hogan stole the title and that made this win even sweeter. Looking back now and knowing this was the end of Hogan in the WWF, makes it even better.

I cant help but think that the King of the Ring concept, is one of the companies more failed experiments. They made it more about a literal “king of the ring” gimmick, instead of trying to legit propel someone onto bigger and better things. Watching the BOSJ and thinking about other tournaments such as the G1 and BOLA, among others that are going on now, these hold prestige with wrestling fans. Even the CWC & Mae Young Classic show what a tournament can do. I think the WWE needs a tournament itself, that will build up a contender for Summerslam. The KOTR should be what that is, what are your thoughts?

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I quit watching wrestling in 1991 (age 12) due to boredom with Hulkamania. Picked it back up in 1993 (after playing Royal Rumble for the SNES) and King of the Ring 93 was the first tape I rented. LOVED IT. Three Bret Hart matches, including a classic with Perfect. I was a huge Bret Hart fan at the time.

One thing that struck me at the time was how ridiculous Hogan looked - he was tiny (smaller than half the roster) and the idea he would beat Yokozuna was ridiculous.

Question - did it ever feel to you like Hogan was close to winning the match or slamming Yokozuna? At the time I thought he looked like an undersized jobber who was as likely to slam Yoko as I was. Curious how it comes off to others.

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Michael from Newfoundland.

I grew up with only three tv channels and two of them were CBC; one English and one French. On the other, privately owned, channel (aptly named NTV for Newfoundland Television), aired Maple Leaf Wrestling on the weekends. During the late 80s and early 90s this is how I got into wrestling.

Being 10 years old in '93, I didn’t watch any of the PPVs but I do remember the Hulk Hogan/Yokozuna angle. I remember watching the highlights on Maple Leaf Wrestling and being upset. I’m not sure but I think I may have even cried over it. I was so upset that when they put up an address to send in “get well” letters, I had my mom help me write a letter to Hulk Hogan. In hindsight, I don’t think she sent it; maybe she was wise to the business before me.

Despite having the WWE Network for quite sometime, I haven’t delved much into the pre-Attitude Era archives; which is why I’m glad that this podcast give me an excuse to stream an antiquated show.

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Jesse from the 6

We all know the story that Hogan refused to drop the title to Bret in the summer of '93, but I have a few questions surrounding this issue:

  1. Why was Hogan willing to lose to Yoko but not Bret? Is it because he could lose to Yoko via chicanery but a loss to Bret would have to be clean?

  2. If Vince’s initial intention was to get the belt on Bret, why did he wait nine months before booking Yoko to lose to Bret? I’ve always found this reign by Yoko especially odd because, traditionally, Vince only used heels as transitional champions. Yet Yoko’s reign here was actually the longest title reign by a heel in company history up to that point, surpassing Superstar Billy Graham.

  3. Do you know when Vince chose to turn Luger babyface and if he ever planned to make him champion?

Take Care