[jonesy]

It's a little late, but I also agree with Mac about reviewing the entire match. Not to say you shouldn't do it, but it's a lot more fun, and a lot less exhausting to read. Not to take away anything from the review however, I can see you put a lot of hard work into it.

Been meaning to pick up some DVDs from 02 anyways, so that review is muchos appreciated, HBK.

[Seb91]

Yeah, I didn't really bear that in mind, i'll go less play by play in my next review (if their is one). I watched and reviewed at the same time. I went a bit overboard on Brock/Taker as I was enjoying it so much

[Austin101]

Austin101's "WWF King of the Ring 1993" Review:



-Welcome to the King of the Ring Anthology Reviews by me, Austin101. Thank you for reading the 20 Rumble Reviews as well as the 23 Wrestlemania reviews and for all the kind feedback. I'll try and make these just as good but there are only 10 of them this time around so it should go fairly quicker.

I began writing this review and I lost all of it due to my computer freezing just before the main event. What a piss off. So if this is a little short it's because I was annoyed at how I had to write it out twice, forgive me. At least this event is fun to review though, that's the "Glass is half FULL" look on things. Anyways here we go!




-Live on PPV on June 13, 1993 at the Nutter Center in Dayton, Ohio.

-Bobby Heenan, Randy Savage and Jim Ross called the action after Vince's "ROARING VOICE" gave us the pre-show run down.

-King of the Ring was an annual World Wrestling Entertainment tournament held from 1985 to 2002. Starting from 1993, it was held as a pay-per-view event as well. After a four year hiatus, the King of the Ring tournament returned in 2006 as a SmackDown! exclusive tournament. The return was apparently a "one-year-only", with its hiatus continuing through 2007.

-Papa Shango (The Godfather) defeated Owen Hart in a dark match before the event. An even darker match wouldn't happen between the two on May 23rd 1999. That wasn't meant to be funny nor cruel, I was just trying to be clever.

-This event marked the last time The Hulkster would be in the WWF for 9 years.




Now onto the matches.....






1) KOTR Quarter-Final: Bret "The Hitman" Hart vs "The Bad Guy" Razor Ramon


The Hitman vs The Bad Guy to open the 1993 King of the Ring. Sounds good to me.

They put on a better match at the Rumble just a few months before this but this one was still very good.

Hart had Hall in an arm bar for a minute or two so that showed the pace might have been a little slow, however that quickly changed as the two went back and forth exchanging blows together. Bret wrestled a very smart match as did Razor. The two had a lot of chemistry together as they got to work with one another quite often in 1993.

Razor Ramon looked as if he could have had Bret Hart beat on a number of occasions but the Hitman kept battling back and I liked that the most about Bret's character.

I'm always amazed when I watch him take offensive moves, and dish them out...no one does it better. That and about a million other things make him in my mind the greatest in ring performer of ALL TIME.

And when you have the greatest ever in the ring in his prime like he is here, you can expect to see greatness. And we did, but this was just an appetizer. The best was yet to come.

Hart pinned Ramon when Hart countered a backdrop attempt off the top rope, landing on Ramon for the pin at 10:25.

About as good as you could ask in 10 minutes to open a show.



*** 1/4






2) KOTR Quarter-Final: Mr. Perfect vs Mr. Hughes (w/Harvey Wippleman)


Mr. Hughes was a big man and not the greatest in ring worker to say the least.

Mr. Perfect WAS a great in ring worker.

Hennig could make a match with Christy Hemme four stars if he wanted to put enough effort into it.

So this one actually came off pretty enjoyable. This was half the length of the opener but felt just as entertaining in a lot of ways due to how Curt made the match flow. I guess we COULD give Hughes some credit as well, but I'm not going to. This one is all on the shoulders of the hall of famer. He really carried it and made this seemingly "Who gives a fuck" KOTR match meaningful.

Pretty enjoyable for what it was because of that.


Hughes was disqualified when he attacked Perfect with an urn at 6:02. Pretty lame ending though, however the result did set up a classic so in the end I can't complain.



**







3) KOTR Quarter-Final: Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Luna Vachon) vs "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan


This is the worst match on the card so I wont spend to much time on this one.

I actually spent a lot of time reviewing it on the last review (Ya know, the one that I lost!)

So it'll make me sick to go into it again.

All you should know is this match isn't wrestle crap, but it pretty much is close to crap. Bam Bam's last action before the main event of the show where he did a much better job. I wonder if his opponent had anything to do with that? Hmmm...

Not saying Bam Bam's a bad worker by any means (he's one of the best big men ever and sure to be a hall of famer in my eyes), it's just he matches up in the ring better with a guy like Bret then Duggan.


Bigelow pinned Duggan after a top rope headbutt at 4:59 to advance.



*







4) KOTR Quarter-Final: Tatanka vs Lex Luger


A Prequel to the Summerslam 1994 EPIC ENCOUNTER.

Well, I was kidding about the "Epic" part.

God, my jokes are about as bad as Todd Grisham's.

Endurance played a big part here in this KOTR Quarter Final Contest between Tatanka and Luger. Two guys the WWF had on big rolls so it would be interesting to see who would win this one.
But, LOOK! No one did....smart booking move, I guess.


Both men were eliminated from the tournament because it went the distance. The 15 minute time limit expired. Lex mad at this took off his elblow pad and nailed Tatanka in the head. Heenan declared him the winner because of this (which was hillarious) but of course that was only in Heenan's world.

Both men were gone and Bam Bam gets a bye to the finals to meet the winner of Hennig and Hart.

Pretty solid for a 15 minute undercard match. Props to both men for not making it boring.....



** 3/4






5) KOTR Semi-Final: Bret "The Hitman" Hart vs Mr. Perfect



MY FAVOURITE MATCH OF ALL TIME.

Not the greatest match of all time (although it's up there) but just one that if someone had a gun to my head and said "YOU PICK 1 match you get to watch for the rest of your life....." I pick this one. As fucked up as that scenario sounds.....

The fact Bret had already wrestled once before (and he would again, a long one to) is amazing. Perfect's match took a little less out of him but he didn't have as much time to rest so it all evens out.

Both these men are very similar in there backgrounds, both 2nd generation stars with amazing skill. Funny promo before the contest where Perfect says to Bret "Your DAD never beat my DAD!"

A lot of people consider Summerslam 1991's encounter better then this match. Why? Well it could be because it was Bret's big IC Title win over Perfect with his parents in attendance followed by a huge pop. It could be because it was on a great big show and that's why it's remembered or the fact it was the ORIGINAL between these two. All of those points are all fine and good but the fact remains..........................

SUMMERSLAM 1991's MATCH DOESEN'T HOLD A GOD DAMN CANDLE TO THIS ONE.


(exhales.)

It doesen't. If you look at it from a wrestling stand point, there's no way. The story this match told was perfect. (pun intended) Every move was delivered bang on. It had EVERYTHING, literally EVERYTHING you could ever want in a match. I dare anyone to name a single flaw in this beauty. Infact, I'd go as far as saying it's the most flawless match in the history of professional wrestling.

It's an absolute classic in every sense of the word.

Bret pinned Perfect after countering a small package attempt from Perfect with one of his own at 18:56 for the win! Absolutely MIND BLOWING! One of the best North American matches in wrestling history! And the Hitman is off to the finals to meet the well rested Big Man, Bam BAM BIGELOW!

Classic.

Classic.

Classic.

Classic.

Classic.

That's, "Classic" five times...right?


5 STARS.




*****




Five Star Note: In all 20 Rumble's, 23 Wrestlemania's and thus far in the KOTR Anthology, I've only given five other matches 5 stars. The list includes Y2J vs Benoit at the 01 Rumble, Benoit vs Angle at the 03 Rumble, Savage vs Steamboat at Mania 3, Owen vs Bret at Mania 10 and Bret vs Austin at Wrestlemania 13.






6) Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji) vs Hulk Hogan (w/Jimmy Hart) for the WWF Championship


Jimmy Hart's "BACK" had a picture of Hogan on the back of his jacket and the camera had us all fooled as they zoomed in on it for a good 10-15 seconds. Yet, Jimmy still stands that way for like another 30.

Either way this was the re-match to the classic at Wrestlemania 9....yes, I'm being sarcastic.

Hulk's last WWF match till the Spring of 2002 so it's historic for something I guess.

A lot of Hulkamaniacs were sad to see him go and followed him to WCW.

A lot of wrestling fans wanted him gone.

A win/lose for the WWF at the time, but mostly just a big loss.


Yokozuna pinned Hogan following a leg drop at 13:09 after a fireball from a cameraman's camera blinded Hogan. Yokozuna becomes the WWF Champion for a 2nd time in his career. I'm sure he was hoping this reign would last JUST a little longer then the his last one. It did. A little TO LONG if you ask me.

Goodbye Hulk.

Hello, year long title run Yoko......



** (For the significance....I guess)







7) The Smokin' Gunns (Billy and Bart) and The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) vs The Headshrinkers (Samu and Fatu) (w/Afa) and Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster)


Some 8 man tag team action in the later stages of the PPV event. This match probably could have opened the event but I guess it's a good thing it didn't considering Bret and Razor opening this event always is a good thing for me.

This match wasn't paticularly bad but it was just kind of there. The guys got tagged in and did there thing and that was it.


Billy pinned DiBiase with an inside cradle at 6:49. That's that. The match was over.

Pretty decent, but nothing more.


* 1/2







8) "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels (w/Diesel) vs Crush for the Intercontinental Championship


Good match up here.

May Crush Rest in Peace.

Shawn was always entertaining in the 90's.

Back and forth stuff for the most part.


Michaels pinned Crush with a superkick to the back of the head at 11:14, after outside distraction from two Doinks to retain the IC Title. Michaels was a great IC Champion but that often gets forgotten when discussions of his career get brought up because it's over shadowed by basically everything else and rightfully so. Still though, it's a good run he had back in the day you could see a star was just waiting to break out in him.

I enjoy this match more then most in all likely hood. Still solid mid-card action for the IC Title on a big PPV.

Very good match, an underrated one and definately one of Crush's best.


***







9) Main Event- KOTR Final: Bret "The Hitman" Hart vs Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Luna Vachon) to decide the winner of the King of the Ring tournament



How this never made Bret's DVD, I'll never know. Perhaps he wanted to include some variety on his DVD but his match in Spain can't touch this one. They're both great in there own right though.

Bam Bam who was heavily favored looked like he was just seconds away from beating Bret time and time again.

But that's what made this story so great, Bret's will to become the KING OF THE RING.

Bret faught back in a big way and the whole crowd was behind him. Amazing performance by both men, and especially The Hitman.

Savage puts him over on the broadcast but he really didn't need to when HE PUT HIMSELF over in the ring, but it all helped. R-E-S-P-E-C-T as Savage would say for Bret.

Bigelow originally had won the match after Vachon attacked Bret with a steel chair, but the match was restarted.....

Just a few moments later Bret pinned Bigelow after a Victory roll at 18:11 to become the first ever "official", KING OF THE RING.

Simply incredible that he could of went that long after everything in the night already.


During Bret's cornation ceremony, he was confronted by Jerry "The King" Lawler, who claimed to be the real "king" of the WWF. Lawler attacked Hart after he called him a "Burger King", leading to a lengthy feud between the two. The best part of that feud of course was how the King got to hate all of the Hart's (including Stu and Helen) except Owen because he was a heel.

Great main event to a great show.



*** 3/4





------------------------------------------------------------------



Final PPV Rating for WWF King of the Ring 1993 = 8.5/10


What an excellent show overall. A lot of great matches and a historic show at that. The start of the 10 year King of the Ring Anthology, the end of the Hogan era, the official beginning of Bret's time on top and what a show he put on. 3 great matches including a five star classic to become the first ever "official" King of the Ring winner. This show is always one of my favourites to pop in and for good reason. You get quality matches and it's highly entertaining. This event is highly reccomended if you've yet to see it. It still today remains an underrated gem and is probably the best all around King of The Ring event of all time.







Feedback appreciated as always if you want to discuss








Up Next From Austin101: "WWF King of The Ring 1994"







(stay tuned......)





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[btbgod]

Nice review Austin, damm your doing so many reviews it hard for me to keep up with them lol. So i just watched this PPV after i saw your review so i could give proper feedback.

Hart Vs Perfect was amazing ***** classic and proof that Curt Henning should of held the WWE title at some point during his time there.

The tag team match was pretty much a *1/2 as you said it was just there, it wasn't a bad match but for some reason i just didnt enjoy it despite it featuring one of my favorite tag teams Money Inc.


The main event was great, and i agree it should of been on Brets DVD, although i dont actually own the DVD myself it seems like a match that should of been on there.

Hogan Vs Yokuzuna, oh god boring you were being to kind rating it ** i would give it a * if that.

I Think the IC match great and shows Crush could of been a good solid midcarder back then if only he wasn't booked in stupid fueds with Doink.

Tatanka Vs Luger, it was a decent match that went on to long in my view. Tatanka and Luger had many matches together but the length was the key factor in them always turning out bad.

Bam Bam Vs Hacksaw was a absolute dud, really shows Hacksaw was a bad in ring performer he was never any good even in his prime... which amazingly was then.

Mr Hughes Vs Pefect, Hughes was a terrible in ring worker these big guys have been bad in the ring even dating back to then really dont see why Vince is so dumb he hasnt picked up the trend yet. Bad match * however that was not caused by perfect as he is one of the greatest in ring workers in the last 20 years.

Hart Vs Ramon great stuff here, thats all there is to say ***

Overall was a decent PPV featuring one of the greatest matches in the last 15 years.
However there were a lot of poor matches which affects how i rate this PPV overall, i will give it a 6/10 just for the IC title match and the Perfect Vs Hart rest of the ppv sucked in all honesty.

[Courtz]

Finally got my Wrestlemania Anthology set in the post today, I'm off to go have a Wrestlemania marathon

[-Destiny-]

With having some extra money remaining from Christmas I think it's time I update my WWE dvd collection, could someone give me their reviews, ratings or opinions on the following...

Tagged Classics : In Your House 17 (Ground Zero) & In Your House 18 (Bad Blood)
Tagged Classics : Royal Rumble 1997 & 1998
Ladder Match (Want people's thoughts on the documentary if their is one.
Tagged Classics : Survivor Series 1997 & 1998
Rey Mysterio : Biggest Little Man

Yer, I'm too lazy to go back and find them.

[btbgod]

Originally Posted by Courtz

Finally got my Wrestlemania Anthology set in the post today, I'm off to go have a Wrestlemania marathon

Awsome, a lot of the manias make for excellent viewing, Austin has reviewed them all so if you cant decide where to start take a look back at his reviews.

[btbgod]

Originally Posted by Killah RKO™

With having some extra money remaining from Christmas I think it's time I update my WWE dvd collection, could someone give me their reviews, ratings or opinions on the following...

Tagged Classics : In Your House 17 (Ground Zero) & In Your House 18 (Bad Blood)
Tagged Classics : Royal Rumble 1997 & 1998
Ladder Match (Want people's thoughts on the documentary if their is one.
Tagged Classics : Survivor Series 1997 & 1998
Rey Mysterio : Biggest Little Man

Yer, I'm too lazy to go back and find them.

Out of all those, i would go for Rey Mysterio DVD it has some classic matches on it plus its really cheap on HMV its only like 12.99

[Word]

Originally Posted by Killah RKO™

With having some extra money remaining from Christmas I think it's time I update my WWE dvd collection, could someone give me their reviews, ratings or opinions on the following...

Tagged Classics : In Your House 17 (Ground Zero) & In Your House 18 (Bad Blood)
Tagged Classics : Royal Rumble 1997 & 1998
Ladder Match (Want people's thoughts on the documentary if their is one.
Tagged Classics : Survivor Series 1997 & 1998
Rey Mysterio : Biggest Little Man

Yer, I'm too lazy to go back and find them.

Ladder Match has no doc. but the match listing is really solid. I have heard very good things about the Rey DVD and I think thats a good pick up. IYH 17 & 18 are good for the HIAC match. I hated SS 97 & 98, only good thing was screw job. 98 was not your usual PPV, probably worth a look.

Look at the star ratings thread. Im sure you will find what you want there.

[Tom Ormo]

How come my review of Royal Rumble '98 isnt in the DVD Ratings thread