[1993-07-24-WWF-Superstars] Update: Luger vs Yoko is on!

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I suspect Gorilla Monsoon's claim that Jack Tunney has received telegrams to see Luger vs Yoko is false.

 

Jack Tunney is on the phone talking to Vince McMahon where he mentions the "deluge" of support for Lex Luger.

 

Tunney says Luger can have the match, but must wear a protective pad on his steel-plated elbow.

 

I should add that I miss figureheads that have no discernable charisma and don't do perfectly worded and clever promos, because it makes the wrestlers stand out more.

[Kevin Ridge]

Gorilla is now wearing a big Lex Luger button on his jacket. But he lays off his on the attacking of President Tunney from previous Update. Tunney makes his big announcement over the telephone with Vince McMahon. No coming out and talking for 20 minutes. President brings up Fuji having issues with Luger's forearm but the match is a go! However, Luger must wear a forearm pad to cover up the steel plates. Lex thanks the fans for all their support.

[PeteF3]

Never in Jack Tunney's career has he seen such a groundwell of support such as that received by Lex Luger. Okay. Fuji has fought against a title match on the basis of Luger's metal forearm--but he gets the shot anyway, as long as he wears a WWF-approved forearm pad.

 

Vince asks Tunney point-blank if there are any other stipulations, and Jack says, "No, that's it." Holy fuck, Jack, talk about burying the lede. I suspected Tunney was secretly in camp with Mr. Fuji from the time he "congratulated" Yokozuna on his title win while ignoring the fireball camera, and this may clinch it. On a more serious note, I wonder if the later "one title shot only" add was not another sign of something I already suspected--that Vince had actually given up on the Luger megapush even before SummerSlam.

[soup23]

Tunney on the phone seems odd as he deadpans talks about the support Luger has gained. This feels a little heavy handed and is my least favorite segment since Luger slammed Yoko. Luger really was dominating TV around this time in WWF land.

[garretta]

This was pretty cut-and-dried, as Tunney and Vince announce the main event for SummerSlam.

 

Pete mentioned that he believes that Vince had already given up on Luger before SummerSlam. It's a thought, but if he had, couldn't he have done what he did for Warrior five years before and simply sidelined Luger with phony injuries (maybe even from a minor crash of the Lex Express) and substituted whomever he wanted? The problem is, of course, who does he substitute? Hogan's bridge is burned, Bret's already working twice, Crush is out injured and even a worse talker than Luger, and Savage really isn't a believable opponent for Yoko. Hall may ​have been a good choice if they'd started to officially turn him sooner, but they didn't. That's probably why Luger got the shot anyway, even if Vince knew he wasn't putting the belt on him.

 

Gino mentions that Fuji's "lips are sealed" concerning the situation. They would remain so forevermore, as Corny would come in as Yoko's American spokesman the following Monday (8/2) on Raw​. Corny and Yoko really don't seem like much of a fit, but I haven't seen a whole lot of them together, so maybe I'll change my mind once I do. It's a shame that this wasn't a few years earlier, as Fuji was excellent as "Master Fuji" during Demolition's epic tag title run. Of course, that was mostly because he smiled and bowed a lot while Bill Eadie did most of the talking.