[1993-08-30-WWF-Summerslam] Shawn Michaels vs Mr Perfect

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Another disappointing match for these two, put on the set to show how this feud really failed to live up to the hype, both on house shows and PPV. You'd think these two would have better chemistry than they do.

[MJH]

It was the wrong way round. The only good match they had was when Perfect was heel and Shawn face.

[El-P]

It was the wrong way round. The only good match they had was when Perfect was heel and Shawn face.

Yep. Perfect was a lame face. And really both are overrated, and them having the same kinda style (overbumping for the face, weak on offense) just made it impossible to have a really good match together. Michaels had a way better serie with Tatanka, and Perfect worked much better with Doink.

[Frankensteiner]

I did not think Perfect was a lame face. In fact, he was more of a "cool" tweener-type face who would bend the rules and this period was really my favorite of his entire WWF run. I really liked his matches with Flair, Luger, Samu, Doink, Bret, and Yoko during this time. Yes, he did not have a lot of offense but he did his stuff with a lot of conviction. His chops were great. He also had some awesome squash matches around this time just murdering jobbers.

 

As far as this match, it feels incomplete. It feels like they're setting up another 10 minutes and all of a sudden it gets cut off. This was a bad way to end the feud. Perfect/Michaels had some good brawls at WM backstage and then in front of the Manhattan Center where Perfect slammed Michaels on the hood of a car. For whatever reason they felt it was more important to set up Perfect/Diesel than to properly blow this feud off. Which was stupid.

[Kevin Ridge]

They hyped up this match that it would be a great WWF IC title match like Perfect/Hart from Summerslam 91. I dislike this more and more as I watch it on repeated viewings. It might have made a passable TV match if they were building to something down the road. It just ends out of nowhere with the count out victory for Michaels. The focus then shifts to Diesel versus Perfect. Time to move on from something that just was not working. Disappointing feud.

[PeteF3]

The problem with these two is they were both, at this point, defined by huge bumps and not a ton of offense. So that's a problem, because neither guy really plays to the other's strengths. Also these two simply don't seem to be on the same page for much of this, which is harder to explain considering how often they'd wrestled on house shows. There's a token attempt at psychology here with Michaels focusing on Perfect's bad back, but Vince and Heenan fail to pick up on his history and Perfect's selling isn't anything special. The big Diesel push is officially underway, as he cold cocks Perfect after the match with a punch--a gimmick that wouldn't last. Perfect really got eviscerated on PPV throughout 1993.

[Matt D]

Perfect's face offense in 93 is a lot better than his heel offense in 89-91. You can see it in the Doink series really well. He was probably the most over guy on the roster in January 1993, so it's a bit of a shame they didn't run with him more.

[soup23]

An interesting match as seeing the house show between these two made me have no expectations at all. This was an improvement of that chicken shit lazy performance but both guys still seem unwilling of advancing and trying new things to help the match reach that second gear. Michaels has been an interesting performer to watch in 93 and 96 as I am consistently enjoying his performances in 96 more than I ever have before while at the same time being let down by his 93 stuff. The tools are all there, he just decided when to turn them on or off. I will see what 92 and 95 holds, but I almost think you can make a case that of what I have seen so far, 93 has been his most disappointing year in ring wise since his debut. **3/4

[Marty]

I kinda felt Perfect felt out of place as a regular competitor by this point, with Savage being mostly a commentator and a number of guys from earlier in the year leaving (Hogan, Beefcake, Boss Man, Nasty Boys, etc.). Shawn had a strong first half of '93, but I thought the Perfect feud was a step down for that reason. The IC title angle with Ramon got him back on track.

[garretta]

I wouldn't say that this was bad, but it was certainly strange.

 

I say that becuse of the way the match was set up out of nowhere. These guys have been feuding on and off since after Mania IX, and now all of a sudden Curt is Shawn's mentor? Did that little piece of breaking news come to Vince in a dream the night before SummerSlam or what? These two have never even been associates in the WWF, let alone have any kind of close relationship.

 

Next, we all know Heenan roots for the heels, but he was so far over the top for Shawn here that Vince had to call him out on it. He hasn't been this animated since he was Flair's advisor, and for whatever reason it grated on me when it usually doesn't. Then again, he was overexcited in what we saw of Luger-Yoko too, although I guess you could justify that by saying that Luger "turned" on him by accepting Yoko's challenge on the Intrepid​. He had his good moments here too, and Vince is finally starting to set him up in a way similar to what Gino used to do (the bit centered around "do what you have to do" is a classic), but I think I'm starting to see why leaving for WCW might have been the best move Bobby could have made.

 

Third, I understand why they wanted to spotlight Nash, but the finish was off. Why wouldn't they have him knock Curt out with a punch (which he did after the match anyway) and have Shawn get the pin because of it? That way, Shawn could have ducked him for future title matches by claiming a pinfall victory, and Curt and Nash could have gone on to their feud. As it is, nothing's settled between Curt and Shawn, but while Curt has Nash to deal with, Shawn's feudless unless you count his house show series with Hall. If I'm not mistaken, doesn't Shawn "lose his smile" for the first time not too long after this, which led to the IC battle royal on ​Raw ​and Hall beating Rick Martel, of all people, to win the belt? Could Shawn have been balking at the idea of dropping the belt to Hall himself?

 

The match itself was decent, though probably not as good as it could have been. It really got going after Shawn started working on Curt's back, and I especially enjoyed the over-the-knee backbreaker he used, which is almost too technical a move for the WWF in 1993. They did a great job talking up Curt's SummerSlam history (though for whatever reason they neglected his loss to Bret in '91), and his second-generation roots, which they've seldom done before. I almost cheered out loud when I saw Curt actually use the Ax, although Vince stubbornly tried to sell it as a punch instead.

 

The brawl after the match was a lot more heated than the match itself, and as usual Mean Gene was right there in the middle. It's a pity than he'll be gone from the WWF in less than two weeks, and Todd Pettengill doesn't look like much of a replacement.

 

Can anybody tell me why Bobby all of a sudden said "The Steiners don't look good, do they?" right in the middle of the match out of nowhere? Vince seemed genuinely puzzled, and Heenan immediately no-sold it. He didn't sound drunk, but he clearly wasn't "focused on his broadcasting", as Vince put it later when he called Bobby out on rooting for Shawn too much.

[JKWebb]

I'm with Frankensteiner in loving this era of Perfect.  I enjoy him as a face here quite a bit, and I really enjoyed this match up to the finish.  It also felt to me like they were building to something pretty solid until the end.  I liked Bobby on commentary too.  "He just hit a man with glasses!" cracked me up. 

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels vs Mr. Perfect - WWF Summerslam 1993

I would say this match is a victim of expectations and a rough Hennig performance early. In a lot of ways they wanted to wrestle this NWA/AWA Heavyweight Championship style match but were only given 11 minutes and a shitty finish. They trade holds early. It is symmetrical and respectful. The idea is to see who the best wrestler is. Michael’s is the one supplying the energy and movement. Perfect is cutting him off at the pass. They blow a flying hammerlock spot and Michael’s has to go to the corner twice. It was just weird. Was Perfect already Injured? I see he starts a Diesel program after this and last two more months before not returning until 1997 in WCW. He seemed off. Shawn is feeding him good spots to thwart him but even the top rope crossbody into arm drag feels weird.

Shawn feeds him a catapult. Diesel distraction. BANG~! Sweet Chin Music! But it is not a big deal yet. Great transition. The back work by Shawn is tight. Love sit down splash and a good “Goddamnit!” by Perfect! Perfect fights his way out the backbreaker stretch. Perfect’s comeback is great! The hurdle->dropkick, the inverted atomic drop and axe looked great. Perfect Plex was killer. Diesel yanking him out and then brawling and Hebner watching and even getting hit BUT NOT calling the DQ was egregious. Calling that a count out victory for Michael’s was stupid. Diesel/Shawn beat down a feisty Mr. perfect to start the Perfect/Diesel program. 
 

Terrible finish aside, I thought from the Catapult on this was a good match but the beginning is rough. Disappointing given who is involved but still good. ***