[1993-08-30-WWF-Summerslam] Lex Luger vs Yokozuna

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Last few minutes. Not much to say here except this was an incredibly dumb finish. Luger wins by countout, apparently not aware after wrestling for 8 years that the title doesn't change hands on a countout, and celebrates like it's the biggest win of his life.

[Matt D]

Not having seen any of this stuff since 93, and even then, having missed a lot of it when it happened, I was under the impression that the whole Lex Express stuff was a terribly thought out, mismanaged, horribly executed, bomb.

 

I know as a kid I didn't get how they expected us to buy that one day he was the Narcissist talking in a funny voice and wearing a cape and having a mirror and the next day he was USA Lex.

 

Actually having watching the TV, I'm not entirely sure how they could have done it better. It was tremendously well done. They really stacked the deck in the favor of the angle and I think they should get a ton of credit for it because it really did have a high level of difficulty

 

That said, obviously they blew the payoff.

[Kevin Ridge]

They probably should have thrown somebody else at Yokozuna at Summerslam. Trying to think of who that would be. What was the original planned opponent for Yokozuna in the first place? Hart/Hogan was booked as probably the main event of the show until Hogan backed out. Maybe should have been Undertaker since he would have saved face anyways with some type of count out/disqualification. Luger got pushed so quickly and heavily after July 4th that having him face Yoko right away at Summerslam there was little choice but to put the WWF title on him. You keep Luger away from Yoko as long as possible and build him up more slowly that it pays off much better later on. I think it was going to be a struggle with Bret though as the fans were more endeared to him. Luger takes out both Fuji and Cornette and then KO's Yokozuna who gets knocked out cold to the outside. Awful finish with Luger being well aware this was his only contractual chance at title match against Yoko but he settles for a count out victory. They rush a celebration with guys coming out trying to ignore that Luger didn't actually win the title.

[Loss]

If I remember correctly, they had a brief house show resurgence in this time (at least by the standards of a really tough time for the company), and Vince made the call that because of that, they could hold off on Lex's big win for the next time that houses started to fall.

[Kevin Ridge]

Speaking of house show attendances for this time, I couldn't help but notice that Hogan and Beefcake at the Boston Garden only drew 3,500 on June 26th. Down from 5,800 for Flair/Hart in January and 6,000 for Hart & Perfect vs Ramon/Luger in March. There is the drop for Hogan before picking up slightly (4,800) for Hart/Yokozuna in September. People were not excited for Hogan's return. Bret/Shawn get questioned as draws but not sure anyone would be drawing in WWF/WCW during this time period.

[PeteF3]

Certainly heated--this was a really loud crowd almost all night. For all the attempts at turning the Narcissist into a humble everyman, we get Luger heroically cheating by taking off his forearm pad and cold-cocking Yokozuna with his forearm. In the end, it's all simply Hogan's "I can do anything cuz I'm the babyface" act all over again, except I don't think Hogan would be stupid enough to beat up managers while his one and only chance at winning the title lies unconscious on the arena floor. Of course Luger and McMahon don't seem to notice or care that the title doesn't change hands, and they and the other babyfaces treat this like a Super Bowl victory while Heenan vainly attempts to bring some sanity to the proceedings.

 

I've gone on and on about how much I hated this push at the time, and I'll try to wrap up the Cool Story Bro Memory Lane act. But before I do...I was so pissed off at the phony attempt at this Luger mega-push, and yet I felt even MORE ripped off when after all of this, they still don't have the guts to pull the trigger and put the belt on him. I really, truly could have accepted Luger as triumphant babyface champ at that point, but when they swerved us with the countout finish I didn't give a shit where they went with it next, I simply felt like the previous two months were entirely a waste of time. It still feels that way--the WWF was booking to a devoted hardcore audience, because that was pretty much all they had left. And that devoted hardcore audience already knew of Luger's reputation as a title match choker. Now he was definitively established as the Buffalo Bills of wrestling.

 

Attendance spikes and TV ratings going up...whatever. Someone's free to correct me but I don't recall Hulk Hogan coming in and having to spend 6 months "chasing" the Iron Sheik before winning the title, nor do I believe Bruno Sammartino had to deal with months of bullshit finishes while chasing Stan Stasiak. Rethinking and altering your booking philosophy is admirable--necessary, even, at this point. But giving a new babyface the biggest push in company history and not pulling the trigger ASAP was simply too much for most WWF fans to handle. If you want to tie a rocket to the guy, don't "save it for the right time"--fucking do it. Seems most of the time the "right time" doesn't ever come to pass.

 

EDIT: As I was typing all that up during the celebration...Vince with the quote of the night: "YOKOZUNA'S THE WINNER!" That will get the WON award for Freudian Slip of the Year.

[soup23]

Cornette's outfit is awesome here. This does have great heat and I am conflicted as to what to do. i think this was the old school Titan booking philosophy colliding with the changing of the times. Looking at the history of the promotion, almost assuredly Luger would have went over here whether he was ready or not. However, giving the nature of the surrounding stuff with the decline in popularity, the incoming litigation, and the prospect of what Yoko could become created a situation where they were locked into having to make a difficult choice. Instead they decide to compromise and end up costing Luger his overall career. I don't know whether his ridiculous cheering was his encouragement or the company but Im holding a lot of the company responsible for the confetti, wrestlers coming out, and Vince screaming on commentary. We just saw a cleverly done cop out finish so that makes this all the more sour when watching. This show was solid all around but it ends with a thud here.

[garretta]

Yeah, Luger really looked the fool here. He never even tried to get Yoko back in the ring, which ruins the impact of the big forearm. I didn't see him remove his pad, but if he did, that's even worse. You ignore the main sttipulation of the match (aside from this being your one and only shot at the title, of course) and then don't try to follow up on it? Just how dumb are you really​, Narcissus?

 

As I've said before, regardless of who reported it, I don't believe the "We were waiting for the houses to tank" story for a second. Vince knew even as he was having his verbal fit at ringside that Luger was never going to be champion no matter what. If he was really setting up Luger to win the belt, why not headline the house shows with him and Yoko in a cage, or with Fuji/Corny banned from ringside, or in a lumberjack match? Make sure that the fans know that Luger's still chasing Yoko by having Tunney disallow in some way the "only one shot" stip. I can't figure out quite how, but there needed to be rematches in every market throughout the fall, with a Luger team victory at Survivor Series and a clean Royal Rumble win thrown in. Then, have Luger take one last shot at Mania X and beat Yoko once and for all.

 

Of course, that never came close to happening, none of it. Instead, Luger went on to feud with Ludwig Borga, that devastating threat from America's mortal enemy, Finland. That wouldn't have been a good title program, and it sure as hell didn't make any sense when Luger didn't ​have the title. It's almost impossible to figure out what they should have done instead; Bret-Lawler was too hot not to blow off, and Taker-Gigante needed to happen for whatever reason. If I'd been Vince, I might have kept Hogan happy for a while longer and had him win the belt for the fourth time here. If you're going to give someone the Hogan push anyway, why not the man who defined it? What happens after that I don't know, and what Luger does if he's still the Narcissist I also don't know. I guess the endgame is Bret going over clean at Mania X, but if Hogan balked at doing the job here, would he do it at Mania, and at MSG (where it all began for him) to boot?

 

Nice touch by Corny in selling what I presume were injuries given to him by Bullet Bob back home in SMW. That's something I don't see Lawler (or Bret, for that matter) doing.

 

I loved Heenan nearly having a stroke yelling "HIPLOCK! HIPLOCK!" after Luger slammed Yoko. I've never heard him go quite that crazy before, and that's what made it so memorable. His broadcast partner could definitely take a lesson from that, but we all know he won't. Bobby was also great begging for someone to help Yoko and Fuji, and we needed him to remind us that Luger hadn't really accomplished anything, confetti and Vince's verbal orgasm notwithstanding. Vince, of course, no-sold the whole business. I still maintain that someone wised him up to what happened when Luger was WCW champion, and that he may have even done the whole celebration as a way of telling Luger, "See, this ​is what you could have been for years if I'd trusted you!" Whether he ever told Luger that, or whether Luger ever figured it out on his own, I have no idea, but you can't convince me that Vince didn't know he was killing Luger's chance to be on top forever. This was too well thought out not to be a "screw you" moment, period.

 

(Just to be clear, I don't think the finish was a Montreal-type screwjob. I'm just saying that he knew going into SummerSlam that Luger was never going to be his champion, no matter what the dirtsheets may have reported.)

 

I forgot to say that I missed the whole "Yokozuna's the winner!" bit. I think Pete may have misheard, because I don't recall Yoko's name being mentioned by anybody but Heenan during the celebration except in terms of a possible rematch.

[Dooley]

 

I forgot to say that I missed the whole "Yokozuna's the winner!" bit. I think Pete may have misheard, because I don't recall Yoko's name being mentioned by anybody but Heenan during the celebration except in terms of a possible rematch.

 

It's there. Heenan chimes in with "Yes! And he's still got the WWF title!" and keeps ranting.

[garretta]

I must have missed it with all the other hullabaloo going on. To be honest, I was about ready to mute the whole ball of wax, they were all so obnoxious.

 

Thanks, Dooley!

[ajtroma]

Corny also had the neckbrace on during their appearance on Regis & Kathy Lee that morning, referring to some trouble he's having down in Knoxville. The real problem here is Yokozuna just cannot do a long main event match. It's amazing really he was able to do as much as he could but there was a morbid fear watching him out there after more than like 6 minutes.

[Superstar Sleeze]

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Yokozuna vs Lex Luger - WWF Summerslam 1993

Well a hidden gem this was not. Why on earth is this 18minutes? have never a WWF Lex Luger match in my life. Luger is one of my Top 100 favorites and a wrestler I think is around #75 greatest wrestler of all time but I have never seen a WWF match. I don’t like Luger with the short hair. He looks like an American Gladiator which is en vogue bur I love long hair Sexy Lexy.

I watched this match yesterday but didn’t have enough time to review. The beginning is pretty good. That second heat segment is excoriating. If you cut out that, it is a good match. You cut out that and tack on a good finish, the sky’s limit. 
 

Early on, they want to establish that Luger is not just a dumb jock He-Man. He’s got brains. As I was watching him outsmart Yoko I was like where’s Jim Ross when you need him, to extol Luger’s 3.78 GPA at the U. A couple minutes later Vince brings up his A+ GPA. This might be my favorite weird wrestling talking point. They do some cat & mouse early. Yoko is missing moves. Luger is taking advantage with hit & run offense. Luger is also wise to Fuji’s shenanigans. What does Luger in is when he goes brawn instead of brains. He tries to body slam Yoko too early. Yoko takes advantage here. It spills to the outside. Yoko misses a chair shot. Luger comes back. It is a series of double axe handles. He winds it up and it is a flying forearm off the top for 2! Big pop for all that.

Time for an aside. I guess Luger had an injury or an accident and they put a metal plate in his forearm. So they made the Flying Burrito his finish and had him drop the Torture Rack which is kinda classic WWF. Luger did of course rack the Giant and Roadblock but I feel like Yoko should have been tougher. Giant’s weight was more evenly distributed and Roadblock is smaller than Yoko. I think Yoko’s weight was more in his ass and it would have been more challenging. Thoughts?

So next aside, back to the flying forearm so due to the metal plate Cornette’s negotiated the contract to the match that Luger had to wear a pad on the forearm. Well you know that’s going to be the finish now. 
 

Honestly, I felt like the flying forearm off the top was the mid-match climax. If they just did, some Yoko cheating, a Yoko near fall, miss the Banzai, Bodyslam, unprotected Flying Forearm gone home, I would argue this was a good match. They had so much energy after that moment. I liked the transition with the salt Bucket. If they did just one big Yoko nearfall and missed Banzai. What happened was a proper Yoko heat segment. It ground this match to a fucking halt. This was fucking brutally boring. The crowd was left to die on the vine and just don’t get why they didn’t needed it. It should have been done earlier in the match because it felt like the match went in reverse. Anyways after bore de force, Yoko does miss the Banzai. They don’t go right into the body slam. He needs to miss his charging back splash in the corner which is a great set up, I will admit. Bodyslam!!! Crowd is rocking. Heenan is absolutely grating screaming hiplock. I get that’s the point. He pulls off the pad and BOOM sends Yokozuna flying to the outside. He nails Fuji. He has Corny by the tie and it is Countout Victory for our American Hero. 
 

I think 90s internet wrestling fans influenced us to believe this was rejected like as if this finish happened in 21st Century. If this happened post-2010, this finish would’ve gotten booed out of the building. The 90s internet wrestling fans are the people would’ve led the charge in the post-2010s world. However 1993 is NOT post-2010, crowd is actually happy no matter what you read. They did pop. Now I do happen to agree with 90s internet wrestling fans that this put the choker label on Luger again (he had the same problem in 1988 & 1990) and they ended up getting cold feet and his WWF career was dead in the water. He clearly was able to resurrect his career in WCW. WWF booked themselves into a corner. They could’ve just had Yoko be a transition heel champion like everyone since Superstar BUT I think they wanted a big baby face victory at WrestleMania X in MSG over the most dominant heel champion since Superstar Graham. In a lot of ways I thought Cody was going to get Luger’d but they proved me wrong. I am interested to see how the Boston Garden reacts to Luger at Survivor Series.

This matches does no favors to either man. It is more of a layout and time issue. I still Luger is an excellent wrestler and am still understanding Yoko. This is not a good match.