[1993-10-30-WWF-Superstars] Tatanka vs Ludvig Borga

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Joined in progress. Borga ends Tatanka's winning streak after a few minutes of shockingly decent action. Yokozuna comes down to add to the carnage, doing a Bansai drop on Tatanka's ribs. Meanwhile, Luger is battling the Quebecers backstage by himself and tries to save and after a few minutes, finally does.

[Kevin Ridge]

Borga no sells a back suplex by Tatanka and pops up like he is Hogan! Chair shot to Tatanka and Borga pins him by only using one finger. Love the visual though do not think Tatanka was beat up in a way that he was completely knocked out to get pinned like that. Anyways, the long winning streak is over and Borga is the man to do it. Yokozuna squashes Tatanka out of the Survivor Series match. Luger tries to make the save but Quebecers delay him briefly. Good build up for that match.

[PeteF3]

Borga no-sells most of Tatanka's offense and is pushed huge, but doesn't offer much on offense besides chinlocks and a nice clothesline. And holding his arms out. Kudos to Tatanka for selling his ass off for this--he honest-to-God carries this by selling the rib injury. That said, for Tatanka to be knocked out for 5 minutes from one chairshot to the back was a little excessive, even if the one-finger pin was a great touch. Yokozuna squashes his ribs further after the match, though I would think Tatanka being out that long would be evidence of some major brain damage at this point and a far bigger concern than some rib injuries. Cut to the back as the Quebecers are holding off Lex Luger. Borga was a shitty worker but this was a hot segment, and if they were going to push him as a main eventer then this was a victory he needed. I really don't like Luger singlehandedly running Borga and Yoko off, though.

[garretta]

There were a ton of things wrong with this.

 

First, not allowing Tatanka any offense at all​? I can understand Borga getting the better of things, but if Vince wanted to see him in a squash, there are still plenty of jobbers who could have handled that. I'm guessing that Tatanka's future isn't going to be very bright, at least not as a face. I just don't see how he's going to recover from not getting any effective offense at all in against Borga.

 

Second, they could have done the Yoko stuff another time, or even have Borga ​be the one to injure Tatanka instead. Why is Yoko the one and only heel who can do damage to anybody lately? Survivor Series teammate or not, there really shouldn't have been a place for him in this setup.

 

Third, I can understand Luger having to fight off the Quebecers in the locker room, but in the aisle? And to be taken down by one of them to boot? Luger should have been using his plated forearm to be racking up lifeless bodies between the locker room and the ring, and it wouldn't have hurt for him to knock Borga out cold either once he got there. He needed to be seen as strong again, able to deal with Yoko and his team or whoever else was going to get in America's way. Needless to say, that didn't happen. (As an aside, where were the Steiners to help him, or at least be lookouts just in case Levy got spunky?)

 

Finally, I agree with Vince: Where were the paramedics? It's absurd that medical help for Tatanka hadn't come yet by the time the disc cut out. It's almost business-exposing if you think about it, like the paramedics are saying, "It's all fake anyway. The Indian'll jump up in a minute, shake hands with the Jap and the Fin, and they'll all head out for beers. Nothin' to worry about." If they needed help to make sure no one interfered with them, the Steiners could have handled it.

 

How strange was it to hear Lawler telling Vince not to go to Tatanka's aid? Leaving aside the fact that the commentary was post-produced at Titan Towers, what good did Lawler think Vince was going to do? The man hadn't done anything athletic since he'd lettered in croquet and polo at Harvard.

 

Seriously, I know the King's supposed to be an obnoxious twit who knows he can say pretty much what he wants to and be protected since he's a broadcaster, but his urge to be provocative leads to utter nonsense more often than I can take. Now that his feud with Bret's almost done, I wish he'd gone back to Memphis full-time and Vince had re-signed Heenan instead, even if it had cost him a few grand out of his own pocket to get Bobby the neck operation he needed and a few more for plane tickets so Bobby could visit his daughter at college.

[soup23]

The action wasn't great but not awful. The chair shot was a little much as Tatanka was unconscious forever. This works at putting over Borga as he still pins him with one finger. I liked the camera angle of Lex in the back trying to get into the ring only to be stopped by the Quebeccers. Yokozuna continues to show up in the hottest angles in the company to show he is the ace heel.