The WWE Network Hidden Gems releases in November were a lot of fun. They featured:
A TV pilot produced in the last days of the AWA that is so bad it becomes captivating.
The complete Survivor Series Showdown 1993, a hype show for the Survivor Series that for better or worse is prime WWF 1993.`
Two never-before-seen matches from the Mid-Atlantic territory in the summer of 1983 that ended up being the matches that headlined the first Starrcade.
And a star-studded Mid-South tag with some legends being legends even in some random tag.
Plus there was some stuff with DX, which is fine I guess. Whatever.
Degenerates of New York – D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels & Triple H) w/ Chyna vs. Stone Cold Steve Austin & The Undertaker (WWF MSG 11/15/97)
This match took place at a very important time for the WWF, as most of the top names who helped usher in the infamous Attitude Era were beginning to heat up. The original incarnation of DX had just formed and was trading barbs with Sgt. Slaughter, Stone Cold had recently stunned Vince McMahon for the first time and was feuding with a fella named The Rock, and The Undertaker had dominated Michaels in the first Hell in a Cell a few weeks before this only to be shocked by the debut of his brother Kane.
Oh, and the Montreal Screwjob took place six days prior.
Wild times – a quick card re-shuffle replaced a Fatal 4-Way for the WWF Title with Bret Hart defending against Stone Cold, Taker and his pal HBK with this tag match. Among the contests on this card: the pre-DX New Age Outlaws vs. The Headbangers, Kane vs. Vader, Ken Shamrock vs. The Rock, and Dude Love vs. Jim Neidhart (!). Michaels actually wrestled twice, defeating New York’s own Brooklyn Brawler in the middle of the show.
The match is filmed on one camera with a poor guy running all over the place to get the action. It’s prime WWF stuff – no one’s going to compliment The Workrate but the crowd is popping for a whole lot of punches. DX sells for the good guys before they crotch Taker on Old School and work over him. Crotch chop, sit-up, double clothesline, Stone Cold hot tag. Triple H almost goes down to a Stunner but HBK breaks up the pin leading to more heat before Taker tags in and kills everybody. It’s all very basic and not very good and also over as hell and takes place during a crazy moment in time. Chyna flips off Stone Cold post-match and takes a Stunner. ***1/4
Steel Cage Showdown – D-Generation X (Shawn Michaels & Triple H) vs. Legacy (Ted DiBiase & Cody Rhodes) (WWE SmackDown Dark Match 9/4/09)
This is a ultra-basic dark match during those few months in the fall of 2009 where all DX did was wrestle the Legacy boys. DX had recently re-formed when HBK returned from exile after a loss to The Undertaker at WrestleMania and Triple H moved on from a feud with Randy Orton to his new cronies, Cody and Teddy, to A) show Cody and Teddy the ropes and B) make a shit ton of money off of glowsticks. It’d all culminate with a Hell in a Cell match a month after this.
A stacked SmackDown proceeded this dark match – Jeff Hardy had just left WWE and CM Punk was the WWE Champ (this was the Punk dresses up as Hardy episode), John Morrison beat Rey Mysterio for the IC Tile in an awesome match, newcomer Drew McIntyre wrecked R-Truth. What is weird about all this is that it’s permanent RAW guys DX at a SmackDown taping. Maybe nobody thought there was a strong enough babyface on SmackDown to work the dark match (Undertaker had only recently returned and hadn’t wrestled yet), so here’s some RAW guys.
The match… the match is very much 10-minutes of formula stuff where you can maybe see Legacy learning stuff – maybe. HBK takes heat before the good guys win. DX’s banter prior to the match is probably the most interesting part, as Triple H wonders aloud, “What the hell are we doing on SmackDown?” Considering it’s a dark match I guess it’s technically been hidden, but this is no gem folks. **
AWA Team Challenge Series (AWA TV Pilot 10/23/89)
I am going to get this out of the way and say that David Bixenspan did a far better place-setting than I ever could do for this at Deadspin, so check that out first.
As Hulkamania raged all over the wrestling business, long-time Midwest wrestling company the AWA took some of its last gasps of corporate breath with a tournament concept called the Team Challenge Series, an overly complicated points-based contest with three teams led by Sgt. Slaughter, Baron von Raschke, and Larry Zbyszko. It inexplicably lasted a year long and Slaughter left for the WWF during it. Lovable enhancement talent Jake “The Milkman” Millman, who I don’t think was a part of the original line-up, eventually won the whole thing a few months before AWA closed up shop for good.
During all this, they recorded a TV pitch to try and keep things going.
But they filmed the matches in an empty arena. And cut in crowd reaction shots which are just random people at bars reacting to something else. And spliced in a lady boxing match from some lady boxing dungeon that has so many quick cuts that Kevin Dunn is re-thinking his entire life. And all the wrestlers enter encased in a green screen death trap of duplicate looping videos of fake wrestling fans. And they play to those fans! They act like they are really there!
This is not simply a wrestling TV pilot – it is an experience. Witness a once-great but quickly fading wrestling promotion experiment with new TV technology and prove that maybe, just maybe, it was sometimes OK that Vince McMahon hollowed out the territories. I am all for experimenting, but we’ve got women boxing in bikinis, overdone patriotism, hard selling of technology that enhances nothing, “Rock & Roll” actually used as a phrase… I was 2 when this was shot and I can still feel exactly how out of touch and lowest common denominator it feels. They might be trying something new, but it all feels like what those “Exposed! Pro Wrestling’s Greatest Secrets” thought wrestling was always like.
If this couldn’t get any wackier Eric Bischoff is here as the interview guy, all while he was hunting for another gig in the industry.
We open on an American flag. Bikini-clad cheerleaders are chanting intelligible things. Women are boxing in bikinis. AWA founder Verne Gagne is with his dog on what looks like a golf course wearing a sweater over a collared shirt. He introduces the Team Challenge Series, which has a whole lot of rules and, with the benefit of hindsight, did not end up well.
While Hennig and Michaels and Jannetty and Martel and Ventura and the Road Warriors experienced fame elsewhere, “Ringside” Ralph Strangis and Greg Gagne introduce us to the NEW AWA and promise us that new television technology will bring YOU – the wrestling fan – right into the ring. Plus hot, new, and exciting rock & roll will help us usher in a new era of wrestling. I just had to write all that out because it sounds so ridiculous.
The new television technology is slow-mo replays and maybe a camera guy in the ring.
1. Tommy Jammer vs. Tom Burton: This is bad but as a complete wrestling culture shock experience it might be a match I don’t soon forget. All the overdone playing to those fake fans is incredible. Ralph tells Greg to “hit the button” any time he wants a replay. The Jammer man wins with a powerslam and splash. I don’t know why I’m rating any of this. *
There’s a few cheesy, slightly uncoordinated promos in front of a green screen. Slaughter and Baron awkwardly bicker in front of some flags. Slaughter does a promo on Col. DeBeers (who he says will disgrace America if he loses for Sarge’s Snipers), then DeBeers cuts a promo in front of a different green screen but acts like he is talking to Slaughter who is no longer there.
Also, Paul Diamond cuts a promo shirtless in front of a spinning earth.
There is one truly incredible pro wrestling thing on this show and it is Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom screaming about fat slobs and waving sledgehammers at a green screen building that falls down behind them. Tremendous stupid promo. “And when we come into your living room live and in color, we’re gonna destroy yooou!”
2. The Destruction Crew (“Mean” Mike Enos & Wayne “The Train” Bloom) w/ “Luscious” Johnny Valiant vs. Ricky Rice & Jerry Lynn: Johnny Valiant playing to the fake entrance crowd is an incredible thing. The future Beverly Brothers carry sledgehammers and wear their “bright orange construction gear” to the ring. Jerry Lynn and Ricky Rice have both got about 3 years in here. Enos and Bloom can go and Lynn and Rice are fine white meat babyfaces but in this atmosphere nothing can really work that well. It’s a fine enough studio tag match. Lynn takes a MASSIVE Doomsday Device directly on his knees for the finish. **
3. Beverly Hills Knockouts Boxing Match: The Blonde Bomber w/ Mustang Sally vs. Slaughter Shawn w/ The Pink Lady: Sometimes in wrestling they will do something that feels low rent even for wrestling and this is one of those things. The Blonde Bomber and Slaughter Shawn go head-to-head at an off-site location in a sexy boxing match sanctioned by the Beverly Hills Knockout Committee. There’s a lot of horribly edited first-person shots and quick cuts and though it’s awkward by itself, as a supplement to whatever else was going on this show it reaches some other plane of weirdness.
4. Team Challenge Series – King of the Hill Match: Paul Diamond vs. Colonel DeBeers: Diamond is a guy that can hang over the top rope and avoid hitting the floor, let me tell you. *1/4
5. Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Terminator: For the main event, Ringside Ralph and Greg inform us that there are mics in the ring so you can pick up on the in-ring trash talk. Once in a while this show becomes a charming export from the early 90s when “trash talk” was a thing that was regularly said. That trash talk really isn’t all that audible, by the way. The Terminator was the third Laurinaitis brother Marcus who until seeing this show I had no idea existed, and isn’t wrestling sometimes just about the learning anyways? He has a very hairy back. The match, like all the matches, hovers around 5 minutes and is only worthwhile for seeing soon-to-be WrestleMania main eventer Sgt. Slaughter in this venue. He sells for a bit, takes a half-hearted classic buckle bump, and probably thinks to himself: I need to call Vince. Sarge submits Terminator with the Cobra Clutch but they awkwardly cut to a replay of him applying it before they go back to him giving up. Slaughter doing a crossbody might be worth all 39 minutes of your time, but probably not. DUD
One of those wrestling things that as a wrestling product in the moment is horrible, but is fun to look back on 20 years later and go, “Man, wrestling is crazy.”
Survivor Series Showdown 1993 (WWF 11/21/93)
The Hidden Gems offerings released another full show this month in the full episode of Survivor Series Showdown 1993, which aired on the USA Network on a Sunday and replaced Monday Night RAW as the go-home show for Survivor Series, which took place a few days later on the night before Thanksgiving. In addition to promos from the major Survivor Series teams, four pre-taped matches – two from the end of a block of RAW tapings in Bushkill, Pennsylvania and two in the middle of some Superstars tapings in Dehli, New York – were aired, highlighted by Yokozuna defending the WWF Title against Bret Hart.
It also ends up as a digest explanation for all the twists and turns the line-up for Survivor Series 1993 took. The last-minute changes for Survivor Series 2017 and 2018 were something, but 1993 might have it beat. In the All-Americans vs. Foreign Fanatics elimination match (I miss the cheesy names they’d give every team on the early Survivor Series… Team RAW just doesn’t have the same ring to it), The Undertaker had replaced Tatanka after Tatanka was injured by Yokozuna and Ludvig Borga, while Crush had replaced Quebeccer Pierre after the metal plate in Lex Luger’s forearm put him down.
Meanwhile, Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler had been feuding for most of 1993 and were going to lead teams in an elimination match with Bret’s brothers against Lawler’s masked “knights,” but Lawler had what wrestling history might call “legal issues” but was really an accusation of statutory rape that was eventually thrown out when the accusers ended up not testifying. So Shawn Michaels, who had only recently returned to TV after a suspension for steroid use, hastily took Lawler’s place as guy who terrorizes Stu and Helen Hart and the entire Hart family.
In addition to all this, in the few days between Survivor Series Showdown and Survivor Series proper, Vince McMahon was indicted in a case that would become the infamous Steroid Trial that almost brought the entire World Wrestling Federation crashing down, which would’ve really hurt inside.
Vince McMahon and Bobby Heenan introduce the show and do commentary from New York, while Gorilla Monsoon and Jim Ross handle duties for Pennsylvania. There are a lot of bad puns and jokes as these aging men try to adapt to the 1990s… Gorilla has heard if Bastion Booger loses, he’s going to go to Hollywood to make another prehistoric movie… JURASSIC PORK!
1. Doink the Clown vs. Bastion Booger: We are fully enveloped in 1993 WWF and though it has its charms this was very bad. Doink is all clowned up – scooter, big glasses, balloons, a bucket of confetti. Booger carries a pizza box to the ring like it’s his own Damien the Snake and takes a bump early when he tries to ride Doink’s scooter. After a kick to the rear end and trip from Doink, Booger exclaims he’s not wrestling a clown… then he does, and it’s very boring. And Booger is very bad and being a fumbling heel. They do a weird finish that might sound better on paper: Booger covers Doink, Doink pats him quickly for 3 so dumbass Booger thinks the ref counted and he won, and Doink rolls up Booger for 3. DUD
The All-Americans and Foreign Fanatics are interviewed at different times during the show by Raymond Rougeau and it’s a trip to see Ray interview his brother and former Fabulous Rougeaus tag partner Jacques, who has gone through a couple gimmick changes. Lex Luger ranting and raving and Crush being all “LISTEN UP YOU BUNCH OF AMERICAN PUKES!” is peak 1993 ehhhh.
Since it’s the go-home show for Survivor Series, Todd Pettengill brings us an episode of “How to Order a Pay Per View” where he explains that PPV is legit now and easy to order – you used to get some Russian girl on the line, first day on the job – NO MORE! The WWF awkwardly teaching their viewers how to see their content is a tradition as old as time.
2. Crush vs. Virgil: All I am going to see about this is that it is kind of a great Virgil performance. He makes the freshly turned heel Crush look like a killer – sells some early shots by hopping on one foot, holds onto Crush’s straps and just lightly headbutts him before being swatted down, is heaving on his comebacks… it’s a fun example of a guy doing his j-o-b and the crowd is all about it. **1/2
To hype the Hart Family match, Shawn Michaels visits the home of “Stu and Helen Hart” with Reo Rogers, who was Bruce Prichard doing a very very short-lived commentary and interviewer gimmick (Reo’s Roundup) where he used an over-the-top and unnecessary Dusty Rhodes accent. Stu and Helen are of course not the real deal, with Helen someone wearing an old lady mask. I cracked up at Shawn’s “you didn’t have to get all gussied up for us” when Helen let him in. There’s a big poster of Bret and small trading card of Owen on the wall, with a nice touch. They visit the man cave of Stu, who is a guy in a George Washington mask and Bret Hart sunglasses playing SNES.
3. Irwin R. Shyster vs. Marty Jannetty: Not a super exciting but a very technically proficient matchup, with Rotundo doing his headlocks and Marty being a champion of a babyface. IRS does long holds because government work is boring, see. He gets loud IRRRR-WIN chants vs. boring chants, so good for him. Marty takes a flip bump when IRS catches him with a clothesline for the win. **1/4
4. WWF World Heavyweight Title: Yokozuna [c] w/ Mr. Fuji vs. Bret Hart: On Superstars the other day, Mr. Fuji had interrupted a Bret Hart vs. IRS match to “scout” Bret only to find himself knocked down by Hart, which brought out Yokozuna and Cornette and led to a DQ. Bret’s little brother Owen ran-in and jumped on IRS, then Bret knocked Yoko off the apron (spectacular bump, as always). And now we’ve got ourselves this WRESTLEMANIA REMATCH.
This is simple stuff but two professionals doing their thing in a very weird period for professional wrestling. Bret knew what to do with Yoko, I dug how he’d just try and run all his body weight straight into him to take him down (even if it never worked). Yoko meanwhile brought the excellent cut-offs, a heck of a lariat, and some phenomenal bumping when it called for it. There’s a fun spot early where Yoko falls to the floor, then in a haze walks right into the corner post. Bret’s approach to applying the Sharpshooter on the gargantuan Yoko was always so good too.
Bret eventually gets the Sharpshooter on, but Owen comes out nonchalantly tagging the fans (commentary says he’s celebrating Bret’s win) and soon attacks Yoko for the DQ. Bret then gets hit with Fuji’s salt bucket. It’s all kind of awkward because in reality Jerry Lawler had also got involved in this match which led to Owen running out to attack him. With Lawler persona non grata at the time, they had to splice in a clip of Owen coming to the ring from a different match. Amazing. This is a good championship match from two great wrestlers, nothing must-see but maybe it is to see how the pros got it done in a less memorable match. ***1/2
Mabel, Mo and Oscar rap to end the show and Vince, a day or two away from indictment, screams at Bobby the Brain to GET DOWN!
Battling The Brisco Brothers – NWA World Tag Team Title: The Brisco Brothers (Jack & Jerry) [c] vs. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood (Mid-Atlantic 7/9/83)
This and the next match took place at a July 1983 Mid-Atlantic Wrestling live event at the Charlotte Coliseum and it appears that these are two bonafide, never-before-seen hidden gems. Both eventually went on to headline the inaugural Starrcade event in 1983. The lucky fans in Charlotte also got another Starrcade preview in the form of Greg Valentine vs. Roddy Piper, which was released as a Hidden Gem back in May, is covered in Network Reflections – Hidden Gems (May 2018), and is AWESOME.
A few months before this Steamboat & Youngblood had finally emerged victorious in their famous feud with Sgt. Slaughter & Don Kernodle, where they won the NWA World Tag Team Titles in a Steel Cage Match. They then moved on to grizzled and dickish Brisco Brothers, who defeated them for the titles a month before this match. Both teams would trade the titles over the next few months before Steamboat & Youngblood conquered those damned Briscos at Starrcade.
There’s no commentary in either of these matches, just the excited Atlantic crowd. A basic “JACK & JERRY BRISCO ARE THE CHAMPIONS” sign accent their entrance. The Briscos wait around for a WHILE and eventually get on the mic: “Steamboat, Youngblood… if you wanna forfeit, just say so” – BOOOO. Ricky and Jay finally emerge to a big pop.
This is super basic wonderful pro wrestling, with a Steamboat & Youngblood run before The Briscos go to work with simple efficient stuff like throwing Jay’s back into turnbuckle, slamming his back on apron, and suplexing him onto top rope. There’s a beautifully timed spot after Steamboat gets a hot tag (complete with toe-touch) where Jerry (who’s leg has been targeted) is put in an Indian Deathlock with a bridge by Steamboat. Jack breaks it up, then whips Youngblood into the turnbuckle, only for Youngblood to immediately bounce off and respond with a lariat that takes Jack down.
Steamboat eventually covers Jack, but Jerry splashes him and puts Jack’s arm over him for the 3. Excited crowd, big Brisco bumps, classic Steamboat babyface work… great stuff. ***3/4
The Race to Starrcade – NWA World Heavyweight Title: Harley Race [c] vs. Ric Flair (Mid-Atlantic 7/9/83)
Harley Race, the dominant multiple-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion throughout the 70s, had lost his championship to Dusty Rhodes in 1981, only for Dusty to soon drop it to first-time champ Ric Flair. After a dominant first run from Flair, Race had regained the title for a final time (outside of a phantom switch in New Zealand) from just a month before this match and would hold it until finally ceding to a new generation at Starrcade inside a Steel Cage.
A girl in a red shirt who was just shouting obscenities at the Briscos kisses Flair on the way to the ring – classic. This match is slow and there is a lot of clubbing and holds, but they stay true to their characters and the crowd is entranced. Flair is bright and charismatic and keeps the old man at bay with chops and holds, while brooding Race is either begging off or taking his time setting up kneedrops. Throughout the match they keep cutting to a little girl who seems to be rooting and booing for both, and it goes so far as a picture-in-picture of her and the match for a couple minutes.
Race does a brainbuster to Flair on the floor and Flair’s foot gets caught in the crowd rope and Race is clearly trying to let him down very very gently and it sure looks interesting. On that same floor Race misses a falling headbutt and takes a chairshot to the head. The ref soon gets bumped and Flair gets a visual 3-count off a backdrop suplex hold but Race kicks out when the referee comes to. Flair gets on the figure-four but Harley pushes the referee outside. Ric begs the ref not to DQ Harley but in the melee the bell gets rung.
This isn’t amazing or anything but it’s a hot, basic match between two pros and it’s just a fun curiosity any time these two lock-up, especially with the big Starrcade Cage Match just a few months away. ***1/2
The Common Man’s Best Friend – Dusty Rhodes & Junkyard Dog vs. Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne (Mid-South 2/11/83)
This is a match from Mid-South populated with a bunch of absolute legends, and I am very much including the awesome Mr. Borne in that statement. It’s from a Mid-South live event and sees beloved Mid-South babyface Junkyard Dog team with his buddy and special guest star Dusty Rhodes against The Rat Pack duo of Ted DiBiase & Matt Borne.
Before he became The Million Dollar Man, DiBiase was a big time Mid-South babyface before he turned heel on JYD in 1982 and joined Borne and Jim Duggan in The Rat Pack. The JYD/DiBiase feud led to a Loser Leaves Town Match in the fall of 1982 that sent JYD packing for 90 days, only for him to wrestle during that time under a mask as Stagger Lee until he returned proper. At this point, DiBiase and Borne were the reigning Mid-South Tag Team Champions.
It is astounding how much Borne looks and moves around like Terry Funk here. This is a great classic house show match – the strikes might not all connect but everybody is ON and the crowd is having a blast. DiBiase is incredible just being there for EVERYTHING and bumping all around. There’s an incredible moment where he does a Rock-taking-the-Stunner bump off a shoulderblock and Dusty steps over him all sassy to tag in JYD. The crowd is hot, the heels are bumping, the heat is too brief to get boring, and Dusty is radiating SWAGGER. Plus the shot of DiBiase getting slammed down by Dusty as JYD pins Borne off a powerslam is great. ***1/2
