Vintage Collection this week starts off with us seeing a scene from the U.S.S Intrepid on July 4th, 1993. A competition between Yokozuna vs. The U.S. The idea of the competition was Americans trying to slam Yokozuna. We begin with Bob Backland giving it his best shot, but with no luck. Then we see Peter Taglianetti from the Pittsburgh Penguins have a go, but again, nothing. And then we see Yokozuna fuel up a little with some rice from Mr Fuji. The next man to attempt this is Macho Man Randy Savage. Another failure. Then we see a helicopter arrive, with Lex Lugar in it. He succeeds! Hits him a few times, and then manages to get Yokozuna up, and slam him down. A win for America on its birthday.
Gene Okerlund opens the show now, looking back at Summerslam again. The clip at the beginning was to show the start of the feud between Lugar and Yokozuna, which lead up to a Summerslam match that we’ll see later in the program. Our first match comes from the 1992 Summerslam. In a rare match that wasn’t actually seen in the original broadcast. Tito Santana takes on Papa Shango.
This match took place on August 29th, 1992, and we begin with Papa Shango in control, keeping Santana down. A nice scoopslam, and an elbow keep Santana down, and the commentary then lets us know that Shango is apparently putting a spell on Santana, when he really should have probably gone for a cover. Shango is in complete control, but he is moving along quite slowly in the ring. Shango gets in some strong offence, and continues the beatdown until he misses an elbow from the top ropes. Santana gets in a few kicks now, and 10 punches (counted along by the crowd), and Santana looking as though he is coming back strong. Santana gets in a back bodydrop and goes for a cover, which was exceptionally close, but to no avail. Shango then takes over again, getting in a shoulder breaker before he goes for the cover. Getting the three count and taking home the win. Papa Shango takes out our first match.
And off into the world of advertising we’re taken, with a promo for the next match beforehand.
We’re back now, with a promo from a discussion called face to face (ironically hosted by Gene Okerlund). We see the Heartbreak Kid, Shawn Michaels with the Intercontinental belt and his bodyguard, Diesel. And in the other side of the screen we have Mr Perfect. Shawn Michaels talks about the fact that there cant be a Summerslam without him in it. And the discussion goes to them talking about how Mr Perfect wants the belt and thinks he can get it off Michaels before the Summerslam match. Michaels then talks about his popularity being the reason behind him having a bodyguard. And of course, a build-up for an Intercontinental title match.
Now we’re being introduced to our match, which takes place at Summerslam 1993 (August 30th). We start with Shawn Michaels holding Mr Perfect in a headlock, and with a bit of hair pulling and sliding we’re shown that both men are in this match 110% and then a clothesline leads to Michaels being taken down. Perfect does some handstands into knees hitting Michaels in the back, which is rather impressive. They then go into a side headlock that gets reversed so many times that it’s hard to see who is in control. They face off again, walking the ring, going back into a headlock. A few nice chops to Michaels, and a few reversals from Michaels eventually leads to Perfect getting him down and into a submission move working on the arm of Michaels. The two men move quite quickly, with the power in the match changing from second to second. Perfect gets the upper hand briefly, a close count, and back into another submission move focusing on the arm of Michaels. We’re also shown Diesel standing on the sidelines. They back and forth a few times, Michaels goes for a flying dropkick, which is caught by Perfect, and he uses the momentum to literally slingshot Michaels out and over the top rope. Perfect comes out of the ring to go for Michaels, but Diesel provides a distraction coming along behind him, and Perfect turns around to look at him, and when he turns back, he takes a beautiful superkick to the chin knocking him down.
And of course, as the action gets good, the good get advertising. Also before we come back, there is a nice “don’t try this at home” piece using only vintage footage.
Coming back in from the ad break we see Michaels now has the upper hand, and is holding Perfect in a nice submission hold working on Perfect’s back. Perfect manages to punch out of the hold, and gets in some nice punches. The pace quickens up again, with some running, a nice leapfrog by Perfect into a dropkick. We then see Michaels thrown over the back of Perfect, with another move aiming for a three count, which is only a two count. Perfect keeps up the assault, going for yet another cover, and getting yet another two count. We slow down again as both men lock up, looking like Michaels is going for a backslide, but neither man moves. Perfect reverses, and goes into another count. But this time Diesel gets involved pulling Perfect out of the ring, leading to Perfect getting in some nice punches on Diesel. And Perfect is able to also get in some punches on Michaels before Diesel runs Perfect into the steel steps. And the match ends here, as Perfect was counted out. So your winner in this one is Shawn Michaels, as he keeps the Intercontinental Championship. Obviously in anger, Perfect goes for Diesel, but unfortunately it’s two against one. And Michaels restrains Perfect as Diesel gets in a lot of strong punches, leaving Perfect basically unconscious in the middle of the ring.
Another ad break here, featuring yet another teaser for the next match to stick around for.
This next one comes to us from Summerslam 1991, and we’re looking at a six man tag team match featuring Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat, Kerry Von Erich (the Texas Tornado) & British Bulldog vs. The Warlord, Hercules & Paul Roma. This one takes place on August 26th, 1991. We’re taken straight into it, with Steamboat starting off with Roma, but a quick tag is made to Hercules, and then Steamboat gets in a quick tag to Von Erich (the Texas Tornado) who starts things off with some twisting of the arm of Hercules, and as Hercules tries to get in control, he goes into the corner to try and slam Von Erich’s head into the turnbuckle, which he blocks, and then reverses to slam Hercules’s head into the turnbuckle 10 times. He also climbs up and gets in 10 punches too. And as its broken up, tags are made in both teams, bringing in the Warlord and the British Bulldog who battle it out until Bulldog gets the slight advantage with a strong clothesline, which then goes into a nice standing suplex. But only a two count when the cover is made. Steamboat is tagged in, and starts off by flying off the top ropes with a nice fist to the head. Steamboat is quick in getting out of the way, but Warlord is stronger and thrown his opponent off him before tagging in Roma. Roma gets distracted by Steamboats tag team partners on the sidelines, allowing Steamboat to get a sunset rollup, but the ref gets distracted by Hercules running in and attempting to break up the count. And as the ref has his back turned, the Warlord gets in a sneaky clothesline knocking Steamboat flat down onto his back.
Typically as we’re starting to wonder what’s going to happen, we’re taken to an ad break.
Now we’re back, and Warlord is just tagging in Roma to continue the beatdown on Steamboat. They’re keeping Steamboat on their side and making quick tags. Hercules ends up in the ring, and Steamboat gets in a little offence before being catapulted into a clothesline from the top rope. At this stage, the Warlord is tagged in and the action slows down a lot. Steamboat seems to be trying, but failing, and he falls back again with the Warlord delivering a scoopslam leaving him splayed out in the ring. Warlord goes up to the second rope, but does it so slowly, and when he eventually jumps, Steamboat lifts his legs and gets Warlord in the chin, giving him enough time to make the tag to Von Erich who moves exceptionally fast, taking out all three of his opponents with strong punches. Warlord tries to reverse things, pulling Von Erich backwards to try and get a pin attempt, but Von Erich was able to stretch his arms out far enough to make a tag to British Bulldog, so the pin that Warlord is attempting is actually not on the legal man. Bulldog tries to jump off the ropes, but Warlord catches him and it looks like he is going to slam him down, but that doesn’t happen as von Erich delivers a kick which knocks Warlord to the ground. A failed cover, and Roma is tagged in, but Bulldog goes straight for a power slam and a cover with no luck. All six men are now involved and a fast tag gets Steamboat in as the legal man, who launches himself into a flying cross body, getting Roma down and he gets the pin. Your winners here are Steamboat, British Bulldog & von Erich.
More advertising comes along in here. With another teaser to keep us tuned in and watching.
Coming back in from the break, we’re shown yet again Luger slamming down Yokozuna, a nice song about being a hero, and Luger riding around in a WWF Lex Express bus posing with young kids and generally being an all round nice guy.
This match comes to us from the 1993 Summerslam (August 30th) and it is for the WWE Championship between Lex Lugar and Yokozuna. We start off with Lugar in control, pushing Yokozuna around the ring, getting in some punches, until Yokozuna turns it around using brute force and strength. Yokozuna also attempts to slam down on Luger who moves out of the way leaving the giant Yokozuna sitting slightly stunned on the ground. Luger in this match has the speed advantage. Yokozuna ends up on the ground; Luger gets in a pin attempt, which isn’t successful. Yokozuna manages to slam Luger down, and in his attempt to land on top of Lugar, he misses again. Luger goes for quick punches and kicks taking control of the match. And he stays in control for a little bit until Yokozuna gets in some demonstrations of just brute strength to try and gain the upper hand. As Luger stands in the corner, we see Mr Fuji come up from behind, but he is foiled by Luger and the powder substance that Fuji was trying to throw onto Luger misses. Luger gets the upper hand again with his speed, and again, he is cut down by Yokozuna having pure strength and only requiring single hits to knock Luger down. And as we go into the break, Yokozuna is holding strong in the match.
Coming back to our Vintage main event, Yokozuna is in control with a submission move in the middle of the ring. But Luger is showing his motivation in this match by managing to get back onto his feet, but Yokozuna gets him down yet again with a single move. Yokozuna slams down on top of Luger with a massive leg, but somehow Luger manages to still kick out of the count. Yokozuna drags Luger’s limp body into the corner, and goes for what they call a bonsai drop, but somehow Luger manages to move out of the way and both men struggle to their feet. They fight in a corner, with both men taking control at different points. As they move out of the corner, Yokozuna is in control, and slingshots Luger into the corner, and follows him to try and crush him there, but as Luger moves out of the way, Yokozuna hits the turnbuckles and Luger manages to get him up into the air, and slam him down hard. Luger celebrates his slam, and also knocks Mr Fuji out cold before sending Yokozuna out of the ring, where he is then counted out. So your winner in this one, Lex Luger. And quite a few wrestlers come to join in the American celebration with a flag and the usual loud music, and blue, red & white balloons come flying down too. Though as the match was won by count-out, Yokozuna remains the champion.
This brings us to the end of this week’s episode, and we’re told that Lex Luger never actually succeeded in winning the belt. And again, we’re informed that next week’s episode will continue along the Summerslam theme. Should be worth tuning in to!
