SummerSlam (1993)

World Wrestling Federation pay per view event

The 1993 SummerSlam was the sixth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay per view (PPV) event produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It took place on August 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan and featured ten televised matches. All three of the WWF's then active championships were defended at the event. The main event saw Lex Luger challenge Yokozuna for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. On the undercard, The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) defended the WWF Tag Team Championship against The Heavenly Bodies (Jimmy Del Ray and Tom Prichard), and Shawn Michaels defended the WWF Intercontinental Championship against Mr. Perfect. In addition to the title matches, Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler were scheduled to wrestle to settle their feud and determine who would be named "Undisputed King of the World Wrestling Federation."

SummerSlam is an annual pay per view (PPV) produced every August by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) since 1988. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is one of the promotion's original four pay per views, along with WrestleMania, Royal Rumble, and Survivor Series, which were dubbed the "Big Four", and one of the "Big Five", along with King of the Ring that was established in June 1993. It has since been considered WWE’s second biggest event of the year behind WrestleMania. The 1993 event was the sixth event in the SummerSlam chronology and was scheduled to be held on August 30, 1993, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Two of the matches at SummerSlam 1993 were a result of Razor Ramon's loss to The Kid (later the 1 2 3 Kid) on the May 17, 1993 edition of Monday Night Raw. Following Ramon's loss to the newcomer, Money Inc. (Ted DiBiase and Irwin R. Schyster) teased Ramon about the match. DiBiase offered Ramon a job as a servant, which Ramon angrily refused. Ramon began teaming with the 1 2 3 Kid for a series of matches against Money Inc. DiBiase asked for a singles match against the Kid, and the Kid accepted the challenge. Ramon helped the Kid win the match by distracting DiBiase. It was decided that the feuds would be settled in two singles matches at SummerSlam, with Ramon facing DiBiase and Schyster facing the 1 2 3 Kid. The match between the Steiner Brothers and The Heavenly Bodies received little buildup. The Bodies were a successful tag team in Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and an interpromotional agreement allowed them to challenge for the WWF Tag Team Championship. The rivalry between Shawn Michaels and Mr. Perfect began at WrestleMania IX. During a fight after the match between Lex Luger and Mr. Perfect, Shawn Michaels appeared and attacked Perfect. Mr. Perfect gained revenge by distracting Michaels at the May 17, 1993 edition of Monday Night Raw, allowing Marty Jannetty to pin Michaels and win the WWF Intercontinental Championship. Michaels regained the belt the following month with the help of his new bodyguard, Diesel. Bret Hart and Jerry Lawler had a heated feud, stemming from Lawler interrupting Hart's victory ceremony at the 1993 King of the Ring tournament. Lawler insisted that he was the true king of the WWF and attacked Hart. The feud intensified as Lawler taunted and attacked Bret's family, including his parents and his younger brother Owen. According to a story relayed by Bret Hart on the TSN sports show Off The Record, Hart was originally supposed to wrestle Hulk Hogan for the WWF World Heavyweight Championship. From Hart’s explanation of matters, the reason the match did not happen was because Hogan changed his mind, as he was supposedly not happy with the planned finish. As a result, Hogan lost the belt to Yokozuna at King of the Ring 1993 instead. However, this has never been officially explained by WWE (then WWF), and is part of Professional Wrestling lore on the Internet. Eventually Bret Hart and Yokozuna would have a rematch at WrestleMania X, where Hart’s storyline loss of the title was avenged, when he beat Yokozuna to start his second reign as WWF Champion. Marty Jannetty was originally supposed to face Rick Martel, but Ludvig Borga replaced Martel well before the match. The match received little buildup, although Borga appeared in several vignettes leading up to the match. He criticized the United States for such reasons as its pollution. Jannetty vowed to defend America's pride in his match against Borga. The buildup for the match between Giant Gonzalez and The Undertaker began after the Undertaker defeated Kamala in a Coffin match at Survivor Series 1992. Kamala's manager Harvey Wippleman vowed revenge and introduced Gonzalez at Royal Rumble 1993, with Gonzalez attacking and eliminating the Undertaker. Gonzalez and the Undertaker wrestled at WrestleMania IX, and Gonzalez knocked the Undertaker unconscious with a chloroform soaked rag. The feud came to a head at SummerSlam in a Rest In Peace match. The six man match at SummerSlam was originally supposed to be a mixed tag team match between the team of Tatanka and Sherri Martel and the team of Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon. However, Luna broke her arm and Sherri left the WWF in July 1993, however, forcing the WWF to change the match. Two reasons have been given for Sherri's departure: her decision to enroll in cosmetology school and failed drug tests. As a result, Tatanka teamed with The Smoking Gunns and Bigelow teamed with The Headshrinkers. The Gunns and Headshrinkers were rivals in the tag team division but had no real storyline. The feud between Bigelow and Tatanka originated when Tatanka came to the help of Sherri, who had interrupted an interview with Bigelow. Subsequently, Bigelow ambushed Tatanka and cut some of the hair Tatanka had dyed red as a tribute to his Lumbee heritage. Lex Luger's rivalry with Yokozuna began on July 4 at the Yokozuna Bodyslam Challenge on the deck of the USS Intrepid. After several wrestlers and other athletes attempted to body slam Yokozuna, Luger arrived in a helicopter. He was able to body slam Yokozuna, which led to a title shot at SummerSlam. To build support for Luger, the WWF had him ride across the country in a bus named the Lex Express. Yokozuna's spokesperson, Jim Cornette, agreed to the match, but he made Lex Luger agree to two conditions. Luger would not receive a rematch if he lost, and he had to wear protective padding over the steel plate in his forearm.