WWF Summerslam 1993

WWF Summerslam 1993
Venue: Auburn Hills, Michigan
Date: 30/8/93
Attendance: 18,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan

As Hulk Hogan was to leave the WWF following the July/August European Tour, Vince McMahon decided simply to make a new Hulk Hogan in time for a big main event at Summerslam in Auburn Hills, Michigan. A big angle was set up on 4th July 1993 aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid in New York City where Mr Fuji and Yokozuna had challenged all comers to attempt to body slam the massive 550lbs plus WWF Champion. Failure to do so would of course, "embarrass America on it's most famous holiday" as put by Jim Ross. A host of NFL, NHL and NBA stars joined the likes of the Steiner Brothers, Randy Savage and Crush in an attempt to win the "Body Slam Challenge" but all failed. Just as it looked like defeat for the USA, a helicopter landed on the ship prompting big "Hogan" chants. To the surprise of most it would be heel Lex Luger who made his way towards the ring shoving Bobby Heenan aside in phase one of the quick fire face turn. Luger then cut a babyface, pro-America promo on the evil foreigners (Rodney Anoa'i was actually a Samoan from San Francisco)  and then tossed Fuji out of the ring. After a brief stare down Luger clocked Yoko with his steel plated forearm and, with Yoko's assistance, body slammed him to bring the house (or aircraft carrier) down! Babyface turn complete, the WWF set up a huge promotional tour where Luger would travel around the country in his "Lex Express" Greyhound bus in what was called a "Call To Action" campaign. The WWF really pulled out all of the stops to get Luger over as the new American hero and after a gruelling six weeks on the road, the stage was set for the big showdown at Summerslam.


Review
In a run-of-the-mill opening contest, newly turned babyface Razor Ramon defeated Ted Dibiase with the Razor's Edge. This would be Dibiase's final match in the WWF and he would retire from the ring later in the year following a short spell in AJPW.

The Steiner Brothers successfully defended the World Tag Team Title in arguably the best match of their WWF run against The Heavenly Bodies (Jimmy Del Ray & Tom Pritchard). Naturally the Detroit crowd were hot for the Steiners and there was some great tag team wrestling in this one.


The much anticipated clash between Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels and Mr Perfect did not deliver to the level that most expected. By his own admission Michaels was carrying excess weight around this time while Perfect was never quite the same after his back injury. The match was good from a technical standpoint but after the heated build up including a wild brawl in the street in New York City it did not resemble a grudge match at all. The cheap finish did not help as Diesel (Michaels' bodyguard Kevin Nash) cost Perfect the title and caused him to be counted out. During a backstage post match brawl designed to start a feud between Perfect and Diesel, Michaels dropped and shattered the Intercontinental Title belt and had to foot the bill for it to be replaced.

After a shock win over Razor Ramon and later Ted Dibiase, The 1-2-3 Kid was brought crashing back down to earth with a clean loss to IRS. The match itself wasn't bad but according to Sean Waltman the loss was in order to keep his ego in check.


It looked like we would be getting screwed out the battle to determine the real "King" of the WWF as Jerry Lawler appeared on crutches after being involved in a "ten car pile up". Instead Bret Hart would have to face Doink with Lawler watching from ringside. Hart had a decent battle with Doink until Lawler (genuinely) levelled him with a crutch when he had Doink locked in the Sharpshooter. After proving his injury to be phony, Lawler was forced to face Hart by Jack Tunney in a stiff and very heated brawl that unlike the Intercontinental Title bout, did feel like a grudge match. Hart won the match with the Sharpshooter but refused to release it afterwards and the decision was reversed. It was a bit ridiculous as there were at least ten people in the ring and they couldn't pull Hart off of Lawler. Overall though this was a really good angle where Hart got his revenge but Lawler remained a "King".

Newcomer Ludvig Borga (Tony Halme) crushed Marty Jannetty in a five minute squash. They clearly had big plans for Borga although he was extremely limited and didn't look particularly good here.


The Undertaker defeated Giant Gonzales in an awful "Rest in Peace" match which basically meant no disqualification or count outs. A top rope clothesline was all it took to beat this monstrous giant in the end. Paul Bearer made his return mid-match to reclaim the urn from Harvey Whippleman. Gonzales choke slammed Whippleman after the match to apparently turn face but nobody seemed that bothered.


Tatanka and The Smoking Gunns beat Bam Bam Bigelow and The Headshrinkers in an entertaining six man tag team bout. The match was good fun and was won by Tatanka pinning Samu with a roll up.

After a monster push and promotional campaign to get Lex Luger over as the new American hero babyface he was unable to unseat Yokozuna as WWF Champion winning only by count out. The wind was really taken out of Luger's sails right from the start as this meant he had already failed in the eyes of the fans. Imagine if Hulk Hogan could've only managed a count out win over the Iron Sheik back in 1984. If they were really serious about going all the way with Luger he had to go over here. As it was it was still a shockingly decent match, about the best they could've had really but despite acting like Luger had secured a huge victory at the end it all fell a bit flat. Randy Savage, the Steiner Brothers and Tatanka celebrated with Luger in the ring as balloons fell from the ceiling but Luger was not the champion so there was nothing really to celebrate. The music video at the end of the show featuring clips from the "Lex Express" tour was however, excellent. The plan was to make Yokozuna versus Luger the big money match at Wrestlemania X, except Luger lost so much steam as a babyface in the coming months that Bret Hart was put back into the world title mix come January.


Overall
Summerslam 1993 was a decent show, as long as you look past the non-finishes in the three big matches. The highlight of the show was the whole Bret Hart/Jerry Lawler saga which was heated and very entertaining. The involvement of Owen and Bruce Hart helped also, not least because Bruce was wound up by being dowsed in water by Doink without knowing it was coming. That was hilarious. Shawn Michaels versus Mr Perfect was good but at the same time disappointing, and the main event surpassed all expectations, until the finish. Summerslam 1993 drew a 1.3 buy rate, approximately 250,000 buys, which was a touch disappointing considering the amount of hype for Lex Luger's big night.


Results
1 Razor Ramon pinned Ted Dibiase (7:32) **1/4
2 The Steiner Brothers (c) def The Heavenly Bodies by pinfall to retain the WWF Tag Team Title (9:28) ***1/2
3 Shawn Michaels (c) def Mr Perfect by count out to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title (11:20) ***
4 Irwin R Schyster pinned The 1-2-3 Kid (5:44) **1/2
5 Bret Hart def Doink by disqualification (9:05) **1/2
6 Jerry Lawler def Bret Hart by disqualification (6:32) ***
7 Ludvig Borga def Marty Jannetty by submission (5:15) 3/4
8 The Undertaker pinned Giant Gonzales (8:04) DUD
9 The Smoking Gunns & Tatanka def The Headshrinkers & Bam Bam Bigelow by pinfall (11:15) ***
10 Lex Luger def Yokozuna (c) by count out. Yokozuna retained the WWF Heavyweight Title (17:58) **3/4


Rating
23.25/50 = 46.5%

WWF King of the Ring 1993

WWF King of the Ring 1993
Venue: Dayton, Ohio
Date: 13/6/93
Attendance: 6,500
Commentators: Jim Ross, Bobby Heenan & Randy Savage


King of the Ring was an (almost) annual tournament which ran on untelevised events from 1985 to 1991 but in 1993 the decision was made to make it into a pay-per-view event. Qualifying matches for the tournament aired on Monday Night Raw with the quarter finals, semi finals and final to feature on the pay-per-view itself. In addition to the tournament Yokozuna challenged Hulk Hogan for the WWF Heavyweight Title in a rematch from their impromptu bout at Wrestlemania IX.


Review
In the first tournament quarter final Bret Hart defeated Razor Ramon in a good contest but not quite to the level of their Royal Rumble battle after countering a super-plex... Mr Perfect advanced past Mr Hughes by disqualification in a worthless match. Perfect was not permitted to beat Hughes who was to work with The Undertaker... Bam Bam Bigelow beat Hacksaw Jim Duggan clean in another poor bout with his top rope diving headbutt... Lex Luger and Tatanka's unbeaten streaks remained intact after they fought to a fifteen minute time limit draw which eliminated them both. The match was actually fairly good. Luger wore an elbow pad to cover his steel plated err.. forearm but removed it after the bout to KO Tatanka.

Bret Hart and Mr Perfect had a good face-to-face interview with Gene Okerlund followed by an excellent wrestling match which Hart won to reach the final. Perfect played the slight heel here but shook hands with Hart after the match to confirm there was no turn. The match was similar in quality to their bout at Summerslam 1991 but with less crowd heat... Hulk Hogan's first U.S. televised match since Wrestlemania IX and his first title defence ended in a surprise defeat to Yokozuna. The slimmed down 1993 version of Hogan looked even more slight next to the massive Rodney Anoa'i. Hogan put Yokozuna over very strong in the match with 'Zuna dominating almost entirely and Hogan's comebacks amounting to little. Hogan even allowed Yoko to kick out of the leg drop. The finish however was ridiculous. As Hogan was readying himself to bodyslam Yokozuna a 'cameraman' with a very phony looking disguise (it was Harvey Whippleman) got onto the apron and fired a flame into Hogan's face leaving him prone to defeat. Yoko then crushed Hogan with a Banzai Drop to send him on his way with the crowd's sympathy. In the aftermath (and unlike Survivor Series 1991) there was no outrage and demands for justice after such a blatant screwjob. Jack Tunney bizarrely congratulated Yokozuna as if the fire spot hadn't happened.

The Smoking Gunns & The Steiner Brothers beat Money Inc and The Headshrinkers in a match which at 6:49 was not allocated enough time for an eight man tag. The Steiners barely featured as Billy Gunn pinned Ted Dibiase out of nowhere for the win. This wouldn't have been so bad except it'd be the Steiners who would win the tag team title the next night... After announcing the name of his new bodyguard Diesel, Shawn Michaels retained the Intercontinental Title over Crush in an average match with another screwy finish. Two Doinks walked out to distract Crush allowing Michaels to superkick him from behind in a spot that looked awful for the cheap win.

The final tournament match was a good one as Bret Hart pinned Bam Bam Bigelow with a victory roll to claim his second King of the Ring crown. Bigelow initially won the bout with his diving headbutt but Earl Hebner ran to the ring to rule the match should continue because Luna Vachon had struck Hart with a very weak chair shot. It made no sense as a much more obvious injustice had been allowed to stand in the world title match. It didn't make Hart look great either. Regardless of the inconsistencies the match told a good story with Hart selling injury and exhaustion having wrestled the extra match but like any good top babyface still found a way to overcome the odds. During Hart's coronation celebration he was confronted and attacked by Jerry Lawler who claimed he was the only true king of in the WWF. This was a good angle that began a hot feud between the two although Hart claimed Lawler was a bit over zealous during the attack.

Overall
This was undoubtedly Bret Hart's night. His three tournament matches with Razor Ramon, Mr Perfect and Bam Bam Bigelow really made the show because the rest wasn't much to write home about. At the time it was presumed a rematch between Yokozuna and Hulk Hogan would headline Summerslam but Hogan would leave the WWF following his match with Yoko in Sheffield, England on 6th August and not return for eight and a half years. Hart was about to engage in a feud with Jerry Lawler so a new top babyface would need to be found and quick... King of the Ring 1993 attracted a buy rate of 1.1 which was around 245,000 buys.


Results
1 Bret Hart pinned Razor Ramon (10:27) ***
2 Mr Perfect def Mr Hughes by disqualification (6:02) *1/4
3 Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Jim Duggan (4:59) *1/4
4 Lex Luger fought Tatanka to a time limit draw (15:00) **1/2
5 Bret Hart pinned Mr Perfect (18:55) ****1/4
6 Yokozuna pinned Hulk Hogan (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (13:11) *1/2
7 The Smoking Gunns & The Steiner Brothers def Money Inc & The Headshrinkers by pinfall (6:49) **
8 Shawn Michaels (c) pinned Crush to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title (11:14) **
9 Bret Hart pinned Bam Bam Bigelow to become "King of the Ring" (18:11) ***1/4


Rating
21/45 = 46.67%

WWF Royal Rumble 1993

WWF Royal Rumble 1993
Venue: Sacramento, California
Date: 24/1/93
Attendance: 16,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan


The fifth annual WWF Royal Rumble pay-per-view took place in Sacramento, California and was headlined by Bret Hart's WWF title defence against Razor Ramon and of course, the Royal Rumble match itself. This would also be the final PPV that Gorilla Monsoon and Bobby Heenan would call together.

Review

The Steiner Brothers made their WWF PPV debut with a victory over The Beverly Brothers in a good opening match. Rick & Scott got a great reaction from the WWF fan base proving they did watch the competition's product... Shawn Michaels pinned Marty Jannetty to retain the Intercontinental Title after Sherri accidentally hit Jannetty in the face with her shoe. Sherri's hysterics after the bout were very believable as she sold being distraught over her miscue. The match may not quite have been the high flying spectacle some expected from the former Rockers but was actually a very good contest featuring a mixture of cool manoeuvres and good wrestling. This match was about a year later than it should have been due to Jannetty being fired and their planned rematch at Wrestlemania IX had to be scrapped as well with Jannetty being dismissed once again...

Bam Bam Bigelow made his first WWF PPV appearance in over five years as he defeated The Big Boss Man. Boss Man was on his way out of the company and did the clean job here. The match wasn't much cop (no pun intended)... Unlike at Survivor Series Bret Hart's WWF Heavyweight Title felt like it might be under threat as he faced Razor Ramon who had attacked Owen Hart to help build heat for this one. Like Michaels/Jannetty this was another very good bout with good heat. Hart went over by submission with not the best applied Sharpshooter. Ramon would be permanently dropped to the upper mid-card after this.

Lex Luger debuted as "Narcissus" (later changed to "The Narcissist" Lex Luger) after the WBF went down the pan. The story was that Bobby Heenan had brought in Luger to take care of Mr Perfect who had turned on him and Ric Flair back in November.

The Royal Rumble match was easily the worst to date and was massively lacking in star power especially compared to previous years. Bob Backlund, who was completely lacking in charisma (at least until he discovered his crazed heel gimmick in late 1994) was chosen as the man to break Flair's longevity record. The trouble was Backlund had no chance in carrying the match in the way Flair had done in 1992. His style was very awkward and dated and he was not over in the slightest. Flair did a decent job early on. His showdown with Perfect, although brief, was one of the few highlights of the match. Perfect was inexplicably eliminated like a mid-carder soon after. Giant Gonzales' debut was at least intriguing as he laid waste to The Undertaker and eliminated him despite not being in the match. The match came down to Yokozuna and Randy Savage which wasn't too bad until the finish which made the "Macho Man" look like a complete moron. Savage managed to take Yoko off his feet and hit his patented top rope elbow drop before going for a pinfall. Yoko then pressed Savage from the canvas up and over the top rope which was just not believable. The backstage face-to-face between Yokozuna and Bret Hart was a nice touch though.

Overall

After a good undercard the show was let down by a humdrum Royal Rumble match which at least brought to the fore a new top heel in Yokozuna. The Ric Flair/Mr Perfect feud came to an end the next night on Raw as Perfect defeated the "Nature Boy" in a match where the loser left the WWF. Flair would return to WCW where he would remain until the bitter end. Bret Hart was set to collide with Yokozuna in the main event of Wrestlemania IX for the WWF Heavyweight Title. The downward spiral continued as Royal Rumble 1993 pulled a 1.2 buy rate which was approximately 240,000 buys.

Results
1 The Steiner Brothers def The Beverly Brothers by pinfall (9:10) **3/4
2 Shawn Michaels (c) pinned Marty Jannetty to retain the WWF Intercontinental Title (14:20) ***1/2
3 Bam Bam Bigelow pinned The Big Boss Man (10:10) *
4 Bret Hart (c) def Razor Ramon by submission to retain the WWF Heavyweight Title (17:52) ***1/2
5 Yokozuna won the Royal Rumble match (66:35) *1/2


Rating
12.25/25 = 49%

WWF Survivor Series 1992

WWF Survivor Series 1992
Venue: Richfield, Ohio
Date: 25/11/92
Attendance: 17,500
Commentators: Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan




The WWF were forced into a major change to the Survivor Series line up just a couple of weeks prior to the event as the Ultimate Warrior and the British Bulldog were both fired for failing drug tests. Bulldog's match with The Mountie was scrapped but much more disruptive was Warrior's dismissal as he was part of the main event program that had been built for months. With few options left open to them Mr Perfect (who had to come out of retirement and cease claiming his Lloyds of London insurance pay) was chosen as the man to partner Randy Savage in his battle with Ric Flair and Razor Ramon in the headline bout. It didn't make a great deal of sense considering what Perfect (and Flair) had done to Savage all year but it was a case of needs must. It was however a memorable turn as Perfect accepted Savage's offer on Prime Time Wrestling by pouring water over the head of Bobby Heenan after being slapped by "The Brain". Warrior would be gone from the company for over three years while Bulldog would be back in the summer of 1994 after a stint in WCW.

The original main event line up

Review
The Headshrinkers defeated High Energy (Owen Hart & Koko B Ware) in a fairly good opener which was designed to get the new heel team over. High Energy would prove to be another dead end role for the talented Owen Hart... The Big Boss Man beat Nailz in a "Knightstick (on a pole) Match" in what was supposed to be their big showdown but turned out to be a bit of a damp squib. This match was six months in the making but was over in less than six minutes and despite all the hype being about the knightstick it was barely a factor as Boss Man won clean and suddenly with the Boss Man Slam. A passable brawl... Tatanka and Rick Martel had a pretty boring bout which was overshadowed by the appearance of Matt Borne at ringside introducing the as yet unnamed Doink the Clown gimmick. Tatanka won clean with the "Papoose To Go" (Fallaway Slam).

The original plan was for Davey Boy Smith to face The Mountie

Next up was the main event which went on at half way to allow the World Title bout to go on last. Mr Perfect and Randy Savage defeated Ric Flair and Razor Ramon in a really good tag match although it did end with a weak disqualification finish. Despite a 15 month lay-off Perfect looked good here. They teased him having second thoughts on teaming with Savage mid-way through the contest... Yokozuna made his PPV debut with a squash victory over Virgil. Yoko's offense looked devastating... The Nasty Boys and The Natural Disasters overcame tag champions Money Inc and The Beverly Brothers in a tag team elimination match. While not offensive the match was pretty lifeless and seemed to drag. The Nasty's were the surviving team here confirming them as number one contenders to Money Inc's title... The Undertaker beat Kamala in a terrible "Coffin Match". It was as bad as their Summerslam bout but at least it had a finish. Undertaker pinned Kamala after a Tombstone and then rolled him into the coffin and nailed it shut.

Randy Savage and Mr Perfect double team Ric Flair

Finally WWF Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart defeated Shawn Michaels by submission in a quality wrestling match. Hart was being put over as a fighting champion who defended the title regularly and although Michaels was his biggest challenge so far, nobody really believed "The Heartbreak Kid" had a chance of winning the big one here. Michaels was without Sensational Sherri following an angle where the returning Marty Jannetty smashed a mirror over her head after Shawn had pulled her into harm's way. Santa Claus joined Hart in the ring to end the show on a feel good note for the younger fans.

Overall
Survivor Series 1992, much like Summerslam was a two match show and thankfully the two feature bouts delivered in the ring because the rest of the show was quite forgettable. Considering the disruption caused by Warrior's exit the main event was a success thanks to the intrigue of Mr Perfect turning on Ric Flair and Bobby Heenan to join forces with Randy Savage, regardless of whether it made sense or not. Bret Hart's first PPV title defence against Shawn Michaels was a great technical exhibition with the only possible negative being it was a touch hold heavy in places. The only other notable happening was the emergence of new super heel Yokozuna. Survivor Series 1992 pulled in approximately 250,000 buys on pay-per-view with a 1.4 buy rate.

Bret Hart applies the match winning Sharpshooter

Results
1 The Headshrinkers def High Energy by pinfall (7:38) **1/2
2 The Big Boss Man pinned Nailz in a "Knightstick Match" (5:43) *1/2
3 Tatanka pinned Rick Martel (11:04) *3/4
4 Randy Savage & Mr Perfect def Ric Flair & Razor Ramon by disqualification (16:29) ***1/2
5 Yokozuna pinned Virgil (3:34) *
6 The Nasty Boys & The Natural Disasters def Money Inc & The Beverly Brothers in an Elimination Match (15:50) *3/4
7 The Undertaker def Kamala in a "Coffin Match" (5:27) DUD
8 Bret Hart (c) def Shawn Michaels by submission to retain the WWF Heavyweight Title (26:40) ***3/4




Rating
15.75/40 = 39.38%

WWF Summerslam 1991

WWF Summerslam 1991 
Venue: New York City, New York
Date: 26/08/91
Attendance: 20,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon, Bobby Heenan & Rowdy Roddy Piper

Summerslam 1991 came at a tough time for the World Wrestling Federation. The trial and conviction of Dr George Zahorian (the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission appointed doctor for WWF events) in June for illegal distribution of steroids was a public relations disaster for the WWF having brought to light rampant steroid use within the company over a number of years. Among the many wrestlers and WWF personnel to have purchased drugs from Zahorian were the high profile names of Hulk Hogan, Roddy Piper and even Vince McMahon himself. The company's name was being dragged through the mud and as the industry's biggest star, Hogan was bearing the brunt of it. Under fire from all angles the WWF went into damage limitation mode first with Vince McMahon announcing in the New York Times that he planned to begin drug testing in the company, which he did in November of the same year. Then Hogan appeared on the Arsenio Hall Show on 16th July appearing to have every intention of admitting to steroid use but for whatever reason backed out at the last minute and denied ever being an "abuser" of the drug. The backlash from this would be disastrous for Hogan and it would take years for him to rebuild his reputation. In the face of all this negativity the WWF felt the need to produce a very positive show for their fans and they certainly did that at Summerslam, headlined by the marriage of Macho Man Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth at Madison Square Garden.

Review
The show opened with an entertaining six man tag where Ricky Steamboat, The Texas Tornado and The British Bulldog defeated The Warlord and Power & Glory. Steamboat, now billed simply as "The Dragon", had returned to the WWF in March but would soon be on his way again. He worked the bulk of the match for his team as the face-in-peril but did get to score the winning fall with a high cross body block onto Paul Roma.

Bret Hart won his first major singles championship by defeating Mr Perfect for the Intercontinental Title in an excellent match. Curt Hennig had suffered what was thought to be a career ending back injury and had even cut his hair believing he had wrestled his last match. However when the company decided Bret would be the next IC champion Hennig set out to put Hart over the right way despite being in tremendous pain. Hennig gave Bret the best match he could and did everything in his power to make "The Hitman" look great including allowing him to kick out of the Perfect-Plex and submitting instantly to the (half applied) Sharpshooter. This match made Bret Hart as a singles worker and he would be eternally grateful to Curt Hennig for his selflessness. Mr Perfect would return to the ring in late 1992 but his injury meant he was never quite the same... Match quality then dropped off a cliff as the Natural Disasters beat The Bushwackers who were accompanied to the ring by Andre the Giant. Andre was on crutches following an attack by Earthquake which was storyline cover for his recent knee surgery. Tugboat had turned on The Bushwackers on an episode of Superstars of Wrestling to become Typhoon and form the Natural Disasters with Earthquake. After the usual Bushwacker antics, Quake crushed Luke for the easy victory in this one. Following the match the Disasters attempted to attack Andre again but the Legion of Doom came to the rescue setting up their next feud... Bobby Heenan, acting on behalf of Ric Flair, attempted to confront Hulk Hogan backstage while holding the NWA/WCW Heavyweight Title belt. Flair was about to debut in the WWF following a bitter departure from WCW and still had possession of the title belt as part of the dispute. It was customary at the time for NWA World Champions to pay a $25,000 deposit on winning the title but Flair claimed his deposit had not been returned to him after being fired by WCW Executive Vice President Jim Herd. As a result Flair refused to return the title belt and instead brought it to the WWF. A lot has been made of Madusa's trashing of the WWF Women's title belt on WCW TV as being a big reason for the "Montreal Screwjob" with Vince McMahon fearing Bret Hart may take the WWF Heavyweight title onto Monday Nitro and do the same thing. It appears he didn't have a problem parading his competition's biggest title on his programming in 1991, not to mention trashing it verbally.

Next up was the battle for the Million Dollar Belt as Ted Dibiase squared off against his former bodyguard Virgil. This match, like the feud was booked expertly with Dibiase excelling in the role of despicable heel. Virgil looked like he had victory in his grasp as he locked Dibiase in his own "Million Dollar Dream" sleeper hold only for Sensational Sherri to break things up for an obvious disqualification... except Earl Hebner instead decided to eject Sherri and allow the match to continue. Late in the bout and with the referee down, Dibiase set about doing some damage to Virgil while taunting Roddy Piper who was commentating at ringside. However Virgil turned the tables on Dibiase by ramming him head first into an exposed turnbuckle to score the 1-2-3. The MSG crowd roared as Virgil held up the Million Dollar Belt, it would be the biggest moment of his career.

 

The Big Boss Man pinned The Mountie in a match where the loser had to spend the night in a New York City jail. The match was okay with Mountie surprisingly kicking out of the Boss Man Slam before falling to an Alabama Slam soon after. The real entertainment then began as Mountie was handcuffed and dragged kicking and screaming to jail. We would get further updates on Mountie's trip to jail throughout the rest of the show which Jacques Rougeau sold brilliantly... The Legion of Doom became the first and only team to become AWA, NWA and WWF Tag Team Champions as they downed the Nasty Boys in a decent brawl where there could be no disqualifications or count outs. My only gripe with the match is despite it being a no disqualification match the referee was still enforcing the rules of a normal tag team match.

Irwin R Schyster beat Greg Valentine in a passable match that did little more than allow the crowd to catch their breath. Valentine was caught out by an IRS small package as he attempted to apply the figure four leg lock. During the match Gorilla Monsoon mentioned that Jake Roberts and The Undertaker had been spotted in the building somewhere... And so to part one of the main event, "The Match Made In Hell". Sid Justice was the special guest referee and it had been hinted that he may be in the pocket of the "Triangle of Terror" who were Sgt Slaughter, Gen Adnan and Col Mustafa (The Iron Sheik). There was even footage of him conversing with the threesome backstage. Kayfabe aside the bigger story which didn't come out until after the event was that the Ultimate Warrior had held up Vince McMahon for more money before the match and refused to compete unless McMahon acquiesced. Backed into a corner, McMahon reluctantly agreed. Warrior then wrestled as scheduled but was promptly fired by McMahon when he returned to the dressing room. Despite being a handicap match you never got the impression that Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior were ever going to lose here, even with the question Sid's impartiality hanging over the match. As it was Sid called the match down the middle, Hogan pinned Slaughter to win the match and then Sid returned to the ring to pose with Hogan after the bout. The match was fine but nothing to write home about.

 

Main event part two was the "Match Made In Heaven", the wedding of Randy Savage and Elizabeth. It wasn't their actual wedding of course (they were married for real in 1984) but the WWF did everything they could to make this ceremony look as legitimate as possible and to that end they did a really good job. Even the MSG crowd were respectful throughout, although it was a much different time back then. So the wedding ceremony went down without a hitch, so to speak, and the wrestling angle was saved for the reception from which footage aired on Superstars of Wrestling (and was added to the end of the video release of the event). Elizabeth opened a present which contained a cobra which was the cue for Jake Roberts and the Undertaker to gate crash the festivities. Taker knocked out Savage with his urn while Roberts terrified Elizabeth holding the cobra until Sid Justice chased away the bad guys. The angle that would lead to Savage's return to the ring had begun.

Overall
This was a really good show and while it could have been better from a wrestling standpoint, it was filled with big match-ups and big moments. The crowd at Madison Square Garden were on top form and were really spoiled too as the faces won all the important matches with no less than three title changes on the card. The Mr Perfect/Bret Hart bout was a classic in a truly golden era for the Intercontinental Championship; Virgil and Ted Dibiase's Million Dollar Belt battle was the pinnacle of their excellent feud; and the Legion of Doom completed a clean sweep of tag team titles from the three major wrestling organisations of the 1980's. Add to that Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior teaming up and the Big Boss Man sending The Mountie to jail, it was a great night for the good guys with big pops aplenty in the Garden. The Randy Savage/Elizabeth love story may not have been what the traditional wrestling fan wanted to see but it did capture the attention of many who may not have been interested in the WWF product otherwise. I really enjoyed the commentary on this show with Bobby Heenan playing a starring role, especially with his jokes at the expense of Roddy Piper. Summerslam 1991 drew 405,000 buys on pay-per-view, more or less even with the previous three supercards. Pay-per-view buy rates would take another big hit though from this point on.

Results
1 The British Bulldog, Texas Tornado & Ricky Steamboat def Warlord & Power & Glory by pinfall (10:43) **3/4

2 Bret Hart def Mr Perfect (c) by submission to win the WWF Intercontinental Title (18:04) ****1/2

3 The Natural Disasters def The Bushwackers by pinfall (6:27) 3/4

4 Virgil pinned Ted Dibiase (c) to win the Million Dollar Belt (13:11) ***1/4

5 The Big Boss Man pinned The Mountie in a "Jailhouse Match" (9:38) **1/4

6 The Legion of Doom def The Nasty Boys (c) to win the WWF Tag Team Title (7:45) **1/2

7 Irwin R Schyster pinned Greg Valentine (7:07) *1/2

8 Hulk Hogan & The Ultimate Warrior def Sgt Slaughter, Col Mustafa & Gen Adnan by pinfall (12:40) **

Rating

19.5/40 = 48.75%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

WWF Wrestlemania VII

 

WWF Wrestlemania VII

Venue: Los Angeles, California

Date: 24/3/91

Attendance: 16,158

Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Bobby Heenan (Jim Duggan & Lord Alfred Hayes)

 

"The stars of the World Wrestling Federation are on their way to join the over 100,000 screaming fans in what will be the biggest Wrestlemania extravaganza ever!" - Vince McMahon

The Vince McMahon voiced Wrestlemania VII advert showed his grand vision for the event; the WWF were looking to smash their own (disputed) attendance record set at Wrestlemania III by attracting over 100,000 to the outdoor Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. It didn't happen of course, in fact they were nowhere close. The official reason given as to why the event was switched to the much smaller Los Angeles Sports Arena was concern for Sgt Slaughter's safety having apparently received death threats for his portrayal of an Iraqi sympathiser during the time of the Gulf War. While I have no doubt Slaughter's well being was a factor, the real reason which WWE have finally admitted in recent years was poor ticket sales. By February 1991 only approximately 20,000 seats had been sold meaning the WWF had no choice but to abandon their grand plan late in the day and head across the street to the Sports Arena with their tail between their legs. Why were the ticket sales so poor? Many reasons. There was a lot of bad press surrounding the WWF at the time as government investigations into steroid abuse were gathering pace, and perhaps even worse from a PR perspective was the hugely negative reaction to the company's exploitation of the Gulf War. The Sgt Slaughter versus Hulk Hogan main event just did not attract fans like Hogan's previous main events against Andre the Giant, Randy Savage and the Ultimate Warrior. The original plan was in fact for Hogan/Warrior II to be the main event but McMahon had already decided to pull the plug on Warrior's failing title reign in favour of a sure fire xenophobic cash-in. It would prove to be a big mistake. This would be the start of a downward slide for the WWF which would eventually, coupled with the ascension of WCW, put the company in real danger of going out of business. It may not have been on the scale that McMahon had envisioned but there was a great atmosphere inside the Sports Arena for Wrestlemania VII with red, white and blue plastered all over for a very patriotic feel. The show would go on.

Review

The Rockers delivered a quality performance for the second consecutive pay-per-view defeating The Barbarian& Haku in the opening bout of the show. The future Faces Of Fear certainly played their part but this was another example of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty's ability to have a great match with just about any team. Michaels scored the winning fall with a high cross body block on Haku. Hacksaw Jim Duggan covered for Bobby Heenan on commentary for this match and I felt he did a decent job… The Texas Tornado scored a fairly easy win over Dino Bravo in a short match up with the Tornado/Discus Punch. Nothing much doing here... The British Bulldog power slammed and pinned The Warlord in a good power house match. These two would meet in the ring quite a lot during 1991 and usually produced good results due to their chemistry. This was their best televised match…

The Nasty Boys became WWF Tag Team Champions by defeating the Hart Foundation in one of their final few matches before Bret Hart's overdue singles run began. While different to the opener this was another tremendous tag team battle and was a great way for the Harts to go out. The Nasty Boys stole victory after using Jimmy Hart's motorcycle helmet on Jim Neidhart. The Los Angeles crowd seemed genuinely stunned at the result… Jake Roberts and Rick Martel's feud came to an end with a "Blindfold Match" which came about after Martel had temporarily blinded Roberts by spraying his cologne "Arrogance" into his eyes. Yes the gimmick match was a bit silly but they did the best they could under the restrictions before Roberts DDT'd Martel for the victory. Roberts deserves credit for ensuring the fans in the arena were involved throughout…

The Undertaker began what would years later be known as "The Streak" by beating Jimmy Snuka in what was essentially an extended squash. The match was fine for what it was and achieved the goal it was meant to, making Undertaker look strong. I particularly liked the suplex he delivered on Snuka from the ring apron. In the end the Tombstone Piledriver spelled the end for the WWF's original "Phenom"… The "Career Ending Match" between the Ultimate Warrior and Macho King Randy Savage was the culmination of a great four month feud which included Savage costing Warrior the WWF Heavyweight Title at the Royal Rumble. This was without question Warrior's finest match but the real praise must go to Savage for a super performance in which he put Warrior over as strong as possible. Warrior survived five Big Elbows before eventually pinning Savage with one boot on his chest (Savage's idea) to become the decisive winner and send the Macho King into retirement... for eight months (actually six days if you count the WWF/SWS Tokyo Dome show on 30/3/91). After Warrior took his bow in victory Sherri attacked Savage for his failings until Elizabeth made her return (she was shown on camera in the crowd before the bout) throwing Sherri from the ring. Randy and Liz then reunited and left together to a standing ovation. It was a truly memorable moment and tears flowed from many in the crowd. How could anyone possibly follow all of that?! Well, they couldn't…

Genichiro Tenryu and Koji Kitao appeared on the show as part of the WWF's deal with the aforementioned SWS (Super World of Sports) who were a short-lived Japanese promotion. They defeated Demolition Mk2 who were all but finished as a team. The problem here is that most WWF fans wouldn't have known who Tenryu and Kitao were and had not been given any reason to care about Demolition in months be it positively or negatively. All in all this was pointless and the match was rubbish… The Big Boss Man challenged Mr Perfect for the Intercontinental Title in a logical climax to Boss Man's feud with the Heenan Family. The match was good enough but really should have been a lot better considering both men were at their peak as workers around this time. The finish was lame as Haku & The Barbarian ran in for a disqualification in Boss Man's favour meaning Perfect retained the title. In a nice moment Andre the Giant made his return during the match to prevent further interference from Bobby Heenan. Lord Alfred Hayes filled in on commentary for this one… Earthquake pinned Greg Valentine in a filler match that was short and meant very little. Following a distraction from Jimmy Hart 'Quake took the win with an Earthquake Splash. Earthquake would struggle now his big feud with Hogan had finished. He would find himself in the tag team ranks very soon…

The Legion of Doom crushed Power & Glory in less than a minute. LOD were booked exactly the same way as the Hart Foundation the previous year; a squash win at Wrestlemania followed by a title win at Summerslam… Next was Virgil's showdown with Ted Dibiase. Or was it Roddy Piper's showdown with Dibiase? Piper trained Virgil for the match and was in his corner having persuaded him to finally turn on Dibiase at the Royal Rumble. During the bout Dibiase took some cheap shots at Piper who was on crutches after a "motorcycle accident" (a cover story for Piper's hip replacement surgery) but was so preoccupied with him he managed to get himself counted out. After the match, which was ok, Sherri made her way down to distract Piper allowing Dibiase to viciously attack Piper's already injured knee. Piper sold the agony very well and in a fit of rage actually launched one of his crutches right into the crotch of referee Danny Davis. Virgil would have to wait until Summerslam for his big moment in the ring with Dibiase… The Mountie's win over Tito Santana achieved nothing. It certainly didn't help Mountie in getting over. Santana beat up Mountie for about a minute before getting shocked with a cattle prod out of the referee's view. The 'match' lasted about a minute and a half and was a waste of time… Finally Hulk Hogan defeated Sgt Slaughter to become the first ever three time WWF Heavyweight Champion in a good main event. Slaughter took a pounding in the beginning (which was his strength) before using underhanded tactics to gain control while Hogan played on the sympathy of the crowd, something he did better than most. Hogan also bled from the forehead during the match, a rare sight in the WWF back then. In the end Hogan made his patented comeback to win the match and the 'war' (which had already ended in the Middle East) for America. Hooray! A post match angle after the show (which aired on Superstars) saw Slaughter throw fire in Hogan's face ensuring the feud would continue throughout the summer.

Overall

Putting aside the exploitation of a war, this was a good Wrestlemania from an in-ring perspective. It would have been rated a lot higher had the show been three hours instead of four with the worthless filler matches removed. Incidentally this would be the last four hour edition of the event until Wrestlemania 2000. The Savage/Warrior match was an excellent encounter that really stole the show but it wasn't alone in delivering the goods. The Rockers versus Barbarian & Haku was a cracker, the tag team championship bout was equally good and even Hogan/Slaughter was much better than expected despite the negativity surrounding the feud. The outrage could have been much worse had Slaughter agreed to burn the American flag. Thankfully he refused. Wrestlemania VII drew a somewhat disappointing 400,000 buys on pay-per-view.

Results
1 The Rockers def Haku & The Barbarian (10:41) ***1/2

2 Texas Tornado pinned Dino Bravo (3:11) *

3 The British Bulldog pinned Warlord (8:15) **3/4

4 The Nasty Boys def The Hart Foundation (c) to win the WWF Tag Team Title (12:10) ***1/2

5 Jake Roberts pinned Rick Martel in a "Blindfold Match" (8:34) *1/4

6 The Undertaker pinned Jimmy Snuka (4:20) *3/4

7 The Ultimate Warrior pinned Randy Savage in a "Career Ending Match" (20:47) ****1/2

8 Genichiro Tenryu & Koji Kitao def Demolition by pinfall (4:44) 1/2

9 The Big Boss Man def WWF Intercontinental Champion Mr Perfect (c) by disqualification (10:47) **3/4

10 Earthquake pinned Greg Valentine (3:14) *

11 The Legion of Doom def Power & Glory by pinfall (0:59) SQ

12 Virgil def Ted Dibiase by count out (7:41) **1/4

13 The Mountie pinned Tito Santana (1:21) DUD

14 Hulk Hogan pinned Sgt Slaughter (c) to win the WWF Heavyweight Title (20:26) **3/4

 

Rating

27.5/70 = 39.29%

 

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)

 

 

 

 

WWF Survivor Series 1990

 

WWF Survivor Series 1990
Venue: Hartford, Connecticut
Date: 22/11/90
Attendance: 16,000
Commentators: Gorilla Monsoon & Rowdy Roddy Piper 

The fourth annual Survivor Series would be the last to be solely comprised of tag team elimination matches but would be the first (and only) event to feature an "Ultimate Survival Match" where the survivors of each bout would face off in a final battle to close the show. There was also a lot of speculation at the time about who (or what) would be revealed from inside a giant egg on the show. I wonder how many extra buys that got for the show...

Review

The Ultimate Warrior, The Texas Tornado & The Legion of Doom vs Mr Perfect & Demolition

Eliminations: Warrior pinned Ax; Hawk, Animal, Crush & Smash were disqualified; Perfect pinned Tornado; Warrior pinned Perfect. Warrior was the survivor.

Warrior continued to struggle as champion but to be fair to Mr Hellwig the company failed to line up any serious heel threats during his reign. Warrior spent a lot of his time tagging with Legion of Doom against Demolition on the house show circuit. Speaking of Demolition, Ax was soon to be leaving the WWF so naturally he was crushed on his way out. No pun intended. Also his 'heart condition' turned out to be a serious shellfish allergy which he was first struck down with on the WWF's tour of Japan back in April. Demolition would continue with Smash and Crush but it wouldn't last long. The Texas Tornado was still wearing the Intercontinental Title here despite losing it back to Mr Perfect just three days earlier at the Superstars of Wrestling taping. Their match wouldn't air until 15/12/90. This opening bout was fine although it felt a bit like a squash match when Warrior was involved. He dispatched Ax after about two minutes before the Legion of Doom and Demolition (Smash & Crush) were eliminated in an ultra lame mass disqualification. Paving the way for their title match in December, Perfect pinned Tornado with a little help from an exposed turnbuckle. The same turnbuckle would be no match for the Warrior though as he kicked out of the Perfect-Plex and quickly beat Perfect with a splash.

Hawk nails Smash with a flying shoulder block

Ted Dibiase, The Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine & The Undertaker vs Dusty Rhodes, Koko B Ware & The Hart Foundation

Eliminations: Undertaker pinned Koko; Jim Neidhart pinned Honky; Dibiase pinned Neidhart; Undertaker pinned Rhodes; Undertaker was counted out; Bret Hart pinned Valentine; Dibiase pinned Hart. Dibiase was the survivor.

The Dream Team versus The Million Dollar Team was based on Ted Dibiase's continuing feud with Dusty Rhodes which would later involve Rhodes' son Dustin. The Rhodes family would soon be on their way to WCW but in the opposite direction came Dibiase's mystery partner. The former "Mean" Mark Callous was repackaged as The Undertaker and managed by Brother Love. He was originally called Cain the Undertaker but thankfully that was dropped just as Brother Love would soon be once a more suitable manager became available in the form of Paul Bearer. The Honky Tonk Man was another on his way out of the WWF. He would continue as a heel colour commentator on Superstars of Wrestling until his departure in January. The Undertaker made short work of Koko B Ware with his first tombstone piledriver before Jim Neidhart sent Honky packing with a power slam. Then came a hat trick of weak eliminations. Dibiase beat big Neidhart with a clothesline; Undertaker beat big Dusty Rhodes with a double axe handle; then Undertaker was counted out despite not being the legal man in the ring! It was then time for Bret Hart to once again show his potential as a singles wrestler as he pinned Greg Valentine before having a good four minute finale with Dibiase. Dibiase managed to reverse a cross body to pin the "Hitman" who uttered the word "f*ck" on camera after the three count. This was a decent match but still nothing special. 

The Undertaker is about to finish off Koko B Ware

Rick Martel, The Warlord & Power & Glory vs Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka & The Rockers

Eliminations: Warlord pinned Marty Jannetty; Martel pinned Snuka; Paul Roma pinned Shawn Michaels; Roberts was counted out. Martel, Warlord & Power & Glory were the survivors.

On the 6/10/90 edition of Superstars of Wrestling, Rick Martel attempted to spray "Arrogance" (his cologne) on Damien while Jake Roberts was being interviewed by Brother Love. As Roberts attempted to stop him, Martel sprayed the substance into Jake's eyes blinding him. In the weeks that followed Roberts even wore a white contact lens to 'sell' his blindness. Come Survivor Series, Roberts was partially sighted in just one eye and was cleared to wrestle as he captained his team of "Vipers" against Martel's "Visionaries". Clever. Meanwhile Shawn Michaels had returned from injury as he and Marty Jannetty resumed their feud with Power & Glory while Jimmy Snuka and The Warlord rounded off the teams.  It didn't turn out too well for the reptile team as one by one they were eliminated leaving Roberts to face all four members of the heel team by himself. In the end Roberts chased Martel back to the locker room with Damien meaning the "Visionaries" became the first team to survive completely intact at the Survivor Series. You see, unlike in the previous match Martel was correctly not counted out as he was not the legal man. Despite being so one-sided the match was another decent affair.

Hulk Hogan, The Big Boss Man, Hacksaw Jim Duggan & Tugboat vs Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Haku & The Barbarian

Eliminations: Boss Man pinned Haku; Duggan was disqualified; Hogan pinned Bravo; Earthquake pinned Boss Man; Earthquake & Tugboat were counted out; Hogan pinned Barbarian. Hogan was the survivor.

Hulk Hogan and Earthquake continued to feud as they captained their respective teams in this next encounter. Ravishing Rick Rude was originally to be part of the heel team but he left the WWF in October after a disagreement and debuted in WCW at Halloween Havoc soon after. The Big Boss Man, who was feuding with Rude would continue the conflict with the rest of the Heenan Family instead. This was a fairly standard match as you might expect. Boss Man pinned Haku early on before Jim Duggan got himself disqualified. Hogan then pinned Dino Bravo with a small package before Earthquake evened things up by downing the Boss Man. Tugboat's only contribution was a showdown with Earthquake which lasted less than a minute before both men were counted out. That left Hogan and The Barbarian for a quite predictable climax as Hogan advanced to the final battle.

Nikolai Volkoff, Tito Santana & The Bushwackers vs Sgt Slaughter, Boris Zhukov & The Orient Express

Eliminations: Santana pinned Zhukov; Luke pinned Sato; Santana pinned Tanaka; Slaughter pinned Volkoff; Slaughter pinned Butch; Slaughter pinned Luke; Slaughter was disqualified. Santana was the survivor.

This was essentially a jobber match that existed to fill time and to help get Sgt Slaughter's heel character over. Slaughter had a looong interview with Gene Okerlund on his way to the ring to drive home his anti-American stance. Akeem was originally supposed to be on the "Mercenaries" team but left the WWF prior to the event and was replaced by Boris Zhukov. Sato was also about to leave the company although we would see him again as the flag bearer for Yokozuna at Summerslam 1993 and as Hakushi's manager Shinja in 1995. The Orient Express and Zhukov are eliminated quickly but Slaughter then ploughed through The Bushwackers and Nikolai Volkoff with ease. Slaughter's manager General Adnan was then caught out attacking Tito Santana with the Iraqi flag meaning a disqualification for Slaughter. It was nice to see Santana get a win for a change! This was a poor match and there was no sign here that Slaughter would be World Champion in two months time. His offense was slow and looked weak.

The Gobbledy Gooker - Hard to believe this idea bombed...

Just before the main event it was time to reveal who was inside the giant egg! It was of course the Gobbledy Gooker played by the talented Hector Guerrero. To say it was a massive disappointment would be an understatement although could you really expect anyone good to debut from an egg? The crowd were stunned. Believe it or not some people at the time thought it would be Ric Flair! 

The Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan & Tito Santana vs Ted Dibiase, Rick Martel, The Warlord & Power & Glory

Eliminations: Santana pinned Warlord; Dibiase pinned Santana; Hogan pinned Roma; Martel was counted out; Hogan pinned Dibiase; Warrior pinned Hercules. Warrior & Hogan were the survivors.

The final showdown was effectively a victory parade for the babyface superpowers (sorry not you Santana). The heels were squashed but the only man beaten of any value was Dibiase (Martel walked) and at least he went down last. It was a nice feel good ending for the crowd but the victory was far too easy for Hogan and the Warrior. There was a serious lack of top heels at that time but Randy Savage and Sgt Slaughter were being readied.

"The Final Match of Survival"

Overall
This was pretty much a nothing show overall. The matches were mostly adequate but there was certainly nothing outstanding. There were no significant happenings with the exception of The Undertaker's debut but it was way too early to know how well he would get over (quite well as it happened). Roddy Piper continued in his role of colour commentator but had now firmly settled in the face role after see-sawing at Summerslam. Survivor Series 1990 drew 400,000 buys on pay-per-view.

Results
1 The Ultimate Warrior, Texas Tornado & The Legion of Doom def Mr Perfect & Demolition (14:20) **1/4

2 Ted Dibiase, The Honky Tonk Man, Greg Valentine & The Undertaker def Dusty Rhodes, Koko B Ware & The Hart Foundation (13:54) **1/2

3 Rick Martel, Warlord & Power & Glory def Jake Roberts, Jimmy Snuka & The Rockers (17:42) **1/2

4 Hulk Hogan, The Big Boss Man, Jim Duggan & Tugboat def Earthquake, Dino Bravo, Haku & The Barbarian (14:49) **

5 Tito Santana, Nikolai Volkoff & The Bushwackers def Sgt Slaughter, Boris Zhukov & The Orient Express (10:52) 3/4

6 The Ultimate Warrior, Hulk Hogan & Tito Santana def Ted Dibiase, Rick Martel, Warlord & Power & Glory (9:07) *1/2

Rating

11.5/30 = 38.33%

Star Rating Guide

*****   Excellent/World Class

****     Very Good

***        Good

**           OK/Acceptable

*             Poor

DUD       Abysmal

SQ          Squash (Less than 1 min)