• ON THIS DAY IN WWF HISTORY (June 4, 1989) – WWF Wrestling Challenge
On this day in 1989, the World Wrestling Federation aired an episode of their weekly TV show ‘WWF Wrestling Challenge’.
It was broadcasted from the LaCrosse Center in La Crosse, Wisconsin and featured pre-taped matches, promos & storyline segments on the road to the ‘WWF SummerSlam 1989’ PPV.
The card can be found right here:
– The Bushwhackers vs. Chris Curtis & Al Burke
– Haku vs. Jim Evans
– Jim Neidhart vs. Dave Wagner
– The Rougeau Brothers vs. Jim Powers & Warren Bianchi
– The Honky Tonk Man vs. Red Tyler
– Rick Martel vs. Jerry Lynn
– The Ultimate Warrior vs. Scott Colon
• Jim Ross Reveals Why Stone Cold Steve Austin Didn’t Want To Face Hulk Hogan
On this week’s episode of Grilling JR, WWE Hall Of Famer Jim Ross and Conrad Thompson discussed the period when Stone Cold Steve Austin walked out of WWE. He also revealed why Austin didn’t want a match with Hulk Hogan.
Below are the highlights:
On why Austin turned down a match against Hulk Hogan:
“Austin had it in his mind that Hogan’s style and Austin’s style were oil and water. He just didn’t feel the chemistry. Austin was never about having good matches. Austin was about having great matches. He knew better than anybody else in the world who he could work the best with. Hogan wasn’t on that list. Steve could be wrong too.
I’m not saying that Hogan and Austin couldn’t have a good match. Look at the match Hogan had at WrestleMania 18 with The Rock. Steve is a stubborn guy and he just didn’t feel it. That’s what we are trying to explain in meeting with these guys is that there is a new sheriff in town and his name is Stone Cold. It is not Hulkamania anymore. But if we could use Hulkamania in a bitter way, in an angry way, maybe we could get a WrestleMania out of it. That was the idea but it never came to fruition.
It didn’t happen because Steve didn’t push for it. I believe Hogan probably would have gone along with it because it would have been a great payday and he could have worked with Austin.”
On Austin facing Scott Hall at WrestleMania 18:
“(The match) felt so thrown together with no thinking. We had guys on the roster that would have been and deserved that opportunity to work with Steve at WrestleMania. To work with Steve at WrestleMania is going to help you get over whether you win or lose. Vince and I were looking at the card for WrestleMania 17. I looked at the card and I said it is a hell of a card, but we have two guys that aren’t booked. He said, who? I said Undertaker and HHH. They got booked as a cold match. It was an oversight.”
On the interview he had to do saying Austin took his ball and went home after Austin went home because he didn’t want to do a job for Brock Lesnar with no build-up:
“I know Vince wasn’t pleased with everything I said because everything I said didn’t make air. I tried to give Steve an out, if that’s a good wrestling term, to tell the whole story. I had tears in my eyes because I failed. I failed as his friend. I failed as an administrator to intercept these issues.”
