Matt Davis takes a look back at the WWF Championship in 1993. This edition features runs for Bret Hart, Yokozuna, and Hulk Hogan!

Welcome to the seventh edition of the Retro Championship Review on The Chairshot! This will be a biweekly article here on The Chairshot because we have a lot to discuss! In starting, my question for you is; have you ever had a discussion with a friend or in a group online about who is the greatest champion of all time? What is your defense of your claim? Wins? Quality of matches? Length of reign? In this weekly article, I will be looking back one year at a time and evaluating one specific championship in each article, with a yearly grade ranking and overall grade ranking and as we progress through the years, I will reveal who I believe is the best champion of all time.

To start us off, I am going to discuss the most recognizable championship in the history of wrestling, the WWE Heavyweight Championship. These articles will not discuss the “Big Gold” World Championship, Universal Championship, or any other recognized heavyweight championship in WWE, those will be discussed in other articles. During these reviews, I will count matches aired on weekly television, PPV, and matches also released on VHS and later on home media.

Bret Hart (October 12th, 1992 – April 4th, 1993)

• Record: 10-1
• Clean Losses: 0
• Successful Defenses: 6

Recommended Matches to Watch

• Bret Hart d. Ric Flair, October 12th, 1992, “WWE’s Top 50 Superstars of All-Time”
• Bret Hart d. Shawn Michaels, November 25th, 1992, Survivor Series
• Bret Hart d. Fatu, March 1st, 1993, Monday Night RAW

Thoughts: Added this to the 1993 list because of the implications of the end of this reign. Overall, it’s a very good reign, with an excellent W/L record, no clean losses (yet another dirty WWF Title change), and 6 successful defenses. The match with HBK at Survivor Series is an all time classic and showed that the two former tag team specialists were capable of special things and acted as a prelude for the rest of the decade. Threw in a gem from RAW, when those types of matches didn’t usually occur on RAW. Not a whole lot to say about, it’s a quiet reign with some really good quality which has come to be the standard for 1992-1993.

Grade (A+ through F ): B-

Yokozuna (April 4th, 1992 – April 4th, 1992)

• Record: 1-1
• Clean Losses: 1?
• Successful Defenses: 0

Recommended Matches to Watch

• N/A (Please never watch Wrestlemania IX)

Thoughts: Oh brother.

Grade (A+ through F ): F

Hulk Hogan (April 4th, 1993 – June 13th, 1993)

• Record: 1-1
• Clean Losses: 0
• Successful Defenses: 0

Recommended Matches to Watch

• N/A

Thoughts: Absolute joke of a reign. The way it started, the way it ended, zero defenses in two and a half months, zero house shows, he took the title and ran with it. Soon after, Hulkamania would be gone from the WWF.

Grade (A+ through F ): F

Yokozuna (June 13th, 1993 – March 20th, 1994)

• Record: 12-7
• Clean Losses: 1
• Successful Defenses: 9

Recommended Matches to Watch

• Lex Luger d. Yokozuna (countout), August 30th, 1993, SummerSlam
• The All Americans d. The Foreign Fanatics, November 24th, 1993, Survivor Series
• Yokozuna d. Bret Hart, December 15th, 1993, “Inside the WWF”
•  Yokozuna d. Undertaker, January 22nd, 1994, Royal Rumble
• Randy Savage d. Yokozuna (DQ), February 28th, 1994, Monday Night RAW

Thoughts: 19 matches across 9 months as champion, one of the most active fighting champions in the titles history so far. What is to note here is the amount of losses, yet, never losing clean. This is the first reign where a heel champion reigned for so long and lost a lot while not looking weak at all. The WWF used his weight as an advantage and a disadvantage here, making him an immovable object, but also giving him several countout losses when he was toppled. This reign was memorable to me as a young child because of the Lex Express stuff, the Body Slam Challenge, and of course…. the Undertaker with the American flag attire before Survivor Series. I remember watching that and feeling beyond patriotic! His only clean loss was at Wrestlemania X. Over half his matches were quick squash matches, either against jobbers or veterans on their way out of the company.

Grade (A+ through F ): B+

Overall WWE Champion Ranking

1. Hulk Hogan (January 23rd, 1984 – February 5th, 1988) – A
2. Yokozuna (June 13th, 1993 – March 20th, 1994) B+
3. “Macho Man” Randy Savage (April 5th, 1992 – September 14th, 1992) – B
4. Bret Hart (October 12th, 1992 – April 4th, 1993) B-
5. “Macho Man” Randy Savage (March 27th, 1988 – April 2nd, 1989) – C+
6. Sgt. Slaughter (January 19th, 1991 – March 24th, 1991) – C
7. Hulk Hogan (April 2nd, 1989 – April 1st, 1990) – C
8. Hulk Hogan (March 24th — November 27th, 1991) – D+
9. Ric Flair (January 19th, 1992 — April 5th, 1992) — D
10. The Ultimate Warrior (April 1st, 1990- January 19th, 1991) – D
11. Ric Flair (September 14th, 1992 – October 12th, 1992) — D
12. Hulk Hogan (April 4th, 1993 – June 13th, 1993) F
13. Yokozuna (April 4th, 1992 – April 4th, 1992) F
14. Undertaker (November 27th, 1991- December 3rd, 1991) – F
15. Hulk Hogan (December 3rd, 1991 – December 4th, 1991) – F

**Speaking of championships, I am currently designing custom made championships and shirts for your wrestling figure collections! Over the weekend my page passed 500 Likes, and I am hosting a free giveaway trivia game! One lucky winner will receive of these one of a kind custom championship belts of their choosing! Check out the page at Grand Slam Creations – Custom Wrestling Belts & Accessories on Facebook, give us a like and a follow and share with your friends! (If you find the page due to this article, please let me know and you will be given a extra entry into the giveaway!)**