Monday Night Raw – October 24, 1994: No Word On The Daddy Part Yet
IMG Credit: WWE
Monday Night Raw
Date: October 24, 1994
Location: Memorial Auditorium, Burlington, Vermont
Attendance: 1,800
Commentators: Vince McMahon, Randy Savage
We’re still in Vermont and still on the very slow build towards Survivor Series, but first up we have Razor Ramon defending the Intercontinental Title against Yokozuna. Other than that we have the bizarre feud between Lex Luger and Bob Backlund over chickenwings and drugs. Let’s get to it.
Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.
Opening sequence.
Intercontinental Title: Razor Ramon vs. Yokozuna
Razor is defending and Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji are in Yokozuna’s corner. Yokozuna jumps him from behind to start as the arena is still full of smoke from the pyro. Some right hand slaps and a clothesline don’t put Yokozuna down so it’s a jumping clothesline to finally drop the monster.
Razor knocks him to the floor and it’s time for the stumbling turtle look. Apparently those were Miami street smarts that put Yokozuna on the floor. What the heck do they do in the streets of Miami? Razor is smart enough to let him get back in as we hear about Oprah running a marathon.
A slam plants Razor and the big legdrop crushes Razor’s head. We hit the nerve hold and take a break, coming back to the hold keeping Razor down. Razor fights up with some elbows so Yokozuna pounds away in the corner. It’s back to the nerve hold as we talk about football. Back up and Razor avoids the charge in the corner, setting up the middle rope bulldog for two. Cue the casket though and Yokozuna bails for the countout.
Rating: D. That was a pretty weird way to end the match as Razor wasn’t exactly in trouble. I can appreciate the idea of not having Razor look weak, but it’s not the kind of thing that you usually see happen. At least they were smart enough to go with the logical ending instead of having someone take a clean loss, which you wouldn’t see today.
It’s time for the Survivor Series Report, with the big Texas theme rolling strong. There needs to be a main event though so we look back at yesterday’s premiere episode of the Action Zone, where WWF Champion Bret Hart offers Bob Backlund a title shot. As for the traditional Survivor Series matches, we have Guts N Glory (Smoking Gunns/Adam Bomb/Mabel/Lex Luger) vs. the Million Dollar Team (Bam Bam Bigelow/King Kong Bundy/Tatanka/Heavenly Bodies). And yes, you are supposed to want to pay for that match.
Next week: Backlund vs. Luger. That’s some great timing given the matches they just announced.
Smoking Gunns vs. Mike Bell/Barry Hardy
Joined in progress (Seriously?) with the Gunns in control as Bart whips Bell all over the place. A double Russian legsweep plants Bell as Savage starts talking like Dusty Rhodes for some reason. Billy’s powerslam sets up an over the shoulder backbreaker/top rope elbow to finish Bell with ease.
Tatanka vs. Scott Taylor
Tatanka sends him into the corner to start as we hear about Walter Cronkite going to a Grateful Dead concert. Savage: “I wonder if the Undertaker knows about that.” DiBiase brags about Tatanka, showing that he has some pretty low standards. Now we hear about Savage going to a car race and where he went to dinner after it was over. Taylor gets two off a rollup and gets clotheslined right back down. The very (and I mean VERY) slow beating continues until the End of the Trail gives Tatanka the pin.
Rating: D-. Egads this was slow but I do want to hear about that Vinny’s restaurant that Savage went to. There wasn’t much other than that though as the Million Dollar Corporation vs….well anyone actually was just awful. It was as low level of a stable as you can get and there was no way to hide that.
IRS can’t believe Undertaker would DIE to avoid paying taxes. Even after you come to the funeral home, you still need to pay up!
Adam Bomb vs. Phil Apollo
Apollo is better known as Doink and he actually jumps Bomb to start. This goes as well as you would expect as Bomb…hiptosses him. What a power display. A dropkick sends Apollo into the corner as Savage talks about John Candy movies. The pumphandle powerslam finishes Apollo in a hurry.
Post match Backlund comes out and puts Bomb in the crossface chickenwing.
It’s time for the King’s Court and I have a bad feeling about this. Lawler does his usual set of insults of the crowd before talking about the mini kings. He recaps the entire history of the mini kings vs. the mini clowns and sounds like he loses himself somewhere in the process. Savage: “GET TO THE POINT!” That is indeed what he does, by introducing Cheesy as the third mini. Lawler issues a challenge to Doink and the mini clowns (That wasn’t already set up?) with the mini kings talking some horrible trash. Sweet goodness this is awful and the match would be even worse.
This week on Action Zone: Shawn Michaels and Diesel defend the Tag Team Titles against Razor Ramon/1-2-3 Kid in a pretty famous match.
Diesel vs. Ben Jordan
Believe it or not, Diesel runs him over to start and hits the big boot into the side slam as the announcers pay attention to this one. It’s almost like Diesel could wind up going somewhere. The neck crank goes on, followed by a bearhug as we hear about YA Tittle’s (former NFL quarterback, who happened to date my grandmother WAY back in the day, believe it or not) birthday. Another neck crank doesn’t last as long this time as Diesel hits the Jackknife for the win.
Rating: D. See, this is the Diesel who had all the potential in and I can get that entirely. He was big, he was cool (no word on if he was a daddy at this point) and he was dominant while having a great look. What else can you ask for at this point? It’s pretty clear that they need something else so why not try Diesel?
Now let’s make fun of the Major League Baseball strike. Just makes me want to watch baseball.
Bob Backlund comes to the ring and dances around to end the show.
Overall Rating: D-. E pluribus gads I had forgotten how bad things got around this time. What in the world am I supposed to be interested in on this show? Tatanka vs. Lex Luger? The Smoking Gunns? Backlund is entertaining but I don’t think any sane person would believe that he was going to be the next big thing, or even a thing that was big whatsoever. Oh and the battle of the minis is an all time nightmare but I think that one speaks for itself.
Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s History Of In Your House (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:
https://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2019/05/31/new-paperback-kbs-history-of-in-your-house/
And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:
Recent Comments