Monday Night Raw – July 11, 1994: One Of The Best Raw Matches Ever

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 11, 1994
Location: Fernwood Resort, Bushkill, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 1,600
Commentators: Jim Ross, Randy Savage

This week has a pretty big match for a change as Bret Hart is defending the WWF Title against the 1-2-3 Kid in a match that has some serious potential. The Kid is someone who can have a good match with a lot of people and Bret is Bret, so we could have something great going here. Other than that, Ted DiBiase will have more about the Fake Undertaker. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a look at the 1-2-3 Kid’s history of upsets coming into the title shot against Bret Hart.

Hart talked about some young, up and coming stars at the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony.

Opening sequence.

Commentary hypes up the title match.

WWF Title: Bret Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid

Hart is defending…but hold on because here are Jim Neidhart and Owen Hart to yell but are quickly thrown out. We get a handshake before the Kid quickly takes him down with an armdrag. Kid works on a wristlock but Hart slams him down, only to have Kid nip back up for a standoff. A hammerlock puts Hart down again as they’re certainly taking their time to start. Hart reverses into a quick chinlock but Kid is right back up as well. A monkey flip has Hart in trouble and a spinning kick to the face has him on the floor as we take a break.

Back with Kid still working on the arm and Hart looking a bit frustrated. Hart gets up and gets in a knee to the ribs to stop a charging Kid. A slam drops Kid again and some hard uppercuts in the corner keep him in trouble. Hart gets two off a neckbreaker and we hit the chinlock. Kid fights up and hits a crossbody for two of his own, leaving Savage VERY enthusiastic (yeah I’m stunned too).

Kid’s crucifix is countered into something like a Samoan drop for….three, though Kid’s foot was on the ropes. The referee (Earl Hebner, because of course in a Hart match) didn’t notice it but Hart himself points it out, which really doesn’t seem to be the best idea. The match will indeed continue and we take a break, coming back with Hart grabbing another chinlock. Kid fights up again and gets two off a backslide (I remember Hart’s panicked face from watching this as a kid), only to have Hart grab a DDT for the same.

Hart takes his sweet time going up for the middle rope elbow and Kid gets his foot up to the face. The jumping spinwheel kick drops Hart and Kid fires off the kicks in the corner, including a running dropkick. A spinning high crossbody gets two and Kid plants him with a powerbomb. You can hear the crowd getting into this as Kid hits a guillotine legdrop for two more and there’s a clothesline to put Hart on the floor.

The moonsault to the floor is partially blocked though and it’s Hart getting back inside first. Kid gets back up and heads to the top, only to miss a Swanton. The Sharpshooter is loaded up but Kid grabs the rope before Hart can turn it over. Hart hits the bulldog and goes up, where he is slammed right back down. Kid goes up instead but dives right into the Sharpshooter as Hart retains at 25:35.

Rating: A-. This is one of those matches that I remember seeing as a kid and flashing back to it many times over the years. Watching it back in full shows why as this was outstanding stuff, with Kid hanging in there long enough that you believed a miracle could be possible. At the same time, a lot of that is due to Hart, who knew exactly what he was doing the whole way through. This was the Kid’s big coming out party and they knocked it WAY out of the park with one of the best matches ever on Raw.

Hart checks on Kid as Savage and JR give it a standing ovation to really put Kid over. We get the big show of respect with Hart raising Kid’s hand.

Summerslam Report! The show will be the first televised event in the United Center (and for some reason they wouldn’t be back for 23 years) with a main event of….Undertaker vs. Undertaker, which has Todd Pettengill rather confused. Paul Bearer talks about how the real Undertaker is NOT happy and it’s time for him to come back for some revenge.

Crush vs. Matt Hardy

This show is downright notable. Crush knocks him into the corner but Matt moonsaults over him, only to get his head superkicked off. A delayed gorilla press drops Hardy again and has Savage doing a weird soccer styles GOAL shouting. The tilt-a-whirl backbreaker finishes Hardy at 1:25.

Razor Ramon vs. Barry Horowitz

Barry doesn’t care for the fans liking Ramon to start so Ramon shoves him down without much effort. Ramon takes his time before firing off right hands as commentary talks about boxing. Something close to an STF has Horowitz in more trouble before Ramon messes with his hair. Horowitz’s comeback is cut off by a fall away slam and Ramon grabs a small package of all things for the win at 2:53. What a unique way to wrap it up.

We go to what looks like a basic office for the King’s Court with special guest Ted DiBiase. Lawler recaps the history of the Million Dollar Corporation, including bringing back the Undertaker, but now DiBiase is trying to buy Lex Luger. DiBiase says he isn’t trying because it has been a success, but even Lawler isn’t sure if he buys that one. Ok so the contract isn’t actually signed or anything, though it’s just a matter of time.

Commentary isn’t sure about DiBiase buying Luger either.

IRS vs. Ray Hudson

Before the match, IRS guarantees everyone will pay for cheating on their taxes. IRS grabs a hammerlock to start before throwing Hudson outside without much trouble. Hudson comes back in with a high crossbody for two but IRS is right back with an abdominal stretch. That’s switched into a leglock as commentary talks about baseball. A clothesline drops Hudson again and the Penalty (STF) finishes at 3:44.

Rating: D. Geez this was boring. I don’t know if the idea behind IRS is that he was uninteresting in every way but it’s a shame as he is capable of having some better stuff. This was just a bunch of waiting around for Hudson to lose, which felt far longer than just under four minutes. Terribly dull stuff.

Bret Hart is happy with his win and respects the 1-2-3 Kid. He isn’t worried about Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart either so Owen can come find him.

Overall Rating: B. It’s a one match show but that one match is one of the best matches the company had presented in years at that point. It was a great match and absolutely worth checking out, which is enough to overcome that IRS match, plus some other skippable stuff. In other words, Bret Hart is the best thing in the WWF at the moment and…well yeah of course he is.

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