Monday Night Raw
Date: July 18, 1994
Location: Fernwood Resort, Bushkill, Pennsylvania
Attendance: 1,600
Commentators: Jim Ross, Randy Savage

After last week’s rather awesome Bret Hart vs. 1-2-3 Kid WWF Title match, it’s time to look at another title, as Diesel defends the Intercontinental Title against Lex Luger. What makes things all the more confusing is the fact that Ted DiBiase claiming he has purchased Lex Luger (though the contract has yet to be signed). Let’s get to it.

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

We open with a clip from Superstars with Tatanka as a guest on the Heartbreak Hotel, being convinced that Lex Luger has sold out to Ted DiBiase. Even Shawn Michaels isn’t sure about that.

Opening sequence.

Intercontinental Title: Diesel vs. Lex Luger

Diesel, with Shawn Michaels, is defending and there’s no sign of DiBiase to start. They take their time to get going until it’s a fight over a lockup, with Luger being powered out to the floor. Back in and Luger grabs a sunset flip for two and Diesel isn’t happy. That means we settle down a bit with Diesel elbowing him in the back of the head, followed by some to the front of the head in the corner.

A powerslam gets Luger out of trouble (and a two) and now it’s time to punch Diesel to the floor, with the fans approving. Back in and the Jackknife attempt is countered with a backdrop but Luger misses a charge and crashes out to the floor. Diesel hits a clothesline and we see DiBiase watching from a box as we take a break. Back with Diesel getting two off Snake Eyes, followed by the running crotch attack to the back for a VERY delayed two.

We hit the chinlock with a knee in Luger’s back for a bit, followed by a jumping elbow for another near fall. Diesel grabs the sleeper for a good while but Luger finally suplexes his way to freedom. Luger strikes away and ducks a big boot, setting up a DDT for two. A middle rope clothesline gives Luger two more as this is picking way up. The referee gets crushed in the corner though and Luger grabs the Rack, only to have Shawn break it up. The referee wakes up to count two and here is Razor Ramon to get rid of Michaels, which is enough for the referee to throw it out at 18:05.

Rating: B-. This started slowly but they were rocking by the end, with the double DQ being the right way to go. You don’t want to change the title or have Luger take a pin so this was as good as it was going to be. Luger might not be the best all around but he knows how to make that kind of a comeback. At the same time, JR was on fire here and knew EXACTLY how to make this feel like the most epic showdown. Really good stuff here and if you cut off about two minutes at the start, it’s that much better.

Post match the beatdown is on with Ramon getting laid out but Luger breaks up a spike piledriver. Cue DiBiase to look at Luger.

Mabel vs. Austin Steele

Steele, who looks like a bad Buddy Landell impersonator, gets thrown around to start and there’s a Flair Flip in the corner. Mabel headbutts him out of the air and hits a really awkward looking suplex. A test of strength makes Steele scream (how familiar) as Mabel starts in on the arm, allowing commentary to talk about pop culture. Mabel splashes him in the corner and hits a Boss Man Slam for the pin at 2:15. That guy couldn’t have been more of a Flair knockoff is his life depended on it. Just minus the talent that is.

It’s the Summerslam Report and we talk about Leslie Nielsen being brought in to figure out the Undertaker ordeal. Also announced over the weekend: Bret Hart defending the WWF Title against Owen Hart inside a cage. One of those things is better than the other.

House show ads.

Owen Hart vs. Reno Riggins

Jim Neidhart is here with Owen. They go technical to start as the fans want Bret. Riggins manages an armbar with some hard wrenching but Owens slaps him in the face. Owen takes him down until Riggins hits him in the face as well. That earns Riggins a belly to belly into the Sharpshooter for the submission at 2:55. Riggins was slightly more competitive than I would have expected.

Owen takes his sweet time letting go.

Here’s what’s coming next week, including Tatanka vs….Nikolai Volkoff. That might not be worth advertising.

Sparky Plugg vs. George South

South sends him into the corner to start but Plugg gets in a kick to the ribs. There’s a slam into a headlock as Plugg looks ridiculous in the lime green singlet. A headscissors takes South down as commentary talks about Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Pressley. South fights out of a headlock but charges into an elbow, setting up a high crossbody to finish for Plugg at 2:40.

We get a long recap of the Undertaker Is Missing, starting with him “ascending” at the Royal Rumble via casket cam. Then various people saw him around the country. Then Ted DiBiase claimed to have brought back the Undertaker but Paul Bearer didn’t buy it. We hear from Bearer, says the real Undertaker will be back at Summerslam. Then DiBiase says he has the real Undertaker. This story is stupid.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Gary Sabaugh

Sabaugh is better known as the Italian Stallion in the NWA, which explains the random “Italy” written on his trunks. Bigelow runs him own with a shoulder to start and a splash in the corner makes it worse. An elbow to the face gives Bigelow two and we hit the quickly broken chinlock. Sabaugh slugs and clotheslines away but walks into a powerslam. A Million Dollar Dream bulldog (it didn’t look great) finishes for Bigelow at 2:55.

Ted DiBiase says he has been talking to Lex Luger but the deal isn’t closed yet. He has a big announcement this weekend but here is Tatanka to yell at DiBiase about buying Luger. That earns Tatanka an offer of $10,000 if he can beat Nikolai Volkoff next week. Deal.

Overall Rating: C+. The opener was good and the rest of the matches were good enough to carry things. That being said, the idea of the Undertaker vs. Undertaker feud being one of the best things that the WWF had at the time is not a good sign. There are good things going on in the WWF but my goodness that feud is dea…..well it’s really bad.

 

 

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Monday Night Raw
Date: May 16, 1994
Location: Memorial Auditorium, Burlington, Vermont
Attendance: 2,500
Commentators: Randy Savage, Vince McMahon

Let’s have some sumo wrestling. That’s the big story this week as Earthquake and Yokozuna will have a sumo match with the ring ropes taken down. Why that is supposed to have my attention for an hour long show is beyond me, but maybe we can get another King of the Ring match to fill the time. Let’s get to it.

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

The opening video looks at the sumo match, with both guys being big and good at sumo. Earthquake as a face still just feels wrong.

Opening sequence.

Commentary runs down the show but Vince seems to mistime things a bit and is left standing there for a bit before the camera cuts away.

King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Sparky Plugg

Bigelow has Luna Vachon with him and wastes no time in hammering away. Plugg ducks a dropkick though and dropkicks him to the floor as the racing jokes abound. Back in and Bigelow has had enough of this and runs him over again, setting up a headbutt for two. A charge into the corner hits Plugg’s boot so Bigelow enziguris him down for two. The chinlock goes on, even though it seemed like they were wrapping up.

Bigelow cuts off a comeback with a knee to the ribs and drops another headbutt. Plugg avoids a charge though and grabs a bulldog into a DDT. The high crossbody is good for two more on Bigelow as the fans are excited as you’re going to see for a Plugg comeback. Luna grabs the foot though and it’s a clothesline into the Swan Dive to give Bigelow the pin at 6:29.

Rating: D+. This didn’t work very well and that shouldn’t surprise you. The main point of the match was to get in as many racing jokes as possible. When those dried up, you were left with a pretty dull Plugg match and I think you can figure out how well that went. Cut off about two minutes here and it’s a lot better.

Here’s the King of the Ring Report. Todd Pettengill gives us a quick rundown of the tournament before moving on to Bret Hart vs. Diesel and Jerry Lawler vs. Roddy Piper. This time around, they have an address where you can send donations for the children’s hospital that brought Piper out of retirement. We also get a quick look at who has qualified for the tournament so far.

Diesel vs. Mike Moraldo

Diesel’s Intercontinental Title isn’t on the line. Diesel knocks him down to start and sends Moraldo flying outside to make it worse. Back in and some kicks to the ribs set up the bearhug with Diesel just dropping him hard. There’s a side slam to plant Moraldo again and Snake Eyes connects. Commentary talks about celebrities and Diesel picks him up (after a camera cut) for the Jackknife and the pin at 3:10.

Rating: D. What does it say that you had to cut something out of a completely one sided match that barely broke three minutes otherwise? Diesel was starting to get better but he didn’t have the most thrilling squashes so far. Then again, maybe he just needs a long match with Bret Hart on pay per view.

A guy at a gas station saw the Undertaker.

It’s time for the King’s Court with Jerry Lawler saying that the fans would find their own picture if they looked up the word repulsive. Lawler moves on to Roddy Piper, who was drafted into the army when he turned 18. He didn’t want to go so he put on a dress and high heels. It didn’t get him taken into the army, but it got him taken out by a doctor. After a break, here are this week’s guests, with Ted DiBiase and Nikolai Volkoff of all people. DiBiase explains things in a hurry: Volkoff is broke, so now DiBiase owns him (there’s a “you broken it, you bought it” joke in there somewhere). Volkoff: “I hate you.”

Lawler says DiBiase looks like a million bucks but Volkoff looks like ten cents. DiBiase agrees, so we have some new gear for Volkoff. We’ll start with some “Property Of The Million Dollar Man” trunks, followed by a tuxedo shirt, with Volkoff hating everything about this. McMahon talks about Volkoff being an Olympic weightlifter, “Just like Mark Henry today.” DiBiase and Lawler laugh a lot to wrap this up. All this for Nikolai Volkoff in 1994? There was NO ONE else to do this?

Owen Hart vs. Tony Roy

Vince ignores the match to talk about the Hall of Fame induction ceremony as Owen takes over to start. Owen knocks him down and drops a middle rope elbow to keep up the beating. A knee to the ribs cuts Roy down again as Savage reads copy about an upcoming USA movie. Owen gets in a gutwrench suplex and finishes with the Sharpshooter at 2:19.

Post match Owen rants about how much better he is than Bret Hart. Owen sends Roy outside and puts some Bret sunglasses on him. Isn’t that just saving him money at the merch table?

Duke Droese is sleeping in a dumpster and is grateful for the wake up call. You have a guy in a dumpster and Nikolai Volkoff on the same show. How is this supposed to work?

The ropes are being taken down so Vince tells us to call somebody. I called a local beekeeper. He wasn’t thrilled with me telling him about a 27 year old sumo match on Raw and then screamed a lot because the bees went nuts over the phone ringing. I’m visiting him in the hospital later.

Yokozuna vs. Earthquake

It’s a sumo match with the ropes gone. The first person to shove the other out of the ring wins. They take their time getting ready, tease the start a few times, and then stand back up. That goes so well that they do it again as we are now a few minutes into the stalling. They finally collide and grapple, with neither going anywhere. Yokozuna headbutts him and starts driving Earthquake back before they wind up back in the middle for some standing. Earthquake finally switches places, shoves him down, and wins at 6:03.

Rating: D. I get the idea here but egads they didn’t exactly make this interesting. It’s a case where it might be accurate, but it wasn’t interesting. This almost has to be it for Earthquake and uh…..what a great way to go out I guess. It’s certainly an idea, but you’re only going to get so far with this kind of an idea.

House show ads.

Recap/preview wrap us up.

Overall Rating: D-. This was pretty awful with nothing worth seeing on the whole thing. The sumo deal at the end wasn’t so much bad as much as it was a big miss. The most interesting thing on this show was the mention of a weightlifter who wouldn’t be in WWE for about two years. I think that sums up the whole night as well as anything else, as the horrible stretch continues.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and head over to my Amazon author page with 30 different cheap wrestling books at:

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AND

Remember to check out Wrestlingrumors.net for all of your wrestling headline needs.