What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – January 15, 1994

WWF Mania had an exclusive match on Saturday morning. The match was taped in Lowell, Massachusetts on December 14 and had Jim Ross and Gorilla Monsoon on commentary:

Owen Hart (1-0) beats Rick Martel after Bret Hart interferes at 4:53:

Martel was with the WWF for the first three months of 1993 and made the final four in the Royal Rumble but left for six months to handle his real estate interests. He returned in September and received a small push to elevate him to Intercontinental title status. Martel stunned viewers by wrestling Tatanka to a draw on Monday Night RAW and then reached the last two of a 20-man battle royal to crown a new Intercontinental champion. However, he ended up losing the subsequent match for the vacant title to Razor Ramon. He had a brief house show program against Ramon, failing to win the title, and filled television time for the rest of the year, arguing occasionally with fellow heel Adam Bomb over the actions of Bomb’s manager, Harvey Wippleman.

Owen does a nice gesture by giving his shades to a fan with Down syndrome in the front row. After an exchange of moves, Martel tosses Owen over the top rope and Owen appears to hurt his knee. Bret comes to ringside to provide encouragement as Martel opts to work the back rather than target Owen’s injury. Martel kicks Bret late in the match so Bret trips Martel when he runs the ropes, providing an opening for Owen to small package the Model and avenge a defeat from last year on All American Wrestling. Parts of the match were technically sound but they did not get enough time to develop anything. Rating: *½

Vince McMahon and Stan Lane are hosting, taped from Lowell, Massachusetts.

Opening Contest: Lex Luger (1-0) pins Bastion Booger (1-1) after the running forearm at 3:50:

Like Monday Night RAW, Booger does not get an entrance. That never bodes well. This is the kind of match that could help Luger get over as he is matched against a fat opponent and he can look impressive slamming him. Booger gives a better effort than RAW, dropping Luger with a powerslam and fending off Luger’s attempts to do a body slam. After shrugging off Booger’s ring post avalanche, Luger gets back in and slams the big man and wins with the running forearm. These televised jobs in rapid succession are clueing viewers in that Booger will not be around much longer. Rating: *

After the match, Luer waves the American flag in the ring to some piped in cheers since beating Booger overcomes the foreign menace of…gluttony?

Gorilla Monsoon’s Update segment says that the Quebecers-Harts match at The Royal Rumble is now non-title because of Marty Jannetty & the 1-2-3 Kid winning the Tag Team Championship on Monday Night RAW. In a taped bit, Owen voices his disappointment since it ruined his big break but Bret counters that they will get a title shot eventually. He commits himself to exclusively wrestling in tag teams from now on. The body language between the two showed that this pairing was not long for the world. The Quebecers and Johnny Polo say they will be ready to regain the titles from Marty Jannetty & the 1-2-3 Kid in Madison Square Garden. Jannetty & the Kid fire back that they will drive the Quebecers back to Canada after they show their victory on RAW was not a fluke.

The Headshrinkers (w/Afa) (3-0) beat J.S. Storm & Tony DeVito when Samu pins DeVito after a splash off the top rope at 2:00:

The Headshrinkers are getting a lot of exposure in the first few weeks of the year. In the split screen, they headbutt each other and talk in their own language about the Royal Rumble. Storm gets nice hangtime on a double backdrop, tagging out after that to DeVito, who is put away by a Fatu side suplex and Samu splash off the top rope. After winning, the Headshrinkers beat on each other to reinforce their gimmick and play up that they might fight each other in the Royal Rumble.

Tatanka (2-0) pins Barry Horowitz after the Papoose to Go at 2:28:

Horowitz was a longtime veteran who had been wrestling since 1979. Trained by Boris Malenko, he had made stops in Florida, the WWF, Mid-Atlantic, Canada, Puerto Rico, and WCW. He had his best success to this point in Global where he was the Light Heavyweight champion twice. Horowitz started working more for the WWF in 1992 and came to be seen as a quality enhancement talent like the Brooklyn Brawler, posing a stiffer test for name stars before going down in defeat. He appeared in 24 matches in 1993, the most notable of which was a Tag Team title match against the Quebecers on RAW. Horowitz partnered with the 1-2-3 Kid and lost even though they had a two-on-one advantage in the match’s closing stages.

Nicole Froton is the guest ring announcer and she screams the introductions. As Tatanka and Horowitz battle over a hammerlock, Ludvig Borga does an insert promo about how he will destroy Tatanka at The Royal Rumble. True to form, Horowitz stuns Tatanka with a jawbreaker and gets a near-fall with a leg drop. Horowitz makes the mistake of taking Tatanka to the turnbuckle, though, cueing the warpath comeback and his defeat.

The Undertaker introduces the double wide casket that he is bringing to The Royal Rumble as part of Jim Ross’ Face to Face segment. Paul Bearer laughs that all that Yokozuna needs to do to take a ride in it is to “Kick the bucket.” The Undertaker warns Yokozuna that the “hounds of hell” will beg for his soul. WWF Champion Yokozuna is petrified. Jim Cornette finally breaks down and says that Yokozuna is afraid of the casket but clarifies that he is not afraid of the Undertaker. He argues that Yokozuna is going to summon up all his power because he has nowhere to go. That appears to get Yokozuna fired up, so Cornette does his job.

Virgil defeats Derek Domino via submission to the Million Dollar Dream at 1:31:

Virgil, a relic of the Hulkamania era, was still around but barely just. He posted a losing record in 1993, dropping all his feature matches except for one against Bastion Booger in Booger’s debut. Lex Luger annihilated him in less than 90 seconds, ex-tag team wrestler Blake Beverly beat him on Wrestling Spotlight, and Virgil was plugged in as filler for tag team squash matches by the end of the year. None of this was from a lack of effort as Virgil still gave it his all in the ring but poor promos and an influx of new babyface talent made him obsolete.

McMahon pays little attention to what Virgil does in the ring, choosing to hype The Royal Rumble Hotline for viewers. Virgil outwrestles his opponent, working the arm before backdropping Domino and using the Million Dollar Dream to prevail.

Ray Rougeau does a funny locker room interview with Shawn Michaels about his chances in the Royal Rumble. Bam Bam Bigelow, Jeff Jarrett, Crush, Adam Bomb, and Rick Martel interrupt and try to argue why they will win instead. Michaels regains control of the segment, saying that Diesel will eliminate himself if they are the final two, only to have Diesel pipe in about how that is ridiculous, made funnier by Diesel having great timing when voicing his objection with “I’m not doing that!”

Todd Pettengill does The Royal Rumble Report. In Rumble promos, Randy Savage warns Crush that he is not going to rain on his parade in his quest to get the WWF Championship for a third time, the Smoking Gunns tease fighting each other like they used to in the barn, and WWF Tag Team Champions Marty Jannetty & the 1-2-3 Kid put over how they are going to make it to the final two and fight for the WrestleMania title shot.

Irwin R. Schyster (1-0) pins Tony Roy after the Write Off at 1:15:

Before the match, IRS proclaims that 1994 is going to be “The year of the audit.” IRS works quickly as Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon pops up in the split screen and says that he is ready to fight IRS at The Royal Rumble. After suplexing Roy into the ring, IRS blasts him with the Write Off for a second victory this year.

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) (2-0) pins Duane Gill after a chokeslam off the ropes in 55 seconds:

Gill tries to attack the Undertaker before the bell but that does not go anywhere. He is quickly finished off and put into a body bag after the match.

Tune in next week to see the Smoking Gunns wrestle Rick Martel & Adam Bomb! Also, Ludvig Borga, Doink the Clown, and Shawn Michaels will be in action! And Bret Hart & Owen Hart will appear for a special interview!

The Last Word: This was another fun show of Royal Rumble build, highlighted by the Undertaker casket reveal segment and the locker room interview with Shawn Michaels. Bret Hart and Owen Hart are doing good, subtle promo work to build an eventual program between them too, something that Lex Luger should have been taking notes on.

Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for January 16!

And if you would like to read a compiled breakdown of 1990-1993 WWF, 1993 ECW, or of various promotions in 1995, check out my Amazon author page to purchase e-books or paperback copies!