What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – January 17, 1994

Vince McMahon and Crush are commentating, taped from Richmond, Virginia. Stan Lane will provide reports from Madison Square Garden where WWF Tag Team Champions Marty Jannetty & the 1-2-3 Kid are defending against the Quebecers. Crush tells Randy Savage that he is in for a world of hurt tonight against Irwin R. Schyster.

Opening Contest: Owen Hart (w/Bret Hart) (2-0) beats Terry Austin via submission to the Sharpshooter at 4:33:

Austin was an independent wrestler in the Carolinas who started his career in 1991. He wrestled for George South’s Pro Wrestling Federation (PWF) as the Black Scorpion and the Russian Assassin.

Crush is as bad as Hulk Hogan with the “brothers (or bruddas),” going through them in rapid succession in comments with McMahon about the Royal Rumble. Lane calls in but a lot of his speech is garbled, saying that Marty Jannetty & the 1-2-3 Kid and the Quebecers are excited for their match. Austin does not rotate enough when taking a monkey flip bump. Owen seems to go through all his offense in the five minutes the squash is given, impressing Crush, who says that Owen does the Sharpshooter better than Bret.

McMahon interviews the Harts at ringside. Owen says that he does not want to take anything away from Jannetty and the Kid but he hopes the Quebecers are Tag Team champions for The Royal Rumble. Bret straddles the fence on who he would like to win in Madison Square Garden, repeating that he is confident he and his brother will get a title shot eventually.

Tatanka (3-0) pins George South after a flying chop at 2:51:

South, a trainee of Rusty Roberts, started his career in Florida in 1984. He was a staple enhancement talent for Jim Crockett Promotions in the late 1980s, having a famous televised match with NWA World Champion Ric Flair in November 1988 where Flair “made him look like Ricky Steamboat.” South also worked for the WWF from 1988-1990 and returned for two matches in 1993, one of which was against Tatanka on the March of WrestleMania IX USA Network special. In 1994 South was a trainer and owner of the PWF with the Italian Stallion and the company had an unofficial talent agreement with the WWF. For example, Men on a Mission were signed by the WWF due in part to their work there.

Tatanka shrugs off South’s basic offense and wins after going on the warpath since his opponents cannot break their habit of wanting to take him to the turnbuckle. Near the end of the match Stan Lane calls back in and says that the Tag Team title match has started in Madison Square Garden.

A video package puts over WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze, who won the title in a six-woman tournament in December 1993. It shows her kickboxing, riding a motorcycle and jet ski, and posing on the beach, thereby putting over her athletic ability and sex appeal.

McMahon does an in-ring interview with WWF Champion Yokozuna and Mr. Fuji. Fuji says that Jim Cornette is in Tokyo, Japan for a press conference to prepare a victory celebration for Yokozuna after The Royal Rumble. Knowing that Fuji is not good on the mic, the WWF has Paul Bearer interrupt the segment shortly after it starts, wheeling a big coffin to ringside. Yokozuna initially refuses McMahon’s request to get a closer look. Fuji encourages Yokozuna to crush the casket like a Street Fighter video game but when he opens the lid, the Undertaker sits up to a massive pop. A scared Yokozuna scrambles to the locker room. This was a great segment to put over the WWF Championship match but would have been even better if Cornette was around to talk trash about the Undertaker.

Diesel (w/Shawn Michaels) beats Scott Powers after an elbow drop at 3:29:

Diesel came to the WWF as Michaels’ bodyguard in June after a failed three-year run in WCW that saw him take on a host of gimmicks like Master Blaster Steel, Oz, and Vinnie Vegas. He famously tricked WCW into granting his release by claiming his wife wanted him out of the wrestling business and faxed that release to Titan Towers from WCW’s office in Atlanta. After working at ringside for a few months the WWF started putting Diesel in the ring, having him feud with Mr. Perfect after Diesel cost Perfect the Intercontinental title against Michaels at SummerSlam. Perfect won nearly all of their house show matches but the feud did not get a televised blowoff because Perfect quit in October. He started to lose momentum near the end of the year as Marty Jannetty beat him by out count, he was the first man eliminated from the Razor Ramon-IRS tag team elimination match at Survivor Series, and he was no longer at Michaels’ side as Michaels was suspended for six weeks in the fall. However, he had a good match with Ramon on Monday Night RAW in late November and showed charisma when he was given some microphone time so one could see his potential.

Powers was another PWF wrestler that was used for this taping. In that promotion he was often booked on the losing side. In 1994 he also worked for Southern Championship Wrestling (SCW) in North Carolina.

Putting Michaels back with Diesel gives him a sense of purpose. He still needs a reliable finish, though, as he uses a big boot and then follows it up with an elbow drop for the pin. Crush has a funny rant about the Royal Rumble and how he will punch Lex Luger in the kidneys if Luger prevents him from going after Randy Savage. Stan Lane calls in a final time to say that Johnny Polo interfered and helped the Quebecers regain the Tag Team titles from Marty Jannetty & the 1-2-3 Kid. After the match, Michaels hugs Diesel and steps on Powers’ chest a few times, admiring his bodyguard’s work.

Randy Savage beats Irwin R. Schyster (2-0) via disqualification after Crush interferes at 8:18 shown:

After a poor box office run as WWF champion in 1992, McMahon made the decision to sideline Savage as a full-time competitor, relegating him to a color commentary position. Savage made sporadic appearances, wrestling Jerry Lawler on some house shows and battling Repo Man and Doink the Clown on Monday Night RAW. He was also used to get Yokozuna over in the first three months of 1993, losing to him in a spirited final two faceoff in the Royal Rumble and losing to him a week before WrestleMania IX. Savage was frustrated about this arrangement and managed to get back into the ring by crafting a feud with his friend Crush. Some critics, like Dave Meltzer of The Wrestling Observer, said that Savage had lost a step so he was out to prove them wrong going into a new year.

IRS is mad about Savage throwing a cake in his face on last week’s episode so he hits the ring and attacks Savage. Even though it appears that Savage might fall into his lazy formula of taking a beating and hitting a few moves, he breaks out of his stupor and he and IRS put together a technically proficient match with some timely reversals. Before a second commercial break, Savage tries to fight with Crush at the commentary table, only to have IRS break it up. Savage gets his leg up when IRS tries a dive off the top rope but before he can finish the tax man with the flying elbow drop, Crush leaves commentary to throw Savage off the top rope, causing a disqualification. Rating: **½

Crush and IRS beatdown Savage and Tatanka’s attempt to make a save is foiled. Yokozuna saunters out, hilariously rolling into the ring and grabbing hold of Savage in one motion. This leads to a run-in by Lex Luger and then Shawn Michaels and Diesel decide to get involved. Bret Hart decides to join in too and knocks Yokozuna out of the ring in a fun sendoff for the show.

Tune in next week to see Bret Hart & Owen Hart face the Headshrinkers!

The Last Word: This was a good episode to hype The Royal Rumble, especially the brawl at the end, which was a unique way to end a WWF show for this era. Lex Luger would appear to be the favorite for the Rumble but the WWF has some good stars in the match to offset him like Shawn Michaels, Randy Savage, Crush, and Bret Hart. Marty Jannetty & the 1-2-3 Kid losing the Tag Titles so soon was a downer for a lot of fans but it was predictable to make the Harts-Quebecers match for the belts at the pay-per-view. One wonders why the WWF did not hype a Harts-Jannetty & Kid match instead and then just switch it back when the Quebecers regained the belts. By saying that the Harts-Quebecers would be non-title they telegraphed that there was probably going to be a title change to give the titles back to the heels in Madison Square Garden.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for January 22!

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!