What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – February 12, 1994

Vince McMahon and Stan Lane are commentating, concluding the taping in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Opening Contest: Crush (w/Mr. Fuji) (4-0) defeats Jay P. Stryker via submission to the head vice at 2:24:

There was a contract signing earlier in the day on WWF Mania between Randy Savage and Crush. Savage showed up late and attacked Crush after the big man made a few comments about their WrestleMania match. Stryker makes the poor decision to work Crush’s arm when he has a chance to get the advantage and that just leads to Crush re-establishing control with a thrust kick. He wins a methodical bout with the head vice.

Gorilla Monsoon’s Update segment hypes new WWF denim jackets that are on sale and segways into a video package of Bret Hart’s past title wins. That video is interrupted by Owen Hart, who says he will be regarded as great when he beats Bret at WrestleMania.

Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Luna Vachon (4-2) pins Brad Anderson after the Lunasault at 1:21:

A man named Sergeant Thomas is the guest fan ring announcer and he does not give an enthusiastic introduction. In the split screen Bigelow and Vachon talk about the upcoming Valentine’s Day holiday. Anderson takes Bigelow down with a drop toe hold but Bigelow awkwardly tosses him to the canvas off the ropes. Bigelow wins the moonsault, which McMahon christens as “The Lunasault.” After the match, Bigelow shows Vachon the move on the video board because she turned her back on the action before the finish. Vachon loves what she sees. It makes sense in wrestling that a Valentine’s Day gift is a finishing move.

The Bushwhackers (1-0) beat Barry Horowitz & Reno Riggins when Butch pins Horowitz after the Battering Ram at 1:01:

There was growing chatter that the Bushwhackers were going to be used though the spring because the WWF was starting to bleed babyface teams. The longtime veterans make quick work of their opponents, capitalizing on jobber miscommunication to send Riggins out of the ring and blast Horowitz with the Battering Ram.

Ludvig Borga (5-0) defeats Jason Voltaire via submission to the torture rack at 2:06:

Borga tears apart Voltaire with a string of power moves, taunting the crowd as he does so. The crowd chanting “USA!” does not stop him. This would end up being Borga’s last match as he would never return to the WWF after his ankle injury. He would go on to wrestle in Europe before retiring in 1997, embarking on a short-lived mixed martial arts career and then a political career in Finland, where he was elected to parliament in 2003. After some health issues, he would die of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2010.

Todd Pettengill does the WrestleMania X Report. He says tickets to watch the show on closed circuit are available at the Paramount Theater. It is announced that an undisputed Intercontinental champion will be crowned when Razor Ramon defends against former champion Shawn Michaels in a ladder match. Michaels, with Diesel, talks about re-establishing himself as the undisputed champion. Ramon fires back that he looks forward to facing Michaels in a match with no rules, referee, or time limit. Other new matches are WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers defending against Men on a Mission and WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze defending against Debbie Combs. The WWF must have made a late decision on who to plug into the Tag Team title match because it makes no sense to give Men on a Mission a title shot after they lost to the Headshrinkers a few weeks ago on Monday Night RAW. Celebrities will reappear at WrestleMania as Little Richard will sing “America the Beautiful” and Sy Sperling of the Hair Club for Men will appear too.

Randy Savage (1-0) beats Rick Martel (0-1) after the flying elbow drop at 8:03:

McMahon and Lane put over a story about Savage in the recent WWF Magazine about his drug free lifestyle. There is some stalling at first but the match settles into a good groove after that, including some hot near-falls in the middle. It is Savage’s second strong outing on TV in 1994. Martel kicks out of a flying double axe handle on the floor but a blind charge sends him shoulder-first into the ring post. Savage follows up with a slam and wins with the flying elbow drop. Rating: **½

Paul Bearer talks about how the Funeral Parlor interview segment will return next week and his guest will be WWF Champion Yokozuna. Bearer hypes how the spirit of the Undertaker may also make an appearance.

Tune in next week to see Marty Jannetty wrestle Owen Hart! Also, WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze faces Heidi Lee Morgan! And Earthquake will appear! The Funeral Parlor returns as an interview segment too!

The Last Word: Randy Savage and Rick Martel had an enjoyable feature match as Savage continues to make a case for a greater in-ring role again. There was also some big WrestleMania X news. Doing the ladder match stipulation for Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels was a good way of putting over how their match was going to crown an undisputed champion. It was not going to be the first ladder match in WWF history as Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels did a test run in 1992 in a match that was later released on a few home videos. Those two would have had that match at SummerSlam ’92 had it not been relocated to Wembley Stadium. The Steiner Brothers not getting a Tag Team title match against the Quebecers was surprising because they had been doing lots of house show matches and were still viewed as the strongest babyface tag team. Their omission was another sign that they had fallen out of the company’s good graces. Next week’s show gets two feature matches, a benefit of sweeps month and a lack of having a Monday Night RAW due to the Westminster Dog Show.

Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for February 13!

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!