What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – 02.28.94

Vince McMahon and Harvey Wippleman are commentating, taped from Bushkill, Pennsylvania. The WWF decided to hold this taped episode back as the Bushkill taping took place on January 31.

Opening Contest for the WWF Championship: Randy Savage (2-0) beats Yokozuna (Champion w/Mr. Fuji) (3-0) via disqualification after Crush interferes at 11:36 shown:

Savage goes after Yokozuna before the champion gets out of his robe. Seeing Yokozuna trying to do an elbow drop with it on is a sight to behold. The crowd pops for almost everything Savage does, biting on some near-falls from a flying body press and roll up. Yokozuna avoids any rest holds but still works slowly, a consequence of his weight gain since 1992. It makes fans wonder how he is going to make it through two possible matches at WrestleMania. Some of the pacing works to the match’s advantage, though, as it builds to spots where Yokozuna readies for a leg drop but barely misses it. Late in the match, Fuji tosses Yokozuna his salt bucket but Savage gets the object and blasts the champion, getting another close near-fall. After knocking Cornette off the apron, Savage hits the flying elbow drop but Crush runs in and prevents a title change. The crowd hates the cop out ending but Savage once again had his working boots on, throwing everything he had at Yokozuna and nearly winning the WWF title for a third time. Rating: ***

Crush beats up Savage as the crowd cheers for Lex Luger. Instead, Bret Hart comes out, only to get double teamed. That cues a Luger run-in. He knocks Yokozuna to the floor with punches and teams with Bret to knock Crush out of the ring with a clothesline. McMahon goes over the top in selling how close Savage came to winning the title, likening it to Nancy Karrigan being robbed of a gold medal in figure skating at the Olympics.

Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Luna Vachon) (6-2) pins Mike Khoury after an enzuigiri at 2:33:

Vachon wears a Doink t-shirt. It is one of the more gaudy pieces of WWF merchandise and the only people that seem to be wearing it on television tapings are those who were given it for free. McMahon and Wippleman hype the mixed tag team match. Wippleman says Vachon will eat Dink up like a bologna sandwich. Bigelow taunts the crowd and rolls though Khoury with ease.

Earthquake (3-0) pins the Black Phantom after the Earthquake Splash at 1:43:

Earthquake is still wearing his old Natural Disasters tights. Having new gear for this run would help him fit the times. As Earthquake pulverizes the Phantom, McMahon and Wippleman announce that Ludvig Borga is still hurt so Earthquake will face Adam Bomb at WrestleMania.

Kwang (w/Harvey Wippleman) (5-0) beats John Crystal after the superkick off the ropes at 1:29:

McMahon calls the match alone because Kwang beckons Wippleman over. To show how important Kwang is, his match is usurped by Sy Sperling calling in and talking about giving Howard Finkel hair.

Stan Lane talks with Shawn Michaels and Diesel in the dressing room. In a funny bit, Michaels is alarmed because he is just in a towel so he has the camera turn away so he can get dressed. When the camera pans back, Michaels has the Intercontinental Championship Belt around his waist over the towel. He does a nice promo about how he has kept interfering in Razor Ramon’s matches because he wants to remind him who the legitimate Intercontinental champion is. He also says that he is the one taking the biggest risk by having his title belt contested in the ladder match at WrestleMania. After he is done, Michaels has Diesel kick Lane out.

Men on a Mission (w/Oscar) (4-1) beat the Brooklyn Brawler & Steve Smith after the assisted splash when Mabel pins Smith at 3:15:

There is a funny spot before the bell where Mabel gets referee Danny Davis to wave his hands to the team’s theme song and the Brawler gets angry that Davis is showing partiality to the babyface team. Considering Davis’ history as a WWF referee, the Brawler has a legitimate gripe. Mabel gets the big spots again, showing that he could probably win the match without a partner. MOM do an avalanche spot when Smith is in a Tree of Woe. That does not look as devastating as Smith being in an upright position.

Tune in next week to see the Smoking Gunns face Owen Hart & Crush! Also, Jeff Jarrett squares off against Virgil! Doink the Clown and Irwin R. Schyster will be in action! And Tatanka will receive a presentation from the Lumbee Tribe and reports will be made about Undertaker sightings!

The Last Word: The Randy Savage-Yokozuna match was as good as a Yokozuna match was going to get. If the WWF had held off announcing the Savage-Crush match at WrestleMania then it would have carried more weight since it seemed unlikely Savage was winning and ruining all of the WWF’s booking plans. The other big piece of news was Adam Bomb getting a WrestleMania match. But again, Bomb is being used as a mere substitute which reinforces his directionless run so far.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for March 5!

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!