What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – 03.05.94

Vince McMahon and Johnny Polo are commentating, concluding the tapings in White Plains, New York.

Opening Contest: Lex Luger (4-0) beats Reno Riggins via submission to a torture rack at 2:30:

Polo talks about how Riggins was a national roller skating champion at the age of 14. For some reason, Riggins gets in a lot of offense against a main event talent, making Luger look weak. Some viewers could probably write it off as ring rust because Luger did not wrestle on television in February. Riggins tries to do a handspring back elbow, which looks ugly, and Luger cuts that off with a clothesline. Luger is moving away from the forearm as his big move, going to his old WCW finish of a torture rack. That move is available because Ludvig Borga is gone. When Luger wins, a young girl in the crowd stands up and looks bored. She only gets excited when she realizes the camera is on her.

Gorilla Monsoon’s Update hypes the Fan Festival before WrestleMania X. This would be the final Update segment due to production changes that would be soon to the television product.

A WrestleMania moment shows the Undertaker’s entrance at last year’s event.

Jeff Jarrett (5-1) pins Dan Dubiel after a DDT off the ropes at 1:10:

Frank Nicas, a young kid, is the guest fan ring announcer and does well for someone his age. Jarrett yells at Nikolai Volkoff, who is still wearing his ugly red suit. Speaking of attires, Jarrett is wearing so many colors for this match that he looks like a flower child from the 1960s. In the split screen, Jarrett says great wrestlers like him will be at WrestleMania. Like Riggins, Dubiel goes toe-to-toe with his more noted opponent. However, he puts his head down too early after an Irish whip and is vanquished. The ending did not look smooth because Dubiel raised his head to see if Jarrett was coming and put it back down.

Buy the latest edition of WWF Magazine, which has Lex Luger, Bret Hart, and Yokozuna on the cover!

Doink the Clown (w/Dink) (7-0) pins the Brooklyn Brawler after the flying butt splash at 3:09:

After Doink sends the Brawler to the floor with a dropkick there is an insert promo by Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon. They talk about destroying Doink and Dink at WrestleMania. The Brawler also gets in a lengthy period of offense before Doink kicks him when he puts his head down too early on an Irish whip and that sends him on the path to victory.

Sy Sperling does another bit to hype the Hair Club for Men. He shows how Doink and Dink could look better. The graphic of them with flat green haircuts is scary.

Diesel (w/Shawn Michaels) (4-0) defeats Rich Myers after the Jackknife at 1:19:

There is a nice spot where Myers throws some punches but Diesel catches one of them and Myers falls to the canvas in pain. This is the first match where Diesel does a powerbomb as a finishing move and it gets a good reaction. Polo dubs it the Jackknife. That takes the move from Adam Bomb, so it has not been a good week for the Three Mile Island survivor.

Todd Pettengill does the WrestleMania X Report. WWF Champion Yokozuna, Jim Cornette, and Mr. Fuji talk about how the pay-per-view will be a day of heartbreak because Lex Luger will fail to win the title and Bret Hart will fall short too. Shawn Michaels and Diesel talk of taking what is theirs. Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon counters by saying that the ladder match will not be easy but he will emerge victorious. It is still not clear who is challenging Alundra Blayze for the WWF Women’s Championship.

The Bushwhackers (4-0) defeat Corey Student & Mike Khoury when Luke pins Student after the Battering Ram at 2:29:

The Bushwhackers do not do any comedy spots and win a low-key squash match as McMahon and Polo hype Radio WWF.

Owen Hart is this week’s guest on the Funeral Parlor. It does not take long for Owen to get angry, saying that he has been watching Bret Hart’s matches recently so he can see every move he makes. He takes offense when Bearer asks about his mother and father, insisting that people need to worry about him. The ambiance of the set made Owen look demented as he cut the promo, so it had a nice effect.

A promo hypes the March to WrestleMania X special which will feature WWF Champion Yokozuna against Tatanka, Lex Luger against Jimmy Del Ray, and Bret Hart against Crush. It looks like Luger got the best draw of opponents relative to his two WrestleMania counterparts.

Crush (w/Mr. Fuji) (5-0) defeats Todd Mata via submission to the head vice at 1:31:

Mata worked five matches for the WWF in 1993, losing to Irwin R. Schyster, Men on a Mission, the Headshrinkers, and twice to the Smoking Gunns.

On his way to the ring, Crush grabs a Macho Man foam hand and rips it apart. McMahon’s reaction makes it seem that a gross human rights violation has taken place. Randy Savage pops up in the split screen and rants about beating Crush at WrestleMania. As evidence of how messed up some of the gimmicks are getting, McMahon puts over Crush as a martial arts expert when that is supposed to be what Kwang is good at it.

Tune in next week to see Earthquake square off with Bastion Booger! Also, Men on a Mission, Owen Hart, and Tatanka will be in action! And Bret Hart and Owen Hart will appear for a special interview!

The Last Word: The big events on this show were Lex Luger and Diesel changing their finishing moves. It was a positive for both men, although the torture rack is probably not going to be a move Luger is going to be able to use against Yokozuna at WrestleMania. The rest of the program featured little beyond giving fans the card for the March to WrestleMania X special.

Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for March 6!

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!