What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – 03.21.94

Vince McMahon and Randy Savage are commentating, live from Poughkeepsie, New York. McMahon’s voice is shot from last night’s WrestleMania. He should have had Gorilla Monsoon substitute for him. Fans are told that Bret Hart is the new WWF champion. Savage also makes a “hanging around” pun about Crush.

Opening Non-Title Contest: The Quebecers (WWF Tag Team Champions w/Johnny Polo) (5-3-1) beat the Bushwhackers (5-0) when Pierre pins Butch after a knee to the back at 9:21 shown:

The Quebecers have been having lots of heel miscommunication problems between this match and WrestleMania so that appears to be building to something. McMahon apologizes to fans for the 10-man tag team match not happening at WrestleMania but says it will happen in two weeks on RAW. It takes a commercial break for the Quebecers to figure the Bushwhackers out. The crowd does not react much when the hot tag happens and the Bushwhackers wipe out the champions with Battering Rams. Polo breaks up a pin attempt on Pierre behind the referee’s back, leading to the Luke chasing him around the ring. When Polo gets on the apron Butch grabs him, setting up a Bushwhacker special of Pierre kneeing Butch in the back and pinning him. Age was catching up to the Bushwhackers as they seemed to be moving in slow motion. This is their first televised defeat since September 1992. Rating: *½

McMahon does a ringside interview with the Quebecers and Polo, asking what is next. Polo says that they will face anyone. That brings out Captain Lou Albano, who asks if they will accept a challenge for any team he puts together and put the belts on the line. Polo and the champions readily agree as long as the team is in the building.

Stan Lane recaps some of the big events of WrestleMania, telling fans that Mr. Perfect shattered Lex Luger’s dreams and Razor Ramon won the ladder match, billed as an all-time classic. Fans are encouraged to buy the encore, which will happen next Monday at 10 p.m.

Irwin R. Schyster says people should pay taxes because it is a privilege. He also gives reasons why people are bad tax cheats, including that people love seeing the national debt go up. IRS promises to make people work weekends and holidays if they do not pay their taxes. This was a terrible segment that was better suited for Coliseum Video.

Tatanka (8-1) pins Chris Hamrick after the Papoose to Go at 4:43:

Hamrick was an 11-year veteran who was trained by Ricky Morton. Prior to this appearance he did enhancement work for WCW in 1990. He would later get a spot in the dying days of ECW in 2000.

Sy Sperling’s makeover of ring announcer Howard Finkel did not take as he is back to his usual look. Hamrick works into the match his classic bump of diving at his opponent, missing, and flying through the ropes to the arena floor. McMahon marks out for it and insists on a replay. The squash lasts too long since Hamrick mounts no offense. There is discussion of the Tatanka-IRS feud as that is a positioned as a prominent midcard program for the spring.

Todd Pettengill does a final WrestleMania X Report. Rhonda Shear talks about how much fun she had, as Burt Reynolds reminds viewers she was up all night.

Diesel (5-0) pins Ken Lucia after the Jackknife at 2:34:

Savage takes the liberty of telling viewers that he rocked Shear’s world last night. McMahon says that Shawn Michaels is not appearing because he is recuperating from last night’s ladder match. He theorizes that Diesel is going to challenge Razor Ramon soon. Diesel toys with his opponent, pinning Lucia with one foot after the Jackknife.

WWF Champion Bret Hart does an in-ring interview with McMahon. Like 1992, Bret says that he accepts all challengers for his title. The new champion says he has no excuses for losing to Owen but things are different now that he is WWF champion again.

In a talk with Johnny Polo, Burt Reynolds put over the WWF as unbelievable and having the best athletes in the world.

Jeff Jarrett (8-1) defeats Koko B. Ware after the DDT off the ropes at 5:03:

Ware, who had been with the WWF since 1986, departed the company in early 1993 when a decision was made to break up his High Energy tag team with Owen Hart. After getting released he did some matches in Global and some independent promotions but spent most of his time in Memphis, feuding with Brian Christopher and Jarrett.

Jarrett’s attire is finally getting better as he wears a cowboy hat with two capital j’s. He also has some sequined sunglasses and a uniform color for his tights. Nikolai Volkoff continues to buy tickets and sit in the front row so Jarrett argues with him. The crowd is happy to see Ware, who has put on weight since he was last seen. The Birdman reverts back to his jobber to the stars status, only getting to throw some shoulder tackles and a dropkick. Rating: *

After the match, Jarrett tells McMahon and Savage that he is owed a title shot by Bret Hart. Savage is not in a mood for listening to Jarrett and throws soda in his face. The Macho Man slides into the ring and with the help of Ware he throws Jarrett over the top rope like he did in the Royal Rumble.

Call 1-900-454-4545 to schedule your WWF greetings on call! A wrestler can sing you happy birthday, wish you congratulations, wish you well, say happy anniversary, or give a special friendship call. It costs $9.95 per call!

Tune in next week to see Lex Luger battle Rick Martel! Also, the 1-2-3 Kid and Owen Hart will be in action!

The Last Word: As was typical of post-pay-per-view shows in this period, the WWF pushed for fans to buy the encore. A lot of emphasis was placed on seeing the ladder match to encourage those purchases. The show was relatively flat, owed partly to the Quebecers and Bret Hart looking tired from last night and being devoid of their usual energy. Viewers probably expected Captain Lou Albano to reveal his team at the end of the show but that is being delayed for another episode.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for March 26!

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!