What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – 03.27.94

Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase are commentating, taped from Liberty, New York. They are the third commentary team for the show this year.

Opening Contest: Owen Hart (11-0) beats Mike Moraldo via submission to the Sharpshooter at 3:19:

After feigning that he is going to give a fan his shades, Owen decides not to break them apart and puts them on the ring post. Owen maintains his undefeated streak since last year’s Survivor Series after spending a lot of time wearing Moraldo down.

Mr. Perfect does a pre-recorded promo from WrestleMania X. He criticizes Lex Luger for putting his hands on managers and an official, insisting that he called the match fairly.

Jeff Jarrett (9-1) beats Miguel Rosado after a superplex at 3:29:

Jarrett drags out his entrance, strutting in the ring toward the hard camera and angering the crowd by strutting in the other direction and acting like they are enjoying it. The only fun bit of the squash is Rosado having to pull up his tights several times because his gut hangs out. Rosado does not seem to be comfortable taking the superplex at the end but he and Jarrett manage to pull it off. After the match, Jarrett puts the boots to Rosado and throws him over the top rope.

Thurman Plugg (6-0-1) pins Mike Sharpe after the Pit Stop Plunge at 2:35:

DiBiase speaks for a lot of fans in asking what kind of name is Thurman Plugg. The Liberty crowd, which has been hot for nearly everything at the taping, barely reacts for Plugg, who is still trying to find his place in the WWF field.

Irwin R. Schyster provides more tax advice. He says people should pay taxes to subsidize the wages of poor doctors and lawyers and that most people are too stupid to earn a lot of money. IRS warns people that if he catches them cheating on their taxes he will make them remove all the staples on IRS return forms. The writing for these segments is terrible.

Diesel (7-0) pins David Thornberg after the Jackknife in 58 seconds:

Diesel’s big boot looks more devastating than usual as he blasts Thornberg on the side of the head. Lane and DiBiase put over Diesel’s quick victory relative to others as a reason for him being in contention for the Intercontinental Championship.

Men on a Mission (w/Oscar) (7-1) beat Mike Bell & Derek Domino when Mabel pins Domino after the Hip Hop Drop at 3:07:

Lane notes that MOM’s pursuit of the Quebecers Tag Team titles is not over. The squash shows why Mabel continues to be seen as the star of the team as he does little things like mock Bell when he is beating him down and knows when to fire up the crowd.

Adam Bomb (w/Harvey Wippleman) (2-2) pins John Paul after the Neutron Bomb at 2:27:

There is discussion of Howard Finkel getting into it with Wippleman at WrestleMania. Again, DiBiase has a funny line about how if “you put hair on a man he thinks he’s Samson.” Wippleman decides to jaw with Nikolai Volkoff in the crowd, taking off his jacket in feigning a confrontation. In the span of three months Bomb has made no impact on the Royal Rumble despite drawing the best number, lost his finisher to Diesel, lost his unbeaten streak, gotten squashed at the biggest pay-per-view of the year, and his manager is getting a stronger push than he is. Since the Atom Smasher cannot be used to win matches anymore, Bomb opts to use a flying clothesline, which Lane dubs the Neutron Bomb.

Earthquake (8-0) defeats the Brooklyn Brawler after the Earthquake Splash at 3:10:

Speaking of Bomb getting squashed at WrestleMania, Lane and DiBiase write it off as Bomb being surprised by Earthquake before the bell. The Brawler tries to slam Earthquake and that goes as well as one would expect. Lane and DiBiase speculate on what a Yokozuna-Earthquake match would be like as the big man notches another win.

The Last Word: Since WWF Superstars got a makeover it seemed like Wrestling Challenge would too but outside of getting a new announce team that was not the case. Ted DiBiase did well as a color commentator but Stan Lane was not a good play-by-play man so this was the weakest commentary team in the history of Challenge. Since commentary was one of the few good things about the show it gives fans one less reason to tune in.

After WrestleMania X the WWF went overseas again, running shows in the United Kingdom and Germany. Here are the results of some of those cards, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Telford, England – International Centre – March 25, 1994: Kwang pinned Koko B. Ware…Earthquake pinned Irwin R. Schyster…Diesel beat the 1-2-3 Kid…Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Tatanka…Jeff Jarrett defeated Doink the Clown…WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers defeated Men on a Mission…WWF Champion Bret Hart pinned Owen Hart.

Glasgow, Scotland – SECC – March 27, 1994: Kwang defeated the 1-2-3 Kid via count out after the Kid injured his knee…Irwin R. Schyster beat Doink the Clown…Diesel defeated Tatanka after IRS interfered…Earthquake defeated Bam Bam Bigelow…Jeff Jarrett beat Koko B. Ware…Men on a Mission defeated WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers via count out…WWF Champion Bret Hart defeated Owen Hart.

Dortmund, Germany – Westfalenhalle – March 27, 1994 (12,000): Adam Bomb defeated Rick Martel…Thurman Plugg beat Bastion Booger…Randy Savage defeated Crush…Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon beat Shawn Michaels…The Smoking Gunns defeated the Headshrinkers…WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze beat Leilani Kai…Lex Luger beat Yokozuna via count out.

Backstage News*: The box office for WrestleMania X is estimated to be $960,000 from paid attendance. The WWF did not sell out the Paramount theater but still drew 4,200 to the 5,500 seat venue. Since the dollar figure does not line up with ticket prices it means that some or a good number of tickets had to be comped. Still, it is the sixth highest box office return for a U.S. wrestling show. Fan Fest tickets were also comped as it is reported that 1,000 of the 1,700 fans who attended paid full price. Merchandise money may have made up for some of the comps as the WWF pulled in close to $237,000 for the weekend.

-The WWF’s Japan tour in May will feature the Undertaker working with Genichro Tenryu for some tag team matches. Tenryu will wrestle Yokozuna at least once. Bret Hart will defend the WWF Championship against Owen Hart and Bam Bam Bigelow. There will also be a Royal Rumble match on one of the shows.

-There was a lot of disorganization at the television tapings this week as enhancement talents got to the ring and were then told to go to the locker room. This happened at least three times.

-Monday Night RAW pulled a weaker 2.8 rating but was up against the Academy Awards.

-Hulk Hogan recently told The Orlando Sentinel that he will soon return to the ring with WCW or a new wrestling promotion on HBO that he claims is offering him $1 million per match. It is believed Hogan will make his choice within the next three weeks. Hogan has been doing some damage control in anticipation of Vince McMahon’s steroid trial by admitting his past statements on steroid use were not truthful. However, he says there is a hysteria around steroids in wrestling like AIDS/HIV in the 1980s. He has contended that his past steroid use was only through a doctor’s prescription, which was legal from 1985-1988.

-In talent relations news, the WWF gave a tryout to Perry Saturn at its recent television tapings but it did not go well.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for April 4.

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!