What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – 04.04.94

Footage of Earthquake and Adam Bomb arguing in the locker room earlier in the evening is shown. Bomb says he is out to avenge WrestleMania.

Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon call tonight’s action, concluding the post-WrestleMania taping in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Opening Contest: Earthquake (10-0) pins Adam Bomb (w/Harvey Wippleman) (3-2) after the Earthquake Splash at 4:20:

This time Bomb attacks Earthquake before the bell. What he lacks in weight he can make up for in height. It is a fun big man matchup with a good amount of action. Bomb flattens Earthquake with the Neutron Bomb but the Earthquake kicks out, killing the effectiveness of Bomb’s new finishing move. The Wippleman-Howard Finkel feud gets some attention as Wippleman rants at Finkel until Finkel gets up to confront him. Earthquake blocks a blind charge with a big boot, delivers a belly-to-belly suplex, and deals Bomb another singles loss with the Earthquake Splash. Rating: **

After showing the end of the Yokozuna-Lex Luger title match at WrestleMania X, Luger does a taped promo challenging Perfect to a match.

Monsoon does an in-ring interview with Perfect. There are some cheers for Perfect but mostly boos. Monsoon interrogates Perfect about how he officiated. Perfect counters with the WWF rulebook that says that touching an official results in a disqualification. When asked if he has a grudge against Luger, Perfect tells Luger he will pay for messing with him. Monsoon tells Perfect that when Luger is done with him the jacket he is wearing will say “Made in the USA,” leading Perfect to leave with a look of disgust.

Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon tells fans not to change the channel because he is wrestling next.

Non-Title Match: Razor Ramon (Intercontinental Champion) (9-0) pins Austin Steele after the Razor’s Edge at 3:48:

McMahon and Monsoon talk about how Ramon and Diesel will have matches on the WrestleMania Revenge Tour. Ramon beats up fake Ric Flair as Monsoon refers to the champion as “ladder man.” Little wonder why that nickname did not take off.

McMahon says that WWF President Jack Tunney has ordered the Quebecers to defend their Tag Team titles next week against a team that the fans vote for. The Quebecers and Johnny Polo hilariously hype other contenders because they do not want to take on the Headshrinkers. McMahon notes that Tunney has yet to rule on the Headshrinkers appeal for a title shot. Fans are directed to call 1-900-420-VOTE and spend 99 cents casting a ballot for the Bushwhackers, Men on a Mission, or the Smoking Gunns. The poll is silly because why not allow fans to vote for all the promotion’s tag teams?

Before the next match, McMahon allows his political beliefs to affect his commentary, saying that the U.S. would be just as well off if the Bushwhackers were running the country instead of Bill Clinton.

Jeff Jarrett, Irwin R. Schyster, Rick Martel, the Headshrinkers (w/Afa) defeat Tatanka, Thurman Plugg, the Smoking Gunns & the 1-2-3 Kid when IRS pins the Kid after a blind charge at 7:43 shown:

IRS tells fans that his team makes sure to pay their taxes. The Headshrinkers are in an awkward spot as they were heels going into WrestleMania but are moving toward a turn due to Captain Lou Albano getting them a title shot. Everyone gets a little bit of ring time with no one getting an extended amount of time in peril. With so many people involved, the WWF should have doubled the time given to this match. It is not like Monday Night RAW had better things to show. The crowd loves when all the participants brawl after the heels break up a flying body press the Kid hits on IRS. As everyone takes their fight to the floor the Kid is left in the ring with IRS. He misses a blind charge and IRS covers him for the win. Questionable call to have the Kid eat the fall because he was the most over babyface in the match. The heels have a small celebration on the floor, acting as if this was a WrestleMania bout. This would be Martel’s last televised match for the WWF as a full-time competitor. He would wrestle on its Japan tour and a few more house shows before taking time off, filling in the next year’s Royal Rumble. He contemplated a comeback in 1997, almost returning as part of a tag team with Don Callis. However, he would sign with WCW instead and would retire in 1999. Rating: **¼

Shawn Michaels debuts his new interview segment called the Heartbreak Hotel. It has a red heart-shaped bed, electric sign, leg lamp, and a mirror. Diesel is also on the set. Michaels challenges Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon on Diesel’s behalf. McMahon says that future Hotel segments will happen on WWF Superstars.

The new WWF “Unbelievable!” ad shows footage from WrestleMania X.

Yokozuna (w/Jim Cornette & Mr. Fuji) (5-2) pins Scott Powers after the Banzai Drop at 2:38:

Monsoon explains Yokozuna’s fall off the ropes at WrestleMania as the ring ropes getting looser as the show went on. There is talk about Roddy Piper getting a segment called “The Bottom Line” on All American Wrestling going forward. The commentary team talks about Yokozuna needing to do something extra to get back into title contention. Today that means sitting on Powers’ chest for a while after doing the Banzai Drop and winning the match.

Tune in next week to see WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers defend their titles against the winners of the fan poll!

The Last Word: This episode had a lot of developments for the last cycle of a taping. The 10-man tag team match could have used more time but still had some fun action, as did the Earthquake-Adam Bomb match. Diesel’s stock is rising as he is going to be penciled in against Razor Ramon while Yokozuna’s seems to be going in the other direction. After holding the WWF title for nine months one would have expected discussion of Yokozuna getting a rematch against Bret Hart but that was not forthcoming in the last match. All in all, this was a good episode and should have arguably been used as the night after WrestleMania episode.

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