What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – 04.10.94

Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase are commentators for this episode, beginning a new taping in White Plains, New York. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on March 23 and drew a papered crowd of 3,000 fans.

For entrances, Challenge has gotten rid of the jukebox-like setup and has the steel rigging like Superstars. The difference is that Challenge has a lit WWF symbol above it.

Opening Contest: Owen Hart (13-0) defeats Bert Stiles via submission to the Sharpshooter at 3:42:

Stiles worked as a WWF enhancement talent from 1991-1992, last appearing on a September 5, 1992 edition of WWF Superstars in a loss to Money Incorporated.

Owen uses Bret’s elbow drop off the second rope as part of his arsenal. After taking his time to win the match, Owen leg drops Stiles and puts Hitman shades on Stiles so he can yell at him as he would his brother. Owen has an unbeaten record this year but the crowd is not treating him as a main event heel.

Non-Title Contest: Razor Ramon (Intercontinental Champion) (10-0) pins Eric Cody after the Razor’s Edge at 3:27:

In the split screen, Shawn Michaels and Diesel talk about how they are going to return the Intercontinental Championship back where it belongs. DiBiase chides Ramon for facing cheap competition, wondering if Ramon could get Diesel up for the Razor’s Edge. In a funny bit after the match Ramon shines his title belt on the back of the referee’s shirt.

Mr. Perfect is shown arriving at the arena. He tells the cameraman to get out of his face.

Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Luna Vachon) (10-2) defeats Ben Jordan after a slingshot splash at 3:53:

The squash plods along until Jordan surprisingly avoids the flying headbutt. Jordan scores a near-fall from a body press off the ropes, which the crowd buys as a possible finish, but when he tries to repeat the move off the top rope Bigelow catches him, powerslams him, and wins with a slingshot splash. The WWF enhancement talent ranks are thin as this is the second time that Bigelow has beaten Jordan in a month. Lane floats a possible clash in the future between Bigelow and Earthquake.

The Smoking Gunns (7-1) beat George South & Derek Domino when Billy pins Domino after the Sidewinder at 2:44:

The WWF is pushing the Gunns as a sex symbol, showing women gushing over them during their entrance. Since the Gunns were the only tag team in the poll for Monday Night RAW that got a match this week it is clear who the WWF wants fans to vote for.

Johnny Polo does an in-ring interview with Mr. Perfect, who says that he was trying to get the managers out of the ring at WrestleMania before he counted the fall Lex Luger had on Yokozuna. He denies having a problem with Luger, saying it is the other way around. After repeating that Luger will pay for putting his hands on him, Perfect leaves.

Earthquake (11-0) beats Barry Horowitz after the Earthquake Splash at 2:54:

Horowitz is desperate for a win and applies a sleeper hold but Earthquake, who looks annoyed, just sandwiches Horowitz against the turnbuckles. Horowitz makes the same mistake Jordan did earlier by trying a flying body press and Earthquake destroys him after that. After winning, Earthquake looks into the camera and warns Yokozuna that he is coming after him.

DiBiase shows off some money because Irwin R. Schyster got him a nice tax refund. He reminds Lane that rich people do not pay taxes.

Speaking of IRS, he gives more tax tips. He says people need to pay taxes so the Internal Revenue Service can buy better equipment to go after those who are not paying taxes. IRS argues that it is genetic for people to try to avoid paying taxes and if he catches them he will make them clean Yokozuna’s thong.

Kwang (w/Harvey Wippleman) (7-0-1) pins Brian Williams after the spinning heel kick at 2:36:

Williams does some flips, albeit not cleanly as he does not land well on top of Kwang when doing a body press and cannot maintain his footing on a hiptoss. Wippleman yells at Nikolai Volkoff more as DiBiase calls out Volkoff for wearing the same suit to every WWF show. The crowd is starting to buy into Volkoff’s appearances, though, chanting for him when she stands up to confront Wippleman.

Tune in next week to see WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers, the 1-2-3 Kid, Doink the Clown, and Yokozuna in action!

The Last Word: This was another poor edition of Wrestling Challenge. A decline in commentary quality shows how bad this show could get. The one good thing about this episode is that it clued fans in that Earthquake was going to feud with Yokozuna.

Backstage News*: The U.S. Justice Department announced on April 6 that it is dropping one charge of steroid distribution against Titan Sports. However, the charges against Vince McMahon remain. The WWF’s attorneys have argued that the dropped charge indicates that the federal government’s case is weak whereas federal prosecutor Sean O’Shea says it was a tactical move. Some observers see the dropped charge as a victory for the WWF because it will ensure it stays in business even if McMahon is convicted. That is because the government could not seize Titan Towers and its assets if Titan Sports is found guilty at trial. The trial is supposed to begin in Uniondale, New York on May 2.

-Advance ticket sales have been strong for the first few weeks of the WrestleMania Revenge tour in May.

-The WWF did not do any house shows this week to give talent a break after the European tour.

-Monday Night RAW pulled a 3.3 rating even though it went head-to-head with the NCAA basketball finals on the East Coast, which turned out to be the second-most watched college basketball game ever.

-The original plan for WrestleMania X called for the Earthquake-Adam Bomb match to go three-and-a-half minutes and the 10-man tag team match to go four-and-a-half minutes. The argument that the heels in the 10-man tag match had over who was going to be the captain was filmed before the pay-per-view and was supposed to lead into the match, not prevent it from happening. Yokozuna was also supposed to wrestle for 42 minutes, with his match with Lex Luger scheduled for 23 minutes and the match against Bret Hart lasting 19 minutes. Whomever was originally in charge of the layout of the show thought there would be less non-wrestling segments than what ended up taking place.

-If WCW makes Hulk Hogan an offer next week the WWF could match it. Per Hogan’s release, the WWF has 21 days to review and match any offer Hogan receives from another promotion. If Hogan gets a matching offer, he cannot sign with someone else. This is why WCW’s offer is said to include provisions McMahon would never agree to like a share of pay-per-view purchases and a higher merchandise cut. HBO officials have denied that they are going to run a wrestling promotion, dismissing Hogan’s earlier claims that he was pondering a decision between WCW and HBO.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for April 18.

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!