What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – 04.24.94

Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase commentate again, concluding the taping in White Plains, New York.

Opening Contest: Men on a Mission (w/Oscar) (9-2) beat Mike Sharpe & Emilio Ulcia when Mo pins Ulcia after a double chokeslam at 1:56:

Most of the squash is a battle between Mabel and Sharpe. When Ulcia tags in he almost trips over the ropes and MOM quickly give him a double chokeslam, allowing Mo to score a rare winning pin. DiBiase laughs about how ineffective Ulcia was.

Lord Alfred Hayes is back to being a heel for the Special Report, saying that Tatanka brought his problems on himself because he did not follow the law by paying taxes. Chief Jay Strongbow does another short promo, saying “This means war” in a deadpan way. Strongbow is not helping this program get over.

Crush (w/Mr. Fuji) (11-1) defeats Mike Freeman after the heart punch at 3:59:

The most interesting thing about the match is Crush wearing a black-red-white pattern for his tights. He removes one of his gloves before doing the heart punch. That gives Crush five straight wins since WrestleMania. Crush keeps waving the Japanese flag after matches so the WWF is making his gimmick more anti-American. Sooner or later that will probably bring him into conflict with Lex Luger.

Luger is shown doing sit-ups backstage in preparation for his match later in the show.

The Headshrinkers (w/Afa) (9-0) defeat Derek Domino & Tyrone Knox when Samu pins Knox after the Doomsday Device at 3:38:

DiBiase puts over the Headshrinkers viciousness. The team lives up to his hype by giving Knox a spike piledriver. That gets a reaction but the Headshrinkers keep beating up Knox until they do a Doomsday Device.

Johnny Polo does an in-ring interview with Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett’s glasses light up, which look cool. After hyping himself he addresses his feud with Doink the Clown, saying that he will have the last laugh when he faces him. Jarrett did a better job in the promo putting over his character than making the Doink feud seem worthwhile.

Earthquake (14-0) pins Mike Melaccio after the Earthquake Splash at 2:46:

Melaccio was a Mike Sharpe trainee who went by Canon in the independents. Other independent stars like Devon Storm, Ace Darling, and Mike Bucci were part of his training class.

Melaccio is a bigger man but Earthquake does not have any difficulty with him. That shows that only a big man like Yokozuna could possibly stop him.

Diesel (w/Shawn Michaels) (9-0) pins Mike Bucci after the Jackknife at 2:43:

Bucci began his career in 1992. He worked seven matches for the WWF in 1993, losing exclusively to heels like the Quebecers, Ludvig Borga, and Crush, among others. He would get his big break in ECW in 1996, becoming known as Nova.

Michaels gets the job of making fun at Nikolai Volkoff at ringside. Lane says that Volkoff’s suit was make for Gorilla Monsoon in Japan and given to him in 1970. The squash puts Diesel over as a dominating force to hype his Intercontinental title match with Razor Ramon on Superstars next week.

In a new vignette, Duke Droese rides on a bulldozer, saying that he can always take out the trash.

Lex Luger (10-1) defeats the Black Phantom via submission to the Rebel Rack at 2:18:

Luger makes quick work of the Phantom, who can only scream. Lane and DiBiase talk about Luger facing Mr. Perfect on the WrestleMania Revenge Tour.

A video package of today’s action ends the show.

Tune in next week to see Owen Hart against Mo! Also, the Steiner Brothers, the 1-2-3 Kid, and Tatanka will be in action! And WWF Champion Bret Hart will appear for a special interview!

The Last Word: The return of some feature matches to Wrestling Challenge is a welcome development since the WWF will still try to get some attention during “sweeps month” in hopes that they can get good ratings and stop the bleeding of markets that carry the show. Mo having a feature match next week was likely why he got the pin in the opener.

After taking a week off, the WWF resumed house shows in the Midwest and Canada. The shows in the Midwest were part of its much-hyped WrestleMania Revenge Tour. Here were the results of some of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Richfield, Ohio – The Richfield Coliseum – April 23, 1994 (6,000): Kwang pinned the 1-2-3 Kid…WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze pinned Leilani Kai (substituting for Luna Vachon) with a German suplex…Lex Luger defeated Crush (substituting for Mr. Perfect)…Razor Ramon beat Intercontinental Champion Diesel via disqualification when Irwin R. Schyster interfered and hit Ramon with his steel briefcase. Afterward, Tatanka made the save…Bam Bam Bigelow defeated Thurman Plugg…Irwin R. Schyster beat Tatanka via disqualification after Tatanka hit the referee…Men on a Mission (substituting for the Steiner Brothers) defeated WWF Tag Team Champions the Quebecers via count out…WWF Champion Bret Hart pinned Owen Hart.

Sarnia, Ontario, Canada – April 23, 1994 (1,800): The Bushwhackers beat the Heavenly Bodies…The Smoking Gunns defeated the Headshrinkers…Duke Droese beat Bastion Booger…Jeff Jarrett defeated Doink the Clown…Adam Bomb beat Virgil…Mabel defeated Yokozuna via disqualification.

Backstage News*: The Department of Justice has added an additional charge to Vince McMahon and Titan Sports’ indictment, alleging that McMahon and Titan intended to distribute anabolic steroids on April 13, 1989. This is like the existing charge of intent to distribute that is linked to October 24, 1989. If convicted of all counts, McMahon now faces a maximum of 11 years in prison instead of eight. The financial penalty facing McMahon and Titan has now increased to $2 million.

-The New York Daily News reported on April 22 that in February 1990 McMahon had Howard Finkel take an HIV blood test for Hulk Hogan to satisfy requirements by Oregon. The WWF has provided no response to the allegation.

-The civil trial of former WWF enhancement talent Chuck Austin began on April 19. Austin broke his neck when taking the Rocker Dropper from Marty Jannetty at a television taping in December 1990. The injury left Austin paralyzed from the neck down, although he can now walk with crutches. Austin’s legal team is seeking to hold Jannetty, Shawn Michaels, and the WWF liable for assault and battery, negligence, and misrepresentation. Those testifying this week included Jannetty, Michaels, Dean Malenko, Killer Kowalski, and Bruno Sammartino. The WWF relied on Malenko and Kowalski for expert testimony and Austin’s team used Sammartino.

-Early stops on the WrestleMania Revenge Tour have drawn well. The Richfield, Ohio card netted a $110,000 gate versus the $60,000 the WWF usually draws. The higher ticket prices did not keep fans away either. Added features to the shows included contests to pick a fan ring announcer and allowing a fan to be Bret Hart’s manager in the main event. Extra production effects are adding $15,000 per show but higher gates will offset this if the shows continue to draw well.

-The WWF spoiled the outcome of the Superstars Intercontinental title match to fans attending house shows this weekend. They saw Diesel announced as the new champion. The WWF also revealed that Diesel won the title on its radio program.

-Monday Night RAW drew its highest-ever rating this past week, earning a 3.7. Some speculate that the strong rating is because of the Murder She Wrote lead-in as that is the most popular show on cable, drawing a 4.5 rating this past week.

-The Undertaker may show up unannounced at The King of the Ring.

-Luna Vachon suffered a hand injury, which is why Leilani Kai had to substitute for her on house shows this week.

-In talent relations news, there are reports that Mr. Perfect has decided to quit rather than return after his foot injury heals. Perfect will remain under contract until November or December. The Steiner Brothers have also quit, opting to do matches in New Japan for at least $12,000 per week. The Steiners will not get out of their contract in the United States until December 15. They were originally booked to win the WWF Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania but once it was clear they were not happy and were looking to go abroad those plans were turfed. Even if the New Japan deal had not been on the table it was believed that the Steiners would have quit if the WWF tried to break them up and turn Scott heel.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for May 2.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for April 25!

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!