What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – 05.07.94

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are commentating, taped from Rochester, New York.

Opening King of the Ring Qualifying Contest: Irwin R. Schyster (10-2) beats Scott Steiner after a Flair pin at 6:46 shown:

IRS uses the video board to go over the top three tax cheats, running down McMahon, a small kid in the crowd, and Tatanka. There is some good mat wrestling between the two accomplished amateurs even though it is not something that will get the crowd to pop. Scott manages to use IRS’ use of the ropes in an abdominal stretch against him, a nice twist to what IRS has been doing for years. There is not a late run of offense by Scott, who has a sunset flip blocked by IRS, who grabs the ropes. The referee catches that and forces a break but IRS just rolls with the rest of the move and positions Scott into a Jackknife cover, using the ropes with his feet to qualify for the King of the Ring Tournament. Afterward, Rick comes to the ring to try to get the referee to reverse the decision but that does not occur. This was the last appearance for the Steiners, who quit and rode out the rest of their contract in Japan. Rating: **

Tatanka storms out of the locker room and tries to attack IRS but WWF officials tackle him. Since IRS cannot go back to the ring because of the Steiners, he runs through the crowd.

Todd Pettengill does the King of the Ring Report. It is announced that Roddy Piper has signed to face Jerry Lawler, sending in a videotape from the set of his film Tough & Deadly, angry that Lawler is making fun of sick children in Toronto. Piper says that if he wins the purse of the match goes to those children so Lawler will get nothing. Piper’s promo had an ECW-like production quality as different parts were spliced together. According to Bruce Prichard that had to be done because Piper sent in rambling promo tapes that did not make sense. Pettengill also announces that Mabel will face Pierre in a qualifying match on next week’s Superstars.

The 1-2-3 Kid (5-0) beats Jason Storm after the spinning heel kick at 2:09:

Wendy Cress is the guest fan ring announcer, a mom who is decked out in Bret Hart merchandise. Lawler makes a cancellable joke by today’s standards that she is not Caucasian but “Oriental” due to being part of the “Chin family,” in reference to her appearance. The Kid brings her a rose on his way to the ring because it is Mother’s Day. It is an awkward exchange as she thinks he is going to go for a hug but he just gets prepared for the match. The Kid uses a combination of strikes and holds to wear Storm down, continuing a strong singles run since his tag team with Marty Jannetty ended.

In footage from the WrestleMania Revenge Tour in Albany, New York, Ted DiBiase announces that he has purchased Nikolai Volkoff’s services. DiBiase emphasizes that Volkoff is not happy with the arrangement but he has no choice but to accept for his family. Despite giving Volkoff lots of television time, the crowd does not care about Volkoff and was dead for a lot of the segment.

Owen Hart (17-0) beats John Paul via submission to the Sharpshooter at 1:46:

McMahon and Lawler hype future matches Owen will have with Bret Hart. This is the second time that Owen has vanquished Paul this year, having beaten him on the February 7 edition of Monday Night RAW. Some of the same enhancement talent keeps appearing on television because the WWF is not leaving the Northeast much for tapings. Also, Chief Jay Strongbow was reportedly lazy about reaching out to other wrestling schools, preferring to use the same personnel. And the Chuck Austin lawsuit provided limits as to who the WWF was going to put on television. After the match, Owen beats up Paul for more fun, just like he did to Mo on Wrestling Challenge. Paul looks like Johnny Cage after Owen puts some Hitman shades on him.

Live Event News shows a fun bit where the Quebecers, when they were WWF Tag Team champions, were part of a slam dunk contest with the Indiana Pacers mascot at an NBA game. The Quebecers won after giving the mascot a double gorilla press slam and the mascot missed his dunk.

Lex Luger (11-1) beats Barry Hardy via submission to the Rebel Rack at 2:30:

Luger gets a strong reaction from the crowd so he is still over despite falling short at WrestleMania. Perfect’s unfortunate departure leaves Luger with no major story, though. Luger shows off his power and Hardy begs off a lot after moves, eventually submitting to the Rebel Rack.

Get the new edition of WWF Magazine! WWF Champion Bret Hart is on the cover!

Jeff Jarrett (12-3) defeats Derek Domino via submission to a figure-four leglock at 1:50:

Jarrett is continuing to alter his character, changing his wrestling style to a greater focus on submission, wearing down Domino’s leg before winning with the figure-four leglock. That finish works better than his DDT off the ropes, which looked too choreographed. During the match Jarrett endures a verbal assault from fans in the front row who have been given free Doink merchandise.

Kids at a daycare discuss how they saw the Undertaker on their playground equipment. It is a cute bit as the kids find creative things to talk about the Undertaker doing, like hanging off their monkey bars.

Tune in next week to see Mabel wrestle Pierre in a King of the Ring qualifying match! Also, Tatanka, Doink the Clown, and Nikolai Volkoff will be in action!

The Last Word: Ted DiBiase was supposed to be on the Heartbreak Hotel, which it can be supposed is where Nikolai Volkoff would be introduced. So that must have been poor if the WWF opted to do it at a house show. Speaking of poor, having Roddy Piper face Yokozuna would have been more interesting than having him battle Jerry Lawler at The King of the Ring. At least a match with Yokozuna would have been a logical continuation of SummerSlam. Having a program where two guys are fighting over sick children and whose talk show is better is not interesting. Still, this was a good episode that had a unique style of feature match and kept momentum going for The King of the Ring.

Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for May 8!

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!