What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – 05.08.94

Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase are calling today’s matches, still broadcasting from Syracuse, New York.

Opening Contest: Earthquake (15-0) pins Cory Student after the Earthquake Splash at 2:23:

Earthquake takes the time to sign an autograph on the way to the ring. He casually approaches the match, as he should, since he beat Student in his return match on Monday Night RAW in late January. Lane and DiBiase talk about what a future Earthquake-Yokozuna match would look like.

Virgil (1-2) defeats Barry Horowitz after a sunset flip at 2:04:

Virgil gets a surprising squash match on the show, which seems like it was included to give DiBiase time to make fun of his former bodyguard. Virgil botches going over the top rope from a Horowitz clothesline and Horowitz looks better than he does, doing some smooth moves. Virgil only manages to land some punches and gets a weak win by sunset flipping Horowitz when the perennial loser does a blind charge.

The Bushwhackers have inherited Bastion Booger’s gimmick of being disgusting, eating a big bowl of sardines backstage.

Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Luna Vachon) (14-2) pins Mike Khoury after the falling headbutt off the ropes at 2:23:

Bigelow also doubles back on beating an enhancement talent, putting down Khoury with some difficulty after he crotches himself on a blind charge. Lane reminds viewers that Bigelow was a finalist in last year’s King of the Ring tournament.

The Heavenly Bodies (w/Jim Cornette) (5-0) beat the Bushwhackers (5-1) when Jimmy Del Ray pins Luke after the moonsault at 7:58 shown:

The teams wrestle a comedy match with lots of fun spots as the Bodies try to mock the Bushwhackers arm swing and get bit. They even pull out the Rock N’ Roll Express spot of a team member blocking their partner getting whipped into the corner and it backfiring when the Bodies try it. Unfortunately, the action after the commercial break is bad. The Bushwhackers do not get a hot tag as Butch acts like an idiot and chases Cornette to the dressing room while his partner gets double teamed. That leads to the Bodies hitting their finish and remaining unbeaten for the year. Rating: *

After the match, Butch clears the ring with Cornette’s tennis racquet.

In another vignette, Duke Droese uses trash can lids to start a beat so he can sing “Takin’ out the trash!” His co-worker says he is a nice guy but is not always stable.

Doink the Clown (w/Dink) (14-0) pins Barry Hardy with a German suplex at 1:33:

Dink pranks Doink with an exploding pen, which is supposed to be payback for Doink not being there for him last week on Superstars. They hug it out afterward. Jeff Jarrett does an insert promo, repeating his aim to get the last laugh in their feud. Doink wins with a German suplex after atomic dropping Hardy into the ropes.

Tune in next week to see the 1-2-3 Kid battle Kwang! Also, Lex Luger, Jeff Jarrett, Irwin R. Schyster, and Thurman Plugg will be in action!

The Last Word: Aside from the Doink the Clown-Jeff Jarrett feud getting some play there was not much here, especially with the feature match being poor. The WWF needs to upgrade its tag division as the Bushwhackers do not have it anymore and another heel team is going to be needed to replace the Quebecers.

The WWF began its four-night tour through Japan over the weekend while another crew hit small towns in the United States. Here were the results of some of those shows courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

McMinnville, Tennessee – May 6, 1994: Kwang beat Koko B. Ware…Earthquake defeated Barry Horowitz (substituting for Crush)…Mabel beat Irwin R. Schyster…Intercontinental Champion Diesel defeated Razor Ramon…Lex Luger defeated Crush (substituting for Mr. Perfect).

Yokohama, Japan – Yokohama Arena – May 7, 1994 (4,500): Rick Martel (substituting for Shawn Michaels) beat the 1-2-3 Kid via submission to the Boston Crab at 6:50…Tatanka pinned Jinsei Shinzaki with a backflip into a cover at 7:21…WWF Tag Team Champions the Headshrinkers beat the Smoking Gunns when Fatu pinned Billy at 12:04…Doink the Clown defeated Nobukazu Hirai after the Whoopie Cushion at 6:46…Bull Nakano pinned WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze in a non-title match with a flying leg drop at 9:45…Owen Hart defeated Masashi Aoyagi via submission to the Sharpshooter at 6:29…Adam Bomb pinned Bob Backlund with a small package at 10:25…The Undertaker & Genichiro Tenyu defeated Yokozuna & Bam Bam Bigelow when the Undertaker pinned Yokozuna after a chokeslam following heel miscommunication at 18:17…WWF Champion Bret Hart defeated Randy Savage via submission to the Sharpshooter at 17:48.

Nagoya, Japan – Rainbow Hall – May 8, 1994 (2,500; WWF announced the crowd as 6,735): Samu beat Nobukazu Hirai…The 1-2-3 Kid pinned Jinsei Shinzaki with a German suplex…Tatanka defeated Fatu with a flying body press…The Smoking Gunns beat Owen Hart & Doink the Clown when Owen turned on Doink, causing Doink to be pinned…WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze pinned Saki Hasegawa with a German suplex in 10 minutes…Masashi Aoyagi defeated Bob Backlund with a neck hold after 10 minutes…The Undertaker beat Yokozuna via count out when Yokozuna walked out after four minutes of action…Genichiro Tenryu & Randy Savage defeated Rick Martel (substituting for Shawn Michaels) & Adam Bomb when Savage applied a neck hold to Martel after 10 minutes…WWF Champion Bret Hart defeated Bam Bam Bigelow via submission to the Sharpshooter at 14:30.

Backstage News*: Vince McMahon and Titan Sports’ federal steroid trial is expected to last five weeks after it starts on July 5. McMahon had a pre-trial hearing on April 29, which is why television tapings were moved up one week and there was no live version of Monday Night RAW. The Justice Department revealed that it is conducting another investigation into a non-steroid matter pertaining to Titan Sports.

-Early returns for the WWF’s tour of Japan were poor. It is reported that only hardcore fans attended the shows. Some of the blame was placed on promoters not postering cities, which is common for Japanese wrestling shows, and not doing enough television ads to hype the cards. The first show in Yokohama drew about 4,500 fans in a 17,000-seat arena that never drew less than 8,000 fans for a wrestling show before. Fans were said to be disappointed by the production and the match quality. The Undertaker got the best reactions, followed by Randy Savage. Savage, even though he tried to be a heel against Bret Hart, was cheered. There was also a cultural difference in how matches were perceived as Japanese fans expect a wrestler to struggle before submitting to a hold but WWF wrestlers were quick to submit, drawing boos.

-Over the last few years the WWF has gone from airing its syndicated television programs on 300 affiliates to 172. That number is expected to be lower by next year.

-The WWF Tag Team title switch on Monday Night RAW drew a disappointing 2.9 rating.

-The WWF informed WCW last week that they would not be matching the offer given to former WWF Champion Hulk Hogan.

-In talent relations news, the WWF is looking to bring in Jim Neidhart, Brian Lee, and/or Papa Shango.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for May 16.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for May 9!

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!