What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – 05.21.94

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler commentate, starting a new taping in Albany, New York. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show was taped on April 27 at the Knickerbocker Arena, the site of the 1992 Royal Rumble.

Opening Contest: Razor Ramon (14-1) pins Derek Domino after the Razor’s Edge at 4:20:

Ramon shows some heelish tendencies in the squash, slapping Domino around and making him yell into the camera that he is “The Bad Guy.” It is a dull opening squash for Ramon, who is preparing for the King of the Ring Tournament. Lawler spent a lot of time during the match talking about Roddy Piper fearing him and how the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto will not get any money when Piper loses at The King of the Ring.

Crush (w/Mr. Fuji) (13-1) pins Mike Terrence after a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker in 55 seconds:

Crush eats up time by getting on the microphone and telling Lex Luger that he will not survive the WrestleMania Revenge Tour. Terrence tries to jump Crush after that but Crush shakes it off and wins with a running powerslam and tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. After the match, Crush gorilla press slams Terrence to the floor. Just think of how many Royal Rumbles he would have won if he could have mastered that spot.

Lawler interrupts Duke Droese’s entrance, taking time to put a clothespin on his nose. Droese does not like that so picks up a garbage can from a dumpster he is wheeling to the ring and dumps it on the self-proclaimed king. That gets a positive reaction so that makes the debut a small success already.

Duke Droese defeats Mike Bell after a tilt-a-whirl powerslam off the ropes at 2:12:

Droese was a Bobby Wales trainee that made his debut on the Florida independent scene in 1990. While working there he had the gimmick of a garbage man and was, as a result, known as Garbage Man. In 1993 he was the 500th ranked wrestler in Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s PWI 500. According to James Dixon’s Titan Sinking, this is how Droese got a job because McMahon believed he could take the lowest ranked wrestler and make him into a star. However, this has been disputed by others. It still makes for a good story, though.

Droese shows off some agility by floating over Bell on a blind charge. He needs to work on some rhythm to his moves as he does a nice spinebuster but grabs a chinlock afterward. His selling of Bell’s offense is weak as well. He wins with a tilt-a-whirl powerslam off the ropes but nearly loses his hold on Bell in the process. It is a cool move, if nothing else.

Todd Pettengill does The King of the Ring Report, wearing a King of the Ring hat. A new match announced is WWF Tag Team Champions the Headshrinkers defending the titles against Crush & Yokozuna. It is an indictment of the tag team division that two prominent heel acts have to be put into a makeshift team to give the champions a decent challenge. Intercontinental Champion Diesel, who does not have the cadence of a real person and is insistent on making his eyes big, argues that WWF Champion Bret Hart is apprehensive about facing him. Bret rebuts that Diesel is not going to walk all over him. Roddy Piper is working on a punching bag at a local community center, urging fans to donate to the Hospital for Sick Children.

Non-Title Match: The Headshrinkers (WWF Tag Team Champions w/Afa & Captain Lou Albano) (11-0) beat Jim Messenger & Ray Roy after Fatu pins Roy after the splash off the top rope at 2:32:

Messenger and Roy attack the Headshrinkers before the bell as all of the enhancement talents seem to be doing that today. The Headshrinkers just shrug it off and destroy them. Samu gives Roy a DDT off the second rope and Fatu follows with the splash. It is a good outing for the new champions.

A Dunkin’ Donut owner says that he saw the Undertaker in his shop. He disappeared after he filled a thermos with coffee. Again, the Undertaker is being cast as a jerk in these appearance segments.

Ted DiBiase is in a cemetery, laughing about how he loves dead presidents so he must love dead people. He promises to find the Undertaker, saying that he will be his once again in a callback to DiBiase debuting him at the 1990 Survivor Series.

King of the Ring Qualifying Match: Jeff Jarrett (w/Mr. Fuji) (14-3) beats Lex Luger (13-1) via count out at 6:55 shown:

Seeing Mr. Fuji waddle out with Jarrett during his entrance to country music is funny. Luger gets some loud cheers for his entrance. Fuji gets involved early, hitting Luger in the back with the Japanese flag when Luger runs the ropes. Later, Crush comes to ringside and attacks Luger and rams his face into the steps. Instead of getting back into the ring, Luger charges down to the aisle to fight his attacker and he gets counted out. The action was limited here, giving Jarrett a weak win and putting some heat on the Luger-Crush program. McMahon wonders aloud how many times Luger can be robbed. Rating: *½

A happy Jarrett waves the Japanese flag after the match.

The 1-2-3 Kid is brought out to talk with McMahon and Lawler. Lawler laughs because he does not think the Kid has a chance against Adam Bomb next week. The Kid says that winning the King of the Ring Tournament would be a dream come true. Lawler shows the Kid some footage from Bomb’s matches. The Kid is unperturbed, believing that he can win with his speed and agility.

Tune in next week to see the 1-2-3 Kid battle Adam Bomb in a King of the Ring qualifying match!

The Last Word: Crowds have rallied behind Lex Luger despite him falling short at WrestleMania X but there are fewer reasons to support him. He was not able to avenge the screwjob at WrestleMania because Mr. Perfect quit and he was not able to get into the King of the Ring Tournament today. Although protected in defeat, Luger looked silly deciding to fight Crush instead of resuming his match with Jarrett. His elimination was stunning because many pegged Luger as a favorite to win the event when his name was announced in the qualifiers. It opens the door for someone else to make an impact.

Up Next: Wrestling Challenge for May 22!

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