What the World Was Watching: King of the Ring 1994

Gorilla Monsoon, Randy Savage, and Art Donovan are calling tonight’s action, live from Baltimore, Maryland. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, a sellout crowd of 12,000 fans attended the show. This is Monsoon’s first pay-per-view doing lead play-by-play since last year’s Royal Rumble. He is substituting for Vince McMahon, who underwent neck surgery on June 13 for a herniated disc. In terms of pay-per-view buys, the show had a 0.85 buyrate (185,000 buys). That was a 25% drop from the previous year’s show, which drew a 1.1 buyrate (245,000 buys).

Rickey Medlocke, frontman of the Southern rock band Blackfoot, sings the national anthem. This was a last-minute deal as Medlocke volunteered to sing the anthem before his concert across the street.

There is a better set than last year’s show, with the throne set up near the entrance and red carpet going down the steps leading up to it. There are also attendants in gold uniforms that open the entrance doors for the wrestlers.

Opening King of the Ring First Round Contest: Razor Ramon (18-1) beats Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Luna Vachon) (19-2) after a schoolboy roll up at 8:24:

Of all of the first round matchups this one had the best “big fight” feel to it. Vachon has a silver outfit that departs from her usual black gear. It looks good on her. Bigelow goes for the flying headbutt within two minutes but misses, a nod to how participants need to try to win within the 15-minute time limit. Donovan is supposed to be a sparingly used as a third wheel on commentary but he quickly feels the need to join in with Monsoon and Savage as an equal partner. Monsoon and Savage try to be polite but it is a case where the plug should have been pulled early on Donovan, which probably would have happened if Vince McMahon was at the show. The match that unfolds is just a pedestrian opener. Bigelow blocks the super backdrop suplex so Ramon does a schoolboy roll up where Bigelow falls from the top rope to the canvas to advance. That gets a good pop as Ramon is over. Rating: **

The backstage interview area looks terrible, looking like someone’s basement or a hunting lodge. It has a bracket for the tournament behind Todd Pettengill, who talks with Irwin R. Schyster and Mabel. IRS tells Mabel he is going to take him out and hopes to get Tatanka in the finals. After IRS walks away, Mabel says IRS will never pin his shoulders to mat. Oscar enters the picture and says they will take Razor Ramon out in the semi-finals because it is business, not personal.

King of the Ring First Round: Irwin R. Schyster (17-2) pins Mabel (w/Oscar) (6-0) after holding the ropes for leverage at 5:35:

Displaying his lack of product knowledge, Donovan is shocked to learn that IRS is a wrestler, saying “But he looks like a businessman!” He also asks who Oscar is, thinking he is a hospital attendant because he is wearing a white suit. IRS hits the Write Off in two minutes but it is not enough for the win. Mabel counters a slam with a side suplex and the referee stops the count at two because Mabel’s weight prevents IRS from getting a clean kickout. Mabel fights out of a chinlock and does the sidewalk slam but IRS kicks out of it. Mabel goes to the second rope but stands there too long, IRS shakes it, and Mabel falls off like a beached whale. Then IRS holds the bottom rope as he covers and somehow that is enough leverage to win. To each man’s credit, they tried to do things here but it got ugly fast. Rating: ½*

King of the Ring First Round: Owen Hart (24-0) pins Tatanka (19-1-2) after blocking a sunset flip at 8:17:

Owen is wearing flashy pink and silver gear tonight. Donovan asks how much the participants weigh, something he will inquire about a lot this evening. Tatanka attacks Owen before the bell, leading to a fun opening sequence before the match slows after some fighting on the floor. Backstage, IRS and Razor Ramon are shown arguing and WWF officials have to separate them. Owen makes the mistake of taking Tatanka to the buckle and Tatanka goes on the warpath. However, Owen kicks out after a flying chop and running powerslam, stealing a win after sitting down and blocking a sunset flip. If fans had any doubts about Tatanka moving down the card before WrestleMania, the outcome of this match ended them. Rating: **½

Pettengill interviews Intercontinental Champion Diesel and Shawn Michaels. Diesel says that a Jackknife is in WWF Champion Bret Hart’s future.

King of the Ring First Round: The 1-2-3 Kid (9-1) defeats Jeff Jarrett (19-3) with a small package at 4:39:

Monsoon is done with Donovan by this point, directing his statements toward Savage. Jarrett dominates much of the action but the Kid has some well-timed fluke near-falls or spurts of offense to keep things interesting. The Kid takes risks and misses on a lot of them as Jarrett avoids a flying somersault senton and a diving attack in the corner. Jarrett tries to capitalize by doing the figure-four leglock but the Kid cradles him to advance. A short, but entertaining match. Rating: **¼

Jarrett is a poor sport afterward, giving the Kid three piledrivers and three fist drops off the second rope. If this happened in Memphis, the Kid would be clinically dead. The attack makes Monsoon and Savage wonder if this will give Owen Hart a bye to the finals.

Pettengill talks to WWF Champion Bret Hart. He puts over the power of the Jackknife, saying that he may not be able to kick out of it, but he doubts whether Diesel will be able to do it to him again. The champion argues that Diesel is overestimating his own abilities.

WWF Championship Match: Diesel (Intercontinental Champion w/Shawn Michaels) (13-0) defeats Bret Hart (Champion w/Jim Neidhart) (5-2) via disqualification when Neidhart interferes at 22:51:

It is never a good sign for babyface champions when their match is slated for the middle of the show. Bret chooses former tag team partner and brother-in-law Jim Neidhart to be in his corner. Neidhart has been gone for more than two years after getting fired for unprofessional conduct in February 1992. Donovan asks whether Michaels is a wrestler. Savage explains that Michaels is one of the greats, a big endorsement for Michaels early in his career. What unfolds is an amazing match where Bret throws everything he can at his larger opponent and it never seems to be enough. He does some great limb work that keeps the crowd invested. Unfortunately, Diesel quits selling it when he regains control. Michaels and Neidhart also enhance the match by doing an entertaining chase around the ring where Neidhart does a creative slide underneath the bottom ropes in the corners to shorten the distance, only to have referee Earl Hebner cut off Neidhart, allowing Michaels to get more shots in on Bret. When the limb work fails, Bret takes a risk with a pescado but misses and Diesel works his back but cannot pin or submit the champion. Desperate, he and Michaels take off the corner turnbuckle like they did against Razor Ramon but Bret reverses a take to the steel and gets close near-falls from the moves of doom. Michaels prevents a Sharpshooter by getting on the apron, getting decked by Bret and taking a nice bump into the guardrail. Bret applies a sloppy Sharpshooter from a fun counter on the canvas when Diesel poses over him but Diesel gets to the ropes. In the end, Bret dropkicks Diesel out of the ring next to Neidhart but Neidhart opts not to do a cheap shot. He is repaid when Diesel throws him into the ring post. As this happens, Michaels clocks Bret in the back of the head with the WWF Championship Belt. Diesel only gets a near-fall from it but does hit the Jackknife. However, before he can cover Neidhart, who takes out Michaels on the floor, runs in and clotheslines him, allowing Bret to retain the title via disqualification. While the Royal Rumble put Diesel on the map, this was a career-making match for him. There were a few times where he botched some moves but Bret put him over as an unstoppable force. Diesel’s performance was also impressive when news came out later that he was wrestling with a torn groin muscle. Without a doubt, this is one of the best big man-small man matches ever. It felt like a war the whole way through. Rating: ****¼

Neidhart walks out after the disqualification, seemingly irritated by what happened. That leaves Bret in the ring, though, and Diesel and Michaels double team him until WWF officials stop them.

Pettengill interviews Jerry Lawler, who tells Roddy Piper that he is going to knock him into oblivion.

King of the Ring Semi-Finals: Razor Ramon (19-1) pins Irwin R. Schyster (18-2) after the Razor’s Edge at 5:13:

IRS calls Ramon a “tax cheat idiot” before the match so Ramon attacks him on the floor before the bell. The match is a mess and both men look sluggish. IRS kills time with a chinlock and his offense moves from one body part to another, drawing criticism from Monsoon. All Ramon does is his finish when IRS puts his head down too early on an Irish whip. Rating: *

Pettengill says he has not heard about the condition of the 1-2-3 Kid.

King of the Ring Semi-Finals: Owen Hart (25-0) defeats the 1-2-3 Kid (10-1) via submission to the Sharpshooter at 3:36:

The Kid takes a while to appear once his theme music starts. He stumbles to the ring and is greeted by a baseball slide and suicide dive. The Kid kicks out of a flying headbutt and manages to whip Owen chest-first into the turnbuckles. That leads to near-falls from a reverse flying body press and a La Magistral cradle. There is a false finish as the referee counts to three from a Kid Northern Lights suplex but Owen gets his feet on the ropes. There is a great Owen counter of a spin kick, turning it into a German suplex for a near-fall. More near-falls follow from a Kid victory roll and reversal. The Kid tries a hurricanrana but Owen counters with a powerbomb and the Sharpshooter puts him in the finals. This is often considered one of the best sub-four minute matches of all-time and for good reason. If one had to nitpick, the Jeff Jarrett attack earlier in the show did not seem to affect the Kid’s performance. Rating: ***¼

WWF Tag Team Championship Match: The Headshrinkers (Champions w/Afa & Captain Lou Albano) (15-0) defeat Crush & Yokozuna (w/Jim Cornette & Mr. Fuji) (1-1) when Fatu pins Crush after a thrust kick at 9:33:

Donovan, who has no idea what the card is, thinks this is the last match. Albano has embraced the tropical lifestyle, coming to the ring in shorts and an open shirt. It takes some hard lessons for the heels to learn that trying to out headbutt the Headshrinkers is not wise. The action is slow and plodding but does feature a creative spot where Samu’s attempt at doing a flying headbutt gets him crotched when Yokozuna crashes into the ring post on the floor. Yokozuna gets back in the ring and leg drops Samu but before Crush can take advantage, Lex Luger comes to ringside. That distraction allows Samu to schoolboy Crush for a near-fall. That probably should have been the finish as Crush clotheslines Samu out of the ring, Fatu slips back in, and then Fatu kicks Crush in the face so the champions retain. This was not a good outing for the champions, who did not enjoy a lot of crowd support. Rating: *½

Crush attacks Luger after the bell. Luger is a wearing some red, white, and blue spandex outfit that makes him look like a walking candy cane. He drives Crush off with help from the Headshrinkers.

Pettengill interviews Owen Hart, who wishes his father a Happy Father’s Day. He talk about how he is going to be a winner while Bret Hart was a loser earlier in the evening.

King of the Ring Finals: Owen Hart (26-0) pins Razor Ramon (20-1) after a flying elbow drop at 6:36:

Owen has made a fan out of Donovan, who changes his prediction from the beginning of the pay-per-view that Ramon was going to win the tournament. The WWF Championship match seems to have burned out the crowd as this match does not get much of a reaction either. Like Ramon’s match with Irwin R. Schyster in the semi-finals this is a bit of a sloppy affair as Ramon and Owen miscommunicate a few times. However, at least this one has some near-falls spliced along the way. Ramon gives Owen the super backdrop suplex but when he goes for the Razor’s Edge, Owen backdrops him to the floor. Jim Neidhart runs out and looks to tend to Ramon but then turns heel by clotheslining the former Intercontinental champion and throwing him into the ring post. After Neidhart tosses Ramon into the ring, Owen does a flying elbow drop and wins the tournament. Rating: **

As Owen is announced as the winner, he and Neidhart double team Ramon, cementing their alliance with the Hart Attack. The crowd chants “We want Bret!” but he does not show up.

Ray Rougeau talks to Bret Hart backstage but he has no comments, blown away by what he saw in the final match.

Savage floats the theory that Neidhart’s job in the WWF title match was to make sure Bret kept the title so that Owen could win it later. Donovan asks if Monsoon and Savage were like Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart when they wrestled and Monsoon hilariously ignores the question.

Pettengill hosts the coronation ceremony where Owen is proclaimed the King of the Ring. Owen says that people need to start giving him the respect of a king. WWF President Jack Tunney is supposed to crown Owen but Owen has Neidhart crown him instead. Owen also forces Pettengill to get on a knee as he is crowned, proclaiming that he wants to be known from this point forward as “The King of Harts.”

An ad announces that SummerSlam will take place at the new United Center in Chicago, Illinois on August 29.

Pettengill talks with Maryland Governor William Schaeffer, who picks Roddy Piper to win the main event and jokes that he loves Hulk Hogan. This shows the hill the WWF had to climb without Hogan on the roster.

Roddy Piper (w/Impersonator) defeats Jerry Lawler (1-0) after a backdrop suplex at 12:18:

Piper had been wrestling since 1969, when he broke into the business at 14 years old. He slowly rose through the territory system and became a great heel for the WWF in the mid-1980s as part of its national expansion, feuding with Hulk Hogan and Mr. T before turning babyface and wrestling what fans thought might be his last match against Adrian Adonis at WrestleMania III. After 1987, Piper left to become a Hollywood actor but returned in 1989, wrestling and serving as a commentator. He had not wrestled since losing the Intercontinental Championship to Bret Hart at WrestleMania VIII, going back to acting in B-movies.

Monsoon hilariously proclaims “This is the New Generation!” as the WWF airs a match between two veterans in their forties. Before the match, Lawler does his best to rile up the crowd about how he is not going to give the purse of the match to sick children. Piper gets a brigade of bagpipers for his entrance and brings the impersonator from Monday Night RAW with him. Come to find out later, the impersonator was someone who sent in a tape to co-host WWF Mania and the WWF liked his performance so much, albeit not enough to have him win the contest, that they used him for a few shows. The impersonator factors into the match more than needed as Lawler spends the middle of the match going after him several times. Aside from the spectacle of seeing Piper in the ring again, the match does not offer much. Its style is archaic as most of the bout is Piper and Lawler throwing kicks and punches. Lawler goes on to hit the piledriver and gets lot of protection for the finish as he waits too long to cover, allowing a Piper comeback. Then there is an unnecessary referee bump so Lawler can blast Piper with a phantom foreign object. Once again, the impersonator is involved by pushing Lawler’s feet off the ropes. As Lawler argues with hm, Piper does a backdrop suplex, which he used as a finish for a while in the early 1990s, and wins. The WWF acted like crowds cared about the impersonator. But they did not so making him a focal point of the match was stupid. Rating: ½*

After the match, Piper throws Lawler to the floor and raises the impersonator on his shoulders. Fireworks go off as Monsoon wishes people a Happy Father’s Day.

The Last Word: The show is a mixed bag. The tournament matches were not as good as last year but Owen Hart comes out of the pay-per-view well positioned to challenge his brother for the WWF Championship since he now has more than “I beat my brother at WrestleMania!” to enhance his credibility. Bret Hart did an amazing job with Diesel in the WWF title match, elevating a heel at a time that the WWF desperately needs one. However, there were problems. Putting Art Donovan on commentary for the whole show was terrible and this is probably the worst Gorilla Monsoon commentary performance on pay-per-view as he seemed to want to be somewhere else. The logic of using Donovan was that he had some funny appearances on late night comedy shows but, like Bob Uecker at WrestleMania III it would have been better to use him for one match and a backstage segment. The poor guy was set up to fail. What is wild, though, is that Donovan ended up outliving his fellow commentators even though he was 70 years old at the time of this broadcast. Furthermore, booking Roddy Piper-Jerry Lawler for the main event was not on brand. It would have been better to put that match somewhere else on the card and give it less than ten minutes but the WWF was insistent on sending fans home happy, which could not be done with Owen’s coronation. Promoting Piper’s return heavily did not work for the buyrate, showing that the stars of the past were going to experience dwindling box office returns unless they substantially changed their gimmick. WCW would learn that with Hulk Hogan soon enough.

Backstage News*: The Hall of Fame ceremony in Baltimore on June 9 ignored any mention of Bruno Sammartino. Some WWF officials say they would love to induct Sammartino but he would not accept it.

-The dark match at The King of the Ring saw Thurman Plugg beat Kwang. People in the arena did not care for the match.

-“B” show ticket prices will increase in some markets to $20. The WWF believes that cutting prices did not raise attendance and those who are coming will pay more.

-The “Countdown to the Crowning” Monday Night RAW special drew a 3.3 rating.

-According to Linda McMahon, the WWF wanted to settle the Chuck Austin lawsuit out of court but liability insurance carrier Transamerica demanded they not do so. Due to the verdict, Transamerica is going to cover the cost as well as any appeal. The WWF will also get their liability insurance renewed next year, albeit with a 15% premium increase.

-In talent relations news, Jim Powers has been signed for opening matches on “B” house shows. Sergeant Slaughter and the Genius will also be appearing on “B” shows next month. The WWF has reached out to the British Bulldog for matches on its September European tour. There may also be interest in bringing back Sid.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for June 27.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for June 20!

And if you would like to read a compiled breakdown of 1990-1993 WWF, 1993-1994 ECW, or of various promotions in 1995, check out my Amazon author page to purchase e-books or paperback copies!