What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – 06.20.94

Gorilla Monsoon and Randy Savage commentate, live from White Plains, New York. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, a heavily papered, sellout crowd of 3,400 fans attended the taping. This was the third television taping in White Plains this year.

The Spanish announce team of Ed Trucco and Carlos Cabrera is introduced for the first time on WWF programming.

Opening Non-Title Contest: Diesel (Intercontinental Champion w/Shawn Michaels) (14-0) beats Mark Thomas after the Jackknife at 3:59:

There is a discussion of last night’s King of the Ring WWF title match and Jim Neidhart’s return. Thomas takes a good bump from Snake Eyes after Diesel launches him into the corner. A methodical squash keeps Diesel rolling.

Todd Pettengill does a wrap up report on The King of the Ring, talking about Owen Hart winning the tournament over Razor Ramon with Neidhart’s help. Fans are also told about Roddy Piper defeating Jerry Lawler and are encouraged to buy the encore next Tuesday.

WWF Championship Number One Contender’s Match: The 1-2-3 Kid (10-2) beats Nikolai Volkoff (w/Ted DiBiase) (5-1) with a small package at 6:02:

The Kid is showing no wear and tear from Jeff Jarrett’s attack at The King of the Ring. Monsoon announces that the winner of this match will face Bret Hart for the WWF Championship on July 11. That seems like a weird mandate from Jack Tunney to determine that two midcard talents should be next in line for a title shot especially since Diesel nearly won the title last night. The match is a styles clash where the Kid does not get to do any of his big spots. So much for the New Generation. It lacks heat as Volkoff is not hated enough by the crowd. Volkoff refuses to pin the Kid after a few backbreakers. He smiles when the Kid appears to blow his knee out after doing a float over spot that Volkoff forgets to run into. However, the Kid small packages Volkoff to earn the title shot. Rating: *

The Kid is on the receiving end of a second beatdown in as many days as Volkoff attacks him per DiBiase’s orders. Virgil rushes in and gets beaten down by Volkoff a bit as well. So eventually Lex Luger runs out and makes the save.

Yokozuna (w/Jim Cornette & Mr. Fuji) (9-3) pins Nick Barberri after a leg drop at 2:25:

Barberri was a Paul Roma trainee who started working in November 1993. On the independent circuit he would eventually adopt the nickname “The Hardcore Hippie Freak.”

Fans learn that Yokozuna and Crush did not win the Tag Team titles last night since he does not have a Tag Team title belt. Savage hypes Yokozuna as getting a return match against Bret Hart for the WWF Championship but Monsoon lets him know that Typhoon is after Yokozuna after Yokozuna got rid of Earthquake. Yokozuna’s cardio might be slipping but the crowd still reacts big for his belly-to-belly suplex and leg drop. Barberri is fortunate to get out of taking the Banzai Drop.

On his way back to the dressing room, Yokozuna has a staredown with Typhoon, who is coming out for the next match. The show goes to commercial break and when it comes back, footage shows that Typhoon moved Yokozuna out of the way with a punch.

Typhoon pins the Black Phantom after the Tidal Wave at 2:32:

Typhoon was returning to the WWF from WCW after a failed run as the Shockmaster. That character never had a chance after he tripped over a board when breaking through a wall at Clash of the Champions XXIV and faceplanted, causing many in the segment to corpse. A former WWF Tag Team champion and the son-in-law of Dusty Rhodes, he left the WWF the previous year after losing a King of the Ring qualifying match to Bam Bam Bigelow. After Earthquake quit, the WWF brought him back to finish “B” circuit dates with Yokozuna.

After some token discussion of how big Typhoon is, Savage takes time to hype the USA film of the week. The squash is fine but Typhoon is not over enough to throw into a house show main event.

Jerry Lawler has sunglasses on, spreading fake news about how he beat up Roddy Piper at The King of the Ring. His guest this week is Duke Droese, who dumped trash on Lawler before making his debut a month ago. Lawler has Droese talk to him outside of the ring because he smells bad. Smells become the topic of the segment as Lawler does not let Droese speak, segwaying it into a joke about Helen Hart. Droese eventually walks out on the segment and Lawler attacks him in the aisle. The King does a nice hardcore attack with Droese’s garbage can, smashing it over the newcomer’s head several times before WWF officials intervene.

The Heavenly Bodies (w/Jim Cornette) (8-0) beat Russ Greenberg & Jim Powers when Jimmy Del Ray pins Greenberg after the moonsault at 4:02:

Powers, a Big John Studd trainee, had been with the WWF in some capacity since 1984. After a brief run with Paul Roma as part of the Young Stallions in the late 1980s he became a glorified enhancement talent. In 1993 he appeared in nine matches, called up to lose to prominent acts like Yokozuna, Ric Flai, Lex Luger, Jerry Lawler, and Giant Gonzalez.

Powers’ body is more ripped than it was in 1993, leading to suggestions that he was chemically enhancing his physique because the WWF was not drug testing enhancement talent. Cornette joins the broadcast team, which upgrades some of its quality with a heel voice. He announces that the Headshrinkers will defend the Tag Team titles against the Bodies. Cornette sells that as a good thing for his team because the Headshrinkers are stupid. With a heel to play against, Monsoon gets back into his element and asks why Cornette’s team was not on last night’s pay-per-view. Unfortunately, Del Ray hurt himself on the finish and it scuttled the planned Headshrinkers-Bodies program, at least as far as television was concerned.

Monsoon reads a statement from WWF officials that they do not condone Jerry Lawler’s actions against Duke Droese because “objects should only be used what they were designed for.” The statement was made because USA Network executives were furious about Lawler’s angle, reportedly laid out by Lawler, because they deemed it too violent.

Ted DiBiase talks about how Lex Luger needs his guidance to become a champion.

Tune in next week to see Mabel face Bam Bam Bigelow!

The Last Word: This was not a fun episode, full of dull action. Gorilla Monsoon needed a heel to play against on commentary as he never did well without one. He has sounded bitter the last two shows, a far cry from the Monsoon of old. The best thing on the show was Jerry Lawler’s attack but, as noted above, it caused the WWF problems with USA Network. By modern standards it was tame but the WWF could not afford any television or sponsor backlash at a time when its entire business was at stake in Vince McMahon’s steroid trial. Going into WrestleMania the WWF had some engaging, hot feuds. They are not in as good of shape right now as the only two programs with steam are Bret Hart-Owen Hart and Lex Luger-Crush. And the latter has a “mileage may vary vibe” when it comes to the fanbase.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for June 25!

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