What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – 07.04.94

Gorilla Monsoon and Randy Savage are in the booth, doing the last episode of the taping in White Plains, New York.

Opening Contest: Tatanka (20-2-2) pins Jeff Jarrett (19-4) with a schoolboy roll up at 12:26 shown:

Tatanka beat Jarrett in February on Wrestling Challenge after Ludvig Borga interfered in what proved to be Borga’s last WWF appearance. After Tatanka works a long headlock he gets knocked to the floor. He seems to spend forever out there until Jarrett whips him into the ring post and wins by count out. But Jarrett is not happy about that, ordering the match be restarted. Referee Earl Hebner agrees without consulting Tatanka, who rejoins the action during a commercial break. Rest holds absorb the action until the last five minutes when Tatanka goes on the warpath after escaping a chinlock. Jarrett gets his foot on the rope to break up a pin from a flying chop and tries to run away. However, Dink is in the aisle and squirts Jarrett with water. When Jarrett tries to apprehend the little man, Doink the Clown chases him back into the ring with a big bucket of water. And all the craziness distracts Jarrett, who is rolled up by Tatanka and pinned. Some of the extra booking helped raise the rating of the match. Rating: **

The 1-2-3 Kid is a guest on the King’s Court. Jerry Lawler tells the Kid that he will be rooting for him next week against WWF Champion Bret Hart because he hates Bret’s guts. The Kid responds that he does not hate Bret and Bret is the best wrestler in the world. He refuses to cheat to get the championship, telling Lawler that if he wins the WWF title it will be for himself and not for the King. The Kid’s promo skills needed work but his humble nature was endearing and frames next week’s title match as a true babyface vs. babyface match.

Jim Neidhart (w/Owen Hart) (1-0) beats Gary Scott after the Anvil Flattener at 3:55:

Neidhart’s squashes since returning have not been fun. He prolongs Scott’s agony with various holds as Owen screams into the camera that he is going to beat Bret again and that Neidhart was the strong link in the Hart Foundation. The Anvil finally wins with his classic powerslam, called the Anvil Flattener.

Duke Droese (5-0) beats Mike Sharpe after a corkscrew elbow drop at 3:59:

There is a silly spot where Sharpe fails to slam Droese as if Droese weighs 400 pounds. Droese takes Sharpe to the buckle 20 times, leading to a geometry discussion between Monsoon and Savage. Monsoon makes the crack that the WWF ring is not an octagon and Savage responds that he is glad it is not since the WWF is a family program. That is a reference to the emergence of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The match seems like it moves in slow motion, culminating in Droese winning with a corkscrew elbow drop because lifting Sharpe for the Trash Compactor is too hard.

Ted DiBiase tells viewers that they will see his Undertaker next.

A New Generation commercial sees a young kid and his father backstage at a WWF event when the kid spots WWF Champion Bret Hart heading to the ring. The kid does not listen to his father and yells to Bret, who comes over and gives the kid his shades. Footage from this ad was spliced into Bret video packages for years to come. It was a good way to showcase Bret as a babyface.

The Fake Undertaker (w/Ted DiBiase) (2-0) pins Mike Bell after the Tombstone at 3:59:

There are some fans at ringside that can be heard yelling “He’s a fake!” at DiBiase. That later leads to a larger chant moments later. The illusion is further spoiled when Brian Lee is uneasy doing the classic Undertaker ropewalk move. After the Tombstone, the Fake Undertaker wisely does not flip his hair back.

Upon the conclusion of the match Paul Bearer comes to ringside. Bearer beckons the Fake Undertaker to come to him and the Fake Undertaker makes a few steps in that direction. The Fake Undertaker does not take kindly to DiBiase whipping him around but changes his tune when DiBiase puts lots of money in his face. Bearer walks away, shaking his head.

After a commercial break, Jerry Lawler asks DiBiase if he will appear on the King’s Court. DiBiase does not want to appear in front of the people so Lawler says they can do it somewhere else. On that condition, DiBiase agrees.

Tune in next week to see WWF Champion Bret Hart defend against the 1-2-3 Kid! And Ted DiBiase will appear on the King’s Court!

The Last Word: Much of the show was poor as the midcard struggles to generate anything interesting. However, the last segment was important for the Undertaker storyline as Paul Bearer tried to summon his man back and came to a conclusion about who might be in Ted DiBiase’s employ. Next week’s episode promises to be great, though, with the Bret Hart-1-2-3 Kid title match.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for July 9!

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!