What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – 07.17.94

Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase are calling today’s matches, concluding the taping in Poughkeepsie, New York.

Opening Contest: Mabel (9-1) pins Tony DeVito after a leg drop at 1:14:

Mabel does Oscar’s rap on the way to the ring and does just as good of a job. Lane dances in the aisle as Mabel makes his entrance and Mabel hilariously ignores him. Since it is late in the taping there is a thick layer of smoke around the ring and several seats facing the hard camera are empty. Short matches are the best way to protect Mabel but if he cannot do longer bouts then it does not make much sense to push him as a single.

Todd Pettengill provides the SummerSlam Report. Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart discuss how no one will be around to save WWF Champion Bret Hart. Bret rebuts that Owen has made a big mistake signing for a cage match because he is experienced in that environment.

Adam Bomb (6-5) pins Reno Riggins after a pumphandle slam at 2:39:

Even though Bomb has been cast as a babyface he does not do anything that fits that new direction. Riggins gets ahead of himself again, yelling “I’ve got him!” before running into a powerslam. Bomb appears to be experimenting with a new finish as he does a pumphandle slam instead of the Neutron Bomb.

WWF Tag Team Championship Match: The Headshrinkers (Champions w/Afa & Captain Lou Albano) (18-0) defeat Well Dunn (w/Harvey Wippleman) (2-0) when Fatu pins Steven Dunn after the splash off the top rope at 5:09:

Well Dunn does not have enough credibility to test a team like the Headshrinkers. Some basic action sees the teams go back and forth and Well Dunn never appear to be close to winning the titles. Fatu superkicks Timothy Well over the top rope and then the Headshrinkers finish Dunn with their signature moves. As all that happens, Wippleman just stands at ringside like a goof, proving that he is the worst manager in the company. Lane has a good question about who is going to take the titles from the Headshrinkers because the tag team division is in awful shape. Rating: **

Crush (w/Mr. Fuji) (16-2-1) defeats Mark Thomas after a leg drop at 2:39:

Lane insists that Lex Luger has not sold out to DiBiase. DiBiase counters that Lane did not believe him on the Undertaker so that negates his point-of-view. The Luger-DiBiase storyline is replacing Luger’s issue with Crush as that feud is barely mentioned during the squash. Some fans have not forgotten, though, working up a small “USA!” chant as Crush slowly works his way to a win.

Ray Rougeau does an in-ring interview with Virgil. It is announced that next week Virgil will face Nikolai Volkoff. Virgil delivers a wooden, halting promo about how Volkoff is someone he once respected but now he is being treated like a dog by DiBiase. DiBiase gets Volkoff from the locker room and gets into the ring to confront his former bodyguard. DiBiase has some funny lines about how he allowed Virgil to eat in the kitchens of the world’s best restaurants and sleep in the basements of some of the world’s most luxurious buildings. DiBiase adds that Volkoff appreciates the money he is getting because he can afford new second-hand shoes for his kids and feed his family two meals a day. Since Virgil’s singles run has faltered badly since 1991 and Volkoff’s character is going nowhere, the WWF should turn Virgil heel in the match next week and send Volkoff into retirement.

Duke Droese (7-0) pins Todd Mata after the corkscrew elbow drop at 1:54:

There is talk of Droese coming after Lawler. Droese’s character is something that would have been used in the dying days of the USWA so it is fitting that he is feuding with the King. Droese wins with some basic moves but does not do much to impress.

Irwin R. Schyster (21-3) beats Chris Canyon via submission to the Penalty at 2:55:

IRS lets fans know he does not cheat on his taxes as he makes his way to the ring. Lane provides token talk of Tatanka still coming after IRS even though Tatanka seems more concerned about Lex Luger’s whereabouts now. IRS stretches Canyon with the help of the ropes and does some basic leg work to set up the Penalty. DiBiase announces that IRS is part of his Corporation, which Lane does not acknowledge.

Tune in next week to see Virgil face Nikolai Volkoff! And Razor Ramon, Doink the Clown, Yokozuna, and Owen Hart will be in action!

The Last Word: The Tag Team title match was decent but nothing fans needed to go out of their way to see. If a feud can have negative heat, Virgil-Nikolai Volkoff might qualify as it is tough seeing how any fans would have a passing interest in it.

For house shows the WWF had a crew touring Germany while another went to Southeast Asia. Here are the results of some of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Kiel, Germany – Ostseehalle – July 1, 1994 (6,000): Thurman Plugg pinned Adam Bomb at 11:00…WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze defeated Luna Vachon with a German suplex at 7:43…Jeff Jarrett pinned Doink the Clown with a Flair pin at 8:15…Mabel defeated Bam Bam Bigelow with a sit-down splash at 11:44…Lex Luger pinned Crush with a roll up at 16:29…The Smoking Gunns defeated the Rock N’ Roll Express at 12:36…Razor Ramon defeated Intercontinental Champion Diesel via disqualification at 16:05.

Manila, Philippines – Cuneta Atrodome – July 14, 1994 (10,000): The 1-2-3 Kid defeated Kwang…Bushwhacker Luke & Koko B. Ware beat Reno Riggins & Barry Horowitz…Rick Martel defeated Jim Powers…The Undertaker beat Yokozuna via disqualification…Tatanka defeated the Barbarian…WWF Tag Team Champions the Headshrinkers defeated Well Dunn…WWF Champion Bret Hart beat Owen Hart.

Backstage News*: Federal prosecutors called a host of other wrestlers to testify as part of its case against Vince McMahon and Titan Sports. Rick Rude, who did not look like he wanted to be there, said steroid use was prevalent in the WWF locker room but could not recall seeing needles around or a wrestler injecting another with steroids. The government tried to get him to say that McMahon encouraged him to use steroids when he stopped in late 1988 to start a family but Rude said that McMahon never said the word steroids to him. Kevin Wacholz (Nailz) was called next, testifying that he heard McMahon tell Rude to “go on the gas” at a television taping in Madison, Wisconsin in June 1989. He also said McMahon told him the same thing when he was brought in for his push in 1992. But this testimony was weakened when he was asked if he had animosity toward McMahon by the defense team and he said no, following it up with a statement that he hated McMahon moments later. Pat Patterson got carved up by the prosecution about whether he knew Dr. George Zahorian was distributing steroids and whether he told him to destroy records. Still, he refuted the idea that he ever ordered Zahorian to be hired or retained for shows in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The Ultimate Warrior had trouble remembering specifics of past events but testified that wrestlers joked about steroids a lot. He said that McMahon never told him to take steroids. Big John Studd testified via telephone because of recent chemotherapy treatments for Hodgkin’s disease. He admitted getting steroids from Zahorian but said McMahon never discussed steroids with him. The big witness was Hulk Hogan, who testified on July 14. Hogan was nervous at first but calmed down when he realized that the questions he was answering were not going to hurt his public image. Hogan said that steroids were common in wrestling in the late 1970s and 1980s but that he never got steroids shipped to him from McMahon.

-Germany had sellout houses for most of the WWF shows. A Czechoslovakian show was cancelled.

-The Bret Hart-1-2-3 Kid WWF title match on Monday Night RAW drew a 3.0 rating.

-The Roddy Piper impersonator, named Pat O’Neil from North Weymouth, Massachusetts, was paid $2,000 for his King of the Ring appearance.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for August 1.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for July 18!

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