What the World Was Watching: WWF Monday Night RAW – 07.18.94

Jim Ross and Randy Savage are calling tonight’s action, taped from Bushkill, Pennsylvania.

Opening Contest for the Intercontinental Championship: Diesel (Champion w/Shawn Michaels) (17-0) wrestles Lex Luger (19-2) to a double disqualification at 14:03 shown:

Despite Tatanka’s allegations, Luger does not come to the ring with Ted DiBiase. Diesel overwhelms Luger with his power and dominates the first two-thirds of the match. Before the first commercial break, the camera spots DiBiase peering from the rafters, although it is tough to see him through all the laser-induced smoke. After fighting out of a long sleeper hold, Luger begins his comeback. The crowd gets excited for near-falls from a DDT and flying clothesline off the second rope. Referee Joey Marella gets bumped when Luger accidentally whips Diesel into him. Luger impresses by racking Diesel but there is no referee and Michaels superkicks Luger in the back of the head. Luger kicks out at two when Marella recovers. As Luger and Diesel trade blows, Razor Ramon comes out to chase Michaels around the ring. That pursuit leads to both men getting into the ring and the bell sounds for a double disqualification. Luger’s moves worked well against an imposing opponent like Diesel. He just sold too much. Rating: **½

After the bell, the fight continues, leaving Ramon as the victim of a two-on-one assault at the hands of Diesel and Michaels. Luger stops a spike piledriver but it is an open question of whether that was beneficial as Michaels carelessly dumps Ramon on his head when Luger hits him. So the Razor Ramon-Diesel feud has been reignited. Meanwhile, DiBiase is shown in the entrance way shaking his head.

Mabel (w/Oscar) (10-1) pins Austin Steele after the sidewalk slam at 2:14:

No explanation is given for why Oscar is back after he has been missing from a few shows. The funniest part of the squash is Steele doing the Flair flip in the corner and running to the next corner for an aerial attack only to have Mabel knock him down while he is in the air. Mabel spends a minute working the arm, which does not fit his character, before he decides to get down to business and squashes Steele with the sidewalk slam.

Owen Hart lifts weights backstage as Jim Neidhart encourages him.

Owen Hart (w/Jim Neidhart) (29-0) defeats Reno Riggins via submission to the Sharpshooter at 2:55:

There is an attire snafu as Owen was shown backstage lifting weights in a pink singlet but he comes out in his new King of Harts attire that is black. Savage talks about Bruce Hart being in Bret’s corner to counter Neidhart in the future. Riggins does some arm work until Owen power slaps him. Riggins fires back later with some punches but Owen catches him with a belly-to-belly suplex, which puts Riggins in the middle of the ring for the Sharpshooter. After the bell, Owen keeps the hold locked on, feigning that he cannot hear the referee’s instructions.

Thurman Plugg (15-3-1) pins George South with a flying body press at 2:39:

South does not get in as much offense against Plugg as he did the last time these two wrestled. Ross and Savage talk more about current events than the match, which sees Plugg continue using a flying body press for a finish. That change was probably because of the firmness of the WWF rings that made doing a flying knee drop painful.

Ted DiBiase says that Paul Bearer will find out that he has the real Undertaker at SummerSlam.

Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Ted DiBiase) (22-4) pins Gary Sabaugh after the Million Dollar Nightmare at 2:54:

Savage tells viewers that there is a rumor that Lex Luger was seen talking with DiBiase backstage after his match with Diesel. The squash is dry as Bigelow and Sabaugh collide with each other a lot off the ropes. Eventually Sabaugh tries to run Bigelow over one too many times and is caught with a powerslam. That is Bigelow’s setup for doing the Million Dollar Nightmare.

Ross and Savage chat with DiBiase, who says that he is talking with Luger. DiBiase promises a big announcement this weekend that “will rock the foundation of the WWF.” Tatanka interrupts, demanding that DiBiase admit that he has bought Luger. DiBiase accuses Tatanka of being jealous that he is not getting a deal. He bets $10,000 that Tatanka cannot beat Nikolai Volkoff next week.

Tune in next week to see Adam Bomb battle Yokozuna! Also, Tatanka wrestles Nikolai Volkoff!

The Last Word: The last bit of the show started to run out of momentum but most of it was good. Tatanka forcing himself into the discussion of whether Ted DiBiase has bought Lex Luger looks suspicious since Tatanka has never had a strong on-screen relationship with Luger. Yes, they were Survivor Series teammates – or would have been if Ludvig Borga and Yokozuna did not hurt Tatanka before the pay-per-view – but their interaction outside of that has been minimal. Luger taking DiBiase’s money would not be the worst thing for his character, which has run out of steam since he choked at WrestleMania X.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for July 23!

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