What the World Was Watching: WWF Sunday Night Slam – 08.21.94

Jim Ross and Randy Savage commentate, taped from Youngstown, Ohio, the location of recent Monday Night RAW episodes.

Opening Contest: Lex Luger (21-2-1) defeats Crush (17-2-1) after the running forearm at 12:23 shown:

This is a televised blowoff for the forgotten feud between these two that took place after WrestleMania X when Mr. Perfect bailed. Mr. Fuji is not with Crush and the announcers do not try to explain it away. The match is better than expected as Crush works the back after catching Luger with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and scores some near-falls. Ted DiBiase comes to ringside during that assault, showing off his money. A few double KOs get worked in before Luger mounts a comeback after leapfrogging Crush off the ropes only to have it cut off by a Crush thrust kick. DiBiase gets on the apron and offers Crush some cash. Crush knocks the money out of DiBiase’s hand and the distraction causes Crush to eat a running forearm. The finish is in keeping with Crush’s singles run as he was duped by everything. This was his last televised match of the year. He would not return to action until next year’s Royal Rumble, suffering an undisclosed injury and expressing displeasure with his bookings. Rating: **½

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are in the WWF News Center that has a plethora of televisions, hyping tonight’s live call-in segment.

Bam Bam Bigelow & Irwin R. Schyster (w/Ted DiBiase) (2-0) beat the 1-2-3 Kid & Thurman Plugg (1-0) when Bigelow pins Plugg after a powerslam at 10:08:

The Kid and Plugg make a good team because they are energetic and like to do some high-risk moves. They keep the number one contenders to the Tag Team titles off balance until a Kid charge toward IRS gets him tossed to the floor and beaten up by Bigelow. The Kid’s size makes it easy to get heat on him. IRS gets so worked up he goes old school with an airplane spin for a near-fall. Bigelow tries to put his own special touch on the match with a moonsault but misses, allowing Plugg to receive the hot tag. Some parts of that get sloppy and it does not last long as Plugg tries a flying body press and gets caught and powerslammed by Bigelow for the finish. This featured strong work by both teams even though the finish was relatively flat. It does show how depleted the tag team division is that the WWF had to throw another makeshift team at the IRS-Bigelow tandem, who do not mesh aesthetically. Rating: ***

Razor Ramon (24-4) pins Todd Becker after the Razor’s Edge at 3:45:

Ross and Savage spend the squash discussing Walter Payton’s participation at SummerSlam. The squash follows the Ramon template of hard chops, mocking the enhancement talent, and then winning with the super backdrop suplex and Razor’s Edge.

Bull Nakano (w/Luna Vachon) (0-0-1) beats Heidi Lee Morgan (0-1) after a flying leg drop at 7:30:

Morgan gets a jobber entrance, not that many would have given her good odds against Nakano anyway. Ross calls the match straight while Savage defaults to talking about how he asked Nakano and Vachon out on a double date. Savage’s mispronunciation of Nakano’s name also gets annoying after a while. Morgan pops the crowd with a reverse hurricanrana but is otherwise overpowered by Nakano and tied into knots. To put over the possibility that she could affect the SummerSlam match, Vachon clotheslines Morgan when she is dumped to the floor. Morgan does manage a flying body press for a near-fall but cannot follow up and Nakano prevails with a flying leg drop that looks like it nearly decapitated Morgan. Although the match was laid out like a squash it was a refreshing re-education of the WWF’s fans about women’s wrestling and evolving it past the Fabulous Moolah days. Some fans facing the hard camera love the finish, cheering Nakano. Rating: *½

Call 1-900-454-SLAM to hear comments from Paul Bearer about SummerSlam!

Ray Rougeau does an in-ring interview from earlier in the week at a WWF Superstars taping with WWF Champion Bret Hart. Bret has a rough start to the promo, talking in circles about how everything will be on the line at SummerSlam and that steel cage matches are dangerous. He takes a shot at Jim Neidhart, who he calls “really stupid,” and promises to make Owen cry a river of tears in Chicago. Bret’s insistence that Owen only beat him in one match – something that he has said in several promos to this point – is not a great way to sell the match as a babyface. It delegitimizes Owen as a contender and makes the champion look whiny.

Non-Title Match: Diesel (Intercontinental Champion w/Shawn Michaels) (20-0-1) defeats Typhoon (4-0) after a clothesline at 4:56:

Ross and Savage uncharacteristically talk down about Typhoon, a signal that he is on his way out. Diesel comes out of the bout looking better, only temporarily slowed by Typhoon pushing him into the corner and slamming him. A big boot dazes Typhoon on an avalanche attempt and a clothesline keeps the former Natural Disaster down for the count. This would be Typhoon’s last televised match as a tricep injury suffered a few days before this show aired sidelined him and, after his brother-in-law was killed in an accident, he opted to run his brother-in-law’s bars in Key West, Florida. He would return to the WWF in 2001 for the Gimmick Battle Royal at WrestleMania X-Seven as Tugboat. This run was not memorable for him as he merely finished up Earthquake’s dates against Yokozuna. Rating: *

Back in the News Center, McMahon and Lawler talk more about the call-in segment. Lawler tells fans that they had better not give him trouble.

The Fake Undertaker (w/Ted DiBiase) (8-0) pins Sonny Rogers after the Tombstone at 1:22:

The imposter Undertaker has no difficulty with Rogers, choking him in the corner and beating him in less than two minutes with the Tombstone.

In the News Center McMahon and Lawler start the live call-in segment, telling fans to call 1-800-WWF-8686. “John from Wisconsin” calls in and asks Lawler if he would take Bret Hart’s place and wrestle Owen at SummerSlam. Lawler says he would not do it because it would take away an opportunity from Owen. “Janice from New Jersey” praises McMahon’s tie and asks if the other Undertaker could be part of “The Twin Towers” that the Undertaker used to belong to, forgetting that the Undertaker’s old tag team with Sid in WCW was the Skyscrapers. When she criticizes Lawler’s behavior, he cuts off her call. “Stephanie from Maryland” asks if Paul Bearer has the real Undertaker. Lawler argues DiBiase has the real one.

When the segment resumes after a commercial break “Donna from Florida” asks if the Undertaker has a twin brother. McMahon says it is possible, referencing how there were twin referees in the WWF in 1988. “Don from West Virginia” says that Tatanka is the one who has sold out to DiBiase, something that McMahon cannot believe. Lawler argues that he would sell out to DiBiase if the price was right. “Jim from Illinois” is convinced Luger has sold out, causing McMahon to do an about face from the last call and question if DiBiase is manipulating things to make it look like Luger has sold out. “Vinnie from Massachusetts” is a small child who has trouble talking through the phone. He tells Lawler to bite him so Lawler hangs up. “Bob from New Jersey” asks something unclear about the Undertaker, prompting McMahon to say that there will only be one Undertaker at SummerSlam, implying that the feud will end there. “John from Florida” asks Lawler if he was to enter the tag ranks who he would team with. McMahon floats Dink’s name to Lawler’s chagrin. Lawler suggests that he would work well with Owen Hart.

After another break, “Laura from Florida” calls in to congratulate McMahon for winning his trial. This has led to speculation that the caller was McMahon attorney Laura Brevetti. The highlight is when shock jock Mancow calls in and makes fun of Lawler, issuing a softball challenge. Mancow clearly did not do his homework because Sid was wrestling in the USWA around this time after being fired from WCW and would be a big asset for Lawler’s team.

The Last Word: The first two matches on the show were fun and even though the rest of the card was filled with squashes or glorified squashes those bouts effectively built the major acts for SummerSlam. The live call in segment was a misfire, though, as some fans struggled to be heard or did not give Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler a lot of material to work with. It also produced a flat end to the show. But McMahon was always willing to try different ideas. This was just one that did not work.

After doing a new round of television tapings, the WWF ran shows on the West Coast, Western Canada, Connecticut, and Toronto. Here are the results of some of those events, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada – The Saddledome – August 20, 1994 (6,000): Thurman Plugg beat Pierre…Jim Neidhart defeated Razor Ramon…Adam Bomb beat Kwang…Duke Droese defeated Steven Dunn…Irwin R. Schyster defeated Tatanka in a strap match…Diesel & Shawn Michaels beat WWF Tag Team Champions the Headshrinkers via disqualification…WWF Champion Bret Hart (w/Razor Ramon) beat Owen Hart (w/Jim Neidhart) after Ramon interfered.

Stamford, Connecticut – Conners Ice Rink – August 20, 1994: Nikolai Volkoff beat P.J. Walker…Bob Backlund defeated Mabel…WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze defeated Bull Nakano…Doink the Clown beat Jeff Jarrett…The 1-2-3 Kid beat Abe Schwartz…Lex Luger defeated Yokozuna.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada – Maple Leaf Gardens – August 21, 1994: Diesel & Shawn Michaels beat WWF Tag Team Champions the Headshrinkers via disqualification…Thurman Plug defeated Pierre…Adam Bomb beat Kwang…Duke Droese defeated Steven Dunn…Irwin R. Schyster beat Tatanka in a strap match…Bret Hart & Razor Ramon beat Owen Hart & Jim Neidhart.

Backstage News*: The WWF has judged the Undertaker-Undertaker program a flop. Plans to continue it after SummerSlam have been cancelled. Brian Lee has been pulled from planned matches in September and may return with a new gimmick in the fall. There has also been disappointment with the Bret Hart-Owen Hart program which has not drawn well after the first round of WrestleMania Revenge Tour shows.

-At a television taping in Portland, Maine, Shawn Michaels nearly got into a fight with a fan who was heckling him. Diesel had to hold Michaels back.

-The WWF has settled on San Antonio, Texas’ Freeman Coliseum as the site for this year’s Survivor Series. The pay-per-view will take place the day before Thanksgiving on November 23. The most expensive tickets are going for $25.

-Hulk Hogan responded to a few questions about the WWF in an interview with the Gainesville Sun. He said that Randy Savage should not drag him into his personal problems and that Savage used him to get famous. He noted that his relationship with Vince McMahon is non-existent because McMahon got to the point where he would no longer return his calls.

-The recent Monday Night RAW pulled a 2.9 rating.

-In talent relations news, the WWF had Brian Armstrong and Maxx Payne at the latest television tapings. There are discussion of putting them together as a tag team with a rock band gimmick. There is a rumor that Rick Rude will return and Tammy Fytch of Smoky Mountain Wrestling will manage him.

*Backstage news provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for August 29.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for August 27!

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!