What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – 09.04.94

Todd Pettengill narrates pictures of the Undertaker-Undertaker clash at SummerSlam.

Wrestling Challenge gets a new introduction. It has a frenzied guitar rhythm, lots of camera cuts, and a few wrestling moves. It is not great but it is a slight upgrade over the previous introduction, which better fit the early 1990s than the middle of the decade.

Gorilla Monsoon returns to Wrestling Challenge in the wake of Jim Ross’ second termination this year to call the action with Ted DiBiase. They are taped from Lowell, Massachusetts. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on August 16, the day after a Monday Night RAW taping in the same location and drew 2,000 fans.

DiBiase admits that he did not have the real Undertaker and he no longer wants anything to do with the Fake Undertaker because he cannot make him any money.

Opening Contest: Yokozuna (13-4) pins Tom O’Sullivan after two leg drops at 2:16:

Yokozuna goes it alone today for his first match in more than a month. DiBiase says that Jim Cornette is looking to piece together the Heavenly Bodies wings after what happened on Superstars. No excuse is made for Mr. Fuji’s absence. There is a lot of talk of Yokozuna missing SummerSlam because he was scared of the Undertaker so that appears to be the Dead Man’s new program. Yokozuna kills O’Sullivan with two leg drops for his fourteenth win of the year. Afterward, the Undertaker’s bell tolls and a scared Yokozuna bails.

Duke Droese (14-0) defeats Barry Hardy after the Trash Compactor at 2:03:

The WWF’s production for entrances is moving to darkening the arena and flashing lots of lights even for a lower midcard act like Droese. Monsoon hypes Droese’s power as the trash man pads his win-loss record at Hardy’s expense.

Jim Neidhart (w/Owen Hart) (8-0) defeats Richie Rich via submission to the Camel Clutch at 2:39:

Rich was a Killer Kowalski trainee who had been doing WWF enhancement matches since 1992. He wrestled two matches in 1993, losing to Men on a Mission and the Rock N’ Roll Express.

Neidhart is booked for WWF title matches with Bret Hart on the WWF’s upcoming “Hart Attack” tour. DiBiase argues that Rich is not wealthy and shaves his head to save money on haircuts. As is the case with his other squashes, Neidhart clubs Rich across the back a lot to set up the Camel Clutch. Neidhart and Owen still do the act of putting Hitman shades on the enhancement talent and snapping them back even though SummerSlam is over.

The Headshrinkers (w/Afa & Captain Lou Albano) (23-1) beat Todd Mata & Nick Barberry when Fatu pins Mata after the splash off the top rope at 2:33:

The Headshrinkers entrance is cut because at the time of the taping they held the WWF Tag Team Championship. Compared to past squashes, the Headshrinkers zone it in and just dish out a few slams before doing their set up and finishing moves to Mata.

An ad for Monday Night RAW announces that the Undertaker will face Kwang on September 12.

Jeff Jarrett (26-6-1) defeats Tony Roy via submission to the figure-four leglock at 2:55:

Jarrett kills some time by telling the crowd that he is the world’s greatest singer, entertainer, and wrestler. DiBiase also tries to get over a new Jarrett catchphrase of “Ain’t I great?” As Jarrett beats up Roy he taunts Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon. After dropping a few token elbows to Roy’s knees, Jarrett wins via submission to the figure-four leglock.

Well Dunn (w/Harvey Wippleman) (2-1) defeat Steve King & Mark Malaccio when Timothy Well pins King after a stun gun at 2:50:

DiBiase laughs when Monsoon says that Chief Jay Strongbow will never forgive the Million Dollar Man for buying Tatanka. Abe Schwartz pickets facing the hard camera during the match. The enhancement team briefly corners Steven Dunn but a snap suplex on King put Well Dunn back in control. The team still suffers from a lack of presence. They try to fix some of it with a new finish where Dunn whips King into the ropes for a Well stun gun. But that is no more effective than their previous one of Well whipping a wrestler into a Dunn flying forearm.

Doink the Clown (w/Dink) (22-2) beats Mike Sharpe after the Whoopie Cushion at 2:48:

Speaking of wrestlers lacking presence, Doink wrestles a bad squash with Sharpe to close the show. Sharpe grunts as Doink avoids some elbow drops and puts Sharpe in a chinlock. A boot on a blind charge positions Sharpe for the Whoopie Cushion.

Tune in next week to see Mabel, Irwin R. Schyster, and Owen Hart in action! There will also be comments from the British Bulldog!

The Last Word: Gorilla Monsoon was less grumpy on commentary than he had been earlier in the year. He was trying hard to get over various acts but did not have much to work with. The Yokozuna squash was the highlight but most of the show was full of wrestlers that are struggling to get a traction.

After some post-SummerSlam television tapings, the WWF’s house shows took it through Canada, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Here were the results of a few of those cards, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada – Winnipeg Arena – September 1, 1994 (3,500): The 1-2-3 Kid pinned Kwang…WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze beat Bull Nakano…WWF Tag Team Champions Shawn Michaels & Diesel defeated Fatu & the Barbarian (substituting for Samu) via disqualification when Fatu used one of the title belts as a weapon…Duke Droese pinned Pierre…Lex Luger (substituting for Tatanka) pinned Irwin R. Schyster…The Undertaker defeated Yokozuna in a casket match…WWF Champion Bret Hart beat Owen Hart via submission to the Sharpshooter.

Allentown, Pennsylvania – The Allentown Fairgrounds – September 4, 1994 (4,500): Nikolai Volkoff beat P.J. Walker…WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze defeated Bull Nakano…Kwang beat Jim Powers…Doink the Clown defeated Jeff Jarrett…Thurman Plugg defeated Abe Schwartz…The Heavenly Bodies (substituting for the Smoking Gunns because of the birth of Billy’s son) beat Well Dunn…Mabel defeated Bam Bam Bigelow.

Backstage News*: WCW was hoping to run a Hulk Hogan-Ric Flair match at Madison Square Garden on November 26 but the WWF used its right of first refusal on the venue to stop it. However, that forces the WWF to run a show at the Garden on that day. That event might be challenged by WCW in the same area as they are looking into running the Meadowlands.

-The dark match at SummerSlam saw Adam Bomb defeat Kwang.

-In a funny SummerSlam mix up in Biddford, Maine, TCI of South Maine aired an adult movie instead of SummerSlam to the 30 or 40 homes that bought the show. This led to hundreds of angry phone calls. A local newspaper article said that two children, aged 8 and 11, watched the adult film for 15 minutes before they realized it was not the wrestling pay-per-view.

-Syndication continues to be a problem as WWF Superstars in Chicago is moving from 11 a.m. to midnight.

-The Radio WWF project has been cancelled. It was a brainchild of Jim Ross and it never got enough distribution to make the effort worth it.

-In talent relations news, Johnny Polo quit on good terms. Polo wanted to wrestle but the WWF was not interested in using him in that role. It is expected he will go back to being Scotty the Body on the independent circuit.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for September 5 and 12.

Up Next: WWF Superstars for September 10!

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!