What the World Was Watching: WWF Wrestling Challenge – 09.25.94

Gorilla Monsoon and Ted DiBiase are in the booth, kicking off a new taping in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on August 30 and drew a paid crowd of 2,800.

Opening Contest: The Headshrinkers (w/Afa & Captain Lou Albano) (25-1) defeat Tom Stone & Rock Werner when Fatu pins Werner after the splash off the top rope at 2:54:

In the split screen, WWF Tag Team Champions Shawn Michaels & Diesel cut a generic promo about how they will run over the former champions like an 18-wheeler. The Headshrinkers fight another unimpressive squash battle that sees Werner daze Fatu with a few blows before trying a headbutt.

Abe Schwartz defeats George Anderson after a superplex at 2:24:

As noted before, Schwartz was a new gimmick for Steve Lombardi, best known to longtime fans as the Brooklyn Brawler. The character’s theme is “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” played on an electric guitar and Schwartz carries a baseball glove and ball to the ring. The WWF tries to make this seem like this is his first match even though this disgruntled baseball character was in the 20-man Intercontinental title battle royal the previous year. In the split screen, Schwartz says that he is not on strike anymore and is seeking to become the Most Valuable Player in the WWF. The baseball star refuses to pin Anderson after a neckbreaker and inverted DDT, opting to win with a superplex. Lombardi just went through the motions. It does not seem like the WWF is going to get behind him as Monsoon and DiBiase did not try to name any of the moves he was doing.

Non-Title Match: Razor Ramon (Intercontinental Champion) (27-4) pins Tim Anderson after the Razor’s Edge at 3:20:

This is Ramon’s first televised match since winning the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam. Monsoon says that Ramon will be battling Jeff Jarrett and Owen Hart on the Hart Attack Tour. Ramon takes his time stretching Anderson to inch closer to 30 wins for the year.

Irwin R. Schyster (w/Ted DiBiase) (25-3) defeats Billy Joe Eaton after the Write Off at 2:09:

Eaton was a Chicago talent that broke into the business in 1993. Later in the year he would do an enhancement match for the upstart American Wrestling Federation (AWF)

Before the match, IRS tells fans that he is tired of hearing them complain about their taxes because “taxes are forever.” Monsoon floats the rumor that Doink the Clown and Dink might be the next members of DiBiase’s team. IRS is back to piling up singles wins, preparing him for a future program. His old rival Tatanka is now a stablemate but there has been no discussion of how DiBiase is working that out.

Duke Droese (16-0) pins Red Tyler after the Trash Compactor at 2:37:

Tyler had been doing enhancement work for the WWF since 1988. He had a good look and bore an uncanny resemblance to the Undertaker. Aside from the WWF, he had also made appearances in the AWA, Pro Wrestling America, and Stampede. In Stampede he wrestled as Blackheart Destruction and won the Stampede International Tag Team Championship with Tom Nash, who went by Blackheart Apocalypse. In 1993 Tyler made five appearances, losing to Bam Bam Bigelow, Mr. Perfect, the Headshrinkers, Men on a Mission, and the Steiner Brothers. The match against the Headshrinkers saw him treated as a legitimate competitor as he teamed with Virgil.

Droese dominates Tyler with clotheslines and slams, remaining undefeated with the Trash Compactor. The only material Monsoon and DiBiase can come up with is a debate over whether Droese smells.

Jeff Jarrett (28-6-1) beats Gary Scott via submission to the figure-four leglock at 2:07:

When Monsoon tells DiBiase that he has never seen Jarrett’s latest CD, DiBiase has a creative rebuttal that the reason Jarrett’s CDs cannot be found is because they quickly sell out. Scott stuns Jarrett with a fireman’s carry but Jarrett knocks him down with an elbow after a standing switch. Later, Scott misses a dropkick and Jarrett does some token leg work for another submission win. There is discussion of Jarrett as a future Intercontinental titleholder but Jarrett is nowhere near over enough to warrant that placing.

The Heavenly Bodies (w/Jim Cornette) (13-0) defeats Todd Becker & Butler Stevens when Jimmy Del Ray pins Stevens at 3:00:

The Bodies and Cornette do an insert to tell the Smoking Gunns that they are going to send them on the run. Quick tags wear down Becker and Stevens as the Bodies run through their creative offense that includes a double flapjack and assisted elevated DDT. Del Ray has a great moonsault but that counts for little in the big man WWF world of this time.

The Last Word: The WWF continued to hype the Hart Attack Tour since Survivor Series is still two months away. The only draw for it is the Undertaker shoving Yokozuna in a casket. The rise of The Action Zone would soon replace Wrestling Challenge in the pecking order of WWF broadcasts so this show only has a few more weeks to go before it is rendered mute. That is probably for the best as the WWF’s syndicated markets continue to dry up.

The WWF returned back to the United States after its European tour, doing a circuit through California. Here are the results of one of those shows, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

Sacramento, California – The Arco Arena – September 23, 1994 (3,500): The 1-2-3 Kid & Bob Holly beat Well Dunn…Abe Shwartz defeated Louie Spicolli…Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon defeated Owen Hart…WWF Tag Team Champions Shawn Michaels & Diesel beat the Headshrinkers via disqualification…WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze defeated Bull Nakano…WWF Champion Bret Hart beat Jim Neidhart…The Undertaker defeated Yokozuna in a casket match.

Backstage News*: Dave Meltzer likened the Hart Attack house show in San Jose, California to a funeral since the crowd atmosphere was poor. The Bret Hart-Jim Neidhart matches in San Jose and other towns were reported as disasters since no one bought Neidhart as a threat. Due to higher ticket prices, disappointing crowds in San Jose and Sacramento netted decent box office returns. 8,000 fans went to the same show at the Anaheim Pond in Anaheim, California a few days later for a gate of $123,000.

-Monday Night RAW drew a 2.5 rating for the Duke Droese-Jerry Lawler match.

-Former French broadcast announcer Edouardo Carpentier dropped his litigation against the WWF after making a deal with Vince McMahon. Carpentier will be the guest ring announcer for the October 21 Montreal card that will be headlined by Jacques Rougeau vs. Pierre.

-Referee Earl Hebner will be out of action for a while because he broke his hand in England when Yokozuna fell on it.

-There are rumors that the WWF might be interested in bringing back Jesse Ventura to commentate after Ventura was dropped from all WCW broadcasts with five months remaining on his deal. Some think he could replace Randy Savage on Monday Night RAW and provide a heel voice for the program.

*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for October 3.

Up Next: Monday Night RAW for September 26!

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