What the World Was Watching: WWF Superstars – 12.31.94 (Last of the Series!)

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler call the last WWF television episode of the year, which is also the last episode of Superstars taped in Poughkeepsie, New York. Lawler tells McMahon that his New Year’s resolution is “to get a co-host with real hair.”

Opening WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament First Round Contest: The New Headshrinkers (w/Afa & Captain Lou Albano) (3-0) beat Owen Hart & Jim Neidhart (0-1) via disqualification when Owen hits Fatu with a boot at 7:47 shown:

The winner of this match faces Bam Bam Bigelow & Tatanka in the semi-finals. Fatu, who has been trying to incorporate more personality by dancing during comebacks, is quickly placed in peril when he runs the ropes and Neidhart pulls the top rope down. The heel team’s offense is not very exciting. They come closest to winning when Owen hits a missile dropkick. Fatu gives Sione the hot tag after popping up from an Owen DDT. Sione shows off his power, blasting Neidhart with a Mafia kick. That is supposed to set up Fatu’s splash but boot problems slow him down. The delay allows Owen to crotch Fatu and the heels land a Hart Attack. However, Sione breaks up the fall. Fatu covers Neidhart after that and Owen grabs Fatu’s ring boot and comes off the top rope to reverse the cover but gets caught and the heels are disqualified. The last few minutes picked up the pace but the ending was lame. Owen does not seem as sad to lose as one would expect. Rating: *¾

Jeff Jarrett’s recent Las Vegas vignettes are strung together to put over his Intercontinental title match with Razor Ramon at The Royal Rumble.

Non-Title Match: Razor Ramon (Intercontinental Champion) (37-4-1) pins the Brooklyn Brawler after the Razor’s Edge at 1:24:

It has not been a good week for the Brawler, who does not seem to have recovered from his loss to the Undertaker on RAW. He takes the fight to Ramon but puts his head down too early after an Irish whip and is wiped out by the Razor’s Edge.

Todd Pettengill does The Royal Rumble Report. Bob Backlund sits in a director’s chair, claiming that he will reign supreme over everyone in the match. The Bushwhackers are announced as participants in this year’s Rumble and Pettengill speculates that Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart will probably enter now that they have been knocked out the WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament. For the WWF title match, Bret Hart does another home promo, saying that he got another WWF title shot for Christmas. He adds that Owen skipped out on Christmas dinner. Diesel says 1995 will be “The year of the Diesel” and that the WWF is running on “Diesel power” now.

Kwang (w/Harvey Wippleman) (27-5-1) defeats Buck Quartermaine after the spinning heel kick at 1:54:

The squash is a vehicle to talk about the ongoing Howard Finkel-Wippleman feud. It is a fun contest, though, as Quartermaine schoolboys Kwang for two after a blind charge and hits a body press off the ropes for one. His run ends when Kwang kills him with a big boot and ends the year on a nine-match winning streak with the spinning heel kick.

The Undertaker and Paul Bearer are guests on the Heartbreak Hotel. There is a weird production decision where an older Undertaker entrance to the ring is used because Bearer is carrying the small urn but when he is in the ring he has the large one. Michaels asks for the lights to be turned on but the Undertaker just turns the lights off to Michaels’ Heartbreak Hotel sign. The Undertaker is mad that IRS messed with John Dough’s burial and it is time to hold him accountable. The Undertaker and Bearer tried to make this feud serious but that went out the window when the WWF decided to make it all about a guy named “John Dough.” Lawler cannot help himself and says that Pillsbury is also mad at IRS. When the Undertaker said the Dough name it made him look silly.

Henry Godwinn (4-0) pins John Paul after the Slop Drop at 2:05:

Rob Heisey is the guest ring announcer and acts like Howard Finkel. Godwinn manhandles Paul but scratches himself too much like a hog so Paul recovers and dropkicks him. Godwinn cuts off further offense with an elbow to the face and finishes 1994 with five wins thanks to the Slop Drop. One of the Rosati sisters is shown at ringside shaking her head and Lawler calls her a pig.

A new vignette for Kama argues that he is tougher than Mike Tyson or George Foreman. He rides in the west on a motorcycle as footage of him training in boxing and kickboxing are shown. It is a good vignette for the character and again, it beats a vocational gimmick.

Aldo Montoya (6-0) defeats Mike Bell after the reverse bulldog off the second rope at 2:08:

Montoya gets a nice light show for his entrance. He dropkicks Bell out of the ring and follows with a pescado. Bell comes back with a slam and a leg drop for two but a blind charge allows Montoya to do a slingshot kick. A missile dropkick and reverse second rope bulldog finish. Montoya moved well but there were a lot of piped in cheers to make it look like he was getting over.

Tune in next week to see the Smoking Gunns face Well Dunn in the first round of the WWF Tag Team Championship Tournament! Also, the British Bulldog, Bob Backlund, and Mabel will be in action! King Kong Bundy appears on the Heartbreak Hotel! And Mantaur debuts!

The Last Word: The feature match was disappointing since one expected more out of Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart working together. Neidhart would start missing some shows by this time because of drug use and would be fired early in 1995, so this was the last memorable thing he did before getting his walking papers. The other squash matches were serviceable but outside of the WWF title match there is not a lot of intrigue about this year’s Royal Rumble.

For the last week of 1994 the WWF did a set of house shows in Pennsylvania and one in California. Here were the results of some of those cards, courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com:

San Diego, California – San Diego Sports Arena – December 28, 1994 (2,700): Adam Bomb pinned Bam Bam Bigelow with a roll up after Bigelow missed a splash at 19:58…Aldo Montoy beat the Brooklyn Brawler at 12:10…WWF Champion Diesel pinned Bob Backlund (w/Shawn Michaels) in a no disqualification, no count out match after the Jackknife at 5:14…Lex Luger wrestled Tatanka to a double count out at 16:18. After the match, Luger challenged Tatanka to get into the ring and then put him in the Rebel Rack…Wink & Pink beat Queasy & Sleazy…The British Bulldog pinned Jim Neidhart at 9:33…The Smoking Gunns defeated the Heavenly Bodies when Billy pinned Tom Prichard at 13:26…The Undertaker pinned Irwin R. Schyster at 15:00.

San Francisco, California – The Cow Palace – December 30, 1994 (3,000; 1,600 paid): The Smoking Gunns beat the Heavenly Bodies when Billy pinned Jimmy Del Ray with a backslide at 10:12…Wink & Pink beat Queasy & Sleazy at 7:49…Bam Bam Bigelow pinned Adam Bomb with a Flair pin at 7:50…Lex Luger wrestled Tatanka to a double count out at 8:54. After the match, Luger put Tatanka in the Rebel Rack…Aldo Montoya pinned the Brooklyn Brawler with a flying bulldog at 4:43…Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon (substituting for Diesel, whose mother passed away) pinned Bob Backlund (w/Shawn Michaels) with a sunset flip at 6:37. Classic Freddie Blassie was the guest ring announcer for the match…The British Bulldog defeated Jim Neidhart with a roll up at 8:23…The Undertaker pinned Irwin R. Schyster with the Tombstone at 7:39.

Allentown, Pennsylvania – Agricultural Hall – December 30, 1994 (1,200): Nikolai Volkoff defeated Bobby Starr (substituting for the 1-2-3 Kid)…The Bushwhackers beat Timothy Well & Barry Horowitz (substituting for Steven Dunn)…King Kong Bundy defeated Doink the Clown…Duke Droese beat Kwang…Henry Godwinn defeated Bob Holly…The New Headshrinkers beat the Executioners…Mabel (substituting for Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon) defeated Jeff Jarrett.

Closing

After some vacillation in 1993, WWF owner Vince McMahon embraced the New Generation in 1994. Hulk Hogan, who the company relied on for close to a decade to sell tickets and pay-per-views was allowed to sign with WCW. A roster turnover that evicted the old stars of the Golden Age was completed as Randy Savage would depart for WCW by the fall. And the end of WrestleMania X in Madison Square Garden saw McMahon announce that a “new generation” had begun.

For much of the year the WWF relied on Bret Hart to carry the banner. Bret received a stronger push than he did as champion between 1992-1993, engaging in a long running feud with his brother Owen for the title. That transitioned into feuds against brother-in-law Jim Neidhart and former WWF champion Bob Backlund. His second run with the title was interpreted by many as McMahon making up for a mistake in taking it off of him too soon in 1993 in favor of Hogan. It also scuttled plans to give “Made in the USA” Lex Luger a run with the title after fans did not gravitate to his push in the summer and fall of 1993. Bret had some great matches as champion, wrestling classics against his brother at WrestleMania and SummerSlam, against the 1-2-3 Kid on Monday Night RAW, and against Intercontinental champion Diesel at King of the Ring. However, domestic box office for his run was tepid at best, evidenced by only 1,800 fans attending a Philadelphia Spectrum show on August 6 to see him wrestle Owen in an iron man match. Despite that, Bret remained a strong draw internationally, wrestling in front of sold out shows in places like England, Germany, and Israel throughout the year.

Along with Bret, 1994 saw the rise of the Kliq as major players. The backstage alliance of Shawn Michaels, Kevin Nash (Diesel), Scott Hall (Razor Ramon), and Sean Waltman (the 1-2-3 Kid) rose to prominence as all of their characters became embedded in the company’s top storylines. Michaels spent much of 1994 as a manager and commentator due to nagging injuries but made an impact in a much talked about ladder match with Ramon at WrestleMania that received numerous Match of the Year honors. Ramon was the centerpiece of the Intercontinental title division, fighting Michaels and then Diesel for the title for much of the year. The Kid also received a summer push, which culminated in a WWF title match against Bret Hart in the summer. But it was Diesel who McMahon decided to give a rocket push to. Diesel won all three of the WWF’s titles in 1994, capturing the Intercontinental Championship shortly after WrestleMania, the Tag Team titles with Michaels before SummerSlam, and the WWF Championship days after Survivor Series. Diesel’s elevation to the main event was reminiscent of the push Bret received in 1992 as fans awoke to a sudden title change that happened off camera. Like Bret, McMahon decided to invest in an unproven commodity as a main event player but believed that Diesel’s size and charisma could propel the promotion to new heights.

The New Generation labeling extended to the WWF’s broadcast crew as well as the company sought to promote a younger image. Todd Pettengill became the face of pay-per-view hype segments, having replaced Gene Okerlund and Joe Fowler by late 1993. The WWF hired Charlie Minn to appeal to younger fans for Live Event News segments and when that failed, they hired Stephanie Wiand and Tammy Lynn Sytch to replace him. Retired wrestler Stan Lane had a run on syndicated commentary on Superstars and Wrestling Challenge but was eventually pushed aside when McMahon did not care for his style.

All of this to say that the transition away from an older era was not always smooth. Even though the WWF aired its own spots that urged fans to embrace a newer generation of stars, McMahon signed superstars from a decade earlier and gave them pushes. King Kong Bundy was brought in for the fall and immediately plugged into main events against Bret Hart and Diesel. Bob Backlund turned heel in the summer and had a brilliant heel gimmick of rebelling against the New Generation’s values. Gorilla Monsoon continued in a prominent commentary role, calling the action at King of the Ring and Survivor Series, although the latter would be the last time he would do commentary on a WWF pay-per-view.

What the WWF could breathe a sigh of relief about was the end of national scrutiny. The preceding three years saw an avalanche of negative coverage pertaining to scandals about steroid, illegal narcotics, and sexual harassment. It caused Hulk Hogan to leave wrestling for a year after WrestleMania VIII, creative head Pat Patterson step aside, and made sponsors skittish. All of this climaxed in the federal government’s prosecution of McMahon and the WWF in July for illegally distributing steroids, alleging that there had been a conspiracy to flout federal drug laws. After a day of deliberations, a jury acquitted McMahon and the WWF of all charges on July 22. When the federal government decided not to refile on a separate charge of distributing steroids to Hogan later in the year, the WWF could finally move on. Although a lot of damage had been done in the court of public opinion, there were some that thought 1995 would be a better year. There were already plans to do television tapings beyond the WWF’s traditional territorial footprint and start making the company a true national promotion again.

But to regain its momentum, the WWF would need to get its creative house in order. 1994 started with some exciting programs as the Undertaker pursued Yokozuna’s WWF title and Lex Luger and Bret Hart went for the title at WrestleMania. The good storytelling kept going through WrestleMania as Randy Savage won a feud against Crush and the company launched a Mr. Perfect versus Luger feud. However, the WWF arguably kept some feuds going too long through the spring and some were destroyed by backstage issues. Perfect opted not to wrestle, forcing Luger into a feud with Crush that had no heat. Bret’s battles with Owen Hart had good box office at first but audiences were less willing to pay to see them fight again. For the summer, the WWF thought that a mirror feud between the Undertaker and an imposter would juice business but fans immediately knew that Brian Lee was not the real Undertaker and the main event program at SummerSlam died a quick death. Then the WWF hit a wall creatively in the fall as fans did not turn out to see the Undertaker get revenge in casket matches against Yokozuna, Bret defend the WWF title against former tag team partner Jim Neidhart, Doink the Clown battle Jerry Lawler, and Shawn Michaels & Diesel defend the Tag Team titles against the New Headshrinkers. Even more depressing, the WWF did not have a lot of new stars coming in for 1995 to juice interest. Aldo Montoya, Henry Godwinn, Hakushi, the Roadie, Kama, and Mantaur debuted at the end of 1994 or were going to in early 1995 but they either were cartoon gimmicks with a hard ceiling or were put on the wrong path, as was the case with Hakushi, who had a groundbreaking moveset but was cast as a heel. There were also questions about what would headline the following WrestleMania as WWF Champion Diesel was being neutered by weak promos and a feud with Shawn Michaels did not feel like a main event program.

The worst seemed to be over for the WWF. The lack of a federal conviction allowed it to retain its business, sponsorships, and television deals, especially with USA Network. But storm clouds were still on the horizon, evidenced by the continued weakening of its hold on syndicated markets and whether the fans would take to the promotion running on “Diesel power.” In addition, Hulk Hogan was trying to recreate the 1980s WWF in 1990s WCW. While that could initially be laughed at, Hogan’s arrival in WCW elevated the promotion on his name alone and what if WCW decided to get serious about challenging the WWF in 1995? Was the company ready for the challenge? The answer to those questions would soon alter the course of professional wrestling in the United States and the path the WWF would take for the rest of the decade.

Here is a statistical breakdown for the WWF at the end of 1994:

Top 25 Men’s Overall Records

1-Earthquake (18-0)
2-King Kong Bundy (15-0)
3-Ludvig Borga (6-0)
T4-Randy Savage (5-0)
T4-Sione (5-0)
6-Henry Godwinn (4-0)
T7-Abe Schwartz (2-0)
T7-Hakushi (2-0)
T9-Cheesy (1-0)
T9-Queasy (1-0)
T9-Roddy Piper (1-0)
T9-Sleazy (1-0)
13-Fatu (34-1)
14-Samu (28-1)
15-Irwin R. Schyster (42-3)
16-Diesel (32-2-2)
17-Duke Droese (21-2)
18-The Undertaker (10-1)
19-The British Bulldog (14-1-1)
20-The Fake Undertaker (9-1)
21-Shawn Michaels (16-2)
22-Aldo Montoya (8-1)
T23-Jimmy Del Ray (23-3)
T23-Tom Prichard (23-3)
25-Razor Ramon (40-5-1)

Top 25 Men’s Singles Records

1-Earthquake (18-0)
2-King Kong Bundy (13-0)
3-Aldo Montoya (7-0)
4-Ludvig Borga (6-0)
5-Randy Savage (5-0)
6-Henry Godwinn (4-0)
T7-Abe Schwartz (2-0)
T7-Hakushi (2-0)
T9-Fatu (1-0)
T9-Roddy Piper (1-0)
11-Diesel (25-1-2)
12-Irwin R. Schyster (36-3)
13-Duke Droese (21-2)
14-Jim Neidhart (20-2)
15-The Undertaker (10-1)
T16-Shawn Michaels (9-1)
T16-The Fake Undertaker (9-1)
18-Doink the Clown (35-4)
19-Owen Hart (43-5)
20-Razor Ramon (38-4-1)
21-Lex Luger (35-4-1)
22-The British Bulldog (11-1-1)
23-Bob Backlund (37-4-3)
24-Tatanka (37-4-3)
25-Mabel (21-3)

Women’s Overall Records

1-Alundra Blayze (5-0-1)
2-Bull Nakano (1-2-1)
3-Luna Vachon (1-2)
4-Heidi Lee Morgan (1-2)
5-Leliani Kai (0-1)

Women’s Singles Records

1-Alundra Blayze (4-0-1)
2-Bull Nakano (1-1-1)
T3-Leilani Kai (0-1)
T3-Luna Vachon (0-1)
5-Heidi Lee Morgan (0-2)

Tag Team Rankings (At Least 5 Matches)

1-Shawn Michaels & Diesel (7-0)
2-Bam Bam Bigelow & Irwin R. Schyster (5-0)
3-The Headshrinkers (27-1)
4-The Heavenly Bodies (22-2)
5-The Smoking Gunns (26-2-1)
6-The Bushwhackers (16-4)
7-Men on a Mission (12-3)
8-The Quebecers (12-5-1)
9-Well Dunn (6-4)

Top 25 Overall Appearances

1-Owen Hart (50)
T2-Jeff Jarrett (49)
T2-Tatanka (49)
T4-Bam Bam Bigelow (45)
T4-The 1-2-3 Kid (45)
T6-Irwin R. Schyster (44)
T6-Razor Ramon (44)
T8-Doink the Clown (43)
T8-Mabel (43)
10-Lex Luger (42)
11-Bob Holly (41)
12-Kwang (37)
T13-Diesel (36)
T13-Fatu (36)
15-Adam Bomb (35)
T16-Bart Gunn (33)
T16-Billy Gunn (33)
18-Yokozuna (31)
19-Samu (30)
20-Crush (27)
T21-Jimmy Del Ray (26)
T21-Tom Prichard (26)
23-Jim Neidhart (24)
24-Duke Droese (23)
T25-Butch (20)
T25-Luke (20)
T25-Pierre (20)

Best Matches of the Year

1-Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels (Ladder Match for the Intercontinental Championship, WrestleMania X, March 20) – *****
2-Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (WrestleMania X, March 20) – *****
3-Shawn Michaels & Diesel vs. Razor Ramon & the 1-2-3 Kid (WWF Tag Team Championship Match, The Action Zone, October 30) – ****½
4-Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (Steel Cage Match for the WWF Championship, SummerSlam, August 29) – ****½
5-Bret Hart vs. Diesel (WWF Championship Match, King of the Ring, June 19) – ****¼

I already recapped 1995 WWF through my columns in 2018-2019 so we’ll fast forward two years to 1996, shortly after the Monday Night Wars got going. Those columns will start next week on Monday. Thanks for reading and following this journey through the 1990s WWF!

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!