WTWWW WWE — page 7

Vince McMahon narrates a video package that hypes the participants in the King of the Ring Tournament.

McMahon and Jerry Lawler are calling today’s action, taped from Erie, Pennsylvania.

Opening Contest: Tatanka (18-1-2) pins Dave Criner after a flying chop at 3:23:

Criner looks like a bulkier cousin of Damien Demento. He attacks Tatanka before the bell and lays in some chops but Tatanka does not sell them as Owen Hart comes out for a better look. Lawler interviews Owen in the split screen but Owen does not say much. Tatanka once again goes on the warpath after getting taken the buckle, winning this time with a flying chop.

This was a special edition of Monday Night RAW called “The Countdown to the Crowning.” Vince McMahon and Randy Savage hosted the show from a studio. This episode is not available on WWE Network.

Opening Contest for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The Headshrinkers (Champions w/Afa & Captain Lou Albano) (13-0) beat the Quebecers (w/Johnny Polo) (12-4-1) when Fatu pins Pierre after a splash off the top rope at 6:24 shown:

The piped in crowd noise is strong in this match, taped in Erie, Pennsylvania on May 25. Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase commentate. This match moves in slow motion as it seems that most of the participants are tired. There are also subtle cuts imposed on the action so there must have been some blown spots. After a token beating on Samu, the Quebecers go for La Tour and miss. After the hot tag, the Headshrinkers knock Jacques out of the ring and finish off Pierre with the double forward Russian leg sweep and Fatu splash. This would be the final televised match of the Quebecers run. There would be a Montreal-exclusive angle where the team would break up, with Jacques becoming the babyface when Pierre and Polo turned on him. It would lead to a retirement match for Jacques in October 1994, which would sell out the Montreal Forum. But that would not be the end of the team as Jacques would exit retirement, rejoin Pierre, and the two would sign with WCW in 1996. Rating: *½

Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase commentate today’s action, kicking off a new taping in Canton, Ohio. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping drew a papered crowd of 1,800.

Opening Contest: Jerry Lawler pins John Paul after the piledriver at 3:47:

Lawler was used sparingly as an in-ring competitor since his debut in late 1992 as the WWF preferred utilizing him as a commentator. This was because Lawler still wrestled regularly for the USWA in Memphis, a promotion that he co-owned with Jerry Jarrett. He participated in the 1993 Royal Rumble, playing a role in the elimination of Mr. Perfect, who was one of the favorites. His feud with Bret Hart, which began after Lawler attacked Bret after the former WWF champion won the King of the Ring Tournament, turned into one of the best in the company. The two drew well on the house show circuit and were poised to continue the program at Survivor Series before Lawler was indicted on rape and sodomy charges in Louisville, Kentucky. That ended the program and temporarily halted the WWF’s talent exchange with the USWA. After the charges against him were dropped, Lawler returned at WrestleMania X. This was his first match since SummerSlam.

Lawler works the crowd, who like to chant “Burger king!” Paul only musters a dropkick, beaten with a flying fist drop and piledriver by the longtime veteran. After winning, Lawler tells the crowd that Piper is the pits.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are commentating, starting a new taping cycle in Erie, Pennsylvania. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, 3,500 fans attended but it was a papered crowd.

Opening Contest: Crush & Yokozuna (w/Jim Cornette & Mr. Fuji) defeat the Smoking Gunns (12-1) when Yokozuna pins Billy after a leg drop at 7:33 shown:

The Gunns rush the ring and knock their opponents to the floor. Crush wrestles most of the match for his team, which is not a surprise, and the commercial break cuts off a good portion of the heat segment on Bart. There is a frenzied finish after the hot tag as all four men brawl and the Gunns do mounted corner punches to their opponents. Yokozuna backdrops Bart out of the ring but Billy floors Yokozuna with a flying forearm off the second rope and nearly wins. He cannot fight off two men, though, and Crush gorilla press slams him and Yokozuna follows up with the leg drop to give the heels a hard-fought win. McMahon puts over the Gunns fighting spirit in defeat. Both of their losses have been to makeshift teams involving Crush this year. Rating: **¼

Vince McMahon and Randy Savage are in the booth, doing the last episode from the Youngstown, Ohio taping.

Opening Lumberjack King of the Ring Qualifying Contest: Tatanka (16-1-2) defeats Crush (15-1-1) after Lex Luger interferes at 17:06 shown:

Lumberjacks around the ring include Thurman Plugg, Razor Ramon, the 1-2-3 Kid, Doink the Clown, Irwin R. Schyster, Bam Bam Bigelow, Adam Bomb, Jeff Jarrett, Nikolai Volkoff, the Bushwhackers, Duke Droese, the Smoking Gunns, Owen Hart, Yokozuna, Kwang (in a red mask), Mr. Fuji, and Mabel. The lumberjack introductions almost lead to some fights as Mabel keeps Doink from attacking Jarrett and Ramon and IRS have a shoving match that ends with Ramon hitting him. After IRS distracts Tatanka and lets Crush get a jump on him, babyfaces and heels get into the ring and the match almost turns into a battle royal. McMahon says that Luger was not allowed to be a lumberjack per the orders of WWF President Jack Tunney. It is more entertaining to see the lumberjacks interact with each other than watch the match, which drags out with Crush rest holds. Near-fall exchanges are mixed in but there is not a good flow to the action. There is a funny bit where Bigelow counts a near-fall by hitting the apron and Tatanka thinks the cadence is from referee Earl Hebner and kicks out. The lumberjacks start fighting each other when Yokozuna stomps Tatanka after Crush tosses Tatanka to the floor. That does not cue the finish as one would expect, so the bout drags out some more. When Crush is thrown out on the babyface side he decides to fight the lumberjacks, which is a bad call as that invites out Luger, who blasts Crush with a running forearm. The babyfaces then throw Crush into the ring, where Tatanka crawls over and pins him. Rating: *½

Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase are commentating, concluding the taping in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Opening Contest: Razor Ramon (15-1) pins P.J. Walker after the Razor’s Edge at 2:19:

There is some hype for the Razor Ramon-Bam Bam Bigelow first round match in the King of the Ring Tournament. Bigelow does an insert promo about how he got robbed in the finals last year and is out to make Ramon ooze with Bigelow after their match. Walker takes a more devastating version of the Razor’s Edge as Ramon throws him down before going to his knees.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler commentate, wrapping up the taping in Albany, New York.

Opening Contest: Mabel (w/Oscar) (4-0) pins Mike Sharpe after the sidewalk slam at 1:57:

For some reason the WWE Network version of this episode does not include this match. Sharpe has been one of the favorite targets of Men on a Mission since they arrived last year and his streak of futility extends to singles competition, failing a test of strength, getting avalanched, and wiped out with a sidewalk slam. This was one of Mabel’s best singles matches so far.

McMahon narrates a video package to recap the qualifiers for this year’s King of the Ring Tournament. The planned qualifying match has been changed as Tatanka will be facing Crush instead of Jimmy Del Ray.

McMahon and Randy Savage call tonight’s action, taped from Youngstown, Ohio. Savage says that Jim Cornette struck a deal so that Crush could replace Del Ray.

Opening King of the Ring Qualifying Contest: Crush (w/Mr. Fuji) (15-1) wrestles Tatanka (w/Chief Jay Strongbow) (15-1-1) to a double count out at 7:09 shown:

Strongbow accompanies Tatanka, which means Tatanka cannot run down the aisle as part of his entrance. He is not effective, causing Tatanka to go on the floor to confront Fuji and then tapping Tatanka on the shoulder to turn around and eat a Crush superkick. The action in the ring goes back and forth and is fine but late in the contest there is a sad series of spots with the managers. Fuji goes to get in the ring but has to look like he cannot get on the apron because Strongbow misses his cue. Then Strongbow lays the weakest knife edge chop someone will ever see to knock Fuji over. Crush is incensed by this so he goes out to confront Strongbow, Tatanka follows and both men fight on the outside until they are counted out. According to last year’s precedent, this does not eliminate each man from the tournament. It just means they failed to qualify. Rating: *½

All American Wrestling had an exclusive squash match. Here is the result of that match:

Lex Luger (13-2) beat Barry Horowitz via submission to the Rebel Rack at 2:07

Duke Droese is in a dumpster that is lowered from a dump truck. He says that he is going to be wrestling today.

Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase are calling today’s action, taped from Springfield, Massachusetts. Lane does not believe that DiBiase has contacted the Undertaker.

Jerry Lawler talks backstage with Harvey Wippleman, who declares that victory for Adam Bomb today will be as easy as one-two-three.

Vince McMahon and Lawler are in the booth, taped from Albany, New York.

Opening Non-Title Contest: Diesel (Intercontinental Champion) (12-0) pins P.J. Walker after the Jackknife at 1:54:

The squash puts over Diesel’s size as Walker cannot take him off his feet with a couple of dropkicks and a clothesline. A big boot, side suplex, and Jackknife keep Diesel’s momentum going.

McMahon narrates house show footage of Yokozuna giving Earthquake a Banzai Drop in San Jose, California. He notes that Yokozuna got revenge on Earthquake for last week’s sumo match and pinned him on multiple shows. McMahon says that due to that, Earthquake will not be appearing in tonight’s King of the Ring qualifying match against Owen Hart.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler call tonight’s action, live from Youngstown, Ohio. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the event drew a sellout crowd of 1,500. This is also an event in a high school gym, taking place in Struthers Fieldhouse, which is attached to Struthers High School.

The show goes on the air a bit too fast, starting with ring announcer Howard Finkel encouraging fans to cheer. McMahon and Savage talk about Earthquake meeting his demise in California. Savage says he fell to the bottom of the San Andreas Fault. Obviously, this lets the audience know Earthquake will not be back.

Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase commentate, starting a new taping in Springfield, Massachusetts. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping happened on April 28 and drew a crowd of 5,500 fans. Springfield has the Madison Square Garden-like setup of the entrance facing the hard camera.

Opening Contest: The 1-2-3 Kid & Thurman Plugg beat Kwang & Adam Bomb (w/Harvey Wippleman) when Plugg pins Kwang with a crucifix at 7:09 shown:

This is the final chapter of the Wrestling Challenge exclusive feud between the Kid and Kwang. It also provides a preview of the Kid-Bomb King of the Ring qualifier that will happen on WWF Superstars. The story of the match is that Kwang and Bomb have a hard time getting along, miscommunicating and getting frustrated with each other. The Kid takes a crazy bump, going over the top rope with Kwang when Kwang does a spinning heel kick in the corner. More miscommunication gets the Kid out of peril and there is a fun ending sequence where Kwang hoists Plugg on his shoulders but spins him to hit Bomb, who pushes Kwang and Plugg rolls Kwang up with a crucifix so the babyface duo prevail. A fun, action packed tag team match from all four parties. Rating: ***

Bomb gets in an argument with Kwang after the match. Wippleman appears to take Kwang’s side so Bomb walks out.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler commentate, starting a new taping in Albany, New York. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the show was taped on April 27 at the Knickerbocker Arena, the site of the 1992 Royal Rumble.

Opening Contest: Razor Ramon (14-1) pins Derek Domino after the Razor’s Edge at 4:20:

Ramon shows some heelish tendencies in the squash, slapping Domino around and making him yell into the camera that he is “The Bad Guy.” It is a dull opening squash for Ramon, who is preparing for the King of the Ring Tournament. Lawler spent a lot of time during the match talking about Roddy Piper fearing him and how the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto will not get any money when Piper loses at The King of the Ring.

Todd Pettengill narrates a video package to hype tonight’s sumo match between Earthquake and Yokozuna.

Vince McMahon and Randy Savage commentate, concluding the taping in Burlington, Vermont.

Todd Pettengill narrates a video package to hype today’s feature match between the 1-2-3 Kid and Kwang.

Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase commentate, finishing the taping in Syracuse, New York.

Opening Contest: Lex Luger (12-1) defeats Tony DeVito via submission to the Rebel Rack at 2:21:

DiBiase raises a good point in asking who Luger has beaten lately. Lane does a hard sell for Luger’s King of the Ring chances as he dominates DeVito.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are in the booth, concluding the taping in Rochester, New York.

McMahon interviews WWF Champion Bret Hart on the interview platform. Bret says that his mother believes Owen was born bad with a desire to be good while Bret was born good with a desire to be bad. This means that he looks forward to defending the WWF title against Owen and proving he is the better wrestler. In terms of Intercontinental Champion Diesel’s challenge for The King of the Ring, Bret smiles and accepts. Bret talks about chopping Diesel down to size to prove why people call him “The Excellence of Execution.” The crowd reacted strongly to Bret throughout this promo, showing that he was over more than when he won the title in 1992.

Vince McMahon and Randy Savage are commentating, taped from Burlington, Vermont.

Opening King of the Ring Qualifying Contest: Razor Ramon (13-1) beats Kwang (w/Harvey Wippleman) (9-2-1) after the Razor’s Edge at 9:40 shown:

Ramon wears green tights, the same color he wore in last year’s King of the Ring tournament when he was eliminated in the first round by Bret Hart. There is a funny spot early when Kwang gets ready to spew mist into the air but does not have it prepped properly so he has to repeat it for the hard camera. Ramon does a few unorthodox moves, doing a flying body press off the ropes for a near-fall. Kwang works a bit faster than usual, although he still stalls for his “martial arts” offense. There is a frenzied near-fall sequence after a commercial break as fans think Ramon has won after rolling through a reverse flying body press off the second rope. Kwang kicks out and is supposed to lose after putting his head down too early on an Irish whip. However, Ramon cannot get him up for the Razor’s Edge. So they have to improvise a bit with Kwang missing a spinning heel kick and Ramon finally hitting the move to qualify. This was a solid, hard-hitting match that made Kwang look good in defeat. Rating: **¼

Stan Lane and Ted DiBiase are calling today’s matches, still broadcasting from Syracuse, New York.

Opening Contest: Earthquake (15-0) pins Cory Student after the Earthquake Splash at 2:23:

Earthquake takes the time to sign an autograph on the way to the ring. He casually approaches the match, as he should, since he beat Student in his return match on Monday Night RAW in late January. Lane and DiBiase talk about what a future Earthquake-Yokozuna match would look like.

Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler are commentating, taped from Rochester, New York.

Opening King of the Ring Qualifying Contest: Irwin R. Schyster (10-2) beats Scott Steiner after a Flair pin at 6:46 shown:

IRS uses the video board to go over the top three tax cheats, running down McMahon, a small kid in the crowd, and Tatanka. There is some good mat wrestling between the two accomplished amateurs even though it is not something that will get the crowd to pop. Scott manages to use IRS’ use of the ropes in an abdominal stretch against him, a nice twist to what IRS has been doing for years. There is not a late run of offense by Scott, who has a sunset flip blocked by IRS, who grabs the ropes. The referee catches that and forces a break but IRS just rolls with the rest of the move and positions Scott into a Jackknife cover, using the ropes with his feet to qualify for the King of the Ring Tournament. Afterward, Rick comes to the ring to try to get the referee to reverse the decision but that does not occur. This was the last appearance for the Steiners, who quit and rode out the rest of their contract in Japan. Rating: **

Tatanka storms out of the locker room and tries to attack IRS but WWF officials tackle him. Since IRS cannot go back to the ring because of the Steiners, he runs through the crowd.

Vince McMahon and Randy Savage call the action, taped from Burlington, Vermont. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping took place on April 26 and drew a sellout crowd of 2,500 fans. The WWF opted not to do a live show for this cycle of Monday Night RAWs because of preparations for McMahon’s steroid trial.

Opening Contest for the WWF Tag Team Championship: The Headshrinkers (w/Afa & Captain Lou Albano) (10-0) beat the Quebecers (Champions w/Johnny Polo) (10-3-1) when Fatu pins Jacques after the splash off the top rope to win the titles at 12:52 shown:

Albano is termed as the Headshrinkers advisor. There is a conservative start as the Headshrinkers provide encouragement to each other and Polo does the same for his team, selling the big fight feel of the match. The crowd takes to the Headshrinkers, popping for their high impact moves. The champions try to walk out but referee Earl Hebner orders them back lest they lose their titles. When the champions finally go on offense at the six-minute mark the crowd starts a “USA!” chant. At least Savage tries to make that fit by saying it is a chant for American Samoa. Commercial breaks split up the action twice and a second one leads to Samu’s hot tag, which ends when he hangs himself in the ropes. He has only done that spot in the Royal Rumble so it gets a reaction. The champions go for La Tour but it misses and Afa and Albano neutralize Polo. There is a false hot tag spot, which leads to another attempted double team but there is heel miscommunication. Pierre does not take kindly to it, hitting Jacques and that allows the Headshrinkers to finish him off with a splash off the top rope. This was a fun, hard-hitting match that was a good way to end the Quebecers run at the top of the division. Rating: ***¼