WWF Monday Night Raw 01/08/1994

Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon

This starts off really well, with a really fluid fast paced sequence ending with Michaels cockily walking over Ramon’s back, only to turn round into a Razor right hand. At this point, I was excitedly expecting a hidden Raw gem, but then a few things really go against it. This goes nearly 20 minutes, and it does feel like they’re stretching to fill the time in places. I think the term “rest hold” is sometimes lazily used, but here Michaels holds one on Razor for a minute or so, before Ramon just casually gets up and escapes. No struggle, just Ramon going “Right, time to get out of that”. There’s also weird moments like the undersized heel winning a slugfest, or the undersized heel having to fight out of two bear hugs. There’s some really neat moments too, like a slingshot that sends Michaels hurtling to the floor and taking Diesel out as well. Diesel hits some nicely timed interference, clotheslining Ramon on the floor and being on the other side of the ring before the ref turns around. Michaels gets the win after running Ramon into a big boot from Diesel, and this feels like a missed opportunity.

Bull Nakano vs Alundra Blayze

Non title match, really shows the lack of depth of the 1994 women’s division as Nakano faces Blayze in her first televised WWF match. Indeed, according to Cagematch, the only other female wrestler Nakano faced in her near-two year WWF run was Heidi Lee Morgan, normally tagging with Blayze. Luckily, Blayze and Nakano seem to have chemistry right away. Loved Nakano hurling Blayze by the hair, Alundra taking several rotations before landing. Blayze fires back with a nice roundhouse kick, but a second is ducked and Nakano violently clotheslines her against the ropes. They really throw some big bombs at each other, making the most of their 5 minutes of ring time. Huge Nakano piledriver and a big powerbomb, with Alundra hitting the German suplex for two. Blayze hits a huge crossbody to the floor, looked great, before they both gets counted out whilst fighting outside. Really felt ahead of it’s time, just a compact sprint of a bout.

The Smoking Gunns vs George Anderson & Tom Bennett

Hardly any time is dedicated to this, joined in process then cut up by ads. Pretty much a timekiller to finish the show, though the Gunns match-winning Sidewinder looks great.