WWF Raw 12/09/1994

The Undertaker vs Kwang

Kwang has been a real treat to watch on 1994 Raw’s, but he’s not doing much in this match. This is barely competitive, which makes sense given their relative positions on the card, but I kinda wanted to see some more Kwang offense. He gets in a nice kick early on, but is soon methodically beaten down. Taker hits a nice big slam and a vicious looking throat thrust, before Kwang comes back with the green mist. Taker spits green mist of his own into Kwang’s face, which is pretty neat, before hitting a chokeslam for the win.

Jim Neidhart vs Tim McNeany

Neidhart is all over McNeany from the bell, so this is one of the days when he was motivated. His 1994 comeback was hit or miss, but this was a pretty fun squash, aided by McNeany taking a big bump to the floor, landing with a splat. Neidhart wears him down some more and locks in a Camel Clutch to win.

Shawn Michaels & Diesel vs Tony Devito & Paul van Dale

Hey, it’s Carmella’s dad as one half of the jobber team (van Dale), first time I’ve seen him. Shawn is entertaingly dickish early on, luring Devito to the floor, running away and hiding behind Diesel, then using the distraction to get behind Devito and attack him. Van Dale telegraphs a backdrop really early, basically bending over as soon as he sends Michaels into the ropes, so it’s no surprise that it gets reversed. Diesel comes in and basically crushes him, hitting a sideslam, a big boot and the Jack-knife, before Shawn hits a splash from off his shoulders to get the pin. Decent squash.

Adam Bomb vs Duane Gill

I think Bomb gives Gill a bit too much here. The crowd are surprisingly into him, and he’s a far more impressive figure than Gill, but he still gets put into headlocks and beaten in the corner. Bomb should have been killing this guy. Still, he looks great, with nice agility to leapfrog over Gill (though why is Bomb leapfrogging Gill instead of just killing him?) and hitting a nice slingshot clothesline. Atom Smasher gives Bomb the win.

The Bushwhackers vs Barry Hardy & Bert Centeno

The Bushwhackers are much more palatable when facing jobbers, as their antics are designed to make their opponents look like idiots, which could hurt actual credible opposition. Here, it’s quite fun and this is totally played for comedy, probably useful when the audience will be sitting through a marathon of squashes. In that setting, goofy spots like Luke covering both opponents and Butch counting a pin make more sense, and this is harmless fun. Battering ram pins Centeno