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

WWF Monday Night Raw 25/07/1994

Tatanka vs Nikolai Volkoff

This is a $10,000 Challenge match, with Ted DiBiase putting up a prize if Tatanka can beat Volkoff. Jim Ross perfectly describes Volkoff, claiming “He’s not a smooth wrestler, but a powerful one”, as Volkoff slowly beats Tatanka down. His clubbing blows look good, but in contrast his kicks look absurdly weak. Tatanka comes back with a nice clothesline, looks more like he just runs up and whacks Volkoff hard in the side of the head. Tatanka gets the win by rolling up Volkoff on an attempted slam, but man this doesn’t exactly build him up for a match with Luger at Summerslam. Taking a beating from 47yr old Nikolai for most of the match isn’t exactly designed to make him look strong.

The Headshrinkers vs Barry Hardy & Joey Stallings

Stupidly, we go to commercial just as the Shrinkers reach the ring. We return to the Shrinkers just destroying Stallings. Nice DDT from the corner by Samu, before they just beat Stallings down in their corner. Double team Stroke is followed by a top rope Fatu splash for the win. Hardy never gets in.

Jim Neidhart vs Jim Powers

Powers gets sent to the floor at the start with this insanely high elevation. After that, it’s a pretty generic squash, all choking and clubbing by the Anvil. The end sees him lock in a sort of Dragon sleeper Camel Clutch, though he barely has Powers’ head under his control.

Adam Bomb vs Yokozuna

Curiously worked, feels like they want to keep Bomb strong, but aside from an opening shoulderblock that sends Yoko to the floor, he gets nothing for the majority of the bout. It’s all Yoko, until Bomb avoids a corner charge. Liked Yoko ducking a clothesline, only for Bomb to hit him with a DDT instead. The match looks to be hotting up, until Kwang trips Bomb from the floor, drawing him out and resulting in a count out. Not much to this.

Duke Droese vs Duane Gill

Fun squash, with the Dumpster just overpowering Gill all match. Big press slam, nice bearhug and a good slam are followed by the Trash Compacter for the win. This was good enough.

WWF Raw 18/04/1994

Bret Hart vs Kwang

Non-title opener to kick things off. Really good little match, especially considering the respective card position of the two. Loved Bret avoiding a corner charge at the last split second, timed to perfection. Bret takes a big spill to the floor to give Kwang control, really heavy landing. Kwang is decent on offence, working in his killer running corner kick and though he slows things with a nerve hold, he at least has the decency to work the shoulders over with some big blows first. Kwang cuts off Bret’s comeback’s nicely with some throat chops that look vicious. Bret sidesteps a back bodydrop attempt, hits a side Russian legsweep and locks in the Sharpshooter for the win.

Jeff Jarrett vs PJ Walker

Love watching these Jarrett squashes. He’s totally in control of his character and knows how to play it into these matches. He’s so cocky, swaggering about after cheapshotting walking, posing after hitting basic moves. Love him doing a little pose before missing an elbow, then getting up angrily to stomp Walker due to his embarrassment. Slingshot suplex is followed by a spike DDT for the win.

The Steiner Brothers vs Mike Khoury & Barry Hardy

Aggressive side of the Steiners shows here, not just because they decimate their opponents, but the manner in which they do it. Big crossfaces thrown by Rick, Scott beating up guys as they try to climb into the ring, just a nastier side shown. Obviously, on top of that, there’s some big bombs thrown. Big Dragon suplex and a top rope Samoan drop by Scott, massive clothesline and a top rope belly-to-belly by Rick. Scott finishes it with a Steiner Screwdriver. Lovely stuff.

Earthquake vs Mike Bell

Bit of comedy to start, as Bell is too short for a test-of-strength, so climbs to the second rope…only for Quake to just throw him off. From there, Quake blasts him with two dropkicks, a slick belly-to-belly suplex, a legdrop and the big splash for the easy win.

IRS vs Major Yates

IRS isn’t a fun squash wrestler. Bit of token leg work to kick things off, followed by some plodding offence. IRS locks in a chinlock, before going back to the injured leg and locking in an STF for the win. Might have been better if he’d focussed his offensive run to concentrate on Yates’ leg, this was pretty dull.