WWF Raw 22/08/1994

Only two matches on this episode of Raw, as they build up to SummerSlam that coming Sunday. A lot of Vince and Randy Savage hyping the matches, not much action. One of these matches is surprisingly good though...

Lex Luger vs Crush

If I had to predict how this match was going to start, I probably wouldn’t have gone for “Lex Luger crossbody”, but that’s how Luger takes the early advantage. Crush is a frustrating watch, as he does a load of neat little things amidst a load of slow plodding offence. Liked him holding up Luger’s arm to give him a clear opening to punch him in the ribs, and him blocking a backdrop with a downwards fist to the back of Luger’s head looked good. He also had a logical match structure, working Luger’s back after a backbreaker, punching him in the spine and locking in a Camel Clutch. However, in between this he slowly wanders around the ring, hitting the odd blow, but doing nothing exciting. Frustratingly, Gorilla Monsoon keeps referring to Crush building up toward a “devastating” bearhug, but the moment he locks it in, we got to commercial and Lex had escaped by the time we return. Lex at least has an energetic comeback, nailing some nice clotheslines, a powerslam and a decent DDT. Crush takes control again with a neat tilt-a-whirl backbreaker, but gets distracted by the Million Dollar Man at ringside, allowing Luger to hit the bionic forearm to win.

Diesel vs Typhoon

This starts off surprisingly energetically, with both men tussling for position and Typhoon sending Diesel out of the ring with a shoulderblock. Diesel downs Typhoon with his own shoulderblock after a Shawn Michaels distraction, and things do predictably slow down as Diesel locks in a chinlock. Enjoyed Typhoon’s comeback, hitting wild swinging fists at Diesel, missing a legdrop but nailing a corner splash. A second one hits boots, however, and a flying clothesline gives Diesel the win. This was surprisingly good.

WWF Monday Night Raw 11/07/1994

Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid

This is a really great match, with Bret putting in a real world champion’s performance. Bret subtly puts over Kid right from the start, bumping to the mat for an arm-wringer after one of his own doesn’t down the Kid. Bret is also the first to hit a few nasty blows, hitting a short back elbow to kick the match into the next gear. He also hits a few brutal looking European uppercuts in the corner, almost telling Kid that he may have won the early mat stages, but he needs to do more than that to win the title. I appreciated Jim Ross on commentary continually putting over that even Bret’s cheaper looking shots are “legal manoeuvres” as this is still a face vs face match. Bret reverses a crucifix to a big Samoan Drop for three, but Kid’s foot is on the rope and Bret gets it restarted. Bret is in firm control after the restart, planting Kid with a DDT and a full-on bulldog. Kid starts getting more success with high risk moves, hitting a lovely corner dropkick and a moonsault press for two. Kid only glances Bret with a cannonball from the apron, so it’s no surprise Bret is first into the ring. Kid misses a cannonball into the ring and an attempt at a missile dropkick is caught into a Sharpshooter for the win. Really great performance by both here, Bret put in a real “ace” performance.

Crush vs Matt Hardy

Quick little squash. Hardy evades some early blows by flipping out of the way, but eats a huge superkick. A backbreaker gives Crush the win.

Razor Ramon vs Barry Horowitz

Really fun match. The opening armwork was nice, Ramon forcing the bicep over his knee whilst Horowitz actually looked like he was trying to find openings to escape. The fallaway slam from Ramon looks huge and Razor then gestures for the Edge…only to hook Horowitz in a small package for the win. Have to love Ramon’s shrug to the camera after fooling the audience.

IRS vs Ray Hudson

IRS squashes are the worst, but thankfully this was the least worst one I’ve seen so far. IRS actually starts with some aggression, hitting a decent corner elbow and a legdrop. Of course, things slow inevitably down as Irwin hooks an abdominal stretch and an interminable leglock, but it started well. STF gets the win.

WWF Raw 06/06/1994

Crush vs Tatanka

This is a repeat of the King of the Ring qualifier from the previous show, this time fought under lumberjack rules. This is given a load of time, running over two ad breaks, and they sadly don’t really need to have so much time. It’s a very plodding match, and the lengthy Crush control is pretty dull. He’s been pretty fun in squash matches, but his offence isn’t very interesting. Twice, he cuts off Tatanka comebacks with sloppy inverted atomic drops. Tatanka is more fun when he makes his comebacks, his chops always looking decent, but he’s made to look like an idiot far too often. He does dumb things like stand and threaten IRS, rather than pay attention to his much larger opponent behind him. The lumberjack spots are pretty fun, things always threatening to break down on the outside, and I appreciate that the heel lumberjacks attacked Tatanka first, which justifies the ending. Crush ends up outside the ring, and like an idiot attacks the faces trying to get him back up. In the melee, Lex Luger comes to ringside, blasts him in the head with the bionic elbow, and rolls him in for the Tatanka victory.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs John Paul

Best Bam Bam squash yet. Paul is a higher rank of jobber, so he’s allowed a modicum of offence, which seems to force Bigelow to not just take his time in the bout. Bigelow’s corner blows actually look deadly for once. Paul gets a nearfall from a sunset flip, but Bigelow hits an odd twisting splash to win. Finisher looked poor, but this was fine.

Razor Ramon vs Keith Davis

Davis is the “artist” better known as Jeff Hardy. Pretty fun squash here, Ramon is such a dick to his jobbers, makes them far more fun to watch. Things like choking Hardy over the ropes, saying “Welcome to the big time, kid”, then booting him in the head. Crowd loves it too, even when Ramon trolls them by picking Hardy up in a Razor’s Edge position, but instead just dumping him stomach first on the turnbuckles. The real Edge gets the win shortly after.

WWF Raw 30/05/1994

Crush vs Tatanka

This is the final qualifier for the 94 King of the Ring. It’s interesting that Tatanka, who is a pretty big lad, is dwarfed by Crush and has to work the bout from underneath. Loved some of Crush’s early heeling, especially him holding Tatanka in a headlock, turning his back to the ref and jamming a thumb into Tatanka’s throat. Tatanka is accompanied by Chief Jay Strongbow, but he does more harm than good in his attempts to counteract Mr Fuji. Indeed, it’s due to going outside to protect Strongbow from Fuji that Tatanka is hit by a surprise Crush superkick, giving Crush control. Crush’s control is fine, and I liked the Tatanka comeback, wearing Crush down with chops until he’s felled like a mighty oak. Strongbow and Fuji get into it on the outside, and Crush and Tatanka get drawn out, leading to a double count out. Terrific work Strongbow.

1-2-3 Kid vs George South

Fun squash match, with Kid looking really good. Absolutely loved his quick kick combos, especially the spot where South celebrates ducking a roundhouse, only to turn round to a brisk flurry of kicks. La Majistral cradle gets the win for Kid.

Smoking Gunns vs Austin Steel & Reno Riggins

Really comprehensive squash. Riggins is a fun jobber, stooges about a bit, and he eats a nice neckbreaker from Billy. Steele is more lumpy, like a Poundland knock-off of Buddy Rose, and he takes a bigger beating. Really great top rope bulldog from Billy, nasty kneedrop to the skull from Bart and a nice looking Sidewinder to finish the job.

Jeff Jarrett vs Chris Hamrick

Would loved to have seen this circa 1999-2000. Jarrett is a lot of fun here, preening around and pointing to his head after every move. Just a glorious, arrogant jerk. His offence is on point here, hitting a beautiful dropkick to the face at one point. I’m not normally the kind to notice dropkicks, but this one was terrific. Jarrett’s stun-gun and slingshot suplex both are nice looking moves that I wish he’d kept doing. Hamrick, as you’d expect, takes a nutty bump in the corner, missing a running knee and flying over the top rope. This gives JJ a focus point and he locks on the figure four for the win.

WWF Raw 09/05/1994

Razor Ramon vs Kwang

King of the Ring qualifier here, and a pretty entertaining match. The Kwang gimmick was goofy, but he’s been having fun bouts on 94 Raw. Both guys exchange some nasty chops, and this is worked at a high tempo. Loved Ramon twice punching Kwang off the apron, only for Kwang to leap back up to take another blow to the face. Even better, the third time he ducked the swing and dropped Ramon over the top rope to take over. Great little spot. Ramon briefly works over Kwang’s shoulder after a missed corner charge and though it doesn’t lead to much, it was nice to see Kwang occasionally favour his shoulder during the bout. Also liked Kwang blocking the trademark second rope back suplex, using just a sharp back elbow to the nose. Ramon struggles to hold Kwang up for the Razor’s Edge, and just in case there were any doubts it wasn’t intentional, they do one Irish whip and then repeat the spot. That minor flub aside, good bout.

Crush vs Raymond Roy

Curiously, Roy is allowed to hit a dropkick from behind and roll up Crush for two at the start of this bout. Feels odd, as Crush is getting a decent push at this time. The advantage is brief, as Crush hits a vicious superkick, a few big blows to the spine and a heart punch to win. Decent squash.

Doink vs Mike Terrace

Terrace wins me over early by bumping a Doink legsweep onto the back of his head in a big bump. Dink keeps getting involved in front of the ref, eye-poking Terrace and then running all over him whilst Doink has him in a hold. No idea why that’s not a DQ. Dink is a little twat. Whoopee Cushion finishes.

Mabel vs Mike Bell

Mabel is a super fun squash worker, in a very literal sense. Here, he hits a few stiff slaps on Bell, flattens him with a corner splash and a huge legdrop, then nails the Boss Man slam to win. Mo is apparently injured here, so I’m looking forward to more Mabel squashes in the future. 

WWF Raw 27/03/1994

Lex Luger vs Rick Martel

Luger is coming off his controversial loss at WM10. Pretty high paced to start, with Luger showing some real fire in his punches. Loved some of Martel’s in-ring stooging, turning around lost on a criss-cross in time to get bulldozed by a Luger shoulderblock. Sadly, things slow down at this point, as both guys decide to apply long headlocks. Luger actually works his, but Martel locks in 3 dull headlocks. His control doesn’t get any more inspired, with a few boots and blows. Luger blows landing on his feet off a backdrop, but hits a powerslam and the torture rack for the win.

Owen Hart vs Mike Freeman

Perfectly fine squash, as Owen schools Freeman on the mat. Some nice little touches, with Owen hitting a nasty stomp to the prone elbow on Freeman. Owen gives Freeman one or two hope spots, but nails a lovely looking bulldog and locks in the sharpshooter for the win.

Doink vs Eric Cody

The problem in the early days of Doink post-Matt Borne, is that the replacement Doink would try and replicate Borne’s mat skills to maintain the same style. However, he was nowhere near as capable as Borne, so you’d get periods of Doink holding armbars as if he was the new Ricky Steamboat. This is largely dull, bar Dink coming in to run over Cody’s prone body, which the ref seems to deem perfectly fine. A bit of token armwork and a slam seem to render Cody totally incapable of movement and the Whoopee Cushion gets the win.

1-2-3 Kid vs the Black Phantom

Fun little match, as Kid’s small stature means this is worked a bit more evenly than the usual squash. Black Phantom gets to show a bit with a nice short back elbow and a committed headfirst dive into the turnbuckle. Kid takes a big bump, almost landing on his neck on a missed dropkick. 1-2-3 Kid comes back with a lovely running dropkick in the corner, and a moonsault crossbody gets the win.

Crush vs Ray Hudson

Crush has been surprisingly fun in squashes in 94. Loved him grabbing a running Hudson by the throat with a swift chokeslam, and a thrust kick to the jaw looks vicious. Knee drop gets the very quick win.

WWF Raw 07/03/1994

The Smoking Gunns vs Owen Hart & Crush

All four guys cut quite a quick tempo to start, including Bart Gunn hitting a moonsault crossbody on Crush, which looked good. The Gunns do a few bits here that I really liked, with Billy trying to take Crush over with a crucifix and, when Crush proved to be too strong, transitioning to a sunset flip instead. Loved Owen tagging in, but his ego causing him to rush into a hiptoss right away. Owen takes over with a leg lariat on Billy, but we miss almost the entire heat section due to commercial break. We actually come back right on the hot tag. Terrific. The end sees Crush clip Bart’s leg as he has Owen up for a powerbomb, and Owen locks on the Sharpshooter for the win. What we saw was fine, but they really missed the heart of the match.

Virgil vs Jeff Jarrett

Man, whoever laid out this match deserved firing. Virgil takes 80% of this match, which is ridiculous considering which of the two was getting a push, and it’s not even compelling domination. It’s mostly Virgil working a wristlock on Jarrett with nothing to pop the crowd. The only entertaining thing about Virgil’s domination is Jarrett’s stooging: yelling “I got him” before Virgil reverses a hammerlock, and having this hilarious look of total shock as he goes over on a sunset flip. JJ breaks the wristlock and things speed up a bit….for 30 seconds before Jarrett DDT’s Virgil for the win. A match that helped no-one.

Doink vs “Iron” Mike Sharpe

In many respects, the comically loud Sharpe is the perfect foil for the hijinks of Doink. Sadly, there is very little of note to this squash, as a missed corner charge by Sharpe leads to the Whoopie Cushion for the Doink win. Missed opportunity.

IRS vs Matt Thomas

An IRS squash is not the exciting main event that would have kept me tuned in in 1994. Thomas looks in good shape, but isn’t much cop in the ring, as IRS holds his hand through an armwringer reversal before Thomas almost botches a roll-up. Not that IRS’ offence is much better. He works a dull abdominal stretch section that goes on too long, before pointlessly working over Thomas’ leg for about 30 seconds. I say pointlessly, as the very next move after releasing the leglock is the matchwinning clothesline. Not a good episode of Raw.

WWF Raw 07/02/1994

The Smoking Gunns vs Barry Horowitz & Reno Riggins

Decent little squash to start the night. Riggins and Horowitz are upper-tier jobbers, so they get a little offence to start, hammering Billy in their corner. I loved the Bart Gunn top rope crossbody off the tag which took out both opponents. The Gunns control with a few nice double-teams, nothing mindblowing, but good basic teamwork. They finish with Billy Gunn hitting a top rope elbow on Riggins as Bart held him in an Argentine backbreaker.

Owen Hart vs John Paul

Great work by Owen in this match, his first on Raw since the heel turn. He highlights his new found aggressiveness with some sharp back elbows and uppercuts, which distance him from his old persona. After a lovely backbreaker, he locks in the Sharpshooter for the win.

 

IRS vs Marty Jannetty

Quick tempo to start, as Marty sends IRS from the ring after getting attacked from behind. Jannetty takes a huge bump on the floor after getting sent into the ringpost, but seconds later hits a lazy sunset flip into the ring, with the post bump seemingly having no effect. The Quebeccers come out as we go to break, continuing the Jannetty/Johnny Polo beef, but have been sent to the back by the time we return. IRS makes sure to work in a lengthy abdominal stretch and that spot when he jumps off the top rope onto his opponent’s outstretched foot to make sure I don’t enjoy myself. Marty makes his comeback as a whole load of people come out to the ringside, as Polo is followed by Razor Ramon, who is followed in turn by a returning Quebeccers. This leads to a ref distraction where Polo pushes Marty as he leaps into the ring, and IRS wins. Jannetty and Razor clean house to lead to a tag title match in two weeks time

Thurman “Sparky” Plug vs Duane Gill

Poor old Bob Holly. He’s in an awkward position where he’s kinda portrayed as a high flyer, but he doesn’t do that many high flying moves, so he hits a lot of dropkicks and quick armdrags to show he has speed. I dug the spot where Gill tried to outsmart Plugg by springboarding himself out of the ring, only to meet a punch to the face on the ring apron. Plugg hits a nice powerslam and finishes with a top rope kneedrop (“he calls that the Overhead Cam”, a wretched finisher name)

Crush vs James Thornberg

Surprisingly fun. I loved it early when Thornberg hit two no-sold clotheslines, and Crush grabbed the third and yanked him to the mat for a Fujiwara armbar. Crush’s offence is ok, with a few nice kick combo’s thrown in, and he hits a legdrop for the win.