WWF Monday Night Raw 26/09/1994

Tatanka vs Razor Ramon

This is the first match we’ve seen of Tatanka since his heel turn, and there’s a notable difference in his in-ring style. He’s much more aggressive, and it makes him a more interesting wrestler. He’s exceptionally happy to lay in his stuff here, nailing stiff blows, a nice short clothesline and a nice series of big slams. Nothing fancy, just breaking down Razor with deep blows. Tatanka takes a big bump to the floor when Ramon sidesteps a chop, and I dug Ramon punching Tatanka back down every time he tried to get back on the apron. There’s an overlong abdominal stretch sequence, but this is good fun besides. The end sees a melee on the floor after Ted DiBiase lures Ramon to the floor, with Bam Bam Bigelow and Lex Luger getting involved, and Ramon beats the count for the win. Good stuff.

Kwang vs Rich Myers

Always nice to see squash king Kwang in action. He side steps Myers to start and hits a nice thrust to the throat. Myers gets a nifty high flying head scissors, but that’s his only bit of offence as Kwang casually sidesteps a crossbody attempt, and a lovely leg lariat gives Kwang the win.

1-2-3 Kid vs Kenny David

The match is really just a backdrop for some Bob Backlund shenanigans, giving Randy Savage a dictionary complete with verbose letter. That said, we do get to see a few neat kicks from Kid, with a lovely overhead one in the corner, and some nice running legdrops, followed by a top rope version for three. Plus Vince insulting David’s physical appearance, the perks of being the boss.

Diesel & Shawn Michaels vs Chris Kanyon & Bob Starr

Fun squash, with Kanyon bumping like a boss for the tag champs, Diesel ragdolling him repeatedly into the corner. He at least looks competitive against Shawn for 30 seconds, as Starr gets nothing, eating a delayed suplex and second rope elbow from Shawn and the jack-knife from Diesel. Loved Shawn tagging in after the jack-knife, just for the honour of pinning Starr. After, the new Headshrinkers of Fatu and the fucking BARBARIAN come in and clean house. I remember the new Headshrinkers essentially being lower midcarders, but Barb looked like a beast here.

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 15/08/1994

Owen Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid

Bret vs Kid from a few weeks earlier is the best Raw match we’ve seen so far in 1994, but this isn’t too far off. Owen is so smug at the start of this match, utterly slappable face. He charges Kid from the get go, but runs into a leg lariat, then misses a corner charge at full speed. Kid gets a good chunk of control on a man who is the current #1 contender to the world title, as Owen is unable to shake him off from a headlock, before Kid sends him out of the ring with a dropkick. Kid continues by baseball sliding Owen into Jim Neidhart at ringside, then hits a huge top rope cannonball to the floor. Owen takes over by suplexing Kid from the apron to the floor in a huge bump, Kid’s ankles clipping the railings on the way down. Owen zones in on Kid’s back at this point, hitting two slams into the ringpost, then hitting some lovely looking offence to the spine. Vicious kneedrop, lovely second rope elbow and a ridiculously high elevation backdrop. However, he misses a top rope kneedrop, really crashing down, and Kid takes full advantage. He kicks Owen’s leg away, ties it in the ropes, then locks in a half crab after ducking an enzuigiri. This lures in Neidhart for the save and the unlikely 1-2-3 Kid DQ win. Not sure how this ending makes sense with the upcoming PPV match, as the steel cage meant Neidhart interference was impossible and the next world title contender really should be winning these matches, but the match itself was really good.

Duke “The Dumpster” Droese vs Nick Barberi

Short squash joined in progress with a big Droese slam. Barberi gets a little shine as he hits Dumpster with a few milky elbows, but Droese levels him with a beautiful clothesline. Leaping elbow, which is actually Droese’s least impressive move in this match, gets the three.

Kwang vs Tony Roy

Barely goes two minutes, Kwang clubs Roy down, standing leg lariat then hits a spinning kick for the three. Pointless, though the finishing kick does look good.

Mabel vs Raymond Roy

Not the best Mabel squash, doesn’t really show off his speed or agility. Big necksnap did look good, but we only get a few slams before Roy gets smooshed by a corner splash and a second rope elbow for the win. Some of his best offence, like his full weight belly-to-belly suplex, was sadly missing.

Jeff Jarrett vs Scott Taylor

Another ludicrously short squash, though Jarrett still find time to let Taylor get a few nearfalls. Jarrett’s main character trait is his cockiness, so it makes sense that he’d underestimate his opponent. Taylor misses a crossbody though, and Jarrett zones in on his leg straight away. Figure four gets the quick win. Post match, Mabel comes out to set up their Summerslam match, and Jarrett takes full advantage of the refs stopping Mabel getting in the ring, with big overblown chicken gestures and lying on his back to show the big man how unconcerned he is. Glorious.

WWF Monday Night Raw 27/06/1994

Mabel vs Bam Bam Bigelow

Disappointingly, this is the sole competitive match on this episode, and it only goes a few minutes. What we do get is pretty fun, with two big agile guys colliding with some real impact. This is mainly angle though, as Luna runs distraction, but remains on the apron, so it’s no surprise that she gets sent flying when Bigelow accidentally runs into her. Bigelow goes out to check on her and gets counted out. Pretty blah.

IRS vs Rich Myers

IRS is truly a terrible squash worker. Less than a minute in and he locks in the abdominal stretch, then works basic holds on Myers before getting the win with an STF. Just really dull stuff.

The Headshrinkers vs The Executioners

In contrast, the Headshrinkers know exactly how to work a fun squash. They actually work a bit heelish, ripping at an Executioner’s face and picking him up on two counts. Still, the work is a lot of fun, with hard body slams, quick powerslams and a superkick by Samu that hits flush on the jaw of an Executioner. Samu hits a DDT from the corner that looks a bit clumsy, but the double team Stroke that wins it looks good.

Kwang vs Mike Moraldo

Kwang squashes always deliver the goods. Moraldo looks pretty decent, as he moves well enough that Kwang looks even more impressive when he hits a sudden flash move. They work an early quick tempo, with Moraldo getting a two from a crossbody, but as he gets up Kwang nails a big kick. A throat thrust looks vicious and the running leg lariat in the corner looks terrific. Really liked the ending as Moraldo ducks a big chop, but gets nailed with a huge kick as he gets up for the win. Really fun stuff.

Lex Luger vs Dave Thornberg

This was basically Luger vs a wrestling dummy, as he ploughs through his opponent in a straightforward manner. Luger’s huge clothesline looks great before the torture rack gets 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 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. 

WWF Raw 28/2/1994

Randy Savage vs Yokozuna

Even though you knew Savage wasn’t going to win this match so close to Mania, they still did a good job of building this up, including Savage talking about doing the right thing and defending the title vs Luger and Bret. This was a really good effort from both men, with Savage setting a high tempo early by attacking Yoko before the bell. Savage is on fire, getting a close 2 on a clotheslines, and though Yoko tries to subdue him on the mat, Savage is too resilient and evades a Yoko splash. I liked Savage knocking Yoko to the outside, but really struggling to get the big man back in the ring. It made Savage look good, as if Yoko was only just holding on, and it allowed Jim Cornette to distract Savage and give Yokozuna the opening he needed to take control. They’re putting Savage over strongly here, so he soon regain control, and I loved Yoko’s wobble-selling as Savage hits a series of punches and a double-ax handle to try and knock him down. The end sees Fuji handing a wooden salt bucket to Yoko, only for Savage to grab it and use it himself. Flying elbow looks to have won it, but Crush comes in for the DQ. Really good bout.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Mike Khoury

Bland squash. Bigelow mainly hits punches and drops some elbows, though I liked him catching Khoury on a crossbody and hitting a World’s Strongest Slam. Standing enzuigiri gives Bigelow the win.

Earthquake vs Black Phantom

Phantom was a pre-fame, in-good-shape Gangrel. This was pretty enjoyable, including a fun spot where Quake dropped an elbow when Phantom did a dropdown from a Irish whip. Nice fat man dropkick from Earthquake, and a slam and sitdown splash finish.

Kwang vs John Chrystal

The Kwang gimmick sucked, but this is the second fun Kwang squash we’ve seen. Nice series of kicks, big meaty slams and a nice superkick to the jaw to win. No complaints here.

Men On A Mission vs the Brooklyn Brawler & Steve Smith

It’s for the best to pretend the Mo sections didn’t happen. His offense never looks good, and he’s pretty pointless. Mabel is really fun as the dominating force, hitting a massive legdrop on the Brawler, though his elbow drop only seems to graze Smith. Assisted splash on Smith gets the job done.

WWF Raw 31/01/1994

Dull episode of Raw here. A lot of time is taken up with the Bret Hart/Lex Luger Wrestlemania X cointoss, and not much in the way of in-ring action

Marty Jannetty vs Johnny Polo

Here’s tonight’s big match, and it’s the opener featuring a manager as a competitor. This really isn’t very good, and you suspect Polo has been told not to look too competent, as this is way worse than his Scotty Flamingo stuff. I liked the opening comedy, where Polo tried to attack Jannetty, who was holding a mic, only to end up getting tied up by Marty in the cable. Jannetty is one step ahead, even landing on his feet when thrown to the floor and rushing back to hit a crossbody for two. Polo takes control going into the break, and keeps holding Marty down with chinlocks, as well as hitting a spectacularly blown back bodydrop, where Marty kind of skids over his back. Control transitions back to Marty via my least favourite reversal – the heel tries a double axehandle to lying-down opponent but gets a boot to the face instead – and he finishes with a Rocker Dropper for 3. Polo really was no fun in control, and he controlled too much of it.

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Miguel Rosado

Half-hearted squash of the pot-bellied Rosado here, who tries a really shitty dropkick early on. I liked Bam Bam just hurling him across the ring, but this is very by the numbers. A diving headbutt, not even from the top, gives Bigelow the win.

Kwang vs Rich Myers

Myers has offence so weak he makes Dolph Ziggler look like Super Dragon. Kwang actually looked ok here, dug his big over-the-top-rope corner spin kick, and he had a few nice kick combos. Kwang hits a few throat thrusts whilst holding Myers by the hair, stopping him falling down, and a superkick gets three. Perfectly fine

 Earthquake vs Corey Student

Decent squash for the returning Quake. Nice belly-to-belly, big running clothesline and a running corner splash all looked great, before he hit the seated splash for the win. Enjoyed this.