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 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 10/01/1994

The Quebecers vs Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3

Really fun match, and actually really well booked. Given that the Quebecers were due to defend the tag belts vs Bret and Owen at the Rumble in two weeks, you’d give Kid and Jannetty no chance. The story here was that the Quebecers were looking past their opponents here, which gives Kid and Marty the opening to dominate the early goings with quick tags and some nice double team offence. Loved Jannetty elevating Kid to allow him to hit a high dropkick. During the break, we see Kid/Jannetty had “won” the match following a Jannetty superkick, only for the Quebecer to have his foot on the ropes and the match continue. This normally is used to protect the team that’s going to lose. The Quebecers are still getting overrun, and it takes Pierre pushing Kid off the top rope to the floor to get an advantage. They decimate Kid with some big double teams, including a lovely clothesline/legsweep combo. Jacques piledrives Kid and Pierre hits a top rope cannonball. This should be the end, but the Quebecers are so confident that they go for a second. This allows Jannetty to come in (cheat?) and drag Kid to his corner for the hot tag. Jannetty runs wild and this lets him and Kid hits a suplex/crossbody to pin Jacques for real and the titles. Massive shock result, and a really cleverly booked match. Loved this. 

Ludvig Borga vs Brad Anderson

Pretty crap squash to be honest. Borga is pretty plodding and the most exciting part is probably Anderson hitting a few clotheslines. Borga wins with a torture rack. 

The Undertaker vs Ray Hudson

The description of this episode on the Network describes Hudson, rather sarcastically, as “ever impressive". Another dull squash, with Taker throwing Hudson to the floor for some blows, then throwing him back in for a low elevation chokeslam. Taker finishes with a leaping tombstone. 

Bam Bam Bigelow vs Bastion Booger

This is a heel vs heel match set up by Booger’s lust for Luna causing them to lose a tag match the previous week. They cut a decent tempo here in a match that gets no reaction. Bigelow takes a big bump over the top on a missed charge, so Luna blows kisses to Booger to distract and allow BBB to recover. He does this with a botched slam, a real slam and the diving headbutt to win. Pretty poor.