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 Raw 20/06/1994

Diesel vs Mark Thomas

Thomas is quite a well built jobber, so he’s a good choice to make Diesel look like a beast. Diesel shows a nice little bit of aggression here, hitting a big knee right from the lock up. Thomas decides to bump snake eyes right on top of his head before the Jack-knife finishes. Decent enough.

1-2-3 Kid vs Nikolai Volkoff

Bizarrely, the winner of this match gets a title match against Bret Hart. So, I guess Volkoff’s squash win over a pre-fame Matt Hardy was sufficient to put him in the title frame right away. Kid does a lot here to make Volkoff look good, running with gusto into shoulderblocks and making him look like a brick wall. Volkoff does a few nice bits, good looking butterfly suplex and a pair of press slams into a back breaker, but makes the mistake of picking kid up on 2 counts. Really don’t think you can afford to risk a title match at this stage of your career, Nikolai. Kid seems to jar his knee in the corner, but it turns out he’s faking it to roll up Volkoff for the win. So the title match goes to the man who has to fake an injury to sneak a win over ancient Nikolai Volkoff.

Yokozuna vs Nick Barberi

Love the early contrast as Barberi throws a handful of ineffectual punches before getting felled by one blow from Yoko. Yoko shows some nice aggression, clawing at Barberi’s face whilst choking him, before hitting a belly-to-belly and a legdrop to win.

Typhoon vs the Black Phantom

Pretty basic squash, but I really dug Typhoon’s suplexes. He doesn’t bother hooking an arm, he just puts his opponent in a front facelock and hoists him over with raw power. Looks great. A corner splash and a normal splash get the win.

Heavenly Bodies vs Jim Powers & Russ Greenberg

Oddly, the early stages of this match mark out Powers as more than a handful for both Bodies. Both Del Ray and Pritchard bump around for his generic offence, and even a double team ends with Powers booting one of them in the face and getting a small package on the other. All this whilst Jim Cornette on commentary hypes them as tag title contenders. Very odd. Greenberg is less effective, , eating a superkick right away. Nice Bodies double teams follow – a great elevated DDT, a leaping sideslam and Pritchard holding Greenberg in place for a Del Ray moonsault press. Fun stuff after the odd Powers run.