Pro Wrestling Love #75: Best of Monday Night RAW (July 1994 - December 1994)

 Hey Yo,

I am going to launch a product this year baby! As a gift to myself going to type this up, four months after the fact. Lets see what I remember.

My big takeaway from 1994 was is that it is not as good relative to 1993 and 1995 as people make it out to be. As I stated in the January-June blog post, I think having Bret Hart as Champion and having two of the best matches in WWF history on WrestleMania X leave people with a rosier picture of 1994. 

It is not a bad year per se, but it is a boring one. I wonder how much that is due to the steroid trial. With the lack of direction from Vince, maybe they were playing it safe and were not running as many angles for that reason.

Looking through the matches, I watched obviously the widely-acclaimed Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid match stands out, which is still a contender for the best RAW match of all time. It is an expert Bret Hart performance as he demonstrates why he is the King of the Face vs Face match and why he would have excelled as a touring World Heavyweight Champion. He has the uncanny ability of playing the subtle heel in a babyface vs babyface match without turning himself heel. It is strongest trait by far and why no matter his other faults, he is one of the greatest of all-time. Ultimately though Bret Hart title reign was stale. After Owen's win, the addition of Neidhart and Bulldog did not do much, but the RAW tag match was very good and I had not seen that before. Even moreso I recommend the February 1995 Action Zone match where they replace Jim Neidhart with Bob Backlund which takes a very good match and makes it a classic. The Bob Backlund turn added some spark. Overall, it is a dull title reign. 

There is a really tough stretch from September to October that is a microcosm of why 1994 WWF was so stale as it featured...Tatanka, Duke The Dumpster Droese, Kwang, Jim The Anvil Nedihart (who was a house show World Title challenger!), and not-Matt-Borne Doink. 

The Kliq which is usually good for some workrate, left all on Action Zone with their tremendous Tag Team Title Match which is a contender for the best WWF Tag Team Match of all time. When they were asked to perform, which was surprisely sparse they did deliver. Diesel had the best Lex Luger match of his WWF tenure (which is a low bar), but it was a very good match. Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon had a good long form match in August and Razor/Diesel had a good little match right before Survivor Series which was Diesel's last match as a heel. 

The Diesel World Title does really feel like it comes out of nowhere. Having watched the aforementioned Diesel/Razor match close the RAW before Survivor Series and the next week Diesel is introduced as the Champion even though Bret vs Backlund was the World Title Match at Survivor Series must have been shocking for fans at the time as they dont really tip their hand to it at all. Bret was a solid champion, but would have been a better champion in the NWA in the 70s and 80s. I dont begrudge Vince trying to shake things up. I was shocked how bad of a promo Big Sexy was during his Diesel title reign. All that cool, sardonic charisma he has in the NWO is not evident at all in the Diesel title reign. It reminds me of Stunning Steve Austin vs Stone Cold Steve Austin. It goes to a talking point I have about wrestlers is that about 90% of them are shitty actors, which is why they have to be themselves turned up to 11. Stunning Steve Austin and Big Daddy Cool were NOT who Austin and Nash were. They were Stone Cold and Big Sexy. Once they dropped the acting and were just themselves they got over because they charismatic, cool cats. 

Really the last thing I have to say is that I cant believe Bob Backlund vs Lex Luger exists! Two of my favorites who I never think of crossing paths actually had a match! Unfortunately, it is only just decent, but it is cool that exists. Also, the fact that if Randy Savage had stayed in WWF, we would have most likely gotten Backlund vs Savage is a huge what if for me. That could have been bitchin'!

Date	Match	Rating
July 4, 1994	Jeff Jarrett vs Tatanka	DNW
July 11, 1994	Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid	4.25
July 18, 1994	Diesel vs Lex Luger	3.75
July 25, 1994	Tatanka vs Nikolai Volkoff	DNW
July 25, 1994	Yokozuna vs Adam Bomb	DUD
August 1, 1994	Shawn Michaels vs Razor Ramon	3.5
August 1, 1994	Alundra Blayze vs Bull Nakano	DNW
August 8, 1994	Bam Bam Bigelow & IRS vs Doink & Tatanka	DNW
August 15, 1994	Owen Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid	3.25
September 12, 1994	Undertaker vs Kwang	DNW
September 19, 1994	Jerry Lawler vs Duke The Dumpster Droese	DNW
September 26, 1994	Razor Ramon vs Tatanka	DUD
October 3, 1994	British Bulldog vs Jim The Anvil Neidhart	DNW
October 10, 1994	Lex Luger vs Bam Bam Bigelow	DUD
October 17, 1994	Jeff Jarrett vs Doink The Clown	DNW
October 24, 1994	Razor Ramon vs Yokozuna	Not in full
October 31, 1994	Lex Luger vs Bob Backlund	2.5
November 7, 1994	Bret Hart & British Bulldog vs Owen Hart & Jim The Anvil Neidhart	3.75
November 14, 1994	Bob Backlund vs 1-2-3 Kid	Not in full
November 21, 1994	Razor Ramon vs Diesel	3.25
November 28, 1994	IRS vs Adam Bomb	DNW
December 5, 1994	Jeff Jarrett vs British Bulldog	3.25
December 12, 1994	Bob Backlund vs Doink The Clown	DNW
December 19, 1994	Lex Luger vs IRS	DNW
December 26, 1994	British Bulldog vs Tatanka	DNW

Best Match is obviously Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid, but two very good matches that fly under the radar definitely check out Diesel vs Lex Luger and the Hart Family Clash of Bret/Bulldog vs Owen/Neidhart. The former really helped me turn a corner on Nash. He was highly motivated in his WWF run and having watched him 1994/1995 I can easily say he would not make my Top 100 Worst Wrestlers of all time. Before, it would have been because I have soft spot for him, BUT now I objectively think he is a good wrestler and that Luger match is a huge testament to that. I am a big, big Luger fan, but I have to admit his WWF tenure sucked and a good chunk of that is Luger's fault. So yeah check that out and watch plenty of Diesel in 94-95 and I think youll change your mind!

WWF World Heavyweight Champion Bret Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 7/11/94

 

Bret was simultaneously the best babyface and heel in the WWF between 93-97. Nobody worked a better heat segment on top than Bret. His offense is pristine as it is brutal. Those European uppercuts were just rocking the hell out of Kid. He was blasting him the whole match his kicks were great. I don't know if Bret, who is an excellent offensive wrestler, ever looked better on offense than here. He absolutely looked unstoppable. The Bulldog at the end was ferocious. Kid was selling like a million bucks and really timing those hope spots well. I loved how Bret was squashing those flash pinfall attempts. From the outset, I just didn't think Kid had a good strategy. You want to grind with Bret? I just don't think that's wise. Bret's facial reactions to this were great. The way he was like who does he think he is with those takedowns. Give Kid credit he was staying with Bret and Bret was having a hard time escaping the holds. Obviously I am talking kayfabe here, but I just don't see this as a winning strategy against Bret. Flash pins and kicking Bret's head off were way better chances to win this match. You see Bret bury the knee deep into the abdomen. I love the kneelift. It was a great one. See how Bret regroups, causally stomps the abdomen. He has totally taken the wind out of the Kid's sails. Great selling by Kid. This is that heat segment I was talking about. The restart with Bret saying Kid's foot was on the ropes was a great way to keep Bret babyface. The Kid's comeback was great because it all started with kicks to the head. Spinwheel kick, jumping back kick and dropkick all to the head. He really knocked Bret for a loop. The legdrop off the top was a great nearfall. The crash and burn off the somersault splash was great. You knew these high risk moves would backfire and they did. The superplex reversal by Kid into a pinfall was a great last gasp even though I have seen this match like three times before, my eyes popped for that. Kid goes hard into the turnbuckles ass first on a dropkick. GREAT BUMP! Great piece of psychology. AWESOME BULLDOG BY BRET! The press slam off the top was stupid but with this being such a NWA World Title match it was cute to see Bret do the Flair spot. Bret catches Kid off the top with the Sharpshooter. Not the best way to get to the finish, but a great finish nonetheless.

 

Incredible match. Bret is ruthless and kicks so much ass. Kid is all heart, all guts. Selling and just throwing his body out in reckless abandon. Bret withstands that one big push from the Kid and lets the Kid make the mistake after mistake at the end. Eventually is able to wrap up the victory, but not without some close calls. Bret Hart has looked amazing in these 90s matches. ****1/4

WWF Intercontinental Champion Diesel vs Lex Luger - WWF RAW 7/18/94

Is Kevin Nash good at wrestling? I remember reading a tweet from Eric of Segunda Caida many years ago basically stating Kevin Nash was good at wrestling. I was dumbfounded. I love Big Sexy, dont get me wrong, but I love him the same way I love Sid. He is just a cool big muthafucka. I never really considered him good at wrestling. I was really open-minded to this idea, but had no desire to watch US Wrestling from the 90s. This match opened my eyes. That cool, big muthafucka was pretty damn good in this match. Easily, Lex Luger's best match in the WWF, I will be surprised if there is any better. I thought Luger was good in this match, but Diesel was really good. 

There were some Kliq-isms, which if it was anyone else, you might just bat your eye and say "Oh that was an interesting wrinkle", but with the Kliq, I think you always have to in the back of your mind, how much is this serving them and their refusal to look weak or show ass. In a lot of ways, they innovated that for heels. Scott Hall was good to be a stooge, but Shawn/HHH/Nash always liked looking strong. Two instances, I felt it stand out, Luger went to go for the double noggin knocker while both were on the outside, but instead they each tripped Luger and yanked him outside for more punishment. The other is customary bump is for the babyface in a sleeper to lunge towards a turnbuckle, but duck so the heel eats it. Nash pumps the brakes and sends Luger into the buckles. Savage goes on commentary "Not only is he strong, he is smart". Just reinforced that Kliq mentality of showing up the babyface. That being said, it was 1994, I do watch a lot of pro wrestling so I did like the wrinkles because it made me pop a little. I wouldnt advocate for it, but it was interesting, I will give them that. 

Overall, this was a great power-based, workrate match. Again, as mentioned above, not much of a shine. Diesel even piefaced Luger out of the ring early. There was a lot of little shit like that the more I think of it. Luger did get a powerslam. He took a great Dustin-esque bump to the floor. There was one cutoff, I think out of the chinlock, where he SMOKED Luger with a Big Boot that legit popped me. I liked switching to sleeper that saved the heat segment to me. I thought Nash did a great job with the weeble wobble sell feeding Luger's clothesline. The clothesline and the Bionic Forearm are too similar of moves. I liked the Torture Rack off the ref bump a lot. Shawn hitting Superkick to the back of Luger was so weird. You just dont think of Lex Luger and Shawn Michaels ever interacting. It just not two dudes you would have thought ever existed in the same space. Luger kicks out. Razor comes out because he is beefing with both and Summerslam is around the corner. Razor chases Shawn into the ring and that triggers the Double DQ. 

It is not the "stickiest" of matches but for a 1994 WWF the work is really good and tight, lots of effort and they brought the energy. It definitely felt like the Kliq meets Crockett in a very good way. I dug this a lot. *** 3/4

Yokozuna vs Adam Bomb - WWF RAW 7/25/94

Man how the mighty have fallen. They knew that still had some money left in Yokozuna in losing to Undertaker but they couldnt go to that well until the Fake Undertaker angle was completed. It was an interesting concept for an angle, but one fumbled in execution. As for Yokozuna, it is actually quite shocking how far the Mighty Yokozuna had fallen. The most effective heel World Champion in WWF since Superstar Graham and he is doing jobs for Earthquake and eeking out countout victories over Adam Bomb, who barely qualifies as a midcarder. It was very strange booking. 

I have seen Wrath and Kronik matches, but never an Adam Bomb match. What the fuck was Adam Bomb supposed to be? I guess maybe a successor to an Ultimate Warrior or a Road Warrior. What the fuck is the hook? He is not dissimilar than his Kronik partner, Crush/Bryan Adams. A really big dude with very little charisma. I would say Clark/Wrath/Bomb had a slightly better look, but not much better in the ring. The Crush match in 1993 had a much better post-match angle so that elevates it, but the actual work is not that much different. Yoko is the total ring general in this match. Adam Bomb is a freshly minted babyface having dropped Harvey Whippleman. Yoko takes the beginning of the match to establish himself as a mountain. He feeds and weeble wobbles for Bomb before he takes him down and Yoko bumps through middle rope in a classic Yoko bump. After the commercial break, Yoko hits a headbutt, a couple clotheslines, and a nerve pinch. They do another weeble wobble spot this time Adam Bomb hits a DDT as  punctuation mark and then a flying clothesline. Thats Adam Bomb big moment. Fucking KWANG~! and Harvey Whippleman come out and KWANG~! trips Bomb. Bomb beats up Kwang pretty easily and he pressed Harvey, but Bomb was counted out. Yoko could NOT even beat Adam Fucking Bomb. Pretty fucking lame. This was a lame match.  

Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels - WWF RAW 8/1/94

 

Macho Man is on fire referencing that Vince & WWF had just defeated the US DOJ in court. Vince was great with his false modesty, knowing him, he was loving it. For some mysterious reason, Shawn Michaels has not wrestled since WrestleMania X. It is funny that in time period that is so well-researched that Shawn Michaels' four month absence from in-ring is a completely unexplained. This is a very good RAW match that is given plenty of time. Two things stood out to me, how well Shawn Michaels bumped and how quickly they made sure they went to payoff spots. I think they were always quick to give the fans something to pop for. For example, Shawn Michaels trips up Razor and steps him on, but immediately eats a right hand and takes a big bump. I liked Shawn going to each side of the ring only to eat a fist. Shawn gets a nice eyepoke. I thought Shawn was a pretty good heel in this and used Diesel effectively. They did the shine very interesting with Shawn stringing 2-3 moves, but then getting cutoff. Liked Razor catching and then chucking him into fallaway slam. The catapult bump over the top rope onto Diesel was great, as was the press slam off the top and that HIGH back body drop. It was funny watching Scott Hall work a workrate sprint and really not miss a beat. Good general back work on Michaels. They finally go to heat proper with Razor getting thrown over the top (great bump) and then Diesel getting involved. Michaels' Sweet Chin Music still needs some work, he calls for the Piledriver, but backdropped. The finish stretch is very high-end workrate for the time and WWF. Michaels doing a top rope reverse crossbody. Razor punches Diesel and then ducks Shawn with the belt, but in the commotion eats a boot from Diesel. The match was nothing extraordinary, but I thought Shawn's bumping and setting up and delivering on a lot of payoffs was really cool. Definitely a very good early RAW match. ***1/2

Owen Hart vs 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 8/15/94

Kid had such a weird 94. The beginning has nice continuity with the Quebecers and climaxing of winning the tag belts on RAW. I don’t know if the situation with Marty screwed him over as he basically doesn’t have a program for the rest of the year. He just has killer 4+ star matches when called upon against Owen at KOTR, Bret on Raw and the Kliq Action Zone tag. A lot of people would kill for a year they good but there’s a whole lot of nothing in between the matches. Seemingly, this one other big featured Kid bout of 94, it is not as good as the KOTR 94 match but that’s the best sub 5 minute match ever so it is feed to compare.

I really liked the match after the commercial break. I found the match before the ad break to be very noisy. It was a lot of disjointed spots/sequences kind of grouped together. I liked Kid outfoxing Owen early nailing a kick and avoiding charge and getting a near fall. Then the transitions just become random. Some arm work by each guy then some headlocks by each guy. Owen gets enziguiri and Kid gets a spinning heel kick. You get Macho shouting DOUBLE KIP UP! Maybe they were going for symmetry but Owen was using a lot of hair pulling. It just didn’t connect. To further that point you do get a Kid dive before the ad break and an Owen dive after the ad break. I like symmetry BUT it didn’t feel right in this match.

I thought after the ad break it was a totally different match and a vast departure from KOTR style. This was Owen the bully heel which like Shawn is something you almost never get to see. That’s the value of Kid he allows these smaller heavyweights to get to play the bully. It is set up by a wicked suplex from apron to floor. Then the dive and a hard slap across the face. The bully shit kicks in with the back breakers to the ring post. The really targeted back work by Owen is excellent. He missed a top rope move landing on his knees. Kid makes a spirited comeback kicking the leg. Kid slaps on a single leg crab. I really thought they had something special, but Anvil doesn’t let them explore it as he attacks Kid triggering the DQ. 
 

The finish makes the match feel incomplete. Sometimes a DQ finish just feels right in the context of a match but this one, it felt too soon. Plus won at KOTR and could’ve used another win going into Summerslam so not only was timing off, it was not the right finish. Another 5-10 minutes I think they could’ve made up for the beginning and delivered another classic but that ain’t what happened. ***1/4 

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Tatanka - WWF RAW 9/26/94

The trio of WWF Midcard acts I have avoiding are Crush, Savio Vega and Tatanka. I have legitimately watched enough Crush to know I don’t care for him. There’s something about Vega and Tatanka that’s so lame it is off-putting just seeing their name on the screen. I out of my big boy pants to watch to say I’ve seen every 1994 IC Title from TV. Probably the 3rd biggest match of Tatanka career besides the WrestleMania IX and the Luger RAW match. A strange matchup as Tatanka was feuding with Luger and Razor was still in Shawn/Diesel orbit.

I have said before Razor is the King of 3 star match I mean that as a compliment because he has sold, good to very matches. He is reliable to be always be good. Hall/Razor stock has really risen with me. He went from someone I just liked because he was a childhood favorite to someone respect as someone as the best to ever do it. They being said this was probably his most boring match. Between this and Luger match, Tatanka is as boring and as basic as I expected him to be. There was really no structure to the match. Razor was nominally upending Tatanka and besting him at every turn. It was the usual good punches and some arm work. Tatanka was throwing chops and elbows. It was so basic. The transition to heat was a Tatanka snapping Razor throat across the rope. The climax was an abdominal stretch. The near fall was a body slam. This was like so lame. Razor came back hit his super back suplex but he gets distracted by Ted DiBiase. Luger comes to help. Bigelow attacks him to set up their match in 2 weeks. Melee ensure. Tatanka gets counted out. Nothing to see here. Keep it moving. 

Lex Luger vs Bam Bam Bigelow - WWF RAW 10/10/94

I wanted to capture a Lex Luger vs Million Dollar Corporation match because it was such a significant part of Luger’s WWF run. At this point, he was still #3 babyface in WWF and the whole sellout angle was heavily pushed on RAW. What really killed him was Diesel turning baby face and Shawn Michaels as well that really dropped him to the midcard. Luger has to take some personal responsibility as these performances have not exactly lit the world on fire.

I was not expecting much out of this as Luger has been lighting it up in WWF and Bam Bam Bigelow is one of my least favorite wrestlers of the 90s. True to form this is decidely average. It is interesting that  Bam Bam is being used as gatekeeper for Tatanka. I would have thought Bigelow was higher on the pecking order than Tatanka. Tatanka ends up costing Bigelow the match and Vince really drives home how much they are arguing so the seeds for the baby face turn are already there. Luger/Tatanka is the “hot” story coming out of Summerslam.

In addition to Tatanka, Sexy Nikki V and DiBiase are at ringside and the human condominium King Kong Bundy which made me laugh saunters out. IRS is also MDC 4 LIFE but is not present. The match itself is as basic as basic gets. Bam Bam gets early advantage from the distraction. Luger uses clothesline and punches to take back over. Works in and out of an arm bar. Bigelow gets a weird power slam but misses the top rope headbutt. I think this is when Bundy comes down and Bam Bam takes back over. The weird duo of Adam Bomb and Mabel prove Luger has friends. Bam Bam goes for what I think is a Frankensteiner but Luger bumps backwards and Bigelow takes a flat back. The best part is they show a replay and Vince/Savage gush over this terrible spot. At one point Vince calls the Torture Rack the Rebel Rack which is a horrible name. Luger never attempts it. Luger comes back with clotheslines. Tatanka gets up on the apron and Bigelow runs into him. Schoolboy.

Just a pretty lame match. It is the type of match that would never happen today and it gives 20th Century wrestling a bad name. 

Lex Luger vs Bob Backlund - WWF RAW 10/31/94

LEX LUGER VS BOB BACKLUND!!! Now this I have to watch, it seems random on paper and even at the time because Backlund was beefing with Bret while Luger had feuding with Tatanka yet we get this Marty Sleeze Dream Match. 

Unfortunately, it seems a woke up in the middle of this good dream. It was humming along nicely and if this was given 15-25 minutes could have produced a beaut. I loved Luger throwing all of Backlund's usual shine shit back at him. We had the arm drags, the single leg pickups and generally discombobulating Backlund. All that was missing a wrenched in headlock. Backlund started to work the arm, got a nice organic belly to belly and a hammerlock slam. I would have liked a more emphatic transition to heat, but the work was great. Coming back from the break, Backlund was still working away before Luger came roaring back with a Powerslam. He looked like he was going to Rack him up, BUT Tatanka came out. Backlund applied the dreaded Crossface Chickenwing and before Luger could submit Tatanka attacked Luger, which was weird. Backlund applied it again, but Savage made the save. 

Were we going to get Savage vs Backlund?!? Now I got a serious case of blue balls. Tatanka setting up the finish with distraction made sense, but I guess they did not want Luger to submit but they wanted the hold applied. Why didnt they just have Tatanka attack, trigger the DQ, Crossface Chickenwing, Savage save. That is so much more logical. Anyways, I thought they were on pace to have a great championship-style match, but then it just ended. 

Bret Hart & British Bulldog vs Owen Hart & Jim The Anvil Neidhart - WWF RAW 11/7/94

Since no one had really talked this up, I thought I found a hidden gem, but apparently everyone is just really lukewarm on it. Weird, because I am not a huge fan of Stampede style tag team matches, but I thought this was every bit as good as them so I thought this would warrant more love. 

It is pretty shocking in retrospect how much Bret Hart's signature title reign was spent against Owen. According to Cagematch, besides the televised title defenses against Backlund, Kid and Diesel, all the house show title defenses were against Owen, until they switched over to Anvil, oof. They made a big deal in the Action Zone match to say that would be the last Owen challenge so that was blown off on TV. Now it is time to give away the tag team match on TV. 

I enjoyed this as a Stampede style match with Owen basically filling in for Dynamite Kid and doing strange bedfellows tag. Nice to hear Vince acknowledge Bret/Anvil were tag champs. Slam bang start. Babyfaces whip the heels into each other and Bulldog press slams Owen from the ring to the floor onto Anvil, helluva spot. Always a Sleeze Pleaser. I thought Bret/Bulldog did a great really putting Owen/Anvil on their back foot during the shine, really overwhelming them with fast break offense. Bulldog was really throwing Owen around. I was disappointed by the transition to heat. The spinwheel kick is great, but Owen is supposed to be this brat heel. I would have rather seen some cheating like a Hart Foundation style sliding knee to the back (which we do see later). I liked the heat segment on Bulldog it did go a little long and maybe one too many chinlocks but there was a lot of action in and out of the chinlocks. Anvil throwing gutwrenches and powerslams was a delight. The start of the heat segment was Bret chasing Owen around the ring only for Owen to hit the Hart Attack on Bulldog. Great spot! Heel miscommunication sets up the Bret Hot Tag which I thought was very good, really liked the reverse crossboy onto Owen out of a standing ten count punch to Anvil. They fake us out with a possible double FIP with Owen hitting the sliding knee and during ref distraction a top rope elbow on Bret as he was pinning Anvil. That was great! Bulldog trips Owen and Bret applies the Sharpshooter on Anvil to win. 

I dont think this is as good as the Action Zone tag pitting Bret/Bulldog vs Owen/Backlund, but I still thought this was very good. They were given plenty of time and there was a lot of slam bang action throughout. The shine and the Hart Attack were really good. *** 3/4 

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Diesel - WWF RAW 11/21/94

The last Diesel match before his baby face turn and WWF Championship victory. I don’t think anyone would’ve predicted yet next week on RAW Diesel would be Heavyweight Champion of the World. This is non-title but the rubber match. Diesel won IC Title in April and Razor won it back at Summerslam. This the go home show to Survivor Series and they are playing up the Diesel team vs Razor team dynamics. Lots of dissension between Diesel and Michael’s. The Teamsters jumped Razor at the beginning of the show in the entrance ramp so the match got moved to the end of the show. I am surprised they didn’t run Diesel/Razor in 95 they had great chemistry and it would have required a Razor heel turn but they desperately needed heels in 95. Just a thought.

A really Lo-fi but fun match between these two. I don’t think Razor hit an angle high spot but his stinging right hand was more than enough to keep this scintillating. Razor came in hot off the beat down just tagging everything that moved with rights. I should say both teams are presence. Some liberal Shawn Michaels interference is peppered throughout the match. Diesel himself is just working massive knee lifts and elbows. He shows off his length with his boot to the throat and a sleeper. Anytime Razor gets some momentum Shawn interferes. Diesel gets the Snake Eyes and the straddle comes off great with Shawn holding the hair and Diesel crashing down. Throughout this Razor is never dying and is always fighting back. He backs drops out of the Jacknife. As expected the whole thing breaks down first Jarrett ends up in the ring and then Owen is flung into Diesel and then leads to everyone coming in and a melee ensues to send us to Survivor Series. I enjoyed this as a Lo-fi slugfest. *** 1/4 

Jeff Jarrett vs British Bulldog - WWF RAW 12/5/94

I have a soft spot for both these guys because I started watching in the Summer of 1997. Both always come off uneven to me unless they are in the ring against Bret or Shawn. I earmarked this as something I was interested to see how it unfolded. It was very much a Jarrett match. It was very uneven. The shine was terrific and easily the best part of the match. The heat segment left something to be desired. I feel like all the criticisms laid at Shawn Michaels should be weighted tenfold against Jarrett. He really has no offense and the WWF house style does him no favors so you get a lot of chin locks. I would say the match is more hit than miss but disappointing.

Like I said loved the shine. Jarrett is celebrating the smallest arm drags and takedowns with the Fargo Strut and Reclining On The Top Rope. He goes to hip toss Bulldog, nothing doing, tries again, nah nah, and now Bulldog sends Jarrett flying. We get the worst looking strut from the Bulldog but it is endearing. Bulldog mows him down with a shoulder tackle. Great bump. Headlock - Headscissors Bulldog is rolling. Bulldog delayed Vertical. I thought was watching the second best Jarrett in WWF match. Jarrett clocks Bulldog with a right when Bulldog goes up top. Here comes the chin locks. Shawn Michaels is on commentary makes some good Bulldog napping jokes in reference to how long Bulldog was out during Survivor Series. Jarrett does a couple moves off the top neither is graceful. We trade a couple high spots with Jarrett getting a Bulldog on the Bulldog and the irony was not lost on Vince and Shawn. Bulldog gets a Fisherman Suplex which Shawn says no one ever wins with that move. Quite the swipe at Curt Hennig, wonder what that was about. Jarrett gets the best right hand of the match. Jarrett clearly knows how to work a great shine but his next best move is hai punch but WWF doesn’t really work brawls except on special occasions and that hurt Jarrett. Again the chin lock it was at least 3 if not four. Bulldog begins his comeback inverted atomic drop always a Sleeze Pleezer and then back drop. Mows him down with three clotheslines. Jarrett bails but Bulldog Military Presses him in the aisle way and tosses him back in the ring. Very cool and impressive high spot. Wait what’s this someone is hanging onto Bulldog. Jarrett wins by countout. Shawn says Bulldog was caught sleeping again. lol. It is the Roadie! Except he has not been named yet. So in case anyone was wondering this is the debut of the Roadie.

Both these guys had quiet 1994s but were poised for new programs. Jarrett would have the best stretch of his first WWF run coming up now armed with Roadie he feels like an upper mid card act. He gets featured bouts against Bret Hart and a title shot against Diesel on RAW and wins the IC Title against Razor Ramon at Rumble which kinda feels like a mild upset in this context. Bulldog was about to have the opposite trajectory as he was destined for midcard hell to be partnered with Lex Luger against the Million Dollar Corporation. This December-February stretch is littered with Luger vs MDC, Bulldog vs MDC or them together vs MDC on RAW. It is something I’m going to skip. It looks like Luger vs IRS from later this month and Bulldog vs Tatanka the week after is how the Allied Powers were born. Anyways, the finish is lame but it gets the Roadie over and establishes him as Jarrett’s new buddy. Take out the Jarrett chin locks this is a really good match, with them it is just good. Elevated a little by how much I loved the shine. ***1/4 

Pro Wrestling Love #74: Best of WWF Monday Night RAW (January 1994-June 1994)

 Hey yo,

Classic MartMan, I did all this work from September 2024 to December 2024 and I am writing the summary in late February 2025. So I am a bit fuzzy, but I will try to remember my conclusions. 

My recollection is that 1994 is much more boring that the second half of 1993. Seemingly over night, Vince went back to his standard style of booking, which is shoot one angle every month or two and just let it ride out. He was no longer booking week to week like he was in the second half of 1993. Booking week to week is more of a Southern phenomenon, which was borne out of necessity because they were essentially weekly territories. So if the same people were going to see you every week, you needed to shoot angles every week. However Northern territories such as WWF and AWA running monthly loops only needed to shoot an angle once a month. You actually see once the Attitude Era ends that Vince goes back to the style of booking he cut his teeth on. In the 21st Century, he often would shoot an angle after the PPV, then it is 3-ish weeks of just reiterating the same talking points until the PPV. Obviously there were some exceptions, but that was his norm. That's why WWE TV was never compelling on a week to week basis in the 21st Century. 1994 has that feel. 

In terms of some positives, the Quebecers were the MVPs of September 1993 through May 1994. The 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty which had been a week to week storyline with Johnny Polo since October paid off so well on the 1 Year Anniversary of RAW. It was that perfect feel-good underdog victory. 1-2-3 Kid went from unexpected victory against Razor in May 93 to a Champion at 1 Year Anniversary of RAW. The 1-2-3 Kid story arc was the best story arc of the first year of RAW. I often write in my reviews that there is an alternate universe where Kid & Marty rule the WWF Tag Team Division from 1994-1996 as the New Generation Rockers and it would fucking rule!

January 1994 was this bizzaro month where WWF had like the best tag team roster of all time with Quebecers, Kid/Marty, Bret/Owen, Steiners and Headshrinkers. It was a sick month for tag team wrestling. Just to finish up on the tag teams, the Quebecers/Headshrinkers title change is a shit ton of fun. I highly recommend it. It is also an end of an era. It is the last time the WWF feels like a viable division until the Edge & Christian/Hardyz/Dudleyz. Quebecers feel like the last classic Golden Age WWF tag team. They are like a WWF version of Midnight Express.

I am surprised that there is not more chatter about Randy Savage vs Yokozuna. It is a WWF World Title defense on a RAW; it is one of the last great Randy Savage matches in WWF and it is in the running for the best Yokozuna match of all time. Along with the Quebecers/Kid&Marty, it is one of those times that RAW feels must-see and have a big match feel. It is an easy example that Randy Savage had plenty of gas in the tank. To me, it was cut & dry and a clearly mutual beneficial departure. Savage wanted to wrestle more and he had more to give thus going to WCW benefitted him. But it also benefitted WWF, WWF was promoting a New Generation and Randy Savage just didnt fit in the system any more. 

After February, things get dire. The Bret/Owen angle happened on the Royal Rumble and they never really do another angle post-WrestleMania. The Owen upset victory over Bret in an instant 5 star classic is enough steam to get them to the next PPV, but they went with Diesel at KOTR and they didnt really do much with Bret/Owen on RAW. The Bret title reign is actually pretty dull in the grand scheme of things. Yes, the Bob Backlund heel turn is great, but that is on Superstars. There really is not much in the way of depth to the Bret Title Reign. The Bret title reign lives and dies by its PPV matches, the 1-2-3 Kid RAW match and Backlund Superstar match. Yes the matches are great, but there is not a lot of depth and there are really no angles/storylines to really enhance the reign.

Also there was a real thinning of the main event scene in early 1994. Undertaker went on sabbatical after Royal Rumble and if you look at how 93-94 are booked, it is the Undertaker, NOT Bret is the main eventer. He closes 3 out of 5 PPVs and the two he didnt, he was on break. It is he not Bret that closes Summerslam and Survivor Series. In the Summer, it is Undertaker/Underfaker and did Lex Luger sell out are the main angles going into Summerslam NOT Bret vs Owen. In fact, Ted DiBiase much like Adrian Adonis in 1986 is the straw that stirs the WWF drink. Continuing on the thread of the thinning main event, by having Lex Luger choke at the Rumble and WrestleMania, it pretty much killed any chance of him being in the main event again, BUT they did effectively use him in the midcard with the Million Dollar Corporation sellout angle and Tatanka. Finally, there was Yokozuna, who they clearly knew there was some money in him jobbing to Survivor Series. Then they really did not do much with him at all between WrestleMania and Survivor Series, he did not even do anything at Summerslam. 

The last crew to look at is the Kliq. We have covered 1-2-3 Kid and there is no HHH, so there's 3 remaining. There is Shawn Michaels' bizarre and to my knowledge unexplained absence from the ring. He was doing a weekly talk show called Heartbreak Hotel and was basically Big Daddy Cool's mouthpiece. Not having Shawn and Bret wrestle on a weekly basis really hurt the WWF. The Diesel mega push was on, but it didnt really take place on RAW. The IC Title victory which is fun, short sprint on Superstars and then he has the WWF Title match on King of the Ring. Because Razor dropped the IC Title about a month & half after WrestleMania Ladder match and Diesel was not the type of a champion that would be wrestling a week to week. Then Razor really did not get to do anything until Summerslam. It was the perfect storm to hollow out the midcard of the WWF so instead we got saddled with...

As can be observed in the table below, after May 2nd, there was nothing I deemed worth watching. Kwang, Bob Holly, Tatanka, Crush, non-Matt Borne Doink The Clown, and Sexy Nikki V are nadir WWF shit. It is not really the top card of WWF that had an issue, it is these midcarders. It is just depressing shit. 

Date	Match	Rating
January 3, 1994	Smoking Gunns vs Bam Bam Bigelow & Bastion Booger	DNW
January 10, 1994	Quebecers vs 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty	3.5
January 17, 1994	Randy Savage vs IRS	3
January 24, 1994	Headshrinkers vs MOM	DNW
January 31, 1994	Marty Jannetty vs Johnny Polo	DNW
February 7, 1994	IRS vs Martv Jannetty	DNW
February 21, 1994	Quebecers vs Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid	3.25
February 21, 1994	Bret Hart vs Tom Pritchard	DNW
February 28, 1994	Randy Savage vs Yokozuna	3.75
March 7, 1994	Owen Hart & Crush vs Smoking Gunns	DNW
March 21, 1994	Quebecers vs Bushwhackers	DNW
March 28, 1994	Lex Luger vs Rick Martel	2.5
April 4, 1994	Rick Martel, IRS, Jeff Jarrett & Headshrinkers vs Sparky Plugg, 1-2-3 Kid, Tatanka & Smoking Gunns	DNW
April 11, 1994	Quebecers vs MOM	2.5
April 18, 1994	Bret Hart vs Kwang	DNW
April 25, 1994	Razor Ramon vs Jeff Jarrett	3
May 2, 1994	Quebecers vs Headshrinkers	3.5
May 9, 1994	Razor Ramon vs Kwang	DNW
May 16, 1994	Bam Bam Bigelow vs Sparky Plugg	DNW
May 16, 1994	Yokozuna vs Earthquake	DUD
May 23, 1994	Owen Hart vs Doink The Clown	DNW
May 30, 1994	Crush vs Tatanka	DNW
June 6, 1994	Crush vs Tatanka	DNW
June 13, 1994	Headshrinkers vs Quebecers	DNW
June 20, 1994	1-2-3 Kid vs Nikolai Volkoff	DNW
June 27, 1994	Mabel vs Bam Bam Bigelow	DNW

In terms of match of the month, my pick is Randy Savage vs Yokozuna, which is a ton of fun, but I also recommend Quebecers vs 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty as well as Quebecers vs Headshrinkers. It was a rough six months for RAW.  

WWF World Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs Marty Jannetty & 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 1/10/94

 

Fun fact: This takes place in Richmond, VA and I am currently in Richmond, VA!

 

RAW's 1 year anniversary and Vince decides to commemorate it with a tag title switch. Crowd pops huge and it is a great feel good moment. The whole 1-2-3 Kid storyline was really building to him winning a championship and a great time to pull the trigger. It is too bad the Kid would have a serious neck injury not too long after this. In an alternate universe, Kid & Jannetty are the ace babyface tag team of the mid-90s, they had some much potential. I thought this as a ton of fun. Great shine. Loved Jannetty getting the Victory Roll right off the bat. It showed the babfyaces were here to win. Lots of fun, quick moves. Dropkicks abound everything to keep the Champs off their feet, who may have been looking ahead to the Rumble against Bret & Owen Hart. There is a false finish during the break where Jannetty hits a superkick, but the Quebcer's foot was on the ropes. Ref still counted 3, huge pop, but they called it off and restarted the match. The Quebecers pulled down the top rope down during a Jannetty criss cross which led to a nasty spill to the floor, but it was not the heat segment as Jannetty crawled through the legs to tag Kid. KID WAS A AN AWESOME HOUSE OF FIRE! Loved the somersault from the top rope to the floor. He was nailing everything. The ref got distracted and they shoved him off the top rope. The Quebecers were great at treating Kid like a ragdoll. Tossing him around and kicking his ass. There could have been more hope spots. I felt Kid was dying and Quebecers were choking not getting the job done. Loved the Canonball move even if wasn't the finish. Finally Marty has had enough and interferes feel like there should have been more of that. Marty tags in short house afire and Suplex/Crossbody gets the win for Marty & The Kid! Huge pop! Macho Man rushes the ring to celebrate in a great feel good moment. Great way to commemorate the one year anniversary of RAW and only a taste of what should have been with the tag team of Marty & 1-2-3 Kid. ***1/2

Randy Savage vs IRS - WWF RAW 1/17/94

On paper this seems like a random match up to headline RAW, BUT Savage smashed some cake into IRS’ face last week during the 1-2-3 Kid & Marty Jannetty celebration. I am sure he deserved it for his shit talk. Savage is knee-deep in the Crush feud and IRS is wrapping up his feud with Razor at the Rumble. They used Savage a lot in this stretch on TV. He had a RAW match against Fatu the month prior which I am skipping and he has the World Title match against Yokozuna the next month which rocks. 
 

This match exceeded my expectation. It was a sort of break neck, frenetic pace. There were not a lot of high spots or narrative per se. It was a lot of slam bang action but most importantly how it was done. It was heatedly and with a competitive ferocity. Savage tries it cut IRS off at the pass which seems heelish. IRS slams him into the buckles a lot. a lot of just dropping his weight onto Savage. Savage timed his hope spots right before the commercial breaks (or if this was taped they timed the breaks around his hope spots). The use of the atomic drop into clothesline or a double axe handle from the apron to set up attacking Crush who is doing commentary. IRS for his part did well on offense suplex into the ring coming out of the break. There were some chinlocks and an ab stretch but it was not too bad. IRS ate a boot on a top rope splash. Nice throat first drop by Savage to get revenge on IRS doing that earlier. He goes for the Top Rope Elbow but Crush interferes to trigger the DQ. All the main eventers pour of the back to simulate the Royal Rumble as hype for the show later that week. Like I said better than I thought. A good competitive frenetic energy to this one. ***

WWF World Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs Razor Ramon & 1-2-3 Kid - WWF RAW 2/21/94

Fun fact, if I had to pick the best WWF match that did not involve Shawn or Bret between 1993-1997, I would pick the Kid & Jannetty vs Quebecers match that was a couple weeks prior to this one. Quebecers are a great old school Southern tag team. They feed, bump and stooge with the best of them and they have sick Midnight Express-like offense during the heat segments. This was supposed to be Kid & Jannetty, but Jannetty was either suspended or injured. Real-life best friend Scott Hall jumps in. 

I mean this in the nicest way, Hall might have been the King of *** match. Nothing of his ever sucks, it is just plain fun wrestling. He is working some great opponents in these matches. Quebecers try to double team the injured Kid, but he wriggles free and shows them up. The babyface shine comes off great. Quebecers are total stooges. Razor & Kid eat them up. Loved the Razor's Edge on Polo on the floor to take him out after the he tripped Razor. Great highspot early to get the crowd going. Heel in peril WWF in 1994 wow, amazing it lasted that long. Quebecers were great. Double FIP with Razor going first. The Kid was predictably better because he is just smaller and more maneuverable. Some great double teams by the Quebecers. Loved the hot tag. Jacquer sold exasperation so well. Loved how Pierre charged into the bodyslam. Super Back Suplex prelude to Razors Edge. Can he hoist the big man up? He does! Razor's Edge! Forgot to mention that Diesel had been looming and his mere presence led to the initial heat segment. It looks like there will be new Tag Champs, BUT Shawn Michaels comes flying out of the stands for the last minute DQ to put some heat on the Mania Ladder Match. Another fun Razor match and the Quebecers were really good so much better than the Rougeaus! ***1/4  

WWF Champion Yokozuna vs Randy Savage - WWF RAW 2/28/94

Surprised this didn’t make the 1994 yearbook, a World Title Defense on RAW, Yoko’s last defense, Savage’s last WWF Title Shot, and it is a pretty killer match to boot.

Bret vs Yoko from MSG 93 is still the best Yoko match I have seen, but this is a definite second place match. I think Cagematch has this as the #1 Yoko singles match and I don’t blame them.

We are a couple weeks out from WrestleMania X and winner defends against Both Luger and Bret at Mania. Savage jumpstarts the match before the bell attacking before Yoko disrobes. Savage EATS a hard elbow but moves on the elbow drop. Go Macho Go! Quick near fall but the ref was distracted by Fuji. Savage takes his eye off the prize and gets a karate thrust to the throat. Great Savage battling from underneath peppering in shots and making Yoko resort to cheating. Yoko misses the big splash. High Knee sends Yoko crashing to the floor. Top Rope Double Axehandle to the floor. Cornette’s out, Savage can not get the humongous Yoko back in the ring. Corny distracts. Yoko gets another Karate Thrust. Savage mounts an aerial comeback with a top rope double axe handle in the ring and a top rope crossbody. This shit is cooking! Yoko comes back now with a big splash in the corner. Savage slumps down in such a way that it has Vince thinking Banzai Drop but Yoko pulls him to the middle. He goes for the Legdrop but misses! Both men are out! Fuji gives Yoko the salt bucket but Savage gets control of it and bashes the Champion in the head! Pin em! They take a standing 8 count! 1-2-NO! TOP ROPE FLYING ELBOW DROP CONNECTS! THE MACHO MAN IS GOING TO WRESTLEMANIA! REWRITE THE HISTORY BOOKS FOLKS! 1-2-CRUSH INTERFERES AND TRIGGERS THE DQ!

Interestingly, the crowd chants for Luger to make the save and when Bret does there is not much of a pop. When Luger makes the ultimate save there is also not much of a pop. Just a wicked fun TV title defense played into both wrestlers strengths. Savage is so scrappy and Yoko was a beast. The home stretch was one of the best I have seen on these early RAWs. *** 3/4

Lex Luger vs Rick Martel - WWF RAW 3/28/94

I am interested to see how Luger is presented after the title loss. Vince harps on him being screwed out of the title but I think Mr. Perfect’s name only comes up once. Ted DiBiase is sitting ringside for this match. I am not sure if Perfect was ever going to happen. It looks like DiBiase trying to buy Luger was already in the works. How refreshing to let an angle play out over 5 months rather shoot the whole angle in one week then rehash the same shit for 3 months. DiBiase has a sneaky important 1994 with both Undertaker vs FakerTaker and Luger/Tatanka being 2/3 major angles going into Summerslam 1994.

Luger and Martel are two of my 50 favorite wrestlers so I had to check this out even if there was no fanfare. It is still so weird watching Luger on RAW and watching Martel in 1994 period. It is perfectly average match nothing I would recommend seeking out but not bad. Martel does a good job cowering from Luger. Luger pulverizes him with clotheslines and they work really well in and out of a headlock. I feel like if they were in the NWA they could have a strong 20-25 minute match but instead transition to heat is basically non-existent. Martel just takes over and starts working boring chin locks and chokes. Luger works some decent hope spots. Back body drop. Powerslam! And a hitherto unseen TORTURE RACK WHICH POPPED ME!

I think I know one of the key differences between Luger in NWA/WCW vs WWF there’s a severe lack of flexing. If he did that signature flex before the Powerslam and Martel sold like he soiled himself that would have been amazing. Perfectly fine match. 

WWF World Tag Team Champions Quebecers vs Men On A Mission - WWF RAW 4/11/94

I have never seen a Men On A Mission match thus have never seen Mo wrestle. Mo looks old, brutha. Mabel is way taller than I remembered. I thought he was just heavy, but he is a tall dude. These two teams traded the tag belts in Europe and then MOM via Countout I believe at WrestleMania X. This match is a result of a fan poll where MOM beat Bushwhackers and Smoking Gunns. There was a "Lets Go Mo" chant live! I am surprised how popular these fan polls were both in WWF and WCW in the mid-90s and now with much better technology they have hardly been utilized since Taboo Tuesday/Cyber Sunday. 

Midnight Express vs Rock N Roll Express this was not. I had an open mind for Men On A Mission, but there really was not too much going on in this match. I thought Mo doing the Press Slam crotch drop on a Quebecer was pretty fun and Mabel's leg drop looked killer. Quebecers break up a pin on Mo and thats the transition to heat, a kick to the head. The heat segment was pretty passe. The back drop by Mo looked good. Mabel's house of fire was not as good as his leg drop. Missed Mabel Splash leads to the rocket launcher on Mabel. They trade some cheating. Mo puts Mabel on top and then Quebecer puts the other Quebecer on top. Quebecer Cannonball finishes it as Mabel was distracted beating up Johnny Polo. It was not the worst match I have ever seen. It was just decidedly average. Nothing I will remember tomorrow. 

WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon vs Jeff Jarrett - WWF RAW 4/25/94

"Who throws a better punch than Razor Ramon?" - Macho Man Randy Savage. Nobody, brutha, nobody.

This is Jeff Jarrett's first feature singles contest on Monday Night RAW, a couple weeks prior he was in a 10-man tag, but here is his first proper main event. He would go to wrestle Tatanka in July and Doink the Clown (the lame babyface, non-Matt Bourne version) in October, before the British Bulldog match in December where the Roadie debuts and he starts getting pushed. Like so many Jarrett matches I have watched from his first WWF run this started auspiciously. I thought I finally found the WWF hidden Jarrett gem, but the chinlocks rear their ugly head and this match like his others are simply good. None of his matches are bad mind you, but the only true great one remains the Shawn Michaels classic. 

Great, heated start to this one. You might even think Double J is the babyface the way he gets so much offense in early against Razor, but I think that speaks to the selflessness of Razor and also that fact Razor was established and over. They needed to establish Jarrett as a credible threat. Commentary is mostly focused on Razor's upcoming title defense against Diesel this weekend on Superstars, which is where Razor lost the title. This match against Jarrett is non-title. Jarrett gets a takedown early and smacks Razor around. I am surprised given Razor's size advantage they worked that spot, but like I said it puts Jarrett over and he is the one that needed the cred. Razor finally catches Jarrett in the sack of shit. Jarrett powders, but Jarrett comes back on the outside. Jarrett's ferocity on offense is what keeps this compelling. Jarrett hits Razor with a couple good down South rights, but Razor who might have the best right ever just comes across and smacks the shit outta Jarrett and mows him down. Out of all the WWF New Gen guys, Hall's stock is the one rising the most with me. He is always working hard and kicking ass. Jarrett comes back and hits a fist drop. Here comes the chinlock. Razor works out of it but sets too early into a commercial break. Vince/Savage go on a long tangent about George Foreman's comeback and basically promote his return fight harder than they promote either Razor or Jarrett. Some free publicity for Foreman. Back from the ad and now Jarrett has a sleeper on Razor. They really milk this. Razor gets the back suplex. Razor starts firing off those right and steamrolls Jarrett with a clothesline. He looks a like million bucks on offense. Signature Razor taunt. Here comes Michaels. He beats Michaels from pillar to post. Diesel saves Michaels from the Razor's Edge and clobbers him with the Big Boot and Jacknife polish off Razor. Diesel and Michaels take turns stepping on the fallen Razor and parading around with the IC Title. A bit unusual given that they were going to do a title switch to have Diesel get the upper hand before the title match, but chock this one up as a curveball. Before the ad break, they were really humming along. After the first chinlock and the DQ finish, cant say this is much better than good. I had their Rumble match at good. Interested to watch their WrestleMania match next. ***

WWF World Tag Team Champion Quebecers vs Headshrinkers - WWF RAW 5/2/94

“They are chanting USA for American Samoa! “ -Macho Man popped me big!

I would argue Quebecers were the MVPs of RAW since Sept 93. They had frequent matches and had a long term week to week feud with Marty & Kid and a marquee match against the Harts. This is beginning of the end of this; they do have one last match left. The Headshrinkers much like the original version of the USOs are bland in their presentation. Besides being Samoan and related to Afa they don’t have a hook.

The opening shine is as solid stuff they established the Shrinkers as more powerful and tougher than the Quebecers. Shoulder tackles and head butts. Quebecers get desperate and start making mistakes. Splashing each other being whipped into each other. The head for the hills but the Fink says if they get counted out they lose the belts. 
 

Back from commercial, Shrinkers are working the Quebecers on arm in a throwback heel in peril segment. Quebecers bury a Hart Foundation knee and a Pierre clothesline transition to heat. Sick Total Elimination! Lots of slamming each other onto Fatu. Back from another break, they gave them a ton of time. Fatu back drops Pierre out. Sami pretty standard hot tag until he gets HIS HEAD CAUGHT IN THE ROPES!!! Jacques pulls his hair while his head & neck are wrenches between the ropes. That was SICK!!! Jacques PILEDRIVER! Cannonball Splash…looks to be over WAIT IT MISSES!!! Afa slugs Polo! Jacques hits Pierre by accident…Pierre clocks Jacques on purpose! Double Stroke by Shrinkers and Fatu hits the USO Splash damn Rikishi you crazy for the win! Burling Vermont pops huge for the win! Way better than I expected! Quebecers had a really terrific run and should be remembered more fondly. This title victory represents the beginning of the end for tag titles. Headshrinkers get a marquee match against Yokozuna & Crush at KOTR but after that they lose the tag titles to Shawn & Diesel and that really is the end. This is a fun, throwback match, Quebecers are great heel champs and Shrinkers brought it. *** 1/2 

Yokozuna vs Earthquake - WWF RAW 5/16/94 Sumo

They were at a complete loss what to do with Yokozuna between WrestleMania and Survivor Series. They knew Yokozuna still had value to do the job to Undertaker, BUT they wanted to do the Fake Taker angle first in Summerslam, which honestly is not a bad concept for an angle they just botched the execution horribly. Coming off Royal Rumble, the Yoko/Taker match definitely had money written all over it. They were the ones that closed out Survivor Series. The question is what to do with Yokozuna for seven months. It turns out not much. 

The Earthquake push seems weird to me. Earthquake is definitely a guy that I am consistently underwhelmed by. People seem to like him, but I cant get into him. I couldnt get it into this. That paled in comparison to the Duggan/Yoko knockdown match. Duggan has way more charisma than Earthquake. The 1994 crowd is much more forgiving than I am. The stalling was brutally boring. Yoko looks so much more like a star than Quake. The initial shouldertackle exchange was good. They tease going out. They do a double underhook grab the waistband test of strength. Finally Earthquake ducks and gets a mighty sumo slap to take Yoko off his feet and Yoko tumbles out of the ring. 

Earthquake would be out of the WWF by the time this was televised. His last WWF match was on May 15th. It was a weird choice to me to push him, but I think they were trying anything to see what would stick. Clearly they had big plans for Earthquake if he won this match. I didnt care for this, but your mileage may vary. I preferred Duggan/Yoko by a country mile.