Monday Night Raw - July 4th 1994

• This special America’s Birthday edition of Raw kicks off with Double J vs. Tatanka. Macho and Gorilla on commentary get all over Jeff for never having actually sung in his whole time with the WWF so far. They’re not wrong. This is a back and forth match and when it spills to the outside, Jeff shoves Tatanka into the ring post. He hurts his shoulder and goes down long enough for Double J to win by count out. After the match, Jarrett says he doesn’t want to take the win by count out and knows he can win fairly by pinfall. He throws insults at Macho Man and says HE would take a cheap win like this but not him. The bell rings and after a commercial break, the match has indeed been restarted. After more back and forth (with Randy calling this one of the best matches in Raw history) Tatanka hits a big chop off the top rope. Jeff breaks the pin with his foot on the rope and tries to leave but is chased back to the ring by Doink with a bucket of water. He staggers into a roll up and Tatanka pins Jeff Jarrett, thanks to Doink and Dink. 

• After a commercial for next week's big match, which is the 1-2-3 Kid challenging Bret Hart for the WWF Championship, Jerry Lawler has the Kid on the King’s Court. The commercial focuses on the 1-2-3 Kid’s history of huge upset victories which is what it will take to win the title next week. King says he hates Bret Hart so he’s pulling for the Kid by default. The Kid says that he is a huge Bret Hart fan and if he wins the title it’ll be for him and for all of his fans, NOT for Jerry “The King” Lawler who seems upset the 1-2-3 Kid wouldn’t just take his compliment (in between insulting the fans and the Kid himself).

• Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart has Owen Hart in his corner for his in-ring return against Gary Scott (not the Cilit Bang guy). Macho says that unlike Lawler, Owen wants Bret to retain the title because he wants to be the one to dethrone his big brother for the WWF Championship. This is an easy victory for Anvil and he and Owen celebrate like they just won the Tag Team Championships.

• Duke “The Dumpster” Droese battles the big barrel chested Iron Mike Sharpe. He looks about 50 years old. They bump shoulders and neither man goes down. Duke puts him down and finishes him off with the big spinning elbow drop. 
• This Raw features the debut of the second WWF New Generation commercial, and probably the most famous one starring Bret Hart. It’s a bit cheesy but I love this. “BRET!!!”

• In the ring next is Ted Dibiase’s Undertaker. He leads him to the ring with a bundle of cash. It certainly looks like The Undertaker but he walks differently and it’s obvious to most people that it’s NOT the same man, but he looks close enough that a lot of fans were fooled back in the day. They’re careful not to show his face too closely. His opponent is Mike Bell who is no match for The Underfaker. Maybe the fans weren’t as fooled as I thought they were because the fans started chanting “He’s a fake” during this match. A tombstone piledriver ends this and an ecstatic Million Dollar Man helps his Undertaker load the jobber into a bodybag. Paul Bearer comes down to the ring for a closer look and tries to draw Undertaker in with the urn. Dibiase looks worried it might work but when he gets the cash out, that gets Undertaker focused on him again. This is actually pretty good stuff, if a little silly. Cash wins the battle for his soul and Bearer leaves, shaking his head in disbelief. At the end of the show after a commercial break, Jerry Lawler catches up with the Million Dollar Man backstage and asks if he’ll be a guest on the King’s Court next week and just so he doesn’t have to mix with the public, he’ll meet him anywhere he wants to do the interview. 

Monday Night Raw - July 11th 1994

• Raw opens with the same video hyping up the 1-2-3 Kid’s tendency to score huge upset wins narrated by Jim Ross. This is his return to the WWF after being fired back in February. His voice sounds more familiar to long time fans who know him from the Attitude era as he’d now had his first Bell’s Palsy attack. I think he was probably self concious about it as he keeps his face turned away from the camera when he and Macho welcome us to the program. Macho welcomes him back to the WWF which is very nice of him. JR is back because Vince might not be, and the company was shifting people around on camera and behind the scenes to prepare for him potentially going to jail. It’s nice to have Jim back (for now).

• The opening match is Bret Hart vs. the 1-2-3 Kid for the WWF title. JR mentions how much praise Bret gave the Kid specifically at the Hall of Fame this past month. Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart come down to ringside and get on the apron, yelling abuse at Bret until referees come out and force them to the back so that this match can proceed. The two start with chain wrestling and Bret does a good job with his facial expressions of showing surprise at the Kid out-wrestling him and really putting him over as a talent. The 1-2-3 Kid actually wins the early wrestling exchanges so Bret has to use an elbow and a boot to slow things down and take control. It’s rare that Bret has the size advantage over an opponent and he uses it. After a very good back and forth, Bret scores with a backbreaker and covers. The 1-2-3 Kid has his foot on the ropes which should break the pin but the referee didn’t see it. He counts the three and Bret wins but super babyface Bret doesn’t want to win that way and tells the referee that the Kid’s foot was on the ropes. He wants the match restarted in interest of fairness, and the referee does as he’s asked. The match continues with the Kid getting multiple heartbreaking near falls. JR and Macho go NUTS on commentary and the fans are going crazy. He’s so close to winning the title and Bret is really giving, letting the Kid appear to be his equal. He sends Bret outside and dives from the top rope to the floor but only just barely catches the champion and takes as much if not more punishment himself. His third big move off the top misses and Bret takes advantage, locking in the Sharpshooter but the Kid is in the ropes! More counters and near falls until finally Bret blocks a dropkick off the top and turns it into the Sharpshooter for the submission victory, retaining his WWF title in an awesome match. Macho and Jim Ross give them a standing ovation at the desk and good guy Bret helps the Kid to his feet to celebrate with him. Awesome performance and the 1-2-3 Kid looked every bit Bret’s equal in this match. A star-making performance. 

• The first Summerslam Report hosted by my boy Todd Pettengill gives us the event’s main event - Undertaker vs. Undertaker! Paul Bearer is now claiming that Ted Dibiase’s Undertaker is NOT the real Undertaker and His Undertaker will return to dispatch the fraud. 

• Crush (with Mr. Fuji) takes on a very young Matt Hardy. Fans had no idea what a big deal this lad and his brother would become. He gets Crushed by Crush. 

• Razor Ramon faces Barry Horowitz. Next week’s big match is Diesel defending the Intercontinental title against Lex Lugar, which Jim and Macho say is a match that Razor will be paying close attention to because he really wants his Intercontinental title back. Razor takes it easy, slapping around Horowitz and not even using the Razor’s Edge, taking him down into a small package for the victory to show off his wrestling skills.
• This week’s King’s Court isn’t at the arena, it’s live from the offices of the Million Dollar Man. King says that Dibiase has purchased Nikolai Volkoff, Bam Bam Bigelow and even the Undertaker and now he has his sights set on Lex Lugar. Ted Dibase says that it's a done deal - he hasn’t SIGNED the contract yet, but it’s as good as signed and Lex Lugar has sold out to the Million Dollar Man because EVERYBODY’s got a price! Back at the arena, neither Jim Ross nor Macho believes him and speculate whether Dibiase will be at ringside with Lex for his Intercontinental title match next week.

• In the main event, IRS faces a jobber. JR and Macho spend the match speculating which detective the WWF will hire to investigate this Undertaker vs. Undertaker case. More on that next week. Irwin takes his time stretching the guy out and showing off his technical skills and finally making him submit to the penalty. 

• The show ends with an interview backstage with the WWF Champion Bret Hart who is exhausted from his title match earlier. He gives lots of praise to the 1-2-3 Kid for his performance before Macho asks about his brother Owen. Bret calls Owen’s victory at Wrestlemania a fluke and says he’ll bring his own family member for back up against Owen and Neidhart. He doesn’t say when it will happen but talks about the Bret/Owen rematch for the WWF title as an inevitability. 

Monday Night Raw - July 18th 1994

• Raw opens with a big story development - on WWF Superstars during the Heartbreak Hotel interview segment, Tatanka said that he knows for a fact that Lex Lugar HAS sold out to the Million Dollar Man. In the arena, Macho Man still can’t quite believe it, but does mention how obsessed Lex is with becoming a champion. That leads neatly into tonight’s featured match - Diesel defends the Intercontinental title against Lex Lugar. Shawn is at ringside for Diesel but at least initially, Lex is flying solo. JR is surprised - he thought Ted Dibiase would be with him. This is actually a pretty entertaining big man match with them throwing bombs at each other. Lex brawls but Diesel sends Lex to the outside. He comes up holding his back and then suffers more misfortune when Shawn Michaels puts him down with a clothesline. Ted Dibiase is shown watching the match from the back of the arena but then after a commercial break, Dibiase is gone. Diesel slows things down and grinds away at Lex picking up near falls along the way. Diesel grinds Lex down with a long sleeper but he mounts a comeback and knocks Diesel out with his forearm. Diesel just barely kicks out and the referee is accidentally knocked down in the corner. Lex powers the massive Diesel up into the torture rack so Shawn slips in and superkicks him in the back, knocking him down. Diesel covers but by the time the referee wakes up Lex kicks out. The match continues. Razor Ramon comes to ringside and chases Shawn Michaels all around the ring. He runs into the ring and into a right hand from Lex. Razor is attacked by Diesel and with all four of them brawling the referee has to end this match - the official decision is a double disqualification. Lex gets taken out and Razor is no match for the two on one attack from Michaels and Diesel. Lex rescues him from an assisted spike piledriver and checks on Razor. This was a really good match, even with the dodgy finish. Ted Dibiase comes out and shakes his head, disappointed in Lex I guess for not being more heartless. 

• Oscar raps Mabel to the ring for his singles match. You might be wondering where Mo is? He was injured so Mabel has been working as a singles guy for a while now. He’s facing Austin Steele and a big falling sidewalk slam finishes him off. Mabel wins another one.
• In the Summerslam Report, Todd has two big bits of news for us - the WWF has hired Leslie Neilson from The Naked Gun to investigate the missing Undertaker mystery (and yes, he’ll really be on WWF TV) and there is a new addition to the card making a double main event - Bret Hart defends the title against Owen Hart in a steel cage match. The cage is to keep the other various Harts from getting involved. Owen obviously has Jim Neidhart in his corner, who will Bret have? Owen is in action next against Reno Riggins and he wins quickly with the Sharpshooter. He holds on way longer than he needs to after the submission, just for fun. 

• Todd Pettengill narrates a video package about The Undertaker’s absence since January and the arrival of Ted Dibiase’s version. I’m sure we’ll see an even better version of this at Summerslam. From there, Ted accompanies Bam Bam Bigelow to the ring for his match against a jobber. Bam Bam easily finishes him off but Raw has become the Million Dollar Man show these days so at the end of the show, Macho Man and JR speak to the Million Dollar Man and ask him what the deal is with Lex Lugar. He promises a massive announcement this coming weekend and it’s big enough that it will rock the foundations of the entire WWF. As Ted crows about it, Tatanka comes down to ringside to confront him. He demands that he just tell us the news now. Tatanka is adamant that Lex Lugar HAS sold out and that he’s seen the money and overheard the conversations himself. Ted tells Tatanka to wait for the announcement just like everyone else.

Monday Night Raw - July 25th, 1994

• Raw opens the same way the last one ended, with the Million Dollar Man. On Superstars he officially announced that he had purchased Lex Lugar while they were all on the Heartbreak hotel interview segment, along with Tatanka. Tatanka was all over Lex, calling him a traitor for selling out. Lex is adamant that he has NOT sold out. That leads into tonight’s opener, a $10,000 challenge where if Tatanka can defeat Nikolai Volkoff he gets $10,000. The commentary team do a good job of hashing out the whole controversy - Macho wants to believe Lex but Tatanka seems SO sure of what he’s seen and heard. Ted Dibiase says Lex has sold out but Lex denies it with his whole heart. Someone is lying. Tatanka gets on a roll with chops but its a small package which gives Tatanka the victory. Macho Man rushes the ring to celebrate with Tatanka and demands that Ted Dibiase pay him the $10,000 he now owes him. Ted says he’s a man of his word and so hands over the cash but taunts Tatanka first saying he could never defeat HIS Lex Lugar. Tatanka says he could beat Lex on his worst day. That brings Lex out - he doesn’t like everyone referring to him as being Ted Dibiase’s Lex Lugar. Lex tells Tatanka that if he has a problem with him, maybe they do need to wrestle. Lex tells him to name a time and a place. Jim Ross is sure he saw Lex and Ted make eye contract before Lugar left the ring - what is going on? 

• Samu and Fatu face two chubby jobbers in an exhibition match for the WWF Tag Team Champions. A big double headbutt gives them the victory while JR and Macho speculate over who they’ll defend the titles against at Summerslam.
• Big match announced for next week’s Raw - Razor Ramon vs. Shawn Michaels, with lots of attention given to their awesome ladder match at Wrestlemania. 
• Jim Neidhart takes on Jim Powers (with Owen at ringside talking trash to the fans and about his brother Bret the whole time at ringside, which is quite funny). Neidhart wins with the camel clutch, making Powers submit.
• WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze heads down to the ring for an interview with Jim Ross. She’s scheduled to defend the title next week against newcomer from Japan, Bull Nakano. JR brings up that Alunda offered an open challenge to any woman in the world which was accepted by Luna Vachon, who she defeated. Blayze has racked up a bunch of victories mostly on the weekend shows like Superstars, Mania, All-American and Challenge. That’s too many shows - the company streamlines and puts even more effort into Monday Night Raw pretty soon after this I believe. As she talks about her next challenger in Bull, Luna runs down to the ring and says that it was HER who brought her to America to challenge her. Luna just immediately leaves after that which is a bit weird. Alundra says that she’s the champion now and she still will be after defeating Bull Nakano. 

• Yokozuna takes on the newly babyfaced Adam Bomb. He’s ditched Harvey Whippleman and is a fan favourite now. This is a big man match which means it's slow. Adam Bomb mounts an impressive amount of offence and after a back and forth battle, puts Yoko down with a big boot and an elbow drop. He MIGHT have Yoko beat but Kwang, led by his former manager Harvey, rushes down to stop it. Adam is too busy fighting them on the outside to notice himself being counted out so Yoko wins but its an impressive showing for Adam Bomb, it’s just a shame he’s stuck feuding with Kwang. 

• Todd Pettengill’s Summerslam Report adds another big match to the card with Diesel defending the Intercontinental title against Razor Ramon. They’re doing Diesel no favours with that big bushy hairdo in the match card. Could have updated it with his new nicer hair.

• There’s a new Summerslam commercial featuring Leslie Neilson! Awesome

• There will be weekly reports from him on the weekend shows with updates on his pursuit of The Undertaker. Hopefully we’ll see some highlights at Summerslam.
• In the main event, Duke Droese battles Duane Gill. Jerry “The King” Lawler calls in during this match to talk about The Dumpster and his disingenuous apology a couple of weeks ago for his trash can assault. It’s kind of a kick to hear JR and King bicker and argue back and forth. Duke picks up the win and Macho and JR hang up King mid-sentence because they’re sick of listening to him. Fair enough lads.