Monday Night Raw - November 7th, 1994

• Raw kicks off with a family affair as Bret Hart and brother-in-law British Bulldog battle Owen Hart and brother-in-law Jim Neidhart. Jerry Lawler is on commentary for tonight alongside Vince McMahon. During this match, Vince confirms that Bret has accepted Backlund’s challenge to make their title match at Survivor Series a submission match, and Bulldog and Owen Hart will be at ringside in each man’s respective corners, tasked with throwing in the towel to submit on behalf of their men. This is a good match with Bulldog cut off and worked over until there’s a hot tag to Bret. The four of them brawl and with Bulldog taking out Owen on the outside, Bret locks Jim in the Sharpshooter for the submission victory.

• This week’s Survivor Series Report adds no new information to the show as all five matches are announced - hard sell for the PPV and a rundown of the card so far. I hope you’re all excited to see Chuck Norris - it sounds like the WWF spent a lot of money on him. The theme for Survivor Series, being in Texas, is all westerns and cowboys so Norris plays up to his Walker Texas Ranger TV show. Todd does promise that the Clowns R Us vs. Royal Family match will be “incredible”

• Bam Bam Bigelow squashes a jobber with the Million Dollar Man looking on from ringside.
• I mentioned last week that Macho Man Randy Savage was gone, and Vince says a fond and sincere goodbye to his friend this week. Very unusual for Vince to do this kind of thing at any point in history so I think it speaks to how close friends they were.

• On the King’s Court, Jerry Lawler has the 1-2-3 Kid on as his special guest. Next week he’s set to face Bob Backlund. Before he can talk much about it, Backlund runs down and tries to attack the Kid. He sees him coming and avoids it before lighting Bob up with kicks and knocking him out of the ring. Bret runs down to back up the 1-2-3 Kid and Owen Hart runs down to check on Bob. Referees hold him back as Owen tries to calm Bob down. A short but chaotic segment - the whole thing was over in about 90 seconds. Afterwards, Vince accuses Lawler of knowing Backlund would come out and setting up the 1-2-3 Kid to get attacked.
• Doink the Clown faces Pat Tanaka, who looks a bit like a polynesan Steven Segal. Lawler says that his strategy is that at the Survivor Series he’ll eliminate Doink first so that he and his midgets can beat up Dink, Pink and Wink. Vince tells him that the rules are structured so that he cannot be in the ring with any of the little clowns. Remember that, because it’s a rule which is entirely ignored at the PPV. Doink wins this with the big whoopee cushion butt bomb off the top rope. On Superstars, Dink sprayed Lawler with silly string and tonight they steal his crown, passing it from clown to clown as Vince yucks it up and finds it hilarious. King gets his crown back but then loses his temper because there’s a jewel missing! After a commercial break as King complains to his mini-Kings about the missing jewel, the mini-clowns come back out to taunt him and he chases them off. This Clowns match has had by FAR the most build on this entire PPV. Why?

• In the final segment of the show, Bret Hart calls his match vs. Bob Backlund, as well as The Kid vs. Backlund next week a clash of generations and he says he’ll be at ringside next week to cheer on the New Generation.

Monday Night Raw - November 14th 1994

• Raw opens with a disclaimer; this original broadcast has some production issues so there’s bits of the show missing. That’s confirmed as immediately after the below screen, the Bob Backlund vs. the 1-2-3 Kid is already over, clamped in the Chickenwing and refusing to release the hold. The ring fills with referees and eventually Bret Hart to break it up and rescue the Kid, but in the skirmish, Bob gets Bret in the Chickenwing too. He releases it and then tells the champion that he didn’t HAVE to let him go but did to send a message. Bret then runs after Backlund and puts him in the Sharpshooter, quickly breaking that to make the same point - he didn’t have to release him, and he did tonight but he won’t at the Survivor Series. 

• Ted Dibiase is on commentary tonight with McMahon, and the next match is Mabel (with Oscar, still no Mo) vs. The Blue Phantom, who he squashes with a sidewalk slam for the victory. Oscar’s prematch rap runs down the entire Guts and Glory Survivor Series team which Mabel is on, and Dibiase mocks them all on commentary as he’s the manager of their opposing team. 
• Double J faces Gary Sabaugh. He continually stops to taunt and play up to the crowd and keeps being hit from behind by Sabaugh and paying for it. In the end he wins by submission with the Figure four as Vince and Dibiase argue over whether Jarrett can even sing, and whether his Ain’t I Great? album is real.
• This week’s IRS promo about death shows he’s dug up someone’s casket to repossess because they had unpaid taxes. Not even death can escape IRS.

• On the King’s Court, Lawler has Owen Hart as his guest. They talk about the WWF Championship match. Owen explains and reexplains the rules about 4 times; it can only end when the corner man throws in the towel for their man, symbolising a submission. Owen swears he will never throw in the towel for Backlund no matter what. King repeats all Backlund’s comments about how he never submitted and is therefore still champion anyway. The British Bulldog comes out and stumbles and trips over his words as he tells Owen that Backlund will never get the Crossface on Bret. They’re both very clear that neither of them will ever throw in the towel at Survivor Series.

• A new debuting superstar, the Portuguese Man O’ War, Aldo Montoya. This is jobber PJ Walker repackaged with a real gimmick, given a full time job for his services to the company and for impressing the right people. His first match was against Brooklyn Brawler who he has a bit of a hard time with but Aldo channels his inner 1-2-3 Kid and with a twisting crossbody off the top, picks up the win. Ted Dibiase is impressed and heads into the ring, offering the new guy on the block some cold hard cash. Aldo pretends he doesn’t speak English at first but then tells him to shove his cash in his ear, and leaves to cheers. Vince screams about what a decent human being he is.

• Raw finishes with an interview with WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze. She has a big title defence against Bull Nakano at the Tokyo Dome in Japan to get ready for. She’s ready. More on that next time.

Monday Night Raw - November 21st 1994

• The opening match is scheduled to be a non-title match between Razor Ramon and Diesel, but as Razor makes his entrance the Intercontinental Champion is attacked from behind by Shawn Michaels, Jeff Jarrett, Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart. He’s beaten up until a commercial break. After the break, Vince and Jim Cornette welcome us to the show from in front of a green screen, so this episode was obviously part of a bulk TV taping. There was another Sunday Night Slam pre-PPV special between the last episode of Raw and this one but sadly it’s not available on YouTube or anywhere else so We’ll need to just skip it this time. In results from the show, The Smoking Gunns defeated the Heavenly Bodies and British Bulldog beat Owen Hart by disqualification. In other off screen happenings, Bull Nakano defeated Alundra Blayze to win the Women’s Championship in Japan.

• With the Razor and Diesel match possibly cancelled, the new opening match is Tatanka (with Ted Dibiase) vs. Chris Kanyon. Future WCW star and Invasion MVP. Tatanka wins with a top rope chop to the head. 
• There’s a fun commercial for the Survivor Series

• Adam Bomb battles Jason Arnt. He wins quickly and easily with the meltdown.
• After a video package recapping the Lawler and Doink feud which has been going on since September, King has his three minions Queasy, Sleasy and Cheesy as his guests on the King’s Court. Doink, Dink, Wink and Pink keep popping out from under the ring with waterguns to blast them  and with the four Kings cowering behind the throne the segment just…ends. You’ll see the video at Survivor Series, don’t worry.

• IRS continues his crusade against the dead for their unpaid taxes and debts. He repossessed someone’s grave this time.
• Ted Dibiase is the busiest man in the WWF, out here managing half the heels on the roster. He’s at ringside again for IRS’s match against Matt Hardy. IRS wins with the Write Off clothesline.

• After the final Survivor Series report with Todd running down the card one last time, and then a commercial for WWF Raw on the Sega Genesis (or Megadrive, if you’re in the UK) we get the main event which is Razor Ramon vs. Diesel. Big Daddy Cool has the entire Teamsters team with him at ringside, including Tag Team Championship partner Shawn Michaels who keeps hogging the spotlight. This week, Diesel is a mid-card heel and one half of the WWF Tag Team Champions. How much could his career possibly change between now and next week’s Raw? Razor didn’t have any back up earlier but the Intercontinental Champion has all of his team mates with him too. Razor rushes Diesel and with 8 other men around the ring this feels like a lumberjack match. Diesel and Razor go back and forth for a while with The Teamsters getting plenty of cheap shots in on Razor, directed by Shawn Michaels. The match breaks down when Double J and Owen Hart get into the ring. Razor fights them off but it’s enough to cause a disqualification when the rest of the two teams rush the ring for a fight. Shawn Michaels makes sure to stay out of the action as he was actually healing up from a broken hand at the time and had it taped up. Raw ends with both teams all brawling and fighting in the ring.

A five match card for the 8th annual Survivor Series. These events all took place on Thanksgiving Eve, meaning a Wednesday night however the 1994 edition was the last time that was the case - they all moved to Sunday nights from next year. Personally I’m not that excited about the card - the multi-man matches are after thoughts this year, Undertaker vs. Yokozuna is a 100% copy of their feud from January, and the match that’s had the most build is the Doink vs. Lawler feud. Still, I’m loving Bob Backlund’s old crazy man gimmick and Bret always delivers on PPV.

Submissions Only match for the WWF Championship

Bret Hart © (w/The British Bulldog) vs. Bob Backlund (w/Owen Hart)

Casket match

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette)

Special Guest “troubleshooting” referee: Chuck Norris

Classic Survivor Series match

Guts and Glory (Lex Lugar, Mabel w/Oscar, Adam Bomb and The Smoking Gunns, Billy and Bart Gunn) 

Vs. 

The Million Dollar Team (Tatanka, King Kong Bundy, Bam Bam Bigelow w/Ted Dibiase and The Heavenly Bodies, Jimmy Del Ray and Tom Pritchard w/Jim Cornette)

Classic Survivor Series match

The Bad Guys (WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon, the 1-2-3 Kid, The British Bulldog and The Headshrinkers, Fatu and Sionne w/Afa and Captain Lou Albano) 

Vs.

The Teamsters (WWF Tag Team Champions Diesel and Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart and Jeff Jarrett)

Classic Survivor Series match

Clowns R Us (Doink the Clown, Dink, Wink and Pink)

Vs.

The Royal Family (Jerry “The King” Lawler, Queasy, Sleasy and Cheesy)

Survivor Series - Freeman Coliseum, San Antonio Texas, November 23rd 1994

A fun video kicks off the 8th annual Survivor Series, all the various teams in the back giving each other pep talks and getting ready to do battle tonight - teams of five strive to survive! That was the original 1987 edition’s tag line. Big fan of the Western gimmick and cowboy outfits of commentators Vince McMahon and Gorilla Monsoon. Gorilla waits about 4 seconds before mentioning the Alamo. Vince cannot wait to talk about tonight’s celebrity guest - star of Walker Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris. 

Classic Survivor Series match

The Bad Guys (WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon, the 1-2-3 Kid, The British Bulldog and The Headshrinkers, Fatu and Sionne w/Afa and Captain Lou Albano) 

Vs.

The Teamsters (WWF Tag Team Champions Diesel and Shawn Michaels, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart and Jeff Jarrett)

Got to get this match out of the way in the opener because Bulldog and Owen have another big spot later on the card to worry about during the WWF title match. 

Why is the heel team called The Teamsters? Well it’s because Diesel is the team captain (they come out to his “theme music”) and Teamsters are people who work with big trucks? I think? Shawn Michaels wastes no time, skirting around Big Daddy Cool to get in front and steal the spotlight. Shawn is the best, and he knows it. Much has been made during the build up of the fact that Shawn accidentally cost Diesel the Intercontinental title at Summerslam with a misplaced kick, and how much he keeps trying to steal the big man’s thunder lately. 

The Headshrinkers have a new gimmick where they’re being “forced” to wrestle in boots and Fatu is struggling with it, getting distracted and worked up by his own feet. It’s because new member Sionne refused to wrestle barefoot so they made a little story out of it. Haven’t seen it on Raw in the build up but I believe it’s been on the weekend shows. 

The 1-2-3 Kid and Double J start out as the legal men and run through a rapid wrestling exchange. Sionne is tagged in and slows things down, muscling Jeff around the ring. Long time fans might recognise Sionne as the former Barbarian, who actually wrestled at the first Survivor Series. The first portion of this match is about pairing off people who are currently feuding so next up is Owen Hart and Bulldog who have a nice technical wrestling exchange which Bulldog actually wins, and then sends Owen to the corner for a pummeling by his fellow babyfaces before launching him with a really nice looking Gorilla press. Good stuff. Neidhart saves Owen but Bulldog lifts the big man into a long, delayed vertical suplex. 

Jeff Jarrett and Razor Ramon are next up and Double J continually outmanoeuvres the champion, stopping to taunt and pose and tap his temple to tell everyone how smart he is. A glimpse into Razor’s future feud here. Shawn is great here, acting like a little general, giving advice and pep talks to everyone and acting like he’s the boss of the team, even to Diesel. Him staying out of the action is intentional as he still has a broken hand. 

After more back and forth, Diesel finally tags in and in short order puts down Fatu, the 1-2-3 Kid and Sionne with a trio of Jackknife powerbombs, eliminating three men in the space of about 90 seconds. Fatu at 13:30, The 1-2-3 Kid at 14:13 and Sionne at 14:44, all eliminated by Diesel. Bulldog rushes the ring and goes on the attack to try and regain control of this match, now in a two vs. five situation. Shawn continually shouts advice and comments to Diesel in the ring. Somewhere in this melee, Bulldog is knocked out of the ring and gets counted out, Bulldog eliminated at 15:58, leaving Razor one vs. five!

Shawn’s constant gabbering almost gets Diesel eliminated by a roll up while he’s distracted but he kicks out and recovers with a big clothesline. Diesel is on track to single handedly eliminate the entire opposing team but Razor fights back as best he can and holds on for a good five minutes of being hammered by the big man. A Jackknife powerbomb puts him down but Shawn demands to be tagged in instead of Diesel going for the pin, telling his Tag Team partner to hold Razor up for a superkick. HBK wants all the glory. Predictably, Ramon ducks and Michaels superkicks his own partner!

Diesel is furious and goes after Shawn - this is the third time he’s accidentally superkicked him and combined with all the spotlight hogging he’s had enough. The fans go nuts as Big Daddy Cool starts throwing around his own team mates to chase Michaels, who takes off up the ramp. The entire Teamsters team follows, trying to calm down Diesel and return to the ring and somehow all FIVE of them are counted out. Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Owen Hart, Jim Neidhart and Jeff Jarrett are all counted out and eliminated at 21:45. Razor Ramon gets lucky and is the Sole Survivor and wins this match for his team. That finish doesn’t make tons of sense as it would take quite a while to count out five men one after another, but it did take about 47 seconds so it’s PRETTY close if the referee used a particularly strict count. 

Not a great match, but I enjoyed the stories within - Diesel looking super strong, Razor looking resilient and Michaels and Diesel’s long awaited break up as a team. Shawn was so good as the overbearing jackass throughout this match too. 

Backstage, Shawn Michaels is in a hurry to leave, grabbing his bags and rushing out to his car. Todd Pettengill tries to get a word with him but Michaels isn’t hanging around. He calls Diesel a leech and ungrateful and says he’s DONE with him. Diesel is a zero and is NOTHING without Shawn Michaels and drives off as quickly as he can. But what about their WWF Tag Team Championships? I’ll mention it when it comes up but for now, they are still recognised as the champions. Diesel has calmed down enough to chat to fans of the WWF Hotline at least.

Classic Survivor Series match

Clowns R Us (Doink the Clown, Dink, Wink and Pink)

Vs.

The Royal Family (Jerry “The King” Lawler, Queasy, Sleasy and Cheesy)

This match has had BY FAR the most build of everything on this show. Multiple segments on every show, made so much worse by Lawler having a King’s Court segment on every single episode of Raw. Jesus. Here’s a video of the build

King tries to talk before the match but is cut off - all he managed to say was “don’t chant Burger King”. Gorilla repeats the rules that ONLY Lawler and Doink can wrestle each other - there’s to be no big person vs. little person action. Remember that. Both teams huddle and talk strategy in their corners and its Doink and Lawler who start off. My goodness, how hairy is Sleasy’s back?

They go straight into comedy with the clown out-wrestling the King and he has to go back to his corner to be consoled by the minis. He holds him on mat so the mini clowns can run across the ring, over his tummy and then the mini-Kings chase them and take the same route. This is pure slapstick comedy and when Lawler tries to reverse it, it doesn’t work and the mini-Kings trip over their own feet and fall. I won’t recap all the comedy (there’s a lot of it, including a cardboard Burger King crown being put on Lawler’s head) but will mention my favourite which is a chicken-fight. Dink gets up on Doink’s shoulders but then Lawler insists on getting on Sleasy’s shoulders and falls flat on his face. 

There’s a mass midget criss cross with them all running back and forth around the ring, while Lawler continually talks trash to his own teammates. He just basically hates all midgets, even his friends. 

Lawler rolls through Doink and hooks the tights, stealing a pin after about 30 seconds of actual wrestling and eliminates Doink after 10:36. So seeing as Lawler and Doink can only wrestle each other, that’s the match over. Lawler can never be eliminated so he wins. The match continues anyway and after some midget on midget action including biting each other’s butts and making each other dizzy, Wink is next eliminated when Lawler pushes Cheesy with his boot, the extra weight stealing another pin at 13:10. Queasy spins pink on his head and then with help from Lawler, picking him up and slamming him on the little clown, Cheesy pins and eliminates Pink at 14:28. Dink is the last man against four, but the other eliminated clowns haven’t been leaving and are hiding under the ring instead. Dink does his best and fights off all three mini-Kings single handedly until Lawler distracts the referee and Queesy is able to reverse the pin - Sleasy steals a fourth and final pin to eliminate Dink at 16:05. The Royal Family wins in a clean sweep in a fairly pointless match. I’m mostly glad this storyline is over. Dink rolls out of the ring and disappears under the ring alongside Wink and Pink.

Lawler celebrates but then asks for the mic and tells off his three teammates for daring to celebrate - they didn’t DO anything, he won it all by himself (which is true) and tells them to get in the corner and watch him celebrate. After being mean to them, the three clowns return and all six little guys chase Lawler around and out of the ring. He escapes and is very pleased with himself but Doink has the last laugh with a cream pie to the face.

More importantly, Todd Pettengill has some big news for us - in Japan, Bull Nakano win the WWF Women’s Championship at the Tokyo Dome. Great match by all accounts. He interviews the new champion who will only respond in Japanese. 

Submissions Only match for the WWF Championship

Bret Hart © (w/The British Bulldog) vs. Bob Backlund (w/Owen Hart)

I’ve loved Backlund’s journey to this match. The rules here are very specific - it can only end when either Owen or Bulldog throw in their respective man’s towel to submit on their behalf. Bob Backlund lost his WWF Championship in 1983 when his manager threw in the towel to save his career, and Backlund has apparently never gotten over it and feels like he’s been WWF Champion this whole time.

The fans go NUTS for Bret during his entrance, and his elderly parents Stu and Helen are shown sitting in the front row. That’ll be important later.

Backlund rushes Bret and is immediately bodyslammed, armdragged twice and forced to dive to the outside and regroup. Owen encourages him. 

After a long, long stretch of both men exchanging headlocks and take downs, grappling on the mat and out wrestling each other, there’s no signs of any towels being thrown in. Vince and Gorilla talk a lot about George Foreman who at 45 years old had just regained the boxing World title, and Backlund himself is 45 years old here. No one is going to submit to an armbar or a headlock so Bret is the first to slip into a real submission hold, locking Backlund in the figure four. Owen folds his arms and refuses to even consider throwing in the towel, even with Backlund screaming in pain and asking for it to be thrown in! That’s technically a verbal submission but it means nothing under these rules. Backlund reverses the hold and Owen jumps up and down with glee, yelling at Bulldog to throw his towel in but Bret reverses that again and they both make it to the ropes. That’s Bret’s opening and he focuses his attack on the leg of the challenger. Bob flails around, collapsing when he tries to put weight on his leg. Backlund clubs his way out of the prone position and uses strikes and some brawling - very unlike him - and drills Bret with a gorgeous piledriver.

He’s on one leg but mounts his own comeback with a nice swinging neckbreaker and aims his own attack at Bret’s neck and shoulder for the Chickenwing. Bret fights out of a sleeper and they go back and forth off the ropes, colliding in the middle of the ring. Bret recovers first and hits a beautiful piledriver of his own followed by his familiar finishing routine - bulldog, Russian legsweep, pin-point elbow and then finally the Sharpshooter.

Owen gets into the ring but he’s chased by Bulldog. As they run laps, the referee gets caught up and doesn’t see Owen break the hold, giving Bret a bulldog headlock. On the outside, The Bulldog rushes him but  takes a header, crashing into the ringsteps. It looks great and appears to have knocked him out cold. Owen is worried - at first I thought he just wanted Bulldog awake to submit on Bret’s behalf but he seems genuinely concerned for his brother-in-law’s wellbeing and health. Bret gets locked in the Chickenwing and Backlund takes him down to the mat. Owen starts to cry, realising what he’s done. Bulldog is out cold and Bret now is trapped in this hold, unable to get out even by submitting - the towel HAS to be thrown in by Bret’s corner-man. Owen actually starts cheering on Bret to break the hold and save himself but it’s no good - Backlund promised his hold was unbreakable and he’s right. The drama unfolds here as Vince and Gorilla feel sorry for Owen, feeling compassion for his brother. This goes on for a long time with Owen doing lap after lap of the ring trying to figure out what to do. Vince says that Bret CAN submit if he wants to but I don’t think the rules work that way. I guess it does make the WWF Champion look a lot tougher if he could submit at any time but is refusing to because the title means so much to him. 

Bret goes over to his mother and father and cries - he’s sorry, he doesn’t want it to be like this, he has to try and save Bret. The commentators go quiet so we can hear what he’s saying. “That’s my brother” he sobs and begs his mum or dad to throw in the towel for Bret and save him from this hold before he sustains permanent damage. Owen finally encourages his mum and dad to come to ringside and hilariously, Stu still won’t throw in the towel - that’s such grumpy dad energy, wanting to keep the title over his son’s wellbeing. Helen finally listens to Owen’s pleads and throws in the towel! Bob Backlund wins the submission match and is the new WWF Champion! 

Owen IMMEDIATELY drops the act, triumphantly grabbing Bret’s towel as his trophy and running away. It was a ruse - Owen just played his mum and dad like fiddles and has cost Bret the WWF Championship, just like he wanted. There’s a long wait for the official rind announcement and the crowd boos loudly as Backlund is presented with the title belt. Bret has to be helped out of the ring and to the back, selling his arm like it’s been torn out of its socket. Backlund looks demented as he puffs out his chest and demands the referee put the title belt around his waist. The cameras remain more focused on Bret being helped out of the arena than they do on Backlund’s victory celebration. 11 years after he last held it, Bob Backlund is the new WWF Champion. Vince and Gorilla can’t believe it and frankly neither can anyone else. Bob deserves a lot of credit for his performance here, his wide bug eyes and looking at his hands in disbelief. Great stuff. The match itself was fairly slow BUT the storyline drama was excellent and I love this version of Bob Backlund.

Backstage, Todd Pettengill interviews Owen Hart who confirms what we all saw - it was a ruse, a setup and a performance. Owen Hart calls this the greatest thanksgiving of his life. He tricked his mum and dad and screwed over his brother. He says that Bret is beneath him and in the gutter. Owen is the King of the Ring and Bret isn’t a champion anymore, he’s a quitter! Awesome stuff. Back at ringside, Gorilla is angry at Owen but Vince is quiet and sad - he feels betrayed and disgusted that Owen would do that to his own parents. Powerful stuff. 

Classic Survivor Series match

Guts and Glory (Lex Lugar, Mabel w/Oscar, Adam Bomb and The Smoking Gunns, Billy and Bart Gunn) 

Vs. 

The Million Dollar Team (Tatanka, King Kong Bundy, Bam Bam Bigelow w/Ted Dibiase and The Heavenly Bodies, Jimmy Del Ray and Tom Pritchard w/Jim Cornette)

Cornette is announced as accompanying this team to the ring but he’s not actually there. He’s got the casket match to worry about no doubt. Huge fan of the giant projected dollar bill with Ted Dibiase’s face on it on the mat. Great stuff.

I still think it’s really dodgy that Lex’s theme song has fans chanting USA at the start of it - it’s like they didn’t trust that the crowd would actually still chant for him after his failed main event run. The crowd is in stunned silence after the big WWF title change previously.

Tatanka and Lex kicks things off - they have the big personal score to settle after Summerslam. Lugar comes out on top of it and so Tatanka tags out to Tom Pritchard. Lex lets the big 500lbs Mabel take over and he has no problem catching Pritchard’s crossbody and slamming him. Mabel hits a crossbody off the middle rope and that huge weight puts Prichard down. He’s the first man eliminated at 3:58. Del Ray doesn’t do much better so he tags in King Kong Bundy and we get the big man vs. big man staredown which actually does get a good reaction from the crowd. They run the ropes and bump tummies and Mabel comes out on top, knocking Bundy off his feet so he tags in Bam Bam.

Mabel beats him up too and actually goes to the top rope. He’s slammed off the ropes but Bam Bam’s sunset flip attempt is counted by the 500lbs just sitting down on him. Mabel clotheslines Bam Bam to the outside and the bigger man must have hit the floor first because that’s enough to keep him down. Mabel is counted out and eliminated at 7:15. Billy Gunn and Jimmy Del Ray take over as the legal men in the ring. They have a short wrestling exchange and then tag out to Adam Bomb and Bam Bam Bigelow. They’re rushing through spots and tags without much happening so I’m sorry if my coverage is disjointed. Bundy gets a cheap shot on Bomb and he’s slammed and then Bam Bam hits a big moonsault to eliminate Adam Bomb at 8:09. Lex Lugar gets in and after a short back and forth, eliminates Jimmy Del Ray with his big flying forearm at 9:56. The Smoking Gunns get some rhythm and start to tag in and out, working over Tatanka and using their tag team expertise in this big tag team match - imagine that? A pair of big double team slams get closer and closer nearfalls on Tatanka but he counters Bart Gunn’s attempted crucifix into a Papoose to go Samoan drop and Bart Gunn is eliminated by Tatanka at 13:27. That was so messy, and I’m not sure who’s fault it was. Lex Lugar and Billy Gunn now face two on three odds. They keep the pressure on Tatanka, tagging in and out and showing some good continuity. Tatanka kicks out of cover after cover and finally counters Billy Gunn with a powerslam to tag out to King Kong Bundy. The Wrestlemania 2 main eventer is far too big and strong for Billy Gunn and squashes him in the corner before finishing him with a big heavy elbow drop to eliminate Billy Gunn at 16:14. That leaves Lex Lugar three on one against Tatanka, Bam Bam and Bundy. The three heels are unable to keep Lex in their corner and he keeps fighting back, mostly with clotheslines. He’s hammered by all three men and there isn’t much to recap here as they slowly work him over with punches and kicks while Ted Dibiase cackles like a mad man at ringside. The finish comes out of no where as Lex pulls Tatanka into a small package, eliminating him at 23:14 but then inexplicably lays flat on his back, shuffling into the middle of the ring so that King Kong Bundy can splash him and pin Lex at 21:21 to win this match.

Bam Bam Bigelow and King King Bundy survive to win it for the Million Dollar Team. The three Dibiase-led men continue to attack Lex and beat him down three on one for a bit until finally the Smoking Gunns and Adam Bomb sprint to the ring to his rescue. They clear the greedy heels out of the ring and tend to Lex.

This was a rubbish match. There were no spots and it was basically 23 minutes of slow brawling with eliminates in a funny order. I hated the finish as Lex looked like a total goof being pinned by King Kong Bundy of all people - someone no one cares about being back. The main thing is that the Million Dollar Team won so at least Dibiase hasn’t been wasting his money. I guess they have big plans for King Kong Bundy in the near future.

Todd Pettengill interviews the NEW WWF Champion, Bob Backlund. Bob is overjoyed and says he’s been champion since 1978 because he never lost the title, but tonight he got the physical belt back. He calls Bret the representation of the decaying morals of society and promises to homogenise and synchronise everyone’s morals through sports education! He will face anyone from the New Generation because he is fighting for something important and he feels like a GOD! Awesome unhinged promo. 

Before the main event, Howard Finkle introduces “one of the biggest movie stars in the world” Chuck Norris. That’s a stretch, but he was certainly very well known. He became a bit of a meme in the early days of the internet too. Chuck Norris facts were the first big viral sensation I remember! He takes his position at ringside to act as the troubleshooting referee - Pat Patterson is there to show him where to stand.

Casket match

The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) vs. Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette)

Special Guest “troubleshooting” referee: Chuck Norris

Yokozuna enters first with his usual entourage, even though only Jim Cornette has been appearing on the match graphic in the build up. Undertaker blows everyone’s minds with an epic entrance - wind howling, thunder and lightening booming as the big wall of screens at the top of the entrance ramp literally splits in two so that he can emerge not from the same entrance tunnel as everyone else, but appear as if by magic from a cloud of smoke. The arena lighting makes him just a silhouette as he walks to the ring with Paul Bearer pushing the casket ahead of them. Gorilla Monsoon calls The Undertaker “the greatest force in the universe”. Incredible presentation of him here and the fans love it. Yoko looks terrified.

He’s become one of my favourite performers in 1994 too and deserves credit for his performance here too. These two were best mates in real life, which if anything makes me appreciate this more. You’ll recall their feud actually began at Survivor Series last year. Undertaker rocks Yoko with punches and sends him to the outside. He trots around the ring to get a bit of distance and then back in the ring, shrugs off the old-school jumping club off the top rope to hit a Samoan drop. Undertaker sits up. He’s rocked by a big headbutt. Undertaker sits up. A big spinning urinage that looks a bit like a Rock Bottom and then a nearly-600lbs leg drop before he has the chance to sit up finally stops the Deadman’s momentum and he tries to put him in the casket for the first time. Undertaker blocks the attempt and fights back out of the box. 

The managers make their first impact, trying to distract Undertaker and Cornette gets blasted with a big uppercut punch which knocks him goofy for his troubles. The distraction works and Yokozuna finally builds some momentum with headbutts, chops and a belly to belly slam. Undertaker mounts a comeback and puts down Yoko with a big flying clothesline. He’s about to roll him towards the casket as King Kong Bundy comes down to ringside, followed by Bam Bam Bigelow. Chuck Norris stands strong, not letting them pass. The crowd actually gets quite into this stand off chanting “Go Chuck Go!” With everyone’s attention focused on the stand off, IRS comes through the crowd and attacks from behind. Gorilla did wonder aloud where Irwin was earlier tonight. He locks Undertaker in a sleeper, apparently putting him out and then drops him into the casket before leaving the same way he entered, having given Yoko a huge advantage.

He slowly makes his way over to close the casket lid but Undertaker rises and grabs him around the throat! Double J comes down to ringside to try and help but Chuck Norris karate kicks him right in the chest, sending him flying back up the entrance ramp! There’s a lot going on but back in the ring, a big jumping clothesline, a big DDT and then a running big boot sends Yoko out of the ring, falling perfectly into the casket - huge props to Yoko for that fall - before snapping Fuji’s Japanese flag in half, dumping that on top of Yokozuna and slamming the lid. The Undertaker wins, and the referees wheel Yokozuna in the casket to the back while Cornette and Fuji lose their minds. Chuck Norris did his part, but then he just leaves, He didn’t even stay to celebrate with Undertaker and Bearer.

The lights go out and the PPV ends with Paul Bearer and The Undertaker posing and celebrating in the ring. Vince does his best to recap all the big happenings before the show ends too - Bret will be back but not right away as he’s suffered a shoulder injury, and Diesel and Shawn Michaels’ fall out will continue to be covered too. And we’re out. 

This isn’t a great show, but there’s certainly enough good things on it for my tastes. I said before I wasn’t really looking forward to watching it and they certainly surpassed that expectation. Bret vs. Backlund was very slow in parts, but I really liked the story, the finish and all of the developments with Backlund and Owen Hart who now has to be the biggest heel in the company, I really liked the booking of the opening Bad Guys vs. Teamsters match, and I really liked the main event - huge fan of Yokozuna and of this version of The Undertaker and I think it delivered more than it promised. So thumbs up for smashing my expectations but take that with a pinch of salt because my expectations were very low. 

Monday Night Raw - November 28th 1994

• Huge news to kick off Raw. There is a new WWF Champion. You already know this of course because I talked about it above. It’s Bob Backlund. Or is it? I’ll let Vince McMahon tell you about it

• Just in case you didn’t watch the above video (and how dare you?) two days ago at a non-televised event in Madison Square Garden, the newly turned babyface Diesel defeated Backlund in just 8 seconds with a Jackknife powerbomb to become the NEW WWF Champion. Is Diesel a double champion? No, with he and Shawn’s fall-out official, they have been stripped of the WWF Tag Team Championships. Whew, that’s a lot to get through at the start of the show isn’t it? “Big Daddy Cool is the new leader of the New Generation!”
• Owen Hart kicks things off against John Paul. He has the pink and black towel he used to help screw his brother out of the WWF title at Survivor Series which he now carries around as his trophy. Jerry Lawler on commentary tonight with Vince absolutely loves it. Bret Hart calls in during this match to talk to Vince about the title loss - he’s in shock, he’s sore but thinks he’ll be back around the New Year, and hasn’t watched back the footage yet but he will. No mention of Diesel or the WWF title - he’s focused on Owen and Backlund still, and plugging the encore of the PPV broadcast.

• IRS goes one on one with Adam Bomb in this week’s “actual star vs. actual star” match. The crowd are all over IRS, chanting Irwin at him. Before the match he throws insults at The Undertaker. Weirdly considering Adam Bomb’s status as a huge, muscular power guy, IRS works him over slowly on the mat as he tries to rally and fight back from underneath. Adam Bomb finally mounts a comeback but a mysterious figure dressed as a druid gets up onto the apron and knocks him out. IRS steals the pin and IRS and the druid continue to attack Bomb until Lex Lugar runs down to rescue him. 
• Sparky Plugg faces Tony Devito. Vince spends the match talking about how Plugg will be taking part in a race that weekend. He didn’t do a lot of actual motor racing but enough to make his gimmick as a racecar driver legit. Interestingly, Vince uses his real name a couple of times here and keeps calling him Bob Holly! He wins with a big jumping clothesline off the top rope.
• There’s a video promoting the arrival of Henry Godwin, a wrestling pig farmer who’ll be making his debut very soon.

• Lex Lugar makes his entrance with a kid acting as flag bearer, waving the US flag for him as he walks to the ring. It was at this point that it dawned on me that the Raw girls had disappeared. That must be very recent, but they didn’t add much to the show so it’s no big loss. Lex has no problem with Burt Centeno, making him submit to the Rebel Rack. 
• Vince McMahon gets into the ring to introduce the new WWF Champion Diesel. He gets a lot of screams and squeals from the girls in the crowd (there’s a reason his nickname was Big Sexy in WCW) but generally gets quite a quiet response even with Vince’s BIG introduction. This promo marks his official babyface turn - he runs down Shawn Michaels, saying his ego got out of control and then recaps the day he won the WWF title. The fans all wished “Big Daddy” luck and he used all of it to win the title. Vince asks about him giving Backlund a rematch. He compliments Bob’s bowties and tells him that if he gets the Crossface on him it might be trouble, but he has to get it on him first. He also says he doesn’t like how Bret Hart lost the title and gives him some praise before offering him a rematch too - any time he’s ready. He’s a fighting champion, just like Bret. Diesel got popular by being an ass-kicker with a bit of a cocky attitude. He took no prisoners and was booked strong. Here, he’s a bit more white-meat babyface who loves the fans and respects the other babyfaces. He ends with “on lives the New Generation and the WWF” which is powerfully lame. 

• The big match promoted for next week’s Raw is Jeff Jarrett vs. The British Bulldog, which I’m looking forward to! 
• The Heavenly Bodies led by Jim Cornette take on Buck Quartermain amd some other guy who’s name I didn’t catch. Bob Backlund comes down and joins commentary for this match so the events in the ring make no odds. Backlund talks about how he’ll recover from adversity to regain his WWF Championship. He defends his odd behaviour as sometimes responding to great trauma and tragedy (losing the title). He promises to procure the Chickenwing on Diesel. Jimmy Del Ray won the match for his team by the way. After the match, Vince asks for the replay of Diesel’s title win again and an irate Backlund promises to put the Chickenwing on Vince himself at some point before he retires. Jerry Lawler finds that hilarious and the show ends with Vince giving the hard sell for next week’s show, as well as the PPV replay for the Survivor Series. See ya next week!