WWF Monday Night RAW – January 24th, 1994

January 24, 1994

From the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, VA

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jim Ross

Lex Luger vs. Austin Steele

Vince boasts how last week’s show was the top-rated cable show in the country. The announcers then talk about the ending of the Rumble and also the “supernatural” that Vince promises we will find out about soon. Luger works over Steele then grounds him with a side headlock as Ross puts over his athleticism and intelligence. Steele reaches the ropes then cheap shots Luger as Vince gives the backstory as to how Luger got into the Rumble match and how WWF President Jack Tunney will have a decision this weekend as what to do with the WrestleMania X title shot. Luger regains control and hits a suplex and a powerslam then uses a superplex for the win as the announcers continue to speculate as to what will happen with Luger at WrestleMania. (3:41)

Thoughts: No idea why Steele got in this much offense but the goal was to talk about the ending of the Rumble match. The crowd was not into Luger too much here though.

The announcers run down the rest of the show that features a Men on a Mission vs. Headshrinkers match that Ross calls a “slobberknocker” along with Jeff Jarrett, Shawn Michaels, Doink the Clown, and Adam Bomb.

Royal Rumble Report with Todd Pettengill. We get still photos as a graphic on the screen plugs tomorrow’s encore PPV airing and how us fans can voice our opinions as to who won the match.

Jeff Jarrett vs. John Paul

Vince says we have a choice to either watch the encore airing of the Rumble or listen to Bill Clinton”s State of the Union address then we hear Vince laugh as Ross says he is calling his cable company because he has heard enough from Hillary Clinton. Jarrett dropkicks Paul then after that is almost put away with a small package. Paul also uses a sunset flip for a two count but after that Jarrett drops him with a back elbow smash. Vince teases what happened at the Rumble with The Undertaker in order to sell the encore airing as Jarrett keeps flexing in between moves. Jarrett busts out a slingshot suplex then puts the boots to Paul in the corner but misses an elbow drop. Paul sneaks up with a school boy for a nearfall then hammers away after a reversal sequence but we get another reversal sequence that ends with Jarrett using a reverse rollup and a handful of tights for the win (4:11). After the match, Jarrett boots Paul in the gut then hits a jumping DDT.

Thoughts: The announcers put over Jarrett but not as much as The Undertaker as they teased what happened to him at the Rumble.

We get a video package hyping next week’s 1-2-3 Kid vs. Johnny Polo match. A match that never took place due to Kid’s injury.

The Headshrinkers w/ Afa vs. Men on a Mission w/ Oscar

Fatu and Mo start off as Vince says the Headshrinkers were originally supposed to face Bret & Owen Hart but what Owen did was so “revolting” he cannot even talk about what happened. The crowd gets behind MoM as Vince promises an exclusive interview with Owen this coming Sunday on “All-American Wrestling.” The Headshrinkers huddle with Afa as we have not had much action at all in the first few minutes of this match. Mo celebrates after an attack but after that walks into a thrust kick. Fatu then takes his time but that allows Mabel to tag in as Samu refuses to tag when he sees Mabel behind his parnter. Mabel works over The Headshrinkers and fights off a few kicks before suplexing Fatu. Mo tags and clotheslines Fatu for a two count but gets kicked by Samu from behind on the apron then we go to break. The match returns with The Headshrinkers dropping Mo with a double clothesline. Fatu works a nerve hold then dumps Mo outside where he gets sent into the steps. Mo tries to fight back but still hasn’t learned you can hurt the Headshrinkers by hitting their heads and gets kicked down. Vince says he cannot believe Owen blamed Bret for losing the match then how he kicked him down. The Headshrinkers continue to cut the ring in half until Mo cuts Fatu off on the top rope. Mo crawls over to his partner and tags out as Mabel runs wild. The crowd is into Mabel as he is actually able to hurt the Headshrinkers with a double noggin-knocker. Mabel almost puts Samu away with a spinning heel kick then Mo tags in and they drop a double elbow. The ref tries to maintain order then Mabel gets dumped and is just a second too late to save his partner as Fatu uses a flying splash for the win (10:52 shown) **. After the match, Mabel takes out the Headshrinkers with a double clothesline.

Thoughts: The match was decent enough and while the end looked like a mess it was designed for The Headshrinkers and Mabel to look strong as its crystal clear Mo is not someone the company cares to push. And per Mabel himself Mo was not making many friends behind the scenes. Also, they really talked a lot about the Bret/Owen stuff from the Rumble.

Adam Bomb w/ Harvey Whippleman vs. Tommy Angel

Angel is now balding with a goatee and basic red trunks, a different look than he sported in the late 80’s with the mullet and long yellow tights. Bomb shoves Angel after a lockup with the announcers putting over Angel’s experience and fundamentals. Angel fights back and staggers Bomb with a pair of dropkicks but drops his head and gets clobbered. Bomb hammers away in the corner then tosses him across the ring. Bomb stays in control and cuts off a comeback attempt before hitting a flying clothesline then using the Atom Smasher for the win (2:59).

Thoughts: Bomb is someone who gets pushed on commentary but that is not translating into anything inside of the ring or in terms of feuds.

Another Thurman “Sparky” Plugg vignette as Vince puts over his debut in the Rumble.

Doink the Clown w/Dink vs. Joey Stallings

Dink pretends to walk a dog and tricks Stallings, prompting Vince to laugh like a moron. Stallings knocks down Doink but gets caught with a belly-to-belly suplex. Doink works the arm as the announcers put over his wrestling ability then Stallings uses a side slam for a two count. Doink is able to avoid a dropkick then laughs before slapping Stallings down and follows with a dropkick of his own. Doink plays to the crowd then hits a Saito suplex as the announcers talk about Tunney’s decision then Doink uses a flying sit-down splash for the win (3:26).

Thoughts: They once again talked about Tunney making a decision “this weekend” while discussing the Doink/Bigelow feud.

We get an ad voiced over by Lord Alfred Hayes to hype up the Rumble encore airing on PPV.

Shawn Michaels vs. Tyrone Knox

The announcers talk about both Shawn and Diesel’s performance in the Rumble and how Shawn declined to face Diesel one-on-one yet helped eliminate Diesel. Shawn hammers away in the corner but misses a diving attack as now Knox works the arm. Shawn catches Knox with a back elbow smash as the announcers also talk about Shawn’s interference in the Intercontinental Title match. Shawn stays in control as Ross cannot wait until Shawn and Razor finally settle once and for all who is the Intercontinental Champion then Vince talks about the rumors of CBS trying to get the WWF to replace the NFL are false as they will be staying on the USA Network. Knox fights back but gets nailed with a super kick then Shawn uses a piledriver for the win (4:24).

Thoughts: With the IRS/Razor feud done it now looks that Shawn/Razor is the current Intercontinental Title program. They also talked Shawn and what he did to his bodyguard Diesel in the Rumble.

Next week, Kid vs. Polo plus an interview with Luger & Bret Hart. They also plug Bret appearing on Radio WWF and the Owen interview on All-American. Vince then says that IRS is next week’s guest commentator.

Final Thoughts: This show was used to hype the Rumble encore airing and to tell us to tune in this weekend and see Tunney’s ruling on the finish of the Rumble match. We had a featured tag match that was alright and a few other long, dull squash matches as next week the Road to WrestleMania X should become clearer.