WWF Wrestling Challenge – January 30th, 1994

January 30, 1994

From the Florence Civic Center in Florence, SC

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Jim Ross

This week, the TV debuts of Sparky Plugg and Kwang. Also in action are The Bushwhackers, Ludvig Borga, Adam Bomb, and The Headshrinkers

Thurman “Sparky” Plugg vs. Barry Horowitz

Ross talks about President Tunney’s ruling on the Rumble match finish coming up as Plugg runs over Horowitz. Plugg works the arm after that then uses a snap suplex before using a flying knee drop for the win as Ross tells us its called the “Overhead Cam” (2:18).

Thoughts: Plugged looked decent enough but the real focus on commentary was hyping Tunney’s decision about the Rumble match ending.

WWF Special Report with Lord Alfred Hayes. We hear Tunney’s decision about having two title matches at WrestleMania then see Yokozuna’s celebration that was first shown on “Superstars.”

Adam Bomb w/ Harvey Whippleman vs. Gary Sabaugh

The announcers hype up the coin toss on coming up on RAW as Bomb grounds Sabaugh, best known as the Itallian Stallion, who is sporting “Italy” across of his black trunks. Bomb misses a corner charge as Sabaugh works the arm. Bomb boots Sabaugh in the gut then catches him with a dropkick then soon after that the Atom Smasher gets the win (2:33).

Thoughts: A match designed as a backdrop for the announcers to talk about Tunney’s ruling.

The “Power & Grace” video package for Alundra Blayze airs.

A video package airs to hype up the 1-2-3 Kid vs. Johnny Polo match on RAW.

The Bushwhackers vs. Scott Powers & Mark Thorn

The announcers talk about how both men get a shot at the title while the loser of the coin flip will have to be in a “tough” match prior to getting their shot at the title. The Bushwhackers work over Powers to start as Gorilla bring up how they were walking around the jungles when they first started in the company, which was over five years ago. Thorn tags in and gets worked over then put away with a battering ram (2:42).

Thoughts: The announcers continued to talk about the title matches at WrestleMania X as we were also reminded how long the Bushwhackers have been in the company.

We get a video package to hype up Doink the Clown vs. Bam Bam Bigelow for next week’s show.

Larry Croy vs. Ludvig Borga

The announcers talk about how Borga hates everything and everyone as we get some USA chants from the crowd. Borga slams Croy then drops an elbow but misses a second attempt. Croy tries to rally the crowd behind him but Borga shrugs off his offense then slams him down. Borga now taunts the crowd then drops Croy with a headbutt as the announcers talk about how he hates every Nationality then pins Croy with one finger following a punch to the gut (2:10).

Thoughts: This was Borga’s final appearance on Challenge. This was filmed a few days before he got injured at MSG so its why he had matches that made it to air. They also never mentioned why he missed the Rumble and talked about how he hated everyone, which by all reports was how he acted in real life.

WrestleMania X Report airs.

The video package hyping Earthquake’s return airs.

The Headshrinkers w/ Afa vs. David Clements & JD Striker

The Headshrinkers attack their opponents from behind then toss them out of the ring. They drag Striker back inside and beat him down as the announcers say its only a matter of time until they become champions and want to know why they are not getting a shot against The Quebecers. Clements is in and also gets destroyed then Fatu puts him out of his misery with a top rope splash (2:45).

Thoughts: It was telling to hear the announcers talk about how The Headshrinkers were deserving of a title shot and that Afa might not be able to communicate to President Tunney about making that happen despite the Headshrinkers being heels.

An ad hyping WrestleMania X airs.

We hear the Undertaker’s message from inside of the casket.

Ray Hudson vs. Kwang w/ Harvey Whippleman

Kwang land some chops before dropping Hudson with a spin kick. Kwang then sprays mist into the air before using more chops and martial arts poses. Whippleman screams about how great Kwang is as Kwang now chokes out Hudson on the mat. Kwang stays in control and poses in between strikes but ducks his head as Hudson fights back. Kwang then catches Hudson with a spinning heel kick and follows up with a second kick then does more poses before using a thrust kick for the win (3:41).

Thoughts: Man was this terrible. Kwang moved around incredibly slowly as he had him play a dated gimmick that required you to do lots of dumb posing in between moves.

Next week in action are Diesel, Crush, Men on a Mission, and the featured match of Doink vs. Bigelow. We end the show hearing from all involved in the featured match.

Final Thoughts: The main focus was on Tunney’s ruling and most of the key segments here were already shown on Superstars. We also get a featured match for next week and its involving two guys who are feuding so expect something to happen there as we will also deal with the coin flip fallout too.