WWF Superstars – March 26th, 1994

March 26, 1994

From the Stabler Arena in Bethelem, PA

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler, who is back on color commentary after being acquitted of rape charges.

We see still photos of Bret Hart introduced as the new champion. After that we see the debut of the new show opening with Vince saying after WrestleMania the WWF is blasting off into a new decade. Yes, he said that in 1994, almost the midway point of the decade. Instead of highlights set to music we get a filmed opening with shots of the top wrestlers in the ring with each other at different times almost as if they are having a match.

Lex Luger vs. Duane Gill

Lawler refers to Luger as “Lex Loser” while Vince says Luger was robbed by Mr. Perfect. Luger beats on Gill then flattens him with a clothesline as Vince talks about Perfect disqualifying Luger at WrestleMania. Luger then drops Gill with a press slam before using the torture rack for the win (1:03). The spotlight comes on after the match as does a graphic that says Luger is made in the USA.

Thoughts: The announcers really pushed the Luger/Perfect feud as that will be one of the top post-Mania feuds. Or at least it was supposed to be as we learn in the coming weeks. And we received saw another new production wrinkle with a superstar logo flashing on the screen.

Vince now narrates still photos of the Luger vs. Yokozuna match at WrestleMania.

In action this week are Diesel, Smoking Gunns, and Owen Hart. Lawler says Owen is his hero for beating Bret and showing he is the greatest Hart of all. Also, Tatanka vs. Kwang as we get a split-screen of both guys warming up backstage set to generic music.

We get an ad hyping the WrestleMania X encore PPV airing.

Diesel vs. John Chrystal

Vince plugs Luger vs. Rick Martel this coming Monday night on RAW. Chrystal lands some shots as Lawler blames the ref tossing out Diesel at WrestleMania being the reason Shawn Michaels lost at WrestleMania. Vince says that Shawn is recuperating from that match as the announcers put it over as a classic. Diesel overpowers Chrystal with Vince talking about how great a Razor Ramon vs. Diesel match would be then Diesel hits the jackknife for the win (2:24).

Thoughts: They are now pushing how Diesel being kicked out of WrestleMania cost Shawn the match because Diesel would have untied Shawn’s leg from the ropes and since Shawn is recuperating from the match, Diesel is seeking revenge.

We now hear from Rhonda Shear and how much she loved WrestleMania.

Stan Lane is now hosting the “WWF Live Event News” as he see footage of WWF Superstars hyping up WrestleMania on various shows. The Face-to-Face segments have now ended.

The IRS tax cheat stuff we saw from RAW airs. It was terrible in replay form too.

Kwang w/ Harvey Whippleman vs. Tatanka

Vince talks about Howard Finkel shoving Whippleman to the mat at WrestleMania was a highlight as Lawler says Whippleman will get his revenge. Kwang attacks from behind before dropping Tatanka with a thrust kick. Kwang stomps away after spraying mist in the air but Tatanka ducks a few attacks then chops away after a shoulder block. Tatanka runs wild then heads up top for a flying chop that gets two. Tatanka gets a few other nearfalls then goes to work on the arm. Kwang fights back then takes Tatanka over the top rope with a spinning heel kick and heads out to inflict more punishment as we go to break. We return with Kwang working a nerve hold after stomping away as Lawler says that Johnny Polo is doing some detective work for him as Vince talks about IRS wanting to collect gift taxes from Tatanka’s head dress. Kwang then blocks a sunset flip and follows with a leg drop that gets two. Kwang goes back to the nerve hold then we see IRS come down the aisle with a mic telling Tatanka how he is just like the rest of the tax cheats in the crowd. IRS now touches the headdress as Tatanka fights back and dropkicks Kwang outside. Tatanka then heads out and slugs it out with IRS until several referees break them up as he also gets counted out in the process (6:54 shown) **.

Thoughts: The beginning was a bit of a mess but they kept up a brisk pace after settling down and that is really all I ask for from a syndicated featured match from this era. However, the point of the match was to add heat to the Tatanka/IRS feud as they are going with that for a pushed midcard TV feud.

The “WWF Greetings on Call” ad airs.

We get an ad for next week’s Jeff Jarrett vs. Sparky Plugg match.

Albert Diltz is the guest ring announcer. Lawler jokingly refers to him as “ditz” and makes fun of his delivery.

Smoking Gunns vs. Jason Headings & Rich Myers

Billy works over Myers as Lawler puts over the old-timers present at WrestleMania and even gets in a dig at the Fabulous Moolah. Vince gloats over Burt Reynolds and calls him one of the nicest human beings of all-time. Headings runs in and uses a flying headscissors to take down Bart but after that gets taken down after a long Irish whip sequence. Bart then uses a vertical suplex and soon after that the Gunns use a double Russian leg sweep for a two count. Billy then drops a pair of elbows as Vince says Owen Hart will be coming up next as the Gunns continue to work over Headings until they finally put him away with the flying elbow drop/powerbomb combo (3:30).

Thoughts: This felt like it lasted ten minutes here as this was a really just a backdrop for the announcers to talk about everyone in attendance at WrestleMania. The Gunns are still presented as nothing more but tag team depth.

WrestleMania X Report with Todd Pettengill. This is basically a hard-sell for the PPV replay. We also hear Donnie Wahlberg talk about how cool it was to meet Freddie Blassie & Capt. Lou Albano plus an interview from Jim Cornette with Yokozuna & Mr. Fuji in which they blame Roddy Piper for Yokozuna losing the title and want a rematch. After that we hear from Piper, who says he started WrestleMania, and tells them he did his job fair and sqaure. With Piper cutting a promo we should expect him to stick around for a bit. Bret Hart tells us how great it is to be champion again and pretty much cuts the same exact promo he did on RAW. Owen now says he won not due to luck but because he was better and promises to beat Bret again to become champion.

“The Rocket” Owen Hart vs. PJ Walker

Lawler said the rest of the Hart Family hated Owen as we see Owen rip up his glasses and throw them into the crowd. Owen shoves down Walker then the two trade hammerlocks. Owen takes Walker down then taunts the crowd as Lawler says Polo is investigating the Hart Family as we speak. The crowd chants for Bret as Owen continues to beat down Walker while Lawler makes all sorts of claims of abuse suffered by Owen from his own family. Owen then hits a spinning wheel kick before using the Sharpshooter for the win (2:46). Lawler then says that Polo is coming out while he heads to the ring.

Thoughts: We now see that Lawler is back to making fun of the Hart Family but this time taking a liking to Owen. Some of the abuse claims were amusing. Anyway, Owen is being presented as one of the top heels but the crowd reaction was not that rabid. It should be noted that this match was taped before WrestleMania, however.

The WWF Live Event News segment airs.

Another “WWF Unbelievable” ad airs as we see the White House with terrible Bill & Hillary Clinton impersonators yell as Bill said the budget cuts means he no longer has cable. 90’s WWF sure featured a lot of lousy Clinton impressions.

Polo is now with Vince as they run down next week’s show which includes: Razor Ramon, Doink the Clown, and Earthquake. However, Jeff Jarrett’s music plays as he spells out his name then calls himself the world’s greatest wrestler for running down Sparky Plugg to hype their match next week. I thought having Jarrett to come out and hype his match was a nice touch but trying to make a match against Plugg look important at this juncture is a lost cause. Still appreciated the effort though.

Final Thoughts: We heard talk about the new era on RAW but they really put it into overdrive how they were changing into this new era. There were all sorts of new production features, they switched the broadcast team again, and we saw the current direction which appears to be Bret vs. Yoko then Owen, Luger vs. Perfect, and Diesel vs. Razor. With WrestleMania X in the past and the King of the Ring PPV less than two months away its time to build towards that show.