WWF Monday Night RAW – April 18th, 1994

April 18, 1994

From the Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, NY

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and “Macho Man” Randy Savage

The show starts off with a replay from last week when Jerry Lawler was accidentally tipped over on his throne. They sure did get a lot of mileage out of this but it worked because Lawler sold it so well.

We now have the hosts run down the show which includes Alundra Blayze as guest on the “King’s Court” and Bret Hart vs. Kwang in a non-title match. Savage wants to know why he is not getting a title shot from Bret.

Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs. Kwang w/ Harvey Whippleman

Kwang attacks Bret as he entered the ring. He drops Bret with a spinning heel kick then spits his mist into the air. Kwang hammers away in the corner but misses a charge as Bret now is the one firing away in the corner. Bret works the arm for a bit and even mixes in a reverse rollup that got him a two count. Vince wants to know how Bret can avoid Kwang’s martial arts skills as Kwang sidesteps a charge and Bret crashes outside and grabs his wrist. Kwang rolls out and roughs up Bret as we go to break. The match returns with Kwang hitting a spinning heel kick in the corner then landing on the floor where he does some martial arts poses. Vince said that Owen Hart called in during the break and we will hear his comments soon as Kwang works a nerve hold. Owen is now on the line as Bret comes back with a crossbody that gets him a two count. Kwang drops Bret then chokes him out as Owen wants a title shot during the WrestleMania Revenge tour because he is better than Bret and confident he will win. Bret fights back as Vince interrupts Owen when calling the match and then Owen hangs up after asking again for Bret to put the title on the line. Bret hits a Russian leg sweep then gets the win with a Sharpshooter (6:56 shown) **1/2.

Thoughts: Solid TV match here. Unlike his match against Tatanka, Kwang’s nerve hold spots did not dominate the match. And this match had a lot more action. The main thing however was Owen calling in to lay out his reasons for deserving a title shot. Which were valid.

Todd Pettengill gives us information on the WrestleMania Revenge tour.

We now see footage from the Every Buddy Inc. charity event at a skating rink. They were really pumping out these charity pieces in an effort to combat the negative press around the company.

Jeff Jarrett vs. PJ Walker

The announcers talk about Dudley Moore being drunk at his wedding this past weekend and how things are bad between Roseanne & Tom Arnold. Jarrett shoves down Walker after a break then ducks between the ropes. Jarrett outsmarts Walker then hammers away before yelling into the camera for Bret Hart to give him a title shot because he is a real champion. Savage is hopeful he will get a title shot too as Jarrett misses an elbow drop. Jarrett then stomps Walker before applying an abdominal stretch. Walker manages to surprise Jarrett with a small package but Jarrett avoids a charge in the corner then hits a slingshot suplex. Jarrett stays in control as Vince brings up how Capt. Lou Albano has talked to Jack Tunney about The Headshrinkers getting a shot at the Tag Team Titles. Jarrett stays in control then hits a jumping DDT for the win (4:00).

Thoughts: Odd to hear talk this much about current events. There was no mention of the Jarrett/Doink feud here, either. And we learn of Albano trying to make Tunney grant The Headshrinkers a title shot.

Albano is now shown telling the “honorable” Jack Tunney that he wants a decision by next week as to whether or not The Headshrinkers will get a title shot.

Steiner Brothers vs. Mike Khoury & Barry Hardy

This is the first Steiner Brothers appearance since the Royal Rumble. The announcers talk about The Steiners losing the titles under Quebec Province Rules as they hype up Tunney’s decision about the title match, with Savage joking that Tunney will say yes just to shut up Albano that makes Vince laugh because it was true. Scott works over Khoury then dumps Hardy with a Saito suplex. Rick tags in now as Vince says that there has been talk of The Steiners not always getting along and there is talk about the team possibly splitting up. The Steiners continue to work over Hardy and beat the crap out of him in the process. Scott even hits Hardy with a top rope Samoan drop then threatens the ref as he now beats on Khoury before the Steiner Screwdriver gets the win (5:14).

Thoughts: Really long squash match with the Steiners brutalizing their opponents. On commentary, they made it seem like the Steiner Brothers were going to split up as a team and with Scott acting quite aggressive have him go heel. However, this would be the team’s last appearance on RAW and although advertised they never ended up on the WrestleMania Revenge Tour as they were gone from the company.

The Duke “The Dumpster” Droese vignette shown from this past weekend’s “Wrestling Challenge” airs.

King’s Court with guest Alundra Blayze. Lawler sarcastically asks the crowd if they like women’s wrestlers before joking about Blayze’s appearance. Blayze comes out with a Burger King crown that reads “Lawler is a Loser.” Lawler tosses the crown then the two have a verbal joust with Blayze calling this a cheap ripoff of the Piper’s Pit and how he should be paying Piper “royalties.” Lawler talks about remembering the Piper’s Pit where Piper wore a dress and told everyone how tough he ws as the crowd chants for Piper. Lawler then makes fun of Blayze for not having a title belt and that turns into Blayze saying that Lawler might have stolen it because he likes to wear women’s belts. Lawler then brings out Luna Vachon as someone who would have a belt if she was a champion. Luna says she maybe the “Authoress of Evil” and the “Princess of Mayhem” but she is not the Women’s Champion and if she was would not have lost the belt. Blayze calls Luna a “closet” champion for stealing the belt and keeping it at home because its the only way she could be a champion. Savage keeps saying “cat fight” as Luna is held back by Lawler with Blayze saying she will face Luna anytime while she heads up the aisle. The first half of this was Blayze ragging on Lawler for not only being a fake king but also for hosting a second-rate version of “Piper’s Pit” as making a Lawler/Piper feud imminent. And we actually have a Women’s Title feud now as I guess Luna also stole Blayze’s belt. I mean they couldn’t even have that shown before they started feuding? Anyway, having Savage just repeating “cat fight” on commentary shows what they thought of this division, which was that it was just a sideshow.

A video hyping up next week’s Jeff Jarrett vs. Razor Ramon match.

Earthquake vs. Mike Bell

Vince talks about how awesome an Earthquake vs. Yokozuna match would be as part of the WrestleMania Revenge tour. Well, those matches never took place on that for reasons we will learn about soon. The announcers now talk about Earthquake’s sumo wrestling background but he left that behind for pro wrestling. We get some comedy over a test-of-strength spot then Bell stomps Earthquake after being chased around the ring. Earthquake then catches Bell with a dropkick then hits another dropkick as Vince asks Savage about the “WWF Mania” co-host search that now includes fan submissions. Earthquake stays in control as the announcers struggle to predict a winner between Earthquake and Yokozuna then the sit-down splash puts Bell away (3:56).

Thoughts: The main focus was on pushing a Earthquake vs. Yokozuna match. They also pushed Earthquake’s former sumo wrestling background and given that Yokozuna’s gimmick is that of a sumo wrestler expect that to be played up. They also mentioned looking for a new co-host for “Mania” but did not specify as to whether or not Savage was getting replaced. Speaking of Savage, the poor guy was practically getting put out to pasture. He came off as being genuinely sad he was not getting a title shot then appears to be getting replaced on Mania.

Replay of IRS destroying Tatanka’s headdress is shown.

IRS vs. Major Yates

On his way to the ring, IRS yells at the crowd and Tatanka about paying taxes. The announcers hype up the Chief Jay Strongbow interview from “All-American Wrestling” as IRS stays in control. IRS grabs the ropes for leverage while he has Yates in an abdominal stretch as the announcers compare him to a bully. IRS now works a chin lock as we get a mild “Irwin” chant. IRS hits a few suplex as the announcers really want Yates to fight back but IRS puts him away with the Penalty (3:34).

Thoughts: They are trying to use the destruction of the headdress and beatdown of Strongbow as a way to elevate IRS as a heel. And the aggressive stuff is better than the crappy tax stuff but this character is far beyond the played out stage.

Vince now interviews Johnny Polo, who is backstage. Polo says The Headshrinkers should not get a match and he will go to Canada himself to speak with Tunney while pretending that his team is not afraid of The Headshrinkers.

Next week in action are Bam Bam Bigelow, 1-2-3 Kid, and Owen Hart. Plus, Razor Ramon vs. Jeff Jarrett

Lawler is now backstage on a throne. He promises next week he’ll have Nikolai Volkoff as his guest on the “King’s Court.” Good, we can finally figure out why he is appearing on TV every week in the crowd.

Final Thoughts: Bret vs. Kwang was solid but other than that they mostly set up for next week with Volkoff and Tunney’s answer as to whether or not The Headshrinkers would get shots at the titles. And it really came off strong here how they were phasing out Savage due to reasons I’ve mentioned above. Anyway, this show itself was fine but the lack of depth on the roster is still an issue.