WWF Monday Night RAW – June 20, 1994

June 20, 1994

From the Westchester County Center in White Plains, NY

Your hosts are Gorilla Monsoon and Randy Savage. Gorilla also introduces us to the Spanish announce team of Ed Trucco and Carlos Cabrera as this is the first edition of RAW broadcasted in Spanish.

Tonight, we will have 1-2-3 Kid vs. Nikolai Volkoff. Also in action are Yokozuna and Diesel.

Diesel w/ Shawn Michaels vs. Mark Thomas

The announcers talk about Diesel almost becoming the World Champion last night and stress how he hit Bret Hart with the Jackknife. Diesel roughs up Thomas in the corner to start. Thomas fights back but Diesel quickly knocks him down then tosses him outside as the announcers talk about what Jim Neidhart did at King of the Ring. Shawn poses in the camera after mocking Thomas then Diesel rolls Thomas inside and hits a side slam as the announcers talk about the World Title match. Diesel runs over Thomas as Savage wants Shawn to take a walk then Diesel signals for the Jackknife and hits that for the win (3:58).

Thoughts: Long squash match win for Diesel as the announcers put him over and recapped everything else that happened in the World Title match at King of the Ring.

King of the Ring Report with Todd Pettengill. This went over how Neidhart screwed over Bret and aligned with Owen, now the “King of Harts,” and how Roddy Piper defeated Jerry Lawler with Piper bringing out the man who impersonated him in his corner. And to the shock of no one, there was zero mention of Art Donovan’s performance on commentary.

The announcers plug the encore PPV airing of King of the Ring.

1-2-3 Kid vs. Nikolai Volkoff w/ Ted DiBiase

The announcers talk about DiBiase and The Undertaker as Volkoff flexes after shoving Kid into the corner. They now talk about Kid’s night at the PPV and Volkoff has the edge of being fresh. Gorilla lets us know the winner of this match will face Bret Hart for the title on the 7/11 show provided Bret is still the champion. Volkoff overpowers Kid until Kid escapes a bearhug and uses a sunset flip for a two count. Kid fights back with some kicks but Volkoff boots him down in the corner. Volkoff hits a butterfly suplex for two but Kid comes back with a reverse rollup for a nearfall. Kid comes back with a roundhouse kick that gets two but Volkoff goes back on the attack. Savage stresses how Kid is a big part of the New Generation as Volkoff drops Kid throat-first across the top rope. Volkoff then hits the overhead backbreaker but picks up Kid after a two count to impress DiBiase by inflicting more punishment. Kid hurts his knee landing on a floatover in the corner then Volkoff slowly picks up Kid but Kid surprises him with a small package and gets the win (5:59) *. After the match, Volkoff attacks Kid until Virgil makes the save. However, Volkoff beats on Virgil until Luger runs him off. Luger & Kid check on Virgil as the crowd starts a mild USA chant.

Thoughts: I get how Kid’s character is that he is an underdog who overcomes the odds but he shouldn’t have to get beatdown all match only to win with a small package against a stiff like Volkoff. The match was not good, due to Volkoff, and it was strange how this was randomly decided to become a #1 contender’s match of sorts three weeks down the line, especially since the main focus was on Volkoff/Virgil which has been loosely developed through insert promos from Virgil on the syndicated shows. Also, why did Luger randomly show up to help Virgil here? Well, we will see why they did this later on in the show.

We get an ad hyping next week’s Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Mabel match.

Yokozuna w/ Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette vs. Nick Barberri

Yokozuna beats down Barberri to start. The announcers bring up Yokozuna running Earthquake out of the WWF then say the other Natural Disaster, Typhoon, is hot on Yokozuna’s trail. Cornette smiles as Yokozuna gouges Barberri’s face while Gorilla goes through the motions to sell us on a Yokozuna vs. Typhoon match. Phoning it in would be a generous way to describe his performance on this show. Yokozuna stays in control then hits a leg drop for the win as Savage declares that Yokozuna is back with a vengeance and how Bret better watch out (2:23).

Thoughts: I guess Typhoon is now coming back. At least they told us why but whether Typhoon or Tugboat, face or heel, he was never really over. And it appears that the Yokozuna & Crush team is over with the announcers stressing Yokozuna’s singles career and how he was back.

Lord Alfred Hayes voices over a video package to hype up the King of the Ring encore PPV airing.

Typhoon has now returned and comes out for his match and walks into Yokozuna in the aisle. They stare each other down but the show quickly cuts to a commercial break.

Typhoon vs. Black Phantom

We get a clip from the break of Yokozuna swinging and missing during the break with Typhoon decking him a couple of times. The crowd does not react to Typhoon as the Phantom bounces off of him. Phantom hammers away as Gorilla believes Typhoon has become more aggressive since returning. Gorilla notes that Vince McMahon is recuperating from neck surgery and be back soon as Typhoon hammers away. Typhoon hits a suplex and follows with a corner splash as Savage does the read for the USA Friday Night Movie then Typhoon puts Phantom away with a splash (2:45). Typhoon looks into the camera while walking up the aisle and calls out Yokozuna.

Thoughts: They are building towards a Typhoon/Yokozuna match but the fans did not care about Typhoon whatsoever in this match. Typhoon was last on American TV at the beginning of the year with WCW during the disastrous run as The Shockmaster. In his shoot interview with RF Video, Typhoon said coming back to WWF and taking the place of the departed Earthquake made him feel like a “scab crossing a picket line.”

King’s Court with guest Duke Droese. However, Lawler is wearing shades due to getting a black eye at the PPV then pretends he beat Piper at the PPV and makes fun of him and the impersonator for a minute. Droese comes out with his trash but Lawler stops him from entering the ring. Lawler insults Droese and says he cannot enter the palace because he smells. Droese uses the mic the ring announcer uses and says that Lawler stinks too much for him. Lawler makes more lame jokes then Droese leaves. However, Lawler runs down the aisle and attacks Droese from behind then waffles him twice over the head with the garbage can then the camera pans wide to the crowd as Lawler continues his assault. Lawler gets revenge on Droese after having garbage dumped on his head a few weeks ago. According to Dave Meltzer of the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter,” Lawler himself came up with this angle as a way to get heat back after losing to Piper. However, it was unclear if Lawler got permission from the office or if he did not ask the right people because this violated the new anti-violence and anti-aggressive behavior standards agreed upon by USA and the company. And since this was a live edition of RAW they could not edit the segment and instead panned to the crowd in order to avoid showing the garbage can used as a weapon.

Heavenly Bodies w/ Jim Cornette vs. Jim Powers & Russ Greenberg

Powers physique is not what I would consider natural here. Cornette annoys Gorilla by appearing on commentary then tells us The Headshrinkers are being forced to face his team. Powers works over Del Ray to start then does the same to Prichard. Cornette now makes fun of The Headshrinkers and Capt. Lou Albano as Powers fights off the Bodies then tags out. Greenberg fires away as Cornette continues to rag on the Headshrinkers and their managers. The Bodies now work over Greenberg until Del Ray hits a moonsault block for the win, injuring himself in the process.

Thoughts: Looks like the Bodies will now get a title match against the Headshrinkers but this match was noticeable for a few things. First, Powers physique. While the WWF had a drug testing policy at the time, non-contracted talent (extras & enhancement guys like Powers at this time) were exempt from the testing. Per the “Wrestling Observer Newsletter,” WWF spokesman Curt Block said all non-contracted performers are required to sign a piece of paper saying they’re steroid and illegal drug free and that the company does not have the right to deny anyone work without evidence the person is in fact using steroids or other illegal drugs. Also, Del Ray ended up cracking his pelvis during the finish and missed over a month of action. The Barbarian of all people replaced him on a series of house shows in California and I nearly bought a hand-held of the 6/30 Rancho Cucamonga show that took place at a baseball stadium to review it as while a “B” show had a unique lineup.

Gorilla tells us that the powers that be do not condone Jerry Lawler’s actions from tonight and that objects can only be used what they are assigned for and we will never see an incident like this again. He then apologizes on behalf of the company. See what happens when Vince isn’t around to produce things.

An ad for SummerSlam airs.

We see Ted DiBiase backstage. He tells us about having his eye on Lex Luger for a long time and that the only thing Luger is missing is proper guidance. DiBiase then asks what Luger could be with a million dollars worth of guidance then laughs as the show ends. It did make sense for DiBiase to court Luger given how he has been stressing everything he said here while commentating on Luger matches on “Wrestling Challenge.” However, why Luger would run out to save Virgil does not make a whole lot of sense.

Final Thoughts: The on-screen stuff on this show was not good and it was more memorable for what happened off-screen and once again, for the wrong reasons. Typhoon’s return was a flop, No one cares about Volkoff/Virgil, and the in-ring stuff was bad. Plus, Gorilla was awful on commentary. Seemed miserable and like he was told to cancel his vacation to do announcing on this show. And for those thinking the excuse was his son dying, Joey Marella was still alive at this point. At least DiBiase attempting to court Luger has some intrigue though even if they are going about it in a weird way.

The major change is the new anti-violence policy from WWF. Here is a summary of this from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter:

Yet another subtle change in the WWF wrestling product has taken place in order to make it even more sanitized and alleviate potential pressure being brought due to threatened governmental regulation of violence on television.

I’m not sure how much of this applies to arena shows, but on television there will be no more crotch shots (which I believe have also been eliminated on the house shows), choking with two hands, eye gouging, foreign objects including use of chairs, tables, flagpoles, tennis rackets, etc. or anything that falls under the dubious category of overly aggressive behavior. In interviews and any commentary, there can be no physical threats such as promises to break someone’s arm or leg, etc. Razor Ramon can no longer flick his toothpick as well.

So, with the King of the Ring fallout happening we will soon switch the focus to SummerSlam as Vince will be in court and off TV for a little bit as the on-screen product is getting worse