WWF Superstars – September 17th, 1994

September 17, 1994

From the Portland Civic Center in Portland, ME

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler

The hosts are standing in the aisle to start the show and we see The Bushwhackers head down the aisle for their match and stop to lick Lawler, who freaks out, with Vince yelling that Lawler “stinks.”

The Bushwhackers vs. Well Dunn w/ Harvey Whippleman

Vince tells us that Lawler went backstage to wash his face with steel wool. Lawler returns as the bell rings and asks for a towel. Butch steps on Whippleman’s hand as Lawler demands WWF President Jack Tunney take action against The Bushwhackers. Well beats on Butch to start. He misses a corner splash and Butch fires away then that leads to the match breaking down with the Bushwhackers clearing the ring after biting Well Dunn in the ass. Well Dunn attack the celebrating Bushwhackers from behind as Lawler continues to complain after being licked. Vince then makes fun of Lawler hurting his foot after kicking a trash can containing weights on “Monday Night RAW” as Well Dunn work over Luke. Well drops an elbow for two as Butch rallies the fans behind Luke. Well Dunn cut the ring in half as Vince hypes Lawler vs. Duke Droese on RAW. Well hits a flying back elbow smash for two as Butch broke up the pin, which actually drew some boos. Well Dunn attack Butch from behind then Butch got tangled in the ropes as Lawler calls him a moron. Vince now yells at Lawler for popping Dink’s Balloons as Well Dunn hit a double facebuster and Butch breaks up that pin too then the match breaks down and while the ref admonishes Dunn, Well tries to slam Luke but Butch uses a chop block then Luke falls on top for the win (5:06) DUD. After the match, Well Dunn attack The Bushwhackers then the Bushwhackers end up pantsing Whippleman. Well Dunn and Whippleman flee while The Bushwhackers whip around the pants as Vince laughs like an idiot.

Thoughts: This match felt like it lasted three times longer than it did. I mean The Bushwhackers were awful here and Well Dunn is the least over team in the company. The crowd even booed Butch making the save for his partner and quite frankly they were heel tactics as was what happened during the finish. Butch wasn’t making the save while his partner was getting illegally double-teamed or anything. After the match we saw Whippleman get embarrassed in a segment written for Vincent K. McMahon.

Replay from last week when Adam Bomb confronted Bam Bam Bigelow, ending in a pull apart brawl. After that airs, we hear from Bomb. He tells Bigelow that he has to not just beat him but also the entire “Bomb Squad.” Bomb also calls himself the “creation of devastation” and ends this with his “total destruction” before proceeding to use hand motions like you would expect from a children’s magician. Your typical awful, way too overproduced WWF promo here. This was at best, tremendously corny.

Corinne Carrier is the special guest ring announcer. Lawler makes fun of her for being ugly.

Jeff Jarrett vs. Phil Apollo

Carrier announces Jarrett as “Double J Jarrett.” Lawler also plugs Jarrett’s “Ain’t I Great” album then before the match, Jarrett gets shit from the fans, one in particular, and says he is the greatest entertainer, singer, and wrestler. The announcers make some pop culture references as Jarrett works the arm. Jarrett then toys with Apollo before demanding some competition. Jarrett then uses a hip toss and a slam before grabbing a side headlock. Apollo comes back with a drop toe hold then uses a turnbuckle smash. Jarrett then kicks out Apollo’s leg after the latter missed a high knee in the corner then uses the figure-four for the win (2:03). After the match, Jarrett calls out Razor Ramon then struts around.

Thoughts: With Jarrett demanding for competition and calling out Razor two weeks in a row its clear that he will be put into a program quite soon, likely with Razor himself.

Back from break we see Jarrett admiring himself on the video wall as he calls out Garth Brooks, Razor Ramon, and Lex Luger. I guess they are giving Jarrett more of a push since beating Mabel at SummerSlam.

WWF Live Event News segment on the Hart Attack tour.

Tony DeVito vs. The Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer

Vince yells about Undertaker being Yokozuna’s nightmare. DeVito is petrified of Undertaker as well. Undertaker knocks down DeVito as Lawler claims Yokozuna is not afraid of Undertaker. We see Undertaker use his rope-walk attack then toss him over the top rope by the neck. Undertaker heads out to bring DeVito back inside and hits a tombstone for the win (2:29).

Thoughts: This match actually took place prior to SummerSlam, the taping was on 8/17, so I assume at this point it was safe to say that the WWF had already given up on doing anything with DiBiase’s Undertaker after the PPV. They at least went out of their way to include stuff from the post-SummerSlam tapings during this taping cycle to not give stuff away. Lots of hype for the Undertaker/Yokozuna feud as they will be wrestling in casket matches around on the Hart Attack tour.

We get a new confessional booth ad for the WWF New Generation with a woman saying she feels unfaithful due to watching RAW and being attracted to Razor, Shawn Michaels, and Bret. The priest is watching RAW during the confession.

Hype video for Lawler vs. Droese on RAW.

Kwang w/ Harvey Whippleman vs. Scott Taylor

Whippleman got his pants back or had another pair. Taylor, billed from Portland, gets a good reaction from the crowd during his introduction. Vince hypes up some house shows as Kwang takes Taylor down with a hook kick then spits his mist up into the air. Taylor fights back but Kwang uses a chop to break up a sunset flip. Kwang uses a nerve hold as Whippleman yells at the camera man for using an up close shot of him then says the fans are “goats.” Kwang stays in control as Vince hypes up Tatanka being the guest on “Heartbreak Hotel.” Taylor fights back and uses a backflip off of the top rope but walks into a spinning heel kick after a reversal sequence as Kwang picks up the win (3:32).

Thoughts: Kwang is just a guy thrown out on TV as a backdrop for the announcers to talk about other things in the promotion.

Heartbreak Hotel guests Ted DiBiase & Tatanka. This was filmed at the 8/31 tapings in Green Bay, WI. But first, Diesel introduces Shawn and himself as the Tag Team Champions then issues an open challenge. Shawn says the belts smelled like fish but now smell fine like themselves. Tatanka comes out wearing a suit. Shawn says that he had no idea about what these two had planned but notes Diesel had an inkling. Shawn wants to know if DiBiase ever wanted to sign Luger. DiBiase said at a time he did but then says when Tatanka first came out to say Luger sold out he was already on his payroll. Shawn asks Tatanka about being in on this the entire time. Tatanka puts down Luger and we see a clip of Tatanka & DiBiase arriving in a limo and laughing. Tatanka then says unlike Luger, he appreciates the value of a dollar, more like a million dollars, as DiBiase says he has his “native” American. Tatanka coming out in a suit was a good look I thought but his promos remain lousy plus the feud with Luger has gone cold.

Thurman “Sparky” Plugg vs. Iron Mike Sharpe

We see Abe “Knuckleball” Schwartz on strike as Sharpe overpowers Plugg. Lawler makes fun of Vince for being lousy at baseball as Plugg fights back and sends Sharpe bailing after a pair of dropkicks. Plugg now works the arm as Lawler makes fun of Holly for being a dumb hick. The camera zooms in on Abe’s “I’m On Strike” sign as Sharpe eats boot on a charge in the corner then Plugg, who Vinces outright calls “Bob Holly.” hits a flying body press that Sharpe rolls through but Plugg rolls through that and gets the win (2:13).

Thoughts: The only thing of note here was Vince referring to Plugg as “Bob Holly” twice during the match. Bob Holly was the name Plugg was using on the Independent scene prior to signing with WWF at the beginning of the year.

We get an ad for the WWF Merchandise Catalog.

Bob Backlund vs. Tony Roy

Vince puts over how Backlund once epitomized everything a champion should be as we hear an “Opie” chant in the crowd. Roy refuses a handshake and that infuriates Backlund. The announcers talk about Backlund snapping on Bret Hart as the “Opie” chant gets louder. Backlund grounds Roy as we learn Vince will be interviewing Backlund on RAW. Backlund takes down Roy in the corner then runs him over. Roy comes back with a hip toss but Backlund kicks him down and hits a slam before the crossface chicken wing gets the win (3:07). Backlund keeps the hold on after the match and even uses a bodyscissors.

Thoughts: We are now trying to get “Opie” chants aimed at Backlund. The same nickname he was given by heel announcers such as Lawler prior to his heel turn. Anyway, those chants definitely seemed like they were added post-production as the crowd seem bored like mostly everything else on the show. And to be fair it was the last show of a rather uneventful taping.

Another WWF Live Event news segment on the Hart Attack Tour.

Next week in action are British Bulldog, Shawn Michaels & Diesel, Adam Bomb, Tatanka, and Yokozuna.

We then get a video package of highlights from the show set to the closing credits music.

Final Thoughts: The featured match here sucked and the Heartbreak Hotel segment was not that much better making it a rather disappointing edition of Superstars. Actually, it was a bad show.