WWF Superstars – November 26th, 1994
By Brian Bayless on March 6, 2020
November 26, 1994
From the Fernwood Resort in Bushkill, PA
Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler
The show starts with a video package on Bob Backlund, from when he won the WWF World Championship in 1978 and how he became champion again at the Survivor Series.
This week, we will hear from Bob Backlund. Plus, British Bulldog vs. Bam Bam Bigelow.
Men on a Mission w/ Oscar vs. Duane Gill & Barry Hardy
Mabel swings Lawler’s hands in the air as the hosts were standing in front of the video wall. Lawler gloats over the fact Backlund won the title as Vince is shocked that Backlund won. Mo works the arm of Hardy as Lawler as the announcers note he is back from injury. Gill attacks Mo from behind as we know now that Bret is temporarily out of action due to a slight tear in the trapesius area due to the crossface chicken wing. Vince says he will be back in several weeks. Gill & Hardy work over Mo as Vince is disgusted over Owen’s actions at the Survivor Series. Mo continues to get worked over in the corner then finally tags out. Mabel hits a double clothesline as we learn that WWF President Jack Tunney has named Diesel the #1 contender to the World Title as Lawler wants to know how Shawn Michaels was passed over. Mabel then clotheslines Hardy over the top rope as Vince hypes Diesel vs. Backlund as MoM put Hardy away with Mo pushing Mabel on top for a splash (4:06).
Thoughts: Mo is back and got rewarded by spending most of the match getting beat down in the corner by Gill & Hardy. According to the “Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter,” Mo was brought back on the road to reform the team so they could feud against Shawn Michaels & Diesel. And that never happened as we will find out soon enough. However, the big news here was learning Bret would be out for several weeks and that President Tunney has decided to award Diesel Bret’s rematch.
Survivor Series Report with Todd Pettengill. We learn that Undertaker beat Yokozuna in the casket match and how Diesel and Shawn Michaels had conflict. Pettengill says that Diesel will now replace all of Bret’s commitments. Pettengill plugs of the encore airing with Pettengill telling us people told him they plan to order the PPV again. Backlund then gives us a promo about owning the belt since 1978 but it was procured from him in 1983 and says he rules the world. We then get a few outtakes of Backlund acting mental before asking Tunney what he did and signed matches for Bret, a man he has studied, and not a giant man without credentials like Diesel. Backlund was amazing here as his voice was cracking throughout. We finally hear from Diesel as he tells Backlund he’s dominated the WWF since walking through the door and that his vocabulary, “Barney Miller” era suits, and false teeth do not matter because he’s the New Generation and that things in America are bigger and better now, not at an all-time low like in 1978. Diesel then tells Backlund to take a hike if he has a problem with America and to look someplace else if he has a problem with the morality before declaring himself the next WWF champion. Its funny since they want Diesel to be the New Generation but gave him old material. Diesel just delivered it in a different way that was supposed to be “hip.” Half of it seemed like recycled Hulk Hogan material and even some of the stuff Luger was saying during the “Lex Express” days but Diesel did his best I guess with what he had and cut a total babyface promo and the promo conducive to a huge babyface push. And speaking of a huge push, this was from the “Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter” the day this episode aired:
Because of Diesel’s huge push (which is on its way to becoming bigger over the next 12 months), he virtually squashed Fatu every night of the European tour. Diesel’s character is not supposed to appear vulnerable to any but the top main event wrestlers
Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Ted DiBiase vs. British Bulldog
Bigelow clotheslines Bulldog as Vince says Bulldog may still be recovering from what happened at Survivor Series. Bulldog takes control and works the arm as Lawler laughs over Owen Hart tricking his mother into throwing in the towel for Bret. Bulldog reapplies an armbar after hitting a dropkick as Lawler makes fun of dogs for being dumb. Bulldog hits a few clotheslines and tries a slam but fails. Bigelow tosses Bulldog over the top rope where DiBiase fans Bulldog off with money. Bigelow suplexes Bulldog back into the ring for a two count then stomps away. Bulldog floats over and tries a slam but DiBisae trips him up and Bigelow falls on top. The ref rings the bell then Bigelow thinks he win but we learn that Bigelow was disqualified (3:14) *. After the match, Bigelow tries to attack Bulldog but misses and gets dumped outside. Bigelow is pissed as DiBiase pleads his case to the referee. Bigelow now yells at DiBiase then grabs him by the collar but DiBiase shows him two handfuls of money and says its all Bigelow’s. DiBiase also says he would never do anything to hurt Bigelow and tells the crowd Bigelow took the money while getting booed. DiBiase was also pissed over the fact Bigelow lost the match.
Thoughts: Forgettable action but the finish made you think Bigelow was going to turn on DiBiase. However, Bigelow did take the money from DiBiase and DiBiase did sell anger out of the loss in a way that showed he gave him money to make up for it rather than an attempt to buy him off because he had no other options.
Live Event News with Charlie Minn, who for some reason was doing jumping jacks to work off his Thanksgiving dinner. He hypes the family appreciation night show, which is tonight, at Madison Square Garden. Still hyping those low ticket prices. Minn also breaks the news that the Tag Team Titles have been vacated. And, Diesel will be facing Backlund for the World Title. Minn added that Tunney chose Diesel as the #1 contender due to his performance at Survivor Series. In his book, Shawn Michaels said that the rumor of him and Diesel refusing to drop the Tag Team Titles was bogus and Bruce Prichard confirmed that on his podcast, stating that this was all part of the storyline. Given the fact they’ve hyped the Diesel vs. Backlund house show match as much as humanly possible so far in this show and that they’ve been hyping the shit out of the fact ticket prices are lower, it was quite clear what was going to happen at MSG.
John Stover is the guest ring announcer. He speaks low and has a monotone voice. Stover also refers to Whippleman as “Harry.”
Ben Jordan vs. Kwang w/ Harvey Whippleman
Jordan works the arm but runs into a knee smash. Lawler makes fun of Stu Hart now as Kwang delivers a few kicks. Kwang spits his mist into the air but misses an attack in the corner. Jordan fires away and uses a reverse rollup for a two count but runs into a spinning heel kick and Kwang gets the win (1:23).
Thoughts: Just a backdrop for the announcers to talk about Diesel and Shawn.
Bob “Spark Plugg” Holly vs. Dave D’Amaglio
Holly works the arm as Vince hypes some upcoming shows. Holly hits a slam and a dropkick before grounding D’Amaglio with a front face lock. Vince now talks about the WWF superstars aboard the NY Daily News float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. D’Amaglio slams Holly but Holly fights back then uses a flying elbow drop for the win (2:14). Vince plugs Holly racing in the Snowball Derby next weekend. Lawler now uses his Royal Magistrator to draw Holly inside of a race car to look like a crash test dummy.
Thoughts: They did talk up Holly’s racing gimmick a lot and how he would be competing but this match was also used to hype up other happenings in the company.
We now see a vignette for Henry Godwinn. He’s from Bitters, Arkansas and standing in front of his hog pen. Godwinn says that hogs are as ugly and nasty but the biggest hogs are in the WWF. Godiwnn says he will be in “Hog Heaven” when he gets to the WWF. Godwinn was formerly Shanghai Pierce in WCW. And he came off as a heel with this promo, especially his tone and facial expression at the end. And it was reported in the Newsletters how the WWF was looking at possibly bringing in Bruiser Bedlam, Dan Kroffat & Doug Furnas, and Vampire Warrior (who was David Heath, aka Gangrel, and working at the time as enhancement talent Black Phantom that reportedly failed to get over). But my favorite was the rumor of Hercules returning as a Cuban gang member from Razor Ramon’s past. I can only imagined the trainwreck that would have ensued.
Heavenly Bodies w/ Jim Cornette vs. Marty Garner & Tyrone Knox
The announcers talk about Backlund wrestling Diesel at Madison Square Garden as Del Ray works over Knox. Garner tags in and gets clotheslined as Lawler is upset that Tunney selected Diesel over Shawn Michaels as the #1 contender. The Bodies stay in control as Vince says this match at MSG favors Diesel. Knox tags in and fires away but is then hit with a double flapjack as the Bodies get the win (2:27). Vince wants to know if Backlund walks out of MSG with the belt on Family Appreciation night.
Thoughts: They continue to play up the fact Shawn should have been considered for the #1 spot to set up more conflict between the two. Then we had Vince tell us Diesel is favored at MSG because its a regular match. I think its obvious now what will happen at MSG and afterwards.
An ad to hype the Survivor Series encore airing on PPV.
“Portuguese Man-o-War” Aldo Montoya vs. Reno Riggins
Montoya works the arm as Vince brings up Montoya’s debut and how he declined DiBiase’s contract offer. Riggins clotheslines Montoya for a two count after some hesitation then hits a Northern Lights suplex for two. Vince asks Lawler about Bitters, Arkansas as Montoya runs wild. Riggins catches Montoya with a knee but Montoya floats over and puts Riggins away with a flying bulldog (1:30).
Thoughts: They put over Montoya a little, mostly saying how he stood up against DiBiase, and this was a nice little match. According to the Torch Newsletter once again, Montoya’s gimmick was originally going to be a that of a soccer player but it was dropped in favor of a more “manly” gimmick.
WWF Live Event News with Charlie Minn. Once again its to plug the MSG show. We then hear comments from both Backlund and Diesel to hype the title match.
We go to the hosts as they run down next week’s show. In action will be the 1-2-3 Kid, Duke Droese, King Kong Bundy, and The Bushwhackers.
The show closes with IRS back in the cemetery to talk about taxes. IRS says that everyone, sooner or later, has to pay their taxes. He then gives his final graveside tax tip and that is Undertaker is under investigation and will resting in peace with two druids with $ signs on their chest are behind him. They ended the show with this nonsense, after hyping the shit out of a title match at MSG.
Final Thoughts: We got the Survivor Series fallout here and tons of hype for the MSG show with Diesel vs. Backlund for the Title. We also saw the debut vignette for Henry Godwinn and almost saw Bigelow turn on DiBiase. Next week we will see where the company goes as they head towards the Royal Rumble. And tomorrow, I will have a recap of the 11/26 MSG show.
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