We continue our run through Poughkeepsie, New York with Monday Night Raw. It's February 28th, 1994. And we open action tonight with the WWF Championship on the line. It's "Macho Man" Randy Savage taking on champion Yokozuna. Vince is at the table this week with Harvey Whippleman. Vince crows about Savage being hall of fame bound. Well, he was right... about 21 years after the fact, but he's right. Harvey brings up that Jim Cornette is conspicuous by his absence. He also says Yoko has been champ for a year now. Crazy to think that it's been nine months since we were rid of Hogan-Senpai.
Savage wastes little time and lays in a cheap shot on Yokozuna while he tries to disrobe. But Yoko gets in a big elbow to the face of Savage. Savage ducks an elbow and attempts clotheslines, with the third knocking the champ down. Cover only gets a two count. Yoko regains momentum and lands some hard shots to the back of Savage's head followed by some stomps in the corner. He blinds Savage with an eye rake and continues offense in the corner. Savage fights back, but gets another shot in the eye.
Yoko works Savage on the mat, but Savage manages to get a facebuster on the champ. However, Savage's attempts at regaining momentum are quickly dashed as the champ lands a body slam. But he misses a giant splash. Savage hits a high knee to knock Yoko out of the ring. He knocks down Fuji and lands an axe handle as Jim Cornette shows up. Macho does what Luger didn't think to do, and tries to get Yokozuna back in the ring. Cornette interferes, which gives Yoko a chance for a cheap shot.
Yoko rams Savage into the steps and throws him back into the ring. He finally gets back in and both men trade blows. Savage gets in several jabs that daze the champ. He ascends the turnbuckle and gets a big axe handle that takes the champ to his knees. Savage goes back up and hits a crossbody for two. A knee from Savage wakes Yoko, who knocks him down, but Savage gets a roll up for two. Yoko regains the momentum with cheap shots to the lower extremities while Cornette and Fuji cause distraction. Yoko whips Savage in the corner and lands a massive avalanche splash.
Yoko drags Macho Man into the middle of the ring and with Fuji's blessing, Yoko goes for a leg drop, but misses. Cornette tries to distract the ref again as Fuji hands Yokozuna the salt bucket. Savage blocks it and uses the bucket over the head of the champ. Savage slowly flops on the champ for a two count. Savage takes out Cornette as he goes to the top rope and lands the elbow...
But as expected, Crush runs in and attacks Savage, causing the DQ. He lays fists into Savage as a Luger chant breaks out. Instead, we get Bret Hart, who tries to fight both men, but to no avail. Luget comes in and takes out Yoko. Luger and Hart land a double clothesline to Crush. The faces stand tall, despite Savage not being able to capture the gold. Vince calls reminiscent of when Nancy Kerrigan was beaten by Oksana Baiul. Let's just hope Crush doesn't try to club Macho Man in the knee at any point.
This was a decent match. Mostly due to Savage putting in a lot of work, while Yoko was definitely a bit slower and not as agile as he was around this time last year. Not sure if it's a case of his increasing weight, or just a bad night, but he was definitely a lot more gassed and a lot less flashy. But i thought they worked well together and Crush's interference, while expected, does continue the feud a little further, Now giving more fuel to this feud.
Up next in action is Bam Bam Bigelow in action against Mike Khoury. Luna is rocking a Doink shirt with a censor logo over Doink's face. I couldn't agree more with you Ms. Vachon. No more face Doink! Bam Bam gets in offense quick with multiple elbow drops. Vince shills Sy Sperling of the Hair Club for Men showing up later. I don't know if this is a step up from Donnie Wahlberg, or a step down. Khoury gets some offense back in, but Bam Bam lands another slam. Bam Bam wants Doink as well while he gets more stomps in to Khoury. Bam Bam lands an enziguri for three. Forgettable squash, but nothing sloppy.
If you were hungry for more beef, up next in action is Earthquake. His opponent is a masked man known as The Black Phantom. Who is the Black Phantom? That would be David Heath, who would find his biggest success at the tail end of 90's as Gangrel. Phantom goes for offense on the Quake, but he mows over the Phantom and lands a big elbow. Vince brings up the Ludvig Borga is still out, so instead it'll be Earthquake vs Adam Bomb at Wrestlemania X. Big body slam and another big elbow. Quaker finishes it off with the Aftershock for three. Better squash than in his return, mainly because it was far more brief.
It's time for this week's Raw Report. Pettengill takes pot shots at Charles Nelson Reilly for some reason. We're only three weeks away from Wrestlemania. The Wrestlemania X card is once again as follows:
Lex Luger vs Yokozuna for the WWF title
Bret Hart vs the winner of the first WWF title match
Bret Hart vs Owen Hart
"Macho Man" Randy Savage vs Crush in a falls count anywhere match
Razor Ramon vs Shawn Michaels in a ladder match to determine the true Intercontinental champ
Men on a Mission vs the Quebecers
Alundra Blayze against an unnanonced challenger
Earthquake vs Adam Bomb
Doink and Dink vs Bam Bam and Luna
And a massive ten man tag that will not actually happen at Wrestlemania.
Once again, the celebs involved are Jennie Garth, Sy Sperling, Bucky and Vinny, Donnie Wahlberg, Little Richard...
Kwang is in action next against John Chrystal. But enough about wrestling, it's Sy Sperling on the line. Vince wants to know if Howard Finkel will look like a movie star after his makeover. Sy may have to staple the wig on. Some kicks by Kwang, who spits some mist in the air. Silly SKwang, you spit that in the opponent's eyes. Chyistal misses a clothesline, but eats a kick to the face for a fast three. A nothing squash and another match where I have zero interest in anything Kwang related.
It's Stan Lane interviewing Shawn Michaels who is wearing nothing but a smile, a towel and his Intercontinental belt... oh and those flip shades of his. We're brought back up to speed about how we got to where we are with the Intercontinental title. Shawn says that no one pinned him for the gold, and no one will. There's only one undisputed Intercontinental Champion, and it's Shawn Michaels. It's Shawn Michaels who's taking the supreme sacrifice by putting his gold 20 feet in the air at Wrestlemania. When everything is said and done, Shawn Michaels will climb the ladder to success. And when he gets the bogus belt, he'll give it to Diesel. Not a bad little interview segment.
It's main event time as the Men on a Mission are in action against Brooklyn Brawler and Steve Smith. Dropkick by Mo and a cross body which seemed to injure Mo in the process. Tag to Mabel as both men land a double clothesline. Vince shills a tag match between Crush and Owen Hart against the Smoking Gunns. Brawler tries a sunset flip, but Mabel manages to back drop Smith and leg drop Brawler. Compared to Yoko earlier, Mabel's moving like a cruiserweight. Big boot and leg drop to Smith from Mabel. Mabel hits big splash out of a tree of woe. Double team splash by M.O.M get the win in another quick squash. Definitely a better match with them than usual.
We end Raw with next week's match card. News on an Undertaker sighting, Owen/Crush vs the Gunns, Doink and IRS in action, and Jeff Jarrett vs "I can't believe he's still hired" Virgil. Also, a special appearance by Tatanka... oh goody.
Overall a very by the books edition of Raw this week. Enjoyed the title match, enjoyed the angles attached within said title match, enjoyed the Shawn Michaels interview. Everything else though was bland, quick squashes. Nothing much of substance for this edition. I will say that I thought Whippleman was solid at the table, but then again it's a helluva lot better than Bastion Booger. Overall, not a really must-see show this week. It's a C+.