It's June 6th, 1994. The Flintstones are still having a yabba-dabba doo time at the box office. All-4-One is swearing their way to the top of the billboard charts. But we're not here to talk about Rick Moranis as Barney Rubble, nor are we swearing by the moon and the stars in the sky. We're talking about 90's rassing. Namely the final Raw before June 19th's King of the Ring pay per view. But before we get to Raw, something else major happens on June 6th, 1994. It's time to answer the question that's been haunting us for a year...
Most importantly, this is the moment that really begins everything that would become the Monday Night Wars. WCW has its biggest star and Ted Turner's deep pockets meant that anyone could jump ship. WWF will remain unopposed for the next year until WCW finally starts up Monday Nitro in the fall of 1995, but the raiding of the WWF's talents is going to keep coming. After years of Vince McMahon decimating his competition, now he has someone ready to breathe down his neck. And that's not even getting into the company's own problems with the federal court case that almost put McMahon in jail. But we'll get into that next month. Let's get into the June 6th Raw. We finish up the Toledo, Ohio triple tapings with Vince and Savage at the table and our opening contest.
With talent filling up ringside, it means that our opening bout is the rematch to determine the last spot in the King of the Ring qualifyers. It's Crush taking on Tatanka. Before we even get all the lumberjacks out for the match, IRS and Razor start going at it. After as shove from Irwin, Razor responds with a hard right to the mouth. It's not just wrestlers, but managers like Ted Dibiase and Jim Cornette. Duke Droese is the last man to head to ringside, which is so very, very underwhelming.
Speaking of people who want to kill IRS, Tatanka takes a swipe early on at Irwin, but gets hit with a cheap shot from behind by Crush. The face and heel lumberjacks fill the ring as referee Hebner settles things down. Crush chokes Tatanka in the corner and follows with a hiptoss. Tatanka fires some chops, but gets a right to the throat. He tosses Tatanka to the heels. IRS gets a kidney shot as Tatanka's thrown back in. Crush works the abdomen with some elbows and a knee. He follows with a chinlock.
Tatanka tries to fight back, but Crush continues offense with a big body slam (With Authority!). He misses a splash as Tatanka lays a few chops and an arm drag. Hiptoss anda dropkick sends Crush to the face lumberjacks who toss him back in. Cover by Tatanka for two as we go to break. When we return, Tatanka continues to work on the arm of Crush until Crush regains momentum with a double stomp to the face. He locks in an arm grapevine for a couple of minutes. Vince mentions that Lex Luger was banned from the lumberjack match by order of Jack Tunney.
Tatanka regains momentum and gets a clothesline for two, followed by an elbow to the face for two. Crush gets an inverse atomic drop (Vince got it right this week!) for two. Tatanka once again goes after IRS, which Crush uses to get a cheap shot and a savate kick to the throat. Cover for two. He follows with a body scissors for a two count. Tatanka regains momentum with some more chops, a body slam and an elbow drop for two as we go to another break. We return with Tatanka continuing the chops, causing Crush to get tangled into the ropes as Tatanka gets more clubbing blows.
Crush gets another inverse atomic drop followed by an elbow off a second rope for two. Some kicks to the arm of Tatanka from Crush and another cover for two. Crush applies another headlock for about a minute. He tosses Tatanka to Yokozuna as the former champ stomps him down. Suddenly all the faces and heels begin to brawl while Crush is distracted by Doink. Crush covers Tatanka for two as Billy Gunn gives a cheap punch to Bam Bam. Tatanka fights out of the corner only to be attacked by Crush. More fighting back by Tatanka only for Crush to get a really sloppy suplex and a leg drop for two. Tatanka manages to toss Crush into the face lumberjacks, but he fights them all off...
Until Lex Luger says "to hell with Tunney" and runs in to get a punch and a shot to the face with the steel plated forearm. They toss the dead weight of Crush back into the ring. Tatanka slowly crawls onto Crush for the three.
My god this match was way too long. At almost 18 minutes long, it just dragged with very many exciting moments. The in-ring was dull as dirt with too many restholds. The only times the match got interesting were when the faces and heels brawled outside. Also hey, Luger uses the metal forearm wisely for once. I guess since this match had no count outs, he couldn't botch this up too harshly.
It's Todd Pettengill with the King of the Ring report. It is etched in stone. Our final eight for the King of the Ring quarter finals. We'll see IRS vs Mabel, Razor Ramon vs Bam Bam Bigelow, Jeff Jarrett vs 1-2-3 Kid and Owen Hart take on Tatanka. It's Champion vs Champion with WWF Champ Bret Hart vs Intercontinental Champ Diesel. We've learned on Superstars that Bret has promised a family member at ringside to even the odds against Shawn Michaels. Spoiler: It ain't Bruce Hart. The Headshrinkers take on Crush and Yokozuna for the WWF Tag Team Titles and Jerry "The King" Lawler takes on Rowdy Roddy Piper.
Pettengill asks Macho Man what he thought of the Flintstones movie, and Savage said that it was the credits because you "Yabba Dabba Don't want to see it." Macho Man: Movie Critic. This could have drawn money, Vince. Speaking of money...
HEY KIDS! VINCE WANTS YOUR DOLLAR! It's the King of the Ring hotline. 1.49 a minute and .99 for each additional minute. Thank god the internet killed most of these scams. All those precious onesies were saved from the cold hands of the Vin-man. Although he did do that with the "charge per text" voting stuff for a while in the late 2000's. Apparently Razor ran from the Tatanka match and is already at the hotline.
It's Bam Bam Bigelow in action next against John Paul. Paul gains some momentum early, but Bam Bam gets a slam and a falling headbutt. Vince compares Luna to Wilma Flintstone because, as we've established, Vince has no damn idea what the hell the Flintstones is. Also, if his intention is to make a joke because of Bam Bam, for god sake's Vince, Bam Bam was Betty and Barney's kid. Those stories about Vince not being pop culture savvy seem pretty true. Savage almost appears to challenge Alundra Blayze for the women's title before shilling this week's movie of the week: Tim Matheson in Target of Suspicion. John Paul gets a sunset flip for two and gets a clothesline for his problems. Bam Bam lands a corkscrew flop for the three in a more competitive than normal enhancement match.
We go to footage of the U.S.S Interpid for the D-Day challenge. Sadly nobody descended from the heavens in a helicopter this time around, but it was a tug of war challenge with the marines taking on several WWF superstars including Men on a Mission, The Headshrinkers and Bam Bam Bigelow. The superstars get the win of course.
It's King's Court time again. Lawler tells the fans to kiss his feet, which is the treatment he'll get at King of the Ring. Everyone thinks that he's bringing in Piper as his guest. Like last week, he says that it's someone from Scotland, wears a "Hot Rod" shirt and a dress. But instead...
The role of Roddy Piper is instead being played by Flat Stanley apparently. Seriously, the guy looks like a cartoon character after they get flattened by a steamroller. He does do a decent impression of Piper. This dies a death as the guy tries some comedy. This kind of takes a turn for the homophobic pretty quick with a lot of the guy's mannerisms and his earring. He backs out of the match with Piper at the King of the Ring and begs for safety. Lawler tells him to kiss his foot, which "Piper" does with enthusiasm. He is told to crawl out of the ring and does so to end what really was the hottest hot garbage of a King's Court yet. Even for heeling, it was pretty lame. Certainly doesn't get me hyped for the King of the Ring match.
Our last match of the evening is Razor Ramon in action against Keith Davis, or should I say...
Li'l Jeff Hardy! As previously mentioned, both Hardys would work as enhancement talents for the WWF from 1994 onward to when they'd get their eventual shot at being superstars in 1999. Why Jeff went under Keith Davis and not his own name, I guess it makes more sense not to associate the two as brothers. Though unless you're someone with a keen eye and the gift of hindsight, none of that really matters.
Razor starts with a big hip toss. Jeff goes for a cros body, but gets caught into a fallaway slam. He puts in his abdominal stretch for a minute then lets go. Vince shills the first hall of fame ceremony as Razor tells Jeff "welcome to the big time, chico". He follows with a whip and an elbow. Razor sets up the Razor's Edge to a pop, but just puts Jeff on the buckle, just to toss him. Feels a bit like Scott Hall is just punishing Jeff Hardy and not so much Razor Ramon working Keith Davis. Back suplex off the top rope and then finall the Razor's Edge for three. Simple squash, but still cool to see such a young Jeff Hardy.
Someone appears to have smudged vaseline on the camera during this interview with Paul Bearer. Now there's a sight we haven't seen in months. He talks about Dibiase's claims about Dibiase producing the Undertaker next week and says "Oh, nooo".
Raw is delayed next week as we get a Countdown to the Crowning event. Since it's not on the network, it's not being covered. Ted Dibiase is at the announce table and promises to deliver The Undertaker on Superstars next week. We'll talk about that soon. As for Countdown to the Crowning, it's not really a major show to cover. Other than a Quebecers/Headshrinkers rematch there wasn't much to fresh in-ring and was mostly Savage and Vince talking up the King of the Ring event. But there is one important thing.
We get an ad for the New WWF Generation. We're officially into the era! No more twinkle toes around it, we're diving right in to the taste of the new generation. And now we can brace ourselves for the nosedive.
Overall, this was a pretty dry episode of Raw. Tatanka/Crush went way too long, the squashes were forgettable (save for Jeff Hardy) and the King's Court was very awkward. That being said, I found Macho Man entertaining as he was extremely wired tonight. And that's really it. A simple show with nothing major to take out of it. This Raw gets another D.
And now we're free from Raw pit stops. Up next, we go into the 1994 King of the Ring. Who will win? Who will come out WWF champ? And by the end of the night, you too will ask "how much does this guy weigh?" Find out why next time.