WWE SummerSlam '94

WWE SummerSlam ‘94

August 29, 1994

United Center

Chicago, Illinois

After a very long time away from the blog, I am back. This time we look back at the summer night spectacular, SummerSlam 1994. Once again, I skipped over the 1994 King of the Ring because I cannot seem to find my copy of it at this time. Since WrestleMania, a lot happened. I mean a LOT, both inside the ring and outside. One thing that wasn’t a surprise was the ascension to the main event by Owen Hart. After beating big brother Bret clean in Madison Square Garden, it was clear that he would be on the rise, and would get his big main event title shot against Bret on this night. Two biggest changes outside of the ring happened that had an even greater impact on Vince McMahon’s pro wrestling empire. The first was the steroid trial had finally come to its conclusion and McMahon had been acquitted. There is no way to quantify how much of an impact that was, because we will never know what the world of wrestling would have been like with Vince in jail. The story goes that Jerry Jarrett would have been hired to run things from a creative standpoint. Who knows, we may be looking at Jeff Jarrett the same way we look at “Stone Cold” Steve Austin today. The other big happening was Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling, signed the mother of all free agents… Hulk Hogan. Trust me when I tell you, that WCW in 1994-1995 was absolutely hideous to watch, but Hogan did present a major threat to Vince, and had the backing of Ted Turner’s millions to compete. I also need to point out that this is Randy Savage’s final WWE PPV appearance. He comes out at the beginning of the show and basically introduces the show to the crowd. He also would join Hogan and show up on WCW TV in December of 1994.

Commentators: Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler

Bam Bam Bigelow and IRS w/ “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase vs. Headshrinkers (Fatu and Samu) w/ Afa and Lou Albano

Speaking of changes, a few of them should be pointed out in this match. When we last left off, the Quebecers were still the tag team champions. They would hot shot the tag titles to Men on a Mission on the annual European tour, but eventually lose the tag titles to the Headshrinkers, in May. The Headshrinkers had basically turned face and Lou Albano began to manage them playing off his time managing the Wild Samoans (Afa and Sika) back in the 1970s. So the Headshrinkers were the champions and all set to defend the titles in this match here… but then the clique happened. To this day I really do not understand what the point of this was, but right before this show, Shawn Michaels and Diesel defeated the Headshrinkers at a house show and became tag champs. This move pretty much stuck a nail in the already corpse-like tag division. The move proved to be nothing more than to give Shawn and Diesel more trophies to carry around, as they would never even lose the titles (shocker that Shawn didn’t job a title I know). So this match instantly becomes meaningless. Decent little match for what it was, but totally heatless without the tag title being on the line. It would have been a great way to give Bigelow and IRS a nice little rub and win the titles for the hot stable at the time, the Million $ Corporation. Wasted opportunity here. ** ¼

WWE Women’s Championship

Alundra Blayze (champion) vs. Bull Nakano (w/ Luna Vachon)

Here we go! This is one of the best women’s matches you’ll ever see as far as the WWE is concerned. Blayze was pretty much on a roll as champion, but Bull Nakano would prove to be a very talented and worthy adversary. These two had a really good match on RAW not long before this to set this match up. I thought Nakano was gonna go over here to keep the feud going, but her title win wouldn’t come until a couple months later in Japan. This marks the absolute only time I have ever been remotely interested in the women’s division as a fan watching these shows as they happened. I love Trish Stratus, and think she’s a great worker, but I just was not interested in the women’s division as a whole at that time. This match is fantastic though and doesn’t get enough love, probably because of what Blayze would do later on, but that is for another time. Blayze wins with her German suplex. *** ½

WWE IC Championship

Diesel (champion) w/ Shawn Michaels vs. Razor Ramon (w/ Walter Payton)

And here we are with the ego-trip of the Clique. After WrestleMania Diesel defeated Razor for the IC title on Superstars. At King of the Ring, Diesel had a great match with Bret Hart and ended up getting even more over despite not winning the WWE title. The clique at this point is Diesel, Shawn, Razor, and the 123 Kid. They basically got together in the locker room and got in the ear of Vince and booked themselves in a position of strength. Triple H would later join when he came to the company in 1995. Now to their credit, they are all very talented, and I personally find all of their characters great, but it seemed to come at the expense of the rest of the card because the only ones they seemed to be interested in putting over was themselves. This was exactly the case here. I didn’t like this match on initial viewing, but I’ve softened my view, and this is a really good match. Payton is obviously an NFL legend, but he doesn’t even come into play here. Best part of the match is Shawn antagonizing Razor on the outside. That is one thing about Shawn Michaels. Whatever role he is in, he is brilliant. Whether it’s as a manager here, or a referee as he would show in the future, or obviously as a worker himself, he is a great talent. He is carrying this match from the outside for god sakes. That isn’t to take away from Diesel and Razor. They hit all of their big spots and have the Chicago crowd with them the entire way. Diesel plays the great powerhouse heel and Razor would make the baby face comebacks only to be cut off either due to outside interference from HBK or by Diesels sheer power. The ending comes when Shawn gets into a tug of war battle with the belt with Payton and distracts the ref. The ref goes to talk to Payton, and Shawn goes for sweet chin music on Razor. Razor ducks and Diesel gets nailed. Razor makes the cover and we have a new champion. This would sew the seeds of the eventual Shawn-Diesel break up and subsequent Main Event at WrestleMania XI. *** ¼

Tatanka vs. Lex Luger

My how the mighty have fallen. Lex Luger goes from co-main eventing WrestleMania X to a midcard feud with Tatanka. Tatanka goes from being undefeated midcarder on the rise one year before this to basically being JTTS. The story here is that after King of the Ring, Ted Dibiase made an offer to Luger to join his corporation. Tatanka started accusing Lex of “selling out” to the point where he even had the fans believing Luger had sold out. It was actually a nice, albeit heatless, story. The inevitable pay off was that Tatanka in fact sold out and turned heel here. It was definitely needed for Tatanka because like I said, he was becoming a JTTS. This at least kept him relevant for the next several months, and a good heel mouthpiece in Dibiase. The match itself is pretty good, the crowd is pretty much dead. The ending is Dibiase distracting Luger and Tatanka getting the cheap roll up on Luger. Tatanka then attacks Luger from behind and does the heel beat down complete with stuffing money down Luger’s throat in classic Dibiase style. Again, I liked the story because it kept two prominent workers relevant. **

Jeff Jarrett vs. Mabel

This match was billed as country music vs. rap. WWE clearly wanted to do something with Jarrett, but some other stories had to play out first, so he meandered around the mid-card for most of 1994 and had matches like this one. Mabel was just a big, fun, rapping baby-face at this point and also directionless. This match had one purpose which was to get double j over as another heel on a very thin roster. Match isn’t very good and is pretty much heatless like the last match. Highlight is Abe “Knuckleball” Schwartz in the crowd with a sign that says “I’m on Strike” playing off the baseball strike that year. WWE was running ads at the time saying “our season never ends.” Ending comes when Mabel misses a big fat butt splash and Jarrett rolls him up for a pin. ¾*

WWE Championship – Steel Cage Match

Bret Hart (champion) vs. Owen Hart

Yes please! The match we waited 5 months to see. Owen beat Bret clean at WrestleMania then sort of hung around until King of the Ring. Then Owen goes on and wins the King of the Ring tournament just like Bret did in 1993. The story goes that Bret was defending the WWE title against Diesel. He said that he would have a surprise family member to be in his corner to offset Shawn being in Diesel’s corner. That guy would be none other than the returning Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart. At the end of the match Neidhart attacked Diesel to get Bret disqualified and keeps his belt. Later in the evening, Owen Hart was facing Razor Ramon in the finals of the tournament. Neidhart came out and attacked Razor while he was on the floor, and Owen was able to pin Ramon and win the King of the Ring Tournament. During the coronation, Owen brilliantly proclaimed himself the “King of Harts”. He had instant credibility as a heel and got his big title shot against Bret. I loved that story that Neidhart was in Bret’s corner to make sure Bret kept the belt so Owen could beat him for it. This is easily the best steel cage match as far as the classic “Blue Bar” cages go, one of the best cage matches of all time, and one of the best matches of all time. If anyone called it the best match ever, they wouldn’t get an argument from me. I’m not even sure that anyone thought that having this good of a match inside the blue bar cage was even possible. All of the previous blue bar cage matches were ok, but these guys used the cage to their advantage on a psychology front. Early in the match you saw them exchanging opportunities to dive through the door. Previously, the door was only there to give the impression that fat asses like Yokozuna or King Kong Bundy could use to win, or a way for a heel manager to slam the door in the baby faces face. The cage is easy to climb, so they used it to their advantage to jump on it and do things while on it that no one ever did before. They use every inch of the cage to tell the story. Its 30 + minutes of action. Oh by the way, they did it all without blood, so for those thinking that the only reason the product today sucks because the show is “PG” , take a look at this match. They managed to have a great match, gave a great impression that it was very violent, and did it without shedding any blood. The commentary is also good here as Lawler is playing the heel cheering Owen all the way (where is that in today’s product?) and Vince McMahon adding insight like pointing out that because of Owen’s great athleticism, that this match might be better suited for him instead of Bret. Nowadays Michael Cole will talk about Charlie Sheen trending on Twitter. Again, if anyone thinks that Michael Cole is like Vince McMahon, they don’t know what they’re talking about at all. Vince might want Cole to be like him, but the two don’t deserve to be talked about in the same breath. I can’t remember if it’s on Bret Harts DVD or if it was on one of his shoot interviews, but he talks so passionately about this match. He talks about how there is a spot towards the end where he goes to superplex Owen from the top of the cage, and how he was so meticulous about guarding Owen’s head to protect him on the way down. This was after Owen’s untimely and tragic death in 1999 so he thinks about that and how he wishes he could have protected him in the same way in Kansas City when Owen fell to his death.  The end comes when both guys are on the outside of the cage, and Bret slams Owens head into the cage and his leg gets caught and Bret jumps down to win. Jim Neidhart then clotheslines the returning Davey Boy Smith who was at ringside sending him and Diana over the guard rail, and Neidhart and Owen throw Bret back into the cage, and give him a good heel beat down until the rest of the family is able to come in and make the save. An incredible match; required viewing for everyone! *****

Main Event

Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer vs. Undertaker w/ Ted Dibiase

When we last saw the Undertaker he was fighting off couple 13-14 men at the Royal Rumble in the epic casket match vs. then WWE Champion Yokozuna. The real story is Vince gave Undertaker some time off so they had to find a way to write him out of storylines. So the summer rolls around and Ted Dibiase says he’s found the Undertaker. He brings in his version of the Undertaker (played by Brian Lee). Then Paul Bearer called bullshit on that and set up this match. Yes it’s the Undertaker vs. the Undertaker. It sounds as awful as it would be. Now one thing you cannot take away, is how insanely over Undertaker is. Taker is very over and the Chicago crowd is definitely pumped up for this. The match is terrible, and even as someone who has come to appreciate the Undertaker, I cannot give this anything other than what it deserves. DUD

Taker ends the show and the crowd is going crazy with the new light show and theatrics.

Bottom Line: They sent the fans home happy, so I can’t complain about the last match that much. It was what it was. The Bret-Owen match can be found on many compilations, so unless you’re a completest like me, I wouldn’t lose any sleep if you can’t see this show. It’s a good SummerSlam, but there are much better and much more historical shows. This would be the last show for a long time where Bret Hart goes out on top because the Clique will pretty much own the company by the end of 1994.

WWE WrestleMania X

WWE WrestleMania X

March 24, 1994

Madison Square Garden

New York City, New York

Yeah I might have seen this show a few times. Ten years in the making, and the WWE returns to Madison Square Garden. The payoff for the double finish between Luger and Hart was that both guys would get a title shot at WrestleMania. President Jack Tunney held a coin toss. The winner of the toss would get the first title match against Yokozuna, while the loser of the toss would go on last. To make things fair, the loser of the toss would have a separate match in the opening match. Had Luger lost, he would’ve faced off against Crush. Since Bret lost, the world was forced to see some lame match between Bret Hart and Owen Hart. This show would pretty much be the final stamp that the Hulk Hogan era was over. That would also be evident because 3 months later, Hogan would be in WCW, and the wrestling world would never be the same. This was a night of celebration though.

Commentators: Vince McMahon and Jerry “The King” Lawler

*Rated #1 on my Top 50 WrestleMania matches of all time*

“The Rocket” Owen Hart vs. Bret “The Hitman” Hart

There have been many great matches at WrestleMania, and if anyone disagreed with my selection of this one as #1 I certainly wouldn’t mind at all. This to me is what wrestling is all about. Two brothers going out and putting on a wrestling clinic. Bret talks about how the key in the match was for Owen to be just a slimy filthy heel, and Bret not to go overboard in beating him down because Owen might get sympathy heat. They play this beautiful dance on that fine line throughout the entire match. They pulled out all of the moves, including an awesome tombstone piledriver from Owen. Owen went up for the diving head butt and Bret moved out of the way. At this point you know that the only way Owen is going to be able to beat his older brother was on a surprise move. The action spilled to the outside where Bret injured his knee, and Owen attacks it like a vulture. Just classic heel tactics and the crowd just HATES him for it. This all is illustrated wonderfully by Vince and Lawler with Lawler at his heel commentating best. I miss the old Jerry Lawler. Owen continues the heel tactics with a low blow. He then gets Bret into the sharpshooter but Bret knows how to get out of his own hold. He tries to put it on Owen, but his knee is in too much pain. The end comes when Bret goes for the same victory roll that won him the King of the Ring tournament against Bam Bam Bigelow, but Owen steps into it on the way down and gets Bret into a pinning maneuver of his own and gets the SHOCKING 3 count. Owen’s face is priceless as he looks at the ref in shock himself. Bret’s face is equally shocking in a devastated way. He sells the leg injury and it plays up the fact that he still has a title match later in the show, and what condition will he be in? *****

Mixed Tag Team Match

Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon vs. Doink and Dink

Ok, so it goes without saying that I didn’t think much of the Doink gimmick post-evil clown days. I am not alone in that opinion. With that said, here you have yet another case of a storyline and feud that had actual thought put into it, something rarely seen today. I’m not saying the story itself is great by any stretch, but the WWE had two workers, and they had something to do with them on the midcard. Doink antagonized Bam Bam from the fall of 1993 on through the winter of 1994 until the payoff at WrestleMania X. They inserted Luna and Dink for added effect because Doink made Luna’s life a living hell too. The match isn’t great and Bam Bam gets the win with his diving head butt. The best part of the match is Lawler clamoring for Bam Bam to get his hands on Dink and Vince playing it off with outrage. * ¼         

Falls Count Anywhere

“Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. Crush w/ Mr. Fuji

This is Savage’s WrestleMania swan song. This is more like a Texas Death match than a falls count anywhere. This is one of my favorite non-high profile feuds of the 90’s. Crush was a baby face and Yokozuna put him out for a few weeks before SummerSlam. Crush blamed Savage for pushing him into a match with Yokozuna knowing that he wasn’t 100 %. When Crush returned they had the “Savage-Crush Summit meeting” where Crush turned heel and attacked Savage. He press slammed him over the steel barricade which Savage sold like death. From then on, Savage and Crush attacked each other and officials would always have to break up the brawl. It was a great feud that pumped a little life into Randy Savage who was basically just a figurehead at this point in WWE. The match is pretty decent, Savage attacks Crush in the aisle, but Crush recovers and drops Savage on the steel barricade again and gets the pin. Nice storytelling there. Savage now has 60 seconds to get back into the ring. He does and makes a comeback. He drops the big elbow on Crush and pins him. This time Crush gets back into the ring and the two brawl to the backstage area where Savage finally pins Crush and ties him up in the back. Simple, but effective brawl and nice way to blow off the big feud. Not only is this Savage’s WrestleMania swan song, but it’s basically his WWE swan song as he would do nothing between now, and his departure in November. He would be in WCW hanging out with Hogan by the end of 1994. ** ¾

WWE Women’s Championship

Alundra Blayze (champion) vs. Leilani Kai

The WWE signed Blayze (better known perhaps as Medusa) to re-ignite the non-existent women’s division, which hadn’t really existed for about 5 years. This match isn’t anything special, but serves its purpose to sell Medusa as the leader of the women’s division. She wins with her German suplex. Nothing special. ¾ *

WWE Tag Team Championship

Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre) (champions) w/ Johnny Polo vs. Men on a Mission (Mabel and Mo) w/ Oscar

The tag division in 1994 was all but dead, and it was made even worse by the clique later in the year when Shawn Michaels and Diesel would win the titles and then become just trophies for them to carry around. At this point, the Quebecers were still the champions, and I enjoyed them as heel champions, but they just didn’t have the depth of teams to work with as previous great heel champions did. This match would predictably end in some sort of count out or disqualification. Count out was the prescription here, as MOM wins but Quebecers retain. Match itself was just added filler. * ¼

WWE Championship

Mr. Perfect as Special Referee

Yokozuna (champion) w/ Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette vs. Lex Luger

This is the first of two WWE title matches. Conventional wisdom at the time (and perhaps even now depending on your opinion) says Luger goes over here to give us a Hart-Luger main event. Mr. Perfect is the special referee. I love Lawler’s heel commentary complaining all match that Perfect is biased. That is about the only highlight of this match. This is also known as the match where Yoko puts Luger in a nerve hold which feels like it lasts for 10 minutes. Luger makes the inevitable comeback, but starts tossing managers into the ring, so Perfect doesn’t count 3 after Luger knocks Yokozuna out. Then Luger shoves Perfect and gets disqualified for the screw job finish. Yokozuna retains in a forgettable match. Not even close to their SummerSlam encounter the previous year. Legend has it that Luger was in some Manhattan bar the night before proclaiming he was going to be WWE champion. That story seems like bullshit to me, but many claim it’s true. ¾ * Luger goes to the back to find Perfect. This was supposed to segue into them finishing up their program together that pretty much got cut short in 1993 but it didn’t happen as Perfect wasn’t ready to go yet.

Adam Bomb w/ Harvey Wippleman vs. Earthquake

For a couple years Wippleman would constantly insult ring announcer Howard Finkel. Tonight he went too far and Howard shoved him. Adam Bomb comes in and threatens Finkel, but Earthquake comes in and makes the save, and squashes Bomb in less than a minute. DUD Earthquake was just returning, he would turn his attention to feud with Yokozuna before heading off to WCW to hang out with Hogan.

*Rated #5 on my Top 50 WrestleMania matches of all time*

WWE IC Championship

Ladder Match

Razor Ramon (champion) vs. Shawn Michaels w/ Diesel

Yeah this match is rather famous. There were ladder matches before this one, even one involving Shawn. While that is true this is the one that put the Ladder match as we know it today on the map. With the insane spot fests known as TLC matches and Money in the Bank matches, there are those that suggest that this match doesn’t hold up. I cannot disagree more. This match has (overwhelmingly) more psychology and more storytelling than any clusterfuck of a match you can find today. You start with Diesel getting thrown out by the ref early on which is a great moment because the crowd eats it up and it makes the match a straight one on one contest early. Then it becomes Shawn having a match with a ladder as many have pointed out. This is also the point in Shawn’s career where he becomes untouchable as a performer. From this point on through his first retirement, he is absolute gold in the ring. Every spot with the ladder is deliberate and with purpose and very little slow climbing which annoys me. It’s a back and forth affair and you really don’t know who is going to win. Finally Razor throws a shoulder block into the ladder with Shawn on it and Michaels crotches himself on the top rope and gets tied up. Razor climbs the ladder and gets both belts to become the undisputed IC Champion. Just a flawless match that only an idiot would think doesn’t hold up today. This is the ladder match that all other ladder matches after would be compared to. You can pretty much find this match anywhere, so if you haven’t seen it yet… see it. *****

Main Event

WWE Championship

Special Referee Rowdy Roddy Piper

Yokozuna (champion) w/ Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette vs. Bret “The Hitman” Hart

Lawler once again with heel commentating brilliance screaming about what an injustice it is to have Piper as the ref. This is one of my favorite matches ever. Certainly not because it dazzles, but because this is Bret’s shining WrestleMania moment. He limps out to the ring still selling the leg injury, not to mention the mental anguish of losing to little brother Owen in the opening match. This is truly David vs. goliath. Kind of a weird finish here as Yokozuna goes for the big banzai drop and falls off the rope essentially slamming himself, and Bret crawls on the big man and gets the win and the title from the guy who beat him the year before. ** ¾ Lex Luger comes out  after the match and shakes the hand of the new champion. Before you know it, everyone is out to celebrate with Bret. Luger and Razor Ramon put Bret on their shoulders in celebration of the mighty heel champion finally vanquished. Owen Hart comes out seemingly to celebrate, but he just gives his big brother the cold stare. Bret gives the I love you’s to the MSG crowd as the show goes off the air.

Final Analysis: Bottom line is there isn’t another show that I know of, that has two ***** matches. Yes the undercard is pretty horrible, but this show isn’t known for anything other than the two great matches, and a wonderful feel-good moment to close out the show. Lex Luger was the big casualty as he would be relegated to midcard hell for the next year and a half. 1994 would be the year that the infamous clique would rise to power and by the end of the year; Bret himself would be pushed to the background. On this night though, Bret was king and set to continue his great feud with his brother Owen. I think that one of the great things about this show is that it really represents the last of an era where long-term storylines were the norm instead of the exception.

WWE Royal Rumble '94

WWE Royal Rumble ‘94

January 22, 1994

Providence Civic Center

Providence, Rhode Island

1994 would become what I sort of envisioned 1993 to be, and that was a year of total change for the WWE. 1993 would have been that way but the Hulk Hogan debacle midway through the year kept that from really happening. WWE was even going to be starting to market their brand is the “New Generation.” They would be facing their biggest challenges in years to come, but the change was necessary. This show is one of my personal favorites. I don’t know why. It just is. You could tell that the show represented something different in that it truly was a new year and a new generation. Rocky times are ahead but the golden age of the Hogan era was definitely behind them by January 1994.

Commentators: Vince McMahon and “Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase

Tatanka vs. Bam Bam Bigelow w/ Luna Vachon

This was originally supposed to be Tatanka vs. Ludvig Borga, but Borga got hurt I believe, and Bigelow was substituted in. Good choice as they did have history against each other as they feuded in the summer of 1993. This is a fine little opener as the crowd is super hot for Tatanka and Bigelow plays the perfect heel in this situation. Pretty much nonstop action from bell to bell. The end comes when Bam Bam misses the moonsault and Tatanka hits a cross body block from the top for the 3 count. Good way to get the crowd energized. ** ¾

WWE Tag Team Championship

Quebecers (Jacques and Pierre) (champions) w/ Johnny Polo vs. Bret “The Hitman” Hart and “The Rocket” Owen Hart

Johnny Polo is more commonly known as Raven for most of you. What’s funny about this match is that you know what is going to happen. It is so predictable, and I always think about this match when I hear some idiot who says “predictability is the worst, nothing good can come of it.”  Sometimes predictability can be a good thing and this is a prime example. If you remember at the Survivor Series, little brother Owen was none too pleased that he was the only member of the Hart clan to get eliminated by Shawn Michaels, and he blamed Bret. They “patched” things up over the holidays and decided to team up together against the Quebecers for the titles. At that point you just know where this is going, and the payoff was fantastic. The match itself was excellent as you would imagine with just about any match involving Bret and Owen. The heel Quebecers play such great heels too as eventually the match turns bad for Bret. He injures his knee on the outside and the Quebecers are like vultures much to the dismay of Owen who wants so desperately his first title. The end comes when Bret is too injured to tag Owen so he tries to put his sharpshooter on Pierre, but his leg gives out. The ref stops the match and the Quebecers retain. Owen is absolutely furious that Bret didn’t make the tag. He proceeds to scream at his brother when he is down. Finally Bret makes it to his feet only to have Owen kick his leg and knock him back down again. One of the best heel turns ever and Owen is instantly one of the top heels in the company. This leads to the famous post match promo with Owen where he says “and that’s why I kicked your leg out of your leg.” Just pure, raw emotion. Great storytelling by two of the best. ****

WWE IC Championship

Razor Ramon (champion) vs. IRS

I sort of raved about the storytelling of this feud, and don’t get me wrong it was great, but it wasn’t what the fans wanted to see. But the beauty of this match is that it was a perfect way to set up exactly what the fans did want to see which Razor Ramon against Shawn Michaels was. This is an ok match, standard stuff from both guys, but things get interesting when the ref gets knocked out, and in comes Shawn. He attacks Razor with his bogus IC belt, and IRS gets the pin and the win. Then we get a bit of a Dusty finish here as a 2^nd ref comes down and points out that there are two IC belts in the ring. Before you know it, Razor is giving IRS the Razor’s edge and retaining the IC Title. Razor celebrates with both the IC title belts but the seeds are sewn for a huge showdown with Shawn Michaels, which will come at WrestleMania X. You may have even heard of the match before too… the Ladder match. ** ¼

WWE Championship

Casket Match

Yokozuna (champion) w/ Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette vs. Undertaker w/ Paul Bearer

This is a rather famous match, though not in a good way. After Survivor Series, this feud was big. It was well put together and it was a showdown that a lot of people wanted to see. Problem. Undertaker wanted to take some time off. So how do you write arguably your biggest star out of the stories for several months? Easy, you have a casket match and have about 9 guys interfere and attack him. Then you have him give his own eulogy inside the casket, then have the casket “explode” on the videotron, and have him seemingly ascend to the heavens. If that sounds ridiculous, it’s because it pretty much is. I liked it, most didn’t. ¼ * Just like that though, a big main event payoff is sort of flushed down the toilet here.

Main Event

Royal Rumble

The roster is rather thin in 1994, so you have a few guys doing double-duty tonight, and a couple of replacements. Still, I love love love this rumble. For their lack in depth they made up for in telling a nice story. Early on it was Diesel mowing through a bunch of jobbers, and then you escalate the Savage feud with Crush, and have Crush eliminate Savage thus giving him the rub. They must’ve really wanted to do more with Crush in 1994 than they ultimately did. Bam Bam Bigelow gets some revenge on Doink, and then it turns into a bit of a clusterfuck. Only thing I didn’t like about the match is that there were just a few too many people in the ring at one time. But Luger picks things up along with Shawn Michaels who helps eliminate his buddy Diesel. Then Bret Hart, still selling the leg injury like a champion, comes out to a huge ovation. Not sure Bret Hart was any more over as a baby-face than he was on this night. I give a lot of credit to Owen for that. The match comes down to Bret, Luger, Shawn, and Headshrinker Fatu. It should be pointed out, that Shawn Michaels had a great performance in this Rumble as well, very underrated as it is overshadowed by his wins in 1995 and 1996. Bret and Shawn had a nice little mini-match here, and then finally Luger eliminates Shawn, and Bret takes care of Fatu leaving the two big baby-faces to go at it. Match spills into a double elimination, and apparently this was done as sort of a popularity contest for Vince to find out who the crowd would support… Bret or Luger. Bret wins that contest hands down as the crowd is clearly behind Bret. After a long debate between refs and President Jack Tunney, Bret and Luger are declared co-winners. Again, not a lot of people like this rumble, but it is one of my favorites ever. I may be overrating it but I don’t care. **** ¾

Final Analysis: This was a fantastic set up for WrestleMania X. What WWE lacked in roster depth, they made up for in nice storylines. Yes the Undertaker stuff was pretty bad and defies disbelief (more than pro-wrestling already does) but the main matches for WrestleMania X are sold here. Shawn-Razor? Check. Bret-Owen? Hell yeah! Savage-Crush? Absolutely. Add to that you have the lead up to what they were going to do with the WWE title situation. Yokozuna against his old nemesis Lex Luger, and of course, the determined, hungry tiger, Bret Hart seeking to become once again the WWE champion after getting screwed out of it at WrestleMania IX. The stories make sense. They had a plan, and they executed it to perfection. Yeah, I like this show if you didn’t notice.