WWF King of the Ring 1994

King of the Ring ’94 will always hold a special place in my heart, as it was the first wrestling pay per view I ever saw live. My interest in wrestling (which began in January with the Hart Brothers feud) had developed into a full fledged obsession by early summer, and after exhausting the local video stores library of old pay per views and Coliseum Videos (which was a small section, totaling probably thirty tapes – but including the first King of the Ring), I was properly pumped for the 1994 show.

What I didn’t know at nine years old, is that the show was taking place in the eye of a legal hurricane, as the steroid investigations of the early 1990s, and now trial of Vince McMahon, were reaching their climax – with Vince himself on trial, and facing years in prison if convicted. The ramifications on the booking of the WWF reached far and wide, though probably the most noticeable difference was the phasing out of all the hulked up guys in favor of smaller, but more technically gifted stars to carry the promotion.

From Baltimore, Maryland; Your Hosts are Gorilla Monsoon, Randy Savage, and Art Donovan – one of the worst commentary teams ever assembled, and the subjects (particularly Donovan – who had little/no knowledge of professional wrestling, and was only there due to his celebrity as a former Baltimore football star) of endless gags over the years. Vince McMahon is notably absent.


Opening King of the Ring Quarter Final Match: Bam Bam Bigelow v Razor Ramon: Donovan (who had no knowledge of the storylines or participants going in, other than whatever they briefed him on backstage) spends the night squawking 'Razor Ramon!' like a parrot whenever asked his opinion on who will win, the event, the weather - pretty much anything. Razor Ramon, Razor Ramon! Unfortunately, he doesn't recognize the man in the ring as Razor Ramon, which kind of hurts his credibility a little bit. Razor Ramon, Razor Ramon! Razor throws his toothpick at Luna (Bigelow's main squeeze!), causing the Bammer to jump him. Flying headbutt misses, allowing Razor to crotch him on the post, and hit his 2^nd rope flying bulldog for two. He starts going after the knee with a leglock (to prevent any more of Bigelow's high impact, flying offense), but misses a blind charge, and goes flying over-the-top. Bigelow drags him back in for some headbutts to the lower back, and an enzuigiri gets two. Torture rack (to torture the back), but Razor just won't give, so Bigelow lets him down - only to get caught with a side suplex. Slugfest goes Ramon's way, and he slams the Beast from the East. Side-superplex, but Bigelow backelbows free, and goes for the flying moonsault - only to have Razor slam him off of the top for the pin at 8:24. Solid, well paced match - hurt a little by Razor's poor selling (he looked more like he was enjoying a nap during the torture rack than in any kind of agony). *

King of the Ring Quarter Final Match: Mabel v IRS: It should be noted that during the pre-show, Gorilla Monsoon predicts that Mabel is the next King of the Ring. Close enough. IRS tries to jump him at the bell, but Mabel dodges him, and hits a slam. Suplex, and an overhead version, but a blind charge misses, and IRS knocks him to the outside. Mabel beats the count in, but walks right into the Write Off (a jumping clothesline), and IRS adds a series of elbows for two. He perplexingly tries a bodyslam, but that predictably fails (maybe he was posturing in the endless search for the next Hulk Hogan), so he goes to a chinlock. Mabel railroads into the corner to break, and backdrops the taxman. Uranage gets two, but he takes too long climbing to the 2^nd rope, and IRS pulls him down, and advances to face Razor at 5:34. No classic, but a quick, good effort from both, with the nice logical finish of IRS using Mabel's size against him. ¾*

King of the Ring Quarter Final Match: Owen Hart v Tatanka: Tatanka jumps Owen during the entrances, and backdrops him into the lights for two. Suplex for two, so Owen goes to the eyes, and hooks a standing side-headlock. Tatanka powers up with a series of armdrags, and grabs a headlock of his own, but gets dumped off of a criss cross. Slugfest on the floor goes Owen's way, and he whips him into the post for good measure, then runs in and demands the referee start counting. Tatanka just beats it, so Owen goes ballistic, and hits a gorgeous gutwrench suplex. Missile dropkick gets two, so he goes to the chinlock. Tatanka likes to free-ball with his chin (later chins), though, so he PONYS UP!! Series of Chops! DDT! Slam! Flying Tomahawk! Powerslam! Sunset Flip! - but Owen hooks the legs for the pin at 8:18. Well paced, with great effort from both - and even a little bit of foreshadowing of Tatanka's upcoming heel turn, as he jumps Owen before the bell, as well as having pal Lex Luger talk about how much integrity he has while shilling the WWF Hotline backstage before the match. * ½  

King of the Ring Quarter Final Match: Jeff Jarrett v The 1-2-3 Kid: Kid scares Jarrett to the floor with the lightning kicks, but Jeff quickly realizes Kid's roughly the size of a middle school girl, and simply starts wailing on him. Dropkick misses, allowing Kid a quick victory roll for two, but Jarrett keeps control with a slingshot suplex. 2^nd rope fistdrop, but a clothesline misses, and Kid spinkicks him. Flying senton bomb, and a flying bodypress for two. Lightning kicks in the corner, but a blind charge misses, and Jarrett goes for the Figure Four, only to get cradled - and Kid advances to face Owen at 4:39. Jarrett doesn't take that well, and gets back at him Memphis-style: with a bunch of piledrivers. They didn't have much time to work with here, but they did well within the constraints, working a lot of engaging back-and-forth action. *

WWF Title Match: Bret Hart v Diesel: Diesel was Intercontinental Champion at his point, but only Bret's title is on the line. The buildup focused on whether Hart would be able to withstand Diesel's powerbomb - considered one of the more devastating moves in wrestling at the time. Also, with Shawn Michaels in Diesel's corner (and recently making himself useful by costing Razor Ramon the Intercontinental Title to Diesel) Hart promised to have someone in his corner as well. Much speculation began at my lunch table over who it would be, and I remember hoping it would be Owen - having a change of heart. It ends up being Jim Neidhart, no surprise to anyone following online at the time, but a total shock to me. Diesel overpowers him during the initial lockup, so Hart tries a go-behind, only to get railroaded into the corner, and choked out. Blind charge misses, allowing Bret to fire some shots back, and a quick rollup gets two. He dodges a Diesel elbowdrop, but ends up getting a thumb to the eye, but Diesel misses another blind charge - this time hurting his knee. Hart goes right to work, and locks a figure four, but Diesel's so tall, he has little trouble reaching the ropes. Hart keeps hammering, but Diesel uses his overlong legs to shove Bret to the floor. Bret sweeps him off of his feet from the outside, and posts the knee, but that allows Shawn Michaels (covered in more crosses than a church - and this was before he 'found Jesus') to run over with a diving clothesline. Neidhart gives chase, but Captain Crunch can't really catch up with him. Bret still manages to dive back in after him, but Diesel catches him in a bearhug (well, 'falls to the mat in a bearhug,' but they save it nicely, as he powers up into it), but Hart breaks, and dropkicks Diesel to the outside. Plancha, but Diesel sidesteps, and Harts hits the floor. Diesel posts him out there, and takes him back inside to work the back. Sidewalk slam  gets two, and a backbreaker submission wears the Hitman down. Bret takes his always impressive chest-first cross corner bump for two, but Diesel argues the count, allowing Hart to schoolboy him. That just gets Diesel mad enough to short-clothesline him, and he hooks a headvice. Backbreaker for two, and an overhead backbreaker, as Shawn sneaks up onto the apron to undo the top turnbuckle pad, in case Bret won't submit. He doesn't, and in fact counters into a sleeper, but Diesel railroads to freedom. Wow, and it wasn't even underground. Over to the exposed turnbuckle, but Bret reverses a shot into it, and starts unloading closed fists to stagger Diesel. Ten-punch count, and a hangman's clothesline finally takes him down for two. Russian legsweep, and the 2^nd rope elbow for two. 2^nd rope flying bulldog, and he goes for the Sharpshooter, but Shawn climbs up onto the apron to distract him. Bret lets off to deck him (sending him flying into the rail), and hits a 2^nd rope clothesline. Backslide, but Diesel's too big, so Bret runs the ropes into a somersault, forcing Diesel into a cradle for two. Bret walks right into a big boot off of a charge, and it's powerbomb time, but Hart rolls him from a vertical base into a half crab. Diesel makes the ropes again, so Bret dropkicks him to the floor, allowing Shawn to sneak in and wallop him with the title belt while the referee counts. It only gets two, though, so Diesel properly powerbombs him - but Neidhart runs in to break up the pin, and cause a disqualification at 22:51. I absolutely loved this match as a kid, and though they would top themselves with two even better matches in 1995, this was a hell of a start to their series. Tons of rousing offensive combinations from Hart, good use of restholds from Diesel (quick and to the point), and the usual terrific sell job from Bret - particularly when trying to get the big man off of his feet. Hart was always the best guy to work with Diesel, as literally every time they went at it, Bret made him look better than he did going in, and in this case, legitimized his still young run as Intercontinental Champion/main event contender. *** ½

King of the Ring Semi Final Match: Razor Ramon v IRS: Razor goes ballistic on him during the entrances (he called his gold fools gold!), but gets caught coming in, and an elbowdrop gets two. Backbreaker, but a blind charge misses, and IRS goes tumbling to the outside. Ramon follows to ram his head into the steps - a totally appropriate response to another man impugning the quality of your gold chain. IRS with a rope-assisted chinlock, but Razor reverses a trip to the turnbuckle, and hiptosses him via his necktie. What gold chains are to Razor fashion is to IRS, though, so he nails him with the Write Off, but Ramon shrugs it off, and hits the Edge to advance at 5:13. Just going through the motions here. ¼*

King of the Ring Semi Final Match: Owen Hart v The 1-2-3 Kid: Much speculation abounds over whether Kid will even show, after taking the piledrivers from Jarrett earlier in the evening. He teases not coming through the tunnel, but ends up hobbling out. Owen, nice guy that he is, catches him with a brutal baseball slide on his way in, then follows with a tope. He drags him in for a flying splash for two, but gets reversed on a cross corner, and takes Bret's chest-first bump. Moonsault gets Kid two. Magistral cradle for two, and they fight over a wristlock - won by Kid with the lightning kicks. Owen responds with a quick enzuigiri for two, but gets caught with a Northern Lights suplex for two, and bails. Kid with a somersault plancha to follow, and he tries a spinheel back inside, but Owen catches him in midair to turn it into a German suplex. Overhead suplex gets two, and he tries a standard version, but Kid counters into a victory roll. Rana, but Hart flattens him with a powerbomb, and goes on to face Razor Ramon in the finals via the Sharpshooter at 3:37. This one has earned a solid reputation over the years as one of the greatest matches under five minutes, and it certainly lives up to the hype. Just a non-stop spotfest, with crisp execution, and creative counters that was mind-blowing for North America in 1994, and still holds up well today. ***

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Headshrinkers v Crush and Yokozuna: Crush and Yoko try to turn it into a brawl early on, but make the mistake of hitting the champs in the head, allowing them to clean house. Yoko really should know better. Guess he was going full method at that point - which is actually the excuse he gave when they asked why he'd gained two hundred pounds since his debut only two years before. Crush tries to piledrive Fatu, but again, it's the head, so Fatu no-sells, and piledrives him back. I'd pay to see a Hawk/Fatu piledriver only type match. Like, I will literally time travel back to when they were both still alive, and pay inflated money to see it. 2^nd rope headbutt hits, but Crush gets the tag off to Yoko for his big legdrop, but a blind charge misses, and Fatu makes the tag. Samu's a hut of fire, and a four-way brawl quickly breaks out. Samu looks to finish Crush with a flying splash, but Fatu throwing Yoko into the ringpost crotches him on the top, and Crush superplexes him off. That draws out Lex Luger, and the distraction allows Samu to roll him up, but they botch it, and it only gets two. Fatu nails him with a savate kick to save it at 9:16. Interesting to note how quickly both Luger and Yokozuna (both headlining a year earlier, and in the main events of WrestleMania only months before) had been demoted to the midcard. Yoko in a tag team is generally a good idea, as he has trouble keeping a good pace on his own, and his eventual partnership with Owen Hart in '95 was probably the most critically acclaimed part of his career. As for this one, not offensively bad, just dull. ½*

WWF King of the Ring: Razor Ramon v Owen Hart: By this point, Savage and Monsoon have taken to openly ignoring anything Donovan has to 'add,' so no one humors him over seeing Razor Ramon again. Owen goes right into a hammerlock, but Razor counters into a Greco-Roman punch to the face. Hart responds with a slap to the face, but gets slammed for his troubles (they botched Ramon's blockbuster spot there, and switched gears into a bodyslam), and Razor with a slingshot into the corner. He tries to take Hart to the mat, but Owen out counters him, and levels him with a spinheel kick. European uppercut leads to a rope-assisted abdominal stretch, but Razor gets a uranage for two. Blockbuster gets two, and a suplex - but Owen counters into a Russian legsweep. Flying moonsault, but Ramon crotches him up there, and side-superplexes him off. Razor's Edge, but Owen backdrops him to the outside. That draws Jim Neidhart out to help Ramon out, but he clobbers Ramon on the floor, then rolls him in for Owen finish with a gorgeous flying elbowdrop at 6:35. Not the best match, but it served to establish Neidhart's position, and put Owen over Razor - which was a necessary rub. Afterwards, Owen gets crowned, thrilled to have followed in his brother's footsteps in becoming King, and we learn Neidhart was with him all along - causing a disqualification earlier not to help Bret, but to make sure he keeps the title for Owen to win. Obviously Austin's was more historically significant, but Owen's coronation (from his pure glee to Neidhart's careful mannerisms as he places the robe and crown on him) is by far my favorite. *

Great bit of unintentional comedy, as Todd Pettengill interviews the Governor of Maryland (didn't he have better shit to do?) in the audience, who notes he's a 'Hulk Hogan man (him)self.' If Vince were actually watching this show, I'm sure he would have fired the state of Maryland over it.

Main Event: Roddy Piper v Jerry Lawler: Lawler had spent months running down Piper on his 'King's Court' interview segment, so Roddy decides to come 'out of retirement' (only for the third time at this point) to shut Lawler's mouth. I loved this when I was a kid, as a lot of those tapes at the video store had taught me that Piper was a badass legend, and I couldn't wait to see him step into the ring against bigmouth Lawler. Piper blinds him with his kilt (laced with farts, I'm sure), and then railroads him into the corner for a ten-punch. Fists of fury, and a series of low blows don't do Lawler any favors (Well, maybe they did. Probably didn't have to wrap it up after that), and they spill to the floor for more abuse. They run into the scrawny Piper impersonator Lawler had hired during the build up (who then defected to Piper's side, since the coke Jerry promised as payment was Coca), and Jerry takes the time to beat him up since he can't handle the real Roddy. Piper tries to make the save, but gets clobbered, and hooked in a sleeper. He won't submit, but the hold leaves him disoriented, and Lawler piledrives him, but it only gets two. Piper is completely dazed after the whole 'attempted neck breaking' thing, but still won't stay down, and gives Lawler the 'bring it on' motions. Slugfest goes Piper's way, and he hits a pair of bulldogs. The referee goes down during a third attempt, allowing Lawler to pull the knux out of his tights for a knockout. That gets a delayed two count, and Piper drops him with a side suplex to finish at 12:30. Not technically good, but worked for what it was. Still, DUD

BUExperience: As noted, this one holds a certain degree of sentimental value to me, but I haven’t seen the show in over ten years, and wasn’t sure how I would like it today. Happily, it still holds up well. Though things were falling apart behind the scenes, everyone kept up appearances, and there were good performances all around – most notably from the Hart Brothers, Diesel, and the 1-2-3 Kid. The show also came off as extremely well produced (they were miles ahead of WCW in that regard) with quick and effective backstage interview bits seamlessly edited into the lineup, and generally like a proper pay per view should. It’s not historically significant enough to become a must see (Hart/Diesel is done better elsewhere, Piper didn’t stay retired anyway, no titles changed), but it was a lot of fun, and I’m glad this one got to be my first pay per view. ****