WWF Monday Night RAW (July 11, 1994)

Original Airdate: July 11, 1994  (Taped July 1)

From Bushkill, Pennsylvania; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Randy Savage.

Opening WWF Title Match: Bret Hart v 1-2-3 Kid: Before we get started, Owen Hart and Jim Neidhart come down to try and get their hands on Bret, but get ejected. Bell sounds, and they shake hands ahead of the initial lockup. Kid takes him down with a swift armdrag, surprising the Hitman. Bret cautiously offers a test-of-strength, and controls, but Kid takes him down into an armbar. Hart powers into a bodyslam to escape, but Kid kips up before he can capitalize. Kid wins another lockup with a hammerlock, so Bret snapmares him to escape, but Kid holds onto it. He shifts to an armbar to desperately try and retain control as Bret muscles up, but takes a backelbow to break. That allows Bret to successfully snapmare him into a chinlock, but Kid wrestles out, and hits a monkeyflip out of a criss cross. Enzuigiri and a spinkick put Bret on the floor, and back in, Kid goes back to the armbar. Kid holds onto it through a series of escape and counter attempts, but Bret absolutely blasts him with a knee to break, and creams him with a swift legdrop. Into the corner, Hart unloads with forearms, as the referee keeps close watch to make sure there are no closed fists. European uppercuts next, and a pair of pointed elbowdrops leave Kid gasping for air on the mat. Hart with a swinging neckbreaker for two, and he wrenches on a chinlock. Into the corner again, Bret unloads some more, and nearly snaps the ring with a hard cross corner whip. Kid fires off a desperation bodypress for two, but Bret pounds him right back down, and hits another cross corner whip, then cradles a sunset flip attempt for two. Kid tries a crucifix, but Hart drops him like a Samoan for the pin at 10:00. However, Kid's feet are on the ropes (which the referee misses), but Bret catches it, and doesn’t want it that way. Great psychology there, as Bret could have very easily started drawing boos for the brutal beating he was delivering to the smaller Kid, but this puts the fans right back in his corner. It backfires on him when Kid sneaks up with a double-underhook cradle, but Bret kicks out, and German suplexes him for two. Chinlock keeps Kid grounded, but he fights up into a backslide for two. Bret slaps him back down with another pointed elbowdrop, and a legdrop for two. 'Let's Go Bret' chant from the crowd as he hits a DDT for two - showing just how over Hart was, even as the aggressor against the sympathetic Kid. Bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope pointed elbowdrop, but Kid lifts his boot to block, and fires off a spinheel kick. Kid is still dazed, but manages to get Bret into the corner for the lightning kicks, and a cross corner dropkick sets up a flying moonsault press for two. Powerbomb (!) sets up a flying legdrop for two, and he clotheslines Hart out of the ring to set up a flying somersault bodyblock, but he overshoots it, and crashes onto the floor. Bret rolls in, and Kid tries to salvage it with a flying somersault legdrop as he follows, but Bret rolls out of the way - Kid now missing two high risk maneuvers in a row. That's enough to allow Hart the Sharpshooter, but Kid makes the ropes before he even gets it locked on. Bret decides to kill him with a superplex, but Kid counters into a bodyblock on the way down for two - freaking the crowd out. Cross corner dropkick, but Hart sidesteps it this time, and he bulldogs his challenger. Bret goes up now, but Kid slams him off, and tries a missile dropkick - only for Hart to catch the legs, and sweep him into the Sharpshooter at 21:00. Afterwards, Kid is near tears, but Hart helps him up, and raises his hand before a cheering audience. Awesome! So awesome even Randy Savage leaps to his feet to applaud both men. Certainly one of the favorite matches of my childhood, and it absolutely still holds up today! Fast paced, filled to the brim with brilliant psychology, and masterful crowd control. Kid, especially, was selling like crazy - not only Bret's offense, but the magnitude of the match itself. These two were riding buddies in 1994, and their closeness comes through in the performance, as both guys were working flawlessly together. **** ¼

Cute RAW Girl Sign of the Week: RAW! RAW! RAW! Sock 'Em in the Jaw

SummerSlam Report! Undertaker/Undertaker is already announced, but not much else. That's enough, I'd say!

Crush v Matt Hardy: Yes, that Matt Hardy. Hardy tries flipping and flopping to avoid Crush, but the big man plants a hard superkick on him, and press-slams the kid before finishing with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker at 1:48. DUD

Razor Ramon v Barry Horowitz: Razor powers him around early on, and easily escapes a wristlock attempt - reversing into one of his own. Barry tries muscling him into the corner, but Razor smacks him down for an STF. He makes the mistake of messing up Barry's epic mullet, and gets his eyes raked, but still manages a blockbuster before inside cradling for the pin at 2:53. Weird finish, as Razor called for the Edge, then just kinda cradled him instead. Whatever. DUD

Jerry Lawler hosts a special edition of The King's Court in Ted DiBiase's office. God, they must have been doing terribly financially, because they can't even be bothered to put together an extravagant set, instead filming this in what looks like a small town real estate office. And not even the nice corner office

IRS v Ray Hudson: Man, this show sure went downhill fast after the opener. IRS goes through his usual dull squash stuff, and finishes the jobber with an STF at 3:48. DUD

Backstage, Bret Hart compliments 1-2-3 Kid's performance, and talks about giving Owen a title shot

BUExperience: Hart/Kid is the best match in RAW history to that point (hell, probably one of the best ever, period), and even if the rest of the show is uneventful, that’s more than enough to make this one worth watching