WWF Monday Night RAW (September 26, 1994)

Original Airdate: September 26, 1994

From Utica, New York; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Randy Savage

Opening WWF Intercontinental Title Match: Razor Ramon v Tatanka: Ted DiBiase distracts Razor for Tatanka to jump, and he pounds him into the corner with chops. Ramon responds in kind, and a pair of cross corner whips set up a hiptoss, followed by a clothesline to put Tatanka on the outside. Back in, Tatanka uses a kneelift to takeover with more chops, and delivers a series of forearms to the lower back. Despite the big heel turn, Tatanka is just such a non-threat at this point. If anything, fans would have bought his chances more a year earlier, during his undefeated streak period. But by this point, he was clearly JTTS, despite their best efforts to convince us otherwise. I mean, he's the centerpiece of a stable that boasts members like Bam Bam Bigelow (spent the bulk of the year feuding with a clown), IRS (hasn't been relevant since dropping the tag titles with DiBiase over a year prior), and Nikolai Volkoff - who makes IRS seem relevant by comparison. Tatanka works the champ over in dull fashion, and they spill to the floor for Tatanka to hammer the back some more. He's also sweating profusely, while Ramon looks like he's barely even warmed up - further undermining Tatanka's chances at looking like a threat. Inside, Tatanka with a bunch of shoulderblocks, and slaps on a DiBiase-assisted abdominal stretch. Ramon reverses the hold and delivers a side superplex, but DiBiase distracts him to stop the Razors Edge from happening, and Tatanka attacks him on the floor as a result. Cue Lex Luger (wearing an outfit that would be at home at a Fourth of July party on Fire Island), but Bam Bam Bigelow jumps him before he can get his hands on Tatanka. Seeing this, Tatanka decides to go after Luger as well - allowing Ramon to simply roll back in, and get the victory via countout at 16:37. There was a lot wrong with the way they presented Tatanka as a heel, not least of which that the guy just didn't look comfortable working in the role - something they should have probably addressed before. Then, on top of it, you've got him working dull, boring matches like this - effectively killing any chance he has of getting over. If anything, they should have reversed roles, and had Luger accuse Tatanka of selling out before revealing he had, since Lex works far better as a heel anyway, and at least people could still buy him as a threat. ¼*

Cute RAW Girl Sign of the Week: We Be RAW

On Superstars over the weekend, Paul Bearer and The Undertaker unveil a casket they've prepared, in case Yokozuna has a heart attack before Undertaker catches up with him

Kwang v Rich Myers: Speaking of heels that had no chance of getting over, what was their goal with Kwang, anyway? I mean, clearly he was never destined to be a main eventer, but even at Intercontinental level he'd have been a total joke. Not that there's anything wrong with having JTTS guys on the roster (in fact, they're quite important), I guess I just don't understand why they're wasting live TV time on a squash for him, when the guy never even made it to pay per view, or worked an angle. Anyway, he works Myers over with his usual warmed over martial arts, and finishes with a spinheel kick at 2:09. DUD

Jerry Lawler hosts The King's Court, with guests Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart. Of course, it's been a month since Davey returned at SummerSlam, but this is the first live RAW since, so this is the first we're seeing of him on Monday nights. Lots of canine related humor from the King, until Jim Neidhart marches out to join us, and talk wife swapping with the Bulldog - which quickly devolves into an argument over who is 'more' a member of the Hart Family

We take a look back at last week, when Bob Backlund snapped, and attacked a WWF Magazine editor with the Crossface Chickenwing. Speaking of WWF Magazine, sad to read earlier this week that they're shutting it down. I mean, I haven't bought an issue since the 90s, but it was nice to know it was still out there, for younger marks. Though, really, in the internet age, do kids really read magazines anymore?

1-2-3 Kid v Kenny David: Really pudgy jobber this week. Like, seriously, his gut is just hanging over his pants like he needs Blow Away in the worst possible way. Kid controls fatty with a headlock (assumably because he's gassed), while Bob Backlund makes his way out (in a full suit, of course) to present Randy Savage with a wrapped gift. Back in the ring, David jumps around like a backyard wrestler, as Savage unwraps the gift to find a dictionary. After last weeks altercation and this, it looks like they were setting up a Savage/Backlund feud that was either abandoned when Macho bolted for WCW, or was forgotten about. Likely the latter, frankly. Kid puts tubby away with a flying legdrop at 3:35. Just background for the Backlund thing, which should have happened during the pointless Kwang squash, instead of taking away from Kid. DUD

King Kong Bundy vignette. For those keeping track, Bundy and Backlund = new hotness. Savage = old and busted

Action Zone promo

Shawn Michaels and Diesel v Chris Kanyon and Bob Starr: Yep, that Kanyon. And speaking of the Action Zone, here are two of the guys responsible for about the only memorable match that show ever produced. Kanyon sells like a champ for Michaels in the early going, then gets a chance to play whipping boy for Diesel. The more I watching Shawn and Diesel from this period, the more I wish we got to see more of them as a team before the breakup angle. I mean, yeah, we got the awesome Kliq tag match on Action Zone, but other than that, they did nothing memorable as champions, despite being a complete breath of fresh air as a team, and really fun to watch. Too bad the Steiner's weren't around anymore, because that would have been too much fun. Diesel with a Jackknife for Starr, and Shawn gets the pin off of it at 3:45. Afterwards, the New Headshrinkers run in to brawl with the champs, which I don't remember leading to a proper TV match ¼*

At ringside, Lou Albano introduces us to New Headshrinker Sione, a replacement for Samu (who 'ate some bad fish'), and whose sole angle would involve having trouble wearing wrestling boots. Riveting

BUExperience: Pretty dull live episode, with a bad feature match, and not much else. Backlund, again, was the best part of this weeks show, but his appearance was limited to what was basically a cameo, so not much doing this week