WWF Mania (January 15, 1994)

Original Airdate: January 15, 1994

Your Host is Todd Pettengill in the studio

WWF Tag Team Title Match: The Quebecers v Marty Jannetty and 1-2-3 Kid: From Monday Night RAW, January 10 1994 in Richmond Virginia. Jacques starts off with Jannetty, and Marty quickly catches him with a victory roll for two. Jacques backs off to strategize with Pierre, but ends up taking sunset flip for two. Both men tag, and Pierre uses his size advantage to toss Kid around a bit, but takes a spinheel kick for two. The champs try a double-team, but Marty runs in to hold them off, and the challengers clean house. Dust settles on Pierre and Jannetty, and Marty flapjacks Kid into a dropkick on the Quebecer! The champs decide to bail, but end up back in, and they settle on Jacques and Jannetty again. Marty wins a criss cross with a fistdrop, and superkicks Jacques for the pin - only for the referee to realize his foot was on the ropes, and quickly overturn it. Another criss cross ends in Pierre pulling down the top rope to knock Marty out of the ring, but a double-team backfires and Jannetty tags. Kid hits Jacques with a spinheel kick, and dives out onto Pierre with a somersault bodyblock before catching Jacques with a springboard bodypress. Johnny Polo runs interference to distract Kid, however, and the Quebecers cut the ring in half with their usual tandem goodness. Jacques with a piledriver, and the assisted-Cannonball hits, but they don't cover. They go for it again to really punish the Kid, but Marty runs in to stop it, and gets the tag in the ensuing chaos. He's a crack house of fire, and a vertical suplex/flying bodypress combo finishes Pierre at 18:18. Great moment afterwards, as Randy Savage bolts into the ring to present them with the belts, as the crowd goes wild. Great moment, but honestly, I wasn't feeling the match, and it wasn't as good as I remembered it. There was some nice stuff from everyone, but it took forever to get going, and it just didn't work for me as an overall match. That's not to say that it was BAD (it wasn't), just not as good as I seemed to remember it. **

Howard Finkel brings Ludvig Borga out for a podium interview, taped December 15 1993 in Augusta Maine. Once again, Finkel's voice is just not designed to pose questions instead of make statements

Tatanka v Jim Messanger: From the January 9 1994 episode of Wrestling Challenge (taped December 15) in Augusta Maine. This weeks jobber is a pretty big dude, and he’s wearing Zubaz, so this is almost a star/star match, really. Tatanka with a flying bodypress at 1:32. Afterwards, Borga shows up at ringside to taunt Tatanka, but officials step in before they can engage. DUD

Jeff Jarrett v Rich Meyers: From the January 8 (taped December 14) episode of Superstars in Lowell Massachusetts. I’ll never cease to be amazed at how the WWF would dress up these tiny venues to make them come across okay on TV. Jeff split screens in to hype his participation in the Rumble, though he doesn’t have much to say. Rich misses a dropkick, allowing Jarrett to hook the leg at 2:15. His star victory was a jobber missing a dropkick? ¼*

Back in the studio, Todd strums a guitar in mockery of Jarrett, in between Wayne’s World references. “I don’t think that hick can play a lick”

Undertaker v Derek Domino: From the January 9 Wrestling Challenge. Gorilla Monsoon goes on a weird rant about how great it would be to see Undertaker win the WWF Title at Madison Square Garden at WrestleMania. Which is a weird way of building up his title shot in Providence at the Royal Rumble. Tombstone finishes at 1:11. Undertaker really creamed him. DUD

The Headshrinkers v Phil Apollo and Dan Dubiel: From the January 9 Wrestling Challenge. The announcers put over the Headshrinkers’ chances in the Rumble match, which seems like the usual puffing, but then one of them actually did make it to the final four. They split screen in with a ‘promo’ about the Rumble, which consists of grunting. Fatu with the flying splash at 2:29. I still don’t get their finisher. Fatu just does a splash as Samu stands there and makes faces at everyone. He doesn’t even stand on his shoulders, or anything! DUD

Kwang vignette. Would it have killed them for even some basic backstory? Just showing a masked dude do vaguely martial arts like arm waiving isn’t exactly character development 

Rick Martel v Owen Hart: From Augusta Maine on December 15 1993. Rick throws a knee right away, allowing him a turnbuckle smash, but Hart fights back with a 2nd rope bodypress for two. Hart follows with a kneebreaker into a spinning-toehold, as Gorilla explains why the hold is called that, despite not having anything to do with the ‘toe.’ Martel fights it off, and blasts him with a backelbow to turn things around. Rick with another turnbuckle smash, and a snapmare allows Martel a kneedrop. 2nd rope axehandle, but Owen blocks, and unloads a series of turnbuckle smashes. Dropkick gets him two, and a hiptoss is worth two, so Martel dumps him over the top. That draws Bret Hart out to check on his younger brother, and Owen beats the count. Martel hammers him, and a backbreaker gets the Model two. Gutwrench suplex gets another two, and he stops to take a shot at Bret for good measure. Bret takes one right back, however, and Owen cradles at 4:54. Too short, but completely solid. * ¾ 

From the January 10 episode of RAW, Irwin R Schyster comes down to hype his match with Randy Savage for next week, and ends up getting the one year anniversary cake shoved into his face

BUExperience: An enjoyable and fast paced hour, even if not the most consequential.