WWF Superstars (February 19, 1994)

Original Airdate: February 19, 1994 (taped February 1)

From White Plains, New York; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Stan Lane

Backstage, Owen Hart is ready to use Marty Jannetty as a stepping stone on his way to Bret Hart at WrestleMania X

Marty Jannetty v Owen Hart: Owen doing the bit where he’d march up to a little kid with the Hitman shades and then shred them right in front of him was some top level heel work. I remember absolutely hating him for it as a kid. Feeling out process to start, with Jannetty getting the better of him. A dropkick sends Owen to the outside, but Hart beats the count in, and takes a cheap shot during a ropebreak in the corner. Hart with a backbreaker and a spinheel kick for two, but a corner charge misses, and Jannetty superkicks him for two. Powerslam gets Marty another two, but Hart manages an overhead belly-to-belly suplex for two during a criss cross. Another charge ends badly for Owen, allowing Jannetty a clothesline for two. Marty tries a rollup, but Owen blocks, so Jannetty throws a bodypress for two instead. Backdrop, but Hart counters with a swinging neckbreaker, and slaps the Sharpshooter on at 4:20. Marty looked off of his game here, but they got it together. * ¾ 

Bret Hart delivers a pre-recorded promo about his various activities at WrestleMania

Kwang v Scott Taylor: Johnny Polo takes over on commentary for the rest of the show, since Stan has been banished to Face to Face. Johnny is a better fit for this role, honestly. Vince needs a heel to play off of. And Johnny immediately scores some points by hounding McMahon about why Kwang needs to wear a mask. Kwang with a superkick at 1:25. Taylor showed some good fire here, I’m kind of surprised they didn’t give him a shot. I mean, they eventually did, but I’m surprised they didn’t repackage him as an underdog tag guy with 1-2-3 Kid, or something. ¼*

Stan Lane is in the studio for Face to Face, with Shawn Michaels  going over the rules and strategy of this ‘ladder match’ concept. Stan is not the best fit for this role either, he’s at his best as a relaxed color guy with someone like Gorilla Monsoon or Jim Ross. He tries too hard when paired with Vince. And, speaking of Ross, Lane has this gig now since Ross was fired a week earlier, just after suffering his first bout of Bell’s palsy

WWF Women's Title Match: Alundra Blayze v Heidi Lee Morgan: Didn’t Todd Pettengill just make a point of Blayze making her first title defense at WrestleMania last week? Maybe Shawn went to Jack Tunney with a very legitimate complaint and made her put it up. Or, maybe WrestleMania was already in the can at this point, given their crazy taping scheduled at this point. Morgan with a sneak attack, but Blayze quickly fights her off, and delivers a slam for two. Bodyslam sets up a 2nd rope dive, but Morgan slams her off the middle to block. Morgan with a bodyslam of her own for two, but Blayze blocks a German suplex, and hooks a bridging northern lights suplex to retain at 1:52. This was too short to be worth much. ½*

Todd is in the studio for the WrestleMania X Report. Interestingly, Alundra Blayze’s opponent has disappeared, and she’s simply ‘defending the title’ at the event, with no challenger named. Prestigious! Todd also announces Earthquake v Ludvig Borga, and the mixed tag with Doink/Dink against Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon. On paper, this isn’t looking like an all timer, but man, did it overdeliver. Even that mixed tag with two literal clowns was pretty good!

Earthquake v Jim Massenger: We get the fan guest ring announcer deal here. Jim sneak attacks before the bell, and even Vince calls him an idiot for trying that. And, indeed, Earthquake destroys him, and finishes with the Earthquake Splash at 1:55. Earthquake as a babyface never made sense to me. DUD

Paul Bearer hosts the return of the Funeral Parlor, which was a great idea to keep him on TV and keep the Undertaker storyline going on, while still giving Undertaker the time off he needed. His guest this week is WWF Champion Yokozuna, along with Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji, of course. This feels like a weird mashup of two different eras here, as I always associate the Parlor with 1991. I’m not sure how many of these they did, but it can’t have been many, because I’m certain it was the Heartbreak Hotel by spring, along with King’s Court once Jerry Lawler returned in March. And, while it’s a good way to keep Bearer active, Shawn Michaels was a much better fit, and with his own hiatus from the ring, it made just as much sense. Anyway, the focus of this is Yokozuna fearing the challenge of Lex Luger at WrestleMania, which draws Lex himself out, and we get an actual face to face main event confrontation on this show for the first time in a while. Not the best segment in the world, but solid build for WrestleMania, no complaints

Diesel v Mike Moraldo: Nikolai Volkoff is spotted in the crowd here, kicking off an angle that I actually thought was great to start, though it kind of lost the thread. This is Diesel’s first appearance taped after the Royal Rumble, and you can hear the reactions getting bigger. Meanwhile, WWF Intercontinental Champion Razor Ramon split screens in to hype WrestleMania. Diesel with the snake-eyes at 1:22. How long until he picks up the powerbomb? DUD

Lane is back for Face to Face to guest Owen Hart, who clarifies that he is, in fact, not Draco Malfoy. Anyway, he’s looking for a release that he hopes he’ll get by beating on Bret

Adam Bomb is ready to blow Bret up next week. He’d probably have better luck against, like, Yokozuna

BUExperience: I thoroughly enjoyed this week’s episode, with two star/star matches, and an in arena confrontation between two main eventers. That’s, like, a big deal.