WWF Superstars (July 2, 1994)

Original Airdate: July 2, 1994 (taped June 21)

From Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler, in their first ever pairing, and also Jim’s return after getting fired five months earlier

Irwin R Schyster v Doink the Clown: Doink with the arm early on, and a sunset flip gets him two. IRS gets an abdominal stretch on to turn the tide, and an elbowdrop gets him two. Schyster works a chinlock, but Doink escapes, and makes a comeback. A vertical suplex gets Doink two, and a pair of corner whips lead to a charge, but Irwin blocks. He goes for his briefcase, so Dink steals it. Schyster chases, but gets clobbered by Doink in the process, and Doink uses a belly-to-belly suplex for two. He looks for a follow up, but Schyster hooks an inside cradle to put it away at 4:49. Afterwards, IRS opens his briefcase, but it explodes to give Doink his heat back. I guess? DUD

Live Event News gives us a look at WWF Women’s Champion Alundra Blayze and 1-2-3 Kid going skydiving together

1-2-3 Kid v Reno Riggins: They’re hyping Kid challenging Bret Hart for the WWF Title soon, and it’s great that they’ve been giving him wins on TV to build it up. Even if they’re just squash matches, it’s good to keep the guy in front of the audience. I know Ross wasn’t new to the promotion in general, but he still sounds so weird calling this era of the WWF. His style just feels more attuned to WCW at this point, which makes it all the more incredible that he’d eventually become the voice of the WWF for many years. He was really good at calling big matches during this period, but he didn’t have Vince McMahon’s talent for hyping any and everything during random squashes. Kid with a superplex at 3:37. As usual, Kid was energetic with his screen time. ½*

The Heavenly Bodies v Derek Domino and Rich Myers: Lawler goes on a lengthy rant about how Ross is stupid because he speaks with a southern accent, which is a particularly weird stance for Jerry, of all people, to take. Though, that was probably the joke. Tom Prichard finishes with a flying elbowdrop at 2:08. ¼*

We take a look back at Ted DiBiase’s recent acquisitions, building a ‘corporation’ with Nikolai Volkoff, Undertaker, and now Bam Bam Bigelow, and finishing with him promising to bring Lex Luger into the fold next. Honestly, Lex should have considered it. It’s not like he was setting the world on fire at that point

Bam Bam Bigelow v Mike Moraldo: So now Bigelow has DiBiase in his corner, but Luna Vachon is nowhere to be seen. Though the announcers clarify that she’s ‘very pleased’ that Ted is managing Bam Bam now. Sounds like she’s got the same attitude Carmella Soprano had to the mistresses in the early seasons. Bam Bam with a cobra clutch into a bulldog at 1:09. I don’t remember him using that often (probably because it was kind of awkward looking), but I liked that he did something to acknowledge his new manager. DUD

Shawn Michaels and WWF Intercontinental Champion Diesel host the Heartbreak Hotel, with guest Paul Bearer. Shawn makes all kinds of jokes about Bearer being broken hearted about Undertaker joining the Million Dollar Corporation, but Paul clarifies that he’s been ‘in contact’ with Undertaker. And he’ll be at RAW on Monday to get a firsthand look at Undertaker wrestling, which is a good direction for the angle thus far. Oh, and then the lights flicker, like, once, and Bearer starts orgasming so ferociously that Shawn and Diesel have to leave the ring to give him his space. Well, how do you following that, really?

SummerSlam ad. They literally reuse the spot from the 1993 show, the cheap bastards!

The Smoking Gunns v The Executioners: We get a fan as guest ring announcer here. Much like the Heavenly Bodies, the Gunns were just kind of there during this period. Aside from winning squashes, I can’t think of anything they did of note until winning the tag title in January of ‘95. They didn’t even get on pay per view as a team for all of 1994, except for Survivor Series! The Gunns with a combo at 2:14. DUD

Jim Neidhart v Todd Mata: This is Neidhart’s first in-ring appearance on TV for the WWF since February of 1992. He comes out to the old Hart Foundation theme, which honestly, was superior to the one Bret switched to after WrestleMania X. Owen, meanwhile, looks like a complete dork in the full king outfit. Thankfully he dropped that aspect soon after this. Neidhart with a modified camel clutch at 2:16. DUD

Live Event News is a look back at last years Stars and Stripes Challenge. Such an odd choice to showcase

Ted DiBiase hypes his Undertaker’s appearance next week against Tatanka 

BUExperience: As the first episode taped after King of the Ring, I kind of expected more. More in the direction of SummerSlam, more new storylines, just more. But instead, this was a very clip heavy episode.