WWF Superstars (August 13, 1994)

Original Airdate: August 13, 1994 (taped August 2)

From Wheeling, West Virginia; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

The Headshrinkers v Barry Horowitz and Reno Riggins: The WWF Tag Team gold is not on the line here. Jerry jokingly notes that he misses Jim Ross, to which Vince notes was always a limited pairing since Jim would ‘never put up with’ Lawler. Yeah, can you even imagine them together for an extended period of time? It would never work! Fatu with the flying splash at 1:54. DUD

Lex Luger is sick of the baseless rumors and innuendo - he did not sell out to Ted DiBiase. Meanwhile, Tatanka is determined to expose him

Bob Backlund v John Paul: Backlund still comes out like a babyface, but he’s got this certain deranged look. Very nice, subtle work, actually. Interestingly, there are three fans in the crowd wearing shirts with ‘W’’W’’F’ on them (each wearing a separate letter), which is only notable because the exact same shirts were seen on fans with ringside seats at WrestleMania X, one of which was Vlad the Superfan. But these three are three different people entirely. Forget the Undertaker garbage, put Leslie Nielsen on this! Bob with the crossface chickenwing at 1:28. DUD

Live Event News is a look at Ted DiBiase’s team of Irwin R Schyster and Bam Bam Bigelow who will challenge the Headshrinkers for the tag title at SummerSlam. Or, you know, not

Adam Bomb v Timothy Well: Bomb is :”more determined than ever to make it to the top of the WWF,” per Vince. Well, I guess determination is only one part of the recipe, then. Well actually pounds him down to start, and a jumping clothesline gets him two. A bulldog follows, and Well goes upstairs for a flying backelbow that gets two. Well with a cross corner whip, but the charge in hits a boot, and Bomb clotheslines him. Bomb with a DDT, so Harvey Wippleman tries a distraction, and Steven Dunn comes in for a double team. Well Dunn put Adam down, but the referee sees it, and calls for the DQ at 2:09. Bomb should not have been selling this much for Well. You can still do the DQ finish, but Bomb should have been dominating the entire match. ¼*

Leslie Nielsen is still on the lookout for Undertaker, but instead finds his own double, and has him arrested. Um… what the fuck? Was this ever even followed up on? 

Todd Pettengill is in the studio for the SummerSlam Report, and man, I actually like Domino’s Pizza today as a cheap junk pizza option, but that 90s Domino’s looks pretty bad. I definitely had it back then, but then didn’t have it for, like, fifteen years, and I barely remember how it was. Probably not that good, since I didn’t have it again for fifteen years, I guess

Doink the Clown v Ted Miller: We get a fan doing the ring announcing for this one. Doink had nothing going on at this point, and it’s kind of a shame that they turned him babyface, because the character had legs as a heel, but was really limited as a face. Meanwhile, Vince hypes up a paid hotline you can call in to share your opinion on whether or not Lex Luger sold out. For money! Gosh, the world was a strange place before social media. Doink with the Whoopie Cushion at 1:41. Doink was working hard here. ¼*

Shawn Michaels and WWF Intercontinental Champion Diesel host the Heartbreak Hotel with guest Jim Cornette, who refutes rumors that Yokozuna is afraid of Undertaker. Which Undertaker? Just for clarity

Undertaker v Major Yates: Lawler jokes that Yates might be Walter Payton, which, yeah, kinda. They could have run a triple main event at SummerSlam! Money left on the table. Undertaker with a chokeslam in a brisk 1:02. DUD

Live Event News gives the Mabel/Jeff Jarrett match for SummerSlam an angle, as apparently country boy Jeff doesn’t care for rap music. I’ve never cared for the ‘announce a match, find an angle after the fact’ method, but at least they’re trying to add intrigue. But then, they had a ready made feud with Jarrett/1-2-3 Kid, and I’m still not sure why they didn’t just go with that

Paul Bearer is in the graveyard, where he’s ready to raise his Undertaker, ahead of SummerSlam

BUExperience: I dunno, this was fine. Not really much to talk about, but watchable.