WWF Superstars (August 27, 1994)

Original Airdate: August 27, 1994 (taped August 2)

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

Vince brings WWF Champion Bret Hart out to kick us off, getting his side of the go-home promo for SummerSlam. And it’s a good one, as Bret gets over the dangers of the match, gets over the family drama, and makes you want to see the match. Bret may not be in the s-tier of promos, but you really can’t ask for better than what he gave here for going into a big match

Jim Neidhart v Frank Stiletto: Bret is still walking out as Neidhart (and Owen Hart) comes out, and they nearly come to blows before officials are able to step in. Neidhart is all fired up, and blitzes Frank at the bell, as Vince blames Lawler for sending Jim and Owen out ‘before they were scheduled to.’ First of all, how in the world would that be Lawler’s fault? He’s just a commentator, he’s not in gorilla. And second, how was that ‘before’ they were scheduled? It was match time! Whoever set the card for that night dropped the ball, so maybe look in the mirror, McMahon! Neidhart with a camel clutch at 2:19. Neidhart did not look good here, and if he didn’t have name value (and especially if he wasn’t related to the principals in the feud), he would never get on TV during this period. Afterwards, Lawler goes down to give Owen ‘equal time,’ and Owen gets a good go-home promo in on his side. And then they delivered a classic match for the perfect cherry on top. DUD

Live Event News is a look at the Undertaker mystery

Mabel v Barry Horowitz: Mabel may not have been a great worker, or a draw, but you have to give the guy some credit: he tried. He really gave it a go during this period, trying to get noticed for a singles push no doubt, and hey, it worked for him. Mabel with a 2nd rope legdrop at 1:14. ¼*

Leslie Nielsen continues to travel the globe via green screen as part of his search for Undertaker

Todd Pettengill is in the studio for the SummerSlam Report

Jeff Jarrett v Duke Droese: Vince takes Lawler to task for enjoying country music better than rap, which seems like an especially weird stand for Vince McMahon to be taking. Jarrett attacks during the entrances, as apparently his mood is not matching of his shockingly muted gear. Jeff goes to work with a dropkick and a 2nd rope axehandle, but Duke blocks a second dive with a bearhug into a bodyslam. Droese throws a clothesline next, and a snapmare sets up an elbowdrop, but Jarrett dodges. Jeff tries capitalizing with a cross corner whip, but Duke reverses, and hammers on him with some right hands. Avalanche, but Jeff sidesteps, and hooks a leveraged pin at 2:02. Well, that was certainly quick for a star/star match. Oh, but here comes Oscar, literally rapping to the referee about the cheating. Hey, points for that! The official restarts the bout, but Jarrett goes to the outside to beat up Oscar instead of continuing. Jeff walks out, but Mabel cuts him off in the aisle. Jeff bails into the crowd to get away from him, however, and Duke wins by countout at 3:47 (4:13 total). This was too short to be anything in the ring, but at least they’re giving the meaningless Jarrett/Mabel match something of an angle to build it. ¼*

Live Event News is a look at the dangers of the cage match at SummerSlam

Walter Payton promises that Razor Ramon will walk out of Chicago with the Intercontinental gold

Razor Ramon v Mike Collins: We get a fan doing the ring announcing for this one. As a kid, I remember being really excited about Razor getting the title back, but the actual build has been pretty weak thus far. At least on this show, though it’s been a while since I’ve seen the RAWs from this period, so maybe they were doing a better job of it there. Ramon shows some fire this week, and the Razor’s Edge finishes up at 1:43 - sold nicely by Collins. ¼*

Shawn Michaels and WWF Intercontinental Champion Diesel host the Heartbreak Hotel, with guests Ted DiBiase and his Undertaker, and Ted is confident that his Undertaker is the real Undertaker, and he’s not at all concerned at whatever ‘ghoul’ Paul Bearer is bringing to SummerSlam. But then the lights start to flicker, Paul appears on the video wall, and we hear the familiar voice of the real Undertaker

BUExperience: The feature match was trash, but the final SummerSlam push was pretty solid throughout.