WWF Action Zone (October 30, 1994)

 

Original Airdate: October 30, 1994 (taped September 28)

From White Plains, New York; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Todd Pettengill

WWF Tag Team Title Match: Shawn Michaels and Diesel v Razor Ramon and 1-2-3 Kid: The champs attack before the bell, but get reversed into each other, and Diesel gets knocked over the top. Ramon corners Shawn for the Razor’s Edge, but Diesel manages to pull his partner out at two. They decide to walk, but Razor drags Shawn in, where Kid is waiting with a schoolboy for two. Shawn pokes Kid in the eye to buy time, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Kid backdrops him on the rebound. Kid goes up with a flying twisting bodypress for two, and a standing victory roll gets another two. Rana, but Michaels counters with a powerbomb, and tags out. Diesel comes in with a biel, but a backdrop nearly gets countered with a sunset flip, before Diesel clobbers him. Pop-up, but Kid throws a dropkick to block, and he tags. Razor comes in with fists of fury on Diesel, and a bodyslam gets him two. Diesel throws a clothesline to buy time, and Shawn pulls Ramon into the heel corner to double team. Razor tries to fight them off, but a blind tag allows the champs to put him down, and take control. They cut the ring in half on Razor, but trying a combo backfires, and Michaels clocks Diesel with a superkick in the miss. That allows the hot tag to Kid, and he comes in wild on Shawn. Michaels takes a bump over the top on a corner whip, and Kid is on him with a plancha. Right back in with a missile dropkick for two, and he passes back to Razor for a fallaway slam - the babyfaces having their way with Michaels while Diesel is out cold. Ramon pitches Kid at Michaels for two, but Shawn topples a side superplex - only for Razor to roll through for two. A bodyslam leads to a rocket launcher with Kid for two, and Shawn desperately tries to revive Diesel, but gets clobbered with a clothesline from Ramon. Razor dumps Diesel to the outside, but that allows Shawn the few moments he needs to recover, and he gets Ramon in a sleeper. Razor fades, but Kid saves him on the third arm drop, and both Ramon and Michaels are left looking up at the lights. No Diesel to tag to for Michaels, allowing Ramon to send him into the corner with a catapult, and he tags Kid. Kid hustles to the top with a flying legdrop on Michaels for two, but a criss cross results in Kid eating a big boot from a recovering Diesel, and Shawn hooks the leg at 19:56. This is a truly awesome match, putting the ‘action’ in Action Zone, and it remains one of my all time favorites. **** ¾ (Original rating: *****)

Bob Backlund v Russ Greenberg: And from the best of the New Generation, to old man Backlund. And that’s not a complaint, the contrast was an important aspect of the angle. Bob with the crossface chickenwing at 3:00. DUD

Greetings on Call ad. Bret Hart looked so uncomfortable here. Like, shockingly so

Doink the Clown v Tony DeVito: Todd’s skill really, really does not translate to color commentary. And he makes an especially horrible partner for Vince. Vince seems to genuinely enjoy Todd’s humor, but they don’t really play off of each other the way a broadcast team should. And speaking of Vince’s type of humor, Doink finishes with the Whoopie Cushion at 2:18 - complete with fart sound effect. DUD

Irwin R Schyster repossesses flowers off of a grave since the deceased didn’t pay enough in taxes. The headstone is obviously something they created for this (‘John Dough’), but it looks like a real cemetery, which just seems crazy disrespectful

King Kong Bundy v Aaron Ferguson: Todd complains that Ted DiBiase is planning to give cash out to trick-or-treaters on Halloween, which seems like an odd complaint. Even Homer’s brain figured out the whole ‘money can be exchanged for goods and services’ trick. Meanwhile, we get a split screen of ‘Mike Ditka’ and ‘Deion Sanders’ watching the match instead of the football game they’re supposed to be calling. See, because the WWF is #1 the best! Bundy with an avalanche at 1:45. DUD

Lex Luger v Executioner: Vince puts over Lex’s ‘extreme aggression’ since getting turned on by Tatanka, and it again begs the question why they didn’t just turn him heel. They already had motivation after getting screwed out of the WWF Title, he could have been a strong heel, and a much better anchor for the Million Dollar Corporation than what they ended up with. Luger with the torture rack at 3:04. DUD

BUExperience: Well, I mean, the tag title match is one of the best matches of all time, so this episode didn’t need anything else to get a passing grade.