WWF Superstars (December 3, 1994)

 

Original Airdate: December 3, 1994 (taped November 8)

From Bushkill, Pennsylvania; Your Hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

1-2-3 Kid v Brooklyn Brawler: Kid has a weird variation of his gear here, one I haven’t really seen before. It’s not good. Meanwhile, Lawler makes excuses for Bob Backlund, since he was prepared for Bret Hart, not Diesel, and that’s why he lost the title. I appreciate when they actually acknowledge stuff like that, stuff that makes it feel like a legitimate competitive sport. Kid with an Oklahoma roll at 3:34. ½*

Todd Pettengill is in the studio for the Survivor Series Report. Still? We’re two weeks out! The guy who won the title there isn’t even the champion anymore! And speaking of which…

WWF Title No Holds Barred Match: Bob Backlund v Diesel: From New York City on November 26, 1994. Diesel kicks him in the gut right away, and delivers the powerbomb to win the title in a huge shocker at 0:09, drawing a big pop in the process. I think the fans could have really gotten behind Diesel as champion if they didn’t completely change the character right after he won it. While this isn’t really even a proper match, it’s certainly historically significant. DUD

Bob Backlund is stewing over the loss. He continues to be awesome in this role. Just the right level of over-the-top

WWF Champion Diesel hasn’t been champion a week yet, and his promos are already filled with dated references. Boxcar Willie?

King Kong Bundy v Jason Ahrndt: The announcers are teasing dissension in the Million Dollar Corporation, which I’m pretty sure was dropped very quickly. Though, really, it was just postponed until after Bam Bam Bigelow jobbed to Lawrence Taylor at WrestleMania. Bundy with an avalanche for the five count at 2:06. DUD

Live Event News is a look back at the last year and a half of the WWF Title lineage 

Hakushi vignette 

The Bushwhackers v JS Storm and Tracy Caddell: We get a fan doing the guest ring announcing, and I’m honestly unsure if Lawler misidentifies the little boy as a girl by accident or not. And then the poor kid gets licked by the Bushwhackers on top of things, so not a good day. This is officially the ‘hongi’ era now, and the announcers repeat the phrase about a dozen times. You can’t say their marketing machine wasn’t effective, here we are almost thirty years later, and I still remember it. The battering ram finishes at 1:29. DUD

Jim Neidhart v Jeff Hardy: Jeff is tiny here, but is already taking insane bumps, like letting Neidhart press him over the top. Jim with a camel clutch at 2:00. Great bumping from Hardy here. With his look, you’d never expect that he’d become a champion in this promotion (let alone a world champion) though. ½*

Henry Godwinn vignette

The WWF Superstars appeared at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I remember that! Who the hell was ‘Slammer’ though?

Duke Droese v Black Phantom: Lawler wonders what would happen if Droese faced Godwinn, and I’m surprised Vince didn’t immediately come in his pants. Droese with a tilt-a-whirl slam at 2:40. DUD

Live Event News is a look back at the last year in the WWF Intercontinental title’s lineage. Did they really not have more interesting things to talk about this week? Like, nothing?

New Generation ad. It’s the mob’s favorite!

BUExperience: Despite all the excitement at the top of the card, this episode was dead space.