Summerslam ‘94 has the potential to be very intriguing on paper. On one hand its highlighted by the infamous Undertaker vs. Undertaker match. On the other hand you have a steel cage WWF title match between Bret and Owen Hart. This could actually be a sneaky good Summerslam here after the mess I had to sit through last time in Summerslam ‘93. We are in the United Center in Chicago Illinois for this Summerslam and I don’t believe we will get CM Punk chants. We are welcomed to Summerslam by hype man Randy Savage who is putting over the new generation which is interesting as it’s literally the generation that’s replacing him. Have I mentioned how much I love Vince McMahon on commentary during these retrospective RawViews? Jerry Lawler and McMahon put over the card and what to expect tonight which I enjoy… It helps with the casual fan to catchup kudos WWE. Now lets begin and we kickoff with A TAG MATCH!! See what happens when you deviate from opening with a tag match?
Money Inc (IRS/Bam Bam) vs. Headshrinkers: We get our first look at a titantron type screen with the entrance of Money INC with a Dollar Sign on it. The Headshrinkers are out wearing some headpieces that I believe are made out of styrofoam. The thing I notice the most about this match is the sheers amount of people involved. You have Dibiase managing IRS and Bam Bam, on the other side you have Samu and Fatu, managed by Capt Lou, and Afa. The camera cuts to Dibiase however cuts away before he can finish what he was saying HA! Bam Bam sells the hell out of a clothesline where he spins in air. Bam Bam is selling all over the place as he takes a tough bump into the corner. IRS takes a bump over the top rop going for a splash in the ring. This ha been a prett entertaining opener. Something I love about 90’s WWF is if a Samoan head butts you its almost like a fatality from mortal kombat. IRS is still the king of sweat as he looks like he just ran a marathon. The referee forgets that they hav ea five count to get people out of the ring and the Headshrinkers hit a double team move then go up top to r the big splash. Dibiase distracts the ref and Bam Bam hits Capt Lou which leads to Afa attacking Bam Bam and that’s right we start Summerslam ‘94 with a disqualification victory for Money Inc. The two tag teams brawl into the back and Dibiase takes off backstage away from everyone.
We get Leslie Nielsen backstage looking for the Undertaker. He believes he has found the Undertaker however its another detective also looking for the Undertaker. This would not go over as well nowadays as it did back then. Its fun looking back at this.
Bull Nakano vs. Allundra Blaze (WWF Women’s Title): We get an early look at the women’s revolution genesis. By the way I love the title that they have and believe Blayze could work in today’s WWE. Someone ordered 1800 flowers for both of the women prior to the match and Luna attacks Blayze prior to the match knocking the flowers out of her hands. This is a very entertaining match and I do not remember women’s wrestling being this good. Blayze is supe athletic and Nakano plays the physically dominant heel very well. Very cool frankensteiner spot from Blayze and and then a really cool submission spot from Nakano with a double leg to one side Boston crab. Nakano now locks Blayze in the PTO very cool stuff here and a good match. Blayze begins her baby face comeback and the crowd is on fire. Nakano goes to the top rope for the big splash and Blayze moves on the way and hits a german bridge suplex for the win. Very good match here I highly recommend going to find this if you haven’t seen it.
We now have Todd Pettingil backstage interviewing the new tag team champions Diesel and Shawn Michaels. There is alot of leather in this promo between Diesel and Michaels. Diesel has some crazy eyes during this promo and Pettingil has his hair slicked back to the point where its not going to move.
Diesel vs. Razor Ramon (Intercontinental Title): I forgot Diesel’s theme music at this time is just an air horn and an engine trying to start. During the entrance Michaels is out with Diesel and jumps directly in front of him taking the spotlight during the entrance. Razor opens this match with a toothpick throw and McMahon says this will be a humdinger. This i a good if man match and I can certainly see what WWF officials saw in Diesel. We have Michaels doing all sorts of things going with Michaels around the ring and he has removed the top turnbuckle pad. He’s also taken his top off however has left the tag title on. Michaels cannot help himself during the match to make sure he is the most entertaining thing in this match and that everyone is watching him. Hebert noticed the missing turnbuckle pad and goes over to argue with Michaels. This allows Diesel to throw Ramon into the exposed metal and hit a big side slam. Razor and Diesel are both bumping all over the place for each other I guess it helps that they are BFF’s right? This is a VERY GOOD back and forth match. Especially for a fairly green Diesel and Razor Ramon. Razor knocks Michaels off the apron and Michaels sells it as if he’s be shot by a long distance rifle. Michaels goes to throw the IC title into the ring however Walter Payton keeps him from doing it and Michaels accidentally super kicks Diesel. Ramon crawls over and puts his arm on Diesel for the win and becomes the Intercontinental Champion. Another good match on this card and after the match we have and upset Diesel screaming at Michaels.
We get a WWF opinion poll backstage with Tatanka and Lex Luger on if the WWF believes Luger has sold out to Ted Dibiase. Apparently 54% of voters believe Luger did sell out. Tatanka runs down how the entire angle has transpired accusing Luger of selling out to Dibiase. Wouldn’t be the first time Luger sold out to a guy named Ted.
Lex Luger vs. Tatanka: Lex Luger’s theme begins with kids chanting USA! Its amazing to me still how he never won the WWF title after such a big push. Both men get booed during the entrance which is interesting during a early 90’s WWF match. I always thought Tatanka was a pretty big guy however Luger makes him look pretty small. Tatanka and Luger having a decent match here nothing that’s incredible but its a solid match. Out comes Dibiase with a bag that I suppose is full of money. Yes i’m correct its a bag full of money that he’s flashing at Luger. A confused Luger gets rolled up by Tatanka and Luger is upset at Tatanka’s victory. Dibiase comes into the ring and Tatanka just turned heel and joined Money Inc.
Jeff Jarrett vs. Mabel: Comes out with a flashing hat and glasses ain’t he great? Now we have Mabel entrance with his hype man Oscar. This crowd is eating up this entrance and going crazy for them. I sometimes wonder what would have happened with Jarrett’s career in WWF if he was put into a meaningful feud against someone. Say he had a feud with Bret Hart the matches would have been fantastic. The biggest takeaway from this match so far that Mabel is a monster of a human being. Mabel doing a roundhouse style kick maybe the most impressive thing of the night. They cut to a guy with a baseball painted on his face named James Knuckball Schwartz holding a sign that says he’s on strike. Mabel goes for a big mid rope splash and Jarrett rolls out the way and all I can think of is they must have secured the ring prior to this match. Jarrett picks up the win after Mabel goes for a sit down bomb and i’m ok with this match being over.
We have the super sleuthes out looking for Undertaker and the screen rolls down and you see an outline of the Undertaker and the crowd goes wild. We then have a video package run down of the Owen and Bret feud and how his match has come to be.
Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart (WWF Title): The build for this is fantastic and its about Bret being and knowing he’s better than Owen and Owen being tired of living in the shadow of Bret. Hart cuts an awful promo before the match where he is all over the place. Bret Hart comes out to a thunderous ovation and you see why he’s the WWF champion.We get a side by side screen with the Hart family watching on from the first row and Lawler accuses Martha of cheering for Bret and not Owen. The crowd is super hot for this match and I understand that the return of the Undertaker is a if deal however this should have been the main event. Owen Hart may have the greatest jump and slide to try and get out of the cage door ever of all time. Owen and Bret slugging it out on top of the top rope against the cage is a pretty cool spot. Owen continuously attempts to leave the cage and Bret has to bring him back in every time and logically that makes a ton of sense.This match has been absolutely fantastic and a great back and forth. This is an absolutely great cage match with them not over utilizing the cage and actually having action between the ropes. This crowd is on FIRE for this match as both men are lying on the mat and Bret is crawling to the wrong corner of the cage for the door. Bret gets one hand on the outside and Owen dives from the other side of the ring to grab Bret’s boot and pull him back inside. Both of these guys when thrown into he cage hits it with such intensity. We get a GREAT superplex off the top of the cage spot and this match while great now feels like its gone a bit long, which it has been documented that they went over i’m just speaking as a viewer.Owen and Bret both climb out of the cage and Owen’s leg gets caught in the cage and Bret drops to the ground. We have a winner and definitely the match of the night. After that match Jim Neidhart attacks Bret with Owen back inside the cage. They chain the door closed and begin a beat down of Bret. Bulldog climbs over and into the cage along with the other members of the Hart family. Owen and Anvil keep the family out of the ring and they continue the beat down of Bret. Bulldog and the other Hart members make it inside to rescue Bret however Anvil and Owen escape the cage.
Undertaker vs. Underatker: I remember being a kid and thinking there were legitimately two Undertakers. I can still get into all the hokey shenanigans that led up to this match. Wow we really get a lot intro here with both Undertakers. Paul Bearer apparently had an upgrade option at Urns r ‘us and decided to get the LED light feature. The casket is a nice touch on the side of the ring I wonder if it’ll play a part in this match…hm…. There is a noticeable size difference between the Undertaker and the Underfaker. We get both of them exchanging the same move set for the most part. The crowd is completely dead for this match and its likely because they just witnessed one hell of a match right before it that went damn near thirty minutes. Underfaker hits a tombstone however Undertaker sits up like it was nothing.Undertaker hits three yes three tombstones and this match is OVER! Undertaker gets rolled into the casket and wheeled off. Undertaker and Paul Bearer are in the ring with the urn as the show ends.
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This Summerslam wasn’t as bad as I expected when going into it. There are three really good matches I would suggest going back to watch in Diesel and Razor, Blayze and Nakano and of course the match of the night Bret vs. Owen. This is actually a damn good PPV if you can get past the flat ending because of the crowd. Well until Summerslam ‘95 be awesome.