Nickrj’s rant for SummerSlam 1994
Guess what? I found some old tapes that I haven’t viewed in years and came across some more WWF tapes so expect 2 more rants to come after this!
I also have a Countdown to Summerslam 1994 tape which appears to be edited. They recap the events that led to 3 of the matches here tonight (Taker VS Taker, Bret VS Owen and Luger VS Tatanka)
SummerSlam 94 starts with a softball game between the WWF Superstars and the Chicago Media. The Superstars won 9-7. Randy Savage hit a 3 run homer which would turn out to be the difference in the game.
Live from the United Center right here in Chicago Illinois on August 29th 1994! This was the first event ever held here in the UC which would replace the Chicago Stadium as the home of the Bulls and Blackhawks.
Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler with Randy Savage opening the show. Randy would leave the WWF soon after and would jump to WCW.
The Headshrinkers (with Afa and Capt. Lou Albano) VS Bam Bam Bigelow and I.R.S (with Ted Dibiase)
This was supposed to be a tag team title match but the night before in Indianapolis, Shawn Michaels and Diesel (Two Dudes with Attitudes) won the tag team titles from the Shrinkers (since Samu was leaving the WWF and he would be replaced by Seone.) Stallfest to start. Fatu starts with Bam Bam and Bammer starts pounding away but he misses a charge and runs into a superkick for 2. Slam by Fatu but Bammer falls on top followed by a dropkick. Bammer goes to the top but misses the flying headbutt and Fatu hits a clothesline. Samu comes in and they hit a double thrust kick for 2 ½. Samu with some chops now but Bammer hits an elbow and Irwin comes in to some heat and is slammed twice and takes a superkick for 2. Samu misses a flying tackle but Irwin misses a clothesline and goes flying to the outside where Fatu rams him to the steps. Headbutt by Samu for 2. Fatu is back in now and a double chop. Bammer pulls the top rope down when Fatu comes over sending him to the outside and Bammer rams him into the steel briefcase of IRS. Bammer now comes in the ring and a double clothesline occurs. Double tag and Samu pounds on Irwin with a backdrop and he does the same to Bammer. Headbutt to Irwin and Bammer. Slam for Irwin and he hits a 2nd rope headbutt for 2. Bammer is sent to the outside and both Shrinkers are now in. Double head butt followed by a double face slam for Irwin. Fatu goes to the top and hits the flying splash but Dibiase distracts the ref and Bammer nails Albano on the apron prompting Afa to come in and attack Bammer drawing the DQ at 7:19. Okay match to start **. All four men continue to brawl in the aisleway and into the locker room. Big heat when the Shrinkers are announced DQ’d
Leslie Neilsen is hot on the trail of the Undertaker. He looks like he finds the Undertaker but instead he finds George Kennedy.
Women’s title match: Alundra Blayze VS Bull Nakano (with Luna Vachon)
These two had a pretty sucky match at WCW Hog Wild 1996 (Alundra was known as Medusa there) so I hope they do better. Both women receive flowers before the match and Luna throws Bull’s at Alundra. Bull takes advantage from the start with a clothesline but Alundra hits a dropkick but misses a 2nd one. Bull throws her around by the hair three times. Alundra comes back with some shots but is nailed. Legdrop by Bull for 2. Chinlock now. Man this crowd is hot tonight as Alundra reaches the ropes. Bull strands Alundra’s neck on the top and a face slam as a USA chant starts from the crowd. Hurricurana by Alundra for 2. Spinning kick but she misses a 2nd one and Bull goes to a high choke hold and drops Alundra. Knee to the throat and a Boston Crab. Alundra makes the ropes and Bull goes to the back. Bull does a sharpshooter type submission hold which I call the Pretzel. J Bull chokes her on the ropes and Luna does the same. Roll up by Alundra though for 2. Cross armbar by Bull now. Alundra almost gets a pin though. Alundra with some clotheslines to come back. She tries a piledriver but is backdropped. Slam by Bull for 2. Bridge out by Alundra but takes a clothesline. Alundra gets a backslide in the corner for 2. Hurricurana is blocked into a power bomb by Bull for 2. Slam by Bull and she goes to the top and misses the legdrop and Alundra gets the German suplex at 8:18 for the pin. Ask and ye shall receive. Much better match! ***
IC Title Match: Diesel (with Shawn Michaels) VS Razor Ramon (with Walter Payton)
THE OUTSIDERS EXPLODE!! Diesel won the title from Razor in April and Razor wants it back and he has the late Chicago Bear Walter Payton in his corner to counterbalance Michaels. Razor throws the toothpick at Diesel and he hammers away at him and Diesel to the outside. Diesel is back in and gets a low kick to take control. Razor comes back with some rights but is knocked down. Clothesline by Razor though but runs into an elbow in the corner. Diesel with the boot to the throat now with Michaels pulling the hair. Razor is slammed face first to the canvas. Sleeper hold by Diesel and this is the first time he’s used this. Razor comes out with a suplex though. Diesel sends Razor flying to the outside as Shawn takes off the top turnbuckle in the corner. Walter and Shawn start to have a confrontation now. But the ref goes over to Walter and Shawn nails Razor with a flying forearm. Razor gets back in the ring at 9 and Shawn and Diesel can’t believe it. Diesel hammers on Razor in the corner now. Walter tells the ref about the exposed corner and he covers it but then Shawn distracts the ref and Diesel throws Razor into the steel and he hits a sidewalk slam for 2 ½. Diesel throws Razor into a protected corner now and he chokes him on the 2nd rope and hits a butt splash there. Clothesline by Diesel followed by an elbow for 2. Chinlock by Diesel but Razor gets back up and runs into a boot for 2. Ab stretch now by Big Daddy Cool using some leverage from the ropes. Walter tells the ref about it and the ref breaks it and Razor now hooks an Ab stretch but is hip tossed. Diesel tries to throw him to the unprotected corner but he’s rammed stomach first into it and Razor school boys him for 2. Razor with some right hands now. He slides under Diesel in a corner charge and rams him into the post. Razor with a 2nd rope bulldog for 2. Crowd thought it was 3 though. Slam by Razor for 2. Shawn is on the apron and he’s nailed to the railing. Razor sets up Diesel on the 2nd rope but is nailed. Diesel tries the jackknife but is backdropped. Razor signals the Razor’s Edge but Shawn distracts Razor and both men are down now. Shawn grabs the IC belt but Walter stops him. The ref is with Walter and Shawn tries to superkick Razor with Diesel holding him but Razor ducks and Diesel is nailed instead. Razor gets the pin at 15:01 to win the IC title! Good matchup. ***1/2 Diesel blames Shawn for losing the match.
There was some sepeculation here that Luger might be turning heel and selling out to the Million Dollar Man Ted Dibiase. Tatanka believes 100% that Luger has sold out to Dibiase. He keeps yelling “You sold out!” at Luger at the start. Tie up and they go to the corner and the ref has to break it up. Headlock by Luger and a shoulderblock. They go thru an armringer sequence. Cross body by Tatanka for 2. Small Package by Luger for 2. Slugfest develops and Luger gets a hiptoss. Suplex by Luger for 2 and he misses an elbow drop. Tatanka now takes control and hits a power slam for 2. Tatanka starts the WARDANCE OF DOOM and he chops away at Luger for 2. Snap suplex by the Indian and he goes to the top and hits a flying chop for 2. Slam by Tatanka. He goes to the top again but misses. Luger starts hitting some clotheslines as Dibiase comes down to the ring with a bag full of money. Power slam by Luger and he sees Dibiase and starts arguing with him. Meanwhile Tatanka rolls up Luger for the pin at 6:02. Okay match *1/4 Afterwards Dibiase comes in the ring and Luger kicks the bag of money away. Tatanka responds by destroying Luger and he hits 2 Samoan drops. Afterwards he hugs Dibiase drawing huge heat. Tatanka beats up Luger some more and they leave. Dibiase decides to let Tatanka give Luger some more business and Tatanka hooks the Million Dollar Dream and stuffs a 100 dollar bill down his throat.
The battle of Country Music VS Rap Music and quite frankly I hate both pretty much. They tie up and Mabel shoves Jeff into the corner but misses a right hand. Jeff works on the right arm but is tossed off. King says Mabel’s purple outfit reminds him of Barney. You go King! High choke hold by Mabel and an elbow drop to the back. Slam by Mabel and a clotheslined. Jeff shoves Oscar into the steps and trips Mabel. Jeff hits a 2nd rope fistdrop and a 2nd rope elbow. Another 2nd rope elbow which Mabel no sells. Jeff goes to the top and is caught by Mabel. Jeff gets out of it by an eyerake. Mabel no sells some punches and Jeff hooks the sleeper but is rammed into the corner. Jeff hooks the sleeper again and the same result occurs. Spinning heel kick by Mabel for 2! Abe KnuckleBall Schartz carrying a sign in the audience saying I’m On Strike. Power slam by Mabel for 2. Some eye rakes now by Jeff and he goes after Oscar outside and Mabel catches him and they do a double team. Mabel sandwiches Jeff on the post outside. Inside Mabel goes to the 2nd rope and misses the big splash and Jeff gets 2. Jeff then tries a sunset flip but he makes Mabel miss a splash and he pins Mabel at 5:56! Match was a little better than I expected but overall it’s nothing *.
Leslie Nielsen and George Kennedy are now in the aisleway and it looks like the Undertaker is in the entranceway but it turns out to be nothing.
We look at the feud between Bret and Owen Hart starting at Survivor Series 1993 when Owen blames Bret for being the only Hart Brother eliminated from the match. 2 weeks later Owen challenges Bret to a match but Bret refuses. They make up over the holidays and try for the tag team titles at the Royal Rumble but when Bret injures his knee, the ref starts the match but Owen turns heel but kicking Bret’s injured knee. This leads to a ***** classic at Wrestlemania X when Owen pins Bret! Later after Bret wins the WWF title Owen appears in the aisleway with a shocked look in his face. At the King Of The Ring, Jim Neidhart saves the title for Bret Hart against Diesel and then he helps Owen win the King Of The Ring tournament where Owen proclaims himself the King Of Harts. Tonight’s match is a Steel Cage match for the title. The British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart are in the audience along with the entire Hart family.
Bret is coming into this match recovering from Strepth (sic?) Throat. I don’t know if this was legit or not. Owen attacks Bret when he enters the cage and hammers on him. Owen does the 10 punch count in the corner. Uppercut by Owen and a chop. Inverted Atomic Drop by Bret and a clothesline. Eye rake by Owen and a right hand by Bret. DDT by Bret. Bret and Owen slug it out and a legdrop from Bret. Bret tries to climb the cage but Owen catches him. Some headbutts by Owen and an enzuguri. Owen climbs the cage now but Bret catches him and hits a back suplex. Bret tries to go thru the door and Owen catches him. Bret hits a bulldog and tries to go thru the door but Owen catches him and tries to leave the door and Bret tries it as again. Owen dives for the door but can’t get out. Bret catches him with a camel clutch. Elbow to the neck by Bret. Bret tries to climb the cage but Owen catches him again and tosses him off. Owen climbs the corner of the cage now and almost makes it but Bret catches him and pulls him back in. They slug it out on the top turnbuckle and Owen knocks Bret down and hits a missile dropkick. Nip up by Owen and he climbs the cage again but Bret catches him. Bret tries to go out as well but Owen nails him. They slug it out on the top rope and both men fall off. They slug it out in the middle of the ring. Backdrop by Bret. Double clothesline occurs. Bret grabs Owen who’s trying to escape. Elbow drop by Bret. Bret tries to climb the cage now but Owen catches him and drops him on the ropes. Owen goes for the door again but Bret catches him. Bret drags him to the middle and hits a low headbutt. Bret climbs the cage now and misses a top rope elbowdrop. Owen climbs the cage now and Bret grabs the ankle and pulls him in and tosses him off. Bret climbs the cage but is caught by Owen again and Owen hits a Samoan drop. Owen climbs the cage and almost gets over but Bret brings him back in. Owen is rammed into the cage. Bret climbs the cage and goes to the other side but Owen stops him by grabbing the hair and he hits a back suplex. Piledriver by Owen. Owen now tries to climb the cage but Bret catches him. Owen drops Bret but he falls off the ropes himself. Bret tries to go thru the door but is caught. Bret hammers on Owen now and almost makes it out. Owen hammers on Bret and almost makes it out himself. Bret slingshots Owen into the cage. Owen is out and Bret goes to the wrong corner he goes to the corner with the door and Owen makes a desprate lunge to bring Bret back in. Owen throws Bret hard into the corner. Slam but Bret throws Owen into the cage and he hits his knee in the cage into the process. He climbs the cage now and Owen falls. Owen gets back up and catches Bret and pulls him back in. Spinning heel kick by Owen. Owen climbs the cage now and he’s over it but Bret manages to bring him back in. Both men are on the top rope and Bret kicks Owen off and tries to get over but Owen brings him back in. Forearms by Owen now and a double clothesline. Owen now climbs the corner of the cage and he gets over but Bret catches him and hits a superplex from the top of the cage!! Bret tries leaving thru the door but Owen grabs the foot. Owen hooks the Sharpshooter on Bret now. Bret trips Owen and reverses the hold though! Bret climbs the cage but Owen grabs the hair and pulls Bret back in and they fall off the ropes. Owen climbs the cage now as does Bret. They’re both outside the cage hanging on now and Bret rams Owen and Owen hangs upside down and Bret jumps off winning the match at 32:07. Jim Neidhart then comes out and nails both the Bulldog and his wife Diana over the rail then he and Owen bring Bret back into the cage and Jim padlocks it! They take turns beating on Bret while keeping the Hart family at bay. The Bulldog eventually knocks Owen down and he and the other Hart members get in the cage while Owen and Jim leave to huge heat. This was an awesome cage match with both men wanting to win so bad! *****.
We look at the Undertaker situation which started at the Royal Rumble where Yokozuna and 10 other wrestlers dump UT into a casket. Afterwards the Undertaker dies and his spirit rises up to heaven. Later people claim that they have seen UT (A butcher, A little girl at a Daycare, A fireman and some ladies at a jewelry store) Ted Dibiase claims that he’ll bring UT back and he does but Paul Bearer claims that Dibiase’s Undertaker is a fake and he’ll bring his UT back to face Dibiase’s UT.
The Undertaker (with Paul Bearer) VS The Undertaker (with Ted Dibiase)
We’ll call Dibiase’s
Undertaker, Underfaker or UF. UF is Brian Lee. (Chainz of DOA) Paul Bearer
comes out with druids pulling a casket. Inside the casket is a new big urn. He
takes off the lid and a light comes out. He shines it on the entrance way and
the real Undertaker comes out and steps forward! All of this stuff takes
forever and I’m not kidding. They staredown to start and UT makes the throat
jesture and they collide. UT hits a big boot and knocks UF to the outside. UF
goes after Bearer and UT grabs him and hammers on him some more. He suplexes UF
back in the ring. Crowd is getting dead for this. UF is sent to the outside now
and rammed into the apron. UF clotheslines UT into the ropes though. UF grabs
the arm and he climbs to the top but UT gives throws him off. UT grabs the arm
and climbs the top rope and does the rope walk and elbow to the back drawing a
pop. UT is clotheslined over the top rope (weakly) UF can’t knock UT down with
some clothelines and he does now. UF misses an elbow drop and UT starts to
hammer UF now. UT is sent to the outside after missing something and UT is
rammed into the post and into the stairs. UF slowly hammers on UT now. UF hits
a chokeslam. UT sits up though and UF hits the Tombstone on UT. UT sits up and
UF tries another Tombstone but UT reverses it and hits it on UF. UT hits two
more Tombstones and pins UF at 9:09 which seemed like 2 hours. -** UF is dumped
into the casket and is taken away by the druids.
Summary: Well bad final match aside this was a very good card overall with a classic cage match and two other very good matches. Give this one a try! RECOMMENDED