A Taste of the New Generation: 1994: A RAWtrospective

Monday Night Raw's second year of life was quite the interesting one. 1993 was a mixed bag of quality that often presented amazing moments and matches, while some shows were nothing but an hour of filler, barely leading into storylines heading toward pay per views. Thankfully gone are the days where the company would do something like put an Undertaker vs Skinner match on a show without any time for it.

Raw in 1994 had its formula down pat. One big match a week involving the top stars in the company. Sometimes this would prove fruitful like a Bret Hart/1-2-3 Kid championship match, sometimes it would be stinkers like Tatanka/Jeff Jarrett that went forever just to be restarted and even then it ends thanks to goofery involving Doink the clown. But, at the very least Raw had matches that felt important and wasn't devolving to lower quality action.

The only really big addition in 1994 was the addition of the King's Court. After Wrestlemania X, the WWF felt the need to add two talk shows to its lineup. Superstars had the Heartbreak Hotel, hosted by Shawn Michaels, while Raw had the King's Court, hosted by Jerry Lawler, who had come back to the company after the alleged molestation charges were dropped. The King's Court in particular was brought back to life during Lawler's feud with Roddy Piper as a jab at Piper's Pit, but became the main interview section of almost every edition of Raw. While it works in some ways seeing as Lawler has great charisma and can generate real heel heat, it never feels like anything of major importance happens. Sometimes you'll have Shawn and Diesel attack Bret, but more often than not it's bland 1-2-3 Kid or Lex Luger promos. It lacks the unpredictability that Piper's Pit provided. It's something that when it eventually leaves, I don't think I'll miss it.

So, other than Raw itself, what happened in the news in 1994? Hulk Hogan left WWF for WCW in June of '94, which caused Vince to retaliate with the "New Generation" era, often mocking Hogan on TV as old and passe. McMahon should have for once stopped looking at himself as any better than Hogan as he was in the midst of the steroid trial that came to a head in July and it was Hogan's testimony and the lack of any hard evidence that ultimately acquitted the chairman of any wrongdoings.

Hogan wouldn't be the only former WWF champion to leave the company by the end of 1994 as "Macho Man" Randy Savage refused to resign with the company due mainly in part with frustration over not being used as a wrestler and being further pushed aside. Savage would appear in WCW in December and never look back at the WWF, until it appeared that he was slowly considering working with the company again prior to his tragic death in 2011. Outside of these three stories, the only other major issues in 1994 were Marty Jannetty leaving due to issues involving a lawsuit with an ex-wrestler who he had crippled in a botched spot and the Kliq, a group comprising of Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Razor Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid gaining more political power backstage. Something that would be more dangerous in 1995.

So with the news stories out of the way and the scope of Raw covered, let's once again take a look at the best and worst of 1994.

BEST PPV OF 1994: WRESTLEMANIA X

Wrestlemania X almost makes up for the travesty that was Wrestlemania IX. It's almost  night and day difference between both cards. While the show wasn't fully perfect with Luger/Yokozuna being a dud and Bret/Yokozuna ending in the stupidest way possible, it's two matches in particular that easily make this among the best Wrestlemanias in history. The opener with Bret Hart vs Owen Hart was a technical masterpiece. Never sloppy, always fast paced, and ended in a shocking, yet satisfying fashion, finally allowing for Owen to slowly creep out of the shadow of brother Bret.

The second match that makes this a classic is of course the ladder match between Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels for the Intercontinental Championship. While Razor held his own with some great offense, it was Shawn that shined with some great acrobatics and innovative offense with the ladder for its time. It was hard hitting, fast paced, and constantly left you wondering "what could they possibly do next"? Other than these two amazing matches, the show just flowed better, felt like a bigger and better event. It felt more like Wrestlemania than the Roman holiday that was the previous year's event. Be it being in Madison Square Garden or just the feeling that the roster was trying harder. It all worked to bring what was easily the best Pay Per View of 1994.

WORST PPV OF 1994: KING OF THE RING 1994

Funny how much of a difference a year makes, huh? Last year, it was King of the Ring as my choice of best show of 1993, as the event offered a surprisingly decent card for the most part and had some major angles involving the exile of Hulk Hogan and the start of the Bret Hart/Jerry Lawler feud. This year's event however, while not bad in the ring suffered thanks to one man: Art Donovan. Donovan's dimwitted commentary and general feeling of being out of his element took away from the action in the ring. Ultimately I feel ashamed to give a show that ended with Owen Hart as king a bad rating, but for all that was experienced it felt very ho-hum.

BEST MATCH OF 1994: BRET HART VS OWEN HART - WRESTLEMANIA X

Bret and Owen had two amazing pay per view matches in 1994. And in a year where Bret was pumping out classics with everyone from Diesel to the 1-2-3 Kid, it was his first outing with Owen that easily steals the best match spot. After the months of build following the Survivor Series with Owen being jealous of big brother Bret, it finally led to the brothers opening Wrestlemania X with a technical marvel. And that's the important thing to remember, it was about the technical skill of both brothers trying to outshine the other and not just Owen trying to play super heel. Tons of near falls, tons of amazing spots. Counter after counter. All culminating in the biggest shocker of Owen going over Bret, which was made more important by the end of the night with Bret still coming out the better man by winning the WWF title. Amazing storytelling and action by two of the best of all time. A highly recommended match.

WORST MATCH OF 1994: LEX LUGER VS TATANKA - SUMMERSLAM 1994

Now, I can see some people saying this was far from the worst match of 1994, but to me, it all has to do with the angle around it, which I'll cover more in my Worst Storyline of the Year, but ultimately the culmination of over two months of a really bad storyline resulted in another bland outing between Tatanka and Lex Luger. While not the 15 minutes of hell that was their match at King of the Ring, the outcome of the Traitorous Tatanka mixed with the continuing downfall of Lex Luger just led out of a bland match after the months of build behind it. And considering the continued blandness of Tatanka after the heel turn, this was just a match that really had no reason to exist, let alone have the build that it did.

BEST STORYLINE OF 1994: BRET HART VS OWEN HART

The storyline of the year choice was a clear no brainer for day one. In my opinion there were no angles more captivating or as well booked as the family feud between Bret and Owen. With the family background to build the concept of Owen being the Shadow, to his boiling anger finally unleashing by kicking Bret's leg out of his leg at the Royal Rumble, to their classic at Wrestlemania, culminating in the perfect ending. And if that was all to the story, that would still be enough to warrant it the top choice.

But the feud continued with Owen becoming the 1994 King of the Ring, aligning himself with Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart and gaining a shot at the championship at Summerslam in an epic cage match. Owen even had a chance to briefly hold the gold on an episode of WWF Action Zone, only for the decision to be reversed. And then the coup de grace, Survivor Series 1994. Owen the towel holder for Bob Backlund in the submission match. Seeing Bret trapped in the Crossface Chicken Wing, unable to move and the British Bulldog incapacitated. Tears in his eyes, on his knees, begging parents Stu and Helen to throw in the towel, only for him to take the towel and celebrate after its been thrown. Downright beautiful heel work. Bret and Owen are a pairing that never ceased to offer perfect angle after perfect angle and is easily my favorite feud out of 1994.

WORST STORYLINE OF 1994: DID LEX LUGER SELL OUT TO TED DIBIASE?

In June of 1994, Ted Dibiase returned to the WWF, focused on creating a Million Dollar Corporation. First gaining the services of Nikolai Volkoff, then Bam Bam Bigelow, then claiming to have the services of the real Undertaker. Dibiase was on top of the world, but wanted one more thing, the contract of Mr. USA himself, Lex Luger. Throughout the summer, speculation continued to be that Luger had turned on the fans and sold his soul to the almighty dollar. Despite Luger's constant claims of being innocent and not giving in to the Million Dollar Man, one person didn't believe him and that was Tatanka.

So for the next two months it was Tatanka claiming that Luger had been bought, despite Luger's constant statements that he hadn't. The problem with this angle is how arrogant Tatanka was becoming over it. It almost telegraphed the angle too much in what the outcome was going to be. And lo and behold, at Summerslam, it was Tatanka who turned on the fans and had sold out, gaining a victory over the man who at one point was to be the biggest star of the company. If anything ever killed the Luger experiment it was the three seconds he was on the mat for Tatanka. The angle was boring, annoying and too easily telegraphed. Tatanka has been even more boring as a heel surprisingly, and all this did was simply show how Lex Luger simply wasn't the right guy to take over the position of the man in red and yellow. When I have less love for this angle over the angle involing mini kings and clowns, you know you screwed up royally.

BEST TAG TEAM OF 1994: THE QUEBECERS

They're not the mounties! They're handsome, they're brave, they're strong! that was the mantra of Jacques and Pierre, the Quebecers. Manged by the flamboyant Johnny Polo, the duo managed a threepeat reign as WWF tag team champions. I knew little of them before going into this blog, but coming out of it I became a fan of their great double teaming and heel work. In an era where the tag division feels bland and hollow, they were a great bright spot and easily the best choice for tag team of 1994.

WORST TAG TEAM OF 1994: THE BUSHWHACKERS

I have no real qualms with the team of Butch and Luke. I get their gimmick in the WWF were a pair of goofball New Zealanders who lick fans and bite the butts of their foes. But when I look at 1994 they are already feeling like a tired act. And this sudden resurgence on the main roster involving themselves in this feud between Howard Finkel and Harvey Whippleman hasn't helped their stock all that much. Overall, they just feel like an old act that I'll be happy to see be shipped off soon enough.

BEST GIMMICK OF 1994: MR. BOB BACKLUND

On the July 30th, 1994 edition of Superstars, Bret Hart defended his WWF title against Bob Backlund in a match built as "Old Generation meets New Generation". After an awesome match, Bret came out the victor, only for Backlund to snap and attack Bret, staring at his hands at what he's done. Backlund descended further into madness over 1994 saying larger words that the crowd wouldn't get, talking about not eating marijuana, locking magazine writers and other superstars in his deadly Crossface Chicken Wing and ultimately winning the WWF title from Bret Hart... only to lose it to Diesel in 8 seconds three days later.

You could ask if he's a gimmick, but I look at him and think "talking dicitonary man who is also a shoot wrestler", works for me. Backlund is easily my bright spot of every episode of Raw now. His in ring is the right amount of old school wrestling mixed with amazing psycho heel work. He's unpredictable, and you never know what he'll do next or who he'll trap in the Crossface Chicken Wing. Mr. Backlund, easily my pick of the best gimmick of 1994.

WORST GIMMICK OF 1994: DUKE "THE DUMPSTER" DROESE

Vince McMahon has no clue how garbage men live, believing that they happily sleep in dumpsters like homeless people. And thus comes the creation of Duke "The Dumpster" Droese, a babyface wrestling waste management guy. To be fair to Droese, he's just one in a series of bland gimmicks this year from wrestling racer Bob "Spark Plugg" Holly, to ninja Kwang, to wrestling hog farmer Henry O. Godwinn. But weirdly I look at the wrestling garbage man and say "yeah, that I don't buy" for some reason. Doesn't help that his in ring has yet to impress and he just feels like another foolish character for a particularly foolish era of wrestling.

BEST NEWCOMERS OF 1994: ALUNDRA BLAYZE AND BULL NAKANO

The WWF Women's title scene was surprisingly a bright spot in what was a weird year in the WWF and the two making it so were Bull Nakano and Alundra Blayze. Blayze won the Women's title in early '94 and... barely appeared on Raw. When she did they were great matches, mainly the ones involving the powerful Bull Nakano, who debuted in the Summer and would deliver in excellent barn burners with Blayze, including their Summerslam classic. Nakano would win the title in Japan in 1994 and would look like a bad ass with the gold. It's just a shame that the whole concept of the division was lost in the shuffle as what we were getting were constant quality and it's the duo at the forefront to thank for it.

WORST NEWCOMER OF 1994: KWANG

As I stated in the Duke Droese section, it was not a good year for newcomers. We never really got anything to the level of the 1-2-3 Kid in the male superstar category. Nor did we honestly get much in the horrible category akin to Giant Gonzalez. So, my ultimate choice when looking at the pile in term of who I was least impressed with coming in was probably the ninja Kwang. Bland ninja gimmick, basic chops and kicks, nothing impressed me this year involving him. His match with Bret was decent, but nothing incredible that changed my mind. Thankfully though the Kwang character is near its end. That doesn't mean we're done with the man behind the mask. Maybe I'll be kinder to him next year.

BEST MOMENT OF 1994: BOB BACKLUND SNAPS

Bob Backlund had a helluva run in his heel persona. But one of his best moments was when he openly challenged anyone to try and break his chicken wing, only for magazine writer (and certified 100 pound weakling soaking wet with a brick) Lou Gianfreddo to step up. Seeing Backlund flop him around like a maniac with Vince screaming "HEY, HE WRITES FOR THE MAGAZINE! LET HIM GO!" gave me one of the best laughs I've ever had since starting this blog. Other great Backlund moments include his promo stating he's never eaten marijuana and his proclamation of being god after winning the title at the Survivor Series.

WORST MOMENT OF 1994: TATANKA AND THE HEADDRESS 

In a year that again, had little kings and clowns, I couldn't help but pick my choice with Tatanka. In what feels like a failed attempt to give the native American some energy and a push, he was presented with a headress from the Lumbee Indian tribe. The segment itself went on way too long and played to a mostly disinterested crowd. The headdress felt like it never mattered much in building to a major character boost in Tatanka as only a month or so later it was destroyed by IRS in what is a questionably (Or not so questionably) racist segment.

BEST SUPERSTAR OF 1994: OWEN HART

The choice was too obvious. I could have picked Bret twice, but I just couldn't do that without giving Owen Hart the justice he deserved. 1994 was his year. He was focused in some of the biggest storylines and matches of the year. The best feud with Bret that also featured the match of the year that opened the best pay per view. Owen was the man in '94. Always heavily featured, always playing the dastardly heel, and just getting better and better at it. I really wish he had at least one run with the championship, that would have really been the best way to close what was a home run year. But for what it was, you can't complain. So, the obvious choice is the King of Harts himself, Owen Hart, for best superstar of 1994. 

WORST SUPERSTAR OF 1994: TATANKA

Last year, I said my least favorite superstar was Face Doink, who was just edging out Tatanka in terms of my least favorite list. This year, it was easily Tatanka. I was not impressed with the Native American this year. From the boring headdress angle, to the even worse million dollar sell out angle. As a babyface, he was bland, delivering the same spots including my much hated turnbuckle spot. As a heel, he feels even more limited in-ring, even losing said spot. It all leads to a character  that I've tired of seeing. He's involved in angles, but he feels like the most unnecessary character on the product at this point in time. And we still have a while left to go with him. Will he twopeat? Looking at some of the names next year, it's unlikely but you never know.

1994 is officially over. And in many people's eyes, so are the happier times. 1995 is considered by many as one of the worst years in terms of the in-ring product, as well as a year that nearly crippled the company financially. A year that featured a strange choice for King of the Ring, more goofy gimmicks, one of the strangest Wrestlemania main events, and all on the back of Big Daddy Cool Diesel. And by year's end, the WWF will have worse news as competition is on its way to Monday Nights. We're really entering the Days of Diesel now, and I hope you'll stick around for the ride.