WWF RAW January 17 1994 Review (Randy Savage Vs IRS)

Date: January 17, 1994 Taped show (on January 10, 1994) Location: Richmond Coliseum (Richmond, Virginia, USA) Announced attendance: unknown TV rating: 3.6 (USA Network) [up 5.9% from the previous week's 3.4 rating]

Welcome to another RAW review. Macho Man Randy Savage battles Irwin R. Schyster in the featured match of the final episode before the 1994 Royal Rumble. Plus, fellow Royal Rumble Match participants Owen Hart, Diesel and Tatanka are also in action.

Here's the list of WWF champions heading into this episode of RAW:

• WWF Champion: Yokozuna [218th day of his 2nd reign] - previous champion: Hulk Hogan

• WWF Intercontinental Champion: Razor Ramon [112th day of his 1st reign] - previous champion: Shawn Michaels, before it was vacated

• WWF World Tag Team Champions: Marty Jannetty & The 1-2-3 Kid [7th day of their 1st reign; Jannetty's 1st individual reign & Kid's 1st individual reign] - previous champions: The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre)

• WWF Women's Champion: Alundra Blayze [35th day of her 1st reign] - previous champion: Rockin' Robin, before it was deactivated

Title reign lengths are calculated as of the episode's air date

Note: in title matches, the names of the defending champions are underlined

Enjoy the review!

Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Crush

The show starts with a recap of Marty Jannetty & The 1-2-3 Kid's tag team title win over The Quebecers last week on RAW.

Vince McMahon says tonight there will be a WWF Tag Team Championship rematch in Madison Square Garden and Stan Lane will give us a report on the result. Crush says you're looking at the next Royal Rumble winner, and Randy Savage will get the beating of his life against IRS later tonight. Hmm, not sure I'd bet on that but ok!

Owen Hart (w/ Bret Hart) vs. Terry Austin

Owen unloads on Terry Austin to start and starts working on the arm. We get a brief report from Stan Lane who says Marty Jannetty & The 1-2-3 Kid "have fire in their eyes" in their tag title defense. Meanwhile, Owen stays in control with a backdrop followed by a nice enziguiri. He follows it up with a suplex and a missile dropkick to set up the Sharpshooter at 4:43.

Winner: Owen Hart

• Rating: Just a squash to showcase Owen's skills ahead of the Royal Rumble. 1/4*

Vince McMahon interviews Bret and Owen after the match. Vince wants to know if Owen is supporting Kid & Jannetty or The Quebecers in tonight's rematch. Owen says he wants The Quebecers to hold the belts heading into the Rumble because he was looking forward to getting his title shot. Bret, on the other hand, says there's no way he'd ever support The Quebecers and he's sure Jannetty & Kid will give them a tag title shot down the road.

Tatanka vs. George South

George South actually takes it to Tatanka to start. Tatanka turns the tables on George South, but ends up running into a clothesline for two. Bodyslam by South followed by some choking. We hear from Stan Lane once again. The tag title match is still taking place over in MSG. Tatanka starts no-selling George South's offense because NOW HE'S ON THE WARPATH! He runs wild and finishes George South with a flying chop off the top rope at 2:52.

Winner: Tatanka

• Rating: Decent squash with Tatanka actually having to fight hard in order to win. 1/2*

We see a brief video package featuring the WWF Women's Champion Alundra Blayze.

Yokozuna & Mr. Fuji promo

They're in the ring and Vince McMahon is hosting. Jim Cornette is not here, so McMahon wants to know if he's been fired. Fuji says Cornette is actually in a press conference in Japan. He's preparing a big celebration for Yokozuna after he retains the WWF Championship at the Royal Rumble. Yoko gets all worked up when McMahon mentions the word "casket" right before the lights go out. Paul Bearer comes out and carries the massive casket to ringside. Yokozuna doesn't wanna be near the damn thing at first, but Fuji finally encourages him to get closer and...

Undertaker pops up from the casket! Yoko runs all the way to the back as Taker poses in the ring to close the segment.

Video package: The Hart Brothers will face The Headshrinkers next week on RAW.

Diesel (w/ Shawn Michaels) vs. Scott Powers

Diesel takes over right away with a knee to the midsection. Diesel whips Scott Powers into the buckles and goes for a powerslam. Powers blocks it and actually scores with a dropkick, but Diesel cuts him off rather easily. Sideslam by Diesel who looks quite confident out there. Meanwhile, Stan Lane tells us The Quebecers have just regained the WWF Tag Team Championship from Marty Jannetty & The 1-2-3 Kid. The action continues with Diesel hitting the Jackknife Powerbomb on Powers. He doesn't cover him, though. A few moments later, Diesel puts him down with a big boot and drops an elbow for the win after 3:29.

Winner: Diesel

• Rating: Fine squash. Diesel already looks a lot better than he did in his first singles matches on TV, but he's still not quite there yet. 1/4*

Royal Rumble Report: Todd Pettengill is back to host the Report this week. Pettengill reminds us the WWF Title will be up for grabs in a Casket Match between Yokozuna and The Undertaker and recaps their storyline. He says that match alone is enough to order the show, but there's more! The Quebecers will defend the WWF Tag Team Championship against The Harts mere days after regaining the straps from Marty Jannetty & The 1-2-3 Kid, IRS will challenge Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship and Tatanka will meet Ludvig Borga - the man who ended Tatanka's undefeated streak. Also, 30 men will be competing in the 1994 Royal Rumble Match to determine the number one contender for the WWF Championship in the main event of WrestleMania X. Next Saturday on WWF Mania, Pettengill and Randy Savage will be hosting the Royal Rumble draw. Here is the list of Royal Rumble participants: Crush, Kamala, Owen Hart, Mabel, Scott Steiner, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Adam Bomb, Bam Bam Bigelow, Randy Savage, The 1-2-3 Kid, Fatu, Samu, Bret Hart, Rick Steiner, Bob Backlund, Greg Valentine, Billy Gunn, Bart Gunn, Rick Martel, Bastion Booger, Marty Jannetty, Doink the Clown, Jeff Jarrett, Tatanka, Ludvig Borga, The Great Kabuki, Genichiro Tenryu and Lex Luger. Make sure you order this exciting night of action by calling your local cable company right now!!

Main Event

Randy Savage vs. Irwin R. Schyster

Crush is all worked up on commentary while Savage makes his entrance. The bell rings and IRS jumps Macho Man immediately. IRS drops an elbow on Savage before throwing him to the outside. An angry Savage grabs a chair, but that ultimately allows IRS to attack him from behind. Back to the ring they go, with Savage finally turning things around with an atomic drop right into a clothesline as we take a break.

Commercial break

We're back with IRS slamming Savage throat-first into the railing. IRS brings Savage back to the ring the hard way by suplexing him from the apron to the middle of the ring. He applies a sleeper, Savage escapes the hold but runs right into a knee to the gut by IRS. Legdrop by IRS gets two, and Macho Man gets a nearfall of his own with a quick inside cradle. Savage misses a blind charge in the corner though, and IRS rolls him up for two. They take the fight to the outside as Savage attacks IRS with a flying double axehandle to the floor. However, Savage gets distracted with Crush and IRS rams him into the post as we take another break.

Commercial break

We return with IRS applying an abdominal stretch. Savage prevents IRS from going to the top rope and goes up top himself, only to get caught by IRS with a punch in mid-air. IRS slams Savage to the mat and climbs to the top rope, but his move only finds Savage's boot. Savage slams IRS and he's thinking Macho Elbow... but here's Crush for the DQ at 8:23.

Winner by DQ: Randy Savage

• Rating: A good main event that existed to set up the post-match brawl. The in-ring action was fine, but it was over before it had a chance to be anything special. *3/4

Crush and IRS double-team Savage after the match. Tatanka comes in to even the odds, but the WWF Champion Yokozuna joins the party as well. The brawl gets even wilder with Lex Luger, Shawn Michaels, Diesel and Bret Hart entering the ring. The final RAW before the Royal Rumble goes off the air with everyone brawling in the ring.

END OF THE SHOW

Final thoughts: Not a fantastic episode of RAW leading up to the Royal Rumble. Aside from the Undertaker/Yokozuna segment (and maybe the schmozz at the end of the show - but that would be a stretch) nothing would make me want to watch the PPV. The Hart Brothers had a nice little interaction right after Owen's squash win, but it's nothing that advanced their storyline. Overall, a poor episode of RAW. 4/10

POINT SYSTEM

Click here to find out how the point system works.

Wrestler	Result	Star rating	Main eventing	Extras	Total
Randy Savage	0.5	1.75	1	0	3.25
IRS	-0.5	1.75	1	0	2.25
Tatanka	1	0.5	0	0	1.5
Owen Hart	1	0.25	0	0	1.25
Diesel	1	0.25	0	0	1.25

Thanks for reading. Make sure you don't miss the upcoming Royal Rumble 1994 review, as well as more reviews of WWF and WCW shows. Take care!