WWF RAW January 24 1994 Review (The Headshrinkers Vs Men On A Mission)

Date: January 24, 1994 Taped show (on January 10, 1994)

Location: Richmond Coliseum (Richmond, Virginia, USA)

Announced attendance: unknown

TV rating: 3.5 (USA Network) [down 2.5% from the previous week's 3.6 rating]

Welcome everyone to another episode of Monday Night RAW. It's the night after the 1994 Royal Rumble (read the review here)... well, not really, as this was taped two weeks before the PPV! Anyway, the featured match of the episode is Men on a Mission vs The Headshrinkers. Also, co-Royal Rumble winner Lex Luger is in action, as are Shawn Michaels, Jeff Jarrett, Doink and Adam Bomb.

Here is the list of champions heading into this episode of RAW:

• WWF Champion: Yokozuna [225th day of his 2nd reign] - previous champion: Hulk Hogan

• WWF Intercontinental Champion: Razor Ramon [119th day of his 1st reign] - previous champion: Shawn Michaels, before it was vacated

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

• WWF Women's Champion: Alundra Blayze [29th 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 & Jim Ross

RAW's intro plays and then we go right to the opening match, since this episode was taped before the Royal Rumble took place.

Lex Luger vs. Austin Steele

Luger overpowers Steele early on. He blocks a hiptoss attempt and takes Steele down with a bunch of armdrags. Headlock by Lex. Steele makes it to the ropes and takes over for a cup of coffee following a cheapshot, but Luger cuts him off and hits a backdrop suplex. Luger slams Steele before finishing him off with a superplex at 3:41.

Winner: Lex Luger

• Rating: Just a quick squash win for Luger while the announcers talked about the controversial ending of the Royal Rumble Match. 1/4*

Royal Rumble Report: Todd Pettengill recaps the finish to the Royal Rumble and we learn that Jack Tunney will decide who goes on to wrestle the WWF Champion at WrestleMania X this weekend on WWF Superstars. Pettengill also recaps the Yokozuna/Undertaker Casket Match as well as Owen Hart's heel turn, but he doesn't say much because he wants you to watch the Royal Rumble Encore tomorrow night!

Jeff Jarrett vs. John Paul

Jarrett slugs away to start. He hits a dropkick and a clothesline, but John Paul nearly steals it with an inside cradle. A sunset flip gives John Paul another nearfall before Jarrett cuts him off. Jarrett with a slam, an elbowdrop and a slingshot suplex. He backdrops John Paul, but misses an elbow and John Paul rolls him up for two. John Paul continues to unload on Jarrett, but JJ catches him with an O'Connor Roll and grabs the tights to get the cheap win at 4:10.

Winner: Jeff Jarrett

Jarrett DDT's John Paul after the bell.

• Rating: I'm just not a fan of Jeff Jarrett's squashes around this time. He struggled to beat another jobber before eventually stealing another cheap victory. I'm not sure how this is supposed to make me wanna watch Jarrett facing bigger names. 1/4*

Next week: The 1-2-3 Kid vs Johnny Polo.

Men on a Mission (Mabel & Mo) (w/ Oscar) vs. The Headshrinkers (Samu & Fatu) (w/ Afa)

Mo gets the crowd going as he starts the match with Fatu. The Headshrinkers get some advice from Afa early on, and Fatu no-sells a faceplant as usual before superkicking Mo. Fatu wastes too much time celebrating, which allows Mabel to make the tag behind his back. Samu refuses to get tagged in, and it doesn't take long for Fatu to understand why! Mabel runs wild on both members of The Headshrinkers until Fatu cuts him off with a pair of superkicks. Fatu is thinking suplex, which is obviously a terrible idea. Mo is back in with a nice clothesline for two. Samu stops Mo with a cheap knee to the back while he's running the ropes, allowing Fatu to hit a backbreaker as we take a break.

Commercial break

We're back with The Headshrinkers double-teaming Mo with a clothesline. Fatu works a nerve hold for a while, Mo escapes but ends up getting sent to the floor. Samu jumps Mo outside the ring while the referee is distracted with Mabel and Fatu's fight inside the ring. The Headshrinkers remain in control back inside the ring, with Samu hitting a legdrop for two. Mo gets a quick sunset flip, but Fatu is there to break up the pin. Samu goes for a slam, which Mo turns into an inside cradle for a nearfall. Samu hits a standing dropkick and both Headshrinkers follow it up with a double headbutt. Fatu goes up top as he seems to be going for the splash, but Mo crotches him with the help of the ropes. He makes the hot tag to Mabel, who takes it to both members of The Headshrinkers as well as Afa. A spinning heel kick from Mabel almost gets the job done, but Fatu breaks up the cover. Mo gets tagged in as Men on a Mission hit a double-team elbowdrop, which the referee doesn't count since Mabel is still inside the ring. That allows Fatu to superkick Mo behind the ref's back, and Samu nearly steals the win before Mabel runs in to stop the count. Samu shoves Mabel to the floor while he was leaving the ring, and The Headshrinkers take Mo down with a double-team headbutt. Samu makes the tag to Fatu, who finishes Mo with the flying splash at 13:00.

Winners: The Headshrinkers (Samu & Fatu)

Mabel enters the ring after the match and takes both Samu and Fatu down with a clothesline.

• Rating: A big test for Men on a Mission here, who had basically wrestled nothing but squashes up to this point. This was a pretty decent tag team match, so I'd say they passed the test! The Headshrinkers were solid as always, and the crowd came alive for Men on a Mission. **1/2

Adam Bomb (w/ Harvey Wippleman) vs. Tommy Angel

Bomb slugs away right from the start and takes Angel down with a shoulderblock. However, Bomb misses a clothesline and Angel staggers Adam Bomb with a couple of dropkicks, but Bomb cuts him off shortly afterwards. Bomb with a hiptoss out of the corner followed by a clothesline. Adam Bomb delivers a dropkick of his own and remains in control. Backdrop suplex by Bomb, and he goes up top to hit a pretty good flying clothesline. The Atom Smasher puts Tommy Angel away at 3:14.

Winner: Adam Bomb

• Rating: Effective squash. That flying clothesline was awesome. 1/2*

Vignette: Thurman "Sparky" Plugg makes his debut in singles competition this weekend on Superstars and Wrestling Challenge.

Doink the Clown (w/ Dink) vs. Joey Stallings

It's "comedy" time as Dink and Doink pretend to be walking a dog, and Stallings obviously falls for it like a complete idiot. Doink takes over from there, hitting a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Doink goes to work on the arm, but Stallings hits a side slam for two. Doink dropkicks Stallings to take control before hitting a pair of slams. That sets up the flying buttdrop splash to give Doink the win after 3:27.

Winner: Doink the Clown

• Rating: Babyface Doink is never fun to watch, but this wasn't a horrible squash. 1/4*

Main Event

Shawn Michaels (w/ Diesel) vs. Tyrone Knox

Knox overpowers Michaels with a headlock and a shoulderblock to start. He goes for another shoulderblock, but Shawn outsmarts him and counters with a drop toehold. Michaels misses a blind charge in the corner though, and Knox goes to work on the arm. Shawn slugs away before tossing Knox to the outside, allowing Diesel to attack him. Diesel isn't feeling it tonight, however, and simply puts him back inside the ring. Shawn dropkicks Knox and applies a chinlock. Knox runs wild for a cup of coffee before eventually walking right into Sweet Chin Music. Michaels hits a piledriver for the win in 4:25.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

• Rating: Another watchable squash. 1/2*

Next week: Johnny Polo vs The 1-2-3 Kid (which didn't happen), Kwang in action and special interviews from Owen Hart as well as Lex Luger & Bret Hart. Plus, IRS will be joining McMahon on commentary next week.

END OF THE SHOW

Final thoughts: Although this was supposed to be the fallout from the Royal Rumble, this episode was actually taped a couple of weeks earlier, so there was only so much they could do. The result? A handful of extended squashes that didn't really enhance any storylines. The tag team match between The Headshrinkers and Men on a Mission was pretty solid, but not enough to save this from being a totally skippable episode of RAW. 3/10

POINT SYSTEM

Click here to find out how the point system works.

Wrestler	Result	Star rating	Main eventing	Extras	Total
Fatu	1	2.5	0	0.5	4
Samu	1	2.5	0	0	3.5
Shawn Michaels	1	0.5	1	0	2.5
Mabel	-1	2.5	0	0	1.5
Adam Bomb	1	0.5	0	0	1.5
Lex Luger	1	0.25	0	0	1.25
Jeff Jarrett	1	0.25	0	0	1.25
Doink the Clown	1	0.25	0	0	1.25
Mo	-1	2.5	0	-1	1

Thank you for reading. Make sure you don't miss my upcoming reviews of WWF RAW episodes, WCW Clash of the Champions and pay-per-views. Until next time!