WWF RAW January 3 1994 Review (Bastion Booger Wants Luna...)

Date: January 3, 1994 Taped show (on December 13, 1993) Location: Poughkeepsie, New York, USA (Mid-Hudson Civic Center)

Announced attendance: unknown TV rating: 2.5 (USA Network) [down 13.8% from the previous week's 2.9 rating]

Welcome everyone to my review of the first episode of RAW in 1994. This week's featured match between The Smoking Gunns and Bam Bam Bigelow & Bastion Booger is not particularly exciting, which probably justifies the lower rating. We also have Shawn Michaels, Jeff Jarrett and WWF Champion Yokozuna in action.

Here is the list of WWF champions heading into the first RAW of 1994:

• WWF Champion: Yokozuna [204th day of his 2nd reign] - previous champion: Hulk Hogan

• WWF Intercontinental Champion: Razor Ramon [98th day of his 1st reign] - previous champion: Shawn Michaels, before it was vacated

• WWF World Tag Team Champions: The Quebecers (Jacques & Pierre) [112th day of their 1st reign as a tag team; Jacques' 1st individual reign & Pierre's 1st individual reign]

• WWF Women's Champion: Alundra Blayze [21st 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 & Johnny Polo

Undertaker & Paul Bearer vignette: Undertaker is still working on Yokozuna's special casket. Bearer says 1994 will be the year of the casket and Undertaker says he's made his new year's resolution. May Yokozuna rest... in... peace!

Recap: this past weekend on Wrestling Challenge, we found out Yokozuna is afraid of the word casket.

RAW's intro plays.

Yokozuna (w/ Mr. Fuji) vs. Dan Dubiel

Yoko takes his time destroying Dubiel. The champion with a big slam, a legdrop and a belly-to-belly suplex. Yokozuna bitchslaps Dubiel numerous times just for fun, before finally taking the guy to the corner for a STIFF Banzai Drop at 3:53.

Winner: Yokozuna

• Rating: Dominant win for Yokozuna ahead of his big title defense against Undertaker at the Royal Rumble. 1/2*

Recap: Lex Luger beat Quebecer Jacques on Superstars after knocking him out with the deadly forearm. Pierre and Johnny Polo were knocked out by Luger as well.

Vince McMahon interviews Lex Luger: Vince says Luger is on a roll but that momentum might hit a wall if he's not allowed to compete in the Royal Rumble Match. Jack Tunney will make his decision this weekend, and the fans are desperate to hear a "yes". Luger thanks the people for their support and says he won't let anyone down if Jack Tunney allows him to be in the Rumble.

Thurman "Sparky" Plugg vignette: He's on his way to the World Wrestling Federation!

Bam Bam Bigelow & Bastion Booger (w/ Luna Vachon) vs. The Smoking Gunns (Billy & Bart Gunn)

Bam Bam overpowers Billy to start, but Billy fights back and sends Bam Bam to the floor with a series of dropkicks. Bigelow misses a headbutt back inside the ring and Bart goes to work on the arm. Bart ends up running right into a back elbow smash, though, and Bastion Booger comes in off the tag. Booger hits a big clothesline as we take a break.

Commercial break

We come back with Booger ready to hit a buttdrop splash on Bart, but Billy comes in with a bulldog to save his partner. The Smoking Gunns double-team Booger until Bigelow gets involved. Bam Bam suplexes Bart and adds a headbutt, but it only gets two. Booger with a legdrop for two. Bart makes the "hot" tag to Billy, and The Smoking Gunns hit a double-team backdrop on Bigelow. Meanwhile, Bastion Booger is totally distracted outside the ring trying to kiss Luna Vachon, who slaps him. However, Booger insists and Bam Bam Bigelow eventually goes after him. They get into a fight outside the ring and the referee counts them out after 8:18.

Winners by count-out: The Smoking Gunns

• Rating: One of the weakest featured matches on RAW in quite some time. Not horrible or anything like that, but everything about it was weird and the ending was simply awkward. *1/4

Royal Rumble Report: Todd Pettengill is the host. The only way to watch it live is on pay-per-view, so you know what to do! Pettengill explains the rules of the Royal Rumble Match and runs down the list of 27 participants already announced: Bret Hart, Crush, Kamala, Owen Hart, Doink the Clown, Mabel, Scott Steiner, Shawn Michaels, Diesel, Adam Bomb, Bam Bam Bigelow, Randy Savage, The 1-2-3 Kid, Fatu, Samu, Rick Steiner, Bob Backlund, Greg Valentine, Billy Gunn, Bart Gunn, Rick Martel, Bastion Booger, Marty Jannetty, Mo, Jeff Jarrett, Ludvig Borga and Tatanka. That means three slots are still open. We'll find out this weekend on Superstars who the lucky three will be! Lex Luger could certainly be one of those three names. Every title will be on the line at the Royal Rumble: Yokozuna will defend the WWF Championship against The Undertaker in a Casket Match; the WWF Tag Team Championship will be on the line as Bret & Owen Hart take on The Quebecers; and IRS will challenge Razor Ramon for the Intercontinental Championship. Nice to know they already forgot about the Women's Championship just a few weeks after bringing it back! Also at the Royal Rumble, Tatanka vs Ludvig Borga. Call your local cable company right now!

Next week will be the one-year anniversary episode of RAW.

Jeff Jarrett vs. John Chrystal

Jarrett runs away from the action and cheapshots the jobber to gain the advantage. That's a unique way to get over on television. Then, Chrystal rolls up Jarrett and nearly steals it. Jarrett finally gets more aggressive and he starts taunting after hitting a dropkick. That allows Chrystal to get another two count, this time with a sunset flip. Jarrett rams Chrystal's head into the turnbuckle and continues to beat him up. Chrystal slams JJ for another nearfall, but JJ puts him down for good with a DDT at 3:06.

Winner: Jeff Jarrett

• Rating: Not exactly the most effective squash for Jarrett, especially considering he's just debuted. 1/4*

Recap: Johnny Polo defeated Marty Jannetty last week on RAW with a little help from The Quebecers.

Marty Jannetty and The 1-2-3 Kid come down to ringside and get in Johnny Polo's face. Jannetty wants Polo to put his money where his mouth is and challenges The Quebecers for a tag team match next week. Polo loves that idea, but unfortunately The Quebecers need to prepare for their match with The Harts at the Royal Rumble. 1-2-3 Kid cuts him off and Polo finally accepts when Jannetty grabs him by his shirt. They also want the titles on the line, and Polo agrees to prove they're not scared. After all, this will be nothing but a tune-up for the title defense against the Harts!

Razor Ramon reminds you smokers are losers in a message brought to you by the WWF.

Main Event

Shawn Michaels (w/ Diesel) vs. Brian Walsh

Michaels takes Walsh down while Quebecer Jacques joins us on commentary via phone call. There are no problems between The Quebecers and Johnny Polo at all. Meanwhile, Brian Walsh catapults Michaels into the turnbuckle and backslides him for two. Michaels catches Walsh with a powerslam before throwing him to the floor. Diesel throws him back into the ring, where Michaels hits a suplex, but he doesn't want to put Walsh away just yet. Instead, he applies a headlock and continues to punish Walsh. Meanwhile, McMahon tells us he's just been informed Bam Bam Bigelow will face Bastion Booger next week. Lucky us! Walsh gets a close nearfall with an inside cradle but Michaels avoids a dropkick and drops an elbow on him. Michaels hits Sweet Chin Music, but he's not done yet. A sitdown piledriver gets the job done at 5:18.

Winner: Shawn Michaels

• Rating: This was a bit longer than I expected, but only because Shawn Michaels chose to extend it. His arrogance allowed Brian Walsh to get a few shots here and there, but it didn't feel like an even matchup like Jeff Jarrett's squash did. *1/4

Next week: The Quebecers defend the WWF World Tag Team Championship against Marty Jannetty & The 1-2-3 Kid and Bam Bam Bigelow faces Bastion Booger on RAW's one-year anniversary.

END OF THE SHOW

Final thoughts: 1994 didn't start with a fantastic episode of RAW. The featured tag match was weird and the squashes were hit or miss. I liked the segment between Jannetty/Kid and Johnny Polo to set up the title match for next week. We're getting closer to the Royal Rumble and the event deserves a better buildup, though. 4/10

POINT SYSTEM

Click here to know more about the point system.

Wrestler	Result	Star rating	Main eventing	Extras	Total
Shawn Michaels	1	1.25	1	0	3.25
Billy Gunn	0.5	1.25	0	0	1.75
Bart Gunn	0.5	1.25	0	0	1.75
Yokozuna	1	0.5	0	0	1.5
Jeff Jarrett	1	0.25	0	0	1.25
Bam Bam Bigelow	-0.5	1.25	0	0	0.75
Bastion Booger	-0.5	1.25	0	0	0.75

Thank you for reading. Don't miss the upcoming reviews here on the blog, including WWF's Royal Rumble, WCW's Clash of the Champions and my first ECW review. Stay tuned!