Review: WWF/WWE King of the Ring 1994 DVD

Brett Mix’s- WWF King of the Ring 1994 Review:
 

“My first Proclamation as King… is from this day forward to be known,… as The KING OF HART’s!”   -Owen Hart
 
 
 

-WWF King of the Ring 1994 took place on Sunday, June 19th, 1994 at the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, Maryland in front of 12,000 fans.
 
-This was the 2nd Annual King of the Ring event.

-Gorilla Monsoon, Randy “Macho Man” Savage and retired football player Art Donovan did commentary for this event.

-Vince McMahon, who was a regular on commentary at pay-per-views, was not able to appear because he was facing a trial on steroid distribution charges. To cover up his absence, it was announced that McMahon could not appear because he was recovering from neck surgery.

-This is Randy Savage’s second last PPV in the company.

-Before the pay-per-view aired, Thurman “Sparky” Plugg defeated Kwang (with Harvey Wippleman).
 

 
-Now onto the PPV……………
 
 
 
 
 
1) Opening Contest- “The Bad Guy” Razor Ramon vs “The Beast from the East” Bam Bam Bigelow (With his “Main Squeeze” Luna Vachon) in a King of the Ring Quarter-Final match

 

 
The King of the Ring is underway.

Razor Ramon comes out to a great ovation as he is now a babyface this time around.

The Beast from the East made it to finals the year before and this time wanted to win the whole thing. Luna as of this writing has just passed this week, and has joined the Wrestling Heavens hopefully back with the late Bam Bam.

All of the matches this round are a fifteen minute time limit.

Bam Bam Bigelow dominated the early stages connecting with shoulder blocks and legdrops. Bam Bam went up to the top turnbuckle and missed with a diving headbutt. Razor connected with some rights and Ramon sent Bam Bam into the corner and slid underneath him dragging him by the feet groin first into the ring post from the floor on the outside. Ramon comes off the second turnbuckle with a shot to Bam Bam and he gets a two. Razor drops a series of elbowdrops to the leg of Bigelow. Razor catches a leg after Bigelow kicks at him and he misses the head of Ramon. Bigelow regins control of the match elevating Razor to the floor through the ropes. Bam Bam lands a high heel kick and Savage puts over Bigelow’s amazing agility for his size.
Bam Bam drives his head into the lowerback of Ramon and then Bam Bam Bigelow slaps on a Submission backbreaker.

Art Donovan’s commentary during this match is among the worst you will ever hear with ridiculous questions like “IS he Dead?”

 Bigelow hits a fall away slam and when back to his feet Ramon hit Bam Bam Bigelow with hard righthands, Bigelow sent him into the corner and missed with an elbow once Hall moved out of the corner. Ramon set Bam Bam up in the corner and Bigelow hit a resourceful elbow to the head of Ramon. Bam Bam goes for a moonsault and as he is climbing to the top Ramon drags him off the top rope and pins him with an inside cradle.

SO at the end at 8:24 Razor did what he was unable to do the year previous and win the KOTR Quarter-Final opener.

Bam Bam Bigelow is out and the Bad Guy advances, the crowd is pleased with the result.

Pretty good pace to this opener, this works quite well outside the commentary.
 
 

** 1/2 

 

 

 
 
 

2) Irwin R. Schyster vs Mabel (with Oscar) in a King of the Ring Quarter-Final match
 

IRS rips on the crowd for not following up on their taxes.

Art Donovan continues to show ignorance and both Savage and Monsoon are already ignoring him by this point.

Mabel rams IRS’s head into the top turnbuckle about three hundred times and hits IRS with a suplex. Eventually Irwin finds his way up and drops Mabel with a clothesline and then an elbow drop. IRS goes for a scoopslam on Mabel but he hits an inside cradle to IRS and gets a two. Irwin slaps on a sleeper. IRS off the ropes gets planted backfirst to the canvas by Mabel. Mabel climbs up to the top rope and IRS pulls the middle rope taking Mabel off his balance. IRS covers Mabel using additional leverage.  

IRS puts Mabel away.

In the end at 5:34 IRS was the winner by advancing to meet Ramon in the Semi’s.

This match was kept short so it wasn’t exactly terrible, but it was still well below average.
 

3/4*
 
 

 

3) “The Rocket” Owen Hart vs Tatanka in a King of the Ring Quarter-Final match
 
You can obviously expect a better match out this time around.

Owen was scary good at playing a bad guy and the fans just loved to hate him. Hart leaps over the top rope from the apron and right upon entering the ring the Native American meets him with righthands and sends him crashing spine first into the corner turnbuckle as the fans are behind Tatanka.

Tatanka hit a powerslam on The Rocket and scored a nearfall on the Rocket. Owen hit back with a standing side headlock. Owen runs over him with a shoulder block and uses quickness and agility with a leapfrog but Tatanka took Owen over with two sets of beautiful armdrags off the ropes, a variation of the move nicely done by the Native American.

Owen now found himself in a standing side headlock by Tatanka. Owen managed out with an overhead wristlock but Tatanka slapped it on once more, Owen elected to grab for some hair and then when nothing worked he pushed him off the ropes but Tatanka ran over Owen with a shoulderblock, Owen then managed to toss Tatanka over the top to the floor but he landed on his feet and everybody cheered. Owen had no idea and Tatanka caught him offguard by dragging him to the floor. The action became good and frequent now as Owen on the floor managed to shove Tatanka to the ring post.

Owen got back in and posed while Tatanka layed out on the floor. They show Razor and IRS shove each other in the backstage area because apparently they have bad blood. Owen back in the ring chokes out Tatanka on the middle rope before dropping his bodyweight on Tatanka’s lowerback over the middle rope dropping groin first after a charge off the rope. Owen dragged Tatanka’s head over the cross rope while holding him in a headlock, Owen methodically taking apart Tatanka with a nice headbutt before a nice gutwrench suplex. Owen went up top where he excels and he connected with a beautiful missile dropkick, Tatanka kicks out. Owen wears down the Native American some more now with a reverse chinlock.
Hilariously, Art Donovan goes to ask something and Monsoon says “I didn’t hear you, sorry.” Randy Savage answers that it’s simply OKAY because nobody was paying attention to him anyway.

Tatanka was going down in Owen’s headlock in the middle of the ring and when he eventually rises up, Owen blocked some someback shots as he threw Tatanka into the buckle headfirst, each time Tatanka began to feel some momentum and leap around the ring. Tatanka with some chops found the mark and he came across with a chop to Owen in mid-ring. As Tatanka leaped around the ring he dropped Owen with another hard chop. Tatanka irishwhipped into the corner as a reversal but Owen met a high knee catching him on the occasion. Tatanka hits a mid-ring ddt to the Rocket but he kicks out. Owen is powerslammed to the canvas hard and Tatanka goes up to the top rope. Tatanka off the top lands another hard chop with a double axehandle dropping on the head of Owen and he kicks out again. Tatanka catches Owen in mid-air as he attempted to leap behind Tatanka and the native american dropped him with another hard powerslam. Somehow Owen kicked out again and as Tatanka complained to the official Owen came up from behind, Tatanka was ready and hit a sunset flip on Owen, somehow he dropped down and cradled Tatanka in a pinning combination and he got the three at 8:18.

Owen Hart advances after he used leverage to hook the legs of the Native American.

This match was clearly better then the last one, the best of the night so far, very good stuff here, with only ONE mid-match weardown hold, everything else was paced perfectly.
 

** 3/4

 

 

 
 
4) The 1-2-3 Kid vs Jeff Jarrett in a King of the Ring Quarter-Final match

Waltman was a fast paced and very young wrestler going against a more slower, scientific guy like Jarrett.

It was a pretty decent contrast here which made for some quick, decent viewing.

Jeff Jarrett off the opening bell leaped to the outside as The 1-2-3 Kid attempted kicks. Jarrett gets back in and lands a right before irishwhipping Kid hard into the turnbuckle. The 1-2-3 Kid rolled up Jarrett with a sunset flip from the corner but Double J kicks out and begins kicking at The 1-2-3 Kid. Monsoon claims Bret Hart said the sky was the limit for the Kid. You could tell how much Bret was respected already by 1994 with how his word meant so much already.

The fans cheered on The 1-2-3 Kid and he dodged a dropkick from Jarrett by hanging onto the top rope, a modified victory roll by The 1-2-3 Kid gets him a two and Jarrett continues to get up and beat on the smaller Kid. The 1-2-3 Kid is then hit with a nice vertical suplex after Double J swings the Kid off the top rope then back first to the mat in unique fashion. The 1-2-3 Kid irishwhipped to the ropes ducks a clothesline and lands a nice spinning heel kick. Jarrett kicks out. The 1-2-3 Kid slams him to the mat and goes to the top rope. The 1-2-3 Kid misses a summersault and Jarrett points to his head claiming he outsmarted the Kid. Jarrett choked him out on the middle rope and as he attempted to drop down on Kid on the middle rope he moved. The 1-2-3 Kid goes to the top but Jarrett catches him up high dropping him with a righthand. Jarrett goes to the top and attempts a superplex but The 1-2-3 Kid counters by pushing him off the top and then dropping down on him with a crossbody, Double J kicks out again.

The 1-2-3 Kid with a high spinning heel kick in the corner before driving Jarrett to the corner. The 1-2-3 Kid attempts a high kick but Jarrett moves out of the way. Double J signals for the end spinning his hand in the air and goes for his figure four leglock. Jarrett takes his time which proves to be costly as The 1-2-3 Kid countered with a small package and he got the three as the place popped.

In the end at 4:19 the 1-2-3 Kid got the victory and advanced to meet Owen in the Semi’s.

Jarrett tried to injure The 1-2-3 Kid after the match dropping him with a piledriver, making him weaker for the future match.

This match is very solid for the time it consists in.
 

 

** 1/4

 
 

5) “Big Daddy Cool” Diesel (with Shawn Michaels) vs Bret “Hitman” Hart (c) (with Jim Neidhart) for the World Wrestling Federation Championship

Kevin Nash and Bret Hart have tremendous chemistry. They put some matches together in 1995 that were both phenominal at the Royal Rumble and Survivor Series. Even in 1996 they had an enjoyable clash at Rage in the Cage, In Your House.

But before all of those, there was this.

The original.

Bret was the defending Champion and he’d have to put it on the line aganst “Big Daddy Cool” Diesel here.

Diesel knew he had Bret to work with here so he looked pretty calm judging from his facial expressions alone. The two tie-up after the opening bell and Diesel shoves Bret to the corner. The Hitman says I’ll try again and goes for a standing go-behind waistlock but Diesel drives Bret hard into the corner spine first, backing him up. Bret fought back but Diesel was going to win a slugfest each time as he clobbered the Hitman using his fists, then proceeded to choke him out with his big boot in the corner.

Diesel charged at Bret with the boot again and this time Diesel missed and the Hitman began to methodically go to work taking shots at his legs. Diesel caught Bret off the ropes and hit him with a powerslam. Diesel couldn’t follow up on any of his offense with Bret using his advantage by quickly moving out of the way, move after move. This made it tough for Diesel to gain any real advtanage in the match, as Bret fought back, Diesel used dirty tactics to slowdown the Hitman and drop him to the mat using his palm.

Bret slowed Diesel down with not only taking shots to his legs but high knee drops to the sternum of the big man taking out the whole body. Bret goes to work like only Bret could and swings the leg of the big man to the canvas hard, and another one for good measure. Bret goes for the figure four and slaps it on mid-ring. Michaels on the outside tried to create a stir and Big Daddy Cool managed the bottom rope to break the hold.

The Hitman got some damage done with the hold and went back to kicking away the legs of Diesel sweeping him to the canvas. Bret then twisted and turned the leg and dropped his bodyweight using the ring ropes to his advantage. Excellent technique, and this was why he was called the Excellence of Execution. Bret drags the bigger guy to the middle of the ring and he slaps on a spinning leglock.
Diesel with his good leg kicked Bret out of the ring with a power shot and he flew through the ropes. Michaels got in Bret’s face so Bret walked towards the Hitman. As Diesel got up in the ring

Bret quickly turned around and took him down dragging him near the post.

Talk about a resourceful move, Bret could turn any situation into his own and still follow the story of the match.

The Hitman swung Diesel’s leg against the post following up on earlier damage. So the match consisted of little slowspots, a spot occurs with the Anvil chasing Shawn around the ring. Diesel begins to get up and Bret fights back with a spear to the gut of Diesel from the outside ring apron. The Hitman attempts a crossbody but Diesel counters in mid-air utilizing awesome power catching the Hitman with a bearhug.

This move was also resourceful for Diesel because it not only weared down the quicker Hitman, but it did further damage to the lowerback Diesel had targetted earlier. The Hitman managed out and with enough momentum swung Diesel through the ropes and he kicked at his injured leg taking him out to the floor. The Hitman attempted a high risk leap to the outside and Michaels tangled the ropes as Bret drops to the floor.

Following up on the bad back Diesel drives Bret’s back into the post. Both men using awesome psychology in this crisp match.

Diesel irishwhipped Bret hard into the corner. Not only does Bret bump so well out of the corner of the ring upon impact into the turnbuckle but this also was logical for Diesel to continue following up on the back. Nash hit a hard backbreaker to the Hitman before pushing on his chin and driving his knee into the lower back.

 

Great submission-powerhold by the Hitman. Monsoon puts over the strength and conditioning of the Hitman to put up with this punishment, Savage does as well. Diesel hits a legdrop off the sideropes and then choked Bret out on the middle white rope. Diesel is told to back off and charging off the ropes drops his big leg onto the mid-back of the Hitman. Michaels slapped at Bret and he must of loved that behind the official.

The slap from Shawn fired up Bret and he fired back with hard rights to Diesel but Big Daddy Cool quickly regained any lost momentum driving the Hitman hard backfirst into the turnbuckle once again. Diesel drops Bret with a nice clothesline and the Hitman kicks out forcing another nearfall. Now Diesel lifts up Bret and twists his head with a neck vice. Diesel lifted Bret up and was in position for a Jackknife Powerbomb but he scooped up Bret once more and for good measure dropped him with another back breaker.

Shawn in the corner loosened up a turnbuckle pad, which is how he won the IC title earlier on at the time. Diesel lifted Bret up for what looked like his finisher turned into a submission hold utilizing a back breaker, putting more pressure on the damaged lowerback of Bret. The Hitman turned on Diesel up high and got him in a headlock. The fans were behind Bret as was Savage on commentary but Diesel rammed Bret in the corner backfirst, before irish-whipping him hard to the buckle. The Hitman managed a high boot to the face of Diesel charging in which slowed down the big man temporarily. The Hitman was shoved into the official after Diesel countered a bulldog attempt. Bret down and Shawn encouraged on Diesel from the outside. Diesel was about to ram Bret into the exposed turnbuckle but the Hitman turned the tide and shot Diesel headfirst into the exposed buckle.

The fans popped huge here. Diesel missed with a swing and had groggy vision now as he could not connect, Bret out of desperation unloaded with several shots and then the Hitman got up high hammering Diesel with the fastest ten righthands you’ll ever see. Bret continued with shots when back on his feet on the mat. Diesel was dropped to the canvas and Hart off the ropes hit a clothesline but Diesel didn’t go down. Another hard clothesline off the ropes scored Bret a nearfall and everyone in attendance sounded like they thought that could of been ultimately the victory right there. Bret with a gutshot off the ropes into a side russian legsweep taking out the vertical base of the big man yet again. A signature elbow drop followed by another nearfall.

Diesel manages up and Bret from the corner drops Diesel with a running bulldog. Monsoon and Savage claim this to be a classic confrontation and now it was Sharpshooter time.
Not only was all the legwork logical to take the bigger man down but it all was setup for Bret’s finisher. Once the Sharpshooter was slapped on, Shawn got on the apron and Bret connected with a righthand dropping him to the floor as the crowd roared some more. Diesel out of desperation got to his feet but Bret dropped him once more with a clothesline off the top and another nearfall. Diesel attempted to hit a hiplock on Bret after he bounced off the ropes but Bret countered holding Diesel’s arms in the formation of a crucifix or a backslide but he couldn’t get the big man down.

Bret uses his territory to his advantage and kicks himself up from the corner to flip behind Diesel and Bret hits a small package on Diesel and gets a two. He’d later win the Championship belt using this same move on Diesel over a year later at the Survivor Series. Bret continued to drop rights on Diesel and he reversed him to the corner. Diesel went for his Jackknife as he caught Bret in mid-air, Bret Hart dropped to his feet and off the ropes Diesel caught him with a big boot to the face dropping the Hitman.

A very intense back and forth climax. Diesel signalled for the end and then Bret swung him down from his tights. Bret Hart locks on the Sharpshooter again! Diesel manages to the bottom rope.

Wow.

Bret charged at Diesel off the ropes connecting with a dropkick to the mid-section and he lands on his feet outside the ring. Diesel shoves the Anvil into the ringpost on the outside venting his frustrations. Shawn from behind the official levels Bret using a belt. Diesel drops his leg on the Hitman and he kicks out yet again as Shawn can’t believe it outside the ring. The place comes unglued cheering. Bret down and Diesel signals for the end yet again. Diesel hits Bret with a Jackknife and the Anvil comes in and clotheslines Diesel down.

The bell rings and that’s it.

In the end at 22:51 Bret retained the title after Diesel won by DQ.

The Anvil runs off as Diesel drops Bret with a piledriver. Michaels and Diesel follow up on the WWF Champion as Shawn held Bret for Diesel to inflict more punishment on the Hitman. It becomes apparent that the Anvil had turned heel and left Bret out to dry.

This was pretty amazing.

While it’s not QUITE on par the 1995 matches in the series, this match arguably is paced better then any meeting the two ever had which says a lot about the overall quality of the match.

This Classic made Kevin Nash’s career legit at the time.
 
 

**** 1/4
 
 
 

 

6) “The Bad Guy” Razor Ramon vs Irwin R. Schyster (with Ted DiBiase) in a King of the Ring Semi-Final match

 
Carrying on with the tournament after the Heavyweight title match, the Bad Guy Razor Ramon clearly the fan favourite in this one to go all the way in the tournament perhaps.
He took on the Tax Man here.

 These two provided us a solid match for the IC title at the Rumble earlier in this year.

Also, earlier in the night the two guys were involved in a pushing match they cut to during a Quarter Final match.

“Razor looks ready”, probably the only statement Art Donovan made the entire night. Speaking of him while I’m on the matter again, Jerry Lawler was sure to rip on during a backstage promo just before this match. Nicely done Jerry.

IRS calls Hall a tax cheat and he doesen’t like it. For some reason the match begins as Razor attacks him outside the ring, I thought it begins when they’re both inside, and back then aspects of a match like that actually mattered or else I wouldn’t bother pointing it out.

They wanted to put over how much Razor Ramon couldn’t wait to drop Mike Rotunda (IRS) as he connected with rights outside the ring. Back inside Irwin began to Wrestle Razor Ramon and dropped him with a back breaker. IRS was suckered into an elevation trap by Razor Ramon as he took him to the floor. Irwin sweeped the feet of the Bad Guy and took him to the floor.
This became a brawl on the outside and Razor Ramon rams Irwin’s face into the steel steps. Razor Ramon and Irwin continue in a slugfest once back in. IRS goes to work on the right leg of Razor with more kicks. A reverse elbow finds the mark by IRS and he goes into a reverse chinlock down on the mat. Occasionally IRS uses the bottom rope for additional leverage.
Razor gets back up and drops Irwin with a reverse elbow shot after additional punches. Razor Ramon slams Irwin backfirst into the corner. Ramon managed a Razor’s Edge and he put away the tax man for good.

In the end at 5:13 Razor advanced to the finals.

This match was decent, it became apparent they wanted to put over the bad blood so we got more of a brawl then a wrestling clinic, but it was kept short.
 

* 1/4
 
 

7) Owen Hart vs the 1-2-3 Kid in a King of the Ring Semi-Final match
 

Here we go, this match is quite often highly praised everywhere as how to do a great match in so little time.

This match is quick and to the point. A highly enjoyable treat.

Owen was magnificent at quicker matches in paticular.

Owen Hart advanced to this point after beating Tatanka in a very solid matche earlier in the night, The 1-2-3 Kid advanced by beating Jarrett in a much shorter, less complex bout.
The one thing these two had in common was the little min-clinic they were about to display.

Owen Hart hits a dropkick to the Kid before he even gets in the ring. Owen must not of liked how Tatanka started his match earlier in the night when he attacked him while the lights were still out for Owen’s entrance music.

Owen returned the favor this time on his opponent here, The 1-2-3 Kid.

Owen not only dropped Kid with a dropkick but he then followed it up with a beautiful crossbody diving through the middle ropes onto The 1-2-3 Kid down on the floor. Owen tosses The 1-2-3 Kid back inside as he wants to again follow up quickly.

 

The Rocket uses his aerial offense again and then hits a huge splash from the top rope. The 1-2-3 Kid kicks out and Monsoon wonders how. The 1-2-3 Kid reverses an irishwhip sending Owen hard sternum first to the corner. The 1-2-3 Kid goes for a spinning crossbody dropping Owen to the mat and he got a nearfall. The 1-2-3 Kid with a quick grapevine crucifix and got another two count.

These two clearly wanted to put on a show.

The 1-2-3 Kid spins Owen with his arm and Hart counters doing his favourite athletic trick where he hangs on and does a flip in a counter variation then hangs onto Kid with an arm-ringer.
  
Savage calls it incredible while Monsoon claimed this is what the New Generation was all about.

Everyone in the crowd clapped after every move here as it was apparent what workrate now was being brought to the table.

The 1-2-3 Kid and Owen loved following up with counter moves on one another here. Owen Hart with his two flips then dragged Kid to the mat using his hair. Kid flipped over turning it around and hit Owen with another spinkick. The 1-2-3 Kid scores a nearfall and Owen reverses an iriswhip, Kid goes for a kick and the Rocet hits a counter by an inziguri.
Owen gets a two and Kid connects with a high kick before a gutwrench suplex with a bridge. It sounded like a three count but Owen had his boot on the bottom rope. Owen goes to the floor and the Kid flies over with a springboard moonsault. This looked like Rey Mysterio vs Rey Mysterio in 1994.

Kid was the new thing in town while Owen had already won Best High Flyer in all of Pro-Wrestling back in 1989 by PWI. Both guys knew aerial offense was their money maker and displayed it quite well.

Owen counters again with an amazing German suplex with a bridge and The 1-2-3 Kid kicks out. Owen follows up with a veertical suplex attempt and The Rocket flipped him over with a sunset flip, Owen rolled him back the same way he pinned Bret at Wrestlemania ten and got a nearfall. The 1-2-3 Kid leaped up on Owen off the ropes and he dropped him with a running powerbomb.

Another amazing counter.

The Rocket locked on the sharpshooter and got the victory.

In the end at 3:37 Owen advanced to the finals to meet the Bad Guy!

Owen continued his impressive night, it was obviously not on par with his brother’s the year before, (that will likely NEVER be matched again) but still extremely impressive.

An amazing little match here.

I’d consider this the best match in under four minutes in Company history.
 

*** 1/4

 

8) The Headshrinkers (c) (Samu and Fatu) (W/Afa) vs Crush and Yokozuna (with Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) for the WWF Tag Team Championship

A tag title match now on the card. The fans had already seen a bit of a RollerCoaster of emotions with the Heavyweight title match and the quick Owen-Kid match that this one obviously wasn’t going to get the same reception from the crowd.

All four men stare each other down face to face and a slugfest breaks out and two guys move to each corner. Crush and Yoko attempt a double reverse irishwhip sending the Shrinkers into one another but they stopped and dropped both men with a headbutt.

Fans behind the Headshrinkers in a big way as they throw them to the outside and pose on the top turnbuckle. Yokozuna met a big dropkick and he went for a walk. Fuji tried to encourage him as did Crush. Yokozuna got back inside and Fatu (Later known as Rikishi) tags in. Fatu meets Crush this time as he elects to meet Fatu.
Adams drives Fatu to the mat face first. Crush then recieved a kick and Fatu drops him with a nice piledriver. Crush dominated with a clothesline after Fuji levelled Fatu on the back by the ropes. Crush drops Fatu with a piledriver but only a two count was awarded. Yokozuna tagged in and off the ropes drops the leg. Samu breaks up the count and then Crush tagged in yet again. Crush applies pressure to the trapezius muscle. The crowd willed him back in as they got more into the match but Crush dropped Fatu with a powerslam, he needed a hot tag in a big way. Yokozuna tags in and they continue to isolate Fatu with chops and a hard collision to the buckle.

Yokozuna drives his back to meet his cousin Fatu (Both men also cousins with The Rock) in the corner but he moves out of the way just in time. Samu comes in and drops Crush with a powerslam. I didn’t see any tags here. Yokozuna then clotheslined and all four men were inside the ring as the official had lost control. The Shrinkers sent Yokozuna and Crush into the mid-ring where they collide and the Shrinkers hid a double thrust kick to Yokozuna dropping him through the ropes out to the floor.

Now Fatu rakes the back of big Yokozuna on the outside. Samu goes up high and attempts to come down on Crush in the middle of the ring but as Yokozuna was rammed into the ring post it shook Samu off his feet. Crush goes to the top to follow up with a Superplex attempt and he drops Samu hard into the middle of the ring. Crush drops a big legdrop to Samu in the middle of the ring and clobbers Fatu off the ring apron. Yokozuna drops Samu with a legdrop behind the official.

Out comes Lex Luger to a big ovation. Luger points at Crush who they were pushing huge at the time. This distracts Crush as the fans chant USA, he still managed to clothesline Samu to the floor. Fatu came from behind and cradles a distracted Crush and got the win.

Monsoon points out who Lex Luger is to Art Donovan, for good measure.

The finish came at 9:10, this was very solid.
 

 

** 1/2 

 

 

 

 

 
9) “The Rocket” Owen Hart vs “The Bad Guy” Razor Ramon in the King of the Ring 1994 Final match
 

 

 

The finals of the 1994 King of the Ring.

Will Owen start his third match of the night before the lights go on? He poses on the top turnbuckle but Razor waits for the lights to turn back on before dropping Owen with a right hand.
Owen wonders if Hall was drunk considering he has been in the Wrestling matches while Ramon had been in the brawls and wasn’t used to the treatment of a punch. Razor caught Owen attempting a crossbody in mid-air and he slammed him to the mat. Ramon with an irishwhip and Owen ducked underneath and caught Hall with a hard slap. Razor had Owen down on the canvas and he catapolted Owen to the corner headfirst. Ramon with a side headlock takedown, into a legscissors and Owen bridges out and then twists attempting a backslide on Hall but Ramon overpowers Owen with the power and strength and gets a two.

Another side headlock takedown by the Bad Guy to the Rocket. Off the ropes Ramon hits Owen with a shoulder block. Owen connected with a spinning heel kick to Ramon out of no where. Owen kicks Razor in the mid-section and drags him headfirst across the top rope just as he did Tatanka earlier in the night. Owen connects with a European uppercut to Razor Ramon and then he uses the top rope for additional leverage after hooking Ramon in an abdominal stretch.

Owen Hart in control of the match then Razor hit a counter move with a hiplock. Owen quick to his feet met Razor Ramon with rights and off the ropes Owen blocks a hiplock attempt and flips over using his speed but Ramon overpowers him with a powerslam into a nearfall. Ramon with a fall away slam on Owen and another two. The Rocket flipped in mid-air and dropped Ramon with a side russian legsweep. Razor Ramon picked Owen who climbed to the top looking to hit another aerial move, Ramon caught Owen and hit a back superplex off the rop. Razor Ramon signals for the end.

Ramon goes for the Razor’s Edge and both Monsoon and Savage already were quick to claim him king already. Razor took to much time and Owen countered with a backdrop to the floor.
The Anvil runs to the ring and looked to be helping Razor Ramon but he dropped him with a clothesline. The Anvil drives him into the ring post and then into the middle of the ring and he acts like he never touched him. Owen drops off the top on Ramon with an elbow drop, using Macho’s finisher right in front of him to win.

Owen has done what his brother did the year before. This was extra important to him at the time (that fact) because he was feuding with Bret all of 1994 and wanted the main strap from his brother.

So this was a huge win for Owen.

The King of Hart’s is born.
 
In the end at 6:35 Owen won the King of the Ring.

Owen screams “I Did it!”

Owen follows it up with a memorable promo as King, the best “King” speech until 1996 anyway.
 
 

 

 

** 1/2 
 

 

 

 

10) Main Event- Jerry “The King” Lawler vs “Rowdy” Roddy Piper

 

I have no idea who thought this would be a good idea, they clearly wanted to close this show with a “Good Guy” winning though, that’s obvious.
Jerry Lawler even admits this is NOT one of his FINEST moments in his career.

The King by this point was WELL past his prime obviously and his skills were mostly behind a microphone as evident by a pre-match promo ripping on the crowd and “Brats in Canada” who Piper suggested donating money…

Jerry Lawler was ready as the bell rings.

Roddy Piper and Jerry Lawlwer slugged away at one another.

Randy Savage tries to sugarcoat the match calling it “Icing on the Cake from one of the best night’s in Wrestling I have ever seen.” Certainly pretty impressive in parts but the icing part was quite the stretch.

Piper was in great shape here as you can actually see his Abs.

He takes the leg of Lawler (Who you couldn’t say the same for) and drops him with an inverted atmoic drop and throws him out to the floor. The King was attacked by Piper on the outside and he threw him into the steel and connected with a series of chops. Piper took his time and then it was the King’s turn to dominate for a bit. King attacked a Roddy Piper fan and then Piper himself with some kicks.

The King levels Piper with a couple of hard righthands. Lawler chokes him on the mat. Lawler locked on a painful sleeper to the viewers as it took so long. Lawler finally hit his piledriver but it wasn’t enough. Piper kept asking for shots and the King couldn’t believe it. Piper kept kicking out of everything Lawler threw at him and then a Piper with a sloppy suplex got the three on Lawler.

In the end at 12:30 the Hot Rod defeated the King.

This match is was an embarassment to Pro-Wrestling. However it looks like Steamboat-Savage compared to anything the following year.
 
 

DUD
 
 

 

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Final Rating for WWF King of the Ring 1994  = 7/10
 
This show was pretty solid throughout most of the matches.

It runs into some ugly points with the main event or a dull encounter at mid-show, but it’s ultimately saved by the WWF title match and the nightly performance of Owen Hart.
Savage was great on commentary with Monsoon as well, so overall it’s a pretty good show here that’s worth owning for the bright spots.