Monday Night Raw
May 23, 1994
Youngstown, OH
Struthers Fieldhouse

The current WWF champs were as follows:
World Champion: Bret Hart (3/20/1994)
Intercontinental Champion: Diesel (4/30/1994)
World Tag Team Champions: The Headshrinkers (5/2/1994)

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Randy Savage.

• Owen Hart vs. Doink the Clown (w/Dink) – KOTR Qualifying Match
  

Due to his injury, Doink is replacing Quake in this one. Owen pearl harbors Doink to start and chokes him in the ropes. Back suplex sets up a flying elbow drop for two. Owen blocks an O’Connor roll and thinks he’s got the better of Doink, but he’s standing there waiting for him with a pair of hiptosses and a body slam. That sends Owen retreating to the floor while Dink comes in and celebrates with the bigger version of himself. Owen acts all frustrated and Doink makes matters worse for himself by mocking him. Owen – “I’ve got to deal with two and a half Doinks. The referee, a clown, and a half of a clown.” Back in, Owen starts ripping at Doink’s face until he fights back with another hiptoss. Back to the floor, Owen chases Dink around and runs right into a clothesline from Doink. DOH! Doink tries to keep Owen on the floor for a countout win with a slam, but Owen draws Doink over and trips him up so he can post his knee REAL good. Commercials! When we return, we see Owen in the ring giving Doink a Spinning Heel Kick for two. Chinlock time. Doink fights up into a belly to belly suplex and gets stuck in a camel clutch, which Vince calls a “bow and arrow” and then a “Boston crab”. Savage starts to correct him, but remembers Vince has a lot on his mind. Doink escapes, but runs right into a double-KO. They come up exchanging blows with Doink winning that battle and releasing Owen with a belly to belly suplex of his own for 1-2-NO! Ten-count corner punch by Owen is followed by a reverse neckbreaker. Wait a minute, Jeff Jarrett is at ringside and he’s got Dink in his arms! As Doink starts to walk towards them, Owen sneaks up behind him with a rollup for the 1-2-3. (8:30 shown) And now Owen is on his way to becoming the King of Harts. Doink forgets about the match and chases after JJ, who safely puts down Dink and makes a run for the locker room. Decent match, but nothing to go crazy over. **

• Duke Droese vs. Barry Horowitz
  

This is Duke’s RAW debut. Horowitz does okay working on Duke’s arm until he tries a dropkick and fails. Big AA Spinebuster is followed by a jumping elbow drop for the 1-2-3 at 3:00.

• Irwin R. Schyster vs. Gary Sabaugh
  

The Italian Stallion is in the house. IRS is all over Sabaugh with elbows and knees. There’s the chinlock with his feet on the ropes, just like clockwork. IRS gets SO sweaty. The WRITE-OFF takes care of Sabaugh at 4:15.

Let Us Take You Back: Superstars, 5/21/94. The Jarrett/Luger KOTR qualifying match. Crush runs down and bounces Luger’s face off the steps behind the ref’s back. Instead of going after Jarrett, he gets counted out as he runs towards the entry way to go after Crush.

Time for the King’s Court with Jerry Lawler. Lex Luger is tonight’s special guest. The way Lawler sees it, Lex jumped Crush behind on Superstars and has since tried to break Crush’s arm. Out comes Crush, who has his arm in a sling. Crush starts putting the bad mouth on Lex saying if his arm wasn’t hurt, he would take out Lex right now. Off comes the “Made in the USA, Assembled in Vietnam” jacket. Luger contemplates hitting a man wearing a sling for a few seconds. That’s all the time he needs. Crush gets clotheslined out to the floor. Hey wait a minute, there’s nothing wrong with Crush’s arm! Luger picks up the royal loveseat and threatens to throw it at Crush as we go to break.

• Nikolai Volkoff vs. Matt Hardy
  

Ted DiBiase joins us for commentary. Vince asks DiBiase what he was doing in a cemetery last weekend. He was just trying to communicate with the Undertaker, which is something not even Paul Bearer has been able to do. OHHHHH, YESSSSSSSSSS. Here we have a 19-year old Matt Hardy with a flattop haircut and wearing neon green and white tights battling the old timer. There’s an HV on his butt cheeks signifying that these are his High Voltage tights. He throws Matt around before applying the BOSTON CRAB for the win at 2:32.

Next Week: Tatanka battles “The Gigolo” Jimmy Del Ray in the final KOTR qualifier! The WWF champion Bret Hart will be Jerry Lawler’s special guest on the King’s Court. Could be interesting!