Monday Night Raw
August 8, 1994
Youngstown, OH
Beeghly Center

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)
Women’s Champion: Alundra Blayze (12/26/1993)

There’s a brief parody segment before the intro poking fun at the new medical dramas about to debut in the new TV season, namely ‘ER’ and the less popular but still relevant CBS competitor ‘Chicago Hope’. Apparently, heart monitors get cable if you hit the right switch.

Your hosts are Vince McMahon and Randy Savage.

• The Undertaker (w/Ted DiBiase) vs. Butch Banks
  

That’s right, it’s the Underfaker. The angle produced a stinker of a SummerSlam main event, but Brian Lee’s impression is spot on. Chokeslam gets rid of Banks in 3:07.

Let Us Take You Back to Superstars on August 6. Lex Luger was the guest on the Heartbreak Hotel and was asked a lot of ‘wink wink’ questions by Shawn Michaels about his relationship with Ted DiBiase. Luger admits a deal was offered, but he didn’t take the money.

• Lex Luger vs. Chad Miller
  

Despite being the busy man he is tonight, DiBiase follows Luger from out of the tunnel. Luger looks frustrated, but DiBiase holds up a wad of dough and flashes him the “okay” sign. After a break and on the split-screen, we meet with Ted DiBiase who tells Vince that he told Luger not to worry about a thing. Total armbar match from Lex until he fires back with the BIONIC FOREARM for the win in 3:00.

Time for the Domino’s Pizza Delivers SummerSlam report with Todd Pettingell. Nothing interesting to add since the card told to us here is what happens at the PPV except for the Headshrinkers and Million Dollar Corporation match being a WWF tag titles match.

• Bam Bam Bigelow & IRS (w/Ted DiBiase) vs. Tatanka & Doink the Clown (w/Dink)
  

Tatanka and Doink control to start. Nothing too interesting happening. That goes on for about five minutes until Bigelow yanks Tatanka to the floor to turn the tide and take us to commercial. When we return, Bigelow and IRS double-team Tatanka with clotheslines and such. IRS controls with a chinlock and tags Bigelow when Tatanka tries to get fired up. Tatanka double-KO’s with Bigelow and HOT TAGS DOINK. After a nearfall on IRS, Tatanka objects to Bigelow jumping in the ring allowing Bigelow to hit Doink with an enziguri kick behind the ref’s back. With Doink stunned, IRS lands the WRITE-OFF and scores the pinfall. (8:00 shown) Formulaic is the only word that comes to mind. Afterwards, the MDC put the boots to Tatanka, which cues Lex Luger to come down for the save. Once the dust settles, DiBiase confronts Luger and forces a wad of cash into his hand. Another brouhaha erupts and Tatanka sees Luger with the money. A-ha! Tatanka is convinced Luger has sold out to cause them to nearly come to blows, but Bigelow and DiBiase push back Luger while refs try to keep Tatanka at bay. Randy Savage is confused! ¾*

It’s the King’s Court with Jerry Lawler. This week, his guests are Bruce and Owen Hart. Fireworks are gonna fly. Owen Hart comes out with his brother-in-law Jim Neidhart. Owen flips the script saying that now the entire Hart family has jumped onto the Owen Hart bandwagon. Lawler brings out Bruce Hart to try and get him to back Owen as well. Bruce comes out and takes over the segment saying that Owen is lying and that everybody in the Hart family feels exactly the way they did about Owen after Survivor Series when he left his family high and dry. Not sure if Bruce is supposed to keep barking into the mic or not, but he’s putting over the feud and not necessary himself. He calls Neidhart a moron who’s just jealous of Bret’s success and has poisoned Owen’s mind for his own personal jollies. Owen informs Bruce that there’s nobody here tonight to protect him so he better keep his mouth shut. They keep yelling back and forth with each other until they cut off Bruce with a commercial break. Whether or not Bruce tried to go in business for himself for talking so much is up for debate, but this was still awesome and made the case for both sides very well.

• Bob Backlund vs. Kevin Krueger
  

Backlund just begun his ‘crazy hands’ shtick where he gets way too aggressive with the Crossface Chickenwing after Bret Hart became the first victim back on the July 30 episode of Superstars. He’s also afraid of change as he doesn’t understand why the WWF fans boo him now despite being the same character he was back in the early 1980s when everyone loved him. You may have noticed that I really like Bob Backlund during this period. The boos and ‘we want Bret’ chants cause him to go into that other place as he locks in the CFCW for the submission victory at 3:50.

In the back, Lex Luger storms into the MDC locker room when he’s confronted by Nikolai Volkoff who seems happy to see him. That’s when Tatanka walks in all, “I knew I’d find you here!” They continue to yell at each other until we fade to black.

NEXT WEEK: Owen Hart battles the 1-2-3 Kid in a rematch from King of the Ring! Plus, Paul Bearer and Ted DiBiase will both be a part of the King’s Court!