Friday, January 6, 2023

Monday Night Raw 12-12-94 Review

Monday, December 12th, 1994
Liberty Central
Liberty, New York

Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2

Is this Raw actually from a school? Yikes. We get an opening promo intro from Backlund and Doink. 

Bob Backlund vs. Doink

I mean I guess if this is the main event then a school is a pretty good place for this episode. Only Dink comes out and acts as if he'll be wrestling. Doink comes from behind and attacks him and Vince is okay with that. This match would be more interesting if it were evil Doink and heel Backlund. We get lots of "scientific" wrestling as McMahon likes to always discuss. Honestly, the highlight so far has been all of the clown makeup that has gotten all over the body of Backlund. We get lots of arm work from Backlund, which means lots of laying around. Why in the world are they giving this match so much time? Backlund was just WWF Champion and Doink just jobbed at Survivor Series with no future. We get our first burst of energy in forever with Doink hitting a sloppy reverse crossbody and then multiple pin attempts. It ends with him missing with an elbow drop and now Backlund wants the Crossface Chickenwing. He locks it in and that's finally it. He won't release the hold after the match and officials come out and are able to break it up. Dink is very upset. I'm not because this trainwreck is finally over with. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

We get a hype package for the WWF Tag Team Tournament on Superstars. 

Razor Ramon vs. Mark Starr

Razor hits Starr with some pretty hard chops, but then falls when he catches Starr in the air. He lets Starr work on the knee to sell the mishap. Starr looks for a hip toss, but Razor hits a hard hitting clothesline. Razor hits the super back suplex and continues to sell the knee. He hits the Razor's Edge and that's all. Razor showed a little bit of a mean streak here, probably because he was performing in a high school gym. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

It's time for the King's Court and IRS is his guest today. He's out with the druids and Lawler goes on a rant about professional athletes charging for autographs and not paying their taxes. He shifts over to Undertaker and then to talking about taking on Lex Luger next week. This was pointless and no one cares.

We get the same Hakushi vignette from Superstars.

Aldo Montoya vs. Nick Barbarri

After dropping Barbarri on the second rope, he hits a dive to the outside. Out comes Harvey Wippleman to check things out. Aldo hits a reverse elbow and then the leaping bulldog for the victory. This was spirited for what it was.

Match Rating: 1/4*

Harvey gets in Howard Finkel's face about being in the corner of the Bushwhackers. 

They show Todd Pettengill getting a new co-host for Christmas on the 100th episode of Mania. This of course is none other than Stephanie Wiand.

King Kong Bundy vs. Bobby Knight

Unfortunately, this is not THE Bob Knight. I really thought it would be. Bundy throws him through the ropes into the turnbuckle. I still can't believe they thought Bundy was the right guy to face Undertaker at WrestleMania. He hits the splash in the corner and that's all. 

Match Rating: 1/4*

Santa Claus comes out and gives Shawn Michaels the Women's Championship belt. 

This was not a good episode this week. The Backlund match was terrible and the IRS interview was pointless. December isn't historically a great month for the company and this one would be a good example of that.

Overall Rating: 31%

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