Don’t ask me why, but I’ve been feeling extremely nostalgic for this era ever since watching Survivor Series 94. It was a memorable time of life, though not really in a good way, but everything WWF is just a really huge memory, even if it mostly sucked. Maybe it’s because of the ridiculously thin roster or the fact that there were only like 7 feuds going on, but everything from this fall 94 era is etched so clearly in my mind.
I remember all the excitement of Action Zone debuting in fall 94, replacing All American Wrestling. It took on kind of a mythical status in my mind because it was only available in the States and the early hype made it seem like a can’t miss show. A couple months later, probably closer to Christmas 94, they introduced a new cable package here in Winnipeg and we got the Fox network, which surprisingly had Action Zone. I vividly remember watching the show for a couple months, and then it was either gone or I lost interest sometime in the early months of 1995.
I’ve forever been curious about the early days of the show, and there were said to be a few hidden gems in the first couple Action Zone episodes. I believe the majority of the matches were taken from Wrestling Challenge with new commentary. With this current fall 94 nostalgia, what better time than now to finally check out some of these episodes.
The host of the Action Zone is the perpetually over-excited and over-caffeinated spaz Charlie Minn. The guy only lasted a couple months, but what an epic dork. I laughed so hard at him going nuts about things like MADE IN THE USA LEX LUGER and Dink, Wink, and Pink with his eyeballs bugging out of his head. For all the mockery and criticism that he’s received, I have to hand it to Charlie, he was given absolute garbage to work with and did his damnedest to sound excited about shit like the Million Dollar Corporation and Mr. Bob Backlund matches. One thing the WWF always did right was hype their pay-per-views. These shows made Survivor Series 94 seem as big as Wrestlemania! And Charlie Minn was spazzing out especially hard in his EXCLUSIVE SURVIVOR SERIES T-SHIRT!
Vince McMahon and Todd Pettingill were the unusual commentary pairing. Their commentary was objectively terrible, but pleasant enough to listen to. Todd was busting out all kinds of 94 pop culture references that obviously went way over McMahon’s head, yet he would still do his classic “ha ha ha haaaaaa” in response. Todd’s unfunny jokes all sounded like tame morning radio humor, which seemed to keep McMahon entertained. Action Zone also seemed to be competing with the NFL for viewers, because there were tons of football ‘jokes’ and references, none of which were remotely funny. Vince and Todd also heavily hype the Survivor Series throughout all of the episodes I watched. So much talk of Bob Backlund and Lex Luger’s feud with the Million Dollar Corporation, such damn memories!
10/23/94
White Plains, NY – Westchester County Civic Center
1) WWF World Champion Bret Hart pinned Owen Hart (w/ Jim Neidhart) at around the 15-minute mark after Davey Boy Smith caused the challenger to crotch himself on the top rope
The debut episode kicks off with one of the two most notable matches in Action Zone’s history. This was billed as Owen’s last title shot. This was a true hidden gem, and was even included on Bret’s first DVD set. It was one of the matches I was most excited to see when getting that set, as I had heard so much about it for years. It was phenomenal then, and even better watching it now in context of the times. This was another gem of a match from the Harts in 94, with Owen working so damn hard to unseat his brother. In Bret’s book he talks about being injured going into the match and Owen did all the work. Definitely a testament to the technical skill and prowess of Owen, as this match is just rocking and hard hitting from bell to bell. There’s a lot of talk about the challenge of Mr. Bob Backlund, and of course the outside interference of the Bulldog and Anvil who were heavily embroiled in this feud. The ending features some classic, justified good guy cheating with the Bulldog causing Owen to fall off the top and crotch himself, leading to the pin. Fucking amazing match, an all-timer.
After the match, Bret Hart cuts a promo on Bob Backlund and accepts the challenge for Survivor Series. Like a lot of these secondary shows that came and went over the years, the first few episodes are just loaded with great and important stuff before the show just devolves into highlights and lower card matches.
2) The Heavenly Bodies (w/ Jim Cornette) defeated Gary Scott & Rich Myers at 3:18 when Prichard pinned Scott with a kneedrop off the top after a front suplex and bodyslam from Del Ray
It’s weird how the Heavenly Bodies were around for all of 1994, yet rarely did much of anything. I barely remember them being on TV until the fall when they were needed for the Survivor Series. I looked up their results from the year and it’s pretty much all matches with the Bushwhackers and the Smoking Gunns. They had some really cool moves for 94 and I was a pretty big fan. They debuted their new purple robes with the angels wings around this time, which weirdly stands out in my memory.
Even on the first episode, the Action Zone was showing clips of stuff from other shows, like the Heartbreak Hotel segment where Doink introduced Pink. Again, it’s fucking weird how much of this absolute shit I remember so clearly!
3) Tatanka (w/ Ted Dibiase) pinned Mike Moraldo at 3:40 with the Samoan Drop after a tomahawk chop off the top; after the bout, Tatanka hit the move a second time
Ugh, these heel Tatanka matches are just a fucking slog to sit through. Tatanka was simply awful in this role and the fans were completely dead for this heel run.
4) Adam Bomb pinned Bob Starr at 2:26 with a pumphandle slam
Adam Bomb’s face turn back in summer seemed like they were finally ready to do something big with Bomb, but like everything else during his time in the company, it just fizzled out completely after Survivor Series. He was getting big pops and seemed pretty over, yet never won any important matches of note and never had a real feud.
During each episode, we were treated to a special segment of IRS visiting a gravesite and cutting a promo on death and taxes to build his obvious upcoming feud with the Undertaker. This stuff was AWFUL! This feud was AWFUL! So fucking boring and pointless.
5) The Undertaker (w/ Paul Bearer) pinned Mike Bell with the tombstone at 2:36
LOL the Undertaker was in for a rough ride in the coming year. I was only half paying attention to a lot of these jobber matches, but oddly Vince and Todd’s pleasant banter kept me entertained. Todd actually had some decent one-liners now and again.
10/30/94
White Plains, NY – Westchester County Civic Center
1) WWF Tag Team Champions Shawn Michaels & Diesel defeated the 1-2-3 Kid & WWF IC Champion Razor Ramon at around 22:02 when Michaels pinned the Kid with a roll up after the challenger ran into a boot to the face from Diesel, who was on the ring apron
Phenomenal match! This and Bret-Owen from the week before are the best two matches in Action Zone’s history. Lots has been said about how the Cliq went out of their way to make each other look good when working together, and there’s no better example than this match. All crazy action from start to finish with everyone working hard. Usually they have fake crowd cheering dubbed over these TV taping matches, but you can clearly see and hear the fans going completely gonzo for this tag title match. Razor and the Kid were really controlling a good early portion of this match with tons of big moves and near falls before Michaels and Diesel took over. In a moment that would continue to build toward the blow up at Survivor Series, Michaels accidentally superkicks Diesel and knocks him out for a portion of the match. While quite unrealistic, this did add a ton of drama to the battle with Razor and the Kid getting near fall after near fall on Michaels, barely a half second away from the winning the titles. This was truly fantastic stuff, with Michaels taking a crazy beating. In an absolute fluke, Diesel was able to stagger to his feet and crush the Kid with a big boot leading to Michaels scoring a fluke pin. Again, truly a phenomenal match!
2) Bob Backlund defeated Ross Greenberg via submission with the Crossface Chicken Wing
There is SO MUCH Bob Backlund talk on all these Action Zone episodes. I don’t remember him being on TV almost at all in 94 until this sudden push, and sure enough, I went back and checked, and he’s pretty much off TV from the spring until suddenly popping up again in July to challenge Bret Hart for the title. I have no clue why they suddenly decided to push Backlund as their number 1 heel, but it was pretty fucking awesome. He just owned the role and was perfect at riling up the crowd.
3) Doink (w/Dink, Wink & Pink) defeated Tony DeVito
Yeah no. Fuck off good guy Doink. Fast forward!
4) King Kong Bundy defeated Aaron Ferguson
It’s still so baffling why they brought back King Kong Bundy during the big push of the New Generation. He looked like a relic from 1985! I remember Matt and I always anticipating the Informer or whatever that article was called in WWF Magazine, and it seemed like they were teasing Bundy’s return for months. It all lead to jack shit. Bundy felt even more out of place than Bob Backlund and his matches were just horrendous.
5) Lex Luger defeated the Executioner via submission with the torture rack
Man, the crowd is just dead for Luger. It’s all overdubbed cheering. The Tatanka feud killed off any crowd interest left in him. It’s such a shame in hindsight, as they had him primed for an amazing heel run. He could have sold out to Dibiase, revealing that he only cared about the USA when it meant a title shot, then won the Royal Rumble and challenged Diesel. The company was so starved for heels in 95.
11/6/94
Albany, NY – Knickerbocker Arena
“Unfortunately” my version of this show is incomplete and missing what surely is an all-time classic Yokozuna-Mabel match.
1) The New Headshrinkers defeated HD Ryder & Iron Mike Sharpe
This cuts in with the Headshrinkers making short work of these jabronies. Hard to believe that the Headshrinkers were big time over and tag team champions just a few months earlier. Now Fatu is trying to learn how to wear boots in the ring. Just awful. The Barbarian could have made this team far more destructive, but he was such an afterthought at this point.
2) Tatanka defeated Tim McNeany
Yawn! They were at least trying to push Tatanka as a threat, but he never got any important wins. He even jobs at Luger at Survivor Series.
11/13/94
Albany, NY – Knickerbocker Arena
1) Jerry Lawler (w/ Queasy, Sleezy, & Cheezy) defeated Sparky Plugg
Hmm… I seriously remember reading about more hidden classics on these shows, but so far only came across two. This was the usual cowardly heel Lawler match, with him cheating constantly to gain the upper hand to put away Holly. It’s weird how Plugg did absolutely nothing in 94 despite getting the big debut at the Rumble.
Another thing they kept hilariously hyping up on these shows was Chuck Norris being the special troubleshooting referee at Survivor Series. I laughed so hard at the Chuck Norris promo, and they were trying to pass him off as a serious, dangerous threat to anyone who tried to interfere. So ridiculous!
2) The Smoking Gunns defeated Nick Barberry & Jeremy Cutter
The Gunns were another team that felt completely aimless in 94. It’s weird how they never had a feud with the Quebecers or even got any shots. It would have also have been fun to see the Gunns against Diesel and Michaels. It feels like the Gunns weren’t even in the company until the end of the year. They were still over with the fans and their squashes were looking good.
3) IRS defeated Mike Bell
Ughhh…. this IRS push was just awful. I kind of understand the Million $ Corporation – Undertaker feud, since Dibiase had a beef after his fake Undertaker was destroyed, but they never brought it up! They just totally pretended that the fake Undertaker never even existed and jumped ahead to this incredibly stupid death and taxes feud. Man the booking was going down the toilet at this time.
4) Jim Neidhart defeated Scott Taylor
Awesome to see Jim Neidhart in a singles match. I love that he always used the classic Hart Foundation music. Too bad the Anvil had so many personal problems. He never stuck around for long. I wonder if there were plans for him and Owen to win the tag team titles at Mania 11 instead of Owen and Yoko?
Next was an in-ring interview with the Bad Guys Survivor Series team. Sadly Razor did all the talking while the others stood around nodding. I always loved it better when everyone had a chance to roar about who they would be going after in the match.
5) Lex Luger defeated HD Ryder
I wonder why they never had the Undertaker and Lex team up against the Million $ Corp? They were just feuding with them separately, until Luger’s feud dissolved and he ended up in the Allied Powers. Watching these shows now, it’s interesting to see that they still had a decent roster, but just made endlessly bad booking decisions.
6) Bam Bam Bigelow & King Kong Bundy defeated Phil Apollo & Todd Mata
Hahaha! Hilarious to see these New Jersey monsters teaming together and squashing a couple geeks. Bigelow and Bundy would have made way more sense than Bigelow and Tatanka to reach the tag team title finals the Rumble.
11/20/94
Albany, NY – Knickerbocker Arena
1) Fatu (w/ Afa & Capt. Lou Albano) pinned Jeff Jarrett at 4:37 after Jim Neidhart’s interference backfired, with Neidhart accidentally hitting a clothesline on Jarrett as he held Fatu in place; after the bout, Jarrett argued with both Neidhart and Owen Hart, both of whom appeared ringside at the 2-minute mark, with the three men shoving one another until WWF Tag Team Champion Diesel broke it up; after several minutes, Jarrett eventually agreed to not hold a grudge
I always liked when they’d have random guys from opposing teams square off, but I really hate the tired trope of the heel team never being able to get along. Hilariously Fatu actually PINS Jeff Jarret in a wacky surprise thanks to the Anvil’s shitty interference backfiring. A shoving match ensues until Diesel breaks things up. None of this went anywhere, so no idea what the point of this was.
2) Bob Backlund (w/ Owen Hart) defeated Tony Devito
I loved seeing Owen Hart out there with Bob Backlund, gloating about not throwing in the towel. All of Owen’s promo work around this match was fantastic, really driving home the point that Bret and the Bulldog were at a major disadvantage. Backlund snapping and clamping on the chicken wing during these squash matches while Vince has an aneurysm was just outstanding. Bob would stare at his hands after the bell. Such a great gimmick, cut down too fast.
3) Davey Boy Smith & the 1-2-3 Kid defeated Gary Scott & the Executioner
What a weird and wacky tag team! This was a showcase for Survivor Series, with the Kid and Bulldog building chemistry for teaming together. The Kid was wearing some really ugly looking blue gear that looked like a modified version of his original tights. Glad that look didn’t last.
4) WWF Tag Team Champion Diesel defeated Aaron Furguson
They were definitely pushing Diesel strong on these shows, but not to the level that you’d expect. There was no indication that he’d be a breakout singles star after Survivor Series and be headlining the promotion. They were mainly teasing the dissension between Michaels and Diesel and his ability to single-handedly mow through Razor’s team. I wonder when the decision was made to put him over Backlund?
They featured the ending of an Undertaker-Anvil match from Superstars. Why not just show the whole match?!
5) Doink the Clown (w/ Pink, Dink, & Wink) defeated Richie Rich
I’m glad this was the end of Doink getting any kind of a push. I remember him being in the Rumble 95 match, then becoming a jobber to the stars for much of 95.
11/27/94
Bethleham, PA – Stabler Arena
This was a big episode as it occurred after the Survivor Series and it was broadcast the day after the huge surprise title change in MSG. Vince and Todd have tons of news to kick off the show, about Backlund winning the title from Bret then losing it to Diesel last night, officially kicking off a whole new (horrible) era. This episode was actually super interesting to listen to, as it put all of this stuff in context, and again, brought back so many damn memories!
1) King Kong Bundy (w/ Ted Dibiase) pinned Duke Drose at around 6:52 after twice hitting the Avalanche
What a hilarious match to kick off this show! Duke is another in the parade of losers debuting in 94. Much like Bob Holly and Kwang, he had a gimmick and a hyped up debut, but was little more than a jobber to the stars for the next year and a half. I was such a trained WWF nerd that I was upset when guys like Duke never made it to any pay per views. This was as bad as I expected, which made it weirdly enjoyable. Vince and Todd basically ignore it though as they keep running through all the big news of the week. Two avalanches finish off the Dumpster.
As promised, they showed the highlights from MSG the night before, including Bob Backlund cutting a promo challenging anybody, as Bret Hart was at home selling the injuries from Survivor Series and couldn’t be there to face Backlund. Diesel accepted and in a major shock, won the title in 9 seconds. I hated this at the time and I still think it’s stupid now. They spent months building up Bob Backlund only for him to be squashed a couple days after winning the title. Why not build this match up for a Raw at least, or even the Rumble?! And Diesel is now instantly a big smiling dork and no longer the ass kicking son of a bitch he was only days earlier. This whole thing sucked and sent 95 down the toiler.
2) Well Dunn (w/ Harvey Wippleman) defeated Gary Sabaugh & Mike Khoury at 4:48 when Timothy Well pinned Khoury following a Hot Shot double team move
What the fuck – a near 5 MINUTE Well Dunn squash?! It’s insane that Well Dunn had been in the company over a fucking year at this point and had done absolutely nothing. Why were they even getting TV time? The crowd is truly dead for this crap. A funny bit on commentary when Todd asks Vince if he owns a thong. Wow this was awful.
Speaking of awful, up next is a promo for a wrestler soon to be debuting in the WWF – Henry O. Godwinn. Out of all the loser gimmicks from this era, it’s shocking that Godwinn got such a long run and was a multi time tag team champions.
3) Adam Bomb pinned the Black Phantom at 2:59 with the pumphandle slam
Bomb looked like a total loser at the Survivor Series and continues on with his aimless good guy run. Here he easily squashes the future Gangrel, who was working tryout matches at some of these TV tapings.
They showed the same clip of Alundra Blayze losing the title to Bull Nakano in Japan. How come she never got any TV time? I’d rather watch Alundra than those pieces of shit Well Dunn.
4) Owen Hart defeated Jason Ahrndt at 2:28 via submission with the Sharpshooter
The commentary is hilarious during this match, as Vince and Todd are just incensed over Owen’s behavior at the Survivor Series and how he conned his own mother! This whole storyline is genius and they really could have gone further with it. It seems like they just hit reset as the calendar flipped to 95 and not for the better.
5) WWF IC Champion Razor Ramon pinned JS Storm at 2:00 with the Razor’s Edge; Lauren Thierrey of American Journal was the guest ring announcer for the match and incorrectly billed Razor during his intro as the International Champion
HAHAHA so much unintentional comedy here! Lauren Thierrey, a TV journalist, is randomly the guest ring announcer for this match. Vince and Todd are both enamored with her looks and she’s definitely gorgeous. But she can’t ring announce worth shit, calling Razor the International Champion for instance. The laughs continue during the match as she looks completely smitten with Razor. After he puts the jobber away she can’t even get out the announcement, instead being all starry eyed for Razor. This was great!
6) The Bushwhackers defeated the Brooklyn Brawler & Ray Hudson when Luke pinned Hudson at 3:18 following the battering ram
HOLY SHIT! It’s the fucking HONGI Bushwhackers!!!! Hahahahaha!!!! I wonder if this was their debut?! I have no clue when or why they were repackaged with the Hongi gimmick and were suddenly from Down Under. This made Matt and I laugh so hard back then. Talk about needless repackaging. What was the point of this?! The new Hongi music is still so funny “Yayyyy! Woahhhh! HONGI!” From what I gather, Hongi is touching noses together. They even Hongi Charlie Minn after the match. This was beyond ridiculous but still made me laugh so hard.
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