home | wrestling | flashback_reviews | wwe | miscWWF Action Zone - November 27, 1994
by Scrooge McSuck
- I'm going to continue making rounds with random episodes of the weekend shows until I find the motivation to get to something with a rhyme or reason to it. I've sat through episodes of Challenge, Superstars, and even an old (bad) Primetime Wrestling, so why not pop in an episode of ACTION ZONE? For those who forgot, the Action Zone was like Monday Night Raw-Lite for the first year or so of it's broadcast existance, until it became the second Mania, basically recapping Raw and Superstars in a studio setting with Todd Pettengill and Dok "Don't Call Me Michael Hayes" Hendrix.
- Taped from Bethleham, PA, with Vince McMahon and Todd Pettengill calling all the action. Talk about a reason why the mute button was invented, other than for kids to keep their parents from knowing they were watching porn. Don't hit mute yet, as we're informed that Bob Backlund defended the WWF Title against "#1 Contender" Diesel at Madison Square Garden "last night", and we have a NEW WWF Champion.
[Note: Upon examination, this show seems to be missing a squash match, as the total run-time without commercial is just a bit over 40 minutes. Sorry for disappointing people on skipping over one of the least important parts of the episode]
Duke "The Dumpster" Droese vs. King Kong Bundy (w/ Ted Dibiase):
Hey, we've got our feature match already set to go. Droese was pretty new at this point, having his most "notable" program with Jerry Lawler on a few episodes of Monday Night Raw. Bundy is back to promote the New Generation... seriously, the WWF was advertising "The New Generation", yet was trotting Bundy out there every week. Oh well... Droese attacks before the bell, pounding away with rights, followed by a pair of clotheslines. Droese with a dropkick, sending Bundy through the ropes, to the floor. Droese goes after Dibiase, but Dibiase manages to escape to the backstage area. Bundy attempts a sneak attack, but the garbage man is aware of his surroundings, and turns the table. Back in the ring, and Bundy with clubbering blows, then drops an elbow for a two count. Irish whip, and Bundy with a back elbow, but he misses another elbow drop. Droese slaps on a wristlock. Irish whip, and Droese comes off the ropes with a cross body for a two count. Back to the arm, and it's another wristlock. Bundy escapes with a stiff right hand, then takes Droese's head off with a clothesline. Bundy with a knee drop for a two count, then he slaps on a reverse chinlock. Droese fights free with elbows to the midsection, but runs into a knee. Commercial, and we come back with Dreose fighting free of another chinlock. Droese with a series of shoulder blocks, putting Bundy down after the third, but misses a twisting elbow drop. Bundy hits the ropes and misses a splash. Droese removes the straps and gloves, and you KNOW it's on. Droese with rights and a diving clothesline. Droese hits the ropes and drops a leg for a two count. Whip to the corner, and Droese misses a charge. Bundy sends Droese to the corner and hits the Avalanche. Then he hits it again for good measure, and the three count is made at 6:30. Short match, but didn't feel short. Droese seems like he could go, but Bundy was well past his prime at this point, and in all honesty, I never cared for Bundy to begin with.
"The King of Harts" Owen Hart vs. Jason Ahrndt:
We're reminded how much involvment had at the Survivor Series, helping cost his brother the WWF Title in his match against Bob Backlund. I have to admit, that was some top notch despicable coniving. Too bad Vince kept having hard on's for big and tall or big and fat heels. Lockup, and Ahrndt works the arm. Owen counters and slaps the taste out of the jobbers mouth. Owen with a drop toe hold, then clamps on an armbar. Owen with a wristlock, then a series of chops. Owen with an overhead takedown, then continues working the arm. Owen with a european uppercut, followed by driving a knee into the midsection. Irish whip, and the Jobber with a boot to the face. Irish whip is reversed, and Owen nails him with a spinning heel kick. Sharpshooter time, and it's over at 2:27. Owen opts to keep the hold applied just a little bit longer after the bell. Always fun to watch heel Owen squashing people.
- We hype the ENCORE Presentations of the Survivor Series, then get some extended recaps of the major happenings. Yokozuna was stuffed into a casket, Bret Hart was screwed at Survivor Series a few years earlier than expected, and Diesel and Shawn broke up. Oh, and again, Diesel won the WWF Title at Madison Square Garden, LAST NIGHT, to kick off the New Generation Era (toilet flushes in the background).
Well Dunn (w/ Harvey Wippleman) vs. Gary Sabaugh & Mike Khoury:
I didn't know this kind of thing existed... a squash match featuring Well Dunn, where they aren't the ones getting squashed. It's Timothy Well and Steven Dunn, better known as Rex King and Steve Doll in other places in the wrestling universe. Well and Sabaugh start, and Sabaugh hits a dropkick that looks pretty bad. Khoury tags in and works the arm, but Well whips him to the corner and follows in with a spinning heel kick. Dunn tags in and hits a clothesline. Double-team face slam from Well Dunn, then Well hits a pair of leg drops to the back of the head. Irish whip, and Well connects with a dropkick. Dunn tags back in, and this squash is just dragging. Dunn drops a knee across the face as McMahon and Todd discuss the names of Well Dunn. Snap suplex by Dunn. Todd then brings attention to the thong/speedo trunks on Dunn. Oh... kay? Double team back elbow, then stomping from Well, followed by a slam and another leg drop. Pin attempt, but Well picks him up at the count of two. COME ON! FINISH HIM ALREADY! Whip to the corner, and Khoury gets a clothesline, but Dunn stiffs him with a german suplex. That looked nasty. IRish whip, and Well kind of just slippily drops Khoury throat first across the top rope, and FINALLY, the match is over at 4:49. I don't know what it was, but why were they stiffing that poor jobber at the end? Incredibly bad squash.
- Henry Godwinn is going to be in Hog Heaven when he makes his debut in the World Wrestling Federation.
- Charlie Minn is in the crowd, hyping up the upcoming appearance of Adam Bomb. Remember him? Anyone? No? Well, good. He was annoying, and that's pretty much it.
- We hype next weeks "Action Zone Feature Match", pitting the Heavenly Bodies against the mis-matched team of the 1-2-3 Kid and Aldo Montoya, the Portugeuse Man O'War. Uh-huh... I remember that being a fairly decent match, if my tape collection is accurately recalled.
Adam Bomb vs. The Black Phantom:
Our friendly Phantom jobber is a masked David Heath, probably best known as the Vampire Warrior and Gangrel. He's even wearing his Blackhearts attire from his previous tag team on the Indy scene, including the mask over the mask, which is pretty cool, I guess. Just think, at the time of this taping, he and Luna were newly-weds. Oh, Adam Bomb is a babyface now, and while his matches were mildly better, he just doesn't seem as threatening anymore. All my rambling makes this match seem important, but it's a squash. Lockup, and Bomb slaps on a wristlock. Phantom counters into a hammerlock, but Bomb counters with a drop toe hold, then floats over into a front facelock. Bomb with a snap suplex. Phantom fights back with rights, but Bomb catches him off the ropes with an arm drag, followed by a slam. Bomb with another slam, followed by an elbow drop. Phantom with a shot to the throat, then hangs Bomb up across the top rope. Adam Bomb is going to face I.R.S. tomorrow on Monday Night Raw, for those that care. Phantom rams Bomb to the buckle and chops away, but Bomb is no-selling now. Bomb hammers away and takes Phantom over with a back drop. Bomb with a pair clotheslines, then nails him coming off the ropes with an elbow. Irish whip, Kick to the midsection, and Bomb with a pump-handle slam into a pin for the three count at 3:01. Surprisingly energetic for a squash match. I enjoyed it, for the most part.
- Last sunday, in Tokyo, Japan, Bull Nakano defeated Alundra Blayze for the WWF Women's Championship. Nakano would reign as champion before losing the title the night after Wrestlemania XI. I don't recall either of them wrestling on television again until that match took place. Is anyone REALLY surprised Blayze was willing to dump the belt in a trash can when WCW signed her away?
- Last night at Madison Square Garden, Bob Backlund defended the title against Diesel, subbing for the injured Bret Hart, and was defeated in about 8 seconds. No, not Wrestlemania I/King Kong Bundy 8 seconds when it was really 30, this actually was that short. We are then treated to a Diesel promo, cut later in the night, after winning the title. It's nearly inaudible, thanks to the poor microphone volume.
- Last Thursday, at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, WWF Superstars, such as the Undertaker, Lex Luger, Razor Ramon, Doink and Dink the Clowns, and Paul Bearer, were all on hand to ride some stupid float. Looks like Mabel was there too. Sorry, that was Barney the Dinosaur.
Razor Ramon vs. J.S. Storm:
Ramon is the reigning Intercontinental Champion, and he's heading into a program with Double J, Jeff Jarrett. Introductions for this match are brought to you by Lauren Thierry of American Journal. Anyone know her? No? Really? Me neither. And she does a terrible job, too. She introduces Ramon as the International Champion. Ugh. I wanted Ramon to sucker punch her so bad, but he just does his usual "bad guy" taunt. Lockup, and Ramon shoves Storm across the ring. Ramon hammers away on Storm, then chucks him across the ring for fun. Ramon scoops up Storm and tosses him over his head. Ramon sets Storm up across the top turnbuckle, and connects with his signature back suplex. Ramon calls for the end, and yes, the Razor's Edge is the final curtain for J.S. Storm at 2:01. Good sell for the move, too. Hey, is that kid behind Lauren Thierry wearing a Ride The Lighting t-shirt? Major props to him, if so. Oh, she keeps making goofy eyes at Ramon. Someone has soiled their undies.
- I.R.S. is in the graveyard, and I guess reposessing head-stones and digging up coffins automatically qualifies as picking a fight with the Undertaker. This "wonderful" feud culminated at the Royal Rumble, when the Undertaker's urn was stolen by King Kong Bundy. Then it was stolen by fellow stablemate Kama, the Supreme Fighting Machine. Which was then melted into a giant chain, cause he's black, and stolen by King Mabel, because he's black and ghetto. Seriously, Undertaker feuded for OVER A YEAR over the God Damn urn being stolen.
Final Thoughts: The whole show seemed to be an excuse to put over the fact Diesel won the WWF Title from Bob Backlund, and OFFICIALLY kicks off the "New Generation Era" that nearly put the WWF in the poor house. The feature match was lackluster, but a few of the squashes were pretty entertaining. The Well Dunn squash was like self-enlficted torture, and we get to anticipate the debut of Henry Godwinn. Oh, and I.R.S. is picking fights with the dead. Depending on what you are looking for, this episode of Action Zone had a wide range of material to offer.
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