SummerSlam (1994)
SummerSlam | |||
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Chicago, Illinois | |||
Venue | United Center | ||
Attendance | 23,300[1] | ||
Buy rate | 300,000[2] | ||
Tagline(s) | So Hot It's Scary | ||
Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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SummerSlam chronology | |||
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The 1994 SummerSlam was the seventh annual
The pay-per-view had two main events. The first pitted
Production
Background
Storylines
One of the WWF's main storylines in 1994 was
The match took place as scheduled, but the title was not on the line.In early 1994, the WWF brought back the WWF Women's Championship, which had been deactivated in 1990, and pushed Alundra Blayze to win a championship tournament and defeat all challengers.[15] Luna Vachon was brought in to challenge Blayze in a series of matches but was defeated each time.[11] The storyline then saw Vachon bring in Bull Nakano, a Japanese female wrestler, to gain revenge and challenge Blayze.[16]
On the July 11, 1994 edition of Monday Night Raw, a major
Jeff Jarrett and Mabel had no real feud going into SummerSlam. Jarrett played the role of an aspiring country music singer, and Mabel portrayed a rapper. As a result, the WWF promoted the match as part of a "rap versus country" rivalry.[24] There was little buildup for the match until Mabel was booked to confront Jarrett on Monday Night Raw the week before SummerSlam. He tried to provoke Jarrett into a fight, but Jarrett walked away through the crowd to avoid Mabel.[25]
The biggest storyline at SummerSlam began at the 1993 Survivor Series when Owen Hart was eliminated from the “Hart Brothers vs. Shawn Michaels and His Knights” elimination match due to miscommunication within the Hart team. Bret Hart was walking along the ring apron when Owen ran into him, causing Owen to lose his focus and be pinned by Michaels.[26] After the match, Owen interrupted his brothers’ victory celebration to verbally attack Bret.[26] The brothers reunited over the Christmas holidays and focused on challenging The Quebecers for the World Tag Team Championship at Royal Rumble 1994.[27][28] During the match, Bret kayfabe injured his knee,[28] which eventually caused the referee to stop the match.[29] Owen then turned on Bret by kicking his injured leg and leaving him lying in the ring.[30] Bret jobbed to Owen in the opening match at WrestleMania X but defeated Yokozuna later in the pay-per-view to win the WWF World Heavyweight Championship.[31] Jim Neidhart, Bret and Owen's real-life brother-in-law, became involved at King of the Ring 1994 by aligning himself with Owen Hart.[32] To settle the feud, Bret and Owen were booked to face each other in a Steel cage match at SummerSlam.
After losing a
Event
Role: | Name: |
---|---|
Host | Macho Man Randy Savage
|
Commentator | Vince McMahon |
Jerry Lawler | |
Interviewer | Todd Pettengill |
Randy Savage | |
Ring announcer | Howard Finkel |
Referee | Mike Chioda |
Jack Doan | |
Tim White
| |
Earl Hebner |
In a dark match before the pay-per-view broadcast, Adam Bomb pinned Kwang.[37] As the broadcast opened, the commentators, Vince McMahon (fresh off his federal trial acquittal, one month earlier) and Jerry Lawler, announced that The Headshrinkers had dropped the tag team title to Diesel and Shawn Michaels, and that the belts would not be on the line at SummerSlam.[38] Throughout the broadcast, Nielsen and his co-star from The Naked Gun, George Kennedy, appeared backstage in skits trying to solve the mystery of the two Undertakers.[39]
Preliminary matches
In the first televised match, The Headshrinkers were accompanied by managers
The following match saw Nakano challenging Blayze for the Women's Championship. Nakano used her size to perform such moves as
Early in the next match, Diesel threw Razor Ramon out of the ring, allowing Shawn Michaels to remove the
The match between Tatanka and Lex Luger began with the two wrestlers arguing.
Mabel used his weight advantage to gain the early advantage in his match with Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett gained momentum when he tripped Mabel and performed a
Main event matches
As Owen Hart entered the steel cage for his
The second main event match had Bearer's Undertaker fighting DiBiase's Undertaker. After DiBiase's Undertaker walked to the ring, Bearer appeared by himself while pushing a casket to the ring. He reached inside the casket and pulled out an urn, which had a light inside it when Bearer removed its lid.[38] Bearer's Undertaker came to the ring and confronted DiBiase's Undertaker. Both wrestlers were wearing identical costumes, but Bearer's Undertaker wore purple gloves while DiBiase's wore grey.[38] Bearer's Undertaker kicked his opponent out of the ring, where DiBiase's Undertaker tried to attack Bearer.[39] DiBiase's Undertaker attempted to perform an arm twist ropewalk chop, but Bearer's Undertaker stopped him and performed the move.[39] DiBiase's Undertaker then performed a chokeslam and a Tombstone piledriver.[38] As he tried for another Tombstone piledriver, Bearer's Undertaker reversed it and performed the move.[39] Bearer's Undertaker then performed two more Tombstone piledrivers before getting the pinfall victory.[39] A group of people dressed as druids came to ringside, put DiBiase's Undertaker in the casket, and took the casket away.[38][42]
Aftermath
DiBiase continued to manage his corporation until he left the WWF in 1996, but none of his wrestlers won a championship under his management.[13] Tatanka and Luger continued to feud until they faced each other as part of an elimination match at the 1994 Survivor Series.[43] Bigelow was later "fired" from the stable, leading to a feud with DiBiase's wrestlers.[44]
Nakano was booked to win the Women's Championship on November 27, 1994.[45] After Blayze won it back the following spring,[46] Nakano disappeared from the WWF without mention and joined World Championship Wrestling.[16]
Bret Hart was scheduled to defend his title against Bob Backlund at Survivor Series 1994. The stipulations stated that the only way to win was to force the person in your opponent's corner to throw a towel into the ring. Davey Boy Smith was in Bret's corner, while Owen Hart was in Backlund's corner. Smith chased Owen around the ring until Smith suffered a kayfabe injury, leaving nobody to throw in Bret's towel. As Backlund performed the crossface chickenwing on Bret, Owen pretended to show remorse.[41] He convinced his mother, Helen, to throw in Bret's towel.[47] After Backlund was awarded the belt, Owen celebrated his success in costing Bret the title.
At Survivor Series 1994, the storyline with Michaels and Diesel saw Michaels accidentally superkick Diesel once again. As a result, Diesel turned on Michaels, becoming a face and vacating the Tag Team Championship.[14] Three days later, Bob Backlund put Diesel over by dropping his WWF World Heavyweight Championship in a match that lasted eight seconds.[48] Diesel feuded with Michaels and defended the belt against him at WrestleMania XI.[49]
DiBiase's Undertaker was not seen again, but the wrestler portraying him, Brian Lee, returned to the WWF in 1997 as Chainz.[36] Bearer's Undertaker gained revenge against Yokozuna at Survivor Series 1994 by defeating him in a casket match. To prevent interference, Chuck Norris was at ringside as a special guest enforcer.[50]
This was the last SummerSlam to take place on a Monday.[8]
Results
No. | Results dark match |
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References
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- ^ "WWE Pay-Per-View Buys (1993-2015)". Wrestlenomics. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
- ^ Dee, Louie (May 17, 2006). "Let the Party Begin". WWE. Archived from the original on November 16, 2006. Retrieved May 12, 2008.
- ^ Ian Hamilton. Wrestling's Sinking Ship: What Happens to an Industry Without Competition (p. 160)
- ISBN 9781439193211.
At the time, SummerSlam was one of WWE's "big five" Pay-Per-Views (Royal Rumble, WrestleMania, King of the Ring, and Survivor Series were the others), ...
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- ^ "Manager Profiles: Harvery Wippleman". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- ^ "WWE King of the Ring Tournament Results". Wrestling Information Archive. Archived from the original on 2007-10-14. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
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- ^ a b "Diesel and Shawn Michaels' first reign". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ "Alundra Blayze's first reign". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ a b "Women's Wrestler Profiles: Bull Nakano". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ "Wrestler Profiles: Shawn Michaels". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ "WrestleMania X". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ "Diesel's first Intercontinental Championship reign". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ a b "Monday Night Raw: August 8, 1994". The Other Arena. Archived from the original on 2003-06-10. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ "Monday Night Raw: July 11, 1994". The Other Arena. Archived from the original on 2003-06-10. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ "Monday Night Raw: July 25, 1994". The Other Arena. Archived from the original on 2003-06-10. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ "Monday Night Raw: August 1, 1994". The Other Arena. Archived from the original on 2003-05-30. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ "SummerSlam 1994 Preview". World Wrestling Federation Magazine: 31. September 1994.
- ^ "Monday Night Raw: August 15, 1994". The Other Arena. Archived from the original on 2003-06-10. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ a b Gutschmidt, Adam. "WWF Survivor Series '93 Re-Revued". Online Onslaught. Archived from the original on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2007-10-21.
- ^ "Most Rugged Roads to WrestleMania". WWE. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
- ^ a b Gutschmidt, Adam. "Royal Rumble 1994 Re-Revued". Online Onslaught. Archived from the original on 2008-12-10. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ "WWF Royal Rumble 1994". p.W.w. Everything Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ Scaia, Rick. "Four Years Later: Owen Hart Remembered". Online Onslaught. Archived from the original on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
- ^ "WrestleMania X". WWE. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ "WWF King of the Ring 1994". Hoffco. Archived from the original on 2018-12-16. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
- ^ "World Wrestling Entertainment Substitutions". Softwolves. Retrieved 2007-10-19.
- ^ ISBN 1-55022-584-7.
- ^ "Wrestler Profiles: The Undertaker". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-11-11.
- ^ a b "Wrestler Profiles: Brian Lee". Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2007-10-23.
- ^ a b "WWF SummerSlam 1994". Hoffco, Inc. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "WWF SummerSlam '94". The Other Arena. Archived from the original on 2006-10-26. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Gutschmidt, Adam. "SummerSlam 1994 Re-Revued". Online Onslaught. Archived from the original on 2008-12-07. Retrieved 2007-11-12.
- ^ a b "Razor Ramon's second reign". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ ISBN 0-8225-3332-4.
- ^ a b "SummerSlam 1994 Main Event". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
- ^ "All-Time Survivor Series Results". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ "WWF Raw: April 24, 1995". The Other Arena. Archived from the original on 2003-06-10. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ "Bull Nakano's first reign". WWE. Archived from the original on 2009-03-19. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ^ "Alundra Blayze's second reign". WWE. Retrieved 2007-11-13.
- ISBN 1-58261-817-8.
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External links
- Official 1994 SummerSlam site
- SummerSlam 1994 results from Hoffco
- SummerSlam 1994 results from Online World of Wrestling
- SummerSlam 1994 results from p.W.w. Everything Wrestling