While the so-called ‘New Generation’ era from 1993-1997 isn’t generally regarded as a high point for the WWE, 1994 was a year that saw the company defy many of its low expectations. The year was filled with a more than passable set of PPVs and the emergence of new stars that would all have some bearing on the wrestling business going forward. The year also saw Vince McMahon take a huge hit in terms of his PR reputation, which threatened to bury to the company for good.
While there were many superstars that deserve high recognition for their contribution to the WWF at this time, there was one rivalry in particular that set the wrestling world alight. 1994 was a time in which the old guard well and truly stepped out of the picture, with a new cohort of hungry, talented individuals now expected to take the torch and lead the WWF into the new century. How successful were they in doing so? Here are 10 shocking moments from WWF(WWE) 1994 that might help us decide:
#1 Double winners at the Royal Rumble
Looking back on the WWF career of Lex Luger, there are several elements to it that more modern WWE fans might recognise in 2017. We’ve unfortunately become used to seeing a lot of 50/50 booking in the modern era, which has resulted in many superstars losing their momentum, seemingly at the worst possible times.
You get the impression that if guys like Bray Wyatt and Roman Reigns were around in the 80s and 90s, Vince would have done everything he could to get them as over as possible. We’d be seeing grand spectacle main events between the two at Wrestlemania or Summerslam, and the era would very much be built around them.
For one reason or another, this is not how the WWE works anymore, and an early precursor to this kind of confused, 50/50 booking back in the early 90s was Lex Luger. Originally handpicked by Vince to be the next Hulk Hogan, Lex’s early momentum would be dragged from under his feet after he failed to win the WWF Championship at Summerslam 93. Rumour has it that Vince wanted to wait until Wrestlemania and have Lex be crowned there instead, but somewhere along the way, plans obviously changed.
Bret Hart was busy making a name for himself throughout much of 1993, competing in the main event of Wrestlemania 9, winning King of the Ring and feuding with Jerry Lawler. Fans were becoming increasingly hot on the Hitman, and it’s safe to say Bret was able to appeal to more of the WWF audience compared with Luger. This tension between the two all culminated at the Royal Rumble 1994 where, for the first time, the historic event had two joint winners.
Looking back at the footage, the two men actually did a fairly good job of landing at the same time, although the replays never gave the viewing audience at home a clear look to see who really did hit the floor first.
Then followed a period of time in which the referees were debating amongst themselves who to give the victory to, and it was here that Lex Luger must have been feeling pretty forlorn.
While different officials were holding up Bret and Lex’s arms in victory, the crowd were clearly more into Hart, cheering noticeably louder every time his hand was raised. Whether or not this sealed the deal for Lex in terms of who would win the championship at Wrestlemania isn’t totally clear, but it must have had a huge impact on Vince’s decision.
Also read: 10 Shocking Moments from WWF (WWE) 1993
#2 The Undertaker faces himself at Summerslam
One of the more bizarre moments from 1994 came when The Undertaker, after taking several months off for a back injury, made his return to RAW under the guidance of his new manager Ted Dibiase.
For a few weeks leading up to the return, the WWE showed video packages of ordinary people claiming to have spotted the Undertaker in very strange locations such as in their places of work or down by their local cemetery. The company was clearly trying to play off The Undertaker as this mysterious, almost otherworldly figure whose presence could be felt almost anywhere.
The return itself wasn’t what it first appeared, however. Ted Dibiase’s Undertaker had a habit of hiding his face with his hat and long hair. He didn’t talk as much as Taker did before his absence and generally came across as not like his normal self. That’s because, of course, he wasn’t actually the same man. Paul Bearer, Undertaker’s original manager and personal friend, eventually confronted Dibiase, arguing that his Undertaker would never turn on his ancestry, and that money was not something his phenom would be tempted by.
Any confusion was soon put to rest when the real Undertaker, played by Mark Calloway, returned to the screen and immediately went after the imposter. The two men would face each other in the main event of Summerslam 1994 in a passable match, and Dibiase’s Taker was never seen again.
This feud, while not one of Undertaker’s best, did mark a bit of a turning point for the Deadman. Fans were noticeably happy to see him return after being put in a casket by Yokozuna earlier in the year. He was now an out and out babyface and spent the rest of the year feuding with Dibiase and his heel faction.
The feud also gave another layer to the relationship between Taker and Paul Bearer, something that would become crucial to the evolution of the two characters in 1997. In all, it helped to humanise the Phenom just a little bit and made his character slightly more relatable in an era of pro-wrestling that was starting to embrace more real to life characters rather than the cartoonish gimmicks of old.
AS for the man who played Fake Undertaker – Brain Lee, the 50-year-old wrestler worked for many promotions such as TNA and other indie companies, and till date – at the age of 50 – works for NWA Southern All-Star Wrestling.
#3 Bob Backlund wins the WWF title for the first time in over 10 years
In today’s WWE, it is not at all out of the ordinary to see legends make a comeback, and in some cases hold the company’s main championships. In recent years we’ve seen The Rock and Goldberg hold the WWE and Universal Championships respectively. We’ve also seen guys like Batista and Sting appear in the main event of PPVs, taking on the top stars of the industry’s current era.
Back in 1994, this was far from common, especially considering a lot of the older generation stars were on their way out of the WWF due to ill health or career changes. This year was primarily about forwarding a brand new generation and having stars such as Bruno Sammartino or The Iron Sheik come back to win a championship would have felt very strange indeed.
Yet for some reason, the return of former WWWF Champion Bob Backlund was actually a bit of a highlight of 1994. Backlund was a different sort of character to the one fans were accustomed to back in the late 70s when he was wrestling Superstar Billy Graham for the title. He was portrayed here as an eccentric heel that felt a duty to bring order and prestige back to the company. He berated Vince McMahon for allowing this generation of children to take over the show and promised to rise to the championship scene yet again.
In actual fact, this storyline was in some way related to real life events. It was clear that despite their best efforts, the new generation was struggling to hold the torch passed to them so suddenly and unceremoniously by the previous cohort of stars. The likes of Bret, Shawn and Diesel needed somebody like a Bob Backlund to come back and help them achieve that next level.
Backlund reached the peak of his return when he defeated Bret Hart for the WWF Championship in the main event of Survivor Series, in what is a very underrated match. The sight of Backlund holding up the prestigious title after all those years was a truly surreal sight, similar to the way Goldberg’s victory over Kevin Owens earlier this year felt strange but also quite extraordinary. Backlund would lose the title a few days later to Diesel, but his contribution to the WWF product back in 1994 cannot be under-stressed.
#4 Shawn and Razor put on a 5-star match
Wrestlemania 10 is undoubtedly a historic event in the annals of WWF/E. One huge contribution to this was the Intercontinental Championship match between Shawn Michaels and Razor Ramon. This match is up there with some of the great non-main event Mania matches that arguably stole the show. Wrestlemania 3 had Savage Vs. Steamboat, Mania 25 had Shawn Vs, Taker, and Wrestlemania 10 had this classic.
The backstory to the match dated back to the end of 1993 when Shawn Michaels was forced to take a leave of absence due to illicit drug use. The IC title was vacated and eventually won by his fellow Kliq member Razor Ramon.
Upon Shawn’s return to the company, he began carrying around what would have technically been the old championship belt, claiming that he was the real IC champion. The matter had to be settled at Wrestlemania with both titles suspended above the ring. We, therefore, had the recipe for the first ever Wrestlemania ladder match.
Throughout the years, many have described this as Shawn putting on a 5-star match with a ladder, in an attempt to downplay Scott Hall's contribution. This is perhaps a little unfair. Despite Shawn being the clear star of the match, the bout would not have worked without Hall, and he ended up doing a fine job of helping both himself and Shawn look like a million dollars. Razor eventually got the win which propelled him into a solid rivalry with Diesel and allowed Shawn to break out as a singles star.
The two went on to have a repeat match at Summerslam 1995, but nothing could quite rival this bout in terms of historical significance and innovation. It's no coincidence that after more than 20 years of WWE programming, many fans still place Shawn Vs. Razor in their top ten all time favourite match ups.
#5 Bret and Yoko do double Wrestlemania duty
Whether Shawn and Razor did indeed steal the show at Wrestlemania 10 is a highly contested point. Many look to the opener between Bret and Owen, or the main event with Bret’s eventual championship victory as worthy contenders.
What has never been disputed, however, is that Wrestlemania 10 was ultimately Bret Hart’s greatest night in a WWE ring. Bret understandably warrants a lot of respect from the WWE Universe for his performance that night, but what is so often forgotten is that the Hitman was not the only person to do double duty.
Due to Bret and Luger becoming joint winners of the Royal Rumble, Vince put together a programme in which Yokozuna would face Luger for the title, with Bret facing the winner of that bout. These were the days before triple threat matches became a part of WWE’s arsenal, so this seemed like the fairest, most straightforward solution.
Of course, this meant that Yokozuna, after defeating Luger to retain his belt, would have to face Bret a little over an hour later. This was far less time than The Hitman had in order to recover. The Yoko Vs. Luger match was admittedly shorter than Bret Vs. Owen, but not by much. It’s therefore quite a shame that Yoko’s performance at Wrestlemania 10 does not get the recognition it deserves.
Whatever history might say about Mania 10, there’s no denying that all competitors involved put in very impressive performances. At a time in which the WWE was struggling to put out consistently good programming each week on RAW, this event was better than many expected. Most of that credit needs to go to Bret and Yoko, who, in their own way, managed to build the show around them, sending WWF officially into the 90s.
#6 Shawn Michaels costs Diesel the Intercontinental Championship
After the now historic ‘barbershop window’ incident that saw Shawn Michaels turn on his Rockers teammate Marty Jannetty, Shawn continued to build a reputation for himself as an untrustworthy heel that could use people to his advantage and cast them aside as soon as he got what he wanted. And while Shawn wasn’t the first to take on such a gimmick, something about his performance throughout the rest of the 1990s saw him become the archetypal arrogant bad guy that many wrestlers have since copied.
In late 1993, Shawn Michaels introduced the WWF audience to Kevin Nash for the very first time. Under the ring name Diesel, Nash portrayed himself as Shawn’s muscle-bound bodyguard, interfering in matches and generally saving HBK from himself. The dynamics of this pairing have also been replicated many times throughout the years, with many modern day superstars using a bodyguard as a way of gaining more heel heat for themselves.
The two would later go on to form a tag-team called ‘Two Dudes with Attitude’. They would enjoy championship success as a team, and both members would go on to hold the Intercontinental Championship at different points during 1994.
As the year progressed, however, it soon became clear that the WWF was starting to develop bigger plans for Nash. With the Lex Luger experiment all but done for, the company needed another main event star to join Bret Hart and Yokozuna. Diesel was the ideal choice given his size and typical ‘cool guy’ appearance.
Diesel’s rise to the top was done with patience, first having him go on a tear at the Royal Rumble and then winning the IC Title in a compelling feud with Razor Ramon. The WWF now needed to separate Shawn and Nash to allow both men to pursue singles careers.
During the IC Championship match at Summerslam, Shawn, who was at the corner of Diesel throughout the bout, ended up super kicking his best friend and costing him the belt. This marked the start of a period of animosity between the two and helped propelled Diesel to brand new heights.
Looking back, it was somewhat surprising to see Diesel enter the main event title picture before Shawn, which spoke to Vince’s desire to still see ‘bigger’ guys headlining his company, something fans are very accustomed to today.
#7 Vince on trial
Despite an impressive set of PPVs and the creation of new main event stars, 1994 was a troublesome year for the WWF as a company. A few years previous, the FBI decided to launch an investigation into the McMahon family after numerous reports that WWF competitors were given illegal steroids. In 1994, the initial findings of the investigation prompted a court trial, with the very future of professional wrestling's signature brand on the line.
One of the more vocal witnesses to testify against Vince was Kevin Wacholz who wrestled for Vince throughout much of 1992 as Nailz. Despite his insistence that Vince was, in fact, guilty of supplying him and several other wrestlers with illicit substances, his testimony was deemed unreliable due to the real life hatred the two men shared.
The outcome of the case would eventually rest on the testimony of former WWF Champion Hulk Hogan. Lawyers were hopeful of a prosecution as many expected Hogan to testify against his former employer when in actual fact he swore under oath that at no time did McMahon offer or convince him to take steroids. Vince was acquitted by the jury, and a potentially fatal blow to his reputation and future career prospects was avoided.
As well as running the company, along with his wife Linda, Vince also made appearances on WWF television as a play by play commentator. This was before the Mr McMahon character was created, and it was never explicitly admitted on-screen that Vince was, in fact, the boss. This meant that for different periods throughout the year, the WWF would have to look elsewhere for a commentator, giving opportunities for Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler to step up and become the voice of the company.
It’s difficult to imagine what the wrestling business would look like today if Vince had been found guilty. Given the ambitions of Ted Turner to make WCW the number one wrestling company in the world at this time, perhaps the wrestling landscape would be a whole different story in 2017 if Hogan had decided to point the finger at McMahon.
#8 Randy Savage wrestles his final match for WWF
Despite losing so many of their stars from the 1980s, the WWF did manage to keep their relationship with Randy Savage going until well into the 90s. Savage’s role with the company would be fairly diminished, however, only making the odd appearance in the ring and spending most of his time behind the commentary table. 1994 would become Savage’s final year with the company, officially wrestling his last match at Wrestlemania 10.
The fact that The Macho Man did go on to enjoy a lengthy in-ring career with WCW after his departure from WWF does indicate that he wasn’t quite ready to hang up his boots back in 1994, and perhaps this was one of the reasons for him leaving.
Vince clearly wanted to shift the focus onto the younger generation of athletes and was primarily using Savage as a way to get them over with the fans. Savage became a mouthpiece for guys like Bret Hart, Mr Perfect and Diesel, all the while remaining on the sidelines during PPVs and episodes of RAW.
Much like today’s WWE product, Wrestlemania 10 was an excuse to bring back some big names, and Savage was eventually brought into the fold in order to help the buy rate of the event. His match was against Crush, who had recently turned heel after a fairly successful run as a babyface in 1993. The two would compete in a falls count anywhere match, which Savage won by tying Crush up with cables backstage. Although the match was by no means terrible, it is seen as a bit of a shame for such a legend to go out in this fashion.
Wrestlemania 10 was clearly about the new generation, with guys like Owen, Bret, HBK and Razor taking centre stage. Savage's contribution to the event is very much downplayed all these years later.
Macho Man's relationship with the WWF reached breaking point later on in the year with his eventual departure to WCW in October 94, and an official reunion was unfortunately never able to transpire. When we look back on the Wrestlemania career of Macho Man, it's probably best to think about his championship victory at Mania 4 or his excellent match with Warrior at 7. You won't be forgiven for forgetting his match up with Crush ever happened.
#9 Diesel wins the WWF Championship at Madison Square Garden
Similarly to Bret Hart in 1992, Kevin Nash's first WWF Championship victory came under rather strange circumstances. Considering Diesel was being tipped to be the WWF's next big star, having him be crowned champion during a house show at Madison Square Garden does look like an odd decision in hindsight.
After Bob Backlund's shock victory over Bret Hart at Survivor Series, the WWF decided to switch gears completely and have Kevin Nash wrestle back the title for the New Generation. In the days before the internet and dirt sheets, fans must have been a little surprised to see Diesel suddenly holding the belt over his shoulder seemingly from nowhere.
He was introduced by Vince McMahon on an episode of RAW as the new champion where he cut a promo signalling his official babyface turn, promising Bret Hart a title match somewhere down the line.
In terms of WWE's all-time greatest champions, Diesel doesn't ordinarily feature very highly on fans' lists. Despite this, his reign was actually one of the longest in WWF history, which saw him hold the belt for an impressive 358 days. Diesel was clearly seen as a safe pair of hands, and the company desperately needed more main event stars at the top of the billing to give Bret some support.
Throughout 1994 and beyond, Nash showed us all that despite his shortcomings, he could, in fact, be trusted in the ring. His matches with Shawn, Razor and Bret throughout much of WWF’s new generation era are more than passable. Perhaps the man deserves more credit for his contributions to the wrestling business, especially considering this was a time of such uncertainty that could have seen the WWF go down for good.
#10 Bret and Owen go to war
Despite the rise of Kevin Nash, Razor Ramon and Shawn Michaels, there is really only one storyline that deserves to be spoken about as 1994’s signature feud, and that is the sibling rivalry between Bret and Owen Hart.
After the initial animosity between the two at Survivor Series 1993, everything seemed to be pointing towards some kind of showdown between the two at some point in the future. While many fans simply expected a one-off match between the two on an episode of RAW or maybe even a PPV, the feud actually kept us entertained for the entire calendar year. Starting at the Royal Rumble 1994, Owen turned on his brother yet again after the pair failed to win the Tag-team Championships against the Quebecers.
The showdown between the two was then announced for Wrestlemania 10 after it was decided that Bret would need an opponent while he waited to find out who he would be facing in the main event. To this day, this match still stands as one of the greatest openers to a WWF PPV of all time. It was a technical masterpiece with expert mat-based grappling and some extra acrobatics thrown in for good measure. Owen surprisingly got the win, which paved the way for a title match between the two later on in the year.
That title match would come at Summerslam inside of a steel cage. The bout would earn the WWF its second 5-star rating of the year from Dave Meltzer, which has prompted many a debate amongst the WWE Universe as to whether this was, in fact, better than their Wrestlemania meeting. Whichever side you fall on in this debate, you wouldn’t hear too much argument from me.
Perhaps my personal favourite Owen and Bret moment, however, came at Survivor Series. Bret was involved in a programme with the returning Bob Backlund and would meet the former WWWF star for the championship.
Owen was ringside throughout the match and appeared to turn babyface after he became increasingly concerned for the fate of his big brother. Bret had been placed in the cross-face chicken-wing by Backlund with the Hitman visibly struggling to reach the ropes and break the hold. After quite a lengthy period of time, Owen began to beg his mother to throw in the towel as Bret was in danger of passing out.
This led to a highly emotional series of events which saw Owen arguing fiercely with his parents about what to do. Eventually, Bret’s mother did decide to throw the towel, ending the match and gifting the WWF Championship to Backlund. This all turned out to be part of Owen’s master plan, however, as he soon started celebrating at ringside after getting one over on his brother and costing him his belt.
While not directly involved in the match itself, Owen Hart proved here that he is one of the greatest personalities the wrestling business has ever seen. Looking back, it’s a real shame that he was never given an opportunity to hold the WWF Championship belt himself, as who knows what the King of Hearts would have been able to achieve with the spotlight well and truly on him.
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