WCW Clash of the Champions XXI (Version II)

Original Airdate: November 18, 1992

From Macon, Georgia; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura. This is a heavily papered crowd, with approx 7,500 in attendance, but under 1,000 actually paying customers

Opening Match: Brian Pillman v Brad Armstrong: Pillman is heartbroken because he's on injured and on crutches, and can't wrestle tonight. He suckers Brad into a beating with the crutch (targeting Armstrong's bad knee), but despite barely being able to stand, Brad wants to wrestle! He climbs in and starts throwing rights, but Pillman quickly clips the knee for the pin at 0:28. Not really much of a match, but it was just meant to be background for the angle anyway. And the angle was entertaining, so it's not like this was a waste of time, or anything. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Review of the Paul E. Dangerously/Madusa feud. God, Paul is an incredible heel. I love the little touch of even the Dangerous Alliance guys having to walk away as he berates Madusa until she cries on an episode of Saturday Night because he's going too far, even for them

Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton v Erik Watts and Kensuke Sasaki: Bobby starts with Erik, and tries to school him early, but Watts shrugs him off. I know this is beating a horse that's been dead for twenty five years, but God, Watts is terrible. That said, I don't think everyone would have hated him as much (let alone still be talking about him today) if he wasn't so heavily pushed while still being so green. Like, he was a very naturally gifted athlete, he just wasn't near experienced enough to be working at this level yet. Tags to Anderson and Sasaki to trade wristlocks, and Sasaki avoids getting trapped in the heel corner. In comes Eaton, so Sasaki throws a dropkick, but misses a charge in the corner, and ends up taking a pounding from Michael Hayes on the outside. Back in, the heels cut the ring in half on Sasaki, but Bobby runs into a powerslam, and Watts gets the tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Bobby comes off the top at him, but gets knocked out of the air, and Erik slaps on the STF at 6:07. Not good at all. DUD (Original rating: ½*)

Backstage, Johnny B. Badd warms up for his big Boxing Match. As does Scotty Flamingo, along with his entourage of Diamond Dallas Page and Vinnie Vegas. All three guys are totally hamming it up here, and playing for laughs. And it's tremendous. The angle that set this up is significantly less tremendous though, with Scotty knocking Badd with a 'fist loaded with a roll of coins' (see: open hand slapping him) on TV

Boxing Match: Johnny B. Badd v Scotty Flamingo: Two minute rounds here. Scotty and his crew continue to bring the funny during the entrances.
ROUND ONE: Badd dominates, but so the entourage distracts the referee, and Flamingo starts cheating outrageously to take over. Hey, in all fairness, they outright promised to cheat outrageously in the pre-match promo. If Badd and Teddy Long can't see it coming then that's their own fault. Badd manages to take control and knocks Scotty on his ass just as the round expires
ROUND TWO: The entourage load up Scotty's glove during the break, but he's still so loopy from the first round, that Badd destroys him. A distraction from Page allows Flamingo to get off a shot with the loaded glove, and there's the knockout at 3:05. One Punch Bingo Flamingo! Nothing as a match, but entertaining enough as a segment, which is fine for TV. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

We take a look back at Starrcade '91, in order to familiarize viewers with the Lethal Lottery concept

In the ring, Jesse Ventura and Missy Hyatt do a drawing for the first Lethal Lottery match at Starrcade. Missy's looking a bit... bloated... this week

Slam Jam album promo. Just in time for Christmas! I’d say ‘holidays,’ but the Jews have suffered enough, and shouldn’t have to endure Don’t Step to Ron

Handicap Match: Ron Simmons and 2 Cold Scorpio v Cactus Jack, Barbarian, and Tony Atlas: This is Scorpio's debut, and he just shows up with Simmons, with no back story or even a name given. He makes his mark right away with a tope suicida onto all the heels, and the dust settles on Ron and Barbarian to start. Simmons hits a quick hiptoss, so the other heels come in, but Ron cleans house with ease. Things settle back down with Scorpio and Cactus in, but the poor announcers still don't know this guys name - which must have been fun for them to work around. Scorpio quickly botches a flying moonsault press (with Jack selling it anyway despite only the tips of Scorpio's toes connecting), and Scorpio snapmares him over for two. Dropkick follows, then a tag back to Ron. He steps to Cactus with some right hands, and a two-handed bulldog follows, but a dropkick misses. Tag to Barbarian with a pair of elbowdrops for two, then Atlas tags in to help cut the ring in half. Jack misses a 2^nd rope flying elbowdrop to allow the hot tag to Scorpio, and Roseanne Barr the door! The heels use their numbers advantage to their... advantage... by isolating Ron, but Scorpio comes in with a wild 450 splash on Atlas for the pin at 5:57! The match was nothing, and Scorpio messed up a bunch of his stuff, but he wowed them in the end, and that's all anyone remembered. Especially because he didn't dare bring in deus ex machina! Afterwards, Ron stops by the announce table to formally introduce his partner as 2 Cold Scorpio. Well, as formally as one can introduce someone named '2 Cold Scorpio,' I suppose. It's not exactly a good John Houseman name. ½* (Original rating: ½*)

And now, for something really special: a music video look at the new tag team of Tom Zenk and Johnny Gunn going shopping for clothes! And not just any clothes! Suits! The fanciest type of clothes there is!

Backstage, Tony Schiavone talks to Rick Rude about physical gratification

Slam Jam album promo

We take a look at the current standings of the Jesse Ventura Invitational Strongest Arm Challenge tournament taking place on Worldwide

Paul E. Dangerously wants you to know that he was born this way. Noted

Intergender Match: Paul E. Dangerously v Madusa: Paul knocks her out with his cell phone during the entrances, but as he runs her down verbally he comes to realize that it's actually some jobber in disguise - allowing the real Madusa to attack him from behind! She hits a bodyslam and unloads with kicks in the corner until Paul bails to the floor - the crowd strongly behind her, and way into this. Just shows what a strong and effective heel Paul was. He decides to leave altogether, but Madusa drags him back to the ring, so Michael Hayes takes a cheap shot. That allows Paul to turn the tide, and he actually delivers a flying axehandle. Madusa shrugs it off as he gloats, however, and hits a 2^nd rope flying dropkick. She rips Paul's pants off until he bails again, but this time the time limit has expired anyway at 5:00. Not a good wrestling match, but it wasn't really meant to be one. Entertaining for what it was, and what it was meant to be. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Slam Jam album promo

We take a look back at the Quarterfinal round of the King of Cable tournament

Backstage, Big Van Vader tries out for the LA Raiders

King of Cable Tournament Semifinal Match: Rick Rude v Sting: Rude is the WCW United States Champion here, but this is a non-title tournament match. Larry Zbyszko, Ole Anderson, and Hiro Matsuda act as ringside judges. Two of those seem like giant conflicts of interest. Rude goes right to work with a series of turnbuckle smashes, but Sting fires back with a pop-up flapjack. Looked like they were going for a gutbuster there, but mistimed it. And, indeed, Sting then whips him into the ropes and hits a pop-up gutbuster. Sting hammers the midsection with kicks before hitting a gourdbuster for two, then goes back to the well with a second gourdbuster. More abuse to the gut, and he grounds Ravishing Rick in a reverse chinlock. This is an interesting dynamic, with Sting wrestling more like a heel than a babyface here, and displaying a lot more psychology than usual. Abdominal stretch punishes Rude, but he manages a hiptoss to escape, and then goes to the eyes to buy a minute to recover. He hammers Sting with forearms and turnbuckle smashes, but Sting counters a suplex with a forward version across the top rope - dropping Rude right on his abdomen! That leaves Rude hanging there for Sting to punish the midsection with more kicks, until Rick falls to the outside. Sting follows for a Stinger Splash against the guardrail, but Rick moves, and hits a flying forearm smash on the way back in. Bodyslam sets up a pointed elbowdrop for two, and Rude applies his own reverse chinlock. That's enough to wear Sting down so Rude can hit a hanging vertical suplex, but the abdomen is still battered, and by the time Rick can follow-up, it's not even worth covering. He goes to a bodyslam instead, then grounds Sting with another reverse chinlock before he gets into trouble. See, holds like this are fine when there's psychology behind them, and they aren't simply restholds. Sting escapes anyway, and starts mounting a comeback, but the back gives out as he tries a slam, and Rude topples him for two. That's another thing - the hold actually wore Sting down and built to another spot, while a basic resthold just kills time. Smelling blood, Rude zeroes in on the back with a series of corner whips, as we're alerted that five minutes remain on the clock. Rick keeps after the back with a bearhug, but Sting fights free, and tries a sleeper - Rude able to escape with a jawbreaker. He goes up, but Sting manages to slam him off the top - Rick landing right on his stomach! Sting keeps on him with both versions of the atomic drop to setup a one-handed bulldog for two, and a flying bodypress is worth two! Another one, but Rude gutpunches him out of the air to setup the Rude Awakening! Unfortunately, the bad part prevents him from executing it, and Sting hits a Stinger Splash to setup the Scorpion Deathlock! He gets it in, but the time limit expires at 20:00 before Rude can submit! That leaves it to judge's decision, and Sting advances two votes to one. A little on the slow side at points, and a decisive finish would have been nice, but this was a great match with lots of psychology. I grossly underrated this one the first time out. *** ¾ (Original rating: * ½)

Yet another Slam Jam album promo

Main Event: NWA & WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham v Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas: Dustin starts with Shane, and an early criss cross goes Douglas' way with an inside cradle. Hiptoss looks to follow, but Rhodes counters with a backslide for two, and both guys back off. They trade wristlocks for a bit to feel each other out, and another criss cross goes Dustin's way with a schoolboy for two, but both guys throw dropkicks at the same time for a stalemate. That leads to tags all around, and Barry gets into a reversal sequence with Ricky that ends in both men tumbling out of the ring. That nearly breaks down into a slugfest, but their respective partners intervene. Back in, they trade chops, which Steamboat gets the better of (no shit!), and he hits an atomic drop. Over to Shane for a tandem backelbow for two, and they work Barry over by utilizing quick tags. Douglas hits a vertical suplex for two, and Steamboat hits a savate kick for two, but Shane misses a bodypress during a criss cross - crashing into the ropes! That allows the tag to Dustin for a tandem dropkick for two, and now the champions cut the ring in half with quick tags. A suplex/elbowdrop combo gets two, and a tandem clothesline gets two. They work Shane over, with Windham delivering a lot of punishment, but Rhodes not quite holding up his end. Shane manages to get away from Dustin long enough to tag, and Steamboat blitzes him with multiple bodypresses. Rhodes fires back with an inside cradle for two, and a jumping shoulderblock gets two. Criss cross ends in Steamboat trying a leapfrog but getting (accidentally) head butted in the groin by the champion! That leaves the Dragon in a heap, and Barry is adamant that Dustin finish him off, but Rhodes refuses to capitalize. Windham tags himself in to get it done, but an elbowdrop only gets two by the time he gets in. Windham aggravates the injury with an inverted atomic drop, as Dustin pleads with him to back off and let Ricky compose himself. Barry responds with another inverted atomic drop and a lariat, so now Rhodes comes in and physically intervenes. That leads to Barry slapping him around, and Douglas sneaks in with a belly-to-belly suplex on Windham at 15:54! Good tag action here, with a memorable angle, and lots of subtle foreshadowing throughout. And then afterwards, Windham turns heel - kicking the crap out of Dustin for being soft. Of course, half the crowd agrees with him, and loudly cheers the beat down, but still. *** ¼ (Original rating: ** ½)

Backstage, the new tag champions celebrate their victory, but not for long, as a pissed off Barry Windham shows up and kicks the shit out of them both

BUExperience: A really good episode, with two strong wrestling efforts on top, and lots of entertaining stuff underneath thanks to the likes of Scotty Flamingo’s entourage, Paul E’s antics with Madusa, and Brian Pillman. Plus, add in Scorpio’s debut, and a badass Windham turn, and you’ve got a total winner.