WCW Clash of the Champions XXII (Version II)

Original Airdate: January 13, 1993

From Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura

Tony Schiavone and Bill Watts open the show, with Watts announcing that Van Hammer is hurt and won't be here, and that son Erik Watts has been suspended due to a parking lot brawl with Arn Anderson. Backstage, Larry Zbyszko is with Erik Watts to get his reaction. He is angry

Opening Match: Cactus Jack v Johnny B. Badd: Badd replaces Erik Watts, following the suspension. I like that they've now added musical notes to Badd's gear. I get that the character was a take on Little Richard, but were they actually trying to get people to think is WAS Little Richard, or something? I bet they brought the actual Little Richard in for WrestleMania X just to dispel that very notion. That was a serious blow to WCW, and it wasn't until they were able to get Hulk Hogan in later that year that they were able to recover. I can't tell you how many lunch table conversations my friends and I had about how shitty WCW was in our eyes after it was exposed that the real Little Richard was a WWF guy. Badd tries to wrestle him early on, but Cactus wants to brawl, so Johnny starts throwing jabs to keep him back. Jack throws a knee and chokes him in the corner, but a charge misses, and Badd schoolboys him for two. Dropkick and an armdrag leave Cactus in an armbar, but he quickly slugs free. Turnbuckle smash, but Badd reverses, and Johnny hooks an inside cradle for two. Backelbow sets up the flying sunset flip, but Cactus dodges, and drops an elbow on Badd at 2:53. Too short to really go anywhere, but not bad. ¾* (Original rating: ¼*)

Tony Schiavone announces that Great Muta has defeated Masahiro Chono to win the NWA World Title in Japan. That match was, of course, a tad better than their Starrcade suck fest. Just a tad

2 Cold Scorpio vignette, as some kids playing basketball accidentally land the ball through the sunroof of his limo, which pisses off the Funkettes he has riding with him, and prompts a speech about the importance of education and dancing. I love how the video package of him doing moves includes multiple botches. This was some over the top early 90s cheese, and I love it. It's the kind of thing that works as goofy nostalgia today, but I can't imagine it had the desired effect in 1993

2 Cold Scorpio v Scotty Flamingo: Feeling out process to start, and Scorpio wastes absolutely no time starting to botch things, including a dropkick that would make even Erik Watts blush. Scotty, bless his heart, sells all of it to death anyway, and ends up on the floor for Scorpio to dive after. Back in, Flamingo is able to throw his own dropkick to knock Scorpio back to the outside, and he dives after him with a plancha. In again, Scorpio hooks an inside cradle for two, so Scotty puts the boots to him, and hits a vertical suplex for two. Chinlock, but Scorpio escapes, and hiptosses him to setup a dropkick. At least he actually got off the ground on that one. Bodyslam sets up a flying twisting splash for two, but a stinger splash misses, and Scotty schoolboys him for two. Clothesline gets two, so Scorpio throws an ugly leg lariat to setup a corkscrew legdrop, and the 450 Splash finishes at 4:14 - drawing a big pop for the finish. Lots of points for innovation here, and lots of deductions for the execution. It wasn’t boring, though. * (Original rating: ¼*)

We take a look back at Main Event on January 10, where Big Van Vader helped Paul Orndorff and Harley Race beat Cactus Jack down, so Jack returned later in the show with a shovel to beat the shit out of all three of them! The crowd reactions for Jack both in the video and in his earlier match were pretty wild

Slam Jam album promo. I guess they had a lot of inventory left over from the Holidays

Brad Armstrong v Chris Benoit: After earlier appearances in tag teams, this is Benoit's singles debut in WCW. The announcers refer to Armstrong as 'one of the best EVER in WCW' before the match, which is laughable. Not that he isn't a great wrestler, but that might be overstating the case a bit for a guy who's been more or less JTTS for the majority of his run. Benoit's dressed like he's trying out for an 80s hair metal cover band, or something. Feeling out process to start, with lots of fast criss crossing and reversals. Armstrong takes control first by blocking a powerbomb and armdragging Chris into an armbar, but Chris powers out of a knucklelock, so Brad northern lights suplexes him back into an armbar. They trade hammerlocks, with Benoit in control, so Brad dumps him to the outside on the escape. Back in, they trade wristlocks again, and Benoit tries to do the same trick by dumping Armstrong on the escape, but Brad blocks, and armdrags him back into another armbar. These mat sequences are nicely done, but the action needs to pick up a bit here. Chris drops him front-first across the top rope following another reversal sequence, which leaves Brad on the apron for Benoit to nail with a wild springboard clothesline! He leaves Armstrong to take the count, but Brad beats it in, so Chris drills him with a clothesline, and adds a crisp snap suplex for two. Jesse's already on board with Benoit, not surprisingly. Brad tries fighting back, but a slugfest goes badly, and Chris hits a backbreaker. Bodyslam sets up a flying headbutt, but Brad rolls out of the way, and that's enough to turn the tide. Armstrong with a swinging neckbreaker and an elbowdrop for two, but Chris counters a whip into the ropes with a bridging dragon suplex at 9:15. Good stuff, with crisp execution throughout. ** ¾ (Original rating: *)

Rock 'n' Roll Express video package, highlighting their run in Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and feud with the Heavenly Bodies ahead of their promotion crossover match scheduled for SuperBrawl III

Arm Wrestling Match: Vinnie Vegas v Tony Atlas: Jesse Ventura hosts, with the angle here being that Vinnie wants to do it left handed. Atlas agrees, and Vegas wins. Well, Vegas usually does

Tom Zenk and Johnny Gunn v The Wrecking Crew: This is the Crew's debut. Zenk starts with Rage, as Ventura gets into a funny analysis of ugly wrestlers versus pretty boy wrestlers. Tom holds onto a side-headlock, so Rage tries a press-slam, but Zenk blocks. He tries a rollup, but Tom blocks, and hits a flying bodypress for two. Dropkick sends Rage to the outside, so Fury comes in without a tag, but Zenk dispatches him as well, and Gunn dives onto the Crew with a tope suicida! Dust settles on Gunn hitting a flying axehandle on Rage, so the Crew try a double team, but it backfires, and Gunn schoolboys for two. Tag to Fury, but he walks right into an armdrag, so he throws a clothesline to shake Johnny off. Backbreaker follows, but Gunn counters a backdrop with a facebuster, and tags Tom in to hit a hiptoss. Fury fires back with a gutwrench slam and a sidewalk slam, and Rage tags in with a slam of his own. The Crew finally take control and cut the ring in half on Zenk, but it lasts all of a minute before Tom manages to superkick Fury out of the air during a flying axehandle attempt, and get the tag off to Johnny. Gunn comes in hot, but walks into a cheap shot, and a powerbomb/flying elbowsmash combo finishes at 6:07. The Crew looked pretty horrible, with poor timing throughout, but it was well paced, and the faces did their best to carry it. * ½ (Original rating: ¼*)

Backstage, Larry Zbyszko catches up to tonight’s tag title challengers, Steve Austin and Brian Pillman. They're not quite the Hollywood Blondes yet, though

Slam Jam album promo

Tony Schiavone brings Sting out to discuss Big Van Vader's challenge for a White Castle of Fear match at SuperBrawl III. There's a weird smudge on the lens during all these Schiavone segments tonight, which makes me constantly think there's a bug on my screen every time he's on. Backstage, Harley Race and his crew respond to Sting by firing Barbarian. Barbarian's hilarious 'NOOOOOOOOOO!' reaction is one of the most unintentionally hilarious things I've ever seen, and he tries to choke Harley down, but Vader, Barry Windham, and Paul Orndorff put a stop to that. Jesse Ventura sums up what we're all thinking by saying that he has no idea that it going on here

Long video package highlighting the first two SuperBrawl pay per views. How is showing a bunch of guys who are no longer with the promotion (Ric Flair, Lex Luger, The Steiner Brothers, and others) in action supposed to make me want to buy this years show?

Backstage, NWA & WCW World Tag Team Champions Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas want you to smell their fingers

NWA & WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas v Steve Austin and Brian Pillman: Really long time between matches here, was there an intermission, or something? I always liked how the champions carried out two sets of belts during this period, instead of just making a unified one. Which was wise in hindsight, given how long the promotional partnership lasted anyway. Steamboat starts with Austin, and a fast criss cross ends in the Dragon hitting a bodypress for two, so Brian comes in without a tag. That brings Shane in to cut off the interference, and the champs clean house. Dust settles back on Ricky and Steve, and Austin takes a cheap shot to allow the tag to Pillman. Brian throws chops in the corner, but walks into a hiptoss, and Ricky dropkicks him into some abuse from Douglas on the apron. Steamboat with an armdrag down into an armbar, then the tag to Shane for a flying elbowsmash. The champs take turns working Pillman's arms through a series of quick tags, so Brian fakes twisting his ankle during a criss cross with Shane to sucker him into a slingshot shoulderblock - only for Douglas to catch him in a powerslam for two! Tag to Austin, but Shane counters a charge with a drop-toehold, and he works a hammerlock on his challenger, as the announcers get into a weird conversation about Rush Limbaugh, and whether he's a WCW fan or not. I know they didn't like working with each other, but I've always had a soft spot for Ross and Ventura as a broadcast team. Shane with a sunset flip for two, which triggers a pinfall reversal sequence that ends in Douglas hitting a nice reverse springboard bodyblock for two. That spot requires impeccable timing, and they pulled it off nicely. Tag to Steamboat, with Ricky press-slamming Douglas onto Austin, and then press-slamming an incoming Pillman onto Steve as well! He works a wristlock, but Austin whips him into a cheap shot from Pillman to escape, and Steve capitalizes with a side suplex. Tag to Brian for a bodyslam for two, and he tosses the Dragon over the top for Austin to bodyslam on the floor! Douglas rushes over for the save, but the damage is done, and the challengers cut the ring in half on the Dragon. Steamboat times his hope spots perfectly as he gets worked over, until Brian accidentally hits Steve with the Air Pillman, and Ricky is able to dive onto both with a flying tomahawk chop. Even still, Pillman cuts off the tag, and Ricky is forced to reverse a side suplex before he can finally reach Shane! Douglas comes in hot, and Roseanne Barr the door! Belly to belly suplex hits on Pillman, but Austin comes off the top to save, and puts Brian into a pinning position - Douglas able to kick out at two anyway! Shane tries a rollup, so Steve comes in with one of the title belts to save - only this time the referee sees him, and that's a DQ at 13:44! Awesome match! I short changed this one by a full star the first time around, shame on me. All action, and GOOD action at that! It sure didn't take long for Austin and Pillman to find themselves as a team, did it? **** ¼ (Original rating: *** ¼)

We take a look back to Big Van Vader beating Ron Simmons for the WCW World Title on December 30 in Baltimore, followed by Vader and Harley Race coming out to talk about it in the ring with Jesse. That draws Simmons out for a brawl, but he ends up getting his ass handed to him so badly that he can't compete in the main event. They probably should have run this segment before the tag match to build more suspense

Main Event: Handicap Thundercage Match: Sting and Dustin Rhodes v Big Van Vader, Barry Windham, and Paul Orndorff: This was originally scheduled as Sting, Rhodes, Ron Simmons, and Van Hammer against Vader, Windham, Barbarian, and Rick Rude, but a slew of changes (both legit and worked injuries, nonsensical kayfabe firings) leave us with this instead. Big brawl to start, of course. The referee is actually enforcing tags here, which I didn't realize. Dust settles on Rhodes and Windham to start, and Dustin hits a backdrop, but takes a bodyslam. Barry tries an elbowdrop follow-up, but Rhodes dodges, and unloads a ten-punch. Dustin with a lariat, and he blind tags to Sting during a criss cross - Stinger coming in with a two-handed bulldog and a press-slam. Tag to Vader, and I'm half surprised Sting doesn't have a breakdown and piss himself at the mere memory of the beating he took at Starrcade. They slug it out, and Sting hits an inverted atomic drop, followed by a DDT. Stinger Splash connects, but Vader doesn't go down, so Sting helps him with a flurry of punches until he can't stand! That brings Paul and Barry in, but Sting fights them off, and a cross corner whip actually sees Vader flipping onto the apron like Ric Flair! He gets to the top and dives at Sting with a flying bodyblock, and a bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope flying splash, but Sting moves! Pair of big boots and a clothesline send Vader over the top, but Orndorff sneaks in with a German suplex before Sting can do anything else. The heels cut the ring in half on Sting, but he manages to knock Barry down off the top to block a superplex, and get the tag to Dustin! Rhodes comes in hot on the entire heel team, when suddenly Cactus Jack runs down with a pair of bolt cutters, and decides to join the match! He uses the weapon to attack the heel team, and the referee is surprisingly cool with it all. I mean, I know it's technically no DQ, but he was strictly enforcing tags a minute ago, so you'd think he'd have a bit more of a problem with a guy who wasn't even one of the original eight participants suddenly running in with a sharp object. But no. Jack saves Rhodes from taking a piledriver from Orndorff, and scores the pinfall on Paul himself at 11:23. Well, this is the same promotion that once let Ric Flair take a pinfall in a match between Hulk Hogan and Vader, so that shouldn't be entirely surprising, I suppose. The cage played absolutely no part in this. ** (Original rating: * ¾)

BUExperience: Quite the good episode, with one awesome tag match carrying the workrate side, and lots of stuff going on. This was well booked and entertaining TV.