WCW Clash of the Champions XXIX (Version II)

Original Airdate: November 16, 1994

From Jacksonville, Florida; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

Colonel Robert Parker stops by to inform us that he has a signed contract for Arn Anderson and Bunkhouse Buck to face the winner of tonight's tag title match for the belts this coming weekend

Opening WCW World Tag Team Title v Mask Match: Pretty Wonderful v Stars and Stripes: People think the WWE is annoying for running the same matches over and over and over again these days, but they ain't got nothing on WCW in 1994. The building is actually quite empty here, and they do a terrible job of disguising it, with lots of darkened sections in full view of the camera. The champs beat on Marcus Bagwell to start, but he manages to fight Paul Roma off during an exchange, and a dropkick knocks him to the outside. That brings Paul Orndorff in without a tag, but Patriot cuts him off, and the challengers clean house - as Bobby Heenan speculates that masked Patriot may be revealed as Al Gore tonight. Ha, yeah... someone in the White House involved in pro-wrestling! That'll be the day! Dust settles on Orndorff and Patriot, and Orndorff throws a knee to win a criss cross, then passes to Roma for a three-alarm no-release backbreaker, followed by a flying fistdrop for two. Despite his reputation over the years, Roma had some skills. Patriot manages a Thesz-press for two, and he tags out - Bagwell coming off the top with a flying axehandle. Roma responds by dumping him over the top with a hotshot, and Orndorff wastes no time kicking the crap out of him on the floor. Back in, Pretty Wonderful cut the ring in half, but Patriot gets tired of all the double teams, and comes in without a tag. Roma quickly dumps him, and the champs go for the kill with a vertical suplex/flying splash combo, but Patriot trips up Roma before he can dive, and since Orndorff is still holding Bagwell on the mat following the suplex, the referee starts counting shoulders - Marcus lifting his to score the fluke-like pin at 9:20! Match was just okay, but I dug that unique finish! ** (Original rating: *)

WCW Television Title Match: Johnny B. Badd v Honky Tonk Man: Feeling out process to start, with Badd dominating, as some fan in the front row makes a spectacle (see also: ass) of himself with aggressive taunts. Badd with an atomic drop, and he kicks things into high gear by messing up Honky's hair! Honky is so pissed he pulls down his strap! Honky pounds Johnny down, and a bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope flying fistdrop for two. Chinlock, but Johnny escapes, so Honky goes for the Shake, Rattle, and Roll, but Badd backdrops his way out of it. Johnny starts mounting a comeback, and delivers a kneelift for two, but the referee gets bumped as he goes for the follow-up. That allows Honky to grab his trusty guitar, and he blasts Badd with it for the DQ at 6:13, setting up the Starrcade blow off that never happened. ½* (Original rating: ¼*)

The Three Faces of Fear promise us pain and suffering. Truth in advertising

The Nasty Boys v Harlem Heat: The Nasties knock 'em around to start, and isolate Stevie Ray for some abuse - including Jerry Sags hitting the ugliest two-handed bulldog maybe ever. The Boys work Stevie's leg, but Brian Knobbs gets blasted with a kick while working a toehold, and he ends up on the outside. That allows Booker T to tag a cheap shot on the floor, and the Heat cut the ring in half on Knobbs. Booker ends up missing a 2^nd rope flying fistdrop to allow the tag back to Sags, and Roseanne Barr the door! Harlem Heat are in trouble, so they pull out a cell phone to try and get advice from a mystery person - which had been a developing angle on the weekly shows at this point. That person is then revealed as Sherri, when she suddenly makes her way out. That distracts the Nasties, and Booker dives onto Sags from the top rope to allow Stevie the pin at 10:00. These two teams paired against each other put me to sleep so, so many times as a kid. They were better than warm milk. Or, warm chocolate milk, in this case. ¼* (Original rating: ¼*)

Vader v Dustin Rhodes: Bobby tries to claim that this is Harley Race's revenge for Dusty Rhodes beating him for the NWA World Title in '79 and '81 - which seems like quite a stretch. Vader overpowers him in the early going, so Rhodes spears him down for some mounted punches - getting a big pop in the process! Criss cross ends in Dustin hitting a bodypress for two, and a clothesline sends the big man over the top. Rhodes follows to slug at Vader on the outside, and he takes out Race for good measure! I'm sure that's some form of revenge for something that happened when Dustin was in elementary school. Why not, right? Harley probably didn't give out good Halloween candy, or something. Back inside, Rhodes pounds the big man down in the corner, and drops him with a vertical suplex, so Vader bails. In, Rhodes tries to take him down again, but Vader suddenly remembers that he's, oh yeah, massive, and he knocks Dustin's block off. Vader unloads in the corner, but an avalanche misses, and Rhodes schoolboys him for two. Vader responds by sending him flipping through the air with a clothesline, and he absolutely tees off on the poor kid in the corner. Avalanche, but Rhodes catches him in powerslam to counter, so Vader tries a seated senton splash, but Dustin dodges. Seated clothesline sets up some mounted punches, but the Bulldog is countered when Vader drops him over the top to the outside! Rhodes beats the count, so Vader welcomes him back in with a clothesline, and he sticks the landing on the Vaderbomb, but pulls Rhodes up at two! He wants another Vaderbomb, but it only gets two, so he goes to town in the corner again. Slam sets up a 2^nd rope flying splash, but Dustin catches him in a powerslam on the way down, and he starts mounting a comeback. Dustin with a flying clothesline for two, followed by a wild vertical superplex for two. Interesting execution on that one. Bulldog looks to finish, but Race is coming in, and that distracts Rhodes enough that he lets off the cover. That allows Vader to wallop him, and a wheelbarrow facebuster finishes at 11:48. Afterwards, Vader keeps beating on him, but Jim Duggan runs in to make the save. These two had some serious chemistry here. *** ¼ (Original rating: ** ½)

Backstage, Hulk Hogan, Sting, and Dave Sullivan have color coordinated outfits, brother! Do the Three Faces of Fear have color coordinated outfits? That's not rhetorical. I'm really asking. If not, I think they should consider it

WCW United States Title Match: Jim Duggan v Steve Austin: Duggan knocks him around to start, so Austin immediately starts complaining of a hair pull. Well, he wouldn't have that problem for much longer. Duggan professes innocence, but it doesn't matter anyway, as here comes Vader to attack as payback from the previous match, and that's a DQ at 1:00. Austin continues to be booked like a total joke. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Main Event: Six-Man Tag Team Match: Hulk Hogan, Sting, and Dave Sullivan v Butcher, Kevin Sullivan, and Avalanche: Mr. T acts as the special guest referee for this one. For the record, the Three Faces of Fear are not color coordinated here. Dave forces brother Kevin to start with Hogan, and Hulk beats on him in the corner, then unloads turnbuckle smashes. Over to Sting for a pair of bodyslams and an elbowdrop, followed by a dropkick. Back to Hogan to hammer Kevin in the corner again, but this time Butcher comes in without a tag to save. That allows Kevin to put the boots to the Hulkster, so Dave comes in, but Mr. T intervenes. That allows Avalanche to sneak in, and the end result is poor Dave taking a splash, and having to be helped to the back by Jimmy Hart. That leaves Hogan and Sting alone, and the Three Faces of Fear cut the ring in half on Hulk. Avalanche misses a splash to allow the hot tag to Sting, and Roseanne Barr the door! Pair of Stinger Splashes on Avalanche, but he won't go down, so Sting tries to throw Sullivan at him! Avalanche catches him, however, and rams Sting WITH Sullivan as a weapon, and Kevin capitalizes with a flying kneedrop. The Faces go to work on Sting, but he manages to slam Sullivan off the top rope, and there's the tag back to the Hulkster. He comes in hot on all three heels, and Roseanne Barr the door again, babe! Kevin steals Hart's megaphone to try and tee off on Hogan, but it backfires, and Hulk pins him at 11:04. He could have at least done the job to Butcher to set up Starrcade, you'd think. The Faces make up for it with a beat down afterwards, at least. The match was total trash, as Hogan without Flair to mooch workrate off of is pretty shitty at this stage, and Sting was on the apron for most of the match. Though, really, Hulk's three opponents in this feud are hardly the best guys to have a match with, with all three well past their primes by late 1994. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)


BUExperience: Not a good episode in the least. Vader/Rhodes is worth stopping by for, but everything else is skippable, as the worst impulses of the Hulkamania era start to dominate the programming