WCW Saturday Night (January 29, 1994)

 

Original Airdate: January 29, 1994 (taped January 10)

From Atlanta, Georgia; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

Pretty Wonderful v Terry Taylor and Erik Watts: Paul Roma starts with Erik, and Paul suckers him into a punch, then adds a series of them. Watts forces a criss cross, and manages a drop-toehold into an STF, but Paul Orndorff helps Roma make the ropes. Tag to Orndorff, but Watts stays on his feet, and gets a tag off. Taylor with a takedown, but Orndorff goes to the eyes, and tags out. Roma runs right into a hiptoss on his way in, allowing Watts to tag in and hold an armbar. Back to Taylor for a wristlock, but Roma forces a criss cross, only to get caught in a sitout gutwrench powerbomb for two. Tag to Orndorff, and Orndorff is sick of these uppity jobbers, and kicks the shit out of Taylor. A pointed elbowdrop finds its mark, and Pretty Wonderful turn the tide, cutting the ring in half on Terry. Taylor fights them off and makes the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Assassin loads Orndorff’s kneepad up during the chaos, and Orndorff plants it into the side of Erik’s head at 6:43. Basic, but solid. ¾*

Sting, Dustin Rhodes, and Brian Pillman are ready for six-man action later

Steve Austin v Brady Boone: The WCW United States title is not on the line. Boone botches a sunset cradle out of the corner here, but Austin is a total pro, and immediately covers it up. I think he might have a real future, this Steve kid. Austin with a hotshot at 4:39, which took two tries, because Boone fucked that up too. DUD

Gene Okerlund is in the studio for the SuperBrawl IV Control Center

SuperBrawl IV ad

Okerlund catches up with Steve Austin and Colonel Robert Parker, and they’re doing everything they can to prevent Parker from having to wear the chicken suit after his loss to Brian Pillman 

Big Van Vader v Chris Nelson: Vader is full of piss and vinegar this week, as he gears up for the rematch with Ric Flair at SuperBrawl, and poor Nelson is the designated punching bag. Vader with the powerbomb at 2:10. Afterwards, Okerlund swings by, and Vader full on threatens to beat Flair ‘to death’ at SuperBrawl. Talk about a bait and switch. DUD

Gene Okerlund hosts a press conference ahead of SuperBrawl. He introduces Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel, who announces that WCW cannot sanction the rematch between Flair and Vader in the cage, since clearly Ric is in severe danger. The promotion will sanction it, but not until a later date, likely in the spring, when Flair has had more time to fully recuperate from Starrcade. That causes Vader to storm in, and he clears all the press out, and completely breaks up the conference, to the point that Bockwinkel needs to fine him $25,000. This was a strong segment

WCW Hotline ad

WCW Magazine ad

Six-Man Tag Team Match: Sting, Dustin Rhodes, and Brian Pillman v Equalizer and Harlem Heat: Rhodes starts with Equalizer, and they feel each other out, dominated by Dustin. Tags to Pillman and Kane, and Brian gets him down in an armbar. Kane fights to a vertical base, and they criss cross, with Sting catching a blind tag. Kane keeps running the ropes like an idiot, but still manages to pound Sting into the corner, despite being a dummy. A cross corner whip gets reversed, allowing Sting a backdrop on the rebound, and he passes to Rhodes for a hammerlock. Kane throws an elbow to escape, and he passes to Kole, but Kole runs right into a hiptoss. The babyfaces control Kole with quick tags, until Pillman gets into trouble, and Kane tags in. He knocks Brian around a bit, but loses an exchange in the corner, and ends up in an armbar. The babyfaces keep it going on Kane, working his arm, and man, we’re over eleven minutes into this match, is there going to be a heat segment here? I’m all for non-formula matches, but so far this is just the babyfaces armbarring different heels. It’s lively enough through the use of quick tags, but doesn’t really have any direction. Kane manages to fight Pillman off long enough to tag Equalizer, but Equalizer loses a criss cross to a drop-toehold, and Pillman tags Sting. He tries for the scorpion deathlock, but Equalizer is able to take Kole before Sting can apply the hold. Kole hammers Sting down, but a tag to Kane ends in Sting hiptossing him. Sting adds a bodyslam, but misses a legdrop, and Kole tags back in to go back to pounding Sting. A criss cross ends in both guys colliding, but both pop back up. Sting with a clothesline for two, so Kane comes in without a tag, but here’s Pillman to cut him off. He covers Kole, but Equalizer saves, and the heels take control on Pillman. They work him over, until he’s able to get a hot tag off to Rhodes, and Dustin runs wild on Equalizer. A jumping clothesline looks to finish, but Kane saves, and Roseanne Barr the door, we’ve got a kettle on! Sting hits Equalizer with a Stinger splash, setting up a missile dropkick from Brian, and a bulldog from Rhodes to end it at 17:13. This was solid, but too long for what it was. The entire first act needed to be significantly shorter, it would have made this work far better. The finishing sequence was great, though. *

Backstage, Colonel Parker attempts to leave the building without living up to his end of the bargain, but gets cut off by Boss

Jungle Jim Steele v Bob Cook: A quickie here, with Steele hitting a Thesz press at 0:44. Don’t tell me they had actual hopes for Steele. DUD

Missy Hyatt Calendar ad. “Available for a limited time!” Yeah, I’ll say, considering she’d be out of the promotion within literal days

Okerlund brings Brian Pillman out to get the chicken suit deal on, but before Parker can finish making his entrance, Tex Slazenger and Shanghai Pierce attack him. Pillman gets beat down, and they decide to put him in the suit, but a bunch of babyfaces run out to put a stop to it. They chase Austin, Tex, and Shanghai off, and now Parker is cornered. I love how Bobby casually slips ‘Big Boss Man,’ and they don’t even bother editing it out of this taped show. No wonder they got into legal trouble. So, Parker puts on the chicken suit, and everyone laughs at him. Nothing crazy, but it was nice to see the stipulation fulfilled, and the heel get his just desserts. After the success of this, no wonder Pillman felt bold enough to agree to the dress stipulation in 1997. Went to the well once too often

Boss v Bobby Eaton: From Atlanta on January 11. Kind of fun, considering how Boss got his start back in JCP. More fun with Heenan here as well, as he promises to go on the Hotline, and tell everyone the ‘real reason’ he left the World Wrestling Federation - which he identifies by name. “Well, we look forward to that,” notes Tony. Posturing to start, until Eaton manages to tag him with a fist. It spills to the outside, where Bobby’s luck runs out through another slugfest, and he eats the post. Inside, that gets Boss two, and he keeps Eaton grounded in a hammerlock from there. Boss cradles through the hold for two, so Eaton goes to the eyes, but Boss starts throwing fists again. A series of them rattle Bobby so badly that he ends up on the top turnbuckle, and Boss brings him down for two. Boss goes to a keylock from there, but Eaton gets free, and throws an axehandle. Irish whip, but Boss reverses, and catches him with a scrapbuster at 6:30. Not a lot of great work, but it succeeded due to solid storytelling. Afterwards, Boss pays Okerlund a visit, promising to continue to stand for law, order, and justice in WCW. Yeah, about that. ¾*

Johnny B. Badd v Shanghai Pierce: From Atlanta on January 11. If Pierce loses, he must unmask. Badd goes for the mask right away, which seems like a dumb move, considering Pierce has already put the mask on the line. Badd appears to be wearing the exact gear that inspired his action figure here. Badd takes him down in a cross-armbreaker, but Pierce escapes, so Badd uses an armdrag into an armbar. Badd works that for a good while, until Pierce fights out, and grabs a chinlock. Meanwhile, Bobby continues to push his big WWF bombshell for the Hotline. I feel bad for the people who dropped money to hear something along the lines of ‘he didn’t want to travel so much.’ Pierce with a snapmare for two, and a hanging vertical suplex is worth two. Piledriver, but Badd backdrops to block, so Pierce clobbers him with a clothesline for two. Pierce throws a big boot for two, but Badd goes on the comeback trail. A kneelift gets him two, so Pierce goes to the eyes. He tries a powerbomb, but Badd counters to a rana at 12:12. And he’s immediately unmasked, as they pay off another stipulation! Good for them, you’d think they’d pull some bullshit. The match was mostly terrible, though. ¼*

SuperBrawl IV ad, still hyping the Thundercage main event, despite literally saying that would not happen earlier in this show

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Nasty Boys v 2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell: From Atlanta on January 11. Jerry Sags and Scorpio start, and Scorpio uses speed to dominate. A 2nd rope bodypress gets two, so he uses a dropkick and a bodyslam to set up a standing moonsault, but Sags moves. Tag to Brian Knobbs, so Scorpio tries a leg-feed enzuigiri, but misses. Knobbs tries an elbowdrop, but that misses, and Scorpio spinkicks him for two. A dropkick and a drop-toehold leave Knobbs in an armbar, and Scorpio tags out to allow Bagwell an armbar of his own. Bagwell with a cross corner whip and a dropkick on the rebound, then an armdrag into an armbar. Back to Scorpio, as the babyfaces work on Brian’s arm. A tandem bulldog gets them two, so Knobbs rakes Bagwell’s eyes, and tags out. Sags charges in, but gets caught with an armdrag. Sags escapes, but misses an avalanche, and Bagwell turnbuckle smashes him, before getting him on the mat in a short-armscissors. The challengers work on Jerry’s arm now, until Sags pokes Scorpio in the eye, and tags. Knobbs runs in, but trips in a drop-toehold, and Scorpio armbars him. Knobbs fights free, so Scorpio tries a bodypress, but gets caught, and dropped over the top like a sack of potatoes. He hits the apron on the way down, and you’d better believe that’s enough to turn the tide. Sags hops down to bodyslam Scorpio on the floor before rolling him back in, and the champs cut the ring in half. Scorpio fights off a double team for the hot tag, and Marcus runs wild - Roseanne Barr the door! Bagwell powerslams Knobbs, but Sags breaks the cover, and Knobbs covers - only for Scorpio to break that cover! Bagwell manages a bridging fisherman suplex on Knobbs, but Missy Hyatt distracts the referee, and Sags nails Marcus with his boot. That allows Knobbs the pin at 14:11. Solid stuff. The Nasties were much more in their element in this era of WCW than they ever were in the WWF. * ¼ 

Backstage, Okerlund catches up with a still fuming Vader, who refuses to accept that the match isn’t happening

BUExperience: A longer than usual episode, but they paid off two developed angles, and had a major development in the Flair/Vader feud, so it’s not like it was a waste of time.