Sage Cortez
I am backtracking to some WCW things before Clash 21, in particular because it sounds like there was good wrestling on these shows. Good wrestling and good character work is what I’m about. We have a lot of the King of Cable tournament here, as well as some interesting debuts and angles. Before any of this stuff, Jake Roberts checked into rehab for his drug problem and didn’t come back to WCW. Overall, his signing was quite a big bust. Didn’t really help WCW out a whole lot, and his personal life was a wreck as we all know now.
– Taped to air November 7th, 1992, on Worldwide, from the Civic Center in Augusta, Georgia
Bobby Eaton and Arn Anderson (w/Michael Hayes) vs. Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas
Pre-Match Thoughts: Steamboat and Douglas weren’t champions yet, but that’s no issue. This is a solid matchup, and I might as well enjoy Eaton while he’s around because his role was decreased in a big way not too far away from this. I don’t think anyone expected Steamboat and Douglas to win tag gold in WCW. They were in for a surprise. Don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but the reason Paul E. stopped coming out with his former Dangerous Alliance members was because WCW wanted to cease their use of him.
Match Review: Steamboat and Eaton start things off, and when they lock up, Eaton smacks Steamboat in the face. Steamboat comes back with chops, then dodges Eaton and hip tosses him. A monkey flip follows that, then an arm drag to get Eaton down. Douglas tags in, shoulders Eaton down, and tags out. Arn tags in for the first time, takes Steamboat down a bunch, and gets kicked in the gut because of it. Douglas makes a tag in and clotheslines Arn for 2, then Arn takes him to the buckle. Douglas puts his head down and Arn tries a DDT, but Eaton slaps Douglas when Douglas blocks it. Arn hits Douglas with a back elbow, but misses some elbow drops and Douglas tags out. Steamboat clears Eaton and Arn out, but Arn knees him from behind to knock him to the floor. Hayes gets in a BIG LEFT HAND on Steamboat, who sells that punch as only he can. Eaton tags in, and he goes for a SLINGSHOT SUPLEX only for Steamboat to counter with a backbreaker. Douglas makes the hot tag, and he’s a house of fire. He picks Eaton up and slams him, then Arn gets one too. Douglas suplexes Eaton for 2, but Arn broke the cover. Steamboat runs in, and Eaton heads up top to do some damage. Steamboat slams him down instead, but Brian Pillman runs out from the back and attacks Shane Douglas, leading to a DQ at 5:38. Pillman and Eaton go for a SPIKE PILEDRIVER, but Douglas kicks both their asses and Hayes gets some too.
My Thoughts: This was way better than expected, and the only reason I was watching this was for Pillman’s attack. It planted the seeds of Pillman and Steve Austin eventually going after Douglas and Steamboat, which is a case of smart booking. These four worked pretty hard, even though it looked like Eaton was nearing the end of the road. I don’t even remember the last time Eaton looked to get in all his spots. **1/4.
– Taped to air November 7th, 1992, on WCW Saturday Night, from Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
King of Cable Quarterfinals: Rick Rude (WCW US Champion, w/Madusa) vs. Barry Windham
Pre-Match Thoughts: These two worked great together in WarGames and in their tag match at the Great American Bash, so I’m interested in seeing what they do here. Obviously I know who wins this match, but that’s no problem. I try to avoid results as best as possible, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. This is one of two matches from this show that I’ll be checking out, and Jake Roberts was on commentary for them. Madusa looks great here. Rude being a family man, I wonder what he thought of all this.
Match Review: Windham and Rude take some time to lock up, and when they do, they roll on the ropes for a bit with nothing coming of any of this. They shove each other, then it’s time for bomb trading. Windham picks Rude up and drops him on his butt, and follows that with an atomic drop. Windham takes Rude down with a backdrop, then follows up with a suplex that gets 2. Windham then gives Rude a back suplex, which gets 2 too. Windham puts a bear hug on Rude, then gives him an inverted atomic drop. Rude gets out and works on Windham’s back, giving him a bodyslam. Rude puts a chinlock on Windham, and when Windham fights out, Rude knees him down low. Rude decides to go up top, and nails Windham in the head. Rude goes up there again, and hits Windham again. Rude dishes out a swinging neckbreaker for 2, but Windham comes back with a sleeper. Rude uses the ol’ jawbreaker, then goes for a piledriver only for Windham to backdrop him. Windham misses a charge to the corner, so Rude puts a sleeper on him. Windham drives Rude back into the corner to break it, so Rude goes up top only to get nailed this time. Windham drops Rude with a flapjack, then a gutwrench suplex gets 2. Windham follows up with a forearm for 2, only for Rude to pull him into the buckle. Rude goes for the RUDE AWAKENING, but Windham grabs the ropes to stop that. Windham goes for the SUPERPLEX, but Rude pulls him over the top and both guys tumble to the outside. Windham nearly headbutts the post, but he clotheslines Rude on the floor instead. Rude gets up to the apron and Windham goes for a suplex, which gets a 2 count. Rude and Windham then clothesline each other, and get up at the same time. Rude blocks a bodyslam and goes for a cradle, then grabs the ropes to get the 3 count and victory at 11:10.
My Thoughts: My takeaway from this is that Roberts would have been a hell of a commentator. He was great at putting over everything and explaining why the wrestlers would use certain holds. Too bad it didn’t work out that way. Yet again, Rude and Windham had another good TV match, which was common when they faced other guys, and certainly no surprise when they faced each other. The finish was sloppy, but the work was strong. I think the lack of heat takes away from these matches, which was a problem with WCW’s studio format at that particular time. In previous years they had a hot studio crowd on TBS, so I don’t know what the difference was. ***, nice stuff. Wish they’d been given a chance to work a 15-18 minute PPV match, but with Windham turning heel, they were on the same side for the rest of Rude’s career.
King of Cable Quarterfinals: Brian Pillman vs. Sting
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is perfect booking, really. This match is on Sting’s WWE DVD, so if you want to watch it, it’s not very hard. At least the matchups in this tournament have been very appealing, and they’ve given them some time to work. My copy of the match made it look like Pillman was wearing no trunks at all.
Match Review: Pillman fails to hip toss Sting, who puts a headlock on him as a result. Pillman chops at Sting for a bit, but those don’t do anything. Pillman wants to shake hands with Sting and be his friend, but Sting isn’t that dumb. Sting puts a wristlock on Pillman, who thumbs him in the eye. Pillman works Sting over for a while, but Sting hip tosses him. Sting then picks Pillman up with a choke, and puts him on the top turnbuckle. How nice of him. Pillman then leaps over a charging Sting, only for Sting to press slam him. Pillman falls on the floor, then gets up and trips and unwitting Sting. Pillman hits Sting’s leg on the ring apron, but Sting goes out there and clocks him. Pillman gets in the ring first and goes on the attack, but Sting takes over. He charges at Pillman and crotches himself on the top rope, then Pillman dropkicks him to the floor. Back inside, Pillman keeps working on Sting’s left leg, jumping and sitting on it. He drops elbows on it too, then locks it up for a while. Pillman puts a figure-four on Sting, then decides to grab the ropes. I dig this new Pillman. He gets caught cheating, then goes for the hold again only for Sting to cradle him up for 2. Pillman comes back with a facebuster, then gets kicked face-first into the corner. Pillman comes back with a clip to the knee for 2, then puts a sleeper on Sting and jumps on his back. Sting can’t carry his weight, you see. He does run Pillman into the buckle, and slams Pillman down from the top when he goes up there. Jake is great on commentary here. Sting gives Pillman a facebuster, or rather two of them. Pillman goes for a crucifix, but Sting counters with a Samoan drop for 2. Pillman grabs Sting’s tights and throws him out of the ring, then heads up top after throwing Sting back in. He comes down with a cross body, but Sting reverses it for 2. Sting back suplexes Pillman down, holds a bridge, and gets the pin after about 10 minutes.
My Thoughts: I knew that would happen, but I’m kind of sad. Very good match, and a great addition to WCW’s TV lineup. I guess the tournament was an excuse to have good/great matches rather than anything else. At this particular moment, I’m okay with that. These two had good chemistry, and both were willing to sell and bump for each other. Pillman was headed up the card, with good reason. Who knows why they buried him on and off for about three years. ***1/4.
– Taped to air November 14th, 1992, on WCW Saturday Night, from Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
King of Cable Quarterfinals: Big Van Vader vs. Tony Atlas
Pre-Match Thoughts: Once again WCW books heels to face off against each other. Sometimes this didn’t make any sense, but I actually like the idea of this in this particular spot. I want to see if Atlas takes all the required bumps. I couldn’t find the match in this tournament where Dustin Rhodes beat the Barbarian, so sorry, I guess. Harley Race and Cactus Jack were banned from ringside to ensure this would be fair.
Match Review: Vader is playing babyface to some degree here. These two behemoths stare each other down, until Vader pushes Atlas back into the corner. Vader smacks Atlas around, but Atlas comes back with some shots of his own. I guess he’s the babyface according to the crowd reaction. Can’t tell anymore. Vader no-sells a headbutt, then Atlas fails to knock him down with a clothesline. Vader eats a boot on a charge to the corner, then he drops Atlas with a standing splash during his charge to the corner. Vader picks Atlas up and powerslams him for 2, then he crushes him in the corner, but ATLAS PICKS HIM UP. Or not. Vader hits him, clotheslines him, and jumps off the second rope with a BIG SPLASH for the victory at 3:34.
My Thoughts: To have a bad match with Vader, you had to be a pretty bad wrestler. Tony Atlas was exactly that at this or any point of his career. He was so bad in this, he couldn’t really run or anything like that. I mean, I don’t even know how he got a job in WCW. I do wonder. He had big biceps, but he had to wear a tanktop and gym pants. Don’t get it. 1/4*.
– Taped to air November 21st, 1992, on WCW Saturday Night, from Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
Cactus Jack and Rick Rude (WCW US Champion, w/Madusa) vs. Sting and Van Hammer
Pre-Match Thoughts: I don’t particularly understand the randomness of this match. Maybe the commentary will help things make sense. These shows were all taped separately, which makes me wonder why they were taped at all. In any event, I thought this match was at least somewhat relevant. I don’t know when it was that Van Hammer returned, but he looked like even more of a male stripper wearing a tiny cowboy hat. Fuck outta here with that.
Match Review: Sting and Rude start the match, and start kicking each other. Sting goes for a backdrop, but Rude blocks it. Sting comes back with an inverted atomic drop, and sadly tags in Hammer for a wristlock. Cactus tags in and Hammer slams him, then misses an elbow drop. Hammer clotheslines Cactus in the corner after some punches, then goes up to the second rope only for Cactus to clothesline him on the way down. Rude tags in there, and works on Hammer’s back for a bit, putting a bear hug on him. Rude thumbs Hammer in the eyes too, and tags in Cactus only for Hammer to ram Cactus into the buckle. Cactus runs and jumps on Hammer’s back after some punching, so in comes Rude for a seated chinlock. It’s clear Madusa isn’t a babyface at this point of the match. Don’t understand that at all. Cactus tags in and scratches Hammer’s back, then knees him for 2. Cactus starts biting Hammer, then covers again for 2. Rude gets in there, and goes back to the chinlock. Hammer tries to fight out, but Rude grabs hair to pull him back down. During this LONG chinlock, Ross announces that Paul Orndorff will challenge Ron Simmons next week. I DIG THAT. The chinlock is finally broken, and Hammer blocks a charge to the corner. After a clothesline by Hammer, he finally makes the tag out.
Cactus and Sting are in there, and Sting takes Cactus down with a backdrop. He suplexes Rude in from the apron, then atomic drops him to the outside. Cactus is still in there, and Sting drops him with a facebuster. Rude breaks the cover, and now everyone’s in there. Sting hits Cactus with the STINGER SPLASH, another facebuster, and HERE COMES TONY ATLAS AND THE BARBARIAN for a disqualification at 9:53. HERE COMES RON SIMMONS. He beats up all three of those guys for a while, but they team up on Simmons and start tearing his suit off. Haha. HERE COMES VADER! He goes up to the second rope as Rude had taken Sting out, AND HE SPLASHES STING.
My Thoughts: The quality of Rude’s work was slipping a little bit at this point, as he was coming very dependent on applying holds and his usual stooge bumps instead of having fast paced matches. Perhaps having Van Hammer as an opponent was part of this, but I’ve noticed it for a while. The angle after this match was awesome, exactly what WCW needed. It was genuinely intriguing and surprising. Not to mention, they got all their top guys in the ring at the same time. I liked the angle after the match, even though the bout was no more than *1/2.
King of Cable Semifinals: Big Van Vader vs. Dustin Rhodes
Pre-Match Thoughts: The hits keep on coming. Sting was awarded the victory in the other semifinal, and this would determine his opponent for Starrcade. The anticipation level for this was probably very high. They’d sold this one during the whole Clash event, so it’s fair to say WCW thought it was a big deal. We were getting to an era where more and more big matches would happen on TV, but we still weren’t quite there on the singles side. Harley Race was PISSED, because Sting had hit Vader with a 2×4 during something I hadn’t seen. Of course, Watts puts himself over and allows the match to go on even though Vader had been attacked. Race is barred from ringside again.
Match Review: Vader barely makes it to the ring in time, but HE’S NO QUITTER. Looks like he feels some pain, though. NO, THERE’S NO PAIN. NO PAAAAIN. I LOVE Vader. Vader shows Dustin his muscles, then they start yelling at each other until Dustin gets in some slaps. Vader clotheslines him in the gut to stop him, but Dustin goes for a sunset flip. Vader misses his sitdown splash, and Dustin clotheslines the big man down. Dustin follows with another, and drops Vader with the BULLDOG. Vader gets up, then Dustin takes him to the floor with a great clothesline. Apparently the same judges from the Clash are back. Oh no. Vader slowly gets back in the ring and Dustin runs into him, only to go down hard. Vader works Dustin over in the corner, then splashes him in the corner. This match is awesome so far. Vader then drops a big elbow on the Natural, and clobbers him with a clothesline. Vader suplexes Dustin and covers for 2, then chinlocks him, squeezing out Dustin’s oxygen. Vader hits Dustin with another standing splash, but Dustin comes back with a trip and tries to work on Vader’s legs. Vader evades an elbow drop, then rocks Dustin with another clothesline. Vader follows with a big splash for 2, and he starts beating Dustin’s face in. This owns so much. Vader clotheslines Dustin to the outside, and Dustin FIGHTS BACK TO HIS FEET AND MAKES IT BACK IN THE RING. Vader puts Dustin in the corner and talks some shit to him, but eats a boot to the face on another splash in the corner. Dustin rolls Vader up for 2, then goes up top for a flying clothesline that gets 2. Dustin dropkicks Vader into the ropes, and TACKLES HIM for 2. Dustin kicks Vader in the face to knock him out to the floor, and Vader levels Dustin with a clothesline. Dustin does the ol’ somersault sell, but he’s not getting counted out! Vader grabs him, kicks him in the mouth, and throws him back in for a bodyslam. Up to the second rope, BIG SPLASH, and that’s it for Dustin at 10:44.
My Thoughts: If you don’t like this match, I don’t even know why you’d watch wrestling. It wasn’t perfect, but it gave me the impression they could have had a near perfect match at some point. This match catered to my tastes in the best of ways. Vader throwing bombs, Dustin fighting back, Vader selling, Dustin selling…this had it all. It’s Vader, it’s the Natural, and you need to watch this match. ***1/2, I was a little taken aback by exactly how good this was. All action throughout. Vader’s style was a perfect American style and he didn’t need to adapt to any situation because everyone could adapt to him.
– Taped to air November 28th, 1992, on WCW Saturday Night, from Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
Paul Orndorff (w/Madusa) vs. Ron Simmons (WCW Champion)
Pre-Match Thoughts: This isn’t a title match, which is absolutely unbelievable. By the way, this episode of WCW Saturday Night has important stuff, but I cannot possibly bring myself to review it. I’ll say that if you want to see Van Hammer beat Cactus Jack, and Erik Watts make Arn Anderson give up, that episode is for you. They brought Orndorff in, even acknowledging that he had a feud going in Smoky Mountain. Guess they thought he was important enough to bring in before he could leave Smoky Mountain. Madusa was with him because Rude was supposed to challenge Simmons at Starrcade and they were doing some scouting. They had advertised the match as far as a month out.
Match Review: Orndorff and Simmons lock up, and I’m taken aback by Orndorff’s shriveled up arm. It had been a long time since I’d seen him. Orndorff taunts the crowd for a bit, then they lock up with nothing coming of it. Entirely predictable. Orndorff hits Simmons with some forearms, but Simmons comes back with a hip toss and a dropkick. A shoulderblock gets 2, then another one does as well. Simmons rams Orndorff into the corner, then puts an armbar on him. Orndorff gets out of it with some knees, then blocks a charge to the corner with an elbow. Orndorff follows with a back suplex and elbow smashes, then dropkicks Simmons for 2. Orndorff puts a chinlock on Simmons, who gets out and shoulderblocks him for 2. Orndorff stomps on Simmons and knee drops him, then puts a head-scissors on him. Orndorff cheats by holding the ropes, but gets caught doing that. Orndorff misses a dropkick, so Simmons clotheslines him. Simmons hits him with a back elbow for 2, but Orndorff goes to the eyes. Simmons then powerslams Orndorff, but Madusa breaks the cover behind the back of the referee. Now Simmons rolls out of the ring, and here comes RICK RUDE to protect Madusa. Simmons hits Rude first, then Orndorff attacks Simmons before anything else happens. Orndorff runs over the referee on accident, then Simmons slams him. Simmons misses an elbow drop, and the two guys then collide with Simmons falling to the floor. Rude PILEDRIVES Simmons on the floor, leaves the scene, and Simmons gets counted out at 9:56.
My Thoughts: WCW at this time seemed to have a habit of making their heels look justified in doing evil things. Why would they be heels in that case? Simmons attacked Rude, who wasn’t doing anything to him at this particular time. So, he got what he deserved. WCW was immune to making Simmons look good at any time, so despite his title win, it was ultimately unimportant. *1/4, this wasn’t a good match. Simmons was the champion but he couldn’t carry his end of that. Orndorff was also merely a solid, basic wrestler at this particular point. The champion needs to win matches at some point.
– Taped to air December 5th, 1992, on Worldwide, from Georgia Mountains Center in Gainesville, Georgia
Rick Rude (WCW US Champion, w/Madusa) vs. Erik Watts
Pre-Match Thoughts: I don’t know why I’m doing this to myself, but here it is. There’s no way this will be good and even less likely this will make me happy. Still, I can’t help myself. You’d think that given Rude facing Simmons at Starrcade, he has to win. Right? The previous week, Rude was out there talking about Bill Watts screwing him out of the NWA Championship. Rude then called Erik a useless piece of garbage. If Erik had the guts, he’d learn a lesson. Later in that show, Erik accepted the challenge and he would BE THERE. No routine this time, Rude wanted Watts to PAY SOME DUES.
Match Review: Rude kicks this guy in the face, then it’s punishing time. Rude kicks him, wristlocks him, and does pretty much anything he wants to him. Rude knees Watts in the gut, but Watts goes to the eyes. THIS GUY’S A CHEATER. Watts knees Rude in the gut, then rams him into the buckle a few times. Watts goes for a PILEDRIVER, but Rude backdrops him. Rude keeps beating him up, and eventually puts a chinlock on him. Rude keeps cutting Watts off whenever he does anything. Rude clotheslines him next, then heads up top, landing a clubbing shot on the way down. Rude goes up again, and lands another. Rude does that a third time, then throws Watts out of the ring. Watts rams Rude into the apron when Rude follows him, but Rude keeps control by thumbing the eye. Watts gets back in there, and Rude DDT’s him for 2. Rude follows up with a snap suplex, it also gets 2. Watts gets up again, and Rude PILEDRIVES him for 2. Rude goes up top for a fourth time, and this time Watts hits him in the gut on the way down. Watts hits Rude with some forearms, then takes him over with a fisherman’s suplex for 2. That looked better than it should have. Watts charges at Rude and runs into his knee, so Rude covers him up for 3 after 7:46.
Watts gives Rude a jawbreaker after the match, apparently he won’t give up. Rude cuts him off, then grabs his title belt only for Watts to mount him for some punches. Rude returns the favor, and maybe now he’ll stay down. Or not. Rude knocks him down again, and this time he throws him out of the ring like a sack of shit.
My Thoughts: The logic with this match is failing me a little bit. Rude made Watts look like a jabroni with a big heart, yet he was able to make Bobby Eaton and Arn Anderson give up. I can’t find my words at this exact moment. The match was a total squash, * at best. I liked seeing Watts do the job there.
– Taped to air December 5th, 1992, on WCW Saturday Night, from Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
Rick Rude (WCW US Champion) and Big Van Vader (w/Madusa and Harley Race) vs. Ron Simmons (WCW Champion) and Sting
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is a pretty big tag team match, but it is airing a little bit too soon, I think. Don’t know why they chose to do it here and not a little bit later. To sell tickets perhaps? Ron Simmons had a new theme and it was terrible, a total assault on the ears. DON’T STEP TO RON THOUGH. Sting was wearing a disgusting jean jacket and half paint for some reason. What is going on here?
Match Review: Rude and Simmons will start this one, with this being the intended title match and all. Simmons and Rude do a few lock-ups, then it’s time to get down to business. Simmons puts a headlock on Rude, then they do a bit where Simmons whiffs on a clothesline. Simmons elbows Rude to break a hammerlock, then takes him down with a headlock. Rude gets up and utilizes a shin-breaker, then goes to work on that leg for a while. Simmons kicks Rude away, but Rude prevents a tag. Simmons tries a charge to the corner and runs into Rude’s knees, then Vader makes a tag in. Simmons tags out too, leaving us with what everyone wanted to see. Vader runs Sting over, then clotheslines him into the corner like he’s nothing. Vader misses a splash on the other side, and Sting drops him with a back suplex. Sting follows with a dropkick, and Vader rolls out to the floor. Sting tries to dive through the ropes, but Vader catches him and rams him into the post. Into the ring we go, and Vader follows up with a bodyslam, then sits on him. Oh boy. Sting comes back with a clothesline, but Vader has him trapped. Rude tags in, rams Sting into the corner a lot, and follows that with a bear hug. Vader tags in for a clothesline, then goes up to the second rope for a flying clothesline that gets 2. Rude gets in there, takes Sting to the canvas, and drives some knees into his back. Rude applies the chinlock, and quickly tags in Vader for a bodyslam. Vader goes up to the second rope, and misses the BIG SPLASH. Sting makes the tag to Simmons, who comes in like a house of fire. He beats Vader down, then drops him with a sick spinebuster. Simmons follows with some clotheslines, then facebusters Rude. Simmons tries to run Vader over, but down he goes as a result of that. The referee gets Sting out of the ring, then Rude tries to throw Vader on Simmons for a cover that only gets 1. Sting starts beating up Harley Race, then he takes Vader to the outside with a clothesline. Now Rude drops a knee on Simmons’ head, which is supposed to be a DQ. However, the referee is watching Sting and Vader. So, Rude makes a legal ltag in, gives Simmons a RUDE AWAKENING, and covers him for the victory at 13:05!
My Thoughts: It wasn’t exactly often that the world champion would be pinned on television, whether clean or not. Whether in a tag team match or not. They were pushing the title match pretty hard by this point, and I think Simmons would have to have won that. I haven’t looked to see if he was booked to, but I will at the end of this. The match wasn’t great, but things picked up big time after the tag to Simmons. It got a bit chaotic, to say the least. Just because Sting was in there for most of it doesn’t mean that the match was automatically going to be good. It was **1/2, I’d say.
– Taped to air December 12th, 1992, on WCW Saturday Night, from Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
Barry Windham vs. Dustin Rhodes
This was supposed to be a match, but it was absolutely never going to be. What happened was, Windham beat Rhodes up on the previous week’s episode of this, injuring Dustin’s wrist. Dustin wasn’t supposed to be there as a result of this and he hadn’t arrived at the arena. Windham cut a promo on Dustin, talking about him not being there. He said that Dustin is a typical Rhodes. Now here comes Ricky Steamboat. DON’T TALK ABOUT MY FRIEND LIKE THAT. Steamboat then starts beating Windham up, but Windham grabs a chair and chases him towards the ring. Steamboat has a chair too, BUT DUSTIN RHODES IS HERE. HE’S SUCH A LIAR. He grabs Windham’s chair and swings at him, but misses and hits the post. Dustin and Windham brawl in the ring, and Dustin backdrops Windham even though there are three referees in there. Dustin follows that with a clothesline, and out to the floor they go again for more brawling as the show finished. Very good segment to further the feud.
– Taped to air December 19th, 1992, on Worldwide, from Municipal Auditorium in Columbus, Georgia
JESSE VENTURA’S STRONGEST ARM FINALS: Van Hammer vs. Ron Simmons
Don’t know if anyone really cares. Right at this particular moment, I think this may have been legitimate because they wouldn’t have embarrassed their world champion like this. Once Tony Atlas walked out there, now I’m even more not sure. I don’t know. Anyway, these guys were arm wrestling each other. I laughed at Hammer’s selling, so I guess this was a work. Made Simmons look less than the best for absolutely no reason at all. Tony Atlas walked out to challenge Hammer after he won. HAHA. They booked this for the Clash, by the way.
That’s it, but I’m left feeling weird about everything I just watched. I don’t know why they didn’t follow up on the Windham/Rhodes feud like they should have. They could have had a few big matches that probably would have been very good, and they didn’t. Steve Austin wasn’t on here much, but I did read that he had refused to job to Erik Watts. I assume he was standing up for everyone in the locker room when he did that. Not only that, WCW did with Starrcade what they usually did, but this wasn’t entirely their fault. Rick Rude had a messed up disc in his neck, and it turned out just a few days before the show that he was not going to be able to wrestle at Starrcade. There were many ramifications of this. Rude wasn’t supposed to win the title, but he went out for so long that the booking had nothing to do with him going out. Before Starrcade, I’m going to check out Survivor Series 1992. We are getting pretty close to 1993!
Best: Dustin Rhodes vs. Vader. There was a bit of competition for that, but I liked this the most.
Worst: An arm wrestling tournament culminating in Van Hammer making the world champion look bad. Can’t explain that one.
