WCW Clash of the Champions #25
November 10, 1993
St. Petersburg, FL
Bayfront Center

The current WCW & NWA Champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Big Van Vader (3/17/1993)
WCW International World Champion: Rick Rude (9/19/1993)
WCW U.S. Champion: Dustin Rhodes (8/30/1993)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: The Nasty Boys (10/24/1993)
WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (9/19/1993)

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura. Plus, it’s Mean Gene’s first big show! He’s here to hype the WCW hotline. Imagine that.

• WCW International World Champion Rick Rude vs. Road Warrior Hawk
  

This one’s going to be very limited due to Hawk’s recent knee injury he suffered in Japan. I would probably booked Regal/Badd for the opener instead. They announce Animal is supposed to be at Hawk’s side, but he’s nowhere to be seen. Lot of talking between the two to begin things. Rude stalls to prevent having to lock-up in a test of strength and then cheapshots Hawk to take over. Hawk NO-SELLS a turnbuckle smash and delivers a few to Rude instead. Wow, he gives Rude a suplex. Rude goes to the eyes and gives Hawk a backbreaker. Rude comes off the top and eats a boot. They head out to the floor and brawl until they’re both counted out. (5:39) The crowd’s not cool with that at all, but what are you gonna do? ½*

• The Shockmaster vs. The Equalizer
  

Oh gosh. Let’s just get this over with. Equalizer beats up Shockmaster for two minutes and then runs into a big boot. That sets up the BEARHUG DROP for the finish. (2:29) Why?
CRAP

Mean Gene is standing by with Col. Parker. He explains that he dropped Sid Vicious like a hot potato and picked up Steve Austin. Parker even went as far as to get a restraining order against Sid. Probably isn’t a bad idea considering the guy stabs people with scissors. Gene informs Parker that he saw a six foot nine inch tall guy with blonde hair in the men’s room earlier. He acts he’s not sure if it was really Sid or not though. Well, he sure was precise with those measurements. Anyways, Col. Parker walks away worrying about Sid because he has no protection. WCW still wasn’t positive what to do with Sid since they had already decided that he would be the one to dethrone Vader of the WCW world title at Starrcade. It wasn’t until the locker room revolted and said they wouldn’t show up to Battlebowl if Sid wasn’t fired considering he was the one who attacked Arn Anderson in the first place.

• WCW World Television Champion Lord Steven Regal (w/Sir William) vs. Johnny B. Badd
  

If you’ve seen their great Fall Brawl ‘94 match, don’t get excited because this is not the same. This is headlocks and armbars all the way with Badd in control. The crowd makes sure to let WCW know what they thought of this match from the “boring” chants. Badd hits the KISS THAT DON’T MISS (left hook) out of nowhere, but Sir William distracts Badd and Regal rolls him up with a handful of tights for the three-count. (6:34) As you can see, this never got going before it was over. ¾*

• Steve Austin (w/Col. Robert Parker) vs. Brian Pillman
  

So Col. Parker takes Austin under his managerial wing and splits up the Blondes. Oh, it’s a sad state of affairs. Jesse says he might even shed a tear during this match. Pillman’s wearing red HB trunks while Austin wears the black HB trunks. Big brawl to start as expected. Pillman chases Parker around the ring and runs around into an Austin clothesline. Back in, Pillman backdrops and chops away in the corner. Pillman snaps off a headscissors and Austin wants a handshake. He kicks Austin in the face and they head out to the rampway. Austin wants a piledriver out there, but we know that never works. Pillman backdrops him and comes off the top, but Austin’s boot meets Pillman’s face on the way down. Austin shoves Pillman off the rampway into the guardrail for the chest-first bump. Austin charges at Pillman once he’s on the apron, but runs into a slingshot crossbody for two. Pillman charges right into a hotshot and Austin covers for two. Austin grabs a half-crab and uses the ropes for leverage, which doesn’t make any sense. Pushing *against* the ropes would give you leverage, not pulling. The ref finally catches him cheating and Pillman chops back. Austin whips Pillman in the corner, but he catches himself and leaps back on Austin with a back elbow. Austin gets crotched up on the top turnbuckle, but throws Pillman down when he tries a superplex. Austin flies down and Pillman catches him with a dropkick. Cover, 1-2-NO! Pillman ranas out of a piledriver for two. He tries for that slingshot crossbody from the apron again, but Austin catches him for a powerslam. That gets two. Pillman avoids a Bossman straddle and hits a DDT for 1-2-NO! Pillman wants a crucifix, but Austin falls back on him. Austin misses a flying splash and gets rolled up by Pillman for 1-2-NO! Austin reverses a whip and tries for the STUNGUN, but Pillman counters and lands on the apron. He goes for AIR PILLMAN, but Parker grabs Pillman’s leg and sends him crashing to the mat. Austin covers for 1-2-3. (9:11) Good match, but I feel like they could’ve done more. Sad to see such a great tag team split up like this. ***

We now go to Mean Gene who is in the Battlebowl Control Center. No matches signed, just random tag matches. Yeah, everyone will buy this PPV. In all fairness, it is a neat concept – it was just never executed correctly.

• WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion Dustin Rhodes (w/Dusty Rhodes) vs. Paul Orndorff (w/The Assassin)
  

There’s two issues in this match: Dustin Rhodes brought back the “Paula” chants seven months earlier, so Orndorff wants some revenge for that. Then there’s Dusty Rhodes and The Assassin who have been at each other since Slamboree. St. Petersburg FL is the best place to wrap up the Rhodes/Assassin feud where Dusty is pretty much god. Dustin works a headlock in the ring while Assassin tries to sneak over and attack Dusty. Ventura wants to know how the Assassin can possibly “sneak” around anywhere. He’s right. Assassin looks FATTER than Dusty at this point in his life. They trade armbars for a while. A LONG while, actually. Rhodes fights out of a chinlock and gets a backslide for two. Orndorff begs off and yanks Rhodes into the corner before reverting to the chinlock. Rhodes punches out and hits the Lariat for two. He goes for the BULLDOG, but they botch it real bad. Sunset flip for Rhodes gets two, but he’s nailed with a clothesline. Orndorff calls for the PILEDRIVER, but Rhodes backdrops out. Orndorff comes off the top for a knee drop, but Rhodes moves and a small package gets the win. (12:14) Post-match, Orndorff clotheslines Rhodes out for Assassin to post him. That brings Dusty around to BIONIC ELBOW Assassin into the ring to send the crowd into a frenzy. Orndorff stops him from unmasking the Assassin and blasts Dusty with the US belt. Assassin wants him to give Dusty a PILEDRIVER, but Dustin runs and Lariats Orndorff off his daddy. Another match that never got past the armbars and chinlocks. *½

Mean Gene has heard that Davey Boy Smith has challenged Rick Rude for the WCW International World title! Oh yeah, and call the Hotline to vote for ‘manager of the year’!

• WCW World Tag Team Champions The Nasty Boys (w/Missy Hyatt) vs. Sting & Davey Boy Smith
  

Davey Boy and Sags take it up the rampway while Sting and Knobbs brawl in the ring. Meanwhile, Rick Rude sneaks down the side of the rampway and comes up behind Davey Boy Smith. He spins him around and gives him a RUDE AWAKENING! Road Warrior Hawk runs in to scare Rude away and check on Davey Boy. It’s turned into a handicap match now. The Nasties and Missy celebrate with the belts while Sting goes over and brings Davey Boy to the apron. Sting ducks a double-clothesline and returns the favor to the Nasty Boys. He gets rid of Sags and concentrates on Knobbs for a while. Sting checks on Davey Boy every now and then, which is just a huge distraction from the match. Sags gets a tag and Sting continues to dominate until Knobbs shoves Sting off the top rope. Missy distracts the ref while Sags throws Sting over the top to the floor. Knobbs gives him a suplex back in for two. Sting counters a bearhug with a belly-to-belly throw as Davey Boy Smith finally gets to his feet and wants a tag. Sting gets tossed out to the floor again as Knobbs chokes away. Back in, Sting falls back on Knobbs to escape a chinlock and makes the HOT TAG TO DAVEY BOY! He goes nuts on the Nasties, including a double face slam and a double DDT! Sting gets pressed onto the Nasties before Davey Boy delivers the RUNNING POWERSLAM to Knobbs. The ref is busy getting Sting out of the ring while Sags lowers the boom on Davey Boy during the cover. Knobbs turns him over and and covers for three. (8:30) Ugh, do they have to do that finish in every Nasty Boys match? Everything between the hot tag and the finish was fun, but the rest was pretty lame. *

• WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader (w/Harley Race) vs. Ric Flair (w/Fifi)
  

Right before Flair makes his entrance, Col. Parker stops by to make it clear that his man Steve Austin will challenge the winner of this match. He says he hopes Flair wins, because he’s sure Austin can beat him. Flair takes offense to that and pops Parker in the mouth! They make their entrances and go to commercial. During the break, Race was talking junk to Flair, so he puts Race in the FIGURE-FOUR! Vader runs in and splashes Flair to break that up. He takes Flair into the corner and beats the crap out of him. Vader gives him a press slam to set up a Pump Splash. He keeps up the trash talking, so Flair spins Vader around and starts chopping away. Flair runs into Vader and then receives an elbow drop in between the legs. Vader whips Flair into the corner for the Flair Flip, which sends him flying out to the floor for Harley Race to throw him into the guardrail. Vader tries a splash off the apron, but Flair moves and Vader lands on the guardrail. Flair flies down from the top with a single sledge and chops Vader back into the ring. He runs into a boot though, which gives Vader the control again. Vader wants a flying elbow drop, but Flair gets out of the way. FIGURE-FOUR! Race reaches in and rakes the eyes to cause a break. Vader delivers a suplex and a splash for two. Vader dives at Flair from the middle rope, but Flair armdrags him down for two. Flair comes off the top with a single sledge and then Flair Flips successfully for another flying single sledge! Vader charges at Flair out of the corner, but Flair ducks and the ref Randy Anderson gets decked. Flair comes off the top again, but this time Vader catches him and delivers a superplex! Race wants to see a moonsault, so Vader gives him what he wants. Oops, Flair moves out of the way and covers for three! (9:15) Turns out the ref was just walking on his hands and not actually making a count. Flair wins by DQ because Vader clotheslined the ref by accident, so no title win. Col. Parker and Austin do a run-in to quadruple team Flair, but Dustin Rhodes and the Shockmaster save the day. Flair makes a challenge to Austin and Vader in a tag match with his partner – the six foot nine inch Sid Vicious. I’m not sure your pal Arn Anderson would be happy with that, Ric. This was just to test the waters for a Flair title win anyway and nothing more. **½

Final Thoughts: Sid’s actions screwed up the direction of the company during the month of November whether you agree with Sid being on top or not, so they went with old reliable Ric Flair. Aside from the Austin/Pillman match, it seemed like a Sid Vicious protest show where the talent wanted WCW to make a decision already and fire Sid for what he had done. Thumbs down for Clash 25.

WCW Halloween Havoc 1993
October 24, 1993
New Orleans, LA
Lakefront Arena

The current WCW & NWA Champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Big Van Vader (3/17/1993)
WCW International World Champion: Rick Rude (9/19/1993)
WCW U.S. Champion: Dustin Rhodes (8/30/1993)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Too Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell (10/4/1993)
WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (9/19/1993)

The intro to the show is just DY-NO-MITE by the way. It’s one of those high-budget deals where they spent more money on production, than they’ll make from ticket sales. Tony Schiavone invites some innocent young trick-or-treaters into his home because they’re looking for a scary time. Since the kids aren’t impressed when Tony tells them about “spin the wheel, make the deal”, he rips off his face to reveal that he’s actually a big, huge fly monster. Not fly like in the ’70s, he’s a big insect that annoys the crap out of you.

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura. Tony’s dressed up as Jesse Ventura while Jesse decides to be an evil gynecologist for Halloween. Right.

• The Shockmaster, Ice Train & Charlie Norris vs. Harlem Heat & The Equalizer
  

What is with this New Orleans crowd? They must be so wasted, they think Shockmaster is a hot chick or something. Uncle Fred is getting some crazy face reactions in this match. Equalizer still sucks so much, WCW won’t let him wrestle a singles match on PPV. Not that he ever stopped sucking when they finally let him wrestle a singles match. Harlem Heat are still going by the names Kole and Kane, but I’m sticking with Booker T and Stevie Ray so as to not confuse. Ice Train thumps Booker T around to start because he’s BIG. “Chuck” Norris and Shockmaster take turns twisting on Booker’s arm. Stevie Ray kicks Ice Train as he comes off the ropes and causes him to stumble into a Booker T dropkick. Equalizer tags in and screws things up for his team after telegraphing a backdrop. Shockmaster SLAMS Equalizer as the “WHOOMP THERE IT IS!” chants start up. That makes me feel so old. Can you imagine that song being playing on your local rap station now? Norris comes in and chops Equalizer down for a nearfall. If Wahoo’s watching, I’m sure he’s smiling and shaking his head at how lame that chop just was. Harlem Heat distracts Norris, allowing Equalizer to hit him from behind. Booker T delivers his scissor kick – only he twirls before he kicks the guy back then. It’s a lot more flash and less cool-looking when he actually connects with the kick. That gets two. Booker misses a splash off the middle rope and Shockmaster gets the hot tag. Tugboat’s running wild! Booker T runs into a bearhug drop (?) and Shockmaster picks up the win over Booker for the second PPV in a row. (9:45) Poor Booker. This was about what you would expect. *

• Ricky Steamboat vs. Paul Orndorff (w/The Assassin)
  

Yoshi Kwan is injured, so Orndorff is his replacement. I’d rather have this anyway. This is during the Dusty Rhodes/Assassin feud that they were trying to rekindle from Georgia Championship Wrestling for some ungodly reason. Dusty’s booking here if that helps you understand. It probably doesn’t, but just go with it. Orndorff attacks Steamboat as he takes his dragon wings off. Steamboat rolls Orndorff up off the ropes for two and turns around into a clothesline that puts him on the floor. Orndorff slams Steamboat on the rampway and heads back into the ring to pose, allowing Steamboat to regroup and charge in with a crossbody. Oops, Paula sees it coming and moves out of the way. Steamboat goes to work on the arm with a flip over hammerlock and some armbars. Onto the floor they go where Steamboat sends Orndorff shoulder-first into the ringpost a couple times. Vicious! Back in, Steamboat tries to break Orndorff’s hand by splitting the fingers. Ventura ~ “That is TOTALLY illegal!” They head back out to the floor where Steamboat rams Orndorff’s head into some steps. During a conference with the ref, Orndorff yanks Steamboat off the apron and smashes his head into the apron a bunch as retribution for the last several minutes. Orndorff even throws Steamboat over the safety rail! Back in, Orndorff hits an elbow for two. Orndorff tries to cheat to win by grabbing the top rope, but ref Nick Patrick kicks him off into a rollup for two. Now they head to the rampway where Steamboat comes off with a Judo Chop. A running atomic drop puts Orndorff back in the ring for another Flying Judo Chop. Cover, 1-2-NO! Double-chop gets two. Steamboat telegraphs a backdrop and Orndorff slams his face into the mat to make him pay. It’s PILEDRIVER time! No! Steamboat counters with a backdrop and falls down on top to set up a backslide sequence. Instead of going down to his knees to block, Orndorff flips him over into position for the PILEDRIVER. Steamboat counters and catapults Orndorff into the corner for 1-2-NO! Steamboat hits the FLYING BODYPRESS, but ref Nick Patrick’s daddy The Assassin is up on the apron. Probably arguing over why he couldn’t have been a crooked referee after all these years. Steamboat delivers a pair of jumping shoulderblocks for nearfalls. He chops Orndorff up against the ropes, causing the ref to get involved. Steamboat shoves him away and charges at Orndorff, who ducks and pulls the top rope down to send Steamboat flying out to The Assassin. While Orndorff has the ref’s attention, Assassin sneaks an international object in his mask and headbutts Steamboat in the back of the head to cause him to be counted out. Orndorff wins! (18:36) I loved seeing Steamboat cheat for once, but with Orndorff ultimately being the better cheater. ***½

• WCW World Television Champion Lord Steven Regal (w/Sir William) vs. Davey Boy Smith
  

His lordship doesn’t want to hook up with this commoner to begin things. Once they do lock-up, it becomes a game of “can you top this?” in mat wrestling. Some good stuff in there and the crowd responds well to it. DBS escapes a cravat and applies a surfboard. Sir William gets up on the apron and causes DBS to break the hold and scare him away, but that allows Regal to nail him from behind. Regal goes low with a running knee and connects with the somersault splash for two. Just when you think Ventura might not reference Edouard Carpentier for that move, he does. Regal hooks the cravat again. Davey Boy elbows out and mounts his comeback with four minutes left to go in the time limit. He runs into a knee in the corner and gets stuck in a half nelson on the mat. Three minutes left. DBS comes back with a neat rollup with a minute to go. He hits a suplex and the RUNNING POWERSLAM! Cover, 1-2-NO! Oops, looks like they got ahead of themselves there as though that should’ve been the finish. DBS hits a piledriver and covers as the time limit expires. (15:00) Lord Steven Regal was awesome during this period and brought out the best in Davey Boy Smith here by going back to their mat-based roots. Good stuff. ***

• WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion Dustin Rhodes vs. Steve Austin
  

Sign in the audience ~ “‘Stunning’ Steve is the wrestler of the ’90s.” See! Wrestling fans aren’t stupid. The Blondes were still a team at this point, by the way. Austin slaps Rhodes and heads out to the floor to screw around. Austin hits his knee in the corner and takes a nasty bump to the floor to start up some legwork for Dustin. He escapes a legbar and kicks Rhodes in the balls to get a break. Austin lowers a kneepad and drops the knee across Dustin’s face. He tries to lift him up off the ground, but Dustin tugs a little harder and whips Austin into the corner. Austin manages to catch himself in mid-move and springs out of the corner for another knee drop. Nice. Cover, 1-2-NO! Austin starts slapping which just wakes up Dustin. Rhodes hits a Lariat because he’s proud to be a Texan and only gets two. Rhodes wants the BULLDOG, but Austin saves himself by crotching him in the corner. Austin wails away on him, but Rhodes gets a quick rollup for two. Inside cradle gets two. Austin tries for the STUNGUN out of nowhere, but Rhodes pounds out of it. Now Austin tries for the Ric Flair pin and the ref counts three, but changes his mind afterwards and says he saw Austin’s feet on the ropes. While Austin raises his arms in celebration, Dustin comes up behind him with a rollup for 1-2-3. (14:25) A Dusty Finish in his own sons match? What a saboteur. They had a better match two years before, as this took a while to get going. Austin busts open Rhodes with the US belt afterwards. **¼

• WCW World Tag Team Champions Too Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell (w/Teddy Long) vs. The Nasty Boys (w/Missy Hyatt)
  

Scorpio and Bagwell actually just won the belts in an upset the night before on Saturday Night. Bagwell kisses Missy to make everybody overwhelmed with laughter. While Missy (and Bagwell) recuperate, the crowd chants “WHOOMP THERE IT IS” again. Huh. That only seems to happen when there’s a black person in the match. Bagwell receives some clubberin to start, but dropkicks both Nasties and draws them into Scorpio who comes off the top with a flying crossbody. Young Pistols, BAYBEE! The Nasties head to the floor, so Scorpio jumps off Bagwell and planchas out on top of them. Sweet. Back in, the Nasties take some double-team moves from Scorpio and Bagwell. The champs are looking pretty good here. The match turns around in the Nasty Boys favor when Bagwell gets dumped out to the floor and slapped rather hard by Missy. While the ref is with Knobbs and Scorpio, Sags gives Bagwell a back suplex on the floor! In the ring, Knobbs delivers a suplex for two. The Nasties work in their usual sit-down chinlocks and bearhugs. Knobbs ducks low off a whip and Bagwell heads to his corner for a false tag spot. The Nasties try the splash in the corner, but Bagwell avoids Knobbs and nails Sags with a clothesline. HOT TAG TO SCORPIO! He goes SPIN KICK CRAZY on the Nasties! Moonsault Press to Knobbs. Sags elbow drops his partner by accident to break up the pin. It’s a pier-six brawl as Long and Hyatt wind up on the apron slapping each other. Teddy gets knocked down to the floor as Bagwell gives Sags and Missy a DOUBLE NOGGIN KNOCKER. Meanwhile, Scorpio delivers the DISS THAT DON’T MISS to Knobbs! While the ref is with Bagwell, Sags pulls off his boot and clocks Scorpio in the back of the head. Knobbs turns him over and covers for 1-2-3. The Nasty Boys regain the belts. (14:40) Pretty fun match apart from the typical stuff from the Nasty Boys. Plus, Scorpio and Bagwell really did look good in there. **½

• Sting vs. Sid Vicious (w/Col. Robert Parker)
  

Whoa! There’s an *overzealous* Sting fan in the front row that literally has to be retained by one of his buddies. The dude’s veins are popping out of his neck because Sting is here. Parker distracts Sting to start. That allows Sid to nail him from behind, but one slam changes everything for the Stinger. He beats Sid out of the ring, over the barricade, through the crowd, and back into the ring. Sting gets distracted by Col. Parker again and turns around into a CHOKESLAM! Sid fires up the ol’ extensive moveset by choking and stomping Sting. Parker even joins in on the choking. Sting goes out to grab Parker, but Sid follows and stops him with a double ax handle. While the ref is with Parker, Sid seizes the moment and nails Sting with a REALLY weak chair shot. Now that’s how you grab life by the reins and really make it your own. In the ring, Sting elbows out of a chinlock, but runs into a powerslam. Sting escapes a bearhug and hits the Stinger Splash. Make it two. Parker gets knocked off the apron, but Sid nails Sting from behind once again. Parker starts grabbing ankles again, trips up Sid by accident, and holds the leg down as Sting covers for 1-2-NO! Sid’s not too happy with that. He grabs Parker, so Sting rolls him up off the ropes for 1-2-3. (10:42) They tease a face turn with Sid. Of course a few days later during a drunken argument, Sid would stab Arn Anderson with a pair of scissors and immediately be fired, sooooooo it wouldn’t matter much anyway. It’s a shame they had all that Worldwide footage of Sid with the WCW world title and they never even got to use it. NOT! Worst match of the night, bar none. ½*

• WCW International World Champion Rick Rude vs. Ric Flair (w/Fifi)
  

Just to show you how WCW had no idea what they were doing with this title, the pre-match graphic bills this as the “Match for the Belt”. The challenger gets fireworks and the champ doesn’t. With that logic, even when Flair’s not the champ, he’s the champ. This match has TWO referees – the in-ring referee Randy Anderson and the special enforcer Terry Taylor. Terry Taylor? Yeah, Terry Taylor. Rude throws his best pick-up lines at Fifi and pays for it with some chops and a backdrop. Flair runs into a knee in the corner, but avoids a flying knee drop and hooks the FIGURE-FOUR. Rude makes the ropes, so Flair posts the leg. Flair works a knee bar, but gets yanked out to the floor. Back in, they do the crossbody block spot where both guys fall out to the floor. Rude falls on a chair! OUCH! Flair comes off the top onto Rude with a single sledge. He tries it again, but Rude sees him coming and nails him in the gut. Rude grabs a chair and rears back, but Terry Taylor pulls the chair away from him. Ventura is PISSED! Back in, Rude sits down with a chinlock. Flair escapes, but Rude hits a single sledge off the top – jarring his knee on the fall. Flair comes out of another chinlock and Flair Flips out of the corner onto the apron, but gets met with a clothesline. Rude gives him a suplex back in and comes off the top with another single sledge, but only gets two. Rude hits the bearhug and tries pinning him on the mat, but Flair keeps popping the shoulder up. Flair avoids a third single sledge and hits a RUDE AWAKENING! Delayed cover gets two. Flair comes off the top, but he eats a boot on the way down. Rude whips Flair into ref Randy Anderson, causing Terry Taylor to hop in the ring. He gets knocked down as well. You know Terry, you’re actually a wrestler. You don’t need to sell like you’ve just been shot. Maybe its the ref’s shirt he’s wearing or something. Rude whips out the international object just like at Fall Brawl, but Flair ducks the swing and gives Rude a back suplex. Now Flair has the taped knux and nails Rude in the face! Cover, 1-2-NO! Ref Randy Anderson WHO WAS DOWN ON THE FLOOR stops Taylor from counting and tells him he saw what Flair did to give Rude the match via DQ. (19:22) Randy Anderson completely missed his cue which made the finish look even dumber than it already was planned to be. Dusty Finish aside, this was basically the same match they did at Fall Brawl with about ten minutes cut off from the original. It’s better in that respect, but it’s still lame for a Flair match. These two just did not mesh very well, which is rare for Flair to not mesh with someone. **½

• Big Van Vader (w/Harley Race) vs. Cactus Jack – Texas Death Match
  

Earlier in the night, Vader spun the wheel and now its time to complete the deal! Here are the rules: it’s no-DQ, pinfalls do not count, but you have to pin your opponent in order for the 30-second rest period to begin. After all that, the ref starts a ten-count and if your opponent doesn’t get to his feet in time, you win the match. This is the match everyone had been waiting to see since Cactus received a powerbomb on the concrete back in April. No title on the line here, just a big score to settle. They meet on the rampway and brawl like crazy. Vader tries to clothesline Cactus up against the ringpost, but misses. Cactus jabs him with a chair and grabs a fan’s camera to bash Vader in the head. If only there was eBay in 1993. Cactus gets the chair again and nails Vader right in the skull. They make it into the ring where Cactus runs into a boot and gets DRILLED with a clothesline. Vader takes him to the corner for more straight shots to the face. Cactus gets punched out to the rampway and reverses a suplex on Vader to bring him out there as well. Cactus is clearly busted open at this point. He delivers a back suplex and pounds away as Race shows up with a chair. Cactus blocks a chairshot and takes it away from Race for another chairshot to Vader! They continue over to the graveyard set where there’s a hole ready and waiting for Vader to fall into and a tombstone with his name on it. Neat! Cactus goes in with him to lay in some more punches and then walks out to head down the rampway. Vader comes out of the grave all bloody, which is a cool visual. Cactus nails him with a running clothesline and covers for three. The 30-second rest period begins. Vader’s up at two and Cactus grabs another piece of the set and hits Vader with it. Ironically enough, it was a cactus prop. That knocks Vader down off the rampway to the floor where Cactus gives him a flying elbow! That’s another pinfall for Cactus and after the 30-second rest period, Vader’s up at three. Vader’s getting mad now and yanks Cactus off the rampway by his hair! Cactus punches back and tosses a table into the ring. Ref Nick Patrick sets the table up in the corner. Geez, what a bias ref! They head into the ring where Cactus whips Vader into the table for two. They go back to the floor where Cactus delivers a sunset flip off the apron. Vader won’t go down and tries to squash him, but Cactus moves out of the way. Cactus puts Vader into the front row and tries to cannonball into Vader over the railing, but Vader stands back and lets Cactus hit the concrete! Back over the barricade, Vader nails Cactus with a chair. Meanwhile, Harley Race is warming up a tazer. In the ring, Vader delivers a MOONSAULT! That gets three. After the rest period, Cactus is up at three and immediately kicked into the corner for more SICK punches to the face. They go back to the rampway where Cactus jumps on Vader’s back, so he just falls back on top of Cactus. Holy CRAP. That still makes me cringe. Vader blasts Cactus again with a chair, followed by a DDT on the chair! Some trainers run down to check on Cactus, but Vader shoves him them away and covers for three. Vader interrupts the rest period, but Cactus punches back and now Vader receives a DDT on the chair. Once the rest period is over, the ref starts the count on both men. Cactus is almost to his feet when Harley Race whips out his tazer and stuns Cactus as Vader gets to his feet to win the match. (15:57) Everything up to the lame finish was a perfectly put-together brawl from two guys who can DELIVER in that type of match. I don’t really understand why they had to go with the cheap finish, but whatever. Still the best match of 1993 as far as American wrestling goes. ****½

Final Thoughts: Halloween Havoc is widely considered a one-match show and to your average wrestling fan, it is. However, longtime fans of Steamboat and Regal can’t dismiss their matches on the card. I think they’re both excellent and shouldn’t be overlooked. I’ll go with thumbs in the middle and look at this show as a step up for WCW. But then they go and do the Battlebowl PPV, so it’s really like one step forward and two steps back.

WWF SummerSlam 1993
August 30, 1993
Auburn Hills, MI
Palace at Auburn Hills

The current WWF Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Yokozuna (6/13/1993)
Intercontinental Champion: Shawn Michaels (6/6/1993)
World Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers (6/16/1993)

Your hosts are Vince McMahon & Bobby Heenan.

• Razor Ramon vs. Ted DiBiase
  

After Razor lost to the 1-2-3 Kid in an upset back in May, DiBiase started to make fun of him and offered him a job as his personal servant since he obviously didn’t have a future in wrestling, causing Ramon to turn face and befriend The Kid to take on Money Inc. DiBiase attacks Razor from behind before he even gets his jacket off. Razor comes back and hits the Fallaway Slam. DiBiase takes a clothesline out to the floor and gets flipped back in from the apron. He begs off, but he’s just setting Razor up to yank him in the corner. Backbreaker gets two. Razor elbows out of a chinlock, but runs into a knee. DiBiase delivers a swinging neckbreaker and calls for the MILLION DOLLAR DREAM, but Razor elbows him away. DiBiase dumps Razor out and exposes a turnbuckle. Back in, Razor blocks the turnbuckle smash and gives one to Teddy instead. RAZORS EDGE! It’s over. (7:32) A fine little match. Razor looked like a star in this one. On the other hand, this would prove to be DiBiase’s last WWF match of his career due to his nagging injuries. **

• WWF World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers vs. The Heavenly Bodies (w/Jim Cornette)
  

This is the more well-known Pritchard/Del Ray combination of the Heavenly Bodies. In one of those minor details that Cornette pays attention to like all great wrestling minds do, Cornette sells an injury from SMW and wears a neck brace to continue the illusion for the few hundred SMW fans. I personally didn’t pay much attention to SMW until around 1995 when Brad Armstrong was the big fish in the little pond. Well, as big a fish as Brad Armstrong can be in a regional independent wrestling promotion. Great fed though if you like your southern ‘rasslin and New Jack mixed together. Anyways, we’re in Detroit where the Steiners are royalty. This is the second match in a row where the heels do a Pearl Harbor job to start the match. Scott gets thrown out so the Bodies can double-suplex Rick. Ouch! Double-Flapjack to Rick. That didn’t land well. Scott makes the save and whips the Bodies into each other. Scott monkey-flips Del Ray across the ring, followed by a double-hiptoss by the Steiners on Pritchard. Pritchard ducks a Steinerline from Rick, but Del Ray does not. Instead, Pritchard walks right into a Release Belly-to-Belly Suplex from Scott. He follows that up with a Tilt-a-whirl Slam on Del Ray! Awesome segment there. We now go from there to a normal tag match. Scott press slams Pritchard and backdrops Del Ray. Rick tags in and clotheslines the heels out to the floor as they change up their gameplan with Corny. Back in, Scott delivers a pair of atomic drops on the Bodies, but doesn’t see Pritchard coming up from behind with a bulldog. Nice! Pritchard dumps Scott out to allow Del Ray to cannonball onto him off the apron! Del Ray tags in and hits a SWEET hurricane DDT on Scott. The Bodies deliver a drop toehold/knee drop combo. Del Ray hits a Superkick and boy am I enjoying this Jimmy Del Ray guy in a completely heterosexual way, of course. Cover, 1-2-NO! Pritchard tags and chokes Scott in the ropes. When the ref backs him away, Cornette jabs him in the mouth with his tennis racket. Del Ray tags and tries another hurricane DDT, but Scott counters with a release Northern Lights throw. Pritchard cuts off the tag, but ducks low off a whip and takes a double underhook slam. HOT TAG TO RICK! He goes STEINERLINE CRAZY! Steiner Bulldog to Del Ray! Cover, 1-2-NO! Uh oh, Pritchard throws Scott off to the floor when he tries a ten-count corner punch. Meanwhile, Rick hits a Powerslam on Del Ray! Cornette throws in the tennis racket right in front of Rick’s face. He still gets WHACKED with the racket from behind by Pritchard. Del Ray covers for 1-2-NO! MOONSAULT PRESS by Del Ray, but Rick moves and Pritchard takes the blow instead. Scott comes in and gives the FRANKENSTEINER to Del Ray for the win! (9:29) GOOD tag team wrestling like this makes me feel good inside. Is that weird? ***½

• WWF Intercontinental Champion Shawn Michaels (w/Diesel) vs. Mr. Perfect
  

It’s the battle of the greatest IC champions of all-time. This is the second time a feud over this claim has happened in six years. The first of course was between Randy Savage and the Honky Tonk Man in late ‘87. As far as Diesel goes, he’s just a big guy at this point who looks out for his buddy Shawn. Quick start as both guys counters each other a bunch. Perfect works the arm as much as he can. He even armdrags HBK off the top, which was pretty cool. Perfect catapults Michaels out to the floor. He follows him out, but Diesel distracts him and causes Perfect to turn around into a superkick. Back in the ring, Shawn goes to work on the back. He whips Perfect from corner to corner and applies a backbreaker. Perfect punches out and starts his comeback. They fight over a backslide as Perfect flips Shawn over into the PERFECTPLEX for 1-2-NO! Diesel pulls Perfect out to the floor and pays for it by receiving some right hands. Perfect turns around and catches HBK in the gut as he comes off the apron. Perfect tosses him back in the ring into ref Earl Hebner, so Diesel takes advantage and sends Perfect into the ringpost to get him counted out. (11:19) Well the finish isn’t satisfying considering the buildup, but the match itself isn’t as bad as everyone says it is. With the huge egos that were griping over how Vince was handling the IC belt at the time, the finish is exactly how you would expect it to go down. Arguably, this was Hennig’s final match that had any real drawing power. Perfect attacks Diesel backstage, which kick-starts Diesel’s WWF career. ***¼

• 1-2-3 Kid vs. Irwin R. Schyster
  

This is 1-2-3 Kid’s PPV debut. IRS launches Kid up in the air a time or two before he counters with a dropkick in mid-move. He screws around with the Kid and gets rolled up out of nowhere for two. The Rope-Assisted Ab Stretch is applied, which is the standard for all Mike Rotunda matches. Kid elbows out of a chinlock, kicks away at IRS in the corner, and hits the MOONSAULT PRESS that got him the upset win over Ramon for 1-2-NO! La Majistral cradle gets two on IRS. Enziguri connects, but IRS hits the WRITE-OFF (jumping lariat) for the win. (5:45) A total squash that really didn’t need to be. *½

For this next match, Owen and Bruce Hart have front row seats. Anybody seen the Memphis/USWA reactions to the Bret/Lawler feud? Owen Hart was the main event heel USWA unified champion who defends his brother Bret, while Lawler is of course the god of Memphis who can do no wrong. I recommend you check it out on YouTube sometime. Anyways, Lawler comes down to the ring on crutches and an iced-up knee. He goes on to say that he can’t wrestle tonight because some old blue-haired lady pulled out in front of him on the way to the show and caused a ten car pile-up. Heenan ~ “Probably Helen Hart.” Yeah, probably so. He sends his court jester to wrestle in his place. That court jester is none other than Doink the Clown!

• Bret Hart vs. Doink the Clown (w/Jerry Lawler)
  

Lucky for us, it’s still the great Matt Borne edition. Doink tosses confetti at the crowd out of a tin pail. That is until he gets over to Bruce Hart who gets a pail full of water thrown at him. Bret beats Doink in and out of the ring for several minutes. He starts to chase Lawler away, but gets nailed from behind by Doink and then eats the steel steps. In the ring, Doink goes after the leg. He hits a shin breaker and wraps the leg around the post for two. STFU! Wow, so John Cena gets his wrestling technique from watching Doink matches? Who woulda thunk it? Bret elbows out, but gets stuck in the STUMP PULLER! Doink grabs the ropes and the hold gets broken to set up the WHOOPIE CUSHION! Oh wait, Bret gets the knees up to block. Russian legsweep! Flying elbow drop! SHARPSHOOTER! Then all of a sudden, Jerry Lawler seems to be completely healed. It’s a miracle! He hops in the ring and blasts Bret with a crutch to break the hold. (8:57) No bell, but I’m guessing that’s a DQ win for Bret. Owen and Bruce are being held back by referees and security. Lawler continues to beat the heck out of Bret and heads back to the dressing room with Doink until WWF President Jack Tunney stands in their way. If Jerry Lawler doesn’t return to the ring to face Bret Hart, he’ll be banned from the WWF 4-LIFE. You know, I would love to see Tunney do the nWo 4-LIFE hand signal. So far, so good. ***

• Bret Hart vs. Jerry Lawler
  

Bret BEATS Lawler back to the ring. He drops a headbutt right to the “lower abdominal region” or as Dr. Dre might say, “deez nuts”. They go to the floor where Bret nails him in the back with the other crutch. Lawler leads Bret around the ring and then pops Bret in the gut with the crutch to gain a breather. He continues to choke him down with it as well. Back in the ring, Lawler antagonizes Bruce and Owen to turn the ref’s attention away so he can jab Bret in the throat with the crutch. Bret’s trick knee acts up and Lawler receives a low-blow to turn the tide. DOWN COME THE STRAPS! Bret fires away. NOW LAWLER’S STRAPS COME DOWN! Backbreaker from Bret gets two. Piledriver gets followed up by a flying elbow. SHARPSHOOTER! (6:34) Lawler gives up, but Bret refuses to release the hold. The longer he leaves it on, the louder the crowd gets. A fleet of referees, security, Pat Patterson and Jerry Brisco combined can’t get Bret off Lawler. Bruce and Owen finally come in the ring and only then does Bret release the hold. Because of Bret’s post-match actions, ref Bill Alfonso reverses the decision in Lawler’s favor. Lawler does the stretcher job, allowing Bruce and Owen to get in some free licks on his way to the back. Just a perfectly booked feud. Definitely the best of 1993. Of course, even this is only the beginning. ***½

• Ludvig Borga vs. Marty Jannetty
  

Talk about your highs and your lows. Jannetty was the IC champ a few months ago and now he’s about to get eaten alive by the new Finnish guy on the block. Borga’s been in the WWF for around two months and he’s undefeated. He looks like a shorter, beefed up version of Heidenreich. He’s pretty impressive in my opinion. Not a draw or anything, but he’s pretty good in the ring. He launches Marty up in the air and PUNCHES him on the way down. Jannetty hits a pair of superkicks, but that’s as close as he comes to taking Borga off his feet. TORTURE RACK gets the submission win for Borga. (5:15) Borga would hang around in the WWF until January, then he becomes a boxer, and later on a successful politician in his homeland. America’s not the only place where anything is possible. *

• The Undertaker vs. Giant Gonzales (w/Harvey Wippleman) – ‘Rest in Peace’ Match
  

The rules are simple: no DQ, no countout, must be a winner. Wippleman has the urn to begins things and there is no Paul Bearer around just yet to take it back. Taker tries to put him down with clotheslines, but that’s no good. They go to the floor where Taker meets the steps head-first. Gonzales finds a chair and cracks it across Taker’s back. Taker gets whipped into the steps for the knees-first bump. Back in, Taker tries to crawl towards the urn, but Gonzales stands in his way. Paul Bearer makes his return and starts walking towards the ring with a black funeral wreath. Wippleman apparently takes offense to Bearer being at ringside, but runs into the fat which knocks him down. Bearer reclaims the urn and raises it high in the air to revive the Undertaker. He hits a bunch more clotheslines, but a flying clothesline is the only thing that will take Gonzales off his feet. Cover, 1-2-3. (8:05) Afterwards, Gonzales gets rid of Harvey Wippleman with a CHOKESLAM. At least it was better than their WrestleMania match. Lucky for me, there’s no more Giant Gonzales/El Gigante matches to recap ever again. ½*

• The Headshrinkers & Bam Bam Bigelow (w/Afa & Luna Vachon) vs. The Smokin’ Gunns & Tatanka
  

Heenan lets us know that Shawn Michaels has left the building. Thanks, Bobby. We get Tatanka vs. Bigelow to start. They both think crossbody blocks at the same time, leading to a Billy and Fatu switch. Billy hits a flying clothesline, but gets run down with a shoulderblock. Samu kicks Billy over to Bart for a tag. Bart becomes our lovable-cowboy-in-peril and gets passed around for a while. Typical Samoan stuff – headbutts, shoulderblocks and powerslams. Solid action though. Bigelow misses a corner charge to set up the HOT TAG TO TATANKA! He SLAMS Bigelow and hits a Flying Bodypress for 1-2-NO! Bigelow starts pounding away, but Tatanka starts up the War Dance. An enziguri kick will put a stop to that, Bam Bam. See, told ya. Samu tags and hits a Flying Headbutt for 1-2-NO! The Gunns are cleared out of the ring, leaving Tatanka all by himself with the heels. Bigelow gets whipped into the corner for a splash to set up a TRIPLE HEADBUTT! Now they all head up top for a TRIFECTA OF FLYING HEADBUTTS, but Tatanka sits up and avoids them all. The Gunns are back in as Fatu and Bigelow roll out for STEREO PESCADOS! Meanwhile, Tatanka rolls up Samu for 1-2-3! (11:16) Everybody was feeling it here and what we got was another great match on this card. Must be something in the water. ***

Randy Savage makes his SummerSlam appearance by holding the American flag while Aaron Neville sings the national anthem.

• WWF World Champion Yokozuna (w/Mr. Fuji & Jim Cornette) vs. Lex Luger
  

So Luger goes from being a narcissistic prick to Captain America in the span of a couple weeks. He slams Yokozuna on a ship and travels the country in the Lex Express bus hanging out with sick children and making them smile leading up to his WWF title shot. That’s pretty much the last two months of Luger’s life in a nutshell. Oh yeah, and he now wears a protective forearm pad so as to not have an advantage over his opponents because of the steel plate in his forearm. Because cheating and getting caught for it would be un-American, right? During the face-off, Fuji tries to sneak in on Luger from behind, but the eyes in the back of his head sees him coming. Yoko elbows Luger away when he tries to roll him up off the ropes (what was Lex thinking?), but he misses the Legdrop. Luger starts kicking away at the leg and hits the jumping elbow drop for two. Wow he NEVER hits that. Luger hits a corner clothesline and follows up with the ten-count corner punch. Once that’s over, Yokozuna chops him in the throat and chokes him down in the corner. When the ref pushes him away, Fuji climbs up to the apron to literally throw salt in Luger’s game. Good thing Lex has those eyes in the back of his head, because they come in quite handy again in this match. Lex punches Yoko and tries to slam him, but that’s not going to work just yet. Yoko superkicks him down instead and takes him to the floor for some splashing up against the ringpost. Luger avoids a chairshot and comes back with a pair of flying double ax-handles back in the ring. A third leap off the top is a flying forearm, which finally puts Yokozuna down. Cover, 1-2-NO! Luger clotheslines Yoko down from behind for 1-2-NO! Double-KO spot happens next. Cornette hops up on the apron as Fuji rolls a wooden (?) pail into the ring. WHAM! Yoko nails Luger right in the face with it! Yoko crawls over for 1-2-NO! Belly-to-Belly Suplex gets two. Yoko chokes Lex in the ropes and then delivers a Morishima-like backdrop suplex! Cover, 1-2-NO! Now Yoko grabs the nerve hold. Luger elbows out and tries to slam Yokozuna again, but Yoko falls on top for 1-2-NO! Yoko hits the Legdrop for 1-2-NO! Luger avoids the BANZAI DROP and the butt splash in the corner leading to the eventual slam on Yoko. Heenan ~ “HIPLOCK! HIPLOCK!” Fuji gets nailed and OFF COMES THE FOREARM PAD! Luger hits Yoko with the BIONIC FOREARM, which knocks him clear through the ropes and to the floor. He’s totally KO’ed and gets counted out to give Luger the win. (18:00) Definitely Yokozuna’s longest match to date, and not a bad one at that. You have to hand it to Yokozuna for sticking it out and not relying on so many restholds. The Steiners, Tatanka and Randy Savage all come down to celebrate with Luger like he actually just became champion or something. Red, white and blue balloons drop from the ceiling – the whole shebang, American style. It’s so cheesy and overly patriotic, I think it would probably even make Jim Duggan blush. **½

Final Thoughts: What a fun show filled with hard work and great booking for the most part. The next several months would prove to Vince that Bret Hart was his new guy for 1994 and that he didn’t need a Hulk Hogan prototype. I’m so glad Bret didn’t get the title shot here because then the Bret/Lawler feud leading into the Bret/Owen feud might never have happened or at least been as awesome as they were. Overall, a thoroughly entertaining show. Thumbs up for an often times overlooked and underrated SummerSlam 1993.

WCW Fall Brawl 1993
September 19, 1993
Houston, TX
Astro Arena

The current WCW & NWA Champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Big Van Vader (3/17/1993)
WCW International World Champion: Ric Flair (7/18/1993)
WCW U.S. Champion: Dustin Rhodes (8/30/1993)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Arn Anderson & Paul Roma (8/18/1993)
WCW World Television Champion: Ricky Steamboat (8/18/1993)

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura.

• WCW World Television Champion Ricky Steamboat vs. Lord Steven Regal (w/Sir William)
  

I’m not really anti-Buffer or anything, but does he have to do the ring announcing for every title match now? Regal beat the crap out of Steamboat on Saturday Night with Sir William’s umbrella which explains why Steamboat’s ribs are taped. Steamboat tries to chop Regal away every time he forearms the ribs. Steamboat hits the FLYING JUDO CHOP, but that hurts his ribs. Steamboat hits the arm twist crescent kick to temporarily stop Regal from elbowing him in the ribs. He works the arm and applies a hammerlock down on the mat. Steamboat’s moving slow anyway because of his awesome selling of his injured ribs, but actually Regal manages to elbow him off. Steamboat plays possum and surprises Regal into a short-arm scissors. Regal tries to power out (Schiavone being ridiculous ~ “I’ve never seen that that in this sport ever.”), but Steamboat uses his momentum to roll him back over into the hold. Regal comes back with a backdrop and reverts to working on the ribs. He delivers a somersault senton, causing Ventura to reference Edouard Carpentier like always. Regal applies a crossface and grinds his knee into the ribs. Steamboat’s selling is just tremendous here. Steamboat escapes into an electric chair drop and goes for a splash, but it hits knees. Silly Steamboat. Why would you go for that with injured ribs? Regal grabs a Canadian backbreaker and goes from there to a surfboard. Regal rips off the tape and delivers a butterfly suplex for two. Steamboat fires back and catapults Regal into the corner, but Regal falls back on a slam for two. Steamboat wins a tombstone reversal sequence, which must be done at least once on every WCW PPV in 1993. Steamboat gets two off that and rolls up Regal off the ropes for another two. Double chop gets another nearfall. Inside cradle gets two. Steamboat hits a suplex, but can’t cover quickly enough because of the ribs. He heads up top and delivers the FLYING BODYPRESS, but he rolls right off Regal! Ahh, the stupid ribs! Excellent psychology. Regal tries to dump him out and Steamboat skins-the-cat, but Sir William runs over and WHACKS Steamboat in the back of the head with that blasted umbrella as he tries to flip back into the ring. Steamboat stumbles back into a bridging German suplex for 1-2-3! We’ve got a brand new TV champ! (17:05) This is an amazing display of psychology from two of the masters. ***½

• Charlie Norris vs. Big Sky
  

You may say to yourself – Chuck Norris? Really? Awesome! Well you couldn’t be more wrong. Charlie Norris was an Indian wrestler who eventually filed a lawsuit against WCW for racial discrimination regardless of the fact that his entire gimmick going into WCW was racial discrimination by itself. Big Sky is Nitron who used to be Woman’s bodyguard back when she managed Doom. Crowd chants “we want Flair” and “boring” all throughout. A nothing match wraps up when Norris kicks Big Sky down for the pin. (4:34) With kicks like that, Chuck Norris he ain’t .¼*

• Too Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs. Paul Orndorff & The Equalizer
  

Since Equalizer sucked so much by himself, they tried to get him over by teaming him up with all the over heels until that plan failed miserably, became a goofy Hulkamaniac who suffered from dyslexia, and then realized he was related to Kevin Sullivan. Bagwell can’t take the Equalizer off his feet, so it takes both Scorpio and Bagwell with a double dropkick to put him down. Bagwell and Scorpio control the match until Equalizer pulls the top rope down to send Bagwell flying out to the floor. Back in, Bagwell gets double-teamed. He escapes a bearhug and delivers a back suplex to Orndorff to set up the HOT TAG TO SCORPIO! The action breaks loose! Well, as loose as it can get in this match. Orndorff nails Equalizer by accident, setting up the DISS THAT DON’T MISS (450 splash) from Scorpio for the win. (10:46) Pretty much your standard tag match with no real heat until the finish. Afterwards, Orndorff and Equalizer leave the faces laying. *

• Ice Train vs. Shanghai Pierce (w/Tex Slazenger)
  

As you probably know, Pierce and Slazenger are the future Godwinns in the WWF. Ice Train was the black Scott Norton with a dash of charisma. He would actually go on to team with Scott Norton in ‘96. Pierce suckers Train into a test of strength and kicks him in the gut to take over. Slazenger grabs Train’s ankle to piss him off and give Pierce the opening to nail him from behind. You know, some of the old cheap heat tricks. The Texans try and double-clothesline Train with a bullrope, but he runs right through them and powerslams Pierce for the 1-2-3. (3:27) Just a waste of time. ½*

• WCW World Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson & Paul Roma vs. The Nasty Boys (w/Missy Hyatt)
  

Yep, Missy Hyatt is the Nasty Boys’ big surprise. Can’t get much nastier than her, so in that case it’s not such a bad combination. Roma and Knobbs start the match. The Horsemen clean house on the Nasties as someone tosses Missy a buck. They switch and now we have Anderson and Sags. Arn posts the leg and tags Roma in for some leg work. Knobbs gets the tag and the Horsemen work over his leg as well. After several minutes of legbars, Roma gets stuck in the Nasties corner. Knobbs and Sags take turns sitting down on a chinlock, which is just riveting stuff. Roma tries to electric chair drop out of the hold on Sags, but can’t lift the fattie. He tries it on Knobbs and pulls it off. Arn gets the hot tag, but when the ref turns his back, Knobbs clotheslines AA over the top to the floor. While the ref is with Roma, Sags clocks AA in the back with Jesse’s chair. The Nasties trade off on an ab stretch now. False tag spot occurs and the Nasties start CLUBBERIN’ on Arn. AA bites out of a bearhug, but can’t suplex Sags and takes one instead. Anderson avoids a double clothesline and face slams both Nasties. Hot tag to Roma, he goes nuts on the Nasties. Double Noggin Knocker! Missile Dropkick to Knobbs! Cover, 1-2-NO! Knobbs stops a ten-count corner punch on Roma and hoists him up on his shoulders for the Steiner Bulldog. Arn keeps that from happening by shoving Sags off the top rope while Roma fails trying to do a victory roll. AA hits the Spinebuster on Knobbs to set up the Flying Splash from Roma! The ref tries to get AA out of the ring while Sags lowers the boom on Roma. Knobbs covers him for 1-2-3. More new champs. (23:58) Who really wants to see a 25-minute long Nasty Boys match? Honestly. Anyways, for what its worth, I liked the Spinebuster/Splash combo for a finisher. ¾*

• Cactus Jack vs. Yoshi Kwan (w/Harley Race) - Bounty Match
  

Before the match, they aired a recap of the Cactus Jack amnesia angle where after taking a powerbomb on the concrete in April caused him to go live with hobos in Cleveland. The WCW bookers evidently came off their contact high and realized how retarded this was. They tried to play it off like Cactus Jack was faking the whole time to screw around with Vader in a pre-recorded promo taken place in some rundown American city where Smashing Pumpkins posters are everywhere. BANG BANG! Anyways, Harley Race hires Yoshi Kwan, who is actually Chris Champion dressed up like a stereotypical Asian to get rid of Cactus. Think Kenzo Suzuki from a few years back on Smackdown. Kwan was actually undefeated up until the night before on Saturday Night, thus killing any intrigue this match might’ve had and also makes me want to have a Lewis Black reaction. Oh yeah, and Harley has Cactus Jack’s leather bag that he wants back, but nobody knows what is in the bag or anything about it. Big brawl to start. Cactus straddles Kwan and Cactus Clotheslines him to the floor. Jack goes after Race, but gets kicked from behind. Kwan enziguris Cactus on the rampway. Back in, Kwan hits a spinning heel kick. Cactus blocks another kick and chokes Kwan down on the mat. Race gets up on the apron. That causes some heel miscommunication and leads to a DOUBLE ARM DDT from Cactus for the win. (3:38) So much for collecting a bounty. Cactus gives Race a suplex into the ring and takes his bag back. Whatever, Mick. *

• WCW International World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair (w/Fifi) vs. Rick Rude
  

This seemed to be more about Flair defending Fifi than it was Rude wanting the belt. Rude put the moves on Fifi and when she rejected him on ‘Flair for the Gold’, Rude gave Flair a Rude Awakening. Much like Rude did with Cheryl Roberts in ‘88, he has Fifi’s face spray-painted on his tights for this match on his crotch. He looks weird with the white boots, by the way. Rude misses a flying knee drop early and Flair applies the FIGURE-FOUR! Rude makes the ropes and clotheslines Flair to the floor. While Rude gyrates at Fifi, Flair comes off the top with a sledge. Flair works the arm for a good five minutes. They both tumble out to the floor where Rude drops Flair with a clothesline. Rude gives Flair a suplex back in for two. Rude sits down on a chinlock for a while. Flair avoids a butt splash and chops Rude away, but runs into a hotshot. Rude applies a bearhug for a bit and comes off the top with a forearm. He delivers a second one. Rude wants a third, but Flair catches him in the gut on the way down. Flair follows up with a back suplex, but runs into a knee in the corner. Rude hits a DDT for two. RUDE AWAKENING? No! Flair turns it around into a Rude Awakening of his own! That only gets two. Flair escapes a sleeper with a pair of shin breakers. He even comes off the middle rope to try and tear the hamstring. Rude kicks away a Figure-Four attempt and cradles Flair up for two on the second try. Flair throws Rude out to the floor and chops him down before coming off the top for a single ax handle. Back in the ring, Flair Flips out of the corner and comes off the top, but Rude catches him with a clothesline on his way down. Now Rude heads up and hits the Flying Fist Drop for two. Rude tosses Flair to the floor and brings Fifi into the ring for a smooch. Flair runs in and nails Rude from behind. Back drop leads to a FIGURE-FOUR! The ref’s busy with Fifi though, so Rude grabs some taped knux out of his tights and KO’s Flair in the face! Rude covers for three. ANOTHER new champion. (30:47) The only guy I’ve ever seen Rude wrestle with for 30 minutes that delivered in spades was Ricky Steamboat. I love Flair, but he did not bring his A-game in this match. This was resthold after resthold that could’ve been avoided. **¼

• Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes & The Shockmaster (w/Road Warrior Animal) vs. Big Van Vader, Sid Vicious & Harlem Heat (w/Harley Race & Col. Robert Parker) – Wargames Cage Match
  

Dustin Rhodes has his ribs taped from a beating of some kind the night before on Saturday Night. Animal wants to send Shockmaster in first, but thank God Dustin’s stupid. He runs right inside the cage to take on Vader. For some reason, I always enjoyed when Rhodes and Vader hooked up. I wish they had really feuded at some point. Rhodes beats Vader down in the corner. He takes his boot off and charges at Vader, but runs into one of Vader’s boots instead. Irony! Rhodes punches Vader back and hits a lariat, but a shot to the ribs puts Dustin back down. Oh no! Vader hits a Pump Splash. Rhodes battles back again and hits a DDT. Rhodes grabs the boot and nails Vader in the face. Meanwhile, the heels win the coin toss of course. They are so good when it comes to coin tosses, but somehow they still end up losing more times than they win. Quite the conundrum. Rhodes slams Vader as he comes off the middle rope just as Kane, better known as Stevie Ray, enters the match. Just for the sake of confusion, I’m calling them Booker T and Stevie Ray. The heels double-team for the two-minute period. Vader and Stevie Ray meet Sting at the door as he enters the match. He clotheslines both guys and sends Stevie Ray into the cage. Well, finally somebody meets the steel! Sting concentrates on Vader in one ring while Dustin controls Stevie Ray in the other. Rhodes is busted open now, by the way. Another period ends and Sid Vicious comes into the cage. Whatever you do guys, DON’T LET HIM POWERBOMB YOU! Sting gets whipped into Vader and turns around into a Chokeslam. Sid and Vader continue to dominate Sting while Dustin and Stevie Ray exchange blows. Davey Boy Smith is in next to even the teams 3-on-3. He clotheslines Sid and slams Vader off the middle rope. Rhodes is beat down in the corner while Vader, Sid and Stevie Ray pound away on Sting and DBS. Booker T’s the last guy to come in for his team. He slams DBS off the top and before you know it, the Shockmaster enters Wargames for the Match Beyond to begin! That means its come down to submission or surrender. Almost immediately, he grabs a bearhug on Booker T while everyone else on his team just kind of watches him get squeezed to death. He gives up and Shockmaster wins the match for his team. (16:39) Of ALL the people to win the match, it’s fn Tugboat. This was Wargames when you put it on auto-pilot and forget to add any semblance of intensity that a match like this is supposed to have. I’m a huge fan of Wargames, so to see it at this level was just completely unacceptable. Only one guy was busted open and who actually seemed to give a crap, and that was the Wargames inventor’s own son. Thank you, Dustin. You made this match not completely suck. **

Final Thoughts: Fall Brawl 1993 is one of those shows you just try to get through. I was literally scared going into this show. At least the Great American Bash was so bad, it was entertaining in a weird, sick way. This was just BORING. Now I know why nobody talks about this show, ever. The Steamboat/Regal match is the only thing worth seeing from this show, but you don’t really need to bother just for that one match. As if you didn’t see this coming, thumbs WAY down for Fall Brawl 1993. That’s three in a row from me as far as WCW PPVs go and they just keep getting worse.

WCW Clash of the Champions #24
August 18, 1993
Daytona Beach, FL
Ocean Center

The current WCW & NWA Champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Big Van Vader (3/17/1993)
NWA World Champion: Ric Flair (7/18/1993)
WCW U.S. Champion: vacant (5/15/1993)
WCW/NWA World Tag Team Champions: The Hollywood Blondes (3/2/1993)
WCW World Television Champion: Paul Orndorff (3/2/1993)

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura.

• WCW/NWA World Tag Team Champions Steve Austin & Lord Steven Regal (w/Sir William & Brian Pillman) vs. Arn Anderson & Paul Roma
  

Here is where the months of Disney MGM tapings completed in one week screwed WCW real bad. Because of said tapings and because Bischoff decided to hold off on their title win instead of giving them the belts at Beach Blast, Anderson and Roma had to become the tag champs here in order for them to be the champs in the string of Worldwide shows where they were called the champs before the Nasty Boys won the belts in September. Sorry if this information spoils the match for you, but this show is nearly fifteen years old, people. Anyways, Brian Pillman was injured prior to the show and now he can’t compete in the match. He’s seriously injured – he’s really not kidding this time. So Austin needed a partner and Lord Steven Regal was their choice. Complete opposites when you consider Austin and Regal, but I don’t know that they had much of a choice here. Can you think of another upper mid-card heel wrestler for Austin to team up with in 1993? Me either. Pillman ~ “THIS IS A CONSPIRACY!” I absolutely agree, Brian. He’ll hang around ringside leaning on his crutches. After a stiff tie-up, Austin nails AA with a clothesline and catches him with an elbow off the ropes for two. Anderson catapults Austin onto the apron and catches him charging at him with a backdrop over the top to the floor. Jesse wants a DQ for that, but the ref was with Regal. Austin cowers back in the ring and slides over to Regal for a tag. Tag to Roma, he unloads in the corner and hits a dropkick. I always loved Regal’s selling. He always seems repulsed at the pain he was enduring. Austin decks Roma as he comes off the ropes to turn the tide. Austin tags back in and hits a suplex. Pillman chokes Roma in the ropes just because he’s there, so he might as well do it. Tag to Regal, he delivers a somersault senton for two. Gutwrench suplex gets two. Austin tags and tries a turnbuckle smash, but Roma avoids and smashes Austin’s face instead. Austin goes low with the knee and hits a flying elbow for two. Roma gets an inside cradle while the ref is busy trying to get Anderson back to his corner. Austin turns around and takes a shot right to the face from AA. Nice. Roma hits Austin’s own STUNGUN, leading to a false tag spot. Roma gets a Jack Brisco rollup on Regal for only one. Enziguri kick to Regal sets up a HOT TAG TO ANDERSON! He goes for the DDT, but Regal breaks it up from behind. Roma takes Regal to the floor and Pillman gets up on the apron to distract the ref while Sir William’s on the apron with the crutch. AA reverses a whip from Austin into Sir William and rolls him up for 1-2-3. (9:51) Crowd erupts, giving Roma no doubt the biggest pop of his WCW career. **½

• Too Cold Scorpio vs. Bobby Eaton
  

Man, seeing Bobby like this makes me pine for the Midnight Express days. This was supposed to Regal instead of Eaton, but as you can see, that had to be changed. Plus instead of a styles clash, we get a flyer vs. flyer match. They do some back-and-forth stuff until Eaton misses a corner charge and Scorpio comes off the top for a flying bodypress for 1-2-NO! Scorpio misses a crossbody, so then Bobby chokes him in the ropes. Scorpio elbows out of a hammerlock and sets Eaton up in the turnbuckle for a dropkick that takes him to the floor! Well that was kind of cool. He brings Eaton back in after a pescado where Eaton catches Scorpio out of nowhere with a swinging neckbreaker. Eaton heads up top and comes down with a flying elbow drop! Only Savage hits it prettier. That gets two. Scorpio comes back with a spinning heel kick and finishes Eaton off with the 450 SPLASH. (5:27) Pretty much a decent Worldwide main event. **

• Johnny B. Badd vs. Maxx Payne - Johnny’s mask vs. Payne’s “Norma Jean” guitar
  

I think this might be it for the Badd/Payne feud. If Johnny loses, he must unmask and show his “disfigured” face after being shot in the face with his own Badd Blaster, but if Payne loses then Badd gets his guitar. Payne attacks Badd at the opening and elbow drops him with his feathered boas still on. Jesse seems quite offended by this! When Badd starts to punch Payne back, he whiffs on a crossbody. Payne pulls off the mask, but Badd has another mask on. I mean, it’s just proper mask etiquette to wear two masks if there’s a chance you might have to unmask at the end of the match. Badd snaps off a headscissors, but Payne NO-SELLS and nails him with a clothesline. Payne delivers the Hammerlock Slam and goes for the PAYNE KILLER, but Badd slips away and cradles Payne up for 1-2-NO! Payne hits another clothesline and drops a pair of elbows. He wants a splash off the middle rope, but Badd moves out of the way. Cover, 1-2-3. (2:40) Well this was way more fun than their Beach Blast match. Johnny says afterwards that he’s going to take the mask off anyway this weekend on Saturday Night. He must’ve just really wanted a free guitar! *½

Yes announcer guy, this is a special edition of ‘Flair for the Gold’. Man, Fifi is smokin’ hot by the way. Flair brings out Sting and Davey Boy Smith. They start hyping up their mystery partner for the Wargames at Fall Brawl. Sid and Harlem Heat come by to tell them to shut up and demand to know who the heck this mystery guy is. Sid is just plain hilarious. Anyways, Sting says their mystery guy is going to shock the world! Explosions go off and a guy in a glittery purple storm trooper helmet crashes through a wall, trips, and off comes the helmet to reveal Typhoon! He tries to recover by putting the helmet back on as quickly as possible, but lets face it – this segment and this new character has lost ALL credibility. Ahh the pitfalls of live TV. Ole Anderson does some bad voiceovers while Sid barks at the Shockmaster. Could this be anymore embarrassing?

• WCW World Television Champion Paul Orndorff vs. Ricky Steamboat
  

After the break, Tony and Jesse try to keep their composure. You can tell they had been laughing during the entire commercial break. At least they don’t try to pull it off and act all serious about it because that would make them look really dumb. You have to hand it to Orndorff – he does an excellent job getting over the “Paula” chants by acting like they are calling him something actually vulgar and offensive. Michael Buffer does the ring introductions to give this the “big match feel”. Not sure why, but I guess they thought they needed to get all they could out of his paycheck. Oops, they seem to be having trouble with the lights too. Despite the in-ring action has been pretty good, this has NOT been a good night for WCW. Steamboat sticks with a headlock for a while. He misses a crossbody and flies out to the rampway for the momentum change. Back in, Orndorff hits a flying elbow and hits the chinlock. When Steamboat breaks loose, Orndorff slams him and makes several attempts to get a pin on Steamboat. Orndorff dumps Steamboat out, but Steamboat blocks a turnbuckle smash from the apron and comes back in with a Flying Judo Chop! Cover, 1-2-NO! Steamboat hits a back suplex, but cracks his own head from the impact. Delayed cover gets two. Steamboat chops Orndorff to the floor and follows up with a plancha! Back in, Orndorff shoulderblocks Steamboat from the apron through the ropes and flies in for the cover for two. Now Orndorff uses the ropes for leverage and gets two. Ref Randy Anderson stops the count, but Orndorff thinks he’s won. He grabs his TV belt and raises it high in the air, but here comes Steamboat up behind with a rollup for 1-2-NO! Orndorff goes for the PILEDRIVER, but Steamboat backdrops out into a backslide sequence. That gets two for Steamboat. He comes off the top with a FLYING BODYPRESS, but Orndorff rolls through for 1-2-NO! Orndorff goes for a slam, but Steamboat does his WrestleMania 3 counter and rolls up Orndorff for the 1-2-3! New champ. (8:34) Good match. Afterwards, Orndorff gives Steamboat a PILEDRIVER on the belt! ***¼

• Sting & Ric Flair vs. The Colossal Kongs (w/Harley Race)
  

I don’t know who thought a half-ton of no-talent was a good idea, but that’s what the Colossal Kongs are. They are two 500 pound white guys with black masks and black wrestling gear. Michael Buffer is even doing the ring introductions for this one as well. MMMMAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS! Once the bell rings, Sting slams the Kongs one-by-one. Race ~ “Impossible!!!” He’s so unintentionally funny. It breaks down as one Kong goes on the floor and brawls with Flair while the other gets clotheslined like no tomorrow by Sting. Stinger Splash! Flair goes over and chops away on Race as Sting hits a flying splash for 1-2-3. (2:14) It’s okay, Harley. You still have Vader. As fun a squash as this could possibly be. ½*

• Rick Rude & The Equalizer vs. Dustin Rhodes & ???
  

Dustin Rhodes has had more mystery partners in WCW than anybody else I know. The Equalizer is a guy more commonly known as Dave Sullivan, the Hulkamaniac “brother” of Kevin Sullivan during the early days of the Dungeon of Doom. If you still don’t know who he is, then that’s really okay. You’re probably a better person for it. The mystery partner will be driving down to the ring in a new Z-28 Camaro that you could possibly win! Now who could be driving that car? Why, it’s ROAD WARRIOR ANIMAL! Rude grabs the mic away from Capetta and says that he knew it was going to be Road Warrior Animal all along and that he and the Equalizer are prepared. Animal mentions about how Dusty used to walk around with the LOD and now it’s Dustin’s turn. Wait. The last time they teamed up, Animal was jabbing a spike from his shoulder pad into Dusty’s eye socket! But that’s all forgotten now, right? I guess time really does heal all wounds. Anyways, Road Warrior Animal swerves Rude and says Hawk is the one he’s really going to have to face tonight. “LOD” chants go up all through the Ocean Center. Hawk wins a test of strength and stomps Rude’s hands. Equalizer tags in and takes a dropkick out to the floor. Equalizer baits Hawk around the ring and then puts the boots to him. He telegraphs a backdrop and Hawk tries a reverse neckbreaker, which is badly botched. Hawk hits the fist drop instead, but runs into a boot in the corner and takes a clothesline. Rude tags and pounds the back of Hawk to set up a chinlock. Hawk powers up and lifts Rude up in position for a DOOMSDAY DEVICE! Rhodes delivers! Rhodes goes crazy on Rude and Equalizer with elbows, but Rude shoves off a monkey flip and comes off the top with a forearm. The heels take turns beating on Rhodes until Equalizer clotheslines Rude by accident. That’s what happens when you have an idiot for a partner, Rick. False tag spot occurs. Hawk really doesn’t pay any attention to that and press slams Rude onto Equalizer. He hits a double-clothesline and dumps both heels out to the floor. As Hawk looks to suplex Rude back in the ring, Equalizer runs up behind Hawk and dumps him out. Equalizer tries to slam Dustin as Hawk heads up top and shoulderblocks Dustin on top of Equalizer for the win. (7:42) Pretty bland formula stuff, but the crowd seemed way into it because of the return of the Road Warriors. *½

• WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader (w/Harley Race) vs. Davey Boy Smith – DQ rule waived
  

Meaning if Vader gets disqualified, Davey Boy Smith wins the belt. They brawl on the rampway to start – peaking with a Davey Boy Smith hourglass suplex. Davey Boy tries a slingshot splash on the way in, but Vader brings the knees up. Vader puts him in the corner and fires away, which is always bad for the other guy. They go to the floor where Vader tries a splash up against the guardrail, but that never works for anybody. Back in, DBS delivers a fireman’s carry slam for two. Vader comes back with a clothesline and starts up the elbow drops between the legs. Another clothesline rocks Davey Boy. A fireman’s carry slam from Vader sets up a flying splash for 1-2-NO! DBS tries a sunset flip and avoids the butt splash. Vader reverses a whip and sends DBS flipping into the corner. Davey Boy comes back with a crucifix – the move that got the pin on Vader at Beach Blast - for 1-2-NO! Vader takes DBS to the corner and unloads again. Vader heads up top, but Davey Boy crotches him with a dropkick. Now it’s Davey Boy Smith’s turn to pound Vader down into the corner. Davey Boy runs into a boot though to set up the Pump Splash. Cover, 1-2-NO! Vader comes off the middle-rope, but DBS catches him for a powerslam! Whoops, the ref got in the way and gets sent to the other side of the ring. Davey Boy goes for another suplex, but Harley Race runs in and clips Davey Boy, causing Vader to fall on top. The ref crawls over and counts 1-2-3. (11:11) Vader starts to head to the dressing room when all of a sudden, Cactus Jack comes running down to beat the heck out of him! They would show us more, but we’re outta time! Another good Vader match, but I still think I liked the Slamboree match a tad better. After Fall Brawl, Davey Boy Smith pretty much stays in the mid-card until he runs back to the WWF. ***

Final Thoughts: So WCW had some new stuff going on here - new champs, a couple guys made their returns. But one person shocks me more than anyone else, and that’s the debut of the Shockmaster. I’ve seen that entrance I don’t know how many times over the years and it never gets old. It’s always strangely entertaining. I’m going to go with thumbs in the middle for this show. The crowd was the most awake I’ve seen them since Superbrawl and the action was good. Not great or anything, but it’s inoffensive and I would prefer this over Beach Blast. You know, the show that people had to pay to see.

WCW Worldwide
August 14, 1993

The current WCW & NWA Champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Big Van Vader (3/17/1993)
NWA World Champion: Ric Flair (7/18/1993)
WCW U.S. Champion: vacant (5/15/1993)
WCW/NWA World Tag Team Champions: The Hollywood Blondes (3/2/1993)
WCW World Television Champion: Paul Orndorff (3/2/1993)

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura.

• The Nasty Boys vs. Larry Santo & Scott Stud
  

Knobbs ~ “THE NASTY BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN!” Well, they can’t make it any worse, right? *sigh* Before we get into the squash, I must make mention that Scott Studd is the future American Male, one-eyed Flock member and ECW alumnus better known as Scotty Riggs. He looks like a Tom Zenk twin here. To be even more specific, he looks like Tom Zenk the jobber from the summer of 1990 right about now. Sags delivers the Pumphandle Slam to Santo. Schiavone makes a faux pas by calling Sags, “Sobbs”. Jesse gets a kick out of that. Knobbs get whipped into the corner for a splash on Santo and Sags hits the Flying Elbow Drop for the win. (3:02) The Nasties would be champs within a months time and the Hollywood Blondes would be split up by November. Try and explain the logic behind THAT one.

It’s time for the WCW Magazine with Gordon Solie. He runs down the Clash card that would air that following Wednesday night.

• Vader vs. Davey Boy Smith for the WCW world title with the DQ rule waived
  
• Sting vs. The Colossal Kong – apparently, Solie didn’t get the memo.
  
• The Hollywood Blondes vs. Arn Anderson & Paul Roma for the WCW/NWA world tag titles
  
• A ‘Flair for the Gold’ segment with Fifi
  
• Plus, you could possibly win a Z-28 Camaro just by merely watching the Clash of the Champions!

• Erik Watts vs. Frankie Lancaster

WCW Beach Blast 1993
July 18, 1993
Biloxi, MS
Mississippi Coast Coliseum

The current WCW & NWA Champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Big Van Vader (3/17/1993)
NWA World Champion: Barry Windham (2/21/1993)
WCW U.S. Champion: vacant (5/15/1993)
WCW/NWA World Tag Team Champions: The Hollywood Blondes (3/2/1993)
WCW World Television Champion: Paul Orndorff (3/2/1993)

Matches that aren’t included on the tape:
WCW World TV Champion Paul Orndorff defeated Ron Simmons (11:15) by DQ.
Too Cold Scorpio & Marcus Bagwell beat Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce (12:48) after Scorpio pinned Pierce.
Lord Steven Regal (w/Sir William) pinned Erik Watts (7:31).

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Jesse Ventura.

- Johnny B. Badd vs. Maxx Payne

We saw at the last Clash where Maxx Payne was going to return the Badd Blaster to Johnny. Of course, a crazy guy like Maxx Payne isn’t going to just hand over a confetti gun because that’s no fun at all. Johnny gets shot in the face with confetti and now he has to wear a flower-patterned mask to cover up the scars on his beautiful and homosexual face. Apparently he was still pretty disappointed with how his face looked fourteen years later so he got his face loaded up with botox before appearing on the 24-hour news channels denouncing drugs in wrestling and the like. Oh hush, Matt! Badd pounds away on Payne before missing a corner charge and takes a SICK fall to the floor. Back in, Payne slams him around and splashes him in the corner to show he’s a big guy. Payne grabs an armbar and then delivers a backbreaker for two. Uh oh, PAYNE KILLER! It’s a Fujiwara armbar that comes out of nowhere. Johnny makes the ropes and takes a suplex. He gets a sunset flip on Payne and then thinks, “Okay, maybe then I can get him over with a crossbody.” Not gonna happen. Payne slams him down, but misses an elbow drop. Badd hits a dropkick that looked like it didn’t even connect, so Payne naturally falls all the way out to the floor. Badd lands what might’ve been a pescado a little too early (the camera missed it) and lands on Payne’s shoulder. Payne shoves off a headlock into the ringpost and then tries to headbutt Badd up against the ringpost. He obviously hasn’t seen Hogan/Andre at WrestleMania 3, because that didn’t work even for Andre so it definitely won’t work for this scrub. Payne’s head smacks the ringpost and we’re back in the ring. Badd hits an awful looking flying bodypress off the middle rope for 1-2-3. (4:52) So a guy shoots you in the face, and that’s all you want to do to him? A crossbody block? I’m sorry but I would’ve done a little more than that. *

- WCW/NWA World Tag Team Champions The Hollywood Blondes vs. Arn Anderson & Paul Roma

The Blondes stall around by messing with the