WCW Saturday Night 1/8/1994

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 1/8/1994
From: Atlanta, GA

Matches:
1.) Thunder & Lighting defeated Bob Cook & Bob Starr
2.) Dustin Rhodes defeated Bill Payne
3.) Pretty Wonderful defeated 2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell
4.) The Shockmaster defeated Otis Apollo
5.) Ice Train defeated Johnny Stevens
6.) Harlem Heat defeated Bobby Walker & Jason Johnson
7.) WCW Television Champion Lord Steven Regal defeated Larry Santo
8.) WCW International Champion Rick Rude & WCW United States Champion Steve Austin defeated Brian Pillman & Sting

Angle Advancements/Notes:
1. This deserves a mention. There is a fan base for jobber Bob Cook. They cheer whenever he gets offense. I find that to be hilarious. Thunder connects with a top rope forearm smash while Lighting held Bob Starr over his shoulder to pick up the victory.

2. Sting and Brian Pillman shared some pre-tape comments. Sting says he has a score to settle with Rick Rude. He wants Col. Parker to stick his nose in his business one time. Pillman chimes in to say that Parker is going to look good in feathers.

3. Tony, Jesse and Mean Gene talk about the featured matches this week. Marcus Alexander Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio square off against Pretty Wonderful. Also, Rude teams with Austin to wrestle Sting and Pillman in the main event.

4. Dustin Rhodes will be challenging Lord Steven Regal for the WCW Television Championship at the next Clash of the Champions. Rhodes hits a running bulldog to put Payne away.

5. Bagwell and Scorpio attack Pretty Wonderful before the bell. Roma and Orndorff collide after being atomic dropped by Bagwell and Scorpio. Scorpio works on Roma with right hands causing Roma to beg off but that didn’t work as he is soon met with a leaping clothesline. Orndorff tagged in to see if he could do any better, but he didn’t early on. Bagwell came off the top rope with an axe handle to get the early control. Bagwell almost wins with a crucifix pin but maintains control of the contest. Roma tags back in but is worked on by Scorpio who also tagged in. Scorpio hits a nice standing somersault leg drop for a near fall. Scorpio gets worked on by both Orndorff and Roma but tries to fight back but misses a leaping cross body. Roma hits a middle rope elbow drop on Scorpio but isn’t able to get a three count. Scorpio avoids another elbow drop and makes the tag, as does Roma. Bagwell cleans house with body slams and clotheslines. Bagwell nearly pins Orndorff following a top rope shoulder block. Al four men are in the ring. The referee is distracted when the Assassin head butts Bagwell with an illegal object under his mask to allow Orndorff to get the win. It was a decent tag match as it had its moments of entertainment.

6. The Shockmaster picked up another win after hitting a spine buster on Otis Apollo. After the match, Mean Gene interviews Shockmaster. He has a big surprise and says that a good friend of his is coming to WCW named the Super Shockmaster. The Super Shockmaster is an enormous man who wears a mask. The only reason he is coming to WCW to win matches. He refers to the Shockmaster as “Uncle Fred”. That was really stupid.

7. Ice Train quickly powered his way to victory over Johnny Stevens following a snap power slam.

8. Mean Gene hosts the Clash of the Champions which takes place on January 27th. WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair teams with Sting against Vader and WCW International Champion Rick Rude in an elimination tag team match! Also, Brian Pillman meets Col. Robert Parker in a loser wears a chicken suit match. Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne wrestle against the Nasty Boys in a non-title match. WCW Television Champion Lord Steven Regal defends against Dustin Rhodes. Lastly, Ice Train competes against Ron Simmons!

9. Harlem Heat take care of business by pinning Jason Johnson after Booker T hit an elbow off the top while Stevie Ray held Johnson over his shoulder. It’s a fairly similar finisher to what Thunder & Lighting used in the first match. Booker says that guys like Bagwell & Scorpio and Cactus & Maxx are trying to get to the top of the tag division but they need to go through them first. Stevie challenges to either team to meet them in the ring.

10. WCW Television Champion Lord Steven Regal was surprised after Larry Santo got in a flurry of offense moves mainly dropkicks and a hip toss. Regal settled down and won the bout with the Regal Roll.

11. Mean Gene is standing with Pretty Wonderful. Roma doesn’t know how many times they have to wrestle Bagwell and Scorpio. They keep on beating them up and giving them losses. Orndorff claims that they will be the WCW World Tag Team Champions eventually. He will continue to beat up salt and pepper, Bagwell and Scorpio if that means they win the championships. The Assassin chimes in saying that Pretty Wonderful will be better than Bagwell and Scorpio in yet another rematch.

12. Austin and Pillman start off after Sting quickly tagged out. Austin bails to the floor to avoid Pillman early on in the contest. Pillman chops Austin on the floor but is cut off as he returns to the ring. Pillman is able to hit a middle rope clothesline but only gets a near fall. Rude is tagged in after Austin bailed to the floor again. Rude works on Pillman with a few right hands and chops. Pillman gets a two count on a roll up but Rude regains the advantage with several punches. Pillman springboards off the middle rope to hit a cross body for a near fall. Sting gets the tag after Pillman leapfrogs over Rude. Sting drives Rude gut first down to the canvas. Sting atomic drops Rude who walks into a right hand moments later. Sting avoids being double teamed in the corner by punching his way out after Austin tagged into the bout. Sting withstands a headlock by Austin to connect with a gorilla press slam. Austin stumbles to the apron where he is punched by Pillman. Rude refuses to tag in when Austin extends his arm. Austin gains control of Sting with a series of knee drops and tags out to Rude. Rude delivers a back breaker and locks in a bear hug on Sting. Sting makes the tag to Pillman but Austin distracted the referee to prevent it from happening. Sting counters a tombstone attempt by Rude and hits one of his own! Sting stumbles towards Austin who punches him but Sting lands on Rude for a near fall! Pillman and Austin tag in with Pillman cleaning house with a backdrop and dropkicks. Pillman hits Austin with a missile dropkick but Parker enters the ring and kicks Pillman in the head to allow Austin to cover Pillman and pick up the win! That was a good match as I had hoped for. I was figuring that perhaps Pillman would pin Austin but Austin remains rather strong even with Parker getting involved. All four men put forth a good effort and put on a solid main event to close the show. I would’ve been shocked if these four guys were to have had a bad tag match.

Final Thoughts:
It was a better episode compared to last week’s. Both featured tag team matches were quality matches with the main event being the better of the two. But, there was some crap on this show as well. The Super Shockmaster is going to be an embarrassment if that character ever competes on this show or for WCW period. They just need to drop the whole character.

Overall, I thought the show was okay but nothing special.

Thanks for reading.