Written by: Matt Peddycord
WCW Power Hour
February 6, 1993
Atlanta, GA
Center Stage Theatre
The current WCW & NWA Champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Big Van Vader (12/30/1992)
NWA World Champion: The Great Muta (1/4/1993)
WCW U.S. Champion: Dustin Rhodes (1/11/1993)
WCW/NWA World Tag Team Champions: Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas (11/18/1992)
WCW World Television Champion: vacant (11/1/1992)
We start off with a clip from last week’s WCW Saturday Night when Vader and Barry Windham WHIPPED the Stinger with the leather strap like they would a black man some 100 years before. Good thing they chose to go with Sting instead of Ron Simmons! As if hinting that black guys had thicker skulls than white folks wasn’t enough for the last forty years, that would’ve been crossing some serious barriers!
Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko.
- Paul Orndorff vs. Marcus Alexander Bagwell
Where’s Harley? Oh man, Bagwell’s got the stringy white tights on today! What does that mean for Bagwell? Orndorff beats Bagwell into the corner, but he comes back with a knee lift. Bagwell grabs an armbar and that eats up a couple minutes until Orndorff breaks away and buries a knee to the gut. Orndorff goes back to stomping Bagwell. He tries a pump splash, but hits knees. Bagwell mounts a comeback with punches. He gets TOO excited though and turns to look at the crowd, so Orndorff takes advantage by sucker punching him off into the corner and drilling him with a back suplex. Bagwell is done. (5:12) Looks like those tights wound up being unlucky. ¾*
Superbrawl III Control Center with Eric Bischoff. Yes, JR is gone now. Sting/Vader! Muta/Windham! RNR Express/Wrecking Crew! Rhodes/Simmons! Cactus/Orndorff! Scorpio/Benoit! Great looking card. Two of these matches would be changed, but you’ll have to check out my Superbrawl III recap to find out which ones! Unless you already know, in which case you won’t be surprised. But those of you who don’t know, will be extremely surprised! Maybe.
Teddy Long is the house! Tell us what’s up, Teddy. Well, as you may know, the brothers got to stick together like Teddy and his boy Ron Simmons. He reminds us of the time Ron was champ not too long ago, which is why he’s warranted a US title shot at Superbrawl. How will Ron’s match with fellow babyface Dustin Rhodes affect their relationship when winning the US title will make Ron the #1 contender to the WCW world title? He NEEDS that belt back! Find out at Superbrawl III.
- Vinnie Vegas vs. Chris Sullivan
Yo, it’s Vinnie. Wait, so his nickname is just, “The Big Guy”? Funny how if you just change “big” for “bad” and it’s money. At this point, Vinnie knows there’s no chance of him getting a decent push or even an interesting feud anymore, so he’s even more lazy than usual. Elbows in the corner, side slam, boot choke in the corner, SNAKE EYES. That gets the three-count. (2:11) I seem to vaguely remember a moveset strangely similar a few years later from a guy in the nWo, but I can’t quite place the name. Hmm.
- Cactus Jack vs. John Peterson
Cactus just annihilates Peterson with his insane antics and crazed brawling techniques. BANG! BANG! He hits the apron legdrop and the Cactus clothesline before giving him a running elbow drop on the floor. Guess he showed some mercy on the poor guy by not coming off the apron. That’s saved for people he REALLY hates! Back in, the DOUBLE-ARM DDT wins it. (1:25) Quick little squash, but boy did he get his point across.
Members of Lynyrd Skynyrd show up on Saturday Night tonight!
We check out the conclusion of the Vader/Windham vs. Sting/Rhodes match from last week. Rhodes plays face-in-peril and gets basically murdered. Looks like a good match. Vader hits a splash and covers, but Sting makes the save. Vader splashes Sting while he’s on the apron and then brings Dustin back over to Windham. Rhodes brings Windham out of the corner with an inverted atomic drop and almost makes the tag. Windham telegraphs a backdrop and takes a face slam to set up the HOT TAG TO STING! Boy, did they build that sucker up. He gets rid of Vader and hits the Stinger Splash on Windham. SCORPION DEATHLOCK? Pfft, no. Vader breaks it up with a stiff clothesline. Meanwhile, Dustin tries to beat his daddy’s old rival Harley Race on the outside. Vader stops that by jumping off the apron onto him. In the ring, Windham KO’s Sting with the Implant DDT. Vader tosses the ref for the DQ and pulls out the leather strap. A bunch of indeterminate wrestlers come out to save Sting, but Windham holds them off. It’s CARNAGE!
More “Missy Does The Mail”. Some douche asks her what her favorite food is. She likes anything in bed. WHODATHUNKIT? She happens to like Japanese food too. I don’t know why, you’ll just be hungry in an hour. Actually the reason she brings up Japanese food is to talk about Great Muta coming to Superbrawl to face Barry Windham for the NWA world title. I feel completely cheated – like this whole mail thing doesn’t even seem real!
- Barry Windham vs. Brad Armstrong
There’s only ten minutes left and we have another match to go, so I doubt this will be as good as it could be. You know, if he just shaved the goatee off, Barry might not feel so cranky and pissed off all the time. Look at Brad – he just has a five o’clock shadow and he looks extremely happy. Tony recalls the second Clash of the Champions where Barry as US champ met Brad in a glorified squash. Windham points his finger in Armstrong’s face, so Brad smacks him across the mouth. OHHHHHH. Armstrong blocks a slam and gets one of his own. Windham gets stuck in a headscissors and Armstrong will not let him go because he knows what will happen if he gets loose (a punch in the face), so Windham has to get to the ropes instead. They lock up and Windham backs Armstrong into the corner for a cheapshot. Windham hits a back suplex and then jaws with a fattie in the front row. Ahh, I miss that kind of stuff. That gives Brad enough time to regroup and backdrop out of a piledriver attempt. Actually, I don’t remember Windham hitting too many piledrivers in his day. Armstrong looks to come back on Windham by sending him out to the floor with a dropkick. He brings Windham back in, but runs into a boot in the corner. Armstrong ducks a clothesline and goes for a suplex, but Windham blocks it with an IMPLANT DDT for the win. (3:51) Good enough match with a great finish. Afterwards, Windham laughs at the fattie in the front row. I love this guy.*½
- Brian Pillman & Steve Austin vs. Tom Zenk & Johnny Gunn
It seems like they could’ve came up for some sort of name for Gunn and Zenk. Don’t know what exactly, but it’s WCW – they’ll think of something. Right? Pillman and Austin continue on their quest to become the tag champs only to be separated for a lame feud and blowoff by the fall. Zenk controls Pillman to start. Pillman cheapshots to take over. Zenk fakes a crossbody out of the corner and nails Pillman with a missile dropkick instead. Austin comes in, but Gunn gets rid of him while Zenk gives Pillman an enziguri. Gunn tags in and gets caught in the Blondes corner. Gunn ducks a clothesline and surprises Austin with a sunset flip, which leads to some trunk pulling pin attempts from Austin. Gunn grabs an armbar, so Austin trips him up into the ropes to break the hold. Pillman tags and draws Zenk in so he can throw Gunn over the top rope to get away with it. Plus, Austin lowers the boom on him too. Back in, Gunn and Austin punch each other down to set up the hot tag to Zenk. He goes DROPKICK CRAZY on the Blondes. Then he goes SUPERKICK CRAZY on the Blondes. Pillman tries a crossbody out of the corner off a whip, but Zenk superkicks him in the face on the way down. Cover, 1-2-NO! Gunn comes in, but he’s dumped out. That leaves Zenk all alone, as Pillman dropkicks him into the STUNGUN to give the Blondes the win. (5:30) Well that was pretty neat. **