WCW Saturday Night 10/24/1992

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 10/24/1992
From: Atlanta, GA

Matches:
1.) Ricky Steamboat & NWA/WCW Tag Team Champion Dustin Rhodes fought Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton to a draw
2.) The Barbarian defeated Mike McReynolds
3.) Van Hammer defeated JD Wolf
4.) Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce defeated Joey Maggs & Jeff Daniels
5.) Erik Watts defeated The Masked Intruder
6.) Johnny Gunn defeated Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker
7.) WCW United States Champion Rick Rude defeated Eddie Desmond
8.) Shane Douglas defeated Steve Austin

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) We are 24-hours away from the 1992 Halloween Havoc event.

2.) Eaton and Rhodes start off the tag match to begin the show. Rhodes arm drags Eaton several times to keep control early on. Anderson tags in and beats on Rhodes with strikes after Eaton got the cheap advantage. Rhodes beats on Anderson in the corner followed by a standing dropkick. Steamboat comes off the top to deliver an axe handle and keeps Anderson on the mat with a hammerlock. Anderson tags out allowing Eaton to try his luck against Steamboat. Eaton scoop slams Steamboat but Steamboat drop toe holds Eaton to get control on the mat. Rhodes comes off the middle rope with an elbow strike. Eaton shoulder blocks Rhodes, but Rhodes hammers away on Eaton followed by a big boot. Anderson tags back into the contest. Rhodes atomic drops Anderson and Steamboat delivers a strike from the apron. Steamboat legally enters, but Anderson whips Steamboat to the mat by his hair. Eaton elbows Steamboat coming out of the corner. Steamboat gets worked over by Anderson on the mat with several stomps.

Steamboat drives Eaton down with an electric chair slam and tags in Rhodes. Eaton gets atomic dropped by Rhodes, but Anderson tags in and clotheslines Rhodes. There are three minutes remaining in the match. Anderson tags in Eaton after a sunset flip by Rhodes. Eaton knocks Rhodes to the floor with a right hand. Michael Hayes decks Rhodes with a right hand on the floor. Anderson scoop slams Rhodes and tags in Eaton. Eaton keeps Rhodes on the mat with a sleeper hold. There’s only one minute remaining in the match. Eaton plants Rhodes with a swinging neckbreaker before going to the top rope. Rhodes catches Eaton but gets knocked away. Rhodes connects with a backbreaker. Anderson and Steamboat get tagged in and the match ends in a draw. All four men are brawling in the ring until officials come out to breakup the brawling. Rhodes and Eaton brawl backstage while Steamboat decks Anderson in the ring and they continue to brawl on the floor. (**1/4. A decent tag match that held my interest and the aftermath was done fairly well, too. They kept a good pace and didn’t rely on stalling or a slow pace.)

3.) Michael Hayes cuts a promo saying that Barry Windham wouldn’t sign a contract. Hayes says that Williams and Gordy will have to lookout for Eaton and Anderson to get a match. Dustin comes over and tells Hayes that there aren’t any issues between himself and Widnham and decks Hayes.

4.) Jim Ross conducted an interview with Cactus Jack and Tony Atlas. Jack says that they’ve bene doubted since day one. Jack believes that Barbarian can defeat Ron Simmons to win the WCW World Champion. Barbarian knows in his heart he can win the championship. Atlas says he’s been training Barbarian to be the toughest man in wrestling. Atlas knows Simmons, but he knows Barbarian better.

5.) Jim Ross conducted an interview with Paul E. Dangerously and a masked man. Dangerously says there is peace and unity within the Dangerous Alliance. However, now Bill Watts is trying to cause issues between himself and WCW United States Champion Rick Rude. Dangerously is going to make Bill Watts watch his son Erik’s career come to an end tonight. Dangerously has the Masked Intruder with him.

6.) Intruder wasn’t able to end the career of Erik Watts, at least not this week. Watts won the match following a fireman’s carry slam.

7.) Jim Ross conducted another interview with Paul Dangerously. Dangerously is pissed that Bill Watts wants to ruin his life. Madusa comes out and apologizes to Dangerously for what has happened. Dangerously says that they are united. Madusa wants to know why Dangerously didn’t have the two meetings with her and Rick Rude. Madusa wants the meeting with Dangerously right now. Dangerously says they can have the meeting right now. Dangerously tells Madusa he has another meeting right now and then he’ll get in contact with her. Madusa notes that Dangerously always does this and is never good on his word.

8.) Jim Ross conducted an interview with Teddy Long. Long is worried about Cactus Jack being an issue for Simmons/Barbarian. He’s also curious who the two referees for Rude/Chono will be.

9.) This is Johnny Gunn’s WCW debut. Gunn won the match following a Thez Press. It was fairly obvious that the crowd was not interested in what Gunn was doing.

10.) WCW Up Close is next with Tony Schiavone interviewing Nikita Koloff. Koloff has always focused on the WCW United States Championship since being in WCW. Koloff has learned what US has stood for and that being freedom. Koloff never thought he’d own his own gym or have the family he has. Koloff thinks freedom is the most important thing. Koloff understands the issues between Rude and Dangerously. Koloff signed the contract and expects Rude to defend the championship. Koloff has developed a friendship with Dusty Rhodes over the years and had overcome a lot of people stabbing him in the back. Koloff wants the fans to remain optimistic and thinks tomorrow night he could win the WCW United States Championship.

11.) Jim Ross conducted an interview with WCW United States Champion Rick Rude and Madusa after Rude won his match. Rude says that Paul E. Dangerously made a huge mistake signing the contract. Rude asks Madusa if she got the situation taken care of. Maduss promises she did the best she should. Rude says he has to do get it done himself. Rude thinks WCW and officials are out to get him. Nikita Koloff comes out and says his match with Rude comes first. Koloff tells Rude that he’s coming into Havoc to win the WCW United States Championship. Rude isn’t going to lose the US Championship and he’s going to win the NWA World Championship.

12.) Jim Ross conducted an interview with Steve Austin prior to the main event. Shane Douglas took Brian Pillman out with a belly to belly suplex on the floor. Austin says that everyone knows that Austin is the worlds greatest athlete. Austin says that Pillman is on a roll since his attitude change. With the two of them together they are an awesome tag team. Austin is going to show what he’s all about tonight against Shane Douglas.

13.) Austin backs Douglas into a corner and taunts Douglas, seemingly putting him down. Douglas gets control on the mat with a hammerlock. Austin leg sweeps Douglas to the mat, but Douglas counters with a half Boston Crab. Austin shoulder blocks Douglas a few times to get the advantage. Douglas nails Austin with a standing dropkick and a drop toe hold to keep arm control. Douglas keeps an arm bar on Austin for a moment until Austin gets momentum with several strikes. Douglas nearly wins with a few rollups. Austin stops Douglas by jacking his left leg. Austin focuses his offense on the left leg for a few moments before Douglas kicks Austin away on the floor. Austin pulls Douglas to the floor and Douglas hammers away on Austin. They return to the ring where Austin begs off. Austin dumps Douglas through the middle rope to the floor. Austin comes off the apron with an axe handle. Austin tries for a piledriver, but Douglas counters with a backdrop on the floor. Douglas keeps Austin on the mat with a hammerlock. Austin works over Douglas against the ropes with shoulder rams. Austin misses several elbow drops and Douglas connects with a dropkick before going back to the hammerlock.

Douglas decks Austin with a right hand, but Austin fights back with strikes of his own. Austin takes Douglas over with a snap suplex for a two count. Austin puts Douglas on the top turnbuckle looking for a superplex. Douglas shoves Austin off and comes off the top to deliver an axe handle for a two count. Douglas goes back to working over Austin’s left arm. Austin knee lifts Douglas but gets yanked down to the mat in the corner. Austin stops Douglas with a short arm clothesline. Austin misses a wild swing but plants Douglas with a crucifix slam. Austin stomps Douglas to the floor and taunts the fans. Austin elbows Douglas on the apron and chokes Douglas on the mat. Austin delivers a knee drop to Douglas for a two count. Douglas is knee lifted in the corner, but dropkicks Austin off the apron to the floor. Douglas nails Austin with a strike to the midsection as Austin came off the middle rope. Douglas continues with an elbow strike and a kick to the gut for a two count.

Douglas hits a middle rope crossbody, but Austin almost wins by rolling through. They collide shoulders and they fall through the ropes to the floor. Brian Pillman has come out and tries to attack Douglas, but misses a wild strike. Austin tries for a back suplex into the ring, but Douglas counters with a bridging suplex for the win. After the match, Douglas dropkicks both Pillman and Austin to escape the ring with a victory. (*1/2. They got plenty of time, but the hammerlock work was rather boring and didn’t hold my interest all that much. I’m sure these two could have had a fun match, but instead they got saddled with a slow paced match.)

14.) Marcus Alexander Bagwell shares some pre-tape comments regarding a match with Vinnie Vegas next week. Bagwell got his nose broken by Vegas recently. Bagwell isn’t going to back down from Vegas, even with a broken nose.

15.) Cactus Jack and Tony Atlas are interviewed to close the program. Jack says that Simmons should concern himself with getting sleep tonight knowing what Barbarian is prepared to do tonight. Tony Atlas chimes in and says that Ron Simmons should be shining shoes or picking cotton. Atlas is suggesting Simmons should be a slave. Robbie Walker comes out and confronts Atlas. Jack tells Walker that this doesn’t concern him. Walker tells Jack that “he’s not black enough to be concerned with this.” Atlas holds Walker and Jack decks Walker to close the program.

Final Thoughts:
The usage of race in the final segment was uncomfortable and not needed. I don’t see how that helps the feud between Simmons and Barbarian. It feels like the feud should be Simmons vs. Jack, but they went with the lesser feud. I’d consider this a decent episode, but the PPV doesn’t seem strong enough to purchase.

Thanks for reading.