WCW Saturday Night 11/6/1993

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 11/6/1993
From: Atlanta, GA

Matches:
1.) Harlem Heat defeated Arn Anderson & Paul Roma
2.) Steve Austin defeated Scott Studd
3.) Paul Orndorff defeated Tommy Angel
4.) The Shockmaster defeated Bob Starr
5.) WCW United States Champion Dustin Rhodes defeated Mike Thor
6.) The Colossal Kongs defeated JD Stryker & Chris Keirn
7.) WCW International Champion Rick Rude defeated Buddy Ryan
8.) WCW Tag Team Champions The Nasty Boys defeated Ice Train & Ron Simmons

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Booker and Roma kickoff the match with Roma delivering an arm drag and dropkick to send Booker to the floor to regroup. Roma takes control with a go-behind, but Booker quickly reaches the ropes and back elbows Roma followed by a forearm strike. Booker rams Roma into the corner face first. Roma avoids a splash and takes Booker over with another arm drag. Roma keeps an arm bar on Booker. Booker knee lifts Roma followed by a forearm strike and right hand against the ropes. Roma ducks a forearm and hits a crossbody for a two count. Roma keeps an arm bar on Booker, but doesn’t get a submission. Roma knee drops Booker while having a hammerlock locked in. Roma stomps on Booker’s shoulder before tagging in Anderson. Anderson keeps an arm bar on Booker to maintain the advantage. Booker forearms Anderson to break free and tags in Ray, but Anderson drop toe holds Ray to the mat. Anderson delivers an elbow drop to the knee and keeps control on the mat with a leg lock. Roma splashes down onto Ray’s knee over the bottom rope. Roma keeps twisting Ray’s leg on the mat.

Booker decks Roma from behind while the referee was distracted by Anderson. Booker legally tags back into the match and works over Roma with strikes in the corner. Booker scoop slams Roma and comes off the ropes missing an elbow drop. Anderson tags in and works over Booker with left hands. Anderson is backed into the corner and is double teamed. Ray sneaks a tag as Anderson atomic drops Booker. Ray big boots Anderson to the mat and taunts the fans. Ray stomps on Anderson a few times to keep the advantage. Anderson elbows Ray charging into the corner, but is caught coming off the middle rope with an atomic drop. Ray continues with a knee drop and tags Booker back into the match. Anderson is met with a double clothesline coming off the ropes. Booker tries for a cover, but Anderson kicks out at two. Anderson ducks a clothesline, but is met with a spinning forearm for a near fall. Ray returns to the match and they double back elbow Anderson to the mat for a two count. Booker breaks up a rollup attempt by Anderson. Anderson elbows free from Booker and plants Booker with a DDT to counter a backdrop attempt. Roma gets tagged in and cleans house with strikes. Roma elbows Ray and dropkicks Booker. Roma gets double teamed and Anderson enters leading to brawling. Roma and Booker collide with Booker falling to the floor. Ray covers Roma and Booker shoves Roma’s boot off the bottom rope leading to a three count. (*1/2. I’d consider this a major victory for Harlem Heat even if they cheated a bit to achieve it. Regardless, it’s a good win for them. The action wasn’t very good and mostly boring arm work and a basic formula.)

2.) WCW Clash of the Champions take place on Wednesday with a loaded card.

3.) Tony Schiavone has a surprise for Jesse Ventura and reveals the debut of Mean Gene. Gene comes over and gets a warm reception from the crowd. Gene says it’s a pleasure to be part of the number one wrestling commentary team. Gene is going to be interviewing Sid Vicious and Ric Flair later on in the program.

4.) Tony Schiavone interviews Col. Robert Parker and Steve Austin following Austin’s victory. Parker should have every reason to celebrate being associated with Austin, but he’s not in a mood for celebration. Parker has a court injunction against Sid Vicious preventing Vicious from getting within 50ft of him. Parker tells a story about Brian Pillman hitting him and says he’s a weak punch. Parker is confident that Austin will win the WCW United States Championship. Austin says he was carrying the anchor that was Pillman. Austin says Pillman is a good wrestler, but he’s a great wrestler. Austin was the quarterback and the captain of the team. Austin says that Pillman will live up to his name because he’s going to launch Pillman at the Clash. Austin threatens to slap Vicious at the Clash if he gets close to Parker.

5.) Tony Schiavone interviews The Assassin and Paul Orndorff following Orndorff’s victory. Orndorff says that he has respect for Assassin and says he can’t stand Dustin Rhodes. Orndorff believes the WCW United States Championship was a gift to Dustin because they haven’t wrestled. Orndorff promises to take Dustin to school at the Clash. Orndorff knows that Dustin is a coward just like his father and he’s going to be champion after the Clash. Assassin says his heart feels good to see someone like Orndorff compete. Assassin says they will do whatever it takes for Orndorff to be champion and Dustin not walk out at all. Assassin calls Dusty a jelly bean and squeezes jelly beans in his hands. Assassin says that nobody in the Rhodes family is safe from him.

6.) Mean Gene interviews Sid Vicious. Vicious is greeted with boos from the fans. Gene has a copy of the injunction put against Sid towards Parker. Vicious says that Parker promised to take him to the top and they start off by taking out Sting. Sid says that Parker went behind his back to get Austin a shot at the WCW United States Championship. Vicious believes if he got the shot he’d be WCW US Champion right now. Vicious asks if Parker really feels at 50ft? Vicious knows that Parker wouldn’t feel safe if he was on the other side of the world. Vicious says that Austin will find out why he rules the world.

7.) Tony Schiavone interviewed WCW United States Champion Dustin Rhodes following his victory. Rhodes cuts a promo on Orndorff saying he has more heart and guts than Orndorff will ever have. Rhodes promises to take Orndorff to school at the Clash. Dustin brings out Dusty Rhodes, who will be in his corner at the Clash. Dusty says it is easy to talk about pain and agony. Dusty says that Dustin will take Orndorff to school at the Clash. Dusty cracks a Paula joke before they depart.

8.) Road Warrior Hawk shared a pre-tape promo regarding Rick Rude. Hawk says that Rude knows he’s after the WCW International Championship. Hawk asks if Rude has ever been the zoo and seen the lion pace back and forth. Hawk says that Rude will wish he’s in the zoo eating raw meat instead of in the ring with him.

9.) Tony Schiavone interviews WCW International Champion Rick Rude. Rude says that everyone knows that the belt his carrying is the only World Championship. Rude notes that he beat the man to be the champion. Rude says his life has changed and he’s now the hunted instead of the hunter. Rude says the early bird doesn’t always get the worm. Rude tells Hawk he’ll be beaten by the best.

10.) Train and Knobbs start off the main event with Train shoving Knobbs to the mat. Knobbs knee lifts Train and gets a top wrist lock on Train, but is yanked down to the mat. Train shoulder blocks Knobbs leading to Sags tagging in and failing on a shoulder block himself. Train misses a clothesline and is met with a clothesline/chop block by the champs. Sags elbow drops Train on the knee leading to Knobbs entering and working over the left knee. Train is worked over in the corner. Simmons lays over the buckle to absorb Train. Train cleans house with clotheslines and tags in Simmons. Simmons axe handles Sags on the left arm and delivers several strikes. Simmons headbutts Sags on the mat and tags in Train. Train splashes onto Sags arm. Train leg drops Sags on the left arm. Simmons returns to the match with strikes, but Sags eye rakes Simmons. Simmons arm drags Knobbs followed by a few headbutts to the left arm. Train tags in, but Knobbs delivers a few forearms in the corner to gain control. Train boots a charging Knobbs and connects with a running clothesline. Sags comes in and bulldogs Train from behind. Knobbs sends Train to the floor. Sags rams Train back first into the ring post. Knobbs elbows Train to the canvas for a two count. Sags works over Train against the ropes with strikes. Knobbs chokes Train over the ropes while the referee is distracted by Simmons.

Sags rams Train face first into the turnbuckles. Train blocks a backdrop with a forearm to the back. Simmons tags in and slams Knobbs to the mat followed by a slam to Sags. Simmons delivers a few clotheslines. Simmons nails Sags with a leaping shoulder block. Missy Hyatt slips on the floor and acts like she hurt her knee. Ice Train checks on Hyatt while Simmons hits a double face buster on the champs. Simmons is distracted by Train on the floor helping Hyatt allowing Knobbs to get a rollup on Simmons and wins the match. (*1/4. A formula tag match with not much exciting action for the most part. I feel like this would have been better served on Worldwide or something lesser than Saturday Night.)

11.) Mean Gene interviews Ric Flair to close the show. Flair comes out with Fifi to chat with Gene. Gene accidentally calls the show Saturday Night Main Event. Flair says that the relations with Europe has gotten a lot better since he’s been aligned with Fifi. Flair tells us that Vader has something that is a void in his life, the WCW World Championship. Flair can’t allow that to happen for too long. Flair puts over Vader as an athlete and wrestler, but at the Clash Vader will have to show him that he’s ready to be called the champ.

Final Thoughts:
Largely a hype show for the Clash and there wasn’t a whole lot of interesting in-ring action this week. I think Clash will be a good show since the card is loaded for the event. Mean Gene debuting gives WCW more creditability and I think he’ll drastically help promo segments.

Thanks for reading.