WCW Pro 1/18/1992

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Pro
Date: 1/18/1992
From: Birmingham, AL

Matches:
1.) WCW United States Tag Team Champions Tracy Smothers & Steve Armstrong defeated Todd Champion & Firecracker Chip
2.) Big Josh defeated Mr. Hughes by disqualification
3.) El Gigante defeated Cactus Jack by count-out
4.) PN News defeated Doug Taylor
5.) WCW United States Champion Rick Rude, WCW Television Champion Steve Austin & WCW Tag Team Champion Bobby Eaton defeated Sting, Ricky Steamboat & Marcus Alexander Bagwell

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Footage from Saturday Night where Bagwell was attacked by the Dangerous Alliance while Sting was held in the corner. Paul E. Dangerously whipped Bagwell with his belt.

2.) Smothers and Chip kickoff the tag match with Smothers gaining control until Chip hit a top rope twisting crossbody for a two count. Smothers elbows Chip and runs the ropes only to be hip tossed. Chip hammers away on Smothers and delivers a drop toe hold allowing Champion to deliver a leg drop. Smothers beats on Champion with right hands and tags in Armstrong. Champion counters with strikes of his own in the corner. Champion clotheslines Armstrong from behind and leaps off the top to hit a shoulder block for a near fall. Champion hits a double crossbody for a one count. Chip leaps off the top to hit a double clothesline sending the champions to the floor to regroup. Champion holds Smothers for Chip coming off the middle rope with a strike. Smothers elbow drops Chip after Armstrong tripped Chip from the floor. Smothers tags in Armstrong and they double team Chip briefly. Smothers kicks Chip to the mat, but Chip comes back with a sunset flip for a two count. Armstrong nails Chip with a clothesline and Armstrong hits a back suplex after a dropkick from Smothers. Chip almost pins Smothers with an inside cradle. Smothers dropkicks Chip to get a near fall. Chip is taken over with a vertical suplex by the champs. Smothers and Armstrong double team Chip while Champion distracted the referee. Smothers knee lifts Chip, but Chip drives the champs down with a double face buster. Champion manages to get the hot tag and cleans house with right hands. Champion delivers a double running clothesline. Champion hits a powerslam on Smothers for a two count. Smothers dropkicks Armstrong onto Champion, but Chip makes the save. Smothers decks Champion from the apron and Armstrong pins Champion. (**. There was plenty of energy between the two teams and I thought they did fairly well with their time. Smothers and Armstrong are a fun heel team and I didn’t hate Champion and Chip here.)

3.) Tony Schiavone talks about the Dangerous Alliance attacking the Marcus Alexander Bagwell. Bagwell was attacked, but is okay.

4.) Backstage, Eric Bischoff interviews the Dangerous Alliance. Austin, Rude and Dangerously are there to represent the group. Dangerously says that tonight is the demise of Bagwell, Steamboat and Sting. Rude says they will find out they don’t stand a chance against them whether it be one on one or three on three.

5.) Hughes knee lifts Josh and delivers strikes in the corner. Josh is stopped by an eye rake, but fires back with strikes and a dropkick to knock Hughes down for a near fall. Hughes works over Josh with strikes and headbutt in the corner. Hughes misses a splash and Josh fires back with forearm strikes. Josh manages a rollup on Hughes, but Harley Race distracts the referee to stop the pin. Vader comes in from behind and clotheslines Josh causing the disqualification. After the match, Josh is double teamed by Vader and Hughes. The Steiner Brothers slide into the ring to make the save for Josh. Hughes and Vader eventually bail from the ring. (NR. Not really a match of any substance and was just a way to get Steiner’s feuding with Hughes and Vader over.)

6.) Gigante tosses Jack into the corner and they have a standoff. Jack tries for a back suplex, but is rammed into the corner. Gigante clubs on Jack followed by a scoop slam. Gigante runs over Jack with a clothesline and chokes Jack in the corner. Gigante blocks being sent into the corner, but is met with an eye rake instead. Jack is working over a burn on Gigante face that he suffered from Vader in Japan. Cactus and Gigante trade strikes in the corner. Gigante big boots Jack sending him to the corner. Gigante claws Jack on the head and wins the match by count-out. (NR. This didn’t really serve a purpose.) After the match, a few wrestlers try to help Cactus, but Gigante shoves them off. Abdullah The Butcher makes his way into the ring and hits Gigante with a stick, but Gigante no sells it and hits Butcher several times. Gigante nails Cactus over the back several times, as well. Gigante looks like he has snapped. Cactus and Butcher are brawling in the corner and they go to the floor. They even knock down GMC at ringside. Referees finally come out to try and keep them apart, but that doesn’t work.

7.) Gordon Solie hosts the Wrestling News Network. Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton won the tag titles from Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham. WCW World Champion Lex Luger won Wrestler of the Year from WCW Magazine. Harley Race shared a pre-tape promo saying that Luger returned from a title defense in Japan and Luger will soon reveal his next target. Footage from Japan where Vader wrestled El Gigante is shown. Vader released steam into Gigante’s face on the aisle causing a burn on Gigante’s face.

8.) Jack Brickhouse hosts the Brickhouse Bonus and puts over Marcus Alexander Bagwell as being a future champion in WCW. Bagwell will likely sign for a WCW Television Championship opportunity.

9.) Steamboat punches Eaton and Austin on the apron to start the bout. Rude controls Steamboat with a wrist lock, but Steamboat manages to counter with one of his own. Steamboat lifts Rude up by his arm, but Rude forearms Steamboat a few times. Steamboat fires back with chops. Steamboat atomic drops Rude and mocks the champ. Steamboat arm drags Rude and tags in Bagwell. Bagwell delivers an axe handle off the top rope and is yanked down by Rude. Bagwell is triple teamed in the corner as Eaton is tagged in. Eaton rams Bagwell into the corner, but Bagwell slams Eaton a couple of times. Eaton crawls to his corner to regroup. Austin tags in and is arm dragged by Bagwell. Sting tags in and Austin backs off into a corner. Austin shoulder blocks Sting and taunts the crowd. Austin shoulder blocks Sting, but Sting hits two hip tosses. Eaton helps Austin, but Sting clotheslines Eaton and Austin. Sting punches Eaton to the apron. Rude acts like he’s coming in, but is stopped by Eaton on the apron. Steamboat keeps Austin on the mat with a headlock. Austin drives Steamboat down with a back suplex and a clothesline. Eaton drives Steamboat down with a backbreaker for a two count. Eaton does it again for another near fall. Eaton hits a swinging neckbreaker on Steamboat and Rude hits a forearm drop. Steamboat tags in Sting, but the referee didn’t see it.

Steamboat is worked over in the corner by the heels. Rude goes to the top rope and axe handles Steamboat over the back. Steamboat almost pins Rude with a rollup. Austin tags back in and beats on Steamboat. Bagwell punches Austin from the apron, but Steamboat is out on the mat and can’t take advantage. Bagwell gets the hot tag and backdrops Austin followed by a clothesline. Bagwell clotheslines Eaton and Rude. Bagwell powerslams Austin and all six men are in the ring brawling. Sting pummels Rude to the floor. Eaton hits a top rope leg drop on Bagwell and puts Austin on top for the win. After the match, Rude and Sting continue to brawl on the floor. Rude sends Sting into the ring post face first. Rude beats on Bagwell with a chair, but Sting grabs the chair and scares the heels to the floor. (***. A good match with a hot crowd reaction. There’s no doubt that Sting vs. Rude is over with the crowd as they were begging to see them go at it. It should not be a surprise that it was a lot of fun to watch.)

10.) Eric Bischoff is with Barry Windham for an interview. Windham will be wrestling Steve Austin next week for the WCW Television Championship. Windham says it is one of his first matches back since his injury. Windham is going to give some punches to Austin that he owes his stablemates. Windham is coming after the title. Windham has never done what he is told and notes that he’s not officially cleared. Despite that, he thinks that he could beat Austin with one arm tied behind his back.

Final Thoughts:
The main event delivered a good match and the opening tag was entertaining. I’ll consider this an enjoyable overall show this week.

Thanks for reading.