Written by: Bob Colling
World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 11/27/1993
From: Dalton, GA
Matches:
1.) Steve Austin & Paul Orndorff defeated Arn Anderson & Paul Roma
2.) Ice Train defeated Paul Lee
3.) Harlem Heat defeated WCW United States Champion Dustin Rhodes & The Shockmaster by disqualification
4.) Ron Simmons defeated Fred Avery
5.) The Colossal Kongs defeated Jeff Gamble & Chris Sullivan
6.) Sting, Ric Flair & Ricky Steamboat defeated WCW International Champion Rick Rude & WCW Tag Team Champions the Nasty Boys
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Orndorff and Anderson kickoff the tag match to start the show. Anderson fights out of the corner and that leads to a standoff between the two teams. Orndorff is double teamed in the corner and Anderson decks Austin with a left hand. Roma tags in and comes off the top with an axe handle. Roma yanks down on Orndorff’s arm, but Orndorff drop toe holds Roma. Austin tags in and Roma puts a top wrist lock on Austin. Austin breaks free to put a headlock on Roma for a few moments. Austin shoulder blocks Roma, but Roma comes back with a scoop slam and Anderson decks Austin from the apron. Orndorff delivers a top rope elbow strike to Roma and misses an elbow drop. Roma yanks on Orndorff’s arm a few times. Austin tags in after they ran around the ring and Austin knee lifted Roma from behind. Austin knee drops Roma and they double team Roma sending him to the floor while Anderson distracted the referee. Austin beats on Roma with strikes on the apron and pushes Roma to the floor. Orndorff rams Roma back first into the apron followed by right hands. Roma fights back on Austin with right hands. Roma is stomped on by Orndorff to keep control of the contest. Roma hits a crossbody off the ropes for a two count on Orndorff. Orndorff plants Roma with a back suplex and chokes Roma on the mat.
Orndorff punches Roma in the midsection and chokes Roma. Orndorff keeps a chin lock on Roma, but doesn’t get a submission. Roma shoulder blocks Orndorff, but is stopped by Orndorff. Roma backdrops Orndorff to avoid a piledriver and Anderson gets the hot tag. Anderson elbows Austin and decks both Orndorff and Austin to the mat. All four men are brawling as Anderson plants Austin with a spinebuster, but Orndorff comes off the top with a knee drop and Austin covers Anderson for the win. Roma didn’t break the cover despite being able to do so. (**. It sure seems obvious that Roma is going to be turning on Anderson rather soon. The match was fine, but it follows the usual WCW tag team formula.)
2.) Tony Schiavone interviews Ice Train following his win. Train admits he made a mistake against the Nasty Boys and promises it will not happen again. Ron Simmons comes out and Train assures Simmons he’ll stay focused. Simmons tells Train he’s got to stay focus. Simmons reminds Train to watch his back and he’ll give him all the wisdom and knowledge. Simmons calls Train out about missing a workout. Simmons wanted to do the workout at night and not in the morning when Train showed up.
3.) Mean Gene hosted a press conference for Starrcade 1993. WCW World Champion Vader is there with Gene. Vader looks a little weird wearing a suit. Gene announces the match will be taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina. Vader is the only one present for this press conference with Harley Race. Flair does make an appearance coming through the crowd. Flair wants to be part Flair has a contract and wants them to read it. Flair says that if he loses at Starrcade then he’ll retire. Vader lists all the guys he’s hurt and sent running from the company. Vader accepts the challenge. Flair promises to leave the Industry if he loses.
4.) We see footage from Battle Bowl where Vader elbow dropped Flair on the ramp followed by a big splash. They are suggesting that this is a career threatening injury. Flair did a stretcher job.
5.) Booker and Rhodes start the tag match with Booker hammering away on Rhodes. Booker shoulder blocks Rhodes, but runs into a dropkick. Rhodes arm drags Booker to the mat and plays to the crowd. Ray tags in and shoves Rhodes to the mat. Shockmaster tags into the match and shoves Ray to the mat. Shockmaster slams Ray and Booker. Shockmaster tags in Rhodes and they work over Ray’s back with strikes. Ray forearms Dustin, but Dustin delivers a few strikes. Booker nails Rhodes with a kick to the head. Ray backs Rhodes into the corner and hammers away on Rhodes. Rhodes is met with a clothesline by Harlem Heat and Booker stomps on Rhodes. Rhodes is sent into the ropes and is met with a double back elbow for a two count. Shockmaster gets tagged in, but the referee didn’t see it. Shockmaster tosses Ray over the top to the floor and the referee calls for a disqualification. (DUD. I’m not sure what the point of this was, but it felt like something to just fill time.)
6.) Steamboat and Sags kickoff the six man tag match with Sags bailing to the floor. Saggs knee lifts Steamboat in the midsection but is met with a dropkick and so does Knobbs. Steamboat gets a two count on Knobbs with a rollup. Knobbs points at Sting wanting a piece of him. Sting is tagged in and backs Knobbs into a corner. Knobbs eye rakes Sting and rams Sting face first into the corner followed by forearm strikes. Sting hammers away on Knobbs with right hands. Sting elbows the Nasty Boys to the mat and Rude drops off the apron to avoid Sting. Sting clotheslines Knobbs coming off the ropes. Flair tags into the match and clotheslines Knobbs followed by right hands. Flair taunts Rude in the corner. Sags backs Flair into a corner and delivers knee lifts and right hands. Sags rams Flair into the corner and Rude enters to deliver more strikes to Flair. Rude scoop slams Flair to the mat and Flair atomic drops Rude. Rude gets punched by the faces in the corner. Flair atomic drops Rude and follows up with a few strikes. Knobbs tags into the match and Flair drop toe holds Knobbs to the mat. Sting tags into the match and keeps a leg lock on Knobbs, but Knobbs reaches the ropes. Sting works over Knobbs sending him into the corner, but misses a splash in the corner. Sags keeps control as the show goes to commercial.
Rude controls Sting with a bearhug, but doesn’t get a submission. Sting drops to his knees unable to break the hold and lays on his side. Rude switches to a chin lock, but misses a splash. Sags enters and elbow drops Sting to keep him on the mat. Sags continues with right hands against the ropes. Sags backdrops Sting and both men are down. Flair gets tagged in and goes to the top hitting an axe handle followed by chops and locks in the figure four on Sags. The referee is distracted by Steamboat beating on Knobbs. Rude clotheslines Flair over the top to the floor. Knobbs hits Flair with a tag championship on the floor. Rude rolls Flair back into the ring and Flair tries to fight back with strikes. Flair kicks Sags away and is met with right hands. Knobbs tags back into the match and stomps on Flair in the corner. Flair is sent upside down into the corner and drops to the floor. Steamboat pulls Knobbs to the floor while Sags rams Flair face first into the ring steps. Knobbs tosses Flair with a gut wrench slam. Knobbs continues to beat on Flair with strikes, but Flair comes back with strikes. Sags decks Flair in the corner to gain control.
Sags knee drops Flair and tags in Rude to maintain the advantage. Rude puts a figure four on Flair in the middle of the ring. Flair refuses to give in and prevents himself from passing out. Steamboat enters to knee drop Rude to save Flair. Knobbs elbow drops Flair, but isn’t the legal man for a cover attempt. The referee doesn’t eject Knobbs and Sags tags into the match to elbow drop Flair. Sags elbow drops Flair on the knee a few times. Rude stomps on Flair’s leg to keep Flair on the mat. Rude forearms Flair to the mat several times. Rude tags in Sags and Sags pummels Flair with strikes in the corner. Flair chops Knobbs and they trade several blows. Knobbs comes off the ropes and they collide. Flair tags in Sting as Rude has tagged in. Sting hammers away on Rude several times followed by a clothesline. Sting sends the tag champs into each other and all six men are in the ring brawling. Sting sends Knobbs over the top to the floor. Rude hits the Rude Awakening on Steamboat, but Sting gets a sloppy rollup on Rude to win the match. After the match, all six men are brawling until the faces celebrate to end the program. (***. This easily held my interest because everyone involved are people that I care about and tend to be entertained by. The action was solid throughout and I enjoyed the story told. I’m thrilled there was a clean finish and shocked that Rude was the guy to take the pin.)
Final Thoughts:
A decent show this week that was largely carried by the main event. They did a good job in promoting Vader/Flair in recent weeks to pivot from the original Vader/Sid plan.
Thanks for reading.