WCW Saturday Night 12/18/1993

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 12/18/1993
From: Atlanta, GA

Matches:
1.) Steve Austin defeated Alex Davis
2.) Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne defeated Tony Zane & JD Wolfe
3.) WCW United States Champion Dustin Rhodes defeated Bob Cook
4.) WCW World Champion Vader defeated Rich Andrews
5.) Erik Watts defeated Paul Orndorff
6.) The Boss defeated WCW International Champion Rick Rude in a non-title match

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Mean Gene interviews Steve Austin following his victory. Col. Robert Parker is there, as well. Parker says he’s heard that Pillman wants Austin, but he’s not in the same league anymore. Parker promises to slap Pillman at will. Parker talks about Dustin Rhodes saying that there’s a bonus for Austin if Rhodes ends up crippled. Austin mocks Pillman trying to get help from Sting to get a match with Austin. Austin carried Pillman for over a year and he’s done with him. Austin says the only reason he’s not a champion right now is because of Pillman. He has regained his championship form.

2.) On Worldwide, the finals of the Jesse Ventura arm wrestling contest took place. It was between Ice Train and WCW World Champion Vader. Train made a comeback on Vader and nearly won the contest. However, Vader was able to overpower Train to win the tournament.

3.) Shanghai Pierce and Tex Slazenger cut a pre-tape promo regarding their match with Cactus Jack and Maxx Payne at Starrcade. They called them ugly and they are going to work up a number six on them. They are going to leave them behind the horses.

4.) Mean Gene conducted an interview with Cactus Jack and Maxx Payne following their victory. Jack says he was wrong to question Vader’s guts a few months ago. Jack never saw fear in Vader’s eyes. Jack hopes that Flair walks away with the championship at Starrcade. Jack suggests people don’t question Vader’s guts. Jack thanks Tex Slazenger for saying they were two of the ugliest looking guts in the company. Payne chimes in and says that they better be ready for them at Starrcade.

5.) Steve Austin attacks Dustin Rhodes after Rhodes won his match. Austin pummeled Rhodes with right hand and stomps on the mat. Austin holds Rhodes, but Pillman runs into the ring and makes the save. Rhodes decks Austin to the floor. Parker attempted to rub a cigar into Rhodes face.

6.) Mean Gene interviews WCW World Champion Vader and Harley Race following his victory. Race knows Flair better than anyone on the earth. Race says that Gene forgot to mention that Ric Flair’s career ends at Starrcade. Vader notes that Flair owns a nice Golds Gym in North Carolina and promises that Flair can be there full-time after Starrcade. Vader wants Ric to bring his son so that he can embarrass Flair in front of his family.

7.) Watts starts off with right hands on Orndorff and a hip toss. Watts misses an elbow drop coming off the ropes. Orndorff also misses an elbow drop. Watts yanks down on Orndorff’s arm and keeps wrist control. Watts sends Orndorff into the corner shoulder first. Watts keeps a hammerlock on Orndorff and nearly wins with a rollup. Watts keeps Orndorff on the mat with a hammerlock. Watts stomps on Orndorff’s arm on the mat and falls backwards. Orndorff stomps on Watts followed by forearm strikes to stagger Watts. Orndorff rams Watts into the corner face first a few times. Watts misses a splash, but doesn’t hit the corner and decks Orndorff. Watts misses a running crossbody and crashes to the floor. Orndorff comes off the apron with an elbow strike and stomps. Orndorff brings Watts into the ring with a suplex from the apron followed by a forearm drop. Orndorff controls Watts on the mat with a chin lock and strikes Watts several times. Orndorff hits a back suplex and gets a two count.

Orndorff nails Watts in the midsection followed by a knee lift. Orndorff misses a dropkick as Watts held the ropes. Watts fights back with right hands. Watts connects with a clothesline a few times. Watts heads to the top rope hitting an axe handle. Watts runs into a back elbow and Orndorff delivers a clothesline to regain the advantage. Orndorff forearms Watts and continues with shoulder rams in the corner. Orndorff chokes Watts in the corner ignoring the referee. Watts avoids Orndorff in the corner and manages to pin Orndorff with a rollup for a clean victory. After the match, Orndorff attacks Watts and shoves the referee down. Orndorff stomps on Watts several times. Orndorff spikes Watts with a piledriver. Paul Roma has come out and Roma hits a top rope splash onto Watts. The Shockmaster has come out, as well but he’s just watching. Shockmaster slowly stalks towards Orndorff and Roma to run them off from the ring. (*1/2. I don’t know what’s going on here, but Watts seems to have found some kind of groove in delivering halfway decent offense. I should probably credit Orndorff for that successful turnaround.)

8.) Mean Gene interviews Paul Orndorff and Paul Roma after the match. Orndorff says he’s never liked Gene. Orndorff says that Watts pulled of a fluke and he’s had enough of the fans calling him Paula. They will be wrestling Marcus Alexander Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio at Starrcade. Roma is tired of carrying the Horsemen and decided to associate himself with a top athlete like Orndorff. Assassin chimes in and says you have got to do whatever it takes to win. That is why he’s with Roma and Orndorff because they will do just that.

9.) Mean Gene is with a member of the WCW Board of Directors, Gary Juster. Juster has a document and says that Bulldog had an obligation to be here, but has not arrived. They will give Bulldog a thirty-second count and if Bulldog doesn’t arrive the match will be awarded to Rude. They do the countdown and Rude wins.

10.) Rick Rude cuts a promo saying he knows what is going on here. Rude thinks that Bulldog got scared after having a week to think about wrestling him. Rude says he’s unbeatable and is the alpha and omega. Rude plans to be champion until he retires. You better live with it. The Boss (Big Bossman) runs into the ring and attacks Rude.

11.) Boss big boots Rude and clotheslines Rude over the top to the floor. Boss decks Rude with a right hand around ringside. Boss rams Rude face first onto the apron. Boss clotheslines Rude in the corner. Boss backdrops Rude coming off the ropes. Boss slams Rude to the mat and delivers a knee to the back. Boss atomic drops Rude a couple of times. Boss splashes down onto Rude’s back a few times. Rude avoids an atomic drop with a right hand and plants Boss with a DDT. Rude delivers a top rope forearm strike to drop Boss. Rude connects with a swinging neckbreaker and heads to the top rope. Rude leaps off hitting a knee drop and drives Boss face first onto the mat. Rude keeps control with a sleeper on the mat. Boss begins to get a second wind. Boss clotheslines Rude, but Rude sends Boss into the middle rope throat first. Rude sends Boss into the ring post face first. Rude drops Boss throat first over the top rope and decks Boss over the ropes back into the ring. Rude keeps a sleeper on Boss. Boss gets to his feet and rams Rude into the corner a few times. Boss nails Rude with a right hand, but runs into a boot in the corner. Rude heads to the top rope delivering an axe handle strike. Rude clubs on Boss over the back and locks in a chin lock. Boss uppercuts Rude coming off the top rope. Boss hammers away on Rude and delivers a splash in the corner. Boss jumps onto Rude’s back over the middle rope. Boss slides to the floor and punches Rude. Boss rams Rude face first into the corner a few times. Rude avoids a backdrop with a kick, but runs into a side walk slam and Boss wins the match. (**. A good debut/return for Boss in WCW and the crowd was hot for the action. I’m assuming the clean win means that Boss will be replacing Bulldog on pay per view against Rude. I thought the match was fine for what it was.)

12.) Mean Gene interviews The Boss following his victory. Boss wants Gene to look at the people and they know that they know about law, order and justice. Boss says that Rude is a criminal and he takes care of trash like Rude. Boss declares he’s going to get a title match against Rude.

13.) Next week’s episode is mostly just a recap of the feuds. Thus, I won’t be covering the final Saturday Night of the year.

Final Thoughts:
A much better episode compared to the last few weeks as the main event was a great way to end the show with some excitement. Flair/Vader has been carrying the build to Starrcade with the secondary feuds are lacking some excitement.

Thanks for reading.