World Championship Wrestling presents Main Event
Date: 11/22/1992
Jim Ross and Michael Hayes host the show. Tonight, Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas defend the tag titles against Tony Atlas & The Barbarian.
MATCH #1: MARCUS ALEXANDER BAGWELL VS. SCOTTY FLAMINGO
FINISH: Flamingo gets brass knuckles in the corner and knocks out Bagwell leading to the victory. However, Johnny B. Badd comes out and tells the referee what happened. Badd backdrops Flamingo, but Flamingo bails to the floor to end the segment.
Bob’s Take: Bagwell has the advantage to start with an atomic drop and near fall. Bagwell continued his momentum by dropkicking Flamingo to the floor. Flamingo gets control with a hard hitting knee lift. Since Flamingo has an angle with Johnny B. Badd and Bagwell has been mostly floating around in random tag matches, this shouldn’t be a surprise for Flamingo to get extended amount of shine on Bagwell. Flamingo focuses his attack on Bagwell with strikes until Bagwell dropped Flamingo over the top rope throat first. A fine singles match with Flamingo getting a much needed victory, even by cheating.
Match Rating: **
Missy Does The Mail hosted by Missy Hyatt is next. Hyatt teases that Shane Douglas has learned more than the belly to belly suplex by Magnum TA. I think the suggestion is obvious, but we have to call the hotline to find out.
WCW Starrcade ’92 Control Center hosted by Jim Ross is up next. The segment promotes the Battlebowl concept and the various teams that have been randomly drawn. This is a repeat segment from other syndication shows.
MATCH #2: SHANGHAI PIERCE & TEX SLAZENGER VS. RICKY NELSON & THE ITALIAN STALLION
FINISH: Slazenger pins Nelson following a reverse DDT.
Bob’s Take: I find myself digging Pierce and Slazenger more and more each time they are showcased on TV. Their look doesn’t come across as if they’re a superstar duo by any means, but they are tough guys and they look good in that role. The referee looked like he was going to do a fast count on Slazenger, but Pierce broke the count, thankfully.
Match Rating: SQUASH
MATCH #3: BIG VAN VADER VS. RICKY TANGO & KEN MCDONALD — HANDICAP
FINISH: Vader pins McDonald following a chokeslam.
Bob’s Take: It doesn’t need to be said, but this is just a complete domination by Vader on two poor souls. Vader squashes are always enjoyable, and this is no different.
Match Rating: SQUASH
MAIN EVENT: NWA/WCW UNIFIED TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS RICKY STEAMBOAT & SHANE DOUGLAS VS. TONY ATLAS & THE BARBARIAN
FINISH: Steamboat hits a top rope crossbody on Barbarian, who trips over Douglas, and Steamboat picks up the win.
Bob’s Take: Douglas gets the crowd behind him after hitting dropkicks on both Atlas and Barbarian. Atlas and Barbarian are not bad challengers since they’ve been getting a decent push on TV lately. Steamboat picks up the pace going after Barbarian with strikes both in the ring and on the floor. Barbarian finally gets control for his team by driving Steamboat down with a backbreaker. Barbarian forearms Steamboat on the lower back, but Atlas doesn’t do a great job of keeping advantage for a long time. Barbarian has to help Atlas to keep control on Steamboat. Atlas isn’t being presented as a strong competitor, that’s for sure. The action was mostly underwhelming, but at least there was a decisive finish.
Match Rating: *1/2
Final Thoughts:
An average episode of Main Event this week. Apparently next week the show will be two-hours, and that usually means something of importance will happen. I’m looking forward to that.
Thanks for reading.