World Championship Wrestling
January 11, 1992
Atlanta, GA
Center Stage Theatre
(Taped on 1/6/1992)

The current WCW Champs were as follows:
World Champion: Lex Luger (7/14/1991)
U.S. Champion: Rick Rude (11/19/1991)
World Television Champion: Steve Austin (6/3/1991)
World Light Heavyweight Champion: Jushin Liger (12/25/1991)
World Tag Team Champions: Ricky Steamboat & Dustin Rhodes (11/19/1991)
U.S. Tag Team Champions: The Young Pistols (11/5/1991)

Can rookie sensation Marcus Alexander Bagwell from Sprayberry Hi Skewwel last ten minutes with the WCW TV Champ Steve Austin? Let’s find out! Hit that blurry intro!

Your host is Jim Ross!

• WCW World Television Champion Steve Austin (w/Paul E. Dangerously) vs. Marcus Alexander Bagwell
  

Austin just screws around with Bagwell to start until he gets rolled up for two. Austin’s all like, “UHH UHH!” and gets in Bagwell’s face and slaps him. Like a good babyface who doesn’t know any better, Bagwell slaps back. Austin goes to work on the neck, but Bagwell ducks a clothesline and rolls up Austin again for two. If you ever wondered why Bagwell was stuck in tag teams up until around 1999, then you haven’t seen him wrestle a singles match. He’s hitting Austin with armdrags and dropkicks, but just can’t get the three, so Austin goes to the floor to cut off the momentum. After some regrouping time, Austin yanks Bagwell out to the floor where they brawl and Bagwell gets posted. Five minutes gone by, five minutes remain in the contest. Austin gives Bagwell a suplex back in and then hits a gutwrench suplex for two. He fish-hooks Bagwell in the ropes and tries for the Bossman straddle, but Bagwell moves out of the way. Surprise inside cradle gets two for Bagwell. No big comeback just yet for Bagwell, as Austin drills him with a short-arm clothesline for another near-fall at the eight-minute mark. Bagwell ducks another clothesline and catches Austin with a crossbody block for 1-2-NO! Austin stays right on top of him though with turnbuckle smashes at the one-minute mark, but then Bagwell gets a sunset flip out of nowhere for two. Austin returns to the turnbuckle smashes with thirty seconds remaining. Now it’s Austin trying to put Bagwell away with a discus clothesline, but it only gets two. He hits a backbreaker for that last ditch effort, but Bagwell kicks out again at two. (10:00) I think they might have been looking to make Bagwell a star here, but he’s just too green and really didn’t hit his stride until the late ’90s. If you can even call that stride decent. The Dangerous Alliance run down for the five-man stomping until Sting comes in and pulls Bagwell out to safety. Steamboat and Simmons also stop by to point fingers and give dirty looks to the DA. **¼

The WCW Magazine with Eric Bischoff: The most recent issue include the year-end awards. I bet that’s a doosy of a column. Lex Luger won the Wrestler of the Year award, but refuses to do an interview, so we get to hear from Harley Race instead. Apparently, Luger is going under “intense training for a future title defense”, but has no clue as to who he’s facing. Race says Luger will only appear in arenas that he wants to appear in and tries to pass it off as some kind of kayfabe crap, but that was Luger’s attitude in this time frame. He’d give his notice within the next week or so and then drop the belt to Sting at Superbrawl in his last North American match before becoming the Narcissist up north. In other news, the York Foundation has been disbanded. Terrence Taylor turned his back on Alexandra York because of his losing streak. If you think he’s turning back into a face, you’d be wrong. He now wants to be known as the Taylor Made Man, because all he needs is himself. Good promo. Also, Vader and El Gigante got into a big scuffle in Tokyo at the latest WCW/New Japan joint show. The match ends in a double-countout and then Vader shoots off his helmet in Gigante’s face. OH NOES! By the way, what is it with Japanese people and eggs?

• Rick & Scott Steiner vs. Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker & Pat Rose
  

Scott freakin’ OWNS Rose on the mat and then gives him a super Samoan drop and lets Rose tag in Parker. Scott takes Parker to the mat and puts him in a modified bow-and-arrow. Rick tags in for a suplex or two and then brings Scott back in for a tilt-a-whirl slam. FRANKENSTEINER will do it for Parker. (3:23) The Steiners are dominant, but can they dominate Vader and Hughes? Find out at the Clash!

Harley Race has fallen in love with Vader and wants to take him and Hughes to the tag team titles. Think about Vader and Hughes! Think about them! Think!

• Big Van Vader (w/Harley Race) vs. Danny Poston & TC Carter
  

TC Carter is such a pimp, but not even pimps can stand up against Vader. You can probably guess what happens here. Vader brutalizes these dudes until he chokeslams both of them for the double-pinfall. (2:03) Gotta love a Vader squash every now and then.

• Cactus Jack & Abdullah the Butcher vs. Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk
  

It’s an obvious contrast in styles match. Zenk gets caught on the wrong side of town by Cactus to start, but fights out. He hits the MISSILE DROPKICK early, so Cactus tags in Abdullah. He chokes and grabs the nerve hold. Zenk elbows out and tags Pillman. He chops away and then gives Abdullah a slam! Pillman RULES. He nails Cactus and heads up top, but Abdullah nails him on the way down. Cactus tags in and misses a corner charge, but then Pillman tries a springboard and misses the rope to screw up his knee. Cactus dumps him out to Abdullah for a throat thrust. Cactus follows him out with a clothesline off the apron that sends Pillman into the guardrail. Pillman does his signature chest-bump on the guardrail and comes back in with a desperation crucifix rollup for 1-2-NO! Pillman ducks a clothesline and hits the spinning heel kick to set up the HOT TAG TO ZENK! He kicks on Abdullah all day long, but the big guy just won’t go down. He jumps on his back with a sleeper. Once he’s down to both knees, Cactus runs in and nails Zenk with the voodoo cane for the 1-2-3. (7:48) Cactus dumps Pillman and sets up Zenk for another cane shot, but heel miscommunication ensues and they brawl to the back. Not a bad little contest there. Everybody was feeling it. ***

Next up, Sting and Bagwell come out and challenge any two of the Dangerous Alliance guys for a tag match next week on World Championship Wrestling. Well, I think we can already tell how THAT one is going to go down.

It’s time for the WCW Top Ten for the weekend of January 11-12! Yes, they’re still actually doing this!
10. Big Van Vader
9. Scott Steiner
8. Larry Zbyszko
7. WCW World Tag Team Champ Dustin Rhodes
6. Cactus Jack
5. Rick Steiner
4. WCW World Tag Team Champ Ricky Steamboat
3. WCW World TV Champ Steve Austin
2. Sting
1. WCW U.S. Champ Rick Rude
WCW World Heavyweight Champion Lex Luger

• Johnny B. Badd vs. Mark Kyle
  

Badd has his homoerotic Love Boat attire on tonight. High Knee and the TOOTY FROOTY PUNCH finishes off the jobber with two first names, a bald head, and a hairy back. (1:26) Johnny wants to take on Liger for the Light Heavyweight title, because that belt would look SO pretty around his waist.

• Taylor Made Man vs. Gregg Sawyer
  

Taylor bad mouths Sawyer to start, which seems to fire him up. A dropkick and a powerslam gets TWO for Sawyer. Now Sawyer gets dumped and thrown into the guardrail. Back in, Taylor hits the Curt Hennig neck snap. Gutwrench powerbomb is followed by the FIVE-ARM for the win. (2:29) He doesn’t need you, he’s the Taylor Made Man!

• Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko & Rick Rude (w/Paul E. Dangerously & Madusa) vs. Dustin Rhodes, Ricky Steamboat & Ron Simmons
  

Basically a preview for the upcoming Clash. The faces take turns getting in their shots on Anderson to start. Anderson tries to take over on Steamboat with a knee drop, but then he heads up top which 98% of the time ends up bad for him. This time is no different, as Steamboat crotches him and dropkicks him to the floor. Simmons presses Anderson back in while Steamboat and Rhodes (the tag champs) clean house on Zbyszko and Rude. The DA regroup as Rude gets a tag. They work the arm for a bit as Rhodes gives it a go. Rude knees out of an armbar, but then runs into a boot in the corner and takes a flying lariat. In comes Ron Simmons. He jams on Rude’s arm and then knocks Rude to his corner with a shoulderblock. Larry Z tags in and goes low like always, but then runs into a bearhug. Rude breaks it up, but Simmons NO-SELLS a hard corner whip and runs at Zbyszko and Rude for a double-clothesline. Larry gets nailed, but Rude ducks and swivels those hips around. To retaliate, Simmons gives Rude an atomic drop from both sides. Steamboat gets the tag and delivers a bunch of chops to Larry Z. He goes up top, but Anderson shoves him off. Rude tags in and starts pounding on Steamboat’s lower back. Steamboat gets stuck in the DA corner while the ref contends with Simmons and Rhodes. Anderson tags in for a backdrop. The Enforcers try for a charging double-team, but Steamboat drops to the mat and the heels collide. HOT TAG TO RHODES! He’s got Bionic Elbows for everybody! Simmons gets rid of Rude and Anderson so they can triple-team Zbyszko. That is, until Steamboat gets pulled out and beaten down. Simmons goes over to help him while Rhodes hits the BULLDOG on Zbyszko in the ring. Cover, 1-2-3! (9:29) Zbyszko holds on to Rhodes after the pinfall because Eaton is out and on the top rope poised to deliver the ALABAMA JAM! Larry then gives Rhodes a BRAINBUSTER to leave him laying, as JR announces we’re out of time! ***¾

Final Thoughts: This is WCW when they are FEELING IT. After months of apathy due to bad characters, bad angles and the wrong people being pushed and the wrong people being released, WCW is ruling on a regular basis again. The stuff between the DA and Sting’s buddies is just too great. I just can’t get enough of these six-man tags. Ah, the good ol’ days of Kip Frey.