WCW Saturday Night
July 30, 1994
Atlanta, GA
Center Stage Theatre

The current WCW Champs were as follows:
WCW World Champion: Hulk Hogan (7/17/1994)
WCW U.S. Champion: Steve Austin (12/27/1993)
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Pretty Wonderful (7/17/1994)
WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal (6/23/1994)

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Bobby Heenan.

Do not go anywhere! WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel is going to make an announcement concerning the upcoming Clash of the Champions on August 24 at some point in this program.

• Stars N Stripes vs. Fred Avery & Frankie Lancaster
  

Great fast-paced squash as Patriot brings the power while Bagwell brings the speed. Say what you will and you can be as cynical as you want to be, but Stars N Stripes were a fun tag team. I really enjoyed them more actually than the Scorpio-Bagwell pairing and I’m a mark for Too Cold. I’m skipping ahead to the finish because it’s a lot of tagging in and out, but you know who’s winning here. Patriot whips Bagwell into the corner and nails Avery with a forearm smash. Now Bagwell whips Avery into the Patriot for the UNCLE SLAM (full nelson slam) for the win at 4:04. U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

It’s time for Nick Bockwinkel’s big announcement. Looks like he’s got a nicer office than Jack Tunney. Anyways, he announces the Hogan-Flair rematch as the main event for the upcoming Clash show. He also fines Sensuous Sherri $25000 for all the craziness she tried to pull in the first Hogan-Flair match at Bash at the Beach. Dang!

• Diamond Dallas Page (w/the Diamond Doll) vs. Barry Houston
  

Ahh yes. Of course DDP is looking crazy walking around with the massive polar bear coat on and the cigar in his mouth with a woman like Kimberly by his side, but still looking like he can’t afford a decent pair of cool looking tights. Houston looks willing to beat up Page, but it’s not going to happen. DDP turns things around with a tilt-a-whirl side slam and after he puts the boots to Houston, the DIAMOND CUTTER ends him at 4:10. Kimberly gives DDP a 10+ for that finish.

If you call the WCW Hotline tonight, you can vote for your favorite wrestlers to battle in the main event on the next Saturday Night!

• Harlem Heat vs. Alex Davis & Kenny Kendall
  

The Heat took a few months off, but now they’re back. They’re still being called Kane and Kole, but I’m calling them by the names everybody knows. Stevie Ray slams Davis around so Booker can hit him with the AXE KICK. They don’t even let Kendall tag into the match. HEAT BOMB puts Davis away for the win at 1:56.

Gene Okerlund meets with Harlem Heat. They are pissed that WCW won’t give them a tag titles shot and now they have come up with a master plan to take the belts, SUCKA. Stevie Ray says they went out and found somebody they could trust to climb the ladder of success at WCW. You’ll find out who they are talking about soon enough.

• Brian Pillman vs. Rip Rogers
  

Rip Rogers lost his beard! He looks like the little brother of Buddy Rose without it. Rogers gets in some jobber offense and Pillman comes back with a large amount of turnbuckle smashes. Flying clothesline by Pillman gets the 1-2-3 at 3:39.

• WCW World Television Champion Lord Steven Regal vs. Mark Starr
  

I wonder what Starr is doing these days. Tony talks about how Regal has been competing in Japan lately to get ready for his bout with Antonio Inoki at the upcoming Clash. What a debacle that was. Anyways, this was a nice extended squash as Regal takes Starr to the mat several times and Starr continues to get up and fight back. Starr manages to backdrop out of a butterfly suplex, but Regal rolls over and gets to his feet to finally deliver the move for two. Starr rolls up Regal real quick and take a trip to the apron off a corner charge. He forearm strikes Regal back and gives him AIR PILLMAN for 1-2-NO! Tornado DDT by Starr! He turns over on top of Regal for 1-2-NO! Starr flips out of a suplex and O’Connor rolls Regal, but Regal flips him over again and grabs a handful of tights and the ropes for the 1-2-3. (7:41) Good match for Mark Starr. Makes you wonder why Regal didn’t mind doing him a favor by giving him so much offense. *

Gene Okerlund grabs Lord Steven Regal and Sir William for an interview. Regal says he’s beaten superstars like the Great Muta and Kensuke Sasaki over in Japan. Don’t think he can’t beat Inoki too. Not sure why, but he’s got a cricket bat with him.

After the break, we get a follow up video of what transpired in the Rhodes/AA-Stud Stable match at the Bash at the Beach PPV where Arn Anderson turned on Dustin Rhodes.

• Terry Funk & Bunkhouse Buck (w/Col. Robert Parker) vs. Joey Maggs & Todd Morton
  

Why are Morton and Maggs wearing Eaton and Lane’s Midnight Express tights? Morton beats Funk to the floor to start, but then Maggs gets drilled with a clothesline when he goes after Funk. Back in, Funk fights back and gives Morton the pull up piledriver. Bunkhouse Buck tags in and punches Morton out for the win at 3:48.

Last Monday night during a Bunkhouse Buck/Larry Santo match in Macon GA, Dusty Rhodes returned to beat up Bunkhouse Buck with Bionic Elbows galore and Col. Robert Parker as well. Dustin Rhodes and Terry Funk brawl out to ringside. Finally, Meng comes in and a bunch of babyfaces run in to keep Dusty and Meng separate. They REALLY did a great job of making Meng look like a lethal assassin until Sting beat him at the Great American Bash in 1995. Once the ring clears up of the Stud Stable, Dusty and Dustin have a father-son moment. They will taking on the Stud Stable at the Clash!

After some commercials, Gene announces the Hogan-Flair return match at the Clash as well as Dusty and Dustin Rhodes taking on Terry Funk and Bunkhouse Buck. We hear from Hulk Hogan who downs Flair and says he could never even lace his boots. OH OKAY! The palm of his hand is where the power lies and what you gonna do when Hulkamania runs wild on you, BROTHER?

• Sting & Ricky Steamboat vs. Steve Austin & Ric Flair (w/Sensuous Sherri)
  

There is still 45 minutes left in the show! Flair screws with Sting making him think he will start the match, so Sting does the same thing and tags in Steamboat to screw with Austin. WOO! Steamboat doesn’t care who he faces. Flair gets the tag and sucker punches Steamboat to take over. Just like that, Steamboat backdrops Flair and tags Sting for a press slam. VINTAGE STINGER~! Flair Flops and goes out to hide behind Sherri. She’ll pop Sting in the mouth too. Flair finally has enough of that and rakes Sting across the face. Back in, Austin goes to work, but Sting fights back with a backdrop and tags Steamboat. Austin slings off an armbar, but gets caught coming off the top and dropped with a swinging neckbreaker. It breaks down momentarily as Flair and Sting get in the ring. Steamboat hits Austin with an inverted atomic drop and he tries to escape to the floor, but Steamboat brings him back in as we go to commercial. When we come back, Steamboat has Austin in a chinlock down on the mat. Austin fights out, but Steamboat blocks a hiptoss into a backslide. He can’t get the backslide so he kicks off the turnbuckles to flip back over Austin and gives him a superplex! Cover, 1-2-NO! Tag to Sting, a splash off the ropes hits knees. Flair tags in and Sting NO-SELLS a suplex! Sting goes for a tumble with Flair over the top rope, but completely whiffs. Austin comes over and meets Steamboat with punches. Meanwhile, Sting has Flair caught in an inside cradle in the ring! Flair begs off and tries to drop Sting while he’s got him in a wristlock, but Sting constantly kips back up. You’ve seen this before if you have EVER seen Sting vs. Flair. Enough of that, Flair heads to the floor to regroup and jaw with the fans. Heenan blames Hulk Hogan. Back inside, Sting ducks a double-team and comes back with a double clothesline. Flair gets slammed off the top and now Austin gives Sting a try. Austin tries getting the quick win with rollups and a handful of tights every time. STING WILL NOT DIE! Sting gives Austin a press slam, but then Austin goes low to put a stop to him. Flair comes in and dumps Sting over the top rope for Sherri to kick him around. More commercials! Call the Hulk Hogan Hotline today! It’s only $1.49 a minute which is a DEAL unlike that useless WCW Hotline that’s $.99 a minute! AND WE’RE BACK! Flair and Austin are still working over the Stinger. Austin goes for his forearm smash off the second rope, but Sting gets the knees up. HOT TAG TO STEAMBOAT! He goes CHOP CRAZY on the heels until he telegraphs a backdrop and takes a kick in the mouth. Tag to Flair, they go through the headlock-backslide sequence as Steamboat gets two. Flair misses the Rolling Knee Drop and then they crash into one another. Austin tags and cheats a little with an abdominal stretch. Back over to Flair, he corners Steamboat with right hands and chops. Steamboat tries to wiggle out of the heel corner and make the tag to Sting, but Austin cuts off the tag at the VERY last second. Austin grabs a chinlock, but Steamboat fights out and chops Austin down. False tag spot ensues, but the ref doesn’t seem to mind once Sting is rocking and rolling all over Flair. Stinger Splash is followed by the SCORPION DEATHLOCK, but neither man is legal. Sherri leaps on Sting from the top rope to break up the hold and as Flair bails, Sting tosses Sherri on top of Flair. Meanwhile, Austin stops a ten-count corner punch and trips up Steamboat. With a handful of tights, Austin has Steamboat rolled up for the 1-2-3! (31:23) Wrestlers can only dream of going 30 minutes where not only the crowd is never bored, but the action is kept fairly simple. Arguably one of the final *great* tag team matches ever in WCW. ****¼

YES!