What the World Was Watching: WCW Worldwide – January 7, 1995

–Tony Schiavone, substituting for Eric Bischoff who is in Japan, and Bobby Heenan are doing commentary and they are taped from Disney/MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida. These tapings were done on October 30, 1994.

–Opening Contest: Alex Wright (1-0) pins Butch Long after a reverse flying body press at 2:31:

Long was a six-year WCW jobber, last appearing in a squash match against the Public Enemy in 1998. Long gets dumped on his head with a belly-to-belly suplex and that makes him susceptible to Wright’s high-flying finish.

–Gene Okerlund interviews Kevin Sullivan and the Butcher about their tag team match with Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage at Clash of the Champions. The Butcher says that Savage started something he cannot finish, while Sullivan complains that Savage was supposed to be the fourth member of the Faces of Fear and he will get payback in Las Vegas.

–WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel says that Sting and Avalanche did not wrestle to a conclusive finish at Starrcade because the referee was knocked out of action. As a result, he is ordering a rematch at Clash of the Champions and appointing the Guardian Angel as the referee.

–Hacksaw Jim Duggan (1-0) defeats Ned Brady after a three-point stance clothesline at 2:39:

Brady is a Wrestlecrap inductee for being one of Cactus Jack’s ill-fated tag team partners in 1989. In December of that year both men teamed up against Tommy Rich and Ranger Ross, and after losing Jack turned on Brady, giving him his trademark elbow drop off the ring apron while Brady lay on the arena floor. Duggan pounds away for a while before finish Brady with the football clothesline.

–Okerlund hypes Clash of the Champions.

–Arn Anderson & Bunkhouse Buck (w/Colonel Robert Parker & Meng) beat Kenny Kendall & Joey Maggs when Anderson pins Kendall after a DDT at 1:47:

Anderson and Buck are members of Colonel Robert Parker’s Studd Stable, whose goal was to seemingly make Dustin Rhodes life a living hell in 1994 and 1995. The best member of the stable was Meng, who wore black suits and shades and looked incredibly cool. Due to Anderson’s championship pedigree he seemed out of place in a cartoonish Southern group. He also looks really weird teaming with Buck, who looks like a ranch hand, and was actually a cousin of Parker. The jobber squad has some credibility because Maggs was a WCW staple, serving a Barry Horowitz-like role in the company between 1991 and 1998, and Kendall worked in the WWF and the Memphis-based United States Wrestling Association (USWA) in 1995. It does not them any good, though, as the heels dominate them with ease.

–The Nasty Boys beat Tony Mella & Ricky Santana when Jerry Sags pins Mella after a Trip to Nastyville at 2:08:

The Nasty Boys rank high in the WCW tag team hierarchy, waiting for another crack at the tag team titles that they last held in the first half of 1994. Mella was a Boris Malenko trainee, finding some token work at these WCW tapings in the mid-1990s, while Santana won some titles in Puerto Rico before wrestling in an enhancement role in the big leagues of North America during the 1990s. The Nasties put more of a beating on Mella, who endures the team’s nasty Pit Stop move and is finished off by Jerry Sags flying elbow drop, dubbed a Trip to Nastyville.

–Okerlund interviews Avalanche, who is with Kevin Sullivan. Avalanche says that the Guardian Angel will not affect his bout with Sting and that he is going to beat Sting decisively this time. Sullivan adds that Avalanche is on a mission to stop Sting from changing wrestling.

–Footage of Randy Savage helping Hulk Hogan against the Faces of Fear at Starrcade is shown, along with Big Van Vader’s challenge to Hogan at the end of the show in the locker room.

–Sting defeats Bobby Eaton (0-2) after a powerslam at 5:57:

Sting was WCW’s top babyface for the first half of 1994 but the arrival of Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage pushed him into upper midcard status as 1995 began. And Eaton is getting a workout in feature matches, appearing in the main event on all of WCW’s televised broadcasts to this point. Schiavone admits during the match that Worldwide is taped, going as far as to tell fans that WCW cannot wait to get back to Disney in February to tape more matches. Eaton works a long armbar and tries to go for the Alabama Jam too early, caught with a powerslam to lose his third straight match. Rating: *

–Okerlund interviews Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, and Jimmy Hart. They put over the power of their partnership.

–Call 1-800-4WCW-NOW to get a WCW merchandise catalog!

–Tune in next week to see Johnny B. Badd, the Guardian Angel, Kevin Sullivan & Avalanche in action! In the main event, Stars & Stripes faces Arn Anderson & Bunkhouse Buck!

The Last Word: The show did what it was supposed to do in putting over some of the big matches for Clash of the Champions but there was nothing that stood out about it. Few fans think that Kevin Sullivan and the Butcher are a threat to Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage so that feud is doing few favors for Hogan or Savage. It would be better if heel Savage was coming after Hogan’s title.

Up Next: WCW Saturday Night for January 7!