Note: Due to my work schedule picking back up, future reviews of this series will be posted on Tuesdays and Fridays at 4:00 EST.
–Sting & Randy Savage and the Stud Stable cut dueling promos against each other.
–Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan are calling the action and they are taped from Atlanta, Georgia. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, the taping was done on January 10 and 11 in Atlanta, Georgia and drew 750 fans, none of whom paid to see the show.
–Opening Contest: The Nasty Boys (6-0) defeat the State Patrol when Jerry Sags pins Lieutenant James Earl after the Trip to Nastyville at 8:59:
The Nasty Boys work over Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker’s arm to the point that he should not be able to use it for several weeks. After six minutes of that, Parker is able to tag his partner for a unique “heel hot tag,” after which he forgets that his arm is injured at all when Brian Knobbs is briefly put in peril. Once this became a brawl it was fine but the first three-quarters of the bout were a complete waste of time. Rating: ¾*
–Gene Okerlund interviews the Nasty Boys. They promise to make Harlem Heat feel the “nasty sensation” because it is “on like neckbone.”
–Lord Steven Regal (1-0) beats Al Phillips via submission to the Regal Stretch at 4:07:
Regal is like Arn Anderson without the Television Championship as WCW does not seem to have a good plan for him, at least as far as on-screen developments are concerned. He gives Phillips a nasty looking German suplex, which is the highlight of this squash.
–A video package debuts “Blondes Have More Fun,” a catchy tune that will become Brian Pillman’s theme song when he returns to in-ring action in the near future. Pillman is shown enjoying the California night life.
–Paul Roma (2-1) defeats Larry Santo after a flying fist drop at 5:21:
Santo worked matches for WCW between 1991-1997, doubling as a wrestling trainer in Knoxville, Tennessee. His hometown allowed him to work for Smoky Mountain Wrestling in 1995, although he was still used in an enhancement role there. Santo tries to “hulk up” midway through Roma’s beating but Roma quickly cuts that off as he yells to Alex Wright through the TV cameras. This was way too long for a squash, but Santo’s hilarious attempts to rally made it tolerable.
–Okerlund provides the SuperBrawl Report.
–Handicap Match: Todd Morton & Brian Logan beat Vader (w/Harley Race) via disqualification when Vader powerbombs Morton on the floor at 2:24:
Morton was a Bill Dundee trainee and his gimmick is basically a Ricky Morton clone, dressed like the Rock N’ Roll Express tag team star with whom he shares his last name. In fact, the two teamed together in the late 1980s. According to cagematch.net, Morton wrestled as recently as 2014 in IWA Mid-South after spending much of the last decade bouncing around the independent circuit. Logan is still wrestling for the Canadian Wrestling’s Elite promotion. For a time he was in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) when it was a developmental territory for the WWF, wrestling under the name of Damian in a tag team called the Disciples of Synn. That team held the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship, losing the titles to two guys by the name of Brock Lesnar and Shelton Benjamin. You may have heard of them. As a consequence of the taping schedule, Race is still appearing with Vader, which will not be the case at SuperBrawl. Hopefully Morton made more than his teammate as he absorbs most of Vader’s offense, including a powerbomb on the arena floor. That gets Vader disqualified and he does not care.
–Okerlund interviews Vader and Race. Vader insists that Hulk Hogan is scared of him and this promo is like an alternate version of reality, with Vader selling the idea that Hogan was on the canvas writhing in pain after his powerbomb. Race says Vader is the demon that Hogan sees in the mirror. We get a replay of the Vader-Hogan locker room confrontation at Starrcade.
–A video package puts over Randy Savage. He says that he could have won the WWF Championship for a third time but he came to WCW because that is where the action is and he needed to test himself against the best.
–The end of the Sting-Avalanche match from Clash of the Champions is shown.
–Okerlund interviews Randy Savage & Sting. Sting says he gets fired up when he sees a replay of what Big Bubba Rogers did at the Clash, remarking that he wants a piece of him at SuperBrawl. Savage says that Sting has more fire than the past. Both of them say they are ready for today’s feature match.
–Footage of Dave Sullivan wanting to be the next challenger for Diamond Dallas Page’s arm wrestling contest is shown courtesy of WCW Pro.
–Hacksaw Jim Duggan (6-0) pins Bobby Hayes after the three-point stance clothesline at 1:46:
Hayes continues the run of Tennessee-based jobbers on today’s broadcast. He also worked for the WWF in 1995, losing to Mantaur on The Action Zone. Hayes is still wrestling in 2018, part of a tag team called the Wrecking Crew in Southern Legacy Wrestling, a promotion that primarily runs shows in Alabama. Duggan annihilates Hayes, psyching him out early by threatening him with the 2×4 and rolling to victory shortly thereafter, completing the WCW “Saturday Sweep” with three victories in one day on WCW programming.
–Johnny B. Badd (4-2) defeats Rick Matrix after the Tutti Frutti at 2:18:
Matrix has a fun name, but he was four years too early in trying to make any type of gimmick out of it. He later worked in IWA-Mid South and made some appearances matches for Ring of Honor. This is Badd’s first match since losing to Arn Anderson at Clash of the Champions and he wins with ease to stay relevant in the eyes of the fans.
–Okerlund interviews Kevin Sullivan and the Butcher. Kevin says that his brother will lose more than his hair when they face off in Baltimore. The feud between Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage is not over as he says their respective opponents will wipe them out at SuperBrawl.
–Dustin Rhodes, Randy Savage & Sting beat Bunkhouse Buck, Dick Slater & the Blacktop Bully (w/Colonel Robert Parker & Meng) when Savage pins Slater with a flying elbow smash at 12:48:
This feature match is an extension of last week’s show when there was a big brawl at the end of the Arn Anderson-Randy Savage main event. In a display of WCW’s branding issues, a camera crew catches a fan with a Savage poster in the front row but it has a picture of Savage sporting the WWF title. Fans are given a brief SuperBrawl preview when Rhodes and the Bully collide, and predictably Rhodes gets into peril when the heels drive him into their corner. Based on star power, the heels are really the underdogs here and when all hell breaks loose at the end that is too much for them to overcome. It also does not help the heel cause that Slater eats an inadvertent boot from Buck behind the referee’s back in the match’s closing moments. The ring work was solid, but one never felt that the babyfaces were on the verge of losing. Rhodes also earns the “WCW Saturday Sweep” with this win while denying the same accomplishment to his nemesis the Bully. Rating: **½
–After the match, Sting teases a confrontation with Meng and that allows the Bully and Buck to beat on Rhodes.
–A music video hypes WCW Champion Hulk Hogan and the power of Hulkamania. Kids love him! Okerlund does a pre-taped interview with Hogan and Jimmy Hart. Hogan hypes the SuperBrawl match as determining who the man will be that leads wrestling in the 1990s despite the decade being halfway over with. Hogan tells Okerlund that if he does not train enough he could lose to Vader in Baltimore.
The Last Word: Outside of the opening match clunker, this show had some fun matches that did much to showcase the talent wrestling on pay-per-view in several weeks. Hulk Hogan’s closing promo hit on a theme that WCW should have used for the SuperBrawl main event in that it did represent a clash of visions for the 1990s, with Hogan’s cartoonish style matched against Vader’s more “shoot” oriented approach to the sport. Although Hogan no sold Vader’s powerbomb at the Clash, the promos are doing a good job making people forget that and Vader still looks like the biggest threat to Hogan’s title reign to date. The next WCW Main Event episode was a repeat, the premiere of WCW Prime aired old matches, and WCW Pro did not air so we will examine the February 11 episode of WCW Worldwide next.
Up Next: WCW Worldwide for February 11!