–Tony Schiavone and Dusty Rhodes in the booth and they are taped from Atlanta, Georgia. According to thehistoryofwwe.com, these matches took place on November 29 and 30.
–Schiavone announces that Hulk Hogan has been suspended from WCW because of his actions on Monday Nitro.
–Opening Contest: The American Males (13-5) defeat Men at Work (0-1) when Scotty Riggs pins Chris Kanyon after a double dropkick at 11:33:
Dusty predicts that the Males will have a great 1996. That may have been true but then WCW brought in the Road Warriors and Steiner Brothers and any hopes the Males had of regaining the tag team titles vanished into thin air. Men at Work wrestle in jeans but Mark Starr does not wear a belt, something that OHSA may not approve of. They even mimic the WWF’s Smoking Gunns, who also wear jeans, when they give Marcus Bagwell a Sidewinder for a near-fall. Men at Work cheat during rest holds, keeping what are normally dull spots in a match interesting, and they nearly put Bagwell away with a flying fist drop from Mark Starr and a moonsault from Kanyon. The hot tag segment quickly goes against the heels, with heel miscommunication leaving Kanyon vulnerable to the double dropkick to end a fun opener. Rating: ***
–Gene Okerlund interviews Colonel Robert Parker. He says 1996 will be a fun year because he is going to get married to Sister Sherri. Sergeant Craig Pittman interrupts to ask Parker to manage him. Parker turns him down because he is too busy.
–Call 1-900-909-9900 to find out which former WCW champion has retired from the wrestling business!
–Television Championship Match: Johnny B. Badd (Champion w/Kimberly) (51-5-3) beats Arn Anderson (26-12-2) after the Tutti Frutti at 9:59:
Badd is sporting a big black bandage on his left arm, selling an injury that Anderson inflicted after Badd defeated Brian Pillman via disqualification last week. These two have not changed much of their status in 1995 as they feuded over the television title to start the year and are doing the same to end it. Eddie Guerrero delivers a random promo during the match, saying that WCW is counting on Badd in the World Cup. Anderson works Badd’s injured arm for more than nine minutes, but Badd hits the Tutti Frutti, his only major offensive move of the entire match, to win. This seemed to be building to something fun until it ended abruptly. With the win, Badd evens up his 1995 series with Anderson at 3-3-1. Rating: **½
–Okerlund interviews Badd and Kimberly. Badd says that Masa Saito might be a grizzled veteran, but he is facing a bad man. Kimberly says that her relationship with Badd has been mutually beneficial as she feels freer and she is helping Badd work out in the gym.
–A taped segment sees Sting take shots at the Internet for making a top ten list on why he changed his hair. He says he has a chip on his shoulder because Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan keep pointing the finger at him every Monday night. Sting argues that Savage might be paranoid because Lex Luger has beaten him three times and Sting beat Luger in the past for the world title.
–Maxx Muscle (0-2) defeats Eddie Jackie via submission to a full nelson at 1:36:
Giving Muscle a squash might seem odd but WCW is building a match between him and Diamond Dallas Page for WCW Main Event, so Muscle needs to look like some type of threat. Muscle struggles to toss Jackie from the floor back to the ring with a gorilla press, with Jackie nearly rebounding off the ropes and crashing back onto the floor. A full nelson helps Muscle end 1995 with a mark in the win column.
–Okerlund interviews Muscle, who is growing a goatee. He now speaks more than one word when he says that Page should be worried when he gets a hold of him, making a weird dog analogy about how he was treated like a dog and then how dogs were treated better than how Page treated him.
–Alex Wright (54-9-3) defeats V.K. Wallstreet (7-3) with a schoolboy roll up at 5:15:
Both men seem to be on different wavelengths during this bout, with several miscommunication spots taking place on the ropes and in the corner. Dusty spends the match talking about Hulk Hogan’s suspension, saying he was suspended several times in his career and that he “had friends like the Midnight Rider” to give him some help. Big Bubba Rogers comes out near the end of the match and tosses Wallstreet a foreign object, but Wallstreet misses when he swings and Wright schoolboys him. Rating: *½
–Okerlund interviews WCW Champion Randy Savage. He promises to be a torpedo heading toward Ric Flair when he defends the title against Flair on Monday Nitro.
–Since Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel has been put out to pasture, WCW legal counsel Nick Lambros announces that Hulk Hogan has been suspended for the rest of 1995 due to his actions on Monday Nitro. Lambros says that if Hogan’s behavior continues next month that he will lose his WCW title shot and face harsher penalties.
–Kevin Sullivan (w/Jimmy Hart) (23-5) pins Buck Quartermaine after a double stomp at 3:05:
Quartermaine takes a beating, with Sullivan powerbombing the jobber on the arena floor. That should result in a count out win, but Quartermaine gets to his feet so Sullivan throws him in and finishes with the double stomp. Sullivan has the longest active win streak in the company, winning his last fifteen bouts.
–Okerlund interviews the Disco Inferno, who asserts that he is undefeated. He calls the Dungeon of Doom “a bunch of clowns,” a statement he will probably pay for in the weeks ahead.
–Sergeant Craig Pittman (40-10) defeats Cobra (6-10) via submission to the Code Red at 7:29:
These two have engaged in arguably the worst feud of 1995, with neither man coming out of it looking good. They have wrestled four times before this show, with Pittman sporting a 3-1 edge across those encounters. Even Dusty has given up on Cobra, no longer making an entertaining ditty out of the ex-CIA’s agent’s theme song. He prefers to tease Schiavone about Hooter’s instead. The highlight is Pittman getting some nice hang time on a back drop, which finally breaks up some boring arm work, punches, and eye rakes. A blind charge by Cobra lets Pittman hook the Code Red. Please let this be the last time these two ever meet. Rating: ½*
–Lex Luger (w/Jimmy Hart) (15-3) beats Chris Nelson via submission to the Torture Rack at 4:40:
Luger manhandles Nelson until the jobber hits a flying forearm off the ropes. That just ticks Luger off as he hits the powerslam and racks him for a fourteenth straight victory.
–Okerlund interviews Luger and Hart. Hart tells Okerlund he has nothing for him for Christmas. Luger poses for the camera and jiggles his pecs. He repeats his usual talking points about the Starrcade triangle match.
–Okerlund interviews Ric Flair, who puts over his Starrcade victories over Harley Race and Vader for the world title. He says he will be the WCW champion by the time he gets to Starrcade because he is going to beat Randy Savage on Monday Nitro.
The Last Word: The first half of this show was fun, with two above average bouts kicking off the broadcast. Starting with the Maxx Muscle squash things went off the rails with boring wrestling and repetitive promos.
Up Next: WCW Main Event for December 24!
My second book was recently published on Amazon, chronicling WCW action from January to September 1995 before the debuted of Monday Nitro. The book includes reviews, angle breakdowns, win-loss totals and breakdowns, and other relevant information about the period. You can buy it in ebook or paperback format.