WCW From the Beginning

CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS XXVI (August 18, 1993)

Tonight’s Clash of Champions is counting down toward next month’s Fall Brawl pay per view featuring the return of War Games. 

It was announced Sting would captain one team and Big Van Vader the other. 

Sting has already announced Davey Boy Smith and Dustin Rhodes as his team members, with the promise of another that will “shock the wrestling world,” whatever that means. 

Vader has picked Sid Vicious to join him with the last two members a mystery.

Lord Steven Regal made 2 Cold Scorpio submit to the Regal Stretch in 10:51.
Rating: *** 3/4
(Lord Steven Regal won the WCW TELEVISION TITLE.)

The show opened up with a new TV champion. Regal and Scorpio were a total contrast in styles, each taking control of the match at various points when forcing the match to fit their style. 

But Regal took advantage of Scorpio missing a top rope move and Regal following by locking in his submission. 

Shane Douglas pinned Marcus Alexander Bagwell with the Belly-to-Belly Suplex in 12:57.
Rating: * 1/2

Two young, potential stars of the future faced off with Douglas getting the best of Bagwell tonight. 

Harlem Heat (Stevie Ray and Booker T) defeated The Destruction Crew (Mike Enos and Wayne Bloom) when Booker pinned W. Bloom after a flying forearm in 15:31.
Rating: ***

Harlem Heat made a huge move up the tag team ladder with a win over the Destruction Crew, but after the match, Harley Race, Vader and Sid Vicious walked to the ring. 

Harlem Heat looked ready to fight them off, but instead Race took the mic and said that wasn’t what they were looking for. Race offered Heat the final two spots on their War Games team, which the two gladly accepted.

Arn Anderson and Paul Roma defeated The Hollywood Blonds (Flyin' Brian and Steve Austin) when A. Anderson pinned Brian with the DDT in 14:48.
Rating: *** 1/4
(Arn Anderson and Paul Roma won the WCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES.)

While Ric Flair is in the midst of a growing feud with Rick Rude, Arn Anderson recruited Paul Roma, who’s been given the title of a Horsemen on a trial basis, as his tag team partner. 

Together, they challenged and defeated the Hollywood Blondes and became new world tag team champions 

Dustin Rhodes pinned Sid Vicious with the Bulldog in 10:15.
Rating: 3/4*
(Dustin Rhodes won the WCW UNITED STATES TITLE.)

Two who will be on opposing war games teams faced off 1-on-1 with Dustin Rhodes shocking the big man to become new United States champion.

Ricky Steamboat defeated Barry Windham by disqualification in 23:22.
Rating: ** 3/4

Barry Windham has been offered his old spot as a Horsemen by Ric Flair, but turned it down. He seemingly broke off his relationship with Sting and others, instead choosing to become, in his words, a lone wolf. 

Windham wants to get back into the world championship picture on his own. Beating Steamboat would’ve given him a big step toward that goal, but he could never put him away. 

Frustrations mounted to the point where Windham grabbed a chair and attacked Steamboat, getting DQed. 

Rick Rude and Big Van Vader and Ric Flair and Sting battled to a draw.
Rating: *** 3/4

There was nothing civil about this. Rude and Flair will meet at Fall Brawl for Rude’s NWA title, and the two spent the majority of this match brawling with each other. 

The Vader/Sting side of the match devolved into each’s war games teams coming to the ring to fight each other. 

But in the midst of it all, the lights flickered and appearing on the entrance ramp was a man in a dark black coat and a sparkly silver helmet. Presumably the fourth member of Sting’s team, all paused as the man marched slowly to the ring. 

Right before entering the ring, the man threw his helmet off revealing Abdullah the Butcher!! 

FALL BRAWL (September 19, 1993)

Lord Steven Regal made Ricky Steamboat submit to the Regal Stretch in 21:47.
Rating: **** 3/4
(Lord Steven Regal retained the WCW TELEVISION TITLE.)

The first Fall Brawl began with a technical clinic between champion Regal and challenger Steamboat. Regal cleanly defeated the Dragon to retain his title. 

After the match, in a sign of respect, Steamboat offered his hand to Regal, only to be met with a sucker punch instead. 

2 Cold Scorpio and Marcus Alexander Bagwell defeated Shanghai Pierce and Tex Slazenger when Scorpio pinned Pierce after a splash in 18:39.
Rating: **

The recently formed team of Scorpio and Bagwell looked impressive in getting a win tonight, signaling they’re going to be a team to watch in the near future.

Johnny B. Badd pinned Shane Douglas with the Tutti Frutti in 18:02.
Rating: ***

Badd also catapulted himself into consideration for a title shot when he won a back-and-forth match against Douglas. 

Barry Windham pinned Van Hammer with the Superplex in 8:03.
Rating: ** 1/4

The newly minted Lone Wolf was impressive, dominating a formidable foe in Hammer. After the match he gave an interview saying he’s sick of politics, sick of everything, asking why he gets stuck in a midcard match instead of the main event.  

The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) defeated Arn Anderson and Paul Roma when Sags pinned A. Anderson after a faceslam in 17:05.
Rating: ** 1/2
(The Nasty Boys won the WCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES.)

Newly returned to WCW, the Nasty Boys are new tag team champions. However, it was due to little fault of Anderson. 

At one point in the match, Roma was on the apron, but instead of paying attention to the match, was posing to the audience. Knobbs whipped Anderson into the back of his teammate, sending Roma flying to the floor. 

Roma saw it was Anderson who hit him from behind and simply walked out of the match. All alone from that point, Anderson was easy pickings for the Nasty boys.

No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
Cactus Jack pinned Paul Orndorff with the Double Arm DDT in 13:41.
Rating: *** 3/4

Cactus Jack is back and has a grudge against anyone associated with Harley Race and Big Van Vader. That includes Paul Orndorff who was instrumental in an attack that put Jack out of action months ago. 

He put a beatdown on Orndorff, then called out Race and Vader, saying he’ll see them soon. 

Rick Rude pinned Ric Flair after the Rude Awakening in 24:01.
Rating: **** 1/4
(Rick Rude retained the NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE.)

After verbally going back and forth for months, Rude and Flair finally met in the ring. The match was pretty even with each taking control for extended parts, only to see the advantage flipped. 

It looked like Flair was going to get an added boost, when his old valet, Woman, came down to ringside and began cheering him on. But in an opportune moment, when Rude had the ref distracted, Woman opened her purse and pulled out hairspray, spraying it right in Flair’s eyes. 

Rude took advantage of the blinded Flair, hitting his Rude Awakening to get the pin.

War Games No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes and Abdullah The Butcher defeated Harlem Heat (Stevie Ray and Booker T), Big Van Vader and Sid Vicious when Sting beat Ray after a Scorpion Death Lock in 40:38.
Rating: ***

As expected, War Games was a brutal battle, shoving 8 guys who don’t like each other into a steel cage. But not many expected a ninth man to enter the fray. 

As Vader stood as the last man waiting to enter the match, he was attacked on the floor by Cactus Jack. Jack even followed Vader into the cage, with a chair none the less. He began beating down on Vader’s whole team, especially Vader. 

The added lift from Jack’s attack helped Sting’s group out on the way to their win.