September 19th 1992 News Update (for weekend of December 25-26, 2004)

The first six weeks of Ron Simmons' reign as WCW World Heavyweight Champion have now passed, and one thing has become very clear - Simmons may be a marked man, but his resolve remains unbroken. If anything, the position of champion has made him grow as a character and as a person with whom the audience can connect with. He is a fighting champion, but it is this same quality that may be the beginning of his downfall.

The fateful night of August 2nd, when Simmons first won the title, gave a clue as to who Simmons' first challengers would be. Obviously, it was known that Big Van Vader would be in line for a rematch; after all, former champions always are. But what about the other wrestlers, whose names were in the hat to be drawn, and weren't selected? Would they accept the 'luck of the draw' wasn't on their side, or would they become disgruntled and target the new champion? Of the names in the hat, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes and Van Hammer are all babyfaces who celebrated with Simmons after his victory, and seemingly have no plans to rock the boat and challenge the new champion anytime soon. The heels, Cactus Jack and The Barbarian, are a pairing who have definitely targeted Simmons, with Barbarian set to receive a world heavyweight title shot at the next pay-per-view, Halloween Havoc '92, on October 25th. The conspicuous Dan Spivey, who drifts in and out of WCW seemingly at will, appears to have departed from the promotion once again, and thus is a non-factor. Which brings us to one final name in the hat, who was a late and very public entry too..... the current WCW United States Champion, Ravishing Rick Rude.

Since Simmons title victory, Rude has once again very publicly challenged Simmons to a world heavyweight title match, with their most notable confrontation so far, coming on the August 29th edition of 'WCW Worldwide'. Simmons immediately accepted Rude's challenge and agreed to give Rude his title match, any time, any place. The wisdom of this decision can certainly be debated. Rude has been on a tear of late, and has repeatedly turned back the challenges of both Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff. And his use of Madusa as his valet must not be underestimated. As a pairing, the two are certainly a match for anyone in the promotion, and with the possible exception of Big Van Vader, Rude is arguably the number one heel in the promotion at this moment in time, quite a mean feat considering the performances of Jake 'The Snake' Roberts, Cactus Jack and The Barbarian as of late.

Only time will tell, but Simmons may have bit off more than he can chew, when he accepted the challenge of the Ravishing One.

July 18th 1992 News Update (for weekend of October 23-24, 2004)

It had been building for several months, but even when it finally happened, it was still shocking. On July 12th, 1992, at the Great American Bash 1992 pay-per-view, Big Van Vader defeated Sting to capture the WCW World Heavyweight title. It was not so much Vader's victory, but the manner in which the Stinger's near five month reign as champion was ended. There was none of the expected outside interference from Harley Race or Super Invader. After a long and extremely physical brawl, Vader pinned Sting clean, after his signature move, the powerbomb.

Big Van Vader had made his first appearance in World Championship Wrestling as far back as July 1990, and from the get-go, was presented as a dominant monster heel. However, his push was somewhat stalled initially, due to his Japanese wrestling commitments resulting in his WCW status being part-time. In fact it wasn't until the start of 1992 that Big Van Vader joined WCW on a full-time basis, and began to be pushed accordingly. The departure of Lex Luger from WCW resulted in there being a vacancy for a top heel in the company, and Vader became the designated replacement. He was even put together with Harley Race, Lex Luger's former manager. Vader had been chasing Sting for months, and had even legitimately injured him at house show back in April, breaking Sting's ribs. It was always going to be just a matter of time before Vader won significant gold in WCW, but the manner of the realisation of this was still shocking nonetheless.

'July Madness'

Bill Watts referred to the events of this past month as 'the most awesome situation ever'. Four title changes within a one month period occurred, with Big Van Vader's WCW World Title win, Brad Armstrong defeating Scotty Flamingo to win the WCW Light Heavyweight title, and Steve Williams & Terry Gordy winning both the WCW World Tag Team titles (by defeating the Steiner Brothers) and the NWA World Tag Team titles (by defeating Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham in the tournament final).

On top of the four title changes, there has been the controversy surrounding the new rule changes, the debuts of The Barbarian and Ole Anderson, plus two pay-per-views and a Clash of the Champions t.v. special.

It has been an amazing first month in charge for Bill Watts.

June 13th 1992 News Update (for weekend of September 18-19, 2004)

Not since the debuts of Ravishing Rick Rude and Ricky Steamboat six months ago have two wrestlers debuted on WCW Worldwide and caused so much excitement. Steve 'Dr Death' Williams and Terry 'Bam Bam' Gordy will be a tremendous addition to the tag team ranks and will give a much needed shot in the arm to the workrate featured on the show. It is clear from Jim Ross' commentary on their first match that they are going to be pushed as major stars right from the get go. Ask yourself this. How many heel tag teams debut in a promotion, and are immediately endorsed by the promotion's main announcer, as the world's greatest tag team - despite the promotion's top babyface tag team being the current world tag team champions? It is possibly one of the strongest pushes ever given to a debuting tag team, and it is a promotional tactic that immediately demands the fans respect the newcomers and pay attention to them. Certainly, if their first match is anything to go by, any respect they will be given will be well deserved. Their stiff Japanese wrestling style will set them apart from other tag teams, and their reputation as a no-frills tag team, intent only on succeeding in wrestling competition, will mean their matches will become must-sees. Already cult favourites due to their successes in Japan, Williams has a history of being one of the top faces in the NWA, with his last spell in the U.S. coming during 1989. Gordy, meanwhile, was an original member of the legendary Fabulous Freebirds tag team, teaming with Michael P.S. Hayes and Buddy Roberts, and being involved in a memorable feud with the Von Erich family in Texas in the early 1980's. In the U.S., Gordy himself was last featured as a heel in the NWA in 1989. Interestingly, both Williams and Gordy were on opposite teams in a War Games cage match, at the Great American Bash '89 pay-per-view.

The other major story of the week is Stunning Steve Austin regaining the WCW Television title from Barry Windham. The title change itself occurred at the end of a good match, featuring the expected outside interference to cause the title change. As Ventura stated at the conclusion of the match, Austin has made the Television title belt his own during the last twelve months. It would appear that Ricky Steamboat will be the next challenger to step up to the plate for Austin to face, and the prospect of Austin vs Steamboat T.V. title matches will leave many fans salivating at the thought. With the prospect of upcoming feuds and matches featuring Sting vs Big Van Vader, Austin vs Steamboat and the Steiners vs Williams & Gordy, the in-ring product featured in the summer of 1992 looks very promising for World Championship Wrestling.

June 6th, 1992 News Update (for weekend of September 11-12, 2004)

The month of June, 1992 has finally arrived, and with it has come the start of an end to an era. As noted in this week’s t.v. report, dissension in the ranks of the Dangerous Alliance has become evident, with Larry Zbyszko accidentally clocking Arn Anderson with Paul E. Dangerously's cellphone. A simple miscalculation that anyone could have made - right? Wrong, according to Paul E. Dangerously. The Dangerous Alliance's problems have been an underlying developing story in recent weeks, with Anderson and Eaton losing the World tag team titles to the Steiners, and Stunning Steve Austin losing his World T.V. title to Barry Windham. And the refusal of Ricky Steamboat to meekly disappear after Rude's constant taunting and attacks has likely irked the head honcho of the Alliance. A scapegoat was clearly needed, with Dangerously at first blaming Kip Allen Frey for all his problems in an interview on the May 9th, 1992 edition of WCW Worldwide. However then came the Wrestle War'92 ppv. Larry Zbyszko cost his team the War Games match, when he accidentally hit Beautiful Bobby Eaton with a piece of metal that had come loose in the ring, causing Eaton's arm to be injured and be susceptible to a submission move. So, with two screw ups to his name, will it be a case of 'three strikes and you're out' for Zbyszko and his place within the Dangerous Alliance? Watch this space..............

May 30th, 1992 News Update (for weekend of September 4-5, 2004)

As noted in this week’s t.v. report, the ‘curse’ has struck again. WWE/Sky, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to skip a week in the programming that they air. They decided not to air the May 23rd episode this week and have instead picked up the 'WCW Worldwide' series with the May 30th episode. So, in case anyone is wondering, this is what was missed out:

- Dustin Rhodes defeated Larry Zbyszko, and Stunning Steve Austin defeated Ron Simmons in matches in the WCW/Nintendo Top 10 challenge tournament. This resulted in the semi-finals line up being set up, which consisted of Ravishing Rick Rude vs Dustin Rhodes and Stunning Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat.

- Barry Windham won the WCW T.V. title on April 27th, at the WCW Saturday Night t.v. tapings in Atlanta, Georgia. This title change aired on the May 16th edition of WCW Saturday Night, and Windham's title win resulted in a backstage vignette airing on the following weekend’s WCW Worldwide show (May 23rd), where Austin jumped Windham in the locker room and left him laying.

- In the WCW/Nintendo Top 10 challenge first semi-final match, Stunning Steve Austin and Ricky Steamboat wrestled to a 15 minute time limit draw on the May 30th edition of WCW Saturday Night, resulting in both guys being eliminated from the tournament, and immediately changing the other semi-final (Ravishing Rick Rude vs Dustin Rhodes, slated for WCW Worldwide) into the tournament final match by default.

Of course, this is not the first time a week has been skipped. The results and recaps archive is extensive on this website, with details on nearly ever WCW Worldwide show from June 1990 onwards, but it is missing the full details on the following eight 'WCW Worldwide' shows:

- June 22^nd, 1991 (featuring a Tommy Rich, JYD & Ricky Morton vs The Freebirds & Fantasia match)

- July 27^th, 1991 (featuring Stunning Steve Austin vs Ron Simmons; Robert Gibson vs Terrence Taylor matches)

- September 14^th, 1991 (featuring Barry Windham & Ron Simmons in tag team action; Mr. Hughes in singles action)

- September 28^th, 1991 (featuring One Man Gang in singles action)

- November 9^th, 1991 (featuring a Sting vs Cactus Jack match)

- December 28^th, 1991 (featuring Ricky Steamboat vs Bobby Eaton; Stunning Steve Austin vs Mike Graham matches; plus Marcus Alexander Bagwell in singles action)

- March 21^st, 1992 (No matches were announced for this show)

- May 23^rd, 1992 (featuring Dustin Rhodes vs Larry Zbyszko; Stunning Steve Austin vs Ron Simmons matches, plus a locker room confrontation between Austin and Barry Windham ).

If anyone out there has any further details on these ‘missing’ editions of WCW Worldwide, please e-mail me.