As per usual, Lance Russell and Dave Brown call the action and they are from the WMC-TV 5 studio in Memphis, Tennessee. Brown lets fans know that Jerry Lawler is the new USWA Unified World Champion.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: USWA Championship Wrestling – February 11, 1995
Lance Russell and Dave Brown call today’s action from WMC-TV 5 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: USWA Championship Wrestling – February 4, 1995
Lance Russell and Dave Brown call today’s action from the WMC-TV 5 studio in Memphis, Tennessee.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: USWA Championship Wrestling – January 21, 1995
While Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) was a nostalgic look at wrestling’s past, the United States Wrestling Association (USWA) stubbornly fought for its existence, casting itself as a major promotion that was on the same level as the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) or World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Based in Memphis, Tennessee, a classic wrestling hotbed and arguably the only place to successfully fend off Vince McMahon’s territorial expansion in the 1980s, the USWA was created from a merger of the Continental Wrestling Association (CWA) and World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) in 1989. The promotion tried to run shows along the East Mississippi and Texas in the early 1990s, but the venture proved unsuccessful. By the middle of the decade the USWA was back to running its weekly shows in towns such as Louisville, Kentucky and Evansville, Indiana, as well as holding weekly supercards on Monday nights at the Memphis Coliseum. These events were heavily promoted on USWA TV, filmed at the WMC-TV 5 studio in Memphis. While that may have made USWA TV seem second rate, the company had a talented core with owners and bookers Jerry Jarrett and Jerry Lawler, as well as announcers Lance Russell and Dave Brown (who had a full-time gig as WMC-TV 5’s meteorologist). They were supplemented by older territory stars such as Tommy Rich, Doug Gilbert, and Bill Dundee and a crop of new talent that included Lawler’s son Brian Christopher, PG-13, and wrestlers that the WWF and WCW sent for seasoning as the USWA had a working agreement with both.
Read moreWhat the World Was Watching: USWA Championship Wrestling – January 7, 1995
WCW Halloween Havoc ’93
Live from New Orleans, LA
Airdate: October 24, 1993
Attendance: 6,000 (3,000 paid)
Hosted by Tony Schiavone & Jesse “The Body” Ventura
Can Cactus Jack exact revenge upon Vader and defeat him? Will Flair regain a “World” title? Who will be the “franchise” of WCW? Let’s find out!
Read moreRock Star Gary reflects on WCW Halloween Havoc 1993
WCW Fall Brawl ’93
Live from Houston, TX
Airdate: September 19, 1993
Attendance: 6,000 (3,500 paid)
Hosted by Tony Schiavone and Jesse “The Body” Ventura
Will the Masters of the Powerbomb wreak havoc during WarGames? Can Flair defend both the World title and Fifi’s honor? Let’s find out!
Live from Phoenix, AZ
Airdate: February 24, 1991
Attendance: 6,800
Hosted by Jim Ross & the “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes
“War” in the desert? Is there some hidden meaning here?
NWA Halloween Havoc ’90
Live from Chicago, IL
Airdate: October 27, 1990
Attendance: 8,000 (sold out)
Hosted by Jim Ross & Paul E. Dangerously
Can Sting overcome Sid while still dealing with the Black Scorpion? What trick does the Black Scorpion have up his sleeve? Read on!
Sin
Date: January 18, 2001
Location: Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
Attendance: 6,617
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson
We’re down to three WCW pay per views to go and the build to this one hasn’t exactly instilled me with confidence. The main event is a four way for the World Title with a mystery man included. Based on everything else WCW has done with their attempts at surprises in recent years, I really can’t imagine this going well. Let’s get to it.
Thunder
Date: January 10, 2001
Location: X-Cel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 4,500
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Stevie Ray, Tony Schiavone
It’s the final show before Sin and things aren’t looking all that interesting. The four way for the World Title has the potential to be an absolute disaster as Sid/Steiner/Jarrett don’t have the best chemistry in the world and it’s just asking for trouble whenever WCW brings in a surprise. The rest of the show isn’t looking great either so let’s get to it.
Monday Nitro #272
Date: January 8, 2001
Location: X-Cel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota
Attendance: 4,500
Commentators: Scott Hudson, Disco Inferno, Tony Schiavone
We’re finally back after several weeks off and it’s the go home show for Sin. The big question is still who is the mystery man but it seems that something is up as Sid has been put in the title match on Sunday after winning last week on Thunder. Other than that we have the continuing saga of Goldberg and a career jobber masquerading as a guy we’re supposed to take seriously facing Totally Buff because Bagwell isn’t allowed loose on his own. Let’s get to it.
Thunder
Date: January 3, 2001
Location: Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee
Attendance: 2,547
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Stevie Ray
Happy New Year everyone and welcome to some of the final months of WCW. It’s been a little while since we’ve had anything to actually watch as a few shows were preempted by holidays. Even WCW wasn’t stupid enough to try and have a show on Christmas night so this is a fresh start for them. Let’s get to it.
Starrcade 2000
Date: December 17, 2000
Location: MCI Center, Washington, D.C.
Attendance: 6,596
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson
We’ve uh…..arrived. It’s the final edition of WCW’s flagship show and it’s looking somewhere between a bad C show and a horribly unfunny joke. The main event is Scott Steiner (won the title three weeks ago) defending against Sid Vicious (not in the promotion three weeks ago). Such is life in the dying days of this company. Let’s get to it.
Thunder
Date: December 13, 2000
Location: Centurytel Center, Bossier City, Louisiana
Commentators: Konnan, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay
It’s the final show before the biggest show of the year and the big match announced for tonight is Sgt. Dewayne Bruce vs. Lex Luger. Odds are Sid and Steiner aren’t going to be in the arena tonight because the idea for the match seems to be based on them being apart as long as possible before we get to the pay per view. Let’s get to it.
Monday Night #270
Date: December 12, 2000
Location: Centurytel Center, Bossier City, Louisiana
Commentators: Stevie Ray, Tony Schiavone, Scott Hudson
It’s the go home show for the final Starrcade and the show is airing on a Tuesday, likely due to something else getting the regular timeslot on TNT. These recent shows have ranged from mostly missing to somehow shooting yourself in the foot, dropping the gun and having it shoot you in the other foot but hopefully things pick up a bit before the biggest show of the year. Let’s get to it.
Monday Nitro #269
Date: December 4, 2000
Location: Pershing Auditorium, Lincoln, Nebraska
Attendance: 3,433
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson
Starrcade is rapidly approaching and WCW is clearly on its (final) last legs. We’re building towards a double main event of Goldberg vs. Lex Luger II and Scott Steiner vs. Sid for the World Title. If you need a better reason than that to explain why WCW is in the shape it’s in, you haven’t been paying close enough attention. Let’s get to it.
Monday Nitro #268
Date: November 27, 2000
Location: Metro Center, Rockford, Illinois
Attendance: 3,800
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson
We’re past Mayhem and on the road to Starrcade with Scott Steiner now the World Champion for the first time. It’s hard to say where things are going now but hopefully things pick up a little bit after we’re done with another pay per view. If nothing else it should be interesting to see how things go to get to the biggest show of the year with less than three weeks of build. Let’s get to it.
Fear not, RSG fans. I have returned and am here to bring you the Hump Day Special—WCW Wednesday.
Let’s discuss another December Starrcade event, Starrcade ’93.
Before we do that, let’s dive into what was supposed to happen:
Thunder
Date: April 12, 2000
Location: World Arena, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Attendance: 3,118
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone
Now this is the interesting show for me as Monday was all about setting up this new world. This show is the first time where we get to see how things are going to work under the Russo and Bischoff regime. I thought Monday’s show was a disaster so maybe things can pick up tonight. Let’s get to it.
Monday Nitro #235
Date: April 10, 2000
Location: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Attendance: 9,074
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Mark Madden, Scott Hudson
It’s kind of hard to preview this show as it’s all about the company being reset. Russo and Bischoff are coming in to a bigger reception than Hogan back in 1994 because they’re writers and therefore more important than anything else. Since WCW is stupid, this is also the go home show for Spring Stampede, which has nothing set up so far. Let’s get to it.