WCW Saturday Night Interactive! – 30.03.1996

Posted on by liamcbyrne

Whilst it is a shame that I get to view some John Tenta action at a time when he was billed from ‘Tsunami’ and pretending to be a shark, I’ve always had a soft spot for Tenta. It is unsurprising really, due to my WWF fandom back in the day, as The Natural Disasters looked huge to my childish eyes, and that was all that was necessary to enthral me when I was younger. Though they weren’t the most exciting team in the world, Tenta was always solid in the ring and was a legitimate big-man threat whenever he needed to be.

He was also part of my first ever live experience as a wrestling fan. TWA Wrestlexpress, a show that was originally billed as being run in the Coventry Skydome, only to eventually tumble off of a cliff and be held in a small leisure centre in Dagenham. My Dad bought tickets the week before on a whim and we got to see luminaries like Steve Corino, The Sandman and Horace Hogan, whilst Tenta teamed with Justin Star against Flash Barker and Klondyke Kate. It was amazing to see the man in person, even if the event was such a smaller scale than was originally planned.

This match follows the Tower of Doom match at Uncensored, so Lex Luger has nailed his colours to the mast and got rid of Jimmy Hart and is a face…at least for now. This is the second Shark vs Lex Luger match within a year on Saturday Night, Lex Luger winning the 1st match after Meng (…I’m not sure why) kicked Shark in the back of the head. The match in 1995 was the best part of twelve minutes long; this one is barely given three.

The intrigue I have for the match isn’t about who will win, as Luger will clearly get the victory and retain his WCW TV Title – it is more about how Shark will be defeated. In terms of body shape, Tenta doesn’t have a body that looks like it would be easy to Torture Rack, so at least I have that prospect to look forward to. Shark attacks before Luger is ready, setting the tone for the rest of the match, as the majority is an extended Luger beatdown. This was always going to be a match of punches and kicks, though Tenta does nail Luger in the chest with a couple of big headbutts. Luger has the briefest comeback, but the men channel Andre vs Hogan and Shark almost gets the three count after Luger is unable to complete a slam, letting Tenta come crashing down hard on his chest.

A wrestler like Tenta earns the right to be called ‘methodical’ rather than ‘slow’, and the match is pretty methodical when Tenta is on the attack. A nice bodyslam in the middle of the ring is the normal set-up for Tenta’s running sitdown splash (which I’m assuming is called the Shark Attack in WCW) across his career, though the ending doesn’t allow for this to be the case. Tenta goes to grab Luger, who quickly slaps him in a small package for the 1,2,3. No Torture Rack. Shame. Nothing really going on in this match at all, which is also a shame.

Attached is a Lex Luger promo, discussing his decisions over the past few weeks with regards to Jimmy Hart. Standard stuff really, but gives a broader view of the angle that is playing out.

What else did I see: The Giant managed to catch a flying Big Bubba Rogers off of the top rope and slam him. As feats of strength (and balance) go, it was very impressive. Pity the following chokeslam looked pretty awful…

WCW Saturday Night Results:

3/27/96; Rome, GA; Forum
3/30/96:
Arn Anderson defeated Steve Armstrong
Jim Duggan defeated Dave Taylor (w/ Jeeves)
The Booty Man (w/ the Booty Babe) defeated Maxx Muscle
Eddie Guerrero defeated Devon Storm
Harlem Heat defeated St. Buddy Lee Parker & Lt. James Earl when Booker T pinned Earl
WCW TV Champion Lex Luger defeated the Shark
WCW US Champion Konnan defeated Pat Tanaka
The Belfast Bruiser defeated Bobby Eaton
The Giant defeated Big Bubba
Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Scotty Riggs defeated Meng & the Barbarian when Riggs pinned Barbarian
Sting defeated Hugh Morrus
WCW World Champion Ric Flair (w/ Elizabeth) defeated Dick Slater (w/ Col. Rob Parker)

Weird Wrestling from the Interwebs #3: Harley Race/Crusher Blackwell vs The One Man Gang/Tiger Jeet Singh

Posted on by liamcbyrne

For this episode of Weird Wrestling from the Interwebs, we head to All Japan, which seems to have its cup flowing over with odd teams competing during the middle of the 1980s. Two of these men ‘make sense’ to me, whilst the other two are a surprise for sure.

The match sees Harley Race team up with Crusher Blackwell to take on the team of The One Man Gang and Tiger Jeet Singh. From my knowledge of All Japan wrestling, the appearances of Harley Race and Tiger Jeet Singh are not particularly abnormal, yet the partners are wrestlers I truly wouldn’t have placed in an All Japan ring. One Man Gang. Crusher Blackwell around this time would have still been wrestling in the AWA, whilst One Man Gang would have been touring around stints in the UWF, it would seem.

Blackwell is a man that I felt should have been bigger (pardon the obvious joke) than he ended up being in the wrestling world. A good character, with size and agility arguably in equal measure, he had a lot to offer. According to websites, he was sniffed about by the WWF, but never fully desired to head up to wrestle for them. As big men go, he is one of the more oddly shaped out of the lot, short and incredibly round, belying an ability to leave his feet as and when needed. He doesn’t look like the conventional ‘big men’ that WWF have had over the years – whether that worked against him in the long run is debatable.

One Man Gang would soon leave UWF for WWF, a run in the Wrestlemania IV title tournament one of the bigger singles highlights (and one of my first wrestling memories). He’d adapted the One Man Gang gimmick to be a little less rough around the edges (something I saw in my 1984 Year in Review series where he looked more like a wildman than a biker gang member). An entertaining hand, if not the greatest wrestler of all time.

The finish of this match could probably be telegraphed by the competitors – there are no real obvious ‘fall’ guys. Harley Race and Tiger Jeet Singh are the names, Blackwell and Gang are the monsters, and the match has draw written all over it. Unsurprisingly, it does end in a draw, but there is a fun little five minute match within that obvious ending.

With guys the size of Gang and Blackwell, emphasising the size of the wrestlers through the initial opening of the match makes a lot of sense, and we see Gang and Blackwell fail to lift each other or knock each other down. This draws ‘ooohs’ from the crowd, both men real spectacles to the Japanese crowd. A big boot from Gang sees Blackwell hit the mat, and I legitimately cringed as it looked stiff for the first notable move of the match – only to be followed by a big lariat which looked even more painful. Blackwell, for a big man, works well as a plucky babyface type at times due to his movement, and as Gang comes in for another lariat, Blackwell lashes back, a double clothesline putting both big men on the floor. A couple of misses see Gang hit the turnbuckle before Blackwell hits the mat on an attempted splash, before Blackwell shows his agility by landing a dropkick. Now, it isn’t a very good dropkick, but you can’t argue with a guy that size willing to leave his feet.

Harley Race is brought into the ring and crowd go wild – Harley is clearly the most popular of the men in the match. Race instantly slams Gang with ease, making Blackwell’s initial attempts look laughable. A kneedrop is followed by a missed headbutt, which allows Gang got make the tag to Singh. My knowledge of Singh is less than limited, but his interactions throughout the match make him at the least entertaining. Singh locks Race in a chokehold, before Gang manages to distract the referee long enough for Singh to get out a metal pole from his shoes. Race is able to block the attack and nail Singh with his own weapon, hitting a suplex to follow. The match inevitably breaks down here, as Blackwell and Gang won’t get out of the ring. Singh escapes the pin before the ref can even get down to count and heads to ringside, followed by Race. As the big men battle in and around the ring, Singh and Race head into the crowd, the double countout finish a certainty from the second Singh heads to ringside. The brawl is fun, and eventually, Blackwell manages to save Race from Singh’s grasp. The faces head back to the ring to celebrate for the crowd.

No five star classic, but it perfectly sums up what this is supposed to be about – strange, yet entertaining, matches from around the world. Check it out.

WCW Saturday Night Interactive! – 23.03.1996

Posted on by liamcbyrne

Earl Robert Eaton vs Sting

The conversion of Bobby Eaton to Earl Robert Eaton is a vague recollection in my aging brain, so whilst I always enjoy an Eaton match, it is even better to see the work he did in this gimmick. Eaton, arguably, didn’t always have the most charismatic personality, but from the entrance onward, the shift in character is really fun. A changed residence of Stoke-on-Trent (a pretty horrible place in the UK, not exactly where you’d expect a blue blood to come from) and the waving of the smoke with his hat as he heads to the ring had me enjoying the gimmick already. Sting – well, he’s Sting. The crowd pops, he looks suitably muscly and bronzed and the match is on.

Having re-read a few of the columns previously in this series, I’ve highlighted on more than one occasion how much I like Dusty Rhodes’ inane commentary at times, and he is on top form in this match. Whilst discussing Booker T replacing Lex Luger in the Chicago Street Fight, he makes it clear that Luger wouldn’t know anything about street fighting due to the part of Chicago he came from. Further into the match, Dusty appears to try and give Eaton another gimmick change, calling him ‘Duke of Earl Bob’. Stellar work as always.

The match is really just a way of furthering the Sting and Lex Luger angle, unsurprisingly. The lack of offense from Eaton is a bit poor in terms of building a competitive match, albeit with the limited time they had to work the match. When your only real offensive move of note is a clothesline after you’ve missed your finisher (which itself is an odd choice for a spot due to the high impact of the Tower Of London miss), you aren’t really being allowed to bring much to the table.

The finish sees David Taylor hit the ring and the top turnbuckle, only for Lex Luger to run down and shove Taylor off into Eaton. Sting gets the cover for the 1,2,3. Strange for such a crowd favourite to not get the easy finisher pop that would have happened if he locked in the Scorpion Deathlock, but the focus is so clearly on the interactions with Sting and Luger afterwards.

On the video is also the interview that follows the match – watch until the end to see a classic act of Lugerish-ness that cracked me up. Sting and Luger are on solid ground…for now.

What did I miss: Ric Flair defeated Sgt. Craig Pittman after shenanigans and a handful of tights. I appreciate that Flair likes to make his opponents look strong, but to have the World Champion go over in that way against someone like Pittman doesn’t really make sense. Put the champ over strong.

Oh, and highlights from Nitro saw the debut of Z Gangsta and The Ultimate Solution. Funnily enough, they don’t look as big or imposing as you’d expect based off of the commentary and the selling of the wrestlers in the ring. TUS just looks fat, primarily.

WCW Saturday Night Results:
WCW TV Champion & WCW Tag Team Champion Lex Luger defeated Brad Armstrong
Lord Steven Regal (w/ Jeeves) defeated the Gambler
Arn Anderson & Kevin Sullivan (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Julio Sanchez & an unknown when Anderson pinned Sanchez
WCW World Champion Ric Flair (w/ Woman & Elizabeth) defeated Sgt. Craig Pittman (w/ Teddy Long)
Col. Rob Parker (w/ Dick Slater) defeated Tommy Bonds
Eddie Guerrero defeated Steve Doll
Rick & Scott Steiner defeated Chris Kanyon & Mike Winner when Scott pinned Winner
WCW Tag Team Champion Sting defeated Bobby Eaton (w/ Jeeves)
Public Enemy defeated the Road Warriors via disqualification

WCW Saturday Night Interactive! – 16.03.1996

Posted on by liamcbyrne

David Taylor vs The Belfast Bruiser

It is a bit of a mixed bag for a wrestler like the Bruiser when you are given the jobber entrance. It doesn’t necessarily make you look like a big name or give the crowd a catchy theme song or recognisable riff to get behind, but it does solidify the idea that the Bruiser is there just to fight. Dusty tries to hype the UK (and Eaton) vs Ireland feud, bringing this match down to a battle of technique (Taylor) vs a brawler (The Bruiser).
Unfortunately, my video skips when Taylor cheats for the first time, retaliating against the Bruiser from a very unclean break just seconds earlier. Indeed, this match is a lot about retaliation – how far is Taylor willing to go to show that he can also mix it up with the superior brawler? They both drop each other chest first into the edge of the ring apron, Taylor’s rebuttal an acknowledgement that he can also brawl if required. The best spot of the match sees Taylor attempt to return to his more technical roots, floating over in a sunset flip attempt. Most wrestlers would hook the legs for a counter, whilst the Bruiser just lifts Taylor’s head off of the mat and drops a knee to the back of it. No nonsense.

Taylor shows signs of life as he flicks the Bruiser over the top rope in defense – a move that the commentators have to defend due to the potential insta-DQ nature of that move. Unfortunately, as the match is continuing to build nicely, the match is over. The Bruiser is able to avoid an attack from Taylor in the corner, hitting Taylor with a clothesline as he bounces out for the 1-2-3.

The main reason for this match is the furthering of the Regal/Bruiser storyline, and Regal and Eaton hit the ring in suits, only for the Bruiser to drop Regal with a punch and head back up the entryway. Regal eats another couple of punches as he is the only man on earth who would be insane enough to go after Fit Finlay.

A decent, but short match. A few more minutes could have made all the difference in quality. Taylor is no Regal, but he is a solid hand for sure.

Sting vs Kurasawa

Kurasawa is Manabu Nakanishi before he shaved his hair and won lots of titles. Having feuded with Hawk at the end of 1995 (breaking Hawk’s arm and defeating him at a PPV), this seems like the end of Kurasawa’s excursion as he is relegated to fairly swift job duty on Saturday Night.

Not that the match is over within seconds – Kurasawa actually controls the bulk of the (admittedly three minute long) match, hitting several chops and an armbreaker to control Sting, before nailing two beautifully executed suplexes – one backdrop suplex, one belly to belly overhead suplex. The crisp and quality execution of these two moves is about the one real positive.

As is often the way, with the limited amount of time afforded matches on the show due to the large cards, the match is cut shorter than needed to really create a sense of real tension or importance. Sting hulks out of a nerve hold (a move that ‘they’ ALL have, according to Dusty), hits three moves and locks in the Scorpion Deathlock for the submission win. For a crowd, this is at least a nice little treat – a big name to watch hit his name moves and an easy cheer for the victory.

Attached to the video is an interview with Sting and Lex Luger – Luger is being linked with the Dungeon of Doom, and Sting can’t trust Luger. Booker T would eventually be the man who would team with Sting at Uncensored, as Luger would take his contractual spot in the Doomsday Cage Match.
WCW Saturday Night Results:
The Road Warriors defeated Mark Starr & Chris Kanyon via disqualification
Fit Finlay defeated Dave Taylor (w/ Jeeves)
Brad Armstrong defeated Disco Inferno
Public Enemy defeated Pez Whatley & Larry Santo when Rocco Rock pinned Santo
Arn Anderson, Kevin Sullivan, WCW TV Champion & WCW Tag Team Champion Lex Luger (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated the Gambler, Pat Tanaka, & Cobra when Sullivan pinned the Gambler; Luger did not appear until after the match began
Diamond Dallas Page defeated Dave Sullivan
Jim Duggan defeated the Giant (w/ Jimmy Hart) via disqualification
WCW Tag Team Champion Sting defeated Kurasawa
The Barbarian & the Shark (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Hulk Hogan & Randy Savage via disqualification

WCW Saturday Night Interactive! – 09.03.1996

Posted on by liamcbyrne

The Blue Bloods vs The Public Enemy

In what was an interesting card with a few potential winners, the opportunity to see the king of the tag team, Bobby Eaton, won out. In this incarnation of the Blue Bloods, we see Earl Robert Eaton and Squire Dave Taylor team up against The Public Enemy, which in itself is an interesting clash of styles.

Unfortunately, my copy of the show skips from the Public Enemy bringing a table to the ring to a point where the men are fighting in the ring. The Public Enemy are a strange breed – only recently debuting in WCW, they just don’t quite fit with the product that WCW was offering at the time. That, and outside of getting the crowd involved (which is a massive plus point), they couldn’t really bring much to the table wrestling-wise. The early double clothesline just looks awkward, and luckily The Blue Bloods take control of the majority of this short match.

I would make the argument that Bobby Eaton is one of the most under-rated wrestlers going, but most people seem to feel the same, thus making his ‘under-rated’ tag a bit of a misnomer. The top rope kneedrop is a favourite move of mine whoever deploys it, and he nails it in this match. However, he does look out of place in a modern WCW setting, more due to his appearance as anything else. Taylor also lands a couple of very nice European uppercuts, another move that I personally enjoy.

Regal as a manager is a brilliant move, and his complete carny nature just works so well in this role. From offering out the crowd, to mocking the Public Enemy’s wave, he is golden at ringside. He doesn’t last too long though, as the mulleted wonder Fit Finlay hits the ring and chases him backstage. This is where the booking gets incredibly stupid. Rather than take the opportunity to win, The Public Enemy choose to put Eaton through a table, handing the match to the Blue Bloods by DQ. Why? It just doesn’t really make sense – sure, the hardcore aspect of going through a table is a novel idea, but it doesn’t make sense within a scenario where wins matter, and this type of action constitutes a DQ. Once again, a sure sign that the Public Enemy didn’t really fit into WCW at the time. A fairly nothing match, dragged out of the toilet by Regal and Eaton as much as anything.

The Road Warriors vs The Faces of Fear

This match. I have to say I enjoy it on one level, but on another level, the structure of the match is just asinine. Here are some of the reasons.

  • Barbarian almost kills Animal with his powerslam
  • Hawk running his opponent back into the corner to allow him to make a tag
  • The duelling no-sell powerslams – this was made better by Meng getting the opportunity to no-sell Hawk, as I hate that Hawk no-sells as much as he does
  • They still had an over the top rope DQ? Shame WCW, shame.
  • A powerbomb effectively used as a transition move
  • Ditto, a spike piledriver. Remember when that was a death move? Just stick it in the middle of a match for a two count.
  • Barbarian nailing Meng with the mafia kick, considering a) he took ages to allow Animal to get into position, and b) surely he could have stopped before nailing Meng in the chops?

Still, for two teams throwing bombs, it was kinda fun whilst it lasted. That, and a clean finish. Surprise surprise.

In other news……

We missed the opportunity to see the first title switch of my time watching WCW Saturday Night, as Lex Luger defeated Johnny B.Badd for the TV title, with help from DDP. I don’t really see the point of putting the TV Title on Luger, who was already the tag champion. As a way of furthering the DDP/Badd feud, it also didn’t make sense. Why would DDP cost his enemy the title when he would likely get a shot at it down the road? Oh well….

WCW Saturday Night Results
WCW Tag Team Champion Lex Luger pinned WCW TV Champion Johnny B. Badd (w/ Kimberly) to win the title at 5:29 after Diamond Dallas Page dropped Badd with a Diamond Cutter on the floor while Jimmy Hart distracted the referee from the apron; prior to the bout, Badd questioned Kimberly as to what she was doing the previous week on Nitro when she came out wearing white and holding roses; Kimberly refused to talk about it; during Badd’s ring entrance, he cut an insert promo rejecting Page’s challenge to a rematch, noting he had taken everything from Page and there was nothing left that he wanted; late in the bout, Hart and Page appeared ringside together; after the contest, Lee Marshal conducted a ringside interview with Badd in which he cut a promo on facing Page at Uncensored and lashed out at Kimberly for not looking out for him during the match (Badd’s last appearance)
The Road Warriors defeated Meng & the Barbarian when Road Warrior Hawk pinned Barbarian
Alex Wright defeated Bobby Walker
Bobby Eaton & Dave Taylor (w/ Lord Steven Regal) defeated Public Enemy via disqualification
Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Benoit; stipulations stated the winner would earn a WCW US Title shot at Uncensored
Pat Tanaka defeated Disco Inferno
VK Wallstreet defeated Joey Maggs (w/ Teddy Long)
WCW World Champion Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Loch Ness, & Kevin Sullivan (w/ Jimmy Hart, Elizabeth, & Woman) defeated Sgt. Craig Pittman (w/ Teddy Long), Jim Duggan, Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Scotty Riggs when Anderson pinned Riggs; Loch Ness refused to appear and compete because he was angry with Hart

WCW Saturday Night Interactive! – 02.03.1996

Posted on by liamcbyrne

The Faces of Fear vs Larry Santo/Pat Tanaka

Whilst the breakdown of votes does leave us with a less than stellar match, it is positive in my eyes to showcase a team like the Faces of Fear above and beyond a killer or a 50 year old sideshow oddity who has already been covered. This is what you would expect, with (as previously warned) Pat Tanaka getting no in ring time, and Larry Santo getting beaten down with chops, punches, slams – everything you would expect from The Faces of Fear.

This does, however, allow me to talk a little bit about my opinion on the two guys in the ring. Having listened to podcasts covering the early PPV-era (both WWF and NWA/WCW), I have to agree with the perceived wisdom from these podcasts that suggests that The Barbarian could and probably should have been a bigger deal. The guy was a solid wrestler, with a good, powerful looking moveset, built just like the type of heels they were looking to push at times, especially in the WWF. Whilst I wouldn’t have expected him to become a big time champion or anything, he was exactly the type of guy that you could have got mileage out of in a lesser Hogan feud, especially if built up correctly.

What also surprises me is that the Faces of Fear never had a run with the tag titles in WCW. Around this time, WCW did have a fairly resurgent tag team division, but due to the length of time that FoF were together, and the downhill slide that WCW takes soon enough, even a short-lived run could have made a lot of sense, or would have at least been expected at time when title belts were hot potatoes. A dominant heel team getting beaten by plucky underdogs could have at least told an interesting story.

The biggest mention from this match should be the finish. The dueling mafia kicks looked vicious and deservedly got the pinfall victory for the team. Tanaka looked a bit odd not trying in any way to break up the pin, but you could argue that he didn’t want any of what he had just seen go down.

I look forward to the potential of seeing the FoF in matches against more established opponents.

WCW Saturday Night Results

Loch Ness (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated the Shadow & Kenny Shaw in a handicap match by pinning the Shadow
Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Scotty Riggs defeated Dick Slater (w/ Col. Rob Parker) in a handicap match; Bunkhouse Buck was announced to be Slater’s partner but did not appear
Arn Anderson & Kevin Sullivan (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Scott D’Amore & Tom Kent when Anderson pinned D’Amore
Eddie Guerrero defeated Chris Benoit
Diamond Dallas Page defeated Joey Maggs (w/ Teddy Long)
WCW Tag Team Champion Lex Luger defeated Cobra
Jim Duggan defeated VK Wallstreet after Sgt. Craig Pittman interfered
The Giant (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Dave Sullivan
Meng & the Barbarian defeated Pat Tanaka & Larry Santo when Barbarian pinned Santo
WCW World Champion Ric Flair (w/ Woman & Elizabeth) defeated WCW Tag Team Champion Sting via disqualification when WCW Tag Team Champion Lex Luger interfered as Sting attempted to reverse the figure-4

WCW Saturday Night Interactive! – 24.02.1996

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Loch Ness vs Marcus Bagwell

So, clearly a vote for the WTF-ness of this match rather than any potential quality. Marcus Bagwell once again gets a big pop upon entry, and for the short run of this match, gets a lot of love from the crowd.

Loch Ness – the guy just looks like he is half dead. Something about the palor of his skin, not helped out by a horrible wrestling outfit. It beggars belief as to why WCW thought that it would be worthwhile investing in a 50 year old Giant Haystacks, who was never exactly mobile at the best of times. I’m intrigued as to what the bigger picture would have been for this character (probably jobbing to Hogan ad nauseum) if he had hung around and not been diagnosed with cancer.

I don’t particularly understand using Bagwell in this match – you have a guy who is over, and a wrestler that they seem to have at least been fairly high on in the tag team division. Couldn’t they have found some other schmoe for Ness to defeat? The match is incredibly short, with Bagwell rocking Ness with punches and kicks, only to get thrown off after a ten punch in the corner. A sloppy looking Ness elbowdrop is the only real piece of offense he lands, and that is enough for the three count. The struggle for Ness to get over for the pin is probably about as entertaining as this match gets.

Ice Train vs Scott Norton

So here we go, our second easter egg, brought about by my own laziness more than anything. Interestingly enough, the video opens up with a draw from the WCW Wrestling Pro show (if that is the correct show – can’t remember), so this is a rematch from a match on the same day.

I grew up watching WSW (NJPW dubbed with English commentary), so I am a huge Scott Norton fan – probably fairly disproportionate to the love the guy should get. However, I always felt a sense of legitimacy from him, as well as the raw power that would be expected from a guy his size. WCW never seemed to be too sure what to do with him though, which is why you get this run as a team with Ice Train.

The match is what you would expect from two big men – a lot of bombs being thrown, a slow pace throughout. Ice Train shows his lack of wrestling psychology by following up a (admittedly impressive looking) big splash with a variation of an ankle lock. Unlike the match earlier in the morning which went to a time limit draw, this one ends up in a double countout after the men collide with a double clothesline. This was a strange ending for me, as although it looked like a pretty violent double clothesline, I feel it makes both men seem weaker for not being able to beat the count.

As mentioned earlier, this is the match where the team of Fire and Ice are created. Following the match (though not on my video), Scott Norton offers Ice Train the opportunity of teaming up. I’ll be interested to see if the team pops up in any other polls. I seem to remember quite liking them when I was young.

WCW Saturday Night Results

WCW TV Champion Johnny B. Badd (w/ Kimberly) defeated Chris Benoit (1/18/96; Center Stage Theatre)
The One Man Gang defeated Pez Whatley (1/18/96; Center Stage Theatre)
WCW US Champion Konnan defeated Scott Armstrong (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)
Sgt. Craig Pittman (w/ Teddy Long) fought Diamond Dallas Page to a double count-out (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)
WCW Tag Team Champions Sting & Lex Luger defeated Public Enemy when Sting pinned Rocco Rock (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)
The Road Warriors defeated the Gambler & Butch Long when Road Warrior Hawk pinned the Gambler (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)
Scott Norton fought Ice Train to a draw (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)
Loch Ness (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)

WCW Saturday Night Interactive! – 17.02.1996

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State Patrol vs The American Males

I’ll be honest – one of the least interesting of the choices I had on offer, but I am a man of the people, so I got to watch eight minutes of the State Patrol vs The American Males.

The State Patrol are Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker and James Earl Wright, and they are bland as hell. Throughout the match as a whole, there are two reasons that I ever feel the need to be interested in them as a tandem – the suplex/top rope spear combination (which was pretty swank), and some CLUBBERRIN’! Dusty’s attempts to explain the methodology behind CLUBBERIN’ to Tony is pretty golden.

In fact, once again this match is made more bearable by Dusty on commentary. His Lady Godiva/Elizabeth metaphor is a personal favourite.

I’ve touched on the American Males before, and you can see why the audience like them (and they do….they get a very sizeable pop), though this probably isn’t the best match to showcase what they were all about in the ring. Bagwell looks more polished already, and though I always thought he was a natural heel, he does play the plucky babyface really well (in the vein of a mid 90’s Pillman type). I did get a little confused when Bagwell entered the ring randomly before Riggs missed a charge into the corner – no real need for the referee to be wrapped up for that.

Ultimately forgettable match outside of a few choice spots, and the Males pick up the obvious victory with a double dropkick.

WCW Saturday Night results:

Marcus Alexander Bagwell & Scotty Riggs defeated Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker & Lt. James Earl when Bagwell pinned Earl (1/18/96; Center Stage Theatre)
Men at Work defeated Scott & Steve Armstrong when Kanyon pinned Scott (1/18/96; Center Stage Theatre)
Kevin Sullivan (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Todd Morton (1/18/96; Center Stage Theatre)
Alex Wright defeated Dusty Wolfe(1/18/96; Center Stage Theatre)
Fit Finlay defeated Brad Armstrong via disqualification (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)
Diamond Dallas Page defeated Mike Winner (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)
WCW Tag Team Champions Sting & Lex Luger defeated Dave Taylor & Bobby Eaton (w/ Lord Steven Regal & Jeeves) when Eaton submitted to Sting (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)
Chris Benoit defeated Joey Maggs (w/ Teddy Long) (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)
Public Enemy defeated Buck Quartermaine & Larry Santo when Johnny Grunge pinned Santo (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)
Ric Flair & Arn Anderson (w/ Woman) defeated the Nasty Boys when Flair pinned Brian Knobbs (2/14/96; Center Stage Theatre)

WCW Saturday Night Interactive! – 10.02.1996

Posted on by liamcbyrne

The Belfast Bruiser vs Mike Marcello

As it was a tie, I chose which one I would rather review, and went for this over Savage vs Benoit.

Being the generous sort that I am, I also gave you a clip of Finlay being interviewed by Mean Gene. Nothing particularly spectacular, as Finlay was never amazing on the mic, but I did get a cheap laugh out of him telling Gene ‘that’s enough’ after having invited him to speak, and the reference to him being ‘an athlete’ when Gene mentions alcohol.

Around this time, I used to watch wrestling with my Dad, so whilst I had no real knowledge of who Finlay was, my Dad remembered him from old UK wrestling, so was quite a big fan (as big a fan as someone who didn’t particularly enjoy wrestling as much as I did). As I watched, I grew to love him also. The guy is just a beast. Everything he hits, it looks like it will legitimately hurt. Also, I’ve never seen someone use the ring as a weapon as effectively as Finlay does. We see this a little when he rams Marcello neck first into the edge of the apron, and would see it upon his return when he would trap people between the apron and the drapery around the ringside, before beating them up.

This match is what it is – a chance to showcase what a monster Finlay can be. We get to see a nice selection of his moves, including a vicious looking cattle brand knee to the back of the head, and a flying knee that seemingly came from out of nowhere. I don’t necessarily agree with the idea of putting on a nerve hold in a squash match, but it allowed Finlay to mug to the crowd, trying to get the character over. Like Regal, even his pin is violent, the knee squashing into Marcello’s face after a very stiff looking jumping tombstone.

Looking back, I didn’t quite understand what WCW wanted to get out of this feud between Regal and Finlay other than good matches (which isn’t a problem, naturally). Neither was going to get much in the way of a face reaction, so I didn’t really know who WCW wanted the fans to get behind. Either way, this is a good outing for Finlay, and a step along the path towards some beautiful brawls with Regal.

Do I hate you guys for voting for this?  No real choice, other than Savage/Benoit. And frankly, I don’t really fancy watching any Benoit stuff any time soon

What else did I see: No wrestling, but an advert for an episode of Hercules where he invents the Olympics. Good stuff.

WCW Saturday Night Results:

2/10/96:
WCW Tag Team Champion Sting & Lex Luger defeated the Barrio Brothers when Fidel Sierra submitted to Sting’s Scorpion Deathlock
The Belfast Bruiser defeated Mike Marcello
The Giant (w/ Jimmy Hart) defeated Larry Santo & Pepep Prado in a handicap match by pinning both men
WCW TV Champion Johnny B. Badd (w/ Kimberly) defeated Bull Payne
Sgt. Craig Pittman (w/ Teddy Long) defeated VK Wallstreet
The Nasty Boys defeated Manny Fernandez & Red Tyler when Brian Knobbs pinned Fernandez
Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman defeated the Cobra & Joey Maggs (w/ Teddy Long) when Anderson pinned Maggs

And, not that this will be a regular occurence, but consider a request filled:

Nasty Boys vs Manny Fernandez and Red Tyler

WCW Saturday Night Interactive! – 03.02.1996

Posted on by liamcbyrne

Ric Flair vs Dean Malenko

A match that looked clearly a class above the others on show for this WCW Saturday Night, Ric Flair faces off against Dean Malenko.

Now, I was a huge Dean Malenko fan when I was younger. I grew up watch WSW (World Superstars of Wrestling – which was basically English commentary NJPW), so had fallen in love with Jushin Liger, Great Sasuke, Pegasus Kid and Tony Halme, and this extended to my time watching WCW, where the lightweight wrestlers interested me. Whilst he didn’t have the engaging style of some of the other wrestlers, Malenko was just technically impressive. We get to see him at this point, a year before he was named Number 1 wrestler in the world by PWI. Scant praise for some, but pretty impressive for a man who was never really in a main event feud. Flair is……well, Flair. I was never as big of an NWA/WCW fan as I was a WWF fan, but I always enjoyed watching some Flair, and I’ve gone back since and his older territory work is golden.

It is probably this introduction which gives away why I don’t enjoy this match as much as I feel I should. I blame the setting and the crowd. At the end of the day, we don’t expect to see five star matches on these shows, and it isn’t the best setting for what could be a classic, but it does feel like they are going through the motions a bit here. The epic nature of Flair’s music, and even Flair himself, feels completely out of place on WCW Saturday Night – the crowd’s seeming lack of interest also kills the match somewhat. Maybe it is because no-one expects Malenko to win, but the crowd is fairly dead.

That is not to say this match doesn’t have its good points. Flair going to the eye after faking out a lock-up is golden, as is the flip over the top rope, only for Malenko to miss a plancha. For me, however, Malenko is just never in control for long enough, and never has enough near falls or chances to beat Flair for me to get invested in this match. When Malenko goes for the Cloverleaf, another issue of this match becomes apparent. Why would you have Anderson come out to support Flair in beating someone like Malenko, when you haven’t given Malenko enough time to establish himself? It just makes both teams look fairly weak in my eyes. Still, Flair wins, and there is enough good in this match to make it at least watchable – but it should have been so much more.

WCW Saturday Night Results (gathered from another source, so less detailed)

The Public Enemy defeated The Armstrongs

Sting defeated Denny Brown

The Nasty Boys beat The Barrio Brothers

DDP defeated Joey Maggs

One Man Gang beat Mike Davis

The Giant beat Todd Morton/Chris Nielsen

Harlem Heat defeated Men At Work

Eddie Guerrero beat Lex Luger by DQ after Luger moved the referee into the way of a Guerrero dropkick

Ric Flair defeated Dean Malenko