Wait – WCW Pro? Yes kids, despite the many shows I’m already covering, when it came to WCW, there was always more. I don’t have a complete collection of the 600 different jobber programs that aired in 1996, but those I do have, I am happy to share, and WCW Pro absolutely qualifies. And if you thought that WCW Prime was hitting rock bottom, you truly haven’t seen scraping the barrel of jobberific matchups.
From Universal Studios (but certainly not LIVE), it’s DUSTY RHODES, CHRIS CRUISE, and LARRY ZBYSZKO. Cruise asks Dusty the question on everyone’s mind; do we have a new World Champion from WCW Saturday Night? We’ll see the last of that match later tonight, because lord knows a simple “yes” or “no” wouldn’t suffice.
VK WALLSTREET vs. SGT. CRAIG PITTMAN (with Teddy Long)
Great, I get another jobber show, and all it results in is more freakin’ VK Wallstreet. According to Chris Cruise, this is a new Craig Pittman and we’ll like him more than the OLD Craig Pittman, but he LOOKS the same, so I’m skeptical Cruise is telling the truth. This is of course a grudge match set up on Saturday Night where Pittman recently cost Wallstreet a match against Jim Duggan. Pittman hiptosses Wallstreet a couple of times, before applying his signature hold; the Bore. Wallstreet suplexes out, but he’s also a master of the Bore, and is unable to snap us truly out of it. A spear knocks Wallstreet to the mat and sucks the wind out of him and this match. BIG BUBBER runs in and hits the Bossman Slam behind the referee’s back for the win at 3:22. DUD
Cruise announces that Hulk Hogan has received a telegram from The Alliance to End Hulkamania with a special challenge. Boy, I bet that won’t suck.
KURASAWA vs. JOHNNY BOONE
Yes, it’s future referee Johnny Boone, and thankfully he doesn’t step out of character, where he takes one move and is knocked out cold for pretty much the remainder of the match. Kurasawa beats on him for awhile anyway, with a chop to the throat setting up a shoulderbreaker, and an armbar finishing at 2:22. 1/2*
A former World Champion is retiring, and many people are happy to see him go, according to “MEAN” GENE OKERLUND. I actually have no idea who he’s referring to.
THE ROAD WARRIORS vs. THE GAMBLER and PAT TANAKA
The Gambler is showing 4 aces, LOOK OUT! He’s all smiles, tons of nodding, I have to think that this isn’t going to end well for Hawk and Animal because the shark (and I do not mean John Tenta who is a man not a shark although not for a few more months) is BACK! Tanaka starts, and I have to think this is where they went wrong, because he gets killed. Gambler doesn’t want to tag in, and who does, he has no support! Alas, he takes it, and a powerbomb. Big boot drops our hero, and Animal is clubberin’. Doomsday Device finishes at 3:01. *
BIG BUBBER vs. “HACKSAW” JIM DUGGAN
Duggan threatens to shoot his 2x4 at Bubba like a gun; though when you’re completely insane, you’ll believe things like 2x4’s are guns. Duggan runs Bubba over with clotheslines and encourages three syllable patriotism. Bubba grabs the board, but Duggan stops him and knocks him down with the “old ham hocks”. Duggan calls for the ho’s, but his love for the invisible ladies allows Bubba to take over. Scoop slam gets control back to Duggan, 3 point stance, VK WALLSTREET runs in and we have a DQ at 2:57. That draws in CRAIG PITTMAN who clears the ring. Bubba and Wallstreet share a tender moment on the floor that makes hearts soar.
And now, the stunning conclusion from WCW Saturday Night that we never saw. I’d LOVE to give you play-by-play, except I stopped being excited about this matchup roughly a week ago. Long and the short of it; Flair had Sting locked in the Figure Four, which drew Luger out to save him, and got Sting DQed. Sting pitches a fit, telling Luger he knows how to reverse the Figure Four. He asks the fans if he should hit Luger; they say he should, and he promptly doesn’t. Good idea; he should probably ask Ric Flair first what he should do and follow that advice.
THE BARBARIAN vs. STING
Sting hits an early crossbody but it only gets 2. Barbarian is sent to the outside via clothesline; Zbyszko: “real close to a disqualification there!” Yes, I can see why that wasn’t a DQ, after all, unlike all the other over the top clotheslines, that one was ... well ... errr ... YEAH WCW! Barbarian gets back in and stands on Sting’s face, but Sting doesn’t feel it cuz he’s used to being walked on. Flying headbutt misses, but Sting’s follow up splash is blocked with the knees. Sting’s dropkick misses, and we’ve gone about 2 minutes since anyone successfully hit a move. The trend breaks with elbowdrops from Barbarian. Headbutt off the top misses for a second time, and this time he gets stuck in the Scorpion Deathlock at 4:34. *1/2
And that, as they say, is that. Larry: “Too much time by the Barbarian wasted!” Me too Larry ... me too.
Great stuff as always. No tapes of WCW WorldWide? If not that makes me a sad panda as that show was a huge gem of classic matches like Bobby Walker Vs Buck Quartrmaine and sometimes they would have a big match like Savage Vs Flair where Flair was the champion at the time of the airing, but Savage was wearing the title because the show was taped at the time Savage was the champion and Tony would have to stammer about why Savage was wearing the title.
Originally posted by DionysusHaving the match be a cliffhanger also seems innovative.
Just wait until Halloween Havoc 1998 when they do the same thing on pay-per-view! Don't worry, you were able to tune into Nitro to see the match for free (along with everyone else) in lieu of a refund.
Oh, no. Well, I'm glad they caught it, and best wishes for a speedy recovery for Roddy Piper, one of the most charismatic personalities in wrestling history!