WCW Saturday Night 7/1/1995
Written by: Bob Colling of Wrestling Recaps
World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 7/1/1995
From: Atlanta, GA
Matches:
1.)Nasty Boys defeated Los Especialistas
2.)Meng defeated Gary Jackson
3.)Johnny B. Badd fought Diamond Dallas Page to a double count-out
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.Eric Bischoff fills in for Tony Schiavone this week and cuts Heenan off a few times. We will be hearing from Vader and Hogan tonight regarding their cage match at Bash at the Beach.
2.Mean Gene interviewed the Nasty Boys after their squash match. They will be competing against WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat and Blue Bloods at Bash at the Beach. Saggs says everyone will be nastizied. Knobs says that anyone can be tagged in and anyone can win the titles. They are looking to take the whole thing.
3.A video highlighting Dave Sullivan going on a date with the Diamond Doll is shown. They went and saw a movie, apparently the Lion King. Doll says she has been having a good time on the date. Dave is playing the dumb role during the date. Doll says he can call her Kimberly. There is a bunny gram (Disco Inferno). Sullivan leaves because DDP has stolen his rabbit! Doll kisses Sullivan but DDP comes from behind and attacks Sullivan with Maxx Muscle holding him. They run when the police comes over.
4.Mean Gene interviews Col. Robert Parker and Meng after their squash match. Parker talks about WCW United States Champion Sting who he considers to be lucky holding the championship. Parker doesn’t want Gene to mention what happened at the last pay per view. Parker believes that Sting is going to be crimson and yellow at the end of the match at Bash at the Beach.
5.We go to the Dungeon of Doom with Kevin Sullivan and his master. The master gives Sullivan Vader as another present. Vader appears and confronts the master. Vader wants to know why he has been brought to the dungeon. Vader will be put on a roadkill tour which will lead him to Hogan, apparently. Vader leaves and Sullivan laughs because Vader will have to beat Hogan on his own again. I guess Vader joined them.
6.Badd opens the match with an arm drag out of the corner and plays to the crowd. DDP gets the advantage with a front face lock but that didn’t last long as Badd rolls out of it. Badd hits a head scissors to drop DDP. Badd is stopped by DDP with a mule kick and keeps control with several strikes in the corner. DDP nails Badd with a discus clothesline for a two count. Badd ducks under a clothesline and delivers a clothesline of his own. Badd dropkicks DDP to the floor but springboards off the top rope and takes both DDP and Maxx Muscle out! Badd heads to the top and hits a double axe handle back in the ring for a near fall. Badd connects with a sit down powerbomb but Muscle gets on the apron to distract the referee. They trade several pin attempt but neither man can get the win. Badd sends himself and DDP to the floor following a clothesline. Neither man can return to the ring and they are counted out. After the match, Page and Muscle attack Badd by hitting a gut buster and the diamond cutter!
7.Mean Gene interviews Randy Savage to close the show. Savage will be wrestling Big Bubba and Bunkhouse Buck in the next two weeks. Savage wanted to be put in the fire when he joined WCW. Savage says this is nothing compared to what he is going to do Ric Flair!
Final Thoughts:
I like the hour editions of Saturday Night, but I thought this was a boring one. The main event between Badd/Page was okay but it just didn’t make up for the rest of the show. I’m not sure if I like Vader joining the Dungeon of Doom. Actually, I’m not even sure if he actually did since Sullivan seemed to say that they weren’t going to help Vader. Overall, not a good episode of Saturday Night.
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WCW Saturday Night 7/8/1995
World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 7/8/1995
From: Atlanta, GA
Matches:
1.)Jim Duggan defeated Kip Abee
2.)WCW Television Champion the Renegade defeated Rick Thames
3.)Hawk defeated Lt. James Earl Wright
4.)Kamala defeated Steve Storm
5.)Blue Bloods defeated Mike Davis & Ron Thompson
6.)Randy Savage defeated Bunkhouse Buck
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.We go back to the Dungeon to see what’s going on with the Dungeon of Doom. There is another man joining that group. The next man to join the group is Shark. He is better known as being Earthquake in the WWF or Avalanche in WCW. Shark has teeth painted on his face and his gear looks like a shark’s mouth. He can’t wait for a fight with Hulkamania.
2.Mean Gene conducted an interview with Hawk. Hawk talks about what he did on July 4th and said he walked fireworks which reminded him of himself because he goes nuts whenever. Hawk is going to have to start punching himself if he doesn’t start getting competition. He believes that no one can hit him as hard as he can hit himself. He sums it up perfectly by saying he isn’t right in the head.
3.After Kamala wins his squash match Sullivan stares at the large man we saw at Great American Bash. It looked like as if Sullivan was smiling at him before walking away.
4.Tony Schiavone conducted an interview with the Blue Bloods after their squash match. Regal says they needed to attack the Nasty Boys back in May to get himself and Eaton the proper attention. It disgusts Regal that the Nasty Boys are even allowed to be in the ring. He believes the only way they lose is if Harlem Heat teams with the Nasty Boys to take them out. This is the war they have been looking for.
5.Savage opens the match gouging Buck’s face after delivering a back elbow. Buck misses a clothesline and is dropped by Savage with a forearm shot. Buck gets offense after Parker distracts Savage. Savage is sent to the floor where Parker gets a few cheap shots in. Buck rams Savage shoulder first into the ring post and slams Savage on the floor! Savage slams Buck off the middle rope and hits the top rope elbow drop to the win the match.
6.Mean Gene interviews Randy Savage to close the show. Savage says that he told Parker and Buck they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Savage is going to stop being a nice guy at Bash at the Beach when he meets Ric Flair. Savage is going to show Flair that he shouldn’t have had mess with him!
Final Thoughts:
Okay, the Dungeon of Doom consists mainly of guys that Hogan has feuded with in the late 80’s and early 90’s. So, the interest in that doesn’t exist at all. This was just another boring edition and if the Dungeon of Doom becomes a top priority for the program, then I guess we are in trouble. Overall, this episode gets a big thumbs down from me.
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WCW Saturday Night 7/15/1995
World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 7/15/1995
From: Atlanta, GA
Matches:
1.)WCW World Tag Team Champion Harlem Heat defeated Los Especialists
2.)Dave Sullivan defeated Dino DeMeglo
3.)Meng defeated Chris Sawyer
4.)Kamala defeated Chris Nelson
5.)Johnny B. Badd defeated Lt. James Earl Wright
6.)Jim Duggan defeated Sonny Trout
7.)Diamond Dallas Page defeated Tim Horner
8.)WCW Television Champion The Renegade defeated Butch Long
9.)Blue Bloods defeated Chris Kanyon & Scott Armstrong
10.)Ric Flair defeated Barry Houston
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.Mean Gene conducted an interview with Harlem Heat after their squash match. Booker says that tonight the odds are against them just like they have been their entire life. He tells the Nasty Boys and Blue Bloods to come get some. Stevie Ray believes that history will be made tomorrow night. Sister Sherri chimes in and tells the challengers to step back and look at what they have done. She says neither one of those teams are going to win the tag titles. Mean Gene mentions that Col. Robert Parker called her baby and Sherri freaks out over it.
2.Dave Sullivan is interviewed by Mean Gene as well. Sullivan is going to show DDP that what he did was wrong at the pay per view tomorrow night.
3.Col. Robert Parker talked to Gene after Meng took care of business in the ring. Gene asks what is going in between Parker and Sherri. Parker says he is going to have his way with Sherri. Eventually Parker hypes up the match between Sting and Meng tomorrow night. Parker predicts that Meng will be taking the WCW United States Championship away from Sting.
4.We go to the Dungeon of Doom to see who is the next gift for Kevin Sullivan. This man is a warrior and will be the biggest key of them all. The man is called the Zodiac. This is just the Butcher under a new gimmick. Sullivan wants to know who will be his warrior. Sullivan is told to be patient as the warrior he has picked will be coming soon!
5.Randy Savage comes out to be interviewed by Mean Gene. Savage says he has Ric Flair exactly where he wants to have him. He will be meeting Flair in a lifeguard match tomorrow night. His father told him to do whatever he needs to do to beat Flair. Savage tells Flair he is going to get him at the pay per view!
6.The Blue Bloods were interviewed by Mean Gene after their squash match. Regal says that they are going to have to perform violence which they aren’t use to doing. They are scientific wrestlers. Regal says that they are like Great Britain and they will never lose at war. Regal assures us that they will be prepared for a fight tomorrow night.
7.Ric Flair comes out to end the show with several ladies by his side as he is interviewed by Mean Gene. Flair tells Gene that he is going to have a party when he destroys Randy Savage tomorrow night. Flair is sure he is going to take Savage out! The tells the ladies to go to the ringside area. Flair goes to the ring and beats up a jobber in his street clothes. Randy Savage comes out into the ring and attacks Flair from behind! Flair bails to the floor but Savage gets a hold of him when the ladies grab Flair and roll him back into the ring! Several jobbers run into the ring and hold Savage back as Flair hammers away on Savage and hits him with his shoe! Flair leaves the ring and runs to the backstage area.
8.Mean Gene talks to Randy Savage one more time. Savage tells Gene that he can wait to chase after Flair until tomorrow night. Savage says nothing is going to stop him from ending Flair tomorrow night.
Final Thoughts:
As per usual the go home show before the pay per view was really just a last minute hype job for the top matches. I liked the ending between Flair and Savage as that has probably been the best feud going for WCW at this time. Those two just work so well with each other. The guys involved with the Dungeon of Doom are just not that interesting and whomever the “warrior” is going to be for them better be a surprise or something. I’m sure some people took it as if the Ultimate Warrior was going to be coming in, but that’s not going to happen. Overall, I’ll give the show a thumbs in the middle. It was a nice way to promote the big show the next night.
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WCW Saturday Night 7/22/1995
World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 7/22/1995
From: Atlanta, GA
Matches:
1.)Vader defeated John Taylor & Dave Walby in a handicap match
2.)Nasty Boys defeated Tony Vincent & Chris Nelson
3.)Arn Anderson defeated Todd Wilder
4.)Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater defeated WCW World Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat to win the titles
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.We see footage from Bash at the Beach where it appears that Vader has turned baby face and is demanding to get Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in the ring because they stuck their noses in his business inside the steel cage. Yeah, Vader lost to WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan yet again.
2.This week, Hulk Hogan will be showing up to the dungeon to see what it is all about. That should be interesting!
3.Footage from Bash at the Beach is shown where during the pregame a giant man gave Hulk Hogan a white t-shirt and it was revealed that it was Andre the Giant’s shirt.
4.Vader took his frustrations out on two jobbers in a handicap match before being interviewed by Mean Gene. Vader says he has lost his mind because he wants both Flair and Anderson on August 6th at the Clash of the Champions. Vader doesn’t care if it’s both of them because he is going to end Ric Flair wherever he finds him! Vader trusted Flair and got behind him but Flair didn’t bring them to the top. Vader tells Flair he is going to feel the intensity of Vader!
5.We got to the Dungeon of Doom which will see Hulk Hogan visiting them. The master says the bait has been set and we see Hogan fall into the dungeon and he looks around saying he has never been here before. Hogan confronts Sullivan and the master saying that they are behind the end of Hulkamania. Sullivan tells Hogan that he is the one who created him! Sullivan says that his demise is etched in stone. We then see the enormous man from BATB to choke Hogan from behind and he says that he is the greatest giant to ever walk the face of the earth and is stronger than Hogan to end the segment. That’s the debut of the Giant, folks.
6.Mean Gene interviews Arn Anderson and Ric Flair after Anderson dominated his opponent. Anderson asks if there was enough air for Vader when he was a child, but apparently there wasn’t. Anderson tells Vader that they are going to dog Vader like he owns them money. Flair chimes in and tells Vader he might just slap him in the face. Vader comes out from the backstage area and confronts them. Vader grabs Flair but Anderson steps in front of Flair. Vader is held back by several jobbers to end the segment.
7.A video promoting the debut of Kurasawa is aired. He is a Japanese wrestler who will strike his opponents and beat them at any means necessary. It looks like a fairly similar gimmick to what Meng has.
8.Booker works on Slater to open the main event and drops him with a clothesline. Ray enters and keeps the control on Buck with a hip toss. Booker nails Buck with a scissors kick for a near fall early on in the contest. Slater drops a knee across Booker’s face to get the upper hand. That offense doesn’t last too long as the champs drop Buck after Ray delivered a back elbow. Booker misses Slater in the corner and crashes to the canvas. The match eventually breaks loose and they are all brawling with the champs getting the better of the challengers with Ray scoop slamming both Slater and Buck. Slater takes his boot off but Sherri grabs it and is knocked off the apron when Booker clotheslines Slater over the top. Col. Robert Parker hits Ray over the back with the boot and Buck delivers an elbow drop to get the three count. I was not expecting the titles to change there! After the match, Col. Parker says that Sherri is going to call him her baby cake. Sherri is flipping out in the ring as the show comes to an end.
Final Thoughts:
It wasn’t a bad show, as they are setting up the feuds for the rest of the summer it looks like. While I’m not all that happy that Vader has turned face, Flair is making it easy to get behind Vader. The Dungeon of Doom angle is silly, but the debut of the Giant gives the group a much needed kick of credibility as Giant isn’t someone Hogan has dominated ever. The tag title switch actually surprised me so I liked that, I thought it came later on. Overall, I’m going to give the show a thumbs up.
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WCW Saturday Night 7/29/1995
World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 7/29/1995
From: Atlanta, GA
Matches:
1.)Randy Savage defeated Tom Burton
2.)Vader defeated Tom Torres
3.)WCW Television Champion The Renegade defeated Jack Steel
4.)WCW United States Champion Sting defeated Scott Stevens
5.)Ric Flair defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.The program starts with Mean Gene introducing a sit down interview with WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan. Hogan says he thinks about Andre the Giant and misses him a lot. Hogan talks about fighting back tears at Andre’s funeral. He felt it was unfair that the fans in Michigan at Mania III weren’t chanting for Andre because he was the best. Hogan had a feeling of fear that made him question himself. He felt that a part of him was buried along with Andre. Uh, Hogan says he can smell and feel Andre. Hogan knows that he can’t run away from the Giant that gave him the Andre shirt. Hogan knew about the rumor that Andre’s son was coming after him or a relative. This promo seems insincere and the idea of Andre’s son coming after Hogan is just awful. Hogan wants a piece of the Dungeon of the Doom and knows at the end of the road he will get his hands on the Giant. Hogan will be wrestling on the Main Event, apparently.
2.Mean Gene conducted an interview with Randy Savage after his squash match. Gene talks to Savage about the man who choked Hogan in the dungeon. Savage says he would be in a state of shock if Hogan were to not show up to the Clash. Savage, Sting and Renegade will be there to watch Hogan’s back.
3.Vader is interviewed by Mean Gene after his easy victory. Vader tells Gene that he hasn’t lost his marbles because he is attempting something that has never been done before, win a handicap match. That’s funny, because Vader has won a crap load of handicap matches in the past two years. He tells Flair and Anderson there is nowhere to run or hide. Vader is begging Flair to not weasel his way out of the match at the Clash.
4.Paul Orndorff cut a promo during Renegade’s match telling us that the WCW Television Championship will be his at the Clash.
5.A video of Col. Robert Parker and Meng meeting Kurasawa is aired. Parker gives Kurasawa a golden spike of sorts.
6.Speaking of Parker he has a confrontation with Sherri Martel back at the arena. Parker insults Sherri and Sherri tells Parker that she will do whatever she can to get a return title match. Sherri tells Parker that she can beat him with one arm tied behind her back. Parker suggests a six man tag match at the Clash. If Sherri can beat Parker then they will get a rematch for the tag titles.
7.The main event this week saw Marcus Alexander Bagwell look to earn the biggest victory of his career against Ric Flair. It’s a rather slow start between the two with Bagwell shoulder blocking Flair after some mat wrestling. Flair cheap shots Bagwell in the corner when the referee stopped Bagwell from using a closed right hand. Bagwell fights back with a series of clotheslines and works on Flair with right hands. Flair stops Bagwell with a big boot in the corner. Flair tosses Bagwell over the top but the referee didn’t see him do it. Arn Anderson attacks Bagwell on the floor while Flair distracted the referee. They both crash to the floor when Flair hits a running cross body. Bagwell counters a pile driver attempt on the floor by hitting a backdrop. Bagwell brings Flair back into the ring with a suplex but only got a two count. Flair flips into the corner and is knocked down on the apron by Bagwell with a clothesline. Bagwell follows up with a superplex but doesn’t go for the cover. Bagwell goes up top but misses a missile dropkick! Flair locks in the figure four and gets the pin as he was getting held by Anderson on the floor. This was a solid television match, actually. After the match, Vader comes down to the ring and Flair drops down to his knee to beg Vader for mercy. Anderson slides into the ring and chop blocks Vader’s leg before hiting the DDT! Vader is beaten down by Flair and Anderson. That’s it for this week.
Final Thoughts:
The whole Hulk Hogan promo was really just funny and was something I couldn’t take seriously. It was just way too phony for my liking. The main event was good this week but there wasn’t anything on here that was all that special or worth viewing. So, I’ll give the show a thumbs in the middle.
Thanks for reading.
