WCW Saturday Night 1/4/1997

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 1/4/1997
From: Birmingham, AL

Matches:
1.) Chris Jericho defeated Jim Richland
2.) Arn Anderson defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr.
3.) WCW United States Champion Eddie Guerrero fought Dean Malenko to a double count-out
4.) Masahiro Chono defeated Mark Starr
5.) Big Bubba defeated JL
6.) Public Enemy defeated Armstrong Brothers
7.) Lex Luger defeated Mike Enos
8.) WCW Television Champion Lord Steven Regal fought Ice Train to a time-limit draw

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Lee Marshall interviews Chris Jericho backstage after his squash win. Jericho talks about wrestling Masahiro Chono at Souled Out. Jericho says that everyone forgets that he beat Nick Patrick, as if that is something to brag about. He knows what it takes to beat a New World Order member, because he beat Nick Patrick. What a goof.

2.) Lee Marshall also interviews Arn Anderson. Anderson doesn’t know what Chris Benoit needs in order to beat Jeff Jarrett. Anderson says they have to pull this together because Ric Flair is out with injury. Arn is blaming Woman for their issues. Arn says that Jeff Jarrett needs his vote to get into the Four Horsemen. Flair doesn’t have a vote because he is out and his vote counts.

3.) Guerrero and Malenko start with some mat wrestling based offense with neither man getting a clear cut advantage. Malenko scoop slams Guerrero but gets stopped by an elbow only to hit a quick power bomb on Eddie. Malenko hits a side suplex and works on the left leg trying to get force a submission but isn’t successful. Malenko follows up with a leg lariat but only gets a two count. Guerrero fights back with a back suplex and they trade strikes in the corner. Malenko plants Guerrero with a double leg slam and goes for the Texas Cloverleaf but Eddie counters with an inside cradle for a near fall. Guerrero spikes Dean with a brain buster. Guerrero heads to the top rope but Malenko cuts him off and hits a superplex! Guerrero and Malenko fall over the top after a hurricanrana attempt by Guerrero. They crashed to the floor and neither man can get back into the ring. (**1/2. The finish is understandable but there was some solid action by the guys which is usually the case anyway.)

4.) Train locks up with Regal and drops Regal to his knees early on. Train drops Regal with a shoulder block and taunts the champion. Regal gets control after several uppercuts and strikes. Train hip tosses Regal but the champ goes to the corner to prevent any other offense. Train stomps on Regal’s fingers and Regal bails to the outside where he stalks after Teddy Long. Train comes up from behind and sends Regal back into the ring. Train nearly wins after a rollup after countering an uppercut. Regal takes Train down and puts a STF on but Train gets up. Regal strikes Train a few times and continues to grind away on the challenger. Regal drops Train with a clothesline but only gets a near fall. Train trips Regal kind of awkwardly and delivers a few clotheslines. Train runs into a knee but manages to backdrop Regal followed by a vertical suplex for a near fall. Train hits a big splash but the bell sounds and the time limit has expired. (*. At least they didn’t continually tell us how much time was left in the match to give away the draw. Train is very green and just isn’t a credible challenger to beat Regal for the strap. Same old routine that Regal has been doing with the TV title on and off for three years now.)

Final Thoughts:
Not much going on this edition of Saturday Night as we got a decent Guerrero/Malenko match but everything else was forgettable and not worth viewing.

Thanks for reading.