WCW Saturday Night 3/20/1999

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 3/20/1999
From: Toledo, OH

Matches:
1.) Bam-Bam Bigelow defeated Al Greene
2.) Dave Taylor defeated Erik Watts
3.) Kenny Kaos defeated The Disciple
4.) Van Hammer defeated Lodi
5.) Disco Inferno defeated Bobby Blaze
6.) WCW Television Champion Booker T defeated Ernest Miller to retain the title
7.) Blitzkrieg defeated Super Calo
8.) Rick Steiner defeated Norman Smiley
9.) WCW World Tag Team Champions Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko defeated Curt Hennig & Barry Windham by disqualification to retain the titles

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Backstage, Mean Gene chats with Barry Windham and Curt Hennig who will get a rematch from Uncensored. Windham says that he and Hennig won the belts on their own and they haven’t moaned about losing the titles. They are going to get a different outcome tonight. Hennig makes fun of the champs size and suggests they grow up and become men to deal with them tonight.

2.) Booker starts the match taking Miller down with a shoulder block and plays to the crowd. Miller works over Booker with a series of strikes backing the champ against the ropes. Booker ducks a clothesline to deliver a forearm shot and a standing spin kick. Miller regains control with punches in the corner and a standing side kick. Booker quickly fights back with a clothesline in the corner. Booker scoop slams Miller and gets a two count. They go to the floor where Booker gets control on Miller, but Ono distracts Booker to allow Miller to deliver a kick. Back in the ring, Miller drops the champ with a few kicks for a two count. Booker nails Miller with a spin wheel kick. Booker plants Miller with a spine buster and a flapjack. Miller sends Booker to the floor where Ono kicks Booker several times. Booker rolls back in and Ernest goes for the cover but only gets a near fall. Miller super kicks Booker to the corner where Ono begins to choke Booker but Ono is flipped into the ring. Booker backdrops Miller over the top to the floor and sidekicks Ono! Booker demands the referee count a pin on Ono and gets a three count. (**. I’ve always hated those type of finishes. I guess it just allows another match between the two of them. I thought they worked well together and the fans were really into the action. A good TV match for Saturday Night, I’d say.)

3.) Backstage, Mean Gene talks with the WCW Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio Jr. Rey has been motivated to go to the next level since wrestling the bigger guys. The next level being the same level he has always been at. Mysterio offers a rematch to Kidman at anytime that he would want one.

4.) Hennig and Windham go to the floor and attack Benoit and Malenko before the bell. Windham rams Malenko face first into the title belt that was against the ring post. Hennig works over Malenko in the corner while Windham focuses on Benoit with a series of strikes. Malenko nails Windham with a heel kidk and decks Barry with a right hand. Hennig enters and works over Dean with chops in the corner. Malenko fights out of the corner and Benoit tags in to clean house with strikes and a snap suplex on Hennig. Benoit gets a one count following a back breaker. Malenko dropkicks Hennig and gets a near fall. Hennig appears to low blow Malenko and Windham tags in. Barry hits a float over vertical suplex for a near fall. Barry plants Dean with a back suplex but can’t get a three count. Benoit enters and works over Windham with strikes in the corner.

They begin to trade chops in the corner until Benoit drops Barry with an elbow strike. Windham plants Benoit with a DDT. Hennig sends Benoit to the floor where Windham attacks with chops on the floor. Hennig knee lifts Benoit to maintain control in the ring. All four men start to brawl in the ring. Malenko backdrops Windham and attempts a cross body but they don’t fall to the floor so they force it by rolling to the floor. Malenko saves Benoit from the Hennig Plex. Kendal Windham comes out and trips Malenko on a cover attempt. Arn Anderson has a tire iron and enters the ring so the referee calls for the bell and gives the match to the heels by DQ. (*1/2. A basic match between these two teams. The finish was kind of odd, I thought. Clearly, the team of Hennig and Windham aren’t going to be a priority so they should have just lost the rematch here. Despite the lackluster action the fans enjoyed the match.)

Final Thoughts:
Well, the show could have been a lot worse. A couple of featured matches with the Booker/Miller match being the best of the two despite the lame finish. That seems to be the trend on the show of poor finishes to protect characters they really don’t need to protect. A thumbs down for this episode of WCW Saturday Night.

Thanks for reading.