Written by: Bob Colling
World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 5/30/1992
From: Atlanta, GA
Matches:
1.) Greg Valentine defeated Larry Santo
2.) Cactus Jack defeated Johnny Rich
3.) Arn Anderson defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell
4.) Steve Austin defeated Larry Zbyszko
5.) The Great Muta defeated Brad Armstrong in a best two out of three falls match
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) The special guest host this week is Riiki Rachtman from MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball.
2.) Arn Anderson comes out to be interviewed by Jim Ross and Rachtman. Riki notes that there has been a rumor that Anderson is going to stop being a tag team wrestler and will go for the WCW World Championship. Arn says that is true and is going after Sting and the WCW World Championship. Anderson says his success is because of his unselfishness. His career has suffered because he is a team player. Rachtman asks if Sting’s fan support would be a problem for Anderson. Arn says that Sting has a big fan following and no matter where they were to go Sting would have the advantage. Anderson says they won’t be cheering for Sting if he is laying on his back. Anderson says the only way to beat Sting is to be a wrestler. Anderson says a three legged table is no use to anyone.
3.) Arn tosses Bagwell to the canvas but Marcus quickly gets up and backs Arn into a corner but doesn’t do anything to the veteran. Anderson shoulder blocks Bagwell and taunts Marcus afterward. Anderson attempts a scoop slam but Bagwell lands on top of Arn for a near fall. Arn gets control on Marcus with an arm bar. Arn delivers several knee drops to the arm followed by stomps. Anderson wraps Bagwell’s arm around the ring post and pulls on the arm trying to separate the shoulder. Back in the ring, Marcus fights back with right hands but Arn stops him with a boot and hits an arm breaker. Bagwell hammers away on Arn and goes for a sunset flip but Anderson counters the attempt with a left hand strike. Anderson plants Bagwell with a spine buster and wins the match. (*1/2. An effective way to make Anderson a threat to Sting considering the promo we had gotten prior to the match. Arn dominated the match and needs these type of matches to be seen as a threat to the championship.)
4.) WCW Magazine segment focused on the feud between Cactus Jack and WCW World Champion Sting as they will be squaring off at Beach Blast on June 20th. Footage from Worldwide showed a match between the two men and Jack viciously beating Sting with a steel chair. A fan tried to prevent Jack from using the chair, but Jack got the chair. Jack tells Sting made a big mistake wrestling him in a falls count anywhere match. Jack says that Sting will not be the same person again following their match. He is being allowed to play with all his toys. Sting chimes in and says that he is glad that Jack wanted to get into his face again. Sting would have knocked down Jack’s door to have the match but they will be doing it on pay per view instead. He is going to blast Cactus out of the beach. Sting sure is clever.
5.) Prior to the next match, Dangerously lets Larry Zbyszko know where he stands on the whole situation with Larry Zbyszko. He tells Larry that they tried to think of a solution. Dangerously says there is dissension within the Dangerous Alliance. Dangerously is going to give Larry Zbyszko a chance instead of firing him. Dangerously says that Zbyszko has been the trash as of late and tells Larry to never turn his back to him when he is talking to him. Paul wants Larry to prove himself to them as he wrestles Steve Austin tonight. Zbyszko slaps Dangerously to effectively end his tenure with the group.
6.) Austin quickly attacks Zbyszko as they go to the floor with Austin hammering away on Larry with several right hands sending Larry into the railing. Austin knocks Larry to the floor but Larry pulls Austin to the floor and sends him into the railing to get some momentum as the fans are heavily behind him. Larry rams Austin head first into the turnbuckle but they botch a spot badly as Larry jumped for a hip toss but Austin was going for a clothesline. Austin has control now following a knee lift but Zbyszko gets a full nelson on his former partner. Steve rams Larry into the corner and delivers a series of shoulder rams in the corner. Larry locks in a sleeper hold and they crash to the floor to break the hold. Austin attempts a piledriver but Zbyszko backdrops Austin on the floor! Zbyszko puts Austin in the tree of woe delivering several stomps. Larry follows up with a swinging neck breaker and a back breaker for a near fall. Austin drops Zbyszko with a short arm clothesline for a two count. Austin plants Larry with a vertical suplex for another near fall.
Dangerously is screaming at Zbyszko that he is fired as Austin has a headlock on Zbyszko. Larry kicks Austin to avoid a backdrop and hammers away on Steve with several strikes. Austin sends Zbyszko into the corner and continues to work over his former partner with stomps. Zbyzko kicks Austin to the floor and rams him head first into the apron followed by a series of forearm shots. Zbyszko locks in the abdominal stretch but Dangerously gets involved and is flipped into the ring. Austin attacks Larry from behind. Larry spikes Austin with a piledriver but here comes Bobby Eaton to hit a top rope knee drop. Austin rolls over and pins Zbyszko. (**1/2. There were a few botches, but it was surprisingly an entertaining match between these two guys. There might be hope for Zbyszko in a baby face role after all.)
7.) Armstrong takes Muta down with an arm drag but Muta breaks the hold by getting to the ropes. Muta quickly takes Armstrong over with a backdrop and keeps Armstrong on the canvas. Muta hits a jumping mule kick in the corner to keep advantage of the contest in his favor. Muta shoulder blocks Armstrong and follows up with a leaping knee strike to the head. Muta keeps Armstrong on the mat with a head scissors. Brad gets out of the hold and has a leg lock on Muta but Muta reaches the ropes rather quickly. Armstrong gets a head scissors on Muta, but that doesn’t last too long. Muta gets out and wrenches on the left leg of Armstrong. Muta puts an abdominal stretch on Armstrong looking for a submission but doesn’t get one. Instead, Armstrong counters the hold to put on Muta but isn’t going to get a submission, either. Muta takes Armstrong down to the mat and pulls on the left arm.
Muta continues to work over Armstrong in the corner with several strikes. Muta comes off the ropes to hit a spinning elbow drop and goes back to a leg lock on Armstrong. Muta keeps Armstrong down to his knees with a test of strength. Brad tackles Muta but only gets a near fall. Armstrong shoves Muta into the ropes but Muta takes Armstrong down again with a head scissors on the canvas. Armstrong has an STF on Muta but again Muta reaches the bottom rope. Muta goes to the floor to stall for a little while. Muta is on the apron and shakes hands with Armstrong. Muta kicks Armstrong in the midsection and an overhand chop. Muta hits a side suplex for a two count. Muta tries to keep Armstrong on the canvas but isn’t able to keep him down for a pin.
Armstrong tries to block a backslide but Muta gets a near fall. Armstrong gains control with a headlock and shoulder blocks Muta before going back with a headlock. Muta drives Armstrong’s left knee into the canvas. Brad fights back out of the corner with a few strikes and heads to the top rope to hit a cross body but only gets a near fall. Armstrong hits a second top rope cross body for a near fall. Muta gets Armstrong on an inside cradle to win the first fall and go up 1-0.
Brad starts the second fall with a wrist lock on Muta for the early advantage. Muta delivers a spinning kick to the midsection and snap mares Armstrong followed by a leg drop for a two count. Muta takes Armstrong over with a vertical suplex but only gets a two count on the cover attempt. Muta backdrops Brad and continues to work over Brad with a kick in the corner. Brad attempts a sunset flip and nearly gets a three count on the cover attempt. Armstrong gets another two count with an inside cradle. Brad head butts Muta and they begin to trade strikes. Muta chops Armstrong to the canvas. Armstrong chops Muta but is dropped by a head butt. Brad tries to pull himself up on the apron but is kicked again by Muta. Muta sends Armstrong to the floor following a kick. Muta nearly wins with an abdominal stretch rollup as Brad barely gets his shoulders up in the hold. Muta avoids a splash in the corner and hits a handspring elbow in the corner. Muta hits a backbreaker and Muta hits a moonsault to win the second fall and match 2-0. (**. Nearly a thirty minute match but it was not a good match for the time given. A lot of the offense was rest hold oriented and there wasn’t much explosive offense. I was hoping for a better match with a lot more action, but that failed to happen. It’s rather rare to see a guy lose two falls to nothing, so it proves how low Armstrong is on the pecking order, it would appear.)
Final Thoughts:
Austin/Zbyszko was the best match of the night, which was a surprise to me honestly. I could buy into Anderson as credible main event threat to Sting and the title, but they need to continue to build him up with convincing wins since he was largely a mid card role player in every group he had ever been in. Sting feuding with Cactus Jack is a fine “keep me busy” feud for the champion since Vader is really the top contender for the belt at the moment. It wasn’t an awful program, but it was kind of disappointing largely due to the main event.
Thanks for reading.