Written by: Bob Colling
World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 5/9/1992
From: Atlanta, GA
Matches:
1.) Tom Zenk defeated Bob Cook
2.) Nikita Koloff defeated Mr. Hughes
3.) Vinnie Vegas defeated An Unknown
4.) The Diamond Studd defeated Rob Campbell
5.) Scotty Flamingo defeated Brad Armstrong
6.) Barry Windham defeated WCW Television Champion Steve Austin in a best two out of three falls match to win the title
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Randy Owen from the band Alabama is the special guest host for the program this week.
2.) We hear from WCW World Champion Sting to open the show briefly where he talked about Vader and his strength. Sting says he has a broken rib thanks to an attack by Vader, but he will be back soon and asks the fans to not give up on him just yet.
3.) WCW United States Champion Rick Rude comes out to be interviewed. Randy Owen asks Rude why he left the WWF. Rude says he was the WWF Intercontinental Champion for a long time and that would make him the number one contender for the WWF World Championship but that never happened. He was being held down and left for bigger and better things. I’m quite surprised they addressed that. Ross asks about the situation with Ricky Steamboat having an affair with Madusa. Rude says that Ricky has been heckling Madusa and bothering her. They are trying to get a restraining order against Steamboat. Rude brings her out to join him and she makes her way out. Rude wants to take some questions from the crowd. A woman asks what she has to do to be the first lady instead of Madusa. Rude tells her he will get with her later. A lady in the crowd says she is having an affair with Ricky Steamboat. Another girl says she is having an affair. The one girl calls her a slut, which gets bleeped. The woman is escorted out of the arena. Rude doesn’t think Steamboat is a family man and apologizes to Mrs. Steamboat for that being revealed on television during his time.
4.) The Steiner Brothers won the WCW World Tag Team Championships from Bobby Eaton and Arn Anderson in Chicago last weekend. The bout took place inside a steel cage and we see a few pictures from the event.
5.) This is the return to action for the Diamond Studd. Studd wouldn’t be around much longer and would show up in the WWF by the end of the summer with a gimmick known as Razor Ramon. That might have been a good career choice for him.
6.) A slow start to the main event as Austin kept Windham on the canvas with a side headlock for a few moments even after Windham hit a back suplex. Windham finally breaks the hold with a second back suplex and decks Austin with a right hand. Windham dropkicks Austin and continues to hammer away on the champion until Austin fights back with a knee lift but misses a couple of elbow drops. Windham backdrops Austin and decks Austin over the top to the floor. Austin snap mares Windham but isn’t able to get control as Windham gets a headlock on Austin instead. Austin backs Barry into the corner to deliver a few strikes but runs into a big boot in the corner. Windham hits a running clothesline and nearly got a three count on the cover attempt. Windham gets a near fall following a snap suplex and keeps control with a sleeper hold. Austin breaks the hold with a jaw breaker and follows up with a short arm clothesline for a two count. Austin has a head scissors on Windham while using the ropes for leverage. The referee sees the unfair advantage to break the hold. Barry plants Austin with a DDT as he is bleeding from the mouth at this point. Austin decks Windham with a right hand to regain control of the match. Windham hits a superplex and gets the three count to go up 1-0 in the match.
Barry hammers away on Austin to start the second fall but Austin cuts Windham off with an overhand strike to the back. Austin knocks Windham over the top to the floor. Austin comes off the apron to drop Windham with a double axe handle. Austin stomps away on Windham and taunts the fans. Austin takes Windham over with a gut wrench suplex for a two count. Austin drives Windham down with a vertical suplex for a two count. Austin puts a camel clutch on Windham while Dangerously taunts Barry from the floor. Windham breaks the hold with a low blow using his head, which isn’t a disqualification apparently. Austin recovers to hit a clothesline and gets a two count on the pin attempt. Austin rams Windham face first into the corner a few times but Barry fights back with a few strikes. Austin hits the Stun Gun and gets a three count on Windham to tie the match at 1-1.
Austin starts the third fall sending Windham to the floor after several right hands. Austin knee lifts Windham off the apron back to the floor. Austin brings Windham into the ring from the apron with a vertical suplex for a near fall. Barry stops Steve with a jaw breaker but misses a dropkick as Austin held onto the ropes. Austin scoop slams Windham and heads to the middle rope to hit an elbow drop, which only gets a near fall. Barry attempts a scoop slam but Austin lands on top and nearly gets a victory. Austin connects with a backdrop but can’t keep Windham down on the canvas on the cover attempt. The referee gets knocked down as Austin slams Barry. Dangerously gives Austin the championship but misses Windham. Windham rolls Austin up and gets a three count to win the title! After the match, Austin nails Windham with the title and continues to beat on Barry hitting the Stun Gun. Austin grabs the championship and leaves the ring still in possession of the belt. (**1/2. A decent match between two talented guys. There were just too many dull moments for this to be any better than it was. The crowd popped pretty loud for Windham winning the title, though.)
Final Thoughts:
WCW is doing very well with the Rude/Steamboat feud thus far. I’m really enjoying it. The main event was alright but didn’t meet the expectations I had going into it. The show was average with nothing being all that bad this week.
Thanks for reading.