WCW Saturday Night 2/21/1998

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 2/21/1998
From: Palmetto, FL

Matches:
1.) Goldberg defeated Jerry Flynn
2.) Greg Valentine defeated Pat Tanaka
3.) Juventud Guerrera defeated Lenny Lane
4.) Perry Saturn defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr.
5.) Jim Powers defeated Horshu
6.) Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko defeated Mike Enos & Wayne Bloom
7.) Glacier defeated Chris Adams
8.) WCW United States Champion Diamond Dallas Page defeated Sick Boy
9.) WCW World Tag Team Champions Steiner Brothers defeated Steve Regal & Dave Taylor
10.) Ric Flair defeated Curt Hennig by disqualification

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) WCW Cruiserweight Champion Chris Jericho is interviewed about his match with Juventud Guerrera tomorrow night at Superbrawl. Jericho says he has a little bit a problem. Jericho has no doubt that he will be able to beat Guerrera and take the mask. Jericho isn’t sure he wants to take the mask because he has seen Juventud without the mask and he is rather ugly. Jericho says that without his mask, Guerrera will be dishonored without the mask but may think of a stipulation to keep the mask on.

2.) Saturn takes Chavo down with a fireman’s carry slam but his offense isn’t all that long. Perry punches Chavo and follows up with a clothesline to keep control of the contest. Chavo nails Saturn with a kick and a springboard bulldog. Saturn hits a wheelbarrow German suplex. Chavo tries to fight back with right hands but Saturn beats on Guerrero with strikes and a big boot in the corner. Saturn plants Chavo with front suplex. Saturn runs into a big boot in the corner and Chavo attempts the tornado DDT but settles for dropkick. Chavo hits a top rope cross body for a near fall. Chavo gets another two count with a rollup and continues to work over Saturn with an uppercut. Saturn counters a scoop slam with the Rings of Saturn to win the match. (**. A solid little match with Chavo getting some offense and a couple of close falls. Saturn is a believable bad ass and came across like a threat in this match to me.)

3.) WCW United States Champion Diamond Dallas Page is interviewed regarding Chris Benoit at Superbrawl. Page puts over Benoit for being in the best shape of his career. Page tells Gene that he respects Benoit and he wanted this match to prove himself against one of the best in Benoit. Page says they are looking to blow the roof of the Cow Palace tomorrow night.

4.) Following their victory, Benoit and Malenko have to fight off the Flock from a sneak atack. Luckily, they hold their own sending the Flock to the floor and the backstage area.

5.) Booker T is interviewed regarding his match with WCW Television Champion Rick Martel. Booker just lost the belt on Nitro. If Booker wins the title then he will square off against Saturn right afterward. Booker does think that Martel saw Saturn get involved in their match. Booker wants his title back and doesn’t think Martel has what it takes to keep it. Booker is ready to go all night long if that is what it takes to get his WCW Television Championship back.

6.) Glacier bails to the floor to avoid Adams in the opening moments of the contest. Adams takes Glacier over with a belly to belly suplex and hammers away on Glacier. Adams trips Glacier to the canvas but isn’t able to get much offense going. Glacier tries a few kicks but is taken down with a dragon screw leg whip and reaches the ropes to break a leg lock hold. Adams takes Glacier back to the canvas with a leg lock but once again Glacier reaches the bottom rope. Glacier finally gets some offense going with a series of kicks in the corner. Glacier misses a middle rope cross body and Adams battles back with a few clotheslines. Adams gets a two count with a back suplex. Adams gets another two count with a snap power slam. Adams backdrops Glacier and attempts the super kick but Glacier puts the referee in the way. Glacier delivers his version of the super kick and wins the match. (*1/2. Probably the best decision to have Glacier win the match, but with the not so clean finish taking place likely means we will see these guys square off again on television. The final few moments of the match were fun, but otherwise it wasn’t overly appealing.)

7.) Scott and Taylor start the title match with Scott hitting an arm drag. Taylor gets control working over Scott with uppercuts but that is short lived as Scott hits a butterfly slam. Regal and Taylor and sent into each and the challengers bail to the floor. Rick atomic drops Regal a couple of times and gets a near fall after a right hand. Taylor knee lifts Scott from the apron and Regal delivers an uppercut to give the challengers the advantage. Scott continues to be worked over by Regal with several shots and taunts the fans by flexing his lack of muscles. Scott takes Regal over with an overhead belly to belly suplex and here comes Rick to clean house. Rick backdrops Regal and a double hip toss sending Taylor onto Regal. The champs grab Regal to hit the top rope bulldog for the victory. (**. A fine title defense, but nobody could have thought that they would lose the straps one day before a major pay per view. There was some good action, but an obvious outcome here on Saturday Night.)

8.) This is a major main event for Saturday Night, especially in 1998 I’d imagine. Flair and Hennig had a major feud in late 1997. Hennig shoulder blocks Flair but Flair takes Hennig down with a hip toss and controls with a headlock. Flair back elbows Hennig and heads to the top rope but is stopped by Hennig who slams Flair to the canvas. Hennig locks in the figure four but isn’t able to get a submission. Hennig yanks Flair out of the corner and works over Flair’s legs but is stopped with an eye rake. Flair rams Hennig face first into the corner and works over Hennig with strikes in the corner. Flair kicks Hennig’s legs to drop his rival and hits a knee breaker. Flair puts the figure four on Hennig right in the middle of the ring but here comes Vincent to cause the disqualification. After the match, Flair puts the figure four on Vincent quickly. (*. They were just going through the motions here.)

Final Thoughts:
A fairly big show with Superbrawl the next night and we got a few feature matches to make this an easy watch and added interest to the pay per view.

Thanks for reading.