WCW Saturday Night 4/30/1994

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 4/30/1994
From: Atlanta, GA

Matches:
1.) WCW International World Champion Sting defeated Bobby Starr
2.) Brian Pillman defeated The Gambler
3.) Ricky Steamboat defeated Rick Fargo
4.) Vader defeated Maxx Payne

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Maxx Payne shared some pre-tape comments saying he is going avenge Cactus Jack when he squares off Vader in the main event tonight.

2.) Nick Bockwinkel says the title was awarded to Ric Flair because Ricky Steamboat did not conclusively defeat Flair at Spring Stampede. Bockwinkel says there is talk to vacate the WCW World Championship. Ric Flair comes over and says he won the main event at Spring Stampede. Flair gives Bockwinkel the belt and Ricky Steamboat comes over to says that Flair is handing the belt over because of his ego. Flair tells Steamboat if he wants to settle it then they should do that on Saturday Night. Steamboat says he has beaten Flair three out of four times to end the segment.

3.) WCW International World Champion Sting is interviewed following his squash match. Sting lets out a “Woo” for the fans and says that Rick Rude shouldn’t be blaming Vader for his title loss. Sting knows he had Rude hooked in the Scorpion Death Lock to win the title. Sting is ready for any challenger and is heading to Japan to defend the championship against the best they have to offer as well.

4.) Col. Robert Parker is interviewed with briefcase in hand. Parker talks about how Steve Austin took care of Great Muta at Spring Stampede. Parker says WCW is forcing Austin to put the WCW United States Championship against Dustin Rhodes next week. Parker again declines the bull rope match for Bunkhouse Buck to end the segment.

5.) WCW Television Champion Lord Steven Regal is interviewed and he reminds us that he wants Larry Zbyszko to apologize to him. Larry Zbyszko makes his way out to confront Regal. Zbyszko is here only because Mean Gene requested him. He says he doesn’t often apologize and when he does it is to the wife, however he is not doing that for Lord Steven Regal. Zbyszko is no longer going to interview Regal. Zbyszko decks Sir William and rips Regal’s shirt off to end the segment!

6.) A couple of Guardian Angels come over to Mean Gene and say they want to talk to Ray Traylor but Gene says he won’t see Traylor around for a period of time. Gene hears in his ear that Traylor is actually here and he comes out to meet the Guardian Angels. They offer Traylor to become a member of the Guardian Angels. Traylor puts the hat on and he accepts their offer to be part of the group. This was done due to a WWF lawsuit over the usage of the Boss name.

7.) Nick Bockwinkel has an announcement regarding the WCW World Championship. Bockwinkel says that in two weeks there will be a title match between Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat as the belt has been held up.

8.) Sensational Sherri is interviewed about her desire for the WCW World Championship. Sherri asks if there is anything in the dressing that she hasn’t seen before. Sherri wants to know where the man is that would stand up to her. As soon as she finds him Gene will be the first person to know.

9.) Vader works over Payne in the corner with several strikes beating Payne down to the canvas. Payne clubs away on Vader with strikes in the corner until Vader drops him with a short arm clothesline. Vader continues with another clothesline and taunts the fans. Vader delivers a few head butts but Payne battles back with right hands. Payne sets up for a snap suplex and hits it! Vader gets up and drops Payne with a quick clothesline. Vader comes off the ropes to deliver a running body strike to maintain control and hits another clothesline. Vader goes to the middle rope but is slammed down by Payne! Payne hits a big splash but only gets a near fall. Payne leaps off the middle rope but misses another splash. Vader hits a side slam and comes off the middle rope with a splash and hits a second one. Vader isn’t done as he heads to the top rope to hit a big splash for the victory. (**1/2. Well, that exceeded my expectations on how much I was going to enjoy that. Payne didn’t have a lot of offense, but what he had was fine and Vader is always entertaining to me.) After the match, Rick Rude enters the ring and whacks Vader with a steel chair! The fans really liked that.

10.) Rick Rude is interviewed to end the program as Rude says that we just witnessed instant karma. Rude says the Rude Collection Agency is coming at Slamboree to get his hands on Vader.

Final Thoughts:
A quick hour program this week as we get some progression between Flair and Steamboat. I’m looking forward to their rematch in two weeks. Rude seems to have some promise as a baby face in WCW as Vader is a great choice to have him feud with to make that transition.

Thanks for reading.