WCW Saturday Night 5/16/1998

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 5/16/1998
From:

Matches:
1.) Jim Duggan defeated Roadblock
2.) Marty Jannetty defeated Barry Horowitz
3.) Horace defeated Juventud Guerrera
4.) Jerry Flynn defeated Johnny Swinger
5.) Disco Inferno defeated Len Denton
6.) High Voltage defeated Disorderly Conduct
7.) Kidman defeated Lenny Lane
8.) Saturn defeated Evan Kourageous
9.) WCW United States Champion Goldberg defeated Yuji Nagata to retain the title
10.) WCW Television Champion Fit Finley defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr. to retain the title

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Mean Gene interviews new WCW Television Champion Fit Finlay who says they call him Fit because he is a pure athlete. He is fit to do whatever it takes. He came to this country to attack. He reveals that he allowed Benoit and Booker to go at each other with blinders that way they’d never see him come in and take the belt.

2.) Originally, the main event was supposed to be Fit Finley defending against Eddie Guerrero, but Eddie decided to put Chavo in the match instead. I would have been far more interested in an Eddie/Fit match, but you gotta deal with what you’re given. Oddly enough. Fit is playing the face role for the match.

3.) James Vanderburg cut a promo talking about how JJ Dillion is a horrible executive and is the reason for people getting hurt.

4.) Chavo avoids being rammed into the corner by sending Fit head first into the top turnbuckle but that is short-lived as Finley delivers a clothesline to get the advantage. Fit sends Chavo to the floor sending Chavo back first into the apron. Eddie rolls Chavo into the ring and Fit locks in a bear hug but isn’t able to get a submission. Finley drives Chavo down with a back breaker and lifts Chavo over his shoulder briefly. Chavo plants Finley with a springboard bulldog but only gets a two count. Chavo works over Finley in the corner with strikes but runs into a big boot. Finley hits a rolling fireman’s carry. Finley has Chavo and spikes Chavo with a tombstone piledriver for the win. (*1/2. This would have been a little better had we had any reason to care about Chavo. He doesn’t really get any steam in his character for a couple more months. The main focus here is between Eddie/Chavo and the champion is the background importance.) After the match, Ultimo Dragon comes out to stop Eddie from berating Chavo. Eddie attacks Dragon as soon as he turns his back. Chavo is forced to hold Dragon down and Eddie hits the frog splash from the top. Eddie sends Chavo over the top to the floor.

Final Thoughts:
Certainly wasn’t a great episode by any means, but there was some decent action from the squash matches and the main event was a mildly entertaining affair.

Thanks for reading.