WCW Saturday Night 5/30/1998

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 5/30/1998
From:

Matches:
1.) Eddie Guerrero defeated Evan Kouragous
2.) Marty Jannetty defeated Lenny Lane
3.) Hugh Morrus defeated Barry Horowitz
4.) Yuji Nagata defeated The Cat
5.) Kidman defeated Bobby Blaze
6.) Saturn defeated Tough Tom
7.) Brian Adams defeated Villano IV
8.) Disco Inferno defeated Johnny Attitude
9.) WCW Cruiserweight Champion Dean Malenko defeated Chavo Guerrero Jr. to retain the title
10.) Chris Benoit defeated Booker T in match three of the Best of 7 series

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Mean Gene interviews Booker T backstage. Gene explains the best of seven series between Booker and Chris Benoit and how the winner will challenge Fit Finley for the WCW Television Championship. They will have their third match tonight. Booker had respect for Benoit prior to this and said that if he knew the belt meant so much he would have just given Benoit the title. Booker is confident he will win the series and defeat Fit Finley for the championship. Booker blames Chris Benoit for him not being the WCW Television Champion.

2.) Cat takes Nagata over with a hip toss and an atomic drop. Cat drops Nagata with a thrust kick before backing Yuji into a corner and hammering away on him. Nagata stops Cat by dropping him throat first across the top rope. Sonny Ono chokes Cat while the referee is distracted. Yuji sends Cat to the floor where Ono kicks Cat, but Cat doesn’t sell it and chases after Ono only for Nagata to make the save. Cat tackles Nagata delivering right hand but runs into a big boot. Yuji takes Cat over with an exploder suplex for a near fall. Cat nearly pins Nagata with a sunset flip. Nagata regains control with a kick to the back of Cat. Cat takes Nagata down and has a leg lock on but can’t get a submission. Nagata tries to lock in an arm lock but Cat counters with a neck breaker. Cat hits another thrust kick and clotheslines Nagata a few times. Cat front slams Yuji followed by a spinning roundhouse kick. Ono gets on the apron to distract allowing Nagata to dropkick the leg of Cat and locks in the Nagata Lock for the win. (*3/4. The non-stop action was appreciated but there wasn’t any kind of structure or story told by the two men.)

3.) Mean Gene interviews Chris Benoit backstage. Benoit says this isn’t about respect but rather about winning and winning the WCW Television Championship. He has never been given anything and has earned everything. Benoit says that Booker cost himself the WCW Television Championship. He suggests that Booker cry to Stevie Ray and not him.

4.) James Vandenberg cuts a promo about Sting and his choices. He wants Sting to think about his sworn enemies recruiting him. He believes that WCW doesn’t care about Sting because he left them down. He says that Sting was supposed to carry WCW on his back but his title reign but was nothing but a disgrace.

5.) Malenko and Chavo trade counters on the mat which saw Chavo get a near fall with a rollup. Chavo scoop slams Malenko but is kicked away by Dean. Eddie Guerrero is telling Chavo to cheat in the match but Chavo isn’t interested. Chavo attempts a tornado DDT but is shoved off. Chavo gets a two count following an inside cradle. Chavo plants Dean with a springboard bulldog for a near fall. Malenko drops Chavo face first to the canvas but Chavo gets a two count with another rollup. Dean gets distracted by the referee and Chavo goes on the attack in the corner with stomps. Chavo decides to slap Malenko but that just pisses off Malenko. Dean hammers away on Chavo and hits a spinning heel kick. Malenko hits a gut buster as we see Chris Jericho with a sign saying he is a conspiracy victim. Malenko locks in the Texas Cloverleaf to win the match. (**. A decent match between these two. I’m not sure how Chavo earned a title shot, but I enjoyed the quick match.) After the match, Chavo tells Eddie to slap him, which stops Eddie in his tracks.

6.) Benoit attacks Booker before the bell with several strikes and stomps in the corner. Booker scoop slams Benoit and Benoit bails to the floor. Benoit works over the arm of Booker upon returning to the ring. Booker drops Benoit with a standing spin kick. Benoit backs Booker into a corner and delivers several shots. Booker runs into a big boot but hits a back breaker twice for a near fall. Booker misses a leaping spoon kick and crotches himself over the top rope before falling to the floor. Benoit takes Booker over with a snap suplex for a two count. Benoit backdrops Booker for another near fall. Benoit ducks a clothesline to hit a back suplex. Benoit signals for a diving headbutt but Booker moves out of the way. Booker avoids the Crossface but Benoit hits a German suplex with a bridge and pins Booker to go 2-1 in the best of seven series. (**1/2. Much better than their match from the other week as it seemed like they wanted to have a fun competitive match to advance their best of seven series.)

Final Thoughts:
There were three feature quality matches on the program making it one of the strongest Saturday Night shows of the year thus far. An easy, enjoyable viewing experience.

Thanks for reading.