WCW Saturday Night 6/18/1994

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 6/18/1994
From: Atlanta, GA

Matches:
1.) WCW United States Champion Steve Austin defeated Barry Houston
2.) WCW Television Champion Larry Zbyszko defeated Mike Thor
3.) Arn Anderson defeated Joe Payne
4.) Dustin Rhodes defeated Booker T

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Five days away from Clash of the Champions, so be prepared for a lot of Clash hype!

2.) Hulk Hogan is interviewed from Orlando, FL, which was taped probably several days ago. Hogan still rules and will take on WCW by storm. Hogan grabbed Ted Turner by the arms and demanded a shot against WCW World Champion Ric Flair. I don’t know how many times we must be reminded that Hogan wants a piece of Flair. Hogan says he’ll be at the Clash looking for Flair and he wants to know if he can beat Flair one on one.

3.) WCW United States Champion Steve Austin, Col. Robert Parker and Meng are interviewed after the squash victory. Parker says that Bunkhouse Buck and Terry Funk are going to be the greatest team ever assembled. Of course, Meng doesn’t say a word. Austin has a match with Johnny B. Badd at Clash, which Austin doesn’t think Johnny deserves. They show footage from last week where Austin got knocked out and Austin gets upset about showing it.

4.) Another hype video promoting Ray Traylor transforming and being sworn in to be a Guardian Angel. He’ll make his debut at the Clash of the Champions event in five days.

5.) WCW Television Champion Larry Zbyszko is interviewed following his squash victory. Zbyszko has kept one American secret from Lord Steven Regal prior to their match at the Clash. Larry says he can get in the ring with Regal and do anything he wants to Regal as long as Regal is legally insane. Uh, okay? Larry tells Regal to give it his best shot otherwise he is out of here.

6.) Booker T was still being called Kole, but since everyone knows him as Booker T, let’s just pretend he’s Booker T since he will by the end of the year, anyway. Booker starts off backing Dustin into a corner and slapping him but backs off quickly. Booker controls the left arm of Dustin with a wrist lock. Rhodes counters with a rollup for a two count and a couple of arm drags before controlling the left arm of Booker. Booker shoulder blocks Dustin but is soon met by Dustin with a bad looking dropkick, which was more like his knees. Rhodes goes back to the arm to keep Booker on the mat. Dustin takes Booker down with a drop toe hold and decides to wrench on the arm. Booker nails Rhodes with a right hand and misses a splash in the corner. Dustin pummels Booker with five punches in the corner. Booker counters the running bulldog with a back suplex! Booker drops a knee and taunts the fans managing a two count. Dustin fights out of a headlock with right hands on Booker. Booker blocks a backdrop attempt by clubbing Rhodes over the back. Booker nails Dustin with a scissors kick! Dustin nearly pins Booker with a rollup. Booker decks Dustin with a clothesline before heading to the middle rope where he misses a leg drop. Dustin hammers away on Booker followed by an elbow strike. Stevie Ray has come out to the apron and collides with Booker allowing Dustin to hit the bulldog and gets the three count. (**. There were a few solid spots and Booker got far more offense than I was expecting. Obviously not an amazing main event, but it was solid for what it was.) After the match, Stevie and Booker double team Dustin until Arn Anderson runs into the ring and makes the save for Dustin. I’d guess that Arn accepts being an ally to Dustin, right?

7.) Mean Gene interviews Dustin Rhodes and Arn Anderson. Dustin says ever since he’s been in WCW nobody wants to take him on one on one in WCW. So, he has gone and got somebody who enforces in the ring. Dustin asks Arn to take care of Bunkhouse Buck and Terry Funk. Anderson says he was glad to be here for Dustin tonight. Anderson promises to let Dustin know his answer at the Clash on June 23rd.

8.) WCW World Champion Ric Flair is interviewed to end the program. Flair talks about the unification match against Sting, which will be the biggest match in company history. Flair says if Sting doesn’t beat him, then he can’t go to Hollywood and claim to be the champion. Flair knows he is the champ and knows how to stay the champ, too. That’s phase one. As for phase two, he says that Hogan trying to be the biggest deal in WCW makes him sick to his stomach. Flair says that Hogan has a long way to go before claiming to be on his level. Flair tells Hogan that if he beats Sting at the Clash then he will find Hogan in the building and he’ll make Hogan say that Flair is the best.

Final Thoughts:
Some fine hype for the Clash, a decent feature match and a good promo by Flair that highlighted his feud with Sting and his upcoming feud with Hogan. I thought it was a fine episode this week.

Thanks for reading.