Written by: Bob Colling
World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 8/1/1992
From: Atlanta, GA
Matches:
1.) Brian Pillman defeated Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker
2.) Tom Zenk & Marcus Alexander Bagwell defeated Scotty Flamingo & Terrence Taylor
3.) The Barbarian defeated Chad Bird
4.) WCW/NWA World Tag Team Champion Steve Williams defeated Jimmy Garvin
5.) Steiner Brothers defeated Mike Thor & Danny Deese
6.) Van Hammer defeated John Peterson
7.) WCW World Champion Vader defeated Jim Nash
8.) WCW Television Champion Steve Austin defeated Ricky Steamboat by disqualification to retain the title
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Footage from Worldwide where WCW TV Champion Steve Austin confronted Ricky Steamboat and said he would never get another shot at his belt. Austin thinks that Steamboat was faking a rib injury, so Steamboat takes his shirt off and officials come over to prevent anything from happening.
2.) Brian Pillman is interviewed following his victory. Pillman says he will be right by Sting’s side to win back the WCW World Championship. He is chasing after the WCW Lightweight Championship that Brad Armstrong is currently holding. Pillman is hopeful that he can get a title shot against Armstrong.
3.) Johnny B. Badd comes out and is interviewed by Jim Ross. He is going to be the WCW Lightweight Champion because he is pretty and because he is a “badddddd man”.
4.) WCW US Champion Rick Rude and Nikita Koloff had been fined $5,000 for a recent incident on WCW Worldwide were they brawled backstage. WCW US Champion Rick Rude and Madusa come out to confront Bill Watts. Rude calls Watts a bully in the front office. Rude blames Koloff for fighting him outside the ring. Rude says that Koloff’s blood will be on Watts conscience. Rude says that he is owed a WCW World Championship match no matter who is the champion. Bill Watts suggests that Rude should get some tougher competition.
5.) WCW/NWA World Tag Team Champions Terry Gordy and Steve Williams are interviewed about Vader and the Steiner Brothers. They both want a shot at Vader for the WCW World Championship. Gordy puts themselves over as being the champions and that’s something no other team have ever done. Williams chimes in saying nobody cares about what the Steiner’s have to say and also calls out for Vader.
6.) Terry Gordy and Steve Williams attempted to attack the Steiner Brothers, but that didn’t work out very well for them and they soon bail from the ring leaving the Steiner Brothers standing tall.
7.) Cactus Jack is interviewed by Jim Ross. Cactus thinks he made it possible for Vader to defeat Sting to win the WCW World Championship. Cactus takes credit for the beating at Beach Blast that weakened Sting enough to give Vader the victory. Cactus believes that Vader owes him a WCW World Championship match. Cactus likes the ring to being the WCW World Champion.
8.) Tony Schiavone recently sat down with Ron Simmons for an interview. Schiavone talks about the community service that Simmons does for the young people. Simmons also talks about having his jersey at Florida State retired. His dream in wrestling is to be the WCW World Champion. He knows he’d have to go through Rick Rude and Vader to get his shot. Simmons doesn’t care who has the belt, he wants to be the WCW World Champion.
9.) Nikita Koloff is interviewed regarding the fine he was given. Koloff says that the money isn’t the issue here but rather the WCW US Championship is the issue. He doesn’t are if it’s in the ring or in the parking lot, he wants the belt. Koloff suggests Madusa stay out of his way or suffer the consequences.
10.) Sting comes out and is interviewed by Jim Ross. Sting is ready to kick some butt. That was a quick interview.
11.) Steamboat has his ribs taped up as Austin makes it evident that his focus will be on the ribs after an early swipe at them. Steamboat takes Austin down to the canvas with a front face lock. Austin gets out and tries to stomp the ribs but Steamboat rolls to the apron where Austin flips him back into the ring. Ricky tosses Austin to the floor and continues his offense when Austin returns to the ring. Steamboat controls the arm on the canvas for a few moments. Austin gets out of a pin attempt hitting Ricky on the ribs. Ricky quickly gets control back in his favor with an arm drag. Steamboat clotheslines Austin and continues to work over the arm. Steamboat drops Austin arm first across the top rope but Austin stops Steamboat with a knee to the gut. Ricky battles back with a drop toe hold and goes right back to the arm as the show goes to commercial.
Austin has kept control of the match working over the ribs of Steamboat. Austin continues to work over the ribs with shoulder rams in the corner. Ricky delivers a big boot and attempts an axe handle but Austin hits him on the ribs. Austin knocks Steamboat to the floor following a few more rib shots. Austin sends Steamboat into the apron rib first. Austin rams his knee into Ricky’s ribs on the apron and hits a suplex back into the ring. Steamboat gets out of an abdominal stretch by raking Austin’s eyes. Austin hits a scoop slam to drive Steamboat down to the canvas. Austin with another scoop slam but only gets a two count. Ricky hammers away on Austin with strikes and chops, but is stopped by a forearm shot. Austin controls Steamboat with a body scissors. Austin drives Steamboat down with a back suplex but misses a splash as Ricky got his knees up. Steamboat kicks Austin several times in the midsection. Steamboat drives Austin down with a back breaker for a two count. Austin gets out of a rollup at two. Ricky has a sleeper hold on Austin. Austin rams Steamboat back first into the corner. They collide heads as Austin was running the ropes. Steamboat decks Austin with brass knuckles and gets the win after taking them from Austin! However, the referee sees the knuckles after raising Ricky’s hand and reverses the decision. (***1/2. It’s a slow match, the focus and story on Steamboat’s ribs is appreciated and Steamboat showing a few times that he can cheat was interesting to see. Austin seems to never get a victory over Steamboat, though, which is a bummer.)
12.) Paul E. Dangerously is interviewed regarding a tag team match next week. Dangerously says that Bobby Eaton and Arn Anderson will take on Larry Zbyszko and Brian Pillman. The top rope rule is being waived for the match. Dangerously is confident his men will get the job done.
Final Thoughts:
A fine episode this week with a lot of focus on the WCW World Championship and Vader having a lot of challengers. The main event was fun and enjoyable. They touched on the all the major angles and nothing felt flat, really.
Thanks for reading.