WCW Pro 3/30/1997

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Pro
Date: 3/30/1997
From: Orlando, FL

Matches:
1.) Glacier defeated Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker
2.) Hugh Morrus defeated Jerry Flynn
3.) Ice Train defeated Bunkhouse Buck
4.) WCW United States Champion Dean Malenko fought Lord Steven Regal to a time limit draw

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Train tosses Buck down to the mat early on and plays to the crowd. Train breaks free from a full nelson and puts one on Buck until Buck reaches the ropes. Buck misses a clothesline and Train runs over Buck with a running body splash. Train plants Buck with a powerslam. Train misses a splash in the corner and Buck gets a few shots in. Buck drops Train with a big boot. Buck continues with a standing dropkick. Buck jabs Train, but Train gets a second wind and hammers away on Buck. Train hip tosses Buck followed by a big splash for the win. (*. It was a simple match, but I thought Train looked solid in there, really. Usually, Train is a little sloppy, but he looked good in there this time around.)

2.) Regal arm drags Malenko a couple of times, but Malenko keeps Regal on the mat with a head scissors. Regal breaks free and misses a kick. They have a standoff after Malenko missed an elbow drop attempt. Malenko leg sweeps Regal to the mat and keeps leg control. Regal takes Malenko down to the mat looking for a submission, but Malenko isn’t going to give in. Regal palm strikes Malenko followed by an uppercut. Regal boot scrapes Malenko a few times. Malenko fights out of the corner with strikes and rams Regal face first into the corner. Regal keeps Malenko on the mat with a front face lock. Regal uses the ropes for extra leverage. The referee finally sees Regal cheating and forces the hold to be broken. Regal delivers a double knee strike. Regal seems to catch Malenko with a low blow. Malenko tries for a sunset flip and gets a two count. Regal regains control to keep a headlock on Malenko, but fails to get a submission.

Malenko elbows Regal in the corner a few times and hits a clothesline in the corner. Regal tries for a rollup, but Malenko kicks out at two. Malenko counters an uppercut for a two count. Regal kicks Malenko in the chest and hits a double under hook slam for a near fall. Malenko gets a backslide on Regal for a two count. The bell sounds and that means the match has ended in a draw. (*1/2. They went with a mostly mat based match aside from the last few moments of the match. So, for a ten minute match or so it was a little slow and not overly enjoyable.)

Final Thoughts:
While Regal/Malenko is a strong matchup on paper, it didn’t deliver all that much excitement this time around. At least we got the moonsault from Morrus, I guess.

Thanks for reading.