WCW Saturday Night 7/4/1998

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 7/4/1998
From: Saginaw, MI

Matches:
1.) Scott Putski defeated Barry Horowitz
2.) Vincent defeated Buddy Lee Parker
3.) Psicosis defeated Evan Karagias
4.) Fit Finlay defeated Norman Smiley
5.) Disco Inferno defeated John Paul

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) As expected, there is a lot of promotion for the Hogan vs. Goldberg match on Nitro in just two days.

2.) Vincent had to cheat in order to win his match by having his feet on the ropes with the cobra clutch locked in. I feel bad for Parker, who must be seen as not having much value in the company to be losing to Vincent.

3.) A video of Raven is shown where Raven says he ran away from a broken home and felt pain from his father when he’d come home after a bad day of work. Raven says sometimes you have to be cruel.

4.) Psicosis misses a dive into the corner and is met with chops by Karagias. Psicosis fights back with a clothesline to knock Karagias to the mat for a two count. Psicosis chops Karagias against the ropes, but Karagias plants Psicosis with a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Karagias hit a springboard crossbody for a two count. Psicosis misses a running knee strike in the corner and crashes to the floor. Karagias dives onto Psicosis with a crossbody to the floor! Karagias tries for another crossbody off the top in the ring, but Psicosis delivers a dropkick in midair. Karagias backdrops Psicosis leading to another near fall. Psicosis spikes Karagias with a front suplex and signals for the end. Psicosis leaps off the top to win the match following a leg drop. (*1/2. Karagias appears to only know one big move off the ropes, but it at least added some brief enjoyment to the match. There wasn’t much doubt here, but it’s always great to see Psicosis get a win.)

5.) Early on, Finlay goes to the ropes to break Smiley’s attempted offense. Finlay gets control with a nerve hold and a strike to Smiley’s chest. Finlay drops Smiley with an uppercut and drives Smiley chest first over the apron. Finlay beats on Smiley with an elbow strike but Smiley hip tosses and dropkicks Finlay to the floor. Finlay wants to shake hands and tries to convince the crowd to stay quiet, but that doesn’t work. Finlay cheap shots Smiley with a boot to the midsection and delivers an uppercut. Finlay misses a spear in the corner and hits the post. Smiley almost wins with a rollup. Finlay nails Smiley with a forearm and spikes Smiley with a tombstone piledriver for the win. (1/2*. You’d be disappointed in this thinking we’d see a wrestling match. This was instead just some basic stalling before Finlay won with his finisher. Finlay does fit well in the midcard division, though.)

Final Thoughts:
This is the definition of a skippable episode.

Thanks for reading.