WCW Saturday Night 6/14/1997

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 6/14/1997
From:

Matches:
1.) Chris Benoit defeated Bobby Walker
2.) Chris Jericho defeated Johnny Swinger
3.) La Parka defeated Denny Brown
4.) Glacier defeated Hardbody Harrison
5.) Steve McMichael defeated Hector Guerrero
6.) Damien, Silver King & Psychosis defeated Juventud Guerrera, Super Calo & Ultimo Dragon
7.) Buff Bagwell & Scott Norton defeated Power Company
8.) Konnan defeated Joe Gomez
9.) Public Enemy defeated Armstrong Brothers (Steve & Scott)
10.) Dean Malenko defeated WCW United States Champion Jeff Jarrett by disqualification

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Lee Marshall interviews Chris Benoit regarding his rematch with Meng tomorrow night at the Great American Bash. Benoit notes that Meng could have ended his career with the nerve hold at Slamboree. This isn’t about revenge or redemption. Benoit is climbing the mountain and at the top of it is Kevin Sullivan. Benoit is ready and prepared to do whatever he needs to do to reach the top of the mountain.

2.) After La Parka won his enhancement match, Super Calo runs into the ring and confronts Parka. Parka tries to attack Calo from behind and is met with a dropkick sending Parka to the floor. Calo plays to the crowd telling Parka to get back into the ring.

3.) After Glacier was victorious in his enhancement match, Mortis slid into the ring and attacked Glacier with a few strikes. However, Glacier fought back with strikes and attempted a savant kick, but Mortis bailed to the floor instead.

4.) Lee Marshall interviews JJ Dillon who wants to talk to James Vandenberg. Dillon says this is getting tiresome. Dillon considers Glacier’s match with Wrath tomorrow night to be very important. Dillon has good and bad news for Vandenberg. Dillon says that Mortis can be at ringside for the match but Mortis will be handcuffed to one of the ring posts. Vandenberg tells Dillon he will sue him but JJ says he’ll have to do that on Monday.

5.) After Steve McMichael wins his enhancement match, Kevin Greene appears on Saturday Night by sliding into the ring to attack Mongo. Greene atomic drops Mongo followed by a forearm shot to Mongo’s chest. Greene clotheslines Mongo over the top to the floor. Several officials have come out to keep them apart. Greene wants to fight right now, but he’ll have to wait for tomorrow night.

6.) There’s a paid announcement by the NWO with Randy Savage cutting a promo. Savage says the the Bash will be DDP’s demise. Savage spits on DDP and claims that nobody has been better than him. Savage thinks it is all over except for the crying. Savage is the teacher and DDP is the student. Savage spits several times before calling DDP scum.

7.) Dragon and Psychosis kickoff the six man tag match. Dragon hits a twisting crossbody early on for a two count. Dragon follows up with a standing hurricanrana. Calo and Damien are tagged into the match. Damien clotheslines Calo after Calo did a somersault off the middle rope. Damien gets arm dragged out of the corner. Calo continues with a tilt a whirl backbreaker and a suicide dive to the floor! Guerrera and King enter the match as Guerrera clotheslines King. Guerrera trips King to the mat and arm drags King to the floor. Guerrera fakes a dive to the floor. Psychosis dropkicks Guerrera and Guerrera misses a spin kick. Psychosis connects with a front slam. Calo gets tagged in and tries to dropkick Damien as Damien tried the same move. Calo goes to the floor while King misses a splash in the corner. Dragon has a rollup on King, but Psychosis clotheslines Dragon. Guerrera head scissors Psychosis and Calo elbow drops Damien. Calo nearly pins Damien after a slam. King accidentally takes out Damien with a dive on the floor. Calo and Guerrera hit stereo dives to the floor. Dragon and Psychosis remain in the ring where Dragon delivers several kicks to drop Psychosis. Dragon tries for a top rope hurricanrana, but Ono shoves Dragon off. Psychosis hits a top rope leg drop and pins Dragon! (***. I was completely stunned to see Psychosis get a victory over Dragon. Sure, the match doesn’t end all that clean, but it’s a huge win for Psychosis and his partners. I feel like it’s usually the good guys going over in these kinds of matches and I was pleasantly surprised to see a different result.)

8.) After Konnan wins his match, Hugh Morrus comes out and attacks Konnan. Morrus is able to hit the No Laughing Matter two times.

9.) Grunge and Scott start the tag match off with Grunge taking both Armstrongs down to the mat with hip tosses. Rock delivers an axe handle from the middle rope to keep control on Scott. Steve clotheslines Rock from the apron to help Scott get control. Steve legally enters and stomps on Rock. Scott clotheslines Rock after Rock avoided a strike by Steve from the apron. Rock continues to be worked over by the Armstrongs in the corner. Rock counters a suplex by Steve to hit one of his own. Rock trips Steve from the floor and Scott accidentally collides with Steve. Grunge gets the tag and cleans house with clotheslines. Grunge sends Steve into Scott before hitting a back suplex. Rock slides a table into the ring. Rock puts Steve through the table with a senton splash. Well, the table doesn’t break and Rock decides to go to the top rope to hit another senton to barely break the table. Grunge slams Scott through the table and Rock pins Steve. (*1/4. Nobody wants to see Public Enemy compete in a traditional tag match. At least we got the table spot.)

10.) Jarrett and Malenko trade some brief mat wrestling to start the main event. They both attempt their submission moves, but neither man is able to get the hold locked in. Jarrett drop toe holds Malenko and walks over his back. Malenko almost wins with a rollup causing Jarrett to roll to the floor to regroup. Malenko puts an STF on Jarrett for a moment until Jarrett counters with a hammerlock. Malenko takes Jarrett over with a delayed suplex. Jarrett nails Malenko with a clothesline for a near fall. Malenko nearly wins with an inside cradle. Jarrett keeps control delivering a few stomps. Jarrett misses a splash and crotches himself over the middle rope. Malenko punches Jarrett coming off the middle rope. Malenko connects with a heel kick for a near fall. Malenko works over Jarrett with a few right hands in the corner. Jarrett backdrops Malenko out of the corner and goes to the top rope hitting a crossbody, but Malenko rolls through for a two count. Jarrett clotheslines Malenko coming out of the corner. Malenko kicks Jarrett away to avoid the figure four and almost wins with a rollup. Malenko sunset flips Jarrett and avoids a punch. Jarrett almost wins by countering a rollup with one of his own. Malenko drives Jarrett down to the mat with a back suplex.

Malenko goes to the top rope, but Jarrett cuts Malenko off with a few right hands. Jarrett tries for a superplex, but Malenko shoves Jarrett off. Jarrett kicks Malenko and tries for a backslide. Malenko plants Jarrett with a double under hook powerbomb and goes for the Texas Cloverleaf. However, Steve McMichael enters the ring and whacks Malenko over the back with the steel briefcase. Malenko wins by disqualification, but Jarrett retains. (**1/2. The typical interference finish to close the show. The action was solid and I enjoyed what they presented. This is a rather strong main event for Saturday Night, too.)

11.) Lee Marshall interviews Diamond Dallas Page in the ring to close the program. DDP will be wrestling Randy Savage tomorrow night on PPV. DDP grabs the microphone and goes into the crowd. Page tells the fans to backup while he talks in the crowd. Page wonders why he can’t get along with Savage. Page realizes its because he hates Macho Man’s guts. They are too much alike. DDP says the fans don’t buy Page saying he’s going to end Randy’s career. Their second match is going to make their first match look like a picnic at grandmas house. Page notes that the match has no rules with falls counting anywhere. DDP knows the people want that kind of match. DDP thinks that Sting wanted that kind of match, too. DDP says that Savage can’t get the job done on his own and that’s a fact. DDP is doing this for the all the fans, himself and most importantly, for Kimberly. DDP tells Savage to get ready to feel the bang! Kimberly is in the ring and appears to be a little emotional about the situation.

Final Thoughts:
Half the matches had some kind of interference after the match was completed, which is kind of hilarious. Despite that repetitive nature, the show featured a couple of solid matches and I enjoyed the whole show as a result. WCW tends to have strong go-home shows leading into their PPVs.

Thanks for reading.