Written by: Bob Colling
World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 5/25/1996
From:
Matches:
1.) Steiner Brothers defeated American Males
2.) The Booty Man defeated The Gambler
3.) Harlem Heat defeated Men At Work
4.) WCW Tag Team Champion Sting defeated Lord Steven Regal
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Tony Schiavone announces that Randy Savage has been suspended from WCW events and thus will not wrestle the Barbarian tonight as it had been advertised.
2.) Riggs and Scott kickoff the tag match with Riggs getting elbowed and shoulder blocked. Riggs nails Scott with a standing dropkick, but Scott comes back with a double under hook slam leading to Riggs tagging out to Bagwell and Rick tags in, as well. Bagwell knee lifts Rick followed by a few strikes. Bagwell hooks Rick for a suplex, but Rick blocks it. Bagwell ducks a clothesline to dropkick Rick. Bagwell monkey flips Rick and connects with a clothesline. Bagwell heads to the top rope hitting a splash for a one count. Bagwell heads to the top rope, but Rick hits an overhead suplex and a running forearm strike and elbow drop. Scott tags in and rams Bagwell into the corner with a powerslam. Scott runs into a big boot in the corner and Bagwell tags out to Riggs. Scott is met with a double elbow coming off the ropes, but kicks out on the cover attempt. Scott clotheslines Riggs, but Bagwell clotheslines Scott. Rick enters and clotheslines Bagwell. Scott takes Riggs over with a standing frankensteiner for the win. (**. I enjoyed that a little more than I was expecting as the Males held their own for a little while before the expected result. The Steiner’s continue to be the best team in WCW since their return to the company.)
3.) Sting starts off the main event with a test of strength and stomps on Regal’s hands. Sting scares Regal by screaming in his face as Regal backs into a corner for a moment. Regal gets frustrated by Sting taunting him and gets control with a headlock. Sting almost wins with a rollup, but Regal eye rakes Sting to maintain control. Regal clubs Sting over the back a few times followed by an uppercut and strikes in the corner. Regal knee strikes Sting in the corner followed by a hip toss and a knee drop. Regal taunts the fans by showcasing his muscles. Sting almost wins with an inside cradle, but Regal takes Sting down to the mat. Sting rolls through and clotheslines Regal followed by a backdrop. Sting dropkicks Regal coming out of the corner and tries for the Scorpion Death Lock, but Regal counters only for Sting to counter with an inside cradle to win the match. (*1/2. I was excited to see that the show had nearly fifteen minutes left and I was thinking this would get a longer format of a match, but that was not the case. It was okay for what it was. Regal didn’t lose in a dominating fashion, so that’s a positive to takeaway from the match.)
4.) Well, the Barbarian makes his way out for a “standby” match according to Tony Schiavone. During Barbarian’s entrance, Randy Savage comes through the crowd and is in the ring ready for a match. That’s not going to be happening since he’s suspended. Mean Gene gets in the ring to interview Savage. WCW official Chip Berman is there to confront Savage. Chip tells Savage that his behavior was way overboard at Slamboree and thus suspended. Savage slaps Chip and delivers a right hand. Savage leaps off the top hitting an elbow drop on poor Chip! Savage escapes through the crowd to avoid being arrested. Chip looks like he’s knocked out.
Final Thoughts:
There was a decent tag and an enjoyable final segment with Savage going nuts. That made this a worthwhile episode of Saturday Night.
Thanks for reading.