World Championship Wrestling presents Pro
Date: 3/9/1996
From: Orlando, FL
Matches:
1.) VK Wallstreet defeated Sgt. Craig Pittman
2.) Kurasawa defeated Scotty Boone
3.) Road Warriors defeated Pat Tanaka & The Gambler
4.) Jim Duggan defeated Big Bubba by disqualification
5.) Sting defeated The Barbarian
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Cruise, Dusty and Zbyszko hype up footage from the previous weekends Saturday Night where WCW World Champion Ric Flair defended against Sting, but the TV time ran out. They are going to show the footage today and they tease that Sting could be the new champion. Since there wasn’t a Nitro on March 4th, they were able to pull this off.
2.) On last weekends Saturday Night, Pittman decked Wallstreet to allow Duggan to win their match. Thus, they meet today on WCW Pro.
3.) Wallstreet goes to the ropes to break a lockup and the fans already hate him for that. Pittman knocks Wallstreet off his feet coming off the ropes. Pittman shoulder blocks Wallstreet, but Wallstreet comes back with a knee lift and right hands in the corner. Pittman hip tosses Wallstreet followed by a scoop slam. Pittman keeps a headlock on Wallstreet, but doesn’t get a submission. Wallstreet breaks free with a back suplex. Wallstreet stomps on Pittman followed by a few strikes. Pittman rams Wallstreet into the corner a few times. Pittman nails Wallstreet with a headbutt to the midsection. Big Bubba comes out and nails Pittman with a right hand. Wallstreet recovers and pins Pittman for the win. (*. Well, at least there is some kind angle to justify these matches. I’m assuming we’re going to get a tag match between the four guys involved in the issues.)
4.) Bubba hammers away on Duggan against the ropes. Duggan clotheslines Bubba a few times. Duggan knocks Bubba to the floor and plays to the crowd. Duggan prevents Bubba from grabbing his 2×4 and punches Bubba several times. Duggan drops Bubba to the mat for a near fall. Duggan tries for a backdrop, but Bubba kicks Duggan. Bubba splashes Duggan over the middle rope. They trade several right hands with Duggan staggering Bubba. Duggan scoop slams Bubba to the mat and plays to the crowd. Duggan waits in the corner hitting a running clothesline, but Wallstreet slides into the ring and causes a disqualification. After the match, Duggan tries to fight them both off, but is double teamed. Sgt. Craig Pittman runs into the ring and makes the save. (*. As expected, it’s just a segment to clearly setup an eventual tag match.)
5.) We see the final few minutes of the Sting/Flair match and the finish is quite bizarre. Lex Luger came out and hit Flair with a forearm drop as Sting was countering the figure four to cause a disqualification. As you might expect, Sting wasn’t thrilled with that decision by Luger.
6.) Barbarian works over Sting with a few strikes, but misses a clothesline and Sting hits a crossbody for a two count. Sting clotheslines Barbarian over the top to the floor. Barbarian returns to the ring and kicks Sting in the midsection. Barbarian has Sting in a powerbomb position, but rams Sting gut first into the corner. Barbarian sends Sting hard into the corner to keep control of the contest. Barbarian press slams Sting to the mat. Barbarian clubs over Sting’s back several times in the corner. Barbarian chokes Sting in the corner. Barbarian jabs Sting in the midsection. Barbarian powerbombs Sting to the mat and taunts the crowd. Barbarian heads to the top rope missing a diving headbutt. Sting comes off the ropes and splashes Barbarian, but looked like he was supposed to miss. Sting misses a dropkick as Barbarian held onto the ropes. Barbarian delivers an elbow drop coming off the ropes and manages a two count. Barbarian chops Sting and sits on the top turnbuckle. Barbarian leaps off missing a diving headutt, again. Sting locks in the Scorpion Death Lock and wins the match. (*. There were a few sloppy moments and mistimed spots by these two. So, that was a bit of a disappointment for a Sting match on WCW Pro.)
Final Thoughts:
A Sting match can usually lead to a solid match on these C-level shows, but that was not the case this week at all. This was a subpar episode of WCW Pro.
Thanks for reading.