World Championship Wrestling presents Pro
Date: 4/20/1996
From: Orlando, FL
Matches:
1.) American Males defeated Meng & Barbarian by disqualification
2.) Bobby Walker defeated Pat Tanaka
3.) Kevin Sullivan, One Man Gang & Hugh Morrus defeated Johnny Boone & Two Unknowns
4.) Belfast Bruiser defeated Dave Taylor
5.) WCW Television Champion Lex Luger defeated Kurasawa to retain the title
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Bagwell and Barbarian kickoff the tag match with Barbarian working over Bagwell with chops. Bagwell ducks a clothesline and tries for a crossbody, but Riggs dropkicks Bagwell on top for a two count. Bagwell yanks down on Barbarian’s arm and Riggs delivers a strike off the top rope. Barbarian eye rakes Riggs, but Riggs kicks Meng. Meng sends Riggs through the ropes to the floor. Meng pulls Riggs to the apron and goes for a suplex, but Riggs counters and avoids an elbow drop. Bagwell tags into the match and elbow strikes Meng. Bagwell is kicked by Barbarian on the apron and met with a savant kick by Meng. Meng stomps on Bagwell in the corner several times along with Barbarian to keep the advantage. Bagwell ducks a clothesline, but Barbarian delivers one for a two count. Meng enters the match and works over Bagwell with strikes. Barbarian slams Bagwell and they deliver a double headbutt to Bagwell on the mat. Meng keeps wrist control on Bagwell allowing Barbarian to strike Bagwell a couple of times. Barbarian sends Bagwell hard into the corner. Barbarian misses a splash in the corner. Bagwell struggles, but makes the tag to Riggs. Riggs hammers away on Barbarian with right hands followed by a leaping forearm smash for a two count. Bagwell goes after Meng with strikes. Meng kicks Bagwell to prevent a double dropkick. Meng tosses Bagwell over the top to the floor to cause a disqualification. After the match, Riggs is double teamed until Bagwell comes back with a chair. Barbarian kicks Bagwell to avoid that and kicks Riggs to the floor. (*1/2. So the aftermath makes the Males look like dweebs especially with Bagwell failing to make the save with a chair. They were better off just having the Males do the job.)
2.) Walker earns a rare victory with a springboard twisting crossbody to cleanly pin Tanaka. Walker certainly wasn’t smooth with the move, but a win is a win for Walker.
3.) Bruiser backs Taylor into a corner to deliver a forearm strike to the chest. Bruiser takes Taylor down to the mat and gets control on the leg, but Taylor spins Bruiser to the mat to break free. Bruiser flips Taylor to the mat and Taylor backs off. Bruiser trades uppercuts with Taylor and they go for a test of strength. Taylor has Bruiser on his shoulders and delivers a press slam into a gut buster. Taylor uppercuts Bruiser and catapults Bruiser over the top to the floor. Taylor flips Bruiser into the ring from the apron. Bruiser sends Taylor into the corner, and Taylor misses a crossbody attempt off the middle rope. Bruiser nails Taylor with a knee strike to the head. Bruiser spikes Taylor with a tombstone piledriver for the clean win. (**. Some solid action in a short match and a clean finish. That’s what I like to see on WCW Pro.)
4.) Kurasawa controls Luger with a top wrist lock, but is yanked down to the mat. Luger gets a headlock on Kurasawa, but Kurasawa beats on Luger with strikes and chops. Luger collides with a shoulder block, twice. Kurasawa kicks Luger to the mat and Luger bails to the floor to regroup. Luger eye rakes Kurasawa and delivers a few right hands, but Kurasawa chops Luger and keeps control in the corner. Kurasawa yanks down on Luger’s arm and continues to deliver strikes. Luger knee lifts Kurasawa and rubs his eyes over the top rope. Luger kicks Kurasawa in the midsection followed by a knee lift. Kurasawa battles back with strikes against the ropes and slams Luger to the mat for a near fall. Kurasawa delivers another slam, but Luger kicks out at two. Kurasawa tosses Luger with an overhead suplex. Jimmy Hart tosses the megaphone into the ring as the referee is out of position. Luger hits Kurasawa with the megaphone and locks in the Torture Rack to win the match and retain the title. (*. There were a few odd spots, which shouldn’t be all that surprising. It wasn’t too bad, though. Luger shouldn’t be needing to cheat to win though against some of these opponents lately.)
Final Thoughts:
An underwhelming episode of WCW Pro as the show didn’t really have the spotlight on interesting characters. Bruiser/Taylor was decent and I have been enjoying Luger lately.
Thanks for reading.