WCW Pro 5/11/1996

World Championship Wrestling presents Pro
Date: 5/11/1996
From: Orlando, FL

Matches:
1.) American Males defeated Pat Tanaka & Ned Brady
2.) One Man Gang defeated Rick Garcia
3.) Jim Duggan defeated Max Muscle
4.) Cobra defeated The Gambler
5.) Ric Flair defeated Dick Slater

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) There’s another video of Diamond Dallas Page getting into a limo and it drives off. Page has been homeless since losing his millions of dollars in recent months.

2.) Duggan backs Muscle into a corner to start the match, but Muscle delivers a few blows against the ropes to gain the advantage. Duggan clotheslines Muscle to stagger him and a second clothesline doesn’t drop Muscle. A third clothesline knocks Muscle to the floor. Muscle pulls Duggan to the floor where Duggan is sent into the ring post face first. Muscle stomps on Duggan and delivers a strike to the back. Muscle gets a bearhug on Duggan, but doesn’t get a submission. Duggan fights out and shoulder blocks Muscle, but Muscle goes back to the bearhug. Duggan headbutts Muscle, but can’t break free. Duggan doesn’t let his arm drop three times and bites free from the hold. Muscle rams Duggan into the corner face first, but misses a splash. Duggan delivers a running clothesline and wins the match. (1/2*. I was mostly curious to see how Muscle would perform in the ring and this was just a basic singles match with not much happening, as expected.)

3.) Slater takes Flair to the mat with a side headlock for the early advantage. Flair gets to his feet and backs Slater into a corner. Slater jabs Flair a few times and Flair drops to the mat face first. Slater knee strikes Flair in the corner and chokes Flair briefly. Slater delivers a swinging neckbreaker. Slater tries for a Boston Crab, but Flair reaches the ropes quickly. Flair eye rakes Slater to stop the momentum and delivers a strike to the face. Flair jabs Slater several times in the corner. Flair misses a knee drop coming off the ropes. Slater does a spinning toe hold, but Flair kicks Slater off. Flair takes Slater down to the mat and heads to the top rope. Slater stops Flair with a press slam to the mat. Slater drags Flair to the corner and wraps Flair’s right leg around the ring post. Flair begs off and tries to deliver a strike, but is knocked down by a headbutt. Slater puts a figure four on Flair in the middle of the ring. Woman eye rakes Slater while the referee was out of position. Slater gets a sleeper hold on Flair, but doesn’t get a submission as Flair reaches the ropes. Slater punches Flair over the top to the floor. Slater kicks Flair from the apron a couple of times. Flair tries to suplex Slater to the floor, but Slater counters with a suplex into the ring from the apron. Slater blocks a right hand and jabs Flair several times. Slater goes for the figure four, but Flair decks Slater to the mat. Flair nails Slater with brass knuckles and locks in the figure four to win the match by pin as Slater was knocked out. (*1/2. Man, Flair really can’t beat anyone without cheating to win. I just don’t understand how any of this helps Flair in the long run. It was a fine match and they were given plenty of time. These are the kinds of matches that Flair should be winning easily, though.)

Final Thoughts:
A subpar episode this week as I didn’t feel all that entertained by the action. It’s always a quick show, but the quality was lacking this week.

Thanks for reading.