WCW Saturday Night 8/31/1996

World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 8/31/1996
From:

Matches:
1.) The Giant defeated The Renegade
2.) Ice Train defeated Kurasawa
3.) Chris Jericho defeated JL
4.) Rick Steiner fought the Nasty Boys to a no contest in a handicap match
5.) Diamond Dallas Page defeated Billy Kidman
6.) Scott Norton defeated Bobby Walker
7.) The Barbarian & Meng defeated Sgt. Craig Pittman & Cobra
8.) Lord Steven Regal defeated WCW Television Champion Lex Luger to win the title

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Backstage, Mean Gene interviews Jimmy Hart and the Giant. Giant will be wrestling Randy Savage at Fall Brawl in two weeks. Hart says that they will be ready for Savage at the PPV. Gene insults Hart’s outfit saying he should burn it. Giant shares a nursery rhyme about the Macho Man who is crazy and never accused of being lazy. Giant isn’t happy about getting hit with a chair and Savage claiming that Giant let him down. Giant is ready to battle Savage face to face at Fall Brawl.

2.) Backstage, Mean Gene interviews Ice Train and Teddy Long before Train competed in action. Long wants to see Scott Norton get embarrassed at Fall Brawl in two weeks. Long knows that Norton will give up in the submission match at the PPV. Train chimes in and says that it will be on at Fall Brawl. Train is going to break his arm in an arm bar.

3.) Jericho takes JL down to the mat, but JL counters quickly. Jericho arm drags JL to the mat and keeps arm control. Jericho dropkicks JL coming off the ropes. Jericho keeps JL on the mat and gets a modified arm bar submission, but JL rolls through as the show goes to commercial. JL keeps a wrist lock on Jericho, but Jericho counters with a wrist lock of his own. JL takes Jericho down to the mat and gets leg control. Jericho counters with a leg lock, but switches to a headlock. Jericho chops JL against the ropes and misses a clothesline. JL head scissors Jericho to the mat and Jericho slides through to deliver a clothesline for a two count. Jericho hooks JL for a suplex and drives JL down to the mat. Jericho chops JL in the corner, but JL responds with a few strikes of his own. JL dropkicks Jericho in the corner. JL scoop slams Jericho for a two count. JL chops Jericho a few times in the corner, but Jericho delivers a spin kick. Jericho dumps JL to the mat and JL misses a clothesline. Jericho springboards off the ropes to knock JL off the apron to the floor. Jericho connects with a back suplex and signals for the end. Jericho goes to the top rope, but JL dropkicks Jericho off the ropes to the floor. JL hits a crossbody off the top to the floor! Jericho suplexs JL from the apron into the ring, but JL counters with a rollup for a two count. JL hits a spinning elbow and goes to the top rope. JL missile dropkicks Jericho for a near fall. Jericho tosses JL with a fisherman suplex and a springboard moonsault for the win. (**. There were a few clunky spots in the match as they didn’t seem to mesh well in a few different spots, but I enjoyed the action despite that. I wish they’d do something more with JL, though.)

4.) Rick Steiner and Brian Knobbs come down to the ring until Sags attacks Rick from behind. Scott Steiner has been laid out backstage, leaving Rick alone. Nasty Boys double clothesline Rick coming off the ropes. This will be a handicap match. Knobbs misses a splash in the corner and Rick decks both Knobbs and Sags with right hands. Rick slams Sags and tosses Knobbs with a belly-to-belly suplex. Harlem Heat runs down to the ring and attack both the Nasty Boys and Rick Steiner to cause the match to be thrown out. Harlem Heat and Nasty Boys brawl backstage to end the segment.

5.) Backstage, Mean Gene interviews Col. Robert Parker and Sherri. Parker hasn’t slept well all week since the Nasty Boys violently attacked Sherri in Colorado. Parker thinks he might offer a job to the Nasty Boys to be on his farm. Sherri opposes that idea. Parker compares them to being pigs, and they’d fit in on the farm.

6.) Backstage, Mean Gene interviews Diamond Dallas Page following his squash victory. Page is no longer in possession of the ring. Page believes he’s the Battle Bowl champion and doesn’t know where the ring is at. Page recently whipped Chavo Guerrero with a belt on Nitro. Page thought it was his duty to whip Chavo after the cutter. Page considers Chavo to be a zero and walks off.

7.) Backstage, Mean Gene interviews Kevin Sullivan and Jimmy Hart. Hart says that Sullivan has come up with a master plan. Sullivan says people should have listened to him a year and a half ago. Sullivan notes that Gene was the guy who hyped up Hogan when Hogan first got to WCW. Sullivan wonders if Gene is still talking to Hogan with inside information. Sullivan asks if Gene will jump ship if they make a new promotion.

8.) Backstage, Mean Gene interviews Nick Patrick. Patrick says his name has been able to be cleared every time someone has tried to slander his name. Patrick knows where Dusty Rhodes loyalty stands and notes that Gene has a history with the Outsiders longer than he does. Patrick wants to put an end to the lies said about him. He doesn’t has a sports car and lives in the same house. Patrick notes that Gene showed up in a new Mercedes and Gene says that’s a rental car, but Patrick doesn’t believe that.

9.) Regal is annoyed by the fans chanting for USA at the start of the main event. Luger controls Regal with a side headlock to start the match. Luger shoulder blocks Regal and taunts the challenger. Regal staggers to his feet in the corner. Regal controls Luger with a wrist lock, but Luger counters with one of his own. Regal sends Luger into the ropes and tries for a hip toss, but Luger counters with a backslide for a two count. Luger arm drags Regal sending Regal to the floor to regroup. Regal takes Luger down to the mat and gets a two count, but Luger powers his way to his feet. Luger stomps on Regal’s fingers and Regal goes to the corner to try and recover. Luger wants to punch Regal, but Nick Patrick is stopping that from happening. Regal eye rakes Luger in the corner when the referee is out of position and delivers a few strikes to keep control of the contest. Regal taunts the fans by flexing and kicks Luger in the ribs. Regal chokes Luger over the middle rope followed by a kick to the midsection. Regal tries to keep Luger on the mat, but can’t get a three count. Luger boots Regal in the corner a few times followed by a forearm smash. Luger continues with forearms in the corner and a backdrop to the mat. Luger clotheslines Regal and hits a vertical suplex for a two count.

Regal begs off in the corner and eye rakes Luger. Regal misses an elbow and Luger forearms Regal to the floor. Luger axe handles Regal from the apron and rolls Regal into the ring. Wait a minute, the Outsiders attack Luger on the floor while the referee is dealing with Regal! Nash sends Luger into the ring post face first! Outsiders leave the ringside area. Regal pulls Luger into the ring and pins the match and the title! (*1/2. Alright, so the match is not a classic, and it didn’t really help Regal since, for the most part, this match was dominated by Luger until the Outsiders got involved. I was not expecting the Outsiders to get involved, so that was a cool surprise. I’m always going to support Regal winning the gold, and the visual of Regal pinning Luger was pretty cool to see.)

10.) Tony Schiavone interviews the new WCW Television Champion, Lord Steven Regal. Regal tells Schiavone that he told him a few weeks ago that he was making changes, and he did just that tonight. Regal claims he doesn’t know what Schiavone is talking about in regard to interference. Regal is going to do something that no man has ever done before and says he will take the belt all over the world. Regal will travel with the belt and defend it with honor and pride. Regal thinks the fans should be honored to have him as their champion. Regal will return to Japan to defend the title and do whatever it takes to fight for WCW.

Final Thoughts:
I’ll consider this an average episode for Saturday Night, but it is memorable because Regal won a match against Luger in the main event. They had some angle advancements, and I thought it flowed fairly well overall.

Thanks for reading.