Written by: Bob Colling
World Championship Wrestling presents Saturday Night
Date: 3/12/1994
From: Atlanta, GA
Matches:
1.) Brian Pillman defeated Tex Slazenger
2.) Tom Zenk defeated Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker
3.) Ron Simmons defeated Matt Shepard
4.) Jim Steele defeated Brian Armstrong
5.) Johnny B. Badd defeated Tony Zane
6.) WCW Television Champion Lord Steven Regal defeated Bill Seigler
7.) Ricky Steamboat defeated WCW United States Champion Steve Austin by disqualification
8.) Sting defeated Ron Vegas
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Mean Gene interviews WCW World Champion Ric Flair. Flair says he is flattered that Hulk Hogan would take time away from his schedule to be part of the business. He says that Hogan is making movies while he is defending the championship. Flair talks about the Steamboat/Austin match later tonight with the winner meeting him at Spring Stampede.
2.) Mean Gene chats with Col. Robert Parker with a new wrestler named Bunkhouse Buck. Buck, better known as Jimmy Golden in SMW, makes his WCW debut. Buck wants to hit people and will be in action next week.
3.) After Zenk wins his match, Bunkhouse Buck comes into the ring and hits both Zenk and Sgr. Buddy Lee Parker. Buck loads his glove up and knocks Zenk out with a right hand.
4.) WCW World Tag Team Champions the Nasty Boys come out for their squash match. Their opponents are in the ring under hoods. David Penzer even says he doesn’t know who they are. The champs kick the guys and Kevin Sullivan tosses a fireball at Brian Knobbs! It’s the Equalizer and Kevin Sullivan! The Nasty Boys leave the ring in complete fear of them. Kevin Sullivan is the man The Equalizer had stated would be here for him!
5.) Mean Gene interviews Kevin Sullivan and the Equalizer. Equalizer says that Kevin is his big brother and knew that he’d be here. Kevin will take care of someone who didn’t take care of the Equalizer. Kevin slaps Equalizer because he keeps saying his name is Evad instead of Dave. Kevin says they live on mean street and it’s the last house on the street. The Sullivan’s have arrived in WCW.
6.) Mean Gene continues his interviews by chatting with Brian Pillman. Pillman says that it has been tough for Regal to find opponents with his nose up and insulting fans. Pillman is pissed that Regal was welcomed to the US and Regal has the nerve to insult the fans. Brian says that Regal is going to have a crash course of education but Gene cuts him off to go to the ring.
7.) Mean Gene interviews the WCW Television Champion Lord Steven Regal and Sir William after their match. Regal ask where Miami Ohio college is and suggests the kids are paid to go to school there. Regal wants better opponents for the championship but he isn’t impressed. Regal claims he has created 2,002 holds in professional wrestling. Regal declines the challenge by Pillman.
8.) Mean Gene went to the set of Thunder In Paradise to chat with Hulk Hogan about an update on his career. Gene thought he had Hogan, but it was a stunt double. Hulk comes into the picture and says that he had a feeling that Gene would sneak up on him. Bobby Heenan comes over and interrupts the interview. Heenan asks Hogan about some unfinished business in wrestling. Hulk tells Heenan that every person that Heenan has put in his way has failed to beat him. Bobby is talking about wrestling Ric Flair. Hogan has another agenda to deal with and tells Heenan that when he returns to the ring he will go right to the top.
9.) Austin and Steamboat trade shoves in the opening moment of the contest. This is a big match with the winner getting a heavyweight championship match. Austin wrenches on Steamboat’s left arm to gain control of the contest. Ricky nearly wins with a crucifix pin after yanking on Austin’s hair. Steamboat controls Austin with a headlock on the canvas for quite some time. Austin rolls through a cross body and nearly wins. Steamboat hits a few arm drags but Austin works over Ricky in the corner and delivers a few strikes. Steamboat atomic drops Austin and takes Austin over with a side headlock. Austin regains control with strikes and head butts in the corner before locking in an abdominal stretch. Austin plants Steamboat with a spine buster and keeps control of the contest. Austin clotheslines Steamboat to the floor and Col. Robert Parker gets a cheap shot in. Ricky tries for a top rope chop but Austin hits him in midair for a near fall. Austin has a bear hug on Steamboat but Ricky soon manages to break the hold. Ricky chops Austin a few times and they collide sending Austin over the top to the floor. Ricky has an inside cradle but the referee was distracted by Parker and Ricky only gets a near fall. Steamboat continues with a back suplex for a two count. Steamboat chops Parker on the floor and sunset flips back into the ring. Parker helps Austin hold Steamboat down but the referee kicks Austin away and Ricky nearly wins. Ricky with another rollup for a near fall. Parker enters the ring and the referee calls for the bell. Steamboat wins by DQ. After the match, Ric Flair enters the ring to help Ricky but Steamboat chops him! Flair gets fired up but Steamboat explains the situation. Flair isn’t happy and leaves the ring. (**1/4. The final couple of minutes was pretty good with plenty of close falls, but prior to that it was quite boring and was heavily focused on a headlock. That doesn’t equate to thrilling wrestling.)
10.) Mean Gene chats with Sting after his match. Sting hates Ravishing Rick Rude. Sting notes that Rude thought that Sting wasn’t worthy nor is he the number one contender. Sting feels that he is the number one contender. The longer he has to wait, the more Rude will hurt. Sting is confident he will wrestle Rude at Spring Stampede.
Final Thoughts:
We got the debut of Bunkhouse Buck, and the card for Spring Stampede is already starting to be setup. I wonder what would have happened if Austin won instead of Steamboat. Sure, Flair and Steamboat are more than capable of stellar matches as proven in the past, but a fresh match with a young guy like Austin, would have been neat. It’s kind of interesting that we get a promo from Hogan and I can already see that Flair is going back to his heel roots, just a little bit.
Thanks for reading.