Perspectives of the Common Fan series
WCW Saturday Night Retrospective
October 7, 1995
By Jimmy Eaton, PWTorch contributor

As part of WWE's video library offerings, WWEClassics.com runs a regular WCW Saturday Night series replaying episodes of WCW's weekly Saturday night TV show on TBS. Jimmy Eaton will be reviewing retrospective episodes in chronological order.

***

Episode - October 7, 1995

The show started with a quick shot of Hulk Hogan getting his famous 'stache shaved by The Taskmaster after the Giant attacked him the Monday before. Tony and Dusty open the show and talk about that item as well as a re-match between Dean Malenko and Eddie Guerrero. Techno music hits and Das Wunderkind makes his way to the ring.

1 -- ALEX WRIGHT vs. Jobber #38

Not a bad match with some back and forth action, but Wright gains control. After a spinning heel kick and a Boston Crab, he got the submission victory.

WINNER: Alex Wright via submission in about 3:00. (3/4*) Not too bad, but just incredibly short and not much else going on.

They come back from a commercial and re-visit Ric Flair and Sting from last week. Funny stuff. Wait, is this TNA? No, this is actually 16-years-ago. Arn Anderson and Flyin' Brian then make their way to the ring.

2 -- ARN ANDERSON & FLYIN' BRIAN PILLMAN vs. BUNKHOUSE BUCK & DIRTY DICK SLATER (w/Colonel Robert Parker)

Anderson and Buck start after Anderson attacks him from behind. Some solid tag action here with Anderson taking control and getting the tag to Pillman but Buck makes the quick tag to Slater and they gain control. Some more back and forth with Slater hitting a clothesline on the now-legal Anderson. They double team Anderson but he gets the tag to Pillman. Pillman strikes Slater but they start double-teaming again and he makes the tag to Buck, who locks in an abdominal stretch.

Another tag and it's Slater who locks in the stretch. Buck gets distracted at ringside going after Parker, who was chasing after Sister Sherri, who made her way to the ring earlier dressed in a Western dress. Slater tries to tag but no one is there and Anderson gets the tag and rolls him up from behind for the three count.

WINNERS: Pillman/Anderson via roll-up in about 7:00. Not too bad at all, but I'm curious as to why they had the two heel teams going at it. The focus was trying to establish Pillman/Anderson and advance the Parker-Sherri storyline since she was "scouting" for Harlem Heat. (*1/4)

They throw it over to Mean Gene, who shows footage from Ric Flair going against Arn Anderson where Pillman interfered. He hyped the announcement of Flair-Anderson in a cage this coming Monday. Nice. I remember digging this feud back at this time. Before commercial, Flair cuts a promo in a caged soundstage-setting hyping their match. Tony and Dusty announce Johnny B. Badd against DDP for the TV Title at Halloween Havoc as Renegade makes his way to the ring.

3 -- THE RENEGADE vs. Jobber #9,657

Not worth mentioning, Renegade won in two seconds with a big splash off the top rope. Is anyone really surprised this guy didn't catch on?

WINNER: The Renegade in under a minute by pinfall. Not really much going on here. They didn't talk about him much and he was in and out of the arena like he was getting paid on how quickly he was on TV. (1/4*)

Next, they showed footage from WCW Worldwide where Ric Flair was asking Randy Savage for his help again Anderson/Pillman. Savage played a great hothead who wanted to take Flair's head off regardless. There was a fun exchange based on Flair insulting Savage's dad. Randy said no way it's going to happen... Another hype video aired for Malenko-Guerrero later on tonight.

4 -- MENG (w/The Taskmaster) vs. Jobber #9

Meng dominates to start and even bites his poor opponent's head. Ouch. Meng dominates in the corner and puts the boots to the jobber, followed by a swift kick to the side of the head. He locks in a nerve hold for the knockout win.

WINNER: Meng in about 2:00. Not much here, just building the newly-packaged Meng in the Dungeon of Doom. (1/2*)

They shoot to Mean Gene, who reviews Nitro from the previous Monday. They show Giant dominating Savage, then an interview with Hogan and Mean Gene. As Hogan is leaving the ring, someone throws powder in his eyes. That was Kevin Sullivan, The Taskmaster, in disguise! The Dungeon then takes out Hogan in the center of the ring. Next is a promo with Taskmaster and The Giant. They rip up pictures of Hogan, his friends, and a toy monster truck. Decent promo and Giant carried himself pretty well, especially with his voice.

Next are highlights of the previous Guerrero-Malenko match, where Eddie cheated his way to victory. He wasn't that kind of a lying, cheating, stealing WWE character just yet. Eddie's music hits and they're ready for the re-match on Saturday Night.

5 -- EDDIE GUERRERO vs. DEAN MALENKO

It's hard to keep track during this match, but there was a ton of great technical back and forth wrestling with awesome reversals, counters, and submissions holds. Each guy was superb and there were also spots that took them outside, high-risk maneuvers, etc. Just a flat-out wrestling clinic with a great chain of moves that led to Eddie hitting the Frog splash, but Malenko kicking out.

Malenko ended up winning with a butterfly suplex sit-down pin. A nice part about the match was Alex Wright coming out to watch the match, but no big deal was made. The announcers just mentioned he won his match earlier and was scouting his future opponents. Nice touch, really. But honestly, go to WWEClassics.com and watch this match right now.

WINNER: Malenko in 15:00. Outstanding TV match that was a technical clinic by both men. I don't care what anyone says, Dean Malenko is a Hall of Famer in my book. Plus, I forgot how much I enjoyed his ring entrance music. (***1/2)

6 -- "MR. WONDERFUL" PAUL ORNDORFF vs. CHRIS KANYON

Orndorff goes to work on Kanyon's leg before Kanyon starts hitting some strikes. Orndorff Irish whips him into the ropes and hits a standing spin-suplex, but only for two. He resorts to heel tactics such as eye rakes and pokes. Kanyon, though, goes for a suplex, but it's reversed for a two count. Orndorff hits a clothesline to the outside and then rolls him in, hits the piledriver, and gets the three count.

WINNER: "Mr. Wonderful" in 6:00. Not a bad match. Kanyon didn't come off good and Orndorff always gave a professional effort. (*)

After the match, Sabu's arrival to WCW is hyped with a grainy video presentation. This is followed by another hype video for Arn Anderson in a cage setting up his match with Flair that Monday. They also showed how Hogan's Monster Truck was being built. Oh boy!

They recapped Johnny B. Badd's promo on his flat tires last week where DDP came in to say that, as the TV Champion, he should have had the U.S. Title shot. Badd took him out after Max Muscle - being the idiot that he portrayed - spilled the beans that they slashed his tires. Good stuff, especially from DDP playing the obnoxious heel.

7 -- JOHNNY B. BADD vs. Jobber #65

Decent match with Badd doing most of the work. The opponent looks a bit like an overweight Bobby Eaton, actually. Not a horrible match, but after some solid moves from Badd, the jobber gains control with some strikes of his own. He wears Badd down, but Badd counters with some moves that include hip tosses, atomic drops, dropkicks, and drop toe-holds. He eventually hits his "Badd Mood" finisher, then rolls him in for a springboard leg-drop for the win.

WINNER: Johnny B. Badd in 5:00. Not too "Badd" if you ask me. Really? No? Either way a decent match to make Badd look strong going into Halloween Havoc in a few weeks. Interesting note, too, is that Tony Schiavone made a jab at WWF/E stating that viewers could watch Nitro live instead of that other stale, taped wrestling show. Ouch. (*)

Mean Gene brings in Johnny B. Badd after his match. Badd talks about the TV Title match being the match everyone needs to see at Halloween Havoc. He said he'll never forgive DDP for costing him his shot at the U.S. Title and vowed to win the gold and maybe buy Mean Gene dinner after the show. Um, what? Another odd thing here is that you would think WCW would give Badd his re-match with Sting knowing that DDP caused all the fuss. Oh well, welcome to wrestling storytelling 101.

Highlights from the last Nitro aired again including clips of Lex Luger-Randy Savage, Guerrero-Malenko, Anderson-Flair, and The Giant taking out Hogan, the Nasty Boys, and the American Males. They hyped Sting defending the U.S. Title against Shark this upcoming Monday, Sabu taking on the masked JL, Big Bubba taking on Road Warrior Hawk, and Anderson-Flair inside a steel cage. Next is a recap of VK Wallstreet stealing future HOF'er Hacksaw Jim Duggan's 2x4.

8 -- "HACKSAW" JIM DUGGAN vs. BIG BUBBA ROGERS

The match starts with both big men slugging it out. I never have been a huge Duggan fan, but the crowd loves him and he's great with his gimmick. Both men slug it out and eventually Bubba spills to the outside. He then gains control while still favoring his leg from earlier in the match. He throws nasty right hands at Duggan from the outside before getting back in to hit some kidney shots. Just a big wrestling/boxing match with these two through the 5-to-6-minute mark.

Bubba then gets Duggan in a leghold for a submission attempt, but Duggan fights out. Bubba regains control, though, and keeps working over the leg. Duggan gets distracted by VK Wallstreet, who comes out taunting Duggan having possession of his board. Duggan then thwarts Bubba's cheating attempt and ends up getting the three count for the victory.

WINNER: Duggan in 10:00. I was a bit impressed with this actually, thinking it wouldn't be much, but it wasn't too bad at all for that style of match. Still, I think Guerrero and Malenko should have been in the main event slot. I guess that's why I'm not a booker. (*1/2)

The show concludes with Hulk Hogan in a promo video talking about his monster truck. Not much to it, to be honest, as they talked about how the truck was made and showed some video of it being put together. They hyped it as the biggest truck ever, even bigger than "Bigfoot." Interesting, but in the end, just another way to hype a silly gimmick match with Hogan heavily endorsing it. This wrapped up WCW Saturday Night for the week.

Common Retrospective: Really fun show that featured an awesome match - Malenko-Guerrero - and had a nice flow for a near-90 minute show. Feuds were pushed, Nitro was pushed, and Halloween Havoc was pushed. Some good stuff without an over-abundance of filler, although some things were really rushed and not needed, such as The Renegade. In the end, I'd give this show a solid B.

What did you readers think? Feel free to E-Mail me at potcfpodcast@gmail.com, via Twitter @TheCommonFan, or at www.facebook.com/thecommonfan with your thoughts and feedback. Also feel free to tune in to my Perspectives of the Common Fan podcast over at www.potcf.blogspot.com also available on iTunes (Search show title).

WrestleMania 2 is available on WWEClassics.com currently in it's entirety through March as well as other events from the year of 1986.

Jimmy hails from Kissimmee, FL, now residing in Brentwood, TN, just south of Nashville. Despite unfounded reports of sneaking around TNA's Corporate office, he's flatly denied any involvement with "Immortal," "They," "Them," or "It."

[Torch photo credit Wade Keller (c) PWTorch.com]

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