Perspectives of the Common Fan series
WCW Saturday Night Retrospective
October 21, 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 21, 1995

The show opens with some clips from the previous Nitro, where they revisit Sting and Ric Flair tagging against Arn Anderson and Brian Pillman. The video then jumps to Sting telling Ric Flair to give him a high-five. Fun recap to open the broadcast. Dusty Rhodes and Tony Schiavone welcome viewers to the show.

1 -- AMERICAN MALES (BUFF BAGWELL & SCOTTY RIGGS) vs. Jobbers #14 & #65

The Males come out as the tag team champions. (They won the belts from Harlem Heat I believe on a Nitro broadcast.) They showed the horrible Calvin Klein-like Titantron video too. The match wasn't too special, as Rigg hits a few dropkicks and Bagwell got his signature offense in as well. They won via pinfall.

WINNERS: The American Males in about 4:00 via pinfall. (*)

2 -- LEX LUGER vs. RIP ROGERS

Luger locks in the Torture Rack for the submission victory. But, seriously, there wasn't much more to it then that. Rogers got little offense in before taking the usual enhancement defeat in stride.

WINNER: Luger in about 3:00 via submission. (1/2*)

After the match, Luger heads over to meet Mean Gene. He talks about the stipulation at Halloween Havoc that he'll face Savage if they each win their matches. (His is against The Zodiac.)

3 -- "HACKSAW" JIM DUGGAN vs. VK WALLSTREET

Duggan comes out calling for his 2x4. Seriously, it's like the board is real. Then again, in wrestling, that doesn't shock me. Duggan goes after Wallstreet right away and gets in his strikes and clotheslines before chasing Wallstreet to the outside. They brawl a bit back to the ring before Wallstreet gets the upper hand and Big Bubba Rogers comes in for the save.

WINNER: Wallstreet in about 5:00 via pinfall while Bubba Rogers was holding Hacksaw's leg under the ropes. (*)

Next are highlights from Nitro with Sting coming to Ric Flair's aid against Pillman and Double A. They show a post-match promo with Sting commending Flair for his guts. This was a fun storyline that definitely developed well, making Flair out to be a sympathetic babyface instead of the usual dastardly heel...until he reverted to his old ways.

4 -- TASKMASTER & SHARK vs. LARRY SANTO & JULIO SANCHEZ

Not much going on here. Shark ends up getting the pinfall after he demolished one of the jobbers. Just building towards the PPV, taunting "Hulkamania" along the way.

WINNERS: Task & Shark in about 3:00 via pinfall. (1/4*)

Next was a really terrible segment with the Dungeon of Doom "Master" telling Kevin Sullivan that he'll be in Detroit for Halloween Havoc, something about falling from the sky after rising? It was like the Ultimate Warrior made a cameo in this show just for the promo. I praise the effort to be different, and the Master does look like he can be the Taskmaster's father, but, no thanks.

5 -- EDDIE GUERRERO vs. ALEX WRIGHT

This was a good match with both men getting in some signature offense and good chain wrestling. Alex Wright was certainly a talent despite his hokey gimmick. He played a good face and I remember a feud he had with DDP that wasn't too bad. Eddie was his usual brilliant self as well. The match went a full ten minutes. After Eddie missed a frog splash where Wright got his knees up, the time limit expired.

WINNER: Time Limit Draw. Really solid match. (**3/4)

After the match was a Hotline report from Mean Gene, who plugged Halloween Havoc the following Sunday. Gene was a freakin' mastermind at stuff like this. I'd like to see them still do this stuff today but, alas, that won't happen.

6 -- HUGH MORRIS vs. "MACHO MAN" RANDY SAVAGE

Fun match seeing Morris (you might know him better as Bill DeMott on "Tough Enough") in this character compared to what he is on Tough Enough now. He missed a pretty looking moonsault, then Savage took command and ended up hitting his top rope elbow for the win. Solid match with Mr. DeMott playing the Hugh Morris character to perfection. He could really move and sell for a guy his size.

WINNER: Savage in about 6:00 via pinfall. (**)

After the match, Savage does the usual post-match interview with Mean Gene, saying that he thinks Luger is with the Dungeon of Doom. He's definitely not pleased and says he looks forward to proving it after he beats Kamala at the PPV.

7 -- HAWK vs. MARK HALL

It's really odd seeing Hawk in a position as a singles wrestler, especially in Road Warrior gear. Either way, a simple squash match to put over his match called a "grudge" match against Kurisawa. He got the pin after a running lariat.

WINNER: Hawk in about 2:00 via pinfall. (1/2*)

8 -- DAVE SULLIVAN vs. MENG

Meng gets the win with the DEADLY nerve hold. But, before that, Dave Sullivan came out with his bunny, Ralph. All the people at ringside petted it before he put it in a...Bunny house? His name was also being spelling evaD at the time. Dave got in some offense before Meng took control and locked in the nerve hold (Dave sold pretty well) for the quick win.

WINNER: Meng in about 3:00 via knockout. (3/4*)

After the match was a promo from Hulk Hogan, who did the usual "I feel the darkness, but it will go away soon" ordeal talking about The Giant. It's funny how after this, the commentators talked about how they could fall off the roof, but then have to wrestle? Logic anyone?! Funny nonetheless.

9 -- SCOTT NORTON vs. EDDIE JACKIE

Norton starts with his power moveset and ends up getting the win with a shoulder breaker. Nice looking one at that. This was over before it began.

WINNER: Norton in about 2:00 via pinfall. (1/2*)

10 -- PAUL ORNDORFF vs. JOHNNY B. BADD

Really nice match...if it would have started. Big disappointment after Badd hit Orndorff when he had his mirror, which broke. He then ran to the back and tried to call the Psychic Hotline. A goofy segment, Mr. Wonderful is so much better than this.

WINNER: Badd in 0:10 via countout. (n/a)

11 -- DEAN MALENKO vs. JOEY MAGGS

Malenko goes right at Maggs, working his leg for a minute before ultimately slapping on the Texas Cloverleaf for the submission victory.

WINNER: Malenko in 2:00 via submission. (1/2*)

After the match, Mean Gene interviews Arn Anderson regarding his tag match with Pillman against Flair and Sting at Halloween Havoc, and his history with Flair. He put over the Four Horsemen and says it's time for a Horsemen of the '90s, even without Flair. Double A was awesome here talking up the match. Really great stuff.

The show closed hyping next week's card with the American Males defending the Tag Titles against Harlem Heat, Lex Luger vs. Shark, and more!

Common Retrospective: Not a bad show, definitely on the longer side, but it built toward the PPV nicely. With just one more show before Halloween Havoc, they've really gone out of their way to push the bigger matches focusing on Sting/Flair's partnership and Hogan-The Giant. Some things were just over the top goofy, though, with The Master promo and Mr. Wonderful's mirror breaking. One really solid match midway through and with this much time, more wrestling was needed. C- show if I had to put a grade on it.

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).

This month, WWE Classics is featuring showcase matches from Shawn Michaels for his recent HoF induction, and some highlights from Christian's career since winning his first World Title at Extreme Rules. Also, Edge is being heavily featured since his recent retirement. WWE is touting over ten-plus hours of footage throughout his career. Lastly, previous Drafts are being shown with 2008 and 2009 in full, with highlights from ones prior. The full PPV of the month is the final Clash of the Champions and they're having a Latino Showcase featuring Eddie Guererro. A lot of good stuff here.

Jimmy hails from Kissimmee, Fla., now residing in Spring Hill, Tenn., just south of Nashville. He highly suggests that every wrestling tweet not only ends with #IWantWrestling, but also #RWCLove. Why? Because it's the most mediocre thing going today.

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

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