WCW Saturday Night (6.29.91) review 

 

June 29, 1991 

 

The countdown to Great American Bash ‘91 is on! Sadly, this is the last TV show I have before the Bash itself in a few weeks. The Flair related meltdown hasn’t quite hit yet. Hosts are Jim Ross and Paul E Dangerously. This is from the same TV taping block we had last week, from Georgia on June 17, 1991. Which means I’ve managed to track down the last Ric Flair match from this run.  

 

Johnny B Badd vs. Rick Ryder 

We finally get to see Mero in the ring after weeks of him telling us how pretty he is. “He’s been studying wrestling ever since he was a little girl” says Paul E, echoing the weird Badd promos. Badd has very solid technique. The way he sets his hips before a snap suplex shows his basics are excellent. Probably due to his boxing background. Footwork is hugely underrated in wrestling, and boxing prepares you for that. He makes some questionable decisions. There’s a high knee in here and he goes in straight, instead of sideways. The KISS THAT DON’T MISS finishes. They’re not calling it that yet. He is putting on the stick on lips on the cheek of the fallen opponent though. It was nice to see Johnny in action here. He won rookie of the year in the Observer, and he’s certainly very good for a rookie. 

 

Paul E runs through the card for GAB and we know Flair vs Luger never happened, but we also had Windham, Arn & Paul E vs. Steiners & Missy Hyatt on that show. They ended up switching this to Missy & Rick vs. Paul & Arn. Meanwhile, Barry Windham got a title shot. We’ll get to that in due course. 

 

Video Control gives us clips of El Gigante vs. One Man Gang in a stretcher match. Naturally Kevin Sullivan interferes. Gigante’s ‘selling’ is so weird. I don’t think he’s ever experienced pain. He’s so stiff. Paul E reminds us that Morton vs Gibson is on the PPV. They gave it 17:00 and, if memory serves correctly, it’s technically sound but incredibly boring.  

 

PN News vs. Dave Johnson 

Johnson also worked for UWF around this time as one of the Black Hearts, when Tom Nash wasn’t available. He may even have been under the hood at the UWF PPV recently, although Cagematch tells me it was Nash. In WCW, he’s just a jobber. The match is short but still awful. Johnson’s Prince Valiant haircut is the only thing of note. Big fat splash off the ropes finishes for PN News. They botched the lead in to the finish and had to re-do it. THIS IS TAPED. Just clip it! 

 

Video Control gives us a chance to join THE BRUISE CRUISE! Before the Jericho cruise was the Bruise Cruise! From Tampa! This feels like a total scam. At no point do they imply there’s wrestling on the boat, and I’m sure there isn’t.  

 

Back to ringside and Jim Ross informs us that Steve Austin has won the TV title, and we get clips from him winning on Worldwide. It has a horrible ref bump, and Lady Blossom claws Eaton’s eyes to allow Austin to win via roll up.  

 

Steve Austin vs. Ricky Nelson 

Austin’s belt is not on the line here and his first defence will be against the Z-Man tomorrow at the Omni. Nelson is a decent jobber, but they fuck up a Stun Gun variant in horrific fashion. We get a cut in interview from Eaton and it’s so bad that Paul E dunks on it. If you had to pick a reason why Eaton never got over in singles, the lack of promos is probably it. Stun Gun finishes. Absolute silence! Everyone starts somewhere, Steve. 

 

Video Control takes us to the Desperado’s who are “bum tuckered out”. That means tired, non-cowpokes. They do the Blazing Saddles campfire thing, and it’s not funny because there’s no sound effects. At least this week we keep things quick and breezy. Literally breezy, thanks to Deadeye Dick cutting the cheese. 

 

Bounty Match: 

Ric Flair & Diamond Studd vs. Yellow Dog & Bobby Eaton 

The bounty is Yellow Dog’s mask so he can be proved to be Flyin’ Brian. This is Flair’s last TV match until 1993 in WCW. It seems mad to think about it that way. Considering it is his final match, he’s fairly animated. Laying in the chops, taking bumps like a champ. He could easily have dogged this. Yellow Dog takes it to Naitch. Maybe he should be on the WCW POWER RANKINGS!  

 

The match is great fun with everyone getting involved. Flair’s work is outstanding, but Pillman and Eaton are both up for it. Hall struggles to reach the same level, but he does try. They recycle a lot of ideas and sequences, and yet it feels like a proper battle. I almost wish they’d had Yellow Dog beat Flair. After all he’s leaving anyway! The heels try and rip Pillman’s mask off, and the match totally breaks down but in a wild brawl. The referee ends up disqualifying Flair for bumping him. This was great. ***½ 

 

Lex Luger vs. Doug Vines 

Lex is about to get the push he wants, but it’s not the push he needs. He lets Vines get a few spots in before hitting a powerslam and the Torture Rack finishes. Total squash.  

 

The 411: 

The great tag team match is a hell of a way for Flair to check out. A nothing tag on a nothing TV show, but he still crushed it. Flair’s impending departure creates an interesting situation for WCW to handle. They could, arguably, have switched to a babyface champion and had Luger take over as the top guy. Instead, they turned Luger heel. His run was dreadful and then he left to go to the World Bodybuilding Federation. So, not great from WCW.