NWA WCW Saturday Night 9/6/92

[mrimpact]

Mike Tenay: We kick tonight off with an interview with Ric Flair


Ric Flair: Hi i am Ric Flair the nature boy, The best wrestler in the world and i am hear to say Chris Benoit i am hear to challenge you to a match at clash of the champions that will be contested under a 2 out of 3 falls match because i seen something in your eyes i haven’t seen for a while the last time i seen it in someone’s eyes was at the inaugural Clash of the Champions in March 1988, when i faced Sting for my NWA World Heavyweight Championship and he took me to my limit and that match ended in a 45 minute draw that made me learn to respect wrestlers just like you Benoit so when i face you at Clash of the Champions you better bring you A Game WOOOOOOOOOOOO.

We see a graphic Stating “We are coming or are we already hear”


Ken Shamrock vs Rey Mysterio

Match starts with Shamrock taking Mysterio down and pounding on him Shamrock then picks him up from his back and slams him to the mat leaving Mysterio dazed that gives Shamrock the opportunity to lock in a rear naked choke and get the submission victory at 3:00.

Commerical break


The Natural Disasters vs Animal and Johny Ace

Match starts with Earthquake and Animal locking up together and Earthquake comes off the better of it by shoving Animal to the ground. Animal then tags in Johny Ace and he then goes to hit Earthquake with a lariat that doesn’t take Earthquake off his feet Ace tries for it again to no avail he tries for it a third time and finally knocks him off his feet. Earthquake then tags in Typhoon that then headbutts Ace and gets him in the corner and starts punching and the ref has to step in and get him to break it up Typhoon then picks Ace up and slams him down while going to the corner and knocking Animal down to the ground he then turns around and hits Ace with the running splash for the 1-2-3 at 7:00



Mike Tenay: We are hearing news that at clash of the champions that Earthquake and Typhoon will face The Steiner Brothers Rick and Scott Steiner for The WCW Tag Titles

A video plays showcasing the History of The Clash Of The Champions

Commerical break

Semi Final Match
Randy Savage (With Miss Elizabeth) vs Ted Dibiase

Savage and Dibiase stare each other down as Dibiase hits a cheap shot on Savage and pounds on Savage in the corner. He then starts kicking him he then picks Savage up only for him to reverse Dibiase and then goes up to the top turnbuckle and hit 10 punches as the fans chant along. Savage then goes up and motions for the diving elbow drop he jumps and hits it on Dibiase as he goes for the pin. Sir William Regal runs on the apron and distracts the ref as Savage runs across and knocks him off the apron but as this is all happening Dibiase recovers and from behind Savage and locks on The Million Dollar Dream Submission Hold on Savage. He keeps the hold on for a good minute but then b]Savage[/b] reaches the ropes but from behind Sir William Regal attacks him from behind and hits the Regal Bomb To Give Savage the DQ win at 8:00. To add insult to injury Regal hits Savage again with the Regal Bomb.

Mike Tenay: That Means at Clash of the Champions it will be Sir William Regal vs Randy Savage for the WCW US Heavyweight Title.

Commerical break

Paul Bearer makes his way to the ring when he is in it he picks up a mic.



Paul Bearer: Sting why turn up for clash of the champions when you know my Undertaker will destroy you. You have no chance why tempt my Undertaker he already took you out two weeks ago on this very show.

The lights turn out

When they come back on Sting is in the ring and hits The Scorpion Death Drop on Paul Bearer to end the show.

[Deleted]

I like that your doing more promos. They need work but its good to see you trying man. I enjoyed Flair referencing the First Clash, BUT comparing Benoit to Sting? I'd get it if you gave the match a little time, but didn't it go something like 8 minutes? Seems a bit much, no? I get the idea, just think the execution is a bit off. I saw you posted Rey as up for trade, personally I wouldn't bother trading him and would just flat out release the guy as the FA is loaded with options that would better suit your WCW, especially if he's gonna be enhancement.

I'm surprised to see Regal getting pushed so big right off the bat, nothing wrong with it, but since he's new to the states he really needs some interview time to establish himself before mixing it up with someone the caliber of the Macho Man. And why is Regal using the William name as opposed to Steven. It's just odd. When he arrived in WCW it was with the backstory of him being an established star in the UK, William Regal wasn't established, STEVEN REGAL was.

I HATE seeing surfer Sting using the lights out, Scorpion Deathdrop routine seven years before Crow Sting. The addition of that move is just something I always personally saw as completely and totally attached to the character makeover so seeing it so early on just rubs me the wrong way. These points again go back to knowing your time period, remember YOUTUBE is always your friend man.

The same can be said for your portrayal of Shamrock, the rear naked choke? This is pre-UFC. Speaking of which I wonder how we should treat guys like Ken & Dan once UFC starts up next year?

Anywho. The effort is there, and I can obviously tell your putting forth an effort to improve. It takes time, but hey you're getting there.

EDIT:

Why are the Disasters facing the Steiners for the WCW titles exactly and not the NWA WORLD tag team titles?

[somethingsavage]

Agreed on everything Drew said. He makes some very valid points that I was going to address myself. I'm glad to see the Natural Disasters pick up more steam. Keep pushing them as unstoppable juggernauts. It will elevate your Tag Titles. However, just tossing Animal & Ace out there so coldly did little good for anyone. Establishing & introducing Ace and Animal - along with their family ties - would have told a more interesting story. Could have given them some ammunition & got the fans to care about them a bit. In turn, that would make the Disasters look all the more threatening for flattening them.

I enjoyed the presentation of Shamrock, even if it does feel way too early to be going that route with him. Nothing wrong with just giving him the "Mr. Wrestling" nickname he used in real life & just letting him turn loose out there, man.

The big money is there in a Taker/Sting rivalry, but the way you're booking it just leaves a lot to be desired. Too much of the Attitude Era stuff is being worked into this one. Surfer Sting needs to be Surfer Sting, not Crow Sting. The lights out shtick blurs the lines between two gimmicks that were ABSOLUTELY NOTHING alike in real life at this point. Sure, Crow Sting and the Undertaker were a lot alike. But that's not what you're working with here. This is a totally different time period. And Surfer Sting was the direct opposite of the Taker. It was night & day. You should play off that kind of distinct difference in characters.

Savage and DiBiase was a highlight, even in '92. Regal's involvement in the finish makes me a happy camper, since I'm forever a huge mark for Regal. I do agree that he should be doing some vignettes or something to get across his personality though. Regal & Savage going back and forth in promos would be something I would eat up in real life. Not real big on the idea that DiBiase simply "accepted" the DQ loss though. I mean, he didn't feel slighted by Regal or anything? The good gentlemen DID just cost him a shot in the finals, after all.

I also like that you're making an effort with the interviews. There's PLENTY of room for improvement, so keep working at it. YouTube and DailyMotion both have tons of content for you to watch & absorb. Get a better handle on these characters, and you'll pick up on how to write for them more easily. Oh, and watch for the run-on sentences. Those make the interviews hard to read, and they're just an eyesore.

[cdw]

For your third show, you doing a good job . Just keep at it, you will get better.

[Grape Ape]

Nice to see you hit the interviews ... when you have some of the best talkers in the business, you have to make the most of it. It takes time to get it down and sometimes even that isn't enough. When you need help, the suggestions of Youtube and DailyMotion are a great source of inspiration.

A couple of points I had some trouble with were already pointed out but the big one that stands out for me is the World Champions challenging for the WCW Tag Titles? Why? The NWA World Titles are the top straps ... why challenege for a step down?

As CDW said, keep at it ... you can only go up from here.

[somethingsavage]

Yeah. Don't feel too guilty about using the old "Copy & Paste" method when it comes to some lines for your promos. Lord knows these guys repeated the same catchphrases & signature speeches all the time. Hit enough of their usual stuff, work in the details of what you've got going on with them, hitting those bullet-points, and you'll get the hang of the interviews quicker than you'd think. Again, DailyMotion and YouTube are fantastic resources for that sort of stuff.

And yeah. You're new to this, so kudos for keeping at it & embracing the feedback, man. Keep an open mind & you'll do nothing but improve.

[Deleted]

Yeah, no question for a third show this wasn't bad at all. I'd most likely be extremely harsher if you had more experience, but when taking into account your experience level, and going back to that first show, WOW you've improved a great deal as is. So just keep at it man.

One thing I do want to bring up, if your shows are going to be this short, perhaps it might be best for you to cut back on star power and load up more on enhancement? I say this as a way to prevent guys like Ultimate Warrior & Muta being lost in the shuffle. Although it's still hard to tell in all honesty as the tournament obviously is going on.

[wrestlingsickness]

THE GOOD

Starting your show with a Flair promo is ALWAYS a good thing. The promo was okay for a first try, although the way he verbally put over Benoit as a competitor was very well done.

Good debut for Ken Shamrock! People have already commented on your choice of finisher for him, so I won’t repeat it. Just so you know, Ken Shamrock was using the Magnum TA style belly to belly suplex as his finisher in the early 90’s…and I think he was even using it in 1997 when he first debuted in WWF. Regardless of finisher, starting him off hot is a good way to go!

I was very intrigued during the Draft when the Road Warriors got split up in different promotions, and all the while I’ve been wondering how each guy would move forward. I’ve got to say that teaming Animal up with Johnny Ace is pretty cool and makes a boatload of sense! Ace’s skill will serve as a nice contrast to Animal’s brute strength, and being brothers I have to imagine that they will have a boatload of chemistry together from a timing and chemistry standpoint. These guys could easily become a standout team in the NWA with the right push!

Savage/Dibiase was a good last match for the show. While I wasn’t too crazy about the DQ finish (or Regal powerbombing Macho, who’s much taller and heavier than him), at the very least it allows both competitors to save face as well as leave the door open for a future rematch. After all, why waste these two great wrestlers with a rich in ring history together on a one shot tournament match when you could milk this for a series of matches…or even a nice feud!

THE BAD

As much as I liked the Flair promo, the psychology was all wrong. Flair beat Benoit clean last week, so why would Flair challenge him to a rematch? If anything, Benoit should have confronted Flair and asked for a rematch, since he lost last week, with Flair granting him one out of respect for his ability. And why add the stipulation? Flair doesn’t need two falls to beat Benoit. He just showed last week that he can do it in one fall. The two out of three fall stip is for when you have a evenly matched series of matches and a victor needs to be decided OR when a heel loses and claims that it was just luck. Either way, this is for a Clash, not a PPV. Why not just keep it a simple rematch and save the gimmicks for the paying customer. Throwing out gimmick matches cold (like this one and the Casket Match) only serves to dull the impact and drawing power of such gimmicks in the future. That’s Russo Booking and you’re better than that!

As much as I loved the idea of an Animal/Ace team, having them get beaten in their debut match against the Disasters did them no favors. This could have been a PPV quality showdown if you would have built up both teams for a while. Why couldn’t you give the Disasters the week off (they already wrestled on your first two shows) and use this week to put over Animal/Ace to set them up as title challengers?

Ending the show with a promo (as opposed to a match) does not fit the time period at all. That’s the kind of stuff that started in the Attitude Era. Putting Paul Bearer on at the close would only make your audience change the channel, since they already saw Macho/Dibiase. This would have been better suited to happen earlier in the show; maybe even do as an episode of the Funeral Parlor so Bearer actually has a reason to be out there as opposed to just standing there waiting for Sting to run in. And you’ve already been taken to task for the Crow Sting stuff, so no need to say more.

SOME SUGGESTIONS

Stop with the gimmick matches. Seriously, just stop. You don’t need them to sell your Clash. You’ve got a solid line up of matches already that practically sell themselves. Take a look if you don’t believe me.

Sting vs. Undertaker
Flair vs. Benoit
Disasters vs. Steiners
Savage vs. Regal

Adding the casket and two out three fall stuff isn’t going to bring in more viewers. It’s going to raise the bar so high that a normal title/grudge match on a super card isn’t going to cut it the next time around. Again, this is what happened to Russo in WCW and TNA. He’d just throw out gimmick matches on TV for free in a desperate attempt to draw ratings and only succeeded in making said gimmicks feel less important, thus making the paying fan feel less inclined to pay to see those gimmicks in the future. That created a vicious cycle where Russo had to keep coming up with more and more outrageous gimmick matches in an effort to top what he already did, and that’s how we got triple decker cages and Inferno matches! So I’m asking you as a fan and a concerned citizen to please, tone down the gimmick matches before we see Sting and Taker fighting over Judy Bagwell on a Forklift!

Also, do you see what I did up there? I listed the matches that were already signed for Clash. If you want people to tune in to your show, you’ve got to do that at some point in your TV, either during a commercial or at the end of the program.

IN CLOSING

While this was still a better show than your debut outing, to me this was a step backwards from last week’s show. A few of your previous mistakes were repeated, and your one hour format is leaving a lot of wrestlers out in the dust with the fans wondering what happened to them. No update on Warrior this week, for example, and this is a guy who NEEDS an angle. No sign of Ron Simmons since week one either. Some more promo pieces between matches would help the fans keep tabs of the wrestlers who don’t have matches on a given week. Just keep doing your best, concentrate on making your best better, and take a breath and slow down every once in a while.

[appstorm]

I am very stoked to see Animal and ace teaming together. Hope to see more of them. Regal and Savage in the finals should rock. The hybrid version of Sting just doesn't wotk for me. i would have liked the surfer version straight up. I look forward to seeing what you do with Shamrock.

I will be tuning in for The Clash.