King Kamala 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 I've been wanting to do this Let's Talk About for some time but am only now just getting around to it. I may be the biggest mark for latter day WCW Saturday Night on the internet. For the last year or so of its existance when Jimmy Hart was in charge of the show, WCW Saturday Night may as well have been a separate brand from Nitro and Thunder. There was a deluge of wrestlers on Saturday Night that you rarely saw on the other two shows. It was WCW's crossroads, where semi-stars of the future (Chuck Palumbo, Mark Jindrak, Devon Storm, Elix Skipper, Chris Harris, Vampiro,Shark Boy, Lash LeRoux) met hasbeens on their way out (The Barbarian, Bobby Eaton, Robert Gibson, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, Van Hammer, The Armstrongs,Tommy Rogers, Al Green) with a bunch of never weres (Frankie Lancaster, Dave Burkhead, Disorderly Conduct) and then-current midcarders thrown in for kicks. Every Saturday Night, I could almost guarantee that I would see one or two matches that were better than anything I saw on Nitro or Thunder. Devon Storm tore it up everytime he appeared on Saturday Night. I remember he had a rocking match with Booker T. Then he moved to the big shows, became Crowbar and teamed with David Flair, and was never quite the same IMO. Though I guess, teaming with David Flair could do that to you. I even enjoyed the semi lame exclusive storylines they had on the show like a bizarre four way mini-feud between Erik Watts and Jim Duggan, The Armstrongs, Steven Regal and Dave Taylor, and The First Family (Brian Knobbs and Hugh Morrus). Then there was a Barry Horowitz-Alan Funk feud that was fueled by Alan Funk making fun of Horowitz for never winning. I don't think it ever got resolved because Russo and Bischoff returned and the show became all recaps. And who could forget "Janitor" Jim Duggan fishing the TV title out of a garbage can and defending against the likes of Fidel Sierra, Steven Regal (who Duggan sent packing to the WWF), and Robert Gibson? So share your memories about the last days of WCW Saturday Night. "Hardwork" Bobby Walker, we salute you! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MillenniumMan831 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 I honestly don't remember much about this particular era but if we backtrack a year or so "Mr Hole in One" Barry Darsow's tomfoolery was tremendous. I remember he challenged Horowitz to make a putt which prompted this lil exchange: Horowitz - I can't putt w/ this club, I'm left-handed Darsow - (Reverting back to his Smash voice) Well ya shoulda brought your own clubs! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Kamala 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 Oh man, Mr. Hole In One definitely is on topic with this thread. Really anything on WCW Saturday Night from the time Thunder debuted can be mentioned here. My favorite Darsow in WCW moment may have been an uber rare Worldwide exclusive angle in Summer of 99ish where he would get confused and come out as Krusher Khruschev when the announcer introduced him as Mr. Hole In One or would come out as The Blacktop Bully when he was introduced as Krusher Khruschev. Amused me to no end. The only tiny thing preventing it from becoming a perfect comedy angle is that he couldn't come out as The Repo Man or Smash. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaParkaMarka 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 He really did a "confused gimmick" gimmick? That's awesome, I love Barry Darsow. I'll never understand why a boring loser like Hugh Morrus was pushed, while Barry Darsow languished on Saturday Night. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vampiro69 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 I always like Disorderly Conduct. I got to watch a Saturday Night taping in 99 where they faced Benoit and Malenko. Some saturdays it seem strange that when 5:05 rolls around I feel that I should be changing the channel to TBS. Except when I would discover that the Braves game was pre-empting the show. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hasbeen2 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 How many of you would tune in to watch a show at 6:05 Eastern on Saturdays, support it, write about it on here. Maybe it could be on Versus or FX. Doubtful but wishful thinking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Teal-y Dan Report post Posted April 16, 2008 I loved WCW Saturday Night. Did anyone else ever find it weird that they never advertised Saturday Night tapings, or gave their location on the air? WCW was such an odd company. I liked the sliding door set when I was little, but looking back, it was kind of cheesy, wasn't it. I don't really remember the set from when WCW changed its logo into that weird stretched-out Star of David thing. I think it was green with glass squares. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Kamala 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 I went to a WCW Saturday Night taping. It was two nights after Slamboree '98 and main evented by an epic Konnan-The Giant matchup. It was a pretty loaded Saturday Night taping cause it also had one of the matches in Booker T and Chris Benoit's Best of Seven series. My fondest memory of the show is starting a small "Marty" chant for Marty Jannetty. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diamonddust 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 I loved WCW Saturday Night. Did anyone else ever find it weird that they never advertised Saturday Night tapings, or gave their location on the air? WCW was such an odd company. I liked the sliding door set when I was little, but looking back, it was kind of cheesy, wasn't it. I don't really remember the set from when WCW changed its logo into that weird stretched-out Star of David thing. I think it was green with glass squares. In the past (Talking early to mid 90's before the Bischoff era happened), they would announce when they were having a TV Taping. Jim Ross would call it a "National Television Taping", and they would announce it would be at the Center Stage studio. If a show came on Saturdays at 5 or 6 now, I'd definitely watch it. It would be a nice nod to history since that used to be the day (Morning and Evening) for wrestling on television. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Kamala 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 Well they certainly announced the Saturday Night taping I went to but I think it was only on local commercials and regionalized promos during episodes of WCW Worldwide and Pro. Now there's one thing I miss about wrestling the promos hyping local house shows and TV tapings. I remember one hyping the Saturday Night taping where Chris Jericho talked about how it was going to be great to wrestle in Portland, Oregon before Mean Gene corrected him. Amusingly enough, I don't think Jericho wrestled that night. I'm sure it's purely coincidental but I don't think I've been as big of a wrestling fan since the death of pro wrestling on Saturdays. I thinkTNA replays Impact then but it just isn't the same. The last Saturday show I remember watching regularly was Metal/Jakked in late '01/early '02. It came on at 7 A.M. but for some reason I always got up to watch it. I guess I needed my weekly fix of Perry Saturn/Funaki matches. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MillenniumMan831 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 I've always been a fan of the hokey weekend shows. I was working most Saturdays by 1998/99 though so I missed a ton of WCW Saturday Night then. FWIW, you can always stream Heat on Saturday nights if you don't mind the 315k quality. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The Ghost of bps21 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 The only thing I really even remember about the end of WCW Saturday Night was that Shark Boy was the shit. WCW Saturday Night Shark Boy was tremendous. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hasbeen2 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 In an area I spent a good amount of time, Smackdown aired on Saturdays around 4 or 5 on Fox because there was no area UPN station. That worked out great. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Diamonddust 0 Report post Posted April 16, 2008 Well they certainly announced the Saturday Night taping I went to but I think it was only on local commercials and regionalized promos during episodes of WCW Worldwide and Pro. Now there's one thing I miss about wrestling the promos hyping local house shows and TV tapings. I remember one hyping the Saturday Night taping where Chris Jericho talked about how it was going to be great to wrestle in Portland, Oregon before Mean Gene corrected him. Amusingly enough, I don't think Jericho wrestled that night. I'm sure it's purely coincidental but I don't think I've been as big of a wrestling fan since the death of pro wrestling on Saturdays. I thinkTNA replays Impact then but it just isn't the same. The last Saturday show I remember watching regularly was Metal/Jakked in late '01/early '02. It came on at 7 A.M. but for some reason I always got up to watch it. I guess I needed my weekly fix of Perry Saturn/Funaki matches. Agreed about the local promos. I remember watching Worldwide one day, and they were hyping Nitro that was coming to Birmingham in August of 1997. Low and behold, Arn Anderson popped up for a promo, and he had been off television for months due to his career ending surgery. I about flipped out of my chair when I saw him. His retirement speech would come weeks later. Youtube is usually good for some of the house show promos they used to run - I love how the old NWA shows would have the blue background for the faces and the red one for the heels. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dobbs 3K 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2008 I remember going to a WCW SN taping in early '98, I believe, and it was pretty bad. They had advertised Scott Hall and Ric Flair as being there, and neither were, so my friend and I were a big disappointed. Mostly it was just squash matches, though there was a nice little match between Chris Benoit and Bobby Eaton. The "main event" was an encounter between Randy Savage and Sting. This was where Savage got injured legit, right before the two were suppposed to have a match on PPV (Spring Stampede?). One other thing I remember from the later days of WCW SN...when Eddie Guerrero was scheduled to wrestle, and his opponent was Lazertron! His brother under a mask, of course. It was a good match, too. I wish there was still an early Saturday evening wrestling show. It would be nice for when I don't have anything to do right away on those nights. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cacheton 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2008 I remember Jindrak with a basketball, Kid Romeo and an Armstrongs push. Saturday Night was the illest at this point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LaParkaMarka 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2008 Jindrak's basketball gimmick killed me. He would pretend to dribble down the aisle and then take fake jump shots in the ring. Tremendous. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PILLS! PILLS! PILLS! 0 Report post Posted April 17, 2008 Browsing though some old match listings, I see that Mona (Molly Holly) got a few matches in. I'll have to get my hands on those. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DCAllAmerican 0 Report post Posted May 4, 2008 Damn I stopped watching Saturday Night in early 97 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
King Kamala 0 Report post Posted May 8, 2008 *bump because I'm too lazy to start another Let's Talk About... thread right now and don't want to see this one die* In '97/'98, it was always amusing to see those old WWF lower mid-carders/JTTS WCW signed just for the sake of signing former WWF guys pop up on WCW Saturday Night. Like Greg "The Hammer" Valentine as a babyface, Marty Jannetty, Jim Powers (part of Teddy Long's random stable of babyface jobbers), and Barry Horowitz. Ol' Barry even had a feud on the last episodes of Saturday Night with Alan Funk. I think the feud stemmed from Alan Funk making fun of Barry for losing all of the time (Ironic cause I can't remember the pre Kwee Wee Alan Funk winning a match) and then Barry kept interfering in his matches causing Funk to lose. Unfortunately, WCW Saturday Night into a recap show before we got to see them face off in what surely would have been in an epic match. And I'm disapointed that this thread has gotten nearly twenty replies without a mention of Roadblock. Roadblock was the last of a rare breed of hoss jobbers (though the Big Show has come close to being one at times). Roadblock just amused me to no end. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Corkscrew_Senton 0 Report post Posted May 8, 2008 Hard Work Bobby Walker deserved a push, damnit! And I do remember Road Block having a very brief feud with Lex Luger. I enjoyed seeing Saturday Night guys get on Nitro. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MillenniumMan831 0 Report post Posted May 9, 2008 Fuck, I hated Roadblock. He was a chore to look at. Fat, pasty skin, and hair that looked like hadn't shampooed in a month. Looked like some shmuck that would hang out w/ my uncle. But I did love how Big Dust would refer to Walker as "Hard Workin Bobby Walker". For once, Rhodes made more sense than the WCW-naming committee, if one existed. Count me in as a Men at Work mark. I dug the music, their work (pardo the pun) was very good for jobbers, and they actually got a special set for their entrance as well with the cones and barrells all over the place. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
daileyxplanet 0 Report post Posted May 10, 2008 All I remember from back then was Jim Duggan, Barry Darsow and Bobby Walker. Wasn't High Voltage on there a lot? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BruteSquad_BRODY 0 Report post Posted May 10, 2008 There were a few guys who were regulars who I liked Adrian Byrd (Black well built job guy), Ron Powers, T.Ranula even made some shots Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vampiro69 0 Report post Posted May 11, 2008 I always had a soft spot for Disorderly Conduct. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dobbs 3K 0 Report post Posted May 11, 2008 I always had a soft spot for Disorderly Conduct. Tough Tom and Mean Mike...they also sometimes donned masks and wrestled as the Texas Hangmen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BruteSquad_BRODY 0 Report post Posted May 11, 2008 I always had a soft spot for Disorderly Conduct. Tough Tom and Mean Mike...they also sometimes donned masks and wrestled as the Texas Hangmen. and supposedly wore different masks on the indys as the Southern Mississippi Milita Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigDaddyFool 0 Report post Posted June 18, 2008 i remember duggan finding the tv title in a garbage can when he had that janitor gimmick. palumbo has that tarzan gimmick too Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Corey_Lazarus 0 Report post Posted June 18, 2008 I remember seeing Evan Karagias when he looked, you know, like he had talent beyond botching every move he tried. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TheFranchise 0 Report post Posted June 18, 2008 Then they put him with Medusa. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
