The Magnus Analysis- WCW Pro 9.09.95 & 9.16.95

9.09.1995

Your hosts are once again Chris Cruise, Dusty Rhodes and Larry Zbyzko, who run through the card for this week’s show.

Match 1
The Renegade vs Terry Richards
The Renegade is one of those gimmicks that we’d like to forget: he basically did an impression of the Ultimate Warrior. Terry Richards is the future Rhino of ECW, WWE and TNA fame. This was a total squash, with Renegade winning in less than a minute with the Renegade Splash- n/r

Arn Anderson’s wife is interviewed about the feud with Ric Flair, then Arn Anderson comes in and forces them out. We then get the WCW Control Center where Fall Brawl is hyped up further.

Match 2
‘The Taskmaster’ Kevin Sullivan vs Al Phillips
The jobber is actually named this time. This was basically about as one sided as you would expect: Sullivan dominated the match and Phillips had zero offense, but it went a bit too long for me. Sullivan won it with the Double Stomp to the chest- n/r

We get a preview for Fall Brawl, and this is followed by clips of Kurusawa breaking Road Warrior Hawk’s arm.

Match 3
Kurusawa w/Col Robert Parker vs Butch Long
Kurusawa is Manabu Nakanishi, the NJPW and former G1 Climax winner, and this was early in his career before he became the wrestler he is today. Kurusawa dominates this one, using a mixture of strikes and power, and this was a fun little extended squash that ended up going far too long. Kurusawa won with the Crowbar submission after a German Suplex- *

As the wrestlers come out for the next match, Kurusawa is still in the ring, and eventually leaves.

Match 4
Brian Pillman vs Ric Flair
This match never starts as Ric Flair has had an altercation with Arn Anderson backstage that caused Ric Flair to leave the arena. Brian Pillman is awarded the match by DQ. This was a big disappointment: this would have been an excellent match.

Match 5
Bunkhouse Buck vs Sting
Bunkhouse Buck attacks Sting right at the bell, but this proved to be a bad strategy. Sting however made a mistake of his own and this allowed Buck to work over the knee of Sting, and used every cheap advantage he could to keep Sting on the mat. After several minutes of dominance by Buck, Sting finally fought back, and got the three count with a Cross Body off the top rope. Solid TV main event- **

Dick Slater run out a little too late to save the match, but helps his partner attack Sting. Randy Savage appears from nowhere to help his partner. Sherri Martel is also out and is again after Robert parker who is having none of it. Harlem Heat run out and stop Sherri and run off their opponents for Saturday Night.

We end with Chris Cruise interviewing Sting and Randy Savage about the War Games match.

9.16.1995

Match 1
Sting vs Tony Vendetta
Vendetta is actually quite an entertaining jobber: i.e. he has a gimmick. This wasn’t the squash you think it would be, as Vendetta actually got some offense in before he decided to take a walk around ringside that let Sting fight back. Sting locked in the Scorpion Deathlock after the Stinger Splash for the win. It was sloppy and Vendetta’s ringside walkabout was confusing, but it did what it needed to do- 3/4*

Jim Duggan cuts a promo about his match later on with Arn Anderson.

Match 2
Randy Savage vs Paul Orndorff
This is just highlights from an exclusive Worldwide match. Orndorff was in control for much of this with Savage getting the occasional fightback, with the story being pushed here that Orndorff wasn’t focused enough to finish him off. Savage won this one with the Top Rope Elbow. Good enough, but nothing special- **

We then see Orndorff getting frustrated backstage about the loss, then he gets help from Gary Spivey of the Psychic Network, and is trying to get him to re-focus. This whole thing oozes Wrestlecrap.

We then head to the Fall Brawl Control Center with the final hype for Fall Brawl, and also includes highlights of the pull apart brawl between the two teams in Wargames. Next we see a hype video for the new tag team: The American Males (who had a stupid gimmick, but weren’t half bad wrestlers: this is before Marcus ‘Buff’ Bagwell went to nothing in the ring).

Match 3
The American Males (Marcus Bagwell and Scotty Riggs) vs Mark Kyle and Johnny Swinger
I will admit that while the Males had a poor gimmick, they were very over with the crowd and were competent wrestlers. Johnny Swinger is the same wrestler of ECW, TNA and WWE fame. This was a decent tag match, with the jobbers getting some although not much offense, in and the American Males showing good if basic teamwork. The Males won it after Kyle was pinned following a Double Dropkick- **

We get a hype video for Fall Brawl, which still had Vader in it even though he had left the company.

Match 4
‘The Taskmaster’ Kevin Sullivan w/Dungeon Of Doom vs jobber
Sullivan attacks before the bell so the jobber is unnamed. Sullivan obviously dominates, and the jobber not only gets beaten up by Sullivan but by all of the wrestlers on the outside. Sullivan gets the victory with the Double Stomp- n/r

After the match the Dungeon of Doom beat up the jobber. Some more jobbers come out to help but all get beaten up as well.

Match 5
Bunkhouse Buck and Dick Slater w/Robert Parker vs Barry Houston and Rockin Rebel
Yes, this is the same Rockin Rebel who wrestles on the indys and wrestled for ECW. Despite some early offense by the jobber team, this was over in less than two minutes as the Rebel was pinned after a Double Punch by Slater and Buck- n/r

Chris Cruise interviews Col Parker and his team about the situation with Sherri and about the Tag Team Title match.

Match 6
Taped Fists Match- Jim Duggan vs Arn Anderson
I thought this wasn’t supposed to be a Taped Fists match? The match never takes place as Ric Flair attack Arn Anderson from behind as he comes out to the ring. So Duggan obviously wins by forfeit- n/r

The show ends with some final hype for Fall Brawl by our announcers.

The 411: Not much to like here unfortunetly. The only two matches that really could have been anything didn't happen, and other than a few decent squashes and Savage/Orndorff there wasn't much to see. Two shows to avoid
Final Score:  3.0   [ Bad ]