WCW Prime aired on April 10 with a couple of new bouts. Those will be recapped before going into the April 15 episode of WCW Pro.
–Opening Contest: Frank Andersson beats Adam Flash after a Northern Lights suplex at 2:14:
Andersson was a successful Swedish amateur wrestler who earned a bronze medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics. WCW signed him in 1993 to bolster its presence in Europe and Andersson was never featured against other top talents, usually wrestling on Worldwide. He passed away from heart complications in September 2018. Andersson moves well but he is sloppy with more conventional wrestling moves, giving Flash an awkward kick to the stomach after a blind charge and hitting a sloppy Northern Lights suplex for the victory.
–Prime “MOOOO” Match of the Week: Brian Pillman (9-0) pins Paul Roma (4-3) after a crucifix sunset flip at 4:15:
Dusty Rhodes gets Tony Schiavone to corpse on camera by mooing for the Prime Match of the Week. Roma uses a nice heel trick in the beginning, slapping his hands out of a tie up in the corner and making referee Nick Patrick think Pillman has hit him with a cheap shot. The announcers act like Roma does not exist, since he had been released by this point, and he and Pillman run through a short match without a lot of action. Rating: *
And here is WCW Pro for April 15. Gordon Solie, Larry Zbyszko, and Dusty Rhodes are calling the action.
–Opening Contest: The Blue Bloods (2-0) defeat Mike Davis & Barry Houston when Lord Steven Regal makes Davis submit to the Regal Stretch at 4:56:
Regal beats the tar out of Houston, and when Davis gets a jobber hot tag Regal catches him with a drop toe hold and starts doing his variation of the ground and pound. Davis never recovers from that and after Earl Robert Eaton gives Davis a flying knee drop to the back of the head, Regal secures a submission win. This went too long but it did give the Blue Bloods time to show some of their offense to the TV audience.
–Gene Okerlund does the first Slamboree Control Center segment. The pay-per-view will take place on May 21. Matches already signed include Sting against Big Bubba Rogers in a lights out match; WCW Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat against the Nasty Boys; the Great Muta defending his IWGP title against Paul Orndorff; and Dory Funk, Jr. facing Wahoo McDaniel in a legends match. The Heat give a taped promo with Sister Sherri where they promise to give them one last beating. The Nasties respond by saying that they will leave St. Petersburg, Florida with the tag team titles. Okerlund adds that there will be five new inductees into the WCW Hall of Fame, which will include McDaniel.
–Call 1-900-909-9900 to find out who the other WCW Hall of Fame inductees might be!
–Alex Wright (24-0) beats Sonny Trout with a reverse flying body press at 2:47:
Rhodes lets fans know that Wright is going to get a Television title shot against Arn Anderson at Slamboree, running ahead of WCW programming because Wright is facing Anderson in a title match on Worldwide. Wright gets a lot of hang time on a flying double axe handle and finishes one half of the Southern Posse with the usual.
–A Stars & Stripes promo announces that they will face Vader and Arn Anderson on WCW Saturday Night.
–Big Bubba Rogers (12-0) pins Eddie Jackson after the Bubba Slam at 2:51:
Zbyszko claims that Rogers could become the number one contender to Hulk Hogan’s world title, a championship that will apparently not be defended during the month of April, if he beats Sting at Slamboree. But if that is true, why is Rogers not already the number one contender because he defeated Sting at the previous pay-per-view? Rogers likes to show his power by holding Jackson high into the air as he delivers the Bubba Slam, the new name for the Bossman Slam.
–Dave Sullivan tells fans from his home that he is feeling better. His bedroom is decorated with Hulk Hogan gear. When Hulk Hogan calls him, he tells the WCW titleholder that he is just trying to keep his “head below water.” Kimberly, dressed incognito, quickly drops by to give him a gift. Dave does not show the audience what the gift was, but he says it is furry.
–Meng (w/Colonel Robert Parker) (6-0) defeats John Taylor after a thrust kick in fourteen seconds:
Meng comes, sees, thrust kicks, and wins.
–Dick Slater & Bunkhouse Buck (w/Colonel Robert Parker) (5-3) defeat Brad Armstrong & Tim Horner (2-2) when Slater pins Horner after a Buck right hand at 12:01:
Headlock spots are usually dull, but Armstrong and Horner find a way to make them interesting with Horner maintaining the hold despite two Buck kneebreakers and when Buck finally gets out, Horner slugs him to the arena floor. Armstrong also wrenches the hold when he tags into the contest. If anything, it forces Slater and Buck to wrestle with more than punches and kicks and makes the match more interesting. Slater and Buck do hit their double fist finisher during a false tag spot, but Armstrong breaks the cover, and the babyfaces almost win on a heel miscommunication before Slater breaks that up. However, the heels catch another break when referee Randy Anderson ushers Armstrong out of the ring and Buck breaks up an O’Connor Roll with a right hand. This was easily the best match that Slater and Buck have wrestled this year and it is the Match of the Month so far. Rating: ***
–The announcers put over why fans should watch Saturday Night and speculate on where Diamond Dallas Page might be. Zbyszko jaws with a fake fan off stage and takes his shirt off.
The Last Word: The announcement of matches for Slamboree will give the company a creative shot in the arm since the shows have been going through the motions since Uncensored. Fans were probably excited to hear that the Great Muta would appear at the pay-per-view, although Meltzer’s rumor that Muta would face Johnny B. Badd was discredited. That would have produced a better match than Orndorff, but WCW likely wanted to avoid two babyfaces wrestling each other. As far as this show was concerned, the feature match was a pleasant surprise and foreshadowed good things to come out of the Slater and Buck pairing as the year progressed.
Up Next: WCW Worldwide for April 15!