There were a few new bouts on WCW Prime for July 10, with Tony Schiavone and Dusty Rhodes narrating the action.
–Ron Thompson defeats Kevin Sullivan (8-3) via disqualification when Sullivan throws Thompson over the top rope in seven seconds:
Just like Sullivan’s match against Eddie Jackie on the July 1 edition of WCW Pro, Sullivan gets himself disqualified when he tosses Thompson over the top rope. He does not care, though, as he keeps beating up the jobber until WCW referees intervene.
–Prime “MOOO” Match of the Week: Diamond Dallas Page (w/the Diamond Doll & Maxx Muscle) (6-0-1) pins Scott Armstrong (0-5) after a Diamond Cutter at 2:35:
Page gets some extra heat on himself during the entrance by knocking down Wildcat Willie. This must have been filmed near the end of a WCW Pro taping as very few fans remain in the arena facing the hard camera. Page also works a fun spot into the match when Armstrong tries a flying body press onto the floor as he puts Muscle in front of him, has Muscle catch Armstrong, and then pounds on Armstrong’s back. That sets up the Diamond Cutter as Dusty laughs gets Schiavone to start laughing by indicting Schiavone’s claim that Page and Muscle are a gang: “I can tell you weren’t in no gang fight. One guy and a woman beating you up is no gang!”
And we move to WCW Pro for July 15 with Chris Cruise, Dusty Rhodes, and Larry Zbyszko calling the action. This show was the last of those taped in Gainesville, Georgia on June 20.
–Opening Non-Title Contest: Sting (United States Champion) (18-1) beats Chic Donovan via submission to the Scorpion Deathlock at 2:15:
Zybszko chides Donovan’s tassles, calling them a tourniquet. Donovan does some stalling at the beginning but eventually succumbs to the Stinger Splash and Scorpion Deathlock.
–Vader (14-2) beats Steve Storm after a powerbomb at 1:26:
Vader is undefeated in matches against opponents not named Hulk Hogan so far this year. He uses his girth to immediately overwhelm Storm, who takes a splash off the second rope and a powerbomb before going down for the count. After the bell, Vader keeps beating on Storm, powerbombing him on the arena floor. Vader then headbutts referee Nick Patrick. That pleases Zbyszko, who says that he never liked Patrick anyway.
–Chris Cruise interviews Vader. Vader says that the roadkill tour will end tomorrow at Bash at the Beach.
–Gene Okerlund does the final Bash at the Beach Control Center. For the triangle match the Nasty Boys say they are ready to nasticize, the Blue Bloods promise to take the belts for Queen Elizabeth, and Harlem Heat and Sister Sherri cut an outdated promo about getting the tag team titles back. Would it have really hurt WCW to make Harlem Heat cut a new promo?
–Call 1-900-909-9900 to find out about the formation of two new tag teams!
–Sergeant Craig Pittman (24-2) beats Tim Dyer via submission to the Code Red at 4:40:
Pittman looks good when he busts out some suplexes and takedowns. The problem is that he does not use enough of them. After doing some long – and dull – arm work Pittman finishes with the usual.
–Kevin Sullivan & Kamala defeat Chris Kanyon & Eddie Jackie when Kamala pins Kanyon after a splash at 4:01:
Kamala spends the early part of the match sitting on the ring steps, preoccupied like a child with his mask. Sullivan eventually takes it away and screams “Hulkamania,” unleashing Kamala’s anger on the jobbers. While all of this is ridiculous, Kamala plays the role so well with his facial expressions that is tough to hate it too much. What one can hate is the match, which drags when the heels spam the choke. Sullivan wanders through the crowd like a player trying to find an exploit in a WWE 2K game as Kamala beats up the jobbers alone.
–Television Championship Match: The Renegade (Champion) (6-0) pins Bunkhouse Buck (w/Colonel Robert Parker) (5-8) after the Renegade Splash at 5:10:
Parker must be one hell of a manager as he gets Buck a title shot despite Buck losing a feature match to Randy Savage in decisive fashion on WCW Saturday Night last week. The Renegade does not have Jimmy Hart in his corner for the second straight match, presumably because Hart is with Hulk Hogan in Huntington Beach. Since the Renegade has to wrestle for longer than two minutes he spams headlocks and chinlocks, probably better for Buck as any attempts to backdrop or clothesline him look incredibly sloppy and somewhat dangerous. Buck eventually makes the poor decision to go to the top rope, causing the Renegade to crotch him and set him up for the Renegade Splash to retain. Rating: ½*
–After the bell, Meng runs into the ring, but the odds are quickly evened out by Sting. The heels retreat as Colonel Robert Parker yells about how Meng is going to beat Sting at Bash at the Beach.
The Last Word: The first quarter of this show was good but after the Vader interview it fell apart because of long squash matches and a very poor main event. That main event should have been a clear sign to WCW that the Renegade did not need to be television champion as the holder of that title needs to be able to wrestle entertaining matches on a regular basis. The Renegade was simply too inexperienced and limited to do that.
Up Next: WCW Worldwide for July 15!