WCW Prime featured one new match on its July 24 broadcast so we will get to that match before going on to WCW Pro.
–Prime “MOOO” Match of the Week: Dick Slater (w/Colonel Robert Parker) (0-1) pins Scott Armstrong (0-6) after a double underhook suplex at 4:20:
Dusty Rhodes is all over the place on commentary for this match, calling Parker “Bunkhouse Buck,” ranting about 1-900 numbers, and calling Tony Schiavone “the Big Kahuna.” That makes for a great distraction from a match that the crowd does not care for. Armstrong gets some token offense before Slater labors to deliver a double underhook suplex for his first singles win of the year. Rating: ½*
And now onto WCW Pro where Chris Cruise, Dusty, and Larry Zbyszko call the action. They are still taped from Macon, Georgia.
–Opening Contest: Marcus Bagwell (1-3) defeats Jake Steele after a fisherman’s suplex at 2:55:
Bagwell is a fish out of water now since the Patriot left the promotion, still wearing the Stars & Stripes tights and trying to get the crowd to chant “USA.” Dusty gets distracted by Zbyszko referring to Steele as “a skinhead” during ring introductions so he prefers to rag on that for much of the contest. Steele was a Canadian wrestler who did some work for Scott D’Amore’s Border City Wrestling (BCW) in the 1990s. He also did some jobs on WWF Superstars in the fall of 1995. This is a competitive squash, with Bagwell using basic technical offense to wear Steele down and prevail. Bagwell is wrestling Ric Flair in the feature match on WCW Saturday Night, so this match tries to give him some singles credibility so that match seems like less of a foregone conclusion.
–Gene Okerlund gives us our weekly Clash of the Champions Update. A new match added to the card is Sting and Road Warrior Hawk against Meng and Kurasawa.
–Johnny B. Badd (24-4-2) pins Johnny Swinger after Dreamland at 1:46:
Swinger was another Canadian talent who also wrestled for BCW and did some jobs in the WWF under the name Joe Dorgan in 1995. He would go on to work for WCW, ECW, TNA, and WWE between 1995-2006. Cruise says that WCW Champion Hulk Hogan has never been choked out like he was at the hands of the Giant in the Dungeon of Doom on last week’s Saturday Night. That ignores what Andre the Giant did to Hogan in the late 1980s, an interesting omission because WCW was selling the Giant as Andre’s son. Swinger is a light heavyweight, so he goes up easy for Badd’s offense. Badd opts to go back to Dreamland for a finish – with Cruise referring to it by its old name as the Tutti Frutti – for the first time since early May.
–Kevin Sullivan (9-4) pins Leroy Howard after a double stomp at 1:57:
Sullivan feigns going into the crowd when the fans chant Hulkamania and then slowly pounds on Howard for the win.
–Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri) (35-5-2) defeat Red Tyler & Eddie Jackie when Booker T pins Tyler after the Harlem Hangover at 3:34:
The Heat yell about losing the tag team titles to Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck as they beat up Tyler and Jackie. They are still depicted as heels, with Stevie Ray and Sherri attacking Tyler behind the referee’s back. After the match, Sherri hits Jackie, gives him a low blow with her knee, and tosses him out of the ring.
–Cruise interviews the Heat and Sherri. He says Sherri is going to have something to tell Colonel Robert Parker on WCW Saturday Night. Sherri says that Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck stole her team’s titles and she has business to discuss with Parker immediately. This segment is a small disaster as Cruise talks about the Clash of the Champions handicap match, making the Heat wait until he gets to them, and then he misconstrues what Sherri says she is going to do on Saturday Night when concluding the segment.
–Call 1-900-909-9900 to hear about the massive layoffs in professional wrestling! This was likely about the massive WWF layoffs that took place after In Your House 2.
–Diamond Dallas Page (w/the Diamond Doll) (10-0-1) beats Dave Sullivan (6-4) after the Diamond Cutter at 12:27:
WCW bookers seem to love this feature match lately, with these men wrestling for the third time in as many weeks. Maxx Muscle is not with Page for reasons that are not explained and that appears to give Sullivan a chance. Zbyszko puts over Page’s real-life dedication behind the scenes, saying that if other WCW talents shared his work ethic they would be better for it. He also sheds light on Sullivan’s wrestling struggles, noting that he is not intelligent enough to wrestle in combinations to defeat better opponents. This match is wrestled a lot like their Worldwide match, with Sullivan working basic holds and Page faking an injured knee to seize the advantage. Without Muscle, the Doll gives numbers for Page’s moves, and she is very reluctant to give him a ten after a suplex, helping to sell her conflicted attitudes about the two men. The commentators do a great job filling the dead spots of the match and the crowd gets into Sullivan’s comeback, but Page gives him a shot to the throat and hits his finish to prevail. Twelve minutes might seem like too much time for these two, but this hit a nice groove by the end and the commentary did a lot to enhance the match. Rating: ***
The Last Word: The main event is probably the best Dave Sullivan match you will ever see as Page generates sympathy for his opponent and allowed Sullivan to get his best moves in for maximum impact. With Sullivan failing to beat Page three straight times it is now time to move both men on from this feud, especially because Page won the main event cleanly and did not need Maxx Muscle’s outside interference to prevail.
Up Next: WCW Worldwide for July 29!