Jim B.'s report:

Just dropping you a line after I attended the taping of Saturday Night and Worldwide shows. I'm assuming that they taped for the next two weeks or so, because they literally had 25-plus matches. The show ran from 7:00pm - 10:00pm with no breaks and no downtime between matches. Some of the matches started as the other guys were still leaving the ringsides. I can't even begin to give you a match rundown because the WCW censorship crew grabbed my notebook on the way in!!!!!! It would probably be easier to list the wrestlers who were not there, than to list all of the guys who participated, but here goes. WCW put on one hell of a show. For 20 bucks a ticket it was well worth the dough.

Highlights from the Fabulous Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, MO include:

• A stupid chick in front of me who didnt realize she was holding her sign upside down the whole night. She called herself Bama...'nuff said.
• Sign "Booker T. is my daddy"
• Sign "My wrestling mom beat up your soccer mom"
• Sign "Pimpin' is easy, just ask me and Booker T" (got nabbed by the Penzer Police)
• Sign "Big Poppa Parole"

• Hugh Morrus and Barbarian (with Jimmy) Hart vs. Perry Saturn and Raven (with Kanyon)
• Kidman and Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Disorderly Conduct
• Scotty Riggs vs. Lash/Mark LeRoux
• Silver King vs. Kanyon (with Saturn and Raven)
• Scott Norton vs. Chris Adams
• Booker T vs. Bobby Eaton
• David Flair, "Roll of Quarters" vs. two jobbers - wrestled two 5 second matches with the ref (Charles Robinson) DQ'ing his opponent as soon as he touched David Flair.. which led to David chasing Charles Robinson around the ring and out of the building. David was pissed!
• Stevie Ray (boring, lazy work) vs. Curt Hennig (good pop amazingly)

Other wrestlers in action are as follows: Chavo Guerrero Jr. (good pop), Ernest the Cat Miller (awesome pop after he danced in the ring following match, doing the James Brown thing), Fit Finlay (did face work good pop), Disco Inferno (face work, good pop), Vincent, Most Useless Man In Wrestling (HUGE HEAT big Million Dollar Man chant really pissed him off), Kenny Kaos (face work, good pop at end with high fiving fans), Eric Watts (good heat), Ciclope (OK pop), Armstrongs in singles competition (no pop, jobbed), Pyschosis (blah), Barry Darsow, Lash/Mark LeRoux (I was going nuts!...good pop, too), Kendall Windham (got a soda). Meng (awesome pop from the crowd, he's really short) Johnny Swinger (crowd all went "WHO?"), El Dandy (nice pop, I was going nutso), Brian Adams (huge dude, good pop, too, from crowd), Horace Hogan (blah), Lizmark Jr. (crowd just looked around and counted the ceiling tiles), Mike Enos (huge dude, also), Barry Horowitz (actually good pop with the hand on the back thing), Juventud Guerrera (HUGE POP), Super Calo (did an amazing top rope manuver which freaked out the crowd, he literally jumped 15 feet across the arena), Al Greene (who cares), Bull Payne (big deal), Jerry Flynn (nice pop), Damien (uh... ), Kaz Hayashi (played heel, wearing Glacier attire, did a decent job), and about ten other new guys who jobbed to the above players.

All in all, the crowd went bonkers the entire night. They really did a good job even though it was a Satruday Night taping.

I guess they stepped it up since it's the only show this week on TV.

After watching the Saturday show on TV, they absolutely pipe in cheers and boos for the show. Wild. The crowd cheered just about every win when the wrestler would use his finisher, but when the show was on TV you hear boos!? WTF is that about? The place was going nuts a lot of the time, I wonder why they would turn it down. Maybe it's just the voiceovers that affect the production. Also they didnt show the 3 or 4 minutes of solid boos for Charles Robinson when he came out to ref the David Flair matches. Look forward to seeing David Flair win on Saturday night for the next few weeks by instant DQ. Also, when Mean Gene does his interviews they are apparently done on a set in one of the trailers in the parking lot. The locker room at the Show Me Center has red lockers. There are no grey ones in the building, I know this because I used to work events for the building.

Other comments:

1. Kanyon wore an old Mortis shirt during Next weeks Saturday night show.
2. WCW staff had to come out and help one of the Disorderly Conduct guys (whichever one got hit by Kidman with Shooting Star Press). From my seat, it looked like he overshot and landed right on his nose.
3. Silver King was awesome.
4. Lash LaRoux got some really cool response with the Cajun thing.
5. The order of the matches was kinda mixed on the tapings. The main eventers (4) matches, are staggered. Next Saturday's show will be better.
6. My friend waited on Bull Payne at the local Applebee's, he was pretty cool and made about ten cell phone calls to his family from the table. He said WCW had kinda messed up his schedule or some crap and he didnt know if he was supposed to go to Iowa or Springfield.

I will say this. That was money well spent. First and foremost, I
was able to "trade" my ticket. Instead of the back row of section 107, I
was in the front row of section 107. The woman said she really should not
do this, but she did:) I got there about an hour before the doors opened at
6PM. I saw Sonny Onoo & Al Greene come out to make cell phone calls. I
also saw Bobby Eaton coming into the arena. Those of us on the second level
balcony called his name and he waved at us. Once in the arena the sound
crew ran through theme music. Those played were: Raven, Saturn, Kanyon,
Booker T, NWO B&W, NWO R&B, Kidman, Wrath, Four Horsemen, Chavo Jr., Jericho,
Disco, Alex Wright's old music, Glacier, Fit Finlay, & Generic Metal Theme
#23 (Sounded like "The Zoo" from the ECW album). Also Jackie Crockett was
in attendance working on the ring crew. I did have three signs: Darth
Damien, DDTDigest.com (unfortunately I didn't do a very good job with the
D's, they sort of looked like O's), & Who's Better Than Kanyon? Now after
that loooong preamble, onto the matches.

Kidman & Rey vs. Disorderly Conduct
Ref: Mickey J

Kidman hit the rope spring bulldog on BOTH DC. Kidman wins it with the
Shooting Star Press.

Johnny Swinger vs. Adrian Byrd?
Ref: Johnny Boone

Swinger wins with a slingshot somersault leg drop.

Damien vs. Al Green
Ref: Nick Patrick

Nick caught heat all night with the fans. I don't know if Damien saw my
sign, but he still lost to a clothesline off the top courtesy of the former
#1 contender.

Kendall Windham vs. Fit Finlay
Ref: Billy Silverman

Windham with a good portion of the offense, but Finlay still wins with the
tombstone. A woman next to me said the the young man with her was Fit's
nephew.

David Flair vs. Frankie Lancaster
Ref: "Little Natch" Charles Robinson

And speaking of refs getting a lot of heat, Robinson may have gotten the
most boos of the night. About 30 seconds in, Chuck DQ'ed Frankie. I'm not
sure for what. David was quite upset.

Brian Adams w/Horace vs. *shudder* Erik Watts w/Bellbottoms
Ref: Mickey J

Watts brought out his dropkick, but it wasn't enough to survive a piledriver
in a match that has left me with scars:(

Meng vs. Dale Torborg
Ref: Johnny Boone

Meng pretty much creamed Torborg and finished him with the Tongan Death Grip.

Barry Darsow vs. Bull Pain
Ref: Nick Patrick

Darsow wins with the Barely Legal.

Kanyon w/Raven & Saturn vs. Silver King
Ref: Billy Silverman

My match of the night, as I got to the barricade with my sign and Kanyon
pointed right at me. I should be on screen, since the camera guy had me
hold the sign higher for about 20 seconds. A very good match that ended
with the Flatliner. Kanyon did his pre-match speech saying those in the
back didn't want him to, and he actually got the right response:) After the
match I got by the railing near the entrance way and he gave me the high
sign again:) Woo-hoo!

Juventud Guerrera vs. Jerry Flynn (Battle of the DUIs :)
Ref: Randy Anderson

A group of guys actually started a DUI chant during this match. Flynn in
control for a while, until Juvi knocked him off the top and hit the 450
splash for the win. God, I hope that picture turns out good.

Disco Inferno vs. Barry Horowitz
Ref: Mickey J

Good match with a call for the Last Dance to finish it off. Barry retains
his crown as the King of the Jobbers.

Chavo Guerrero, Jr. vs. El Dandy
Ref: Johnny Boone

Night of the Luchadores continues. Dandy has got to have the loudest right
handed punch I have ever heard. But Chavo still won with the Tornado DDT.

Vincent vs. Lizmark, Jr.
Ref: Nick Patrick

Unfortunately, Vincent won with the armbar. Ooooh, scary.

Mike Enos vs. ? (All I heard was from Tampa, FL)
Ref: Billy Silverman

Enos's opponent was muscular with a skull on the front of his tights. Enos
wins with the guy sitting on Enos's shoulders and Enos falling backwards.

Kaos vs. Steve Armstrong
Ref: Randy Anderson

Steve had a little offense, but fell victim to a gut-wrench slam from Kaos
to keep the curse alive.

Kitty B. Badd vs. Scott Armstrong
Ref: Nick Patrick

Fortunateey, Kitty skipped his pre-match spiel. Unfortunately, he helped
Scott keep the curse alive with the usual jumping roundhouse kick for the
win.

Scott Norton vs. David Taylor
Ref: Billy Silverman

Taylor had a new outfit, a singlet in red & blue. Norton helped his chest
to match the red portions on the singlet with a few knife-edge chops.
Norton wins with a powerbomb, in a virtual squash. Cool. So sue me, I like
Norton.

Super Calo vs. Kaz Hayashi
Ref: Mickey J

A fast paced match, with lots of aerial stuff. Kaz wins with a senton back
splash off the top rope.

David Flair vs. Al Green
Ref: Charles "Arch Hall, Jr." Robinson

Yes, I had to put up with this twice in one night. Robinson DQ's Green
after what he says is a punch about 30 seconds into the match. David chases
Robinson out of the arena.

Booker T vs. Bobby Eaton
Ref: Randy Anderson

Booker got a huge ovation. He wins with the missile dropkick.

Curt Hennig vs. Stevie Ray w/Vincent
Ref: Mickey J

Numerous "Virgil" chants in this one. Decent match that ended when Hennig
hit the fisherman suplex and Vincent attacked him causing the DQ. Hennig
then cleaned house to a rather large ovation.

Lash LeRoux vs. Scotty Riggs w/Mirror
Ref: Johnny Boone

Riggs had Boone hold the mirror so he could admire himself before the match
started. He went to put his robe down and Lash started checking out his
sideburns in the mirror. Hilarious. Riggs won with the fivearm after a
decent match.

Main Event
WCW Tag Team Title Match

Raven & Saturn w/Kanyon vs. Barbarian & Hugh Morrus
Ref: Johnny Boone

This was a good match that saw me close to the ring trying to get some good
pictures :) Raven & Saturn got DQed when the ref caught Kanyon foiling the
No Laughing Matter by making Hugh sing soprano. Rey & Kidman hit the ring
and a small melee ensued that saw Rey eat an Evenflow and Kidman take the
night's second Flatliner. BTW, can anyone tell me what that is on Raven's
shirt? Usually I recognize most of them, but this one has me stumped.

There you have it. 23 matches for $21.50. Not a bad exchange:)
Later.