- In a rarest of rare occasions, you'll witness a compilation review of (older) WCW Television, more specifically, from the Winter of 1991 (a.k.a January-March to avoid confusion again). We're just off of the infamous Black Scorpion angle, and are still quite a bit away from the also infamous Great American Bash PPV, which has been considered one of the worst mainstream PPV's ever, due to everyone dogging it (except Luger) and the crowd chanting "We Want Flair" for a good portion of the show. Anyway, everything is from WCW's Main Event, Saturday Night, Pro Wrestling, and every other name they had. There's also a little bit of Clash of the Champions XIV mixed in as well, so lucky you.
- Sting, Flyin' Brian Pillman, The Steiner Brothers vs. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Barry Windham, Sid Vicious:
From WCW Main Event on TBS, and yes, they actually gave this match away on television a month before WrestleWar '91, featuring the same combination inside the WarGames cage (with Arn being subbed for by Zbysko). Flair was only days removed from his 7th World Title victory, winning it back from Sting at the Meadowlands in return for being a last minute fill-in for the Black Scorpion role at Starrcade '90. The Steiner Brothers are the U.S. Tag Team Champions if memory serves correct, and that's all for the Champions. Jim Ross is doing solo commentary. Sting and Anderson start the match for their teams. Anderson with a boot to the midsection followed by rights. Irish whip to the heel corner, but Sting fights off all the Horsemen. Now Anderson gets sent into the faces corner and gets whooped. Everyone comes in for a big stand-off. Flair tags in for the biggest combination of the match against Sting. They exchange "Whoo's". Lockup into the corner, and Flair with chops, but Sting no sells. Irish whip, and Flair with a shoulder block. Criss cross and Sting with a gorilla press slam. Flair begs Sting off, and rakes the eyes. Sting no sells another chop and mounts Flair in the corner for some punching. Irish whip to the corner, and Flair rolls onto the apron, where Scott Steiner meets him with a big right.
[Commercial Break]
Windham and Rick Steiner in the ring now. Lockup and Windham with an arm drag takeover. Standing side headlock by Windham, but he gets drilled with the Steinerline. Irish whip, and Rick with the signature overhead powerslam for a two count. Windham thumbs Rick in the eyes and pounds away. Windham takes over Rick with a suplex for a two count. Sid tags in for the first time and hammers on Rick with sledges across the back. Scoop slam by Sid, but he misses an elbow drop. Scott Steiner tags in now and sends Sid into the corner. Anderson gets the quick tag back in. Scott escapes a slam and a series of counters leads to a powerslam on Anderson. Lockup into the ropes, and Anderson with a series of rights. Irish whip, and Scott cacthes Arns boot and connects with an atomic drop. Anderson plays the ping pong ball again and hides in his corner. Flair in against Scott Steiner. Scott wins a knucklelock, so Flair kicks him in the midsection and pounds him to the ground. Standing side headlock by Flair, followed by a shoulder tackle. Scott catches Flair with a drop toe hold and applies the Figure-Four! All heck breaks loose and all the faces apply Figure-Fours until Sid beats on Rick Steiner and helps break them all up. Rick Steiner remins in the ring to beat on Windham before everyone clears out again. Flair thumbs Scott in the eye and takes him over with a side headlock for a series of two counts. Scott escapes with a head scissors, and Flair rolls over into a cover for a two count. Scott bridges out and back slides Flair for another two count. Pillman tags in for the first time and exchanges chops with Flair in the corner. Hip toss and dropkick by Pillman, followed by more chops. Flair with his face-first flop as he's about to tag out.
[Commercial Break: Commercial for Clash of the Champions: Dixie Dynamite]
Inside the ring is Pillman and Anderson. Lockup into the corner, and Arn knees him in the midsection. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, and Pillman takes Anderson over with a back drop. Dropkicks to both Anderson and Windham followed by a cross body press for a two count. The heels bail outside for some recovering and strategy. Back inside, and it's Pillman/Anderson still. Anderson with a side headlock, but he bails out on an Irish whip. A chase outside leads to Windham nailing a clothesline from out of nowhere. Sid with a press slam across the security rail for good meassure. Flair gets in his shots as well to complete the four-fecta. Anderson with a snapmare inside the ring, followed by stomps to the face and choking. Irish whip, and Pillman tries a sunset flip, but Vicious gets the tag and hammers away, no selling Pillmans returning blows. Irish whip and Sid catches Pillman with a powerslam. Rick Steiner comes in to hammer on Sid, but he's sent out by the referee. Windham tags in and connects with a diving clothesline for a two count, which is broken up by Rick Steiner. Flair tags in again and chops Pillman in the corner. Pillman comes back with his own chops and slaps. Scott Steiner gets the hot tag. Irish whip to the corner and a back drop ot Flair, followed by a Steinerline. He nails everyone and goes back to work on Flair. It's a pier-six brawl, and the brawl goes in and out of the ring (except Sid and Rick Steiner, who just stand around most of the time) until the referee Disqualifies both teams at 16:20. That's the only way you can go really with this pairing. ***3/4 Wow, a great match on syndicated television. Imagine the odds. Anderson/Flair and Pillman/Scott Steiner worked the majority of the match, while Rick Steiner and Sid, the two weakest wrestlers in the match (although Rick still had his good days occasionally), were limited to doing as little as possible. I'm just a little upset we didn't get to see much of Sting. It's going to be hard to top this one on a tape filled with TV matches, but we'll see where it all goes.
- Ricky Morton & "Wildfire" Tommy Rich vs. Arn Anderson & Barry Windham:
Oh joy, a Tommy Rich match. This is from, according to the commentary of Jim Ross and Paul E. Dangerously, WCW Pro Wrestling New York on Channel 11. I also will point out they spend a lot of time talking about Super Bowl XXV, and Paul E. kisses butt of Lawrence Taylor. This match is out of place, because they mention happenings from Clash XIV, but that hasn't happend yet on the tape, so shame on whoever compiled these matches. Robert Gibson is still sidelined with reconstructive knee surgery, thus promising us that Rich will stink up the joint. Split screen promo from Theodore R. Long, who has been awarded the PWI Manager of the Year. Windham with a side headlock on Rich followed by a shoulder block. Rich comes back with a bionic elbow, sending Windham to the outside. Windham with a headlock takeover. Rich counters with a head scissors. Windham escapes and punches Rich in the face. Irish whip, and Rich with a back elbow. Anderson tags in and they lockup. Rich with a side headlock, so Anderson pulls the hair to escape. Rich with another headlock, and the same result from Double A. Anderson applies a wristlock. Rich counters with his own and tags in Morton, who works an armbar. Irish whip to the corner, and Morton takes over Anderson with an arm drag, then goes back to the armbar. Anderson escapes in the corner and hammers away. Irish whip is reversed and Morton takes Anderson over with a japanese arm drag. Anderson applies an overhead wristlock as we take a break.
[Commercial Break]
We come back with Morton blocking an atomic drop from Windham. Irish whip, and the RnR Express Version 2 put Windham down with a double back elbow. Rich with a knee lift followed by mounted punches. Irish whip to the corner, and Windham spills out of the ring. Rich slingshots Windham back into the ring for a two count, then applies an armbar. Morton in with a wristlock and back to the armbar. Windham tries countering with an arm drag, but Morton keeps the hold applied. Jim Ross and Paul E. make fun of Donald Trumps hair in the meantime. Windham sets Morton up on the top turnbuckle, but Morton comes off with a fist. Wristlock again by Morton. Rich in without making the tag (BOO~!) to apply an armbar. Morton tags back in, and I'm rapidly losing my attention span. Anderson gets the tag back in and knees Morton in the kidneys. Anderson stomps away at on Morton, sending him ou of the ring. Anderson with a shoulder thrust through the ropes, but Morton comes back in with a big right and applies the Figure-Four. Windham breaks it behind the referee's back, but Morton is still in control.
[Commercial Break]
We come back with Rich working over the leg of Arn Anderson. Morton tags in to wishbone Anderson, and leg drops across the inside legs. Windham tags in and rakes the eyes of Morton. Irish whip, and Windham catches Morton with a powerslam for a two count. Windham throws Morton over the top rope behind the back of Blind Referee Randy Anderson, and Anderson gets some payback by choking Morton across the security railing. Back inside goes Morton, where Windham lays him out with a bionic elbow. Gutwrench suplex from Windham for a two count. Windham applies the dreaded abdomina stretch, with added assistance from Anderson on the apron. Ross and Dangerously discuss the signed match between Stan Hansen and Big Van Vader for WrestleWar '91. Windham works on Morton in the corner, but gets caught in a sunset flip attempt. Anderson tags in while Morton appears to be humping Windham, and kicks him in the back of the head. Anderson pounds away on Morton in the corner, but Morton comes back with his own shots. Irish whip to the corner is reversed, but Anderson blocks a monkey flip with an inverted atomic drop for a two count. Morton comes back with a questionable double knee into the balls, and Rich gets the mild tag to pound away on Windham. Irish whip and body drop by Rich, followed by a bionic elbow. Irish whip, and Rich misses an ugly dropkick attempt. Windham rakes the eyes of Rich with the laces of his boot, and Anderson comes in with more of the same. Anderson takes the eyes of Rich across the top rope, then works in some choking. Windham beats on Rich while the referee argues with Morton. Rich counters a snapmare with a back slide, but Windham tags in before the count. Here comes Teddy Long to trash talk Arn Anderson, and out of nowhere comes Ron Simmons to beat him down. No DQ called, and Windham goes outside to make the save, resulting the Horsemen being counted out at around the 17:10 mark, giving the ultra-cheap victory to Tommy Rich and Ricky Morton. That should've been a DQ! ** Neither Anderson or Windham looked like they cared to be out there, and we all know how bad Tommy Rich was. I'll just go with the painfully boring, but decent paint-by-the-numbers match.
- Paul E. Dangerously interviews Diamond Dallas Page... before Page was a good wrestler, a good talker, or anything that includes the word "good." He didn't even have Eric Bischoff to suck up to 24 hours a day for another 4 years. DDP rambles a bit until Theodore R. Long comes out. This is painful to watch... or listen to, either way. After DDP kisses Longs ass for a few minutes, he wants a title match for an unnamed tag team of DDP's. Probably the repackaged Fabulous Freebirds.. Long agrees to the match, and... that's it. Damn, I thought Long and Doom were playing faces around this time. Oh well, who cares. DDP sucked until 1997 when he the mysterious rib tape of doom gave him the ability to have good matches if they were planned out to the minor details.
- "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton vs. Arn Anderson:
From WCW Power Hour. It's the battle of the two most under aprreciated wrestlers in the history of wrestling. Right now this tape is starting to turn into the Arn Anderson Appreciation Tape. 3 matches in, and all 3 have included Arn. All we need is a Six-Man tag for Anderson to hit for the proverbial cycle in wrestling. Bobby Eaton had broken up from the Midnight Express back in November of 1990 due to the departure of "Sweet" Stan and Jim Cornette, and had done nothing of note up to this point other than beating that punk Tom Zenk at Starrcade '90. Lockup into the corner, and Anderson gives a clean break. Anderson with a side headlock, and Eaton counters into an overhead wristlock. Anderson throws him off with a yank of the hair. Anderson with a headlock and into hammerlock, and Eaton counters that with an elbow to the mouth. Lockup into the corner, and Anderson with a not so clean break, so Eaton knocks the taste out of his mouth. Eaton follows Anderson outside, and we get some brawling. Anderson clotheslines the ring post, and Eaton goes to work on the arm. Back inside they go, and Eaton applies a hammerlock. Eaton turns the hold into a wristlock and takes Anderson down with a single-arm DDT. Anderson backs Eaton into the corner and elbows him on the side of the head. Boot to the midsection, and Anderson rams Eaton into the top turnbuckle. Irish whip to the corner, and Anderson misses a charge. Eaton hammers away with rights and chokes Arn down. Eaton goes back to the hammerlock and takes Anderson down to the canvas. Anderson escapes by kicking Eaton in the face. Wristlock applied by Anderson. Eaton counters with a drop toe hold and drives a series of knees into the left forearm of Double A. More arm work from Eaton. Anderson gets back to his feet, and catches Eaton off the ropes with the Spinebuster, a move often done by others, but never as great. The action spills outside, where Anderson hip tosses Eaton on the floor, and follows up with a clothesline. Anderson rams Eaton into the ring post and stomps away at his chest. Slingshot under the ropes from Anderson, and he covers for a series of two counts. Knucklelock controled by Anderson. J.R. on commentary somewhat knocks the WWF for rarely producing star vs. star matches on their syndicated programs. Anderson stomps on the back of Eaton's head and rakes the eyes with the laces of his boot. Irish whip is reversed, and Eaton catches Anderson in a Sleeper hold. Anderson counters into his own, and I guess Eaton is playing the face judging by the crowd. Eaton breaks by ramming Arn into the turnbuckle. Anderson takes Eaton over with a snapmare, then heads up top, but meets the knees of Eaton on a splash attempt. Swinging neck breaker from Eaton! He goes to the top rope, and the Alabama Jam connects! Anderson counters a piledriver, but a series of ugly roll ups with use of the ropes leads to Anderson hooking the tights AND ropes, and that gets the three count at 10:44. ***1/4 Remember the days when you could see good wrestling on a weakly basis without worrying about stupid gimmicks and/or the matches being rushed? Both Eaton and Anderson worked a smart mat-wrestling style with both men playing the heel character well while trying to play it straight, and while not the most exciting stuff in the world, it was still an entertaining match. Too bad it wasn't given nearly as much time as the shit match on before this one.
- Jim Ross interviews WCW World Heavyweight Champion, Ric Flair. J.R. brings up El Gigante's challenge ("I want da' belt!"). Ric Flair throws the subtlety out the window, screaming at the top of his lungs from the opening gate. Crowd chants "We Want Sting", but out comes El Gigante instead, who says "I want da belt!" over and over. I guess he passed 1st Grade English. Rather bland Flair interview... that's really a surprise.
- Tim Horner & Brad Armstrong vs. Arn Anderson & Barry Windham:
From what seems to be WCW Championship Wrestling, with J.R. and Bob Caudle on commentary. I should really change the label of this tape to "Best of Arn Anderson 1991", shouldn't I? I believe Horner and Armstrong were known as "The Lightning Express", but I'm not too sure, so I'll just leave that out. Horner is off a Jobber stint in the WWF, Brad Armstrong is between gimmicks, most recently being "The Candyman", and the heels are preparing for WarGames at WrestleWar '91. Anderson and Horner start off for their teams. Lockup, and Anderson with a clean break from the corner. Go behind takedown by Anderson, but Horner escapes and sends Anderson to the outside. Anderson takes a cheap shot on Armstrong. Anderson bails out on Horner, but Armstrong returns the favor from earlier and sends him to Horner. An Irish whip to the corner leads to a Horner arm drag, followed by dropkicks to both Horsemen, causing Arn and Windham to talk some strategy. Arn and Horner lockup into the corner. Windham tags in to hammer away on Armstrong, and takes him down with a slam. Windham misses an elbow drop, and Armstrong takes in for the first time. Lockup, with Windham taking control, but Armstrong back drops out of a piledriver. Scoop slam by Armstrong, and he goes to the top with a cross body press for a two count. Windham with a boot to the midsection, followed by a roundhouse right. Armstrong tastes the boot of Anderson, and now Arn comes in. Wristlock by Arn, which is countered into a headlock from Armstrong. Irish whip to escape, and Armstrong puts Anderson down with a shoulder block. Lockup, and Anderson works a headlock into a hammerlock. Armstrong counters with his own, but Arn takes him down with a drop toe hold and into a headlock. Windham tags in for some locking up. Windham misses a cheap shot in the corner. Armstrong with a series of arm drags and applies a wristlock. Horner tags in for a double clothesline for a two count. Windham applies a standing side headlock, and takes Horner over. Horner counters with a head scissors. Windham rolls into the ropes to break the hold and drives a knee into the midsection of Horner. Horner comes back with rights to the midsection, but Windham stops the comeback with a rake of the eyes. Anderson tags in to pound on Horner, but gets a knee to the face. Armstrong tags in for some mounted punches in the corner. An atomic drop doesn't work, but Anderson catches Armstrong off the ropes with the Spinebuster! Anderson covers 20 seconds later for a two count. Bakc breaker by Anderson, and Windham comes in for some double teaming. Windham drives a boot into Armstrong and rams him face first into the canvas. Irish whip, and Windham connects with a powerslam for a two count. Irish whip, and Armstrong attempts a sunset flip, but Anderson makes the tag as we go to a commercial...
[Commercial Break]
We come back with Armstrong applying a Sleeper Hold on Anderson, but Windham comes in to break it up. Windham tags in and hammers on Armstrong in the corner with european uppercuts. Windham connects with a piledriver, but he's taking too long to cover. Windham meassures up Armstrong and drops a knee across the forehead. Windham claws at the face of Armstrong. Anderson back in for a double fist to the midsection. Armstrong fights back with rights, but Anderson catches him with an inverted atomic drop as he went for a tag. That only gets a two count, though. Anderson with a snapmare, but he gets nailed in the midsection as he came off the second turnbuckle. Windham tags in to cut off the tag and drops Armstrong with a DDT, and that gets him a series of two counts. Armstrong exchanges blows with Windham, but it doesn't work in his favor this time. Anderson misses an elbow drop, and Armstrong rolls outside. He tries a sunset flip, but Arn tags in Windham before he went down. Windham goes for a suplex, but Armstrong counters with one of his own. Horner finally gets the hot tag and hammers on both Horsemen. Scoop slam to Anderson, and a slam to Windham. Double noggin' knocker! Horner hammers on Windham, but gets caught with a DDT. Irish whip, and Horner surprises Windham with an inside cradle for a two count! All four men brawl in the ring, but in comes Doom to beat on the Horsemen, and that draws the Disqualification at 17:05, giving Anderson and Windham the tainted victory. Grr... **3/4 Good match with a fine example of how to work the hot tag, but a bit too long in the tooth, especially for the middle portion which consisted of way too much punchy-kicky from the Horsemen... wait, the decision is a DOUBLE Disqualification?! HOW!? Doom attacked the Horsemen, not Horner and Armstrong! Oh well, Logic in Wrestling.
More to come in the following days, with footage from the Clash of the Champions coming up next...