WCW Main Event 4/7/1991

WCW Main Event 4/7/1991

Jim Ross and Missy Hyatt are our hosts. Paul E Dangerously has a surprise for Missy tonight. We also have Flyin' Brian vs Barry Windham.

Big Josh and Tommy Rich vs Lou Fabiano and Pat Rose

Pat side headlocks and shoulders over Rich. Rich hiptosses > armdrags > armlocks him. Pat slams Rich. Lou comes in and is armdragged into an armlock by Rich. Josh shoulder throws Lou. Rich hits another armdrag on Lou. Lou clubs on Rich then misses a corner charge. Rich rolls up Lou for 2. Lou slams Rich then misses an elbow drop.

Josh comes in and hits shots on both jobbers. He flying back elbows Lou then butt drops him to win.

Thoughts: It was a quick squash and was what I expected. There is no one who loves the armdrag into the armlock spot as much as Tommy Rich does. 

Grizzly Smith talks about the WCW US Tag Titles. He says the tag titles are vacated since The Steiners won the World Tag Titles. He says the top two contenders will fight at Superbrawl to determine the next WCW US Tag champs. The announcement will be made next week.

The Young Pistols (Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers) and Dustin Rhodes vs Magnum Force and "Nature Boy" Paul Lee

Yep, that's the third Nature Boy WCW had in 1991 - Paul Lee. They don't tell us which Force Member is which, so I have no idea.

A Force member backs DR up in the corner and hits some shots. DR fires back and back body drops him. DR hits armdrags. DR takes an eye rake. Lee gets in and DR armdrags him. DR hits a flying lariat on Lee. Tracy slingshots in and kicks Lee.

A Force member gets in. Force eye rakes Tracy then slams hm. Force misses an elbow drop then is armdragged. Force goes over a drop down then is lariatd by Steve. Steve legdrops Force then wristlocks him. Force takes a double wristlock and a double chop. Force gets punches in on Tracy then Tracy superkicks Force.

Force takes a double back elbow to the gut then is bulldogged by DR. DR then picks up the win.

Thoughts: It was a short squash here. They kept it moving and it was nice to see The Force get a few shots in before going down. I liked the finish with the double back elbow into the bulldog. 

Sid Vicious vs Randy Starr

 

Sid boots RS then lays him on the top rope. Sid boots him in the gut and knocks him down to the floor. Sid short arm lariats RS. Sid then stands on him. Sid backbreakers RS then double sledgehammers his back. Sid then picks up the win with the powerbomb.

Thoughts: It was the usual one sided Sid squash. Sid destroyed his opponent as expected.

Sid puts RS on the stretcher after then tips it over. Sid puts RS back on the stretcher and sends him for a ride into a wall.

Ron Simmons vs Joe Cruz

Ron boots Joe in the gut and drops him with a punch. Ron slams and legdrops him. Ron drops him with another punch then throws him out. Ron bangs Joe's head off the rails. Ron powerslams Joe inside. Ron hits a nice dropkick. Ron says Teddy Long's day is coming. Joe's head is banged off the buckles. Ron snapmares Joe and chokes him.

Teddy Long comes out. He trades words with Ron outside. Ron drops Joe with a punch. Kevin Sullivan then comes out and Ron spinebusters Joe for the win.

Thoughts: It was all squash here. I guess Ron is supposed to be a face but he wasn't very facelike here. 

Kevin Sullivan gets in the ring after. Kevin backs up in the corner and tells him to come. The One Man Gang then comes in the ring and hits Ron from behind. Ron is double teamed. Long directs traffic as Gang slams Ron. Ron is then held down for a Gang splash. Gang then hits another splash as Long celebrates.

We go back to JR and Missy. JR shows us clips of the women's match from WrestleWar '91. This sucks because they implied we were going to get a rematch with these girls, not the same match replayed. You can see my review of the match here: https://prowresblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/wcw-wrestlewar-1991-review-part-1.html

Barry Windham vs Flyin' Brian Pillman

They lock up and BW misses a shot in the corner. BP clubs on him and hits punches. BP jumps over him off the 2nd rope. RP hiptosses > dropkicks > armdrags him. BP then armlocks him. BP hammerlocks the arm with his legs and drops back. BP yanks on his arm. BW forearms him. BP misses a charge, goes over the top, skins the cat and then misses a lariat on BW. BP elbow drops him for 2. BW punches BP in the face and elbows him in the head. BW hits punches.

BP armdrags him then armlocks him. BW tries an armdrag but BP rolls him into an armlock. BW punches him. BP hits a stiff flying back elbow. BP armdrags him into another armlock. BP does a headscissors off the up and over and sends BW out. BP slams BW. They go on the buckles and BW hits a top rope hitposs. BW 2nd rope double axe handles him. BW hits a single arm ddt on BP's injured shoulder.

BW hammerlocks BP's arm around the ropes. BW drives BP's arm into the mat with a facebuster type of move. BW hammerlock slams BP. BW knee drops BP in the ribs then armlocks him. BW pounds on BP then backdrops him. BW hits knee drops to the arm. BW clubs on BP and BP fights back. BW rakes BP's face. BW elbows the injured shoulder. BP leapfrogs him then hits a nice flying lariat. BP backrolls BW. BW reverses it and pins him while pulling the tights.

Thoughts: It wasn't great but it was an okay match that made sense with Windham working the injured shoulder and BP trying to fight back. I thought JR did a pretty good job on commentary on this one putting over BP's injury.

BW drives BP's shoulder into the mat after.

Larry Zbyszko interviews Windham after. Windham goes to talk trash about Pillman then Pillman plancha's him from the top in a cool spot. Pillman chops up Windham after. They go into the ring again. Windham boots him and drives his arm into the mat again. Windham then hits a single arm ddt.

Larry asks Windham if there's something wrong with Pillman after. Windham goes to talk and Pillman grabs him. Windham slams Pillman. El Gigante then comes down. Windham says if at first you don't succeed, try and try again.

Thoughts: This was a clever segment that I haven't really seen done before.

Paul E, JR and Missy talk. Paul asks why the networks haven't given an award to Missy? He then shows her a video he put together. We then cut to WrestleWar '91 where Missy tries to interview Stan Hansen and gets yelled at. Stan then kicks her out of the locker room and yells.

Missy then yells at Paul E as we return. JR laughs and Missy tries to hit Paul E behind JR's back. 

Overall thoughts: It was your usual WCW Main Event here with lots of squashes and only one star vs star match. What we got was fine though, just not must see. Windham/Pillman had an okay enough match and they got a bunch of time. I was disappointed that we didn't get a new match with the Japanese women as they definitely led us to believe we would get one. This one wasn't must see but it wasn't bad for what it was.

WCW Main Event 3/14/1993

WCW Main Event 3/14/1993

Michael Hayes says the show is at Spring Training in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Michael Hayes is with a baseball player named Steve Avery. Hayes says The Braves are gonna win this year and Steve agrees. Steve says one of the players doesn't like Hayes as he has better hair than him.

Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko are on commentary here.

Johnny B. Badd vs Jeff Stone

Jeff has to be 6'3 or so and close to 260. Badd shoots off his confetti gun before the match.

Jeff misses charges and Badd legsweeps him. Bad does a spinning toe hold and pulls him off the ropes. Badd wristlocks him and water wheel drops him for 1. Jeff eye rakes him and clubs on him. Badd hiptosses him then armdrags him. Bad legsweeps him and hits a big left handed punch. Badd then gets the pin.

Thoughts: It was short and not that good. Badd was having issues putting basic holds on and Jeff couldn't move well.

Badd puts a lips sticker on Jeff's cheek after.

"The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith vs Randy Sledge

Randy's taller than Davey is and is a youngster here. Davey shoves RS off the lock up twice. RS hits a knee to the gut then takes a hiptoss. Davey armdrags him then hits a delayed suplex. Davey hits a corner lariat then running powerslams RS for the win.

Thoughts: It was a quick squash here. It was somewhat impressive to see Davey lift and throws Randy.

We see clips of WCW Saturday Night with The Cole Brothers in action vs The Wrecking Crew. A Cole Brother falls out then cradles a Wrecking Crew member to win.

The Cole Twins (Keith and Kent Cole) vs Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce

Tex and Shang do an inset promo. He says when you talk about teams, you talk about The James Boys. Shang says they are the two toughest Texans to walk into WCW and say they will know what Texans are all about soon.

A Cole side headlock takeovers Shang. They lock up and Shang knees and clubs him. Shang takes an armdrag. Shang grabs the hair of Keith. Keith crossbodies Tex for 2. Keith then armdrags him.

Shang is double flipped and takes a double legdrop on his arms. Kent works Shang's arm then tries to unmask him. Tex lariats Kent for it. 

Shang shoulderbreakers Kent. Tex works on Kent's shoulder and single arm ddt's him. Kent takes a 2nd rope stomp from Shang then one from Tex. Shang blocks Kent's tag then rolls him down.

Tex gets in and works Kent's arm. Tex clubs on it. Tex misses a corner attack and Keith gets in. Keith hits shots on Tex then hiptosses Shang. He then dropkicks Tex. The Cole's hit shots on the heels and send htem into each other. Keith dropkicks Shang out.

Keith takes a back body drop then Kent backrolls Tex to win.

Thoughts: The finish was dumb here with one of The Twins getting back body dropped so the other could get the roll up. I'm not sure how that would work in a real fight. I had no problem with the match other than the finish. The heels worked the arm of one of The Twins and The Twins made their comeback won. It was fine.

We are back with Michael Hayes who is now with John Smoltz, the Braves' pitcher. Hayes says Smoltz knows what to do to win and says they want to go to another world champion.

We then see Ric Flair return at Superbrawl III. Missy Hyatt tries to interview him but is pulled away. Flair says he's back to rock and roll. Flair puts the NWA Title around Barry Windham's waist when he wins. Barry gets mad as I guess Flair is too hands on with him and they stare down. We then see some clips from WCW Saturday Night with Flair. Missy tries to talk to Flair for the 3rd time and is shoved away. We then see Missy say she needs to tell Flair something 1v1. She says she will find him and says she can't tell anyone but Flair what it's about.

Tony Schiavone interviews Flair and Missy is ushered out. Flair talks about Big Van Vader.

Barry Windham vs Rick Hardrock

Rick looks like Warrior minus the paint. BW backs up Rick in the corner and hits a shot to the gut. BW snapmares him then misses an elbow drop. Rick hits shots to the gut. BW hangs on the ropes during an irish whip and punches him. BW then hits another punch. BW suplexes Rick then legdrops him for 2.

BW slams Rick then knee drops him. BW hits a dropkick then a punch to the face. Rick hits boots to the gut and  then forearms. Rick does a bad spot where he misses then BW punches him. BW impaler ddt's Rick and wins.

Thoughts: It wasn't too good. BW was solid as usual but Rick looked awful here with multiple awkward moments.

Tony Schiavone interviews BW at ringside. BW says he has nothing to say about Ric Flair. He says people want his title. He says he chased it around the world and brought it home. He says Great Muta is one of the greats and he showed how good he is by beating him. He says Ricky "The Steamboat" Dragon (yes, he said it that way) wants it too along with Shane Douglas.

They talk about the "Mr. Wrestling II Conference" which is a tournament of some sort it seems. The next match is part of it.

Mr. Wrestling II Conference/WCW TV Title Tournament First Round - Cactus Jack vs "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff

Jack gets some pops here. They only have a 10 minute time limit for this.

The fans yell at Paull and he gets distracted. Jack drops Paul with a punch and stomps on him. Jack hits headbutts then hiptosses him. Jack knee lifts him and hits punches to the head. Jack chokes Paul then headbutts him.

Paul hangs over the bottom rope and is legdropped. Jack side headlock takeovers Paul and keeps the headlock on. Jack shoulders Paul over. Paul tries to drop down and upkick him but Jack stomps him. Jack back elbows Paul and Paul goes out.

Paul pulls out Jack with him. They fight on the floor and Paul's head is banged off the apron. Paul stomps Jack as he gets back in then Jack rolls out. Paul stomps Jack from the apron. Paul bangs Jack's knee off the cement floor.

Jack hits punches on Paul. Paul bangs Jack's knee off the mat. Paul stomps the knee. Jack cradles Paul off a figure four attempt. Paul hits punches on Jack. Jack eye rakes Paul then hits punches. Jack drops Paul with a punch.

Jack chokes Paul in the corner then slams him. Jack elbow drops Paul then swinging neckbreakers him for 2. Jack goes up top, Paul runs into the ropes and Jack falls off the top. Paul then pins Jack.

Thoughts: It wasn't that great. Paul worked the knee but then back off of it some. The finish was something different. This was all stomps and punches.

Michael Hayes is still at Spring Training. He says the Braves have the best pitching staff and says you can never get too good. We then see Leo Mazzone the Pitching Coach talk to Hayes. Hayes thinks he's on the pitching roster but is told he isn't. Hayes says that's not the right scene. He says we will hear from more Braves players next week and more from the TV Title Tournament.

Too Cold Scorpio and Marcus Bagwell vs Mike Thor and Fred Avery

MB wristlocks Mike then suplexes him. Mike hits forearms. MB boots him in the gut and hits a knee lift. MB armdrags Mike. Mike is tripped into a Scorp splash. Mike then backdrops Scorp.

Fred gets in and hits shots on Scorp. Fred tries to catch Scorp's crossbody but Scorp goes over. Scorp dropkicks him. Fred takes a double suplex. MB gets a 2 count on Fred.

Fred takes a double back elbow. Mike gets in and is back body dropped by Scorp. MB top rope crossbodies Fred. Fred and Mike are thrown into each other. MB dropkicks Fred out. Scrop backdrops Mike. Scorp then hits a 450 off the top and pins Mike.

Thoughts: It was a fast past squash with high workrate here. The jobbers got a decent big of offense in on this one which was surprising. Scorp really flew around here.

Tony Schiavone interviews Bagwell and Scorp after. Bagwell says he was Rookie of the Year but it's in the past. He says him and Scorp are the future. Bagwell says they can get the tag titles with the fans behind them. Scorp says there's a new team on the horizon and says they want to be tag champs.

Overall thoughts: The Cole Twins tag match was the best thing on here. Jack/Paul just had a lot of punches and stomps and wasn't as good as it should have been. It was nice to see the jobbers get some offense in during the last match. Rick Hardrock didn't have a good showing against Barry Windham. It was your typical show at the time and there was nothing you really need to see on this one. It was easy to get through though.

WCW Main Event 3/24/1991

WCW Main Event 3/24/1991

Jim Ross and Missy Hyatt welcome us to the show. JR says we got Barry Windham vs Flyin' Brian Pillman tonight. Missy says Barry will win as he's a man and Flyin' Brian is a baby.         

Barry Windham vs Flyin' Brian Pillman

BP's shoulder is still all taped up from The Horsemen's pre-WrestleWar '91 attack on him.

BW hits shots to the gut and the injured shoulder. BP flips out of a side slam and crucifixes him. BP hits chops then twists BW's foot. BW's limping. BW hits BP in the gut. BP slingshot sunset flips him for 2.

BW twists the foot again then hooks his leg. BP yanks on the leg then hits chops. BP is thrown shoulder first into the buckles and BW boots him over. BW hammerlocks BP's arm around the top rope. BW eye rakes him then grabs the shoulder and pulls him down face first. BW kicks the arm then hammerlocks him. BW elbows the shoulder then armbars BP. BW lariats him and presses on the shoulder during the pin attempt.

BW kicks the arm and BP flying lariats him. BP hits chops then a dropkick. BP top rope dropkicks BW. BW then plancha's him outside. BP hits punches outside. Arn Anderson then comes down and BP fires on him. The bell rings and we go to a double countout.

Thoughts: What we got of this was good. BW didn't do a bunch of fancy stuff here to work the shoulder/arm. What he did made sense though and looked realistic. Instead of just doing a facebuster, he drove him into the mat while holding the shoulder. BP had a great comeback as usual as well. This was good.

BP takes a 2v1. BW double axe handles BP off the buckles. The Steiners then come out and save BP.

"The Natural" Dustin Rhodes vs Chuck Coats

Chuck is still alive and sometimes posts on various wrestling groups online which is cool.

DR shoulders him over, hiptosses him then hits some armdrags. DR armlocks Chuck. DR hits a dropkick then armdrags Chuck. DR puts him back in the armlock. DR hits elbow drops then armlocks Chuck. 

Chuck goes for a slam but DR armdrags him out of it. DR armlocks him. DR ties up Chuck's arms on the mat. DR flying lariats Chuck. DR then hits a bulldog and wins.

Thoughts: It was the usual Dustin squash here with him doing armdrags, hiptosses and armlocks. It wasn't much to speak of and he won as expected.

"Dangerous" Dan Spivey vs Scott Sandlin

Dan comes out with bulging eyes as usual. Dan gutwrench suplexes Scott and throws him out to the floor. Dan slams him on the floor. They go back in and Dan boots him around. Scott is put on the top rope and Dan clubs on him. JR says they could have a good basketball team in WCW with Dan, Sid and Gigante.

Dan boots Scott in the face then drops him throat first on the top rope. Dan rakes Scott's face with his boot. Dan chokes Scott and clubs on him. Dan backdrops Scott for 2. Dan sidewalk slams Scott and gets the pin.

Thoughts: It was all squash as expected. Scott got nothing in and Dan took longer than I thought he would to finish him. Dan's big but he's not one of my favorite squashers.

The Young Pistols (Steve Armstong and Tracy Smothers) vs The State Patrol (Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker and Lt. James Earl Wright)

JR says this is an important match for filling the WCW United States Tag Titles.

James and Steve battle over a top wristlock. James shoulders him over and Steve hits a nice hiptoss. The Patrol take double dropkicks and go out. Tracy comes off the top onto James arm. Tracy top rope twisting crossbodies James for 2.

Steve armdrags James. James gets his arms rung and takes a double chop from The Pistols. James eye rakes Steve then slams him. Tracy armdrags Buddy. Budy holds the ref against the ropes Steve runs the ropes for no reason and James nails Steve with a nightstick from behind.

Steve is put in a backbreaker and James comes off the buckles with a flying headbutt on Steve. James powerslams Steve. Buddy is lifted by James and dropped onto Steve for 2. Steve takes a double clothesline for 2.

Buddy pounds on Steve in the corner. Steve boots Buddy out of the corner. Tracy gets in and flying back elbows James. Tracy misses a dropkick. The Patrol pound on Tracy in the corner. Steve then top rope flying double lariats The Patrol. Steve and Tracy then hit corner punches. The Patrol are thrown into eac hother and James takes a double flying shoulder out. Buddy is held in the air and Steve flying shoulderblocks Buddy to pin him.

Thoughts: I liked this. The Pistols were super agile and could really move in the ring. They brought lots of high flying offense here and it was nice to see The Patrol get some double teams in. This was good.

JR and Missy talk about the main event. Missy says she doesn't care who Eaton's mystery partner. Missy says she's going on a private shopping spree with Alexandra York.

We see clips from the Eaton/Landell/Taylor vs JYD/Morton/Rich match that helped lead to this. We also see Eaton getting a spike piledriver from Landell and Taylor on another episode.

Missy says Eaton's partner tonight has to be a fool for wanting to team with him.

Terry Taylor and Buddy Landell vs Bobby Eaton and Z-Man

Terry is still referred to as Terry on this one. On Saturday Night this weekend, he was called "Terrance Taylor". Z-Man is Eaton's mystery partner here which isn't a shock since he saved him from a beating on World Championship Wrestling 3/16/91. Z-Man also fought Taylor on another show prior to this.

The faces run into the ring and the heels dip out. Buddy poses for the camera's before this one begins. Z is wearing white, which he usually didn't wear. Z backs up Terry in the corner and Taylor goes out. Z side headlocks Terry.

Z-Man side headlocks Terry then hiptosses him. Z then dropkicks him out. Terry tries to get a shot in but gets hit by both opponents. Eaton and Buddy go at it. Eaton hits punches then elbow drops him. Buddy's face is raked on the ropes. They trade shots. Eaton's head is banged off of Buddy's boot. Eaton cradles him then lariats him. Z and Terry get in. Z superkicks Terry for 2 then side headlock takeovers him. Z side headlocks him. Z takes a cheap shot on Buddy then gets hit from behind by Terry. Terry jawbreakers Z. Buddy bangs Z's head off the buckles then chops and punches him. Terry neckbreakers Z for 2. Z hits punches on Terry and is hit with a knee. Terry shoulders Z over and both go down.

Eaton and Buddy get in. Eaton hits nice punches and back elbows him. Buddy takes a back body drop and Eaton punches Terry out of the ring. Terry trips Eaton from the outside. Buddy elbow drops Eaton. Buddy comes off the top and is hit by Eaton. Eaton neckbreakers Buddy and gets the pin.

Thoughts: It was an okay main. They didn't quite make the most of this they could have heat wise, but the work in the ring was really good. Eaton hit tons of great punches though and Buddy was a good heel here as usual. I liked this.

JR says he doesn't think Buddy will ever be a York Foundation member now.

JR and Missy close the show. Missy tries to get people to listen to her on the WCW Hotline. JR asks if anyone will ask who almost dressed her this week.

Overall thoughts: It was a good show. Windham/Pillman was good. I liked The Young Pistols vs The State Patrol and while the main could have been a little better, the bumps and the punches were good. It was a fun hour of wrestling and I'd recommend this one.