WCW Classics

[Guest AWCUK]

WCW Classics: Worldwide (1991)

Airdate: February 2nd, 1991.

From: Marietta, Georgia.

 

We open the show with clips of Flair vs. Sting for the WCW/NWA Championship, Flair with chops to the chest and punches to the face of Sting, no effect. Sting is fired up, he whips Flair into the ropes and picks him up and delivers a military press slam, as we fade to the titles…

 

Your hosts are Tony Schiavone and guest announcer, Kevin Sullivan (the regular announcer is either Dutch Mantell or Gordon Solie). Tony says on the show today we will see Sid Vicious in action, while Kevin promises that his opponent will leave on a stretcher, Arn Anderson will have a rematch for the TV Championship against Tom Zenk, the ‘greatest tag team ever’ The Freebirds face Pillman/Armstrong and we have a profile of Ric Flair.

 

The Fabulous Freebirds vs. ‘Flyin’ Brian Pilllman and ‘Candyman’ Brad Armstrong

The Freebirds are announced as the greatest rock n’ roll band in the world on the way to the ring and dance with each other to and in the ring, whilst Pillman and Armstrong enter slapping the hands of the fans at ringside. Hayes and Brad start the match off, but before any action can take place, Hayes goes completely Memphis on us and stalls for like 2 minutes, finally Hayes and Brad lock-up and Brad pushes Hayes into a corner, Hayes asks for a clean break and gets it. Hayes again stalls taking objection to the fans chanting for Pillman, this type of pandering to the fans responses would be good on say a house show, but on a televised match its just boring to the viewer. Hayes eventually gets back into the ring and feigns a lock-up before nailing Brad with a big boot to the midsection and throwing him to the outside. Hayes plays to the crowd, while Armstrong gets back into the ring, he taps Hayes on the shoulder, he tattoos him with a punch to the face, a whip in a back body drop and Hayes retreats to the corner, Armstrong follows and climbs the turnbuckle before delivering 10 big punches. He whips into the other corner and tags in Pillman, they give Hayes a double back elbow, but before they can capitalise Hayes runs into the arms of Garvin and tags him into the match, Garvin and Pillman size each other up and go for a collar and elbow tie-up, Pillman takes advantage with a headlock, Garvin tries to push him off but to no avail, he moves Pillman over to his corner, so he can tag Hayes. Pillman has none of this, as every time they try to tag, Pillman kicks the arm of Hayes away, this annoys Hayes, so he comes in the ring and charges Pillman but is met with a dropkick, whilst holding on the headlock, a back body drop by Pillman, while still holding the headlock and finally he catches Hayes with a headscissors and takes him down, while simultaneously taking Garvin down with a headlock takedown- that looked much better than I described it. The Freebirds retreat outside, while Pillman tags in Armstrong, he locks up with a returning Garvin and Garvin applies an arm wringer, which Brad reverses and wrings out, he tags in Pillman who comes off the top rope with a double axehandle to the pressured arm, Pillman runs the ropes but is met with a knee in back courtesy of Hayes and Garvin nails him with a clothesline. Garvin throws Pillman outside, and distracts the referee, giving Hayes the chance to chop Pillman down, Pillman finally fights back to the apron, but Garvin hits him with a running knee back to the floor, with his jaw hitting the railing, which looked pretty impressive. Hayes throws him back into the ring and Garvin works him over with a scoop slam, he tags in Hayes, who gets him with a kneedrop and wears him down with a chinlock, Pillman is rallied by the support of the crowd, he fights back but its stopped by clubs to the back of the neck by Hayes, Hayes goes for a suplex, blocked, Pillman hits one of his own. Hayes makes the tag to Garvin, Pillman makes the tag to The Candyman, Armstrong meets Garvin with right hands, he whips him into the ropes, back body drop and a dropkick send Garvin packing. Armstrong knocks Hayes off the apron, he whips Garvin into the ropes, Armstrong ducks and Garvin hits the returning Hayes, Brad with a double-noggin knocker on The Freebirds, and Pillman with a double slingshot rope clothesline on The Freebirds, Armstrong ascends the top rope and nails a flying body press on Garvin, he has the pin but the referee is getting Pillman out of the ring, giving Hayes the time to DDT Armstrong and draping the arm of Garvin over him,1,2,3. Freebirds win.

Heat: 7/10

Storyline: 5/10

Wrestling: 6/10

Average: 6/10

 

Sid Vicious vs. Nate Johnson

Sid gets in the ring and immediately attacks an unsuspecting suspecting Johnson with punches to the back and throws him to the outside of the ring. Sid follows and hits a double-axehandle from the apron before slamming Johnson on the cold concrete floor; he then nails him with a vicious clothesline on the outside. Sid gets back in the ring and pose, while Johnson starts to recover from the onslaught of the attack, Johnson is eventually dragged back under the bottom rope and is given a hard shot to the stomach and is lifted up and brought down in a powerbomb, Sid covers with 1 hand, 1,2,3. Apparently, Sid Vicious rules the world and Nate Johnson is carried off on a stretcher.

Heat: 6/10

Storyline: 7/10

Wrestling: 3/10

Average: 5/10

 

Tony and Kevin introduce us to a match at the Meadowlands between Sting and Ric Flair for the NWA World Title…

 

NWA World Heavyweight Championship

Sting © vs. Ric Flair

We join the match in progress, JR commentating, Sting takes down Flair with a backslide for a 2 count. Flair retreats to the corner, begging for mercy, but Sting shows him none of it, he mounts the turnbuckle and delivers 5 punches to the head and ‘whoos’ to the fans. Sting with a big whip to the corner, and Flair takes the Flair Flip to the outside, and then Sting knocks him off the ring apron with a running clothesline, as the crowd go berserk. Sting follows Flair to the outside, but is meet with a thumb to the eye, how many times has he fallen for that? Flair tries to ram Sting’s head into the security railing, but Sting blocks it, he does it again (why would something think that he nail him with the same move he blocked 5 seconds earlier?), Sting rams Flair’s head into the railing and the camera cuts to the crowd, while Flair blades. Flair face then meets the timekeeper’s table, further opening the cut on his forehead, Flair tries to run away around the ring, but Sting gives chase, catching and again knocking Flair’s head into the steel railing, before hitting an ailing Flair with a running clothesline. Sting rolls Flair back into the ring, and stands over Flair with a clenched fist but Flair begs for mercy, Sting ignores the pleas and tattoos him with mounted punches. Sting with a backrake to the challenger, but Flair fights the pain and gets back on his feet, Flair with stinging chops and punches, ring it up as a no-sell, as Sting is unaffected, he whips Flair into the ropes and lifts him up for a press slam and drops him hard to the canvas. Flair is just screaming in agony, when Sting throws him into the corner and works him over with punches to the face and abdomen, Sting with a whip into the opposing turnbuckle and he follows with a Stinger Splash, Flair ducks out of the way at the last second! Sting eats steel post and is dazed; this gives Flair the chance to recover from the punishment. Flair goes to the top rope, this does not look good, and as always contracts Flair syndrome, since he just stands there for ages, until Sting punches him and slams him off the top. Sting with a flying forearm, 1,2, kick out, Sting ascends the turnbuckles, flying body press on Flair, who is just out of it, Sting with the cover, but there is no referee to count as his trailing leg on the body press hit the referee in the face. Sting goes to wake up the referee, but a recovering Flair cheapshots him with a kick to the back of the knee, sending Sting to the outside, Flair goes over to the ropes to get at Sting, but Sting with a shoulder charge through the ropes. Sting hooks Flair with an inside cradle in the middle of the ring, for a 10 count, but the referee is still unable to count, Sting picks up Flair and nails him with everything he has until Flair is gasping against the ropes, Flair applies a headlock, but is fought off with a whip into the ropes. Sting and Flair collide, they bang heads together, Sting is KO’d and so is Flair, Sting falls down and Flair falls on top of him. Flair with the pin, 1,2, Sting’s foot is on the ropes, but Flair has the presence of mind to push it off before the ref notices, 3. Flair wins the match is now a 7-time NWA World Champion.

Heat: 7/10

Storyline: 7/10

Wrestling: 7/10

Average: 7/10

 

Tony is indignant of the fact that Flair won the title in that manner, but Kevin brushes him off by saying it is controversy that makes the world go around.

 

Rules Of Wrestling

1. In a match between 2 superstar wrestlers, the heel shall never win if he picks up the face from a pinfall after he has him beat.

 

Doom (w/ Theodore R. Long) vs. Scott Allen and Carl Robertson

Long has a few words to say with a pre-taped promo; he is the greatest manager in the world and has the greatest team in the world, so the days of The Horsemen stylin’ and profilin’ are over. Butch Reed and Robertson lock up, but Reed pushes him to the ground, he does it again with the same result. Reed takes a break to pose to the crowd, they lock-up again and Reed takes control with a knee to the gut, with a forearm knocking Robertson down to the ground. Reed pushes him into the corner and just veals him to the other side of the ring, he picks Robertson up and kicks him to the corner, where he nails a knee lift. Robertson is out of it already, when Reed picks him up and tombstone piledrives him to the ground, 1,2, Reed lifts him up, Reed hooks him up and delivers a butterfly release suplex, 1,2,Reed lifts him up. Allen face meets Ron Simmons foot and he gets the tag into the match. Simmons chokes Robertson with his foot, but protests to the referee that he is actually pinning the man. Simmons picks him up in a press slam position, but cracks Robertson’s sternum by dropping him on Simmons head. Simmons throws Robertson into his corner and taunts him about making a tag, but cuts him off as he is going to tag out. Allen tries to rally the crowd, but Simmons whips Robertson into the ropes and hits him full-on with a powerslam,1,2, Simmons picks him up on the advice of Long, but Simmons protests. Simmons then throws Robertson into Allen making the tag, but Allen is immediately met with right hands dazing him immediately. Simmons with blows to the back, pounding him to the floor, before delivering a falling headbutt, he tags in Reed, who together deliver a double clothesline. Reed with a hangman on the top ropes and a slam in the ring, followed by a middle rope elbow drop, he covers, 1,2, Reed lifts the shoulder up. Reed tags in Simmons, Reed lifts up Allen into the inverted atomic drop position, whilst Simmons climbs to the top rope and almost decapitates Allen with a clothesline, Simmons with the pin, 1,2,3.

Heat: 5/10

Storyline: 5/10

Wrestling: 7/10

Average: 6/10

 

NWA Television Championship

Tom ‘Z-Man’ Zenk © vs. Arn Anderson

The referee shows the belt to the crowd, while Arn tells the camera that the belt is coming home tonight, Zenk and Arn start the match by jostling for position before locking up in the centre of the ring, Arn takes control with a headlock which he turns into a headlock takedown but Zenk counters with headscissors which Arn flips out of. Arn complains that Zenk pulled the hair, they tie-up again and they carry out the same sequence again, even the complaint about hair pulling, Arn senses that he can’t out-wrestle Zenk tonight. They go back to the elbow and collar tie-up, but this time Zenk has the advantage with a headlock and torques the neck of Anderson, Arn tries to push him off, but Zenk refuses to let go of the hold, Arn pushes Zenk against the ropes to break the hold but Zenk is keeping the hold on tenaciously. He tries again, but Zenk holds on, he tries for a third time and Zenk releases the hold, but runs over Arn with a shoulder charge, snapping Anderson on the back of his head. Arn is given a clean break by Zenk allowing him to regain his feet, which he surely will regret, they jockey for position in the ring once more and tie-up, Arn seizes the advantage with an arm-wringer which he applies pressure to, but Zenk reverses this and he himself wrings the arm of Anderson, he tightens the hold, even forcing Arn to flip to the mat, at which point he drops the leg on the exposed arm and forces an armbar. Arn immediately slides out of the ring calling for a time-out, but dammit there are no time-outs in wrestling, Arn slowly gets back into the ring and they tie-up again with Arn starting to get distracted by the ‘Z-Man’ chants. Arn with a knee to the gut and he throws Zenk out of the ring, Arn comes over to take care of Zenk, but Zenk sweeps the legs of Arn in the ring and pulls him towards the corner and nails his knee off the steel ring post. Zenk still has the legs and makes Arn say a wish before crotching him in the steel ringpost (the referee is just watching this go on). Zenk climbs back in the ring and meets the dazed Anderson with a headlock takedown, Arn counters this by grabbing the tights and cradling Zenk for a 2 count, he synchs it in tight as he holds the cradle in place getting 6 separate 2 counts. Zenk finally pushes him off and Arn gets to his feet and with punches and a whip to the ropes breaks the grip, Arn catches a running Zenk with a punch to the mid-section but misses a knee drop giving Zenk the opportunity to lock on the Figure 4 Leglock, insulting Arn that Zenk would try something like that. Arn is just dying in this hold, he tries to punch Zenk but no-go, he nearly passes out in the pain but just in the nick of time he finds the bottom rope, Zenk senses the shift in momentum whips Arn in and delivers a beautiful standing dropkick, 1,2, kick out, small package, 1,2,kick out. Arn is whipped into the ropes, its reversed, Arn throws a clothesline its ducked, Zenk hits a cross-body, Zenk with the cover 1, Arn uses the tights to push Zenk over along with the cross-body’s momentum, Arn has his feet on the ropes,1,2,3. Arn Anderson is a 3-time NWA Television Champion.

Heat: 7/10

Storyline: 5/10

Wrestling: 7/10

Average: 6/10

 

Coming Soon…

Doctor What?

RAW General Manager Stone Cold Steve Austin stars in this heart-warming tale of a time-travelling doctor trying to preserve the timeline and battle evil time lords with his unique mixture of stunners and beers, with the aid of his ever faithful assistant Good Ol’ JR and the Texas-sized pick-up truck.

 

‘Wildfire’ Tommy Rich vs. John Peterson

They tie-up, Rich forces Peterson onto the ropes, he asks for a clean break and Rich gives him one, they retreat back to the centre of the ring and lock-up, Peterson gains the advantage with an arm-wringer, but Rich reverses it and wrings the arm dry, then tripping him to the mat, Rich with a knee to the leveraged arm and places an armbar on the tense arm. Peterson finds the ropes and Rich again gives the break, they meet up again for a collar and elbow tie-up, Rich dominates with a headlock, but Peterson pushes him off, Rich comes back with a shoulder tackle and an armdrag in quick succession before re-applying the armbar to the hurt arm. Peterson gets back to his feet and breaks the hold with a whip against the ropes aiding by Rich’s hair, Peterson tries a wild punch, but Rich ducks and takes him over with an armdrag and goes back to torquing the arm with an armbar. Rich drags him to his feet and whips him into the ropes before rocking him with a back elbow to the face and a huge knee-lift, 1,2,kick out. Rich wrenches Peterson up by his wrong hand and whips him into the ropes, he tries a dropkick but Peterson holds onto the ropes, allowing him to take advantage with punches to the back of the head, Rich rallies back with fists to the mid-section, Rich wins the fist fight and regains the momentum. He whips Peterson into the ropes and gives a back elbow; he follows that up a running clothesline and a big back body drop, before hitting a running Lou Thesz Press onto Peterson, 1,2,3.

Heat: 6/10

Storyline: 6/10

Wrestling: 6/10

Average: 6/10

 

The Steiners vs. The Masterblasters

The match starts when The Masterblasters attack The Steiners from behind when they enter the ring, and they begin to pound and ground both Steiners in the corner of the ring. Blade (Kevin Nash with a Mohawk mullet) and Rick Steiner continue to brawl until they both fall out of the ring and they prolong the action outside with kicking and punching beside the fans. Meanwhile, in the ring, Scott fights back against Blade, but it is no use as Steel regains the advantage with hard kicks and punches, he whips Scott into the ropes, he ducks his head for a back body attempt- which is clearly a stupid thing to do so early in the match- and Scott benefits from this situation by nailing him with a neckbreaker. Scott with a twisting belly-to-belly suplex in the centre of the ring, while Blade and Rick battle obliviously outside of the ring. Scott signals to the crowd that that the end is near for Steel, he picks him up, whips him into the ropes and takes him to the ground with a beautiful standing frankensteiner, 1,2,3. Even though the match is over, Nash and Rick Steiner are still pasting each other with right hands outside the ring, when The Fabulous Freebirds hit the ring and double team an unsuspecting Scott Steiner who is celebrating the victory. Hayes and Garvin attack Scott, until Rick notices what is happening inside the ring, Rick fights off Nash and enters the ring, Hayes stays on Scott, while Rick is attacked by Garvin, The Freebirds have the advantage and they set-up each Steiner for a DDT. As The Freebirds are about to deliver the DDT, but both Steiners counter with a northern lights release suplexes, The Freebirds retreat out of the ring, before gathering their thoughts outside and leave The Steiners to celebrate inside the square circle.

Heat: 7/10

Storyline: 3/10

Wrestling: 3/10

Average: 4/10

Tony and Kevin end the show by hyping next week, as the war waged between Doom and The Horsemen comes to a head when Ron Simmons takes on Barry Windham in the ‘hoss’ main event.

 

Event Summary

Segment Average:

Storyline Progression: 6/10

Commentary: 6/10

Event Average: 6/10

 

REASONS TO WATCH

§ 2 Title changes on a TV show in 1991.

§ Ric Flair stylin’ and profilin’.

§ The team of DOOM.

 

REASONS NOT TO WATCH

§ A Tommy Rich match.

§ The Freebirds stalling for seems an hour.

§ Kevin Sullivan’s inane drivel disguised as commentary.

 

 

Quote Of The Night:

‘Ric Flair the man of the 1980’s carrying the tradition on through the 1990’s and forever’ Kevin Sullivan

 

Final Thought:

A good show worth checking out for any old school fan especially of The Horsemen and Ric Flair, as the show is both entertaining in part and has some historical connotations.

 

Random Fact:

My favourite non-wrestler is Eric Bischoff.