Wednesday, June 12th, 1991
Civic Auditorium
Knoxville, Tennessee
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Off The Grid, Volume 23:
Missy Hyatt is kicking it off by yelling about as annoyingly as you can and a very mullet Paul E. Dangerously is here too. I'm not sure why they needed to kick it off just to send it to Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone. I was in peak WWF fandom here in 1991, but this show has a very minor league look compared to what they were doing up in New York.
Six Man Tag Team Match
Fabulous Freebirds vs. Young Pistols & Tom Zenk
Zenk and Jimmy Garvin start things off. Zenk hits a series of hip tosses and a dropkick, which leads to the Young Pistols hitting double top rope crossbodies to get the crowd into it. It's great to see Dok Hendrix and Freddie Joe Floyd going at it here. Tracy Smothers ends up getting dropped on the guardrail and the momentum has shifted. We get a brawl and the Freebirds toss their opponents out. All three of the faces hit sunset flips and all three men get the victory. That was a cheesy finish to an otherwise good opening match.
Match Rating: ***
Oz vs. Johnny Rich
It really doesn't get a whole lot worse than Oz. He hits a shoulder block and a clothesline to start and it's pretty obvious that he's a lot stiffer as an athlete here. Oz hits the big boot and a side slam. He hits a spinning powerbomb type move and that is all. Rich did a nice job of making him look pretty good.
Match Rating: 1/4*
We get a PN News video for some reason.
Dan Spivey vs. Big Josh
It's Waylon Mercy vs. Doink. It's a slugfest to start until Spivey rakes the eyes. Josh hits a suplex, but Spivey is right back up with a clothesline. Kevin Sullivan comes out and he hits Josh in the back with a crutch basically right in front of the referee. Also, Josh could absolutely see Sullivan there. Spivey hits a German suplex into a bridge for the victory. This was a match.
Match Rating: 1/2*
They count down the WCW Top Ten. We now go to Paul E. Dangerously for the Danger Zone and his guest is Jason Hervey. Paul asks Hervey about dating Missy Hyatt and his new house and Hervey is fed up. He turns his back and Paul nails him in the back of the head. Missy runs in to check in on him and oversells the whole thing.
Dustin Rhodes vs. Terrance Taylor
After a hot start from Dustin, Taylor uses the guardrail to shift the momentum in his favor. Taylor hits a gutwrench into a sit down powerbomb for a 2 count. Dustin makes a comeback with an inverted atomic drop and a bulldog. Mr. Hughes comes up on the apron and Dustin goes after him. Out comes Ricky Morton and he attacks Rhodes for a weird heel turn. Big Josh comes out and uses his ax to make the save. This match existed only to debut Morton as a heel.
Match Rating: *1/2
Nikita Koloff vs. Sting
I will never like Crow Sting better than Surfer Sting. Sting runs in to try to get to Koloff early, but it backfires and Koloff dominates. I feel like Sting is a good example of a wrestler that never really attracted new fans, but was incredibly popular with the existing fans. The highlight of this match so far has been watching the old lady in the front row with her American flag. Sting is finally able to retaliate and throws Koloff into the guardrail. Sting is able to reverse the Tombstone piledriver. Sting ducks the clothesline and rolls him up for the victory. This was really dull.
Match Rating: *
Tony Schiavone brings out PN News and Salt-N-Pepa, which seems to not be a big deal to the fans. They are really just cramming a ton of stuff on this show. Before PN News can be interviewed, out comes Johnny B. Badd and Theodore Long. Long confronts him and then Badd walks away before News can get his hands on him.
Loser Leaves WCW Match
Barry Windham & Arn Anderson vs. Brian Pillman & El Gigante
As far as the stipulation goes, it's whichever person gets pinned is the one who has to leave WCW. Pillman gets an early backslide into a pin on Anderson for a 2 count. He tags in Windham and Pillman hits a spin kick on him. Windham hits his variation of the DDT for a nearfall. This is the Windham I love. For some reason Arn decides to go up top and Pillman hits a dropkick to knock him to the floor. Pillman then hits a dive outside. Gigante then gets a hand on the throat of Arn and Pillman powerslams Windham. Pillman jumps off the shoulders of Gigante, but Arn is able to break up the count. Pillman goes up top, but Windham trips him up. Windham hits a boot to the face and picks up the victory. This was about as good as a 3 minute match that involves El Gigante in it could ever be. I liked this a lot.
Match Rating: ***
Paul E Dangerously is here for a Great American Bash update. They show some highlights of last year's show.
IWGP Tag Team Championship Match
Hiroshi Hase & Masahiro Chono vs. Steiner Brothers
All four men get a chance to kind of show what they can do early on. Chono hits a kick to the head of Rick and it breaks his headgear. Rick fires back with a big clothesline and the crowd absolutely loves the Steiners. I love Rick's commitment to the headgear and just leaves it on. Hase holds up Rick and Chono hits a shoulder block from the top rope. Chono hits a Samoan drop and then puts on the STF. Scott and Hase start brawling outside the ring and Scott tries to go off the top rope to break up the hold, but he slips and has to improvise. Scott and Hase both make tags and Scott hits a big clothesline and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Scott his a super belly-to-belly suplex from the second rope. Hase is able to hits a full nelson suplex into a bridge and Rick has to make the save. Steiner is able to hit a Frankensteiner on Hase and picks up the victory. Out of nowhere, it's Dick Slater and Dick Murdoch and they attack the Steiners. They go to commercial while the attack is still happening. I really enjoyed this one as well. The Steiners were a blast during this era.
Match Rating: ***1/2
Diamond Studd vs. Tommy Rich
It's really interesting how much of WWF's late '92/early '93 roster was on this show between Ric Flair, Razor Ramon, the Steiners, Giant Gonzalez, Diesel and Lex Luger. Rich actually gets some offense in, but then misses with a crossbody. Studd goes right for the Diamond Death Drop and that's all. This was rushed.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Jim Ross is with the winner of the Sting look alike contest. He brings out Sting to meet him and is all cheesy. The kid is legit excited, but it leads to Koloff coming from behind and clotheslining him. Koloff threatens the kid, but he's able to be pulled away before that happens. This was better than their match earlier.
#1 Contender Match For The WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Great Muta vs. Lex Luger
Neither man is able to maintain momentum, as they continue to trade moves. Muta goes for the handspring elbow in the corner, but Luger moves out of the way and it sends Muta to the floor. Luger blocks the green mist with his arm, hits a powerslam and just like that, Luger is facing the champion at Great American Bash. This was extremely short for a match that actually had a lot on the line.
Match Rating: *1/4
Steve Austin vs. Joey Maggs
I'm not sure why this had to be on the show. Austin hits the Stun Gun and that's all. Austin with this much hair will never be not weird.
Match Rating: 1/4*
The York Foundation brings out Ricky Morton. Robert Gibson comes out to confront him and Morton attacks him. Dustin Rhodes makes the save.
Two-Out-Of-Three Falls Match For The WCW Heavyweight Championship
Bobby Eaton vs. Ric Flair
The graphic on the screen let's us know that Flair has "syled" and profiled. Eaton's able to fluster Flair with a clothesline to the floor. Flair's haircut here is really dorky. Eaton Keeps taking it to Flair and hits a swinging necbkreaker. He hits a scoop slam and heads up top. He hits the Alabama Jam and Eaton is up 1-0. After the 30 second break, Eaton slaps Flair repeatedly. Eaton hits another swinging neckbreaker and again climbs up for the Alabama Jam. Flair is able to get up and pushes him off and to the floor. The ref counts to 10 an we are now all tied up. Eaton is selling the injury and when the third fall starts, Eaton is still outside the ring. Eaton gets brought back in and Eaton is able to battle back with a superplex. Flair takes advantage of the knee injury and slaps on the Figure Four. The ref catches him using the ropes, so he drags him back to the middle to put it on again. Eaton gets a small package for a 2 count. Flair puts the Figure Four back on again. Eaton is stuck and actually ends up getting pinned out of it, allowing Flair to retain. I actually have to say this one was a letdown for me. This was the reason why I picked this show and it just didn't click as much as I thought it would.
Match Rating: **1/4
This was a really enjoyable show that probably was booked with too many segments and matches, but it really was a good time. This also had a little bit more of a WWF feel to it and I mean that in the positive way. This one gets my recommendation.
Overall Rating: 72%
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