Sunday, October 27th, 1991
UTC Arena
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Off The Grid, Volume 27:
Tony Schiavone and Jim Ross welcome us before sending us off to Eric Bischoff. We see some of the superstars arriving. Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes arrive and they are attacked, with Windham getting his arm slammed into the door by Larry Zbyszko and Arn Anderson. They drive off to the hospital.
Chamber Of Horrors Match
Abdullah The Butcher, Big Van Vader, Diamond Studd & Cactus Jack vs. El Gigante, Steiner Brothers & Sting
So this is basically a cage match except they have chainsaws and electric chairs, making this as cheesy as possible. There is just way too much star power in this match for what it is. Sting hits a dive over the top rope on Vader. Now the electric chair is coming down in a small cage. The amount of money that was wasted on this is just hysterical. Also hysterical is the "Refer-eye Camera". The referee is wearing a hockey helmet with a camera on it so we can see what he sees. Sting throws a coffin lid on the head of Cactus Jack. Now a bunch of dudes with white painted faces walk down with a stretcher. I'm pretty positive that if I saw this in 1991, I would have been able to figure out that wrestling wasn't 100% real a lot quicker. Cactus is busted open on his forehead. Sting then throws Jack over the top rope and into the cage. This match is one of those matches where there's just a bunch of chaos while still not really having anything much going on. After a bunch of nothing, Rick Steiner hits a belly-to-belly suplex on Abdullah into the chair and for some reason Cactus Jack thinks it is Rick in there and he pulls the lever. We get a bunch of pyro and parts of the ring catch on fire. I feel like this entire thing wasn't thought out. I would not expect that from WCW... This match was goofy enough fun, but it was hindered by the stipulation.
Match Rating: **
After the match, Cactus Jack checks on Abdullah and he pushes Jack down and attacks all the dudes with white face paint. The crowd is dead silent for this. He grabs Jack and they walk to the back a bloody mess.
JR and Schiavone send us back with Eric Bischoff and Missy Hyatt, who are dressed in costumes. In come the Young Pistols and they make fun of the Patriots in one of the lamer promos you'll ever see.
The Creatures vs. PN News & Big Josh
Who in the world approved this to be on a major card? You would think this would be 90 seconds long, but nope, it's WCW, so it will be treated like a match that is competitive. PN News is a gigantic man and his ring attire looks like it was designed by a 4 year old. It's interesting that Josh is only about 12 months away or so as debuting as Doink. I guess I'll talk about the match. Josh hits a powerbomb and some chops on one of the Creatures. Josh hits Northern Exposure and News hits the Rapmaster Splash for the victory. This was a Superstars match that they charged you to watch.
Match Rating: 1/4*
Bobby Eaton vs. Terrence Taylor
This is during the era where they ranked everyone. Eaton is #7 and Taylor is #10 if you care. Taylor is with Taylor and he is the computerized man of the 90s. Wikipedia has it spelled as Terrance, but the entrance logo shows Terrence. I went with what was on the video. Eaton is a guy that I have talked about before, but he is someone that I have really come to enjoy as a result of the WWE Network. I don't dislike Taylor as much as a lot of folks do. I think he's a solid wrestler, just not one that should have been considered a future main eventer. He's a good middle of the card heel when in WCW. Nothing more, nothing less. They kind of feel each other out to begin until the action spills out to the elevated ramp. Eaton then hits a knee from the top rope on Taylor. Taylor is able to recover and knocks Eaton off the apron into the guardrail. Back to the ramp we go and Taylor hits a gutwrench powerbomb, as he continues to work on the back of Eaton. Taylor continues to work on the back, but Eaton gets a burst of offense with a sunset flip off the top rope for a nearfall. Taylor goes back to working on the back of Eaton. Taylor goes for a splash off the second rope, but Eaton gets his knees up. Eaton's able to hit a neckbreaker and heads up to the top, but Taylor knocks the ropes and crotches Eaton. Taylor tries for a superplex, but Eaton knocks him off. Eaton hits the Alabama Jam and that is all. That was a solid, competitive match with both guys looking pretty good here.
Match Rating: ***1/4
JR and Schiavone inform us that Michael Hayes is injured, so Jimmy Garvin is wrestling for him instead.
Jimmy Garvin vs. Johnny B. Badd
Garvin hits a hip toss on Badd over the top rope to a nice pop from the crowd. They're dressed in Braves gear and doing the tomahawk chop, which fits Michael Hayes. Badd comes back and hits a top rope sunset flip for a 2 count. Badd never really was able to nail that move for as often as he used it. Both men hit heads and now both are down. Garvin nails the DDT, but Teddy Long has the referee distracted. Garvin goes to check on him and Badd hits him with a sucker punch for the victory. Garvin had his leg on the bottom rope, but Long knocked it off. The match wasn't bad for what it was. Badd was still pretty inexperienced here.
Match Rating: **
We go back to Missy Hyatt, who is as obnoxious as ever and is trying to find out who the WCW Phantom is. She asks Bobby Eaton, but he just won a match and he doesn't care.
WCW TV Championship Match
Steve Austin vs. Dustin Rhodes
Rhodes gets in some offense and tries for the bulldog pretty early, but Austin is able to counter it. Dustin goes for a crossbody, but Austin ducks and Dustin goes sliding under the bottom rope and to the floor. Austin gets caught using the ropes for leverage and Dustin makes his comeback. For some reason, Dustin is busted open and we are at 4 minutes remaining. This is usually about the time where they decide to start making the match entertaining. Dustin misses a dropkick and Austin gets a 2 count. Dustin is going hard for the last minute win and shoves the referee when he tries to stop him with his right hands. He hits an elbow and gets another 2 count. We're down to 1 minute. Dustin is hitting elbows in the corner and Austin falls on his face with 30 seconds left. Dustin goes up top and hits a clothesline and the bell rings before he counts 3. I watched it again and it looks like he could have counted 3, but WCW loved to do this finish and it was so easy to screw up. Why would the referee stand nowhere near the move before counting if he was going to win? The match was pretty good between 2 guys that were linked together for years in WCW and would go on to have much bigger success in WWF.
Match Rating: **3/4
Oz vs. Bill Kazmaier
Kazmaier comes down to the ring carrying a giant Earth, since he's the strongest man on Earth. Oz has dropped the fake beard. This is what I imagine is like watching two guys work their first match looks like. Pretty much out of nowhere, Kazmaier puts Oz up in the Torture Rack and that's all. This was absolutely terrible.
Match Rating: 0 Stars
Van Hammer vs. Doug Somers
They actually have people out on the stage with jackhammers. Hammer comes down with a guitar, but doesn't play it. Hammer is probably one of my least favorite wrestlers of the era. We get a mess up in the first 15 seconds of the match if you're wondering why. Hammer hits a back body drop and an elbow drop. He hits a slingshot suplex for the victory. It sure looked like he almost was going to drop him on his head. In case the non-entrance for Somers wasn't enough of a giveaway, this was a squash.
Match Rating: 1/4*
We hear from Brian Pillman and Richard Morton ahead of their Light Heavyweight Championship match.
WCW Light Heavyweight Championship Match
Brian Pillman vs. Richard Morton
Morton was not meant to be a heel. It was like having Joey and Rachel hook up on Friends. This is the tournament final to crown the first ever Light Heavyweight Championship. Luckily for us, we get the Refer-eye Camera for this one. After a little bit of offense from Morton, Pillman is able to hit a spin kick and knocks him out of the ring. Morton slows things down with a headscissor. Pillman comes back with a arm drag takedown and goes to a side headlock. As I listen to JR rundown Pillman's football achievements and what he overcame, it is really is easy to see what was so amazing about Pillman. His lifestyle got the best of him, but there was so much more left to give as a character. Considering these are two of the more exciting wrestlers of this era, it's really surprising that they aren't going pedal to the metal here. The action spills outside and Morton rams Pillman's shoulder into the ring post. Pillman bounces back though and hits a top rope crossbody for the victory. That was a pretty terrible finish. The match itself was a pretty big disappointment unfortunately.
Match Rating: **
Tom Zenk vs. Halloween Phantom
It's pretty obvious who the Phantom is once the robe is off. He goes right after the Z man while JR and Schiavone still speculate. He hits the Rude Awakening and picks up the victory. They couldn't even get him a good mask. Detective Schiavone notices that it was the Rude Awakening, but JR no sells it.
Match Rating: 1/4*
WCW Tag Team Championship Match
The Patriots vs. The Enforcers
So the Patriots are the United States Tag Team Champions and the Enforcers are the World Tag Team Champions. So stupid. The Patriots are also stupid. Thankfully we at least have Arn Anderson in this match. If a guy as big and strong as Champion is nothing more than a footnote, it's probably because he wasn't very good. The dude is huge. Firebreaker Chip gets a hot tag and hits some body slams and dropkicks. Zbyszko breaks up the pin attempt and Champion knocks him down. We get a little bit of chaos, but Anderson hits the spinebuster and picks up the victory. Arn had enough of that crap and was ready to call it a night. The match wasn't terrible, but it's a waste of Anderson.
Match Rating: *3/4
Paul E. Dangerously is out here to scream about the Halloween Phantom and unmasks him to be Rick Rude. I didn't see it coming! In all seriousness though, this was a huge get for the after losing Flair. The roster was garbage at this point and they needed someone who was a big name. You're welcome for this groundbreaking analysis.
They show a video of Ron Simmons going back to Florida State and we get an interview with Bobby Bowden.
Two-Out-Of-Three Falls Match For The WCW Championship
Ron Simmons vs. Lex Luger
Simmons is accompanied by Dusty Rhodes, while Luger is with Mr. Hughes and Harley Race. After a slow start, Simmons hits a big powerslam and follows it up for a spinebuster to get the first pin. That was quick. There is now a one minute rest period before the next fall starts. Simmons' momentum continues into the next fall until Luger hits him with a thumb to the eye. Even then, Simmons is able to get a 2 count out of an inside cradle. Simmons hits a sunset flip for another 2 and then goes flying over the top rope after missing Luger while charging off the ropes. Luger hits a powerslam and hits a clothesline after a boot to the face. I'm surprised at how much offense Simmons is getting here. Luger connects with a vertical suplex before slowing it down with a headlock. We now have a little bit of action going on the outside with Dusty and Harley. Luger hits a crossbody on Simmons, but Harley holds onto Simmons tights and Luger gets sent outside, causing a DQ. Luger is extremely aggressive to start off the third fall and is bleeding from his right eye. Simmons no sells it and fires back some right hands. He blocks an inverted atomic drop and hits a clothesline for a close call. Simmons props Luger up on the top rope and hits a superplex for yet another 2 count. I give them credit, both guys are putting in some good effort here. We go outside and Simmons charges towards Luger, but misses and hits his shoulder on the ring post. Luger hits the piledriver and picks up the final fall for the victory. I have to say, this was a lot better than I ever would have thought. The pace was quicker than I expected and the crowd was buying most of the nearfalls.
Match Rating: ***1/4
This was a weird show. There was so much crap on it and the whole Phantom angle was poorly done as well. There was no standout, but it will forever be remembered as the show with the Chamber Of Horrors match. It didn't make a whole lot of sense to have Sting and the Steiners both in that match along with Vader, where there removal would have helped boost the rest of the card. There were a couple of pretty good matches, but the rest is skippable.
Overall Rating: 42%
No comments:
Post a Comment