My drunken journey starts with the NWA/WCW as I have about 48 of these 'Power Hour' shows waiting to be watched. Some might argue that I'm missing all the good '80s stuff by starting at this point, and they would be right, but I've taken a look at my social calendar and I'm positive that I will get around to watching that era eventually. My intention with this blog is to cover the '90s so I feel obliged to start here and watch the transition from NWA to WCW which was quite a painful one - especially for the old-school NWA fans; many of whom could not stomach Ted Turner's early attempts at competing with Vince McMahon's WWF. This was slap bang in the middle of Jim Herd's run as Executive Vice President of WCW. Herd had a reputation for knowing nothing about wrestling and alienated the vast majority of the company's top stars (and fans) over the next couple of years.
But enough of my yackin'.
(Note: There seems to some differences online about which exact date these shows aired. All the credit/blame for the dates I'm using should go to this dude who I thank for the info)
There is no better way to start any show than with a Jim Cornette rant. Hosting the show solo, he began immediately badmouthing Illinois (where the show was taped) and told Jim Ross to stay away from him and remain in the broadcasting booth because he blamed him for having to be there. The hotel he stayed in the night before was so small that they stole his towels and he had to step outside the room to change his mind. Jim was so upset he refused to join Ross for commentary this week.
Z-Man vs. Galaxian II
Here was me thinking that Galaxian II was a video game. With some of these guys, I'm not sure if they were jobbers or part of the roster. Judging by the fact that Ross (broadcasting himself this week) spent more time talking about other matters, such as confirming that he and Cornette weren't getting along too well and hyping Sid's mystery replacement in the Skyscrapers team then I'm sure he was in the former category. Although if I learned anything from EWR then there is also the 'Opener' spot that he would probably be better described as since he actually got some offense in.
"You never trust a man...young man that wears a mask...except the Lone Ranger" Jim Ross on Galaxian II
Whatever status he enjoyed and outlandish costume he wore, Galaxian II was a man who liked to keep it simple. Plenty of stalling which he had limited success with in frustrating Zenk, and the odd punch, kick, elbow and dirty heel trick here and there, but never really troubled the Z-Man.
The Finish: Galaxian II Irish whipped Zenk into the corner who jumped onto the second rope. Z-Man held the top rope, pretending to fall back which fooled his opponent into ducking for cover, and was met with a flying drop-kick when he got back to his feet. Z-Man then pinned him for the 1-2-3.
It's time for 'Wrestling News Network' with Gordon Solie, "wrestling's most respected journalist" according to some voice-over dude. Solie said he was going to deviate from the norm this week and makes some predictions. He got off to a good start by predicting that the 'Four Horsemen' will add a fourth Horseman and that world titles will change hands this year. It's just as well they didn't allow wrestling bets in 1990. Gordon was basically putting over what great talent the NWA had and promised a great year for the company also. Well, you were half-right, Gordon, but it's easy to be a smart-ass 22 years later.
Back to Cornette still furious with Jim Ross and upset that his American Express card had been revoked because 'Mother' didn't pay the bill. The prospect of the next match between Cactus Jack Manson and Brian Pillman is making him feel slightly better though. Even better than that, later on we will see Arn & Ole Anderson take on the New Zealand Militia whose manager, Lord Littlebrook has used Mother Cornette's costume designers to give them a new look.
Flyin' Brian vs. Cactus Jack
Zenk's future tag team partner had a bit of a tougher test in the form of Cactus Jack (Manson). I love watching these old shows when a one-on-one match between two future legends just pops up in the middle of it. I also love the fact that Pillman was using Def Leppard's 'Rocket' as his entrance here although I don't actually like the band.
This footage was from the 'World Wide Wrestling' show and Terry Funk was doing Color commentary. Funk acknowledged that he had seen (the extraordinary slim) Cactus wrestle before in Japan. Early in the match, Jack threw Pillman into the steel railings outside the ring. Flyin' Brian would have the advantage with his agility and speed, utilizing the hip toss (him & Z-Man did that move quite a lot didn't they?!) and drop kicks, but lose it when trying to engage Cactus in a brawl. The spot when Pillman fell back into the ropes and Jack did that sick clothesline while landing on the mat outside was slightly botched looking, even more dangerous as Cactus had to drag him down by the neck when Flyin' Brian was dangling on the ropes.
Pillman got his ass kicked for most of this match, and you have to wonder why he was so insistent on trying to continually throw his opponent into the ropes when it was usually reversed and quite predictable after a while. However...
The Finish: Cactus Jack Irish-Whipped Flyin' Brian into the turnbuckle and went for the charge but Pillman manged to surprise Cactus Jack with a 'Flying Crucifix' and gain the pinfall victory. Jack was upset after the match, but that's what you get when you're a psycho more interested with hurting the opponent than winning.
Short but fun match to watch. I don't think either guy had worked with each other too much as some parts weren't well executed but you can't really go wrong with these two beside that. This is the benchmark as of now as far as 'Power Hour' matches go and easily the match of the week.
Next up: Terry Funk's Grill. Norman the Lunatic was working away at his painting of the other guest this week which would be Woman. While busy preparing his work of art, Funk asked her if her love of cowboys would mean that she would be interested in Norman if he dressed up as one which got a negative response. Norman would only show her the painting if she gave him a big kiss prompting her to call him a "toothless baboon" and teased him by saying that even his mommy called him "Fatso". Terry took great exception to this and reluctantly promised to physically assault a female for the first time in his life if she continued with the bad attitude (WTF am I typing here?!!!). But wait, it was Norman's turn to be offended and scolded Funk for his threat. After apologising to Norm, he ordered her off the set and looked into the (wrong) camera promising that she won't be back. We never got to see the painting and valuable minutes of my life were lost.
Arn Anderson/Ole Anderson vs. The New Zealand Militia
The Militia (Jack(o) Victory/Rip Morgan) looked resplendent in their new costumes, accompanied by their manager, the world's smallest pimp: Lord Littlebrook.
The team of Arn & Ole were anything but flash but got the job done. They dominated the match early but NZM had a brief resurgence thanks to some unlawful teamwork. Ross pointed out several times that both Arn Anderson & Morgan were southpaws and when Arn was isolated they both worked on his left arm. Chomping at the bit while his partner was down, Ole finally was tagged in, looking slower than a week in jail and engaged in some turgid back-and-forth brawling with Jacko. Thankfully, things picked up when Arn was back in action delivering a beautiful spinebuster on Victory, sparking the crowd back to life. The only times this match was in any way interesting was when Arn was in action.
The Finish: All out brawl in the ring between all four combatants. Morgan held back Arn as Victory leapt from the top rope with a cane (given to him by Littlepimp) but an exhausted Ole just managed to restrain Morgan leading to Victory dropping the cane. While the ref was distracted, Arn picked it up and blasted Victory before pinning him.
Back to Cornette who ended the show quite happy it was all over and a delivered a few more digs at Ross who was still nowhere in sight. He reluctantly announced that Z-Man was wrestler of the week. Not his choice.
Not that I'll be covering it (unfortunately) but Cornette announced that his client, Bobby Eaton would take on Ric Flair on NWA Main Event the following Sunday for the world title. Fortunately, I'll also not be covering Norman finally revealing his artwork to Woman.
Quite a mediocre show in all honesty beside the Pillman/Cactus match. Cornette was entertaining in his segments but Ross sounded bored doing the commentary solo, so I hope that they'll be back as a duo next episode.
Number One in the USA at the time of broadcast...
No comments:
Post a Comment