[1993-01-16-WCW-Saturday Night] Up Close w/ the Hollywood Blonds

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Forget the Loose Cannon stuff, this may be the best serious Pillman promo I've ever heard, talking about wanting a 2/3 falls match against Steamboat and Douglas because they get stronger as matches go long and how anyone can get lucky in a quick fall. Austin was already developing into a guy with some personality by this point too.

[benj]

Fuck I remember those Nike warm-up suits. Seriously Pillman rules here, making of a dynasty motherfuckers.

[shoe]

This was great. Those guys come across as the douche bags from those old 80's movies that would give the nerd a wedgie or get thrown in a locker. Pillman was great here, and Austin was pretty damn good here.

[BackToBionic]

Yeah, just agreeing...great stuff. Also, Austin drops in a "the bottom line is...." which made me smile.

[Kevin Ridge]

What a contrast of hair styles between the two. They want a two out of three falls match as they feel endurance is their strength. Pillman feels like Steamboat/Douglas won because of a fluke.

[PeteF3]

Schiavone speculates on Austin being the "Wrestler of the '90s." Oh, if only they knew. Wrestlers discussing strengths, weaknesses, gameplans...we can make fun of Ross and Watts for comparing everything to football, but these type of segments are legitimately effective. Austin and Pillman do a good job of getting this stuff over and getting their competition over, while still coming off as heels. These segments continue to be great.

[WingedEagle]

Still not going by the Blonds moniker quite yet, but they establish themselves as a dedicated team and #1 contender focused on the titles. Pillman wants a 2/3 falls match. Solid stuff.

[soup23]

Up close continues to deliver the goods. This was great and really made the tag team titles feel hugely important. The White Castle of Fear skit is shitty but man their is a lot of interesting stuff going on in WCW right now and even something like Arn vs. Watts doesn't feel near as bad as it might should because it is about the 4-5 most important thing happening.

[garretta]

This was a bit more promo-like than the other Up Close segments that we've seen, but these two still come across as dedicated, serious athletes. Austin always has, but Pillman as a face always seemed a bit too happy-go-lucky for his own good. He's great here, talking about the Blonds' desire for a two-out-of-three falls match in order to take advantage of what he feels is his and Austin's superior endurance. Austin's not doing the exact Stone Cold character by a longshot, but the attitude is there in dribs and drabs, and I liked "The bottom line is...." stuff too.

 

Pete talked about Watts liking to compare wrestling to football, so I wonder if he suggested "The fourth quarter belongs to us" line for Pillman. I know what he meant, but it took the comparison a bit too far. "The third fall will belong to us" might have been more appropriate.

 

I didn't know that Windham had supposedly recruited Austin to be Pillman's partner, presumably so he could focus on his singles feud with Dustin. I wonder if the plan had originally been for Austin to be the U.S. title contender and Windham and Pillman to be the Blonds, then someone remembered Barry turning on Dustin and got the plan reversed.