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[1993-03-27-WCW-Worldwide] Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs Hollywood Blonds


Loss

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  • 1 month later...

The best match of the series. The Blondes win the tag titles when Pillman pins Steamboat.

 

The match had almost no heat to begin with, but the crowd was pretty insane by the end. They used every trick they could think of to have a good match, to a point where it may have even been a little overdone, but it's hard to fault this effort.

 

The use of the towel when they were working over Douglas was amusing, because the fans were screaming so loudly over a towel. The build to the hot tag is as good as any hot tag build you'll ever see.

 

I especially enjoyed Austin trying to replicate Douglas' partner-assisted slingshot from the apron to the ring spot that Douglas would always do and missing. Also enjoyed the Rocket Launcher backfiring.

 

The series isn't an all-time classic series like it's been hyped to be in some cases, but it is a very good series, bookended by the best two matches (the first one at the Clash, and then the title change).

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  • 3 months later...

I'd agree with pretty much everything Loss said about this, althouh I slightly prefer the Clash match as my favourite of the series. Everything after Douglas starts playing face-in-peril is excellent, though. I'd probably say the first half of the Clash match is stronger than the first half of this while the second half here is stronger than the second half of Clash.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I prefer the one that skips on this disc earlier in the disc. Still this match was another excellent match. I loved Pillman going all Johnny from Cobra-Kai on Douglas bad wheel early in the match. The story throughout was well done, and those towels got the Blonds a ton of heat. Again the wrestlers worked hard to get the crowd to care. By the 10 minute mark they finally got them and were super hot the rest of the way. One thing about this series is all 4 guys worked hard and got the crowd to give a shit.

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  • 1 year later...

I still can't stand Douglas and give him no credit. The other 3 wrestlers were so good here they could've carried anyone vaguely competant. The Blonds were a strong heel unit and Steamboat one of the top babyfaces of the era. I was surprised by just how much I did enjoy it as I'm not that often impressed by US tag wrestling. The longer it went the better it got before reaching a crescendo at the end.

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  • 5 months later...

This was great and I enjoyed Douglas when he playing the face in peril. Blonds complimented each other so well at this point and both their cheating and short cuts in the match were great. Just kept building and thre crowd came along. Towel use was fun as they were just strangling Douglas every moment they could. Blonds cheating pays off in the end.

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  • 4 months later...

Fuck the Douglas hate. I don't like him either but he's been better than solid in all of these, and he was very good as Ricky Morton here. Steamboat and Douglas provided some cool double-teams and good offense in general, while the Blonds did some fun cheating while also coming off as tough asskickers, bringing more to the table than just Memphis stall-o-rama. The use of the towel was pretty ingenious and Pillman was a fucking beast working the crowd from the apron--he's finally come into his own as a heel. Steamboat at one point gets clotheslined off the apron by Pillman and takes what appears to be an absolutely hellacious bump to the floor--Cactus Jack-worthy, even if we didn't see him hit. Really hot finish with some twists in the tag formula, before Austin whacks Steamboat with a title belt and the championship goes to the Blonds. I don't know if it was as good as the Clash but I was getting way into this, not remembering if this was the title change or not.

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  • 1 year later...

The champs -- both Steamboat and Douglas -- look great dominating the early action here. I like that they highlight Douglas's knee injury from the Omni attack. We even get Steamboat & Douglas effectively using an abdominal stretch, tagging in & out and going back to stretching Austin. The extended shine for the champions and announcers focusing on Douglas's knee telegraphs a title change, but that's a good thing. Pillman chokes Douglas outside with his towel to give Austin control. Pillman lays out Steamboat and brawls with him on the floor which lets Austin continue choking Douglas in the ring as the Blonds are now working like a regular team rather than a makeshift pairing. Steamboat eventually in on a hot tag, cleaning house to a big pop building since the Blonds' towel antics. Steamboat with a flying cross body and then avoids an incoming Austin attack leaving Pillman to take it for a near fall. Austin nails Steamboat with the belt while the ref is distracted and Pillman covers him to win the titles. Great finishing stretch.

 

***3/4

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  • 2 months later...

I ever so slightly prefer the Clash match but what a fun ass feud and a great culmination with the Blondes winning the tag straps. I loved the payoff of the belt shot as the feud as a whole coming full circle after the Blondes used the titles to really escalate things post match back in January. One reason I prefer the Clash match was the extended shine early one which I was waning a little bit of but once the Blondes got on offense, this was great stuff. ***3/4

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  • 1 year later...

This may have been the best match of the series, and it's a shame that it's also apparently the last one.

 

We've seen a good part of this match before at other times, but what strikes me here is the desperation on both sides, particularly at the finish. The towel sequence was great, and it's been a while since we've seen such a simple object spot be so effective. But it extends to the champions as well: Steamer being so desperate for a tag that he runs down the apron away from his corner, thus ensuring that he won't be there once Shane finally gets there; the sequence outside the ring where Shane slams Austin on the floor so he can't interfere while Steamer tries to put Pillman away, and Steamer deliberately throwing Austin over the top rope in a attempt to save the belts that Randy Anderson doesn't see.

 

I'd forgotten about Austin busting Douglas in the head with one of the belts after the Clash match, but this belt shot's even bigger, as it brought the Blonds the titles.

 

I noticed that Austin and Pillman had matching tights. I guess the Hollywood Blonds name came soon after this.

 

Looking back, it almost seems like the knee was going to be a convenient excuse for why Steamer and Shane lost the belts, even with the finish we got. The announcers have really been pushing the idea that Shane's next to useless out there, which leaves Steamer two on one during their matches.

 

Tony and Jesse were a bit better here, mostly because the excitement of the match kept them on task. Tony was almost like Vince here, correcting Jesse's grammar and playing the straight-laced dweeb who doesn't quite know how to take the rough-and-tumble ex-jock. If things stay on that level between them, they'll be no less listenable than Vince and Jesse were on SNME: a bit of a chore at times, but nothing that out-and-out ruins matches for the viewer. Having said that, Tony needs to pick up the excitement level a notch or two and start calling moves more. He seems to have come down with Vince's "What a maneuver"-itis of late, and that's a big comedown for an audience who's used to JR's knowledge and precision.

 

It seemed like Jesse was trying to create dissension between the champions by constantly bringing up how Steamer wasn't there when Shane was trying to tag him. Douglas-Steamboat could have been an interesting series, either with Shane playing the young hothead who turns his back on his wise veteran partner or Steamer as the bitter veteran who can't stand the fact that his young partner gets just as much adulation as he does, if not more.

 

I wonder what's next for the new champions; there aren't that many viable babyface tag teams around who can give them a real tussle. Bagwell and Scorp aren't championship material, and Steamer and Shane are apparently about to break up. This is where they could have used Rock 'n' Roll if the working agreement with SMW wasn't 99.44% dead. (I think Arn's appearance at Bluegrass Brawl was the last major SMW match that featured WCW talent, Bobby Eaton may have stayed around for a few more shows as a favor to Corny, but he was definitely back in WCW full-time by late April.)

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  • 4 weeks later...

WCW World Tag Team Champions Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs Hollywood Blonds - WCW Worldwide 3/27/93

 

Put me in the camp that prefers the Clash match ever so slightly over this one. Definitely a different dynamic with Douglas taking a bigger role and I thought he hung with everyone else just fine. I think he could have been a solid midcarder for WCW through mid-90s if he stayed on. The babyface shine went a little long in the tooth for me just did not have the "fun" that I look for in a shine. Shine should be either fun bumping and stooging by the heels or big impressive moves by the babyfaces. Abdominal stretches just don't fit that bill. I liked the Blonds teasing knee work early on Douglas who suffered a knee injury at their hands. Douglas fighting courageously out of that twice was great. The heat comes from the Terrible Towel as Pillman yanks Douglas down by the neck. Douglas has been a strong hot tag and here he got to show off his face in peril work. Lots of towel usage by the Blonds. I love the spot where Steamboat is out of position for a tag and Pillman just rocks him on the apron. Jesse really gets on the Dragon's case about being out of position for a tag a second time. He is right; Steamboat needs to get his head in the game. Pillman eats knees on the rocket launcher and Austin straddles the ropes. Douglas just needs to...HOT TAG TO STEAMBOAT~! It is breaking loose in Tulsa! Superplex, top rope cross body Austin comes crashing down on Pillman. There was an awkward moment where no one seemed to know what to do there. Douglas sends Austin outside and then shoot himself over onto the floor. They knock heads in the ring and Austin blasts Steamboat with the belt and puts Pillman on top.

 

The Blonds are the consummate heel tag team and that was the consummate heel way to win. I thought everything here was strong, but feel like these four had a classic in them, but just never got there. I have been singing the praises of Austin & Pillman as heels, but Steamboat & Douglas have been great babyfaces. As of now, I would say the Scorpio & Bagwell match is the best Blonds match on record. ***3/4

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  • GSR changed the title to [1993-03-27-WCW-Worldwide] Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas vs Hollywood Blonds

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