[1992-01-25-WCW-Saturday Night] Arn Anderson vs Dustin Rhodes

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Another good match between these two, but shorter and not as good as the match on 1/4. One of the better fake out spots you'll ever see with Arn feigning a knee injury and Paul E. even coming in the ring with money to try to convince Dustin to leave the match. Larry Z. runs in for the DQ, is quickly run off by Barry Windham and then Steve Austin ends up caught in the crossfire and Windham destroys his knee. Later in the show (not shown on the yearbook), Austin had a match, maybe with Windham, where he sold the injury big time the whole match.

 

Arn clears the ring after Windham comes in, perhaps to go offer a fan a CAT BATH.

[Tim Evans]

I kinda like how the fakeout spot wasn't the finish. Kinda crazy that two years later, these two would be teammates.

[shoe]

Just a good little t.v bout that furthered the feuds. That fake out spot was great. Actually I thought Austin teamed up with Eaton against the Steiners on that show.

[rainmakerrtv]

I seem to recall Austin selling the knee injury for some weeks afterwards.

[MikeCampbell]

Arn feigning the knee injury was great, and Heyman offering Dustin money to leave was priceless. After weeks of sneak attacks, Dustin and Windham finally get one over on the Alliance when Windham stops Austin, and then also cuts of Dangerously trying to use the phone. Dustin holds them off with a chair while Windham gives Austin a taste of his own medicine.

[WingedEagle]

Not as good as their match at the beginning of the year but that's asking a lot. Loved Arn faking the knee injury to set up a DDT when the time was right. One spot you don't see often enough that I love -- Dustin going to the top, Arn was out of the way and rather than forcing something awkward, Dustin changes his strategy, comes down and applies a sleeper.

 

The explanation about Windham not being ringside to guard against DA interference made sense, but promoting an Omni show on a national telecast like it was a PPV did not. At this time, I kind of assumed the Omni was a big deal like MSG and took for granted that it'd be promoted nationwide. That's obviously not the case and comes off really minor league.

 

***

[PeteF3]

Attention to detail! Barry Windham cannot accompany Dustin to ringside due to a lack of a manager's license. Windham cuts a fiery promo backstage at the Clash swearing revenge on Larry Zbyszko.

 

Good match, but a little more shticky and less of an intense struggle than the first bout. Arn fakes a knee injury but this isn't quite as convincing as the fakeout he pulled off against...Z-Man, I think, at the end of 1990. He does do jumping jacks afterward though, just to be a douche about it. Rhodes hits the bulldog, but Zbyszko breaks the pin for the DQ, followed immediately by Windham, who runs off the Enforcers and then catches both Steve Austin and Paul E. when they try to ambush him. Windham goes nuts, pounding on Austin's knee with the phone before figure-fouring him. This sets up the Windham/Austin program for the TV title, but the point about these high-action matches not having much in the way of consequences may be borne out--let's see if this knee injury has any long-term effect at all or if it's completely forgotten like Sting and Rude's knee injuries were.

[garretta]

Not a bad match; I'm waiting to see how their encounter from three weeks earlier tops it.

 

This was as much about Windham and his in-ring return as it was about Dustin and Arn, and the postmatch was really where the action was. The faces score the big victory of the day when Austin's knee is pounded into jelly by Heyman's own phone, and none of his partners want any part of Barry whatsoever. It's the first time the DA has shown any vulnerability, and it'll be interesting to see how the faces take advantage of that vulnerability in the coming weeks.

 

The match itself was pretty basic, with Arn's fake knee injury being the highlight. My other favorite part comes after Dustin knocks Arn for a loop with a huge right. Heyman says something to the effect of, "I signed to fight Dustin Rhodes and I end up fighting Mike Tyson." The kicker is, what does Arn do the minute Paul gets the words out of his mouth? He pounds Dustin with a closed left fist! That's the type of stuff you don't find in today's wrestling. I don't know if the spot was planned exactly that way or not, but however it was planned, it turned out brilliantly.

 

I loved the clip we saw from Barry's promo, and even though he's a face now, he hasn't sounded this Horseman-like in quite a while. One thing, though: He'd better have a manager's license the next time Dustin needs him as a second. JR made too big a deal of how Barry was foiled by Heyman for this not to be followed up on somehow.

 

You can tell there's real disgust in JR's voice when he unloads on Paul. Whether that's superior acting skill for an announcer or whether JR's letting out real-life emotion, I can't tell. It's probably a bit of both, though there too much relish in his voice for it not to be at least somewhat real. By the way, has anyone else ever heard a jumping jack referred to as a "side-saddle hop" or whatever JR called it?

 

Again, the Omni promotion didn't bother me under the circumstances. Remember, at this time the local WTBS Atlanta feed and the national TBS SuperStation feed were the same. WTBS was WCW's local outlet in Atlanta, so promoting the Omni cards was essential. I just hope that they'll keep showing relevant Omni footage on the national programs from time to time.

[dawho5]

Really fun TV match with Arn being a giant asshole any time he was on offense. Post-match gives the babyfaces back some heat and Barry a nice way to come back. Well-executed for what it was supposed to be.