[1991-04-27-WCW-Worldwide] Barry Windham vs Brian Pillman

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This was a good match because of the energy and crowd heat, but it took them a few minutes to find a groove with each other. When Windham takes over on offense, the match gets much better, more because they were on the same page than because Pillman was necessarily "bad" on offense before that. Pillman bleeds above the eye in a nasty way. Arn Anderson (of the Horsemen that no longer exist, because WCW booking is what it is) runs in for the DQ and attacks Pillman, but the recently turned babyface Bobby Eaton makes the save, and the crowd explodes.

[shoe]

Another good match between the 2. Not as good as the 1st on the set. Though not that far behind. The work wasn't as crisp, and the storytelling not as compelling.

[Guest TheGreatPuma]

This match was the best of their series that I have seen. It's also a personal favorite of mine. Pillman and Windham at their best.

[Childs]

Are you sure you have the right match? Didn't think this one compared well to either the 4/6 match or the taped fist match, though it was solid stuff for TV.

[Guest TheGreatPuma]

Are you sure you have the right match? Didn't think this one compared well to either the 4/6 match or the taped fist match, though it was solid stuff for TV.

My bad, I just realised I was getting mixed up. I watched 4/6 again and it is incredible. I can not say one thing bad about it. Now I got two fav Pillman vs Windham matches. Tony was incredible in this as he added a lot to the match as well.

[PeteF3]

Love Pillman eschewing the ten-count punches in the corner just to slap Windham in the face instead. Lots of other great touches throughout, like Windham's bump off the turnbuckle to the floor and a really sick brainbuster. Another shit finish, but the crowd is NWO levels of rabid over the post-match attack, littering the ring with crap until and after Bobby Eaton makes the save.

[Kevin Ridge]

More aggressiveness from Pillman in a match. Camera angles didn’t feel right when they went to the wide shots. Thought it was good match. It is Arn’s turn to interfere in a Pillman match. Eaton makes the save though to big pop and levels Anderson with a clothesline.

[soup23]

Not quite as good as the first match but not too terribly far behind. The brainbuster BW gave to Pillman when he took over on offense was nasty. He follows that up with fishhooking and eye raking. Eye work in general was nasty. Pillman's comeback is good until Anderson comes in a beats him up. Man the fans are pissed at this. Eaton looked like a hero making the save. Good stuff all around.

[garretta]

The structure of this match was a lot more traditional than the first, and Windham gets a lot more sustained offense. The shoulder also isn't quite as big a deal, although JR and Paul mention it from time to time. The last match was about trying to exploit Pillman's injury; this match is about Windham trying to eliminate him in any and every way possible. But the gutsy Pillman rises to the occasion once more, fighting back despite his busted-open forehead and forcing Arn to run in and save Windham's hide. Not too bad for a Satuirday Night main event, especially only three weeks before a bigger Pillman/Windham confrontation at SuperBrawl.

 

Even if they're not using the Horsemen name much by now, the concept is still intact, as we saw in the World Wide (by the way, is that supposed to be one word or two by now?) tag match. But Bobby Eaton saves the day for the first time in a situation not involving a babyface incarnation of the MX. That didn't totally sit well with me; the "feud partners are always matched no matter what" concept bugged me when Vince used to do it to the point of absurdity, and it's sad to see Dusty resorting to it. I guess if Eaton hadn't been in the building, Arn and Barry could have beaten Pillman to death without a peep from anyone else. I suppose Dusty needed to make sure that Bobby was cheered at SuperBrawl, so this wasn't totally nonsensical, but why not use Gigante, whose second career in recent weeks has seemed to be bailing Pillman out of every tight spot he gets into?

 

I know Paul's supposed to be putting over the WCW wrestlers as the toughest guys in the world, but taking a shot at Bo Jackson for not being able to play football anymore because of a hip injury that eventually led to a replacement seemed cheap. I don't think it was necessarily a heel thing, either; JR may not have used that particular example, but I seem to remember many occasions where he called the toughness of boxers and football players into question compared with that of WCW wrestlers. I'll give Vince credit for this: he never put down another group of athletes to make the WWF wrestlers seem tough. The sad thing is, this is bound to get worse under guys like Bill Watts.

 

This was a good setup for the eventual showdowns at SuperBrawl, but the first match was a little better as a standalone. Looking forward to more from these two.

[dawho5]

Good match between the two that could have been better. Some big miscommunications early on which led to what Loss mentioned. They did get it right in the end, but 4/6 was better.