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[1991-06-09-WCW-Main Event] Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs Brian Pillman & Bobby Eaton


Loss

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  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

And we see how much better this match got with Pillman in place of Big Josh. No shock there. Actually, Flair and Eaton picked up the intensity as well. Their chop vs. punch exchanges looked absolutely vicious. The '90 and '91 yearbooks have enhanced my love for Bobby Eaton but have also made me sad that he never got a significant singles run in a healthy promotion. He had the tools to be a top-20-all-time guy.

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Way more energetic with Pillman instead of Josh, natch. Pillman gets a pretty good FIP segment for its length and Eaton and Flair brawl to the back to continue the set-up for their Clash match-up. Compare and contrast the amount of hype this loser-leaves-WCW stip has gotten in comparison to Warrior vs. Savage. I get that they were bigger stars, but that one felt like a war to end all wars while the other is a mid-card match that gets less hype than an Omni house show.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Pillman looks like an absolute cant miss star to me in this. I love Eaton as much as the next Southern wrestling mark, but the way Pillman is fired up for this match and Eaton is just kinda there juxtaposed tells me all I need to know. Pillman should have been headlining with Flair and should have been pushed in the midcard singles title scene. Flair was surely an eager beaver in this match as he Flair Flops over nothing early. The beginning brawl seemed a little lukewarm to me. The first Flair/Eaton ratcheted up the heat as that was some really good exchanges. Now the Flair Flop off a railing shot seems much more apropos. The Horsemen work a nice heat segment with Pillman;s leg being worked on before Pillman's big retirement match against the Horsemen with Gigante. Eaton is in and gets a piece of Flair. Given how Flair took that back body drop and Flair Flip and then multiply that by 300 and then again by like 35 it is amazing he is still standing. The heels bail after this overwhelming babyface offense and they go off the air with the babyfaces chasing them to the back.

 

This match is action-packed, but really the only things that stuck out to me are the Flair/Eaton exchanges and how much Pillman felt like a total star in this. You could say it was a big responsibility that he was chosen to basically create a whole division from scratch. I think we all agree that division was DOA. I wanted to see Pillman/Luger touring around the fall '91 for the belt.

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  • 1 year later...

Hmm, I think I actually enjoyed Bobby kicking ass/getting kicked 2 on 1 while Josh just stood there a bit more. This match is kind of aimless and sloppy in parts, and with a totally WTF finish even by WCW TV standards. There's an especially lazy "obviously going to be reversed piledriver on the floor" moment from Arn, which is one of my least favorite spots in wrestling when done so poorly.

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  • 2 weeks later...

It was fairly obvious from the start that this match wouldn't have a finish, as it was basically a commercial for Flair/Eaton and the loser leaves tag, but it was adequate for what it was. The Horsemen got in some good work on Pillman's leg, and Eaton got a near-fall on Flair with a neckbreaker. Unfortunately, JR was more worried about the next show at the Omni and his radio show with Dusty, which gave away that 1) He was calling this match from a studio, not live and 2) he knew before he sat down to call it that it would ultimately mean nothing, so why make it a big deal? Of course, he was proven right quite spectacularly, as the brawl to the back is barely mentioned in the rush to get to the next commercial break.

 

Is it just me, or was that ten-count awfully honest? I've seldom seen a countout actually take place within ten seconds, and Fonzie's count seemed even faster than that here. That could be at least partially due to the fact that JR was throwing it to commercial from the moment all four men landed outside the ring, though.

 

The match itself wasn't bad, but the production of it for TV stank. Hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come for WCW, but I'm not looking forward to the Clash if what I've read in these threads is right.

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  • 2 years later...
  • GSR changed the title to [1991-06-09-WCW-Main Event] Ric Flair & Arn Anderson vs Brian Pillman & Bobby Eaton

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