[1991-08-03-WCW-Power Hour] Barry Windham & Arn Anderson & Diamond Studd vs Bobby Eaton & Yellow Dog & Dustin Rhodes

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I was about to rant about this match airing after Arn has officially broken from the group and Windham has turned, but Jim Ross explains in commentary that this was taped before the Great American Bash. I'll accept that, especially given that this is a pretty good match. I always love the triple figure four spot, and it was rare during this time for a WCW match to have this much heat. The heels try to unmask the Yellow Dog again, but no dice.

[PeteF3]

That's still some poor quality control to have sat on this match for this long, and an indication of what a bunch of last-minute stuff was being booked for the company at this point. Great performance from Pillman in particular but everyone except the Studd looks good. And Hall at least looks better than he did in the AWA. Big heat for this and an actual finish. Fun match, but it's obvious how far Jim Ross has fallen as an announcer. I don't totally blame him, but he sounds like a man whose soul has been crushed by the monstrosity that is 1991 WCW.

[Kevin Ridge]

Yellow Dog looking more like Pillman with Windham’s chest being bloody from the chops. Anderson goes through the ringer taking shots from the face team. Fans want Pillman to be reinstated. Heyman points out he is wrestling right now. Triple figure fours. Cool spot. DDP is about the run Eaton into the railing and the camera cuts away. Ross talking about whether Windham will be a good or bad guy. Match is out of date with it being taped before Bash at the Beach.

[soup23]

Ross saying this match was taped before hand is one out but damn GAB was 3 weeks ago. I didn't think the match was special enough for me to have to do all the leg work in deciding where everyone was aligned at this point in time. I also don't dig the Yellow Dog stuff at all.

[garretta]

You can tell that the Yellow Dog angle is just about over because Pillman does the "peek-a-boo, I see you" routine with the mask before the bout. They're not even really trying to establish differences between the Yellow Dog and Pillman anymore, either.

 

The match is decent for what it was; it's mostly notable for the final television teaming of the Horsemen, or what's left of them by now, and also for Windham's last appearance as a heel for quite a while. Hall's an awkward fit with Arn and Barry, but since he was the one who ripped off Pillman's mask, he gets a chance to do it again. Everybody gets some ring time, DDP gets an interference spot with Bobby, and we get the flash ending with Pillman pinning Arn and the heels just about getting his mask again before Pillman slithers out of their grasp. If this is the best Dusty can do, I agree with JR: the angle should be scrapped and Pillman reinstated. The only inspired spot in the bout is the triple figure-fours, but Bobby can barely get his on Hall, which takes away from it a bit.

 

I don't necessarily agree with Pete that JR has fallen off as an announcer; he's never really cared all that much about doing voiceovers for old matches that the continuity may have passed by, and this was one of those. He's best either calling live pay-per-views or at least stuff that has relevance to the current scene. Give him a match like this thrown in out of nowhere with Windham turned face and Arn teamed with Zbyszko and this is what you get. I liked him trying to play up Barry's unpredictability in light of what happened at the Bash, though. Heyman saved things a bit with some nice analysis and his protests about JR using the phrase "danger zone". He also passed up the requisite shot at Missy when it was announced that that night's WCWSN broadcast was coming from Tallahassee, which is a hopeful sign.

 

My guess here is that this match was deliberately saved for this spot to play up Pillman's possible reinstatement and signal the near-end of the Yellow Dog angle. It's wither that or someone's brain went into total vapor lock. Knowing WCW, I'd say it was about a 50-50 chance either way.

[dawho5]

JR trying to cover for all of the inaccuracies in this match is such a slap in the face by WCW management. It's a perfectly fine match and some of it was actually really good. Even so, if so much has changed why bother airing it? Just seems like a lazy decision being made to not include something a little more fitting for the current situation.

[corwo]

Admittedly, I watched this in a vacuum, so I can't speak to the inaccuracies. That said, I thought it was quite fun. Simple stuff like Dog's dropkick fakeout and Arn taking a cheap shot at Eaton, only to immediately pay for it and pinball around for the babyfaces made this quite an effective little TV match. ***