[1991-09-28-WCW-Saturday Night] Richard Morton vs Brian Pillman

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Ricky Morton is such a pro. He's *the* babyface, and he has just really seamlessly transitioned into this heel run, changing up his offense and entire demeanor. He ends up targeting Pillman's arm here like a piranha. Really dumb finish, as Tommy Rich pulls a switcheroo with Morton and ends up eating the pinfall. I like the post-match triple teaming, and it's interesting that Morton is being pushed as the principal of the group at this point.

[PeteF3]

Pillman is set to face Thomas Rich, but when Morton trash talks about the Light Heavyweight title tournament final, he gets swapped in. It's Morton as a heel against the guy who maybe should have been his '90s heir apparent, and it's as good as it sounds. Until an absolutely idiotic finish. I mean, with a PPV match a month away I knew there was no way this was ending in a pinfall, and that's fine. But Randy Anderson not being able to tell Morton and Rich apart is the height of idiocy, it doesn't matter what the originally signed match was. Pillman gets triple-teamed afterward in a very well-done beatdown. Rich and Taylor do a spiked gutwrench power bomb and then hold Pillman so Morton can leap off the top onto his knee. Morton really is channeling Flair in his heel role. I'm heartened to see the York Foundation back on the Yearbook--they're really everything a mid-card heel stable should be.

[Kevin Ridge]

Dumb finish. Morton and Rich look nothing alike. Stupid officiating where Anderson should be banned for life. Match itself was going alright up to the finish.

[soup23]

Dumb finish aside, I really dug this match. It was worked with a nice pace and Morton was showing off his heel mannerisms to perfection. PIllman continues to be amazingly sympathetic.

[garretta]

I don't believe that this was an case of Pee Wee being dumb; since Rich was the originally signed combatant, his contract to wrestle Pillman was still valid in spite of Morton's challenge, so he could still be pinned. At least that would be my explanation; too bad JR or anyone else actually involved in booking the bout never thought of it, instead choosing to make Pee Wee look totally ridiculous. It's a shame, because this was an excellent preview of Halloween Havoc.

 

Morton has learned all about working heel from the people he's taken beatings from over the years, and now he gets to apply that knowledge, which he does beautifully. I don't think he'll ever shed Rock 'n' Roll Ricky completely in WCW, but that shouldn't take away from how effective he is; his work on Pillman's arm is first-rate. Pillman may be the best babyface seller in North America at this time, and this match is a perfect showcase for it. The computer is used enough to be put over, but not enough to distract from the action, and JR and Heyman are back to where they were earlier in the year as far as working together goes. I wonder how long it'll last.

 

One slip during an otherwise well-done beatdown: Morton had spent most of the match targeting Pillman's arm and rendering it useless, so why come off the top onto his leg instead? A flying knee to an already injured arm might have spelled the end of Pillman for quite a while, or at least limited his effectiveness at Havoc. Maybe the York Foundation computer was attacked by a virus during the match!

 

I agree with Pete that it's nice to see the Yorks again. Think about this: Morton was a babyface his whole JCP/WCW career, and Rich had been beloved since his days as the hottest thing in Georgia back in the early eighties. Taylor had always been cheered when he was in the area as well. Yet now, with just the aid of a computer and a beautiful scheming woman, without changing much about the way they look and talk (in terms of accent), they're doing a superb job as heels. This has to be one of the most underrated successes of Dusty's entire booking career, and it's a shame that they won't be around all that much longer.

[dawho5]

Ricky Morton as a heel is surprisingly awesome. Brian Pillman as the plucky babyface is in no way surprisingly awesome. He's been great the last two years. They put on a really good match to hype up Havoc and then do the dumbest finish ever to make sure it's not remembered as a great match. I'll agree that the York Foundation really is well done. I would have never guessed Taylor and Morton were near as good as they were at being heels based on the majority of their work. Morton in particular is so good at changing the way he handles himself in the ring. I'm starting to think maybe he should get a serious look as a top 20 or 30 in the U.S. wrestler.