[1991-09-29-WCW-Main Event] Steve Austin vs Big Josh

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Some guy at DVDVR ranked this to be the best match on WCW Main Event in 1991. I have liked the other Main Event stuff he liked, but couldn't get into this one as much. It wasn't a bad match, but it was pretty perfunctory.

[PeteF3]

Schiavone goes all-out to get Josh over as a wrestler, and he's incredibly detailed about it without being over-the-top. That in the middle of it, Josh throws in an armbar takedown when Austin attempts a clothesline is just icing on the cake. There is some great armwork here and a few cool payback spots too, plus some good bumps from Josh. And then ANOTHER lame-as-hell finish as Austin is disqualified for a fucking ringpost shot. These are hair-tearing at this point, like the late part of the AWA set. Which is a shame because I was really, really liking this. I know he's 1/3 of the prestigious 6-Man Champions but why do we need to protect Josh, exactly?

[Kevin Ridge]

At this point I'm looking forward to Big Josh moving on to WWF and becoming Doink. Alright match but Austin seems to be going through a stretch of not winning any matches.

[Mando]

Some guy at DVDVR ranked this to be the best match on WCW Main Event in 1991. I have liked the other Main Event stuff he liked, but couldn't get into this one as much. It wasn't a bad match, but it was pretty perfunctory.

That was my list, Loss. Glad you got some use out of it. We're working on a WCW WorldWide '97 project currently.

[soup23]

I didn't like this very much. Tony solo on commentary is weird and he keeps building up to the Josh dropkick. The work here was fine but very rudimentary and the match never seemed to kick into an extra gear.

[garretta]

This was just a basic match, nothing more. Tony's in-depth commentary is actually the star, as he builds up Josh as a real student of the game. In reality, Borne was too talented for this gimmick and probably wanted to incorporate more moves and holds into his matches, and WCW decided that that was the way to explain it. The arm work by both guys was nicely done, but none of it ends up going anywhere.

 

Pete brought up the terrible finish, and the only reason I can come up with for it was that they needed to cut the match short for whatever reason. I've never seen a post shot that didn't draw blood used as an excuse for a disqualification before, and Cappetta was giving the announcement before Borne even had time to sell it. They've pulled this sort of thing before with other seemingly out-of-nowhere DQs, and time has to be the main reason. Post shots aren't legal, of course, but incidental ones like that aren't grounds for a DQ unless there are other factors in play.

 

If I hadn't seen Jeannie with Austin in Dallas, I would have never known how good she really was. She's just been a typical valet here doing typical spots like the hair pull we saw in this match, nothing special. At this point Heyman will be an upgrade when the Dangerous Alliance starts up in WCW come November. The only time Jeannie has figured in an angle so far was when she accused Dustin of sending her roses before his TV title bout with Austin a while back.

 

On a totally unrelated note, I wonder if the Bruise Cruise came off as scheduled. Looking through the '92 Yearbook matchlists, I don't see any segments devoted to it, and you'd think that a recap of it would have made the set somehow, since WCW made such a big deal out of it.

[dawho5]

I thought Tony's commentary was really good here as well. This gimmick really gimps Borne as he has to wrestle most of the match like he..can't? Anyway, good enough but it's not going to set the world on fire. Austin's diving clothesline thingy was pretty good.