The Hollywood Blondes

[Ray]

Easily better than the Blondes who have been given unfair love because of one skit (Flair for the Old) and what the members later became.

No offense but this is the same crap the dummies on the Oratory board were saying to prove the Blondes were a lesser team than Hall and Nash.

 

I don't love The Hollywood Blondes because Austin became Stone Cold and Pillman became the Loose Cannon, I love them because Stunning Steve and Flyin' Brian made a great tag team. I don't love them for just one skit, I love them for all their matches with Steamboat and Douglas and even teams like Bagwell and Scorpio.

 

 

 

I'm voting for The Fantastics for longevity.

[goodhelmet]

Sorry, but the Blondes are over-rated. All of the teams they faced had much better matches with lesser opponents. Their shtick reminds me of a prelude to Christian and Edge. And just skim the boards and see the praise these guys get (you're giving it) yet no one mentions or defends specific matches that made them excel above any other given tag team. Every Blondes match I have seen was either good or underwhelming and I have seen a few.

 

The Clash 22 match against Steamboat and Douglas was good, nothing great, and could probably be called their best match (unless their is some hidden, super secret match I haven't seen on Pro or Main Event) and the Clash 23 match against Flair and Anderson sucked (even though I don't blame that on the Blondes). The Dos Hombres match was mediocre. So maybe I should have been more elaborate... the Blondes aren't in the Fantastics league (except maybe in interviews) but there is nothing in their small grab bag of matches that would say this was a great team.

 

And for shame, saying the Fantastics are worlds better than the Blondes is ALOT differtent than saying the Outsiders were worlds better than the Blondes. Come on now.

[Loss]

*split this off because it's worth discussing outside of the tournament, and I don't want to close the thread when a good convo is starting*

[goodhelmet]

OK, well ,sometime this week, I'll do quick reviews of the Blondes matches in my possession.

[Loss]

I liked the Blondes quite a bit. No, they weren't at the level of the Midnight Express or the Fantastics, but with more time, they could have been their successors as the best working heel team in WCW. Goodhelmet mentioned many matches that underwhelmed him, but the problem with the Blondes is that they peaked with their feud against Steamboat and Douglas, and the pay-per-view matches against Steamboat and Douglas were the _worst matches_ from their feud, which saw them have countless TV matches that were much better.

 

I remember quite well the first time I saw Ric Flair and thought he looked old. It was his match teaming with Arn against the Blonds at the 06/93 Clash. Now granted, that match doesn't do nearly as much for me as it once did, but I do think it says a lot for Austin and Pillman that they were outworking Ric Flair and Arn Anderson in 1993, two guys who were considered the best heavyweights WCW had by most people who underrated Vader. And I think it showed that the potential was there for the Blondes to become an all-time great tag team.

 

Austin had his best matches in the WWF, no doubt, but I think it's in WCW where he learned how to work. The majority of his tenure there saw him surrounded by outstanding workers almost all the time and he couldn't help but learn from those around him. I don't think the Blondes are overrated -- I haven't seen anyone call them the best tag team of all time, or even of the decade. But calling them a good team that had the potential to one day be great isn't really a stretch at all.

[goodhelmet]

A couple of points...

 

I only mentioned one PPV match... unless you were lumping Clashes in with PPVs.

 

I never said they didn't have potential. Hell, I have seen a lot of teams that were only around for short stetches that had the potential to become great.

 

I agree that they outworked the Horsemen in the Clash match but it still did not produce a good match. I also think it sucks that they jad their legs cut out underneath them. I do, however, want to see the cream of the crop of the Blondes (if the big stage matches aren't it) because I have been very underwhelmed wih this team that had so much potential.

[Resident Evil]

I haven't watched the Blondes in awhile but I will say I'm one of their biggest fans. The two matches off the top of my head that I reccomend are the Computer Challenge match against Scorpio/Bagwell on Worldwide and the title switch on Worldwide against Douglas and Steamboat. Both are great.

[goodhelmet]

And I will attempt to track both down in order to give them thier props.

[sek69]

The Blondes never really got a chance, they were cut down by the Powers That Be as soon as it became clear they had a chance to be real good.

[Guest cawthon777]

The Blondes had a series of very solid matches against Steamboat & Douglas in the fall of 1992, before they were an official team and before Steamboat & Douglas won the tag straps. They must have had half a dozen bouts on Worldwide, Pro, etc. Don't think they fought on Saturday Night.

 

I distinctly remember a title defense against Scorpio & Bagwell on Saturday Night, deemed Scorpio & Bagwell's last shot at the Blondes, that was very good. I seem to remember one of the challengers being assaulted on the floor (probably Bagwell), leaving the other one to have to fend for himself.

 

The cage match at Slamboree got some incredible heat for the last 5-10 minutes.

 

Considering what the wrestling world was offering at the time, the Hollywood Blondes deserve the praise they receive. They were both solid on the mic, got great heat, and were two of the best workers in the company.