Tim Cooke Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 Watched some early 1990's WCW today and Arn's great performance in the 1/26 Flair/AA/Sting vs Sawyer/Muta/Dragon Master and the 2/18 Flair/AA vs RnR had me thinking about the definitive Arn match. For tags, a top candidate is the 11/19/91 Arn/Larry vs. Steamboat/Rhodes from the Clash. But what about singles? Tully had the Magnum I Quit and Garvin WWW matches. Flair has the Steamboat, Windham, etc. to choose from. Windham had the Too Cold Scorpio Clash match. But did Arn have that one really great singles match? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 He has the Regal match from Super Brawl, and that Dustin Rhodes match from Saturday Night 1/4/92 sticks out for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WingedEagle Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 Arn really shined in tags, multiman and War Games. Always a solid hand in singles but his resume was written in plural scenarios. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 I think the match with Dustin Rhodes on the 1/4/92 WCW Saturday Night is his best singles match, and it's a great one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 He has the Regal match from Super Brawl, and that Dustin Rhodes match from Saturday Night 1/4/92 sticks out for me. Yeah, but even these aren't "great" in the traditional sense. I think he's similar to Regal in that he wasn't a big match worker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dylan Waco Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 If the "traditional sense" of great is that the match main evented or was a spotlight match on a ppv, then Arn had no great matches. But I think that's a pretty worthless way of thinking about wrestling. If OJ means something else by "traditional sense" I'd like to know what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryvonKramer Posted June 2, 2014 Report Share Posted June 2, 2014 His best match period was probably with Ole vs. Rock n Roll Express at Starrcade 86. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 If the "traditional sense" of great is that the match main evented or was a spotlight match on a ppv, then Arn had no great matches. But I think that's a pretty worthless way of thinking about wrestling. If OJ means something else by "traditional sense" I'd like to know what. Tim was asking about matches comparable to Tully vs. Magnum or Flair vs. Steamboat. A TV match with Dustin and an underrated pay-per-view match against Regal aren't in the same ballpark. The question wasn't did Arn have a great singles match, but did he have that "one really great singles match?" which I presume is a match that's good enough to be "canonised" for want of a better word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Man in Blak Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 Would the Fall Brawl '95 match against Flair count as a canonizable "spotlight match?" I know there's some dispute over its quality, judging by the discussions in the '95 Yearbook, but I think it might be the best intersection you'll find of AA's ring work, his history with the Horsemen, and higher-profile storytelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 He's got really fun stuff vs Manny in 85, and the Eaton series in 91 and a couple of Windom matches I love, including the 91 WCW Pro Chicago match. I imagine there's some good stuff in his 95 TV Title run too on the syndi shows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 and a couple of Windom matches I love, including the 91 WCW Pro Chicago match. I've finally met another human being who loves this match. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted June 3, 2014 Report Share Posted June 3, 2014 I can't imagine anyone who posts here seeing that match and not loving it. It's just that no one's seen it. It should have made a Schneider comp or something at some point. I'm pretty sure I pushed for it on the yearbook but it didn't make the cut for one reason or another. I might have pushed too late or there wasn't a good enough copy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamsie Posted June 4, 2014 Report Share Posted June 4, 2014 What's the date of this Eaton/Anderson match on PRO? I've started watching all WCW tv from 91 and the best thing thru Jan and early Feb is the TV Title with Zenk, Taylor, Eaton and Anderson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War is Raw Posted October 20, 2019 Report Share Posted October 20, 2019 1990 NWA Power Hour Vs Muta is huge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted October 21, 2019 Report Share Posted October 21, 2019 Holy Cow that crowd is HOT for babyface Arn! The pops he gets for powering out of Muta's Cattle Mutilation, for the reverse Atomic Drops, and for the Spinebuster. Wow. Very hot finish. Totally enjoyable match from start to finish. Really liked this a lot. Soilid basic pro wrestling. More entertaining, for me, than watching dudes doing back-flips through tables (thought that can also be entertaining if it's done well). Muta maybe could have sold the arm a little, if I'm gonna nit-pick. Jim Ross is a just openly racist on commentary. That part was pretty weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul sosnowski Posted October 22, 2019 Report Share Posted October 22, 2019 I'm not sure if it was on Pro. Here's a Arn-Bobby match on Worldwide 1/26/91 which re-aired on Power Hour 2/2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War is Raw Posted November 21, 2019 Report Share Posted November 21, 2019 On 10/21/2019 at 7:41 AM, gordi said: Holy Cow that crowd is HOT for babyface Arn! The pops he gets for powering out of Muta's Cattle Mutilation, for the reverse Atomic Drops, and for the Spinebuster. Wow. Very hot finish. Totally enjoyable match from start to finish. Really liked this a lot. Soilid basic pro wrestling. More entertaining, for me, than watching dudes doing back-flips through tables (thought that can also be entertaining if it's done well). Muta maybe could have sold the arm a little, if I'm gonna nit-pick. Jim Ross is a just openly racist on commentary. That part was pretty weird. I love how both men took their time to establish face vs heel (for us in the future, too!) and then the story of Muta's crew threatening at ringside to stack the odds against Arn. Solid in-ring work and psychology. Fans on every impact move from Arm. Muta mixes his flips in (but in a safe way) which adds to his character. Did you see how it was not necessary for them to spam finishing moves like WWE or counter them multiple times like NJPW? The finishing sequence was amazing: Arn did the miracle kickout when Buzz Sawyer jumped on him. Had me fooled. Muta softens him up with a jumping kick, backbreaker, and then sets up for the moonsault (the most spectacular move at the time). Arn puts his knees up. DDT. 1-2-3 Super pop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War is Raw Posted November 21, 2019 Report Share Posted November 21, 2019 Pretty sure he and Windham had chemistry up the ying-yang from the 80s to early 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted November 21, 2019 Report Share Posted November 21, 2019 Probably harder to determine a bad AA match than a good one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franchise Posted December 9, 2019 Report Share Posted December 9, 2019 On 6/2/2014 at 9:01 PM, Matt D said: He's got really fun stuff vs Manny in 85, and the Eaton series in 91 and a couple of Windom matches I love, including the 91 WCW Pro Chicago match. I imagine there's some good stuff in his 95 TV Title run too on the syndi shows. What is the Date on the Pro match v Barry? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War is Raw Posted December 13, 2019 Report Share Posted December 13, 2019 On 12/9/2019 at 12:35 AM, Franchise said: What is the Date on the Pro match v Barry? Barry Windham vs Arn Anderson 1991/11/02: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tg6VYmhzkVU Some others online: For TV title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuYwzFwHF9Y For NWA Title: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x16t8ijs For Western States Title: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urPckzggBco Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War is Raw Posted January 7, 2020 Report Share Posted January 7, 2020 On today's The Arn Show, Arn said his worst match was against The Renegade. He implied Renegade did not know any basics and had no idea about wrestling lingo or structure, might as well have been a civilian. The match was supposed to be 15+ minutes but Arn asked for it to be short. They gave him 10 min. I checked, and Renegade only had around 35 career matches going in the match. Anyway, the fans actually were into this match and Arn carried him. Arn had to call for rest holds to fill time and stall a bit. However, the match itself was not as bad as he makes it sound, considering what Arn had to deal with. So if that was Arn's worst match, the axiom holds true: there is no such thing as bad Arn Anderson match. BTW, WCW was always bad at this.. They were old school and forced muscle heads to work long matches (Road Warriors, Sting, Luger, Nikita, etc.) as opposed to booking quick squashes like Ole did with the Road Warriors and Vince did with Ultimate Warrior. Goldberg finally broke that mold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordi Posted January 8, 2020 Report Share Posted January 8, 2020 That was pretty damned close to being a bad AA match. The Renegade really was the drizzling shits in the ring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
War is Raw Posted January 12, 2020 Report Share Posted January 12, 2020 On 1/8/2020 at 12:54 AM, gordi said: That was pretty damned close to being a bad AA match. The Renegade really was the drizzling shits in the ring. The fans didn't seem to mind. If that's Arn's worst (which he says it is) he still carried him as best as humanly possible with no "boring" chants, which were prevalent in that time frame more than today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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