Loss Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Starting this thread as more of a reminder to myself than anything. I've been watching a lot of WCW TV from 1991-1992 the past few days, and I'm starting to wonder if DA-era WCW, while it was short-lived, was the best six months for consistently great heavyweight wrestling we've ever seen in the US. After I've made sense of everything, I want to put this all together as one cohesive post and go down the list one-by-one and make recommendations, but consider this roster, with everyone either in their primes or still able to go. Heels: Rick Rude Steve Austin Arn Anderson Larry Zbyszko Bobby Eaton Cactus Jack Terry Taylor Mr. Hughes Vader Tracy Smothers Ricky Morton Faces: Sting Barry Windham Dustin Rhodes Ricky Steamboat Nikita Koloff The Steiners Ron Simmons Brian Pillman Marcus Bagwell Guys like Simmons and Zbyszko really get the shaft when people talk about good workers. Larry Z specifically has a rep for unconditional stalling, but watching these matches, which are all pretty fast-paced and steady in action, has shown that he really has another side to his game. I like Zbyszko as a staller anyway, because I think he's brilliant and great at getting heat, but I'm going to make some match recommendations later for Zbyszko for anyone who thinks he just wasn't that good. I do already know, however, that from the perspective of having hot crowds, over wrestlers, great angles and great matches, I can't really think of any time period in WCW that was better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest savagerulz Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 I have "WCW TV" tapes that cover all of 1991 and 1992. It was an outstanding era and the time I properly got into WCW as a better alternative to the product that the WWF produced. Arn and Zbysko were an awesome tag team who carried the most average of opponents to really good matches. The Simmons push opposite Luger worked superbly and those two had a great match at Halloween Havoc. The War Games involving the Dangerous Alliance was superb. You've got Sting, Austin, Simmons, Rude, Windham, Rhodes who was a really good rookie and developed insanely quickly at this point no matter what anyone else might have you think. The Steiners were incredible at this point in their careers too. Cactus working his ass off every chance he got. Steamboat too. I loved this era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dangerous A Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Was this entire era booked by Watts? I am foggy on what time period Watts was booking WCW, but know he was there for part, if not all of this era. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted March 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 What impressed me most is the way they mixed young guys and veterans so well. The vets had to work hard to keep up with the young guys, while at the same time the younger guys get to learn because they're working with such experienced talent. And it's so easy to hide weaknesses in 6-man and 8-man tags, of which there were dozens around this time. Austin was far from great at this stage, but he was never put in a position to be exposed before he was ready, as the majority of his TV matches were tags, even when he was the TV champ. They made Bagwell seem like he might actually have a future. I really wish multi-person matches happened more often, because it's a great way to do a big-name main event without giving away too much for free. They're also usually better than most singles matches. Lucha seems to have this concept down perfectly, WCW had it down around this time as well. With all the new guys in WWE who just aren't that seasoned, I wish there were more chances for them to get in, do their thing, and get out in two minutes while paired with a vet to carry the match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Dangerous A Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 It's also easier on the body, because it's easier to do a 6 man tag where each guy works about 5-7 minutes and you get a 20 minute match as opposed to a one on one match that goes 15-20 and the two guys do all the work themselves. Japan does lots of tag matches on tours and save singles matches for the end of the tour or whatever big show they are promoting. As you pointed out Loss, it's also a great way for younger guys to get experience working with vets and seeing first hand the tricks of the trade, while preserving their bodies somewhat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Was this entire era booked by Watts?No, as Watts actually phased out the Dangerous Alliance when he became booker. Dusty Rhodes was the head booker from spring 1991 for just over a year. Checking the Torch archives Bill Watts took over in May 1992 after the Wrestle War PPV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted March 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 This is the time period when Kip Frey was in the VP position, September 1991-May 1992, which was a really fun time period for WCW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DeanColes Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 Saw all the Worldwides from that time thanks to WWE Classics on Sky, never seen a "B" show with as great a combination of matches and angles, only wish I'd taped the shows. Recommended stuff Nov Barry Windham vs. Larry Zybszko Rick Steiner vs. Lex Luger Bobby Eaton vs. Johnny B. Badd Sting vs. Cactus Jack "Submit or Surrender" Rhodes/Eaton/Zenk vs. Anderson/Austin/Zybszko Austin/Anderson vs. Rhodes/Eaton(Eaton heel turn) Eaton/Anderson/Zybszko vs. Zenk/Pillman/Graham Dec Ricky Steamboat vs. Bobby Eaton Austin/Anderson vs. Fabulous Freebirds Cactus Jack vs. Arachniman Steve Austin vs. Todd Champion Ricky Steamboat vs. Bobby Eaton Jan Ron Simmons vs. Steve Austin Rhodes/Steamboat/Simmons vs. Anderson/Eaton/Austin Steiners vs. Cactus/Abdullah Rick Rude vs. Marcus Bagwell Steve Austin vs. Ricky Steamboat Ricky Steamboat vs. Larry Zybszko Bobby Eaton vs. Marcus Bagwell Young Pistols vs. Zenk/Pillman Feb Rick Rude vs. Brad Armstrong Vader/Cactus/Taylor vs. Simmons/Van Hammer/El Gigante Ricky Steamboat vs. Larry Zybszko Sting vs. Vader(Feb 8th) Ricky Steamboat vs. Cactus Jack Van Hammer/Chip/Todd Champion vs. Eaton/Anderson/Zybszko Rude/Anderson/Eaton/Zybszko vs. Simmons/Josh/Zenk/Pillman March Terry Taylor vs. Tom Zenk Barry Windham vs. Steve Austin Taylor/Valentine vs. Todd Champion/Chip Steiners vs. Eaton/Zybszko Cactus Jack vs. Brad Armstrong Rhodes/Windham vs. Young Pistols Rick Steiner vs. Steve Austin April Ricky Steamboat vs. Bobby Eaton(Steamboat slaps Madusa) Rhodes/Windham vs. Vegas/DDP Anderson/Eaton vs. Simmons/Big Josh Vader vs. Marcus Bagwell Terry Taylor vs. Tom Zenk Taylor/Valentine vs. Freebirds May(Had a Nintendo Top 10 Tournament) Steamboat/Koloff vs. Smothers/Morton Rick Rude vs. Terry Taylor Bobby Eaton vs. Dustin Rhodes Ricky Steamboat vs. Cactus Jack Dustin Rhodes vs. Bobby Eaton Vader vs. Nikita Koloff Dustin Rhodes vs. Larry Zybszko Steve Austin vs. Ron Simmons Rick Rude vs. Dustin Rhodes Were the other WCW shows as awesome as this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted March 8, 2006 Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 The quality of work during this period really goes to show what a good idea it was by Kip Frey to give a financial bonus to the wrestlers who had the best match on a show. It gave the youngsters an extra incentive to improve and helped ensure the veterans didn't rest on their laurels and get by on name value alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest savagerulz Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 I liked the Watts era in WCW. Admittedly, a lot of it was down to the talent on offer, but the majority of the booking I actually enjoyed even though many didn't. And yeah, the tv shows carried a lot of multi tags. Guys like Bagwell got invaluable experience from it and had any weaknesses covered in the process. It helped groom many of those guys a huge amount when they were so regularly working with the likes of Anderson, Zbysko, Eaton, Windham, Steamboat etc etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DylanWaco Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 multi-man tags actually played a big role in getting The Radicals and Rikishi over as at least semi-credible main eventers in the E. When they are done right they really are a great way of enhancing people without hurting the credibility of more established workers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boondocks Kernoodle Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 I always wondered about Kip Frey's bonuses: How exactly was it determined what the best match on the show was? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Resident Evil Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 The quality of work during this period really goes to show what a good idea it was by Kip Frey to give a financial bonus to the wrestlers who had the best match on a show. It gave the youngsters an extra incentive to improve and helped ensure the veterans didn't rest on their laurels and get by on name value alone. WP -- Wondering what kind of chaos would happen in the WWE if such a rule was implemented today especially considering how everyone is told to wrestle in this day and age. I loved that rule. So simple but yet so, so effective. If I was in charge of any wrestling federation it would immediatly be implemented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boondocks Kernoodle Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 There wouldn't be any chaos. But HHH would get every bonus as Vince would always deem his match the best on the card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Campbell Posted March 9, 2006 Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 This is slightly off-topic, but from what I've seen, the Rhodes/Windham tag team could really do no wrong it seems. Everything I've got that they're in (Clash specials and PPVs) seems to have good stuff from their end of things, even if their opponents don't seem to be up to the task. I'm really looking forward to seeing their WCW/NWA Tag Title win, which Will is sending me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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