NWA (WCW) Power Hour (March 2, 1990)

 

Original Airdate: March 2, 1990 (taped February 22)

From Atlanta, Georgia; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Gordon Solie

Cactus Jack v Keith Hart: This is just a basic squash, but we do get a cool spot here, where Jack dumps the kid over the guardrail, then dives from the apron with a flying elbowdrop all the way into the crowd. I really wish he’d have busted that out in the WWF at some point, where it could have been a show stealing spot. No offense to the Power Hour, because this is a show that I’ve really been enjoying, but it wasn’t exactly a big stage. Jack with a cradle at 5:33. You know my rule about squashes that run over five minutes, but I can make an exception here. ¼*

Gordon Solie is in the studio for Wrestling News Network, giving us a rundown of what happened at WrestleWar. You can really feel the differences in the production values between WCW and the WWF with bits like this, as it’s just Gordon reading results off of notecards, with not even a still photo, or anything

The Samoan Swat Team v Bob Cook and Paul Drake: The creepy theme the Samoan’s are using here is fantastic, and really sets the stage. That would have been a great theme for Sid at some point. Fatu finishes up with a flying splash at 6:02. DUD

Jim Cornette hosts the Louisville Slugger, with guests Kevin Sullivan, Buzz Sawyer, and Cactus Jack. They’re calling themselves the ‘Slaughterhouse,’ and Jack is doing an amazing job of playing a crazy man here. He doesn’t yell and scream like Buzz, he’s just creepy and vacant, and it’s great

NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk v The Fabulous Freebirds: Brian and Michael Hayes start, and Pillman wins a criss cross with a hiptoss, so Hayes hides in the ropes. Tags to Zenk and Jimmy Garvin, and Zenk cleans house on both challengers. The champs continue to dominate - and even toying with - the Freebirds, until they manage to get control on Zenk. They cut the ring in half on Tom, until Pillman gets the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Jim Cornette shows up, and whacks Brian with his tennis racket, as the Midnight Express run out to attack Zenk on the outside, and it’s a DQ at 14:43. These two teams had a good match at WrestleWar, but this was a pretty weak outing. Afterwards, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express arrive to even the odds, and all four teams brawl. ¾*

BUExperience: I was looking forward to the feature match, but this ended up being a pretty weak episode after all.