Power Hour
Rants

The SmarK Rant for NWA Power Hour – 09.21.90

By Scott Keith on 26 March 2025

The SmarK Rant for NWA Power Hour – 09.21.90

It’s time once again to RUN THE GAUNTLET. Your contender this week: Scott Steiner, who faces Bobby Eaton tonight, and then Ric Flair on Saturday Night and Arn Anderson on Main Event.

Taped from Gainesville, GA

Your hosts are Jim Ross & Paul E. Dangerously

Buddy Landel v. Terry Taylor

Buddy gives Taylor some trash talk on the ropes and slaps him one, and then puts the boots to him to send him to the floor. Terry comes in from behind and fights back to chase Buddy to the floor. Back in, they trade wristlocks and Taylor takes him down while Paul puts over Buddy’s new ponytail look, and they trade headlock takedowns for near-falls. Taylor with a backslide for two, and a backslide for the pin at 3:44. Nice little match as they continue to build up Taylor as a babyface before making a drastic change with him later in the year.

The Nasty Boys v. Tim Horner & Captain Mike Rotunda

Paul goes on a rant about Jon Bon Jovi doing “Wanted Dead or Alive” when everyone knows that he’s not a cowboy because he’s from New Jersey. I mean, first of all, it was metaphor for tour busses. Second, Jon showed he WAS a cowboy with Blaze of Glory, so there. Horner controls Sags with hiptosses and a flying headscissors, and the babyfaces work Sags’ arm in the corner. Over to Knobbs, and Horner gets a bridging rollup, but the ref is distracted and Sags breaks it up with an elbowdrop to Tim’s exposed underbelly, and the Nasties take over. Knobbs slugs Horner down and Sags drops an elbow for two, but Horner gets a facejam and Sags no-sells it due to lack of brains. Nasties with a double suplex on Horner behind the ref’s back for two. But then Captain Mike gets the hot tag and it’s BONZO GONZO, as he hits the airplane spin on Sags and everyone is slugging it out. So Knobbs tosses Horner over the top and it’s a DQ at 5:23. Unexpected win for the good guys there. Another decent match.

Meanwhile, back at the China Club, Paul E. promises JR that the cheque is in the mail for the money he still owes, and for some reason Jim doesn’t believe him.

WRESTLING NEWS NETWORK! WITH GORDON SOLIE!

This week, we consider the plight of Sting, who is facing DOUBLE JEOPARDY. That would be a hell of a tag team name. Except you could only face them once. So we take you back to the Clash again, as Sid challenges Sting to a title match after his Scorpion fiasco. And oh no…did someone say the WCW TOP TEN?

CLASSIFIED NOTICE: READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

The following disclaimer is presented under the Whistleblower Containment & Warning (WCW) Act of 1987, a little-known and heavily redacted legal framework designed to prevent the unauthorized spread of highly sensitive, potentially world-altering information. By continuing to read WCW Top Ten, you acknowledge and accept that you may be placing yourself under heightened scrutiny by unidentified organizations with vast, untraceable resources.

WCW Top Ten is not responsible for any of the following potential side effects:

  • Sudden realizations that history has been a lie this whole time
  • Uncontrollable urges to decode seemingly random number sequences
  • The discovery of strange markings appearing on everyday objects
  • An increase in unmarked black helicopters circling your neighborhood
  • Cryptic messages being whispered through your unplugged toaster

Any resemblance between WCW Top Ten rankings and hidden messages encoded in ancient manuscripts, classified government files, or intercepted alien transmissions is purely coincidental—unless you know otherwise. We do not confirm nor deny the existence of the WCW Top Ten Council, a shadowy group that may or may not have manipulated global events for decades under the guise of an innocuous ranking system.

Furthermore, WCW Top Ten assumes no liability for any doors that mysteriously lock behind you, sudden power outages at critical moments, or the feeling that someone is always watching. If you begin to perceive patterns in everyday occurrences that others dismiss as “coincidence,” remain calm and deny everything.

By proceeding, you forfeit all rights to legal action against WCW Top Ten, its affiliates, and any unknown entities that may or may not exist. If you see something, forget it immediately. If anyone asks, this disclaimer never existed.

You have been warned. Stay off the grid. Trust no one. The truth is a countdown.

Top Ten Tag Teams:

WCW champions: Doom

  1. The Steiner Brothers
  2. Ric Flair & Arn Anderson
  3. The Midnight Express
  4. The Rock N Roll Express
  5. The Freebirds
  6. The Southern Boys
  7. Brian Pillman & Tom Zenk
  8. The SST
  9. Tim Horner & Mike Rotunda
  10. The Nasty Boys

Top Ten Singles:

WCW champion: Sting

  1. Lex Luger
  2. Sid Vicious
  3. Ric Flair
  4. Arn Anderson
  5. Stan Hansen
  6. Brian Pillman
  7. Barry Windham
  8. Terry Taylor
  9. Junkyard Dog
  10. Tommy Rich

Meanwhile, back at the China Club, Jim Ross is still kvetching at Paul, and they still can’t get into the club.

Stan Hansen joins Jim Cornette to discuss his US title shot at Lex Luger coming up at Halloween Havoc. Stan clarifies that he’s always been #1 and Lex is just a preppy puke who’s in his way. Ask his wife!

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET: Scott Steiner v. Bobby Eaton

Ric Flair steps into commentary to talk about his potential match with Steiner on Saturday should he be successful here. They never mention the results here explicitly but the assumption is that Pillman didn’t beat Dan Spivey and thus failed the first gauntlet. They trade takedowns to start, but Scott dropkicks him out of the ring and Eaton stops to think it over. Back in the ring, Scott grabs a headlock and turns an abdominal stretch attempt into a rollup for two. Steiner slugs away in the corner and they go to the top, where Scott clotheslines him to the floor. Back in the ring, Cornette hits Scott with the racket behind the ref’s back, and Eaton gets two from that. Bobby with a neckbreaker for two. So Rick Steiner comes out to watch his brother, but Scott misses a charge on the floor and runs into the post. Eaton with a clothesline out there and back in with a small package for two. Bobby with a backbreaker for two. Bobby with a lariat and Scott does a flip sell, but comes back with a butterfly powerbomb and backdrop. Stan Lane comes out and trips Scott up, but Bobby collides with Stan and Scott gets two. Bobby with a rollup for two and he throws Scott out, but Scott skins the cat, hits the Frankensteiner, and pins Bobby to win the first match of the gauntlet at 8:24. That was a hell of a TV match, Scott was just on fire at this point. ***1/2

Meanwhile, we wrap it up with the bouncer clarifying that Jim Ross is always welcome in the club, but Paul E. is the one that’s banned.

OK, so this was a very short show due to some Clash related highlights getting cut out for whatever reason, so let’s continue with the Gauntlet and see how Scott fares on the weekend shows!

Hold on, first I’ve gotta watch a Midnight Express match, I guess. We’ve only got a few left so I have to savor them.

The Midnight Express v. The Southern Boys

Winner of this gets a US tag team title match with the Steiners. Eaton trades takedowns with Armstrong, but Steve sends him out of the ring and the Southern Boys double-team Bobby in their corner. Over to Tracy for some REDNECK KUNG FU on Bobby, chasing him back to the corner, as Stan explains via pantomime how to counter the martial arts on display here. So Bobby tries again, and Tracy kicks his ass again. So Stan comes in to show us how to do it, making a big show of doing stretches and prepping his KARATE skills. So Stan indeed overwhelms Tracy with martial arts, but Tracy hits him with a bodypress and then sends him flying out of the ring with chops and kicks. This is just tremendous stuff. The Midnight Express v. The Young Bucks would have been life changing stuff I bet. Back in the ring, Lane regroups and hits Tracy with a savate kick and double chop to the throat to take over, asserting his kung fu dominance, and we get some classic MX double-teams on Tracy for two. Lane beats him down, but the Express collides by accident and it’s hot tag Armstrong, who runs wild and cradles Lane. But Cornette slides in and nails Tracy behind the ref’s back, and then the Freebirds hit the ring , also behind this idiot ref’s back, and a double DDT on Tracy puts Bobby on top for the pin at 8:45. So the MX get the rematch with the Steiners at some point. Ok that was pretty great. Now we can move onto the Gauntlet again. ***1/4

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET PART 2: Scott Steiner v. Ric Flair

If Scott can win here, he faces AA for all the marbles on Main Event. Scott takes him down to start and works the arm while Thunderbolt Patterson joins on commentary, apparently because he’s in the Steiners’ corner when they defend against the SST in the Omni. Scott puts Flair down with power moves and Ric backs off to think it over. Ric slugs on him in the corner, but Scott jerks him up into a tilt a whirl slam for two. Flair bails to the floor and Scott chases him out for a Steinerline as we take a break. Back with Flair still roaming around ringside and complaining. Back in the ring, Ric works the arm and chops Scott down, but Scott retains wrist control and kips up, nailing Ric with a clothesline to send him to the floor. Flair tries for a brawl and Scott runs him into the post and hits him with another clothesline on the floor. Back in, Flair finally gets a cheapshot to take over and beats on Scott with chops in the corner before dropping a knee. Scott hits a powerslam and takes Ric to the top, but Arn runs in and knocks Scott down, putting Ric on top for two. Scott fights back again, but Arn grabs Ric to stop the Frankensteiner in a cool spot. So Scott hits another Steinerline and tries again, but Arn stops it again and Ric does the Flair Flop. The ref is distracted by Rick and AA runs in and hits Scott with the DDT, but the ref is still distracted, so Rick returns the interference, clotheslines Ric, and Scott moves onto the final Gauntlet at 8:47. Damn I didn’t know Ric ever put Scott over like that. He made Scotty look like a STAR. ***

Moving onto the Main Event to wrap things up, as there’s nothing else of note on the show so let’s get right to it:

RUNNING THE GAUNTLET PART 3: Scott Steiner v. Arn Anderson

Scott takes him down to start and Arn is complaining about hair pulling and tights getting pulled, which is always trouble in an Arn match. Arn bails and Scott slugs him down on the way back into the ring and then catches him with a sleeper. Arn reverses to his own, but Scott runs him into the corner and puts him in the figure-four. Arn makes the ropes and tosses Scott, beating on him outside and going to work on the back. Arn tries to slingshot him back into the ring, but Scott lets go of the ropes to foil him, and yanks Arn to the floor instead. Back in, Scott makes a comeback and slams Arn into the corner and into a shoulderbreaker for two. Arn comes back with the DDT, but he goes for a piledriver and then turns it into a sunset flip instead while holding the ropes, and that’s the pin at 7:50. But then another ref comes in and retstarts the match, as Scott gets a powerslam for two, so Ric Flair hits the ring for the DQ at 8:10 and Scott wins the Gauntlet. Well that was a huge letdown after a couple of pretty great matches for Scott. Arn was, as usual, in first gear only and doing “AA working a Sunday TV main event” half speed match, and there didn’t feel like there was ANY stakes to the match at all. This really would have worked better with the Flair match as the climactic battle.

Next week: Bobby Eaton runs the Gauntlet!