The SmarK Rant for WCW Worldwide – 05.25.91
By Scott Keith on 18 March 2026
The SmarK Rant for WCW Worldwide – 05.25.91
Originally written 03.16.26
Taped from Gainesville GA on 04.30.91
Your hosts are Tony Schiavone & Gordon Solie, still basking in the afterglow of SuperBrawl! Man I bet their NEXT PPV show is gonna be a barn burner!
BREAKING NEWS: Barry Windham has washed his hands of Brian Pillman, calling him a YELLOW DOG and saying he’s through! In other news, Sid is gone and Butch Reed is gone.
Ron Simmons v. John Peterson
Powerslam gets two and he tosses John for a beating on the floor, followed by a piledriver out there. Wow that’s a little harsh. Suplex back in the ring and he beats on Peterson while yelling THIS IS THE ONE MAN GANG! He seems a little confused, because that’s clearly NOT the One Man Gang. That’s John Peterson. Ron with a dropkick and he chokes the poor guy out, really projecting his issues with the Gang onto this goof. Spinebuster finishes at 2:40.
Afterwards, Tony chats with Ron, letting us know that Ron is still selling powder in the eyes from the show last week for some reason.
Terrence Taylor & Arn Anderson v. Ricky Morton & Dustin Rhodes
You’ll note that Bobby Eaton is now the TV champion but this was taped a month before, so Arn doesn’t bring the belt to the ring despite being champion at the time it was taped. Frankly I’m shocked WCW was smart enough to cover their bases like that. Of course, Bobby Eaton will likely be a long reigning and successful champion, unless of course one of the biggest stars in history debuts right away and beats him for it, but how likely is that? Morton chases Arn out of the ring and Dustin comes in and he’s a HOUSE OF FIRE, throwing elbows everywhere while I’m assuming the ref relays booking instructions from Dusty to SELL FOR DUSTIN OR ELSE. Back in the ring, Dustin with a lariat on Taylor for two and they hit Taylor with a double elbow for two. Morton grabs a wing and goes to work on it, so Taylor chickens out and lets AA have a go. Arn slugs away in the corner to take over and tries to go to the top rope, but Ricky slams him off and gets a figure-four. Dustin switches in and gets his own figure-four until Taylor breaks it up and drops a knee for two. Dustin makes a comeback, but Barry Windham comes down and has words with Ricky Morton, prompting Ricky to walk out on the match! Luckily I have headphones in so I can hear Barry clearly saying “His daddy is the booker, he’ll be fine on his own” Dustin gets a sunset flip on Arn for two, but Taylor gets a neckbreaker. Back to Arn and the heels double-team Dustin, but Dustin shells Taylor with punches until Arn breaks it up and chokes Dustin on the ropes. Dustin fights back with elbows, but Arn trips him up and Taylor comes in with a suplex for two. Taylor goes up with a pump splash, but he’s a flightless bird and lands on Dustin’s knees. Dustin comes back with the lariat and bulldogs Taylor for two, but Arn makes the save and chokes him out until Bobby Eaton makes the save at 11:00 for the DQ. This was kind of a really good match and had a big angle as a part of it as well. I’m not used to that level of quality from this show. ***
Sting v. Chuck Coates
Chuck attacks Sting at the bell and tries a suplex, but Sting reverses to his own and follows with an atomic drop to chase him to the floor. Sting follows with a dive and drops him on the railing. Back in the ring, with a flying bodypress, and the Stinger splash and Scorpion deathlock finish at 1:45. Sting really wants Nikita Koloff! Maybe they’ll have a match at that Great American Bash show that’s coming up next on the schedule!
The One Man Gang v. Randy Starr
Gang works the match still wearing his gimp mask, still leaning into the wacky gimmick, and splashes Starr with the 747 for the pin at 2:00.
Meanwhile, Lex Luger bitches about Nikita Koloff costing him the tag team titles, and promises he’ll keep Nikita from ever winning the US title.
Lex Luger v. Cody Wade
The jobber sounds, and looks if we’re being honest, like one of the country music “stars” working the opening act for a Kid Rock alternative halftime show as an emergency replacement after the guy doing a Morgan Wallen tribute act got fired for NOT calling black people the n-word. Tony is joined by the marketing director of the company that produces WCW trading cards, and you have to think those are worth a fortune today!
OK I guess “fortune” is a relative term. Lex takes him down with a headlock and works on that, but Cody gets his offensive flurry of one double axehandle, jumping in the air first to really sink it in, but Lex powerslams him and finishes with the torture rack at 1:15.
Barry Windham v. Kenny Kendall
Windham slugs away in the corner to start while some guy comes to ringside, dressed in a chicken suit. Huh, is there anyone on the roster who could conceivably portray poultry like that? I’m drawing a blank. Windham with a DDT and the floatover suplex, and he finishes with the lariat and superplex at 2:00. This brings the chicken into the ring, and he attacks Barry and does several FLYIN’ moves while Tony makes chicken jokes. I would never stoop to making cheap chicken jokes on a wrestling review, I just want everyone to know. We don’t learn the identity of the chicken, but he’s not red or a rooster so the obvious suspect is ruled out, unfortunately.
PN News v. Joe Cruz
I should point out that despite News having a wrestling theme that is literally just the beat playing over and over, he is completely incapable of rapping on said beat, like at all. News gets a dropkick on Cruz and swivels his hips disturbingly, and then drops an elbow on him and follows with a belly to belly. And of course, what else could follow but the RAPMASTER SPLASH to finish at 1:45, complete with the music starting before he even hits the move.
And we recap the chicken angle and we’re out for the week.
That tag match was really quite good, even though Barry Windham didn’t end up having anything to do with the Morton angle moving forward so I don’t really know what purpose he served here. I vaguely remember something about Windham forming his own Four Horsemen or something like that, so maybe that’s what he was doing by recruiting Morton, but everything was about to get thrown in a blender anyway so who knows.