Worldwide
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The SmarK Rant for WCW Worldwide – 10.26.91

By Scott Keith on 2 September 2026

The SmarK Rant for WCW Worldwide – 10.26.91

Originally written 09.01.26

Taped from Montgomery, AL on 10.08.91

Your host is Tony Schiavone, running solo this week for some reason. Magnum shows up for green screen cut-ins but Tony does all the commentary by himself, which is not exciting.

Barry Windham v. Lou Fabiano

Lou attacks to start and they slug it out, but Barry hits him with a gut wrench and dropkick before chasing him to the floor. Suplex back into the ring gets two as Tony talks about the great team he’s formed with Ron Simmons, even though we’ve never actually seen them team up before. Windham with the lariat, but this is 1991 so it’s not the finish anymore, and instead he bulldogs Fabiano and pins him at 1:51. They don’t even bother overdubbing any crowd noise to pretend like people care.

WRESTLING NEWS NETWORK! WITH GORDON SOLIE!

We have not one, but two top stories this week! Top story #1: Madusa is in WCW and she’s messing with the other ladies, starting with an angle where Lady Blossom gives Steve Austin brass knuckles to knock out PN News and then shoves them down her cleavage. So Madusa runs in and pulls them out of the boob storage area for the reverse decision. And then a week later they just changed their mind and had her turn heel with the Dangerous Alliance anyway. Anyway the second top story is Halloween Havoc, as we take another look at Ron Simmons training at FSU to prepare for Lex Luger. And then we get a video of Luger training and it’s like something out of a Cinemax trailer. Yeah this didn’t sell me on the match.

Rick Steiner v. Rick Thames

Apparently Dusty Rhodes will be in Ron’s corner for the PPV, and Mr. Hughes is barred from ringside, and even with the deck stacked for Simmons he still managed to lose. Steiner hits Thames with a Steinerline and puts him down with a kneelift and drops elbows on him. To the top for an overhead suplex that gets the pin at 1:44.

Uh oh, here comes the WCW TOP TEN!

  1. Sting
  2. Ron Simmons
  3. Barry Windham
  4. Stunning Steve Austin
  5. Dustin Rhodes
  6. Cactus Jack
  7. Beautiful Bobby
  8. Johnny B. Badd
  9. Rick Steiner
  10. Terrence Taylor

A MESSAGE FROM THE WCW TOP 10

For decades, we have asked you to accept the WCW Top 10 as a legitimate and meaningful institution.

We were wrong.

After listening to our fans, our employees, our stakeholders, and several people on Twitter who have extremely strong opinions about 1991 WCW, we have come to understand that the WCW Top 10 perpetuated a number of outdated, harmful, and deeply misguided stereotypes about what constitutes a “good wrestler.”

We are sorry.

We are sorry for suggesting that Terrence Taylor was a good gimmick.

We are sorry for allowing generations of fans to believe that a man wearing a sweater and carrying a clipboard represented compelling professional wrestling.

We are sorry for the message this sent to people who have spent years unlearning the harmful assumption that a wrestler can simply be “a guy with a job.”

We also acknowledge the harm caused by our repeated implication that Dustin Rhodes deserved his ranking on his own merits, without adequately acknowledging that his father was the booker.

This was an especially damaging narrative.

By presenting Dustin’s accomplishments without sufficient context, we contributed to a culture in which nepotism could be disguised as “a push,” and where phrases such as “he’s got a great future” could be used without first disclosing the identity of his father.

We now understand that this was not simply a ranking.

It was a system.

A system that told countless wrestlers that their place on the list depended on talent, victories, momentum, and other antiquated concepts rather than the increasingly important question:

“Who booked this?”

We are also deeply sorry for the stereotypes we perpetuated about Stunning Steve Austin, whom we repeatedly portrayed as a legitimate rising star despite providing virtually no evidence that he would eventually become one of the most important figures in the history of professional wrestling.

In hindsight, this was clearly irresponsible.

We should have known.

We didn’t.

We are committed to doing better.

Effective immediately, WCW Top 10 will begin a comprehensive review of all historical rankings, with particular attention paid to problematic assumptions regarding athletic ability, charisma, drawing power, nepotism, gimmick quality, and whether someone happened to be standing near the booker’s office when the list was being prepared.

We will also be establishing a new Ranking Equity Advisory Council, composed of former wrestlers, wrestling historians, fans, and at least one person who was actually watching WCW in 1991.

This council will help us identify additional harmful stereotypes that we may have overlooked.

For example:

Why did we assume Cactus Jack needed to win matches to move up?

Why did we repeatedly rank Diamond Studd despite the fact that his primary qualification appeared to be “being very tall”?

And perhaps most importantly:

Why did we ever suggest that Beautiful Bobby belonged at the bottom of anything?

We recognize that an apology alone is not enough.

That is why we are taking concrete action.

Beginning this week, all WCW Top 10 rankings will be evaluated through a new, inclusive framework that considers not only wins and losses, but also legacy, vibes, family connections, hair quality, perceived future potential, and whether the wrestler has recently impressed someone in a hotel lobby.

We know we have a long way to go.

We ask for your patience as we continue this difficult journey of unlearning the WCW Top 10.

Thank you for holding us accountable.

And to everyone who was hurt by the implication that Terrence Taylor was a good gimmick:

We see you.

We hear you.

And we are sorry.

The Enforcers v. The Freebirds

Joined in progress from World Championship Wrestling, as Michael Hayes gets worked over in the Enforcer corner, but makes the hot tag to Jimmy Garvin and it’s BONZO GONZO. Arn goes up and Garvin nails him on the way down, and cradles for the pin.

So then the next week, the Enforcers face the mysterious European masked team called the Screaming Eagles for the tag team titles, which is an angle I actually remember for some stupid reason. So once again Hayes gets worked over and Garvin gets a hot tag as they all brawl, with Hayes getting rammed into the post. Garvin hits Larry with the DDT for two, but Arn hits Garvin with the belt behind the ref’s back and Larry gets the pin to retain the titles.

And then we get a promo from the Enforcers, as Larry is sick of the Freebirds and their goofy music and long hair. They’re getting on the nerves of the champs! This would seem to set up a tag team title match at the PPV, but no. It set up nothing and went nowhere.

Meanwhile, HEAVY METAL VAN HAMMER rocks out in totally convincing fashion. I don’t know if he was worst at wrestling or pretending to be playing guitar but honestly it’s a toss up. Like couldn’t they have even given him a couple of weeks of guitar lessons so he at least seemed like he had held one for more than 2 minutes in his life before? I’m not asking for much.

The Patriots v. Fred Avery & Bob Cook

Goddamn, Bob Cook is clean shaven here. I’m not OK. Chip comes off the top with a clothesline on Avery and they work him over in the corner, but it’s over to Bob Cook, who tries to go to work on Chip in the corner and fails to get traction. See, it’s like Samson, he shaves his beard off and suddenly his legendary left hard is worthless. Tony notes that the Patriots are only going to get better as they continue on in WCW. I feel like reality and facts would dispute that one. Patriots with a version of the Hart Attack for two and Todd works the arm before finishing with a back elbow at 3:23. The crowd is ELECTRIFIED. By which I mean they’re deader than a prisoner facing the chair.

Ron Simmons v. Mr. Hughes

Ron attacks him and backdrops him before the bell, and then hits him with a clothesline to chase him to the floor. They fight out there, but Hughes puts the boots to Simmons on the way in to take over. Race chokes him out on the ropes and Hughes chokes him out on the ropes and I guess at least this match has some heat and that’s a nice change from the rest of this episode. Hughes slams him and drops an elbow for two before going to a chinlock. Tony notes: “One of Ron’s favorite moves is that hard right hand to the head.” (Long pause). “Also the spinebuster.” Tony by himself is the WORST. Ron fights out and Hughes puts him down again, but Ron fights back with a shoulderblock and goes after Harley, which allows Lex Luger to run in for the DQ at 4:23. Amazingly, Simmons does not get his ass beaten this week, as he actually chases off the heels like a real babyface. This is a nice change of pace from the last month of non-stop heel beatdowns from Luger, but considering it was the NIGHT BEFORE THE PPV, it was a bit late to salvage this Simmons push.

Madusa v. Judy Martin

Madusa was actually getting a lot better in the ring since being in Japan following her AWA stint, so of course WCW signed her and put her in the ring for like one match and then turned her into a manager. Madusa with a suplex and she goes up with a missile dropkick and then puts her into a half crab and switches to an STF. She works the hold on the mat, but Martin reverses to a hammerlock. Madusa puts her down with a spinkick and tries for a leglock, but Martin quickly makes the ropes. Madusa with a suplex, but Martin fights off another suplex attempt. So Madusa hits the bridging german and Martin falls over, so Madusa does a bridging back suplex instead for the pin at 5:35. Madusa was trying all kind of stuff here and Martin didn’t really seem to know what to do with it and man the crowd did not care at all.

NEXT WEEK: Barry Windham v. Larry Zbyszko!

God this felt like such a cheaply assembled show, with a dead crowd and mostly recaps of other stuff. Worldwide was actually getting marginally better for the past couple of months but this was a step back.