Loose Cannon
07-18-2004, 08:11 PM
This is on the main page, but I know most of you skip the main page half the time, so I'll post it here too.
Moment: The Breakup of the Hollywood Blondes
Year: 1993
One of the sadder stories in WCW in the early 90’s was the breakup of the Hollywood Blondes. The Hollywood Blondes were the most promising teams in WCW in 1993. The team consisted of two of WCW’s younger stars who had been floundering in the midcards for quite a little while. “Stunning” Steve Austin and “Flyin” Brian Pillman would team up and quickly become one of the greatest tag teams of all-time. As I had said before in my earlier column, Brian Pillman was one of my all-time favorite wrestlers. The Hollywood Blondes was where I was first introduced to Pillman as I had caught them on WCW’s TBS show a couple of times. The Blondes were a team ahead of it’s time, they gave awesome promos, got tremendous heat and were two really good wrestlers. They had it all and could of lasted for a long time, but this was WCW in the early 90’s and they didn’t have a clue what they were doing half the time.
Like I said, the Blondes formed in late 1992 when WCW was doing nothing with Austin and Pillman. Austin had just come off his stint as a member of the Dangerous Alliance. After the Alliance broke up and after losing his TV Title to Rickey Steamboat at the Clash, Austin had started tagging with Brian Pillman. Soon after, WCW had decided to keep them together. Now, WCW was just coming into a new era with Bischoff as the head chief and a whole new booking team. The new booking team had a lot on their minds, so they just let the Blondes go out there and do whatever they wanted, thinking they probably wouldn’t get over anyway. Boy where they wrong. Well, to their credit, they were wrong a lot of times back then.
The Hollywood Blondes soon entered into their first big feud with the team of Rickey Steamboat and Shane Douglas, who were the WCW Tag Team Champions at the time. Austin and Pillman weren’t even called the Hollywood Blondes yet around this time. Austin and Pillman got their first shots at the tag team titles on January 13, 1993, at the Clash of the Champions against Steamboat and Douglas. The match ended when Douglas had Pillman rolled up and Austin clocked Douglas with one of the Tag Titles. However, the ref saw this and immediately DQ’ed the Blondes. The Blondes weren’t finished though, as after the match, they proceeded to attack Steamboat and Douglas with the belts until some of the WCW babyfaces made the save. The Blondes were quickly established as the top heel tag team.
On March 2, 1993, the Blondes finally got what they had been after. They defeated Steamboat and Douglas for the WCW Tag Titles. The match ended when Austin nailed Steamboat with the belt, but the ref never saw it and Pillman got the cover. Bt the way, if you want to learn how to swing a belt, watch Austin during his Blonde days, he swung that thing with a lot of intensity. I saw this match and normally I would have cheered for the babyfaces back then, but the Blondes were just so good as a team and I was happy they won the titles. The Blondes soon dubbed themselves the “team of the 90’s” and kept themselves in a feud with Steamboat and Douglas for the titles. Steamboat and Douglas never got the titles back, however, and the Blondes would move on to another team soon.
Enter the Four Horsemen. The Horsemen had been broken up for a while and WCW had given Flair his own talk show entitled, “Flair for the Gold.” By this time, the Hollywood Blondes were probably the most over heels in WCW and soon WCW put the Blondes in a program with Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. WCW would set this feud up when the Blondes appeared on Flair’s talk show. The Blondes showed no respect to Flair and the Horsemen saying that they were too old and the Blondes were the new sensation of the 90’s. Later that week at Slamboree 93, the Horsemen reunited, with Flair, Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson and Paul Roma. Yeah, you read that right, Paul Roma. At that same show Austin and Pillman defeated Douglas and Steamboat in a cage match.
Soon after Slamboree, Pillman and Austin would again poke fun at Flair and Anderson when Pillman dressed up as Flair and interviewed Austin in a segment called “Flair for the Old.” Anderson would come out and attack Austin and Pillman would hit Anderson with a cane. At the June 16, 1993 Clash of the Champions, Flair made his long awaited return to the ring as he teamed with Anderson to take on the Blondes in a 2 out of 3 falls Tag Team title match. The Horsemen would get the first fall and soon after Flair had Austin in the Figure Four and was about to win it for his team. But, Barry Windham would come out and attack Flair getting the Blondes DQ’ed, but the Titles didn’t change hands. This Clash of the Champions was the lowest rated Clash’s ever and WCW blamed the low number on the Blondes. Yeah, blame it on your most over team and not the fact that the show sucked.
At Beach Blast 93, the Hollywood Blondes defended their Titles once again against members of the Four Horsemen. This time, however, it was Anderson and Roma. The Blondes would go on and defeat the Horsemen and escape with the Titles once again. This was the last big win for the Blondes as soon Brian Pillman would suffer an ankle injury on WCW Saturday Night. WCW would finally decide to pull the plug on the Blondes only after being together for a short while. At Clash of the Champions XXIV, Paul Roma and Arn Anderson defeated Austin and Steven Regal, who had substituted for the injured Pillman. The Blondes run as a tag team was over, well we didn’t know it at the time.
Enter Col. Robert Parker. After Pillman injured his ankle, Austin started a singles run going after Dustin Rhodes and the US Title. Austin would say in interviews that when Pillman came back, the Blondes would get back the Tag Titles. Suddenly, during an Austin interview, Col. Parker came out and asked Austin if he could manage him. Austin brushed him off and thought nothing off it. During the next few shows, Parker would keep begging Austin to join him and Austin kept brushing him off. Soon, Brian Pillman came back and said he would be back in the ring soon and the Blondes would be back on top. Col. Parker would come out and make fun of Pillman saying he was finished and washed up. Pillman would fire back and say Austin didn’t need Parker and Parker should just leave Austin alone. Finally, Parker said something that made Pillman snap and Pillman attacked Parker. Austin just let Pillman hammer Parker for a few seconds, but then it happened. Austin attacked Pillman and kicked him around a few times before throwing him into the guard railing. Soon Parker joined in on the attack and they left Pillman laying. The Blondes were HISTORY.
Afterwards: Pillman and Austin would fight each other at the November Clash of the Champions in a match billed as the “Battle of the Blondes.” Austin picked up the win and Pillman would soon be thrown back down the latter. In retrospect, WCW should of never broken up the Blondes. They were one of the greatest tag teams of all-time. They had the whole package, which is very rare. The Blondes should have lasted much longer and should have been won the Titles a few more times. But, for a few months in 1993, those watching WCW and the Hollywood Blondes definitely had a “Brush With Greatness.”
Until Next Time,
RKO AND OUT.
Moment: The Breakup of the Hollywood Blondes
Year: 1993
One of the sadder stories in WCW in the early 90’s was the breakup of the Hollywood Blondes. The Hollywood Blondes were the most promising teams in WCW in 1993. The team consisted of two of WCW’s younger stars who had been floundering in the midcards for quite a little while. “Stunning” Steve Austin and “Flyin” Brian Pillman would team up and quickly become one of the greatest tag teams of all-time. As I had said before in my earlier column, Brian Pillman was one of my all-time favorite wrestlers. The Hollywood Blondes was where I was first introduced to Pillman as I had caught them on WCW’s TBS show a couple of times. The Blondes were a team ahead of it’s time, they gave awesome promos, got tremendous heat and were two really good wrestlers. They had it all and could of lasted for a long time, but this was WCW in the early 90’s and they didn’t have a clue what they were doing half the time.
Like I said, the Blondes formed in late 1992 when WCW was doing nothing with Austin and Pillman. Austin had just come off his stint as a member of the Dangerous Alliance. After the Alliance broke up and after losing his TV Title to Rickey Steamboat at the Clash, Austin had started tagging with Brian Pillman. Soon after, WCW had decided to keep them together. Now, WCW was just coming into a new era with Bischoff as the head chief and a whole new booking team. The new booking team had a lot on their minds, so they just let the Blondes go out there and do whatever they wanted, thinking they probably wouldn’t get over anyway. Boy where they wrong. Well, to their credit, they were wrong a lot of times back then.
The Hollywood Blondes soon entered into their first big feud with the team of Rickey Steamboat and Shane Douglas, who were the WCW Tag Team Champions at the time. Austin and Pillman weren’t even called the Hollywood Blondes yet around this time. Austin and Pillman got their first shots at the tag team titles on January 13, 1993, at the Clash of the Champions against Steamboat and Douglas. The match ended when Douglas had Pillman rolled up and Austin clocked Douglas with one of the Tag Titles. However, the ref saw this and immediately DQ’ed the Blondes. The Blondes weren’t finished though, as after the match, they proceeded to attack Steamboat and Douglas with the belts until some of the WCW babyfaces made the save. The Blondes were quickly established as the top heel tag team.
On March 2, 1993, the Blondes finally got what they had been after. They defeated Steamboat and Douglas for the WCW Tag Titles. The match ended when Austin nailed Steamboat with the belt, but the ref never saw it and Pillman got the cover. Bt the way, if you want to learn how to swing a belt, watch Austin during his Blonde days, he swung that thing with a lot of intensity. I saw this match and normally I would have cheered for the babyfaces back then, but the Blondes were just so good as a team and I was happy they won the titles. The Blondes soon dubbed themselves the “team of the 90’s” and kept themselves in a feud with Steamboat and Douglas for the titles. Steamboat and Douglas never got the titles back, however, and the Blondes would move on to another team soon.
Enter the Four Horsemen. The Horsemen had been broken up for a while and WCW had given Flair his own talk show entitled, “Flair for the Gold.” By this time, the Hollywood Blondes were probably the most over heels in WCW and soon WCW put the Blondes in a program with Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. WCW would set this feud up when the Blondes appeared on Flair’s talk show. The Blondes showed no respect to Flair and the Horsemen saying that they were too old and the Blondes were the new sensation of the 90’s. Later that week at Slamboree 93, the Horsemen reunited, with Flair, Arn Anderson, Ole Anderson and Paul Roma. Yeah, you read that right, Paul Roma. At that same show Austin and Pillman defeated Douglas and Steamboat in a cage match.
Soon after Slamboree, Pillman and Austin would again poke fun at Flair and Anderson when Pillman dressed up as Flair and interviewed Austin in a segment called “Flair for the Old.” Anderson would come out and attack Austin and Pillman would hit Anderson with a cane. At the June 16, 1993 Clash of the Champions, Flair made his long awaited return to the ring as he teamed with Anderson to take on the Blondes in a 2 out of 3 falls Tag Team title match. The Horsemen would get the first fall and soon after Flair had Austin in the Figure Four and was about to win it for his team. But, Barry Windham would come out and attack Flair getting the Blondes DQ’ed, but the Titles didn’t change hands. This Clash of the Champions was the lowest rated Clash’s ever and WCW blamed the low number on the Blondes. Yeah, blame it on your most over team and not the fact that the show sucked.
At Beach Blast 93, the Hollywood Blondes defended their Titles once again against members of the Four Horsemen. This time, however, it was Anderson and Roma. The Blondes would go on and defeat the Horsemen and escape with the Titles once again. This was the last big win for the Blondes as soon Brian Pillman would suffer an ankle injury on WCW Saturday Night. WCW would finally decide to pull the plug on the Blondes only after being together for a short while. At Clash of the Champions XXIV, Paul Roma and Arn Anderson defeated Austin and Steven Regal, who had substituted for the injured Pillman. The Blondes run as a tag team was over, well we didn’t know it at the time.
Enter Col. Robert Parker. After Pillman injured his ankle, Austin started a singles run going after Dustin Rhodes and the US Title. Austin would say in interviews that when Pillman came back, the Blondes would get back the Tag Titles. Suddenly, during an Austin interview, Col. Parker came out and asked Austin if he could manage him. Austin brushed him off and thought nothing off it. During the next few shows, Parker would keep begging Austin to join him and Austin kept brushing him off. Soon, Brian Pillman came back and said he would be back in the ring soon and the Blondes would be back on top. Col. Parker would come out and make fun of Pillman saying he was finished and washed up. Pillman would fire back and say Austin didn’t need Parker and Parker should just leave Austin alone. Finally, Parker said something that made Pillman snap and Pillman attacked Parker. Austin just let Pillman hammer Parker for a few seconds, but then it happened. Austin attacked Pillman and kicked him around a few times before throwing him into the guard railing. Soon Parker joined in on the attack and they left Pillman laying. The Blondes were HISTORY.
Afterwards: Pillman and Austin would fight each other at the November Clash of the Champions in a match billed as the “Battle of the Blondes.” Austin picked up the win and Pillman would soon be thrown back down the latter. In retrospect, WCW should of never broken up the Blondes. They were one of the greatest tag teams of all-time. They had the whole package, which is very rare. The Blondes should have lasted much longer and should have been won the Titles a few more times. But, for a few months in 1993, those watching WCW and the Hollywood Blondes definitely had a “Brush With Greatness.”
Until Next Time,
RKO AND OUT.