World Championship Wrestling presents Power Hour
Date: 8/29/1992
Matches:
1.) Tom Zenk defeated Tracy Smothers
2.) Johnny B. Badd defeated Joe Cazanna
3.) Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham defeated Greg Valentine & Dick Slater
4.) The Barbarian & Dan Spivey defeated Two Jobbers
5.) WCW Television Champion Steve Austin fought Ricky Steamboat to a time limit draw
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Missy Hyatt hosts the program and runs down what we’ll be seeing on the show for the next hour.
2.) Smothers yells at the fans before locking up with Zenk. Zenk backs Smothers into a corner, but cleanly backs off. Zenk arm drags Smothers to the mat and they have a standoff. Smothers puts a full nelson on Zenk, but is kicked away. Zenk arm drags Smothers and keeps arm control. Smothers counters a wrist lock, but that doesn’t last too long. Smothers quickly gets to the ropes to break the arm lock. Smothers strikes Zenk several times. Zenk hits a crossbody off the ropes and delivers a dropkick. Zenk arm drags Smothers to the mat. Zenk keeps Smothers on the mat with an arm bar. Smothers clubs Zenk over the back and yanks Zenk to the mat. Smothers backhands Zenk and delivers a heel kick for a two count. Zenk nails Smothers with a superkick to win the match. (*. The crowd was mostly dead for this one. Smothers can’t be long for WCW at this point. It’s a bit shocking just how much better Smothers is in-ring when presented as a meaningful wrestler in SMW later in the year.)
3.) Johnny B. Badd won is enhancement match following a left hook.
4.) Teddy Long’s profile is on WCW World Champion Ron Simmons. We see footage of Ron Simmons competing on WCW TV back in December 1987.
5.) The mat classic this week is a match between Sting and Bill Irwin from Clash of the Champions VII.
6.) A tag match featuring Greg Valentine & Dick Slater against Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham is shown in progress. Slater controls Rhodes on the mat with a spinning toe hold. Rhodes fights free and gets an inside cradle for a two count. Valentine enters and stops Rhodes from tagging out. Valentine suplexs Rhodes over and locks in the figure four in the middle of the ring. Windham gets involved to quickly break the hold and save Rhodes. Valentine snapmares Rhodes, but misses an elbow drop. Windham gets the hot tag and cleans house with strikes. Windham rams Slater into the corner and all four men are in the ring brawling. Rhodes is knocked to the floor by Slater. Slater plants Windham with a back suplex for a two count. Valentine tries for a suplex, but Windham counters with an inside cradle to pin Valentine. (NR. Obviously this is mostly the backend of the match. Valentine has been coming across better than I expected as I’m actually interested in his feud with Dustin, but I think their singles matches are all house show based.)
7.) Missy Does The Mail hosted by Missy Hyatt is next. Hyatt talks about Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham competing against Dan Spivey and the Barbarian at the Clash of the Champions on Wednesday. Hyatt mentions the cheap shot Barbarian gave Windham on Worldwide recently. We see footage of a six man tag match where Barbarian nails Windham with a big boot allowing Valentine to pin Windham. Hyatt promotes the Clash some more.
8.) Dan Spivey & The Barbarian won their enhancement tag match when Barbarian got the pin after a big boot.
9.) The main event is joined in progress. Austin strikes Steamboat from the apron on the floor. This took place on 8/16 at the Omni. Steamboat counters a suplex and hits a suplex into the ring. Steamboat controls Austin on the mat with a headlock. Steamboat kicks off the turnbuckles and keeps Austin on the mat with a headlock. Austin sends Steamboat into the ropes, but Steamboat strikes Austin and regains control with a headlock on the mat. Austin misses an elbow strike, but hip tosses Steamboat. Steamboat kicks Austin away and delivers a few strikes before putting a headlock on Austin. Steamboat avoids a back suplex and goes back to headlock control on the mat. Steamboat tries to use the turnbuckles again, but Austin plants Steamboat with a back suplex. Austin knee drops Steamboat and delivers a backbreaker. Austin works over Steamboat’s broken ribs in the corner and shoulder rams Steamboat. Austin throws Steamboat through the ropes to the floor. Steamboat grabs Dangerously on the floor, but Austin knee strikes Steamboat from behind. Austin knee lifts Steamboat on the apron and elbow strikes Steamboat on the apron. Austin knee lifts Steamboat on the apron again. Austin hooks Steamboat hitting a suplex into the ring. Austin covers Steamboat for a two count.
Austin drives Steamboat to the mat with a backbreaker as we learn that five minutes have passed in the time limit. Austin puts an abdominal stretch on Steamboat and wedges his elbow into Steamboat’s injured ribs. Austin elbows Steamboat and puts the abdominal stretch again. Austin chokes Steamboat in the ropes, but backs off cleanly. Austin elbows Steamboat, but Steamboat gets a rollup for a two count. Austin sends Steamboat into the corner, but Steamboat hits a crossbody and Austin rolls through for a two count. Steamboat avoids a dropkick and catapults Austin into the corner for a two count. Steamboat sends Austin chest first into the corner. Austin plants Steamboat with an electric chair slam for a two count. Steamboat avoids a slam and strikes Austin. Steamboat tries for a tombstone, but Austin counters. Steamboat counters again and spikes Austin with a tombstone for a near fall. Austin gets a rollup on Steamboat for a near fall. Austin sits Steamboat on the top turnbuckle and tries for a superplex, but Steamboat hits a front suplex. Steamboat axe handles Austin from the middle rope for a near fall. Steamboat shoulder blocks Austin and gets an inside cradle, but the time limit runs out as Austin kicks out. Austin retains the title. (***. A quality match, but probably a little less than what they’ve done before. They had ten minutes to fill, so there was a bit of a extended rest hold spot, but the closing sequences was enjoyable and they were able to keep my interest throughout anyway.)
Final Thoughts:
Barbarian is getting quite the push, and honestly his big boot finisher is a believable move as he tends to hit it fairly well. I’d consider this a good show overall with a strong main event between Steamboat and Austin.
Thanks for reading.