World Championship Wrestling presents Power Hour
Date: 9/12/1992
Matches:
1.) Van Hammer defeated Jobber
2.) Scotty Flamingo defeated Rick Tango
3.) The Barbarian defeated TC Carter
4.) IWGP Tag Team Champions Steiner Brothers defeated Kensuke Sasaki & The Great Muta to retain the titles
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Van Hammer won his enhancement match in short order following a slingshot suplex.
2.) Tony Schiavone and Larry Zbyszko promote what we’ll see on the program, which includes a Steiner Brothers match from Japan against Kensuke Sasaki and Great Muta for the IWGP Tag Team Championships.
3.) Scotty Flamingo won his enhancement match with an abdominal stretch rollup.
4.) Teddy Long has a wrestler profile on WCW Television Champion Ricky Steamboat. We see footage of a confrontation between Steamboat and Steve Austin, which happened before Steamboat won the WCW TV Championship. Footage of Steamboat winning the title at the Clash ten days ago is shown. Larry Zbyszko doesn’t think Steamboat will hold the title for a long time due to his rib injuries and doesn’t think Steamboat has the killer instinct. They show Steamboat vs. Terry Funk from the Clash of the Champions VII.
5.) Zbyszko and Schiavone chat about the alliance of Cactus Jack, Butch Reed and The Barbarian to target WCW World Champion Ron Simmons. Zbyszko thinks we’re seeing top contenders trying to get a shot at Simmons.
6.) The Barbarian won his enhancement match in short order following a big boot.
7.) Missy Does The Mail hosted by Missy Hyatt is next. Hyatt talks about a motorcycle rally where they helped the March Of Dimes. We see footage from Saturday Night where Bobby Eaton & Arn Anderson defeated the Steiner Brothers recently. Hyatt can’t remember a time when tag team wrestling in WCW was so exciting.
8.) Scott Steiner and Muta kickoff the main event. Scott takes Muta down to the mat with a waist lock, but Muta quickly counters. We see Dusty Rhodes and Bill Watts watching the match in the front row. Muta reaches the ropes to break Scott’s advantage. Muta takes over Scott, but only gets a near fall on the mat. Scott gains headlock advantage on the mat and switches to a top wrist lock. Muta breaks free and tags in Sasaki. Rick Steiner tags into the bout, as well. Sasaki gains arm control on the mat, but doesn’t get a submission on Rick. Rick counters and they have a standoff. Rick overhead suplexs Saskai and delivers a right hand. Scott charges in and clotheslines Muta and the Steiner’s hit stereo belly to belly suplexs. Scott hits another suplex on Muta and delivers a knee lift against the ropes. Muta nails Scott with a spin kick. Sasaki hits Rick with a strike from the top rope. The Steiner’s are knocked to the floor and they do the Steiner Brothers taunt, which the fans love. Scott boots Muta in the corner and delivers a spinebuster. Scott controls Muta with some sloppy mat based wrestling.
Muta holds onto the ropes to avoid Scott and hits an elbow drop before tagging in Sasaki. Sasaki backdrops Scott coming off the ropes and delivers an elbow drop to the back. Sasaki tags Muta back into the match and they drive Scott’s knees onto the mat. Muta throws Scott to the floor where Scott is sent into the railing and Muta hits a handspring elbow against the railing. Muta nails Scott with a top rope knee strike and Sasaki tags back into the match. Sasaki has Scott over his shoulder and drives Scott gut first into the corner. Sasaki snapmares Scott before tagging in Muta. Muta stomps Scott on the mat to keep the advantage. Sasaki puts a Sharpshooter on Scott, but doesn’t get a submission. Muta enters and add some leverage, but the referee kicks Muta out of the ring. Scott delivers a DDT on Sasaki and Muta tags back into the match. Scott manages to tag in Rick Steiner. Saskai backs Rick into a corner and they trade strikes. Rick kicks Sasaki to the mat. Rick lifts Sasaki over his shoulder and drives Saskai gut first into the corner. Rick puts a Boston Crab on Sasaki, but Muta enters and kicks Rick.
Scott enters illegally and keeps the Boston Crab on, which the referee accepts that a tag took place even though it hadn’t. Scott drives Sasaki to the mat with a pump handle slam and tags in Rick. Rick elbow drops Sasaki a few times. Rick clubs Saskai over the back, but Sasaki is met with a knee lift in the corner. Scott nails Sasaki with an elbow strike coming off the ropes. Rick misses a clothesline, but Sasaki catches Rick with a powerslam. Muta tags into the match and dropkicks Rick a couple of times. Rick catches Muta coming off the middle rope and hits a dangerous looking suplex. Rick puts Muta on his shoulders, but Sasaki helps Muta. Muta clotheslines Scott coming off the ropes. Sasaki powerslams Scott and Muta almost pins Rick with a German suplex. Scott powerbombs Sasaki. Muta hits a top rope moonsault for a two count on Rick. Scott hits the Frankensteiner on Muta! Rick has Sasaki on his shoulders and Scott hits a clothesline off the middle rope. Rick puts Muta on his shoulders and Scott hits a top rope DDT to pin Muta to retain the titles. (***1/2. I love that they showed this match and did so in-full. I feel like WCW has enough TV time that they should show WCW guys in Japan far more often. This was a ton of fun and felt different compared to what we usually see on WCW programming.)
9.) Teddy Long talks about Butch Reed not wanting to talk to him and doubts Reed will give him any information. Tony Schiavone mentions that Van Hammer has challenged WCW United States Champion Rick Rude for next week.
Final Thoughts:
The tag match alone made this show worth it. An easy watch and enjoyable hour of WCW programing.
Thanks for reading.