|Date: February 24, 1991
|Venue: Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum |City: Phoenix, Arizona
|Attendance: 6,800 |Buys: 160,000

|tweet me: @BastionBlogger

Tony Schiavone voices a very basic and quick opening package. 

Tony then welcomes us to Wrestlewar before running down the card and throwing to the commentary team of Jim Ross and Dusty Rhodes. 

Ricky Morton, Tommy Rich & The Junkyard Dog (c) vs. State Patrol (Sgt Buddy Lee Parker & Lt James Earl Wright) & The Big Cat – WCW 6 Man Tag Team Championship match

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time six man match involving these six men.

Wrestlewar PPV Record: Ricky Morton is 1-0, everyone else wrestles at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: Junkyard Dog and The Big Cat kick off the match in a battle of the big men. JYD hits the first knockdown and takes control for his team. Ricky Morton and Lt James Earl Wright soon tag in where Morton keeps control for his team. Tommy Rich is soon involved too and hits arm drags on Sgt Buddy Lee Parker. The babyface team use plenty of double teaming. The Dog and The Cat soon go toe to toe again and it’s not long before some cheating gives the challengers the advantage. Ricky Morton takes a lot of the offence from all three opponents and sells like only Morton can. Ricky finally makes the hot tag to the Junkyard Dog and the pace picks up with all six men going at it. JYD hits a big powerslam on Buddy Lee Parker, Big Cat breaks up the pinfall attempt and Ricky Morton then covers Parker for the three. He wasn’t even the legal man!

Result: Ricky Morton, Tommy Rich and Junkyard Dog retain their titles by pinfall.

Review: This was a fun way to kick things off but extremely predictable. It was nice to see The Big Cat in action, he hasn’t been featured much recently. But the win keeps three men active who don’t have a lot going on themselves. A big win for Morton, Rich and JYD. 

Rating: 5.75/10

Tony Schiavone interviews Alexandra York and Terry Taylor. They talk about computers and York says that Taylor will beat Z Man later in less than 15 minutes and 42 seconds. 

Brad Armstrong vs. Bobby Eaton

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match between these two men.

Wrestlewar PPV Record: Bobby Eaton is 0-1, Brad Armstrong wrestles at Wrestlewar for the first time tonight.

Match: Bobby Eaton attacks Brad Armstrong as the bell rings but Brad soon takes control. Armstrong wrestled a fast pace before slowing down with submission holds. The fight goes outside and back in the ring. The two men exchange wrist locks and armbars, slowing the pace down. It’s a back and forth match. The Great Muta is shown at ringside somewhere watching the match. Eaton hits a slingshot backbreaker for a two count. Bobby drops Armstrong on the barrier outside the ring before getting back in the ring and continuing to work the back. Brad starts to fight back but Eaton hits a neck breaker and legdrop off the top rope for the victory. 

Result: Bobby Eaton wins by pinfall.

Review: This was a decent match between these two men. They are two talented performers and both technically gifted. The pace went up and down throughout but it made for a good match. I think Brad Armstrong is really underrated. A good win for Bobby Eaton who is getting a decent singles push and should be in the TV title picture. 

Rating: 6/10

There’s a promo for Wrestlewar. 

Itsuki Yamasaki & Mami Kitamura vs. Miss A & Miki Handa

Previous PPV matches: This is a first ever women’s match on WCW PPV.

Wrestlewar PPV Record: All four girls wrestle at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: All four women go at it as the bell rings. The commentators don’t know which woman is which but I’ll try. Miss A takes control early. Miki Honda tags in and dominates for her team. This is the first ever women’s match on nwa/wcw PPV. Miss A hits a suplex and works the leg of Yamasaki. Yamasaki hits a gut-wrench suplex for a two count. Miss A tags in and hits some big kicks and a grudging suplex for a two count. The pace is really fast in this one with lots of quick tags. Yamasaki hits a big dropkick off the top. Yamasaki then rolls Miss A up and gets the three. 

Result: Itsuki Yamasaki & Mami Kitamura win by pinfall.

Review: This match was fantastic. It had a really fast pace to it and kept the crowd on their feet. It was hard to be too invested in the match because of not knowing who the women are but they put on a hell of a show tonight. I thought the other team would actually win. 

Rating: 8/10

Tony Schiavone and Missy Hyatt fill some time and Missy says that she’ll be in the locker room later. 

Dustin Rhodes vs. Buddy Landell

Previous PPV matches: This is a first match between these two men.

Wrestlewar PPV Record: Both men wrestle at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: Buddy Landell slaps Dustin Rhodes as the bell rings but that fired up The Natural. Rhodes uses his elbow much like his daddy used to. Buddy avoids a shoulder charge in the corner and picks Rhodes apart. Landell dominates for a while until there’s a bit of a miscommunication and the two men exchange sleepers. Dustin hits a couple of clotheslined, one is which was over the top which I thought was a DQ? Apparently not. Dustin hits a gorilla press slam and a bulldog for the win. 

Result: Dustin Rhodes wins by pinfall.

Review: This match wasn’t great. There were a few miscommunications which made for a not-so-smooth contest. I’m not sure how happy Buddy Landell would have been to do the job tonight but it’s a good victory for Dustin Rhodes tonight as his dad watched on. 

Rating: 3/10

Missy Hyatt enters the mens locker room and is greeted by Stan Hansen who kicks her right back out. Some awful acting from Missy Hyatt. 

The Young Pistols (Tracy Smothers & Steve Armstrong) vs. The Royal Family (Jacko Victory & Rip Morgan)

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match between these two teams.

Wrestlewar PPV Record: All four men wrestle at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: Well apparently the Wild-Eyes Southern Boys are now called The Young Pistols. The Royal Family take cheap shots at The Young Pistols and take them down with clotheslines. Steve Armstrong hits them both with a cross body before The Pistols clear the ring of their opponents. The lights go out and there’s some spotlights on the ring. Oops. Smothers and Rip Morgan officially kick off the match. Steve Armstrong tags in and the Pistols dropkick the Royal Family to the outside. The Royal Family are much bigger and knock down the Pistols with shoulder blocks. The Young Pistols hit a double shoulder block of their own and take control of the match until Armstrong misses with a cross body. Smothers gets a hot tag and picks up the pace until Morgan hits him with a cheap shot and then drops him on the barricade. The Royal Family dominate with double team moves and quick tags. They look for a double face first suplex on Smothers but Armstrong hits a dropkick and Smothers lands on Morgan and gets the three!

Result: The Young Pistols win by pinfall.

Review: This match was decent enough. It wasn’t a classic but it showed how much potential The Young Pistols have. They’re very talented in the ring but lacking a little in charisma. Neither teams are on a position to go after the world tag team championships yet but maybe the US titles in the future. 

Rating: 5/10

Tony Schiavone is with Diamond Dallas Page who says that The Fabulous Freebirds will be taking the tag team championships tonight. He’s interrupted by Teddy Long who feels duped by Page but his team of Doom will retain the titles. 

Z-Man vs. Terry Taylor – no disqualification match

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match between these two men.

Wrestlewar PPV Record: Z-Man is 1-0, Terry Taylor wrestles at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: It’s all Z-Man in the early going. He keeps Terry Taylor grounded with headlocks. Taylor often retreats to the outside to get advice from Alexandra York. More headlocks from Z-Man. Terry Taylor soon takes control with right hands and a belly to back suplex. Nikita Koloff is shown in the crowd. Terry chokes Z-Man on the outside knowing he can’t be disqualified. Hiro Matsuda is also in the crowd. The fight goes to the outside where the two men slug it out. Back in the ring and Terry Taylor takes control. Z-Man hits a neckbreaker, superkick and powerslam for a two count. Z-Man then hits an endeavour and goes to the top and hits a cross body but Alexandra York has the referee distracted. Terry Taylor then rolls Z-Man up with a pull of the tights for the three. After the match Z-Man gets his heat back. 

Result: Terry Taylor wins by pinfall.

Review: This was a good match. It was back and forth, had a good pace to it and a decent finish. It showcased both men well. I think Terry Taylor winning was the right call. 

Rating: 6/10

Jim Ross and Dusty Rhodes hype up El Gigante on the Danger Zone. Dusty struggled with the word “Gigante”. 

Paul E. Dangerously is out next dressed as a matador. Dangerously makes some mildly racist remarks about the crowd and then introduces El Gigante. Paul berates El Gigante, mostly anti-Hispanic jokes and even goes as far as to slap the giant. That causes El Gigante to powerslam Dangerously and leave him laying. 

Tony Schiavone is with Hiro Matsuda and The Great Muta. They hype up next months event at the Egg Dome. 

Stan Hansen vs. Big Van Vader

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time WCW PPV match between these two men.

Wrestlewar PPV Record: Both men wrestle at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: The two brawlers get into it before the bell rings and battle on the entrance ramp. Both men are stiff with their jabs as the fight goes into the ring. Vader, the bigger of the two men dominates for a while until Stan gets back into it with a side suplex. The two then hit each other with boxes and chairs on the outside. Vader drops Hansen on the barricade. As the two men slug it out the referee gets thrown out of the ring. The referee then calls for the bell. It’s a double disqualification. Vader flies off the top with a big clothesline to Hansen as the two men continue to go at it. 

Result: Double disqualification.

Review: This match was fun but I think given more time the two could put on a fantastic match. We know the two men will meet again in Japan so it feels like this was just filler until they wrestle again. 

Rating: 5.75/10

There’s a short promo for Superbrawl. 

Lex Luger (c) vs. Dan Spivey – United States Championship match

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match between these two men.

Wrestlewar PPV Record: Lex Luger is 0-2, Dan Spivey is 0-1.

Match: Lex Luger has been on and off US Champion for a while and I can’t see him losing tonight either. We’re told there’s a new belt to be presented to the winner of this match, by Nikita Koloff. Luger dominates in the early going and sets a fast pace. Spivey ducks a cross body and Lex flies into the second ring. Spivey hits a tombstone piledriver for a near fall and then a neckbreaker and a DDT but can’t keep Luger down. Dan Spivey hits a spinning elbow drop off the top rope for a near fall. Spivey hits another piledriver for a near fall. Luger starts to fire up with right hands and a clothesline off the second turnbuckle. The crowd is right behind Lex as he hits a powerslam. The two men then clothesline each other down. Lex goes up to the top and Spivey looks to slam him off the top rope but Luger rolls him up and gets the three!

Result: Lex Luger wins by pinfall.

Review: This was a good match. Nothing too flashy in it but the psychology was good and the crowd were into it. Luger remains US Champion. A good showing for Dan Spivey. 

Rating: 6.75/10

Grizzly Smith and Nikita Koloff hand Lex Luger the new United States Championship. Koloff has a slightly different Russian accent. He takes the titles and smashes Luger with it! Nikita says that for two years he’s been waiting to get US title. Koloff wants revenge for Luger defeating him for that very title four years ago. 

Doom (Ron Simmons & Butch Reed) (c) vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael “PS” Hayes & Jimmy Garvin) – World Tag Team Championship match

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time tag team match between these two teams.

Wrestlewar PPV Record: Butch Reed is 1-0, Michael Hayes is 1-1, Jimmy Garvin is 0-1 and Ron Simmons wrestles at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: The Freebirds are accompanied by Diamond Dallas Page and the Diamond Dolls. Page then introduces Big Daddy Dink (Sir Oliver Humperdink), The Road Boss. Doom have Theodore Long in their corner. Michael Hayes and Ron Simmons kick off the match and it’s all Simmons early on. Hayes hits a jab and a bulldog. Both men make tags and it’s Reed’s power against Garvin’s speed. Reed takes control with slams and hard hitting strikes. Doom make quick tags until Garvin hits a DDT out of nowhere. Simmons tags in and hits a huge spinebuster and a powerslam for near falls. All four men then go at it, Teddy Long throws Reed some knucks but accidentally nails Simmons. Garvin pins Ron and gets the three!

Result: The Fabulous Freebirds win the World Tag Team Championships by pinfall.

Review: This was a good match. Two different styles of heel tag team resulted in some decent chemistry. This feels like the end of Doom now whilst the Freebirds have reinvented themselves with the addition of Diamond Dallas Page. A good match tonight. 

Rating: 6/10

After the match Ron Simmons pushes Teddy Long so Butch Reed beats down Simmons with the knucks as Long encounters him. 

Jim Ross and Dusty Rhodes take us through the main event. Dusty Rhodes, like the rest of us, is confused the Larry Zbyszko has been chosen as Arn Anderson’s replacement. 

Sting, Brian Pillman & The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott) vs The Horseman (Ric Flair, Sid Vicious, Barry Windham) & Larry Zbyszko – War Games

Previous PPV matches: This is a first time PPV match involving these 8 men.

Wrestlewar PPV Record: Sting is 1-0, Brian Pillman is 1-0, Scott Steiner is 1-0, Rick Steiner is 2-0, Ric Flair is 2-0, Sid, Windham and Zbyszko wrestle at this event for the first time tonight.

Match: Brian Pillman has a heavily taped shoulder following the attack from the four horseman last night. He chooses to start the match against Barry Windham and Pillman sets a fast pace. It’s all Brian in the opening moment of the match, he busts Windham open. After dominating the whole of the first five minutes, Pillman is outnumbered as The Horsemen win the coin toss and Ric Flair enters the cage. Flair and Windham dominate against Pillman until Sting enters the match. Sting takes down both opponents. Larry Zbyszko enters the match next but Sting takes him out with a big shoulder charge. Pillman applies a figure four to Windham as Flair and Larry double team Sting. Rick Steiner is next and he wipes out Flair and Windham with Steinerlines. Two minutes between entrants is so much better, there’s a really fast pace and the crowd are hot. Sid Vicious enters last for his team and goes right after Rick Steiner. Flair is unsurprisingly bleeding too. Scott Steiner is the last man to enter the match and so begins the match beyond. The Steiners double team Sid whilst Sting hits a Stinger Splash on Flair. Sting then locks on the Scorpion but Zbyszko makes the save. Rick Steiner applies a figure four to Windham, Rick Steiner does the same to Zbyszko, Pillman locks a figure four on Sid and Sting applies the same move to Flair! They all get free though. Sting military presses Flair. Sid hits somewhat of a powerbomb on Pillman and then a second, better, powerbomb. El Gigante then comes out from the back and rips off the cage door. El Gigante checks on Pillman but he’s out. Gigante tells the referee that Pillman is out and he calls for the bell as Pillman can’t continue! Gigante carries him to the back. 

Result: The Horsemen and Larry Zbyszko win by referee’s decision.

Review: This match was a lot of fun. It had a quicker pace than war games matches in the past because of the two minutes between entrants. All eight men had a good showing but the story here is that Pillman couldn’t continue because of his injuries. Sid essentially gets the win for his team. A really good main event tonight. 

Rating: 8.5/10

And that was Wrestlewar 91. This show had some real highlights. Obviously, the main event was the highlight of the show, it had a really good pace to it and didn’t drag like some of the previous War Games matches. I like that the heel team won, a result they had planted seeds to with the injury to Brian Pillman. The Japanese women’s match was really good too. A style not seen in the US before, these girls wrestled a really fast paced, high impact match. There was one title change with The Fabulous Freebirds winning the tag team championships from Doom. I like the new look to the Freebirds with Diamond Dallas Page but this show sees the end of Doom. Lex Luger had a good title defence against Dan Spivey whilst Stan Hanson and Big Van Vader beat the hell out of each other. Overall a good show, the best WCW has put out since The Great American Bash 89.

Overall Rating: 60.75/100 (ranked 5th out of 22 WCW PPV’s reviewed so far)

Match Of The Night: War Games
Worst Match Of The Night: Dustin Rhodes vs. Buddy Landell
Surprise Of The Night: New Tag Team Champions
Worst Booking Of The Night: N/A
Superstar Of The Night: Ric Flair, Sid Vicious, Barry Windham & Larry Zbyszko
Wrestlewar 91 Will Be Remembered For: War Games