Talk about it here.

Sawyer is past his prime at this point, but still has a lot in the tank. The highlight is Sawyer biting Arn just to break an armbar. I don't think this match quite lives up to the hype I've heard for it over the years, but it is a really solid match, and it is fun to see Arn as a very over singles babyface for a sort-of-extended run. J-Tex run in and spray mist on Arn and spike piledrive him. Ole runs in for the save and it's 3-on-1, but he don't sell nothin' for no one. Ole ends up eating a top rope splash from Buzz, which is sold in a big way. The post-match is super hot.

Sawyer is past his prime at this point,

And he was barely 30 years old!

 

This wasn't quite as good as the title change but Buzz brings lots of varied offense all centered around Arn's back and ribs. Arn's comeback is just getting going when he gets laid out by J-Tex. It's a wonder Ole even bothered to sell the splash, because he didn't sell anything else.

This was a touch disappointing, probably because I'm a fan of both guys. It was a solid match, with Sawyer getting to do a lot of his signature stuff. But it would have been better if Arn had gotten in more of a comeback before the interference.

Good body work control match from these two and I can get behind, tv champion defense of the week Arn Anderson. The commentary with Ross and Cornette was also entertaining sprinkling in macro issues with the psychology of the match well. The post shot Buzz gives Arn looked stiff as hell and Muta still has a huge presence when he runs out and mists Arn.

Sawyer looks old for his age. I like Arn’s bodyslam with the arm behind Sawyers’s back. Seems like that move doesn’t always look crisp as the arm can come out easily. Match wasn’t bad but didn’t do much for me.

I was disappointed by this. When I saw the angle at the end of the Muta/Arn tv tile change, I was excited for this match and was hoping it would be on the yearbook. It's here, and its not bad, but not as good as I was hoping it would be, which granted might be me setting my own expectations too high. Good post match angle to set up the Clash cage match, though like I said at the end of Muta/Arn, this feels like a program that is well past it's expiration date at this point.

Buzz Sawyer seems like a guy from a bygone era for some reason.

 

I like the combination of Cornette and Ross on commentary. "What are you saying about Anderson's wide base?" - ha ha ha

 

We also get some nice DC comics references from Corny, how many times has Green Lantern ever been referenced on wrestling tv?

 

This match is enjoyable enough, it's just kind of there and I quite like watching Arn even if he's not doing much of interest. This feels like watching a typical tv match and I really LIKE that -- that means the yearbook is doing what it was meant to do.

 

I'm a sucker for a good powerslam from an Irish whip and Sawyer hits a nice one here.

 

"Anderson's luck's been so bad he got a divorce and the judge gave him custody of his mother in law ...

 

You probably know bit about that too Jim?"

 

"No comment"

 

Ha ha ha ha ha!

 

I always said that Ross never worked well with Ventura and was awkward when he had to work with Heenan too, but Cornette and Ross just works.

 

They are talking about the simarilities between Manuel Noriega and Gene Anderson now. Awesome.

 

Fairplay, Buzz Sawyer's giving this all he's got. Spinebuster. Good night Irene. NO!!! Wow, he kicked out! Muta now!

 

I didn't see this coming.

 

Still think The Dragon Master looks like an Asian Baron von Raschke.

That leapfrog into a Mad Dog power slam was sick. I loved this, it's two of my favorite guys ever. Cornette and Ross really were great together. Everything about "Mad Dog" Buzz Sawyer is awesome. His name alone is one of the best ever, a cool nickname AND a cool fake name. I love the crazed giggling, and he looks legit insane. Only thing missing are the big fuzzy boots.

Solid match here, but much like the Arn/Muta match it didn't really stand out for me. Both men do a good job of targeting a body part with Arn going after the arm and Sawyer targeting the back. Disappointing finish, but it does its job of building up the future 6-man tag.

I wasnt disappointed at all in this one. Arn's on a Power Hour roll here. The Muta match was damn fun and this one was just ALL MAN. Buzz tries to vertically impale Arn through the ringpost and the whole damn ring sways. Sick

Tidy TV Title match here (alliteration!) . Liked the power slam from Buzz and felt Arn did a nice job getting over what kind of monster Buzz was. Both guys trade some solid shots into the ring post outside and Buzz kicks out of the spinebuster before the gang runs in. Buzz does get to do his big top rope splash on Ole after Muta mists Arn. Solid advancement towards the already announced Clash match.

Not much to add apart from like many, I loved the Powerslam spot in the match and the Manuel Noriega reference was the first but not last mention of the Dictator in January by somebody. It was all over the news at this point as he was captured by US soliders in Panama at the start of the month.

Solid, hard-hitting bout that's a good standalone as well as a furthering of the Horsemen/J-Tex feud that will be settled at the Clash. Also sets up a six-man for the following week on the Power Hour, which makes three main events in a row for that show on the yearbook. If I had a TV Show of the Month award, it would win hands down.

 

JR and Corny mix jokes and commentary well here. It helps that these two are friends behind the scenes going back to their days with Watts. It makes them comfortable with each other, and JR needs to work with people he's personally comfortable with to be at his best.

 

The match itself was all about the body part work: AA on Buzz's arm, and Buzz on Arn's back. It was all brutal and well-executed, particularly the post shot on Arn's back. I couldn't actually see the ring sway, but the thwack of Arn's back hitting the post was more than convincing enough.

 

As for what Ole sold in the beatdown afterward, Buzz was one of his old friends from Georgia, so he was doing him a favor. Odds were he wouldn't have sold a Muta moonsault nearly as well, or at all. But when you're the booker, you can no-sell whatever you like.

Solid tv match that advances towards the Clash. From a kayfabe perspective, it's hard to see whats holding J Tex together now that Hart's gone. Sawyer seems like he has nothing in common with Muta and Dragon Master and seems like a forgone conclusion what the clash result will be.

Solid enough match. I didn't like this one quite as much as the Arn/Muta match but it wasn't bad by any means. I did like the post-match as it built towards the Clash.

Buzz Sawyer is 30 years old here??Q! Between him and Michael Hayes around this time, I'm all of a sudden not feeling so bad about myself. My base for anything involving Arn is "pretty good" I'd say this is solidly pretty good. was really excited for this when I saw it on the set, and I don't and I don't want to say I was disappointed, but I think like Chad said, a little more of a comeback and it would have been there for me. But when Arn throws up the 4 really forcefully with that pained look on his face, I got stoked.

I enjoyed the work on the arm here. Sawyer calling back to it throughout the match was good. The power slam was awesome. The match was good and memorable. Arn has been great in the month of Jan. 1990. I can't believe Sawyer is only 30 here. Ha, well anyway, I'd probably have it in the top 5 or 6 for me in this month.

I thought it was a really good TV match. I don't think the point was to have a blow-you-away great match, so what they did was just right. I agree that we could have used a little more Arn comeback at the end, but that's quibbling.

Good TV match that seems to end a little bit abruptly. Nevertheless, I enjoyed Sawyer's work on the back and being a legit, unpredictable asshole really makes him a lot more watchable than other 'crazy' guys. More great Arn babyface work and his selling here is great, finding the right balance between selling and keeping up the tough guy persona. It helps when Sawyer straight up rams you into the ring post at full speed, I would assume.

 

Cornette and Ross were great in the Arn/Muta match and they're great here, showing how their 98 WWF stuff was a far cry from the loose, natural feel that they had here.

 

Once more, we get another WCW match that leads into the Clash, albeit this time everything is ramped up with the spike piledriver and Ole taking the splash. Really solid stuff all around.

Good match that never quite got into high gear. Color me stunned that Buzz is only 30 here.