Glass Hand Dissolving: Scott & Steve Armstrong

vs The Funks (SMW 7/3/1994)

This is all tied into the big feud of Smokey Mountain at the time, which is Cornette vs Bob Armstrong. A lot of this has to serve that feud, and the builf to The Bullet getting his hands on Cornette. The parts of the match that we get that aren't entirely in service to that are pretty good. Dory hitting the mat, Terry stooging, some brawling outside of the ring, all those things are there and good. The match part is good, and the angle part is good, but the intersection of the two limits how good the match could be. Still good. 

vs Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman (WCW 9/23/1995)

This is a very solid, but short television match. Everyone has a very defined role, and wrestles to that archetype. Arn's there to kick ass and not do anything stupid. Pillman is there to win, and maybe do something stupid. The Armstrongs are there to have a sporting contest, and if Scott gets in trouble, Steve is there to save his little brother. All of that plays out here, and ultimately Arn and Pillman win, because they're willing to bend the rules, and able to bend the rules without being caught. Solid stuff. 

vs Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater (WCW 8/19/1995)

This is a lot like the previous match, in structure anyway. It is a bit longer and I think that the length makes the match suffer a bit, but otherwise it is the same solid structure, the same sort of idea. Buck and Slater aren't exactly Arn and Pillman, but they know what they are there to do, and can execute that. I don't think Bunkhouse Buck does a great job of carrying, or rather selling, the early portion of the match, and so it drags a bit there, but not too much. A decent match. 

vs Fit Finlay & Dave Taylor (WCW 1/30/1999)

This is another perfunctory sort of match. Finlay and Taylor are in a tournament for the Tag Titles; they need to look like contenders. The Armstrongs are not in the tournament, and don't need to look strong. They go out and have a decent match that fills the time, but it doesn't rise above perfunctory either. 

vs Chris Benoit & Dean Malenko (WCW 4/19/1999)

This was short, and I think that because it was short, these guys went out and packed quite a bit into that short time. I'm of two minds on that idea, because you don't want to do nothing in the time they give you, but you also don't want to do a bunch of stuff that doesn't register just to move on to doing other stuff. This isn't a spotfest on anything; it just worked at a certain pace that I don't think makes a match great. And again, this is not bad; it was a pretty good showing for both sides, but it is hard to be good in such a short time, especially if everyone has to come out of the match looking good. I think, in a way, that's a demerit on Malenko and Benoit for not taking more of this, really, but this is about the Armstrongs, and they did what was asked of them and did it well. 

Verdict

The Armstrongs are a solid team who never really got a shot to be a great team. I don't know if anything here would lead you to believe that they should have been given that opportunity. In the spot they were given, they did a good job, and that's all you can really ask. It just doesn't make you a great tag team.