Slater returned to WCW in the summer of 1991 and formed a tag team with Dick Murdoch called The Hardliners. Hardliners debuted as a team on Clash of the Champions XV, by attacking Steiner Brothers, Hiroshi Hase and Masahiro Chono after an IWGP Tag Team Championship match between the two teams. Hardliners' first match as a team took place on the June 29 episode of "WorldWide" by defeating enhancement talents Mike Jackson and Tim Parker. Hardliners began a rivalry with Steiner Brothers but Scott suffered an injury and they wrestled Rick and his different tag team partners throughout the summer of 1991. Hardliners participated in a tournament for the vacated World Tag Team Championship, in which they wrestled The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) to a double count-out in the first round on the July 27 episode of "World Championship Wrestling". The team disbanded in the fall of 1991 and Slater competed in the Florida-based International Championship Wrestling Alliance (ICWA) for the rest of 1991.