The two were compared to the Rock 'n' Roll Express and similar teams at one time for their "chemistry and ability in the ring", however, their partnership ended in a bitter break up. Independent circuit (1991–1999) Gower continued wrestling in various Southern independent promotions having memorable matches, and gaining invaluable experience, against such well-known veterans as Ray Candy, Randy Rose, Mr. Wrestling II, Dick Slater, Ken Timbs, Mike Golden, Abdullah the Butcher, The Bullet, and Scott Studd, among others. One of the top stars for Joe Pedicino's Georgia All-Star Wrestling, Gower won the GASW Heavyweight Championship from Nick Busick in Carrollton on December 2, 1990, and held the title for over four months before dropping the title to Joel Deaton in Canton, Georgia on April 21, 1991. He also ran a wrestling school during this period for the Masked Superstar, and later the Global Wrestling Federation's training facility, where he trained a number of wrestlers including Marcus Alexander Bagwell, Disco Inferno, Murder One and his younger brother, Terry Lawler. Bagwell, wrestling under the name "The Fabulous Fabian", defeated Gower for the GASW (North Georgia) Television Championship in his first professional match. On September 15, 1991, Gower faced his former student a second time at an interpromotional show in Marietta, Georgia between the Global Wrestling Federation, where Bagwell was now wrestling as "The Handsome Stranger", and Georgia All-Star Wrestling which he lost to Bagwell via disqualification. Gower continued his long-running feud against Tommy Rich in GASW, helped by manager Dave Prazak, where the two had several wild brawls. Prazak later claimed that during one of their encounters, in which Rich put Prazak in a piledriver, "both he and Steve Lawler were roaring drunk for that match." They would eventually meet in a "lights out" match at Douglasville, Georgia with the loser being forced to retire. Gower himself later said the greatest matches he ever had were against Rich calling them "some of the bloodiest, they were some of the hardest, and I have a lot of respect for Rich to this day." With the end of the NWA territory system, Gower remained in Georgia working for independent promotions such as Peach State Wrestling (1991–95), shortly after it began bringing in SCW stars for its televised matches, and the North Georgia Wrestling Association (1992–97). Shortly before the latter promotion's close, he and Bubba Humphries won the NGWA Tag Team Championship from Kenny