Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Clash of the Champions XXIX

-Written: 5.21.26
-Run Time: 1:32:36
-Source: YouTube

-I finally decided to use these reviews to create an electronic book that you can now purchase through Amazon. I figured 1996 was the best year to start. Thanks in advance for any purchases or sharing or just getting the word out.

Leighty’s Retro Wrestling PPV Reviews: 1996 WWWF and WCW

-We have this show and Starrcade to wrap up WCW in 1994. My plan is to continue with 1995 as I have a few shows already done from that year. Once that is complete I am either going all the way back to 83 for Starrcade or jumping to Jan of 1998.

-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, FL
-Nov. 16, 1994
-Attendance: 4000

-Mean Gene plugs The Hotline and then brings out Colonel Parker and Meng. Parker announces he has a contract for the winners of tonight’s Tag Match. Whoever wins defends Sunday Night against Arn Anderson and Bunkhouse Buck.

WCW World Tag Team Titles: Pretty Wonderful (c) vs. Stars and Stripes

-Titles vs. Patriot’s Mask here! Heenan heard Patriot is a Gulf War Vet and has radiation burns to his face. Presumed burn victim wearing a mask in wrestling? Would never work! The crowd is all over Pretty Wonderful with Paula chants. Bagwell starts with Wonderful and Paul beats him down with strikes and then kicks him while he’s down. Tony notes the team with the best team work will come out ahead. Makes sense! Roma in and shows off with his climbing skills but gets caught with a dropkick. Wonderful in and he gets bounced back and forth by right hands from the challengers. Pretty Wonderful bail to the floor and we get a USA chant. Orndorff back in and he slows things down as he pulls the ref away to ask a question. Patriot is staying composed and waits for a lockup. Arm-drag by Patriot and a hip-toss, but misses an elbow. Wonderful misses one as well, but gets a drop toe-hold. Patriot counters with a hammerlock, so Paul gets to the bottom ropes to force a break. We start again and Wonderful buries a knee to the gut and tags in Roma. He hits a backbreaker and another and a third one. Back up the ropes and he comes off top with a fist drop. Bagwell breaks up the pin at two. Patriot catches Roma and hits an atomic drop. Bagwell with a right hand from the apron and then another Atomic Drop. Thesz Press gets a two count! Bagwell back in as he cones off the top with a forearm to the arm. Nasty bump as Pretty Wonderful try a tandem stun-gun and Bagwell goes flying over the top to the floor. Wonderful went out as well. That looked rough! Wonderful drops Bagwell throat first on the top rope and then drops a leg to the gut. Boogie Woogie elbow connects! Roma back in and hits a beautiful dropkick! The man can throw a. heck of a dropkick. Powerslam gets two as Roma celebrates a bit too long. Wonderful back in and Bagwell gets a brief rally, but Wonderful goes to the eyes. Bagwell counters with a backslide for two as Roma makes the save. Sunset flip from Bagwell and Roma makes the save again. Patriot in and he and Roma spill to the floor. Roma up first and heads up top. Wonderful with a suplex and usually Roma follows with a splash, but Patriot knocks him off the top. While waiting for Roma, Wonderful lays there and gets pinned as Bagwell gets his shoulder up before three at 10:07. Weird ending but the crowd popped for the Title Change.

Winners and New WCW Tag Team Champions: Stars and Stripes via pin at 10:07
-Even watching back then I assumed we were getting new Champion as I didn’t buy that The Patriot would be losing his mask. Just a basic tag match with a hot crowd at least. **

-Hulk Hogan Hotline. I assume every penny went to Hogan and I wonder how much he made off of it?

WCW World Television Title: Johnny B. Badd (c) vs. The Honky Tonk Man

-This is a rematch from Halloween Havoc when they went to a time limit draw. HTM just looks out of place here. He immediately stalls and the crowd starts booing him. Lockup and they jockey for position around the ring. Honky gets a clean break in the corner and yells at the crowd. Honky gets a take down and then goes to work on the arm. Badd reverses and drops a leg on Honky’s arm. He stomps the arm and Honky complains about a hair pull. Hammerlock by Badd and he takes Honky to the mat with it. He drops a knee for added pressure. Honky continues to work the crowd and then catches Badd with a right hand. He scratches the back and chest and lands a knee to the chest. Big Boot, but Badd catches and gets an atomic drop. Heenan: “He got him in the old Hound Dog didn’t he?” That made me laugh. Badd messes up the hair and knocks Honky to the floor. HTM is pissed and wants to trade punches, but uses the ref to land a cheap shot. Effective! HTM with a slam and drops a fist from the middle rope. Did we ever get Mero vs. Lawler in WWF? No reason I am wondering, Badd sets too early on a backdrop and gets kicked in the chest. Shake, Rattle, and Roll, but Badd backdrops his way out. He sends Honky into the top buckle ten times as the fans count along. Another inverted atomic drop. Badd gets the mounted punches in the corner and those in Jacksonville get to count again. Heenan says it’s amazing they can count past five. The ref gets bumped and Honky drills Badd with the guitar and that’s a DQ at 6:14. Heck of a guitar shot!

Winner and Still WCW World Television Champion: Johnny B. Badd via DQ at 6:14
-Super basic match, but again, the crowd was into it. This was supposed to get up another match at Starrcade but HTM was fired about a week before the show. 3/4*

-The Three Faces of Fear cut a promo backstage. No, not Meng or Barbarian. This is The Butcher (Beefcake), Avalanche (Tenta) and Kevin Sullivan. Just a super, generic heel promo from Butcher. They want to destroy Hulk Hogan. Maybe they should form an Alliance. Sullivan talking about a funeral parlor, grave being dug, and headstone being carved is kind of creepy now and makes me sad.

Harlem Heat (w/ Sensuous Sherri) vs. The Nasty Boys

-I remember this clear as day as Harlem Heat had been on the phone with someone (not McAfee) and it was their surprise. Then the genius people doing the graphics spoiled it as Heart were making their entrance by noting Sherri was with them. Bobby and Tony just have to ignore it, but for whatever reason that is the one thing from this show that became a locked in memory. Tony says this is going to be a Street Fight and sadly, it’s not one or this would have potential. Booker and Knobbs start as Heenan asks, “where’s Dennis Rodman when you need him?” Huh! Knobbs lands an elbow in the corner and knocks Booker down with a clothesline. Slam to Booker and one for Stevie. Sags in and he hits a double clothesline. All four men in and The Nasty Boys hit stereo splashes in the corner as this one is off to a hot start. Heat bail to slow things down. Stevie Ray gets the tag and has a go with Sags. Sags with a knee in the corner, but Stevie goes to the eyes. He gets caught in the corner with a boot and Sags gets a bulldog. Knobbs back in and we get CLUBBERING before Dusty coined the term. The Nasty Boys make a wish on Stevie’s legs and Sags drops a knee for a two count. Knobbs back and he hits a splash on the knee. Knobbs with a knee-bar as the show heads to commercial.

-Back immediately as no commercials here, so just assume 90 seconds to two minutes are added to whatever time I get here. Stevie off the apron with a forearm to the back of Knobbs. He gets the tag and hits a Pump Kick and beats Knobbs down in the corner. Leaping clothesline and tag back to Booker. Harlem Side Kick! Booker off the middle ropes, but misses! Hot Tag to Sags and Stevie in as well. Sags runs wild with right hands and elbows. Clothesline sends Stevie over the top which could be a DQ, but WCW. Especially with Sags giving Stevie an extra push. Powerslam to Stevie as Booker is more interested in making a phone call. He gets sent into the post but keeps going after the phone while Stevie gets double teamed in the ring. Here’s Sherri and she power walks to the ring and distracts Knobbs. Booker off the top to break up a pin and Stevie rolls over for the cover at 7:58 (shown).

Winners: Harlem Heat via pin at 7:58
-Started okay, but then just lost momentum. Credit again to the crowd though for being invested. Sherri ended up being a great pairing with Harlem Heat and helped get them to that next level just like she did for Shawn and others. *1/2

-Starrcade up next though I will have Survivor Series first and then I can finally wrap up 1994.

Vader (w/ Harley Race) vs. Dustin Rhodes

-Vader is the #1 Contender for the WCW World Title coming out of Fall Brawl and is just waiting for his Title Match. Vader backs Dustin into the corner and just hauls off with a heavy blow to the side of the head. Another go and Vader does it again but this one seemed even more personal. “This ain’t no tea party,” and then he SPITS IN DUSTIN’S FACE! Dustin fires up and gets a double leg and goes ground and pound as the crowd pops like crazy. AWESOME! That’s what you do! Dustin ducks a series of clotheslines and gets a crossbody for two. Clothesline sends Vader to the floor and Dustin follows to continue the beating. Harley gets dropped for just being in the area and Dustin plays to the crowd once back in the ring. Harley laying sprawled on the floor is pretty hilarious. Vader is a bit slower now, but Dustin is right back on him and beats him down in the corner. The ref forces Dustin to break, but he charges right back and ends up getting a suplex. Vader isn’t sure what to do with this onslaught so he rolls to the floor again. This is the definition of a bully getting punched in the mouth and finding out. Dustin runs at Vader one too many times and gets dropped. Vader is back in his zone and boxes Dustin’s ears in the corner and starts talking trash again. Short uppercut from Vader but he misses a splash in the corner and Dustin gets a roll-up for two. He is still punch drunk though and walks into a clothesline that causes him to somersault. Vader with rabbit punches to the back of the head. Splash, but Dustin catches Vader and HITS A POWERSLAM. This match rules! Sunset flip but Vader drops an Ass Bomb, that misses as Dustin rolled out of the way. Dustin back to the ground and pound and the ref takes an elbow to the head. Bulldog, but Vader just casually tosses DUSTIN OVER THE TOP AND TO THE FLOOR. That was great as the ref wasn’t knocked it, but staggered enough that he couldn’t see. Dustin cleared that top rope with ease. Back in the ring Dustin gets knocked down again. Vader Bomb connects and Vader gets a sloppy cover and Dustin gets a foot under the ropes. Another Vader Bomb and Dustin kicks out at two. Back to the corner for more boxing. Dustin is quivering as he tries to get the crowd behind him. Slam and Vader comes off the middle ropes, but Dustin counters with a powerslam. Vader always loved that spot. Dustin fires back with right hands as they start trading bombs. Clothesline, but Vader stays up. Elbow and another clothesline with the ropes keeping Vader on his feet. Lariat off the top gets two! Dustin sets Vader on the top rope and looks superplex, but it ends up being a DDT for two. Bulldog connects this time, but Race is in and Dustin pulls off the cover. Dumb! Dustin gets knocked into Harley and Vader hits an inverted powerbomb for the pin at 11:50.

Winner: Vader via pin at 11:50
-This was awesome! They got the time they needed and a strong HOSS fight. This looked and felt like a fight and Dustin showed some tremendous fire. Vader continues his fantastic run since becoming the big bad of the company. ****1/4

-Vader wants to inflict more pain, but here’s Hacksaw Jim Duggan and that sets up their match at Starrcade. Well, assuming Duggan gets by Austin later I guess.

-Gene is backstage and interviews Hogan, Sting and Dave Sullivan. Sting in red and yellow face paint looks weird for some reason. Sting with a crazy promo as it seems like he wanted to top Hogan. I appreciate all the energy.

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: “Hacksaw” Jim Duggan (c) vs. “Stunning” Steve Austin

-Tony notes the building is next door to The Gator Bowl where the Jaguars will make their NFL debut. I heard the eventual owner has a son that is a wrestling fan. Probably not important. Lockup and here’s Vader to punch Duggan and it’s a DQ at 59 seconds.

Winner and Still US Champion: Jim Duggan via DQ at 59 seconds
-Austin was hosed here and should illegally eliminate Vader from Royal Rumble if the two should ever be in the WWF and in the match at the same time. Hypothetically speaking of course. DUD

The Butcher, Kevin Sullivan, and Avalanche vs. Hulk Hogan (w/ Jimmy Hart), Sting, and Dave Sullivan

-Mr. T is the special ref. All six man start brawling as I don’t hear a bell. It settlers down to Hogan and Sullivan in the ring. Hogan bites at Sullivan’s face and runs him into a boot from Sting. He gets the tag and sends Sullivan flying with a backdrop. He drops an elbow and hits a standing dropkick. Hogan back in but the other FOF join and they turn the tide. All six men brawl in the ring again and Avalanche with a splash on Dave’s knee. Jimmy Hart wants to stop the match, but is told to take Dave to the back. It’s like when Nathan Jones was pulled out of the WrestleMania XIX Match. Avalanche stomps Hogan down and tags in Butcher. He goes crazy with chops to the top of the head and then stands on Hogan’s throat. Avalanche back in and misses a charge. Hogan goes for a slam, but Avalanche falls back for a two count. Hogan chant from the crowd as the beating continues. Sullivan off the middle ropes with a right hand. Hogan goes to the eyes bit gets swarmed in the wrong corner. Avalanche back in and hooks a bear-hug. Ugh, at least it’s not a nerve hold. Hogan punches his way out of the hold and lands a series of right hands, bug gets tripped by Butcher. Powerslam but a splash misses. I will not the first show I ever attended was in February of 91 and was headlines by Hogan and Quake in a Stretcher Match. Hot Tag to Sting and he works over all three members of the FOF. Press Slam to Sullivan, but Avalanche catches and runs him back into Sting in the corner. That was kind of cool! Double Stomp gets two. Butcher back in and we get a double clothesline. Butcher Lanche back in and he hits Sting with a powerslam and drops a big leg. Hogan breaks upon the pin attempt at two. Sullivan in and Sting runs into a boot to the face. Sullivan up top, but Hogan slams him off and the race is on for the tag. Hot Tag to Hogan and he catches Butcher in the ring. Right hands bring everyone else in the ring. Sullivan steals Hart’s megaphone, but Mr. T stops him from using it. Somehow Sullivan gets knocked down and its enough for Hogan to get the pin at 10:50.

Winners: Hulk Hogan, Sting, and Dave Sullivan via pin at 10:50
-Just a boring match and there was no need to do Hogan/Butcher here when it was your Starrcade Main Event. Usually the idea with this match is to put the heel over to build to the PPV, but even down a man, Sting and Hogan get win. Not a fan of this one and best thing I can say is Avalanche looked better than anyone else on the heel side and him vs. Hogan at Starrcade would have been better than what we got. *

-Sullivan decks Mr. T with a megaphone shot. Avalanche Splash to Sting. Hogan gets blasted with the megaphone and Butcher hooks a sleeper. Bagwell and Patriot are out to save, but Avalanche dispatches of them. Butcher maintains the hold but finally releases as the trainers and even cops show up.

-Thanks for reading!

7.0

The final score: review Good

The 411

This show was a breeze to watch actually. Dustin/Vader is awesome and worth watching and drags this show to a good rating. The tag opener was solid. The rest not so much. Still weird they had Hogan and Butcher meet in a Tag Match when they were the Starrcade Main Event a month later. Hogan and Sting against Avalanche and Sullivan would have been fine. Let The Butcher SQUASH Dave Sullivan and put him on the shelf to get a much needed win and heat. Oh well, Vader saved the show here like he did so many times in WCW.