wrestling / Video Reviews
Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Clash of the Champions XXVII
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-Written: 12.18.25
-Source: Peacock
-Run-Time: 1:31:51
-We move along as I race to see how much I can get done with the WWE library only having 12 more days on Peacock. We are coming off the heels of Slamboree and Hulk Hogan has officially signed a contract with WCW. They need to quickly unify the two World Titles so Hogan can win, I mean challenger for it. Away we go!
-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-North Charleston Coliseum, Charleston, SC
-June 23, 1994
-Attendance: 6700
WCW World Tag Team Titles: Cactus Jack (c) and Kevin Sullivan (c) (w/ Dave Sullivan) vs. The Nasty Boys
-Jack and Sags start and they immediately start throwing bombs at each other. Sullivan and Knobbs in and yeah, just let them go. Double clothesline to Knobbs. Double clothesline to Sags. Another one to Knobbs! The Nasty Boys regroup on the floor as I should note there is a ref in the ring and one outside the ring. We settle back to a regular tag match and it’s Sullivan and Knobbs trading blows. Everyone back in the ring again, but the ref separates them and takes away the fun. Sullivan runs the Nasty Boys into each other once and then a second time. He slams Jack off the top onto the pile. Tony mentions Hulk Hogan will be arriving at some point tonight and they have people waiting on his plane to land at the nearby airport. Sullivan works the arm on Knobbs for a bit and brings Jack back into the match. Knobbs goes to the eyes and tags Sags. He and Jack kind of stumble around while brawling. These four are much better in a no DQ environment, but here we are. Sullivan in and he bites Knobbs on the forehead. He throws a punch which sends Sullivan on his ass, the same as it did to Knobbs. Sags in and he drops a leg and tags back to Knobbs. Sags dumps Sullivan to the floor as Heenan throws out the idea that Sherri is here with Hogan. Sags misses a knee and hot (lukewarm) tags to Jack. He lands a back elbow on Knobbs and follows with a head-butt. He bites at Sags face and then a Cactus Clothesline sends Knobbs to the floor. Sags gets dumped out two and Jack springs off the middle ropes with what would become a coffin drop, but catches nothing but the steel railing. Ouch! Jack gets run into the post and takes a belly-to-back in the floor. Jack avoids a splash in the corner and then a double clothesline with Sags leaves both men down. Jack makes the tag and Knobbs goes crazy with right hands. Everyone brawls again and Knobbs goes after Dave Sullivan. He tries to use his crutch, but Sags steals it and that fight over that. Dave nails Sags with the crutch while Jack hits a DDT on Knobbs for the pin at 10:35.
Winners and Still WCW World Tag Team Champions: Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan via pin at 10:35
-Not a fan and a step down from what they had been doing. It just didn’t work well as a standard tag match after the all time classic at Slamboree. **
-Gene plugs The Hotline and brings out WCW International World Champion, Sting, who has a unification match tonight with WCW Champion, Ric Flair. Sting compares himself to a Great White Shark and is going to chew Flair up and spit him out.
-Peacock commercials!
-Video package on The Guardian Angel as it was The Boss Man, but he couldn’t be The Boss anymore because of WWF legal. So they partnered with The Guardian Angels and he got to base his character on their group.
The Guardian Angel vs. Tex Slazenger
-A few years later these two are a big part of the WWF’ Attitude Era midcard while part of top level factions. Angel goes by a three strike and your out policy, so he lets Tex lands three strikes. He then gets rolling with his normal Boss Man offense and hits The Boss Man Slam for the pin at 1:48. No clue why Tony called it a spike piledriver.
Winner: The Guardian Angel via pin at 1:48
-Just a total SQUASH, which is fine. SQUASH
-We see a police escort bring Hogan’s limo to the arena and Bobby has to make OJ jokes because we are just days removed from his infamous Bronco ride. Jimmy Hart is out of the limo first and here’s Hulk Hogan to a mix of boos and cheers, but you can hear the boos. What happens when you debut him in Horsemen Country.
-Peacock commercials!
WCW World Television Championship: Larry Zbyszko (c) vs. Lord Steven Regal (w/ Sir William)
-Jesse “The Body” Ventura joins Tony on commentary. Regal is wearing a powdered wig and a red coat like it’s the 1700s and it has Tony pissed! Even with a 15 minute time limit, we have to get stalling from these two. Jesse notes he and Larry are the WCW Golf Champions. I appreciate the information as we need something to fill the void as they both stall. Finally, Regal jumps Larry from behind and stomps him on the mat. European uppercuts from Regal as he is striking with fury and purpose. Heavy Euro uppercut from Regal catches Larry flush and gets a two count. Another one and a slap to the face. Damn! Another slap to the face and that was was even harder. You can see the anger on Larry’s face as he starts throwing forearms and hits a spinning kick. Larry pitches Regal over the top and onto the ramp, but no DQ as Tony notes the ref was with William. Not really, but nice cover! Regal tries a butterfly suplex, but Larry backdrops out. He gets a vertical suplex for two. Piledriver gets two! Larry goes to a choke as he is frustrated with the ref. Swinging neckbreaker gets two. Another two! He rakes the eyes with his boots and now Regal is pissed and wants Larry to bring it. Awesome! We go back to some good old fashioned stalling. This time Regal takes his eyes off Larry, which lets Larry charge and land some strikes. Regal back with his own strikes and hooks a reverse chinlock. He uses the free hand to pound away on Larry’s nose. Larry traps Regal with a body scissors and he goes to the eyes for good measure. Regal postures up and hits a head-butt to force a break. Double knees from Regal. Larry reverse a whip and gets a bear-hug and goes to a Boston Crab, but Sir William gives Larry a nudge and Regal ends up on top and grabs the ropes for the pin at 9:25.
Winner and New WCW World Television Champion: Lord Steven Regal via pin at 9:25
-Fun match where they were punching each other hard and working hard. No complaints and the Title being back on Regal is a good thing. ***
-Gene plugs the next PPV: Bash at The Beach. I hope they have a dream match uo their sleeve for the Main Event.
-Peacock commercials!
-Back with Gene and he has Arn Anderson and Dustin Rhodes with him. Dustin has been asking Arn for help against The Stud Stable. Arn says if he takes the match it will be the old Arn Anderson. The one who would slap his grandma for 50 cents. I don’t know if Fifty would ask Arn to slap an old woman. Anyway, Dustin is all fired up to have Arn as his partner and it doesn’t register that Arn basically told him he would turn on him at the drop of a hat.
WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: “Stunning” Steve Austin vs. Johnny B. Badd
-Austin SLAPS the taste out of Badd’s mouth before the bell and then backs up in the corner. The bell sounds and Austin fires off chops. He has been US Champion since December. Badd avoids a charge in the corner and gets his own chops. Whip to the corner, but he runs into an elbow. They head to the floor and Badd sends Austin into the apron. Back in the ring he goes to work on the arm. Anytime I see these I think of the rumored plan of them having a run when Austin became WWF Champion, but he shut it down when he saw Badd bump and sell for Sable. Austin goes to the hair, but Badd tries a roll-up and when he can’t get it, he lands a dropkick. Austin bumps to the floor and off the railing. Badd off the top with a clothesline for two. Badd floats over and hooks a front facelock and transitions to working on the arm. Badd lands a right hand in the corner and goes back to the arm. Austin shoves off, but gets run over with a shoulder. Badd misses a punch and runs into boots in the corner. Austin drops a knee to the back of the head and makes Badd wave to us watching at home. “Hi everybody, I’m with the US Champ.” Funny! Badd gets a flash roll-up for two, but Austin stays in control. Arrogant cover only gets two. Badd throws some body shots, but sets too early on a backdrop and gets kicked in the chest. Badd responds with a dropkick and both men are down. Reverse Atomic Drop followed by a flying head scissors. Austin stumbles around the ring and Badd goes to his boxing background. DDT from Badd! Backdrop to Austin! Badd hits a running clothesline in the corner and gets a slam. He heads up top, but took too long talking to the fans. Austin trips him up and Badd falls on his little Johnny Bs in the corner. Badd blocks a superplex and gets a gourdbuster. He goes for the sunset flip off the top but Austin moves out of the wave. That gets two for Austin! Austin misses a move in the ropes and Badd hits a clothesline for two. Badd gets the mounted punches in the corner. The ref pulls Badd away, which lets Austin get a foreign object from his trunks and he decks Badd in the ribs. A small package finishes at 10:20.
-Randy Anderson comes out to tell Patrick about the illegal object and he actually has the balls to count a pin for Badd. Jesse is pissed and I don’t blame him. They throw to a commercial before we ever get an answer on a decision for the match.
-Peacock commercials!
-We are back and here American Made for the first time which brings out Hulk Hogan. So we don’t get an answer on what happened in the last match. Cool! Let me go look. I think it ended up being Badd winning by DQ.
Winner: Johnny B. Badd via DQ at 10:20
-Match started getting good before the stupid ending. **1/2
-Back to Hulk Hogan making his debut and he makes sure to note he is a 5 time World Champion and slammed Andre The Giant. He talks about Hulk-a-mania running wild while the fans boo and chant “We Want Flair.” Hogan just plows through though and wants the winner of the Unification Match.
-Ric Flair pops up on the vide board and the crowd pops for him. He has been looking for Hogan for a lifetime. Sting was screwed and had no chance. You have to deliver Hogan vs. Flair and everyone knew it. Hogan finishes with the usual and poses to a mixture of boos and cheers with the boos being a little louder.
-Peacock commercials!
-We go to a taped interview with Shaq and Hulk Hogan, where Shaq has thrown his support behind Hogan. The crowd boos this as well.
Unification Match: WCW World Heavyweight Championship and International Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair (WCW Champion) vs. Sting (World International Champion)
-These two faced off in the Main Event of the first Clash of the Champions in a rather famous match that put Sting on the map. Michael Buffer is here for the special in ring introductions. Sting gets booed as well as again, this is Flair Country. Before the bell, Sensuous Sherri heads down the ramp and it seems her man will be Sting or Ric Flair. It’s totally Sting though as she is wearing his face paint.
-Peacock commercials!
-Lockup and Sting shoves Flair across the ring and he bumps like Rock taking a stunner. He gets up and gives Sting a Wooo and Sting screams back at him. Flair keeps pulling Sting down by the hair, but Sting kips up and Flair backs off in the corner. Hammerlock by Flair, but Sting reverses and that is reversed by Flair which is reversed back. Flair shoves Sting and gets put on his ass for doing so. Flair takes a walk and hits a double bicep. Heenan is worried that Hogan has gotten under Flair’s skin and he is thinking too much about him and is not focused on Sting. Back in Flair gets a shoulder tackle, but gets caught with a Gorilla Press Slam as they play the hits. Another one as I wonder how many Gorilla Press Slams Flair has taken in his career. Flair rolls outside and we get a Flair Flop. He yells at the cameraman to get out of his face and asks a fan if they have a problem. He fakes going after him, so the ref has to step in and again, Heenan is right on it by noting Flair is not focused. Flair goes to the eyes and throws a chop, but that wakes Sting up and he throws Ric across the ring. Clothesline after clothesline and Flair bumps over the top and against the railing. This has been a Sting slaughter to this point. Flair takes a walk and I am digging this because he is trying to get focused because the stakes are so high. Flair back in and he immediately starts begging off, but Sting isn’t buying it. Flair lands a knee to the gut and delivers a right hand. Chop and again, it only wakes up Sting. Flair goes flying again and there’s a dropkick. Another one, but Flair holds the ropes and Sting crashes to the mat. Figure-Four but way too soon and Sting gets a small package for two. Flair shoves the ref and Heenan is screaming at Flair to calm down. He takes another walk and slows the pace down, but Sting isn’t phased and is just waiting. We get a Flair chant, so the Sting fans starting chanting to drown them out. Back in the ring Sting misses a Stinger Splash in the corner and that’s the first big mistake he has made. Flair has the ref check on the time and then pitches Sting over the top behind the ref’s back. Classic! Now the chops have something behind them. Sherri yells for Sting to get up and I can’t see how anyone was buying that she was with Sting. Sting to the apron, but Flair drops him neck throat on the top rope. Flair drops a knee to the head and another one. That gets two even with Flair having his foot on the ropes. He gets three more two counts before yelling at Sherri to keep her mouth shut. Belly-to-back suplex from Flair. Figure-four, but Sting kicks away. Flair back with a back elbow and a kick to the ribs. Sleeper but Sting fights his way out and sends Flair into the corner to leave both men down. Shoulder tackle from Sting and he sends Flair into the corner with a catapult. Sting brings Flair in off the apron with a suplex and crawls over for a two count. Flair Flip in the corner and Sting runs him over with a clothesline on the ramp. Mounted punches in the corner as the crowd counts along. Flair tries a reverse atomic drop, but nothing doing and Sting hits a clothesline for two. Again, just classic Flair spots. Top rope superplex from Sting and Flair sells it as you would expect. Sting misses a splash off the top! Flair shows some power with a delayed vertical suplex, but Sting is up before Flair, who is posing. Sting throws Ric across the ring and another dropkick and Gorilla Press Slam! Clothesline sends Flair over the top to the floor and he stumbles around before pulling Sherri into the way of a Sting sling shot dive. He just wiped Sherri out with that move! Sting checks on her, so Flair lands a kick to the head. Sting with a backslide, but the ref was late getting there. Chops from Sting and he goes back to check on Sherri. Flair gets a roll-up with a handful of tights for the pin at 17:15.
Winner and New Unified WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Rick Flair via pin at 17:15
-The usual great match between these two, but I wasn’t a fan of the ending. Outside of that they delivered and the crowd was rocking with them. ***3/4
-We aren’t done as Flair and Sherri hug to show they were working together. Sherri off the top with a splash on Sting and another one. The ref gets tossed over the top rope as Sherri goes low on Sting with a kick. Here comes Hulk Hogan and the cheers are a bit louder now. Flair begs off but Hogan lands a few punches and Flair bails before the big boot can connect. Sherri tries to come from behind and we get the uncomfortable sound of Jimmy yelling, “hit her.” She doesn’t back down and hits Hogan in the face before Flair pulls her to safety.
-Hogan checks on Sting as American Made is played in the arena.
-Peacock commercials!
-Hogan throws out the challenge to Flair and says he will have Ted Turner there this Saturday Night with a contract for the match. Sure, it may seem liked it was rushed and Sting was kind of pushed aside, but it needed to happen. They had to get Hogan/Flair on PPV as soon as possible and we were only weeks away from Bash at The Beach. Thanks for reading
