Random Network Reviews: Clash of the Champions XXIV

Clash of the Champions XXIV
August 18th, 1993 – Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida

This edition of Clash of the Champions is actually rather infamous. Not because of a standout match or an excellent angle. It’s memorably because of the “shocking” debut that we will get to.

Commentary tonight will consist of Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura. We are told that Brian Pillman is injured and will not be able to defend the WCW Tag Team Titles with his Hollywood Blondes partner, Stunning Steve. Lord Steven Regal will replace him, which sounds fine to me.

WCW World Tag Team Championship
Stunning Steve and Lord Steven Regal (c) w/ Brian Pillman and Sir William vs. Arn Anderson and Paul Roma
I refuse to call them the Four Horsemen because Paul Roma sucked so hard. He is neck and neck with Mongo for worst Horsemen member. Arn and Steve start by jockeying for position. It’s always interesting to watch Stunning Steve and see some Stone Cold mannerisms creep in. Arn catapults Austin over the top but he hangs on. He comes in and gets back dropped over and out, which should be a disqualification but the referee doesn’t see it. Regal and Roma become the legal men leading Regal to sell Roma’s lame offense better than he should. As Steve works over Roma, Pillman gets in some cheap shots and uses his imaginary camera. The Hollywood Blondes were awesome. The heels work over Roma for a while. The EDDIE GILBERT hot shot allows Roma to tag out but Regal distracted the referee like all good heels should. Hot tag does come to Double A, but a cheap shot from Regal stops him in his tracks. Sir William goes to hit Anderson with one of Brian’s crutches but it backfires and Steve is hit. Anderson rolls him up and we’ve got new champions.

Winners and New WCW World Tag Team Champions: Arn Anderson and Paul Roma in 9:51
Who thought it was a good idea to put a title on Paul Roma? This was inoffensive but nothing to write home about. **¼

Eric Bischoff interviews the new champions. Paul Roma talks about how people believed he didn’t have what it takes to be a Horsemen but he proved them wrong. The entire time Arn Anderson has a face that says “you still suck”.

Bobby Eaton vs. 2 Cold Scorpio
This should be somewhat fun. They open with basic stuff before Scorpio busts out the first high flying move. Scorpio pulls to the top and gets two on a cross body. An arm drag brings him to work that body part. Jesse Ventura continually calls him the “Cold Man”. I had no clue that was a nickname for him. He places Eaton on the top and dropkicks him to the outside, where he follows with a cross body. Eaton takes him down with an odd arm drag before an elbow from the top gets two. Why didn’t he go for the Alabama Jam? The “Cold Man” picks up the win following a 450 splash that dumbass Tony Schiavone calls a 360.

Winner: 2 Cold Scorpio in 5:26
I expected this to be a high flying encounter but it was more grounded. Maybe because of that, it wasn’t very good. *¾

Maxx Payne vs. Johnny B. Badd
Maxx Payne would go on to be Man Mountain Rock in the WWF. He sounds pretty over. He’s putting his guitar, Norma Jean, against Johnny’s mask because he wants to expose his “scarred face”. Payne attacks before the bell but Badd rallies early. When he misses a cross body, Payne removes the mask but there’s another one under. Why wouldn’t he pay attention to that? He pulls Payne into a rollup for two. Payne tries a second rope splash and misses, allowing Badd to place an arm over him and win. Seriously?

Winner: Johnny B. Badd in 2:41
It wasn’t bad, but it was short and the finish sucked. *

After the match, Johnny B. Badd gets the guitar and is interviewed. He announces that he will remove his mask on WCW Saturday Night. So what was the point of the match? Did Badd just want a guitar?

It’s time for the moment we’ve all been waiting for. Flair for the Gold! Ric Flair’s talk show segment with “super guest stars.” Sting and the British Bulldog come out in matching robes. Flair needs a microphone because he’s just shouting. They go to hype their mystery partner for War Games. Sid and Harlem Heat interrupt, leading Sting to introduce the partner as the SHOCKMASTER! If you don’t already know, the Shockmaster is the former Typhoon and Tugboat in a glittery Stormtrooper helmet. Explosions go off, he bursts through the wall, falls over and his helmet falls off to reveal his personality. This was embarrassing on so many levels.

WCW World Television Championship
Paul Orndorff (c) vs. Ricky Steamboat
We get the annoyingly overdrawn Michael Buffer introductions here. They start with Paul selling a headlock takeover ugly. As they continue to wrestle, “Paula” chants can be heard. Orndorff backdrops Steamboat onto the runway for a few near falls. Guys going for multiple pins in a row is a lost art. Steamboat gets in some of his signature chops and hits a back suplex but seems to hurt his own head. He knocks Orndorff over the top but again the official doesn’t call the disqualification. Schiavone tries to say it was the momentum of the chop and not his intent to knock him over. Sue Tony. Steamboat follows with a plancha but Orndorff hits him in the gut on the way back in. He asks for the title and celebrates like he’s done when he clearly hasn’t. Steamboat rolls him up for two before countering the Piledriver. More near falls on various pin attempts by Steamboat. He connects on the flying cross body but Orndorff rolls through for two. The champion tries a body slam, but Steamboat counters into an inside cradle to capture the gold.

Winner and New WCW World Television Champion: Ricky Steamboat in 8:34
That was solid. It started kind of dull, but I really liked the series of near falls at the end. Steamboat is the kind of guy who can win with a rollup and it doesn’t look cheap because he’s established as a smart wrestler. **¾

Paul Orndorff doesn’t take kindly to losing the belt, so he Piledrives Steamboat onto the belt on the runway.

The Colossal Kongs w/ Harley Race vs. Sting and Ric Flair
I have no clue who the Colossal Kongs are but they weigh over 1,000 pounds. Sting fires off with dropkicks and slams both huge opponents. The crowd loses their minds at this. Tony Schiavone had just said that the Kongs had never been taken off their feet. While Flair works over one fat ass outside, Sting hits the Stinger Splash and another splash inside to win quickly.

Winners: Sting and Ric Flair in 2:14
That was much faster than I expected. I guess that’s what happens when you put two fat guys that nobody cares about against the company’s two top faces. A fun squash at least. **

Tony Schiavone interviews Sting and Ric Flair. How is any of Sting’s facepaint gone? He barely broke a sweat. Goodness the “Man Called Sting” theme is atrocious.

Rick Rude and the Equalizer vs. Dustin Rhodes and Road Warrior Hawk
The Equalizer is the awful Dave Sullivan. Dustin Rhodes is someone I didn’t enjoy until he was Goldust. We get a swerve as it looked like it would be Animal but instead the mystery partner is Hawk. Hawk and Rude begin, so Hawk can get in some stuff for the fans since he is making his return. Sullivan gets tagged and everything goes bad. He poorly sells a dropkick and then completely botches a neckbreaker. Rude is like “you suck” and tags back in, only to eat the Doomsday Device. They work a short heat on Dustin and the false tag spot comes. But Hawk COMPLETELY ignores it. Even Tony Schiavone has to say “I don’t think it really matters.” Well I guess fuck the rules huh? Hawk does his poor looking offense and they win as he knocks Rhodes onto Sullivan.

Winners: Dustin Rhodes and Road Warrior Hawk in 7:42
Everything about this sucked. The ring work, the surprise of LOD, the selling, the lack of rules and seriously every single thing here was piss poor. Goodness. DUD

WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Vader (c) w/ Harley Race vs. Davey Boy Smith
Some quick notes to get out of the way. The title can change hands on a DQ tonight, Smith has a poor knockoff of his WWF theme and Vader is awesome. Things start on the runway, with Smith hitting a beautiful suplex there. The crowd is pretty hot for this. As we go inside, Vader takes advantage until they go back outside. Lots of in and out here huh? As Vader gets straddled on the guardrail, a fan flips him over, which I thought wasn’t allowed. Again, once we’re inside, Vader is back in the driver’s seat and works the leg of the Bulldog. He hits a nice Samoan drop and goes up top. He only gets two before Smith gets two on a crucifix, which is a nice callback to when Smith pinned him in a tag match. Vader goes back up only to eat a weak looking dropkick. Vader Bomb connects but only earns a near fall! Smith hits the big powerslam but the referee is knocked out. Smith goes for another suplex but Race clips him and Vader falls on top to retain.

Winner and Still WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Vader in 11:11
Decent match here. I liked how Davey Boy Smith looked good and Vader looked like his usual monster self. The ending was rather lame though. **¾

Vader goes for the post match assault, but Cactus Jack makes his return and runs him off to close the show.

5.0

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

There was nothing on this show that stands out as must see. The best matches were the main event and the Television Title match and both were just slightly above average. Nothing on the show was outright bad except for the Dustin Rhodes mystery tag partner situation. It was an easy watch since it was just under two hours, but as with a lot of WCW that I see, it doesn’t stick out as something you need to see.