The Chrononaut Chronicles: Clash of the Champions VI

The Chrononaut Chronicles
NWA Clash of the Champions VI: Ragin’ Cajun – April 2, 1989

– LIVE from the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana! On commentary, Jim Ross is joined by Michael “PS” Hayes to form one of my favorite unappreciated announce teams of all time. Ring announcer Gary Michael Cappetta, the voice of WCW in the early ’90s, makes his first Clash appearance here.

– To reaffirm the NWA’s position as the standard-bearers of wrestling tradition, a veritable ‘Who’s who’ of the history of the business is in attendance. We see clips of Lou Thesz, Terry Funk, Gene Kiniski, Pat O’Connor, Sam Muchnick, Buddy Rogers, Dory Funk Jr., and Harley Race arriving and mingling at a special dinner last night. Jim Herd of TBS reads a speech directly to the camera pledging to honor and respect their legendary accomplishments, as World Championship Wrestling attempts to earn their accolades from the fans. Essentially, he is apologizing for the mistakes that Crockett Promotions made and trying to earn the fans’ trust, while at the same time differentiating the NWA/WCW’s approach from the cartoonish atmosphere of the WWF. Let’s see if they can live up to it.

Keep in mind, this is the man who thought a hunchback gimmick was a stroke of genius.

– The Samoan Swat Team (Samu & Fatu w/Paul E. Dangerously) vs. The Midnight Express (“Beautiful” Bobby Eaton & “Sweet” Stan Lane w/Jim Cornette)

After his Original Midnight Express were run out of town, Paul E. Dangerously brought in the Samoan Swat Team to continue his feud with Jim Cornette’s Midnight Express. Sweet Stan & Beautiful Bobby use their speed and teamwork to dominate the Samoans from the beginning, so Paul E. dials somebody up on his ever-present phone (the man was ahead of his time) and forces Fatu to listen. They don’t specifically say who he’s calling, but it totally makes sense if it’s Afa back in Samoa. The SST still can’t get it together as the Midnights keep cutting off their bursts of offense and even make an illegal switch that Hayes complains about, since they’re babyfaces. The tide eventually shifts as the Samoans isolate Eaton and pound him in their half of the ring, but Bobby makes the hot tag and Lane comes in like a house of fire. The Midnights unleash their “fastbreak offense” on both Samoans and ram their heads together, but they no-sell it and start beating on each other to show that they’re not hurt. Paul E. trips Stan and Fatu follows up with a falling headbutt, but Stan rolls out of the way. Cornette one-ups Dangerously by waffling Fatu with the tennis racket, but Samu superkicks Lane and Fatu covers him for a two-count. The SST control Sweet Stan, scoring a near-fall with a double headbutt, but Lane avoids a diving headbutt off the middle turnbuckle and makes the hot tag. Beautiful Bobby unloads on both Samoans until he makes the mistake of cracking their heads together, and they no-sell it before smashing him with a double headbutt. You’d think Bobby would have learned earlier in the match, or by watching any match involving a Samoan EVER. A double-team goes awry when Eaton moves and Fatu hits Samu, allowing Eaton to capitalize and fire away on both Samoans again. Swinging neckbreaker and Bobby covers Samu, but Fatu makes the save and Lane knocks Fatu out of the ring with an enzuigiri to the face. The Express hit the Rocket Launcher on Samu while Cornette slugs Dangerously, but referee Tommy Young chooses to escort Stan out to the apron rather than count the pinfall. Meanwhile, Fatu cracks Eaton with Paul E.’s phone and rolls Samu on top for the three-count at 20:32. *** To me, there’s no such thing as a bad Midnight Express match because of their tag team psychology, but the SST still had some growing to do. Still a solid opener that the crowd got into.

Reach out and touch somebody.

– The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) vs. Steven Casey

Billed as the son of The Great Kabuki, the Great Muta gets a cool laser-lightshow entrance and Ross does a credible job of getting his mysterious character over on commentary. Muta definitely has a unique aura to him as he removes his entrance gear and meditates silently, before spewing his green mist in the air and then in Steve Casey’s face when he gets too close. The Pearl of the Orient takes advantage of Steven’s stupidity, hitting a sick missile dropkick off the top turnbuckle and clawing at Casey’s eyes with mist-covered fingers after sticking his fingers in his mouth. Muta tortures Casey’s knee and works a variety of mist-enhanced nerve holds in the shoulder region, repeatedly dipping his fingers in his mouth before applying each hold. Casey rallies back, but Muta dumps him to the floor and follows with a slingshot plancha. Back inside, Muta lands the unnamed moonsault for the pin in 8:11. ** Great performance by Muta in this extended squash to get his character over to a larger TV audience.

See, it’s a self-defense mechanism!

– Junkyard Dog vs. “Hacksaw” Butch Reed (w/Hiro Matsuda)

The Junkyard Dog is accompanied by the worst marching band of all time as they play “When the Saints Go Marching In” for his entrance. Ross and Hayes openly speculate on the sobriety of the band, which is kind of funny. Also amusing: JR gives a shoutout to all their fans in Stamford and plugs an upcoming house show in New Haven, CT. Butch Reed withstands a series of shoulderblocks, but JYD puts him down with a headbutt and follows with the doggy-style headbutts. The Dog batters Butch for a bit, but Reed rakes the eyes and takes control, punching and choking JYD. A series of elbowdrops gets two and the Hacksaw goes back to the chinlock, but JYD fights out and scores a two-count of his own after a back-bodydrop. Dog misses a falling headbutt and Reed blasts him with the flying tackle off the top for a pin, but Dog gets his foot over the rope. Reed thinks he won and Hiro Matsuda climbs up on the apron to argue with the referee, but JYD whips Reed into Matsuda and pins him at 9:56. ½* The match felt like it was in slow-motion, but Ross and Hayes did a good job of covering by talking about the Reed/Dog Mid-South rivalry in the Superdome years ago. But why in the hell are they putting Junkyard Dog over when they are trying to prove the NWA/WCW is an alternative to the WWF? Well, it is different from the WWF; at least Vince had the good sense to job out JYD at the end of his run.

They were paid in tequila shots and crack. Lots of crack.

– Bob Orton (w/Gary Hart) vs. “Captain Redneck” Dick Murdoch

I guess this and the previous match are supposed to attract the real old-school fans at the time, because I can’t imagine a new fan having any interest whatsoever in Bob Orton vs. Dick Murdoch in 1989. Slow and steady is the pace as Orton works the arm and beats on Murdoch with punches, elbows, and knees. Just to drive home how boring it is, they keep cutting to crowd shots of the NWA legends in attendance, barely keeping themselves awake as Orton sleepwalks his way through another ’70s style match. The tempo finally picks up when Murdoch rallies back and slugs away, but Orton struggles to position Murdoch on the top turnbuckle for a superplex. Captain Redneck fights him off and lifts Orton for the brainbuster, but Gary Hart reaches in to trip up Murdoch and Orton falls on top for the 1-2-3 at 9:45. * People call Randy Orton boring, but he’s got nothing on his old man. Another dull and dreary match that had no business on a show airing opposite WrestleMania V.

“If this drags on much longer, we’re going to miss the Early Bird special!”

– NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Varsity Club (“Dr. Death” Steve Williams & Mike Rotunda w/”Gamesmaster” Kevin Sullivan) vs. The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal w/Paul Ellering) ©

The Road Warriors had turned face again as a result of their feud with the Varsity Club over the World Tag Team Title. Mike Rotunda had regained the NWA World Television Championship at Chi-Town Rumble, only to lose it to Sting two days before this match. The Legion of Doom start strong as Animal displays his impressive power by press-slamming Rotunda, then doing the same to Steve Williams. The Club fail to penetrate the LOD’s armor until a spot where Animal launches himself at Dr. Death, but he ducks and Rotunda pulls down the top rope so Animal crashes out to the floor. Doc bearhug-slams Animal on the floor and continues the punishment in the ring with a bearhug, but Animal manages to make the tag. Unfortunately, referee Teddy Long didn’t see the tag, so the Varsity Club keep working over Animal and dump him to the floor again. Kevin Sullivan whacks Animal with a chair and Williams scores a near-fall as the Club have the momentum until Animal clotheslines Williams. Both men tag out and Hawk unloads on Rotunda with a press slam and a shoulderblock off the ropes, but Williams breaks the pin. Animal charges in to dispose of Doc and ends up shoving Teddy Long, who refuses to count Hawk’s pin after the Road Warriors execute the Doomsday Device on Rotunda. While the Gamesmaster attacks Paul Ellering at ringside, Williams sneaks in from behind and rolls up Hawk for a super-fast count from the disgruntled official to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship in 11:40. In a post-match interview conducted by JR, the LOD complain about crooked referees and vow to kick the Varsity Club’s asses. **½ The match itself wasn’t a classic, but it was all about the controversial finish that led to Teddy Long becoming a heel manager.

– Ranger Ross vs. The Iron Sheik (w/Rip Morgan)

A former airborne paratrooper who served with the US Rangers for eight years, Ranger Ross makes his entrance by rappelling down from the rafters, which isn’t as visually impressive as it should be. Having been abandoned as a flagbearer when the Sheepherders headed for the WWF, American turncoat Rip Morgan started carrying the Iranian flag for the Iron Sheik when he arrived in the NWA. He’s such a flagwhore. The Sheik steals Nikolai Volkoff’s gimmick, asking the crowd to stand while he sings the Iranian national anthem. Incensed by the lack of respect, Sheik attacks Ross and stomps away, but the match only goes 1:56 when the Ranger hits the Combat Kick and Morgan runs in for the disqualification. The Junkyard Dog makes the save and helps the Ranger run off the Sheik and Morgan to further a program that nobody wanted to see. ¼*

Turning on the lights might have helped.

– Bob Caudle interviews Ric Flair, who promises to regain the Heavyweight Championship of the World for the sixth time tonight.

– NWA United States Tag Team Championship: The Varsity Club (“Gamesmaster” Kevin Sullivan & “Dangerous” Dan Spivey) vs. The First Family (“Hot Stuff” Eddie Gilbert & Rick Steiner w/Missy Hyatt) ©

Representing the University of Georgia, Danny Spivey had recently returned to the NWA after his disappointing WWF stint and was recruited by Kevin Sullivan to bolster the Varsity Club lineup. Along with the vivacious Missy Hyatt, Eddie Gilbert had originally managed and teamed with Rick Steiner when both were heels in Bill Watts’ UWF, and they reunited as babyfaces and won the US Tag Team Title from the Varsity Club in February. Right out of the gate, Sullivan & Spivey rush the First Family and knock Steiner out of the ring. Spivey spikes Gilbert with a Bossman Slam for an early two-count and manhandles Hot Stuff before tagging Sullivan, who tosses him over the top rope. Dangerous Dan rams Eddie’s back against the ringpost and the Varsity Club continue to ragdoll him in the ring until Gilbert counters the unnamed Tree of Woe by unhooking himself and moving. Steiner gets the hot tag and unloads on Spivey, earning a near-fall with a powerslam. Belly-to-belly gets two as Sullivan makes the save, then Steiner clotheslines Spivey over the top rope and tumbles out with him. Amidst the chaos, Gilbert whallops Sullivan in the belly-welly with Missy’s Gucci purse and small-packages him in 3:51 to retain the NWA United States Tag Team Championship. Afterward, Spivey powerbombs Gilbert and Sullivan punches him repeatedly in the face with his taped fists until Steiner, wielding a chair, rescues his partner. **¼ A quick match, but it was all action. Eddie Gilbert learned a lot from his idol, Jerry Lawler, and sold like a champ, while Spivey had finally found his niche as a monster heel after spending time in Japan.

– Due to time constraints, matches featuring two of the NWA’s hottest young stars — United States Champion Lex Luger and World Television Champion Sting — will be held after the main event and aired on WCW Saturday Night. Welp, at least we got to see Bob Orton, Junkyard Dog, and the Iron Sheik!

– NWA World Heavyweight Championship – Two out of Three Falls: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat ©

Ricky Steamboat comes out with his wife Bonnie and son Little Ricky, who is wearing the cutest little dragon costume! Terry Funk replaces Michael Hayes as the special guest color commentator for this match to help lend the NWA Title some added credibility and prestige. The Dragon won the belt at Chi-Town Rumble in February and adds insult to injury early in this bout by slapping the Nature Boy on two occasions. They engage in some chain wrestling until it turns into a chopfest and Steamboat works a headlock and a front-facelock. The first ten minutes is all Steamboat as he punishes Flair’s head and neck and scores several near-falls. Ross and Funk stress that this is the most important match in wrestling today while Flair takes a timeout at ringside and comes back in with chops. Steamboat resumes his dominance, but he goes for a splash off the ropes and Flair gets his knees up. The Nature Boy puts the World Champion’s shoulders down for a series of two-counts and goes for the figure-four, but Steamboat counters with an inside cradle. However, Flair reverses it to win the first fall in 19:33. Following a commercial break, the Dragon comes back with a flying chop off the top for a two-count and works over Flair’s leg after Ric misses a kneedrop. Steamboat locks in the figure-four and, when Flair makes it to the ropes, follows that with a boston crab. Flair squirms under the ropes to break it, but the damage has been done as Slick Ric limps around and trades chops with the Dragon.

Backslide gets two for Steamboat and the match spills out to the floor, where challenger bodyslams champion and whips him into the guardrail. Flair suplexes Steamboat back in for two and busts out an abdominal stretch cradle for a handful of two-counts. He balances that bit of technical wizardry with some rulebreaking, using the ropes in an unsuccessful attempt to pin Steamboat. The Dragon comes back with a rolling cradle for a near-fall, but Flair chops him down and goes to the top turnbuckle. Steamboat superplexes Flair down and pounds away at his back as JR brings up the airplane crash that broke Ric’s back. This leads to the finish of the second fall, as Steamboat lifts Flair in a double-chickenwing for the submission at 34:14. As we return from a break, Steamboat has Flair in an abdominal stretch, but Slick Ric breaks it by raking the eyes. Nonetheless, Steamboat continues to unload until Flair counters a side-headlock with a kneebreaker and applies the figure-four, but the Dragon quickly makes it to the ropes. They trade the advantage back-and-forth until Flair avoids a running leap in the corner and Steamboat hurts his knee. Like a shark sensing blood in the water, Flair targets the leg and locks on the figure-four as Steamboat slaps the mat in agony. He finally gets to the ropes to break it, but Flair continues his assault by smashing Steamboat’s leg across the apron. Steamboat comes back with chops and whips Flair into the corner for the familiar spot where Flair flips over the turnbuckle, runs along the apron, and climbs the turnbuckles, but instead of getting slammed off, Flair actually hits a sweet flying bodypress for two.

Steamboat scoops up Flair for a bodyslam, but his knee gives out and Flair lands on top of him for two. Still selling the leg, Steamboat rallies back and lands the flying bodypress for a close near-fall, but he misses an elbowdrop and Flair chops away. The Dragon comes back with a swinging neckbreaker for two and Flair dumps him to the floor, but Steamboat slingshots back in with a sunset flip for a near-fall. A sleeperhold brings the titlist down and almost out, but Steamboat wakes up and frees himself. The Nature Boy goes after the leg again and Steamboat counters with an enzuigiri for two, but Steamboat misses a splash off the top and Flair zeroes in on the knee. The crowd is hot and the two gladiators are covered in sweat as they exchange chops and trade the advantage in the final minutes. Steamboat slams Flair off the top turnbuckle and hoists him up in the double-chickenwing again, but his knee buckles and both men land with their shoulders on the mat. Referee Tommy Young administers the three-count at 55:49 as Steamboat lifts his shoulder at the last moment to retain the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Afterward, Flair is PISSED because his foot was under the ropes. A classic match in every sense of the word, this one was nearly an hour of athletic back-and-forth action between two heated rivals that didn’t rely on stalling or lengthy restholds. When they did go to the mat, it served the story as each man focused on a specific part of the body, and the world-class selling made sure it was never boring. All of this built up to the well-executed finish that was a perfect end to the match, portraying them as equals and setting up the final part of the Flair/Steamboat ’89 trilogy. *****

– In a post-match interview backstage with Jim Ross, Ricky Steamboat plans to move on and defend the World Title against the other top contenders, but footage is shown of Ric Flair’s foot under the bottom rope during the deciding pinfall. The Dragon agrees that the Nature Boy has a legitimate case and JR signs off.

The 411: Like last year's head-to-head battle between Clash of the Champions and WrestleMania, Clash VI: Ragin' Cajun was the superior wrestling show based on the main event alone. The rest of the show wasn't quite as solid and it was absolutely mind-boggling that Sting and Lex Luger weren't featured at all. Time management was a major problem, but the epic main event more than made up for it. Ric Flair and Ricky Steamboat were at their absolute peak and they put together a match for the ages. The Great Muta also made an impressive Clash debut, the finish of the Road Warriors/Varsity Club match marked the first time the LOD had been pinned since 1985, and the opening tag team bout did a solid job of furthering the feud between Jim Cornette and Paul E. Dangerously. Highlights on the WWF side included Hulk Hogan vanquishing Randy Savage for the WWF Championship, Rick Rude stealing the Intercontinental Title from the Ultimate Warrior, Demolition conquering the Powers of Pain & Mr. Fuji, and Rick Martel turning heel on Tito Santana. Super Sunday, April 2, 1989, had lived up to the hype.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]