The Chrononaut Chronicles: Clash of the Champions XIV

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The Chrononaut Chronicles
WCW Clash of the Champions XIV: Dixie Dynamite – January 30, 1991

– Throughout the latter half of 1990, WCW had attempted to phase Ric Flair out and relegate him to midcard status, essentially treating him like any other wrestler. But the Nature Boy wasn’t just any other wrestler, and the fans knew that and reacted accordingly so that his midcard or tag team matches usually drew more heat than Sting’s World Title main events. Due to dwindling crowds, PPV buyrates, and TV ratings, WCW had to admit their mistake. Slick Ric was revealed as The Black Scorpion at Starrcade ’90 and he put Sting over in a steel cage match before being unmasked. In exchange, on January 11, Flair regained the NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Sting for a record-tying seventh time, and the Nature Boy was back on top of the mountain as a new year dawned. To kick off 1991, Flair defends his Big Gold Belt against Scott Steiner, while Sting joins forces with Lex Luger to battle World Tag Team Champions Doom!

– LIVE from the Georgia Mountains Center in Gainesville, Georgia! The show was originally scheduled to be held in the mall at CNN Center in Atlanta, but security concerns arising from the escalation of the Persian Gulf War caused the location to be changed. Too bad, because that would have been a unique and innovative venue, similar to the debut WCW Nitro from the Mall of America in Minnesota. In honor of the Armed Forces, the national anthem is played and Jim Ross is joined on commentary by the returning Dusty Rhodes. The American Dream says it is great to be back and cuts a quick promo encouraging the troops.

– “Total Package” Lex Luger & Sting vs. Doom (Ron Simmons & Butch Reed)

What the show-opening video failed to make clear was that this is apparently a non-title bout. Also, Lex Luger is the United States Heavyweight Champion for the fourth time after regaining the belt from Stan Hansen at Starrcade ’90. Foreshadowing the eventual break-up of Doom, Dusty explains that Theodore R. Long is not in his team’s corner because he’s out buying cars and boats due to the financial rewards of managing the World Tag Team Champions. Sting & Lex Luger take the initiative early as they work Butch Reed’s arm and the Total Package drops him with a neckbreaker. Ron Simmons tags in and repeatedly collides with Luger, neither man budging as they shoulderblock each other in a preview of future WCW World Title bouts. SPOILER ALERT, sorry about that. Simmons does manage to shoulderblock Luger down a couple of times, but Luger fires back with a clothesline and shoulderblocks of his own to fell the former Florida Seminole. Lex sends Big Ron careening toward the babyface corner via atomic drop and Sting punches him from the apron before Luger suplexes Simmons for a two-count. The momentum shifts when Simmons catches Luger in a hotshot and tags out as we go to commercial. When we come back, the Total Package starts to rally back, but Simmons cuts him off with a powerslam for two. Ross gushes over everybody’s football backgrounds as Luger counters a back-bodydrop by kicking Simmons, but Reed tags in and stops Luger from making the tag. Reed cuts off another comeback attempt by throwing a nice dropkick and grabs a chinlock that Luger fights out of, but Hacksaw quickly makes the tag and Simmons is on the US Champion. Luger turns the tables on Simmons and faceplants him, but Simmons tags out and Reed dives in off the top with the flying shoulderblock. Irony rears its smarmy head, as the shoulderblock inadvertently knocks Luger toward his own corner and he makes the hot tag. While Sting unloads on both members of Doom, Lex is attacked at ringside by Danny Spivey to build to their US Title bout at WrestleWar ’91. Dangerous Dan lays Lex out on the floor and exits through the crowd while Sting double-clotheslines Doom in the squared circle. Simmons grabs hold of Sting so that Reed can hit him, but the Stinger moves and Reed levels Simmons with a flying shoulderblock off the ropes. Referee Randy Anderson was standing right behind Simmons, so he gets bumped out to the floor in the process and lands beside Luger. Sting stomps away on Simmons and gets back-bodydropped over the top rope when he charges Reed. Even though it was mostly Sting’s own momentum that sent him over the top, the ref immediately calls for the bell at 10:29 and disqualifies Doom. The World Tag Team Champions continue their assault until Sting & Luger battle back and clear them out of the ring. **¾ Some good drama in the match with Luger’s comeback attempts repeatedly being derailed, but Luger had bulked up and misplaced his working boots as he looked bloated, swollen, and stiff.

– Ever the intrepid reporter, Missy Hyatt announces that the Z-Man has been named WCW’s Sexiest Wrestler because he really is sexy. Brilliant insight.

– WCW World Television Championship: “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton vs. The Z-Man ©

Beginning in January, all of the NWA’s championships were branded WCW titles while retaining their NWA heritage. During Beautiful Bobby’s entrance, a voice can clearly be heard counting down before a loud and fake-sounding “Bobby” chant is piped into the arena, which is odd because Eaton is a heel. Tom Zenk had actually already lost the TV Title back to Arn Anderson, but the match hadn’t aired on TV yet so the Z-Man is still treated like he was the champion. The match starts with pushing and shoving and several collar-and-elbow lockups to establish the competitiveness between the two wrestlers, as Eaton had defeated Zenk at Starrcade before the Z-Man won the TV Title. Dusty compares his own sexiness to that of the Z-Man, and the first big spot of the match occurs when Eaton climbs to the top turnbuckle and Zenk hits a dropkick that sends Bobby crashing down to the floor. Bobby nails Zenk with his famous right hand to take control, but the Z-Man slams him off the top and scores a two-count after a back-bodydrop. The Beautiful One catches Z-Man with a back-elbow and finally connects with a top-rope move, crushing Zenk’s sternum with a flying kneedrop. Zenk surprises Eaton with an inside cradle for a near-fall, but Bobby comes back with a neckbreaker for a near-fall of his own. The Z-Man flips out of a suplex attempt and takes Bobby down in a rolling cradle for another near-fall. Zenk counters a hiptoss with a backslide to pin Eaton and ‘retain’ the WCW World Television Championship in 7:07, although the replay clearly shows that Eaton got his shoulder up before referee Nick Patrick completed the three-count. ** A lame-duck match for a lame-duck champion.

– Although Michael “Wall Street” Rotunda had recently left WCW, his administrative assistant Ms. Alexandra York stayed behind and branched out on her own with The York Foundation. She announces that she will introduce the newest York Foundation member tonight and believes that she has made an excellent choice.

– “Wildfire” Tommy Rich & Allen Iron Eagle vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael “PS” Hayes & Jimmy “Jam” Garvin)

Ross puts over the Fabulous Freebirds as former champions and current serious contenders to both the World and US Tag Team Titles. Tommy Rich explodes on both Freebirds to start, and his 20-year-old rookie partner Allen Iron Eagle slugs away on Jimmy Garvin when he tags in. However, the experience factor plays a role as Garvin makes a blind tag and Michael Hayes drops Iron Eagle with a bulldog. Drawing great heel heat, the Freebirds batter the Native American rookie inside and outside the ring as Ross and Rhodes describe the ‘Birds as opportunists who will take advantage of any situation. JR mentions that referee Lee Scott is also a rookie and Dusty says the ‘Birds will take advantage of that, too. Iron Eagle dodges a charge in the corner and Garvin ends up hanging in the unnamed Tree of Woe as Allen stomps away at him. All four men are in the ring and the match breaks down as Iron Eagle slowly sunset-flips Garvin, but the ref misses the pin because he’s busy with Rich. Hayes breaks it up and Garvin attempts a suplex, but Iron Eagle slowly reverses it and makes the barely-room-temperature tag. Unfortunately, the rookie ref didn’t see the tag and he ushers Rich back to the apron while the Freebirds drill Iron Eagle with the double DDT and Garvin pins him at 5:53. * Allen Iron Eagle was way too green to be put on TV, and you almost have to pity Tommy Rich at this point. The Freebirds were on a roll, though, and while they may not be the best tag team out there, they were quite acceptable in their role as the dirty-fighting veteran team that knows all the tricks of the trade.

– Via the technology of picture-in-picture, Jim Ross and Dusty Rhodes at ringside interact with Tony Schiavone and Paul E. Dangerously in another part of the arena. Since he is back in charge behind the scenes as the booker, Dusty gets to verbally humiliate the talent even though he’s just an announcer now, as he insinuates that Paul E. is gay and threatens to get up on his heinie. Who’s the gay one here? Hyping his intergender arm-wrestling match against Missy Hyatt tonight, Dangerously cuts a great promo expressing his desire to bring together men of all races, religions, and nationalities in a cry of “Free at last, free at last!”

– Sid Vicious vs. Jumpin’ Joey Maggs

Sid being billed from “Anywhere He Darn Well Pleases” is one of my all-time favorite hometowns, and his entrance begins with the lights dimmed and a spotlight focused on him as he stands on the stage. Ross pushes the upcoming War Games at WrestleWar pitting the Four Horsemen combination of Vicious, Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, & Barry Windham against Sting, the Steiner Brothers, & Brian Pillman that turned out to be one of the best matches of the year. Sid toys with Joey Maggs before finishing him off with the devastating powerbomb in 72 seconds. Afterward, Sid’s own personally-hired emergency medical technicians come out to attend to Jumpin’ Joey, but Vicious dumps the stretcher over and menaces everyone. Very effective squash for Sid at his most monstrous, and the gimmick with Sid hiring his own EMTs and ambulances was a genius way of psyching out his opponents even more. In a post-commercial interview with Tony Schiavone, Sid smells the fear in everybody’s minds and plans to rule the world in 1991.

I don’t think that’s proper medical technique.

– Ricky Morton vs. Terry Taylor

Terry Taylor is introduced as “The Computerized Man of the 1990s”, spoiling the surprise of Taylor joining the York Foundation during this match. Ignoring that, Ross notes that Terry and Ricky Morton have been friends for years as they trade holds and engage in some chain-wrestling to prove it. Morton earns the first two-count with a high crossbody, but when we return from commercial Taylor is working Ricky’s arm as the commentators explain that while it’s still a clean scientific match-up, Taylor has been increasing his aggressiveness during the break. Morton turns the tables and works Taylor’s arm after an armdrag as Ms. Alexandra York makes her way to ringside with her laptop computer. While Morton is looking at her, Taylor blindsides him with a clothesline to the back of the head and takes control as an inset promo with Ms. York pops up. She announces that Terry Taylor is indeed the newest member of the York Foundation and says she has written a special computer program for Mr. Taylor that he will execute flawlessly. Morton comes back with an inside cradle for a near-fall, but Taylor rakes his eyes and chokes him on the ropes. Bulldog gets two for Terry and he goes for a pump splash, but Ricky gets his knees up and rallies back with a suplex for two. The ending looks botched as Morton launches himself at his former long-time friend, but he gets caught up in the ropes when Taylor ducks and Taylor pins him at 11:53. *** Despite the flubs at the beginning and the end, the story of the match was very good and the York Foundation was a unique angle devised to revitalize some of the overlooked midcard talent like Terry Taylor.

– In a pretaped video, Bill Apter of Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents Sting with the awards for Wrestler of the Year and Most Inspirational Wrestler, after overcoming the adversity of his knee injury to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1990. The Stinger graciously and humbly accepts the plaque and trophy and thanks his fans.

– Dusty Rhodes grandstands and fillibusters about the Gulf War and the troops, and warns his fellow Americans not to criticize the President or question the war. The American Dream is alive and well!

– Ranger Ross vs. El Cubano

One beneficiary of the Gulf War is Ranger Ross, who was called back to active duty in WCW to capitalize on the patriotic fervor and support of the US troops. The masked El Cubano is David Sierra, who was serving as El Gigante’s trainer and also wrestled as Cuban Assassin. Yada yada yada, the Ranger puts Cubano away with a sunset flip in 3:13. ½*

– The Renegade Warriors (Chris & Mark Youngblood) vs. “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson & Barry Windham

There are giant portraits of Barry Windham & Arn Anderson hanging near the entrance, which again is odd because they’re heels. Part of the NWA/WCW’s appeal was that it was like a Bizarro-World WWF, but giving babyface pushes to heels was pretty strange. The Renegade Warriors attack the Horsemen right off the bat and Barry & Arn bail out and stall at ringside. Dusty mocks the giant portraits of Windham and “that ol’ bald-headed” Anderson, and that’s the early highlight as it takes a while for the match to really get going. The Youngbloods double-team the Enforcer, but he responds with a spinebuster on Chris and the Horsemen punish the younger Youngblood in their half of the ring. In a huge ‘WTF’ moment, while Arn applies a front-facelock, Dusty encourages viewers at home to try putting this hold on their wives and watch her “break down like a shotgun.” Stuck between a rock and the head booker in charge, Ross blurts out “YEAH.” in response and warns Rhodes that he’s going to get a lot of men in trouble with their wives. Dusty amends his statement to make clear that he didn’t mean to hurt the wives because we love them and couldn’t get anything done without them. Aww, how sweet. Anderson goes for a pump splash and Chris is supposed to get his knees up, but he doesn’t quite get them up all the way and it looks kinda silly when Arn sells it. Hot tag is made and Mark Youngblood unloads on both Horsemen with tomahawk chops as all four men are in the ring. Windham dumps Mark out to the floor and plasters Chris with a high-impact lariat before he and Arn set Chris up on the top turnbuckle. Following the superplex from Windham, Anderson covers Chris for the three-count at 7:31. ** Serviceable tag match due to the Horsemen and their heel antics. I fail to see what anyone saw in the Renegade Warriors, but WCW and the WWF were desperate for Native wrestlers due to the box-office success of Dances With Wolves, which also led to the WWF hiring Tatanka.

– Tony Schiavone announces that there will be a rematch from Japan between Big Van Vader and Stan Hansen at WrestleWar and footage is shown of them stiffing each other in Tokyo; I believe this is the match in which Vader had his eye knocked out of its socket and completed the match LIKE A MAN. Stan Hansen comes out for an interview and claims that American fans have never seen a match like this because in the US they want pretty boys in facepaint, while the Japanese still appreciate real men.

Now THAT’S a hoss!

– Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker vs. Flyin’ Brian

A good little competitive squash for Brian Pillman, highlighted by a dive from the top turnbuckle onto Sgt. Parker on the runway. Another highlight is Dusty mentioning “my daughter Cody” on commentary. Hmmmmmmmmm. Flyin’ Brian lands a flying bodypress off the top to put Buddy Lee away in 3:18. *½ Aside from the revelation that Cody Rhodes is transgendered, the commentary did a solid job of putting Pillman over as the smallest man in the War Games with the biggest heart.

– Intergender Arm Wrestling: Paul E. Dangerously vs. Missy Hyatt

Rhubarb Jones, the Country DJ of the Year, serves as special guest ring announcer just to reinforce WCW’s geographical limitations, although he makes me eat my snark and actually does a great job. He did such a good job that he became the regular ring announcer on WCW Saturday Night for a time. Missy stalls before removing her jacket, and the heavenly sight of her glorious cleavage distracts Paul E. enough for Missy to put his arm down and win the match. Dangerously is in shock while Ross and Rhodes make all kinds of tasteless double entendres about Missy’s jiggling bosom. This was pretty controversial at the time, but it would have been right at home during the Attitude era.

My thoughts exactly.

– In a scene from LT’s Sports Bar in East Rutherford, New Jersey, NFL legend and future WrestleMania headliner Lawrence Taylor is partying with Ric Flair, Barry Windham, Woman, Kevin Sullivan, Michael Wall Street, and Alexandra York. Again, it’s a questionable decision to give the celebrity rub to a group of heels rather than the top babyfaces, but LT fit right in with the Horsemen lifestyle.

Years later, LT plead guilty to tax evasion. A little-known fact is that Irwin R. Schyster broke the case wide open due to his undercover investigation.

– NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Scott Steiner (w/Rick Steiner) vs. “Nature Boy” Ric Flair ©

Sporting a classy bowl-style haircut, Ric Flair has some different entrance music that was probably given to him when WCW VP Jim Herd wanted him to change his gimmick and use the name Spartacus. True story, apparently. Hiro Matsuda is introduced at ringside as a representative of New Japan Pro Wrestling as Ross notes that the winner will defend the belt in March against Tatsumi Fujinami in Tokyo’s Egg Dome. El Gigante is also introduced and he high-fives Scott Steiner, but the Nature Boy blows off the 7’7″ Argentinian’s handshake and Gigante leaves the ring. Flair and Steiner engage in a posedown that Scotty easily wins, and it’s a slow start until Steiner back-bodydrops Flair and sideslams him for a two-count. The WCW/NWA World Champion begs off and bails out to stall his challenger’s momentum, then chops away when he climbs back in. Scotty responds with a hiptoss and an armdrag and tries to get something going, but Slick Ric exits the ring again to cut him off. Flair climbs back in and kicks Steiner in the knee, but Scott levels him with a Steinerline and Flair rolls out to the floor. Steiner suplexes Flair back in for two and pounds away, but the Nature Boy stops him with a pair of reverse atomic drops and later rolls Scotty up with his feet on the ropes for a near-fall. There’s a big kickout by Scott after a snapmare just as we go to break, and when we come back, Steiner takes Flair down with a drop-toehold and applies a figure-four. After several agonizing moments, Flair grabs the ropes to break the hold and later ends up crashing over the top rope with Steiner. Well, that’s what was supposed to happen, but Flair went out first and then Steiner basically flipped himself over the ropes. SO BAD DUDE. The crowd is stunned into silence until Flair goes to work on Steiner’s knee and the crowd gets behind Scotty again.

Ring announcer Gary Michael Capetta informs us that there are ten minutes remaining in the TV time limit, so we know they’re going all the way. It’s a good dramatic device to hook viewers, but they ruin it by only using the time-limit announcement when the match is going to end in a draw. Flair drills Steiner with a kneebreaker and locks in the figure-four, grabbing the ropes for extra leverage until Rick Steiner comes around the ring and Flair eventually releases the hold. Dusty puts over the figure-four as he recalls that Flair once broke his leg with it and explains that Scott’s leg has probably gone numb. The Nature Boy hooks the figure-four again in the middle of the ring, but Steiner turns over to reverse it and Flair grabs the rope. Flair targets the knee again, but Steiner drops him with a Rude Awakening neckbreaker and flings Flair into the corner and over the top rope. Scott hits a Steinerline at ringside and Rick throws Ric back in at the behest of his younger brother. Flair knees Scott in the gut and begs off, but Scott forgets to no-sell so it looks bad that Flair is cowardly backing away from a damaged opponent. Steiner gets with the program and sluggishly slugs away on Flair in the corner until referee Nick Patrick grabs his arm and Flair sneaks in a suckerpunch. Scotty surprises Flair with an inside cradle for a near-fall and grabs a standing chinlock so that he can suck wind until Flair makes it to the ropes. Steinerline knocks Flair over the top rope and Rick throws him back in, but the seven-time NWA Champion sneaks in some shots and scores some near-falls with his feet on the ropes until Rick points it out to the ref.

The highspot of the match so far is Steiner bridging off the mat with Flair and instead of going for the backslide, Scott hooks him up and plants him with the butterfly powerbomb. With one minute remaining, Flair is on the floor and Steiner is clapping in the ring, completely no-selling the importance of his first World Title shot. Ross and Rhodes both suggest rather impatiently that Scotty might want to go out and get the Nature Boy, and Rick finally throws Flair back in. Scott blasts Flair with a flying Steinerline off the ropes and manhandles Slick Ric, catching him with another Steinerline when Flair dives off the top turnbuckle. Steiner stupidly poses and looks at the crowd as the 10-second countdown begins before he finally clues in and slams Flair with a belly-to-belly suplex. He covers him, but the TV time limit has already expired at 24:25 and Flair retains the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. The Steiners protest the decision and Jim Ross quickly signs off. ***¾ Scott Steiner was a phenomenal athlete, but the expectations put on this match were way too unrealistic for a young wrestler who had been working mainly tag team matches for the last two years. Nevertheless, it was a very solid match held together by Flair, aside from a few rough spots and bad timing on Scott’s part, mostly due to inexperience and possibly also because of his unwillingness to transition into singles stardom. Scott had made it clear that he was perfectly happy teaming with his brother, and at this point, that’s where he was best suited.

A 60-minute man, he is not.

The 411: As with most of the Clashes of the Champions, Dixie Dynamite was an entertaining show, but the good matches were few and far between. Even before wrestling his last match in the WWF at the 1991 Royal Rumble, Dusty Rhodes had moved into his role as head booker in WCW and one of his first decisions was to remove Brian Pillman from the main event of Clash XIV and replace him with Scott Steiner. The match was a solid main event sustained by Ric Flair's psychology and the crowd heat, but one can only imagine how Flair and Pillman could have torn the house down with a 25-minute time limit. The rest of the show was designed to hype WrestleWar '91, specifically the War Games, and really decreased the visibility of two of WCW's most popular stars, as Sting and Lex Luger were in the opening match and barely referenced again. Much of that wasn't Dusty's fault, since he had only taken over in the last couple of weeks. Now that he was no longer an active in-ring competitor and thus unable to push himself, the American Dream would be left with no choice but to showcase other wrestlers. Or would he?

Final Score:  6.5   [ Average ]