wrestling / Video Reviews
The Chrononaut Chronicles: Clash of the Champions XX
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WCW Clash of the Champions XX: 20 Years of Tradition – September 2, 1992
– Only three months after the last Clash, the reign of Bill Watts as WCW Executive Vice President of Wrestling Operations had a drastic effect on the company. In order to show his bosses at Turner Broadcasting that he was taking care of the financial issues, the Cowboy was eliminating guaranteed contracts and replacing them with incentive-based deals and per-night agreements. While Watts tried to spin this decision by saying it would inspire wrestlers to work harder and avoid no-showing house shows, in reality guaranteed contracts were the one advantage that WCW offered over the WWF and over the years, that was how they held on to their signature superstars such as Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Sting, and the Steiner Brothers. Eventually, Cowboy Bill’s reputation as a backstage tyrant caused some wrestlers to leave WCW and morale dropped as Watts replaced the departing stars with his old favorites who would work cheaper.
– Since this Clash is commemorating the 20th anniversary of professional wrestling on TBS, WCW is acknowledging the rich history they have inherited on the Superstation and paying homage to the stars of the past. The Clash begins with a brief clip from way back in the day of Gordon Solie shaking hands with Andre the Giant, followed by the opening video that shows a storybook opening up and spewing forth archival footage of Bill Watts, Dusty Rhodes, King Kong Bundy, The Spoiler, and Ric Flair.
Little-known fact: Without the ‘fro, Andre was actually 6’6″.
– Reporting from the red carpet outside the Center Stage Theater in Atlanta, Georgia, Tony Schiavone and Missy Hyatt interview the present-day Gordon Solie and Andre the Giant, leaning heavily on crutches in his last American television appearance before his death on January 27, 1993. Andre looks a bit rough, but he smiles as he says how great it is to come back to SARGLARBLARBGARBLE on TBS. Looking swank in a sharp suit and sunglasses, the new WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ron Simmons shows up next with his wife and he plans on taking care of business tonight against Cactus Jack. After the Simmonses head inside, a limousine pulls up and out step Bill Watts and his wife, followed by baseball’s homerun king Hammerin’ Hank Aaron, and then WCW President Bill Shaw and his wife. The next limousine contains the openly gay Senior Consultant Jim Barnett, WCW Vice President Bob Dhue, and the legendary Bruno Sammartino, who says he’s glad to be associated with a company that appreciates wrestling. Next up, Sting roars onto the scene on his Harley (Davidson, not Race) and shrieks out to his fans while Missy gets all hot and bothered. Teddy Long then reports from the VIP room inside the building as an Atlanta city councilman declares September 2, 1992, “World Championship Wrestling Day” and shakes the hell out of Bill Watts’ hand. Dusty Rhodes, the masked Assassin, Thunderbolt Patterson, Magnum TA, Bob Armstrong, and a collection of other old stars from the glory days of TBS wrestling are also present and wearing tuxedoes.
Must have been an open bar.
– Jim Ross and Jesse “The Body” Ventura are on commentary, and the WCW Saturday Night neon signs are in full effect because Center Stage had been the home of THE MUTHASHIP since 1989.
– WCW World Television Championship – No Disqualification: Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat vs. “Stunning” Steve Austin (w/Paul E. Dangerously) ©
After the introductions, Johnny B. Badd accompanies an 11-year-old girl to the ring so that she can sing the national anthem. Due to his constant outside interference, Paul E. Dangerously is locked in a small cage and suspended in the air for the duration of the match. Ricky Steamboat’s ribs are taped as a result of an injury suffered during the NWA World Tag Team Title tournament and that is the story here, as Stunning Steve attacks the ribs right away and the Dragon responds by taking Austin down and working a headlock. Steamboat makes the mistake of climbing to the second turnbuckle and Austin flapjacks him to the canvas before ripping the bandage off of Ricky’s ribs. Austin zeroes in on the midsection and Steamboat scoops him up for a bodyslam, but his ribs are too sore and the Stunning One applies an abdominal stretch, digging his elbow and fingers into the ribs for added pressure. Steamboat hiptosses his way out and lands a high crossbody out of the corner, but Austin rolls through it and ends up on top for a near-fall. The Dragon dodges a dropkick and catapults Austin into the turnbuckles for a two-count, and Steve cradles him with a foot on the ropes for another near-fall. Steamboat scoops him up for a tombstone piledriver and Austin reverses it, but Steamboat re-reverses it and plants Austin for another close count. After kicking out of a roll-up even with Austin grabbing a handful of tights, Steamboat dives off the top turnbuckle with his trademark flying chop, but Austin slugs him in the midsection on the way down and they trade near-falls in an inside cradle. The Dragon keeps covering the TV Champion every time he knocks him down, but Steamboat ends up tumbling over the top rope after a back-elbow from Austin and scurries under the ring. Using the element of surprise, Steamboat emerges on the other side and scales the turnbuckles, leaping off the top with the flying bodypress to pin Austin and capture the WCW World Television Title in 10:43. ***¾ This was a great choice for an opener since it had two opposing personalities and a clear storyline as Austin went after the injured ribs and Steamboat took advantage of the No DQ stipulation by using a top-rope move. Locked in the small cage and hung in the air, Paul E. Dangerously was mostly ignored and his absence at ringside contributed to the surprising lack of crowd heat, showing just how effective he had been in his role.
– Before commercial breaks throughout the show, there are quick clips of classic moments on TBS. The archival footage includes: Mr. Wrestling II winning a match with his Million Dollar Kneelift; a Jim Cornette promo; a Road Warriors promo putting over the Superstation; a situation between Roddy Piper and Tommy Rich; marble-mouthed boxing legend Earnie Shavers confronting Ric Flair; Beautiful Bobby landing a flying kneedrop; Dusty Rhodes hanging out with somebody who could be Willie Nelson; a vintage Sting squash; and a promo with the Flair/Anderson/Blanchard/Luger version of the Four Horsemen.
– Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura introduce a great tribute to tag team wrestling on TBS, featuring footage of Ole Anderson turning on Dusty Rhodes during a cage match against The Assassins, and squash wins for Jack & Jerry Briscoe, The Fabulous Freebirds, The Road Warriors, and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express.
– Greg “The Hammer” Valentine & “Dirty” Dick Slater (w/Larry “The Cruncher” Zbyszko) vs. “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson & “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton (w/Michael “PS” Hayes)
In a pre-match interview, Michael Hayes is introduced as the new manager of Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton and he points out that this union brings together the best members of the three greatest tag teams of the ’80s: Fabulous Freebirds, Midnight Express, and the Four Horsemen. The reason given in the storyline for Hayes becoming their manager is his extensive personal knowledge of Terry Gordy, former founding member of the Freebirds and currently one-half of the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Champions with Steve Williams. After being dumped by the Dangerous Alliance and turning face for the first time in over a decade, Larry Zbyszko feuded with his former stablemates and had his arm injured by Eaton & Anderson during a tag team match, so he has his arm in a sling. Despite being a babyface, Larry wants to see his former partners get hurt so he is in the corner of Dick Slater & Greg Valentine, a pair of veteran heels. Since this is heel vs. heel, both teams use underhanded tactics and double-teams as they go at it tooth-and-nail and trade the advantage back-and-forth. Dirty Dick eventually goes after the Enforcer’s leg and Valentine applies the figure-four, but Beautiful Bobby drops an elbow to break it up. Anderson plants Valentine with the spinebuster for a near-fall as Slater makes the save and the match descends into chaos. The Hammer grabs Arn and holds him as Zbyszko tries to hit him with his cast, but Arn ducks and Larry clobbers Valentine. While Hayes takes care of Zbyszko, Eaton lands the Alabama Jam on Valentine and Anderson covers him for the pin at 5:42. **½ Although the crowd was rather subdued due to the heel/heel dynamic, these two veteran teams put on a gritty tag team bout with rulebending on both sides. In the end, there was some logic behind Zbyszko accompanying a pair of heels because of his plan to interfere in the match. No self-respecting babyface would agree to participate in such a dastardly scheme.
– Jim Ross interviews Bruno Sammartino, who takes a shot at “that other league” and puts over WCW as a company that presents professional wrestling the way it was meant to be. In the VIP room alongside Andre the Giant, Teddy Long interviews Bob Armstrong and Thunderbolt Patterson before we get prerecorded comments via satellite from the home of Mr. Wrestling II, clad in his old white-and-black wrestling mask and a Hawaiian shirt. This is followed by one of the few appearances of Ted Turner on a WCW broadcast, a quick pretaped promo congratulating WCW for offering a more athletic-based product and continuing the tradition of action-packed wrestling on TBS.
Someone must have reminded Ted that he still owned WCW.
– Tony Schiavone interviews Bill Watts in the VIP room and they announce that Brad Armstrong has been stripped of the WCW World Light Heavyweight Championship due to his knee injury, and the belt will be contested in a tournament in the near future. Back inside, Jesse Ventura interviews Brad Armstrong on crutches as he states how badly he wanted to compete tonight on such an important show in front of his dad. His scheduled opponent, Brian Pillman, comes out and executes a magnificent heel turn promo as he starts in babyface mode, explaining how hard he trained for this match and how disappointed he is at not receiving his title shot, before ripping into Armstrong and mocking his injury. Flyin’ Brian says he is disgusted by Brad’s cowardice and slaps him in the face before walking off.
What he meant to say was, “We’re throwing this belt away and then we’re going to completely forget it ever existed.”
– A special retrospective on great singles wrestlers throughout the 20 Years of Tradition on TBS spotlights Dusty Rhodes, Stan Hansen, Ron Garvin, Tony Atlas, Magnum TA, Buzz Sawyer, Mister Wrestling II, The Great Kabuki, Ted DiBiase, Bill Watts, Wahoo McDaniel, Masked Superstar, Jimmy Valiant, King Kong Bundy, The Spoiler, Iron Sheik, Tully Blanchard, Ric Flair, Terry Funk, Tommy Rich, and Roddy Piper. This was pretty cool, especially considering the WWF at the time rarely acknowledged its own history or wrestlers who weren’t working for them anymore. Ironic that they now own almost all of that history.
– WCW World Heavyweight Championship: Cactus Jack vs. “The All American” Ron Simmons ©
Prior to the match, a video package airs showing Ron Simmons as a top college football player, an outstanding role model in the community, and the first black Heavyweight Champion of the World. The circumstances surrounding the title change started when Sting was ‘injured’ by the debuting Jake “The Snake” Roberts at a house show on the same night he was scheduled to challenge WCW World Champion Big Van Vader. Not wanting to rob the fans of a World Title bout, Bill Watts put the names of the available contenders into a draw and randomly selected Ron Simmons, who went on to upset Vader and win the belt in an emotional moment. In the role of a desperate challenger who has nothing to lose, Cactus Jack scratches and bites Simmons as he controls the opening portion of the match, clotheslining the All American over the top rope and dropping him on the floor with a swinging neckbreaker. Jack stifles all of Big Ron’s comebacks and impresses Ross and Ventura with his effective gameplan as he grinds Simmons down in the ring. Simmons fires back with his football-inspired offense, but Cactus bodyslams him on the concrete floor and drops the suicidal elbow off the apron. Back in the ring, Simmons spikes Cactus with the standing spinebuster (called the Sidewalk Slam by Jesse, for those keeping track) and the powerslam to retain the WCW World Heavyweight Championship in 8:51. **¾ Ron Simmons may not have been the smoothest worker, but his matches felt real because of his pure physicality. He didn’t catch on with the fans as hoped, although it didn’t help that he was a World Champion feuding with midcarders like Cactus Jack and The Barbarian.
Movin’ on up.
– Footage from Japan shows Masahiro Chono winning the NWA World Heavyweight Championship tournament and having the Big Gold Belt, legally regained from Ric Flair for a princely sum, strapped around his waist. In the tournament final, Chono won an epic hard-fought battle over Rick Rude following a flying shoulderblock off the top turnbuckle. The Ravishing One provides prerecorded comments and promises that round two for the NWA World Title will be worse for Chono.
– The Barbarian & Butch Reed vs. “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham
Cactus Jack had been acting as a player/coach for the Barbarian and an assortment of older midcard heels, and in a pre-match interview he says that he told Dan Spivey, Barbarian’s scheduled partner, to stay home; Spivey actually had commitments in Japan. Jack introduces Butch Reed as their latest cohort and explains that Butch is the key to defeating Ron Simmons because of their past friendship as the tag team of Doom. Cactus joins the commentary team during this rather basic tag team match. The highlight is Dustin Rhodes sailing through the ropes out to the floor after Reed avoids a charge in the corner, and Cactus giggling like a freak as Jesse notes that the floor is Cactus Jack territory. Butch & Barbarian hoss the hell out of Dustin in their half of the ring until the Natural finally makes the hot tag. Barry Windham unloads on both opponents and flattens the Barbarian with a lariat followed by the superplex, but Reed gets involved and all four men are in the ring. Amidst the confusion, Barbarian knocks Windham’s head off with the big boot and pins him at 8:13. ** Um, wow. That was almost a squash, likely for political reasons because Barbarian & Reed had come into WCW under the new Bill Watts deals. I wonder if Barry & Dustin had guaranteed contracts…
– Elimination Match: “Ravishing” Rick Rude (w/Madusa) & Jake “The Snake” Roberts & Big Van Vader & Super Invader (w/Harley Race) vs. Sting & Nikita Koloff & The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner)
Before the match, a video package narrated by Tony Schiavone ties the match together by recapping Big Van Vader’s WCW World Title win over Sting, Jake Roberts popping out of the crowd and killing Sting with two DDTs, Nikita Koloff chasing Rick Rude for the WCW United States Title, and…the Steiners are awesome. Doesn’t really explain how they fit into this match, but they are indeed awesome and they have been Sting’s long-time friends and allies, so we’ll let it slide. Vader and Rick Steiner trade big moves to start, as Vader fires off clotheslines and an avalanche and Rick responds with an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Nikita Koloff gets the first two-count with a crossbody on Super Invader and Scott Steiner locks in a surfboard armlock on Rick Rude, but he manages to tag out. Scotty slams Invader with a double-underhook powerbomb and goes for the Frankensteiner, but the heels make a blind tag and they take turns pounding on the younger Steiner Brother. After hauling Ravishing Rick up in a tilt-a-whirl slam, Scott makes the hot tag and Nikita hammers Jake the Snake, but he gets preoccupied going after Rude on the apron. Rude knees Koloff in the back and Roberts rolls him up with a handful of tights to score the first elimination at 7:26. Sting immediately unloads on Jake and then evens the sides by pinning Invader 30 seconds later after a one-handed bulldog. The Stinger fires away on Vader next and tags out as Rick Steiner manhandles the 440-pound former WCW World Champion with clotheslines and an overhead belly-to-back suplex. The Dogface Gremlin attempts a bodypress off the turnbuckles, but Vader catches him in a powerslam and punishes Rick with a chokeslam and a big splash off the middle turnbuckle for a near-fall. Rude & Vader grind Rick down, but Steiner returns the favor from earlier and catches Vader in a powerslam when he dives off the middle turnbuckle. In an impressive attempt at a display of raw strength, Rick tries to lift Vader up on his shoulders as Scott goes to the top turnbuckle, but he can’t get him up and Scotty hits the flying clothesline anyway. Unfortunately, using the top rope still constitutes a disqualification and Scott Steiner is eliminated at 11:34. BOOOOO. Rick Steiner clotheslines Vader and they both go over the top rope, battling it out on the floor while Sting slugs away on Roberts in the ring. Rude sneaks over and snaps the Rude Awakening on Rick Steiner, earning an elimination via count-out at 12:29 as Vader returns to the ring before the count of ten. Left all alone against his top three rivals of the year, Sting wastes no time in going on the offensive against Vader and then Jake. Following the Stinger Splash, Sting grabs Jake’s legs for the Scorpion Deathlock, but Rude clotheslines him from the apron and tags in. A double-team attempt between Rude & Vader is foiled and Sting is a one-man gang as he has his way with the Ravishing One. While Roberts puts on his ominous black snake-handler’s glove and pulls out his sack to distract the referee, Sting slams Rude with a slingshot suplex and has to lay there until Vader dives off the top turnbuckle and inadvertently splashes both Sting and Rude. Vader is disqualified for using the top rope and the cunning Snake drags the unconscious Rude back to his corner so he can tag himself in, Weekend At Bernie’s style. Roberts simply drills Sting with the DDT and pins him at 15:15 to win the match for himself and the US Champion. ****¾ In terms of all-out physical action and wrestling ability, this eight-man elimination match was arguably better than any Survivor Series matches the WWF had ever done. The only real drawbacks were the cheap DQ and count-out eliminations and the mistimed spot with Vader taking so long to get to the top turnbuckle that Sting had to lay there with Rude and wait for Vader to splash them. The finish was logical and fit perfectly with Jake the Snake’s conniving heel character, while also getting Sting over as a hero for coming so close to overcoming the odds. Pay attention, John Cena. The heel miscommunication set up a future issue between Rude and Vader, and the Steiners also looked strong for holding their own against the top singles heels.
Usually it’s Jake passed out on his face being dragged home.
– All night long, they have been running teasers for the “Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal” video to hype the Halloween Havoc ’92 main event between Sting and Jake Roberts, and it airs at the end of the show just to wash the good taste of that last match out of our mouths. Madusa arrives at some weirdo sleazebag dive bar which, of course, is home to Jake the Snake and she tests out the wheel while the bikers and freaks chant, “Spin the Wheel, Make the Deal.” Sting busts in and says some obviously scripted lines, but Jake saves the skit with his usual promo gold that makes the match seem like a life-or-death struggle. In a humorous contrast between new and old, after the video ends with a “To Be Continued…” subtitle, we go back LIVE to Center Stage where all of the legends in attendance are gathered to bid goodbye. I wonder if Bruno reconsidered the comments he made earlier after watching that video.
Is this the wrestling you knew and loved, Bruno?
The 411: By dedicating the show to the 20 Years of Tradition on TBS and including as many of the stars of yesterday as possible, along with Hank Aaron and a slew of Turner executives in attendance, Clash of the Champions XX came off as a gala event and felt like a very special broadcast. Since upper management and the old guard were all watching, the guys worked hard and the matches delivered, even the ones that didn't look appealing on paper. Bolstered by archival footage and classic clips at a time when they weren't readily available on YouTube, Clash XX was a very entertaining show as the elimination main event is one of my favorite Clash matches ever, and Brian Pillman's original official heel turn is a hidden gem. However, the lack of depth in the midcard was apparent and Bill Watts' new hiring policy led to signing several veteran wrestlers who had seen better days, such as Greg Valentine, Dick Slater, Butch Reed, and even Barbarian at the time. His rule changes had also proven unpopular with both wrestlers and fans, as the top-rope rule was rescinded after an overwhelming response to a vote conducted on the WCW Hotline during Clash XX. Cowboy Bill had also killed the hottest angle WCW had going in the Dangerous Alliance, due to a personal dislike of Paul Heyman and his belief that managers weren't important enough to warrant high salaries. Watts had a mandate to cut costs and he was doing so by any means necessary. |
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Final Score: 8.5 [ Very Good ] legend |