The Chrononaut Chronicles: NWA Clash of the Champions III

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The Chrononaut Chronicles
NWA Clash of the Champions III: Fall Brawl – September 7, 1988

– The opening video recaps Sting’s efforts to win the World Heavyweight Championship and the World Tag Team Title at the first two Clash of the Champions events. Tonight, his desire for gold has led Sting to challenge Barry Windham for the United States Heavyweight Championship!

– Jim Ross and Bob Caudle are your announce team this time. Apparently, this is the home-video release of Clash of the Champions III because all the interviews and segments with Tony Schiavone and Ric Flair as the hosts of the show are cut out. Most interestingly, the on-screen graphics feature the classic WCW logo, but the letters are never spoken and everything is still referred to as the NWA.

– NWA World Television Championship: Brad Armstrong vs. Mike Rotunda (w/”Gamesmaster” Kevin Sullivan) ©

The 20-minute time limit is emphasized, so right off the bat we have an idea where this is going. Brad Armstrong follows up his losing effort for the US Title at Clash II with a shot at the TV Title here. He does have quite a fanbase, earning a nice pop for an early near-fall when he rolls through a bodypress from Mike Rotunda. Ross does a great job of putting over Rotunda’s athletic background and Caudle suggests he is the best TV Champion ever. Rotunda is all over Armstrong after a commercial break and Kevin Sullivan interferes behind the referee’s back when he has the opportunity, but Armstrong refuses to be beaten as he kicks out of a handful of pinfall attempts. When we come back from another commercial, Steve “Dr. Death” Williams is at ringside to root for Armstrong while Rotunda continues to dominate, dropping Brad with the dreaded airplane spin for a two-count. Gutwrench suplex gets two, as does a small package, frustrating Rotunda. With one minute left, Armstrong kicks out of several near-falls and at 20:06 the time limit expires, which Ross declares a moral victory for Brad even though he had his ass handed to him and Rotunda retained the NWA World Television Championship. *** This was basically a squash for Rotunda and he put on a clinic like a proto-Kurt Angle, just grinding down Armstrong for most of the match and resorting to his amateur wrestling skills. The match looked dull on paper, to be honest, but it was a fun little bout that told a good story of the plucky youngster going the distance with the Captain of the Varsity Club, as Rotunda emoted great frustration when he was unable to pin his young challenger in the closing moments.

– Special Tag Team Challenge: The Sheepherders (Butch Miller & Luke Williams w/Rip Morgan) vs. Nikita Koloff & “Dr. Death” Steve Williams

Needless to say, Luke and Steve are not related as far as I know. The Sheepherders take the fight right to Dr. Death, but he dishes out shoulderblocks and the larger babyfaces control the early portion of the match, including an impressive flying bodypress by Doc for a near-fall. Functioning like a more experienced team, Williams & Nikita Koloff work over Crazy Luke’s arm until he avoids a spear in the corner. The commentators discuss the depth of tag team competition in the NWA as the Sheepherders briefly assume control, but Doc breaks free and makes the tag. The Russian Nightmare is on fire until Rip Morgan trips him up from ringside, and the Sheepherders batter Nikita’s shoulder on the floor. Back in the ring, the Sheepherders punish Koloff relentlessly and score several two-counts, but the Superpower will not be pinned. Nikita finally decks Luke and crawls to his corner, but Doc is on the floor confronting Morgan and he misses the tag. The Sheepherders keep doing their thing until Luke misses a diving headbutt off the top turnbuckle (!!) and Nikita makes it to his corner again. This time, “the Doctor is in” to receive the hot tag and he manhandles Luke, Butch, and even Rip when he climbs into the ring. Doc presses Luke over his head, but Butch clips his leg and he collapses in a heap. Well, that didn’t last long. Doc tags out already and Koloff beheads Miller with the Russian Sickle for the pin at 17:07. That finish came out of nowhere, but it was a really good ***½ match. This is the last Clash for the Sheepherders before they jumped to the WWF and transmogrified into The Bushwhackers. I’m sad to see them go, because they were a great heel team and put together some very effective heat segments. Definitely opened my eyes as to what the Sheepherders were all about and I will be tracking down more of their pre-WWF work.

– Grudge Match: “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes vs. “Gamesmaster” Kevin Sullivan (w/Gary Hart)

There’s a lot of history between these two, but I’m not sure what exactly led up to this match or why Gary Hart is managing the manager of the Varsity Club. As expected, it doesn’t take long for this bout to spill out of the ring as Rhodes repeatedly slams Sullivan’s face on the broadcast table and throws him into Hart. Sullivan retrieves an object that looks like a metal squeegee, but sadly he doesn’t get to use it. Dusty dumps Sullivan out to ringside and unleashes Bionic Elbows when the Gamesmaster climbs back in, but Sullivan jabs him in the throat and attacks him on the floor. Hart gets in on the action by whacking Rhodes with his shoe while the referee is distracted, and more nefarious deeds are committed in the ring when Sullivan chokes Rhodes with the infamous metal spike passed to him by Hart. While the Gamesmaster clutches the American Dream in a chinlock, Jim Ross brings us up to speed on the story behind this match: Sullivan put Jimmy Garvin in the hospital (maybe Kevin was The Masked Maniac?) and terrorized Precious all summer, and Gary Hart got involved because he has wanted to end Dusty’s career since 1974. That’s a textbook lesson in dedication and perseverance; it hasn’t worked out for him yet, but Gary will not give up on his quest. Rhodes uses a lowblow to escape the chinlock and before you can say Stardust, he is flippin’ floppin’ and flyin’ all over Sullivan.

Hart passes the spike to Sullivan again, but the Dream blasts Kevin with a Bionic Elbow before he can use it. Truly Americana at its finest, Dusty picks up the spike and stabs Sullivan in the face with it. The pin attempt is broken up when Hart drags Rhodes out of the ring and Al Perez charges out, bashing Rhodes with a steel chain in plain sight of referee Tommy Young. I’m not sure if “Grudge Match” translates to “No Disqualification” (although it wasn’t specified as such) or if Tommy Young is just an incredibly incompetent official, but judging from his performance on the first Clash, I’m leaning toward the latter. Perez and Sullivan pound on Rhodes in the ring and attempt a double-clothesline with the chain, but Dusty uses the POWER OF THE PUDGE and jumps on the chain belly-first, so it pulls Sullivan and Perez together and they crack heads. That’s a pretty creative counter, albeit not as smooth as it sounds. Rhodes then wraps up Gary Hart in a small package and WHAT THE FUCK? Tommy Young counts the pinfall at 6:59 and awards the decision to the American Dream. Dusty quickly flees the squared circle and takes a seat in the crowd while the commentators don’t even bother trying to explain how he could win by pinning his opponent’s manager. This wouldn’t be the last time a match would end by beating someone who wasn’t even a participant in the match, as it became something of a WCW trademark in the ’90s. **

What the hell, Tommy Young? WHAT THE HELL?

– Russian Chain Match: Ivan Koloff (w/Paul Jones) vs. Ricky Morton

Both men are secured at the wrists by a length of chain, with the goal being to touch all four top turnbuckles in succession. The backstory here is that Paul Jones has been disappointed with Ivan Koloff and feels the former WWF World Champion needs to prove himself. Accordingly, Ivan is very aggressive early on, but Ricky Morton slides between his legs and lowblows him with the chain. Feeling right at home in his favorite specialty match, Koloff goes back on the offensive and tries to drag Morton to all four turnbuckles, but Ricky keeps stopping him and targets Ivan’s leg. Morton wails away on Koloff’s knee with the chain, but he can’t drag Koloff to the turnbuckles and the Russian Bear clubs him down. However, Ivan loses the advantage by foolishly climbing to the top turnbuckle and he crashes to the canvas when Ricky yanks the chain. After a commercial break, Ricky drags Ivan to the first three turnbuckles and there is a dramatic struggle over the fourth, as Ivan clings to the ropes and Ricky is mere inches away. Paul Jones tries to help by using his riding crop to give Koloff added leverage, but Jones can’t hold on to the crop and Morton hits the final turnbuckle to win the match in 9:52. A huge masked man called The Russian Assassin is on the scene to attack Morton while Jones berates Koloff in the ring. Ivan has finally had enough and decks his manager, but he is blindsided by the Assassin and beaten down as another masked Russian Assassin runs in. It’s a brutal three-on-one as Jones and his Assassins bust open Koloff and hang him with the chain. **¼ Morton put on a good performance and the post-match angle was solid, although an Ivan Koloff face turn wasn’t going to set the world on fire in 1988 any more so than the similar Harley Race face turn in the WWF.

– NWA United States Heavyweight Championship: Sting vs. Barry Windham (w/James J. Dillon) ©

Fun Fact: Sting has participated in all three Clash main events and they have all been for titles, which shows the confidence the NWA had in his ability to draw viewers. Jim Ross notes that former San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman John Ayers, who had recently been named Commissioner of Bill Watts’ UWF, is seated at ringside to keep an eye on the proceedings. The match begins with words exchanged between the combatants while the announcers put over Sting’s rapid ascent in the ranks, pointing out that he’ll be celebrating his third year in the business on Thanksgiving. These days, wrestlers are multi-time World Champions by their third year. Sting shows off his impressive speed and agility as he outmaneuvers Barry Windham and twice sends him reeling from the ring with standing dropkicks. Windham takes control after a commercial break, but Sting fights out of the corner with an inverted atomic drop and unloads on the US Heavyweight Champion. The tide shifts when Sting misses a leaping elbowdrop and Windham sends him out to ringside, where he pounds Sting and bodyslams him on the uncovered floor. Losing focus, Windham stops to taunt Ayers and Sting sunset-flips him for a near-fall, but Windham continues to dismantle his challenger. Sting comes back with an inside cradle for another near-fall and again Windham stifles him, but Barry misses a Stinger Splash of his own and the Stinger pushes him over the top rope. Following Windham out to ringside, Sting busts him open by ramming his head against the ringpost and then slams his head on the table. Sting reverts to his rulebreaking ways as he bites Windham’s forehead and rakes his back, then rubs Windham’s face along the top rope.

The US Champion survives a lengthy sleeperhold and escapes by dropping Sting with a kneebreaker, leading to Windham zeroing in on Sting’s leg and applying the figure-four. Sting is in agony as JJ Dillon adds the extra leverage from ringside, but referee Tommy Young finally sees the interference and forcibly breaks the leglock. After selling the leg like it’s about to fall off and absorbing more punishment, Sting mounts a comeback and takes Windham down with a vertical suplex. However, when they land, Windham grips Sting in a pectoral claw using his gloved hand. Sting fights out and rallies back, but Windham inadvertently clotheslines the referee and Tommy Young tumbles out to the floor. Stinger Splash leads to the Scorpion Deathlock, but Dillon enters the ring with a chair and Sting releases Barry to fend off JJ. Windham waffles Sting with a (very light) chairshot and covers him as Tommy Young climbs back in, but John Ayers runs in and physically stops the senior official from counting. Ayers drags Windham off Sting and points out the chair, so Sting is declared the winner via disqualification in 21:14 and Windham retains the NWA United States Championship. Dillon gets in Ayers’ face afterward as Windham prepares to blindside the former NFL star, but Sting dropkicks Barry through the ropes and Ayers manhandles Dillon into the corner. Ayers raises Sting’s arm in victory to close the show. **** This was another good match-up as the Clash continues to be a great showcase for the progression of Sting. The excitement and fan support he brings to his matches is a breath of fresh air in the stale NWA main event scene.

The most painful titty-twister EVER.

The 411: This was a tumultuous time for the NWA and that is reflected by the third edition of Clash of the Champions, subtitled Fall Brawl. At the time, there was a lot of uncertainty due to the pending sale of Jim Crockett Promotions to Ted Turner and there were a lot of unhappy wrestlers in the locker room, some of whom hadn't received payments that were promised to them by Crockett. Two of the most notable names were NWA mainstays Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, who jumped to the WWF almost immediately after Fall Brawl. This was the end of an era, as the sale to Turner would be finalized by November and the transition from NWA to WCW would begin. Under the circumstances, Fall Brawl was a solid outing that suffered from poor booking choices. The ending to the Rhodes/Sullivan match was just retarded, and Sting really should have won the US Championship from Barry Windham. The timing was right to pull the trigger here since he had ended up empty-handed in the last two Clash main events, but fortunately Sting's natural charisma and connection with the fans carried him to greater heights. It's interesting to look ahead and see similar mistakes made years later in the dying days of WCW and post-Invasion WWE, but for now, there are brighter days ahead for the company.

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]