Legacy Review
Clash of the Champions VI: Rajin' Cajun
April 2, 1989 from theCommentary: Jim Ross and Michael Hayes (who had recently turned heel as part of his short singles push)
My original plan was to review all the Clashes (and Saturday Night's Main Events) in chronological order once I got low on '80s-early '90s PPVs to review, but this one has Flair/Steamboat II, so we're doing it now. Like the first Clash, this was put on basic cable directly opposite Wrestlemania V with a PPV worthy main event in the latest round of the WCW/WWF scheduling wars.
The open to the show really has a big show feel. Less a normal Clash and more a big PPV. They show footage of a dinner held the night before for NWA legends and Jim Herd reading a statement written by one of his PR guys. Then there's another long generic video package like Chi-Town Rumble. At least there's more recent footage for them to use now. There must have been some legal reason they could only use footage from after the Turner buyout. Then we have the National Anthem with some '80s lasers and a little pyro.
The Samoan SWAT Team (w/Paul E Dangerously) def The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) in 20:32- Paul E's first great accomplishment in wrestling was getting people to cheer Jim Cornette. The Original Midnights vs Current Midnights angle had run its course but the Paul E/Cornette feud was too good not to continue, so here we are again with Paul E's new team. Fatu is the future Rikishi. Samu and Lane start. Lane ducks a Samu crossbody then hits one of his own for 2. Lane ducks a punch in the heel corner and Samu whacks Fatu! A big chop from Fatu gets Lane down for a minute but the Midnights quickly get some double teams in. Eaton with a nice missile dropkick. Samu tries to go after Cornette and gets a racket shot from his trouble. Paul E holds him back from attacking Cornette. Fatu comes back with a couple of throat thrusts on Lane. Lane gets a sunset flip for 2. Lane is backed into the heel corner again. Samu cocks to punch, Lane ducks again, Samu stops, waits, goes to punch again, Lane ducks again, and Fatu gets it again! Nice. Fatu takes a walk. Paul E panics and puts his phone to Fatu's ear to talk to whoever's calling the plays in the box to calm Fatu down. Samu goes for a backdrop. Eaton stops and gives him a straight right. Samu suplexes out of a Lane headlock. Lane counters with a dropkick and tags. An Eaton small package gets 2. Fatu tries to sneak in. Tommy Young stops him and the Midnights use it to swap without making a tag. Once heels, always heels. When Samu does a leapfrog Eaton again stops and pops him with a right hand. After more double teaming Lane has a pin but Young is distracted with Fatu. Fatu tags in and gets a hard clothesline and chops on Eaton to finally give the Samoans some momentum. A reverse thrust kick gets a long 2 count. Fatu locks in the mandatory foreigner heel rest hold, the Nerve Pinch of Samoan Strength +2. Eaton fights out and hits the ropes, but Samu literally grabs his mullet and pulls him down. Eaton is selling like crazy, screaming on every punch while down in the corner. He manages to fight back to his corner and gets a semi-hot tag to Lane. The Midnights ram the Samoans' heads together on a double team. They're Samoans! That's not going to hurt them! They pound each other with forearms before they go back to attacking the Midnights because they're wild and crazy. Paul E trips Lane but Samu misses a diving headbutt. Running the ropes back Cornette counters with a racket shot of his own. JR admonishes the faces. I guess he hasn't learned the "my monitor went out" trick. Or is that only for Yano? A Fatu powerslam gets 2. Samu misses a diving headbutt off the 2nd rope. Eaton hasn't learned his lesson and tries a double noggin knocker. They're Samoans! They give Eaton a double headbutt instead. Eaton dodges a shot off the top rope. He hits a neckbreaker but the pin is broken up. The Midnights hit the rocket launcher but Young is distracted by Cornette and Paul E fighting on the apron. Paul E gets the phone to Samu, he nails Eaton with it, drapes Fatu over, and the Samoans win. Cliche finish aside I loved this. The Express' speed and wrestling meshed perfectly with the Samoan's power game, and Paul E vs Cornette is always fun. ****
The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) def Steve Casey in 8:11- This is the beginning of Keiji Mutoh's quick stop in WCW during his excursion before becoming a legend in New Japan. And what a quick stop it was. Revolutionized the game, he did. Muta gets a little pyro on his entrance! He goes through his prematch meditation. Casey tries to charge but gets misted for his trouble. Handspring elbow! Casey recovers enough to get an armdrag in. Muta responds with a jumping backwards kick in the corner. Casey goes outside and Muta teases a dive to the floor, but Hart throws Casey back in and Muta settles for a missile dropkick. JR compares Muta's high flying to the new TV champ Sting. Gee, wouldn't it be something if those two crossed paths? Casey tries to work the arm. Muta flips out and goes to work on Casey's leg, then the muscles around his armpit with the Japanese Nerve Hold of Extreme Precision +3. A spinning kick sends Casey out and Muta follows up with a plancha! Why in the hell are people booing that? Casey gets rammed into the barricade and Muta hits him with the springboard elbow on the floor! Back in, the Mutohsault finishes it. An extended squash, but a great (no pun intended) Muta showcase. **1/4
The Junkyard Dog def Butch Reed (w/Hiro Matsuda) in 9:56- This is JYD's return to the stadium he regularly headlined as Mid-South's top star in the early '80s, and against one of his old Mid-South rivals no less. He's accompanied to the ring by a jazz marching band. JR gives a shout out to fans in Connecticut watching, especially Stamford. Ha! JYD starts hot with some punches. Reed rolls out to regroup. They have some no sell shoulderblock collisions. JYD headbutts Reed after a leapfrog and lays in the crawling headbutts. Reed rolls out again and takes his sweet time getting back in. It's still all JYD until Reed counters a choke with the ol' eye poke. Reed drapes JYD across the rope to choke him, then while Teddy Long is admonishing him Matsuda gets a choke in. Long does the arm drop check while JYD is in a chinlock. JYD fights out and gets a backdrop. Double clothesline. JYD catches Reed coming off the 2nd rope but misses a headbutt. Reed hits a flying shoulderblock off the top rope but JYD gets a foot on the rope on the cover. Matsuda gets on the apron to protest. JYD whips Reed into him and covers for the 3. JYD looked a little more energized being back in the Superdome, but it still didn't amount to much. *1/4
For some reason three matches are edited out of the WWE Network version here. Two are no big losses: Bob Orton over Dick Murdoch, and The Iron Sheik getting DQ'd against Ranger Ross in under two minutes. The other, however, is pretty important: The Varsity Club A Squad (Steve Williams and Mike Rotunda) beating The Road Warriors for the World Tag Team titles. Not only that, but it's the match where Teddy Long turned heel as a referee, which led to him getting "fired" from officiating and becoming a manager.
NWA United States Tag Team Championship: The First Family (w/Missy Hyatt) (c) def The Varsity Club B Squad in 3:51- The First Family is Rick Steiner and Eddie Gilbert, who had joined Steiner in his long running feud with the Varsity Club. The Club team here is Kevin Sullivan and faction newcomer Dan Spivey. The Club pulls the Suzuki-Gun attack before the bell. Spivey slams Gilbert but only does an arrogant cover and pulls up at 2. Sullivan suckers Steiner in and throws Gilbert over the top and out. Gilbert gets barricaded and posted. Gilbert's tied in the Tree of Woe but gets out and Sullivan knees the turnbuckle. Hot tag to Steiner. Steinerline! Powerslam for 2. Belly to belly! Sullivan breaks up the pin. Donnybrook! Steiner Cactus Clotheslines Spivey out! Gilbert gets Missy Hyatt's Loaded Purse of Extreme Expense +4 (Gucci according to JR), hits Sullivan in the gut with it, and gets the 3. The heels beat up Gilbert afterward. Not bad for the short time they got. *1/2
2 out of 3 Falls Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat (c) def "Nature Boy" Ric Flair 2-1 in 55:49- Flair has the women all around him for his entrance again. There's a graphics botch as the projected laser (which is admittedly dated but still looks pretty cool, in my opinion) says Rick Flair. Steamboat is out with his wife and little Richie Steamboat in a full dragon costume. I super believe in you, Tad Cooper.
FIRST FALL: Flair struts a little before locking up. After a break in the corner Flair lets out a WOOOOOO and Steamboat slaps him! There's a nice mat chain wrestling sequence with Flair, then Steamboat in control. When they get up Steamboat slaps him again! They stare lasers into each other. The pace is slow to start since they're going almost the full hour, but these guys just staring at each other is almost as compelling as some guys' moves. Flair invites Tommy Young outside to complain about hair pulling. Lots of lock up gamesmanship. Flair uses the tights while Steamboat has him in a headlock to try to roll him over into a cheap pin. Back in the corner, Flair lays in the first chops. Steamboat responds with a long hip toss and a flying headscissors. Steamboat knees Flair in the external occipital protuberance and Flair screams. HUGE backdrop. Flair begs off. He calls Young over to cover and suckers Steamboat into a kick in the gut. Steamboat slides through Flair's legs and gets a roll up for 2. Steamboat cranks on a front facelock. More chops in the corner. Flair Flop! (If you search Flair Flop GIF on Google Image this one of him walking across almost the whole ring to Young then flopping is usually the top result) Flair gets some momentum with an inverted atomic drop until Steamboat kills him with one chop for a 2 count. Steamboat rolls through the rapid fire covers. Flair rolls to the outside and Flair Flop 2! Flair has a long walk before getting back in. Cannon shot chop exchange. Steamboat suplexes Flair from the apron back in. He goes for a big splash but Flair gets his knees up. Flair with a double stomp to the gut. He tries to leverage Steamboat into a pin but Steamboat keeps getting his shoulder just up. Steamboat kips up while their hands are locked. Flair goes for the figure four but Steamboat rolls him into the small package, just like the last match! But, Flair rolls it the other way and gets the Paul Smackage pin! Great callback to the last match.
SECOND FALL: Steamboat wants to lock up, Flair struts. As Flair comes off the ropes Steamboat scoops him up for a press slam, then hits the diving chop off the top rope. Flair comes back and gets the diving knee with a WOOOOOO. He goes for it again but Steamboat dodges. Steamboat works the leg. He drops literally a dozen elbows on the knee and Flair screams for every one. Steamboat figure four! Steamboat punches Flair down to try to get a pin off it. Flair gets to the ropes. Steamboat tries to put it back on, Flair pushes off, so Steamboat switches to a Boston Crab. After Flair gets out there's more chops. The do the bridge up spot and fight over the backslide. Steamboat eventually wins for 2. Flair rolls out and Steamboat chases him. Bad move. Steamboat gets thrown into the guardrail and Flair slams him on the floor. As Steamboat tries to get back in Flair keeps him on the apron, the suplexes him back in for a long 2 count. Abdominal stretch. Flair turns it into a mat hold and tries to get a leverage pin in it. Steamboat fights out. Steamboat flips out of a back suplex and gets a roll up for 2. Flair goes to the top rope. Steamboat catches and crotches him. Superplex! Steamboat starts working Flair's back (yes, of course JR got the plane crash story in). After softening it up Steamboat locks in his brand new secret weapon for this match, the double chicken wing! Flair tries to fight it but pretty quickly submits. Airtight match psychology.
THIRD FALL: Flair's still recovering. He gives Steamboat a shot for space but Flair Flops again. Another Steamboat chop, Flair Flop 4! Steamboat continues to work the back. Flair gets in a kneebreaker while in a headlock. Figure four! Steamboat gets straight to the ropes. Flair and Young have a disagreement. With shoving. More chops. Flair Flip! But Steamboat caches him as he's crossing the apron with a chop! Flair trips Steamboat up in the corner and tries a leverage pin with his feet on the rope but Steamboat still gets out. Flair dodges a dive off the second rope and gets his boot up on a charge. Flair dodges another charge and Steamboat wraps his knee around the top rope. Target acquired. Figure four in the middle of the ring! Steamboat tries to chop out but Flair cranks it harder. Huge drama as Steamboat fights it for a good 5 minutes before finally slowly getting under the ropes for the break. More chops. Flair Flip 2! This time he gets across to the other side, up the top, and off for a crossbody! 2 count. Steamboat tries a bodyslam but his knee buckles. Flair gets 2 off it. Steamboat works his way back up top and hits the big high crossbody! Loooooooooong 2 count. Steamboat sunset flip. Flair tries to fight it and get to the rope, but Steamboat gets him over for 2. Flair with a sleeper! That's not in his usual arsenal, they're digging deep. Steamboat leverages Flair face first into the top turnbuckle. Flair Flop 5 out of the ring! Flair sneaks back in and kicks Steamboat in the knee. Steamboat counters with an enzuguri. Steamboat tries a big splash off the top rope but Flair dodges. Flair works the knee and Steamboat actually backs off. Eventually he finds the fighting spirit to chop back. Now Flair begs off. Flair gets a big back suplex. He goes back up top, but this time Steamboat catches him for the Flair throw. Steamboat locks the double chicken wing in! But his knee gives out! Flair is on top of him, all four shoulders are down, and Tommy Young counts the 3! After a minute he raises Steamboat's hand because he got a shoulder up. But Flair had a foot under the bottom rope. Controversy for one last match. Absolute perfection.This was quite possibly the best wrestling match ever to that point, until Flair and Steamboat get in the ring together again. ******
Afterward in the back Steamboat is with JR. He says he respects Flair and all of Flair's fans but it's time for him to move on to new challengers. He and JR watch replays and he agrees that Flair has a reason to protest but still doesn't offer a rematch.
OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- This is no doubt one of the greatest Clashes ever. There's a couple of eh matches in the middle and this copy is sadly missing one important match, but you've got a great tag match, a nice opening showcase for Muta, and one of the greatest matches of all time.
OVERALL SHOW GRADE: A-
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