Clash of the Champions VII

Legacy Review

Clash of the Champions VII: Guts and Glory

June 14, 1989 from Fort Bragg, NC

Commentary: Jim Ross and Bob Caudle

It's a week out from the start of the Great American Bash tour (which ended with one of the greatest PPVs of all time) as the Clash rolls into the home of, among other units, the 82nd Airborne and the Army Rangers. Unfortunately for everyone involved, this show took place in a building on base that had no air conditioning, with temperatures inside almost reaching slow cooking levels. One of the features are the semifinals and finals of the tournament to crown new World Tag Team Champions, after the Varsity Club were stripped for attacking NWA officials at Wrestle War.

During the open it's clear the crowd is mostly made up of off duty soldiers. I think the words I'm looking for a are drunk and rowdy. And lest anyone think I'm making fun of our soldiers, my dad was in the army over 20 years and even though I never served myself, I know the life and have nothing but respect for our men and women in uniform. The new Turner production crew also seem to still be settling in, as all the graphics during the show are blank. Whoops.

Semifinal Match: The Fabulous Freebirds (w/Terry Gordy) def The Dynamic Dudes in 7:14- Jimmy Garvin is making his debut as an official member of the Freebirds after floating around the group for years. The Dudes are shockingly popular, and this crowd HATES the Freebirds. Like filling up the ring with almost NWO levels of trash hate. Donnybrook start. The Dudes hit stereo atomic drops and back suplexes. Ace gets a sunset flip on Hayes but ref Tommy Young is trying to restore order. The heels regroup outside. Reset with Hayes and Ace. No strutting from Hayes tonight, it's too damn hot in here to waste time. The Dudes work some double teams on Garvin. Garvin gets a double leg takedown on Douglas and the Freebirds double team. Douglas gets a sunset flip for 2. Hayes ducks an Ace crossbody attempt. Garvin with a hot shot for 2. Ace is thrown outside and Hayes works him over on the floor. Garvin/Ace midring collision and Ace makes a tag. Douglas does a slide under roll up for 2. Donnybrooking again. The Dudes double dropkick Hayes and double backdrop Garvin. Douglas rolls Garvin up but Young is distracted again. Hayes comes in, plants Douglas with a DDT, and Garvin covers to win. Match was disjointed and off from the start, which will be a theme tonight in these conditions. *1/2

We get a commercial for the Wrestling Hotline that has to be seen to be believed. I'm not even trying, just watch it. It's Rifftrax material.

 

Ranger Ross def The Terrorist in 1:25- The Terrorist is, you guessed it, Jack Victory in a mask. This is the most obvious booking you could think of for a military base show. Unlike some other military gimmicked wrestlers, Ross really was a Ranger. He's the Robin Hood with the real English accent. Terrorist ambushes Ross from behind during his entrance because that's what terrorists do. JR gets his first ad hits of the night in, working Coors and Domino's in. Ross hits a flying forearm to come back. After a flying clothesline the "combat kick" (a barely special looking kick) finishes the squash. 1/4*

The Road Warriors get the '80s music video treatment. Afterward, JR is in the ring for the Great Muta's "demonstration" with a couple of jobbers. Gary Hart shuts it all down, saying Muta's not interested in beating up a couple of gaijins and wants someone like Eddie Gilbert, Luger or Sting. Um, by definition all those guys are gaijins. Anyway, Eddie Gilbert runs in and tries to throw a fireball (some flash paper) at Muta but one of the jobbers gets it instead. Gilbert needs lessons from Bray Wyatt and Alexa Bliss on proper fireball throwing.

The Ding Dongs def Cougar Jay and George South in 3:00- Oh. Dear. Lord. The Ding Dongs. This is one of the most infamous pieces of wrestling crap there is. The team started out as one of many Rock N Roll Express wannabes in the southern territories, the Rock & Roll Rebels. They moved up to the big time with WCW, but unfortunately for them Jim Herd decided to saddle them with the first of his many dud gimmicks. The Dongs are from Bellville USA, wear bright orange with bell logos, have wrist and ankle straps covered in little bells, and have a large bell in their corner that is rung by whichever member is not in the ring at the time. The kids will love them, Jim Herd thought. Yeah, they were supposed to love the Gobbeldy Gooker too. Most kids are sharper than we give them credit for. Though to be fair, debuting them in an arena of 90% soldiers wasn't the best move either. JR: "I guess call that one Ding and the other one Dong, I don't know". Caudle calls them a "very bizarre team". The crowd shits all over it something fierce. The Dongs double team off a criss cross and one of them hits a Thesz press for 2. JR and Caudle complain about the incessant bell ringing messing up the audio, and comment rightly that the little wrist and ankle bells are coming off and are all over the ring. A Dong flying elbow/flying kneedrop combo finishes it. JR puts the cherry on top by straight up saying, "Well that was horrible". DUD match, MINUS FIVE STARS debut

 

Semifinal Match: The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) def The Samoan SWAT Team (w/Paul E Dangerously) in 6:00- This is a rematch of a really good match at Clash 6. The Express are still faces, for now. During their entrance a drunk fan/soldier gets in the ring. As the MPs get rid of him Cornette tells him "We're going to save your life, we're gonna let you sleep it off". Paul E taunts Cornette and Cornette takes a swing at him, setting off another match opening donnybrook. Lane and Fatu completely blow a backdrop spot. It wasn't even close. The Express hit some double teams. Samu comes in illegally and hits Eaton with a superkick to put him in peril. A chop sends Eaton outside and Fatu suplexes him on the floor. Eaton dodges and Fatu posts his shoulder. Express tag. Lane hits a Russian leg sweep. Fatu breaks the pin up and we're pier sixing again. Young goes down. The Road Warriors run in, take the SST out, and Lane covers for the pin. *1/4

JR is dripping sweat during his next stand up segment, leading into the replay of Terry Funk attacking Ric Flair after Flair's title win at Wrestle War.

 

Terry Gordy and "Dr. Death" Steve Williams go to a double countout in 6:26- These guys feuded in both Mid-South/UWF and Japan. Williams ambushes during Gordy's entrance. Football tackles. Gordy counters with a clothesline. Huge stiff Gordy corner clothesline. Williams pounds Gordy down in the corner. JR gets a Coors mention in again. Caudle says it's 120 degrees in here and JR replies with a sarcastic "Isn't it great". Bodyslam exchange. Williams hits a crossbody for 2. A forearm sends Gordy out. They "fight" (slowly walk) up the ramp for the double countout. Huge bullshit chant. It was nicely stiff as you'd expect from these two, but in the heat they were both done after a few minutes. Call me crazy, but these guys might make a good tag team someday. **

Tonight's Clash of the Champions is brought to you by Lyle.

 

Norman the Lunatic (w/Teddy Long) def Mike Justice in :47- This is Norman's WCW debut. He'd been working a bunch of different big man gimmicks, mostly in Canada, and would go on later to be the infamous Bastion Booger in WWF. Teddy Long has a set of keys that he uses to control Norman. They're supposed to be the keys to his padded cell at the nut house. Norman's also in psychiatric hospital issued pajamas. The match is a complete squash that Norman wins with an avalanche. Afterward a bunch of doctors and nurses roll a gurney out and strap Norman down on it to leave. Another Jim Herd Special Gimmick. 1/4*

Another music video style package, this one for WCW newcomer "Flyin'" Brian Pillman.

 

The Varsity Club def The Steiner Brothers (w/Missy Hyatt) in 8:36- This is Scott's first major TV match and he's out in a tshirt instead of a varsity jacket and bright yellow trunks. He walked right in to one of the hottest feuds in the company. Scott and Sullivan start. Steinerline! Rotunda runs in and Rick fights him off. A basic sequence ends with a Scott powerslam. In deference to the heat and getting through matches quickly, Rotunda forgoes the normal stalling portion of the night's program. More Steinerlines! Rotunda picks Rick up and throws him out of a headlock with a Saitoish suplex. Rick Steinerlines Sullivan coming out of the corner. Scott crossbody on Rotunda for 2. Scott hooks Rotunda up for a suplex. Rick and Sullivan both run in. While the ref is getting Rick out, Sullivan helps Rotunda get Scott up and they drop him down to the floor! On his way down Scott's back caught the corner of the commentary table and it quickly bruises up something fierce. Welcome to the pros, kid. Sullivan posts Scott and throws the ring steps on him. Back in, Rotunda hits a double underhook suplex for 2. I can't imagine how much worse those back bumps feel for Scott with that giant bruise forming. The phantom tag spot lets the heels double team, but Scott quickly dodges a dropkick and gets the real tag. Rick goes up for mounted punches on Rotunda. Sullivan goes over on the apron side, so Rick takes turns punching both of them! Rotunda gets his knees up on a Scott splash attempt. Sullivan gets a chair in the ring. Rotunda suplexes Scott onto the chair (again ouch on that bruised back) and gets the win. That's more like it. Rotunda and Sullivan kept up with the Steiners stiff for stiff and wild throw for wild throw. ***1/4

 

NWA World Television Championship: Sting (c) def "Wild" Bill Irwin in 3:14- Irwin has a whip and uses it to keep Sting out of the ring. The ref takes it away and Sting goes to work. JR notes that he offered Luger a seat at commentary and Luger refused. Planting seeds for later. Irwin goes through his not at all impressive offense. Sting counters a backdrop and hits a suplex for 1. The crowd is absolutely ballistic for Sting. Irwin dodges the Stinger Splash and catches Sting in a spinebusterish like slam. He gets his whip again, but while his back's turned Sting hits him from behind with the Splash and rolls him up to win. *

Yet one more video package for a WCW newcomer, this time Scott "Gator" Hall, the first of several failed WCW gimmicks before he hit it big as Razor Ramon in WWF. At this stage in his career Hall looks almost exactly like a slightly taller Magnum TA. It's the hair and mustache.

Next up is a pretaped JR interview of Ric Flair at Flair's home, his first appearance on TV since winning the world title back and Terry Funk's attack at Wrestle War. Flair has a neck brace on to sell the injuries. He says he's going to the hospital for rehab twice a day and has daily visits with his doctors, lawyers and accountants. He's looking at the possibility of life after wrestling. He promises to make an announcement about his future July 1. All in all, it's very similar to his '83 angle with Harley Race.

 

Finals of the Tournament for the Vacant NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Fabulous Freebirds (w/Terry Gordy) def The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) in 10:03- The crowd thinned out considerably during the Flair segment. During the Midnight's entrance Paul E comes out and nails Cornette with a loaded tennis racket. Cornette's dead and has to be carried to the back. Lane and Hayes start. Arrogant headlock from Hayes. Lane hits a couple of armdrags and Hayes scrambles for a tag. Express double teams on Garvin for 2. Garvin hides in the corner. Lane hits an enzuguri. Hayes and Garvin jaw with the crowd and stall. Garvin gets knees to Eaton's gut back in to take over. Hayes clocks Eaton with the straight left. Freebird taunting and double teams. Eaton gives Garvin a buckle shot and tags. Garvin dodges an elbow in the corner. Lane counters a Hayes backdrop attempt with a DDT. Express double flapjack on Garvin for 2. One last donnybrook. Gordy comes in, power bombs Eaton, and Garvin covers for 2 and the titles. They tried. **

 

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def Terry Funk by DQ in 14:00- Funk's targeting former world champ and still #1 contender Steamboat as part of his path to Flair. Roll around lockup with ref Nick Patrick in the middle trying to break it up. Huge chop exchange in the corner. Shoulderblock exchange. Funk haymakers put Steamboat down. Fight on the floor. Steamboat hits chops and runs Funk into the guardrail. Back in, Funk hits a neckbreaker. Steamboat chops back. Funk does the Flair Flip, and when he goes down to the floor it's almost head first! Steamboat diving chop off the top rope to the floor! He scoops Funk up, carries him around the entire ring, and slams him on the floor. Funk gets back in. Steamboat scoops him up again, and slams him back down to the floor! Funk gets a boot up in the corner, hits some chops and the piledriver. Steamboat kicks out! A double whip reversal in the corner ends with a ref bump. Funk throws Steamboat out and hits a piledriver on the floor. He suplexes Steamboat back in, gets Patrick up and covers. Steamboat *just* kicks out! Funk goes for a splash off the top but Steamboat gets his knees up. Everyone in the ring looks exhausted and drenched in sweat, including Patrick. Steamboat diving chop off the top rope. An enzuguri to Funk's back sends him crashing outside again. Funk grabs a mic from the commentary table and whacks Steamboat with it. Patrick calls for the bell. That's what you call a show saving main event, crappy finish or no. ***3/4

 

And it's not done. US Champ Lex Luger comes out with a chair and chases Funk off. He helps Steamboat up......then kills him with a clothesline! Luger heel turn! He wants to be #1 contender and can't stand it's still Steamboat over him. He beats Steamboat down with a chair and puts him in the torture rack until Sting runs him off.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- On the bad side, the conditions weren't conductive to great wrestling and this show has a couple of the original Jim Herd dud gimmicks. On the plus side, the crowd (or what was left of it at the end) was red hot, the major matches mostly delivered and the overall booking picture continued to be great. A bit of a speed bump, but not a complete disaster.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C

Saturday Night's Main Event XX

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XX

Before getting going, I usually don't talk about myself or say anything to take focus off the reviews, but it turns out this is the 100th post that I've put onto the Legacy Blog (reviews and Deep Thoughts combined) and I want to take a moment and thank everyone who's taken the time to read and hopefully enjoy the writing here, and particularly my friends that encouraged me to start and have supported this little hobby from the beginning. This has been a labor of love. I don't do this for money, there's no ads and I don't make a penny off any of this. I do it all for fun, and I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have. Here's to the next 100! And with that out of the way, back to regular programming...

March 11, 1989 (taped February 16) from the Hersheypark Arena in Hershey, PA

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

We're a few weeks out from Wrestlemania 5 and most of the matches have been set. Ventura steals Vince's usual intros in a funny bit. There's some audio issues with this show, likely from the original recording. Not awful, but noticeable.

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake def "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan) by DQ in 5:45- It's kind of funny hearing Ventura bemoan the possibility of Rude getting his hair cut when Rude would cut it short for the rest of his career barely a year after this. Rude has the Ultimate Warrior, who he's challenging for the IC title at WM, on the back of his tights. Fast Beefcake start. Rude does his classic hurt ass selling after landing on it after a backdrop. Beefcake ducks a wild punch and hooks the sleeper in. Rude runs him into the top turnbuckle, then inverted atomic drops out of mounted punches. Rude suplex and arrogant cover for 2. Beefcake tries to elbow out of a chinlock but Rude hair pulls him back in. Andre the Giant comes to ringside. Beefcake jawbreakers out of the chinlock and hits an inverted atomic drop with the usual A+ Rude sell. Rude gets a knee up in the corner and throws Beefcake out. Andre sits on him and chokes him. Jake Roberts comes to ringside. Andre sees him and bails. Rude and Roberts renew acquaintances from their long '88 feud and start fighting on the floor as the ref calls for the bell. The heels double team Roberts. Beefcake fights Rude off but gets pounded down by Andre. Now Big John Studd (who won the Royal Rumble but they don't even bother mentioning that) comes to the ring. This is like one of those endless revolving door promos on Raw where someone new comes out every 30 seconds to keep getting entrance pops. Andre and Studd stare down until Roberts throws Damien in and Andre skedaddles. The match was decent before the giant schmozz. **

Ventura and Bad News Brown accuse Elizabeth of trading "favors" with Jack Tunney in exchange for special treatment. That's, uh, not PG. Hogan is so furious he tells Mean Gene to shut up and cuts his whole promo on Savage, completely ignoring Brown.

 

Hulk Hogan (w/Elizabeth) def Bad News Brown in 9:44- Hogan makes a big show of opening the ropes for Elizabeth, once again proving Savage right. Brown attacks while the ref is checking Hogan. Hogan dodges elbow drops and does a mini hulk up. A punch sends Brown to the floor. Hogan flips him back in. He runs Brown over with a shoulderblock and clothesline. Big boot. Brown no sells a buckle shot. Hogan gets a boot up in the corner and atomic drops Brown to the floor again. Guardrail shot for Brown. After an eye rake Hogan gets posted. He ducks a punch and Brown punches the post, but quickly shrugs it off and grabs a chair. Hogan blocks it and Brown gets hit in the head with, again, no effect. Brown checks under the ring on all four sides, doesn't find what he's looking for, tells Hogan to wait right there and goes to the back. Hogan stops the count. Brown comes back with a giant metal snow shovel. Hogan wrestles it away and it's never used again. That was kind of pointless. Back in, Brown comes out of a corner bump with a clothesline. A Brown bodyslam and legdrop get 2. Hogan rolls outside. Brown scares Elizabeth off from helping. Hogan hits Brown from behind. Brown counters and Hogan gets posted. Brown hits a Russian leg sweep, but Hogan's got a boot under the ropes. Brown asks for the mic. He mocks Hogan and says "ghetto blaster time, fool". He goes for it but Hogan ducks. Hulk Up. Hogan flips the script by hitting a jumping high knee, then the legdrop to finish it. That turned out to be a pretty decent brawl, with Hogan letting Brown work his style match. **1/2

Savage is pacing outside Elizabeth's locker room, almost knocking then stopping himself. Ted DiBiase debuts the brand new Million Dollar Belt. Blue Blazer (Owen Hart) channels his inner Kota Ibushi and Io Shirai, saying he's going to fly off the rafters.

 

"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil) def The Blue Blazer in 3:57- DiBiase waits for Blazer to do his usual entrance backflip and nails him with a clothesline as soon as he lands. After a bit of beating down Blazer counters a backdrop attempt into a small package for 2. Blazer blocks a hiptoss and backslides for 2. DiBiase takes control back with a clothesline and double ax handle off the second rope. Usual well calculated DiBiase mix of hitting moves and taunting the crowd. DiBiase goes for a backdrop but Blazer flips out of it onto his feet! A dropkick sends DiBiase outside. TOPE SUICIDA! MAMMA MIA! Blazer ducks a punch and atomic drops DiBiase into the post. Crossbody off the top for 2. European uppercuts from Blazer followed by another cover for 2. On a rope run DiBiase catches a jumping Blazer in midair, flips it over into a powerslam, and gets a clean pin. Fantastic finish to a tremendous stiff sprint. ***

Mean Gene is on the promo stage with Elizabeth, who is supposed to give her decision on who's corner she will be in at WM. Elizabeth waffles, calling it the hardest decision of her life. I don't know if there's ever been anyone in wrestling history better at getting genuine sympathy than Elizabeth. Okerlund asks if she'll be in Hogan's corner. Elizabeth says no. Savage storms out to gloat. After a lot of interruptions Savage finally lets Okerlund ask Elizabeth point blank if she'll be in Savage's corner. After a moment's thought, Elizabeth gives an emphatic NO. Savage is furious. Hogan comes out and Elizabeth stands between them. The whole feud encapsulated in one image. Hogan says he can wait until WM to kick Savage's head off and take the title back.

 

The Brain Busters (w/Bobby Heenan) and The Rockers go to a double countout in 9:19- The legendary feud is on. The Busters pull the Suzuki-Gun ambush. Arn and Shawn fight on the floor. Janetty flips out of an attempted slingshot suplex by Tully, but Tully reverses the reversal and rolls Janetty up. The ref is trying to get Arn to his corner, and while Tully's holding Janetty down Shawn comes off the top rope with a crossbody to break the pin up in style! The Rockers spin around and take the heels out. Arn pounds Shawn down a bit trying to come back in the ring. He goes to the top rope but Shawn slams him off. Boston crab on Arn. Tully tries coming off the top to break it up but Shawn catches him with a punch in the gut. Donnybrook! Stereo slide under and stereo superkicks from the Rockers! Shawn suplexes Tully back in and hits a flying headscissors. A great extended Arn/Shawn speed sequence ends with Shawn in the heel corner. Heenan pulls the top rope down and Shawn tumbles to the floor. Heenan kicks him while he's down. The ref catches him and throws him out. Back from commercial with a Tully/Janetty slugfest. Janetty gets Tully up in an atomic drop, but before he comes down Tully tags Arn. Arn sneaks behind and catches Janetty with a clothesline. The Busters hit double teams and Janetty is Rocker in peril. Desperation Janetty sunset flip for 2. Tully throws him outside. Janetty sunset flips Arn coming back in. Tully breaks the pin up. Janetty and Tully do a little obvious maneuvering to get into position for a bridge up/backslide spot. Janetty dives for a tag but Tully *just* holds him back. World's Greatest Spinebuster! Arn stalls on the cover and Shawn breaks it up. Arn goes for a Vader Bomb but Janetty gets his knees up. Hot tag! Shawn cleans house. He hooks Arn up for a suplex. Arn blocks it, and Tully comes down with a sunset flip off the top rope on Shawn! Shawn fights it, so Arn murders him with a clothesline! Janetty breaks it up. Donnybrook the Second: Donnybrooking on the Floor! The ref counts everybody out. Wish it had a definitive finish, but these guys were absofrigginglute magic together. It's criminal they didn't get a PPV match. ***3/4

 

Recap of the Heenan/Rooster breakup, including a clip from a recent Prime Time Wrestling where Heenan suckered Rooster in with a fake apology and Brawler beat him up. Gorilla Monsoon even took a shot in the melee.

 

The Red Rooster def The Brooklyn Brawler (w/Bobby Heenan) in 1:05- Quick Brawler pounding. Heenan's mic'd up again. Rooster puts the brakes on a corner whip and takes control. He counters a Brawler backdrop attempt into a Paul Smackage to win. Rooster wants Heenan after. Heenan keeps him busy while Brawler recovers and hits him from behind. Rooster fights him off and Heenan bails. 1/2*

We get some more Savage ranting in the back to close out a tremendous show. If you're cherry picking the best SNMEs to watch, make sure this is one of them.

The Main Event II

Legacy Review

The Main Event II

February 3, 1989 from the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

We're on the road to Wrestlemania 5 with the second annual live Friday night NBC prime time show. We get a video recap of the long feud that started with Hogan vs Boss Man and expanded to both teams. Slick straight up says it's going to be a 3 on 2 match. The Mega Powers make a lot of references to tearing down the Twin Towers that look more and more out of place the longer we get post-9/11.

The Mega Powers (w/Elizabeth) def The Twin Towers (w/Slick) in 22:00- Savage wants to start. The Powers consult Elizabeth and she agrees. But Boss Man wants Hogan instead. Savage resists but eventually relents. Hogan punches for all the heels. An atomic drop sends Boss Man over the top and out and the heels regroup. Back in, Boss Man gets a couple of shots in before Hogan murders him with buckle shots. After a Hogan whip Boss Man grabs the rope and slides out. Savage pushes him from behind into the post. Hogan gets Akeem in the face corner and he and Savage pinball him with punches. Savage double ax handle off the top rope. Hogan double ax handle off the second rope (as high as he'll go). Akeem eye rakes Hogan. Boss Man hits a clothesline and a piledriver, but doesn't cover and offers Akeem a chance to do damage instead. Hogan deadlifts Boss Man to the floor. Boss Man pulls him out. Slugfest on the floor. Slick holds Hogan down to prevent a tag. Boss Man spinebuster for a long 2. Hogan dodges a double team and tags. Savage crossbody off the top for 2! Shout out to the recently departed Ricky Steamboat perhaps? Slick hits Savage in the back with the nightstick on a rope run. Akeem throws Savage out and Elizabeth helps him recover. Savage gets back in and Akeem throws him out again, this time right on top of Elizabeth! This was a massive spot for the time, Elizabeth did nothing physical during matches at all. Hogan runs over to help Elizabeth. Savage recovers and sees Hogan on top of her and has a few questions. Akeem hits him from behind before he can ask them and drags him back in the ring. As Savage is fighting the heels off Hogan picks Elizabeth up to carry her to the back. Savage watches from the ring, incredulous. A stretcher meets Hogan halfway and he puts Elizabeth on it, but stays with her all the way backstage. TV goes away from the match completely as they stay with Hogan and Elizabeth going through the arena to the first aid room. Hogan still stays there and prays for Elizabeth to be OK, the match completely forgotten. Back from commercial with Savage being beaten down again, but Hogan is still with Elizabeth. She wakes up and tells Hogan to go back to the ring. As he gets back Savage is still down but holding on. The Twin Towers hit a double team backbreaker. They go for a double splash, but Akeem falls out of the ring (huh?) and Savage dodges Boss Man. But he refuses to tag or even look at Hogan and takes Boss Man and Akeem out himself. Once the ring is cleared he turns his attention to Hogan and has some problems with how he's conducted himself tonight. Savage slaps Hogan! I guess that was a tag, because Boss Man starts beating on Hogan and the ref allows it. Savage starts to leave. Hogan dodges a double avalanche. He and Savage argue some more. Savage grabs the belt and leaves for good. Akeem hits an avalanche and the 747. Hulk Up. Legdrop and Hogan Still Wins LOL. Hard to really rate this as it's more angle than match, but the match part was pretty bleh so give it *.

 

The angle continues. The camera follows a furious Hogan to the back looking for Savage. Savage is ranting at Elizabeth while she's still laying on the stretcher. Hogan gets to the back and yells "What's wrong with you?" at Savage. Savage says "What's wrong with YOU?", tells Hogan he's out of line, he's got jealous eyes, Savage has carried him this whole time and he's #1 in the team even though Hogan and Elizabeth tried to put him in the back seat, Hogan's scared to ask for a title shot man to man because he's scared of Savage and knows he'll lose, and tops it off with the legendary "THOSE EYES.....THOSE EYES LUST ELIZABETH!" Brawl in the makeshift ER! Elizabeth tries to protect Hogan. Savage THROWS her out of the way! Brutus Beefcake comes in to save Hogan, followed by WWF officials (with Pat Patterson yelling "You cool it!" in his distinctive accent, RIP Pat). And scene. Savage has turned heel and the Mega Powers are no more.

Hogan might have starred in the movies, but Savage ran acting circles around him in that segment.

"The Million Dollar Man" Ted DiBiase (w/Virgil) def Hercules in 7:12- I believe this is the final TV blowoff of the "DiBiase bought Herc's contract and tried to turn him into a slave" feud. Herc jumps DiBiase as soon as he gets to the ring. Atomic drop and a clothesline send DiBiase 360 and out. Virgil goes to the top rope and gets thrown off. Herc flips DiBiase back in. Press slam. Another atomic drop puts DiBiase on the floor again. DiBiase snap mares Herc over the top to the floor. Back in DiBiase rolls through his usuals with Herc doing the big power kickout of pin attempts. Herc blocks and reverses a suplex. He reverses a corner whip but DiBiase instantly puts a boot up on the follow up charge. Backbreaker for 2. Herc blocks a buckle shot and gives DiBiase a series of them. Powerslam. As they're fighting in one corner Virgil takes Herc's chain and wraps it around the top turnbuckle in another corner. DiBiase tries to ram Herc into it but Herc reverses and DiBiase eats it. Cover, but DiBiase manages to kick out. Another ram into the chain. Herc gets DiBiase up in the torture rack but Virgil has the ref distracted, then the ref decides that chain looks suspicious and needs immediate removing. Virgil distracts Herc and DiBiase rolls him up with a handful of tights for the pin. Thankfully more a DiBiase than a Hercules match. **1/4

 

Mean Gene is in the back with a still recovering Hogan. At least he's still selling and not doing the Superman instant recovery. Hogan proves Savage right by moaning Elizabeth's name. He gets up, screams "RANDYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" and leaves. The show closes with Hogan destroying the backstage area looking for Savage, including pushing both Shawn Michaels and Bret Hart out of his way. There's some serious unintentional metaphor.

Clash of the Champions V

Legacy Review

Clash of the Champions V: St. Valentine's Massacre

February 15, 1989 from the Cleveland Convention Center in Cleveland, OH

Commentary: Jim Ross and Magnum TA

This is the go home show for Chi-Town Rumble, the first of several new PPVs in '89 under the new Turner regime, which is only 5 days away. They're trying something different with the lighting for entrances. It's different for the time, but comes across less as "wrestling entrance" and more like "cheap nightclub". Like the kind of place you'd expect to see Dragon Sound playing.

The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) def The Russian Assassins (w/Paul Jones) in 13:14- Lane starts with, by default, RA1. I think Kevin Dunn crapped out a turd that achieved sentience and is directing this show. There's been like 6 different camera angles in the first 45 seconds and I'm not even counting the crowd cutaways. Lane breaks out the karate kicks. The Express double team RA2. Jones "threatens" to get in the ring. Like the last Clash there's a picture in picture Paul E Dangerously promo to hype up the Midnights vs Midnights rematch at Chi-Town. Paul E then walks out of the frame to join commentary. Which is a great Police Squad style gag they definitely should have done. Eaton gets backed into the heel corner and has to fight out. Jones and Cornette throws their jackets off and threaten to throw down on the floor. The match stops while the wrestlers separate them. More double teams from the Express. Cornette gets a racket shot in. The RA might have swapped without tagging, to be honest between the horrid camera cuts and angles and general crappiness of the match I stopped keeping track. Lane gets hit from behind and goes Midnight in peril. Bear hug. RA suplex for 2. Bear Hug 2: Revenge of the Bear Hug. Lane fights his arms in and hiptosses out but can't get the tag. Bear Hug 3: Stu Hart Once Wrestled A Bear. Lane tries a flippy move in the corner and misses by a mile. A comeback crossbody gets a 2 count. An RA seems to fall down while trying to put a Boston Crab on. Lane dodges the Russian Missile (double team avalanche) and tags. Eaton cleans house. Donnybrook. The rocket launcher finishes it. The Midnights had to both carry the RA and fight the crappy camera work. Needless to say, it was too much even for them. *3/4

 

"Hacksaw" Butch Reed def Steven Casey in 17:36- Thankfully someone in the back realized the last match looked like a fight scene from a Joel Schumacher Batman movie and got them to tone the camera work down a bit. Reed celebrates a clean break heel style. Casey leapfrogs a backdrop and hits a dropkick. Early long match arm work. Casey uses wrestling proficiency to keep Reed in holds. Reed stalls then uses heel 101 to keep Casey in holds. Casey's got the junior heavyweight trunks on tonight. That's way more of him than I ever needed to see. More Reed stalling before a test of strength. Reed wins that and throws Casey out. Back in Reed cranks on a double chinlock. Casey tries to power out so Reed hair pulls him into a regular chinlock. Casey comes back. Reed uses the tights to leverage him outside again and suplexes him back in for 2. While Reed's running the ropes Casey tries a dropkick, but Reed just stops and walks away from it. OK, that was funny. Back to the double chinlock. Casey runs him into the top turnbuckle. Monkey flip. Reed catches Casey on a crossbody and press slams him. The football tackle off the top rope ends it. Reed had some good intensity, but this was still way, way, way too long. *1/2

Ric Flair is out to hype up his world title match with Ricky Steamboat at Chi-Town, and he's got all the women with him. There's an escort agency in Cleveland that had a big payday this night. Flair's got on a $15,000 mink coat and $1500 custom made silk suit (1989 dollars). He calls Steamboat out and offers Bob Caudle his pick of the women. Steamboat comes out in his wrestling gear. Flair says he must be bored to death going home to the same woman every night. He tells Steamboat to do himself a favor and walk away before their match. Steamboat says he despises everything Flair stands for. Flair drops the famous line: "Why don't you go home and help the missus with the dishes? I'm going downtown!". Steamboat attacks and it's on! Steamboat rips Flair's suit off. Flair gets chops in. Steamboat chops back and pulls Flair's pants off. Flair's in only his underwear and socks but that's not stopping him! Steamboat his the crossbody off the top rope. Hiro Matsuda wraps Steamboat up and Flair gets more stiff chops in. Steamboat's chest is already red. Flair Flip! They go over the guardrail and fight into the crowd. Steamboat comes back to the ring, tries Flair's tie and jacket on for size then throws it out into the crowd. A fantastic final setup for what would become arguably the greatest trilogy of matches of all time.

 

"The Total Package" Lex Luger def The Blackmailer (w/Hiro Matsuda) in 12:53- Jack Victory, NWA/WCW one night generic masked heel extraordinaire, has done a quick costume change from Russian Assassin to Blackmailer to work his second match of the night. Matsuda is throwing this "unknown wrestler" at Luger to wear him down before his US title match against Barry Windham at Chi-Town. Luger throws Blackmailer around out of lockups. Shoulderblock standoff. 3/4 of the match consists of Luger cranking a headlock, do a couple of moves, back in the headlock. JR passes it off as strategery, Luger not wanting to give away any of his PPV game plan. Luger does that opponent dodges and he flies over the top to the floor move he loved to do back in these days when he could move. Blackmailer works the most generic of generic heel offense. Finally Luger hulks up, hits a couple of clotheslines, and finishes Blackmailer off with a superplex as a message to Windham. No matter how hard JR tried to butter this up (BBQ sauce it up?) as some epic, it sucked. 3/4*

NWA United States Tag Team Championship: The Varsity Club (c) (w/Kevin Sullivan) def The Fantastics in 13:25- This is a sort of rematch from Starrcade. The Sullivan/Williams duo defeated the Fantastics for the titles, but under Freebird rules tonight it's Williams and Rotunda defending. Rogers and Rotunda start. Rotunda (stop me if you've heard this before) stalls. He hits a couple of amateur takedowns and they do some mat wrestling. Rogers hits an armdrag and Rotunda bitches about a singlet pull. A speed sequence leads to a Rogers sorta Thesz Press for 2. Rogers and Williams clothesline each other. Rogers sells. Williams doesn't. Fantastics double dropkick. Fulton pushes Williams out of a headlock but instead of hitting the ropes Williams just falls down. He covers by turning around and wrapping Fulton up in a headlock. These guys are not on the same page at all. They have an obvious long conversation while on the mat. Almost Dolph Ziggler shouting out spots in that busted Elimination Chamber match level. Rogers sunset flips Rotunda for 2. He ducks a Williams clothesline, hits a crossbody and tags. While Fulton is hitting mounted punches on Rotunda Williams pushes him off and he drops down to the floor. Williams comes around and drops him on the rail. Williams double ax handle off the second rope for 2. The heels roll through more FIP near falls. Fulton gets knees up on a Rotunda splash but Williams cuts the tag off. Williams with a press slam and football tackle. He cinches up for the Stampede, but Fulton grabs the top rope, falls on top of Williams, and gets the tag. Donnybrook. Rogers hits a crossbody off the top but the ref's distracted. Rotunda pops him in the back of the head off the second rope and Williams covers for the pin. They had a decent recovery after a terrible start. **

 

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat def Bob Bradley in 6:23- This is a "tune up" match for Steamboat's world title match on Monday, the NWA term for a jobber squash. Still, with it being Steamboat, Bradley gets a lot of offense in. Steamboat's chest is still red from Flair's chops. The crowd has no interest in an extended squash and chants "We want Flair!" several times. Bradley's only move seems to be a body slam. Steamboat hits about a dozen DEEP armdrags and does the chop off the top/crossbody off the top combo to finish it. *1/4

 

NWA World Television Champion Rick Steiner def Rip Morgan in 4:40- The Sheepherders left for the WWF and left Morgan holding the Kiwi flag. Morgan does a kind of tribal dance at the start. Steiner watches for a bit then bites his thigh. Steinerline! While Morgan's recovering on the outside Steiner and his hand puppet Alex have a detailed discussion of the potential economic recovery programs of the incoming George Bush administration and if "Read my lips, no new taxes" will hold up or not. Morgan tries to ram Steiner's head into the top turnbuckle. Steiner shows him how pointless that is. Steiner with a powerslam. Morgan gets a boot up in the corner and a diving reverse elbow for 2 but misses a splash off the second rope. Steinerline! Morgan grabs a bear hug. Another major tactical screw up. Steiner turns it into a huge belly to belly suplex for the win. Steiner's usual stiffness was fun at least. *1/2

Caudle is in the back with the scheduled challengers for the 6 man titles: Sting, the Junkyard Dog and Michael Hayes. Sting is crazy wild eyed coked up Sting. Hayes says the Freebirds invented 6 man tag wrestling. JYD is...JYD. They go to a convenient hidey hole to strategize. But unfortunately for them it's a hidey hole with a gate, and evil mastermind Kevin Sullivan sneaks up and locks them in! The Varsity Club charge into the ring to take their spot in the next match....

 

NWA World Six Man Tag Team Championship: The Road Warriors and Genichiro Tenryu (c) and The Varsity Club go to a double DQ in 5:53- Massive brawl start. The VC and then the champs take turns clearing the ring. We cut back and forth from the match to the scene in the back where Doug Dellinger is trying to find the right key for the lock Sullivan put on. One, there's only like three options on that key ring of his. Two, it's SULLIVAN'S LOCK. Not arena supplied. Sullivans's probably got the key in...well, never mind, I don't even want to go there. Animal kills everyone with clotheslines. Hawk tackles Sullivan. Tenryu schools Rotunda and hits an enzuguri on Williams. Williams gets Animal in the VC corner. They post his arm and go to work on it. Around this time Dellinger's found some bolt cutters and gets the faces free. After a couple more minutes they storm the ring and it's pier 6 brawling everywhere until the show closes. This was all angle, trying to snowflake the match is pretty pointless. The six man belts themselves would be mercifully and humanely put down a couple of weeks after this show. NR

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS: Outside the fantastic Steamboat/Flair build there's nothing on here I can recommend at all. Possibly the weakest Clash, at least until the worst of the Jim Herd years. Even the Turner camera crew and TV production staff were trying to figure out how to put this wrasslin' thing on TV even though they inherited a pretty good staff from Crockett. This was an inconspicuous start to what would ultimately turn out to be a fantastic year of wrestling.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+

Saturday Night's Main Event XIX

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XIX

January 7, 1989 (taped December 7, 1988) from the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, FL

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

Hair vs Hair Match: Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake def "Outlaw" Ron Bass in 7:40- This stems form Bass' pre-Summerslam attack on Beefcake that took him out of the IC title match that Warrior ultimately won (like Beefcake wouldn't have forgotten about the title halfway through the match and would just want to cut Honky's hair like every other match they had). Bass jumps Beefcake as he gets in and chokes him with his whip. Beefcake escapes, takes the whip and goes full Indiana Jones with cheesy spaghetti western whip cracking sounds dubbed on. Bass waits outside until the ref takes the whip away. A Beefcake high knee sends Bass out again to more stalling. Reset lockup in the ring, leading to a slugfest. Beefcake does some ground and pound. He goes for mounted punches but Bass counters with an inverted atomic drop. Bass gutbuster. He drapes Beefcake across the top in the corner and kicks him out. Bass stays working the midsection for a while, keeping some tight psychology. He breaks the pattern with a piledriver. He covers Beefcake but then stops the count. He wants more damage. He drops Beefcake over the top rope, covers and lifts up again. After a clothesline he covers for real. Beefcake just kicks out. Bass thinks its 3 and gets Beefcake's shears. Beefcake ducks another clothesline and locks in the sleeper. Bass goes out. Solid stuff. Bass gets the full haircut job after, not just a little off the top. **

 

Hulk Hogan (w/Elizabeth) def Akeem (w/The Big Boss Man and Slick) in 8:06- Savage is in the back with Okerlund watching at a proper TV watching angle. Hogan dodges an Akeem charge at the bell, picks Slick up, and throws him into Akeem. He stuffs his bandanna in Akeem's mouth and punches it out, then goes outside and picks Slick up again to throw him into Boss Man. Hogan mocks Akeem's dance. He goes for a slam but Akeem blocks it. Another Akeem corner charge that Hogan dodges. Round the world buckle shots. Boss Man eats another clothesline. Akeem tries to hair pull out of an arm wringer. A running Hogan elbow knocks Akeem down. He's whipped into Boss Man again. Akeem begs off and Hogan mocks his dance again. As Hogan charges with a clothesline Akeem pulls Hebner in the way and he's down and out. The heels take advantage to 2 on 1 double team with Boss Man's nightstick and Akeem 747s. Savage is still watching from the back (in very badly edited cutaways, it's like they're in different arenas) and thinks Hogan can take it. Elizabeth runs to the back and we get a quick glimpse of the Gorilla Position circa 1989. Elizabeth begs Savage to come help but he still thinks Hogan's got it. Elizabeth goes back by herself. Hogan is hulking up. A clothesline sends Akeem down. Boss Man and Slick take shots again. Slick is bumping as much as anyone in this match. Hogan slides out and atomic drops Slick into Boss Man. Big boot on Akeem. He goes for the legdrop but Boss Man whacks him in the back with the nightstick for the DQ. More heel beatdown follows. Elizabeth gets in the ring. The heels see and corner her, and Boss Man puts cuffs on her. That gets Savage out with a chair. He chases all the heels off. Ventura points out, rightly, that Savage wouldn't come out to help Hogan but he does for Elizabeth. Savage is upset with Elizabeth as they leave. *3/4

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Ultimate Warrior (c) def The Honky Tonk Man (w/Jimmy Hart) in 5:07- Honky supposedly has a big advantage here because unlike the Summerslam impromptu match he's had time to prepare. Honky stalls getting in as Warrior is doing his usual crazy entrance so Warrior chases him up the aisle, lifts him up in a press slam and carries him back to the ring. Double noggin knocker on the heels. Warrior pillar to post beating. Honky dodges a charge and Warrior crashes in the corner. Hart distracts the ref and Honky gives Warrior several shots with the megaphone. Hart gets a choke in. Honky beats him down more in the corner until Warrior starts Warrioring up. Honky dodges an elbow drop to get momentum back. Warrior comes back with buckle shots but Honky gets his knees up on the big splash. He covers Warrior for 2. Warrior ducks a clothesline and hits the flying tackle to win. Shockingly not too bad, helped by a good back and forth layout. Warrior's learning. **1/4

Once again Terry Taylor has to endure people saying he has "limited skills". He's undefeated in WWF so far and Bobby Heenan takes all the credit for it.

 

Tito Santana def The Red Rooster (w/Bobby Heenan) in 7:27- Heenan is mic'd up for this match. Back and forth start. Heenan screams at Rooster not to turn his back. A good speed sequence ends with a Santana dropkick and half splash for a cover. Rooster gets his foot on the rope. Rooster comes back with a double stomp and a jawbreaker. Santana gets a double leg takedown. Rooster does a sunset flip. Heenan tells him to use the tights, but he doesn't and Santana punches out. Santana stays in control and Heenan gets more and more frustrated. Rooster gets out of a figure four attempt. Heenan grabs Rooster and drags him out of the ring to berate him. They shove each other on the floor and Heenan backs off. Rooster tries to suplex Santana out of the ring but Santana reverses and suplexes him back in. Taylor gets the Flair Lite kneedrop. Backbreaker for 2. Santana reverses a suplex attempt into a small package for 2, then gets a backslide for 2. Heenan sounds like he's about to chew through the ringpost. Rooster gets a boot up in the corner and hits a piledriver for 2. After a hot shot Rooster goes to hook on a scorpion death lock/sharpshooter but Santana fights out. A clothesline sends Rooster 360 and out. A furious Heenan rolls Rooster back in. While Rooster is asking Heenan what that was about Santana rolls him up for the pin. This was all about the Heenan angle, but both these guys were way too damn good to let that stop them. ***

After the bell a pissed off Heenan jumps in the ring. Rooster says he doesn't need Heenan. Heenan says "YOU NEED THIS!" and slaps him. He immediately backs off. Rooster pops him with punches, whips him around and beats Heenan down with perfect Bobby Heenan selling. What an amazing bumper he was. Rooster face turn complete.

 

Mr. Perfect def Koko B Ware in 3:10- Quick Ware hiptoss, slam and dropkick sequence sends Perfect out. I think that just made him mad. He beats Ware down in the corner. Ware hits a deep armdrag. They do a good speed run that ends with another Ware armdrag. Perfect takes over with a knee to the gut. On a corner exchange Perfect hits a stiff back elbow. A Perfect dropkick sends Ware out. Perfect dodges a charge and Ware goes nads first into the corner. Perfect hits the Perfectplex and good night. Another spunky match with the good back and forth layout the whole show's had. The only thing against it is being so short. Yet another TV loss for Hall of Famer Koko B Ware. *1/2

Mean Gene is with the Mega Powers, who deny there's any tension between them and that they're on the same page. We'll see how long that lasts. After a few really weak shows this is a nice "get back on track" SNME as the new year starts.

Saturday Night's Main Event XVIII

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XVIII

November 26, 1988 (taped November 16) from the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, CA

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

Like last year this show is in a pretape hole, being recorded before Survivor Series but aired the Saturday after (remember Survivor Series was still on Thanksgiving night then).

 

AHHHH! The first shot of the show is an extreme close up of the Ultimate Warrior screaming. That'll wake the kids up. I almost prefer the "Jake and Cheryl Roberts on the on ramp to getting vertical" opening. Mr. Fuji really butters the debuting Super Ninja up, keeping a veil of secrecy for this "deadly weapon" that's learned 7 martial arts across 7 continents. I didn't know Antarctica was known for its martial arts but OK.

WWF Intercontinental Championship: The Ultimate Warrior (c) def Super Ninja (w/Mr. Fuji) in 2:11- Super Ninja is a masked Rip Oliver, who never did much in major companies but held a lot of regional titles, including the NWA Pacific Northwest title a record 12 times. Ninja tries chopping Warrior while he still has the belt on. Warrior no sells, and that's the last offense the "deadly weapon" will have the whole match. Warrior grabs an attempted kick and flips Ninja backwards on his head. There's an ugly clothesline duck and a Warrior big boot sends Ninja out. Warrior follows and press slams him back in. Pillar to post beating. Gorilla press, big splash, and thanks for coming, son. Ventura: "It's a good thing the guy wore a mask". Complete squash. 1/2*

Footage of Bobby Heenan selling Hercules' contract to Ted DiBiase. Herc had no say in the matter, and DiBiase says he just bought a slave. Herc turns on Heenan to turn face. Funny bit at the end as Heenan, in classic Heenan fashion, takes advantage of the melee to run off with the money he was supposed to pay DiBiase.

 

Hercules def Virgil (w/Ted DiBiase) in 3:20- The match is JIP'd with the heels double teaming. Herc fights them off with a double clothesline. A punch sends DiBiase out. A clothesline sends Virgil out. Herc chases DiBiase. Virgil uses the distraction to hit what should be a sunset flip, but Herc says "nah", acts like it never happened and goes back on offense. DiBiase distracts Herc and Virgil tries to attack from behind, but Herc no sells that too and continues the beatdown. Virgil tries an eye rake, see earlier and continue. Herc hits a running powerslam for the win. He press slams Virgil out of the ring onto DiBiase and swings his chain around to keep DiBiase out of the ring. Another complete squash with Herc seemingly refusing to cooperate with Virgil in working the match, but at least this one set up a match for the house show loop. 1/4*

Recap from the last SNME of Andre collapsing in terror after Roberts sicced Damien on him.

 

WWF Championship: "Macho Man" Randy Savage (c) (w/Elizabeth) and Andre the Giant (w/Bobby Heenan) go to a double DQ in 8:51- Savage jumps at the bell but Andre quickly shrugs it off. Back and forth until Andre squashes Savage in the corner. But he goes for it one too many times, Savage puts a knee up into Andre's back. Andre cuts the comeback off and does the sneaky style (copyright Rocky Romero) singlet choke. On the comeback Savage tries to slam Andre but he backs into the corner and starts choking again. Andre hooks up both of Savage's arms. Savage jawbreakers out. More Andre chokes. Savage hits a running double ax handle. A double ax off the second rope puts Andre down to one knee. Roberts comes out to ringside and hides Damien under the ring. Andre sees him and wants him gone. The match stops as everyone argues. Savage convinces Roberts to leave. Roberts whispers to Savage where Damien is. Back from commercial, Savage hits Andre from behind with a double ax handle. As Andre gets control back Heenan tears the ringside area apart looking for Damien. The guys in the ring do stuff while that's going on. At this point it's secondary. Finally Heenan finds Damien in the last place he could have looked despite Savage's attempt to cut him off. Roberts comes back out and forces Heenan into the ring. The bell rings for the sportz entertainment finish. Savage whips Heenan into Andre and Andre gets tied in the ropes. Roberts gets Damien out, but Heenan gets Andre free and they escape. The first half wasn't too bad, as good as Savage was going to get out of Andre. But after Roberts came out it became an angle circus instead of a match. *

Flag Match: "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan def Boris Zhukov in 2:27- The winner of this match will have their flag raised Olympics style. Nose to nose slugfest. Duggan hits an atomic drop and Zhukov rolls out. They roll around in a lockup and seem to get lost for a second until Zhukov hits a punch. Zhukov counters a backdrop and bites Duggan. Duggan hits a clothesline coming out of a corner bump and nails the 3 point stance clothesline to win. Fugly as hell. 1/4*

Recap of the Big Boss Man beating Hulk Hogan down on the Brother Love Show. This leads into the first SNME edition of the Brother Love Show. Love brings out both Slick and Hogan. It's the usual Brother Love shtick of not letting Hogan answer questions while Slick and Love run him down. Hogan finally grabs the mic and threatens them both. Love grabs the mic back. Hogan throws Slick out. Love hits him from behind. Hogan slams Love, takes out a pair of handcuffs and cuffs him to the rope, then clothelines him over the top (and miraculously Pritchard didn't break his wrist doing that).

Ventura and Jimmy Hart have a big scoop: The Rougeau Brothers have moved to America! They're All-American Boys! Sadly the entrance music hasn't been made yet.

The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers (w/Jimmy Hart) def The Young Stallions in 3:05- Jacques and Powers start with the basics. Jacques flips over a crossbody attempt and hits a dropkick. Powers goes for mounted punches until Hart hits him in the knee with the megaphone. Rougeau double team backbreaker. Powers dodges a Jacques reverse crossbody and both sides tag. Roma hits a powerslam and missile dropkick. Jacques break the pin up. Donnybrook. The Rougeaus hit their finisher for the pin. Way too short to get anything going. 3/4*

 

The show closes with Andre, Roberts and Hogan all getting one last word in about their respective feuds.

Clash of the Champions IV

Legacy Review

Clash of the Champions IV: Season's Beatings

December 7, 1988 from the UTC Arena in Chattanooga, TN

Commentary: Jim Ross and Bob Caudle

This show takes place about a month after the Turner buyout of Jim Crockett Promotions. However, the formal formation of WCW would be slow and the shows still take place under the NWA banner for a while. We're on the road to Starrcade '88, the first December Starrcade after Vince's hardball move of also putting Survivor Series on Thanksgiving.

 

The infamous "overhead cam" makes it's debut on this show. Think the top down camera WWF/E has used in ladder and TLC matches, but higher up. Needless to say, it didn't catch on.

Tournament Final for the Vacant NWA United States Tag Team Championship: The Fantastics def "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert and Ron Simmons in 27:04- The Midnight Express took the world tag titles off Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard about a week after the last Clash (Arn and Tully's last match before leaving for their WWF run), and as a result had to vacate the US tag belts. This was originally supposed to be The Fantastics vs The Sheepherders, but after winning their semifinal match the Herders also packed up to go up north and become The Bushwhackers. The team they defeated, Gilbert and Simmons, got the finals spot instead. Simmons and Fulton start. Long lockup. Fulton plays some stick and move but his attempts to shoulderblock Simmons go less than optimally. Simmons catches Fulton on a crossbody attempt and hits a backbreaker. Press slam. Fulton flips around Simmons during a test of strength lockup and tags. Nice Rogers/Gilbert speed sequence. Gilbert and Fulton have a bit of a strut off and handshake after. Counter wrestling sequence. Gilbert heels it up a bit, getting in Fulton's face. Fulton counters a backdrop into a small package for two. Now Gilbert *really* gets in his face. They shove a bit before cooling off and handshaking again. Fulton gets out of a Simmons hammerlock by leveraging him out to the floor, and trying another small package as he gets back in. Taking the kid to school. Simmons dodges a Rogers elbow off the top and hits a football tackle. Rogers maneuvers Gilbert into a roll up for 2. More solid chain wrestling. Rogers flips out of a hammerlock and hits a dropkick. Fulton and Gilbert stare down again and the tension is really sparking now. This is why it's important to slow down in matches and not just constantly hit big moves all the time. Fulton dodges Simmons and his shoulder drives into the top turnbuckle. The Fantastics go to work on it. Simmons powers out and tags. Good Gilbert/Rogers back and forth. Both guys wear down and tag out. Fantastics double team on Simmons for 2. Simmons powers Rogers into his corner and squashes him. Back suplex from Gilbert for 2. Fulton tries to come off the top rope, but Simmons catches and powerslams him! Gilbert rolls Fulton up, but Rogers' kickout sends him all the way into the post shoulder first. This is an arm that had been hurt previously in the tournament and Gilbert is in agony. He lays on the floor to recover. Simmons helps him back in. Rogers hesitates for a minute but in the end takes advantage as both Fantastics target the arm. The next 5-6 minutes is the Fantastics working the hurt arm and Gilbert valiantly trying to hang on. The crowd even gets restless and turns on the Fantastics a bit. Eventually Gilbert manages to hot shot Fulton but unwisely decides not to tag. Fulton dodges another charge, Gilbert posts his shoulder again, and Fulton rolls him up to win. Everyone hugs it out after. Pretty damn good for a thrown together match. The final stretch drug with all the arm work and could have been tightened it up a bit. ***

"Dr. Death" Steve Williams (w/Kevin Sullivan) def The Italian Stallion in 15:17- Williams had just turned heel and joined the Varsity Club after feuding against them on Jimmy Garvin's side most of the year. Back and forth start. A Stallion dropkick sends Williams out. They have a hammerlock tradeoff until Williams deadlifts and Samoan drops Stallion. Williams puts on a reverse cloverleaf type hold and tries to use the rope for pin leverage. JR says Sullivan taught him that one, there's NO WAY he learned to cheat at OU. Especially not when Barry Switzer was running the show. They go speed for a bit and Stallion hits a crossbody for 2. Stallion gets thrown out. Sullivan gets a shot in and Williams rams his back into the Hardest Part Of The Ring TM. Suplex back in and Williams floats over for 2. A Stallion comeback is killed with a knee to the gut. Williams with a sleeper. Stallion tries to power out but Williams hair pulls him back in. Stallion comes back with a clothesline but misses an elbow drop. Williams roll up for 2. A knee sends Stallion out again, and Sullivan is waiting with another shot. Williams double ax handle off the apron. Back in Stallion tries another comeback. Williams counters mounted punches into an inverted atomic drop but misses a splash off the top rope. Stallion powerslam. Williams catches a Stallion crossbody and hits the Stampede to win. Not completely terrible, but they could have gotten the same point across in half the time. A very extended squash. *1/2

 

Ivan Koloff def Paul Jones in 8:21- Koloff is wrestling with one arm tied behind his back. Really. That's the stipulation. After a lot of fuss checking the rope Koloff chokes and Jones bails. Lots of caution. 3 armed slugfest in the corner. Koloff headbutt's Jones' shoulder. Another headbutt sends Jones down. More choking. Jones tries to punch out but goes down. Jones punches back and chokes Koloff with the rope. They go outside and Koloff's posted. Koloff comically hits the ropes at barely 25% speed and punches back. Jones goes outside to get an international spike out of his tights and hits Koloff with it. Koloff eye rakes. Jones drops the spike. Koloff hits him with it and gets the pin. After the bell the Russian Assassins run in and beat Koloff down until JYD runs them off. DUD

 

For Control of the NWA World Six Man Tag Team Championships: Road Warrior Animal (w/Paul Ellering) def "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes by DQ in 2:54- The 6 man belts show up on a major show! Dusty and the Roadies had been 6 man champs virtually forever, but after the Roadies turned heel by attacking Dusty (the attack where Animal tried to gouge Dusty's eye out with a spike that lead to Dusty getting fired as head booker by Turner) this match was set up to determine who would be champs going forward. The Roadies were also finally the NWA World Tag champs, having defeated the Midnights in October. Dusty's wearing a patch over the eye that was attacked. As he gets in the ring he dodges Animal and pops Ellering with a bionic elbow. Back and forth until Dusty dodges a corner charge and posts Animal's knee. Dusty slowly puts the figure four on, pushing Tommy Young out of the ring while he does it. Why? That lets Ellering break it up. Animal goes for Dusty's hurt eye. Dusty flips it over and goes for one of Animal's eyes. Hawk runs in and the Roadies double team until Sting comes in to make the save. Dusty gets a chair and goes to town on Animal's knee with it as the bell rings. There's about 5 things Young could have DQ'd Dusty for, and he goes with the chair shot. Even Dusty didn't give a damn about the 6 man belts. The Road Warriors would choose Genichiro Tenryu as their new champion partner for the short time the title would continue after this. Barely a match, but not a bad angle to set up the world tag title match at Starrcade. 1/4*

NWA World Heavyweight Champion "Nature Boy" Ric Flair and NWA United States Heavyweight Champion Barry Windham (w/JJ Dillon) def The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette) in 17:41- This is a kind of sideways revenge match. The Express beat the Horsemen for the world tag titles, so with Arn and Tully gone the remaining Horsemen are out to get even. The Express are also faces here, having turned when Paul E Dangerously recently came into the territory with the Original Midnight Express. Flair and Eaton start. We get a bit of Slick Ric. Flair does a huge taunt in the corner after breaking clean, then drops like a rock when Eaton slaps him. Hilarious. First of many chop/punch exchanges between Flair and Eaton. Flair Flip! He runs right into Lane on the apron! Lane hits an enzuguri. After a tag Windham pounds Lane down in the corner. Lane dodges a Windham elbow off the top rope. A Lane kick sends Windham 360 and out. Eaton hiptosses and slams everyone. The Horsemen try to double team but Eaton hits them with a double clothesline. The Horsemen go out to confer. Lane gets a drop toe hold on Flair and hooks in a figure four! Eaton catches Windham running in and we have stereo figure fours! The heels eye rake out. Flair throws Lane out. Lane jumps back up, jumps over the top rope and elbows Flair for a 2 count. Another Flair/Eaton chop/slugfest. We get a picture in picture Paul E promo as Windham hits a powerslam for 2. Flair goes up top, and that goes about as well as usual. Flair Flip 2! He runs across and jumps back up top and gets off, but Eaton's waiting for him with a punch in the gut. The Express double team. Eaton with a roll up for 2. While he's got Flair down Windham hits him in the back of the head to put him in peril. Another Windham powerslam, followed by a Flair kneedrop. Eaton rolls out. Windham drops him on the guardrail. Windham lariat for 2. Sleeper. Eaton armdrags out. One last Eaton/Flair exchange, ending with Flair taking a strong shot in the nose and doing a very delayed Flair Flop while reaching to tag. Tags on both sides. Lane backdrops both Horsemen. The Express hit the goozle. Eaton goes up top and hits the Alabama Jam! Dillon gets on the apron but Cornette fights him off. In the confusion Flair got Dillon's shoe. He whacks Eaton in the back of the head with it, drapes a still out of it Windham over, and he gets the pin. Just four of the best in their primes having what's basically their floor match. ****

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGTS: Two great tag matches bookend several crappy singles matches. The Turner purchase caused a little momentum that would carry over strongly into '89 with Flair taking over the book, leading the company both in and out of the ring to what would be a very successful year.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-

Saturday Night's Main Event XVII

Legacy Review

Saturday Night's Main Event XVII

October 29, 1988 (taped October 25) from the Baltimore Arena in Baltimore, MD

 

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jesse Ventura

We're back from SNME's summer break for the start of the new TV season, and the first ever Summerslam has come and gone. The first shot of the show is the Robertses heavily making out. Did I accidentally turn on one of USA's late night softcore porn movies? We get a recap of the longrunning Roberts/Roberts/Rude feud, including Roberts pulling off Rude's tights with Mrs. Roberts' face on them on weekly TV and Rude getting a censored dot over his midsection like he was naked. It's not the DX days yet.

Jake "The Snake" Roberts (w/Cheryl Roberts) def "Ravishing" Rick Rude (w/Bobby Heenan) by DQ in 7:22- Rude's got his Cheryl face tights on again and Roberts threatens to strip him again. Unsurprising fast back and forth start. Rude sells the hell out of an arm wringer. Early DDT tease. Rude bails out. When he gets back in he eye pokes to take over. Rude ducks out of the Roberts short clothesline and hits a clothesline of his own. Rude jaws and hip swivels at Cheryl in between moves. Roberts hits a clothesline from behind and a gutbuster. He holds Rude down and Cheryl slaps him. The ref lets it go. Heenan is furious and wants Cheryl booted. The ref agrees as we go to commercial. Back on, there's a slugfest on the entrance aisle. Roberts gets posted. Rude pulls Roberts' shoulder into the post twice. When they get back in Roberts doesn't sell it at all and goes back on offense. He hooks in for the DDT. Rude backdrops out. Fistdrop off the top for 2. He loads up the Rude Awakening. Roberts bites his hand to get out of it. DDT! Roberts pulls Rude's tights off him as Heenan runs in for the cheap DQ. **1/2

After the bell Andre the Giant comes to the ring and beats down Roberts. While Andre and Heenan are checking on Rude, Roberts gets Damien out. Andre is literally paralyzed with fear. Roberts throws Damien on him and Andre goes down, clutching his chest while he's on the mat before going completely unconscious. Heenan tears Andre's shirt off and pounds his chest. The doctors come out. Back from commercial the ring is full of doctors and officials as Andre's recovering. He leaves under his own power, checking for snakes under the ring the whole time. That's how you transition from one feud to another.

WWF Tag Team Championship: Demolition (c) (w/Mr. Fuji and Jimmy Hart) def The Hart Foundation in 5:58- This is a rematch from Summerslam. In fact, it's practically the same match in a shorter time, down to Jimmy Hart being with the Demos again to give up the Hart Foundation's secrets. They must be really slow learners. Ax and Anvil start. Anvil pounds Ax into the heel corner and gets a beatdown for his trouble. Anvil reverses a Smash suplex for 2. Bret hits a dropkick and elbow off the second rope for 2. Smash takes over with a clothesline. Bret bump! The Demos double team while the ref holds Anvil back. Fuji gets a cane choke in. More Demo beatdown until Bret hits a diving clothesline and tags. Anvil takes everyone out. Powerslam. Ax breaks up the pin. Donnybrook! I mean donnybrook, managers and everything. The Fabulous Rougeau Brothers come to ringside, distract Anvil enough to let Ax whack him in the back of the head with Hart's megaphone, and get the pin. Same finish as Summerslam, just with the Rougeaus added. Decentish match. **1/4

Hulk Hogan (w/Elizabeth) def King Haku (w/Bobby Heenan) in 6:16- Elizabeth is "on loan" from Savage and Ventura is suspicious. All Haku to start. After a bit of beating Hogan does a mini hulk up and takes over. Heenan grabs his boot on a rope run. Hogan chases and gets caught from behind by Haku getting back in the ring. Tongan Nerve Grip of Tightening Tightness +1. Hogan elbows out but then gets superkicked out of the ring. Heenan yells at Haku to hit a diving chop off the apron. Haku hesitates, and when he finally goes for it Hogan pulls Heenan in the way. Heenan has to be carried to the back in what's been a really bad night for the Heenan Family. Pillar to post Hogan beatdown until Haku hits a clothesline coming off a corner bump. Haku suplex. Hogan Hulks Up. 3 punches, big boot, legdrop, thanks for coming. *1/2

Dino Bravo (w/Frenchy Martin) def Ken Patera in 3:03- Shoulderblock standoff. Patera hits a clothesline and backdrop. Bravo powders and takes control coming back in. Lots of punchy chokey from both guys. Patera reverses a corner whip and hits a back elbow. He tries for the full nelson but Bravo gets to the corner. Bravo gets a boot up in the corner and Patera does a nice delayed flop sell of it. The side suplex to finishes it. They kept it lively at least. *

The Big Boss Man (w/Slick) def Jim Powers in 2:34- Boss Man had already started a feud with Hogan immediately after coming to the WWF and Powers was moving into a glorified jobber role with the Young Stallions dying, so it's pretty obvious how this one will go. Powers slides under Boss Man's legs and tries a sleeper. Boss Man squashes him in the corner then squashes him in the other corner with an avalanche. As Boss Man does his beat down he shouts "Where's Hogan?" to the crowd. Powers gets a little more token offense in but Boss Man squashes him with the Boss Man slam to finish the squash. The usual heel Boss Man cuffing and nightstick beat down follow. Squash. 1/2*

 

Replay from the previous week's Brother Love Show of the Boss Man beating Hogan down with his nightstick. Hogan is with Mean Gene and promises retribution brother. Ventura closes the show interviewing Andre and Heenan. Andre denies everything, Baldrick. Heenan is furious and demands Damien be banned from ringside.