Clash of the Champions XVI

Legacy Review

Clash of the Champions XVI: Fall Brawl

September 5, 1991 from the Richmond County Civic Center in Augusta, GA

Commentary: Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone

This is the third Clash to carry the Fall Brawl moniker before the PPV of the same name was created. It'd also be the final Clash with a subtitle save one special one. A lot has happened in WCW since the last Clash, most notably Ric Flair leaving the company for the WWF while world champion. Lex Luger won the vacant world title at the Great American Bash, which meant he had to vacate the US title. Double champions, not a thing back then. That title was won by Sting for his first ever run with the US belt. Meanwhile, there were TWO (yes two) championship tournaments going on at this time: one for the newly created Light Heavyweight title, the other to fill the vacant world tag team titles after Scott Steiner's injury.

"Georgia Brawl" Battle Roayle- Your participants are Steve Austin, Barry Windham, El Gigante, One Man Gang, Terrance Taylor, Big Josh, Thomas Rich, Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, Oz, Ranger Ross, Tom Zenk, PN News, Dustin Rhodes, Bobby Eaton and Tracy Smothers. Several of these guys will be doing double duty later tonight. Josh, Dustin and Zenk all wear their 6 man belts to the ring, proving they did exist at one point. The majority of the match is the usual battle royale wandering around and brawling, and it's about half the match gone before anyone's eliminated. Josh skins the cat, headscissors Taylor over to the floor but can't stop himself from going over, and Ross joins them in elimination because why not. OMG, Oz and Austin get triple squashed in the corner. OMG three quarters backdrops Eaton over the top onto the ramp, which counts as an elimination. News throws himself over the corner to the floor. Austin and Windham eliminate each other and keep fighting on the floor after. The final four are OMG, Gigante, Oz and Dustin. After a bit of fighting the heels dump Dustin over. While their backs are turned Gigante sneaks up behind and double clotheslines them over to win. Nothing special even by battle royale standards. 1/2*

Light Heavyweight Tournament Semi-Final: "Flyin'" Brian Pillman def Badstreet in 6:52- This is Pillman's "return" after the end of the Yellow Dog angle. Ref Randy "Pee Wee" Anderson makes the Freebirds vacate the ringside area before the match even starts. Smart. Badstreet begs off after a Pillman shoulderblock. Pillman flying headscissors and victory roll for 2. Badstreet flips Pillman over the top, who lands on his feet on the apron and comes back in with not just a sunset flip, but a *springboard* sunset flip for 2. Going the extra mile. Badstreet goes to the apron on the other side. Pillman hooks him up to suplex him back in, but after a lot of counters and teases Badstreet suplexes Pillman over the top down to the floor! The old Canadian Stampede Special. Pillman's run into the guardrail and knocks over someone's popcorn. While both guys are on the apron Badstreet pulls Pillman's tights and he goes back first into the post. Pillman comes back in with a slingshot tackle for 2. Badstreet neckbreaker for 2. Badstreet goes up top and Pillman dropkicks him to the floor! TOPE SUICIDA! MAMA MIA! Pillman went full freaking speed on that, he *crashed* head first into the guardrail. Pillman goes up top and goes for a dropkick off, but Badstreet also goes for a dropkick as a counter at the same time! Fantastic. After a little recovery time Pillman hits a spinning heel kick for 2. Badstreet counters a backdrop with the Freebird DDT for 2. Pillman wraps up a crucifix. Badstreet drops him down! He sets up a superplex. Pillman headbutts him off, hits a crossbody off the top, and that gets the pin! Damn that was fun. Not a second wasted. That was very much a New Japan junior heavyweight style match that hadn't been seen much at all in the US yet. They'd see a lot more of it when Pillman and a guy named Jushin Thunder Liger got together in a few months' time. This was Brad Armstrong's last major match playing Badstreet. After the Arachnaman disaster he'd finally get to go back to just being himself without any masks, and would end up being the last guy to carry the original Light Heavyweight title in the fall of '92. ***1/4

 

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: Sting (c) def Johnny B Badd (w/Teddy Long) in 6:11- Badd is being billed as undefeated. Or in JR-speak "undefeated on TV". Um, Sting forgot the belt. Did Luger refuse to give it back or something? During the early part of the match we get footage of a recent incident involving Sting: recently on TV Sting was gifted with a giant present box by persons unknown. The box turned out to have Abdullah the Butcher inside, who took Sting out. This will be relevant later. Sting offers Badd the Code of Honor handshake despite Badd being a heel, and Badd takes it with no shenanigans. Speed start with a Sting backdrop. He goes for a Vader bomb but Badd gets his knees up. Badd sunset flip off the top rope for 2. Sting small package for 2. Pause to reset after a very high octane start. The crowd's really into it. Arm wringer tradeoff. Badd misses an elbow charge in the corner and Sting works that arm. Badd no sells a suplex and takes a couple of swings. Badd's legitimate background as a boxer was very much in play for his character. JR says another giant present box has been delivered on the ramp. Sting and Badd fumble around really badly in the corner, with Badd flat falling down at one point not knowing what he was supposed to do. Finally they get it straight and Badd dodges the Stinger Splash. Badd sees the box and thinks it for him. Long tells him it's not and to stay focused. Sting sees the box and the match stops. After another lockup Sting rolls up a really ugly Paul Smackage (Badd's fault, not his) for 3. Right after the bell Cactus Jack springs out of the box, runs Long over, and attacks Sting. Cactus Elbow off the second turnbuckle to the floor over the announce table! Jack plants Sting with the double underhook DDT in the ring and leaves. The match started good but fell apart in the second half. Badd was still pretty green and it showed. *1/2

 

Light Heavyweight Tournament Semi-Final: Richard Morton (w/Alexandra York) def Mike Graham in 7:40- Mike Graham is one of those guys that you can't expect a lot of personality from, but he'll always give you a solid to good match. He was mainly an '80s territory guy in the tail run of his career so the crowd either doesn't know or doesn't care who he is. Combine that with Morton's ill-advised heel turn and you have a pretty disinterested atmosphere. Nice basic counter wrestling start. Morton gets a double leg takedown into a Boston crab. Graham flips him over to get out and they have an exchange of quick near falls. Graham slaps Morton, who powders to think and check the computer. A headscissors leads to the bridge up spot. Tony points out how this match has stayed on the mat in contrast to the previous light heavyweight match, which is a good point and and a smart layout. Too bad no one cares. Graham German suplexes Morton off the second rope for 2! They trade blows with Morton getting the upper hand. Graham gets a leg takedown and hooks on a figure four. Morton immediately grabs a rope. Hair pull by Morton into a short arm scissors. Graham gets a drop toe hold and cranks Morton's knee. Morton with an eye rake and inverted atomic drop. York gets on the ramp to distract the ref. Graham rolls Morton up. Morton pushes out, sending Graham face first into the top turnbuckle, and rolls him up for the pin. Well that distraction was completely pointless. Morton and Pillman would go on to have a really disappointing match at Halloween Havoc in the tournament final. The whole Morton heel turn was just a disaster. This match was technically sound, but nothing else. **

The 1991 Guinness Book of World Records is used to show off the fact Bill Kazmaier is, in fact, the world's strongest man. He comes out to do world's strongest man things like bend a metal bar over his head. The Enforcers jump in and nail him in the ribs with a weight plate, those scoundrels.

 

The Fabulous Freebirds def The Patriots in 5:42- We've got more confusing pretaped show title shenanigans here. The Freebirds were officially the US tag champs, but the match where they dropped those belts to these same Patriots was in the can and would air on TV the weekend following this show, so they don't have the belts and aren't announced as champions. JR even mentions that these teams are wrestling again for the US tag titles on Saturday. We get the usual Hayes stalling start complete with moonwalk. Chip tries to moonwalk and it sucks as much as, well, his wrestling. After some rope running Hayes uses momentum to send Chip to the floor. Chip pops back up and hits the celebrating Hayes from behind. Garvin gets slammed off the top. After a Freebrids regroup Chip gets a sunset flip for 2 and a roll up for 2. Garvin's kick out sends Chip straight into Hayes' patented left hand punch. No time for a face in peril spot though, he tags right out to Todd "don't call me Dolph Lundgren" Champion, who cleans house. After a face double team Hayes works the ref to hit Chip in the back of the head with an elbow and Garvin covers for the win. Very not good. The Patriots sucked in general, and the Freebirds clearly didn't give a shit. As great as they were in their heyday, they were rapidly outliving their usefulness. 3/4*

Paul E is in the ring with Cactus Jack. Jack deflects the question about who hired him and Abby with the deftness of a politician and says Sting is done. Another giant box is brought to ringside and Jack assumes it's Abby. Goes to give it a hug. BAH GAWD IT'S STING! Sting gives Jack a backdrop on the ramp and hiptosses him to the floor for a classic Foley bump. They continue brawling all the way to the back. After that is the first video packaging highlighting Ron Simmons, who's scheduled to challenge Lex Luger for the world title at Halloween Havoc. This one shows Simmons' FSU jersey being retired, followed by a long speech from FSU coach Bobby Bowden, who seems to have gotten some bad direction about his eye line. Who's he supposed to be looking at?

 

"The All American" Ron Simmons def The Diamond Studd in 2:25- Studd pulls Simmons off the second rope during his entrance. Slugfest. Studd catches a Simmons jump and chokeslams him for 2. Bulldog off the second rope. Simmons slides under in the corner and hits the Greco Roman Split Legged Ram on the post. Spinebuster. The football tackle finishes it. Down the pecking order you go, Scott Hall. 1/4*

Paul E is back with Simmons. Simmons accuses Luger of hiding behind his entourage. Said entourage (Harley Race and Mr. Hughes) comes out and Simmons blows them off. 

 

Van Hammer def Terrance Taylor (w/Alexandra York) in 1:07- This is Hammer's WCW debut. He had only been wrestling a few months and only had a handful of matches under his belt. He dances around for a while so Taylor nails him from behind with the computer. So much for mid-match adjustments. Hammer no sells it. Lots of bodyslams and running clotheslines. Front suplex. Hammer gingerly goes up top and hits what's supposed to be a knee to Taylor's back but in reality it wasn't even in the same zip code. Hammer covers for the win. I've always said it's impossible to have a bad match with Terry Taylor. Van Hammer (and to be fair the limited time) found a way. Everything about Hammer screams that WCW was trying to build him up the same way WWF built The Ultimate Warrior. Spoiler: didn't work. DUD

Missy Hyatt is in Luger's locker room for an interview. Simmons interrupts, continuing the running "gag" (as in very loose definition of comedy) of Hyatt's locker room interviews always ending in disaster. The whole thing is horribly edited, like Kevin Dunn is directing it.

 

WCW World Television Championship: "Stunning" Steve Austin (c) (w/Lady Blossom) def "The Z Man" Tom Zenk in 9:07- Cautious start with clean breaks. After a hammerlock tradeoff Austin pulls his hair out of its ponytail. Shit's about to get real. They continue to go through lots of basics with decent intensity, but it's forever before they get out of first gear. Okada and Tanahashi could get away with 5 straight minutes of headlocks in their recent G1 match, but they're 1. two legit legends who've had an era defining feud with lots of history so anything they do is dramatic, and 2. were working an almost 30 minute long match. Zenk hits a superkick and backdrop for 2. Austin rolls out to recover and wanders onto the ramp. Zenk hits him with a running crossbody over the top rope! He tries another crossbody off the top in the ring but Austin dodges. Austin catches a Zenk leapfrog and hits the Stun Gun, but is slow to cover. When he does Zenk rolls up a small package for 2. Zenk locks on the sleeper. Austin falls into the ropes and Blossom hands him knucks while Nick Patrick breaks the hold. They do the mid-'80s heel Randy Savage finish: Zenk lifts Austin up for a back suplex, Austin whacks him with the knucks and falls on him for the pin. Disappointing. *3/4

Next up is the contract signing for the Luger/Simmons world title match at Halloween Havoc. Luger's on Clinton Standard Time so we get more video packages on Simmons while we wait, this time highlighting his community work. When Luger finally shows up pen is put to paper. Luger offers Simmons a position as his driver after he beats him. Simmons jumps and the whole thing unshockingly turns into a brawl. Luger gets rushed to his limo and gets the hell out of town.

 

Finals of the Tournament for the Vacant WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Enforcers def Rick Steiner and Bill Kazmaier in 3:33- Kazmaier refused to go to the hospital and is here with taped ribs. Rick hits the ring hot, knowing he's basically going to have to wrestle a handicap match. Powerslam for Arn. A heel double team turns the tide. Textbook Anderson tag wrestling is used to keep Rick in their corner. Rick blocks an Arn suplex and hits his own, but still won't tag knowing Kazmaier can't wrestle. And that he's hurt. Zbyszko gets him in the heel corner and he fights out again. Steinerline! Rick sets Arn up for a belly to belly superplex. Zbyszko hits him from behind and Arn takes him down with a clothesline off the second rope. Kazmaier tags himself in. He hits a few power moves, but while he's trying to press Zbyszko Arn whacks him in the hurt ribs. Zbyszko falls on top of him, and gets the pin and the titles. *

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- As usual with recent Clashes there's not a lot to write home about wrestling wise, but unlike most of those other shows there's decent angle and story work going on here to at least make that part of it moderately entertaining. Pillman/Badstreet is a good match to watch as a warmup for Pillman/Liger.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+

In Your House 2

Legacy Review

In Your House 2: The Lumberjacks

July 23, 1995 from the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, TN

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler

The Roadie def The 1-2-3 Kid in 7:26- Roadie and Double J put Kid on the shelf a few months back, this is Kid's return revenge match. Kid runs up the aisle and attacks Roadie on his entrance. A good speed run ends in near disaster when Kid tries to roll under a leapfrog and clips Roadie in the leg, sending Roadie face first into the mat. Roadie sells well to cover for it. A Kid headscissors sends Roadie to the floor. Roadie stalls for a while so Kid leaps over plancha-like, but hits Roadie with a kick instead! Nice. Back in Kid hits an avalanche in the corner! He's the size of a wet noodle but they managed to make that look good. On another rope run sequence Roadie catches Kid and powerslams him. Cut to backstage, where Jeff Jarrett is prepping and showing no interest in how Roadie is doing. When we go back to live action Roadie's hitting Kid on the floor with a diving clothesline off the apron. He picks Kid up and crotches him on the post! I believe the technical term for that is a Greco Roman Split Legged Ram. Roadie hits Kid with a reverse backdrop and some rapid fire legdrops. Kid dodges a splash off the top and hits a spinning kick for 2. Dropkick on Roadie in the corner. Kid with a frog splash! Roadie kicks out! Roadie catches Kid and powerbombs him! Kid kicks out! He goes up top again but Roadie shakes the rope to crotch him again. Roadie joins him up top and hits an avalanche piledriver! In the word of Ron Simmons, DAMN! That's spectacular but freaking dangerous, and he almost slipped coming down too. Roadie gets an easy 3 count after that. Quality match. Ol' Road Dogg could really go back then, and while Kid had a bit of ring rust he still hit his high spots. On his way back Roadie goes back to his day job and does the mic check for Jarrett's band setup for later tonight. ***

 

Men on a Mission def Razor Ramon and Savio Vega in 10:09- This is fallout from the King of the Ring final where Mabel beat Vega, who replaced Ramon because of his hurt ribs. Ramon comes out with more padding on his ribs than Roman Reigns' old ring gear, but after intros he tears it off and throws it at Mabel! Guess he's OK then. Ramon and Mo start. Mo shoves, Ramon flicks the toothpick, Mo slaps. Ramon catches Mo and hits the fallaway slam. Mo tries to catch Vega but can't, and it looked like a legit drop. Vega dodges a Mabel avalanche and hits him with a superkick, but then runs into a Mabel slam. Vince says Vega "set a record" by wrestling four times in one night at KOTR. Um, Randy Savage might have something to say about that. Wrestlemania IV AND The Wrestling Classic. Oh, the pre-internet days. Vega takes some corner whips and does a Bret bump. Off the ricochet of that Mabel hits him with a ghetto blaster for 2. More fairly dull face in peril work follows. Vega tries to come back then does the most harebrained thing possible- tries to slam Mabel. It doesn't work. MOM hit a drop toe hold/legdrop combo. Ramon breaks the pin up. Mo goes up top and shockingly pulls off a moonsault. Vega dodges it and gets the hot tag. Ramon back superplexes Mo. He calls for the Razor's Edge but Mabel distracts. After a tag Mabel goes up top but gets slammed off. I criticize Mabel a lot, mostly because he had no business getting anything resembling a main event push, but he always had two or three good spots for a guy his size in him every night. Just don't ask for any more than that. Mabel hits a DDT but misses a big splash. The donnybrook sequence is super short as Vega cactus clotheslines Mo out! After some corner whip reversals Mabel avalanches Ramon, who immediately clutches his ribs. A uranage finishes it. Meh. The end sequence was pretty good. *3/4

Rumors fly that Ted DiBiase has bought off one of Diesel's lumberjacks. They all accuse each other of selling out.

Jeff Jarrett comes out to finally have the debut live performance of his new song "With My Baby Tonight" after weeks of teasing. That's one way to kill 10 minutes of PPV time. I'm not kidding, it's an entire song. Plus promo. The gag here is supposed to be that he's lip syncing and Roadie was the one actually singing (which you can hear if you listen carefully), but none of that comes out until much later.

 

Bam Bam Bigelow def Henry O. Godwinn in 5:33- Godwinn back suplexes out of a headlock. Bigelow no sells it. Bigelow responds with a back suplex of his own. Two of them. A flying tackle sends Godwinn to the floor. Bigelow counters a backdrop with a DDT. Godwinn pulls the top rope down and Bigelow crashes to the floor. He slams Bigelow on the floor. Big Godwinn clothesline for 2. Bigelow ducks a clothesline and hits a crossbody for 2. Godwinn with a slam and elbow drop for 2. Scintillating offense from Godwinn here, I'm telling you. Bigelow hits a clothesline coming out of the corner. He goes up top for a splash but Godwinn dodges. Godwinn goes up to the second rope but Bigelow dodges the kneedrop. Godwinn clutches his knee and Bigelow cradles him for 3. 3/4*

Bob Backlund is in the audience campaigning. I don't think that kid he's poking in the chest is going to be eligible to vote until 2000. That Kurt Cobain shirt is wonderfully mid-'90s though.

 

WWF Intercontinental Championship: "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels def Jeff Jarrett (c) (w/The Roadie) in 20:01- Jarrett plays a lot to his "hometown" crowd that are still none too pleased with him despite his singing performance earlier. Punch tradeoff that Shawn wins. Jarrett wants a time out. Shawn lounges in the corner in response. Jarrett hits an armdrag and celebrates. A counter sequence ends with a hard Jarrett punch that sends Shawn to the floor. Jarrett mocks him by lounging in the corner himself. After a couple of blocked hiptosses Shawn strings some moves together and clotheslines Jarrett 360 to the floor, almost goes over himself and skins the cat, and mocks Jarrett's strut. Jarrett teases walking out, then changes his mind during the count. He waits until 9 to roll in and right back out a few times. Shawn finally has enough and chases. He tries coming off the top but Jarrett catches him in the gut. Shawn dodges a dropkick and ducks a Roadie punch. He uses Jarrett's momentum to send him flying over the top and onto Roadie! Shawn crossbody off the top to the floor on both guys! Back in Shawn and Jarrett fake each other out on a springboard crossbody and counter. Shawn does a sunset flip instead and dodges Jarrett's counter. On a charge Jarrett backdrops Shawn over the corner and to the floor! Pretty holy shit spot for 1995. Back in Jarrett hits a reverse suplex for 2. Abdominal stretch with Roadie help. After Hebner catches them Jarrett counters a backdrop attempt with a leaping DDT for 2. Shawn dodges, Jarrett runs into Roadie, and Shawn rolls him up for 2. Shawn flip to the floor! Roadie hits him with a diving clothesline off the apron. Shawn just beats the count back in. Jarrett with a crossbody off the top, but Shawn rolls through it for 2. Jarrett gets a crucifix and they do a cradle tradeoff. Huge Jarrett dropkick for 2. Shawn hits the ropes and ducks a couple of Jarrett shots, but Jarrett ends up hooking a sleeper in. Shawn goes down, recovers and back suplexes out. Shawn flying clothesline and kip up! Flying forearm. Double ax handle off the top. Elbow off the top for 2. Jarrett tries to get a boot up in the corner. Shawn slides under him and crotches him with a perfect Greco Roman Split Legged Reverse Ram. He goes up top again. Roadie shakes the rope and Shawn falls down on the top turnbuckle. Jarrett goes up top and hits a superplex! He goes for the figure four. Shawn wraps up a small package for 2. Jarrett kneebreaker. He tries the figure four again. Shawn pushes out and Hebner goes down. Shawn gets up and is clearly punching up the superkick. Roadie runs in and clips his knee. Jarrett does another crossbody off the top, successfully this time. Shawn kicks out! Shawn reverses a whip, and Roadie with his back turned trips Jarrett when he thought it was Shawn! Superkick! Shawn wins! He joins Jarrett and Razor Ramon as the only 3 time winners of the IC title to date. Hell of a match. They got the time and they used it well. Lots of bells and whistles but they only added to the story and fit Jarrett's weasel heel character perfectly. Shawn was clearly ready for a world title run but as usual Vince was slow to pull the trigger on a smaller guy. ****

Diesel and Ramon are front and center in the locker room for Shawn's victory celebration. Meanwhile, Dok Hendrix tells us in a cool, calm, professional manner that Jarrett and Roadie have come to blows backstage. The plan was for them to split up and feud, but it was derailed by both guys leaving the company right after this show and heading back to the USWA. Jarrett would return for a short run in December before going to WCW after the '96 Rumble, while Road Dogg would come back later in '96 and give some lip service to the intended feud by claiming he was the "real Double J" and revealing the lip syncing.

 

WWF Tag Team Championship: "The King of Harts" Owen Hart and Yokozuna (c) (w/Mr. Fuji and Jim Cornette) def The Allied Powers in 10:54- I've been hard on him lately so no Yokozuna fat jokes this review. Promise. Old rivals Luger and Yoko start. Vince talks about Luger bodyslamming Yoko in '93. Yeah, he'd probably need a crane to do that now. OK, OK, no more. Seriously. I'll never top the "Thanos could use the Infinity Gauntlet to throw Yokozuna at Iron Man" line anyway. Yoko overpowers Luger. Luger responds with buckle shots. Punches stagger Yoko and he falls down in his corner. Right on Owen's foot! After he's done hobbling around Owen gets hot and gets in Yoko's face. Yoko punches Owen! Cornette jumps in to make peace and they handshake it off. Owen swaps in without a tag in the confusion. He slaps Luger then runs and hides. The faces work Owen's arm. Very nice extended Owen/Bulldog counter sequence. Bulldog backdrops Owen, who seems to be indecisive in midair if he wants to turn and back bump or splat face first. He compromises with a bit of a sideways twist. Nothing to criticize like it's a botch or anything, just amusing. Yoko hits Bulldog on a rope run from the apron to set off the face in peril sequence. After a bit of weardown Yoko locks on the Nerve Pinch of Don't Make Me Go Fast +1. They do the arm drops and Bulldog powers out, but runs into a Yoko clothesline. Owen spinning heel kick for 2. Bulldog sunset flip for 2. Owen enzuguri with a 360 Bulldog sell. Bulldog dodges a dive and Owen goes crotch first into the corner. Tags. Luger cleans house. He press slams Owen into Yoko. Donnybrook! Yoko avalanches an empty corner. The Powers double back suplex him! Luger covers, but Owen comes off the top behind the ref's back and hits Luger in the back of the head. Yoko legdrop, cover, LOL Yokozuna beats Luger again. The Allied Powers seemed destined for a tag title run when they got together but, much like Luger's attempts at the WWF title, this killed any credibility they had. This was Luger's last WWF PPV appearance. His contract expired right after Summerslam and he famously showed up unannounced on the debut episode of Nitro just a week after. Match wasn't as awful as it could have been thanks to Owen and Bulldog. This was a nice warmup for the great singles matches they'd have over the next few years. **

 

Lumberjack Match for the WWF Championship: Diesel (c) def Sycho Sid (w/Ted DiBiase) in 10:06- Sid jumps Diesel as he's getting in. Diesel jumps back. The face lumberjacks throw Sid back in a couple of times. After that Sid slides out on the other side and hides with the heel lumberjacks. It's nice they have clearly defined sides instead of pretending they're supposed to be impartial. Sid tosses Diesel out and the heels go to work on him. The face side comes over and we have the first big brawl. Diesel's rolled in and Sid covers him for 2. Slow Sid offense follows. The heel lumberjacks get some more shots in when Diesel gets on the edge of the ring. Eventually Diesel has enough and goes on offense. Diesel plancha onto the heel lumberjacks! OK, that was something. Snake eyes on Sid. Short clothesline. Mabel grabs Diesel's boot and drags him to the floor. He squashes Diesel against the ring post! Mabel slam and legdrop on Diesel. As he's rolling Diesel back in he even slaps him. After a little more punishment Sid covers for 2. Power bomb. Sid wastes time high fiving the lumberjacks, and when he finally covers Diesel kicks out. He goes for another but Diesel backdrops out. Sid gets out and goes after the face lumberjacks? They didn't do anything but OK then. Shawn gets up top and dives onto the crowd! The Million Dollar Corporation guys try to take Diesel out but all get tossed out for their trouble. Diesel nails Sid with a big boot and covers for an abrupt ending. After the bell Diesel and Mabel have words with each other. Yes, sadly, that's really happening. The lumberjacks turned what would have been another dull match into a decently fun one. The teasing of a face lumberjack being bought off by DiBiase was forgotten about as soon as the opening bell rang. **1/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Anything would be an improvement on King of the Ring '95, but by '95 WWF standards this ain't too bad. Nothing really sucked, the main event was better than it should have been, and the IC title match is just on the cusp of the "all time great IC title matches" list.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C+

Clash of the Champions XV

Legacy Review

Clash of the Champions XV: Knocksville USA

June 12, 1991 from the Civic Auditorium in Knoxville, TN

Commentary: Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone

 

Missy Hyatt and Paul E Dangerously "I didn't know we were starting already" hijinks open things up. We're live, pal.

The Young Pistols and "The Z Man" Tom Zenk def WCW United States Tag Team Champions The Fabulous Freebirds (w/Big Daddy Dink) in 4:49- This is the short lived three man Freebirds unit with Badstreet (Brad Armstrong under a mask). They've got a whole entourage on their entrance: Dink, Diamond Dallas Page and a Diamond Doll. After a one show break the Freebirds and the former Southern Boys are opening again, the fourth time in the last five Clashes. Garvin and Zenk start. Zenk has hiptosses and dropkicks for everyone. The Pistols hit Garvin and Hayes with crossbodys off the top and the heels regroup. Hayes and Smothers go back and forth for a bit. Garvin gets slammed off the top rope. Zenk with a slingshot double clothesline on Hayes and Garvin! The heels get Smothers running and take him out at the end of it. Badstreet knocks the other faces off the apron to allow the other Freebirds to work on Smothers on the floor. Once they get back in we're all donnybrooking! The heels throw the faces out a couple of times. After the second time the face team hits a triple sunset flip, and ref Bill Alphonso works his way down the line counting one on each of them for 3! They did what they could with the time they got. *1/2

We get an ad for a contest to meet Ric Flair at Great American Bash '91. Yeah, about that....I wonder what the winner ended up getting.

Oz (w/the Wizard) def Johnny Rich in 1:29- This is Oz's second major appearance after his woeful Superbrawl debut. They've still got the castle backdrop but fortunately the rest is toned down. The match is a total destruction squash. Oz finishes it with the helicopter slam. Awful gimmick aside, Nash looked pretty good. 1/4*

 

"Dangerous" Dan Spivey def Big Josh in 2:49- Commentary tries to make Josh sound like a rookie even though it's veteran Matt Bourne. Slugfest start. Spivey hits a corner clothesline. Josh with a .5 spinebuster and some ground and pound. "Just like at the logging camp!" JR says. Really? Do loggers spend a lot of time pounding away on beavers or something? I'm taking about actual beavers, that wasn't a euphemism. Spivey gets a Japanese armdrag and big boot. Josh dodges a corner charge and hits a Saito suplex. Kevin Sullivan comes to ringside, sans Wizard mask. He whacks Josh with a crutch. Spivey clotheslines Josh from behind and German suplexes him for 3. Sullivan's attack was on behalf of a gentleman he was managing by the name of Black Blood, who was actually Billy Jack Haynes in a mask. Haynes and Bourne had feuded back when they first broke into wrestling up in the Portland territory. 1/2*

Paul E is back for a Danger Zone segment with The Wonder Years actor Jason Hervey, an avowed WCW superfan who had appeared on shows before (in fact he'd go on to take a backstage job with WCW in its later years, and later on even work for TNA so he was the real deal). Hervey was supposedly dating Missy Hyatt at the time. Real or kayfabe, I have no idea. I will say that, if Wiki is to be believed, Hyatt was 28 at the time and Hervey only 19 so draw your own conclusions there. Paul E does the old heel trick of not letting the guest talk, talks about Hervey's new house and new car, and even seems to channel Brother Love's cadence at one point. When he gets to talk Hervey throws Paul E losing matches to Hyatt back in his face. Paul E responds with "If everything in your life is new, why is your girlfriend damaged goods?" Oh snap. Paul E's read the dirt sheets. Hervey gets pissed and leaves, but when he turns his back Paul E gives him a shot with his phone. Hyatt runs out screaming to check on him. And scene.

 

"The Natural" Dustin Rhodes def Terrance Taylor (w/Alexandra York and Mr. Hughes) by DQ in 4:27- This is a rematch from Superbrawl, a Rhodes win. Taylor comes out shoving and Dustin gets hot. Dustin corner clothesline for 2. Taylor rechecks the computer. Back in Dustin hits a couple of atomic drops. Taylor dodges and Dustin posts his shoulder, falling to the floor. Taylor suplexes him back in. Gut wrench powerbomb for 2. Dustin sunset flip for 2. Backslide fight. Dustin wins for 2. Dustin gets a boot up in the corner and cranks up the comeback. Bionic elbow and mounted punches. Bulldog! Hughes distracts the ref. While Dustin's taking care of him Ricky Morton comes out. Morton attacks Dustin! Well, I guess we know who the advertised new York Foundation member is. Big Josh runs out and fights the heels off with his ax handle. Even with the time constraints and booking, it's almost impossible to have a bad match with Terry Taylor. **1/4

 

Sting def Nikita Koloff in 9:33- Koloff had targeted Sting since his early '91 return, and attacked him while Sting and Luger were having an all time classic tag title match with the Steiners at Superbrawl. Sting charges in but Koloff is waiting and ready, taking over from the start. They go outside and Sting gets run into the guardrail. Back in Koloff brags to the crowd. Sting takes the opening and hits a piledriver. Koloff no sells! He takes back over targeting Sting's hurt ribs. Koloff with a tombstone. Arrogant cover, and Sting kicks out! Koloff punches out of a sunset flip, but stalls after and Sting gets him rolled over for 2. More Koloff offense targeting the ribs. Sting looks like he's trying to hulk up so Koloff tosses him out again. Sting reverses a whip and Koloff eats guardrail! But Sting's too damaged to follow up. Koloff goes for another tombstone. Sting reverses and hits it! Sting comeback with chops and kicks. Koloff dodges the Stinger Splash. Sting ducks the Russian Sickle, Koloff bounces off the corner, and Sting rolls him up for 3! After the pin Sting gets the hell out of town. Damn solid stuff, with a good layout of Koloff beating the hell out of Sting, but Sting taking advantage of one mistake to beat him. They'd blow off the feud with a Russian Chain Match at GAB. ***

PN News does rap things. Johnny B Badd and Teddy Long interrupt and they have an enlightened discussion on the merits of early rap versus the stylings of Motown.

 

Loser Leaves WCW Match: Barry Windham and Arn Anderson def "Flyin'" Brian Pillman and El Gigante in 3:08- Dusty's back on the book so you can already see how this entire angle is going to play out. Only the loser of the fall has to leave WCW, not the whole losing team. This had all been simmering since the War Games match at Wrestle War. Pillman and Arn start. After a good back and forth Pillman gets a backslide for 2. While in a Pillman headscissors Windham pops him with a hard right and hits a DDT for 2. Arn goes up top. Pillman dropkicks him off! Modified plancha! That was kind of like SANADA's plancha, how he hits more with the arm than body and always lands on his feet. Arn gets in the wrong part of town and Gigante chokes him. Pillman with a powerslam on Windham. He goes up top....no, that's not good enough. He gets on Gigante's shoulders, and jumps off with a crossbody onto Windham! It's only good for 2. He goes up top again but Windham trips him off. Windham nails Pillman with a hard kick to the face, almost like a Randy Orton skull punt, and gets the pin! Pillman is out of WCW. He would show back up almost immediately under a mask with the awful name The Yellow Dog. Dusty booking this is almost as cliche as Gene Roddenberry writing an original Star Trek series script about a god-like alien or a society run by computer. Stick with what you know, I guess. Match was fun for the insanely short time it got and benefited greatly from Gigante staying parked on the apron the whole time. **

IWGP Tag Team Championship: The Steiner Brothers (c) def Masahiro Chono and Hiroshi Hase in 8:14- The Steiners were also the WCW World tag champs but that's not on the line in this one. They defeated the team of Hase and Kensuke Sasaki for the IWGP titles at the Tokyo Dome show. Hase and Scott start with some feeling out mat wrestling. Scott gets a leg takedown. He goes for another but Hase rolls through and kicks Scott to the floor! Back in Scott gets a hot shot for 2. They fight for leverage on the mat and Hase bridges up. Another spinning kick to Scott's head. Hase cinches Scott in, but as soon as he does Scott snaps a northern lights suplex of his own! Tags. Rick and Chono turn up the stiffness that was already at about a 8 or 9. Chono kicks Rick so hard right in the head it splits his headgear in two! Rick wrestles the rest of the match with it dangling off. Steinerline! Scott hoists Chono on his shoulder like a Canadian backbreaker and Rick drops him with an elbow off the top rope! Chono responds with a spinning back fist. Rick German suplexes Hase. Hase hits him with a delayed northern lights. Chono with a flying tackle off the top rope. He Samoan Drops Rick and Hase comes out of frame with a kneedrop off the top. Chono hooks in the STF while Scott and Hase fight. Scott suplexes Hase on the floor, then goes up top and....misses Chono completely. A legit whiff. Yeesh. Scott recovers to double ax handle Chono in the back to break the STF up. Chono/Rick double clothesline. Tags. Scott Steinerline on Hase. Tilt a whirl slam. Double underhook powerbomb. Scott puts Hase on the top rope. Belly to belly superplex! Chono breaks the pin up. Hase slips out of a slam and plants Scott with a dragon suplex! Rick breaks that pin up. Double clothesline on Scott after Rick's knocked to the floor. Scott hits a Frankensteiner outta nowhere for the pin. That was your usual Steiners/NJPW stiff fest, but it didn't get enough time to hit that upper echelon. The NJPW team didn't get much offense, probably because they knew the crowd wouldn't care. Shame. That's one thing I love about modern wrestling, thanks to everything being internet accessible now you can put an IWGP tag title match on, say, an AEW show and the crowd would go apeshit for it all. ***1/2

After the match the Hardliners (Trevor Murdoch and Dick Slater) run out and attack everyone. They use Murdoch's boot on Rick's arm to try to injure it. Ironically, at some point during this attack Scott suffered a torn biceps that would put him on the shelf for a while. They'd have to relinquish the WCW tag titles, but New Japan let them keep the IWGP belts until Scott healed up. And the Hardliners' push disappeared. Punishment for hurting Scott?

The Diamond Studd (w/Diamond Dallas Page) def "Wildfire" Tommy Rich in 1:59- Rich gets some token offense in as he's a former world champ and all, but this is pretty much another squash. The Diamond Death Drop (Razor's Edge) ends it. 1/2*

JR brings out the winner of a kid's Sting look alike contest, then brings out the real deal to make the kid's night. They have matching face paint which is pretty cool. While they're enjoying themselves Nikita Koloff sneaks in and nails Sting with his chain-wrapped arm again. No blood this time sadly. Koloff makes for the kid but his mom jumps over to cover him, then security gets him out. Moms are tough.

 

#1 Contender's Match: WCW United States Heavyweight Champion "The Total Package" Lex Luger def The Great Muta in 3:43- The winner of this match gets a world title shot at GAB. Muta is coming off a win over old rival Sting at the Tokyo Dome show. He lets off some green mist and we're off. Feeling out start. Headlock/headscissors exchange. Luger hits a shoulderblock and no sells a chop. He ducks a Muta spinning kick and hits a back suplex for 2. Muta dodges an elbow drop. Luger with a press slam. Muta responds with a spinning back kick. Luger dodges the handspring elbow and Muta flies down to the floor! Luger tries to suplex him back in but Muta slips out. He shoots off the green mist. Luger blocks it with his arm! Powerslam! That gets the pin. Man, these guys got royally screwed for time. It was OK for what they could do. Luger continues to lurch toward "I don't give a shit anymore" status. *3/4

 

"Stunning" Steve Austin (w/Lady Blossom) def "Jumpin'" Joey Maggs in :25- Bell, Stun Gun, done. The match where Austin defeated Bobby Eaton for the TV title had been taped but didn't air until the week after this show. In one of the few good moves of the era, they knew they had a special talent in Austin and pushed him hard right away. NR

Richard Morton, with a new business professional first name and in a suit, formally joins the York Foundation. Robert Gibson comes out, says he's been cleared to wrestle after his injury and what the hell's up with his tag partner not returning his calls? Morton says it's all about the money, pops Gibson and piledrives him. Thus ends the biggest tag team breakup practically no one remembers today.

2 Out Of 3 Falls Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) def "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton in 14:26- Officially Eaton is still the TV champ, but he doesn't have the belt and isn't announced as it because of the title change already being in the can.

FIRST FALL- After a clean corner break Flair gives us a WOOOOOOO. Back to the corner again. Flair shoves and Eaton slaps! Flair backs up and falls down in shock. Chops lead to a slugfest. During a speed run Flair drops down. Eaton stops and plants an elbow on him, then clotheslines him 360 and out. Flair stays out for a while to slow things down. Back in Flair hits forearms and chops. Eaton chops back. Flair Flop! Flair begs off. Eaton gets a hiptoss and locks on a short arm scissors. Flair tries to roll out but Eaton rolls through it. Finally Flair grabs a rope. Eaton stays on the arm. Flair drop toe holds out of a hammerlock. Flair chop, Eaton straight right hand. Flair backs off all around the ring and catches Eaton coming back in. A chop catches Eaton in the nose. Flair whips Eaton into the ring post! Snap mare/kneedrop for 2. Flair double underhook suplex. He tries for a leverage pin but ref Nick Patrick catches him. Flair goes up top and gets slammed off. Flair Flip! Eaton punches him off the apron. Backbreaker from Eaton. Running swinging neckbreaker! Eaton goes up top. Alabama Jam! That gets a pin!

SECOND FALL- Eaton pummels Flair with vicious rapid fire open hand slaps in the corner. Flair kicks back and there's another chop/right hand punch exchange. Flair Flop 2! Eaton backslide for 2. Flair tries for a slam but Eaton falls on him for 2. Another swinging neckbreaker. Flair's selling the neck big time. Eaton goes up top again. Flair shakes the rope and Eaton falls to the floor! He hurt his knee on the landing. Uh oh. Eaton can't get back in and Patrick counts him out.

THIRD FALL- Eaton gets back in and tries to chop back. He gets Flair up top and hits a superplex! Both guys are down with hurt body parts, Flair's neck and Eaton's knee. Eaton crawls over and covers. Flair kicks out! Flair goes for a kneebreaker but hits a kind of back suplex on the knee instead. Figure four! Flair reaches all the way to the top rope for extreme leverage and Patrick easily catches him. He goes for it again and Eaton wraps up a small package for 2. Flair clips the knee. Figure four in the middle of the ring. Eaton fights while Flair gradually maneuvers toward the ropes. He grabs one again for leverage. Eaton's shoulders go down and Patrick counts the pin. A great match that could have been even better. Put this on a PPV and give them 30 minutes and you'd be talking about an all time classic, and probably a very different late career trajectory for the always underrated Eaton. This would turn out to be Flair's final major appearance for WCW before his disagreements with Jim Herd finally convinced him to take Vince up on his offer to jump up north, taking Big Gold along for the ride. ***3/4

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- It's not great, but it's certainly the best Clash in a good while. Take out all the quick squash matches Herd and Dusty were determined to get on Clashes and give more time to the matches that mattered and you probably would be talking about a truly great show. The company had a bit of momentum following a run of solid shows (Wrestle War, Tokyo Dome, Superbrawl) but that would all completely collapse, along with wrestler morale, after Flair's departure and they'd go on to put on possibly the worst major company PPV of all time, Great American Bash '91.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: B-

G1 Climax 31 Preview

Johnny Legacy's Deep Thoughts

G1 Climax 31 Preview

The greatest month of the wrestling year is here once again! Sadly, due to travel restrictions in Japan there are no outsiders coming in this year, and several regular G1 competitors have opted to work the NJPW US tour instead (self-proclaimed "real world champion" Will Ospreay, NEVER Openweight Champion Jay White, Juice Robinson and Minoru Suzuki). Still, the G1 is still the G1 and this year's roster is loaded with talent as always. I'll try to analyze each bracket and make a guess as to where each wrestler will finish. As always, I will hold myself 100% accountable for anything I get wrong, or right, in my wrapup column after the tournament is over.

Note: all point averages are for the last 10 tournaments only (2011-2020)

 

A Block

 

1. Tetsuya Naito (12th appearance, 12 last year, 11 avg, 2011 runner up, 2013 & 2017 winner)- A year ago Naito got the champion's run, scoring 12 points but just missing the final, all the while laying down a ton of great matches and looking like he was enjoying the hell out of himself finally getting to be champion during the G1, and after fighting through an eye injury the year before. His epic entrance standoff with Yano still has me laughing today. A Block is the stacked murder's row block this year, but Naito's G1 history is one of consistent excellence and I would not be shocked to see him make his fourth final this year. I'll circle back to that later. Projected points: 10-14

 

2. Kota Ibushi (7th appearance, 14 last year, 11 avg, 2018 runner up, 2019 & 2020 winner)- Put simply, the G1 has been Ibushi's bitch the last three years. He set a record last year making his third straight final, became the first wrestler to score 14 points two straight years under the current points system and had 38 total points the last 3 years, and was the first wrestler in over 15 years to win back to back tournaments. I can't see him completely destroying the record books by making it four and three this year. He'll have another good run, but likely end up just short. Projected points: 10-14

 

3. Shingo Takagi (3rd appearance, 8 last year, 8 avg)- A year ago in my tournament wrapup I guaranteed Shingo would win a G1 some day. Now he's gone and jumped ahead of me by winning the IWGP World title first, and very well deserved for the man that is an absolute unstoppable wrestling machine. But, being the defending champion always comes with disadvantages in the G1. He'll get the champion's run, but odds are it won't include a finals appearance. Put it on record though, he did say in the post-Wrestle Grand Slam press conference that he wanted to win the tournament to show Ospreay who the true world champion is. We'll see if that ends up happening. He'd be the first in about two decades to do it. Projected points: 10-14

 

4. KENTA (3rd appearance, 10 last year, 9 avg)- Like most of KENTA's New Japan career so far, his first two G1s have been a bit bumpy. I have him ranked lower than Ibushi or Shingo because I think his floor is a bit lower, but I also think he's the most likely man to make it out of the block if Naito doesn't due to Ibushi and Shingo's situations. He's a risky bet, but one that might pay off when it's all over. Projected points: 8-14

 

5. Zack Sabre Jr. (5th appearance, 10 last year, 9.5 avg)- After scoring 12 points in 2018 (and winning the New Japan Cup the same year) I've been predicting ZSJ's breakthrough into the final for two years, and what's followed have been two mediocre tournaments. No more getting burned. Especially with his focus on the tag division with Dangerous Tekkers partner Taichi, another just outside of contention finish is likely in order. Projected points: 8-12

 

6. Great O-Khan (1st appearance)- O-Khan returned to New Japan with great fanfare as part of Ospreay's heel turn during last year's G1 final block night after going undefeated during his short UK excursion, but his return so far has not been spectacular. He has yet to pick up a signature singles win, has lost major singles matches to Tanahashi and Naito, and he honestly hasn't wowed anyone match quality wise either. His biggest positive is he and United Empire teammate Jeff Cobb have been dominant in tag matches (they should get in the tag title mix). There's a small chance he gets a run this year to establish himself, but I wouldn't count on it. It'll be a year or two before he's in contention. Projected points: 8-10

 

7. Tomohiro Ishii (9th appearance, 8 last year, 8.5 avg)- For Ishii I can pretty much copy and paste what I wrote last year: No one steps up their game, match quality wise, for G1 season like Big Tom, and you know exactly what you're going to get from him: a midpack finish, a big upset or two, and a pack of 4+ star matches left behind. Projected points: 8-10

 

8. Toru Yano (16th appearance, 6 last year, 7.8 avg)- Which Yano will show up for this year's G1? Will it be the fun loving Yano whose comedy matches are a highlight of every G1, at least for me? Or will it be the classic Most Violent Player Yano, who he brought back to regain the KOPW trophy from Chase Owens? I love fun Yano, but MVP Yano would bring a nice new edge to his G1 matches. Either way, his win total will be the same as always. Projected points: 6-8

 

9. Tanga Loa (1st appearance)- I'm happy Loa's getting this shot. He can go, and now he gets a chance to showcase it. I remember a few years ago when he was racking up pins in all the undercard tag matches throughout the whole tournament (which are not happening again this year due to shortened COVID era cards). He won't win a lot, but as long as they stick to straight up wrestling and not Bullet Club interference filled matches most should be good. Projected points: 4-8

 

10. Yujiro Takahashi (8th appearance, 2 last year, 6 avg)- Like last year, he's just here to eat pins. With the buzzsaw the top 6-7 guys are going to be in this group, you need someone like this to keep their points totals up. Projected points: 2-4

 

B Block

 

1. Kazuchika Okada (10th appearance, 12 last year, 12.4 avg, 2012 & 2014 winner)- The dominant, unbeatable Okada that held an iron grip on the IWGP Heavyweight title for two straight years is a quickly fading memory. It's been over two and a half years since he was champion, he fell to Shingo in the match for the vacated World title, and he's going into this year's tournament having just lost to Jeff Cobb for the first time. There's also been concern over a lingering back injury, which might be one reason why he's using the Money Clip so much over the Rainmaker. Still, it's still Okada and he's overdue for another G1 win, not to mention title run. Circling back to what I was talking about in Naito's preview, if New Japan is playing it safe this year, and with everything going on they could well be, an Okada/Naito final would be the safest bet they could make. Projected points: 12-14

 

2. EVIL (6th appearance, 12 last year, 10 avg)- EVIL has the benefit of drawing the weaker block this year. His results have been up and down since turning traitor on LIJ, but New Japan clearly still sees him as a guy to push despite a less than enthusiastic reception from hardcore fans. He stayed in contention the whole tournament last year, and he should be right in line to make the finals if Okada doesn't. It's also going to be interesting to see how his new House of Pancakes...er, Torture (reference for that joke here) group plays out. Projected points: 10-14

 

3. Hiroshi Tanahashi (20th appearance, 8 last year, 11.5 avg, 2004, 2010 & 2013 runner up, 2007, 2015 & 2018 winner)- Tanahashi begins his third decade of G1 competition this year, having started to slip back in the standings the last two years with just 8 points each. But amazingly he's quietly on the rise again, with lingering injuries seemingly healed as much as possible (or at least not talked about anymore), winning the NEVER Openweight and IWGP US titles to make him the second NJPW Grand Slam champion, and still defying time to perform at a high main event level every single match. It's unlikely he makes the final, but this might be the last year the Ace gets an Ace-like run. Projected points: 10-14

 

4. Jeff Cobb (3rd appearance, 8 last year, 8 avg)- I've never doubted Cobb's freakish athletic ability, but I have doubted whether he had the complete package to be a main event player. Turning heel and hooking up with the United Empire has done wonders for his career. As mentioned earlier, he and O-Khan have consistently won undercard tag matches, while Cobb scored the win of his career just two weeks before the tournament start over Okada at Wrestle Grand Slam. He's coming in with as much momentum as anyone. If there's an upset winner of B Block, this is him. The fact that his rematch with Okada has been scheduled for the last block night is very telling that he's at least going to be in contention at the end for the first time. Projected points: 10-12

 

5. SANADA (6th appearance, 12 last year, 8.8 avg, 2020 runner up)- After scoring a reliable 8 points in all of his first 4 G1's SANADA shocked the world by putting up 12 points and going all the way to the finals last year, finally fulfilling some of that long overdue potential. I missed his run in my predictions last year, but I can't see him doing it again, especially has he's gone right back to the spot on the card he was a year ago. Projected points: 8-12

 

6. Taichi (3rd appearance, 8 last year, 8 avg)- Last year's performance turned me from a Taichi hater to a believer. He had a rock solid tournament, capped off with the incredible "nothing but kicks" match with Ibushi the last night. His run with ZSJ in the tag division has also been very good. Hopefully we'll see more of the same this year, though don't expect anything more than a middle of the pack result. And the more we see of Miho Abe, the better. Projected points: 8-10

 

7. YOSHI-HASHI (4th appearance, 4 last year, 6.67 avg)- HASHI's had the best year of his career, being part of the CHAOS team winning the NEVER 6 man titles, his first title ever, and really being the heart and glue of that team during their record run with those belts. I always say take the under with HASHI, but that run could translate into a little more tournament success. Not much, but a little. Projected points: 6-10

 

8. Hirooki Goto (14th appearance, 8 last year, 9.4 avg, 2016 runner up, 2008 winner)- Ah, the Goto roller coaster. He's due for a down year, especially as I expect CHAOS stablemate HASHI to outdo him this year (hence the rankings). New Japan Dad status is in Goto's near future as he winds down. Projected points: 6-8

 

9. Tama Tonga (4th appearance, first since 2018, 7.3 avg)- The last time Tonga was in a G1 was in 2018, when he and Bad Luck Fale almost got themselves fired for constantly getting disqualified and not taking the tournament seriously. I don't expect that this year, but the results shouldn't be far from his usual and his matches will likely be riddled with BC interference. Projected points: 4-8

 

10. Chase Owens (1st appearance)- I am so thrilled Owens, YOUR reigning and defending Texas Heavyweight Champion, is finally getting a crack at the G1. He's one of the most underrated wrestlers in the world. That being said, he's pretty much a warm body and can't expect much in the way of wins. It'll be a race between him and Yujiro as to who has the lowest point total for the tournament. My main hope is BC interference will be at a minimum in his matches and he gets a chance to show what he can do. Projected points: 2-8

King of the Ring '95

Legacy Review

King of the Ring '95

June 25, 1995 from The Spectrum in Philadelphia

Commentary: Vince McMahon and Dok Hendrix

Bonus Preshow Match- KOTR Qualifying Match: Savio Vega (w/Razor Ramon) def Irwin R Schyster (w/Ted DiBiase) in 5:01- This is the Coliseum Video copy on Peacock so we get this match from the Sunday Night Slam preshow. Vega is taking the place of an injured Ramon in the tournament. Commentary makes a big deal about how he'd have to wrestle four matches in three hours to win the tournament, pretty much telegraphing he's at worst going to do deep into the night. Flash Vega small package for 2 off the lockup. Sunset flip for 2. Buckle ricochet roll up for 2. While the cameras are on the new international announce tables Vega's thrown to the floor. IRS comes off the top and Vega gets a boot up. IRS grabs the ropes and rolls out to avoid a Vega big boot. Vega throws him back in. The spinning heel kick gets the pin. This would be Rotunda's last wrestling appearance for WWF (his last appearance period was being a lumberjack at the following In Your House 2 PPV) before heading back to WCW. *1/4

The show proper begins with the usual intro and ballyhoo. Vince seems to be genuinely enjoying Hendrix's (Michael Hayes) company which is a nice touch. This is the show that the Hardy Boyz act as the door opening pages at the entrance stage.

Quarterfinals: Savio Vega (w/Razor Ramon) def WWF Tag Team Champion Yokozuna (w/Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji) by countout in 8:24- Vega's right back out again, against a man Thanos could use the Infinity Gauntlet to throw at Iron Man during a fight. Yoko hilariously beat Lex Luger again in his qualifying match, a clear sign Luger was on his way out. Back and forth start with Vega trying to put together a game plan. Yoko misses an elbow drop. Vega gives him buckle shots and the way Yoko's head is gently laying against the buckle pads it almost looks like he wants to take a nap on one. Vega goes for the spinning heel kick again but Yoko dodges it. After a beatdown in the corner he sets up the Banzai Drop. Vega gets the hell out of town. Nerve Pinch of Mandatory Use +1. Arm drops and Vega comeback. Yoko slams him but Vega dodges the big legdrop. After playing a bit of knock the weeble down Vega hits the spinning heel kick. Cornette distracts. It all breaks down outside between Cornette, Ramon and Yoko's champion partner Owen Hart (why the hell is he not booked on this show). Both guys go out, Yoko gets posted, and Vega rolls back in for the countout win. Pretty big pop and commentary puts it over as a massive upset. The match was as much as you're going to get out of Yokozuna at this point. 3/4*

Jerry Lawler is in his locker room wearing one of Lister's or Baldrick's socks for the Kiss My Foot match later tonight. Pure chemical warfare.

 

Quarterfinals: The Roadie (w/WWF Intercontinental Champion Jeff Jarrett) def Bob "Spark Plug" Holly in 7:11- It's so funny hearing commentary talk about Holly like he was a real race car driver. I was huge into NASCAR at the time, I knew the real story. Roadie charges and Holly flips him over for 2. Rapid fire Holly near falls. Roadie gets a cheap shot in the corner. They go speed and Holly wins the collision. More quick Holly offense and another 2 count. Roadie catches and plants Holly with a powerbomb that gets a nice gasp from the Philly crowd. Hard buckle shots for Holly. Roadie struts around like Jarrett and wastes time showboating. Holly backdrops out of a piledriver and hits a flying headscissors. Holly powerslam for 2. Roadie begs off and gets a kick in. He sets up a superplex. Holly fights out. He comes off the top but Roadie gets a boot up, covers, and gets the pin even though Holly might have gotten a shoulder up just in time. Two young guys working their asses off to make an impression. **1/2

 

Quarterfinals: Kama (w/Ted DiBiase) and "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels go to a 15:00 time limit draw- Kama's wearing the necklace he made from Undertaker's melted down urn. It was time for that story crutch to go. Shawn had just turned face, was already super over, and is now fully into the period where in real life he was one of the biggest dicks in the world. Just ask him, he'd say the same thing. Hammerlock tradeoff start and Shawn plays stick and move on the big guy for a bit. Shawn skins the cat, taunts Kama and dumps him over. Back in Shawn works the arm. Kama hits a gut shot and clotheslines Shawn 360 and out, then posts Shawn's back. There's a lot of people around ringside wearing those blue KOTR shirt. Freebies? More Kama back and ribs work in the ring. There's a guy at ringside in a hat and Hawaiian shirt that I'm pretty sure is an ECW superfan that's getting mega agitated. Kama drapes Shawn over the corner and hits more punches and kicks that Shawn super sells. Canadian backbreaker. Shawn leverages them over to the corner, flips over, and covers for a 2 count. They look like they're set up for the bridge up spot but both guys pull out (yes I could have used different phrasing and I don't care). Shawn flip in the corner and he falls to the floor. DiBiase gets some kicks in. Kama wants a countout. Shawn just beats the count back in. Shawn dodges a corner charge, hits a reverse springboard off the second rope and both guys are down. We have a clock on the screen! 2:30 left. Nice to see. And it's gone. Shawn slips out of a slam and hits a flying clothesline. Time announcement! Two minutes left. They're actually counting down the time limit properly. Good. Shawn kips up to a decent pop and goes into full comeback mode. Double ax handle off the top for 2. Mounted punches with 1 minute left. Shawn springboard reverse crossbody. Kama reverses it for a long 2! 30 seconds. Shawn small package for 2. Sunset flip by Shawn as time expires. That was well paced. But, the draw and Shawn getting knocked out early sucks all the air out of the arena so fast everyone almost needs spacesuits. Nearly Daniel Bryan not showing up in the 2014 Royal Rumble level. This was the first indication that there were going to be some, shall we say unpopular booking choices tonight. And in front of a Philly crowd, especially right when ECW was taking off, that's playing with fire. Shawn looks pretty unhappy himself, saying it's bullshit and I think there's some shooting going on there. It's mid-'90s Shawn, when any anger is shown always err on the side of him shooting. **3/4

Next up is a presidential campaign commercial for Mr. Bob Backlund. The whole gloriously insane things feels like Backlund took a camera crew to random spots in Philly and did one take improv. One take! I really think it was because he stumbles on his lines a couple of times.

 

Quarterfinals: Mabel (w/Mo) def The Undertaker (w/Paul Bearer) in 10:44- After the draw the winner of this match goes straight to the final. That should be an ominous indication, as there's only one man in this match that obviously needs a longer rest than usual if he's wrestling again tonight. They go big man nose to nose before the bell. Taker starts out hot and knocks Mabel down with a clothesline. Rope walk drop. They have a bad fumble on a whip reverse spot and Mabel hits a rock bottomish slam. Taker gets clotheslined 360 and out and as usual lands on his feet. As he's coming back in Mabel runs into him and he gets a boot caught in the rope, dangling upside down outside the ring. Mabel gets some shots in before Taker gets free. Back in Taker comes back with more throat thrusts. Mabel hits a belly to belly suplex and locks on a double chinlock. ECW guy still going nuts is the most entertaining thing in this match so far. Big Mabel suplex for 2. Taker gets a boot up in the corner and hits a clothesline. Mabel is hitting the ropes at barely half speed now, but he hits a piledriver for 2. Midring collision. Taker hits a Stinger splash! After some whip reversals the ref gets squashed in the corner. Taker hits the flying clothesline....and the choke slam! Kama runs in and takes Taker out. Mabel hits a legdrop and the ref crawls over for the 3 count. Oh no, that is not a popular decision in Philly at all. Mabel gets the hell out of town. Kama brags a bit and Taker chases him off. 1/4*

We get a video package of the '95 WWF Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which was held at odd times of the year back in it's original run before it became a WM weekend staple starting with WM 20.

 

Semifinals: Savio Vega (w/Razor Ramon) def The Roadie (w/Jeff Jarrett) in 6:46- After some back and forth Vega gets a hiptoss and 360 clothesline. Roadie hits his face on the Hardest Part of the Ring TM on the way down and needs recovery time. Back in Vega works the arm. Roadie comes back with a shake, rattle and roll! Honky Tonk Man shoutout. Diving Roadie headbutt off the second rope for 2. After a chop exchange the crowd gets agitated by something offscreen. Philly. Vega dodges another second rope dive and goes into comeback mode. The crowd's stopped giving a shit. Big boot for 2. Jarrett tries to trip him. Roadie comes from behind. Vega dodges, the heels barely stop from colliding, so Vega pushes Roadie into Jarrett and rolls him up for 3. Road Dogg was still pushing hard, clearly wanting to show the people that mattered that he could wrestle, not just manage. It would pay off eventually. *3/4

Hendrix does some live translation of Vega's Spanish promo but is about as accurate as Google translate. Yeah I know, you saw that joke coming a mile away. Ramon doesn't even bother keeping character and laughs.

 

Kiss My Foot Match: Bret "Hitman" Hart def Jerry "The King" Lawler in 9:20- In this latest round of The Feud That Won't Die the loser has to kiss the winner's foot. This whole thing actually started pretty good at Summerslam '93, it's amazing how it's gone off a cliff since. Bret pounds away in the corner. Lawler bails and takes a guardrail shot. After going back in and back out Lawler pulls Bret by the tights into the stairs. Slooooooooow Lawler offense with plenty of crowd interaction. This stuff worked great in Memphis in the '80s, not so much now. Lawler hits a piledriver. A second one. A third one! He finally covers and Bret kicks out. More crowd play to the (light) Burger King chants. Bret's comeback is cut off with an eye rake and toss outside. Lawler takes his boot off to reveal his disgusting sock foot and whacks Bret with the boot behind Hebner's back. Cover for 2. Bret blocks a choke with the sock foot, trips Lawler and hits the gut stomp. Lawler gets another sneaky style (copyright Rocky Romero) boot shot in. Fist drop off the second rope. He goes outside to try to wrap Bret's legs around the post but Bret pulls Lawler into the post. Hakushi comes out. The double team attempt backfires as Hakushi hits Lawler. The Five Moves of Doom is truncated to three, Bret hooks on the Sharpshooter, and it's over. After some more Hakushi nonsense Bret sticks his bare foot in Lawler's mouth. He starts to leave, has another idea, and sticks Lawler's fully prepped disgusting sock foot in Lawler's own mouth. After Bret's epic year in 1994, seriously almost '89 Ric Flair-esque, it's painful to see him stuck with this crap. 1/2*

 

King of the Ring Final: Mabel (w/Mo) def Savio Vega (w/Razor Ramon) in 8:32- This was probably about the last finals matchup anyone expected to see. Vega dodges a charge and hits some chops. After a Mabel slam Vega dodges an elbow. He clotheslines Mabel 360 and over! They trade stair shots. Back in Mabel hooks in a bear hug. That goes on. And on. They do the arm drops, Vega tries to fight back, Mabel wrenches it again. Finally Mabel lets go and hits a clothesline for 2 for variety, then lock in a chinlock. I mean sure, the match has been moving so quick I'm almost breathless. Slow it down a little. Ramon tries to get the crowd going and there's not many takers. While Vega's coming back they start to get noisy again, but it's not what you expect. Vince: "Listen to this!" Yeah! Listen to that! It's ECDub chants! We have a full blown Philly crowd rebellion in progress, at least as much as you're going to get in 1995. Vega dodges an avalanche and rolls Mabel up for 2. Spinning heel kick! Vega's slow to cover and Mabel kicks out. Mabel catches a Vega crossbody and hits a powerslam. Vega kicks out! Mabel splats him with a big splash and the count is almost academic after that. Mabel winning the King of the Ring is something no one came to see and the crowd lets them know it. There's a bit of trash thrown in the ring while Mabel gets serious "piss off" heat. There's good heat and bad heat. This is bad heat. Bad, bad heat. Yes, there is such a thing. Ramon and the 1-2-3 Kid both try to take Mabel on and get taken out for their trouble as well. DUD

Mo crowns Mabel King of the Ring, taking absolutely forever as he's reading the proclamation. Dude, this is not the kind of reaction you're looking for. Speed it up and get the hell out of there. You can see security being more active than usual as more trash is thrown into the coronation area. That guy with the Cowboys shirt on back there, he's the bravest man in Philadelphia. This is a disaster of epic proportions. After the torture finally ends we cut to Lawler puking in a bathroom.

 

 

WWF Champion Diesel and Bam Bam Bigelow def Sycho Sid and Tatanka (w/Ted DiBiase) in 17:35- The story here is Diesel is wrestling for the first time since (I'm pretty sure kayfabe) minor elbow surgery and it's still a bit tender. Bigelow's face outfit is something else. He's got fireball shooting wrist gauntlets! Sid tries to jump as Diesel gets in the ring and we're ON. The faces clean house. Long, long reset, because this show hasn't drug enough already. In fact, even though I'm very much from the Just Say No generation, watching this show could drive a man to do some drugs. Finally we restart with Diesel and Tatanka. Diesel uses the right elbow to show it's just fine...until Sid kicks it from the apron and posts it. It's less fine now. Tatanka dances around and hits moves on the elbow when he feels like it. Sid of all people injects a little energy into the elbow beatdown. A little. Diesel barely moves to dodge a Sid legdrop and Sid gives possibly the best sell of his entire career. Diesel finally tags out and Bigelow cleans house. DDT on Sid. Headbutt from the top rope. DiBiase has Hebner distracted. Sid takes over with kicks and chokes. He choke slams Bigelow from the second rope! Tatanka hits a back suplex. A Sid big boot sends Bigelow to the floor. Bigelow pulls Sid down and sets up a potentially cool move, but Tatanka pulls him down off the apron because we sure can't have anything resembling fun tonight, no sir. Finally Bigelow tags out and we have a short donnybrook. Diesel goes for an elbow drop with his hurt elbow which has the predictable result. He manages to quickly tag out. Tatanka crossbody on Bigelow for 2. DDT for 2. Bigelow hulks up and they do a double clothesline. Bigelow rolls over and covers for 2. After a speed run Bigelow hits a senton, an enzuguri and tags. Side suplex on Tatanka. Jackknife! Diesel pulls Tatanka out of the pin! He wants Sid. Sid obliges by jumping off the apron and leaving the arena, much to DiBiase's dismay. Diesel says screw it and pins Tatanka for the win. Well. That was long and dull, but it threatened to almost get interesting toward the end. Just like Diesel's WWF title reign in a lot of ways. *

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- If you want a single example of why WWF's business was in the toilet in the mid-'90s, look no further than this show. Very questionable booking calls, general apathy and lots of uninspired wrestling. The only reason they were treading water is WCW was doing little better, running with an extremely stale face Hulk Hogan on top and putting on atrocious angles like the Dungeon of Doom. This show has no redeeming features whatsoever, but from a historical perspective it's worth watching as a time capsule into a very troubled era of professional wrestling.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: F