Clash of the Champions XXV

Legacy Review

Clash of the Champions XXV

November 10, 1993 from the Bayfront Arena in St. Petersburg, FL

Commentary: Tony Schaivone and Jesse Ventura

With the upcoming Battlebowl PPV being comprised of nothing but Lethal Lottery matches this Clash is all about the title matches, with every WCW belt up for grabs.

 

Mean Gene is here! He had made his WCW debut the week prior on TV. And he immediately starts shilling the hotline. Fantastic. The pieces of the Bischoff era continue to slowly come together.

WCW International World Heavyweight Championship: "Ravishing" Rick Rude (c) and Road Warrior Hawk double countout in 5:23- Jawing start followed by lockup stalemates. They do a little pose off. Hawk tosses Rude across the ring and then bitches about a phantom hair pull. If he'd used your hair to throw you that far you'd have no hair left back there. Now Hawk wants a test of strength. Rude stalls before suckering Hawk in to some forearms. Hawk no sells (I know, shocking) buckle shots and pummels Rude with them. Hawk suplex for 2. Rude eye rake and backbreaker. He comes off the top rope but Hawk gets his boot up. A clothesline sends Rude 360 over the top to the floor. They brawl on the floor and both guys are counted out. Lame. I know Hawk's got a thing about jobbing, but if you're in there with the world champ (or a world champ), lie your ass down and take the loss or we'll put someone else in there that will. Forget about first gear, this match barely got out of park. No effort at all. 1/4*

 

The Shockmaster def The Equalizer in 2:29- And if you thought the last match was bad....Gird your loins folks, this one ain't going to be pretty. Even Shockmaster's music sounds like it can't be bothered. It takes forever to even notice it's playing. Equalizer jumps before the bell and gives Shockmaster some buckle shots. They need two tries at a simple spot where Equalizer snaps the rope and that knocks Shockmaster back. Equalizer back suplex for 2. Shoulderblock standoff. Shockmaster with a big boot. He wraps Equalizer in the bear hug and drops him down for the pin. By far the best thing I can say about this is it was short. DUD

 

We get word that there's been some kind of commotion between Rude and Davey Boy Smith backstage. Apparently the Bulldog wants a try at another belt he won't get.

 

WCW World Television Championship: Lord Steven Regal (w/Sir William) (c) def Johnny B Badd in 6:33- Well we should be pretty sure this will be better than the first two matches at least. Badd was still a year or two away from becoming a solidly decent worker but Regal was a full on awesome British style mat wrestler and great character to boot. A Regal slap in the corner fires Badd up. Badd rolls through some flash near falls that frustrate Regal. They get into some decent mat and counterwrestling with Badd controlling most of it with a headlock. After a bit Badd goes for broke with a dive, but Regal dodges and Badd crashes into the top rope. Regal European uppercuts. Snap mare and boot sole eye rake. Badd drops Regal with a straight left. Regal's out. William gets on the apron to protest the technically illegal closed fist, which gives Regal time to recover enough to get a foot on the rope when Badd covers. Badd argues with the ref. Regal comes from behind with a roll up and grabs a handful of tights for 3. Decentish. **

 

"Stunning" Steve Austin (w/Col. Robert Parker) def "Flyin'" Brian Pillman in 9:12- Well here we are, the Hollywood Blondes explode. These guys were thrown together into a tag team that wasn't supposed to go anywhere, and they (as in Austin and Pillman) turned it into the hottest act in the company through their sheer awesomeness. Management had no choice but to put the tag belts on them. Then Pillman got hurt, jeopardizing footage that was pretaped months in advance, and when he came back the team broke up for.....reasons. There's no real reason why this match is happening, it just is. To show even more how little the powers that be care about this Pillman has a jobber entrance during commercial. When Austin hits the ring Pillman jumps him. Both guys are still in full Blondes gear. Pillman chases Parker on the floor and runs into an Austin clothesline. Austin gets whipped into the rail. Pillman hits a backdrop back in and lays in some chops. Flying headscissors. Austin offers an insincere handshake. Pillman knows better and kicks his face in. The go to the ramp and Pillman backdrops out of a piledriver attempt. He comes off the top to the ramp but Austin gets a boot up. Pillman gets thrown off the ramp into the guardrail! They head back to the ring, and Pillman comes back in with a slingshot crossbody! Austin lifts Pillman up and gives him a sort of hot shot. Cover for 2. Austin works a half crab for a bit with the rope leverage game. Elbow and chop slugfest. Pillman does the fallaway dive from the second rope. Both guys go up top. Austin blocks a superplex and drops Pillman down. He comes off the top, but Pillman cuts him off in midair with a dropkick! That gets a 2 count. Austin lifts Pillman up in a powerbomb like way, but Pillman turns into a sort of hurricanrana for 2. Pillman tries another slingshot over the top. Austin catches him and powerslams him for 2. Pillman with a DDT! Austin kicks out. Pillman tries a crucifix but Austin drops him. Austin goes up top again but misses a kneedrop. Pillman rolling cradle for 2. Austin goes for the stun gun but can't hit it. Pillman tries yet another springboard, but Parker pushes him off, Pillman drops on his head, and Austin covers for 3! Yet again these guys were set up to fail and refused to go along with it. ***1/2

Mean Gene joins us from the Battlebowl "control center". There's no matches to preview since the whole show will be determined by the Lethal Lottery so he goes over the rules instead. After that is a couple of green screen promos, giving this whole segment a very WWF feel.

 

WCW United States Heavyweight Championship: "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes (c) (w/Dusty Rhodes) def "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff (w/The Assassin) in 11:57- Big Dust is out to keep Assassin from causing trouble. I'm sure the two of them crossed paths in the Florida territory at some point. They immediately jaw at each other. Dusty's jacket it off! Bidness ith picking up! The ring clears out and Dustin and Orndorff have a basic start. Dustin gets a couple of scoop and slams. Orndorff tries to leverage a headlock over to a pin with a handful of tights. The camera focuses on Assassin creeping around the ring to give Dusty the stink eye. Dusty stays focused on the match while Ventura wonder how someone of Assassin's....generousness can sneak anywhere. Things slow burn in the ring as both guys have long periods of arm work. Orndorff transitions a chinlock into a hammerlock. He gives Dustin a knee to the gut coming off the ropes and a faceplant. Orndorff Saito suplex. Dustin blocks a hiptoss into a backslide for 2. Flying lariat for 2. He calls for the bulldog. Orndorff blocks it. Even though it looks like a botch that was the plan. He hits a clothesline and calls for the piledriver. Dustin backdrops out. Orndorff misses a knee off the top rope. Dustin wraps up a Paul Smackage for 3! After the bell Assassin attacks Dustin. Dusty takes him out and hits some bionic elbows in the ring to the delight of the crowd. He starts to take off Assassin's mask. Orndorff makes the save. Dusty takes a belt shot! Dustin saves him from Orndorff's piledriver. I am stunned rigid Dusty didn't blade off that belt shot, retired or not. Match was not great, not awful. **1/4

 

WCW World Tag Team Championship: The Nasty Boys (c) (w/Missy Hyatt) def Sting and "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith in 8:30- Hot start and immediate donnybrooking! Sting and Knobbs are in the ring while Saggs and Bulldog fight on the ramp. Rick Rude sneaks in, attacks Bulldog, and gives him the Rude Awakening on the ramp! Sting goes out to check on him. The bell hadn't actually rung yet, that was a bunch of free wrestling. As Sting carries Bulldog to the ring the bell rings to officially start the match. The Nastys are immediately all over Sting. Sting ducks and hits a double clothesline. Ax handle off the top. Sting keeps the advantage the next few minutes while ducking over to check on Bulldog between moves. He goes up top again but Knobbs pushes him off to turn the tide. Knobbs goes for Bulldog and Saggs chucks Sting over the top to the floor. Knobbs suplexes him back in for 2. Bulldog finally gets to his feet. That must have been the rudest Rude Awakening ever. Sting reverses a bear hug into a belly to belly suplex. Saggs cuts off the tag. Knobbs chokes Sting with his jacket while Hyatt distracts Nick Patrick by offering him the ride everyone backstage has taken. Sting fights out of a chinlock and gets the hot tag to Bulldog. Bulldog slams and dropkicks. Double DDT! He press slams Sting into the Nastys. Powerslam on Knobbs. Patrick is getting Sting out. Saggs comes off the top with an elbow to the back of Bulldog's head and Knobbs covers for the pin. Variation 1A on the usual Nastys finish. Since coming to WCW in May Bulldog has gone after the World title, TV title and now tag titles and is 0 for 3. What makes him think Rude will be any different? **1/2

 

I went over this in more detail on the last PPV review, but to give a quick recap: Sid Vicious was supposed to get a huge face push and be the guy to take Vader down for the world title at Starrcade, but he attacked Arn Anderson with a pair of scissors during the October UK tour and got fired. To fill his spot, WCW turned to old reliable to save them: Ric Flair. Now instead of Vader breaking his back trying to carry Sid in main event matches, peak Vader can get in there with admittedly post-peak Flair, but he's still the greatest of all time and was motivated to prove himself again after a rough first year back in WCW. I'll call that a massive upgrade.

Before making his entrance Flair is accosted by Col. Parker, who's very intent on telling him Austin plans on challenging the winner of his match. He gets in Flair's personal bubble a bit too much and eats a punch for it.

 

WCW World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (w/Fifi) def Big Van Vader (c) (w/Harley Race) by DQ in 9:24- After Buffer's done pontificating they go to commercial, and when they come back Flair is putting old rival Race in the figure four! But that also leaves him vulnerable and Vader makes him pay for it with a big splash. Now the bell rings to start the match. Vader lays in the corner potatoes. Short clothesline. Press slam. Vader bomb! He's in full control and starts playing around with Flair just like Flair used to do. "Where's he at?". Flair blocks more corner punches and starts laying in the chops! He stomps Vader down in the corner. WOOOOOOOO! You can tell Flair's feeling it tonight, really for the first time since getting back to WCW. He hits the ropes but runs right into a Vader tackle. Vader elbow to the gut. Flair's selling it out to the cheap seats. Flair Flip! He falls to the floor. Race gives him a guardrail shot. Vader comes off the apron. Flair dodges and he crashes into the rail! Flair ax handle off the top rope to the floor! As he's recovering Vader takes the mask off. Shit's about to get real. Another chop sends Vader down back in. Vader gets a boot up in the corner. Flair dodges a splash off the second rope. Figure four! Vader grabs a rope while Race eye rakes Flair. Vader suplex and splash for 2. Vader flips off the second rope and Flair tries to make it look like he's powerslamming him. That's a regular Vader spot that was not in Flair's wheelhouse. Another Flair ax handle off the top. Flair Flip 2! He runs to the other side and hits another ax handle. Flair ducks a clothesline and Vader plows right through the ref. Flair tries coming off the top again but Vader catches him. He sets Flair back up top. Vader superplex! I mean SUPERplex, he was standing on the top rope, not the middle. He drags Flair back into the corner and goes up top again. VADERSAULT! FLAIR DODGES! He covers. The ref crawls over and has he does his hands hit the mat 3 times. Everyone thinks it's a pin, including Flair, and the crowd erupts with the biggest pop WCW has heard in years. But the ref waves it off. He says Flair has won, but by DQ due to Vader knockinghim down. No title change. Austin runs in and starts brawling with Flair. Yes please, I'd like that match very much thank you. The heels beat Flair down until Dustin Rhodes and the Shockmaster chase them off. Really good match that was only a warmup for the classic they'd put on at Starrcade. ***1/2

 

Mean Gene hops in the ring for a quick postmatch interview. Flair: "I'M BACK IN THE BALLGAME!". You know he really meant it.

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- The Fall of WCW's discontent continues. It started out atrociously, but once you get past that there's a couple of pretty good matches, including what there was of the Hollywood Blondes blowoff.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: C-