Clash of the Champions XXXI

Legacy Review

Clash of the Champions XXXI

August 6, 1995 from the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, FL

Commentary: Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

 

No intro at the top of the show, we start right up with intros for the opening match. It's regular TV instead of PPV so gotta cram everything in.

 

WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Sting and Road Warrior Hawk def Meng and Kurasawa (w/Col. Robert Parker) in 7:23- Kurasawa is New Japan star Manabu Nakanishi, who was on his Young Lion excursion at the time. The Kurasawa name is.....eh. Whatever. Nakanishi should have gone the whole hog and tried to direct WCW's infamous B movie like segments (one of which is later in this show) like his namesake. Couldn't do any worse than the usual WCW production crew. With longer hair and a beard he looks a bit like Hirooki Goto. The heels pull the Suzuki-Gun (RIP) jump before the bell. Hawk runs over Kurasawa. Meng gets double teamed and the heels regroup on the outside. Reset with Hawk and Kurasawa. Both guys swing kicks. Hawk gets a double leg takedown and hits the gut headbutt. Sting with an inverted atomic drop. Kurasawa chops back. Suplex from Sting. Kurasawa counters a Hawk backdrop and Hawk gets trapped in the heel corner. Meng/Hawk double clothesline double no sell. Kurasawa suplexes Hawk on the floor. Back in Hawk gets a boot up in the corner and hits a clothesline. Fistdrop for 2. Swinging neckbreaker on Meng. Hawk splash off the top on Kurasawa. Powerbomb. Meng breaks the pin up and it's DONNYBROOK time. Sting and Meng go at it while Hawk looks totally lost. Sting literally shouts at Hawk what to do on a double team like Dolph Ziggler shouting instructions during the 2015 Elimination Chamber disaster. Stinger Splash. Hawk and Kurasawa continue to fumble around on the periphery while Sting and Meng wrestle. Double clothesline on Kurasawa. The faces hit their version of the Doomsday Device and get the pin. Hawk looked like crap, so of course he worked most of the match instead of Sting. After the match Kurasawa snaps Hawk's arm, injuring him. *

 

Diamond Dallas Page (w/The Diamond Doll) def "Das Wunderkind" Alex Wright in 8:14- No high pitched pop for Wright. In fact, he gets almost no reaction at all apart from some scattered boos. This is a fascinating match when looking at where both these guys are in their careers at this point. Wright was the figurative golden boy who was handed a big push on a silver platter that was now slowly starting to fizzle out as he's failed to make any real connection with the crowd and before long he'd be just another guy. On the other side, DDP had been spinning his wheels for literally years and was just now finally starting to get going thanks in large part to the heel heat generated by his constant abuse of the Diamond Doll, which had a lot of echoes of the early Randy Savage/Elizabeth relationship, and it would be nothing but up for him from here as he continued to improve. He was never the smoothest or best pure wrestler, but he was one of the best at match layouts, DDP's matches almost always have cohesive and logical flow. DDP plays around on a corner break. He tosses Wright out of a lockup and plays to the crowd. Wright sneaks up and rolls him up for 2. DDP bitches at the ref and again Wright rolls him up for 2. Wright dropkicks send DDP to the floor. Plancha! DDP bitches at Doll. I guess she was supposed to block it. Back in DDP works the arm a bit. Wright goes full World of Sport to escape and gets a fireman's carry takedown. Corner flip over moonsault from Wright and another dropkick. DDP tights pulls him to the floor. Wright pops up and hits a slingshot splash for 2. Long speed run and Wright crossbody for 2. DDP floors him with a straight right. Gutwrench gutbuster. Swinging neckbreaker for 2. Wright blocks a hiptoss and gets a backslide for 2. European uppercuts and spinning heel kick. Wright high knee for 2. Missile dropkick for a long 2. Wright goes to mounted punches and DDP drops him on the top turnbuckle. Standing switch and Wright gets a German suplex for 2. A flying forearm sends DDP to the floor. Another dive from Wright, but DDP dodges and he splats on the floor! DDP rolls him in and covers for a clean pin. Golden boy no more. Good logical finish, but boooo to no Diamond Cutter. The match was decentish. **

 

WCW World Television Championship: The Renegade (c) (w/Jimmy Hart) def "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff in 3:59- This is a rematch from Bash at the Beach. Is Renegade using Sting's old music now? I don't think so but it kind of sounds like it. He runs to the ring again like you know who that he's clearly ripping off and Orndorff jumps him with his robe still on. Renegade turns it with a clothesline and belly to belly suplex. Orndorff rolls out still in the robe. Renegade gets up on the ropes to pose for the crowd and gets nothing but mild boos. Orndorff, robe still on, sneaks up and back suplexes him off the second rope. Now the robe comes off. Boogie woogie elbow and a slow Orndorff beatdown follows. Tony tries to excuse Renegade's awful selling by saying it's Orndorff's awesome power. Sure. Renegade gets tossed out and tries to hulk up on the floor. Orndorff knees him off the apron a couple of times, then turns around to jaw with the ref. Renegade hits a slingshot crossbody and gets the pin. DUD

 

Harlem Heat and Sister Sherri def WCW World Tag Team Champions Bunkhouse Buck & "Dirty" Dick Slater and Col. Robert Parker in 11:01- Slater and Buck defeated Harlem Heat for the tag titles the week after Bash at the Beach (in a match that had been taped a month before that). There's also a subplot, or possibly main plot as far as commentary is concerned, of Parker being romantically smitten with Sherri. If the Harlem Heat trio win they get a title shot. Parker's wrestling in his suit. This isn't the case of a non-wrestling manager working a match, Parker was older but he was also a near 20 year veteran with a wrestling career that spanned many deep south territories as well as the AWA. Sherri was also one of the best women's wrestlers in the '80s before she went to managing full time. Both Heat guys have to hold Sherri back as she wants at Parker bad. Ray and Slater start with usual dull Ray offense. Buck tags in as Sherri still wants in. Booker dropkicks Buck off the top rope. He holds Buck down for a Sherri punch. Booker elbow drop miss, spinaroonie and flying forearm. Slater wobbles himself trying to headbutt Ray. Hook kick from Ray. Another Sherri shot. Booker gets a heel kick as we go to commercial. More of the match is cut off by an ad for WCW's contest to win a Harley, the winner to be announced on the premiere episode of Monday Night Nitro on September 4. I don't know if that was really the first true mention of Nitro, but Tony acts like it is and goes into super hype promo mode for it. Meanwhile in the match Buck hot shots Booker to send him Heat in peril. They work the FIP stuff a bit and do the ref didn't see the tag spot. Double punch from the heels. Parker tags in for the first time. Booker pops up and beats him down. Heat double suplex. Sherri is tagged in. Crossbody off the top for 2. Elbow drop. Parker dodges a splash off the top. Sherri is out cold on the mat. Parker, ever the southern gentleman, can't bring himself to hit her. Sherri gets up, hits the ropes, gives Parker what should be a Thesz Press but it's a bedroom Thesz Press as she's kissing him on the mat. Parker's shocked and gets pinned. After the bell Sherri continues chasing Parker, ripping his shirt off and trying to kiss him more. Parker can't get away fast enough. You're into a woman, she finally decides to go for it, you find out she's completely nuts and can't get away fast enough. Dude, I've been there. I guess the story they're going with here is Sherri hit her head on the mat, that scrambled her brains and now she's totally into Parker. I'm sure wacky hijinks will ensue. Boring ass match though. 1/2*

I mentioned one of WCW's infamous mini-movies on this show, and here it is, Hulk Hogan walking into the Dungeon of Doom. Important background here- Paul Wight had made some initial tease appearances on earlier shows, but he's now a full fledged DOD member called the Giant and his whole angle to tie him to Hogan is he's Andre the Giant's son. It starts out with the Master shouting some more stuff that no one can understand to the Taskmaster. Hogan walks in, attempts to act, says bring on everybody and he wants the Giant. Giant comes in, rips Hogan's crucifix necklace off in a direct nod to the Andre feud, chokes Hogan down and the entire DOD come in to beat him up. VADER off all people comes in to save Hogan. He distracts Giant, giving Savage, Hart and Sting time to drag Hogan away. Clearly the intent here was face turned Vader was going to put Giant over before he went for Hogan. It wouldn't end up happening that way, which I'll get into after the next match. Its far from the worst DOD segment. Thankfully it wasn't the one where Hogan walks around the Dungeon and says the "anti-Hulkamania" water is burning him with some of the worst acting ever caught on camera.

Commentary continues the Nitro hype, including a tease that an Emmy winning sportscaster will be joining the broadcast crew on that show. Never mind that shit, here comes Mongo. Tony also announces the first Nitro will be live from the Mall of America.

 

Handicap Match: Vader def Arn Anderson and "Nature Boy" Ric Flair in 8:05- Flair "unretired" to team up with Vader in an attempt to take Hogan out once and for all. When Vader failed Flair turned on him. Arn, at this point, is just along for the ride as Flair's best friend. Evan after the Hogan save earlier the crowd's not quite sure if they want to fully embrace Vader yet on his entrance. Vader's got the old school entrance headgear on again like Bash at the Beach. Arn starts with Vader as was the plan. Arn softens him up, Flair comes in to finish him off. Series of lockup stalemates to start. Vader starts laying in the potato shots. Arn retreats to his corner and Flair tries to fire him up. Forearm shots from Arn. Vader hits an inverted atomic drop and clotheslines Arn 360 to the floor. Flair helps him up but still doesn't even try to tag in. More Vader potatoes. Short clothesline. Arn reverses a whip and manages to give Vader the World's Greatest Spinebuster! Now Flair tags in. He gives Vader some boot sole eye rakes. Vader pops up when Flair's back is turned. Press slams. Flair Flip! Vader clotheslines him off the apron. Now the crowd is getting behind Vader. Flair grabs a chair to distract the ref and Arn clips Vader's knee. The heels double team with a little trouble getting their coordination down. Legit trouble, not storyline. Arn plants Vader with the DDT! Flair tags back in. Figure four! Vader grabs a rope. He slams Flair off the top rope. Big splash. Arn breaks the pin up. Vader and Flair have some trouble getting a snap mare off right. Vader splash off the top rope. Again Arn makes the save. Vader double clotheslines both heels. Powerbomb on Arn, and Vader covers for 3. OK but underwhelming match considering the talent that was in there. Give them more time on a PPV and it'd probably be much better. **1/4

Flair, who's been a serious loose canon since coming back earlier in the year, is pissed at Arn. Arn's having none of it. Flair tries to leave but Arn drags him back in and they argue some more. Finally Flair walks away with nothing settled. This was the lead in to Flair and Arn breaking up and feuding. After that Hogan comes out, wants to know exactly where Vader is coming from, and declares war on the Dungeon of Doom. Hmmm, Hogan declares war and the next PPV is Fall Brawl. I think I know where this is going.

This would end up being Vader's last major appearance for WCW, which in retrospect is not much of a shock considering how his feud with Hogan and the political BS it turned into went. Hogan did eventually ask Vader to be on his War Games team but Vader was gone from the company before that show. Vader left with a hell of a legacy, dominating the world title scene for most of '92 and all of '93 and firmly cementing himself as one of the best big men of all time. THE best, in my opinion. He'd take some time off to rest and heal up, returned to New Japan for one match, an absolute classic with Antonio Inoki at the '96 January 4th Tokyo Dome show as part of Inoki's years long retirement tour, and then debuted for WWF at the '96 Royal Rumble.

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- As the start of Nitro gets closer the Clashes get less and less important and more like contractual obligation shows for TBS. If you missed it you didn't really miss anything other than Vader's last big WCW match.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D+