NWA (JCP) Clash of the Champions II: Miami Mayhem (June 1988)

Original Airdate: June 8, 1988

From Miami, Florida; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bob Caudle.


Opening NWA United States Title Match: Barry Windham v Brad Armstrong: Armstrong powers the champ into the corner early on, but gets caught with an armdrag into an armbar. Brad with a scoop slam to break the hold, but Windham rolls to the floor before he can build any momentum off of it. He tries to keep it going with a headlock when Windham steps back through the ropes, but Barry quickly counters with a headscissors. Armstrong tries to power into the corner, and manages to get Barry into a mat-based side-headlock, but gets side suplexed as the champ powers up. Windham with a powerslam for two, and another slam sets up a long figure four spot - Windham using the ropes and manager JJ Dillon for leverage to whip the crowd into a frenzy. The referee finally catches him, but the damage is done, and Windham has no trouble dumping Brad to the floor for a slam into the guardrail. A slingshot brings the challenger back inside, but a flying elbowdrop misses, and Brad starts firing off closed fists. Dropkick and a bodyslam set up a flying bodypress for two, but another flying bodypress gets countered with a clawhold, and Armstrong's done at 13:56. The crowd was really into it, but there was a lot of coke going around Miami in the 80s - they'd be into Heroes of Wrestling. Not that this was poorly worked, just dull. ¾*

NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The Fantastics v The Sheepherders: Tommy Rogers starts with Butch, and gets in over his head immediately when Butch gut-punches him. Quick tag to Luke, but Rogers manages to catch him with a bodypress out of the ropes, and he passes to Bobby Fulton. Luke bails to the floor after a dropkick to break his momentum, however, and Butch blasts Bobby with a backelbow for two. The Herders work to cut the ring in half, but the action spills to the floor, and a miscommunication leaves Luke laying. That allows the tag to Rogers, and he tries a series of cradles, but Luke brushes him off and tags Butch. Rogers manages to hold him off with dropkicks and bodyslams, and both Herders end up bailing to the floor to regroup. The dust settles on Rogers and Butch, and Tommy ends up on the mat in a chinlock, but another miscommunication allows him to tag. Fulton's a house of arson, but gets caught in a well timed double-team, and pounded - triggering a four-way brawl. The Fantastics take turns splashing the challengers until the referee restores order, and Rogers works Luke's arm until another cheap shot from Butch sends Tommy flying over the top rope. The Herders blast him with the tag title belt out there, and add a vicious chair shot for good measure, before rolling Tommy in for a two count. A miscommunication on another chair shot allows the tag back to Bobby, and it doesn't take long for a four-way brawl to break out from there - Fulton pinning Luke with a rollup in the chaos at 19:00. To someone who grew up with the Sheepherders as goofy WWF tag act the Bushwhackers, it's almost indescribably weird to see them presented and booked as serious foreign heels (from New Zealand!), and wrestling accordingly. This was a solid, exciting, fast paced tag match - something I never thought I'd see from the Bushwhackers. Can you imagine them going twenty minutes with ANYBODY during their WWF tenure? Vince McMahon may be the greatest wrestling promoter who ever lived, but he made a massive mistake in repackaging Luke and Butch into a goofy babyface act, because their violent heel routine was hot stuff. ** ½

Rick Steiner and Mike Rotunda v Ronnie Garvin and Jimmy Garvin: We come out of commercial with the Garvin's both holding the heels in sleepers to clean house. The dust settles on Rick Steiner and Ron Garvin - Ronnie dominating with a barrage of closed fists. Jimmy keeps Steiner grounded in a hammerlock, but Rick slides over to the ropes to break, and rolls to the floor to regroup. He passes to Rotunda on the way back in, but his attempt at wrestling Jimmy ends with him on the mat, and a tag to Ronnie. Rotunda stalls, as Kevin Sullivan (locked in a shark cage at ringside) tries to bribe Garvin valet Precious to let him out. That distraction allows Rotunda an armbar, and he and Steiner cut the ring in half on Ron. He manages to pass to Jimmy, and with her man busy face-locking Rick Steiner, Precious starts strolling towards Sullivan. A four-way brawl breaks out as Sullivan steals the key to the cage from Precious, but Jimmy pins Rick in the ring before he can turn the tide at 13:14. Though we missed the first little bit, I can confidently say this was a really dull, stall-filled TV match - just here to advance the Garvin/Sullivan/Precious angle ahead of the Great American Bash. DUD

Nikita Koloff v Al Perez: Perez makes the mistake of trying to overpower Koloff in the early going, and gets his dick chopped off. Well, not really. But he does get whipped into the corner pretty hard. Perez tries to regroup with a wristlock, but Koloff counters with an armdrag into an armbar. Perez tries forearms in the corner to come back, and knocks Nikita to the floor with a series of kicks. Manager Gary Hart throws Koloff into a table out there, and Perez adds a slam onto the exposed concrete floor for good measure. Al with a suplex back in, but Koloff powers into a bodyblock for two. That pisses Perez off enough to cut his dick off, but he settles for a chinlock instead. Well, it is TBS, not HBO. No one gets their dick cut off on TBS unless Leah Remini is involved. Anyway, Koloff counters the chinlock with an electric chair, but can't sway the momentum, and gets dumped out onto the concrete again. He manages a sunset flip back in, but Al is in the ropes, and goes for a suplex - only to get reversed. Nikita starts throwing closed fists, and a diving shoulderblock sets up a ten-punch count. Backelbow, but that draws in Larry Zbyszko with a sneak attack, and Koloff wins by disqualification at 11:50 - dick intact. This was an odd match where both guys looked good, both guys were clicking fine, but the match sucked. ½*

Main Event: NWA World Tag Team Title Match: Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard v Sting and Dusty Rhodes: Arn starts with Sting, and immediately tries to take it to the mat with a wristlock, but Sting kips up, and powers out. Anderson bails to the floor to regroup, and Sting follows - posting Arn's arm. Inside, Sting works the arm, but Arn rakes the eyes to tag Tully. Blanchard charges into an armdrag, and Sting follows up with a headscissors takedown before passing to Rhodes. Dusty goes ballistic with elbowsmashes, and puts Tully in a figure four, but Anderson breaks it up, and takes a tag. The champs double-team (well, triple, if you count JJ Dillon's barrage of cheap shots), but Blanchard's attempt at a suplex gets countered with a clothesline, and Sting steps in. Press slam sets up a Stinger Splash on Tully, but Anderson breaks up a Scorpion Deathlock attempt, and throws Sting into the guardrail for good measure. The Horsemen cut the ring in half on Sting with brutal double-teams, but the Stinger keeps getting uppity, so Arn drops him with a DDT on the exposed concrete floor. Inside, that gets Tully two, but Arn loses a slugfest, and a backslide gets the challenger two before he manages to tag Dusty. He's a house of arson, but a four-way brawl sees the referee getting tossed aside by Sting in the fog of war, and Horsemen Ric Flair and Barry Windham joining the party to make it five-on-two - until the referee throws it out as a double disqualification at 11:00. Really fun, well paced back-and-forth tag action here - the Horsemen in fine form, as always. ** ¾

BUExperience: Though the production values were still in the toilet compared to the WWF, this was one hell of a fun show. Aside from the in-ring action, it was loaded with goofy 80s goodness like a ‘special look’ at Lyle Alzado’s sitcom Learning the Ropes, or the Horsemen doing a segment from their yacht looking like they’re acting out a deleted scene from Boogie Nights, or Steve Williams giving an interview dressed like he’s auditioning for a spot in the Fabulous Freebirds, and the list goes on. Outside of the goofy, there were also awesome bits like the Horsemen viciously attacking Lex Luger as he arrived at the arena – made even better by Jim Ross’ somber, show long coverage of the incident. Just fun stuff, even if the wrestling wasn’t on par with the first Clash. **