NWA (JCP) Clash of the Champions III: Fall Brawl (September 1988)

Original Airdate: September 7, 1988

From Albany, Georgia; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Bob Caudle.


Opening NWA Television Title Match: Mike Rotunda v Brad Armstrong: Rotunda stalls in the corner as the bell goes, frustrating Armstrong enough for him to walk into an easy takedown. Rotunda with a fireman's carry, but Brad rolls through a 2^nd rope bodypress for two, and Mike bails to the floor. Back inside, the champ tries a series of uppercuts, but Brad blasts him with a dropkick, and he bails to the floor again to break the momentum. Rotunda pal Kevin Sullivan lends a hand to get Armstrong thrown into the guardrail and turn the tide, and Mike suplexes his challenger back in for two. Chinlock, but Armstrong wrestles to a vertical base, so Rotunda starts blasting him with uppercuts for getting uppity. Slugfest goes Rotunda's way, but an airplane spin leaves him dizzy, as Steve Williams heads out to stand in Armstrong's corner. Rotunda with a gutwrench suplex for two, and an inside cradle gets two. Lariat gets a series of two counts, as the time limit expires at 20:00 on the frustrated champion. It really heated up towards the end with Rotunda throwing everything he had at Armstrong but being unable to get his shoulders pinned, though fairly dull stuff overall. ¾*

The Sheepherders v Nikita Koloff and Steve Williams: The Herders try to overwhelm Williams in a double-team right away, but Koloff steps in before they can Hongi. The dust settles on Williams hooking Luke in a headlock, and a criss cross ends with Williams sending him to the floor with a shoulderblock. 2^nd rope axehandle sets up an armbar, but Luke doesn't want to play, so Steve suplexes him, and hits a flying bodypress for two. The faces target Luke's arm to cut the ring in half, but Williams misses a blind charge, and the Herders take over. Not for long, though, as Williams no-sells pretty much everything they do, and passes to Koloff for a ten-punch on Butch. A well placed cheap shot from Luke turns the tide, but Koloff's Russian, so not even an army from New Zealand could slow his roll, and the Sickle finishes Butch at 17:07. Everybody was putting in an effort here (one of the fucking Bushwhackers hit a flying headbutt), but they just didn't click well. The crowd absolutely loved it, though. ¼*

Dusty Rhodes v Kevin Sullivan: Sullivan unloads closed fists at the bell, but runs into a series of elbowsmashes from Rhodes, and they spill to the floor. Dusty uses Sullivan's head as a basketball to dribble off of the announce table a dozen times, and that leaves Sullivan strategizing with manager Gary Hart. Kevin comes back with an eye rake to turn the tide, and uses a pair of knux to put Dusty down for a chinlock. Rhodes blows him low to break free, and blasts Sullivan with a dinner fork, but Al Perez runs out with a chain to help Sullivan sway the momentum. Perez and Sullivan double-team Rhodes with the chain, but Dusty fires back, and cradles manager Gary Hart for the pinfall at 7:00. That referee must have been on some quality drugs, considering he let blatant, weapon-assisted triple-teams to fly, and, uh, allowed Rhodes to pin the manager as a legal fall. Goofy ending aside, this was all punch-kick, but it was adequately intense for the 'grudge match' it was billed as. Great moment afterwards, as the dazed Rhodes jumps into the front row, and just plops down in a chair to catch his breath - kids swarming him like Santa Claus as the entire crowd goes nuts. ¼*

Russian Chain Match: Ricky Morton v Ivan Koloff: This 'touch four corners' rules. Tug-of-war ends in Koloff blasting him with the chain, and he uses it to choke Morton, but Ricky slides through his legs, and crotches him with it. Ivan has no balls, apparently, and pops right up to blast Morton, and hit two corners before Ricky breaks the momentum. Koloff responds by dumping him to the floor, but they're still connected at the wrist, so Ricky just uses the momentum to pull him against the ropes and knock the wind out of him. Morton still can't take control, though, and Koloff beats him with the chain again, but can't drag him to more than two corners before Morton starts kicking at his leg to break the momentum. Morton gets some revenge with the chain before trying for the corners, but Koloff derails him at one, and hits a 2^nd rope axehandle. Flying version, but Morton tugs the chain to knock him off, and makes three corners before Koloff manager Paul Jones gets involved, but his attempt at anchoring Ivan fails, and Morton falls into the fourth corner for the victory at 9:52. Afterwards, Jones berates Koloff for the loss, and the Russian Assassin runs out to give him a beat down - joined by a second masked Assassin to form a new team, and turn Koloff face. The match was fun, and well paced, but all punch-kick. ½*

Main Event: NWA United States Title Match: Barry Windham v Sting: Both guys size each other up, and the first lockup goes Sting's way with a pair of quick armdrags. Windham tries locking horns again, but gets powered into the corner, so he fires off a cheap shot during the break, and blasts Sting with a shoulderblock. Sting returns the favor off of a criss cross, and a pair of dropkicks leave a frustrated Windham on the floor. He cautiously reenters, but Sting gets the best of another collar-and-elbow with a standing side-headlock. Barry tries a side suplex to break, but Sting shrugs it off, and another pair of dropkicks send the champ back to the outside to regroup with manager JJ Dillon. Windham comes back in challenging for a test-of-strength, and stupid Sting goes for it - and gets kicked in the gut. Ten-punch count, but Sting counters with an inverted atomic drop and a backdrop. He unloads a ten-punch of his own, but a leaping elbowdrop misses, and Windham charges him with a pair of knees. Barry THROWS him to the floor so hard he crashes into the rail, and Barry lays in a beating out there -  slamming the Stinger on the exposed concrete. Hanging vertical suplex brings Sting back in, but Sting counters a backdrop with a sunset flip for two. He can't sway the momentum though, and Windham powerslams him to set up a kneedrop for two. Suplex, but Sting counters with an inside cradle for two, and dodges a blind charge to knock the champ back out to the floor. Sting bashes his skull into the ringpost out there, and another shot into the announce table sends Barry falling into the front row. Dazed, he stumbles back into the ring for a series of backscratches, and a dropkick sets up a sleeper. Sting won't let the champ make the ropes to break, so Barry tries a desperation kneebreaker. Successful, Windham keeps at the leg to leave Sting on the mat, and the champ hooks a figure four. The referee catches Windham using the ropes for leverage to force a break, but the damage is done, and Barry has no problem dropping Sting with a delayed side suplex. Sting fires back with a series of closed fists, but Barry hooks a clawhold on before Sting can suplex him. Sting still won't give, and he comes back with a backdrop, but the referee gets bumped during the exchange. Sting keeps the momentum going with a Stinger Splash, and he hooks the Scorpion Deathlock - but JJ Dillon breaks it up. The distraction allows Windham to wallop Sting with a chair, and the referee recovers as he covers, but football player John Ayers randomly pops out of the crowd to stop the fall, and the referee takes his word about the chair shot - disqualifying Windham at 21:14. Goofy ending aside (a good title for a book about Dusty Rhodes’ booking style), this was well worked and well paced from bell to bell – both guys putting in a strong effort. ** ¼

BUExperience:  This episode was like an exercise in diminishing returns. While the first Clash was a great wrestling show, and the second was loaded with entertaining and memorable moments (if less technically solid in-ring action), this one was neither. The main event is fun, the crowd is hot, but the rest is pretty dull stuff – with nothing too exciting to carry it along. *