NWA (WCW) Clash of the Champions IV: Season's Beatings (December 1988)

Original Airdate: December 7, 1988

From Chattanooga, Tennessee; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Bob Caudle, along with Tony Schiavone and Lex Luger offering analysis between matches.


Opening NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The Fantastics v Ron Simmons and Eddie Gilbert: This is a tournament final to crown new champions, after the Midnight Express vacated the titles by winning the World Tag Titles in September. Bobby Fulton starts off with Ron Simmons and the first lockup goes to a stalemate - Simmons overpowering him, but Fulton outmaneuvering. Criss cross allows Fulton a pair of dropkicks, but another try gets him caught in a backbreaker. Simmons with a press slam, but Bobby bails into the ropes before Ron can capitalize. With the momentum broken, Bobby manages to take him down with an armdrag before passing to Tommy Rogers, and he continues to use his speed to outmaneuver Simmons. Ron powers into a tag to Gilbert, and a criss cross with Rogers ends with Eddie on the mat in an armbar. Tag to Fulton for a backdrop, but Gilbert counters with a sunset flip for two, and takes Bobby to the mat with a fireman's carry into a headscissors. Tag to Simmons to hold Bobby down in a hammerlock, but Fulton manages to catch him in a cradle for two, and then tags Rogers. Simmons quickly dodges a flying elbowdrop from him and blasts Tommy with a diving shoulderblock before tagging back to Gilbert to hook an armbar. Rogers manages to reverse, and he tags Fulton on the process, but his attempt to keep the armbar going ends in a shovefest with Gilbert. Tag to Simmons for a front-facelock, but he misses a charge into the corner, and the Fantastics waste no time double-teaming to work the shoulder. Simmons powers out of a Rogers armbar to make the tag, and Gilbert charges in with a DDT for two. Vertical suplex gets two, but a backdrop is countered with a snap suplex and Tommy tags. He was too dazed to cut the ring in half first though, and Simmons charges, but gets caught in a chinlock by Fulton. He and Rogers double-team the big man some more, but Simmons railroads Tommy into the corner, and passes back to Eddie. Gilbert with an atomic drop and a side suplex for two, and Simmons aims to break Tommy's arm with headbutts, but misses another blind charge. That allows Fulton to tag for a flying bodypress, but Ron counters with a powerslam, and Gilbert cradles him for two. Rogers responds by tossing Eddie off of the apron into the guardrail, and it takes an assist from Simmons to get him back in before the count. The shoulder is badly damaged, so Eddie tries to hide out in the corner, but Rogers shows no mercy - droptoe-holding him into a hammerlock. Fulton tags in with a single-arm DDT, and Rogers with a flying axehandle to the shoulder - the Fantastics cutting the ring in half. Gilbert manages to dodge Rogers in the corner and snap Fulton across the ropes with a stungun, but he makes the mistake of not tagging out, and Bobby manages to schoolboy the battered Gilbert for the titles at 27:03. Fantastic, elegant stuff here - well paced back-and-forth action, packed with great psychology, and beautiful subtle heel work from the Fantastics over a long match. *** ¼

Steve Williams v The Italian Stallion: Stallion has the balls to take Williams to a stalemate during the initial lockup, and gets quickly suplexed for his troubles, but actually manages to fire back with a dropkick to put big Steve on the floor. Inside, Stallion works an armbar, and levels Williams with a lariat to put him back on the outside. Stallion tries a hammerlock after Steve regroups, and a bodypress gets two when Williams powers up. An eye rake takes the pep out of the Italian Stallion's step, and Dr. Death dumps him to the floor to allow pal Kevin Sullivan a few cheap shots. Steve suplexes Stallion back in for a sleeper, but Stallion gets uppity, so Williams shifts into a modified anklelock. An inverted atomic drop sets up an elbowdrop for two, but a flying version misses, and Stallion starts to GALLOP UP!! Fists of Fury! Dropkick! Bodypress! - but Williams catches him in the press, and turns it into a powerslam for the pin at 15:35. Eh. I wasn't feeling this, and it didn't look like they were, either. DUD

Ivan Koloff v Paul Jones: Since Jones is but a lowly manager, Koloff wrestles with one arm literally tied behind his back. He still manages to choke Paul down to the mat within seconds of the bell, but Jones scurries to the floor to avoid further punishment. Back inside, Jones bops him on the nose during a 'slugfest,' but gets caught with a shoulderblock as these two plod along. Koloff goes back to the chokehold, but Jones disables him by sweeping at his leg, and drops an elbow. He chokes Koloff with the rope used to tie his arm, and they spill to the outside for Paul to post him. He nearly gets a countout off of it, but Ivan beats the count - and walks into a series of stomps. Koloff fires back with closed fists to put Paul on the floor, so Jones busts out a pair of brass knux to blast Ivan with. He goes in for the kill, but Ivan disarms him, and whacks him with the knux for the pin at 8:21. Matches with this gimmick almost always engage the crowd, but I've yet to see it produce a good match - this no exception. DUD

NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Title Match: Dusty Rhodes v Animal: This is coming off of the angle where the Road Warriors jammed a spike into Dusty's eye - Rhodes wearing a bloody patch here. The winner of this singles match gains control of the vacant titles, and has his pick of two partners. Dusty goes right at him with closed fists at the bell, and bashes his leg into the ringpost a couple of times. Dusty keeps after the leg with a figure four, but Animal manager Paul Ellering breaks it up with an eye rake to the bad eye. Animal wastes no time going after it, and with the referee down, Hawk runs in to double-team. They go for the Doomsday Device, but Sting runs out to make the save, and Dusty clobbers Animal with a chair in the chaos - getting disqualified at 2:54. As a result, Animal chose Hawk and Genichiro Tenryu to carry the titles with him, though WCW would drop the concept a couple of months later. The titles were rather superfluous anyway, considering the Road Warriors were already World Tag Champions by this point. The match was little more than an extra bit of set up for the Road Warriors/Rhodes & Sting match at Starrcade a couple of weeks later, but it was certainly intense. DUD

Main Event: The Midnight Express v Ric Flair and Barry Windham: Bobby Eaton starts with Flair, and paintbrushes the Nature Boy as he taunts him. Flair responds with chops in the corner, but Bobby backdrops him and Flair Flips into a boot from Stan Lane. Lane tags in with a savate kick, but an enzuigiri drops Flair into a tag to Windham. Barry tries to use his size advantage to overpower Lane, but gets dropkicked and savate kicked to the floor. Lane brings him back in with a slingshot, but Windham scurries over to Flair as Stan tags Bobby. A big criss cross ends in Eaton hiptossing Flair, and following with a jumping clothesline to take out both Flair and an interfering Windham. Both Horsemen bail to the floor to regroup with manager JJ Dillon, but Flair's attempt at another criss cross ends in Lane hooking him in a figure four. Lane with a slingshot elbow for two, and looks to finish the job, but Flair cowers in the corner and tags. Slick Ric manages a low blow to turn the tide, but he wastes time playing to the crowd from the top rope, and gets slammed off. Tag to Eaton for a flurry of right hands in the corner, and a swinging neckbreaker is enough to draw Windham in. The Midnight's win a four-way brawl by flapjacking Flair for two, but a cheap shot from Windham allows him to tag. Barry blasts Bobby with an inverted atomic drop, and a hanging vertical suplex sets up a powerslam. Tag to Flair for a shindrop, and a series of chops put Eaton on the floor for Windham to slam into the guardrail. The Horsemen cut the ring in half on Eaton, but all their double-teams and cheap shots aren't enough to put him away, and Bobby gets a desperate tag to Stan. Lane's a house of arson to trigger a four-way brawl, and the Express look to finish Windham with the Alabama Jam, but JJ Dillon passes Flair his shoe, and Bobby gets bashed for the pin at 17:41. Fabulous match here. A few mistimed spots, but they're easily forgiven in exchange for twenty minutes at a breakneck pace, masterful flow, and drama. *** ½

BUExperience:  Bookended by two really great, long matches (that take up about half of the broadcast, combined) is enough to easily make up for the pile of junk in the middle. It also makes a nice companion piece for Starrcade ’88, taking place only a couple of weeks before the flagship show, and featuring heavy focus on buildup. ***