WCW Clash of the Champions XIV: Dixie Dynamite (January 1991)

Original Airdate: January 30, 1991

From Gainesville, Georgia; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Dusty Rhodes – making his return to WCW after a couple of years in the WWF, and taking over as head booker of the promotion.


Opening WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Doom v Lex Luger and Sting: Kind of awesome that the show prominently featuring multiple Confederate Flags in its logo is opened by Doom of all people. Them was more innocent times, Jethro. Butch Reed starts with Sting, and a fierce battle over the initial lockup ends in Reed unloading a few forearms. A hiptoss gets reversed, and Sting busts out a backdrop to set up an armdrag into an armbar. Tag to Luger for a 2^nd rope axehandle, and a swinging neckbreaker has Reed tagging out to Ron Simmons. Simmons and Luger immediately get into a power-stalemate, until Luger hits an atomic drop and a suplex for two. Simmons fires back with a stungun, and passes back to Butch - Doom cutting the ring in half. Reed ends up hitting a big flying shoulderblock, but it knocks Luger right into his home corner, and there's the tag to Sting. He's a house of arson, but Dan Spivey runs in to take Luger out of the four-way brawl, and Doom dump Sting over the top rope to draw a disqualification at 10:00. It kind of died during the heat segment, but fun stuff otherwise. *

WCW Television Title Match: Tom Zenk v Bobby Eaton: I wouldn't say the title is in too great a danger here, considering Zenk had already been filmed losing it to Arn Anderson. Zenk still had the title of 'WCW's Sexiest Wrestler' (really...) to help him sleep at night, though. Eaton is less impressed, and shoves Tom around at the bell - grabbing a headlock early on. They trade armbars for a while, until Eaton tries something off of the top rope, and Zenk counters by dropkicking him off the turnbuckle to the floor. Eaton takes his time regrouping out there before walking in and slapping the champ in the face. Naturally, that sets up a test-of-strength, but Eaton breaks it up with a closed fist when Zenk takes control. Bobby wastes no time capitalizing with a series of turnbuckle smashes, but another trip to the top rope is countered by Zenk with a slam to the mat. Superkick sets up a backdrop for two, but a blind charge misses, and Eaton finally manages to hit something off of the top rope - in this case a flying kneedrop. A swinging neckbreaker follows for two, but Zenk slips out of a suplex and into a rollup for two. Eaton is dazed though, and Zenk hooks a quick backslide to retain at 7:07. It took a while to get going, but it was building into a nice little match towards the end there. Five more minutes wouldn't have been unwelcome. *

The Fabulous Freebirds v Tommy Rich and Allen Iron Eagle: Michael Hayes starts with Tommy Rich, and Hayes immediately gets to stalling. Rich dominates with a powerslam once they get going, but Hayes bails to Garvin. Slam for him, too, and Rich passes to Eagle to unload a ten-punch count. Hayes has better luck with a bulldog, and the Freebirds work to cut the ring in half on Eagle until Garvin gets tied in a tree of woe out of a missed charge. Cue a four-way brawl, and the Freebirds destroy Eagle with a double-team DDT at 5:53. Leave it to the Freebirds to work extended stall sessions into a six minute match. And they were far from the worst thing about this, as Allen Iron Eagle was blowing even basic moves and sequences left and right. Thank God for time constraints, at least. DUD

Sid v Joey Maggs: Sid gets a good reaction for his awesome entrance (complete with a rotating platform at the entrance area that makes him look like the Terminator), and he absolutely obliterates poor Maggs. He starts with a chokehold into a clothesline, and then drags the poor bastard around the ring by his rat-tail before killing him with a Powerbomb at 1:13. I'm a sucker for Sid squashes so I enjoyed it, but not a good match, or anything. DUD

Terry Taylor v Ricky Morton: Taylor wins the initial lockup, but Morton fires off a quick armdrag to let him know that he's no pushover. They trade headlocks and hammerlocks until Morton throws a bodypress for two, and Taylor bails to the floor to regroup. Taylor tries another hammerlock, but Morton counters with a stunner, so Terry blasts him clothesline - only to get armdragged into an armbar moments later. Taylor uses new manager Alexandra York to distract Morton enough to takeover with a backbreaker, and a double-underhook suplex sets up a kneedrop for two. Backdrop, but Morton counters with an inside cradle for two, so Taylor goes nuts on him with chokes in response. Bulldog gets two, and a bodyslam sets up a Vaderbomb, but Taylor takes too long playing to the crowd, and hits the knees. Slugfest goes Morton's way, and a nice backdrop leads to a snap suplex for two. Dropkick, but a second one misses, and Taylor hooks the leg for the pin at 11:00. Like the earlier Zenk/Eaton match, this started off slow. Unlike the Zenk/Eaton match, it never really got going. ¼*

Ranger Ross v El Cubano: Cubano (dressed like Black Scorpion - complete with the mask) tries to Pearl Harbor Ross at the bell, but Ranger fires back with a pair of bodyslams, and a dropkick puts Cubano on the floor. Oh, but it's a dirty commie trick, as he lures Ross into a chase, and hooks the Ranger in a devastating armbar. Suplex, but Cubano misses a flying splash, and Ross finishes him with a sloppy sunset flip moments later at 3:06. This was just about putting a US Military character out there, to play on the patriotism surrounding the first Gulf War. It's somewhat ironic though, as Dusty had just given an impassioned speech on commentary about supporting the troops and the president before the match, and everyone was waving more little American flags than during a 1993 Lex Luger match... on a show called Dixie Dynamite, complete with Confederate flag logo. DUD

Arn Anderson and Barry Windham v The Renegade Warriors: The Warriors attack the Horsemen at the bell, and clean house - the Horsemen left on the floor to regroup. The Warriors dominate Windham with double-teams once the dust settles, so he tags Anderson, but Arn gets more of the same. A cheap shot finally allows the Horsemen to turn the tide, but only briefly as Arn runs into a double-team backelbow. Sufficiently sick of the Warriors, and casually kills Chris Youngblood with a spinebuster - the Horsemen working to cut the ring in half. A missed Vaderbomb allows the tag to Mark Youngblood, but the Horsemen quickly put out his house of fire, and a superplex finished Chris at 7:31. Just going through the motions here. ¼*

Brian Pillman v Buddy Lee Parker: Parker challenges to a test-of-strength right at the get go, but Pillman bridges out of it, and hooks a wristlock. Parker tries a clothesline, but Pillman counters with a crucifix for two. A headscissors takedown sends Buddy to the outside, but Parker pounds Pillman with a series of stomps on the way back in. Bodyslam sets up a flying splash, but Parker changes his mind, and goes out to the elevated ramp way to stand around doing nothing. It's all a set up for Pillman to springboard off of the top rope with a clothesline onto the ramp, but the transition looked really awkward there. Back inside, Brian hits a flying bodypress for the pinfall at 3:18. Pillman is always entertaining, but Parker wasn't the best guy to match him up with. ½*

Arm Wrestling Match: Paul E. Dangerously v Missy Hyatt: Paul is in all his misogynistic glory here (well, as much as a man wearing purple and sporting a ponytail can be, anyway), but Missy takes her ring jacket off to put the machine gun jumblies in his face, and Paul's arm goes limp. Dangerously made this segment (more so than the big, bouncy titties even) with his amazing facial expressions.

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Ric Flair v Scott Steiner: Both men size each other up at the bell, and Flair showboats, of course. He's too smart to accept Steiner's challenge to start on the mat, but trying to run the ropes doesn't go any better - Scott blasting him with a shoulderblock. Steiner with a fireman’s carry takedown, but Flair is quick to hide in the ropes, and kill the momentum. Steiner tries a standing side-headlock, so Flair tries to counter into an overhead wristlock, but gets easily overpowered and bails to the ropes again. Test-of-strength, but Flair is uneasy, but his stalling suckers Steiner into a cheap shot. Scott responds with a sidewalk slam for two, and Ric immediately begs off - wisely bailing to the floor to both regroup and kill the momentum again. Inside, Steiner corners Flair when Ric refuses to lockup, so Flair starts firing off chops - finally finding something that fazes Steiner. Not for long, though, as a criss cross allows Scott another shoulderblock, and he takes over with an armbar. Ric stupidly tries to outwrestle Steiner, but Scott counters and reverses headlocks and hammerlocks - Flair finally hiding in the ropes again to save himself. Another test-of-strength ends in a Flair cheap shot, but a cross corner whip results in Scott charging him with a hard clothesline. Flair tries to hide on the ramp, but Scott stays on him with a suplex for two. With Flair weakened, Scott shoves him into the corner for a ten-punch, but Ric interrupts with an inverted atomic drop, and then adds another one for good measure. Poor Scott Steiner's balls. First the steroids, and now this. Flair uses the ropes to steal a two count, but another big criss cross goes Scott's way, and he hooks on a figure four! Flair uses the ropes to break, but then they badly botch a bodypress spot - meant to be Flair pressing Steiner to go tumbling over the top to the floor, but Scott not making it over. He recovers by badly pulling himself over anyway - which is even worse than the obviously fake way Lex Luger used to take that spot. Either way, Flair takes control with a kneebreaker, and back inside, Ric works the leg. Another kneebreaker sets up the Figure Four - Flair making sure to use the ropes for leverage, of course. That angers Rick Steiner at ringside, but he can't force a break, so Scott is forced to reverse the hold. Scott hits a neckbreaker once free, and Flair Flips to the floor where Scott takes his head off with a clothesline. Ric takes his time getting back in, but Rick is there to lend him a hand - and make sure he doesn't save the title by countout. Ric resorts to a cheap shot to put Scott down again, and he goes back to the Figure Four well - only for Scott to counter with a cradle for two. Scott with a sleeper, but Flair again finds the ropes. Scott responds by clotheslining him over the top, and Rick is there again to help Flair back inside - Ric quickly snapmaring Steiner, and hitting a shindrop for a couple of rope-assisted near falls. With only a few minutes remaining in the time limit, Flair tries to run down the clock with a mat-based side-headlock, but Steiner bridges up into a double-underhook powerbomb - Flair scurrying to the floor to try and save the title. Rick rolls Ric back in with a minute left, and Scott blasts the champ with a jumping clothesline. Ten-punch count sets up another Flair Flip, and a belly-to-belly suplex hits, but the time limit expires at 25:00. This is a pretty famous match, for both new booker Dusty Rhodes and champion Ric Flair wanting to make Steiner a singles star (and world champion), and for Steiner refusing - uncomfortable with breaking up his successful tag team. It’s also the one and only meeting between the two (and while they were both among the best workers in the world), though the match itself was disappointing. Flair still went out and made Steiner look like a million bucks here with his selling, and the bout was filled with great bits like Flair relying on experience to try and counter Steiner’s superior skill – but disappointing and underwhelming overall. ** ¼

BUExperience: Not a great wrestling show, but it was an easy one to sit through. Flair/Steiner – while disappointing – is certainly worth tracking down for old school fans (even if only as a curiosity), and the rest is inoffensive enough for a pass. Barely though. **