WCW Clash of the Champions XV: Knocksville USA (June 1991)

Original Airdate: June 12, 1991

From Knoxville, Tennessee; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone.


Opening Six-Man Tag Team Match: The Fabulous Freebirds v Tom Zenk and The Young Pistols: God, it took these two teams so long to get a six-man together that the Southern Boys aren't even called the Southern Boys anymore. They're all still stuck in the opening match, but at least they finally have six guys ready to work. Jimmy Garvin starts with Tom Zenk, and a criss cross goes Tom's way with a hiptoss, drawing the other four guys in for a brawl - Zenk and the Pistols cleaning house. The dust settles on Michael Hayes and Steve Armstrong - Steve using his speed to dominate Hayes with a dropkick. That once again triggers a six-way brawl, and once more the faces clear the Freebirds in short order. The dust settles again - this time on Badstreet and Armstrong - and a bit of Freebird triple teaming allows them to take control. It doesn't take long for yet another brawl to break out, and the faces band together for a triple sunset flip for the triple pin at 4:43. Far too rushed to properly build flow, but fun for the five minutes it went on. ½*

Oz v Johnny Rich: Oz absolutely destroys poor Johnny at the bell - unloading kicks and punches. A diving shoulderblock gets two coming out of the ropes - Oz pulling him up to break the count - and he creams him with a bit boot. Sidewalk slam hits, and a helicopter powerbomb finishes Rich at 1:29. Old Nash squashes aren't as fun as old Sid squashes, but still fun. DUD

Dan Spivey v Big Josh: A big opening slugfest goes Spivey's way, and he follows with a quick cross corner clothesline to take Josh off of his feet. Josh fires back with a spinebuster into mounted punches, but walks into a Japanese armdrag, and a big boot follows from Spivey. Josh reverses a suplex, and follows with a German version as Kevin Sullivan wanders out. He bashes Josh with a crutch (in a silly spot, as Josh sees him, and still hits the ropes right where Kevin is standing with the crutch aimed to strike), and Spivey hits a German suplex of his own for the pin at 2:49. Serves Josh right, the dummy. This was building into a decent little match before Sullivan got involved, but it didn't have enough time to go anywhere anyway, really. ¼*

Dustin Rhodes v Terrance Taylor: Taylor controls the initial lockup, but makes the mistake of taunting Dustin, and gets caught with a cross corner clothesline for two. Taylor bails to regroup with manager Alexandra York (and her awesome early 90s laptop), but I guess Wikipedia wasn't around yet, because Dustin Rhodes' move set perplexes him, and he walks into an atomic drop. He manages to dodge a blind charge to send Dustin flying out to the floor, and Taylor suplexes him back in for two. Terry with a gutwrench powerbomb for two, but a backdrop gets countered with a nice sunset flip from Dustin - getting two. Rhodes follows with a backslide for two, and starts unloading elbowsmashes to set up a ten-punch count for a two count. Inverted atomic drop sets up a bulldog, but the referee is caught up with Mr. Hughes on the apron, and Ricky Morton runs in to cause a disqualification at 4:26. A nice, well paced, near fall filled back-and-forth match - hurt by a bad ending. *

Sting v Nikita Koloff: Sting stupidly tries to charge Koloff with a dive from the elevated ramp way, but fails to leap over the ropes (instead trying to jumps through them), and gets his ass appropriately beat. Nikita blasts him with a diving shoulderblock before tossing him to the floor for some proper abuse. Inside, Koloff gives him a well executed tombstone piledriver for two, but a backdrop is countered with a sunset flip from Sting for two. Koloff keeps stomping him before he can capitalize though, as some old lady at ringside (who hadn't gotten out of her seat the whole night), starts violently yelling at Koloff while waving an American flag. So much so that Koloff even stops to acknowledge her. Maybe she'd feel better if she knew the guy was actually from Minnesota? Seriously, this old bitch is losing it. But KOLOFF DOESN'T CARE as he just keeps methodically stomping and choking the Stinger while taunting the old lady. Wow, WCW should have signed that old hag - she was more energetic than half the roster at this point. Vader v Old Hag could have sold out The Omni on a weekly basis for years. Another tombstone, but Sting reverses and starts to build a comeback with a flurry of fists. Stinger Splash misses, but so does Koloff's Russian Sickle, and Sting schoolboys him for the pin at 9:33. When a crazy old lady at ringside is the best part of a match, it's not a good match. I'd have given it a star if she threw here teeth at Koloff, though. DUD

Loser Leaves WCW Match: Arn Anderson and Barry Windham v Brian Pillman and El Gigante: Anderson starts with Pillman, and gets hooked in a Pillman backslide right away for two. Bodypress gets two, and a frustrated Anderson is keen to pass to Windham. Barry gets blasted with a spinheel kick for two, but Windham is in not mood for games and/or workrate, and decks him for being insolent. He and Anderson cut the ring in half, but Arn gets dropkicked to the floor when trying something off of the top rope. Brian follows up with a plancha, and looks to finish with an awesome elevated flying bodypress (off of Gigante's shoulders), but the Horsemen throw a cheap shot at him, and Pillman's WCW career is over at 3:08. Kind of short and anticlimactic for a Loser Leaves Town match, but Pillman was game, and worked his ass off. The whole thing led to the masked Yellow Dog angle - interesting in theory, but less so in execution. *

IWGP Tag Team Title Match: The Steiner Brothers v Masahiro Chono and Hiroshi Hase: Scott Steiner starts with Hase, and wrestles him to the mat as the xenophobic old lady at ringside wakes up to wave the flag at the Japanese. Single-leg takedown, but Hase counters with a well executed enzuigiri, but Scott catches him with a stungun for a series of two counts. Hase blasts him with another well executed kick, but Scott pops off a belly-to-belly suplex, and tags Rick Steiner in. He gets to face off with Chono - which translates to getting kicked in the head. Multiple times. After about five good, hard shots, Rick manages to fire back with a clothesline, and brings Scott in for an awesome powerbomb/flying elbowdrop combo. Tag to Hase, but he walks into a German suplex, but manages to catch Rick with a vicious backdrop driver. He and Chono hit a bearhug/flying shoulderblock combo, and add a Samoan drop/flying kneedrop for good measure. Chono hooks an STF to finish, but Scott breaks it up - after taking a moment to suplex poor Hase on the floor. Double clothesline leaves both Rick and Chono looking up at the lights - Steiner's headgear broken from the abuse he's taken. Both manage a tag, and Scott wrecks Hase with a brutal clothesline before hitting a tilt-a-whirl slam. Double-underhook powerbomb doesn't even warrant a cover in this madness, but instead just sets up an overhead superplex for two. Vertical suplex, but Hase counters into a Dragon suplex for two - broken up by Rick. That triggers a four-way brawl, and Scott catches Hase with the Frankensteiner to retain at 8:14. Holy God. The Steiners were absolutely marvelous when paired with a team that could hang, and this was no execution - though Scott ended up tearing his bicep during all the fun, and would never quite be the same. Still, an excellent match - filled with crisp, hard hitting spot after spot, and great pacing. *** ¼    

The Diamond Studd v Tommy Rich: Studd unloads on Rich with right hands in the corner, and hits a quick chokeslam to put Tommy on his back. A series of turnbuckle smashes leave Rich on dream street, and a side walk slam nearly dents the ring. A Vaderbomb follows, but Rich blocks with his knees, and drives Studd into the turnbuckles with his own series of smashes. 2^nd rope bodypress, but Studd sidesteps, and the Diamond Death Drop finishes at 1:59. Man, guys named Rich are not having a good night against the Outsiders here tonight. Studd looked good, and Rich sold well, but this was a complete and total squash. DUD

Kevin Sullivan's son wins a Sting lookalike contest - complete with Sting coming down to congratulate him. Of course, Koloff then storms down to kick the shit out of Sting (and threaten the kid (and his mother!), since he's a proper heel) - but the best part of the whole thing is that they do the whole segment in front of the crazy old lady from earlier - and she. is. pissed.

#1 Contender's Match: Lex Luger v Great Muta: Muta tries to show off with a bit of mist, but Luger couldn't care less, and powers him into the corner to win the initial lockup. Lex tries a mat-based side-headlock, but Muta is quick to counter with a headscissors - the break putting them both back on their feet. Criss cross goes Luger's way with a right hand, so Muta throws a big roundhouse kick - countered by Luger with a side suplex. Leaping elbowdrop, but Muta is out of position, so Lex stops to bodyslam him before missing the move. Muta capitalizes with a backdrop, but Luger shrugs it off with a press slam - only to run into a spinkick. Meanwhile, the crazy old lady at ringside has started knitting. Muta responds to the atrophy with a missed handspring elbow that triggers an insane bump to the floor, and that (plus a token powerslam) are enough to give Luger his date with destiny at 3:44. Like the Loser Leaves Town match earlier, this was really short and underwhelming. ¼*

Steve Austin v Joey Maggs: Very early in Austin's WCW run here, and this is nothing but a quick squash for him, as Maggs charges Steve and gets caught with the stungun at 0:25. DUD

Main Event: WCW World Title 2/3 Falls Match: Ric Flair v Bobby Eaton: Flair forces Eaton into the corner out of the initial lockup, but offers him a clean break - without even taking a cheap shot! Again, but this time Flair gives him a shove, which Eaton responds to by paintbrushing him. Slugfest ends in Eaton blasting the champ with a shoulderblock, and a clothesline sends Flair tumbling to the floor. Ric regroups out there, and comes in hot with a series of chops in the corner - Eaton selling them properly. Man, after facing JYD, Luger, Reed, and Steiner at these last few Clashes it's good to see someone actually sell the dreaded knife edge chops. Not for long though, as Eaton turns the tide with a backdrop, and hits a hiptoss to set up a wristlock on the mat. Eaton forces Flair to kick out of a couple of pinfall attempts while in the hold, and blocks every one of Ric's counter attempts - leaving a defeated Flair finally reaching for the ropes to force a break. Eaton keeps after the arm with a hammerlock, but Flair manages to counter with a droptoe-hold before Eaton can take it to the mat, and a solid chop bashes Bobby right in the nose. Flair actually works the nose with a hard whip into the corner, and a shindrop gets a couple of two counts - another nice bit of wear down. Flair with a butterfly suplex for a rope-assisted two count, but a flying axehandle is countered with a slam off the top by Eaton. Flair Flip sets up a modified backbreaker, and Eaton hits a swinging neckbreaker. Bodyslam sets up a gorgeous Alabama Jam, and that's the first fall at 9:45. Eaton is thrilled, and tries to finish him with a backslide, but it only gets two. Bodypress gets two, so he tries another swinging neckbreaker to set up another Alabama Jam, but Flair manages to shake the ropes this time, and Eaton falls to the floor to give Flair a fall via countout at 11:42. Eaton's knee is all fucked up from the fall, and Flair is quick to drag him back in to snag the deciding fall, but unfortunately for him, Eaton busts out a superplex. He's too battered to immediately capitalize though, and it only gets two once he manages to crawl over. Smelling blood, Flair hooks him in a side suplex, and slaps on the Figure Four - but the referee catches him using the ropes. He goes for it again, but Eaton cradles him for two - and now Flair's pissed. He clips the knee as Eaton tries to regain a vertical base, and another Figure Four finishes at 14:26. The last two falls were kind of rapid fire, but this was a great old school match - so well worked by both men that you legitimately believed Eaton may have walked out with the World Title. ** ¾

BUExperience: This one suffers from too many matches (everyone getting a chance to show their face on TBS) which resulted in short, underwhelming matches. Matches like the Loser Leaves Town and #1 Contender’s bouts in particular could have used a few more minutes, and came off as rushed.

While the show as a whole would have certainly benefited from a ‘less is more’ approach, the tag title match and the main event are certainly worth checking out – even if both of those felt rushed as well. **