WCW Clash of the Champions XVII (November 1991)

Original Airdate: November 19, 1991

From Savannah, Georgia; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone.


Opening Lumberjack Match: Big Josh v Thomas Rich: Rich jumps Josh as he enters the ring, but Josh starts to make his Hector Salamanca face, and hits an atomic drop. Rich tries to bail, but the lumberjacks stop him, and Josh hits a belly-to-belly suplex followed by mounted punches. Rich finally manages to bail on the heel lumberjack side, but gets forced in anyway, and Josh backdrops him for two. Thomas manages to dumps him to the floor for the lumberjacks to abuse, and he finds a tag rope to choke with as Josh gets tossed back in. Rich controls with a backelbow and a suplex for two, but an attempt to go aerial gets him slammed off of the top, and Josh hits a suplex of his own for two. A big criss cross ends in Rich getting tripped up by one of the lumberjacks, and Josh buttsplashes him for the pin at 6:03. Just going through the motions, but energetic enough. ¼*

Bobby Eaton v Firebreaker Chip: Chip tries to use his size advantage early on, but Eaton outwrestles him, and hits a hiptoss. Chip tries a side-headlock, but Eaton wrestles to a vertical base, so Chip tries to springboard off of the top rope - which ends in him crashing to the mat when he badly botches it. He goes back to the safe ground of a headlock before hitting a flying clothesline, and Eaton begs him to take it back to the mat before it gets any more embarrassing. The result is a few hammerlock exchanges, until Eaton blasts Chip with a hard clothesline - the crowd popping big for it. Modified backbreaker hits, so Chip tries a bodypress and a backslide for two. Cradle, but Eaton counters by shoving him into the corner (complete with a hilarious sell job from Chip) before finishing with a side suplex at 4:51. Eaton tried, but Chip was comically bad - he had no business competing at this level. DUD

Tom Zenk v Diamond Studd: Joined in progress coming out of the commercial break with Zenk missing a blind charge into the corner, and getting bulldogged. He fires back by crotching Studd on the post when he tries it again, and capitalizing with a sunset flip for two before hitting a crucifix for the pin at 1:40 shown. Only a few seconds were cut here, so I feel comfortable giving this ¼* and moving on.

WCW Television Title Match: Steve Austin v PN News: Austin makes me proud by jumping News at the bell, but not even the man who would become Stone Cold can stop the awesome that is an obese white rap fan with a rattail. News nails him with an avalanche early, and a slam sets up an elbowdrop - Austin bailing to the floor. News follows to whip him into the rail, but he's too slow climbing back in, and Austin jumps him again. The champ stupidly tries a bodyslam, but News counters by being fat, and topples him for two. 'Dropkick' 'hits' and a suplex follows for two. Backdrop sets up a belly-to-belly suplex for two, but News gets distracted by Austin-valet Lady Blossom on the outside, and Steve uses the distraction to dive over the top onto his challenger. He returns the favor with his own shot into the rail, and rolls News in for the pin at 4:21 - with two feet on the ropes for leverage. News was generally horrible, and the source material for many jokes from old school fans, but he made a nice effort here - as did Austin to carry him. Still not anything close to 'good,' but for News this was a career highlight. ½*

Cactus Jack v Van Hammer: RAM-JAM!!! Jack jumps him as he stupidly wastes time playing to the crowd, but Hammer manages a side suplex to turn things around. He knocks Jack to the floor for a plancha, but they mistime it, and Hammer just kinda lands next to him. Inside, Hammer tries a legdrop for two, but Jack shrugs him off with a Cactus Clothesline and the 2^nd rope elbowdrop out on the floor. Inside, a slugfest goes Hammer's way, as does a flying kneedrop - but Jack kicks out at two. Hammer follows with a shoulderblock, but Jack grabs Hammer's guitar, and jabs him with it for the pin at 4:06. Eh, serves Hammer right. Anyone carrying a Flying V deserves to get beat with it. DUD

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: The Enforcers v Dustin Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat: Steamboat is Rhodes' much hyped mystery partner, making his return to WCW for the first time since 1989, and blowing the roof off of the place. He starts with Arn Anderson (doing an amazing and hilarious job of selling the shock and anger over Steamboat's participation), and the crowd goes nuts as the Dragon unloads chops on both champions. A four-way brawl takes only moments to break out (with the challengers cleaning house), and the dust settles on Steamboat and Larry Zbyszko. Ricky controls with a standing side-headlock, and passes to Rhodes to hold Zbyszko in an armbar. The challengers take turns unloading on Larry, but Dustin fails to hold up his end, and Zbyszko makes the tag. Anderson wastes no time beating the piss out of Dustin in the corner, and hitting a flying axehandle. Arn tells Steamboat to pay attention to this cross corner clothesline, but he ends up running into Rhodes' boot, and Dustin clears him out of the ring with a series of right hands. Tag back to Zbyszko, and he insists Steamboat tag back in - a wish that is granted. He makes the mistake of slapping Steamboat, and the Dragon gives chase - but misses Larry tagging Anderson, and walks into a double-team. The Enforcers cut the ring in half on Steamboat using every trick in the book (double-teams, leverage, quick tags, switching behind the referees back), but Anderson misses a dive off of the top, and Rhodes finally gets the tag! He's a house of arson, and hits a bulldog on Anderson as a four-way brawl breaks out - Steamboat catching Anderson with a flying bodypress to win the title at 14:48. Really fun and exciting old school tag match here - everyone was on. The Enforcers were hitting every heel tag team mark there is with gusto, Steamboat was selling it all like death, and Rhodes carried his end well too - the crowd with them every step of the way. ***

WCW Light Heavyweight Title Match: Brian Pillman v Johnny B. Badd: Badd dominates the early going with his Golden Gloves routine, but Pillman fires back with a backdrop and a dropkick to put Badd out on the ramp. Pillman follows with a springboard out after him, but Johnny responds by tossing him off of the ramp and into the steel guardrail. He makes the mistake of playing to the crowd instead of capitalizing though, and Pillman hits a slingshot shoulderblock on the way back in. Powerslam sets up a flying splash, but Badd blocks with his knees - a great bump from Pillman. Badd backelbow gets two, and a scoop slam sets up a flying bodypress - countered by Brian with a dropkick. Pillman with a spinheel kick for two, but Badd catches him with a jumping clothesline coming out of the ropes, and follows with a flying sunset flip, but Badd manager Teddy Long is distracting the referee. Badd goes to see what in the hell is wrong with him (a question one could reasonably ask Badd, based on his outfit), but Brian uses the opportunity to schoolboy Johnny to retain at 4:20. Afterwards, Badd knocks Long out to turn face. These two had a really good match together in 1995, but Badd still had a lot of learning to do before getting to that point. Still, a fun and energetic match for what it was. Five more minutes would have been welcome. ** ¾

WCW United States Title Match: Sting v Rick Rude: Sting is in the hospital after Lex Luger attacked him earlier in the show, and there is doubt whether or not he will be able to wrestle. Rude manager Paul E. Dangerously quickly points out that if Sting can't make it, Rude should win the title by forfeit, but as the referee starts counting, Sting pulls up to the building in an ambulance he commandeered earlier in the show, and he's heading for the ring. Rude meets him on the ramp way, but Sting press slams him, and tosses him into the ring to get thing started. Sting with a big backdrop, and an even bigger clothesline (no one sold like Rick Rude), but Rick finally grabs at the bad leg, and sweeps him for a few shots into the post. Inside, Rude goes for the Rude Awakening, but Sting blocks and thumps Rude with a few closed fists. Unfortunately, he thumps him a little too good, and the knocked out Rude falls right into Sting's bad knee. Dangerously adds a cheap shot with his giant ass cell phone for good measure, and a handful of tights crowns a new US champ at 4:53. Maybe not the best match, but the angle surrounding it was top notch, and the crowd ate it up and asked for seconds. ¾*

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Lex Luger v Rick Steiner: Wow, glad to see they were using Luger's limited contract to bring us riveting main events like this. Steiner tries to dominate Luger by utilizing him amateur background in the early going, but Lex is quick to hide in the ropes to derail Steiner each time. Luger wisely tries to turn it into a power match, but Steiner manages to win a shoulderblock showdown - frustrating the champion. Steiner with a powerslam for two, and a big clothesline puts Luger out on the floor - where he stays for a while to regroup. Back in, Lex is cautious and tries a cheap shot, but Rick backdrops him and hits a German suplex for two. Luger finally manages to turn the tide by crotching Steiner on the top rope, and Lex fires off a series of clotheslines to follow-up. He can't seem to think of literally any moves after that though, and Steiner suplexes him with ease before Lex remembers how he loves bodyslams. That plus a pointed elbowdrop gets Luger a two count, and running out of offense again, he dumps Steiner onto the floor to let old, retired Harley Race work him over. Steiner powerslams Luger again on the way back in, and a flying bulldog gets two - Luger saving by throwing a foot onto the ropes. Steiner with a belly-to-belly superplex, and a regular belly-to-belly, but Harley Race hops up onto the apron to break the count, and Lex rams Rick with the title belt to get the pin at 11:31. This could have been a fun power matchup, but Luger was horribly unmotivated at this point during his career, and it was a plodding, stallfest. ¼*

BUExperience: A couple of good matches in the tag and light heavyweight title bouts, and a fun angle with Luger-Sting-Rude, but the show as a whole falls flat – especially the main event. *