WCW Clash of the Champions XXXIV (January 1997)

Original Airdate: January 21, 1997

From Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan.


Opening WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Ultimo Dragon v Dean Malenko: Dragon makes the mistake of trying to wrestle Malenko at the bell, and ends up in a hammerlock on the mat after a reversal sequence. Dean tries a suplex, but Dragon snags the top rope to block, so Dean tosses him into the corner, beats the shit out of him with forearms, and then pulls him right back to center ring for the suplex. It only gets two, but FUCK, that was awesome. To the mat, Malenko hooks a headscissors, but Dragon powers up with lightning kicks, and punts a field goal in Malenko's ribcage. Dean slides out to the floor to regroup, and comes back in cautiously - nailing the champ with a side suplex after dodging more lightning kicks. Malenko with a grapevine, but Dragon keeps coming, so Dean tries a half-crab. Dragon grabs the ropes to force a break, but Dean keeps after the leg with a kneebreaker and a stump puller. Dragon won't give, so Malenko jabs him with a backelbow, and tosses him to the floor. Now, you may be thinking, 'Well, that's horrible psychology! He can't win the title out on the floor!' Well, shut the fuck up, dickface. This is Dean Malenko we're talking about. See, he dumps Dragon to the floor not for a countout, but so use the guardrail to properly abuse his leg. Inside, Dean hits a cross corner clothesline and a super-duperplex pops the crowd, but Malenko is too battered from the move to cover. He manages a standing victory roll for two and a reversal sequence ends in Dragon hooking a rana for two. Springboard dropkick puts Malenko on the floor, and a springboard moonsault follows as the referee counts - Dragon's title not in jeopardy if it ends in a double countout. They make it in, for Dragon to suplex him, but a flying moonsault is only worth two around these parts. Dragon tries a rana off the top, but bangs his knee on the way down, and doesn't cover. Backdrop, but Dean catches him with a double-underhook powerbomb, and locks on the Texas Cloverleaf to take the title at 15:00. Great stuff here - filled with hard hitting, psychologically sound action, and subtle bits of work from both guys that gets better with repeat viewings. *** ¼  

Mike Enos v Scotty Riggs: Enos tries to take him to school at the bell, but Riggs fires back with a backelbow, and tosses Mike over the top to the floor. Scotty follows with a plancha, but a whip into the ring apron is reversed, and Enos follows with a diving clothesline off of the apron. Scotty manages a backdrop out there before rolling it back in - only to walk into a release belly-to-belly suplex. Criss cross ends in Riggs hitting a jumping forearm, and he gets a rather abrupt pinfall at 2:28. The ending came out of nowhere, but both guys were working hard. This actually might have been decent with a few more minutes. ½*

Six-Man Lucha Rules Tag Team Match: Chris Jericho, Chavo Guerrero Jr, and Super Calo v Konnan, La Parka, and Mr. JL: Guerrero starts with JL, and they trade fists. Criss cross ends in JL hitting a jumping backelbow, and another ends in Chavo hitting a jumping forearm. Both guys tag (Calo and Konnan), and Konnan goes right at him with a series of armdrags. Calo comes back with a headscissors, and tags all around leave us with Jericho and La Parka. Parka with a quick powerslam for two, but Jericho blocks a German suplex with a series of backelbows, and clotheslines him. Chris with a 2^nd rope dropkick to knock Parka to the floor, but Konnan blasts him with a clothesline before he can capitalize. Guerrero runs in to protest, but Konnan and La Parka smack him around, and drop him with a wild electric chair/flying somersault bodyblock combo. Jericho back in to battle JL, but Chris's spinheel kick only serves to draw Konnan back in. Jericho responds by dropping him with a plancha - which triggers suicide dives from everyone, and ends in a dog pile out on the floor. Inside, JL tries a rana on Jericho for two, and a sidewalk slam allows him to get to the top rope, but Chris crotches him on the turnbuckle, and brings him down with a rana for the pin at 5:28. Almost too fast to call here, but it had very little actual flow - just spot spot spot spot for five minutes. Still, fun. *

Harlem Heat v Joe Gomez and Renegade: Heat destroy both guys at the bell, until the dust settles on Stevie Ray and Gomez. Stevie slams him before tagging Booker T in - who nails Joe with a leg lariat. Suplex is countered with an inside cradle by Gomez, but Booker clobbers him with a clothesline, and brings Stevie back in for a double-team suplex - getting two. The Heat continue to methodically destroy poor Gomez, but Booker misses a 2^nd rope legdrop to allow the tag to Renegade. He tries to start a house of fire, but heat belongs to the Heat, and they kill him dead with an electric chair/missile dropkick combo at 3:44. Total squash, but the finish looked amazing. ¼*

Alex Wright v Masahiro Chono: Nick Patrick referees this one - so deep into his nWo traitor phase that he wears an nWo shit and hat while refereeing. Chono stomps the crap out of Wright at the bell, but Alex comes back with a mud hole stomping and an enzuigiri. Headscissors takedown sets up a dropkick, but Wright takes too long playing to the crowd, and Chono gutpunches him. Chono with a shoulderblock, but a criss cross goes Wright's way with a leg lariat - getting a slow two count from Patrick. Inside cradle for a slow two, and a flying sunset flip gets a ridiculously slow two count. Wright is rightfully pissed now, and kicks Nick in the balls, but all that does is give Chono an opportunity to sneak up with a kick, and he gets the pin at 4:30. Aaannnnndd DUD

Eddie Guerrero v Scott Norton: Eddie is the WCW United States Champion here, but this is non-title. Nick Patrick is refereeing this one too, since Norton is part of the nWo. Eddie uses his speed to evade Norton in the early going, but stupidly tries a German suplex, and gets swatted. Scott casually tosses him into the corner for some kneelifts, and a press slam hits hard. Again, but Eddie slips free, and dropkicks the knee to take the big man down. Guerrero wisely stomps the leg, and hits a slingshot somersault senton onto the knee. Grapevine, but he makes the mistake of letting Norton get to his feet, and loses a chopfest. Norton swats away a dropkick to set up a clothesline, and casually drops Guerrero with a vertical suplex. And I mean DROPS, as Scott never even left his feet. Powerslam hits, and a vicious powerbomb follows, but Norton takes too long climbing the ropes, and Eddie pulls him down with a rana. Guerrero with a flying somersault senton, but Norton rolls out of the way, and hits a jumping shoulderblock - only to take Patrick out along with Guerrero. That allows Diamond Dallas Page to sneak in through the crowd, and give Norton a Diamond Cutter. Eddie follows with the Frog Splash, and Patrick counts a slow, reluctant three count at 5:36 Fun little match, as Guerrero sold brilliantly to make Norton look like a monster, and the ending with Page taking another shot at the nWo was the perfect way to help Eddie get around Nick Patrick. * ¼

Falls Count Anywhere Match: Chris Benoit v Kevin Sullivan: Sullivan wants to start in the crowd, so Benoit dives to the floor, wins a slugfest, and shoves him over the guardrail. They brawl right up the arena steps and into a hallway, then right into a bathroom. Sullivan takes control by throwing Chris into a trash bin, but a shot into a mirror is countered by Benoit throwing the trash bin at him. Chris fires off chops, and beats Sullivan with a paper towel dispenser, then heads back out into the arena. Brawl on the stairs ends in Benoit taking a brutal fall down, and they end up back in the ring, where Sullivan hangs him in a tree of woe. Double Stomp gets two, so Benoit's woman (Woman) heads in with a chair, and cracks Sullivan over the head for Chris to pin at 5:11. This was just a desperate attempt to recreate their groundbreaking Great American Bash match, and it failed. It had been done before, and the first time it seemed legitimately chaotic, while this time it seemed much more sterilized. For example, during the first match, where they ventured into the bathroom, there were PEOPLE in there. This time, it was empty, and clearly set up for them to work in. ½*

The Steiner Brothers v The Amazing French-Canadians: Big brawl to start, and the Steiners control - cleaning house. The French-Canadians lure them into a chase to take over, but turn their backs, and get caught with stereo flying clotheslines. More double-teaming allows the French-Canadians to take over on Rick Steiner, but the Elevated Senton Bomb finish misses, and Rick takes them both out with a jumping clothesline. Tag to Scott Steiner to finish things, and Carl Ouellet takes an elevated flying DDT at 5:30. A couple of nice spots, but this was barely even a match. DUD

Main Event: Lex Luger v Scott Hall: Luger overpowers Hall out of the first couple of lockups, but a side headlock is countered with a side suplex. Lex no-sells and attacks with a flurry of fists, and a cross corner clothesline hits boot, and Hall hits a 2^nd rope bulldog for two. Armbar, but Lex fires off a clothesline as they get to their feet. Hiptoss, but Hall counters into a chokeslam - only to miss an elbowdrop. It spills to the floor for Hall's fellow nWo members Kevin Nash and Syxx to clobber Luger, and inside, that's enough to give Scott control. Hall with a cross corner clothesline for a rope-assisted two count, so Nash and Syxx get in a few more cheap shots before Scott hits a blockbuster for two. Hall with a rope-assisted abdominal stretch, but the referee catches him, and Luger hiptosses free - but misses an elbowdrop. Hall slaps him around, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Luger crotches him on the post. Lex with a weird slingshot dropkick and an atomic drop, followed by three inverted versions. Powerslam sets up the Torture Rack, but here comes Nash and Syxx again - the referee disqualifying Hall at 11:28. Just a standard Nitro main event. ¼*

BUExperience: This was an episode of Nitro right down to the ending, but they were making crazy amounts of money during this period – it’s not like they had to reinvent the wheel for these free TV specials by this point. Not that that knowledge makes this any more worth sitting through, though. DUD