NWA (JCP) Clash of the Champions (Version II)

Original Airdate: March 27, 1988

From Greensboro, North Carolina; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone

Opening NWA Television Title College Rules Match: Mike Rotunda v Jimmy Garvin: Three five minutes rounds, though this isn't actual collegiate style wrestling, as the name would imply, rather it's basically just a normal match except that it only takes a one count to end it, and there are rounds.
ROUND ONE: Rotunda takes Garvin down with a waistlock, but Jimmy quickly escapes, and Mike stalls. Rotunda gets an armdrag during the next lockup, but Garvin fires back with a bodyslam, then bails to the floor - much like Cael Sanderson might. Back in, Garvin hooks a standing overhead wristlock, but Rotunda uses a handful of hair to escape, and headlocks him. Garvin escapes with a backelbow, and grabs a front-facelock, but Rotunda slugs free, and hits a stungun before putting the boots to Jimmy in the corner. It takes some major balls to sell to this is 'college rules' with a straight face. Mike keeps hammering him, but time expires before he can put the challenger away.
ROUND TWO: Rotunda keeps control with a cross corner whip and a bodyslam, but gets slammed off the top rope, and backdropped by his challenger. Garvin goes for a brainbuster, so Kevin Sullivan goes after Precious to distract him, and Rotunda schoolboys him at 5:55. This would have been more entertaining had they wrestled an actual collegiate style match, but this was basically just a regular match, with regular pro spots. And not a particularly good one, either. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

Steve Williams is back from Japan, and dressed like an extra in Boogie Nights. Check out that bling bracelet! Eat your heart out, Chandler

NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The Midnight Express v The Fantastics: A line of eight fans in the front row, all dressed like Big Bubba Rogers, hold up individual signs spelling out 'Cornette.' That's pretty awesome. The Express jump them on the way into the ring, and we've got a brawl! It quickly spills to the floor, and inside Stan Lane takes a flying axehandle from Tommy Roger - as Bobby Eaton goes after Bobby Fulton with a chair on the floor. The challengers manage to take control with a tandem backdrop on Lane, but the referee just can't restore order, and they brawl to the floor again - using chairs, tables, and steps. All we need is the ladder! The dust finally settles on Eaton and Rogers in the ring, and Tommy dropkicks him right into a bodyslam from Fulton. Lane runs in, but the challengers whip him into the corner to get rid of him, and Fulton unloads a ten-punch on Eaton. Some quick teamwork turns that tide, however, and the Express go to work cutting the ring in half on Rogers. They throw everything they've got at Tommy, but Rogers won't stay down, and keeps fighting. Flying elbowdrop and a backbreaker/flying pointed elbowdrop combo don't even warrant a cover, as the Midnight's are just having a ball dismantling this guy, and cutting the ring in half. They dump him to the floor for a slam onto a table, and Cornette is literally dancing in the aisles with excitement. Eaton then bulldogs Tommy onto the table before finally bringing it back in, and the Express give him the drop-toehold/elbowdrop combo for two. Tommy is still fighting, but the Midnight's distract the referee to cause him to miss a tag, and Fulton has enough! He hustles in, and takes out the referee in his rush - attacking the Express. The Fantastics blitz them, and the Rocket Launcher finishes Eaton at 10:19, counted by a second official. Unfortunately, the first official wakes up, and disqualifies the Fantastics for hitting him. Afterwards, both teams brawl, and Cornette beats Fulton with a belt in brutal fashion - which become important later on in the feud. Really good match, the Midnight's practically giving a masters course on heel tag team tactics here. Match quality wise, this was better than literally anything that took place at WrestleMania IV - and there's still more to come! *** ¼ (Original rating: ** ¼)

Earlier today, Ken Osmond (of Leave it to Beaver fame) caught up with Jim Cornette, and pretty much outright asks to fuck his mother. Well, at least he was polite about it

Al Perez and Gary Hart want to be taken seriously. They want respect! They're smart! Not, like, dumb, like everyone says. If that doesn't work out though, they've got a fall back as meteorologists, apparently, as they predict a hail storm for Dusty Rhodes

Frances Crockett reveals the top ten seeds for the upcoming Crockett Cup tournament

Six-Man Tag Team Barbed Wire Match: Dusty Rhodes and The Road Warriors v Ivan Koloff and The Powers of Pain: The ropes have a few loose strands of barbed wire hanging over them, not totally replaced like would become the style in the 90s. The heels stall on the floor, since getting into the ring requires sliding under the bottom rope, and the faces have the high ground - refusing to let them enter. They finally get in, and dear lord, Dusty is juicing less than thirty seconds into things. No tags required here, so it's just a brawl, with guys trading shots, and trying to use the wire. The poor referee trying to navigate the ring with six big guys brawling and barbed wire surrounding him is pretty entertaining, though. Finally, Animal powerslams Warlord for the pin at 4:00. This was not remotely good, but it was unique. I mean, you wouldn't have seen this in the WWF during this era, that's for damned sure. Still, unique doesn't always make for quality matches. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Nikita Koloff wants you to get high... on sports! His message would probably have a lot more impact if he wasn't literally dressed like Scarface while making his case, though

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard v Lex Luger and Barry Windham: Tully starts with Lex, and gets thrown around, so Arn rushes in, but Luger fights them both off. The crowd is just crazy rabid for this one, popping and pumping their fists in the air for literally everything the faces do! Lex goes for the quick win with the Torture Rack on Tully, but Arn clips his leg to save, and pounces on it. The champions don't waste any time going to work on the leg with expert efficiency, but Lex fights off a spinning-toehold from Anderson, and tags. Windham nails Blanchard with a jumping clothesline and a powerslam for two, and he slaps on a sleeper! Tully falls into the ropes, but Windham hangs onto the hold even as they tumble to the floor - forced to break to avoid getting counted out, but doing some damage. He slams Tully off the top rope on the way back in, and grabs an abdominal stretch, so JJ Dillon distracts the official, and Anderson hustles in with a DDT to break it up. Spinebuster gets Arn a two count, and the Horsemen go to work cutting the ring in half. Pinfall reversal sequence ends in Windham hitting a gutwrench suplex, but Tully keeps control with the Slingshot Suplex - but only for two! Tag to Luger, and he's a gym of fire! Cheap shot from Tully attempts to keep the Horsemen in control, but Luger shrugs it off, and powerslams Anderson. That brings Tully in to make a last ditch effort, but Windham cuts him off, and Luger reverses Arn into a chair Dillon is holding on the apron to win the title at 9:33! The pop for that is just insane too - the place looks to be near euphoric riot! Well paced tag team wrestling here, and the heat was just off the charts from bell to bell. ** ¼ (Original rating: ***)

Main Event: NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Sting: JJ Dillon is suspended in a shark cage for this, with Sandy Scott, Gary Juster, and Patty Mullen acting as ringside judges. Of those three, Scott and Juster are actually associated with wrestling, while Mullen is a Penthouse Pet. I guess they figured she fights off unwanted advances often enough to qualify as an expert in grappling. Flair tries to control Sting with an overhead wristlock to start, and the powerful challenger reverses, but the experienced champion is positioned close to the ropes. Test-of-strength goes the Stinger's way as well, so Flair tries chops, but Sting no-sells, and hiptosses him across the ring before knocking him out of it with a dropkick. Back in, Ric grabs a side-headlock, and shifts into a hammerlock, but Sting reverses, and shifts into a wristlock. Big criss cross once Ric escapes, ending in Sting press-slamming the champion, and executing a headscissors takedown, followed by a hiptoss before grounding Ric in a side-headlock. Flair manages to wrestle up to a vertical base in the hold, and uses a chop to escape, but gets hiptossed after another criss cross, and put back on the mat in another headlock. Ric escapes again, but this time Sting stops short to avoid having to criss cross - dropping right back down into the side-headlock when Ric hits the deck during the attempted criss cross. Flair fights free with another chop, but Sting no-sells, and executes another hiptoss/dropkick combo. Man, he really likes to hiptoss, doesn't he? Flair tries dumping him to the floor, but Sting pops right back in, and delivers some punches in the corner before taking the champ back down in another headlock. Ric escapes, and starts trying closed fists, but Sting still no-sells, and press-slams him. Bearhug wears Flair down to the mat for a few near falls, as little Wayne Arnold puts the moves on the Penthouse Pet. Good for him, the little shit. Sting gets overconfident, and misses a couple of higher risk maneuvers (elbowdrop and a cross corner elbowsmash), allowing Ric to finally put him down with an inverted atomic drop. Flair takes him to the outside for a couple of whips into the rail to capitalize, then unloads with chops on the way back in. Flair goes to work with a cross corner whip and a pair of kneedrops, followed by a pair of backscratches - as the announcers note that there is 'only' twenty five minutes left in the time limit. It's okay when they do that with only a few minutes remaining, but twenty five minutes is longer than any of the matches on the undercard - noting it repeatedly is kind of a dead giveaway of the finish. Flair cracks him with some more chops in the corner, but Sting starts no-selling, and a right hand sends the champion flying over the top. Sting goes after him, but again pays the price for trying a higher risk maneuver on the experienced champion when Ric dodges a jumping clothesline, and Sting hits the post. He manages to beat the count in, and Ric goes to work on the arm with a wristlock. Sting powers him into the corner for a ten-punch, followed by a hiptoss and a clothesline for two. Man, Sting likes the hiptoss like Burns likes the vest. Hanging vertical suplex sets up the Scorpion Deathlock, but Ric is in the ropes before the challenger can properly apply the hold. Sting keeps on him with a hard right, but again isn't experienced enough to keep Flair away from the ropes before covering. Bodypress, but Flair hits the deck, and Sting goes crashing through the ropes to the floor. Flair tries to snap his throat across the top rope on the way back in, but Sting manages to fight him off, and actually sticks a high risk maneuver with a flying bodypress for two. Ric cuts him off with a kneebreaker, however, and the champ goes to work on the leg. Another kneebreaker sends Sting to the outside, but the challenger manages to beat the count in. Ric punishes him for it by pounding the knee - though he still makes sure to take the time to taunt some fat boys at ringside. The look of pure glee on Wayne Arnold's face as Ric does so is marvelous - one proper bully appreciating another. Side suplex sets up the Figure Four, and even with Flair using the ropes, Sting will not submit! He manages to reverse the hold, but Flair gets the ropes. Ric decides to finish this punk kid off with a vertical suplex from the apron to the floor, but Sting reverses him back into the ring, and tries a splash to follow-up - only to hit the champion's knees. Abdominal stretch, but Sting reverses. Flair escapes and goes to the top rope, but the Stinger slams him down for two, then crotches him on the post for good measure. JJ Dillon protesting and calling for a disqualification from the shark cage is hilarious. Sting applies a figure four of his own, and has learned from his mistakes - making sure Flair is far from the ropes. Ric still manages to get them, so Sting goes back to what he knows best, and delivers another ten-punch, followed by a hiptoss. Out to the floor, Ric gets sent into the rail and smashed into the judges table, then takes an all expense paid trip into the post. Five minutes left in the time limit as Ric manages a slingshot sunset flip on the way back in, but Sting blocks. Ten-punch, so Ric counters with an inverted atomic drop, but Sting no-sells, and clotheslines him for two. Stinger Splash, but Flair dodges, and the challenger goes crashing to the outside, in a nice bump. Sting knows he done fucked up, but he refuses to quit - fighting in ahead of the count. Flair looks to finish with a sleeper, but Sting manages to drop him into the top turnbuckle to escape, so an increasingly desperate Flair tosses him to the floor again. Sting keeps coming with a slingshot sunset flip of his own for two, but Flair manages to get to the top rope for a flying bodypress - only for Sting to roll through for two! Stinger Splash sets up the Scorpion Deathlock, and he gets it on properly - only for the forty five minute time limit to expire at 39:14. I guess the timekeeper was distracted by Mullen? And, so, that leaves it up to our ringside judges, but they're deadlocked, and the bout is ruled a draw. Why even bother having judges then? Just do a time limit draw and be done with it. The power versus experience dynamic here was really well done, and though the match tended to be extremely repetitive, their good use of psychology kept it engaging for the full forty. This was like the type of match Triple H was always TRYING to have when he'd do those forty minute pay per view bore fests in the 2000s. And besides being a good match, it also succeeded in and is significant for making Sting into a star, as opposed to just some random UWF goof with cool face paint, not to mention is the first in what would be thirteen years worth of high profile matches between the two. And the fact that it was presented totally commercial free is just a cool little cherry on top. *** ½ (Original rating: *** ¾)

BUExperience: This was a great show, both from a historical significance standpoint and a match quality standpoint. Good TV, any way you slice it