NWA (WCW) Clash of the Champions V (Version II)

Original Airdate: February 15, 1989

From Cleveland, Ohio; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Magnum TA

Opening Match: The Midnight Express v The Russian Assassins: Stan Lane starts with Assassin #1, and gets shoved around, so Stan starts throwing kicks to blitz him. Tag to Bobby Eaton for a wristlock, but Assassin 1 bodyslams him, and passes to Assassin #2. The Express pull off a quick double-team to get out of trouble, and man, some of these crowd shots are downright scary. At least when you look at the crowd for most WWE shows today it doesn't look like the lowest, most inbred group of people possible. And this show isn't even in the deep south! Things break down when Jim Cornette starts fighting Paul Jones on the floor, and the Midnight's clean house. A distraction allows the Russian's to do an illegal switch and pound down Lane to take control, and they cut the ring in half on Sweet Stan. Hey, they've added actual padded floor mats outside the ring! That Turner money is being put to good use! The shows still closer to ECW in 1994 than the WWF in 1989 as far as overall production values go, but hey, it's a step in the right direction. The Assassins continue to work Lane over, and this match is really starting to drag. It's not 'long' in the traditional sense, and they're doing a good job keeping the action going, but there's just not enough meat in this sandwich. Assassin 2 puts Stan in a Boston crab, but Eaton rushes in to break it up, and he pulls Lane out of harms way to prevent a double-team, and get the tag! Bobby's a house of fire to ignite a brawl between the two teams, and the Rocket Launcher finishes at 13:16. Not really much to this one, but the crowd was into it in a big way, so it wasn't like it was a waste of time, or anything. * (Original rating: ¼*)

Chi-Town Rumble promo

Ricky Steamboat and his kid come out to cut a promo on Ric Flair to promote their NWA World Title match for Chi-Town Rumble the following week. Well, Ricky cuts the promo. The kid just looks confused, not to mention positively enamored with the microphone. It's kinda funny, as he keeps trying to pull the microphone away as Steamboat talks. Yeah, he's not the first one to want to do that while Steamboat's cutting a promo, I'll tell ya. The Little Dragon is SHOOTING!!

Butch Reed v Steve Casey: Casey looks like Lex Luger with a porny mustache. He dropkicks Reed down for a wristlock, and a corner whip sets up an armdrag into an armbar. Reed escapes, and stalls for a while, before getting Casey in a wristlock of his own. I don't know if it's coming across, but this is just riveting thus far. And, just in case THAT didn't come across, it was sarcasm. Casey reverses an armbar, but Reed gets to the ropes to escape. He calls for a test-of-strength, and controls, but Casey escapes into a wristlock instead, so Butch beats him down into the corner - the match finally showing signs of life after ten minutes of armbars. Butch dumps him to the outside, and back in, he grounds him again with a reverse chinlock. Yeah, well, fuck you too. Casey escapes, and a sloppy sequence ends with him getting dumped to the outside again. This match isn't dying, it's being buried. Reed vertical suplexes him back in for two, but Casey finally shows some fire with a dropkick - which promptly misses. That's what you get for trying! Reed goes back to the fuckin' chinlock, but Casey escapes by dropping him into the corner, and he follows up with a turnbuckle smash and a ten-punch count as he makes his comeback. Hiptoss and a monkeyflip lead to a pair of dropkicks, but Reed catches a bodypress attempt, and turns it into a press-slam, before finishing with a flying shoulderblock at 17:43 to end Casey's undefeated streak. Yeah, but Teddy Long was the referee... Steve was ROBBED! ROBBED! I get what they were going for, but this pairing wasn't meant to work eighteen minute TV matches together. I'll be generous and call it a ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

Ric Flair (complete with a fur coat and five female escorts) comes out to do an interview, and BOY does he look like he's having the time of his life. And who could blame him? No wonder he went into debt in later years - his life in the 80s is a hell of a high to have to come down from, and chase. Ostensibly, he's here to cut a promo on Ricky Steamboat, but actually, he's here to brag. Ric's take on his racially varying harem: 'I'm a diverse businessman.' That goes on for a while, until Steamboat comes out, and Flair really taunts him - his entourage all laughing and smirking in Ricky's face as Ric talks trash. What a great fucking heel this guy was. So, finally Steamboat snaps, and he goes ballistic on Flair - humiliating him by tearing his expensive clothes off of his back, and stripping him down to only his underwear in front of everyone. Awesome segment to build the Rumble match the following week!

Lex Luger v The Blackmailer: As far as random masked heel gimmicks go, that's got to be the very bottom of the barrel. Though, it's not like Jack Victory (playing the Blackmailer, as well as one of the masked Russian Assassins in the opener), didn't try his hand at literally every random masked gimmick imaginable during this period. I think the only one he DIDN'T end up playing was the Black Scorpion. I guess this was WCW's answer to Ultimate Warrior squashing the random masked Super Ninja on Saturday Night's Main Event a couple of months back? Luger throws Blackmailer around for a while, and he grabs a standing side-headlock. Blackmailer tries a side suplex to escape, but Lex no-sells, and goes back to the headlock. Whip into the corner sets up a backdrop, and Lex goes to the mat with another side-headlock. We're about seven minutes into this, and it's basically been just one long headlock. Lex with a press-slam, but a lariat sends him flying out over the top, and Blackmailer snaps his throat across the top rope to take control. Lex flies back in with a slingshot sunset flip for two, but can't turn the tide, and Blackmailer grabs a reverse chinlock. Luger escapes with a vertical suplex, and he starts no-selling everything Blackmailer throws, and finishes him with a superplex at 12:59. Another match that could have been decent, but just went on for way longer than it should have. Sometimes less is more, guys. ¾* (Original rating: ¼*)

Chi-Town Rumble promo

Backstage, Rick Steiner uses logic

NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The Varsity Club v The Fantastics: Mike Rotunda starts with Tommy Rogers, and Mike stalls, baby! He takes Tommy down with a fireman's carry, then again with a waistlock, but Rogers wrestles free. Tag to Steve Williams, and he blasts Rogers with a lariat, but misses an elbowdrop, and Tommy tags for a tandem-dropkick. Bobby Fulton fails out outwrestling Williams on the mat, however, and ends up trapped in a side-headlock. His speed proves useful as they criss cross though, and Steve goes flying out of the ring when Bobby ducks a charge. Tag back to Rotunda, and he manages to shift control back to the champions with a pair of turnbuckle smashes, but a backdrop is countered with a sunset flip for two, so he passes back to Steve. Bobby throws a quick bodypress to evade him, and tags, but a dropkick from Tommy is no-sold. Williams backdrops him, and Rotunda quickly follows up with a crisp backelbow, but Rogers fights him off in the corner, and tags. Bobby with a kneelift for two, but he ends up getting dumped out to the floor while trying a ten-punch count, and Williams follows to drop him on the rail for good measure. He beats the count in anyway, but Rotunda is ready and waiting with a jab to the throat, followed by a dropkick. The Club cut the ring in half on Fulton, but Bobby manages to block the Stampede, and gets the tag! Oooh, almost no crowd pop for that tag - people are literally sitting with their arms folded. They really cooled off as a team, and fast! Anyway, Fulton tries to put it away, but runs into a double-team, and gets pinned by Williams at 13:24. Watchable, but well below par from what they did at Starrcade. * ½ (Original rating: ¾*)

Ricky Steamboat v Bob Bradley: Sadly, Steamboat has switched back to his traditional garb, rather than the torn up suit he had on the last time we saw him. Bradley talks trash at the bell, but takes an atomic drop, and Steamboat chops him out of the ring. Back in, Bob bodyslams him, and follows with an armdrag. Oh, that means WAR! And, indeed, Steamboat blitzes him with hiptosses and slams, then caps it off with TWO armdrags as a lesson. Bradley wisely hides out on the floor for a while, and suckers Steamboat into following - slamming him out there. Back in, Bradley works him over with several more slams, but a corner charge misses, and Steamboat grounds him with an armbar. This Bradley is bumping around like a champ for the Dragon here. Steamboat wins a couple of well timed criss crosses, but runs into a chop, and Bob follows up with a sidewalk slam - only to miss a flying headbutt! Steamboat returns fire with a turnbuckle smash, and a flying tomahawk chop leads to a Flying Bodypress at 6:25. That was a lot of bodyslams for six minutes. Like, even Lex Luger would've told them to cool it. Solid outing, with Bradley bumping all over the place for the Dragon, and some impeccable timing. * ½ (Original rating: ¼*)

Rick Steiner v Rip Morgan: Steiner is the TV Champion here, but this is non-title, since fuck Rip Morgan. Morgan blitzes him, but gets knocked out of the ring during a criss cross. He tries blitzing him again on the way back in, but Rick is in a no-selling mood, and he powerslams Rip for two. Cross corner charge his boot, however, and Rip is able to add a jumping backelbow for two. Bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope splash, but Steiner rolls out of the way, and clotheslines him. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but now it's Morgan's turn to roll out of the way. He tries following up with a belly-to-belly suplex, but Rick reverses it for the pin at 4:41. Nothing special, but at least it was nothing special for five minutes, and not fifteen. * (Original rating: ¼*)

NWA Main Event promo

Backstage, the trio of Sting, Junkyard Dog, and Michael Hayes are prepared to challenge for the Six-Man Tag Title in the main event, when Kevin Sullivan shows up, and locks them in a fake dressing room that ends up being what looks like a storage locker. Well, that's their own fault then. I mean, I don't care how low rent and bush-league the promotion is, if you can't tell a broom closet apart from a dressing room, maybe you don't deserve a title shot

Main Event: NWA Six-Man Tag Team Title Match: Genichiro Tenryu and The Road Warriors v The Varsity Club: The Club are subbing for Sting, Junkyard Dog, and Michael Hayes - still trapped in the back. Sucks to be them. The Club bum rush the champs at the bell, but get cleared out of the ring. The dust settles on Animal and Kevin Sullivan to start, and Animal no-sells everything - even from Steve Williams. Meanwhile, we pick up footage from the back, where Sting's team are desperately working to escape from the cage. Back in the ring, Tenryu blasts Mike Rotunda with a dropkick, and Williams eats an enzuigiri. Tag to Hawk for a cross corner clothesline, as the backstage crew finally manages to unlock the babyface heroes. The Club manage to take control on Animal in the ring, but it's all for naught, as Sting, JYD, and Hayes run in to trigger a big brawl for a double disqualification at 5:47. This was just going through the motions before the run in finish. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

Chi-Town Rumble promo

BUExperience: What an oddly booked show, as they put a bunch of long matches on undercard (most of which had no business being as long as they were, and suffered for it), then capped things off with several short matches on top. Outside of the Flair/Steamboat angle (which was awesome, yes, but not enough so to carry a two hour broadcast on its own), there's not much to work with here - this easily ranking as the weakest Clash effort thus far