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

Original Airdate: April 2, 1989

From New Orleans, Louisiana; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Michael Hayes

Last night, legends from all across the country showed up in preparation for the Steamboat/Flair match. Good thing they bussed them in, they needed all the bodies they could get in that stadium

Opening Match: The Midnight Express v The Samoan Swat Team: The arena is darkened to an almost comical level, to avoid illuminating the sixty some-odd thousand empty seats. Five thousand people in a small venue can be a hot crowd, but five thousand people in a seventy thousand seat stadium is cold and depressing. I mean, WrestleMania V had a shitty crowd, but at least the building looked full. Stan Lane starts with Samu, and wins a few criss crosses, but walks into a bodyslam. Tag to Fatu, but Stan manages a savate kick, and he passes to Bobby Eaton for a drop-toehold/elbowdrop combo. Bobby follows with a missile dropkick, and the Express work Fatu over. Kinda crazy that Fatu is in the WWE Hall of Fame, yet neither of the Midnight's are. Wouldn't be surprised if it happens eventually, but still. Fatu manages to throat-chop Lane to allow the tag, but Samu walks right into a sunset flip for two. The Express go back to work on Samu, but Eaton gets caught in a double-(Swat)team, and the Samoan's cut the ring in half on Beautiful Bobby. The Midnight's would be perfect supporting characters on It's Always Sunny. Plus, then we could get the epic and long awaited Loser Leaves Town Match between Stan and Sweet Dee. There aren't enough stars in the world to properly rate that one, guys. Sorry, there's lots of nerveholding going on here, and I'm trying to entertain myself. Funny spot, as the Midnight's try a battering ram to bash the Samoan's heads together - and only succeed in annoying them. Ha! The Samoan's switch to cutting the ring in half on Lane once the dust settles, and Fatu powerslams him for two. Tommy Young is just murdering it as the referee here - greatest of all time. Fatu misses a 2^nd rope flying headbutt to allow the hot tag to Bobby, and Eaton's a house of arson! Rocket Launcher looks to finish Samu, but a cheap shot from Fatu saves him from eating the pin, and Samu is able to score the pinfall at 20:33. This was fine, but went on for far too long. * (Original rating: ½*)

Great Muta v Steve Casey: Casey tries attacking before the bell, but gets a face full of mist for his chutzpah. Serves him right. Muta follows up with the handspring elbow, and he grabs a chinlock, but Casey whips him into the ropes to escape - winning the ensuing criss cross with an armdrag into an armbar. Casey covered in green mist is like what I'd imagine a very sick Lex Luger looked like. Muta dumps him to the outside and threatens to dive out, but Casey rolls in, so Muta reroutes with a missile dropkick instead. Man, no wonder Dave Meltzer was practically coming in his pants writing about this guy at the time. Muta works some nerveholds, and puts Steve down with a swift spinkick when he tries escaping. Casey finally manages to string together some offense after hitting a clothesline during a criss cross - following up with a backelbow for two. Dropkick knocks Muta into the corner, and a hiptoss brings him out, but a second dropkick misses. Not quite the same without Gorilla Monsoon scolding him for 'going to the well once too often.' Back in control, Muta tosses him to the outside for a plancha, then hits a fun handspring elbow against the rail. Back in, Muta hits a backbreaker, and the flying moonsault finishes at 8:11. Muta looked unbelievable here, though the match was too long. * (Original rating: ¾*)

WrestleWar '89 promo

Butch Reed v Junkyard Dog: JYD gets played out by an actual marching band - everyone involved looking like they're on literally ALL the drugs. I bet, to them, the place looked jam-packed to the rafters though. With pink elephants, but still. Dog knocks him silly with a right hand to start, and Butch bails. Yet another high profile Butch Reed match being refereed by Teddy Long, for those keeping track. Power-showdown ends in Dog shoulderblocking him down, and a series of headbutts sends Reed back to the floor. JYD continues to throw him around and control with ease, but Butch manages to knock him down for a slew of punch-kick stuff - with added abuse from Hiro Matsuda for good measure. Reed works a chinlock, but Dog powers out, and starts mounting his comeback. Backdrop gets two, and a snapmare sets up a falling headbutt, but Reed dodges. Butch capitalizes with a flying shoulderblock to finish, but JYD has his foot on the ropes. Butch doesn't notice, however, and Dog takes advantage for the real pin at 8:55. Eh. ¾* (Original rating: DUD)

Bob Orton v Dick Murdoch: Loser doesn't get any Jell-O at the home tonight! Though, really, Orton was only in his late thirties at this point (to put this in perspective, Randy Orton is roughly the same age today), but that whole 'facts' thing kills the joke, so fuck it. They trade fireman's carries to start, then wristlocks. Riveting! A whole lotta armbarring going on here, folks. That DOES give the camera crew a chance to take a trip into the crowd for a while, and I'm surprised they didn't give out complementary flashlights with every ticket, because it is DARK out there! Dick fights out of a five minute armbar with a dropkick as he starts mounting his comeback, and man, I guess they figured Dusty could go fuck himself in the WWF, because Murdoch is doing a great impression here. I wouldn't be surprised if a sizeable portion of the crowd didn't notice the difference. Dick goes for a vertical suplex, but Gary Hart trips him from the floor, and Orton topples him for the pin at 9:48. Technically competent, but boring as fuck. And you might be saying, 'well, 'fuck' isn't boring!' but then you've clearly never had sex with me then. ½* (Original rating: DUD)

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: The Road Warriors v The Varsity Club: Big staredown to start, and the dust settles on Hawk and Mike Rotunda to start. Mike actually wins a criss cross with a hiptoss, but immediately misses an elbowdrop, and gets dropkicked out of the ring. Tag to Animal, and he uses his power advantage to throw Mike around. Press-slam for both Rotunda AND Steve Williams - which is a pretty cool visual. I mean, who else would press-slam fucking Steve Williams?! Hawk slugs it out with Steve, and controls with an atomic drop to setup a clothesline for two - Rotunda saving. Williams capitalizes by nailing Hawk with a lariat, and he tags out to Rotunda - a snapmare setting up an elbowdrop for two. Hawk starts no-selling and tags out - Animal taking both challengers out with a double-dropkick, but then promptly missing a dive, and going crashing out to the floor! Williams quickly capitalizes by slamming him out there, and inside, Rotunda delivers a backbreaker as the challengers begin cutting the ring in half on Animal. He manages to blast Steve with a clothesline to avoid the Stampede, however, and Hawk gets the tag! He's a Sephora of fire, and the Doomsday Device looks to finish Rotunda, but referee Teddy Long refuses to count! That allows Williams to sneak in and schoolboy Hawk, and Teddy makes an epic fast count to crown new champions at 11:37. But now who will referee Butch Reed's matches?!?! Energetic tag team match here, though I'd have liked to have seen more power/power stuff with the Warriors and Williams. * ½ (Original rating: *)

Ranger Ross v Iron Sheik: Sheik jumps him before the bell, and chokes him with his robe, but a vertical suplex gets reversed for two. Ross starts throwing rights, but Sheik cuts him off with a knee, and slaps on an abdominal stretch. A resthold in a two minute match, nice. Ross reverses it (TWO restholds in a two minute match!), and a superkick looks to finish, but Rip Morgan runs in to attack Ross for the DQ at 1:55. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The First Family v The Varsity Club: The Club jump them before the bell, and Dan Spivey chokeslams Eddie Gilbert for two. Gutwrench suplex and a corner whip lead to a tilt-a-whirl slam, and Kevin Sullivan tags in to toss Eddie over the top rope behind the referee's back. Dastardly! Back in, the challengers cut the ring in half on Gilbert, but Kevin fucks up a tree of woe spot, and Rick Steiner gets the tag! He's a doghouse of fire, and a powerslam on Spivey gets two. Belly-to-belly suplex brings Sullivan back in to ignite a four-way brawl, and Eddie cradles Sullivan to retain at 3:52. Not much, but decent while it lasted. * (Original rating: ¼*)

Main Event: NWA World Title 2/3 Falls Match: Ricky Steamboat v Ric Flair: In a nice touch, there are actually two more advertised matches scheduled for after this, but the main event is going on early 'in case it runs long.' That's an awesome bit of old school kayfabe there. And speaking of 'awesome' and 'old school,' Terry Funk sits in to do guest commentary. They feel each other out and jockey for position on the mat - Steamboat dominating, and rattling the challenger with slaps across the face between sequences. Flair bails to the outside after losing a wristlock exchange, and resorts to accusing the champion of hair pulling to try and derail him. The referee doesn't buy a word of it, however, and starts counting him out - Flair forced to re-enter or lose a fall. In, Steamboat wins a criss cross with a hiptoss, and he takes Ric down with a side-headlock. Flair rolls it over into a few pinfall attempts, and into the corner, he throws some brutal chops to shake the Dragon off. That gets some traction, but then Steamboat starts responding in kind, and he takes Flair down with a headscissors followed by a dropkick. Back to the mat-based headlock, so Flair resorts to the chops again - again outdone in that department by the champion. Steamboat backdrops him for two, and Flair is actively begging off - able to sucker Steamboat into the corner by doing so. You know, these matches are great and legendary, but one major flaw is shit like that. That's acceptable in the first match, but by this point Steamboat should know who he's dealing with and know better than to get suckered into the corner like that. Ricky starts throwing chops to flop Flair for two, but a front-facelock is broken via an inverted atomic drop. Steamboat STILL manages to level him with another chop anyway for two, and a quick shoulderblock is worth two. Criss cross ends in Steamboat executing a double knife-edge for two, and Flair wisely bails to the floor to break the momentum. Back in, Steamboat absolutely MURDERS him with chops, but Flair is in the ropes to prevent a cover. Ricky responds with a hanging vertical suplex, but a splash follow-up is blocked when Flair lifts his knees. And, boy, Steamboat got ALL of that one. That knocks the wind out of him enough for Flair to unload chops without an equal response, and a snapmare sets up a kneedrop. Double-underhook suplex gets a wonderful series of no less than a dozen two counts - Flair doing a great job of selling the psychology of the wear down attempt here. Steamboat ends up kipping up to escape the series of covers, and he hiptosses Flair out of the corner - only for Ric to dodge the dropkick this time. Right to the Figure Four, but Steamboat counters with an inside cradle (the same counter he won the title with at Chi-Town Rumble), but this time Flair reverses for the pin at 19:33! Nice callback. Yep, twenty minutes in and we've only hit the FIRST FALL with this shit! Criss cross ends in Steamboat rallying with a press-slam, and he blitzes Flair with a flying tomahawk chop for two. He grabs a headlock, but Flair escapes with a side suplex, then adds a kneedrop. Second one misses, however, and Steamboat capitalizes with a series of fifteen some-odd elbowdrops to the leg in rapid fire succession. That was quite the sequence, and a testament to the conditioning of the Dragon at this point. Ricky ends it by putting Flair in his own figure four hold, but Flair gets the ropes, so Ricky puts him in a Boston crab instead. Nice visual touch, as virtuous family man Steamboat is dressed all in white, while heelish Flair is in all black. Ric gets the ropes again to break, and a pinfall reversal sequence ends in Steamboat hooking a backslide for two. Man, he really had to fight for that one! They spill to the outside, and Ric sends him into the rail, then bodyslams him on the outside. Well, he's not afraid to get his hands dirty. He's in no rush to get back in either - taking his time punishing Steamboat on the floor since a double countout gives him a 2-1 win. After whipping Steamboat into the rail again, Flair goes in to get his countout, but Ricky beats it! Flair responds with a hanging vertical suplex for two, and he grabs an abdominal cradle for a series of two counts - using the ropes for leverage when Ricky just won't die! Give him credit though, we're a half hour in, and that's the first time he's resorted to that. Has to be some kind of record. It's STILL not enough to pin the Dragon, however, but now Ricky is the one on the defensive, and throwing desperation chops. Flair tries a side suplex, but Steamboat counters with a rollup for two. Somersault cradle gets two, but he telegraphs a backdrop, and gets blasted with a knee for two. Ric goes up, but Steamboat is able to rally with a superplex, and he starts unloading tomahawk chops and forearms to the lower back. That softens Flair up for a double-chickenwing, and he submits rather quickly at 34:14 - knowing he's got no chance of escape, and fighting the pain for an extended period will leave him vulnerable to additional falls. Wow, I don't even remember the last time I saw Flair submit, let alone cleanly. You know, for all the talk of the crowds turning on Steamboat during this period, they are pretty rabid for him here. Ricky keeps after him with an abdominal stretch, so Flair goes to the eyes to escape - but still flops to the mat out of exhaustion anyway. Steamboat throws a chop for two, and a backdrop sets up more tomahawks to the back. Ric manages to pull out a kneebreaker to slow the Dragon down, and this time he's able to successfully apply the Figure Four! Unfortunately for him, Steamboat is almost immediately in the ropes. Big chopfest ends in Flair flipping onto the apron for a chop, and the challenger is begging off again. And AGAIN Steamboat falls for it! Oh, come on! Ric sweeps him into a pin with two feet on the ropes, but it only gets two. Frankly, I'd have been fine with that as the finish, because Steamboat deserved to lose for being so stupid. Flair starts going to work on the leg, though unfortunately he doesn't try one-upping Steamboat by dropping twenty elbows to the knee, or anything. Would have been amazing if he did, though. He DOES slap on another Figure Four instead, this time at center ring, and Steamboat has to find an escape, since unlike Flair's strategy earlier, a submission loses him the match! He manages to rock the boat enough to roll it into the ropes, but Flair stays right on the leg after releasing. Flying bodypress gets two for the challenger, so Steamboat tries a bodyslam, but the knee gives out, and Flair topples him for two. Criss cross goes Ricky's way with a jumping shoulderblock, the bad wheel still slowing the Dragon down. He still manages a flying bodypress for two, and a swinging neckbreaker is worth two. Slingshot sunset flip gets two (despite a Herculean effort to block by Flair), and another criss cross ends in Ric hooking a sleeper. Steamboat drops him into the corner to escape, but Flair doesn't give him a moments peace - going right back after the leg. Steamboat responds with an enzuigiri for two, but a big flying splash misses completely, and Flair starts hammering the knee again. Steamboat summons his last wind to start throwing chops again, and it should be noted that a good number of people in the crowd are either walking around, or looking bored. Flair tries cutting the comeback off with a side suplex, but he gets slammed off the top rope, and Steamboat slaps on another double-chickenwing. Knowing full well that Flair will fight with everything now that he doesn't have the luxury of another fall, Steamboat drops back into a cradle with it, and gets the pin at 55:32. But, it turns out Flair's foot was actually underneath the bottom rope, so I guess we'll just have to have one last match at WrestleWar then. A real testament to the stamina of both guys here, as it’s one thing to go an hour, and quite another to go an hour at this pace. And, for those keeping score, that’s three great finishes in a single match, whereas today we’re lucky if we get one great finish per show anymore. While I was able to see the error in my initial judgment of the Chi-Town Rumble match, I still don’t see this one as a five-star match. It’s great, yes. It’s epic, yes. But it’s ultimately flawed by repetition and some glaring lapses in psychology. Like, they remember enough to do a callback to the Chicago finish, but then Steamboat is falling for Flair’s cliché dirty tricks not once but TWICE in the same match? Overall, I’d put this in the same category as the Flair/Sting match from the first Clash more than I would with their other matches. **** (Original rating: ****)

WrestleWar '89 promo

Backstage, Jim Ross catches up with Ricky Steamboat, who is ready to move onto other challengers now. Yeah, not so fast there, Ricky!

BUExperience: As noted, this one drew poorly, running opposite WrestleMania V in a gigantic dome, and ending up with less than a thousand paid and tons of paper on top of that. The main event is terrific, but the rest is unmitigated crap from start to finish