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

Original Airdate: June 13, 1990

From Charleston, South Carolina; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Bob Caudle

Opening Match: The Fabulous Freebirds v The Southern Boys: The Freebirds attack from behind before the bell, but the Boys quickly clean house. Wow, the crowd is really into the Southern Boys' act. Two white boys covered in Confederate flags, what's not to love, right? That was sarcasm, by the way. Even for 1990, it's surprising that a national company owned by Turner Broadcasting would attempt to dress up two white guys as Confederate Civil War soldiers, and try to pass them off as babyfaces. Not to mention positioning the Freebirds (two men wearing mascara and acting effeminate) as heels. But then, this is the same company that initially brought Harlem Heat in wearing shackles, and being led to the ring by a white plantation owner. So, maybe it's not that surprising after all. Jimmy Garvin starts with Tracy Smothers, and bodyslams him for two, then passes over to Michael Hayes to unload in the corner, but Steve Armstrong comes in illegally with a flying bodypress to save. The Freebirds manage to take over on Armstrong and cut the ring in half, and the crowd is just on fire the whole time! It's not everyday you keep people engaged with armbars, let alone going wild. Hayes gets slammed down off the top to allow the hot tag to Smothers, and Roseanne Barr the door! Tracy looks to put Garvin away with a rollup, but Hayes saves with a lariat, and Jimmy goes for the kill - only for Armstrong to come flying in with a splash to give Smothers the pin at 7:25. The Freebirds are so much more tolerable when they aren't working twenty minute matches, aren't they? ** (Original rating: DUD)

WCW Hotline ad! WCW does me proud by misspelling their own US Champion's name as 'Lugar.' Nice

Bam Bam Bigelow v Tommy Rich: It's kind of perversely funny that they subtitled this show 'Coastal Crush' after explaining during the opening video package that this area was hit by Hurricane Hugo the year before, and suffered so badly that WCW had to cancel scheduled events. I mean, wow. Rich sticks and moves to start, and works the arm, but Bigelow pops him with a headbutt. Charge in the corner misses, however, and Tommy schoolboys him for two. Ten-punch count follows, but Bigelow returns fire with an inverted atomic drop, and a press-slam. Bigelow looks so much like Bastion Booger in his WCW gear. That must bother him too, as he suddenly flips out and starts blatantly choking Rich until the referee disqualifies him at 3:46. Well, that was random. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Great American Bash promo

Big Van Vader vignette

El Gigante is here, and he don't speak no English! Not sure that's the best approach to getting him over as a babyface with the same crowd who loved the guys with the Confederate flags

The Samoan Swat Team v Tom Zenk and Mike Rotunda: Fatu starts with Rotunda, and a criss cross ends in Mike sending him to the outside with a dropkick. Tags all around, and another criss cross ends in Zenk slamming Samoan Savage, then sending him to the outside with a dropkick as well. Mike with a bodypress for two, but a cheap shot turns the tide, and the Swat Team cut the ring in half on him. He escapes a nervehold long enough to take, and Zenk is a bridge of fire! The Samoan's swat him down and go for the kill, but he makes a blind switch with Rotunda (despite looking nothing alike, or even bothering to wear similar gear), and Mike cradles Fatu for the pin at 5:24. Not particularly good, but much more tolerable at six minutes than eighteen, like at Capital Combat. * ¼ (Original rating: DUD)

'Mean' Mark Callous vignette

Brian Pillman v Mark Callous: Hey, the guy from the vignette! He jumps Pillman at the bell, and absolutely goes to town on the kid. Brian dodges him in the corner and throws a dropkick, but quickly gets pounded down again, and sent to the outside with a big boot. Back in, Mark tries a sidewalk slam, so Pillman counters with a crucifix, but Callous drops him into the corner to block. Bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop for two, and a snapmare sets up a chinlock. Brian fights out, so Mark clotheslines him down for two, and then delivers the earlier failed sidewalk slam for two. Powerslam follows, but a legdrop misses, and Brian starts mounting a comeback. Missile dropkick has Callous reeling, but a 2^nd rope bodypress gets caught with a stungun for the pin at 5:32. Fun and energetic little competitive squash here. ** ¼ (Original rating: ½*)

Backstage, Sting shows off a new Lex Luger t-shirt that would have modern day hipsters clawing each others eyes out over. Via strongly worded Tweets, of course

NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The Midnight Express v The Rock 'n' Roll Express: The sheer amount of neon colors here are dizzying. Bobby Eaton starts with Robert Gibson, and they engage in a feeling out process. You'd think after approximately 2,388 previous meetings (in 1990 alone), they'd know each other well enough by now. The Midnight's try to trap Gibson in the heel corner, but he's not Ricky Morton, so that doesn't work. Robert pops Stan Lane with an enzuigiri before tagging out, and Ricky gives Eaton a rana! The Midnight's try to trap Ricky in the heel corner, and since he IS Ricky Morton, it DOES work. Lucky them, there are a lot of people who AREN'T Ricky Morton. The champs cut the ring in half on Ricky, until Bobby misses a cross corner charge, and Gibson gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! The challengers start blitzing the Midnight's, and even a double-team is only enough to put Robert down for two! The challengers mount another comeback, and this time the Midnight's know they're done for - deftly hitting the referee to cause a disqualification at 12:07. This was pretty much your garden variety Express/Express match, though that's not really a criticism. *** ¼ (Original rating: ¾*)

Barry Windham v Doug Furnas: Criss cross to start, with Windham controlling via a hiptoss. Spinebuster, but Doug counters with a sunset flip for two, ad he knocks Barry out of the ring with authority via a shoulderblock. Back in, Furnas press-slams him, then unloads a ten-punch. Furnas continues to blitz Barry, but misses a cross corner charge, and Windham levels him with a lariat! Barry with a vertical suplex for two, but Doug hooks an inside cradle for two, so Windham chokes him down. Backdrop, but Furnas counters with a facebuster, and a well executed belly-to-belly suplex gets two. Powerslam gets two, and a backdrop leads to a dropkick - Windham knocked out of the ring. Doug tries a vertical suplex back in, but Barry counters with a bridging side suplex - Windham using the ropes for a leveraged pin at 5:42. I know he's a legit power lifter, but Furnas is too small to do a 'World's Strongest Man' gimmick, and watching the much bigger Windham bounce around for him was weird. As was a lot of this match, with numerous sloppy, awkward spots and sequences. * (Original rating: ¼*)

Lex Luger v Sid Vicious: Luger is the NWA United States Champion here, but that isn't on the line. Sid and Ole Anderson jump Luger at the bell, but Lex quickly shrugs it off, and blasts Vicious with a running forearm smash at 0:26. Um, okay. I think that result was the result of a combination of political bullshit and injuries, as Luger was recovering from a staph infection, while Sid was still technically not cleared to wrestle until July (due to a punctured lung suffer in late 1989), and was also in the doghouse at the time for no-showing certain dates where he was supposed to appear for WCW in a non-wrestling capacity. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: Doom v The Steiner Brothers: According to a sign in the crowd, TBS stands for 'Tough Body Scotty.' Doesn't quite have the same ring to it as 'Big Poppa Pump,' does it? Ron Simmons starts with Tough Body Scotty, and a criss cross goes Scott's way with a blockbuster! Butch Reed runs in and gets one too, then Ron gets whipped into the corner, and DROPPED with a Steinerline to the back of the head! God, the Steiner Brothers were fucking awesome in their prime. Tag to Reed, and Scott wins a criss cross with a backslide for two, then casually bodyslams the big man. The girls in the crowd are losing it for him too, you have to imagine they were pulling in crazy ass. And that's early-90s acid washed jeans and feathered hair ass! Over to Rick Steiner to continue knocking Doom around like toddlers (not that I condone knocking toddlers around, of course), but he gets suckered to the outside, and caught in a double-team. Back in, Reed hits a swinging neckbreaker for two, as Doom begins cutting the ring in half on Rick. Reed misses a cross corner high knee to allow Rick to fire back with a 2^nd rope axehandle, and there's the tag to Tough Body Scotty - Roseanne Barr the door! Superplex looks to finish Ron, but Reed cracks Scotty with a foreign object to retain at 11:18. The usual good power match between these two teams. *** ¼ (Original rating: *)

Junkyard Dog comes out to clarify that tonight he's going to beat Ric Flair 'like he owns him.' You'd think the Southern Boys would then come back out to retort, but luckily that doesn't happen

Arn Anderson v Paul Orndorff: Anderson is the NWA Television Champion, but this is non-title. I like Jim Ross, but he gets so annoying spouting off football references in literally every match. Like, I get what he's going for, but it's hard to care about what a great running back Paul Orndorff used to be in college, while having to ignore his whole wrestling career in the WWF at the same time. It's, like, tell me what a great wrestler he is. Tell me how he almost beat Hulk Hogan for the world title. It's like applying for a job, and talking about your college badminton team on your resume, instead of all your previous career experience. Orndorff dominates to start (just as he did on the football field!), and gets Anderson in a figure four, but eats a rotating spinebuster. Arn with a backbreaker as he works the part, and an abdominal stretch wears Paul down. Kneedrop gets two, and Arn works a chinlock. Paul escapes with an atomic drop, but they collide in the corner, and both men take the count. Slugfest is won by Orndorff, but Arn escapes a ten-punch with an inverted atomic drop. Criss cross goes Paul's way with a shoulderblock, and a pair of pointed elbowdrops get two. Kneelift sets up another pointed elbowdrop for two, but a 2^nd rope pump-splash hits the knees, and Arn cradles him - Orndorff reversing for the pin at 11:37. Pretty dull stuff. Anderson was always better as a tag wrestler anyway. * (Original rating: ¼*)

The Four Horsemen come out to cut a promo, and luckily no one threatens to beat JYD like they own him

Main Event: NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Junkyard Dog: While Dog was never a bodybuilder, he looks badly out of shape here. Dog knocks Flair around to start, and sends him over the top with a jab. I miss those elevated ramp ways that ran all the way from the curtain to the edge of the ring. It would have been fun to see them bring it back for the WWE version of Clash of Champions at least. But then, 'WWE' and 'fun' don't really go together anymore. Ric tries fighting back with a kneedrop, but JYD totally no-sells it, and looks blown up already. Flair tries chops, but that goes nowhere, and Dog whips him into the corner to setup a backdrop. Flair responds by bailing and grabbing a chair, but JYD no-sells that too, and this is quickly becoming ridiculous. Flair tries a flying axehandle, but gets swatted out of the air, as Dog appears to be doing everything in his power to wrestle this entire match without ever leaving his feet. Dog with a slam, so Ole Anderson tries a distraction, but Dog no-sells Flair's high knee, and slams the champion off the top. Headbutt sets up some mounted punches, until Ole runs in for the DQ at 6:11. Flair came off like a complete jobber here, ahead of his big showdown with Sting at the Great American Bash. Nothing like petty booking! ¼* (Original rating: ¼*)

BUExperience: A couple of good matches from the usual suspects, and one bad match from a notably unusual suspect. Don’t bother with this one