WCW Clash of the Champions XIV (Version II)

Original Airdate: January 30, 1991

From Gainesville, Georgia; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Dusty Rhodes

Opening WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Doom v Lex Luger and Sting: Luger is the WCW United States Champion here as well. You know this is a small venue when the tiny WCW ring looks enormous. Butch Reed starts with Sting, and a hard fought collar-and-elbow tie-up is controlled by Reed, but Sting hiptosses him during a criss cross, and armdrags him down. Tag to Luger for a 2^nd rope flying axehandle, and he grabs a standing wristlock. Reed powers into the ropes to break, but runs into a swinging neckbreaker during another criss cross, and tags out to Ron Simmons. He and Luger match power, which Lex gets the better of, and an atomic drop sets up a vertical suplex for two. Lex tries a shoulderblock, but Ron counters with a hotshot, as we take a commercial break. Odd, they almost never cut away in the middle of matches on Clash shows. This may be the first time I remember it ever happening, in fact. Doom cut the ring in half on Luger, but Reed's flying shoulderblock knocks Lex so far across the ring that he gets the hot tag off to Sting! Sting comes in hot, but he's left alone two-on-one when Dan Spivey pops out of the crowd, and attacks Luger on the floor! He manages to hold his own, but gets thrown over the top rope in the process, and Doom are disqualified at 10:00. Solid, well paced action here, though the finish was crap. ** (Original rating: *)

WCW Television Title Match: Tom Zenk v Bobby Eaton: Dusty officially confirms his retirement on commentary while discussing being in the ring with Bobby Eaton in the past. Wow, Ted DiBiase doesn't mess around when he wins a feud. Feeling out process to start, with Zenk getting a bit of an edge on his challenger. Bobby goes up, so Tom dropkicks him off the top to the floor, but Eaton beats the count. They continue to feel each other out with a test-of-strength, and Zenk looks to control, so Eaton takes a cheap shot. There you go! He unloads turnbuckle smashes, and a cross corner whip sets up a backelbow. Bobby goes up, but again Zenk doesn't let him finish his thought - this time slamming him off. Savate kick and a backdrop get him two, but a cross corner charge hits elbow, and Bobby goes up - this time able to deliver a well executed flying kneedrop. Eaton's one of those guys who looks like he has no business coming off the top rope, but is unbelievably smooth. He goes for the kill, but Zenk is ready with an inside cradle for two. He telegraphs a backdrop and eats a swinging neckbreaker for two, and Eaton tries a vertical suplex, but Tom counters with a rollup for two. Backslide retains at 7:07. Took a little while to get going, but good action once it got off the ground. * ¾ (Original rating: *)

Alexandra York promises a new member of the York Foundation later on here tonight

The Fabulous Freebirds v Tommy Rich and Allen Iron Eagle: Michael Hayes starts with Rich, and Michael pops off a jab to avoid locking up, then makes a blind tag to Jimmy Garvin during a criss cross, but Tommy is able to fight him off with a bodyslam. Tag to Allen for a corner whip on Garvin, then a ten-punch count, so Jimmy goes to the eyes. They mess up a criss cross, and Hayes tags in to bulldog Allen, then adds a clothesline as they begin cutting the ring in half on him. Garvin misses a charge, but Allen stupidly doesn't take the opportunity to tag out, and gets clobbered by both Freebirds - eating a tandem-DDT at 5:53. Energetic enough, but lots of miscues. Iron Eagle looked terrible here. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

WrestleWar promo

Sid Vicious v Joey Maggs: Maggs is a subbing for Junkyard Dog here. Lucky him. Sid obliterates him with the usual, and a brutal Powerbomb caps the squash off at 1:13. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

WCW Hotline promo

Sid Vicious joins Tony Schiavone to ask us all a very important question: CAN YOU SMELL IT?! A quandary that has plagued man since the very dawn of time

Ricky Morton v Terry Taylor: In a bit of typical WCW buffoonery, Taylor is announced as the 'computerized man of the 90s' despite that turn not coming until later in the match. D'oh! That's what happens when you pre-tape so much shit, even the poor ring announcers can't keep it straight. Feeling out process to start, with Morton controlling, and winning a criss cross with a bodypress for two. Terry bails, but manages to get a standing hammerlock as he heads back in, but Ricky uses a chincrusher to escape. Morton grounds him with an armbar, as Alexandra York shows up at ringside with her computer. Hmm, I wonder who she would be there to see? Quick, someone ask Gary Michael Cappetta. Her presence allows Taylor to turn the tide, and a double-underhook suplex sets up a kneedrop for two. Morton tries an inside cradle for two, but gets quickly choked down before he can turn things back around, and Terry bulldogs him for two. Bodyslam sets up a 2^nd rope pump-splash, but Ricky lifts his knees to block, and wins a slugfest. He starts mounting his comeback with a backdrop, and a snap suplex gets two. Dropkick follows, but a second one completely misses, and Taylor gets the pin at 11:00. Technically fine, but dull. ** ¼ (Original rating: ¼*)

WrestleWar promo

Backstage, Bill Apter presents Sting with the PWI Wrestler of the Year award. I know that these were supposedly legit, but based strictly on the types of numbers Sting was drawing as champion (including crowds often under 1,000 people for title defenses), I can't help but be suspicious

Ranger Ross v El Cubano: Ranger Ross and a random masked man? If he were played by Jack Victory, I'd swear we jumped back to '89. I think they called Ross back up for this strictly as a result of the Persian Gulf War, as the match is preceded by an impassioned speech by Dusty where he talks about supporting the troops and the president during this time. Cubano attacks from behind, and a 2^nd rope flying bodypress gets two, but he walks into a pair of bodyslams from Ross, and a dropkick knocks him to the outside. Ross follows, but loses the high ground, and gets stomped. You'd think a military man would know better. Cubano works a wristlock, but Ross reverses, and takes him down in a hammerlock. Cubano rakes the eyes and hits a falling headbutt, then vertical suplexes him to setup a flying splash, but Ross rolls out of the way. He unloads with a kick combo, and a slingshot sunset flip finishes at 3:06. Quick and painless. ¾* (Original rating: DUD)

WrestleWar promo

Arn Anderson and Barry Windham v The Renegade Warriors: The Warriors attack before the bell, and clean house, but the crowd can't even be bothered to give them more that a polite pop for it. Ouch. Dust settles on Barry and Mark Youngblood, but Windham gets knocked around, and quickly passes to Arn. He gets the same treatment, so he asks for Chris Youngblood instead. The Warrior oblige, and Arn powers him into the corner, but Youngblood fights him off. Schoolboy gets him two, and Arn passes right back to Barry. The Warriors continue bouncing the Horsemen around, until Barry suckers Mark into trying a test-of-strength, and fires off a cheap shot. Mark fights Anderson off in short order, and tags back to Chris, but he eats a cheap shot as well, and Arn is able to follow-up with a rotating spinebuster. Windham adds a snap suplex for two, and a DDT is worth two, as the Horsemen work to cut the ring in half. Arn misses a 2^nd rope pump-splash to allow the tag to Mark, and he's a teepee of fire - Roseanne Barr the door! Mark gets quickly taken out in the brawl, and Barry hits Chris with a vertical superplex for Arn to pin at 7:31. Anderson and Windham worked their asses off to try and make the Warriors look like they belonged in the same ring as the Horsemen, but they're only human. ½* (Original rating: ¼*)

WrestleWar promo

Stan Hansen comes out to rant about his upcoming match with Big Van Vader for WrestleWar

Brian Pillman v Buddy Lee Parker: Quick feeling out process to start, until Parker rakes the eyes to escape an armbar, so Brian hooks a crucifix for two. Buddy tries pounding him in the corner, but gets sent to the floor with a headscissors, and Brian uses the top rope as a slingshot to bring him in hardway. Wristlock, but Parker slugs him to escape, and tries to use the top rope as a slingshot himself - only for Pillman to land on his feet! Parker with a bodyslam instead, but he gets distracted while following up, and goes out onto the elevated ramp to take a breather for reasons I can't fathom. Like, you were in control, dumbass! It's all to setup a springboard dive from Pillman, but man, that came off horribly, and was exposing. Back in, Brian hits a flying bodypress at 3:18. Pillman looked great, but Parker looked completely lost out there. ¼* (Original rating: ½*)

Arm Wrestling Match: Paul E. Dangerously v Missy Hyatt: Rhubarb Jones serves as the special guest ring announcer for this. Paul is in all his misogynistic glory here (well, as much as a man wearing purple and sporting a ponytail can be, anyway), but Missy takes her ring jacket off to put the machine gun jumblies in his face, and Paul's arm goes limp. Dangerously made this segment (more so than the big, bouncy titties even) with his amazing facial expressions. Harmless fun

After winning the WCW World Title from Sting earlier in the month, Ric Flair celebrated the victory with none other than Lawrence Taylor

WCW Magazine promo

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Ric Flair v Scott Steiner: Steiner is half of the WCW United States Tag Team Champions here. Man, they really scraped the bottom of the barrel when they were finding women to walk Flair down the aisle, didn't they? You'd think with all that Turner money, they could afford to raid the high end strip clubs, instead of whatever the 1991 equivalent of Back Page was. Feeling out process to start, with Steiner bouncing him around until Flair bails to the floor following a sidewalk slam. Ric stalls out there, and manages to unload a few chops on the way back in, but runs into a hiptoss during a criss cross, and Scott grabs an armbar. They trade off on the mat, with Scott continuing to dominate, until Flair bails again. Scott vertical suplexes him back in for two, and Flair wisely stays near the ropes as Scott tries to tie him up in a hold. It backfires when Steiner shoves him into the corner for a ten-punch, but Ric is able to use an inverted atomic drop to escape, and he adds another one for good measure. Flair tries dumping Steiner out of the ring, so Scott flies back at him with a slingshot sunset flip, but Flair blocks. Leveraged pin gets two when Rick Steiner interferes, so Flair snapmares Scott to center ring for two. Criss cross goes Steiner's way with a drop-toehold into a figure four, but Ric gets the ropes, and goes low to shake Scotty off. Bodypress is supposed to send both men tumbling over the top, but Scott badly botches his end of it, and is forced to jump over the top in order to end up on the floor as planned. That looked ridiculous. Flair hits a kneebreaker out there to take control, and he works the leg on the way back in. Figure Four looks to finish, and Flair drives poor Rick mad as he uses the ropes, but avoids getting caught! That was some expert level shit by Flair there. Ric with a side suplex to setup a second Figure Four, but Scott reverses, and the champ gets the ropes. Scott with a neckbreaker, and a cross corner whip sends Flair flipping out of the ring - Scott following after him with a clothesline to flop the Nature Boy! Rick helps him back in for Scott to hammer in the corner, but Flair fires a shot at the knee again to try and derail him. Figure Four, but Scott counters with an inside cradle for two, then manages to get Flair in a sleeper! Ric's in the ropes to escape, so Scott drills him with a clothesline to knock the champ over the top, and Rick is right there to send him back in for more! Flair tries a snapmare to setup a kneedrop, but Rick prevents a leveraged pin. Reversal sequence ends in Scott hitting a tiger driver, but Flair rolls to the floor before the challenger can cover. Rick sends him back in for a jumping clothesline, and a rotating belly-to-belly suplex looks to finish, but time expires at 25:00. I loved the psychology of Flair realizing he was outgunned, and running down the clock at the end there. The match was good (though a bit too long for what it was), but Flair kind of cut Steiner’s legs off by forcing him to work his kind of match. ** ¾ (Original rating: ** ¼)

BUExperience: The WCW era is off to a... start. But, hey, at least there weren’t any evil magicians this time