WCW Clash of the Champions XIX (Version II)

Original Airdate: June 22, 1992

From Charleston, South Carolina; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura

Tony Schiavone, Missy Hyatt, Magnum TA and Bill Watts kick things off backstage, running down the tournament set for tonight

Opening NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round Match: Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff v Joe Malenko and Dean Malenko: Ricky and Joe start off, and they trade off on the mat. Steamboat gets the advantage with a Boston crab, but Joe is in the ropes before the Dragon can properly apply the hold. They feel each other out with a test-of-strength, with Steamboat taking control via an armdrag into an armbar. I know, I'm surprised too. Tag to Dean, but a hiptoss gets reversed, and the younger Malenko ends up in an armbar as well. Ricky with a savate kick before passing to Koloff, and Nikita comes right in with a bearhug. Of all the lazy choices to make, you go right into a resthold after your first tag in? Dean escapes and throws a flying bodypress for two, then a dropkick. Snap suplex follows, but Koloff no-sells, and push-up flapjacks him. Back to Steamboat, but Dean rakes the eyes to allow the tag to Joe - who promptly ends up in an armbar. Steamboat gonna Steamboat. Joe uses uppercuts to escape in the corner, and Dean tags back in for a tandem side suplex/elbowdrop combo for two. It's amazing that Dean was already almost thirty two years old at this point, and wouldn't even break out as a star for another four years. They cut the ring in half on Ricky, but Joe telegraphs a backdrop, and takes a (botched) facebuster. Hot tag to Koloff, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a pot of borscht on! Russian Sickle finishes Dean at 9:53. Nothing special, but watchable. * ¾ (Original rating: *)

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round Match: Rick Rude and Steve Austin v Marcus Alexander Bagwell and Tom Zenk: Rude starts with Bagwell, and destroys him with knees before quickly passing to Austin. Steve works him over in the corner, but runs into a 2^nd rope flying axehandle, and Tom tags in. He gets into some feeling out stuff with Steve, until Rude tags back in and wallops him with forearms. And we all know Rude's forearms are the most powerful around - just watch his Hall of Fame induction speech! Rick with a dropkick and a vertical suplex for two, then back to Austin - Zenk hooking a quick small package for two, and tagging out. Bagwell misses a cross corner charge, however, and the Dangerous Alliance cut the ring in half on him until Rude telegraphs a backdrop, and Zenk gets the tag. He comes in hot, but quickly eats a facebuster, and Rude piledrives his ass for two. They cut the ring in half on their new victim, but Marcus gets the hot tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! Zenk tries to prevent some cheating from Austin, but fails to protect Bagwell from the Rude Awakening at 7:55. Felt like it went on a bit too long for what was basically little more than an extended squash, but not bad. * ¼ (Original rating: *)

Backstage, Steve Williams and Terry Gordy share their frustrations over the draw at Beach Blast with the Steiner Brothers in a calm and collected manner

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round Match: Steve Williams and Terry Gordy v Larry O'Day and Jeff O'Day: Gordy starts with Larry, and wastes no time destroying him. Tags all around, and Williams suplexes the crap out of Jeff, then brings Terry back in to get his licks in. Back to Larry, but Gordy shrugs him off with a side suplex, and Williams finishes with the Stampede at 2:35. The last match may have been an extended squash, but this one was just a plain squash. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Jesse Ventura brings WCW World Champion Sting out to discuss his impending title defense against Big Van Vader at the Great American Bash. Why is the Stinger wearing a tuxedo for this? I mean, it's nice to look nice, but I think he might be a little overdressed for an in-ring interview being conducted by a guy in a snakeskin jacket, sporting a shaved head/ponytail combo

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round Match: Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton v Dustin Rhodes and Barry Windham: Arn and Barry start, and a feeling out process commences. Arn takes a cheap shot to get control, but a trip to the top rope ends badly when Windham dropkicks him - Anderson bumping all the way down to the outside! Tags all around, and Eaton ends up in the wrong corner, then held in a standing armbar by Dustin. A criss cross goes better for him when he blocks a leapfrog with a gutpunch, but Rhodes throws a pair of elbowsmashes, and a running big boot sends Bobby over the top. Tag to Barry, but Windham walks into a cheap shot during a criss cross, and Bobby backdrops him for two. Arn comes in with a backdrop, but Barry blocks with a knee, and passes to Dustin. He nails Arn with a jumping clothesline, but runs into a cheap shot as well, and misses a bodypress - bumping to the outside for Paul E. Dangerously to abuse. Back in, Eaton hits a flying kneedrop for two, and he rubs salt in the wounds by bulldogging Dustin for two. Another one, but Rhodes manages to block, and Windham comes in to trigger a brawl! Anderson nails Dustin with the spinebuster in the chaos, but it only gets two, and Bobby misses the Alabama Jam - Rhodes Bulldogging him at 11:23! Anderson and Eaton's cheating and tandem stuff were textbook, and everyone worked hard, with some nice bumps from both teams. ** ½ (Original rating: *)

Backstage, Missy Hyatt joins Eric Bischoff with news on the upcoming NWA World Title tournament, which will be taking place in Japan. As soon as she's done, Williams and Gordy pop in, alerting us that there's been some sort of terrible accident with the Steiner Brothers' opponents tonight

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round Match: The Fabulous Freebirds v The Silver Kings: The Birds attack before the bell, and send Silver King 2 to the outside, and work over Silver King 1. They fail to properly cut the ring in half, however, and King 2 gets back in - backdropping Jimmy Garvin, and adding a bodyslam. A flying senton splash misses, however, and Jimmy covers him for two. Garvin with a vertical suplex for two, then over to Michael Hayes - King 2 raking his eyes and tagging. King 1 comes in with a slingshot somersault senton splash, then back to King 2 for a vertical suplex/flying elbowdrop combo for two. The Kings keep on Michael with tandem moves, but King 1 runs into a backdrop, and the match suddenly grinds to a halt as they pose for the crowd. That was random. Back to action with Hayes taking King 1 down, then passing to Garvin to snapmare him over into a chinlock. King 2 breaks it up and tags, hitting Hayes with a dropkick that gets no-sold. King 1 responds by flying dropkicking Hayes, and they badly mess up a sequence that was supposed to see Garvin take a cheap shot when King 1 trips over Hayes while criss crossing. That leads to a brawl, and the Kings end up colliding while trying dives on the outside, and Hayes capitalizes to advance at 6:27. Tons of effort here, and minimal resting, but they seemed to be having some pretty extensive communication issues throughout, and it really hurt the match. ¾* (Original rating: DUD)

Backstage, Tony Schiavone and Magnum TA discuss the situation with the Steiner Brothers' Puerto Rican opponents, with Ole Anderson coming in to tell us what he thinks about Puerto Ricans. I don't get how everyone can keep calling Steiners/Williams & Gordy a 'dream match' with a straight face considering we already saw the match literally two days before this at Beach Blast, and it wasn't very good

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round Match: Brian Pillman and Jushin Thunder Liger v Chris Benoit and Biff Wellington: Liger starts with Benoit, and they feel each other out. A nice criss cross goes to a stalemate when both guys miss dropkicks, and tags are made all around. Pillman wins a criss cross with a monkeyflip and a dropkick to send Wellington to the outside, and a second dropkick keeps him out there. Brian tries a dive, but Biff counters with a slingshot clothesline back in, and a snap suplex follows. He returns the favor by dumping Pillman to the outside, but a vertical suplex back in is reversed to the floor, and Brian passes to Liger. He tries a kick combo, but Wellington counters by taking him down for a leglock, and he tags Chris to help wishbone Jushin. Benoit with chops, and he absolutely levels Liger with a clothesline. A crisp criss cross ends in Benoit hitting a leg-feed enzuigiri, and Biff tags in - slamming poor Liger over the top onto the floor! He follows with a plancha, but Jushin sidesteps, and he brings Biff back in for a monkeyflip. Tag to Pillman, but Brian gets railroaded into the corner for a tag to Benoit, and Chris criss crosses with him - getting dumped out of the ring. Benoit goes to the top on the way back in, but Brian brings him down with a side superplex, and a missile dropkick sends Chris back to the floor! Pillman follows with a flying bodypress off of the apron, and they trade blistering chops out there before coming back in. Tags all around, and Wellington bumps over the top on a missed corner charge, with Liger capitalizing with a flying bodypress out there. In, Liger tries a crucifix, but Biff counters with a Samoan drop for two, and he tags Chris. Benoit tries side superplexing Liger, but Jushin counters with a bodyblock for two, and he sends Chris to the outside with a spinheel kick. Jushin follows with a springboard moonsault press, then passes to Pillman on the way back in. Brian tries a rollup, but runs into a cheap shot from Wellington, and Biff bodyslams him to setup a flying dropkick - which misses! Tag to Liger for a side suplex, but Benoit breaks up the cover, and Roseanne Barr the door! Brian and Jushin fight off a double-team, and Liger finishes Wellington with a flying moonsault at 11:31. This was total insanity for 1992, and the crowd had no idea how to handle it. A few missed cues, but generally fantastic, with great back-and-forth non-formulaic action! **** ¼ (Original rating: ****)

NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round Match: The Headhunters v Akira Nogami and Hiroshi Hase: Yeah, good luck following THAT, fellas! The conversation between Ross and Ventura about trying to tell the two masked Headhunters apart is everything I love (and miss) about wrestling packed into a couple of sentences. I believe Ross has said that he didn't like the chemistry he had with Jesse, but I absolutely love them as a commentary team. And speaking of the Headhunters, did they just dye the Ding Dongs' gear a different color for these two? Because it sure looks like it. If it seems like I'm ignoring the match, well, that's because I am. Nogami and Hase win it with stereo suplexes at 5:12. Well, at least I didn't have to figure out which Headhunter was which with that finish - thanks guys! ¾* (Original rating: DUD)

Jesse Ventura brings Ron Simmons out for an in-ring interview about wanting to be the first black world champion, but that's interrupted by Harley Race, who throws around a bunch of racist talk - coming to a head when he tells Simmons that he used to have a 'boy like him carry his bags' when he was world champion. Yeah, needless to say, he gets his ass whooped

Tony Schiavone brings Bill Watts out to tell us what HE thinks of Puerto Ricans. Also, he's not going to make us wait for the pay per view to see Steiners/Williams & Gordy - we're going to see it TONIGHT! I don't think we've recovered from the boredom of the Beach Blast match yet, but thanks, I guess

Main Event: NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament Quarterfinal Match: The Steiner Brothers v Steve Williams and Terry Gordy: Rick Steiner starts with Gordy, and they feel each other out. Over to Scott Steiner and Williams for more of the same, until Rick tags in and sends Steve to the outside with a release overhead suplex. Scott tries to hit the Frankensteiner on Gordy, but it misses, and Terry ties him up in the STF. Gordy and Williams cut the ring in half on Scott, but he manages to get a dropkick off on Steve, and there's the tag. Rick is doghouse of fire, and Roseanne Barr the door! Powerslam on Williams looks to finish, but the referee decides they aren't the legal men, and the brawl spills to the outside. Williams hits Scott with a (half hearted) 3-point stance out there, then brings him back in for a press-powerslam for two. Crazy power there! Scott tries to fire back with a belly-to-belly, but Gordy clips the knee, and Williams topples him to advance at 15:01. Like the Beach Blast match, this was technically very sound, but also boring as fuck for the most part. Unlike the pay per view match, thankfully this one wasn't a half hour long, and had an ending. * ¾ (Original rating: *)

Schiavone and Magnum review the brackets and wrap up backstage

BUExperience: One match is really awesome. The rest is decidedly not awesome. A very boring episode, but definitely check out that tag!