WCW Clash of the Champions XXVIII (Version II)

Original Airdate: August 24, 1994

From Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

Opening Match: Pretty Wonderful v The Nasty Boys: Pretty Wonderful are the WCW World Tag Team Champions, but this is non-title. The Nasties double team Paul Orndorff in the early going, then force Paul Roma in to take some abuse as well. I think Vince Russo might have taken a job doing closed captioning for the Network, because its displayed as ‘Nasty Boyz’ at points. Brian Knobbs rams Orndorff into a pair of turnbuckles once the dust settles, but fails to cut the ring in half while tagging, and Roma gets a tag as well. He hits Jerry Sags with a flying bodypress, but gets caught in a slam while doing so, so Orndorff comes in without a tag. He's cut off by Knobbs, and all four spill to the outside, where Pretty Wonderful choke down Sags with an electrical cable. As Roma distracts Knobbs, Orndorff dumps Jerry into the front row, and man, the fans are pumped up for that! So much different than today's docile fans. Sags very nearly gets counted out, but makes it in for Roma to hit with a bodyslam, followed by a flying elbowdrop. They cut the ring in half on Sags, but Jerry backdrops his way to freedom when Orndorff tries the piledriver, and Knobbs gets the tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Pretty Wonderful try a vertical suplex/flying elbowdrop combo, but Sags comes off the top with a flying elbowdrop to breakup the pin, and Orndorff gets covered at 10:00. The crowd was way into this, much more so than they should have been. * (Original rating: ¼*)

Gene Okerlund brings WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan out for an interview, but as Hulk comes through the curtain, a masked man suddenly pops out, and whacks the Hulkster on the knee with a pipe. That leaves Hogan down, and no less than a dozen officials come out to check on him - Hulk eventually doing a stretcher job, and leaving his participation in the main event up in the air. Hogan's acting here goes to show why he had the Hollywood career he had. Though I may have flipped past Saturday Night a time or two before, this was the first specific WCW segment I can remember seeing, and it definitely connected with me as a kid

WCW United States Title Match: Steve Austin v Ricky Steamboat: The title can change hands on a DQ here. Feeling out process to start, with the challenger dominating, while the announcers largely ignore the match to talk about the Hogan angle. I mean, there are even extended cutaways from the match to show Heenan getting an update from a producer at one point. Both guys throw chops, and Steamboat takes control with a pair of dropkicks, then delivers a powerslam for two - as we switch to a split screen so we can watch Hogan's ambulance on its way to the hospital. Remember my theory from the Bash at the Beach review that certain higher-ups may have been pissed at these two for trying to show up the main event? Maybe not so farfetched after all. Reversal sequence ends in Steamboat holding an armbar, but a criss cross ends in Ricky getting tossed to the outside. He manages to sweep Austin out after him, and the Dragon unloads on him with chops, until Steve bails INTO the ring to avoid the blows! He tries a sleeper, but Steamboat quickly reverses, so Steve uses a stunner to escape. Didn't mean as much in 1994, of course. Reversal sequence ends in Steve missing a charge into the post, and Steamboat bashes the champions arm into the steel, then does a cool spot where he snaps Steve's arm across the top rope by dropping from the top all the way to the floor! You don't see that often, but you should. It's relatively simple, but really elegant. Flying tomahawk chops gets two, but Austin puts him down for a kneedrop for two, and works a chinlock. At least the announcers are actually talking about the match now. Steamboat escapes, and another reversal sequence sees him try a splash, but Austin lifts his knees to block for two, then comes off the middle rope with a flying pointed elbowdrop for two. Vertical suplex gets two, but a try at another one is blocked, and Steamboat powers him onto the top turnbuckle for a superplex - Steve able to block. He tries to dive, but the Dragon crotches him up there before he can, and then tries for the superplex again, but Austin counters with a gourdbuster off the top. He dives, but Steamboat gutpunches him out of the air, and delivers a facebuster. To the top for the flying bodypress, but Steve sidesteps. He wastes time taunting his challenger instead of finishing him off, however, and Ricky sweeps him down for some mounted punches. Chop gets two, and a rotating spinebuster is worth two. Electric chair gets two, and Steamboat hooks an inside cradle for two. Somersault cradle gets two, and a backslide is worth two. Sunset flip for two, so Steve throws a desperate clothesline, but Steamboat keeps coming! Austin tries to backdrop him over the top, but Ricky skins the cat up into a cradle for two! Austin, getting increasingly desperate, tries a bodyslam, but Steamboat holds it into a cradle, and we have a new champion at 16:08! Like the Bash match before it, this took a little while to get going, but man, it was great once it did. Lots of really nice, smoothly executed sequences here. I underrated this one the first time out. **** (Original rating: ** ¼)

Eric Bischoff is at the hospital, where Hulk Hogan is arriving at the emergency room. He doesn't have much of an update, but it's notable because it looks like they're filming at a real emergency facility, and not a set. Man, that sweet Turner money was being put to good use

Honky Tonk Man vignette. Did anyone really think bringing in 41 year old Honky - who was six years past being relevant, and hadn't even APPEARED on WWF TV in almost four years - really needed fanfare? Did they really have high hopes for him? And, honestly, it wasn't even just them, as the WWF themselves brought him in a couple of years after this, promoting him as a top manager. No one cared then, either. I guess I just don't get the confidence everyone seemed to have in him. Like, I get that he was a draw during the Golden Age, but the character just feels so dated

Gene Okerlund brings WCW Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel out to announce that, if Hulk Hogan cannot make it to defend the title against Ric Flair tonight, he will have to forfeit the belt. Yeah, but can we really trust Nick Bockwinkel, of all people, to be fair and unbiased when it comes to Hulk Hogan?

Dusty Rhodes shows us that he's still a better promo than half the active roster, while asking son Dustin if he can be his partner to battle the Stud Stable

Bunkhouse Buck and Terry Funk v Dustin Rhodes and Dusty Rhodes: Big brawl right off the bat, with the father and son duo cleaning house. That leads to Funk throwing a full on fit on the outside, as the dust settles on Buck and Dustin. Rhodes wins a criss cross by simply stomping on Buck to block a monkeyflip, so the Stable try a double team, but it backfires, and Buck ends up taking a clothesline over the top. Back in, Dustin hits him with an atomic drop, then passes to papa! Dusty pops Buck with an elbowsmash, then unloads on Funk as well for good measure! He whips Buck into Funk, then Funk into Buck - as the crowd eats it all up with a spoon. Back to Dustin with a powerslam on Buck, but Funk breaks the count at two, and Bunkhouse is able to bash the younger Rhodes from behind with his boot. That's enough to allow them to start cutting the ring in half on Dustin, but an attempt by Buck to come off the top with his boot backfires, and Dusty gets the tag! Dusty controls both heels, but while he's busy doing that, Arn Anderson runs down, and sends Dustin into the post. That allows the Stable to take control on Dusty, but a big boot from Buck knocks him right into a tag! Dustin comes in hot, and Roseanne Barr the door! Jumping clothesline for both heels, and Dusty pops them with elbowsmashes. Bulldog on Buck, but Anderson comes in with a DDT to stop the pin, and that's a DQ at 7:19. Dusty takes out Arn in response, but makes the mistake of hitting Meng, and even though he had a chair, it doesn't do a thing. Not a thing to Meng, baby! Big beat down follows, of course. Not a great match in a technical sense, but fun, and the crowd was hot for it all. Good angle leading in, and a good angle afterwards, too. ** (Original rating: ¾*)

Back at the hospital, Eric Bischoff talks to Hulk Hogan's entourage, who have been advising him to forfeit the title, but no one is sure what he's going to do. That leads in to Gene Okerlund bringing Ric Flair out to question whether or not the Nature Boy had anything to do with the attack. Yeah, I wonder. Flair makes clear that if Hogan is going to forfeit, he'd better come back down to the arena, and personally hand him the belt. Gene notes that it would be a "cold day in Cedar Rapids" before that happens. Makes friends wherever he goes, that guy

Backstage, the Stud Stable is on the WCW Hotline! If, as a parent, you let your kid talk to Terry Funk on the phone, you probably should be reported to child services

Lord Steven Regal v Antonio Inoki: Regal is the WCW Television Champion here, but this is another non-title bout. The announcers inform us that they have learned that Hogan is on his way back to the arena as we get started here. Regal jumps Inoki before the bell, and puts the boots to him. I can't look at Inoki without immediately thinking of Scott Keith's series of memes on him anymore. Inoki tries to strike at Regal with some kicks, but Steven traps him in a front-facelock, and unloads in the corner. Down to the mat, but Inoki holds his own, so Regal thumps him in the corner again, then unloads his own series of kicks. He tries for a front-facelock, but Inoki reverses, so Regal kicks him down, and wrenches his arm in the ropes. Slugfest starts to go Inoki's way, so Regal sweeps him down into a crossface, as the announcers busy themselves hyping Fall Brawl. Inoki starts to escape the hold, so Regal shifts to a front-facelock, then down into a kneebar, as we gets a split screen of Hogan arriving. Inoki escapes and grabs a sleeper/bodyscissors combo, as Nick Bockwinkel makes his way down to ringside to share with the announcers that Hogan plans to wrestle. Regal gets the ropes to escape, and he grabs a half-nelson, though the announcers aren't even pretending to pay attention anymore. Inoki escapes, and tries a facelock, but Regal counters to a front-facelock, then up into a butterfly suplex for two. That's the first non-hold based move of the match! Regal tries to follow up, but Inoki hooks a sleeper, and that's it at 8:40. This was a really weird, shoot fightish match, and didn't work at all. ¼* (Original rating: ¼*)

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Hulk Hogan v Ric Flair: Hogan makes a dramatic entrance, and seems like he may be ready to forfeit, but then jumps Flair instead. That would have been a lot more dramatic if Nick Bockwinkel hadn't, you know, already told us he'd be wrestling during the last segment. Hogan pounds Flair in the corner, and a cross corner whip flips the challenger to the floor. Ric sweeps Hulk out after him for a chop against the guardrail, but Hogan no-sells, and chokes Flair down with a beach towel he takes from a fan. Inside, Hogan uses the towel to clothesline Flair, so Ric goes to the eyes, and snapmares the champion down. Hulk is doing a good job of consistently selling the leg here. Ric goes up, but gets slammed down (speaking of being consistent...), and a right hands knocks him over the top. Hulk follows for a brawl in the aisle, then back to ringside for a whip into the post. Hulk grabs a chair, but Flair manages to dodge him, and he puts the boots to the champion on the way back in. Flair with a hanging vertical suplex, but Hogan pops up (though still selling the knee, in a nice touch), and he hits Ric with a pair of elbowdrops, followed by a bootrake. Hogan working a match while selling the leg basically looks like every Hogan match post 2000, where he wasn't selling, so much as badly deteriorated. Corner whip flips Flair onto the apron for Hogan to clothesline to the outside, and when Hulk follows to ram him into the rail, he has to contend with some crazy old lady who starts swinging her walker around! Holy shit! Hulk tries to turn it into something by borrowing it to use as a weapon, but she won't let it go! Sign this granny! Hogan versus Granny would have made a better Starrcade main event than what we got. Inside, Flair finally starts targeting the knee. Took him long enough. Sensuous Sherri gets her licks in as well, and Flair goes for the Figure Four, but Hogan blocks. Ric clips the knee, but Hulk ends up falling out of the ring before the challenger can try for the hold again. Flair follows him out, pounding the leg on the outside, then back in, it's Figure Four time! He gets it on this go around, but Hulk rakes the eyes to escape. Ric keeps after the leg to prevent a comeback, but it's too late - the HULK UP!! is in motion! Fists of Fury! Big Boot! Legdrop! In a nice touch, Hulk actually goes down with executing the boot due to the strain of balancing on the bad knee, and he's too battered to cover after the Legdrop! Check out the selling on the Hulkster! That allows Flair to slap on another Figure Four, but Hogan reverses, and Ric needs the ropes to escape. That brings Sherri back into play, as she beats on Hulk's leg with her shoe, and the champion is counted out at 14:26. Not quite as good as the Bash match, but still good, with lots of drama and excitement. Flair should have probably won the title back here though, to properly set up the career/title cage match for Halloween Havoc. But, I also get why, from a marketing perspective, they didn't want to change the belt so quickly after Hogan had gotten it. Sometimes what makes sense critically, and what makes sense from a business perspective don't line up. Afterwards, Hogan goes after Flair and Sherri, but the masked man is back, and he clips the leg again! That allows Flair to slap on the Figure Four, but Sting makes the save. Hogan/Sting versus Flair/Granny! Book that shit, WCW! Go back in time, and book it, damn you! *** (Original rating: *)

BUExperience: A really good episode, with a strong show spanning angle, and some good wrestling – especially in the excellent US title match. Give this one a look