WCW Clash of the Champions XXXII (Version II)

Original Airdate: January 23, 1996

From Las Vegas, Nevada; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

Opening Match: The Nasty Boys v The Public Enemy: Things immediately turn into a brawl, with the action spilling right out to ringside, and guys getting run into weapons. Rocco Rock takes a pretty brutal crotching across the guardrail while trying a dive on Jerry Sags, as Johnny Grunge misses a bodypress on Brian Knobbs, and takes a spill over the top. Knobbs dives off the apron, but ends up hitting the rail himself, as Sags brings a table into play. He props it up in the corner, but Rock blocks a toss into it with a bulldog, and then hits Knobbs with a flying moonsault press. Sags bails to the floor to keep Johnny busy with a backdrop, followed by a piledriver on the way back in. The Nasties set up the table properly, but Rock knocks Sags off the top rope as he goes for something, and then hits Knobbs with a flying moonsault onto the table. It fails to break, so Grunge pulls off a piece of it to use as a weapon, but Sags gets it away from him, and chases Johnny out of the ring - throwing the table out after him to finally shatter it. Sags beats Grunge all the way up the aisle with the table, and the whole thing is ruled a double disqualification at 4:00. Really shot, but these types of things are sprints and not marathons anyway. Certainly much more entertaining than watching the Nasties work twenty minutes with Harlem Heat, that much is for sure. * ¾ (Original rating: ¼*)

Eric Bischoff brings Ric Flair and Giant out to discuss Flair's losing the World Title the night before, along with the main event. Flair notes that Savage and Hogan can't 'hide behind a Slim Jim' tonight, which, to be honest, I don't think is a thing anyone can do. Like, maybe behind a giant display of them, but not a single Jim. That's crazy. Ric should really think before he talks

Dean Malenko v Alex Wright: Feeling out process to start, with Wright able to hang with Malenko, and even dump him to the outside to take control. Back in, Alex tries a leg-feed enzuigiri to keep it going, but Dean ducks, and starts going to work on the leg. Malenko's execution is on point, as always. Dean legwhips him down into a grapevine, as the announcers have a funny conversation about who is hotter between Sherri or Elizabeth. Alex escapes the hold, and hits a flying bodypress for two, but the leg is slowing him down tremendously. Dean tries to take advantage with a backslide, but Wright fights him off, and throws a dropkick. Malenko manages to drop him with a side suplex, but a trip to the top gets him crotched when Alex throws another dropkick. Vertical superplex follows, and Wright uses a bridging German suplex for two. He tries another, but Dean blocks, so Alex goes back to the dropkick, but this time Malenko dodges. That allows him to nail the bad leg with a dropkick of his own, and a quick somersault cradle finishes up at 5:29! I remember hating Alex Wright as a kid, but reassessing his work has really given me a new appreciation for him. He may not have been a top class worker, but he could hang. *** (Original rating: ***)

Kevin Sullivan comes out for his match with Disco Inferno, but unfortunately (fortunately?) an Elvis impersonator comes out in Disco's place, and announces that Disco is busy singing at Colonel Robert Parker's wedding to Sister Sherri (planned for later in the show), and therefore Sullivan wins by forfeit. Sullivan kicks his ass, naturally. I'm sure shit like this looked hilarious on paper the day before the show, but it came off as a stupid. It also makes Sullivan look like a total joke when booking a gig at a wedding takes priority over wrestling him

Speaking of said wedding, Gene Okerlund is elsewhere in Vegas, outside the Little White Chapel with Bunkhouse Buck and Dick Slater. Even in Las Vegas, these two look like weirdoes

Eric Bischoff brings WCW World Tag Team Champions Sting and Lex Luger out, fresh off of winning the belts from Harlem Heat the night before. Luger gloats, until the Road Warriors come out (making their return as a team), challenging them for a shot. Sting is more than ready to accept right there on the spot, but Sting is a noted idiot, and luckily for him he has Luger by his side. Lex steps in before Sting does anything rash, noting that the Warriors have just popped in for the first time in years, so what makes them think they can jump the line to a title shot over deserving teams like, you know, State Patrol? This version of Lex Luger is the best version of Lex Luger. He's another one I'm finding new appreciation for in adulthood, because as a kid I was annoyed that the patriotic babyface hero from the WWF was suddenly such a jerk, and I didn't appreciate the brilliance of the character at all

Paul Orndorff sits on a park bench, contemplating his career, and his injury at the hands of the Horsemen. He gets a jab in at Vader here, referencing the scuffle that led to Vader leaving the promotion a few months prior. And that's about the only interesting bit of this terribly boring segment

Back at the chapel, Colonel Robert Parker arrives in a taxi, and promptly announces that he's broke

Brian Pillman v Eddie Guerrero: Hey, a match! Pillman is acting crazy at the bell, bailing to the outside to threaten fans for little or no reason, and generally acting like a maniac. This frustrates Guerrero, but he manages to dominate once Brian is finally ready to get going. Eddie knocks him to the outside with a dropkick, where he grabs commentator Bobby Heenan from behind - legitimately scarring Bobby, and causing him to yell 'what the fuck are you doing?!?!' on camera. This wasn't an angle, and Heenan (who has a history of neck problems) has since said he thought it was a fan attacking him - though watching it several times, it seems clear that he's just pissed at Pillman for messing with him and worried about his neck. Either way, Heenan throws his headset down and walks away (quite visibly upset) as Pillman tries to stay in character and deal with Guerrero. Inside, Pillman is clearly thinking about what happened with Heenan (who is now walking around the ring in frustration) as he and Eddie stall. As Bobby sits back down (as a total pro, Heenan immediately turns it into a character bit, apologizing if he 'said something he shouldn't have' to upset Pillman), they get moving again, with Eddie hitting a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Brian fights him off in the corner, and starts paintbrushing Guerrero on the mat, then grabs a chinlock. Guerrero fights free, and a pair of dropkicks send Brian to the floor, with Heenan freaking out on commentary (working now). Back in, Eddie hits a tornado DDT for two, but misses a charge, and Brian tries a leveraged pin for two. Guerrero schoolboys him for two as Pillman argues with the referee, but Brian is up first, and throws a bodypress for the pin at 5:59 - poor Bobby springing to his feet in terror as Brian rolls out of the ring near the announce position. The Heenan altercation cut the legs off of this one, but it was certainly memorable, and Pillman had such an aura around him during this period that he was always fun to watch. In a different era, and under different circumstances, this would have probably been three-stars+, even with that runtime. This is also one of those sad matches where almost everyone involved (both guys, Heenan, and even the referee) are gone. The only on camera personality still with us is Tony Schiavone. ½* (Original rating: ¼*)

Eric Bischoff brings out WCW World Champion Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan, along with Pittsburgh Steelers football player Kevin Greene - just days before he's due at Super Bowl XXX. Greene looks like a dead ringer for Nicolas Cage here. Not much said, but at least the promotion has gotten better about pairing the celebrities with the babyfaces, unlike that Charles Barkley/Ric Flair thing from a while back

WCW World Tag Team Title Match: Sting and Lex Luger v The Blue Bloods: Sting starts with Lord Steven Regal, and they trade wristlocks. Sting throws a dropkick to knock Regal right into a punch from Luger, and Steven wisely tags out to Earl Robert Eaton. Sting powers him into the corner on the way to tagging Lex, but Luger gets dumped to the outside. Eaton charges him out there, but gets backdropped in the aisle, and Lex forces him back inside. Regal tags back in, and gets overpowered, but swipes at Luger with a cheap shot in the corner. That allows the challengers to take control, and they work Lex over, cutting the ring in half. Regal Stretch looks to finish, but Sting comes in to break it up, so Eaton dives at Lex with a flying bodypress, but gets caught in a powerslam. Kinda. They botched it. That leads to the tag to Sting, and Roseanne Barr the door! The Blue Bloods double team, but accidentally collide with one another, and Sting capitalizes with the Scorpion Deathlock on Eaton at 7:47. Not much to this one. ¾* (Original rating: DUD)

Back at the chapel, Harlem Heat hang out at the catering table, as Sherri finally arrives. She's dressed more casually for her wedding than she does for most episodes of Nitro. She gets pissed that Parker lost all his money at the tables though, and the wedding may be off. As usual, Gene doesn't make the situation any better. None of this was funny or entertaining in any intentional way

Eric Bischoff brings Brian Pillman out for an interview, and Heenan is already nervous, even though he's clear on the other side of the building. Pillman just walking out is more entertaining than all those wedding skits combined have been. Brian notes that he's going to teach everyone to respect what the Horsemen stand for, even if it means hacking their thumbs off so they perpetually have the four fingers showing. Perhaps he was hoping to cross over into films, starting with a remake of The Pope of Greenwich Village? Come on, you’re telling me you can’t easily – easily – picture ’96 Brian Pillman screaming “COP SHIT IN THE STREET! COP SHIT IN THE STREET!” at the top of his lungs?

Konnan v Psychosis: Mike Tenay sits in on commentary for this one. This is Psychosis' WCW debut, and effectively Konnan's as well. It's also supposedly for Konnan's 'Mexican title,' but I have no idea if anything is actually being defended here, since the physical belt is the AAA Americas title, but the title history for that belt doesn't show Konnan as the champion yet at this point, so I have a feeling he's just carrying it around. Konnan takes him down early, but Psychosis escapes a submission via the ropes, so Konnan hits a two-alarm rolling German suplex. Not quite Chris Benoit level execution on those, though. Konnan with a catapult into a stretch, but Psychosis has the ropes again, as the announcers bring up that Konnan once beat Jake Roberts. I'm sure that was no coincidence, given Jake's appearance at the Royal Rumble two nights before. They trade holds for a bit, with the crowd not especially making a connection with either guy. Konnan throws a dropkick to the leg to set up a DDT, but a whip into the corner backfires when Psychosis hits a missile dropkick. Konnan bails, so Psychosis is on him with a tope, but it does as much damage to him as to Konnan. That allows Konnan a German superplex on the way back in, and a standing figure four finishes at 5:26. Not a very impressive debut for either, but this led to good things later, with a lot of great wrestlers following them across the border in the coming months. ¼* (Original rating: ¼*)

Back at the chapel, Sherri has put on a cape, and if my high school Hicklish serves, that means the wedding is back on! Poor Dick Slater is in tears. And then so is Sherri, because Madusa shows up to stake her claim to Parker, and the two of them end up brawling all around the parking lot. Funny background bit, with a scandalized looking Disco Inferno not too traumatized to pocket a few bottles of champagne on his way out

Main Event: Randy Savage and Hulk Hogan v Ric Flair and Giant: Basically the first SummerSlam main event, with Giant playing Andre, and Flair playing DiBiase. Which totally works, given how similar those characters are. Savage and Hogan have a bunch of ladies (including Hulk's wife, Woman, and a debuting Miss Elizabeth), along with Kevin Greene in their corner. I'm sure Hulk's wife really appreciated playing second fiddle to Randy's. And not even his wife, but his ex-wife, no less. I wouldn't be surprised if it came up in her divorce petition. All sorts of posturing to start, with Flair egging Greene on until Kevin gets in the ring and teases mixing it up with the Nature Boy. Things settle on Flair and Savage to start, and Ric is quick to start chopping, but gets reversed into the corner, and backdropped. Macho unloads, and a cross corner whip flips Flair into a big boot from Hogan on the apron. Flair begs off to sucker Savage into a shot, but a hiptoss gets countered with a backslide for two, and Macho drills him with some well executed rights and lefts. Tags all around, and Giant overpowers the Hulkster. He slams Hogan around for a while, but misses an elbowdrop, and Hulk bodyslams him. That hurts his back in the process, however, and Giant is able to tag out. Flair comes in with a hanging vertical suplex, but Hogan no-sells, popping up and backdropping the Nature Boy. Hulk with a pair of clotheslines, but he runs into trouble with Giant in the corner, and Flair goes to work. He heads up, but Hulk slams him down, and there's the tag to Macho! Savage comes in hot, and Roseanne Barr the door! Flying Elbowdrop on Flair connects, but Jimmy Hart distracts Randy to stop a cover from happening. That allows Flair to get some knux, and he pops Macho for the pin at 9:52. Poor Heenan is so traumatized by the earlier incident that he walked away from the commentary position the second things started getting wild following the hot tag. * (Original rating: DUD)


BUExperience: A pretty decent Clash, so long as you understand that you’re basically getting a glorified episode of Nitro, instead of pay per view lite.