WCW Clash of the Champions XXXIII (Version II)

Original Airdate: August 15, 1996

From Denver, Colorado; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

This past Monday on Nitro, Nick Patrick pretty conclusively turned heel while refereeing a rematch between the Outsiders and Lex Luger/Sting

Opening WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Rey Mysterio Jr v Dean Malenko: Mike Tenay joins the commentary team for this one. Dean jumps him before the bell, and immediately hits a snap suplex, followed by a kneedrop. Rey bails and takes the high ground when Dean goes after him, allowing him to springboard dropkick Malenko off of the apron, followed by a baseball sliding headscissors. Back in, a fast criss cross ends in Rey hitting a springboard moonsault press for two, and a spinheel kick sends Malenko to the outside. Rey teases a dive, but Malenko hides in the aisle. He charges back in, but Rey is ready with a drop-toehold, so Dean kills him with a vicious hotshot, then drills him with a brainbuster for two. Rey uses a springboard sunset flip to throw the challenger off, and a fisherman's cradle gets two, so Malenko quickly grounds him in a chinlock to keep control. A cool reversal sequence ends in Rey hooking a bridging cradle for two, but he gets his eyes raked while reacting to the kick out, and Malenko slams him down for a grapevine. Rey gets the ropes to escape, so Malenko sends him crashing with a pop-up flapjack for two, as Heenan jokes that Mysterio is getting a lot of height because of the thin air in Detroit. Rey dumps him to the outside for a somersault seated senton suicida, so Dean tries whipping him into the guardrail out there, but Rey springboards back at him with a moonsault press! Didn't quite stick the landing, but cool spot nonetheless. Rey with a springboard flying dropkick for two on the way back in, so Dean tries a tilt-a-whirl, but Mysterio topples him for two. Springboard rana into a cradle gets two, so Rey heads up again, but Dean brings him down with an insane exploding gutbuster. Cover, count, and it's a three - only for the referee to spot Mysterio's foot on the ropes after making the count. Dean is already celebrating with the belt when the poor referee informs him of what happened, allowing Mysterio to sneak up with a victory roll at 12:22. Ugly finish to a good match. When they were going at full speed, this was easily four-star level action (or better), but there were a lot of slow spots too, and the finish was a major negative. *** ½ (Original rating: *** ½)

Glacier teaser

Jim Duggan v VK Wallstreet: Duggan chases him around with the 2x4 to start, giving us some stalling from Wallstreet. He should use some of that time to think up a better outfit for himself. Duggan gets him with turnbuckle smashes in the corner, and a criss cross leads to Hacksaw hitting a hiptoss, followed by a clothesline. Wallstreet bails to avoid the 3-point stance, however, and he snaps Jim's throat across the top rope when Duggan goes after him. Wallstreet with an elbowdrop for only one, so he tries wearing Duggan down with a chinlock, but Duggan is too crazy for that to work. Seriously, his version of 'selling' is comical at best, incompetent at worst. Duggan makes a comeback, but the referee intervenes as he tries taping up his fist, and Wallstreet hooks a schoolboy at 3:48. Thankfully short. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Backstage, the Nasty Boys aren't interested in politics or taking sides, they just want the freedom to shout the word 'stinking' as many times per day as is humanly possible

Gene Okerlund wants you to call the WCW Hotline to hear some bullshit about the Outsiders

Konnan v Ultimo Dragon: Mike Tenay is here again for this one. Like a bad penny, that guy. Also, WHY THE FUCK is Nick Patrick being allowed to referee this one?! Didn't we see him turn heel on Monday night? How could anyone take WCW seriously if they're still letting this guy work? Konnan takes him down early for a toehold, and he whips Dragon into the ropes for a shoulderblock, so the masked man bails. Back in, Dragon forces a criss cross, and sends Konnan to the outside with a dropkick, then dives off the apron with a flying axehandle to go after him out there. Back in, Dragon uses a slam to set up a flying moonsault, followed by a magistral cradle for two. Bridging German suplex gets two, but Konnan reverses the cradle (with a handful of tights) at 2:57. Well, that was quick. Were they running behind already, or something? ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

Backstage, Ice Train is busy surfing the net, when Scott Norton attacks him. Eh, he was likely using dial-up anyway. Norton did him a favor

Meng comes out for his scheduled match with Randy Savage, but Macho is still selling an attack from Hollywood Hulk Hogan back on Nitro, and is a no-show. I get what they're going for, but even in kayfabe, wouldn't the people running the show know that he's not going to be making it? Why waste everyone's time? This all segues into Okerlund interviewing the Dungeon of Doom, and Kevin Sullivan is all 'I told you so' about Hogan, but no one really cares. Gene, of course, has to make sure to get in a line about how big the ratings were for Nitro on Monday, since he's a shameless prick

Madusa v Bull Nakano: I like how we're basically getting TV rematches of the whole card from Hog Wild over the course of the week. Madusa goes right at her, but misses a dropkick, and Nakano starts whipping her around the ring by the hair. I never got why WCW used different rings for different events. Like, the Nitro ring has a gray colored mat with no logos, this ring has a blue colored canvas with a giant WCW logo in the center, and the PPV rings are usually something else entirely. I guess I shouldn't complain though, it's nice to change things up. Bull pulls out the nunchucks and goes to work with those for a while, but Madusa slugs back, so Bull splashes her for one. That all looked ridiculously bad. Madusa with a 2^nd rope flying bodypress for two, and she uses a trio of matslams for two. Sunset flip, but Bull counters with a sitdown splash for two. She goes up, but Madusa sends her to the outside with a dropkick - only to miss the follow-up dive. That allows Bull to roll her in, but a cheap shot from Sonny Onoo backfires, and Madusa schoolboys at 2:42. What happened to these two between 1994 and here? DUD (Original rating: ¼*)

Ric Flair is ready for Hollywood Hogan tonight. He was so reinvigorated in that short period when Hogan was gone earlier in the year, and now he's just back to the usual yelling and screaming again

Lord of the Ring Title Match: Diamond Dallas Page v Eddie Guerrero: Still not a fan of Page defending the ring like a title, but I think we're almost at the point end for that gimmick. Page overpowers him to start, but Guerrero uses speed, and sends DDP to the mat with a headscissors takedown. Dropkick corners him, but Eddie misses a charge, and Page puts the boots to him. Page with a gutwrench stomachbreaker, and a tilt-a-whirl slam follows for two. Chinlock, but Eddie escapes, and uses a legsweep to keep DDP off his back. Eddie with a flurry of fists and a leg lariat to set up a slingshot somersault senton splash for two, but Page fights him off with a chincrusher, and adds a sitout powerbomb for two. He takes him up for a superplex, but Eddie's able to shove him off, and quickly capitalizes with the Flying Frogsplash at 4:20. Too short to go anywhere. Page flips out afterwards, and destroys Guerrero with a bunch of Diamond Cutters to get his frustrations out. ¾* (Original rating: * ¾)

WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan is out to talk about being the Babe Ruth of wrestling, which must have really put a smile on Vince McMahon's face

Glacier teaser. Man, they were, like, all in on this guy. You'd think he was getting an immediate main event push considering the level of fanfare they unveiled him with

Giant v Chris Benoit: Giant charges him with a dropkick before Benoit even has a chance to get his entrance gear off, and he plants him with the best Chokeslam I've ever see at 0:23. If Benoit wasn't Benoit, they'd probably still show that chokeslam in clips today. ¼* (Original rating: ¼*)

WCW Power Plant ad. The 'Harvard of Professional Wrestling' is a term that doesn't get thrown around near enough

Call now, and get your official WCW Hog Wild merchandise! They've been pushing that hard all night, as well as on Nitro. I guess the bikers they let into the show for free weren't the best market for their shit

WCW World Tag Team Title Triangle Match: Harlem Heat v Lex Luger and Sting v The Steiner Brothers: Only two guys allowed in at a time, and the first fall wins it. Again, why is Nick Patrick being allowed to referee here, let alone in a title match that involves Luger and Sting? Even if they're not sure about him, in what world is he not at least being investigated? Booker T starts with Scott Steiner, and they trade off right away. Booker goes up, but Scott crotches him across the top rope, setting Booker up for Lex to clothesline off to the floor. The dust settles on Stevie Ray and Luger, and an angry Stevie pounds the Total Package down in the corner. Charge misses, however, allowing Lex to turn the tables, and he adds a clothesline. Again, but Stevie ducks, and Rick Steiner tags himself in as Luger runs the ropes. He hits Stevie with a flying bulldog, but a fuming Lex breaks the cover, and gets into a shoving match with Steiner. That allows Stevie to throw a superkick, and Booker tags in to help cut the ring in half on the Gremlin. Sting tags himself in as Rick makes a comeback, however, and he dives at Booker with a flying tomahawk chop for two. Reversal sequence ends in Sting hiptossing him over the top, and he brings him back in with a press-slam for two! Sting's all fired up tonight, and it's great! Over to Luger for a 2^nd rope flying axehandle, and he adds a vertical suplex on Booker, but Stevie breaks the cover, and tags in. He's not quick enough to cut off a tag to Sting, but he's tough enough to beat the challenger down anyway. He gets too close to Scott while doing so, allowing Steiner to tag himself in, and he wrenches Sting's arm with a few wristlocks. Criss cross ends in Sting hitting a hotshot, followed by a flying clothesline, but Rick breaks the count at two. Sting stays focused with a suplex, but Scott counters to an inverted DDT, and he adds a tigerbomb for two - broken as Luger dives in. Rick tags to put Sting in a chinlock, but the Stinger is able to pass to Luger while in the hold, and Lex drills Rick with a lariat. Corner clothesline follows, but a charge misses, and Rick plants him with a German suplex, ahead of a tag to Scott. Scott adds a belly-to-belly suplex, but a dive off the middle rope is caught in the Torture Rack, so Rick runs in to clip the leg. That brings everyone else in, and Roseanne Barr the door! With everyone else brawling on the floor, Scott is able to catch Booker with the Frankensteiner, but the referee spots the Outsiders attacking guys in the aisle, and decides to call for a no-contest at 11:48 - despite them not actually making it to the ring. I'd feel bad for the Steiner's, but if they weren't smart enough to protest Patrick's involvement here in advance, they don't deserve the belts. I would have hated that finish on PPV, but it was perfect for TV. This was a really fun match, though it felt like they were just settling into a groove, and needed another ten minutes to get it properly over. I also wish they'd use Triangle rules again today, because it adds a lot of interesting psychology that Triple Threat rules don't. Afterwards, Okerlund catches Patrick in the aisle, with Nick defending his call since the Outsiders were technically attacking participants in the match, regardless of whether or not it was in the ring. He does have a point. So, I guess they're still playing it as Patrick under suspicion, though I thought the end of Nitro was pretty explicitly a heel turn. ** ¾ (Original rating: **)

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Hollywood Hulk Hogan v Ric Flair: Flair's WCW United States Title is not on the line here. Also, his robe game is weak, wearing the same one he wore at Hog Wild and Nitro. For shame, Nature Boy. Seeing Hogan actually wear the belt out instead of playing air guitar with it is weird. He's doing a great job of being a douche here, and working heel. You'd think it would be a challenge after so many years on top as the ultimate babyface, but the transition has been a really smooth one. Hogan stalls in the early going, but Ric gets him down in a headlock, and works that for a bit. Hogan escapes and hits him with a shoulderblock, as Heenan rants about how he's been telling us for years what Hulk is like, but nobody would listen. Well, he really has. Perhaps we should reevaluate all of his comments from over the years. He never had much nice to say about Tito Santana either. I'd keep my eye on him. Flair dominates the champ until Hogan bails, so Ric dives off the apron with a flying axehandle as Hulk works the fans. Hogan stalls to break the momentum, and he wants a test-of-strength on the way back in, but Flair bites the hand to get the better of it, and fires off chops. They mess up a cross corner whip sequence (it looked like Flair was expecting Hogan to rebound out of the corner with a clothesline like he does as a babyface), and they spill to the outside, where Hulk sends him into the post. Back in, Hulk goes to work, but Flair flips to the apron on a corner whip, and nails him when Hogan misses a clothesline. That allows Flair and hanging vertical suplex, and what the fuck, Hogan is hulking up?! Huh?! Guess he still had a few kinks to work out with the new heel routine. Legdrop misses, allowing Ric the Figure Four, but here come the Outsiders to save, and Flair wins by DQ at 8:03. The nWo destroy Flair after the bell, but the Horsemen and Sting/Luger run in to make the save. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

BUExperience: Nitro pretty much immediately made these Clash specials irrelevant upon its debut, but with Nitro now doing two full hours of marquee matches every week, the Clash concept feels like total overkill. Nothing here worth bothering with.