Andrew Lutzke
Context around the Clash 24:
- Ole Anderson went bonkers on the WCW hotline and challenged any wrestling newsletter writers to a shoot fight. He offered them 10 grand to accept his challenge. Future WCW announcer Mark Madden took him up on the challenge and faxed WCW a request for the money. Anderson returned to the hot line and called Madden fat in a number of ways and then admitted he was “joking” about the challenge. ·
- The Colossal Kongs debuted (managed by Harley Race) and were dropped right into a feud with Sting and Ric Flair. WCW being WCW ran a promo for a Sting/Flair vs. Kongs match at the Clash before the faces did the angle to set the match up.·
- Flair has been spiking business slightly by drawing a decent house for a NWA title defense with Ricky Steamboat and helped ratings by having a long TV match with Sting. ·
- Terry Funk declined a spot on the booking team, citing that he didn’t want to be part of a team that had Eric Bischoff as the final say, rather than allowing Funk greater creative control.·
- Road Warrior Hawk was promoted on TV to be appearing at the Clash of the Champions and Fall Brawl but WCW didn’t have him under contract and Hawk bailed out, forcing many edits to be made in the taped TV shows. ·
- More taped show fun came when the floor director who was to tell the Disney audience when to cheer and boo during entrances messed up and had the crowd cheer Rick Rude. WCW aired the match anyway.
- Brian Pillman landed wrong during a squash match and suffered torn ligaments and bone chips in his leg. ·
- Rick Rude and Ric Flair kicked off their feud with Rude stealing Fifi the maid and beating up Flair during an interview.·
- Terry Taylor is being rumored to become a Horseman. Other reports have him becoming a commentator. ·
- Erik Watts is teasing a heel turn since he gets booed everywhere anyway. ·
- In the days prior to the Clash, several WCW house shows drew under 200 fans. ·
- Scotty Studd (Riggs) got some tryout matches.
Clash of the Champions 24
Jesse Ventura and Tony Schiavone announce that since Pillman is injured, Lord Steven Regal will replace him against the Horsemen tonight.
World Tag Champ Steve Austin and Lord Steven Regal vs. Arn Anderson and Paul Roma
Anderson mocks Pillman for whining about the circumstances of the titles being on the line without him in the match. Austin and Anderson duke it out to start, and Austin hits such a vicious looking clothesline that Regal applauds. Anderson sends Austin over the top rope several times and both men tag out. Roma out wrestles Regal and drives fisticuffs into his skull for good measure. Austin delivers a cheap shot from the floor to change the tide, which allows both heels to abuse Roma. Regal executes a somersault splash and a nifty gut wrench suplex. Austin enjoys bringing the pain to Roma, who finally manages a stun gun to try and turn the tide. The heels cheat like the quality bastards they are and continue to keep Roma away from making a successful tag. Anderson finally tags in and both heels feel his rage. Sir William tries to use a crutch on Anderson but Austin is tossed into him, Austin then falls back into Anderson’s roll up for the win. Fun match as the heels were on their game. Roma acknowledges that people didn’t think he was Horsemen material, but now this title win proves otherwise.
2 Cold Scorpio vs. Bobby Eaton
Eaton is apparently replacing Regal here. Eaton uses roughhouse tactics to keep Scorpio grounded in the early going. Scorpio flips to the top and hits a nice flying splash. Eaton goes back to trying to ground Scorpio but 2 Cold fights back by placing Eaton on the top rope and hitting a dropkick to knock Eaton to the cement. Scorp nails a follow up flying splash, but the vet Eaton returns to being in control and delivers a flying elbow drop. Scorpio finally takes things to Eaton’s level and trades bombs with him before rocking Eaton well enough to hit a 450 splash (with a knee that appears to have inadvertently landed on Eaton’s face) for the win. 2 Cold’s spot machine offense was entertaining, but it didn’t lead to a match that flowed together well.
Mask vs. Guitar: Johnny B. Badd vs. Maxx Payne
Payne attacks him before the bell can even ring and batters Badd with elbows and fists. Badd fires back, but Payne survives that and unmasks him, revealing a second mask on underneath the first one. Payne continues to assault Badd, focusing on his arm. Payne tries a second rope splash that misses and… Badd gets the pin? Ugh. Terrible ending. Match went maybe three minutes as it was. Badd decides he’s going to take guitar lessons instead of smashing the instrument.
Flair for the Gold interview: He brings out Sting and Davey Boy Smith “Everybody’s cooking! Flair for the Gold is cooking! Sting’s cooking!” Davey declares. Poor Bulldog just can’t cut a promo. Before we can get anywhere, Harlem Heat, Sid and Col. Parker interrupt things. Sid screams about the faces mystery partner. Bulldog screams back. This is terrible. Then…oh God…then THE SHOCKMASTER explodes through a wall and falls flat on his face, with his glittery Stormtrooper mask falling off to reveal TUGBOAT. Then he stands up and we get awkward silence as apparently Ole Anderson misses his queue to start doing the voice over off stage. The Shockmaster has the same voice as The Black Scorpion, which should concern his partner Sting. He sends some veiled threats toward Sid and then laughs maniacally. Then the lights go out and the camera pulls back to show the babyfaces have walked away.
Dear god, I’ve never seen that segment in full.That mess has to be up there on the all time worst promos ever. WATCH THIS NOW. Then cry when you realize what you’re doing with your life. Ventura openly laughs at the Shockmaster falling on his face. Then Schiavone gets a snide comment in as well.
TV Champ Paul Orndorff vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat
Steamboat has his awesome music back after several months of using his “Slam Jam” album music. Paul comes down to good heat with “Paula” chants taunting him. Michael Buffer is doing the introductions. Jesse and Tony continue to poke fun at The Shockmaster as things get on the way. Steamboat controls Orndorff with headlocks, as everybody knows if you take the head, the body comes with it. Orndorff fights his way out but Steamboat muscles back into control. A missed dive sends The Dragon splatting onto the ramp. Orndorff jumps on this miscue and grounds Steamboat. Orndorff is grinding The Dragon on the mat and trying repeated cradles for quick pins.
Steamboat sends Mr. Wonderful into the turnbuckle and quickly nails a flying chop and other martial arts thrusts. Orndorff is sent to the floor off the force of the chops and Steamboat connects on a tope con hilo to the floor. Orndorff sells this awkwardly as he didn’t want to crash back first into the railing, so he waited till Steamboat hit the cement, then jumped over him, opposite the direction that the momentum should have taken him, and laid down on the cement. Orndorff regains control and tries to use the ropes to steal a pin, the ref catches him but Orndorff celebrates a win anyway, leading to Steamboat getting a roll up I bought as the finish. Orndorff tries a piledriver that Steamboat reverses into a pin that I also bit on as the finish. Several more quick pinfalls are rebuffed by Orndorff before Steamboat hits a flying crossbody for the…NO! Orndorff reverses the momentum and gets a near fall. Orndorff tries a follow up slam and is rolled up for the win. Excellent contest here for the most part as Orndorff continues to have a great 1993 and Steamboat is awesome as always. Orndorff piledrives Steamboat on the ramp afterward to show what a dick he is. He then spits on the broken body of Steamboat.
Sting and Ric Flair vs. The Colossal Kongs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs6JgDEElGo
I have no idea how these two giant fat guys got pushed so hard in WCW. I expect Vince McMahon to give slugs pushes, but that doesn’t really fit WCW’s M.O. Meanwhile The Rock and Roll Express, Tracy Smothers and other good workers are toiling away in SMW. The Kongs have been gaining weight throughout the night, as they were billed at over 800 pounds earlier, then over 900, now Buffer declares them over 1000 pounds. They hail from “an unexplored region of South Africa”. Ok, I like that.The fatties are slammed by Sting right away to negate their one strength, their massive obesity. A four-way brawl breaks out and the faces dominate. Sting hits a Stinger Splash and a big splash for the quick win. All is now forgiven after that squash. Sting and Flair have a mutual admiration society meeting afterward.
Dustin Rhodes and a Mystery Partner vs. Rick Rude and The Equalizer
Road Warrior Animal (in shoulder pads) drives a car to ringside that is to be given away later to a fan. Rude gets on the mic and reveals he knew Animal would be the mystery partner, but Animal exposes that Rhodes’ partner is actually Hawk, who helps Rhodes clear the ring. Rude avoids trying a test of strength with Hawk as we stall. Rude gets out muscled and slugged in his mug. The Equalizer comes in but Hawk controls him. They blow a neckbreaker as Equalizer takes the bump before Hawk can even turn him over. Rude and Rhodes tag in and Rude locks him in a chinlock. Rhodes slips out and puts Rude on his shoulders for the Doomsday Device. That probably should have been the finish. Rude takes control again and he and the Equalizer take turns working on The Natural. The heels have a miscommunication and Hawk tags in and dominates both heels. Hawk suplexes Rude even though he can’t even be bothered to drop down with him. The Equalizer tries a slam on Rhodes but Hawk knocks them over and Rhodes gets the win. A total mess of a match as Hawk was terrible, Dave Sullivan isn’t any good and Rude hasn’t been very good since returning from his injuries earlier this year. I’d guess I would have been marking out for the Road Warriors return at the time though.
World champion Big Van Vader vs. Davey Boy Smith
They start things off on the ramp as they trade fists. This doesn’t go too well for Smith. Vader tries a suplex but Bulldog reverses that and Vader is planted on the ramp. Vader recovers fast and just pummels Smith with punches in bunches. Bulldog ends up on the floor, where Vader misses a charge and crashes into the railing. Smith then picks him up and drops him ribs first on the railing. The Bulldog scoops Vader up on his shoulders and drops him with a Samoan drop. Vader retaliates by dropping elbows down on Smith’s knee and smashing him with more forceful forearm clubs. Vader delivers a top rope splash and somehow Smith kicks out. Nick Patrick audibly tells Smith to “stay there” as Vader falls back to prepare for a big splash.
Smith tries for a fluke crucifix pin, much like what allowed him to pin Vader at the last PPV. Vader pummels Smith with more fists in the corner as his penance for trying to take Vader’s gold. Vader tries another top rope move, but Smith dropkicks him and Vader gingerly falls on his groin in the corner. Vader keeps mowing through the pain and sets The Bulldog up for a Vader bomb. Vader tries another flying move but Smith catches him with a powerslam. Patrick is bumped from this as well. Davey Boy tries a suplex but Race sneaks in the ring and weakly clips his knee, causing Vader to crash down on top of the Bulldog and secure the win. Vader continues the attack after the match, until Cactus Jack makes his return after a four-month absence and goes after the man who tried to cripple him. This was a real solid match, as Smith was carried well enough by Vader before the screwy finish.
Final thoughts: A real mixed bag here, as we got an all-time bad segment and some super quick grudge matches being held up by two very good 1 on 1 title matches. The final angle with Jack attacking Vader sets up a big time PPV match that will have to wait almost three months to reach it’s fruition. Up next is FALL BRAWL.
