Andrew Lutzke
Brian Pillman proved to be a trendsetter, as he became the first Furry as he donned a rat costume, gorilla suit and a chicken suit in order to attack Barry Windham on TV several times.
Ricky Morton was seen talking to Alexandra York. This concerned his alliances on the side of good.
They ran a memorable (for me at least) 8-man tag team match on TV featuring El Gigante, Tommy Rich, Brian Pillman, & Sting vs. NWA World Champion Ric Flair, Barry Windham, the One Man Gang & Nikita Koloff. The ring announcements went back and forth for each team, which meant as Nikita was making his way down the aisle Sting’s music came on next and Koloff was able to attack Sting with his chain as Sting made his way out. PN Newz ended up replacing Sting on the side of good. The match only went five and a half minutes before Sting charged the ring and attacked the Russian.
A TV taping had to be cancelled in JCP hotbed North Carolina because only SEVENTY tickets were sold!
WCW wanted to have a bodybuilding posedown as part of the Clash, with Lex Luger and two legit body builders involved. Thankfully they thought better of it.
Dusty Rhodes booked himself to host a weekly interview segment “The Bulldrop Inn”. The first episode saw Dusty rapping with newcomer PN Newz. A few weeks later “Wonder Years” star Jason Hervey brought a voodoo doll on the set and made One Man Gang double over in pain from sticking pins in it. After several weeks, it was decided by WCW brass to push back Dusty’s TV time significantly and the segment was cancelled.
Bruno Sammartino (who was 55 at this point) told WCW he would come back for one match in New York
Steve Austin debuted, as did Billy Jack Haynes as French Hangmen “Black Blood”. Plus Dutch Mantel, Black Bart and Moondog Rex formed the Desperadoes and entered into Wrestlecrap infamy instantly.
Clash of the Champions 15: KNOCKSVILLE USA
Tom Zenk, Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers vs. Michael Hayes, Jimmy Garvin and Badstreet
Zenk dominates both Birds and lets the Pistols hit flying attacks for clean up duty. The Pistols dominate the Birds when things settle down a bit and then they fling Zenk into them to send the heels fleeing.
Smothers ends up trapped on the floor with Badstreet and Garvin and they fling him unto the railing throat first. All 6 men go at it in the ring and this time the heels clear the ring. The faces sneak back in and get a triple sunset flip for the quick win. Fun match.
Robin Leach tells the fans about a competition where they can win a Rolex, and a day of living the highlife like “Nature Boy” Ric Flair.
OZ emerges from Castle Greyskull with Kevin Sullivan dressed as a troll in tow.
Johnny Rich vs. OZ
Nash steamrolls Rich then takes him down with a number of clotheslines, shoulder blocks and a flying tackle. A helicopter slam wins it in short order. Just a squash.
Big Josh vs. “Dangerous” Dan Spivey
Spivey suddenly looks to have a fading hairline. Dan and Josh trade hard shots back and forth until Spivey uses his freak athleticism to take command. Josh takes abuse until he manages to reverse a suplex. A swank back suplex follows. Soon after Josh starts to get some momentum Kevin Sullivan stomps down and whacks him with a crutch. Josh no sells the blow but stares Kevin down too long allowing Spivey to deliver a bridging suplex for the pin. Another solid but quick match.
Paul E. Dangerously invites Jason Hervey down. He looks like he’s 12. Heyman puts over the fact that Hervey is famous, rich, has a new car and is fucking Missy Hyatt. Heyman asks why you have so many nice new things but a used up girlfriend. Awesome. Hervey has had enough and gets ready to storm off so Heyman CRACKS him with his cell phone. Missy runs down to tend to her midget. Fantastically fun angle.
Dustin Rhodes vs. Terrance Taylor
Taylor looks in great shape. Dustin gets shoved around by Taylor but quickly turns the tables and sends Taylor to the floor to hide. Dustin unloads with fists back in the ring, but charges wildly and flies to the floor. Taylor delivers a crisp suplex and a Tiger Bomb. Rhodes shows off his Daddy’s grit and comes back with punches in bunches and a bionic elbow.
Taylor is nailed with a bulldog but Mr. Hughes distracts the ref so Dustin attacks him. Ricky Morton comes down to help but then turns on Dustin. All the heels gang up on Rhodes until Big Josh and his ax handle clears the ring. Match was fast paced, advanced a storyline and was well worked.
Sting vs. Nikita Koloff
Sting charges the ring but the Russian monster cuts his rage off with sheer brute force. Sting is launched to the floor and battered into the railing. Sting attempts a piledriver in desperation -Koloff no sells it! Nikita keeps mauling Sting and the former World champ can’t muster anything offensively.
Koloff delivers a Tombstone piledriver. A little old lady in the front row is going crazy. Sting’s ribs are extensively worked on with kicks and punches and elbows. Sting manages to chuck Nikita into the railing but Nikita doesn’t sell it too long. Nikita attempts Tombstone number two but Sting reverses the move and attempts a rally. Nikita goes for a Russian sickle but misses the maneuver and Sting gets the fluke pin. I was legit surprised by the ending. Interesting match – not a classic but worth the viewing to see Sting being squashed by the Commie Terminator.
PN NEWZ raps with SALT N’ PEPPA. WHAT!??!?!?! A horrid rap is interrupted by Johnny B. Badd and Teddy Long. Badd pronounces himself as pretty and declares Newz is ugly. Newz shoves him and Badd scatters to safety. Ok then.
Loser leaves WCW: Brian Pillman and El Gigante vs. Arn Anderson and Barry Windham
Flyin’ Brian wins a round with Arn, so Windham comes in and tries to use the knowledge he has garnered from their recent series of matches to take control. Arn gets confidence seeing Windham have some luck and tags back in, only to be caught on the top rope and knocked to the floor. Pillman follows that with a plancha. Pillman then uses the giant as a springboard as he launches an attack on Windham.
Pillman is caught from behind while attempting another highflying attack and Windham gets a relatively clean pin. Gigante never tagged in and the match was shockingly brief. It’s the end of the career for one of WCW’s biggest stars and we rush onto the next segment as this show is way over booked.
IWGP Tag Team champions The Steiner Bros. vs. Hiroshi Hase and Masahiro Chono
Hase and Scott start with grappling since Steiner was a college stud and Hase was an Olympian. Hase’s enziguri sends Scott to the floor. Hase bridges out of a pin attempt and smacks Steiner with a beautiful side kick.
Chono and Rick give it a go. Chono kicks him so hard that his headgear breaks!! Rick downs Chono with a big Steinerline. The Brothers team up for a top rope elbow/slam combo but Chono recovers fast.
Hase and Chono take over and a flying shoulder block by Chono dazes the Dog Face Gremlin. Chono entraps Rick in an STF and it’s on forever as Hase and Scott go at it on the floor. Scott blows the save at first by missing his top rope leap but makes up for it with a stiff clothesline on Hase and then four suplex varieties to test the mettle of the jet lagged Japanese star. A four-way skirosh breaks out and Scotty nails a Frankensteiner for the win!!! Good match.
THE HARDLINERS run in and attack all four men!!! Dick Slater and Dick Murdoch destroy the World tag team champions and we cut to commercial in midst of the beatdown.
Tommy Rich vs. The Diamond Studd
Rich gets a jobber entrance. Hall uses his muscle to control Wildfire. Rich gets the briefest of an offensive flurry but a Razor’s Edge ends this stunningly fast. Just a squash.
Sting meets the winner of the Sting look-a-like contest.(The boy was played by Kevin Sullivan’s son) The kid has an orgasm when Sting hugs him. Nikita Koloff sneaks over with a chain and batters Sting. Then Koloff stalks the kid and the kid’s mom jumps the rail to save her son. A slew of security saves the day. I really liked this angle. I was rooting for Nikita to sickle the kid.
Number one contender match: US Champion Lex Luger vs. The Great Muta
Muta tries karate shots but Lex is too strong for Muta’s blows. Luger press slams Muta Muta gains a moment of control but misses his handspring elbow and flies over the the top rope. Muta tries to blow the green mist but Luger blocks it and powerslams Muta for yet another really quick match. Too short to be of any real value.
Joey Maggs vs. Steve Austin
Austin hits the stun gun for the win within seconds. His valet Lady Blossom has giant breasts and for that I give this match 5 stars.
Alexandra York introduces Richard Morton as the newest member of the York Foundation. Ricky says he turned he because he was sick of signing autographs. Robert Gibson comes down and confronts Morton. Ricky slugs and piledrives him. Dustin Rhodes makes the save. Good segment but very rushed.
Best of 3 Falls: World Champion Ric Flair vs. “Beautiful” Bobby Eaton
This match was suppose to be given 30 minutes and make Eaton a legit singles star – but they overbooked the Clash so badly that this was cut down to almost half of that.
Eaton cleans up on Flair early on. A series of sweet punches forces a Flair flop. Eaton works an arm scissors to maintain control. Bobby continues to work Ric’s arm and when Flair attempts a reversal of fortune, Eaton cuts him off with another big punch. Flair runs to the floor and suckers Eaton in for a cheap shot. Bobby’s head is then sent into the turnbuckle’s steel connector.
Flair tries to use the ropes to steal a pin but the ref is hip to his game. Flair runs through his body slam off the top and flip over the turnbuckle spots. Eaton delivers a neckbreaker and back breaker and that sets up an “Alabama Jam” for a clean pin in round one.
Eaton goes balls out with the lefts and rights to open up round 2. Flair endures another neckbreaker and Bobby goes to the top rope for another high-risk finish. Flair manages to wobble the ropes and send Eaton crashing to the floor – tweaking his knee and ending up counted out.
Round 3 starts with Flair forcing the maimed Eaton into the ring. Flair attempts a top rope move and ends up superplexed off. Flair starts to work over Eaton’s leg and locks on the figure-four. Flair uses the ropes for extra leverage and Eaton passes out from the pain for the deciding fall.
Final thoughts:
I really enjoyed this show, minus the absurd pacing. They crammed a lot into the show but by doing that, they made sure nothing would be able to have the impact it was granted to. The two hours certainly flew by though!
