Sage Cortez
It’s time for Clash 15, which featured one of the weakest builds to any special or pay-per-view that I can remember. Survivor Series 1989 was pretty bad too, but at least that was a specialty show with a certain kind of matches. This on the other hand was not. I’ve also been watching WCW heavily of late, perhaps too much so. It’s because they simply had more content than the WWF to look at in later years. They needed to put on a great show here, and I must not forget that this was Flair’s last appearance on a big WCW event for nearly two years.
– June 12th, 1991, from Civic Auditorium in Knoxville, Tennessee
Missy Hyatt opens the show, and Paul E. Dangerously runs out to interrupt her. She gets mad, gives him the microphone, and it looks like Jim Ross will be on commentary with Tony Schiavone. No Dusty.
The Fabulous Freebirds (WCW US Tag Team Champions) & Badstreet (w/Diamond Dallas Page and Big Daddy Dink) vs. The Young Pistols & Tom Zenk
Pre-Match Thoughts: Fantasia’s name was changed to Badstreet, likely over copyright issues. This is a good way to start the show, but it’s weird to see Zenk in a six man tag with an established team. Let’s count how many people are part of the Freebirds act today. I count six, taking the Diamond Doll into account. Far too many people in this small ring, I should point out.
Match Review: Garvin and Zenk start this match by locking up, and Zenk takes Garvin down with a hip toss. He does the same to Hayes, and his partners clear the ring with cross bodies. When the match normalizes, Michael Hayes and Tracy Smothers tag in. Hayes drives Smothers back to the corner, but Smothers dodges a charge, kicks Hayes in the face, and Garvin tries to get involved too. He heads up top, Armstrong slams him down, and the ring is cleared again. Why is Badstreet not getting involved? He finally does, tagging in to face Smothers, and they do a really complicated spot where Hayes knocks Smothers down with a left hand. Badstreet then clotheslines Smothers over the top, so his team has control for the first time. Armstrong and Zenk then turn their backs to talk to Big Daddy Dink, and Badstreet hits them with a double clothesline to knock them off the ring apron. Garvin and Badstreet then hotshot Smothers onto the rail, and when Smothers makes the apron, Garvin kicks him into the rail. Smothers gets thrown into the ring and triple-teamed, and now all six are in there. The heels throw the babyfaces out, but those guys get right back in there. The Birds throw them out again and turn their backs, but this time, the babyfaces come in with stereo sunset flips, and they get the victory at 4:43.
My Thoughts: This match was as rushed as all get out. DDP not talking took away from it, and I didn’t like the finish at all. It was too fake looking. Things just didn’t click for whatever reason with these six. *1/4, it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good and not really worth talking about.
Oz (w/the Great Wizard) vs. Johnny Rich
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is a really legitimate competitive contest, don’t you think? At least they gave Oz a similar entrance to his one at SuperBrawl. I can’t think of a worse gimmick than this. The look on Nash’s face helps make the thing a little better, however slightly that is.
Match Review: Oz charges Rich in the corner with some knees, and hip tosses him all the way across the ring. Oz then hits him with a shoulderblock, and turns him inside out with a clothesline. Oz picks Rich up instead of covering him, and boots him in the face. After a sidewalk slam, Oz gives rich the HELICOPTER TOSS, and that’s good for the pinfall at 1:29.
My Thoughts: This was ridiculous. The funny part is, the crowd started popping for Oz. So, on every level this has failed. He was supposed to be a monster heel. DUD.
Oh boy, this list of coming attractions. PN NEWS RAPPING TIME! Wait, that was the only coming attraction. I guess they’re pushing PN News really hard.
Dan Spivey vs. Big Josh
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is slightly intriguing. I don’t know which guy is going to do the job here. This is the reason I’m interested in the match. I know Spivey got mad about jobbing at a later date, but this isn’t quite that date. Josh looks nowhere near as excited as usual. Does this mean he was to do the honors?
Match Review: These two are too strong to push each other, so they trade punches with Spivey getting the better of it. He clotheslines Josh in the corner, but Josh takes him down and punches him. Spivey comes back with an arm drag, and boots Josh in the face as well. Spivey goes for a suplex, but Josh reverses to his own. Spivey misses a charge to the corner, and Josh gives him a sick German suplex. Now Kevin Sullivan is coming to ringside, and has a crutch! He hits Josh with that crutch, Spivey then uses a GERMAN SUPLEX of his own, and it gets the win at 2:49!
My Thoughts: So, it WAS a case of jobbing face. To explain, Kevin Sullivan was creating a stable of creepy guys. I’d call them jabronis. Anyway, he managed one called BLACK BLOOD, who was going to feud with Big Josh. There you go. Dusty’s ideas of the business seemed so antiquated with the gimmicks he was coming up with. 1/2* for the two German suplexes. Josh no-selling the crutch shot was stupid.
Ooooh, it’s time for the WCW TOP TEN.
10. Steve Austin
9. One Man Gang
8. Barry Windham
7. Arn Anderson
6. Sting
5. Nikita Koloff
4. Bobby Eaton
3. El Gigante
2. Great Muta
1. Lex Luger
See the subtle burial of Windham and Anderson? They rated Muta ahead of him and he hadn’t wrestled for WCW in months.
It’s also time for an edition of the DANGER ZONE, and this time Paul E. will be interviewing…Jason Hervey. Just kill me now. This is as bad as the show could possibly have started. Paul starts talking shit about The Wonder Years, and it turns into trashing Missy Hyatt. For some reason, Missy was dating this loser. Paul called Missy used merchandise, and walked out of the interview. So, Paul cracked his cell phone over the dork’s head, and Missy Hyatt runs down to the ring. Her, uh, stuff was swinging everywhere during that run. A shitty segment that turned good by the end.
Terrence Taylor (w/Alexandra York & Mr. Hughes) vs. Dustin Rhodes
Pre-Match Thoughts: This again, huh? Seemed like they were going to do Mr. Hughes vs. Dustin Rhodes on this show based on what they had done previous to it. I’m losing interest in the York Foundation because they hadn’t really done anything with the concepts. Why is Taylor not going after titles? I don’t think this is good booking at all.
Match Review: These two lock up to start it, and Taylor taunts Dustin until Dustin slaps him around. Dustin clotheslines Taylor for 2, and Taylor leaves the ring. Taylor gets back in there after checking the computer, and Dustin gives him an inverted atomic drop and a regular one. Dustin then misses a charge to the corner and flies to the outside, nice bump. Taylor sends him into the rail, and suplexes Dustin back into the ring. Taylor then drops a knee, and that gets 2. He uses a jawbreaker, and there’s a gutwrench powerbomb for 2! Dustin is over with this crowd, they’re popping every time he kicks out of a cover. Dustin sunset flips Taylor for 2, and a backslide also gets 2. Dustin blocks a charge to the corner, and starts beating Taylor up. An elbow drop by Dustin gets 2, and an inverted atomic drop leads to the BULLDOG. Dustin covers, but Mr. Hughes is on the apron. Dustin tries to knock him down, but RICKY MORTON IS IN THE RING. He says he’s there to help as the bell rings at 4:26, and Hughes hits Dustin from behind. Now Morton KICKS HIM. HEEL TURN. About damn time we get something different from WCW. Big Josh runs down to the ring to save Dustin for some reason, and he clears the ring with his axehandle. Haha.
My Thoughts: I loved seeing Morton turn heel, it spiced up the show. For some reason, the crowd was surprised by it. They had telegraphed the turn to ridiculous degrees, so I don’t understand how. *1/2 for the match which was far too short, but the turn was good. I also have absolutely no idea why Big Josh ran down there. They also didn’t capitalize with a Dustin/Morton match and moved on to Morton/Gibson quickly. No other PPV until October played a part in that.
Oh great, the coming attractions thing is a recurring bit. We really need to see these Johnny B. Badd clips, don’t we?
Nikita Koloff vs. Sting
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is both the biggest match on the show and the one advertised that most sounds like either guy could win. At least that’s what I think. Koloff looked really bad in his SuperBrawl match, so it’s bothersome to think that the same thing could happen here. He was never great, but he always tried hard. Hopefully he tries here. Nice to see the announcers explain why these two are wrestling, and they had a video as well. The little touches matter.
Match Review: Sting runs down to the ring, so here we go. Nikita hits him with clubbing blows, and lands a back elbow as well. Nikita slams Sting, and follows that with a flying shoulderblock. Nikita throws Sting to the outside, follows him, and throws him into the rail. Back on the inside, Nikita starts screaming at the cameras. Sting comes back with a piledriver, but Nikita doesn’t sell it at all and goes back to pounding Sting. He chokes Sting with his foot, and gives Sting a TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER that gets 2. Nikita thought that was the end and didn’t seem to happy about that not being the case. Sting tries to come back with a sunset flip, but Nikita hits him to block it. Nikita taunts Sting as a result of his success, and Sting does take him down for the 2 count. Nikita gives Sting a backbreaker and that’s also good for a 2 count. The match really slows down here as Nikita beats Sting up, and Sting tries to fight back on him only to be knocked down again. Nikita throws Sting to the outside again, and this time Sting throws him into the rail! Nikita goes for another TOMBSTONE PILEDRIVER, but Sting reverses it to his own. This time Nikita sells it, and Sting follows that by taking Nikita to the corner for the STINGER SPLASH, only for Sting to miss it. Nikita has the SICKLE ready, but he misses and Sting rolls him up for the victory at 9:33!
My Thoughts: For some reason this match wasn’t positively received at the time, but I thought this was pretty good. I was surprised that Nikita jobbed clean, especially knowing that they had a rematch at the Great American Bash. Wouldn’t it make more sense for Nikita to win dirty or for there to be no finish at all? I don’t know the result of that future match, by the way. Don’t want to know. **1/2, they both worked very hard. They also made Sting’s win look fluky. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. It’s also weird to hear the announcers call the tombstone piledriver by that name. It only became more popular to call it that when the Undertaker started doing it.
Our next segment is going to feature PN News with Salt-N-Pepa! No way, man. I can’t believe they got a relevant group to participate in this, even though their greater fame was yet to come. Hell yes, it’s time for PN News to do the rap. This is fucking awesome. YO BABY YO BABY YO! Double facepalm. OH SHIT, IT’S JOHNNY B. BADD. THIS IS GREATNESS. Teddy Long doesn’t like this rapping, and absolutely blows his line. He said to Salt-N-Pepa that “one of them won’t be next, but one of you can be the first.” Was he a virgin or something? Johnny then did his usual bit and said he was the prettiest man in WCW. HE CALLED PN NEWS A BIG UGLY BEAR. Sadly, that was the end of it, as News pushed him. How can anyone hate Johnny B. Badd? I don’t get it. It’s like because he played a gay guy, everyone’s homophobia comes out in their perception of him.
Now in the coming attractions, we have a hype package for the DIAMOND STUDD. I think anyone with a brain can see the star quality here, it’s hard to believe this man was Scott Hall, gator wrangler.
Barry Windham & Arn Anderson vs. El Gigante & Brian Pillman in a LOSER LEAVES WCW MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: Specifically, it’s the loser of the fall that has to leave WCW. Obviously, El Gigante isn’t going to lose. Windham? Perhaps, it would make sense after he beat Pillman at SuperBrawl. Arn would also be great in a gimmick where he was trying to come back into the company. Obviously, I know what happens here as this is too important to not know. I’m just presenting alternative theories. Gigante makes Pillman look so small.
Match Review: Pillman and Anderson start, and they do so with Pillman taking Arn to a backslide that gets 2. Arn tries a bodyslam and Pillman falls on top for 2, then tags out. Windham and Pillman smack each other around, then Pillman uses a spinning wheel kick for 2. Windham takes Pillman down with a headlock, and clocks him with a right hand. Windham then DDT’s Pillman for 2, and Arn tags back in. Arn blocks a charge to the corner, and heads up top, only for Pillman to dropkick him to the floor. Pillman follows with a springboard plancha, and sends Arn back in. Arn then hits El Gigante, and Gigante starts choking him. Haha. Gigante gets in the ring as Pillman powerslams Windham, and they go for a massive cross body that gets 2. Sick move with Pillman getting on Gigante’s shoulders. Gigante now chases Windham around the ring, as Pillman powerslams Arn. Now the referee isn’t paying attention, and Windham trips Pillman as he dives off the top. Windham then boots Pillman in the face as Gigante and Arn brawl on the outside, and Windham goes for the pin…which gets the win at 3:08. BRIAN PILLMAN MUST LEAVE WCW.
My Thoughts: Well, they just buried Pillman, didn’t they? I don’t even understand why. The match was also far too short, it felt like it didn’t even matter that Pillman got kicked out of the company. This is really a terrible show with how poorly things are going. None of the time on it is being given to wrestling, and knowing that Pillman was going to get a stupid “YELLOW DOG” gimmick just totally takes me out of the mood. *. El Gigante didn’t even try to tag in, so psychologically, this thing made no sense at all. If someone didn’t want to lose their career, wouldn’t they have the guy who never loses in the match? The commentary was also ludicrous…Jim Ross said that Pillman must leave WCW and he immediately jumped to a Great American Bash report with Paul E. Dangerously. What a company.
Hiroshi Hase & Masa Chono vs. The Steiner Brothers (WCW Tag Team Champions) for the IWGP Tag Team Championships
Pre-Match Thoughts: This sure is different. I think they could be able to put together something great to get over the Japanese style on American TV. Maybe they’ll just trade suplexes for 10 minutes. There would be nothing wrong with that! Someone threw trash at Chono. What did he do wrong?
Match Review: Hase and Scott start this off, and go right into the ropes for a clean break. Scott eventually kicks Hase in the face, and Hase returns the favor with an enzuigiri. Scott comes back with a hotshot, and that gets 2. Hase kicks Scott in the face again, getting an audible reaction from the crowd, but Scott takes him down with a belly to belly throw. Rick tags in, and so does Chono. Chono kicks him in the head, and that breaks Rick’s head gear. Never seen that before, these guys are wrestling at next level stiffness. Chono kicks Rick a few more times, and Rick comes back with a STEINERLINE. Scott tags back in and picks Hase up, for a Rick Steiner elbow from the top as Scott had Chono on his shoulders. That was sick. Hase switches in there, and Rick gives him a German suplex. Ouch. Hase comes back with a belly to belly of his own, and brings in Chono, who heads up top. Chono comes down with a flying shoulderblock, and follows that with a Samoan drop. Hase flies in with a top rope knee drop, and Chono goes to the STF! These guys are wrestling awesomely. Hase and Scott start brawling on the floor, and Scott drops Hase with a snap suplex! Now Scott leaps off the top with a double axehandle to break the STF, then Rick and Chono clothesline each other. Both guys tag out, and Scott comes in with a massive STEINERLINE. Scott follows that with a tilt-a-whirl slam, then the TIGER BOMB. Scott places Hase on the top rope, and there’s the BELLY TO BELLY SUPERPLEX for 2. Scott goes for a suplex, but Hase reverses and breaks out a BRIDGING DRAGON SUPLEX for 2. All four are in and Chono kicks Rick to the outside, and he and Hase hit Scott with a double clothesline. Now Rick trips Chono from the outside, Scott gives Hase the FRANKENSTEINER, and that’s good for a victory at 8:14!
Now these two guys wearing jumpsuits run down to the ring, and it looks like DICK MURDOCH AND DICK SLATER. They throw the Japanese guys out, and go to work on the Steiners. Slater gives Scott a swinging neckbreaker, throws him to the outside, and Murdoch takes Slater’s boot off so they can try to break Rick Steiner’s arm with it.
My Thoughts: That was a sick match with a nice post-match. They needed a heel team to feud with the Steiners, and couldn’t have picked a better one at this point. Whether or not the Steiners could work with them was a different story. I know Slater and Murdoch didn’t exactly stick around long. I also know that Scott Steiner tore his bicep a day later and went on the shelf for quite some time. So, while this looked great, it didn’t turn out to be great in the end. This is one of the best sub-9 minute matches that I’ve seen, honestly. ***1/2. The guys went out there to suplex each other into oblivion, and any decent worker was a perfect fit in the Steiners formula of putting on a match like that.
The Diamond Studd (w/Diamond Dallas Page) vs. Tommy Rich
Pre-Match Thoughts: This sounds like a great match that we needed to have here. Obviously, you need to introduce your new guys, but they have so many new guys that this stuff is difficult. DDP’s Diamond Doll here is not bad at all. Looks like a ringrat that got passed around. Hall has so many of the Razor Ramon traits already.
Match Review: THE STUDD attacks to start this thing, and works Rich over for a bit. Rich tries a hip toss to stop it, but takes a CHOKESLAM. The Studd follows that with turnbuckle shots, and a sidewalk slam. Now he heads up to the second rope, and down he comes with a pump splash that Rich blocks. Rich has turnbuckle shots of his own, but misses a cross body from the second rope. RAZOR’S EDGE, and that’s it at 1:59. They called this the DIAMOND DEATH DROP.
My Thoughts: Major credit to Scott Hall for completely changing his look. Could you even tell? This is someone WCW should have pushed far harder, it was a big mistake to waste him in the manner they did. They even had DDP and Hall paired up and couldn’t make it work. 1/2*. Far too short.
Now Jim Ross is with a kid who is a Sting lookalike, or so they say. This lazy ass kid didn’t even dye his hair. Fuck outta here. Now Jim Ross brings out Sting so this kid can meet him. Sting talks about the kid’s facepaint, and how cool he is and whatnot, then he picks him up. This is really weird. OH SHIT, NIKITA KOLOFF IS THERE. HE HITS STING WITH THE CHAIN, rams him into the rail, and starts smudging his paint. Now Koloff starts looking at the kid, and his mom jumps the rail to make sure Nikita can’t attack him. THEY MADE THIS FEEL REAL, BROTHER. Great angle.
The Great Muta vs. Lex Luger (WCW United States Champion) in a #1 CONTENDER’S MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is exactly the kind of match this show needs. I think Muta will be just as over as he was during his run in this country. I’d be shocked if not. Luger was nearing full blown bodybuilder mode at this time, sadly. The winner gets a title shot at Flair at the Great American Bash. Or rather they were supposed to. Funny how that works. They showed Bill Kazmaier in the crowd before this match. I WONDER WHY?
Match Review: Muta unleashes the mist early, and Luger has so much oil on him that it seems like it would be disgusting to touch the guy. After 30 seconds of stalling, they finally lock up and wind up in the corner, needing to break. Luger headlocks Muta, Muta gets out, back to square one. Muta has a chop no-sold, and Luger gives him a back suplex for 2. Luger bodyslams Muta, and misses an elbow drop. Muta backdrops Luger, and Luger comes back with a press slam. Luger misses a charge to the corner and gets kicked in the face, then Muta misses the handspring elbow and flies all the way over the top. That was a crazy bump. Luger tries to suplex Muta into the ring, but Muta reverses and MISTS HIM. Luger blocks the mist attempt, powerslams Muta, and is the #1 CONTENDER after 3:44 of inaction.
My Thoughts: Just fuck off. They teased a match like this and didn’t even do four minutes? I’ve never seen a show with so many good personalities turn out to be so frustrating. It’s absolutely ridiculous. These guys seemed to see the time of the bout and turned in a complete non-effort. Muta’s bump gets 1/4* out of this. Muta left WCW again when this was over, so this was a total joke.
Steve Austin (w/Lady Blossom) vs. Joey Maggs
Pre-Match Thoughts: Before this match, they showed a video of Austin with this very nice looking Lady Blossom, who also turned out to be his wife. Austin getting showcased is one of the problems with this show, yet not a problem at the same time. Jobber entrances for both guys, that’s a bad look.
Match Review: Austin locks up with Maggs, gives him the STUN GUN, and that’s it after 25 seconds. HAHA.
My Thoughts: No thoughts to be had other than that Lady Blossom had two assets the fans would immediately notice. DUD.
More coming attractions, with a character named BLACK BLOOD being featured here. That’s Billy Jack Haynes, who had lost most of his muscularity.
The York Foundation is here to induct a new member. That man is…RICHARD MORTON. Wait, didn’t we already know about that? I guess the point is to show him in a suit. Okay, this is definitely worth the time. What a visual. ROBERT GIBSON IS HERE. He asks Morton what he’s doing, and says he’s ready to wrestle again. Morton says that he’s getting big money for this. He also stops Taylor and Hughes from hitting Gibson, and MORTON DOES IT INSTEAD. He piledrives Gibson, and Dustin Rhodes comes out to chase Morton away. Everything is being done so quickly, and there’s way too much of this stuff to begin with. It’s impossible to process.
Bobby Eaton vs. Ric Flair in a 2 OUT OF 3 FALLS MATCH for the WCW Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: I hope this is long enough to save the show in some way, but the way this has gone there’s certain to be a stupid angle. If not, I’ll remain positive. As a wrestling contest, it’s not like you could book many better matches for this show. Maybe Pillman vs. Flair. That’s really it. Eaton also deserved the chance to have a big singles match even though he probably wasn’t the best person for the part. They’re rushing through the entrances so fast that Flair is on the aisle before Eaton’s off of it.
Fall #1: Flair and Eaton lock up, with nothing coming off it. Eaton then slaps Flair, and Flair returns the favor with a chop. They brawl for a bit, and Eaton takes Flair down with a shoulder. He drops some elbows on Flair, and clotheslines him over the top to follow. Flair gets back in and clocks Eaton, getting control quickly. There’s a grandma in the front row that really doesn’t like Flair. Eaton knocks Flair down to her liking, and follows that with a high backdrop for 2. Eaton hip tosses Flair, and puts a short-arm scissors on Flair until Flair makes the ropes. Eaton continues to beat up the arm, using a hammerlock now. Flair drop toe-holds his way out of it, chops away, and gets slugged to the canvas. Granny is very pleased. Eaton chases Flair around the ring, and Flair’s trap works, as he gets in the ring first and kicks Eaton. Flair brings Eaton in and chops him, then throws him hard into the corner and post. Nice bump. Flair drops a knee on Eaton, and that gets 2. Flair uses a double-underhook suplex and gets 2 again, this time cheating with his feet on the ropes. Haha. Eaton fights back with punches, and Flair kicks Eaton low before heading up top. Eaton slams Flair down, and upside down into the corner. Eaton knocks Flair off the apron with a punch, brings Flair back into the ring, and follows with a backbreaker. Now Eaton hits flair with a neckbreaker, and bodyslams him. Eaton heads up top, and comes down with ALABAMA JAM for the 3 count at 9:45! CLEAN AS IT GETS.
Fall #2: Flair barely makes it to his knees, and the rest period is over as Flair begs for mercy. Eaton smacks him around, hip tosses him out of the corner, and Flair has to go down low. Eaton knocks Flair down, and takes Flair down with a backslide that gets 2. Eaton blocks a bodyslam for another 2 count, and gives Flair another neckbreaker. Eaton heads up top, and Flair shakes the ropes, causing Eaton to fall to the outside. Eaton sells a knee injury, and the referee counts him out at 11:42.
Fall #3: Now the announcers are building tension as to whether or not Eaton can get back in the ring in time, but there’s absolutely no tension in the arena. Flair throws him back in himself, which makes little sense, and Eaton decides to put Flair on the top rope. Eaton goes up for a SUPERPLEX, and that was well executed. After a cover that gets 2, Flair comes back with a back suplex. Now Flair puts Eaton in the FIGURE-FOUR, and gets caught grabbing the ropes. Into the center of the ring, and Eaton cradles Flair up for 2. Flair clips Eaton to take him down again, puts the FIGURE-FOUR on AGAIN, holds the ropes AGAIN, and this time Eaton goes down for the count at 14:26.
My Thoughts: The most noticeable thing in this match was that there was no crowd reaction for any of the extremely close near falls. Obviously, that’s a problem caused by booking, and sadly for the match itself. People just didn’t believe that Eaton could win it. All in all, this shows what happens when the challenger at a big show doesn’t have the fan backing to make people believe in them. The booking also didn’t back Eaton up. He didn’t get a win of any sort over Flair in the weeks before this. The match was good, there’s no disputing that. Flair looked very mean and aggressive here. What a smart thing for him to use that style before going to the WWF. WCW even gave him the kindness of having him pin Eaton in dominant fashion. Eaton also worked his ass off. The crowd was just burned out from what they had already seen. Also, there wasn’t enough time for them to have a classic. The second and third fall were too short. I’d give this a strong ***. It’s worth watching, but seeing Eaton get no reaction was pretty sad.
With that, that’s the whole show. There’s a lot to say about it, because a lot happened. Too much in fact. This was an ADD version of a wrestling show. Important things happened on this show that the commentary couldn’t even address. Pillman being kicked out of WCW was never mentioned after he took the pin. Morton joining the York Foundation seemed unimportant. There were no filler matches where the commentators could talk about anything other than the guys wrestling in those matches. As much as some people don’t like that, it’s absolutely necessary to a quality wrestling show. Instead, WCW was pushing so many different guys at me. Taking the two new Japanese wrestlers into account, I count no less than 12 new attractions. This was also a show where wrestlers who had done new things, like Ron Simmons, didn’t even get to make an appearance. There was also only one permanent tag team made out of that group of characters. It’s a bunch of singles wrestlers, so they destroyed the tag team division in the process of what they were doing. It was an absolute disaster. Three good wrestling matches on this show does not change that. Overall, very frustrating to see. According to the WON, this did a horrendous TV rating. Next for me are WWF matches from May and June of 1991.
Wrestling Time: 54:56. Only three matches on this show went longer than five minutes.
Best: Steiner Brothers vs. Hiroshi Hase and Masa Chono. There are some angles that contend, but this was the best thing on the show.
Worst: The show taken as a whole.
Card Rating: 4/10. There were good angles and good matches on this show. That does not make this a good show. There was so much wrong with how this was put together. It was like an Attitude Era Raw, but there was far more than that going on. Big things that should have shaken the card up went down here. Instead business got worse.
