Sage Cortez
This is as strange as a Clash of the Champions can be for me. After the way my last NWA article went, I decided not to actually look up what the matches were. The videos I watched did not tell me. I only know of two of them. One is Ricky Morton vs. Ivan Koloff in a chain match. Another is Sting challenging Barry Windham for his United States Championship. I do not know anything else. Does that make me a bad reviewer? Perhaps it does, but I enjoy the mystery in knowing what matches will be on the card and not knowing what will happen. It’s rare for me not to know. I also don’t understand the location for these events sometimes. Small town Georgia is a little too small.
– September 7th, 1988, from the Civic Center in Albany, Georgia
The opening gives off the impression that Sting is facing Ric Flair again. He isn’t, but he is getting his third title match on a Clash of the Champions, facing Barry Windham this time. Ric Flair and Tony Schiavone will be hosting this thing, and Jim Ross will be on commentary with Bob Caudle. Schiavone goes through the lineup, which seems to contain a bunch of matches I don’t really want to watch. Dr. Death & Nikita Koloff facing the Sheepherders doesn’t sound too bad, though!
Brad Armstrong vs. Mike Rotunda (w/Kevin Sullivan) for the NWA Television Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: It appears that the time limit for this match will be 20 minutes. Two good hands, but Rotunda’s a guy who has a hard time entertaining me. Armstrong is very much over, as he should be. He’s from Georgia, after all. I’m hoping for a quickly paced match, as unlikely as that may turn out to be.
Match Review: Rotunda and Armstrong lock up, and Rotunda takes Armstrong down from behind. They separate, and he gives Armstrong a fireman’s carry now. Rotunda gets thrown into the buckle, but comes back with a springboard cross body that Armstrong reverses for 2. Rotunda takes time, and when he gets back in the ring, Armstrong gives him a hip toss and dropkick for 2. Rotunda takes another break, and gets taken down with a headlock when it’s over. Rotunda tries some pins with his feet on the ropes, but Armstrong kicks out of all of them. They get up, and Armstrong does a cross body for 2. Armstrong puts the headlock back on, and uses a flying takedown of the arm as well. He keeps an armbar on Rotunda, even leg dropping the arm during that hold. Rotunda tries an arm drag, but Armstrong rolls through it to maintain his hold. Rotunda finally breaks it, but that doesn’t last long and Armstrong puts it right back on. Jim Ross rattles off Rotunda’s athletic background, and Rotunda hits Armstrong with a knee to the gut in the middle of that. He drops Armstrong throat-first on the top rope, and dumps him to the floor. Sullivan stomps on Armstrong, getting a lot of heat for doing so. That continues for a while, until Rotunda goes to the outside. He rams Armstrong into the mat, and brings him back in with a suplex for 2. Rotunda goes to a chinlock, putting his legs on the ropes for leverage. He gets caught, and breaks the hold. He lays in some chops, and covers for 2 after a kick to the back. Back to the chinlock, with Rotunda pulling hair to knock Armstrong down. Armstrong fights his way out, but Rotunda gives him a big flying clothesline. After an elbow drop, he covers for a 2 count. Back to the chinlock, and eventually Rotunda gives Armstrong a backbreaker for 2. He throws Armstrong to the floor again, they bump looked like it hurt. Sullivan gets in more kicks, and Armstrong goes to the apron for a sunset flip on Rotunda that gets 2. The crowd bought a title change there. Rotunda gives Armstrong a back elbow, and a leg drop for 2. Dr. Death has made his way to ringside, and pounds on the apron getting people to cheer for Armstrong. This crowd is awesome. Armstrong tries a small package, it gets another 2 count. 3 minutes remain in the time limit, as Rotunda goes back to the chinlock once again. Rotunda picks Armstrong up for an airplane spin, and falls down once it’s over. That’s one reason I’ve never understood that move. Rotunda’s cover gets 2, and he follows that with a gutwrench suplex for another 2 count. A Rotunda small package gets 2, and he lands a big right hand for another 2 count. What does he have to do to put this guy away? Rotunda clotheslines Armstrong, it gets 2 again. He covers a few times, and the 20:00 limit expires. Uh…I’m slightly confused.
My Thoughts: I was just about to write down how I thought this match was smartly booked. Smart to have Armstrong challenging for this title in Georgia, smart to have him go 20 minutes…but then that finish came about and I didn’t really like it. I understand the moral victory aspect of Armstrong lasting 20 minutes with the TV Champion, but I would have liked to see him push for a victory at the end. I’m still okay with how the match turned out. There was a lot of heat and they put together something good. Dr. Death showing up was great, especially knowing where things go with him. I’ll give this ***, even though this finish should be reserved for guys who are being built towards winning the title. I used to not enjoy Rotunda very much, but his matches are by and large much better than I expected.
The broadcast kicks up to Flair and Schiavone again, and Flair puts over both Armstrong and Rotunda. That’s what big stars are supposed to do. Schiavone brings up the GAB ’88 main event, and Flair says that Luger is the second best athlete in the sport. Gives out a few more compliments, before giving himself a compliment that tops all of them. Solid stuff.
Now, we have Jim Ross and Bob Caudle talking about Jimmy Garvin. He has a broken leg thanks to Kevin Sullivan and will be out for quite a while. They show a video of that incident, and Sting’s fluorescent short shorts are still funny.
The Sheepherders (w/Rip Morgan) vs. Nikita Koloff & Steve Williams
Pre-Match Thoughts: This could turn out to be a fantastic match. Dr. Death was just out there, and it’s a little weird to see somebody being part of two straight segments. The Sheep’s brand of heeling never quits being entertaining.
Match Review: Dr. Death and Luke will get things going, and Dr. Death gets taken into the corner for a pounding. He fights his way out, and Nikita comes in to chase the Sheeps out of the ring. Things normalize, and Luke gets hammered with a shoulderblock. Luke comes back with one of his own, and Dr. Death decides to give both of them shoulderblocks. Morgan rushes in, and decides that he should probably leave the ring. The crowd is just on fire for these matches, small as that crowd is. Nikita and Butch tag in, and Nikita tosses Butch into the corner. He misses a charge, but blocks his momentum before hitting the buckles. He takes butch out, gives both Sheepherders bodyslams, and a noggin-knocker to clear the ring. Butch gets back in, and rams Nikita into the buckle. Luke tags in, as does Dr. Death, who comes in with an elbow from the second rope. Dr. Death knocks Luke to the floor with a clothesline, and brings him back in with a suplex. He flies off the top with a body press, it gets 2. Nikita and Dr. Death exchange some tags, and Williams eventually gives Luke an arm drag and applies a wristlock. Luke gets up, gets taken down again, and Nikita tags in for an elbow drop. He gives Luke a dropkick, and fires off an arm drag. Dr. Death goes for a big shoulder charge into the corner, and Luke gets out of the way. Looks like Dr. Death will be playing face in peril here. Butch hits him with a flying back elbow for 2, and switches out. Dr. Death quits selling those punches from Luke, so Butch attacks him from behind. Luke applies a chinlock, then tags out. Butch hits Williams with some rough looking knees, they get another near fall. Luke tries to hold Dr. Death in place for a charge, but he moves out of the way and Butch hits his partner. Nikita makes the big tag in, and hits Butch with a back elbow. Morgan hits Nikita with the New Zealand flag stick at his first chance to do so, and Luke knocks Nikita to the floor. Butch rams Nikita into the rail, then hits him in the back of the head with both fists. He throws him into the post too, and when Nikita crawls into the ring, Luke slams him. He lands a headbutt from the second rope, it gets another 2 count. Luke drops a knee as well, it gets 2 again. Butch tags in, spits at Williams to draw him in, and the Sheepherders hit Nikita with a double clothesline that gets 2. Luke is in now, and he puts a sleeper on Koloff. He breaks that sleeper, and knocks Luke over the top with a right hand. Morgan jabs Dr. Death with the flag to draw him off the apron, which keeps Nikita from making a tag. That was good use of the manager there. Luke slams Nikita and heads up top for a flying headbutt, which he misses!
Dr. Death finally tags in, and clobbers both Sheepherders. Morgan gets in the ring, gets ran over, and Dr. Death picks Luke up for a press slam. Butch clips his knee, and Nikita tags back in. He hits Butch with the SICKLE out of nowhere, and that gets 3 at 17:08!
My Thoughts: This was good stuff, but I was really confused by the finish. It came out of nowhere. I thought all four guys did a pretty good job, but the match started off very slow and the second heat segment was also slow. Luke did a nice job with his flying moves, which get over his team’s gimmick pretty well. They’re more than a little crazy and everyone needs to know it. Morgan also appears to be good at knowing when it’s time to get heat and when he should stay out of the way. Even knowing the circumstances with Nikita’s wife, it’s weird to see him floating around like this. The guy had star quality and was better than the push he had been receiving, teaming up with random guys and the like. Dr. Death is also above teaming up with random guys, but teaming with Nikita was a good fit. Maybe that should have gone on longer, although what they decided to do with Williams was fine with me. ***.
Kevin Sullivan (w/Gary Hart) vs. Dusty Rhodes
Pre-Match Thoughts: The broadcast flew straight into this match. This was advertised as a tag team match, with Al Perez partnering Sullivan, and Dick Murdoch partnering Dusty. However, Dick Murdoch went on a fishing trip and told the company he wouldn’t be available. They booked him anyway. The incompetence was there long before Ted Turner, that’s for sure. As for reasons this match was happening, obviously there’s the Detroit thing with The Sheik. There’s Sullivan breaking Jimmy Garvin’s leg, so naturally Dusty has to get revenge for that too. Dusty is the sheriff, he has to take out every heel who does something wrong. There’s also Ron Garvin having been paired up with Hart and Perez before leaving the company, that ties in as well.
Match Review: We come back from the commercial and Dusty is already in the middle of chasing Sullivan around the ring. Sullivan stalls for a little bit, then comes back in and lands some chops. He hits Dusty with a clothesline that he doesn’t sell, and Dusty tosses him to the outside. Dusty rams Sullivan’s face into the announce table, and throws him into Gary Hart as well. Sullivan comes in with a piece of the guardrail, and the referee has to take it from him. Hart had the intention of attacking from behind, but Dusty was ready for that and got back in the ring. Dusty hits Sullivan with a back elbow, and dumps him to the outside again. Sullivan takes a break, climbs back in, and hits Dusty in the throat. On the outside, he rams Dusty into the rail and waits for him inside while Hart hits Dusty with his shoe. Sullivan puts a chinlock on his foe, and starts hitting him with a SPIKE! SUllivan passes it back to Hart, and Dusty kicks out at 1. Back to the chinlock Sullivan goes, and Dusty hits him with a low blow to break it. Dusty starts hitting him with his best jabs, and that big double shot to knock Sullivan down. Hart gets on the apron, gives Sullivan the spike, and Dusty blocks Sullivan’s attempt to hit him. Dusty hits Sullivan with the spike right in front of the official, and Hart pulls Dusty out of the ring. Hart rakes Dusty’s eyes, and here comes Al Perez from the back! He nails Dusty with a chain, this also happening right in front of the referee. Perez climbs into the ring, gives the chain to Sullivan, and he takes his turn. They line Dusty up for a chain clothesline, but he jumps through and forces Perez and Sullivan into each other. Now Hart gets in the ring, and Dusty rolls him up for the victory at 7:00. WHAT?
My Thoughts: This was the stupidest finish of any old wrestling match that I have watched in years. I’m just mind fucked right now. First of all, Dusty should have lost via disqualification after being caught hitting Sullivan with the spike. Second, Dusty could have won via disqualification after being hit with the chain and destroyed by three guys. Lastly, he pinned the manager and not the wrestler who was his opponent. I would say the latter two of those three events were the stupidest things I’ve seen while watching wrestling this year, but that’s not true as WWE has done something dumber on many of their PPV’s in 2014. I thought the match was fine and would have rated it as such, but the finish was simply unbelievable. DUD. The ego of Dusty is unreal as well, as he could have taken that DQ loss to build towards the dog collar matches he was scheduled to have, but he didn’t. Murdoch being scheduled to be part of this show was not mentioned at any point before or during this match. Nice way to address bad advertising. Just pretend it didn’t happen!
Over with our hosts, they are interviewing a special referee for the upcoming Flair vs. Luger house show series. It is John Ayers, former NFL player. I don’t even know what to say about this decision. He wasn’t a star, wasn’t an elite player, couldn’t draw people into the building, and judging by this interview, couldn’t talk at all. I simply do not get it. Flair hits the nail on the head when he asks what makes Ayers qualified to officiate a wrestling match. Ayers was not able to answer that, which makes this segment totally awful. Bush league.
Ivan Koloff (w/Paul Jones) vs. Ricky Morton in a RUSSIAN CHAIN MATCH
Pre-Match Thoughts: Robert Gibson left, Ricky Morton stayed. Ivan was nearing the end of his usefulness, and Morton didn’t have a lot to offer without his partner alongside him. I’m not very invested in that feud, nor would I be regardless of how much footage I had to watch, so I really don’t have a lot to say. This is like a strap match, the way to win is by touching all four corners consecutively. Easy as that. This is a match that seems as if it would be too violent for TBS.
Match Review: Ivan knows how to use the chain better than Morton, which is made clear from the start. He hits Morton in the throat with it a few times, and goes to a choke. Ivan tries to nail Morton with it again, and Morton ducks between the legs and low blows him with the steel. Ivan comes back by ramming Morton into the buckle, and decides to start touching corners. He gets stopped quickly, and throws Morton to the outside. Morton pulls the chain until Ivan gets clotheslined by the top rope, and climbs back in. Ivan goes back to the choke, and drags Morton to 2 corners, after which Morton kicks him to break the momentum. Morton hits Ivan in the knee with the chain, and starts whipping him with it. I think that would hurt. Morton drags Ivan, until he gets kicked. Ivan climbs up to the second turnbuckle, and comes down with a double axehandle to the head. Up top now, and Morton pulls him off the top. Nice spot. Ivan lifts Morton up on his back while choking him, but Morton flips through and lands a big right hand. After a few chain shots by Morton, Ivan takes him down and starts whipping him with the chain. About time for him to exchange the favor. He drags Morton from turnbuckle to turnbuckle, touching 3 of them…and he makes it to the 4th, only for Morton to clutch to his feet and knock him down. Morton finally resorts to a choke of his own, then hits Koloff in the gut. Ivan kicks him, drops a knee, and decides to go up to the top rope once again. This time, they both hit each other with the chain. Morton starts dragging Ivan across the ring, and touches 3 of the turnbuckle pads. Over to the 4th, and Paul Jones has to put his riding crop on for Koloff to hold onto. Morton pulls and pulls, eventually Jones loses his handle on the crop, and Morton tumbles into the turnbuckle for the victory at 9:35!
Jones climbs into the ring, and THE RUSSIAN ASSASSIN comes back down to ringside as well. The Assassin throws Morton over the top, and throws him into the railing as well. Ivan finally nails Paul Jones, he couldn’t take any more of his complaining. The Assassin climbs in, and goes to work on Ivan…then another Assassin climbs in and starts beating him up! One of them has the chain, and they both clothesline him with it. The crowd starts chanting for Nikita, and one of the Assassin’s gives Ivan a leapfrog body guillotine. That move looks lethal. Now the chain gets wrapped around a hand, and BLAMMO HITS IVAN IN THE FACE WITH IT. Ivan blades, as these two guys choke him and hang him over the top rope. We go to a commercial, come back…and the announcers tell us jack shit about what happened during the break. Apparently Nikita came out during the commercial, and chased the Russians and Paul Jones to the back. Building towards Ivan and Nikita reuniting was left for another day.
My Thoughts: Are they serious? If you could see the look on my face right now…I am just utterly blown away. So many things about this show have made no sense whatsoever. The match was a tough one, it’s hard to put something good together with that gimmick. Ivan being old, he was not able to fly around bumping like a heel has to do for Morton, and Morton wasn’t a good enough singles wrestler to carry an older worker through a match. That being considered, it was a *1/2 match. I like that Morton went over clean, and I liked the top rope somersault bump that Ivan took. The post-match was really strong, but we only saw three quarters of it.
Jim Ross is with John Ayers, pumping him up to the live crowd. They shouldn’t have done this thing with Ayers, but when they did, this is the only way they should have done it. They should never have put him on a microphone opposite Flair.
Sting vs. Barry Windham (w/JJ Dillon) for the NWA United States Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Well, I have some major gripes with this match before it even starts. Where’s Sting’s interview? The introduction gave off the impression that Sting was the big deal here, and he didn’t get a chance to speak. In fact nobody has on the whole show thus far. More bad booking is what that is. This being his third chance at a championship on national TV, he should go over really strong. The conundrum is that there’s still a lot more for Windham to do, and you don’t want a big heel like him taking a singles job on a TV match. You want that on a house show or PPV. Right away this has been booked into a corner that there is no way to get out of. Or is there?
Match Review: Sting and Windham are ready for action, after that commercial. Here we go! Sting takes Windham down with some arm drags, and Windham retailiates with a slap. Sting hits him with a shoulderblock, and a few dropkicks as well, which send Windham to the floor. He gets back in and gives Sting a back suplex, but he doesn’t sell it and hits Windham with two more dropkicks! Windham gains control with some use of his right hand, but Sting gives him an inverted atomic drop to end that. He gives Windham a backdrop as well, and rams his face into the mat. He gives Windham a bodyslam, but misses an elbow drop. Windham dumps him down to the floor, and follows him to the outside to give him a bodyslam on the concrete. Windham suplexes Sting back into the ring, but Sting tries a sunset flip after that, for a 2 count. Windham comes back with a powerslam, and gives out a kneedrop as well for 2. Sting tries a small package, that gets another close 2 count. 10 minutes have passed, and Windham gets destroyed on a missed charge to the corner. Sting pushes him over the top rope, and into the rail he goes. That looked really painful. Sting rams Windham into the post a few times, and rams him into the announce table after that. Windham blatantly steals the Flair flop, doing so on the floor…and he juiced! Back inside the squared circle, Sting starts doing all kinds of dirty things like biting Windham and scratching his back. He really was the NWA’s Hulk Hogan. Sting takes Windham out with a dropkick, and puts a sleeper on him. This serves as a resting hold for quite a while, until Sting finally throws Windham into the buckle. Unfortunately, they go back to the sleeper, but Windham picks Sting up and gives him a knee-breaker. He continues to target that leg, and eventually puts a figure-four on it. Windham’s performance here is very Flair-like. JJ helps Windham cheat, continuing the theme they have going here. Tommy Young eventually catches them, and Windham has to break the hold. He gives Sting a back suplex now, but Sting fights back! He gives Windham a suplex of his own, and when they land, Windham does this…pectoral nipple claw. I don’t even know how to describe it, but there you go. Sting eventually powers up to his feet, and uses momentum to knock Windham out of the ring, which breaks the hold. Sting slingshots Windham back into the ring from the apron, and gives him a backdrop too. After a few elbow drops, Sting gives Windham a hip toss. He ducks out of the way of a clothesline, and Windham flies into Tommy Young. Well, shit.
Sting sets Windham up, and hits him with the STINGER SPLASH. He ties him up in the SCORPION DEATHLOCK, and knocks down an interfering JJ Dillon. Windham nails Sting in the head with a steel chair, and goes for the cover. Young counts, but in comes John Ayers. He pushes Windham out of the way, and tells Young that Windham hit Sting with a chair. So, Windham loses via DQ at 21:12. Windham lines Ayers up for a shot with his title belt, and Sting dropkicks Windham out of the way. Ayers picks JJ up and puts him in the corner, and raises Sting’s hand.
Tony and Flair sum the events up, and Flair goes a little bit crazy cutting a promo on Ayers. I’m going to have to look this up, but I don’t even know that Ayers ever officiated a match between Flair and Luger despite building to that being the entire point of this show. I will find out and put my findings after my thoughts on this match. Great job by Flair cutting that promo, and we’re out!
My Thoughts: A lot to cover here. The match was bordering on classic territory up until Windham bled. If the second half was as good as the first half, it would have been classic regardless of what the finish had turned out to be. The finish turned out a lot better than I thought it would. It was basically given away when it turned out that Ayers was sitting at ringside to watch the match. I think it was alright in the sense that it gives the viewer the impression that this guy won’t take any shit from Ric Flair, but this would have been a lot better if a star was in this role. Ayers didn’t even appear as if he was angry. So, ***1/2 and recommended for the match. The finish was bad, but better than expected, basically. I don’t know what Dusty is thinking with some of this stuff. I also don’t know why Sting was pushed downward from here. My preferred finish would have been Sting winning this match, as you can’t give a guy three chances to win a title on a national TV special and not pull the trigger. Perhaps that is why they had to push him down, but Sting was such a hot act that I just don’t get it. In the end he skipped US Title level entirely on his way to the top.
Now, let’s go with ratings and follow up the Ayers thing. Ayers DOES officiate a match, on September 10th in Philadelphia. Something else happens on that card, but I’ll touch on that later. The report says that Ayers kept getting int the way. He didn’t show up in Greensboro, but he was at the Omni. That’s all I really know. The show reached 3 million homes during the main event, which was pretty good. It was followed by baseball, which didn’t maintain those viewers. All in all, this show annoyed the shit out of me. The first two matches were very good, there’s no denying that. The main event was very good. I still have issues with how they used their talent. Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson were about to leave, so I see why you keep them out. Ric Flair as a host was stupid, straight out. Give the champion a chance to perform. I don’t know why they didn’t give anyone but Ayers an opportunity to talk. That’s a big misfire. I think this was an average show, but for the three good matches it’s worth the extra .5 on the rating. Next up is going to be WWF stuff from the time between SummerSlam and Survivor Series. I have a ton of stuff for that!
Wrestling Time: 1:15:50. Turns out that when you have no time for wrestlers to talk, all you have is wrestling.
Best: Sting vs. Barry Windham. Even with that absurd finish, it was the best match on the card.
Worst: John Ayers being involved. I prefer not to focus on the negatives when it leads to something that I won’t be watching. It was terrible though.
Card Rating: 5.5/10. Bad booking, good wrestling. The booking was just unreal to me.
