Sage Cortez
Now, it’s time to review matches and angles up to Clash 6. The NWA was still in a state where they aren’t drawing anything to their house shows. However, they did have a new champion, and had just put on a really good PPV. They were also changing their TV format with a new studio and modernizing the way their product was presented. There are some nice matches ahead, let’s see if they were any good!
– Taped to air February 25th, 1989, on World Championship Wrestling, from WTBS Studios in Atlanta, Georgia
Eddie Gilbert debuts a new manager!
He introduces that manager, and it is…MISSY HYATT. HA! She says that she provides something that Gilbert needs in the ring. Yep, I can guess what that was. I didn’t watch the match as it was truncated, but there you go.
– Taped to air March 4th, 1989, on World Championship Wrestling, from WTBS Studios in Atlanta, Georgia
THE IRON SHEIK DEBUTS
HE BREAK THE BACK, HE MAKE IT HUMBLE. THE IRON SHEIK IS BACK ON TV! I love his promo about fighting anyone, and he does his demonstration with the Persian clubs. This owned so much. He starts singing the Iranian national anthem, then gets in the ring for his match against COUGAR JAY. Of course, the Iron Sheik make him humble after 1:52. No rating, but this was funny as hell. Business wise, this isn’t too smart as Sheik is so stale, but I love the guy.
– Taped to air March 18th, 1989, on World Championship Wrestling, from Atlanta, Georgia
Barry Windham & Kendall Windham (w/Hiro Matsuda) vs. Lex Luger (NWA US Champion) & Michael Hayes
Pre-Match Thoughts: This is a nice matchup, especially for TV. Decent makeshift team with Luger and Hayes, too. Of course, this was another poor house at the Omni. The main event was Flair vs. Steamboat, so that’s sad. Barry Windham didn’t stick around much longer after this, and I’ll have an explanation for that after the match.
Match Review: Luger and Barry shove each other before the match starts, then it starts with Hayes and Barry. Hayes dances to the delight of the crowd, but doesn’t wrestle at all. He tags in Luger, and Luger gets caught in a backbreaker. He doesn’t sell it, gets up, and gives Barry a big press slam. Barry has an inverted atomic drop blocked, and Luger clotheslines him. Luger suplexes Barry in from the apron, it gets 2. Barry begs for a break, and gets a short enough one. Hayes tags in once again, and they lock up. Barry and Hayes break cleanly, and do so for a second time as well. Then, Luger goes to slap Barry’s injured hand. Luger then enters the ring, and Hayes takes a position behind him…TO TAKE LUGER OUT! Kendall hits Luger with a lariat as Hayes clips the leg, and Barry picks up a pinfall win over Luger at 5:16.
Hayes continues to beat up Luger after the match, as does Kendall. They pick Luger up, allowing Hayes to plant him with an elevated DDT. What the hell? Hayes finds a microphone, and says he’s been a nice guy for too long. The company hasn’t had time to play his music or interview him, so he’s pissed, and he’s not going to take this anymore.
My Thoughts: Hayes turning was a great idea, as the company was lacking quality people who could get heat. Just look at the heel singles lineup on the last few shows, it was a sham. Barry Windham was out for a while, and eventually showed up in the WWF. This was not great for his career nor for fans, as we lost the ability to continue seeing him in great matches. DUD for the match, nothing happened. All in all, this match and angle was a negative.
THE GREAT MUTA DEBUTS!
YES! This opens with an interview, in which THE GREAT MUTA is presented by Gary Hart as being the son of the Great Kabuki. His face is painted blue, and he’s taking on Cougar Jay. Poor Jay, always taking on new wrestlers. Muta flies over the top with a plancha during this match, and finishes Jay off with a thrust kick at 1:24. Excellent.
– Taped to air March 25th, 1989, on World Championship Wrestling, from Columbia, South Carolina
NEW US TAG TEAM CHAMPIONS!
Sadly, I couldn’t find the video of the title match. Eddie Gilbert and Rick Steiner have beaten the Varsity Club for the US Tag Team Championships, and talked about it in studio. I thought it was a great idea to put those titles on these guys. The Varsity Club did not seem to agree. There should be a rematch for these championships at the Clash.
– Taped to air March 26th, 1989, on NWA Main Event, from the Omni in Atlanta, Georgia
The Samoan Swat Team (w/Paul E. Dangerously) vs. The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette)
Pre-Match Thoughts: The Dangerously-Cornette feud continues! Really looking forward to watching this match, as anyone would. Look at the matchup, these teams knew how to work. At the very least, this has to be good. Dangerously cuts a promo on behalf of his new clients before this thing starts, then Cornette does the same after his team gets in the ring.
Match Review: The SST attacks, and we’re underway. The Express takes control, then tries to ram these guys heads together. The SST then starts hitting each other to show how tough they are, and miss charges to the corner, forcing them out of the ring. Samu gets back in, and he’ll be facing Stan Lane. Samu misses a cross body, and Lane lands one for 2. Samu then accidentally hits Fatu during a double team attempt, then Fatu does the same to Samu a minute later. The Express gives Fatu their drop toe-hold and elbow drop combination, then a double back elbow as well. Fatu gets out of there, and Samu crushes Lane with a chop. He follows with a dropkick, and a sidewalk slam for 2. Fatu tags back in, and starts choking Lane. Poor guy. Fatu gives Lane a powerslam, it gets 2. There’s a background sound on my video that’s absolutely terrible, but I can’t stop now. Fatu gives Lane a bodyslam, and heads up to the second rope for an elbow drop that misses. Eaton and Samu make tags in, and Eaton gives him a big backdrop. Eaton heads up top, Dangerously rushes over to knock him down, and Cornette clocks Dangerously to knock him off the apron! The crowd loved that. Dangerously uses his phone to call Jack Victory out from the back, and Victory seems to be working a bodyguard gimmick. He has an earpiece and everything! Victory tries to trip Eaton, which distracts him enough for Samu to hit him with a superkick. He rams Eaton’s face into the mat with a hair pull, and tags in Fatu for a double axehandle from the top. Eaton tries a sunset flip, but gets punched in the face before Fatu can fall down. Eaton gets pulled to the outside by Samu, and chopped into the railing. Fatu nails Eaton with a running clothesline for 2, and Samu heads in. After a double chop, Eaton and Samu start trading punches. Eaton dodges a charge to the corner, and there’s another hot tag to Lane. Fatu is in as well, and the SST takes a punch of karate kicks from Sweet Stan. He tries a noggin-knocker, but they no sell it and give him a double headbutt. Lane gives them a double DDT to a huge ovation, and Victory trips Lane as he’s running the ropes. Cornette runs over and hits Victory with the LOADED RACKET, as the SST get thrown into each other inside the ring. Cornette chases Dangerously around the ring, the phone winds up inside the ring, and Teddy Long makes the mistake of turning around during the finish. Samu hits Eaton with the telephone, and Lane gets hit with it too so he can’t break the cover. Fatu pins Eaton, and that gets the win for the Samoan Swat Team at 11:49!
My Thoughts: The Samoan Swat Team were a great fit in this organization. They took the place of the Original Midnight Express and in my opinion they were a better team at this point in time. Their addition also means teams like the Russian Assassins wouldn’t be so prominent, or needed at all. The match was quite good and had a lot of interesting spots, but it wasn’t long enough for them to break out their absolute best stuff. The finish was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed seeing Victory take on this new role. **3/4.
Butch Reed (w/Hiro Matsuda) vs. Sting
Pre-Match Thoughts: I know this sucked the first time, but I’m hoping for something more. If not, it’s the last time I’ll watch a match between these two guys again. Simple as that. They seem to have gotten a lot of TV material from this show at the Omni.
Match Review: Reed and Sting shove each other to get things going, and Sting gets taken down with big right hands. Sting comes back with punches of his own, forcing Reed to the outside. Sting brings him back in the hard way, and puts a headlock on him. They get to the ropes, break the hold, and do a weird spot where Reed drops down for Sting to give him a leg drop. Sting follows with 5 punches in the corner, and a flying back elbow charge into the corner. That was weird too. Reed hits Sting on a break, and works him over with more punches. There’s no wrestling in this match at all. Reed puts a chinlock on Sting, Sting breaks out of it, and Reed crushes him with a back elbow. Reed heads up top now, and of course, Sting gets up and slams him down. That spot never gets old. Sting gives Reed two clotheslines, they get a 2 count. After a bodyslam by Sting, he goes for a splash and misses. Reed hits Sting with a flying shoulderblock, it also gets 2. Reed charges into the corner, Sting jumps over him and rolls him up, and that gets a 3 count at 10:04. Neat spot!
My Thoughts: This was actually worse than the Chi-Town Rumble match, which is sad considering it was much shorter. This was just a bad matchup of styles and they couldn’t put together a good match, sadly. 3/4*.
– Taped to air April 1st, 1989, on World Championship Wrestling, from Center Stage Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia
Sting vs. Mike Rotunda (w/the Varsity Club) for the NWA Television Championship
Pre-Match Thoughts: Finally we leave the tiny studio and enter the Center Stage era! That studio had some great TV take place in it, so I’m sad about it. After Rotunda regained his championship, they introduced a gimmick where the wrestler who beat him would win $10,000. As if somebody chasing his title didn’t give him enough heat. The Varsity Club has also introduced Danny Spivey to their ranks on previous shows. Spivey played football for the Georgia Bulldogs, so the gimmick is perfect for him. The difference in production values between the NWA and WWF is very stark here too. This is a brand new, made for TV studio, and it looks amateur by comparison. Michael Hayes is on commentary with Jim Ross!
Match Review: These two lock up, and Sting gives Rotunda a hip toss. He follows with a clothesline, it gets an early 2 count. Rotunda takes a break, When he gets back in, Sting no-sells a chop, and gets rammed into the buckle anyway. Spivey taunts him, and Rotunda decides to take a charge at Sting, only for Sting to duck out of the way and Rotunda fly over the top. Sting wanted to fly out with a plancha, but sadly that didn’t happen. Rotunda hits Sting with a dirty shot on the break, but Sting comes back with a back elbow and bodyslam. He misses the elbow drop, but comes back with a high boot, forcing Rotunda to the outside again. Back in again, Sting takes Rotunda down with a headlock, and they work that for a while. Rotunda tries to break it with hair grabbing, but the back suplex is what works. Rotunda misses a leg drop, and a dropkick right after that. Rotunda goes to the outside after a punch, and I’m just tired of this bit. Sting flies over the top with a plancha, putting an end to that! Sting sends Rotunda back in the ring, and decides to fly off the top with a body press! It only got 2, but wow. The crowd thought the match was over. Finally, some of Sting’s friends head to ringside, I suppose to make sure the Varsity Club doesn’t pull any shenanigans. Luger and Steamboat are good friends for Sting, makes him look legitimate. Sting controls Rotunda with a headlock, then they fight over a wristlock that builds up a lot of heat. They break it, and Sting gives Rotunda punches in the corner until the TV champ responds with an inverted atomic drop. He drops Sting throat-first on the top rope, and throws him to the outside. Sullivan thought about hitting Sting, but Luger is right there. He better not. Dr. Death and Steamboat give each other a good stare, and Sting tries to sunset flip into the ring. It got 2. Rotunda comes back with a leg drop for 2, and puts Sting in a sleeper. Rotunda gets busted trying to cheat, by Nick Patrick. First time I’ve seen him on these shows in any capacity. Rotunda gives Sting an atomic drop, but Sting has too much fire to quit now! Sullivan hands Rotunda a foreign object, which he uses to clock Sting. Fortunately, he didn’t get caught. We don’t need a DQ here! He puts a chinlock on Sting, who still won’t quit! Rotunda cuts him off with a clothesline, then starts slapping him around. He shouldn’t be doing that. Sting is tired of this shit, so he gives Rotunda his own atomic drop. He follows with a clothesline, and a standing dropkick. Sting throws Rotunda into the corner, and there’s the STINGER SPLASH! He goes for the SCORPION DEATHLOCK, and Williams tries to run into the ring. Luger stops him, but the distraction allows Sullivan to hit Sting with something. Rotunda goes for the cover, but Sting puts his foot on the bottom rope! Rotunda gives him a double underhook suplex, and Sting kicks out at 2! Rotunda follows with a regular suplex, that also gets 2. Rotunda runs the ropes, Sting goes around him and tries a cradle, which gets the victory at 16:32! New champion! Sting also won $10,000!
My Thoughts: Celebration was a bit subdued, but otherwise I really liked that. This had the feel of being an important match, and it had a great payoff. TV matches often don’t have that, but this one delivered as it didn’t finish in a terrible way. Sting beating the odds and winning anyway was a perfect fit. They had a big star on their hands with Sting, and I don’t really know why they gave him the TV Title. Not trying to be negative, it’s just weird. I liked the action here and enjoyed that they didn’t just half-ass their way through a title change, this was a hard match of good quality. ***1/2 and recommended. The best part was the tease of Sting winning the title with his big submission move, getting clocked by Sullivan…and then not getting pinned.
The Varsity Club (Kevin Sullivan & Danny Spivey) vs. Rick Steiner & Eddie Gilbert (NWA US Tag Team Champions, w/Missy Hyatt)
Pre-Match Thoughts: I do not like non-title matches. Sure, it’s a way to put heat on a match that otherwise doesn’t have any…I still don’t like them. The Varsity Club had heat and people liked the makeshift team of Steiner and Gilbert. I don’t really see the point of this.
Match Review: Spivey and Steiner start the match off, with Spivey towering over his opponent. Spivey gets taken out with a clothesline, and Steiner follows with a powerslam for a 2 count. Big guy taking big bumps. Spivey hits Steiner with a clothesline in the corner, and there’s a bodyslam too. Steiner gets rammed into the boot of Sullivan, who tags in for the first time. Steiner gives him a sunset flip for 2, and tags out for the first time. Gilbert hits Sullivan many times with right hands, but misses a rush to the corner. Spivey tags in, gives Gilbert a Russian leg sweep, and that gets 2. Sullivan comes in with the referee distracted and throws Gilbert over the top, then follows him to the outside and rams him into the post. Gilbert is able to punch Spivey and tag out, but Spivey plants Steiner with a big spinebuster. A backbreaker follows for 2, and there’s a huge clothesline for another 2 count. Spivey applies a bear hug, and Sullivan tags in shortly after. He is now being called THE COACH. I like that. Sullivan gives Steiner a bodyslam, and Spivey tags in for a sidewalk slam. Spivey’s turnbuckle shots don’t work, and it’s hilarious when Steiner rams his own head into it. In comes Sullivan once again, with a clothesline. He follows with a few more, and Steiner finally comes back with some punches. Gilbert tags in, hits Steiner with a right hand, and gives him the HOTSHOT. Spivey lumbers into the ring, and now we have all four guys in. Sullivan grabs a hold of Missy Hyatt, and Gilbert tries to capitalize by rolling Sullivan up. It only gets 1, and Gilbert turns his attention to his girlfriend. Sullivan hits Gilbert from behind, rolls him up, and picks up the victory for his team at 7:43.
My Thoughts: The booking there was everything I hate about non-title matches. There’s no reason to have booked that finish, but I don’t know what happens at Clash 6. Maybe it makes sense. The match was decent, nothing special. *3/4.
That’s the end of the stuff I found. There was nothing spectacular, but the TV title change was really cool. One thing I have noticed leading into Clash 6 is that Flair and Steamboat’s only interactions have been on interview. No angles or any of that stuff. It’s probably for the best. While we know this didn’t actually happen, at the time there were rumors that the Midnight Exrpess would be leaving the company. That’s exactly what the NWA needs, isn’t it? From the NWA’s perspective, they were being paid too much for their position on the card. Apparently this was due to George Scott. He and Bobby Eaton had heat with each other due to past encounters in Georgia. That really would have been too bad. When I get to the WON that explains what happened, I’ll talk about that. The NWA also had Bob Orton coming in, and for what I do not know. Next up, as with all other days when the NWA/WCW and WWF clash, it’s going to be the free show, which is Clash of the Champions 6. Can’t wait!
Best: Sting vs. Mike Rotunda. By default!
Worst: Butch Reed’s matches against Sting. No more!
