Andrew Lutzke
Lex Luger is off house shows and largely off TV due to his contract being almost up. He’s expected to jump to Vince McMahon’s WBF league as soon as SuperBrawl is over.
Terrence Taylor finally quit the York Foundation after weeks of teasing tension. He will remain a heel. He and Thomas Rich were booked to work the Clash against one another, but that was changed for some reason.
Marcus Bagwell refused to face Steve Austin in a TV title match, stating he wasn’t ready for that challenge. This upset Paul E., who threatened Bagwell. The Dangerous Alliance then attacked him after Bagwell struck Paul E. This led to Sting trying to save the day but he ending up overwhelmed by the numbers game. Barry Windham and Ricky Steamboat came to the rescue.
Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton won the World tag titles from Dustin Rhodes and Ricky Steamboat only 3 days before the Clash at a random house show.
Cactus Jack and Abby the Butcher continued to have issues with one another while attempting to keep their team together. They ended up in several brawls in between Starrcade and the Clash.
After three years of backstage turmoil and dwindling attendance, Kip Frey replaced Jim Herd as WCW executive producer.
WCW booker Dusty Rhodes is working toward a return to the ring this Spring.
Larry Zybysko is having serious back pain and is looking to retire.
Rumors are flying around that Bret Hart is attempting to jump to WCW with the WWF IC title. Some are even reporting Hart will show up live on TBS for the Clash show with the title in tow. (Hart would learn that his contract was in fact not up for months. Hart ended up dropping the IC title to The Mountie and missing the Royal Rumble.) IIRC, Hart claimed years later that all these stories were bunk.
WCW reportedly attempted to bring in Capt. Lou Albano to work as a manager or commentator.
CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS January 21, 1992
Gary Micheal Cappetta has thick old man glasses on.
The Steiner Brothers vs. BIG VAN VADER and Mr. Hughes
First off: Holy shit! Scott single legs Hughes down and then executes a fireman carry takeover. Hughes counters this with fists. Scott belly-to-belly suplexes him and Hughes bails out. JR states Vader was a first round draft pick by the Rams, which is a lie. He was a third round pick. Ironically, the 92 Rams team did have a linebacker named Leon White on the roster. A four-way skirmish breaks out and the heels toss the Brothers to the floor, then intelligently turn their backs to them. The Steiners scale the same top rope and nail stereo flying clotheslines into the hosses. Race is flummoxed by his team’s stupidity. Vader makes up for it by driving Rick into the mat several times and splashing him in the corner. A second splash is met with a Steinerline, and a second clothesline sends Vader over the top. Vader just keeps mauling Rick anyway until he is caught on the top rope and a belly-to-belly suplex follows. Scott tags in and tosses Vader with a release German suplex. Vader and Hughes then take turns power slamming Scott into the mat. Rick is tagged in and he flips Hughes head over heels twice. The heels try a double team but hit each other. Rick nails a top rope bulldog as Scott and Vader tumble over the ropes. Rick secures the hard fought win. Good match.
Marcus Alexander Bagwell and Brian Pillman vs. Tracy Smothers and The Taylor Made Man
No word on where Steve Armstrong is. Taylor Made Man is Terry Taylor’s new gimmick, he’s basically a Million Dollar Man rip off. Smothers is growing out a heel beard. Taylor slaps Pillman and struts. Pillman does not take kindly to that. Pillman out wrestles Taylor and lets Bagwell come in and dish out drop kicks and armdrags on both heels. He then sling shots Pillman into both men. The faces dropkick both heels to the floor and deliver a double plancha! The heels trap the rookie and take turns wearing him down. Pillman tags in but can’t maintain any momentum under the pressure of two men taking aim at him. Taylor suplexes him to the concrete and Smothers posts him once he lands. Bagwell tags back in and he and Smothers blow a backdrop. A momentary heel miscommunication leads to Smothers being rolled up by Bagwell for the win. 75% of the guys here could work and Bagwell was kept to working high spots – all together it made for an entertaining bout. No idea why the Tom Zenk/Pillman vs. Young Pistols match that the TV beforehand had been building to didn’t occur. Furthermore, I looked at the old RSPW boards and they stated the match was originally going to be Pillman and the WCW Patriots vs. The Diamond Studd and The Young Pistols.
Johnny B. Badd vs. Richard Morton
Alexandra York is gone, a victim of budget cuts I believe. Badd and Morton go tit for tat early until Morton chucks Badd to the concrete several times. Morton tries to box and that ends poorly for him. Badd then rolls through on a cross body attempt for the win out of nowhere. Ending looked wonky. A nothing match.
Eric Bischoff is joined by Pillman and Badd at the interview podium. Badd goofs around and annoys Bischoff. Pillman cuts a promo on Japanese capitalists taking over America while Badd makes faces and puts lip stickers on Pillman. Pillman decks him and leaves. The fans aren’t sure what to make of that.
PN NEWZ vs. Diamond Dallas Page
WCW Rookie of the Year for 1991: PN Newz, what a year they had. DDP tries to slam Newz, that clearly doesn’t work. Newz then hits a butt-butt and DDP is dropkicked to the floor. Newz splashes him in the corner and rolls his fat all over him. DDP gets control but tries a slam again. Page is caught with a belly-to-belly suplex and a top rope splash mercifully ends it. Not as bad as I feared, but not good either.
WCW Top Ten:
10 Larry Zybysko
9 El Gigante
8 Vader
7 Dustin Rhodes
6 Cactus Jack
5 Rick Steiner (WHAT????)
4 Ricky Steamboat
3 Steve Austin
2 Sting
1 Rick Rude
Champ – Lex Luger
Tony Schiavone brings out Kip Frey to announce Lex Luger vs. Sting as the main event for SuperBrawl 2. Jim Crockett is among the stooges milling about. Frey then brings out Jesse “The Body” Ventura as WCW’s new color commentator. Ventura and Sting high-five surprisingly. A pre-taped Luger promo plays where he explains on how he wants solitude to prepare for his big title match.
Falls count anywhere in the state of Kansas: Van Hammer vs. Cactus Jack
Jack meets him on the ramp, so Hammer blinds him with pyro shooting from his guitar. This allows Hammer a fast start, until he leaps into a Jack clothesline. Foley clotheslines Hammer and himself over the top rope. Jack moves the concrete pads and tries a second rope sunset flip, which he misses, resulting in splatting his own back across the pavement from 8 feet in the air. They trade blows on the ramp, until Foley takes a hip toss off of it and crashes his flesh into the cement floor. They brawl behind the curtain, which causes the fans to boo. The men fight to the back of the arena, which contains a bunch of cows for a rodeo that is ongoing. Missy Hyatt comes to watch as the men choke each other with a rope. Abdullah the Butcher appears dressed as a cowboy and tries to hit Jack with a shovel but hits Hammer instead. That earns Jack the win. Hyatt gets grabbed in the ensuing brawl by Abby and he dumps her into a water trough.
Jim Garvin and Michael Hayes vs. Brad Armstrong and Big Josh
The Freebirds get rid of their last redeeming quality by getting rid of “Badstreet USA” for “I’m a Freebird, and What is your excuse?” That should kill half their pop. They come out in some Fabulous Ones reject outfit and pretend to sing. The crowd goes mild.
Wait, the Freebirds are heels again? What did I miss? Well, I guess not as Hayes shakes Armstrong’s hand. Weird booking. Josh tries to celebrate stomping on Garvin and slips on the ropes. JR is trying to figure out why the Birds are facing good guys if they too are babyfaces. Tony figures they’ll just cheat to win either way. A double DDT behind the ref’s back wins it fast, and proves Tony’s point. Hot garbage.
A Steiner Brothers video package airs – they make sure to show the Steiners beating the Road Warriors and Nasty Boyz, now both employed by the WWF. Rick stumbles through a promo aimed at Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton. Scott quotes Alice Cooper to threaten the Dangerous Alliance.
Vinnie Vegas vs. Thomas Rich
Rich’s heel beard is coming along nicely. Heel vs. Heel? Odd choice for a debut. Nash’s third gimmick in two years. He asks Rich to help him heckle a fan, and then knees him in the ass. The “snake eyes” ends it fast. Was Joey Maggs not available? More strange booking.
Paul E. Dangerously takes credit for Jim Herd being fired. He calls Dustin Rhodes “the son of a horse thief” as he runs down the babyface headliners. He then promises somebody is going to end up crippled like Magnum TA. HOLY SHIT. Now that’s a PROMO~!
Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham and Ron Simmons vs. Arn Anderson, Bobby Eaton and Larry Zybysko
Windham charges the ring as he has scores to settle with the men who broke his hand. Eaton catches him right away and smacks his jaw with some hard blows. Eaton delivers a superplex but Windham no sells it and delivers some shots, leading to delivering a superplex of his own. This leads to all six men in the ring and all the babyfaces locking on figure four leglocks. Zybysko grabs Simmons in a nasty looking arm wrench before Arn comes in and starts to double up on the strong man. Simmons fights them both off and a few tags later Rhodes gets to pound on Eaton. Another quick tag finds Windham in the ring with the man who broke his hand, Zybysko. Quality cheating gives The Cruncher the advantage but Windham fires up and wounds the whole heel corner. Rhodes is trapped next and faces a four on one beat down with even Paul E. gets his licks in. Anderson delivers a spinebuster and a DDT, then allows Eaton to drive home a flying elbow. Rhodes endures all and finally catches Anderson with a boot and manages to tag in Windham. Things quickly break down and all six men brawl. Eaton tries a flying attack and Windham smacks him with a taped fist upon landing. This allows Windham to score an unexpected win for the babyfaces. I was totally expecting a fuck finish. Five great workers in a blood feud = great wrasslin’
Windham sends more threats toward Zybysko during his post match promo. Jesse Ventura replaces Schiavone for the main event.
Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat and Sting vs. US Champ “Ravishing” Rick Rude and TV Champ “Stunning” Steve Austin
A white guy in the front row has a Malcolm X shirt on. Didn’t expect Progressives in Kansas. Steamboat and Austin kick things off. The Dragon’s martial arts outdo Austin’s fists. Rude tags in and smack talks Sting and slaps him. When Sting tags in, Rude backpedals like a good heel. Sting delivers a pair of reverse atomic drops and Rude does a comical bow legged walk in response. Sting downs Rude and does the hip swivel in mocking fashion. Steamboat attacks Rude’s back and does his own hip swivel. Sting tries to jump on Rude’s back but lands his nuts on Rude’s knee. Austin and Rude take turns abusing Sting. The Dragon manages to tag in and he explodes on both heels. A cheap shot by Rude allows the heels to take over and begin to wear down Steamboat. A four-way brawl breaks out until Sting delivers a flying crossbody onto Austin who was trying to slam Steamboat. Both Ricky and Sting lay on Austin and the ref counts the 3 anyway!?!?! Rude is rightfully pissed and he knocks Sting out of the ring and delivers a pair of neckbreakers to Steamboat. A slew of security run down and the heels beat on them as well.
Final thoughts: A lot of really good wrestling, a sprinkle of Wrestlecrap, and a few quick DUDs all combine to make for a quality effort. WCW has one of the best rosters ever assembled for pure workrate and it makes even the sometimes bad booking bearable.
