Curt Hennig – A
“GOAT” show, as Perfect as possible
Watch It – A
consistently good show worth watching in its entirety
Watch It…With Remote
in Hand – 3 or more above-average ratings
High Risk Maneuver –
Mostly filler, inessential, but 1-2 good matches
DUDleyville –
Zero redeeming qualities, chore to watch
Clash of the Champions XXVII - June 1994
Charleston, South Carolina
CHAMPIONSHIP
BACKGROUNDS: Ric Flair is the reigning WCW World Heavyweight Champion
heading into tonight’s show, while Sting was crowned the WCW International Champion
after defeating Vader at Slamboree 94’. Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan are the
WCW Tag Team Champions, Steve Austin holds the US Championship, and Larry
Zybysko is the recognized TV Champion.
COMMENTATORS: Tony
Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Jesse Ventura
Tonight's historic 27th Clash kicks off with Tony Schiavone,
"Mean" Gene Okerlund, and Bobby Heenan hyping the impending arrival
of Hulk Hogan, Sensational Sherri revealing her mystery client, and the title
unification bout scheduled between WCW World Champion, Ric Flair, and WCW
International Champion, Sting.
The opening contest is an attention-grabber if I've ever
heard one, with The Nasty Boys
challenging Cactus Jack and Kevin
Sullivan for the WCW World Tag Team Championships in a rematch from
Slamboree 94'. Jack and Sullivan are joined by Dave "Evad" Sullivan, whose shirt reads "Hulk Selur" (in keeping with his dyslexic gimmick).
In the ring, Jack and Sags start things off by trading stiff fists in the
corner as the announce team reminds us that, due to the fact that the
participants are so out-of-control, there is not only a referee in the ring,
but an extra ref on the outside. The addition of the
extra ref does little to keep the two teams from interfering constantly,
though. Unfortunately, coming off the heels of their excellent 4.5-star brawl at
Slamboree 94' (and the equally awesome Jack & Payne/Nastys match at Spring
Stampede), there was no way this match was going to live up to those ridiculously hardcore epics, but credit must be given to what they do
accomplish without the aid of tables, chairs, shovels, and guitars. Jack, in
particular, works a tad bit safer (which is still very dangerous compared to
just about anyone else in the sport), but is no less engaging and, considering the fact his career could've ended multiple times in
the aforementioned matches, it's nice to see him tell a story without relying
on self-mutilation (again, it's not that he doesn't take some sick bumps - it's
just that, in this contest, I think there was only one instance where he
could've suffered a career-ending concussion instead of six or seven). (3.5/5)
Sting is here, proudly wearing the WCW International
Championship, and proceeds to talk some trash about his opponent.
No longer permitted to be called The Boss (or carry his
handcuffs and night stick), we now get Ray Traylor: Guardian Angel. The video
package aired to hype his transformation is so 90s, it should come with a laser
disc copy of Terminator 2. While not as amazingly entertaining as the 2 Cold
Scorpio or Zenk & Gunn music videos of previous shows, it is still a pretty entertaining few minutes. (3.5/5)
The Guardian Angel vs.
Tex Slazenger is up next. Traylor
has energy, but the new gimmick stinks and, even for a squash match, this is an
absolute dud. A point awarded for keeping it short. (1/5)
We then cut to Hulk Hogan's Motorcade, hyping Hogan's 1-on-1
confrontation with Ric Flair tonight, further telegraphing who would be taking
home the "W" in tonight's main event. Say what you will about how predictable modern WWE is, if this same angle were going today, the WWE would
at least attempt to play up the possibility that Sting vs. Hogan, babyface
vs. babyface, could happen. Instead, by focusing on the Hogan/Flair hype, the
audience is left with a clear guarantee that Flair is taking home the gold
later.
Steven Regal vs.
Larry Zybysko for Zybysko's Television Championship is next. The story goes
that, at Slamboree, Zybysko got an upset victory over Regal in a non-title
match, leading to a rematch for the title that Zybysko, again, won. Cut to this
match, where it is Regal who, after months of holding onto the title thanks to
time limit draws and cheating, is forced to go on offense and regain the strap
against a man who he is 0-and-2 against. Unlike Slamboree, there's not much
"feeling out" to start things off, but there's no need for it anyway
- by now, these two are clear enemies and Regal fans will take particular
comfort in watching him bring some of his stiffest strikes to the Living Legend
(who wrestles with an equal amount of passion). The crowd is VERY into this contest - a testament to the clinic these two put
on in prior contests as they proceed to trade impressive suplexes and pull in their audience with a bevy of "little things." The crowd pops for them just looking at each other crossly. While the submission moves they pulled out in their Slamboree match
were a bit flashier, this bout is no less exciting, even if the ending
is far from definitive. A few more minutes would've probably bumped up the
score for me, but, when you consider this is a "TV match," it is easy
to understand why they didn't go a full 15-20 minutes. (3.5/5)
Arn Anderson and Dustin Rhodes arrive and Anderson announces
that he agrees to be Dustin's partner in his feud with Bunkhouse Buck and Terry
Funk. Anderson cuts a good promo here, as does the Natural, but as the whole
segment lasts roughly a minute, I'm not going to score it.
The next match is for the US Championship - "Stunning" Steve Austin
defending against Johnny B. Badd.
The commentators note that Austin is no longer aligned with Colonel Parker,
positing that he could be Sensational Sherri's "mystery man." Like
the other Slamboree rematches on tonight's card, this one doesn't surpass their
previous encounter, but it gets close to equaling it. Austin does more character work in this one, which adds a new wrinkle to the feud, at one point speaking directly into
the camera and using Badd's beaten body like a dummy. A more lively crowd
probably would've made this hotter, but for whatever reason, this rivalry
didn't seem to resonate with the fans the way Zybysko/Regal did earlier. The
finish and post-match shenanigans wake everyone up, though, and this is definitely the
type of show and feud that needed some controversy to add some pizzazz. Very solid. (3.5/5)
And finally Hulk Hogan, the Savior of WCW, has arrived! He cuts a pretty generic
promo about his previous accomplishments before putting over Flair and Sting as
the two best wrestlers of 90s. Ric Flair appears on the video wall behind the
Hulkster, but his shouting is barely comprehensible. Hogan poses (because that's what Hogan does) as we go to the break and, if this was supposed to be a game-changing
segment, they made a left turn towards "channel-changer" instead.
For all the hype of Hogan being on the program and having a showdown with the
Nature Boy, it is a really underwhelming angle. (2/5)
In the next Hulk-centric segment, a rail thin Shaquille
O'Neal is shown in a very brief spot with the Hulkster. As a big Shaq fan, I
wish we would've gotten more out of him - maybe a clip of his patented
backboard-shattering dunks? Oh well.
Main event time - Ric
Flair vs. Sting in a WCW World Championship Unification Match. I like how
this bout is a throwback to the very first Clash of the Champions. As one might expect, Flair gets some face pops in front of the Charleston crowd, but interestingly
enough, it is still Sting who is the clear fan favorite, getting cheers arguably
even louder than the ones Hogan got. Before the match can begin, Sensational
Sherri arrives donning Sting's face-paint, making it obvious that she would screw the Stinger later on. Flair and Sting perform some impressive
chain sequences early on before they hit some of their trademark spots (Flair taking "breathers," a textbook press slam spot, the Stinger no-selling Flair's chest chops), all of which elicit big reactions from the crowd. There's a cool, ahead-of-its-time moment when Sting and Flair chants break out simultaneously (though the commentators ignore it, the cameras reveal a
large number of fans clearly mouthing Naitch's name).
Unfortunately, things turn a little sour in the last third
of the bout as Flair goes to the "Flair flop" well a couple times too
many and we get a sequence or two that seems directly lifted from better
matches and thrown in here to much less effect. It is not until Sting comes
flying over the top rope and lands inadvertently on Sherri that we get a
genuinely shocking moment that brings the audience to its feet. As for Sherri
turning on Sting (which almost seemed telegraphed from her arrival), well,
credit must be given to the bookers, who make her turn seem like the opposite of premeditated. Instead, Sherri's interference comes across as being a spur-of-the-moment decision made out of anger towards Sting rather than her plan all along. The last minute arrival of Hogan is a nice way to build to WCW's
next pay-per-view, but the real MVPs here are Flair, Sting, and Sherri. (3.5/5)
With an average rating of 2.93-out-of-5, Clash of the Champions 27 is an interesting show,
but certainly not an all-time great one. Remembered most for the WCW debut of
Hulk Hogan on live programming (which I found to be lackluster),
the rest of the show is consistently good, if not great. All four of the title matches on the show are
engaging, though none fall into MOTY candidate territories (Regal/Zybykso might
be closest). The show offers a unique mix of the past and future of the company; Flair/Sting and Austin/Badd
wouldn’t be out of place a year earlier, while appearances
from Sensational Sherri and the Hulkster, not to mention "Mean" Gene and Bobby Heenan in significant roles point to just how far WCW was willing to go to offer a WWE-like product.
FINAL RATING – Watch It…With Remote in Hand
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