WCW Clash of the Champions XX

RATING LEVELS:

Curt Hennig Level – A “GOAT” show, from top to bottom

Watch It All – A consistently good show worth watching in its entirety

Watch It…With Remote in Hand – 2-3 great matches, but lots of filler

High Risk Maneuver – All filler, one thriller

DUDleyville – Zero redeeming qualities

CLASH OF THE CHAMPIONS XX - September 92’

Atlanta, GA

CHAMPIONSHIP BACKGROUNDS: Heading into tonight’s show, Ron Simmons is the WCW World Heavyweight Champion (having bested Vader a little over a month earlier at a house show). Steve Austin is the reigning TV Champion, while Dangerous Alliance stablemate Rick Rude holds the US Title. After winning a tournament at the Great American Bash, Terry “Bam Bam” Gordy and “Dr. Death” Steve Williams, otherwise known as the Miracle Violence Connection, were awarded the NWA World Tag Team Championship, unifying these titles with the WCW World Tag Team Championships.

COMMENTATORS: Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura

Before we get to the ring, Tony Schiavone and Missy Hyatt welcome several big names arriving on the red carpet, including “Cowboy” Bill Watts, MLB Hall of Famer "Hammerin'" Hank Aaron, and Bruno Sammartino. Sting arrives on a motorcycle before Tony sends things to Teddy Long on the inside for a brief ceremony involving Atlanta’s City Council President. All of this fluff is meant to add prestige to tonight’s show, the 20^th Clash of the Champions and 20^th anniversary of NWA wrestling on TBS.

The commentary team, Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura, run down some of the matches on tonight’s card and, on paper, there is plenty to look forward to, maybe the first match of the night most of all: Ricky Steamboat challenging “Stunning” Steve Austin for the WCW Television Championship. Following some girl’s rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, Gary Michael Cappetta explains that this match will be No Disqualification AND that Paul E. Dangerously (Austin’s manager) will be locked in a small cage for the duration of the contest. When this one finally does get started, it is a back and forth from the get go and pretty fun. The finish is a clever spot, but might be a little hokey for everyone’s tastes, especially after a match that really played up how evenly matched these two were. While I expected a slightly better outing, there's still plenty to love about this contest. (3.5/5)

We get a recap video of several tag teams in WCW history, followed by a commercial for Halloween Havoc, WCW’s next pay-per-view.

“Dirty” Dick Slater and Greg Valentine team up against Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton in our next contest. This is quite a hodge-podge of performers mixing it up, all veterans but none really known for their baby face work, which seems to confuse the crowd a little. Eaton and Anderson held the WCW Tag Team Titles earlier in 92’, but had little direction by this point. While the majority of the match is as good as could be expected from these true legends of the industry, the final 30 seconds are a step above, particularly the way Eaton is able to sneak in the Alabama Jam despite the rule outlawing top rope maneuvers. (3.5/5)

After a few more video clips, we get a speech from Ted Turner, talking up the idea of WCW offering a  “traditional” wrestling product, no doubt a bit of a jab at the WWE who, in the fall of 92', were emphasizing the sizzle more than the steak with gimmick acts like Papa Shango, The Ultimate Warrior, The Undertaker, and Big Bossman's parolee rival Nailz all in the spotlight.

After a commercial break, Bill Watts announces that WCW’s Light Heavyweight Championship will not be defended tonight due to an injury to champion Brad Armstrong. Watts then strips the title from Armstrong and announces that a tournament will be held to find a new champion. Armstrong and number one contender, Brian Pillman, are in the back to give their thoughts and, while Armstrong graciously apologizes for not being able to complete, Pillman cuts a heel promo, calling the former champion a coward for not defending his title. 

On a quick side note – many believe WCW never held a tournament to find a new Light Heavyweight Champion as Watts promised. They would be incorrect. WCW did hold a tournament and did crown a replacement champion for Armstrong…only they changed the name of the belt to the Cruiserweight Title and the tournament happened four years later.

Before our next match, we get another round of video clips showcasing the history of the NWA and WCW. Most interestingly is that WCW wasn’t afraid to show clips of guys under contract with the WWE at the time – including Ric Flair, “The Million Dollar Man” Ted Dibiase, and Roddy Piper.

Ron Simmons gets a nice video package next, including a clip of Simmons pinning Vader and becoming WCW World Champion. Personally, I always thought he should’ve defeated Luger for the title at Halloween Havoc the previous year, but that’s based more on how swept up I was by that feud.

Match #3 is our WCW World Championship match, pitting Cactus Jack against Ron Simmons in a rematch from SuperBrawl II in February. Unfortunately, this match is as good as their previous bout, but that’s not to say it’s a total stinker. Simmons comes out of it looking like a strong champion and, at this point, Jack was one of the most engaging characters to watch in any company. (3/5)

When we come back from a commercial break, Jim Ross shows clips from Masahiro Chono’s victory over Rick Rude in Japan. Chono’s win earned him the NWA World Championship.

Rick Rude then appears to cut a promo about Chono. I’ve always been a fan of Rude’s mic work, but this isn’t a rivalry he can really sink his teeth into the way he was able to against Warrior, Sting, or Steamboat. We also get a quick promo from Cactus Jack, announcing the return of Butch Reed, a man who knows Ron Simmons better than anyone.

This segues into the low point of the show, Butch Reed and The Barbarian taking on Barry Windham and Dustin Rhodes, the latter of which tagged on just about every major show WCW had that year it seemed. Unfortunately, there’s really nothing notable about this contest except for Windham and Rhodes needlessly putting over the heels. I’d have preferred Reed and Barbarian go over challengers that weren’t as over as Windham and Rhodes, who wrestled in the finals of a one-night tournament for the NWA Tag Team Championship a month earlier, but I can understand why the bookers needed to give the villains some credibility. Still, the WCW roster was full enough that they could’ve squashed any number of other faces and maybe even looked more convincing as monsters doing it. The cheap finish doesn’t help. (2/5)

And so we come to the evening’s main event, an 8-man elimination match pitting Sting, Nikita Koloff, and the Steiners against Rick Rude, Big Van Vader, Jake Roberts, and The Super Invader. One of these things is not a main event talent like the others…Anyway, Rick Steiner does most of the heavy lifting for his team, while, on the heel side, it is Vader who gets the most ring time. There are a handful of spots I liked in this one, but not enough for me to call it an all-time great elimination match. One stretch I particularly liked began with Rick Rude cleverly breaking up a Frankensteiner attempt by Scott, followed by rapid tags letting Roberts and Vader both get shots in against the future Big Poppa Pump. Scott Steiner has never been known for his selling, but he does it nicely here. After the first couple eliminations, the pace does pick up a bit and the bigger stars all get to show off some of their trademark stuff. Vader’s decision to do a splash off the rope onto both Sting and his own partner, Rick Rude, is a bit confusing, but at least both men sell it properly. This match is designed to build suspense for Sting vs. Jake Roberts at Halloween Havoc and it accomplishes that goal. (3.5/5)

With our main event finished, one would think the show is over. They would be wrong. Instead, we cut to Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura reminding the viewers to call in and vote on whether or not the ban on top rope maneuvers should be lifted. I can’t imagine anyone voting “No” to that. Then, at the tail end of the broadcast, we get a longer version of the same Halloween Havoc commercial that has already been aired multiple times. This one features Jake Roberts, Sting, and Madusa and is just the definition of camp. Campy enough to be “must see”? No, but hey, that kind of sums up my attitude on this whole show. (3/5)

With an average match/segment rating of 3.08-out-of-5, this show meanders in the middle of the road a little too much, never really delivering on the promise that it may have at first glance, but keeping a good enough pace to make it relatively fun to watch for fans looking to scratch the nostalgia itch. On paper, a show headlined by an 8-man elimination match featuring Sting, Vader, the Steiners, Rude, and Jake Roberts, with a TV Title Match between Steve Austin and Ricky Steamboat, and a Cactus Jack/Ron Simmons brawl should be much better, though. The opening contest’s finish betrays the story told before it. The World Championship match needed more suspense. The 8-man tag was good, just not remarkable. Of course, this was a TV special and not a full 3-hour pay-per-view, so, its easy to be left unfulfilled. 

FINAL RATING – Watch It…With Remote in Hand