WCW Clash of the Champions XXXIII

RATING LEVELS: 

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 XXXIII - August 1996

Denver, Colorado

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan comes into the show as the newly crowned WCW World Champion, Harlem Heat are the reigning Tag Team Champions, Rey Mysterio holds the Cruiserweight Championship, Lex Luger is the Television Champion, and Ric Flair is the United States Champion.

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

Tony and Bobby welcome us to tonight's show and hype the way the Four Horsemen came out to help Lex Luger and Sting in their battle with the nWo on Nitro. Nice set-up for next month's Fall Brawl.

Dean Malenko vs. Rey Mysterio Jr. for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship is our opening contest. Mike Tenay joins the commentary team (as was custom for the Cruiser division). Malenko attacks before the bell, but Mysterio takes control. Malenko sells well and takes a few "breathers" before he's able to get the upper hand, at which point he dishes out an awesome power bomb-into-a-top-rope-guillotine and then a sick brainbuster. Unfortunately, a commercial break takes us away from what was developing into a very, very good match. On the plus side, we see an ad for a $90 Hog Wild jacket. If anyone knows where I can score one, hit me up. Back to the action and instantly this one has your attention again, Malenko attempting to keep Rey grounded, but ultimately failing and ending up on defense. Mysterio hits a number of unbelievable spots, including a springboard moonsault off the guardrail that isn't perfect, but deserves points for originality. For whatever reason, Malenko gets some face pops at certain times, including for his ridiculously impressive finisher. We get a shocking ending that makes a rematch necessary and, considering how good this bout was, I'm eager to see it. If there hadn't been a commercial break, I could see this one scoring more points, but considering that we miss a few minutes, it's hard to judge it as an all-time great contest. (3.5/5)

Macho Man Slim Jim commercial plus an Absorbine and a Dentyne ad. 

Glacier sighting! So friggin' ridiculous and awesome. (+1)

Our next bout is likely to be a bit less action-packed, with VK Wallstreet taking on "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan. The crowd is into this one and Wallstreet puts in respectable effort, sticking to textbook heel work but doing it aggressively enough to keep the audience engaged. The match is kept relatively short, which only helps its palatability. (2/5)

The Nasty Boys are backstage with "Mean" Gene. They let him know that their allegiance is to themselves and that what they want most is a shot at the titles.

Sonny Onoo accompanies Ultimo Dragon for his match against Konnan. Konnan arrives looking noticeably different and less colorful than in his previous appearances as Mike Tenay notes that Konnan has begun taking "shortcuts" (wrestlese for "He's a bad guy now") since losing the United States Championship. Konnan confuses the crowd (and the commentary team) with a bizarre deathlock-like maneuver early on, but things get better once Dragon takes a bit of control. What hurts this match more than anything is that both guys are seemingly "tweeners" - Dragon gets help from his manager (a heel move), Konnan cheats to get the victory (a heel move), but Dragon also plays to the crowd at one point (babyface move) and Konnan goes after Onoo on the outside (babyface move). The match is also cut short to the point that it makes little sense why it even occurred or what it was meant to accomplish. More confusing than entertaining. (0.5/5)

Backstage, Scott Norton attacks Ice Train. 

Meng (with Jimmy Hart) vs. "The Macho Man" Randy Savage is next…or is it? Savage's music plays, but he doesn't come out. Instead, Okerlund makes his way down the aisle and notifies referee Nick Patrick that Mach is recovering from injuries suffered on Nitro and that Meng should be declared the winner. We then see a clip of the chairshot that Hogan gave Savage, which is actually pretty vicious compared to every other chairshot Hogan had ever swung. Back in the ring, Kevin Sullivan, Hugh Morrus, and The Barbarian have joined Meng in the ring. Sullivan cuts a promo about how he never trusted or liked Hogan, including making a few "insider" references before that was common. Jimmy Hart joins in, noting that he's sick of everyone talking about the nWo while the Dungeon of Doom remains the most powerful stable in WCW. Bonus point for an appearance from Braun the Leprechaun! This whole segment is effective and well-executed, furthering not only the Savage/nWo rivalry but also allowing the Dungeon of Doom the opportunity to outline their gripes with Hogan. Solid stuff. (2.5/5)

Bull Nakano vs. Madusa, in a rematch from Hog Wild, starts off with some big bumps, Nakano tossing Madusa by the hair viciously. Nakano busts out nunchucks in the clear sightline of the referee, who seems to just ignore it. This is followed by a botched splash from the corner by the American, the match not drawing another big reaction until Madusa flies off the top with a splash onto Sonny Onoo on the outside. The finish is counterproductive considering that, aside from Nakano, I'm not sure there was a single other female performer on WCW's roster at the time. (1/5)

Backstage, Ric Flair joins "Mean" Gene. Flair cuts an excellent, fired up promo, proving that he still had the goods in that department even if his in-ring output was less consistently great. 

Two Network nuggets of awesomeness are next - Super Soaker and Hot Pocket ads! (+1)

Diamond Dallas Page puts his Battlebowl ring on the line next, taking on Eddie Guerrero. Page and Guerrero waste no time, wrestling a fast-paced match with a handful of high impact spots within the first two minutes. Page slows things down with a headlock, lulling some of the crowd's enthusiasm. Things wrap up a few minutes later - a bit too quickly to consider this match anything more than slightly above average. The post-match establishes that a rivalry between the two has begun (and cements the Diamondcutter as a game-changing finisher), which can only lead to good things because their chemistry is obvious. (3/5)

On the entrance ramp, Hollywood Hogan accosts "Mean" Gene, cutting a promo that contains multiple goofs but is still considerably more entertaining than anything he did in his last WWE run. 

Replay of the Glacier promo! 

Our next contest is Chris Benoit vs. The Giant and, while barely a match, it's interesting, furthering a bit of the confusion revolving around Woman and Benoit's relationship. Aside from that, there's just nothing in this match/segment worth ever seeing or seeking out. (0.5/5) 

Yet another Network nugget of awesomeness in the form of a WCW Power Plant commercial. 

The WCW World Tag Team Championships are on the line next in a triangle match featuring The Steiners, Lex Luger and Sting, and the reigning champions, Harlem Heat. Tony Schiavone goes through the logic that should be dictating the action, but within the first minute or so, the Steiners blow it (and Tony, wisely, criticizes their strategy). After a commercial break, Sting tags himself in and has a decent sequence with Booker T before letting Luger take over for a spell. For the next several minutes, we essentially get a Luger & Sting/Steiners and the trust and experience these guys had in each other comes across through a number of well-executed moves, all four men dishing out a variety of their signature spots. The DQ is a great crowd killer ending, furthering the Nick Patrick storyline and ending the match at the peak of its drama. Smartly worked and more fast-paced than I expected, this is one of the better Harlem Heat matches in quite some time (possibly due to how relatively short it is). (3/5)

Nick Patrick's post-match interview is surprisingly quite good. 

Main event time - Hollywood Hulk Hogan defending the WCW World Championship against Ric Flair. The commentators provide plenty of analysis to this one, playing up the idea that this is the first time Flair has ever been cheered in a match against the Hulkster. The in-ring action is not as brisk as their encounters two years earlier, but that's not surprising considering the way the roles are reversed compared to those battles in 1994. Even when in control, Flair stays focused and practically stoic. There's an odd miscue a few minutes in, followed by the classic Flair corner spot, but most of this one is incredibly basic save for an excellent Flair side suplex. Oddly, Hogan "hulks up," which seems strange for him to bust out as a villain (some of the crowd even pops for it). A screwjob finish ends this one before it even hits the 10-minute mark. (2/5)

Considering the large number of minor details, advertisements, and promos in this one, Clash of the Champions XXXIII earned an average match/segment rating of 2.22-out-of-5, not a total waste of time, but certainly best viewed by fans already familiar and inclined to appreciate the early months of the nWo storyline. The matches are mostly sub-par, but there are brief moments that make this one an enjoyable 2-hour watch - namely the excellent opening contest, the Glacier and Braun the Leprechaun cameos, and hokey advertisements thankfully left intact on the Network. Even the bad matches are kept  short too, the pace of the show making it considerably more digestible than the 3-hour RAWs of today. Like Survivor Series 2014, the numerical average doesn't tell the whole story.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver