WCW Clash of the Champions 15: Knocksville USA (6.12.91) review 

 

June 12, 1991 

 

We’re in Knoxville, Tennessee. Hence, the stupid name for this show. WCW was creatively in the mire in 1991. Having resorted to bringing back Dusty Rhodes. We now had the same booking problems that got WCW into trouble before Dusty went to the WWF. Plus with added Jim Herd. The problems behind the scenes were rapidly growing. Things were spiralling out of control. This show would mark the end of Ric Flair’s run as NWA/WCW’s ace from 1983. He’s still WCW champion coming into this show, and this is the last chance to get the belt off him before he’s gone. The card has ELEVEN matches on it by the way. The show isn’t even two hours long! So, I’m expecting us to clip through this bullshit at a fair old rate. Hosts are Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone. 

 

The WCW YouTube channel is brilliant. I love how much stuff is on it.  

 

Fabulous Freebirds (Michael PS Hayes, Jimmy Garvin & Badstreet w/Big Daddy Dink, DDP & the Diamond Dolls) vs. Young Pistols & Z-Man 

I’ve listed everyone that the Freebirds have out here because it’s ridiculous. This is a fun hot opener with lots of shine for the babyface trio and the Freebirds pinballing around for them. I do like heel groups that just draw heat and take bumps without having to do long rest segments. There’s a lot of moving parts here and it mostly works. The finish is especially cool as they do a trio of sunset flips and the ref counts each of his three counts on a different man, sliding along the line. Great stuff from Fonzie. **¼ 

 

Video Control gives us details of a competition to get a trip to the Great American Bash, free hotel room, spending money and you get to meet Ric Flair. Ooooohhhhhh, no you don’t.  

 

Oz vs. Johnny Rich 

They’ve toned down Oz’s entrance a little bit.  

It would be fair to say that people still think it’s fucking stupid. This is just a squash. Rich is called a “regional tag team specialist”. Rich takes a nasty bump on his neck off a clothesline, which seems excessive. Whirlybird Slam finishes. Nash looked ok here, but he was literally just running through spots. 

 

Dan Spivey vs. Big Josh 

This is Spivey’s last match in this little mini-push he got. I’m still not sure I understand why they pushed him and then gave up so quickly.  

Big Josh has already lost his bears. Someone from Turner probably told them they couldn’t have live bears in an arena. Big Josh is Matt Borne, if you’re not familiar. He’d go on to be Doink the Clown. The lack of chemistry here is palpable. Kevin Sullivan comes down to whack Josh with a crutch and Spivey wins with a German suplex. What an odd match this was. Spivey will be back here in 1992. ½* 

 

The Danger Zone 

Paul E has been complaining he’s not getting talk show TV time, so they’ve caved in and let him interview Jason Hervey from the Wonder Years tonight. Heyman is a jerk, as usual. Hervey gets annoyed with Paul E’s continued insults about Missy Hyatt and goes to leave, so Paul E smacks him in the head with his phone. Hahaha. Eat shit, Hervey! This is all to sell tickets to Paul E vs. Missy on the loop. Hervey would end up palling around the place so much he’d become business partners with Eric Bischoff.  

*CLONK* 

 

Terrence Taylor vs. Dustin Rhodes 

Damn, that’s a cool shot. This is a rematch from the terrible Superbrawl match. I can’t believe anyone watched that and thought “hey, let’s do THAT again”. Taylor is a total goofball, pretending to be a badass. I keep saying this but that’s because it’s true; he really reminds me of Triple H. Taylor’s selling in this is embarrassing. Dustin is still very green, and he struggles with anything complicated. He also slaps his thigh, which in 1991 should be punishable by hanging, surely? They run a horrible ‘corner punches’ spot. Mr Hughes distracts, FOR AGES, and Ricky Morton strolls in to ‘shockingly’ turn heel. What a stupid heel turn. Who’s going to boo Ricky Morton? ½* 

 

Sting vs. Nikita Koloff 

This is the culmination of Koloff feuding with Lex Luger, which switched to Sting after Koloff missed Luger at Superbrawl and clocked the Stinger instead. So, now Sting is hot at him too. This is leading to a chain match at GAB ‘91, so you would think Sting would struggle here. They will continue to feud into August when Koloff quits to run his gym. These two don’t have great chemistry, but Sting does a good job of taking heat. He has to be picked up off the mat. He staggers. He stumbles. Great job. He’s telling everyone in that building that he’s totally fucked.  

 

It’s 1991 so patriotic fervour is back in a big way. The crowd “USA” to support Sting in his comeback. He needs the support too, as he’s totally fucked. I personally don’t like overselling but if it’s getting the crowd to support you more then go for it. Also, I think they do it for too long here. Sting ends up dodging Koloff and rolling him up in a very unsatisfying conclusion. Nikita was so boring here that the match dragged horribly. Compare this to the same job Sting does with Vader and it’s night and day. * 

 

Video Control brings us PN News and he’s accompanied by Pepa, from Salt N Pepa and Spinderella, the group’s DJ. Hmm, needs more salt.  

Their….celebrations?…are interrupted by Johnny B Badd. Great reaction sell from Pepa. Or is that Spinderella? I literally don’t know, I’m sorry. This version of Johnny B Badd was so horrendous.  

 

Loser Leaves WCW 

Arn Anderson & Barry Windham vs. El Gigante & Brian Pillman 

Given WCW’s recent stupidity, it wouldn’t be that much of a shock if someone else was actually leaving the company here. Only the guy that loses the fall is gone from WCW, not both team members. Naturally, they leave El Gigante on the apron here. Pillman, who has great chemistry with Windham, works the entire match. Pillman gets nudged off the top, and Windham punts him in the head. Pillman is pinned and MUST LEAVE WCW FOREVER….or two days, whichever is shortest. The match was fun but so, so short. ** 

 

So, Pillman actually worked a house show, as Brian Pillman, two days after this. Then they put a hood on him and called him Yellow Dog. That stuck for a couple of months. By the time the next Clash rolls around, he’s already back to being Brian Pillman, and this whole thing is forgotten about. 

 

IWGP Tag Team Championship 

Steiner Brothers (c) vs. Hiroshi Hase & Masahiro Chono 

This is after the Steiners won the belts in the Tokyo Dome. Sasaki has been swapped out for Chono in this rematch. I gave the original 3.75 as they just battered each other. That continues here. I looked up MOTY in the Observer between watching this and writing this and the Dome match was it. I find that very hard to believe.  

 

Hase looks like he’s hot about how the Steiners beat his ass in Tokyo. Chono kicks Rick in the top of the head and snaps his headgear in half. Damn! Boy, do they batter Chono for that. The Steiners seem better when someone stiffs them. You’d think the match would slow down when Chono hooks the STF, but Scott just goes and has a fight with Hase to keep it interesting. Admittedly, he does then whiff on breaking it up.  

 

Scott takes it out on Hase. BAH GAWD! You know your clothesline is stiff when it pops Jim Ross. Rick trips Chono on a double team, and the Frankensteiner finishes Hase out of nowhere. This was constant beatings. It’s really my kind of shit. I love it when two teams, or two guys, just fucking leather the shit out of each other. ***½ 

 

Post Match: The Hardliners attack everyone. That’s Dick Murdoch and Dick Slater. Don’t remember the Hardliners? Don’t worry, I don’t either. They got put over pretty hard here but didn’t even make it onto the GAB ‘91 PPV and would be finished by the time the Bash tour ended. The main reason was probably that they were supposed to work with the Steiners, but one of the spots here injures Scott’s tricep and he didn’t wrestle again until Halloween Havoc in late October. Which is unfortunate because the Steiners were the best tag team in the world at the time.  

 

Diamond Studd vs. Tommy Rich 

Tommy has been reduced to jobber status after his performances of late. Hall overwhelms him here. He’s too big, too quick, and too strong. Rich’s time has passed. Razor’s Edge finishes. They called it the Diamond Death Drop. You can’t say that on WWF TV though.  

 

Sting, recovered from his earlier beating from Nikita Koloff, comes out for the Sting look-a-like contest. My god, he looks just like him. He’s even got the muscles. Oh wait, the kid is on the left. While Sting is out here, Koloff attacks him with a chain to set up their next match. It’s a shame Koloff didn’t mangle the child too. The kid’s mom actually jumps over the rail to shield him. MAAAAARRRRKKKKKKKKKKKK.  

 

Great Muta vs. Lex Luger 

Winner gets a title shot at GAB ‘91. Which is accurate, but it won’t be against Ric Flair. Cagematch claims this is also for Luger’s US belt, but I don’t think it is. You know how Sting and Muta had crazy chemistry? There’s none of that here. They miscommunicate quite often and it’s a short match.  

Muta pops the crowd huge by doing the handspring back elbow and going CLEAN OVER THE TOP FUCKIN’ ROPE. Holy shiiiiiit. Muta pops back into the ring immediately, thus ruining the visual retroactively, tries to spit mist in Luger’s face, but Lex gets his arm up to block it and hits the powerslam for the win. I told you this was short. Jesus. Less than four minutes.  

 

Steve Austin vs. Joey Maggs 

A classic WCW blunder here as they announce Austin and Maggs’ name pops up on the graphic. Austin has already switched valets from Vivacious Veronica and now has Lady Blossom, his English girlfriend, in his corner. Stun Gun finishes in a few seconds. Bye Joey, thanks for coming. 

 

Video Control gives us Alexandra York, who’s announcing the newest member, which was given away earlier. It’s Richard Morton. At least Ricky has switched to a suit here, but he looks WEIRD in one and should have tied his hair up.  

They do something cool and have Robert Gibson turn up to question his partner on this whole thing. Morton stops Mr Hughes from attacking him and then piledrives Gibson himself. NOOO RICKY NOOOOO. It’s weird they turned Morton here because Gibson had just got fit to wrestle again.  

 

WCW World Championship 

Ric Flair (c) vs. Bobby Eaton 

Flair with his bad haircut and crap music looks disgusted with himself. Obviously, both these guys are very good but unfortunately this is the pinnacle of Eaton in singles. He never quite clicked, for reasons I don’t understand. Flair knows Eaton can keep up, so we do the Steamboat match not the Luger match. It’s Eaton who slows it down. 1991 wasn’t a good year to be Ric Flair. WCW stopped wanting him, and he stopped understanding how to get the best out of his opponents. The only time he clicked with anyone was with Pillman, who he already knew how to get the best out of. Flair makes a few mistakes, and Eaton lands the Alabama Jam for 1-0. If this was just one fall, Naitch’s belt would be gonzo here.  

 

Flair’s weird ticks start to grind at me in this one. Sometimes, it’s like he’s having a bad match on purpose with his bumps and his selling. Flair pushes Eaton off the ropes, and he’s counted out. 1-1. I do enjoy this concept as Eaton’s injury is not only the loss but also the basis for the entire third fall. Flair goes after Eaton’s knee for the whole of the final fall, and occasionally Eaton gets a roll up for a near fall. Eaton ends up being pinned in the Figure Four while Flair hangs off the ropes like an asshole. ***¼.  

 

I loved how Eaton dominated until he made a mistake and then the blood was in the water baby. It worked really well. It did feel rushed at 15:00 though, especially over three falls. Anyway, Flair retains and he’ll be gone from the company by the time the Great American Bash PPV airs next month. Flair won’t wrestle in WCW for another three years.  

 

The 411: 

This company is in real trouble. Everything that seems to work, they deliberately sabotage. Everything that doesn’t work, they just persist with. That’s nothing new and, indeed, will only get worse. I love the company and watched it passionately in 1991. I’m aware the shows aren’t great.  

 

Some of the booking here is scandalous too. Oz, Spivey getting pushed and then leaving, Richard Morton, Paul E vs Missy, Koloff-Sting, Pillman ‘leaving’, The Hardliners, baffling treatment of Muta and alienating your champion. The next PPV is arguably the worst PPV of all time. Genuinely an embarrassment from start to finish and I LIKE this company. I want it to succeed. It’s an alternative to the fed.