NWA Clash of the Champions 13: Thanksgiving Thunder (11.20.90) review 

 

November 20, 1990 

 

We’re in Jacksonville, Florida. Back in the day this would have been programmed against the WWF’s Survivor Series PPV out of sheer spite. However, we’ve gotten past that and this is a couple of days beforehand. On a Tuesday night. Hosts are Jim Ross & Paul E. Dangerously. I’ve never seen this show. I think I saw the Flair-Reed main event on a comp somewhere but that’s it. Scanning through the results we have some wild gimmicks on this thing. Big Cat, Prime Time, Starblazer, Colonel DeKlerk, Sgt Krueger, Kalua, the Beast, Motor City Madman, the Nightstalker and Magnum Force. All on this show. Without googling I know who two of those people are. Maybe three. I am excited for incompetence. Ole Anderson has clearly lost the plot by this point.  

 

 

Incidentally, this is the last show where WCW carried the NWA branding. After this the NWA is no longer associated with WCW. The links were cut. This would lead to confusing titles and a couple of years of utter mess. WCW wouldn’t officially leave the NWA until 1993. We’re in for a messy ride. Which is crazy because this whole mess goes head to head with WWF and the steroid trials. So, both companies are legitimately in a complete mess for three years here.  

 

Fabulous Freebirds vs. Southern Boys  

Freebirds have Richard Marley in their corner but also Bobby Eaton, seeing as the rest of MXP have left the promotion. Is this the best they had for him? PS Hayes tries to cut a promo, but WCW cut his microphone off. This was scheduled to be a trios match but El Gigante isn’t here*. The Southern Boys are still red hot. They get a good pace on this too. Lots of crazy bumping and high-speed offence. Hayes catches Smothers with the DDT though and the Freebirds steal a quick win. This was really good. Especially for the Freebirds. **½ 

 

*He is here, they just don’t want him to embarrass himself by wrestling. The very definition of a ‘house show’ attraction at this point in his career. If you put him on TV all the time, the illusion crumbles.  

 

Video Control takes us to Tony Schiavone who has “champion of the world” (bye NWA) Sttttiiiiiiiing. Sting’s interview is interrupted by evil Black Scorpion talking over the PA system. I think it’s Kevin Sullivan. I know Ole Anderson did a lot of the voice stuff for Black Scorpion, but the voice here is familiar.  

 

Buddy Landell vs. Flyin’ Brian 

I’ve spelled Landell as it appears on the graphic. Pillman is a fun guy to watch. The sheer number of pin attempts here is a delight. Springboard clothesline to the ramp! Pillman was such a great worker. WCW clearly fumbled with him. He should have been US champion by this point. In between the dives and crazy stuff, they waffle each other with strikes too. It’s a tasty match. Pillman takes it with a high crossbody. Lots of effort and they flew through 5:00 here. Great stuff. For Landel, this is miracle territory. *** 

 

What a hot start to the show!  

 

Big Cat vs. Brad Armstrong 

The “Big Cat” is Mr Hughes. As someone who’s seen a lot of Mr Hughes matches, I know this is bad news. This is before he’s gotten gimmicked up. He’s very bland. Hughes is allegedly 6’6” but he’s the same height as Brad Armstrong who’s billed as 6’ 0”. Wrestling. Big Cat cut a promo, pre-match, saying he’s coming after Luger. Funny because he’ll end up as Luger’s bodyguard. Brad tries hard to get this over by taking overly exaggerated bumps. Big Cat doesn’t look like a horrible talent at this point. He can bump at least. Torture Rack finishes for the Big Cat. Considering how shit Mr Hughes would get, he looked ok here.  

 

Video Control gives us Dick the Bruiser, who promises a winner at Starrcade. Is he the referee? *GOOGLES* Yes, yes, he is. Because having an old timer as the referee at Starrcade has always worked SO well in the past!  

 

Brian Lee vs. Tom Zenk 

The future Chainz/Fake Undertaker in action here. This is basically a try out for him and the fact that WCW weren’t interested speaks volumes. He would end up getting over in ECW years later. So, I guess Paul E was liking what he saw here. Zenk goes for a high crossbody, and Lee has no idea that he’s going for it and isn’t even looking. Zenk eats shit and I giggle like a child. They botch again in the corner with Lee having no idea what Zenk is going for. Missile dropkick finishes and Lee kicked out. Oof, this was a stinker. Zenk wanted to do stuff that was beyond Lee here and it showed. Woof. Easily a DUD, probably less.  

 

Video Control shows us Michael Wallstreet and Alexandra York as the beginning of the York Foundation. York is Terri Runnels. So, York/Runnels was a makeup artist for CNN and started doing wrestler’s makeup due to the connection with Turner. Ole Anderson, notoriously good at making fine booking decisions, asked her to become an onscreen talent. Alexandra York was born. An accountant who used computers to compute victories in matches. Opta before it’s time. She met, and subsequently married, Dustin Rhodes while working there and would later feature in the WWF as Marlena. Wallstreet, the former Mike Rotunda, is entering into the most boring phase of his entire career. Which is saying something with Rotunda, one of the dullest workers I’ve ever seen.  

 

Michael Wallstreet vs. Starblazer 

Wallstreet, as a character, is a crack at doing the ‘rich wrestler’ gimmick. He’s inherited a lot of money. York? “She takes care of my computers”. York tells us her system is “infallible” and if Michael follows her computer printout victory is guaranteed. So, Starblazer? I had to look this up; it’s Tim Horner under a mask. Some wag shouts “boring” about 20 seconds in. Hey, I agree! Abdominal stretch. “BORING”.  

“I think Miss York needs to get another printout” – Paul E as Starblazer repeatedly dropkicks him. No computer printout is going to make Michael Wallstreet entertaining though. Wallstreet blows the set up to a roll through Boston crab and the Wall Street Crash finishes. It’s just a Samoan drop, lads. This sucked. Rotunda changing gimmicks isn’t going to fix how fucking boring he is.  

 

Pat O’Conner Memorial International Tag Team Championship Regional Qualifier 

Col. De Klerk & Sgt. Krueger vs. Kalua & Botswana Beast 

This is the African qualifier, obviously. De Klerk is Cheetah Kid, Ted Petty (Rocco Rock) with an Apartheid gimmick. Krueger is Ray Apollo, who will eventually be a version of Doink. The South Africans (they’re both from New Jersey, but who’s counting) are billed from Johannesburg. Kalua & the Beast are billed from “Africa”. The Beast is literally called the Botswana Beast, which should give a clue as to what country he’s from. Kalua is Thunderbolt Hamilton from Memphis. Botswana Beast is Bill “Black Assassin” Tabb, who you may know from wrestling in All Japan a few years earlier. NONE of these gentlemen are African. Tabb is from Atlanta.  

This is so heatless they might as well have not turned up. Just silence. Petty is pretty good, but we know that. Botswana Beast could have gotten over, at a push. He’s very big. He’s clearly being led by Petty though. The South Africans double team to win and the crowd goes mild. This was a complete failure. Petty had to call the shots so he could work in his spots but the rest of these jamokes weren’t good enough. 

 

Lex Luger vs. Motor City Madman 

This is the Motor City Madman. A bar brawler discovered, in a humorous skit, by Paul E. He’d previously worked as Mike Moore in AWA and Man Mountain Moore in the WWF. Hey, I like that WCW throw a bunch of different shit at the screen here. It’s a shame so much of it is garbage. Moore’s selling here is comical, and he doesn’t jump properly for bumps. That could have ended badly for him. Luger decides he can’t Rack this guy so he just hits a clothesline for the pin. A clothesline! Haha.  

 

In a normal year Motor City Madman would win Worst Wrestler of the Year. He just stinks but competition is so fierce this year, I don’t think he’ll crack the top ten. Seriously.  

 

Renegade Warriors vs. Nasty Boys 

WCW still hasn’t signed the Nasties to a contract so about a week after this they just jumped to the WWF. The levels of incompetence in this company this year have been staggering. The Renegade Warriors aren’t much better. A complete failure as babyfaces and the push would fizzle out and they’d be gone early in 1991. WCW is still building to Nasties vs Steiners in early 1991, by which point the Nasty Boys would be WWF superstars. That results in the Steiners running in for the DQ so the Renegade Warriors don’t have to take a loss. I mean, who really gives a shit? Very funny of WCW to build to a match that’s never going to happen. 

 

Sid vs. Nightstalker 

The Nightstalker is Adam Clark* aka Adam Bomb. He worked for AWA as the Nightstalker. Seeing as AWA is now toast, Clark has jumped to WCW. This initial gimmick has him managed by Ox Baker** (because he can’t talk) and carrying a gigantic axe. Sid has a weird red set of tights, which partially cover his torso. I’m so used to seeing Sid in plain black trunks that it’s quite jarring. Clark is so slow here. So painfully slow at everything. He can’t even run the ropes. Jesus fucking Christ he’s shit. Another swing and a miss from Ole, putting this jackwad in the ring. “It’s not going to be the prettiest match on the card” says JR. No shit mate.  

 

*I’ve always spelled his name “Clarke”, but Wikipedia has it as “Clark”, so I guess we’ll go with that.  

 

**Baker isn’t even here, and I guess WCW baulked at paying him when there was no interview segment scheduled. He remains on the match graphic.  

 

Big Cat strolls down during the match, the fourth segment he’s been in tonight. This happens while Sid almost murders Nightstalker with a backdrop driver. Sid has clearly had enough and hits Nightstalker in the throat with his axe for the win. Haha, this was so bad. Easily negative stars. Brian Clark legitimately has a shot at Worst Wrestler of the Year and it’s a hot competition this year. -** 

 

An aside on ‘Worst Wrestler of the Year’ the candidate list this year is unreal. A who’s who of absolute shitters. The fact that guys like Sid, JYD and Duggan can’t get close to the top ten should speak volumes on how awful wrestling got in 1990. Just a sudden drop off in skill in the big companies that shows the boom is over.  

 

Steiner Brothers vs. Magnum Force 

The latest in the cavalcade of crap is Magnum Force. They’re a tag team from the Indies. They were known, on the Indies, as Lords of the Ring. Ringlord Rick and Ringlord Speedy. I wish I was making those names up. Ringlord Rick sounds like he should be in gay porn. He looks like he should be in gay porn too. Scott tries to do his moonsault slam here. Scott, mate, you’re insane. Why are you even attempting that? Frankensteiner finishes in short order. Thanks for coming Magnum Force. To be fair to them, they didn’t stink the joint up. They didn’t have a chance.  

 

Danger Zone 

Paul E has Sting for an interview. He’s already done one interview on this show. Beforehand we get a recap of all the goofy Black Scorpion shtick. And they STILL don’t have anyone to play him!  

Black Scorpion does more BLACK MAGIC! “Let him do it” says Sting. After removing the head of a plant, he turns the poor guy into a tiger. “I’m gonna jump down there in a second” says Sting. Good lord, they made him look like a complete chump in this angle. No wonder his first run as champion tanked. Awful booking from Ole throughout 1990. He’s so bad that WCW are about to go back to Dusty Rhodes and beg him to come home. Not that it’ll matter because the boss is still Jim Herd, who knows nothing about wrestling. Jim Herd, for those who don’t know, was a regional manager for Pizza Hut before being appointed to this position.  

 

Ric Flair vs. Butch Reed 

This match has a bunch of stipulations. If Flair wins the Horsemen get a tag title match at Starrcade and Teddy Long becomes Flair’s chaffeur. If Reed wins, he gets Flair’s limo and his yacht. Flair goes about his business with the old broomstick match here. The match he can do blindfolded against any basic powerhouse. Paul E talks about how you can’t work out your eyes in the gym, the same week Dr Death no sold an eye rake on UWF Fury Hour.  

 

If you’ve seen Ric Flair wrestle, you’ll probably recognise most of this match. The bonus stuff comes from Arn Anderson and Ron Simmons both cheating for their respective teams on the floor. It is wild seeing Butch Reed having a legitimately good singles match. It’s never happened before! And it’ll never happen again. He tattoos Flair with big overhand chops.  

 

The timing on this match is what really startles me. I know a lot of it is on Flair moving out of the way of Reed moves but the near misses are exquisite. I’m sorry, I’m just not used to this happening for Butch Reed. He’s always been terrible. Ron sneaks in to batter Flair but Arn sneaks in to hit Reed with a chair and Nick Patrick doesn’t see any of it (“I’m blind, I’m deaf, I wanna be a ref”). Flair wins. Teddy Long has to be his chaffeur. Horsemen get the title shot at Starrcade. It won’t be Flair though. ***½. Best singles match of Butch Reed’s career by a country mile. 

 

The 411: 

If you take Flair and Pillman off this show it HONKS. There are four Mr Hughes segments. FOUR. Black Scorpion does magic. Prime Time Brian Lee. York Foundation. Starblazer. African qualifiers for the Pat O’Conner tournament. Motor City Madman. Renegade Warriors. THE NIGHTSTALKER. Magnum Force. Butch Reed in the main event. It’s a disaster of a show from start to finish. It’s almost worth seeing for what a car crash of a promotion WCW turned into under Ole Anderson. Especially compared to 1989, where they made no money but were cooking in the ring. 1990 SUCKS in WCW.  

 

NEXT: Survivor Series 1990