NWA Clash of the Champions #8: Fall Brawl (9.12.89) 

 

September 12, 1989 

 

We’re in Columbia, South Carolina at the Carolina Coliseum. A small (2600) attendance for this show and generally business wasn’t great in 1989 for the NWA. Comparitvely it was for the WWF, which is so weird because the WWF sucked in 1989, and NWA was great. There’s no accounting for tastes. Hosts are Jim Ross and Jim Cornette, who’s about to slowly transition from manager to commentator as managers would be phased out during the 1990s. This is his first major show on the “call”. He’s mostly done TVs like Power Hour and Championship Wrestling prior to this. He also called Starrcade ‘89 and Clash #10.  

Cornette’s attire for this looks like he lost a bet. He’s got a pastel pink jacket, a red shirt and a green tie. It’s a horror show. Ross looks like he’s seen some shit, but this has put him over the edge.  

 

This is the first of four Fall Brawl’s under the Clash banner before it became a PPV in 1993. I guess they just liked the sound of the name. Most of the other Jim Herd names didn’t go anywhere.  

The major storyline here is Flair & Sting vs. J-Tex. Stemming back to Terry Funk’s attack on Flair after his title win over Steamboat. Extended to Muta helping Funk beat Flair up after Funk had failed to win the NWA title. Sting made the save, as he was feuding was Muta.  

 

Samoan Swat Team vs. Roadwarriors 

It’s sad to see how dark the top area of this arena is, because it’s all empty. Wrestling would become more tragically unpopular in years to come. Speaking of unpopular, there’s no way it would apply to the Roadies. They’re over, brrrrother. The Swat Team pick off Hawk for heat. They have a messy finish, which is supposed to involve the phone, but Fatu drops it clean out of the ring. Nick Patrick then allows all manner of babyface cheating and the Doomday Device finishes. This was not a good match, but it was incredibly heated. Hawk’s little trip out of the ring to the find the phone at the end was just sad.  

 

Post Match: Paul E’s phone gets smashed up and the Samoan’s are so mad about the phone being used in the finish that they walk out on Heyman. I bet they didn’t even get paid. 

 

We stop off to shill PPV event Halloween Havoc, the newest edition to WCW’s PPV schedule. For those counting at home, we’re now up five in a year (Chi-Town Rumble, Wrestlewar, Great American Bash, Halloween Havoc and Starrcade). This is up from three in 1988 (Bunkhouse Stampede, Great American Bash and Starrcade). In 1991 the schedule increased to six (thanks to a Japan supershow) and in 1993 it became eight with the addition of Fall Brawl and Battlebowl. By 1995 the total was ten PPVs, but it didn’t become 12 PPVs until 1998 when the company was on fire, and they could shift a big event monthly.  

 

Cuban Assassin vs. Z-Man 

This is Tom Zenk’s WCW debut after a run in the WWF as half of excellent Can-Am Connection. I’m not sure what WCW thought calling him “Z-Man” was going to do for his career. JR makes a point of saying that Zenk is a “big man” but moves like a lightweight. If I had to use one word to describe Zenk it would be “competent”. He’s perfectly fine. You could put him in a match, and it’ll be fine. He’s way better in tags. Sleeper finishes for the Z-Man. This was a whole lot of nothing. 

 

Ric Flair Day. It’s Ric Flair Day in South Carolina! Not to be confused with Ric Flair Day in Nashville, which is in July.  

 

Ranger Ross vs. Sid Vicious 

Remember how Ranger Ross got this little push in 1989 based on his former military career? Well, that’s over*.  

DDT. Whirlybird slam. Powerbomb. That’s it. WCW did a great job here of making Sid look like a monster. They’ve been doing it for a while now. For some reason it never quite got to the big matches. Presumably because Sid sucked. They didn’t have anyone who could carry him. Apart from Flair, I guess? I’m sure someone thought about doing that match.  

 

*Ross would continue in the company into 1991 and appeared for the final time at Fall Brawl of that year. You’d think after this booking decision that he was done!  

 

Video Control gives us footage of Missy Hyatt taking Robin Green, Rick Steiner’s girlfriend, shopping.  

You may recognise Robin Green. She’s a few weeks off becoming Woman. You may know her better as Nancy Sullivan or Nancy Benoit. She’s already played a character called “Fallen Angel” on the Indies for Sullivan’s evil Army of Darkness stable. This is how she was introduced to WCW, as a cutesy, innocent girlfriend character for sweet, simple Rick Steiner. 

 

NWA Tag Team Championship 

Fabulous Freebirds (c) vs. Steiner Brothers 

The Freebirds have held the belts for three months and there’s a feeling that every time they defend them, they’re going to lose. The Steiners, however, are asking for trouble by having two dodgy valets. Who will turn on them first?  

Jim Ross, corporate stooge, suggests ringing the WCW hotline and listening to commentary on there instead. Every match I see on this flashback series, Scott Steiner looks better. He’s improving at a ridiculous rate. If WWF had signed him around here, instead of WCW, I could totally see him getting a world title in that early 90s era post Hulkamania.  

 

He throws Garvin around for fun here. His suplexes are so far ahead of their time. Rick isn’t as varied in his offence. He’s all clotheslines and powerslams but it’s all cracking fun. The Freebirds get beaten pillar to post. Rick does a good job missing a Stinger Splash and he gets beaten up for a while. The heat segment doesn’t land as hoped but Rick garners enough sympathy to make it work.  

 

Hot tag and Scott pops off a pair of Frankensteiners. The speed at which the MOVEZ are switching up gears here is really something. 1989 was a seminal year for an increase in the number of good wrestling moves. Scott gets tripped and Hayes wins with a DDT. The camera work does an outstanding job of missing who is responsible. Leaving it nicely mysterious for us at home, although everyone in the arena knows what happened. *** 

 

The replay shows a black glove, of Robin, in the shot and Missy is blatantly over the other side of the ring. Scott, the person who tripped, blames Robin. Rick is pointing at Missy. Ah, poor dumb Rick. Scott should have dumped him in 1989. He was 8 years late in moving on. 

 

Jim Ross pulls up another camera angle and they manage to miss it from there too. You can literally see Robin’s black glove on the first shot. Comms come across as hopeless here.  

 

Norman the Lunatic vs. Flyin’ Brian 

These two know each other from Stampede and have presumably worked together before. The result is surprisingly spiffy with Norman happy to take all Pillman’s spots to help get him over. Including a crazy crossbody to the floor. Norman is fantastic in this match. The bumps and spots he takes are wonderful for a big guy. He doesn’t help his own career any but it’s arguably the best match I’ve ever seen him in. Pillman finishes with a crucifix. A genuinely good little three-minute match.  

Teddy Long puts the bad mouth on Norman after the match.  

 

Video Control takes us back to Gordon Solie, who has Gary Hart. Is Terry Funk even here? Hart promises us he is. 

 

Mike Rotunda vs. Steve Williams 

The two former Varsity Club members go head-to-head here. And you thought Hogan vs. Savage was the big ‘partners feud’ storyline of 1989. Doc had gotten significantly better in 1989 and that’s demonstrated here but Rotunda looks like he’s injured, or hungover, or something. Rotunda, as IRS, would become reliant on chinlocks and other rest holds. There are signs of it here and unfortunately it gets over.  

 

Rotunda would remain convinced the style was effective and reel off hundreds of boring matches because of it. Whereas Doc, lobbing Rotunda around, would go to Japan and become a captivating worker. They have a screwy finish, where the referee won’t let Rotunda hold the ropes and as a result he gets rolled up. About **½ on the flake scale. A decent hard-hitting affair, slowed down by Rotunda’s obsession with rest holds. 

 

NWA US Championship 

Lex Luger (c) vs. Tommy Rich 

Nothing says “this isn’t a big show” more than putting “Wildfire” Tommy Rich in the secondary main event. Luger is an extremely arrogant cocky heel at this point. Rich the Southern style underdog babyface.  

Rich is a weird one because he has no kind of reputation, had already been a journeyman territories guy for 14 years at this point and just, sort of, slid into a big spot on this great 1989 roster. He stuck around WCW for about 3 years and then went back to the Indies. He had a few matches for ECW and he’s the kind of guy that pops Joey Janela, so he’s been booked by GCW a few times. The one thing he is famous for is a four-day run as NWA champion way back in 1981 when he upset Harley Race.  

 

NWA in 1989. There was something in the water. It’s from that wonderful spell of matches where Luger decided he enjoyed taking bumps. Rich was always better off in a match where he could bleed profusely. He doesn’t here but this match rules! It’s so well put together, with Luger overpowering Rich but getting caught constantly in armdrags and roll ups.  

 

Rich’s timing in impeccable. The way he dodges Luger coming off the top, with a high angle camera shot, is elite. His work is so good here that I’m being worked. I’m not seeing spots miss or be countered until they are. There’s no telegraphing. Nothing feels phoney. It’s just perfectly engineered. The positioning in the ring is just great. Rich punches the ring post, accidentally, and can’t use his right hand. He opts for a sleeper, in a panic, over the ropes and Luger drops him with a Hot Shot. This was phenomenal. Just great work all round. ***½ 

 

I’ve not seen a lot of Tommy Rich’s early work and I don’t even remember most of this run, but I’ll be damned if that isn’t a great pro-wrestling performance there.  

Video Control gets us back to Gary Hart, who finally decides to reveal that Terry Funk nearly lost his arm after it became infected following Ric Flair’s attack on it with a branding iron. Funk vows revenge from his hospital bed! That’s what we love to see.  

Elsewhere, Flair and Sting cut promos about their past and Terry Funk and how all this has come to pass. Sting seems chilled out about the situation.  

 

Ric Flair & Sting vs. Great Muta & Dick Slater 

Slater subs in for the injured Funk. Dirty Dick himself has a cast on his arm, from Flair’s wild branding iron antics. JR starts talking about Muta’s mist and claims yellow is the most dangerous colour but they’d never allow it in the United States. What?  

 

Anyway, this is a proper good scrap. Muta is all chop socky and Slater is revelling in the main event slot. He’s loving it and overselling like a mad man, replacing that Terry Funk energy with his own. Both Flair and Sting are amped up and eager to do fun stuff. Flair is throwing chops like they’re going out of fashion. Flair does the corner bump, runs the apron, chops Muta off the apron and then hits a chop off the top on Slater. Fired up babyface Ric Flair was a sight!  

 

Dick Slater might be the MVP here. His bumping and selling is comical but there’s so much energy in it. He matches Flair. You could argue Slater is good value for a title shot based on this. There are moments during this where it would benefit from split screen as Flair and Slater brawl on the floor and Sting and Muta counter in the ring. The result is Sting getting pinged with a roll of quarters, from Hart, and he’s isolated for heat. 

 

Sting does fine work as babyface-in-peril and Muta gives him the DEADLY YELLOW MIST. NOOO! Sting is basically dead. Flair finds himself isolated, busted open and the the match completely breaks down. Terry Funk runs in and tries to kill Flair with a plastic bag!  

Slater tries to break Sting’s leg while Flair struggles out of the bag. The match has been thrown out and just before we go off the air JR claims Flair has been given mouth to mouth. Has he? He was moving around, what the fuck? Wrestling is so weird.  

 

Anyway, the match is fantastic. Lots of energy and excitement and four guys determined to not let up for the entire 20 minutes. A rollicking good time at the wrestling. One of the great forgotten matches. **** 

 

The 411: 

What a fantastic Clash of the Champions this was! Even the throwaway undercard stuff was mostly good. The Sid squash, the introduction of Woman, Pillman vs. Norman and Tommy Rich rolling back the years. The last couple of matches are both excellent and it’s so weird seeing a clear ‘lesser’ card with Rich and Slater and them over-delivering like this. Arguably the second best show of 1989, after GAB.