Wednesday, June 8th, 1988
James L. Knight Center
Miami, Florida
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Well, I decided to run a new feature on here once a month that I am calling Off The Grid. Each month I am going to pick a show that took place prior to any of the timelines that I am reviewing. The show that is chosen will have taken place in the month that I am going to post it. For the inaugural Off The Grid, I have chosen the second ever Clash Of The Champions, which is a show I have never seen before and took place a little over two years before I became a wrestling fan.
Jim Ross is here outside of the James L. Knight Center and a limo pulls up with Lyle Alzado is the first person out. Another limo arrives and some wrestling promoters walk out. As far as limo reveals go, that has to be among the weakest I can ever think of.
United States Championship Match
Brad Armstrong vs. Barry Windham
I didn't read any reviews, but I saw that this was the opening match and this is the reason I picked this show. Windham hits a move of some sort, but I couldn't tell you what it is because the camera is on a fan with a sign. Is Kevin Dunn directing this show? Armstrong hits a body slam and Windham retreats out of the ring. Windham is the newest member of the Four Horseman. Armstrong slides under Windham and hits a hip toss and the crowd goes nuts for it. I would do anything for crowds to go back to being like this era. Windham gets back in the ring and puts Armstrong in a headscissor. Teddy Long is the ref here and he makes Windham break the hold. Windham gets in some right hands, but misses with a fist to the mat. Windham is in full heel mode here as he continues to stall as much as possible. Armstrong catches Windham in midair and hits a body slam. He has Windham in a headlock and tries to walk the ropes with him, but Windham hits a back suplex. Widham hits a powerslam and gets a 2 count. Windham puts Armstrong in the Figure Four and uses J.J. Dillon for some leverage. Armstrong is in this for longer than I can ever remember seeing someone in any submission hold. He finally breaks the hold and dumps Armstrong out of the ring. He drops Armstrong on the guardrail and then brings him in the hard way. Windham hits a spinning body slam, but then misses an elbow drop from the top rope. Armstrong hits a dropkick and a knee lift. Armstrong goes up top and hits a crossbody for a 2 count. He hits another one, but Windham rolls through and puts the claw on Armstrong, which leads to the pinfall victory. They really drove it home that Windham was a heel here, but the crowd was with them the whole way. This was an enjoyable opening match.
Match Rating: ***1/4 (out of 5)
The Rock 'n' Roll Express are out for an interview to let us know that they are back.
Tony Schiavone recaps the signing of Ric Flair and Lex Luger for Great American Bash that took place on the yacht of the Chicago Blackhawks owner. This was absolutely pointless.
We go back to Jim Ross outside the arena. Ric Flair, Tully Blanchard and Arn Anderson arrive in a limo. Flair reminds Luger that diamonds are forever and so are the Four Horseman.
United States Tag Team Championship Match
The Sheepherders vs. The Fantastics
Just as the match was about to begin, we go back to Jim Ross and he is there to interview Lex Luger who just rolled up in his limo. The Horsemen instantly attack him and lay him out. Back to the arena and I am looking forward to see the Bushwhackers as not the Bushwhackers for the first time here. Bobby Fulton takes control and takes the action outside. He's pounding away on Luke until Rip Morgan comes from behind and attacks him. He fights back and takes care of them both. Butch goes for a back body drop, but Tommy Rogers lands on his feet and the Fantastics double team and the Sheepherders retreat outside. Luke gets Rogers in an abdominal stretch. They try a double team, but Rogers avoids the knee from Butch and tags in Fulton. Fulton starts hammering away on Butch, but he's in their corner and Luke is able to pull him off. Fulton hits a double crossbody and then he and Rogers try multiple rotating pins, which I'm surprised were counted during this era where rules were actually followed. Butch pulls down the top rope, which causes Rogers to fall to the floor and he then throws him into the guardrail. Butch then takes one of the championship belts on his back. Luke distracts the ref and Butch then hits him in the back with a chair. Butch ends up hitting Luke with a double axe handle, but Luke is able to maintain control. Rogers hits a clothesline, but again Butch is able to stop him from making a tag. Luke tries to run Rogers into a chair that Butch is holding, but Rogers counters it and Luke goes face first. He finally makes the tag to Fulton and he gets a pinfall out of a victory roll. That was an extremely sloppy finish. His shoulders weren't down for the first count and then Butch came in to break the count, but Long still counted to 3. This wasn't a bad match, but it just felt like a clash of styles.
Match Rating: *3/4
Dr. Death is ringside with Tony Schiavone. He stumbles over his words when talking about the attack on Lex Luger. If there were a case for scripting interviews, this would be a good one.
The Varsity Club vs. Jimmy & Ronnie Garvin
They check in with Jim Ross who lets us know that Luger has been brought to the hospital. So Kevin Sullivan is locked in a cage outside the ring. We get a quick brawl to start and then both Ronnie and Jimmy lock in sleeper holds. We get a lot of stalling here, but not in the fun way like we got in the opener. The focus of the production crew is the story of Precious and Kevin Sullivan. Precious has the key for the cage. Jimmy talks her out of heading over that way. Rotunda and Steiner take turns pulling Ronnie down by his hair, but it's hard to care when no one else seems to want us to. The Varsity Club remains in control seemingly forever. Ronnie finally makes a tag to Jimmy and while that is happening, Precious for some reason goes to Kevin Sullivan and of course he just grabs the key. While this is happening, Jimmy Garvin gets the win. Sullivan apparently just doesn't care and he then starts choking Precious. Dr. Death leaves the announcer booth to make the save. When Jimmy Garvin comes back, she pushes him away and leaves for the back without him. Who came up with these finishes? Two matches in a row with just absolutely awful endings.
Match Rating: 3/4*
Tony Schiavone shows us the Tower Of Doom cage that will be at Great American Bash.
Al Perez vs. Nikita Koloff
Perez tries to get something going, but Koloff is one step ahead of him. Gary Hart attacks Koloff to help Perez and he then begins choking Koloff on the ropes. Perez hits a body slam on the outside to the concrete. Perez tries to suplex him back in the ring, but Koloff counters it into a pinfall for a 2 count. Perez works on Koloff's back until Koloff picks him up and hits an electric chair. They follow that up with a miscommunication, so Perez dumps Koloff outside the ring again. Koloff goes for a sunset flip, but he is able to back himself into the ropes. I'm not sure that I've ever seen that before. Koloff is able to hit a vertical suplex and both men are down. Koloff hits a reverse elbow and it knocks Perez out of the ring. Gary Hart is on the apron, but Koloff scares him away. Larry Zbyszko comes in and attacks Koloff and the ref calls for the bell. They continue with the three-on-one attack as we go to commercial break. The match was okay, but the finish was a bit of a bummer.
Match Rating: *3/4
NWA World Tag Team Championship Match
Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard vs. Sting & Dusty Rhodes
This is just a few months before Anderson and Blanchard bolted for the WWF. Sting starts the match out by outsmarting Anderson. He avoids a clothesline from Anderson, who hits the ring post instead. Sting goes back in the ring and works on Anderson's arm. Sting hits the old school variation of the head scissor and then makes the tag to Dusty, who is super over here. He puts Blanchard in the Figure Four briefly, but Tully is able to tag in Arn. J.J. Dillon begins to get involved behind Long's back. The heels only get a brief heat segment and Dusty hits a lariat and a dropkick. In comes Sting and he hits a military press slam. The Horsemen do what they do best by cheating. Anderson goes for a Vader Bomb, but Sting gets his knees up, but Blanchard is able to stop Sting from tagging in Dusty. Sting is able to hang Anderson up on the top rope and then make the hot tag to Dusty. Dusty delivers such a beautiful elbow drop. Well, just like the last match we get a run in DQ finish. Barry Windham is in first and he puts the claw on Dusty. Flair joins the fight and he helps with Sting. I was really enjoying that match until the predictable finish.
Match Rating: ***1/4
Jim Ross is here again and he'll say that he'll have an update on Luger this Saturday. Cool.
The show started and finished with good matches, but the middle portion of the show was very vanilla. The booking was atrocious here and like most of the NWA/WCW stuff I have watched, the finishes of the matches were either poorly executed or poorly conceived. I'm not sure why you wouldn't separate the two DQ endings, but I don't think that was the kind of stuff they were always thinking about during this era. However, I enjoyed seeing some NWA stuff since I don't have a ton of history with it and would call the show a slightly better than average overall.
Overall Rating: 54%
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