Wednesday, September 2nd, 1992
Center Stage Theater
Atlanta, Georgia
Follow me on Twitter: @WorkTheNetwork2
Off The Grid, Volume 4:
So not only is this the 20th Clash Of The Champions, but it's also a celebration of 20 years of professional wrestling on TBS. Tony Schiavone is with Missy Hyatt outside of Center Stage. Gordon Solie is also there with Andre The Giant. Ron Simmons and his wife are now here and he says that he is here to take care of business. Bill Watts and his wife are next to arrive and then are followed by Hank Aaron. Bill Shaw is next, which I would say is a pretty big drop off in terms of star power. Jim Barnett, Bob Dhue and Bruno Sammartino arrive in the next limo. Bruno takes a shot at WWF by saying he is thrilled to be back with an organization that cares about wrestling. Sting then arrives on a motorcycle, while Missy attempts to act. They then throw it over to Teddy Long, who is with the Atlanta City Council. They say that September 2nd, 1992 is WCW Day. Dusty Rhodes is here to get funky like a monkey. Well, they tried to make that feel like a big deal, but it came off as pretty small in scale. Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura are the hosts for tonight.
No Disqualification Match For The WCW World Television Championship
Ricky Steamboat vs. Steve Austin
Austin is accompanied by Paul E. Dangerously. After the ring entrances, they have an 11 year old accompanied to the ring to sing the national anthem. Dangerously will be suspended above the ring in a cage. He tries to get away, but he is tossed in the cage regardless. I have to say that it's good to hear Ventura again. Austin hits a nice hip toss and then drives an elbow in Steamboat's sternum. He takes too long and Steamboat is back in control with a side headlock. Austin catapults Steamboat off the top rope and he lands face-first. Austin nails a clothesline and then puts on the abdominal stretch. Steamboat gets to the ropes, but Austin goes for it again but this time Steamboat counters with a hip toss. Steamboat hits a crossbody, but Austin rolls through for a 2 count. Steamboat blocks a dropkick attempt and hits a catapult into the turnbuckle. Steamboat goes for a Tombstone piledriver, but Austin reverses it and then Steamboat reverses it right back. Interesting that Ross actually calls it the Tombstone piledriver. Austin sets up Steamboat for a superplex, but Steamboat counters it and drop him to the mat. Austin counters a second rope leap with a right hand to the midsection. Steamboat hits a shoulder block for a 2 count. I forgot that this was the era of no top rope moves, but this match of course is no DQ, so that doesn't matter. Austin knocks Steamboat out of the ring. Steamboat crawls under the ring and hits a top rope crossbody and we have a new TV Champion. This was a good match, even if they really didn't use the stipulation.
Match Rating: ***1/4 (out of 5)
Ross and Ventura introduce a video package of some of the great tag teams that have been on TBS over the past 20 years. We then get a Halloween Havoc commercial for "Spin The Wheel, Make The Deal".
Jesse Ventura is with Michael Hayes, Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton. Hayes says that they are a compilation of the three greatest tag teams.
Greg Valentine & Dick Slater vs. Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton
Valentine and Slater are accompanied by Larry Zbyszko. Eaton gets a cheap shot on Valentine, but their double team doesn't last long because Slater comes in and causes they to leave the ring. All four men are in the ring now and the ref finally regains control. I legitimately had no idea that Valentine was in WCW in '92. Valentine hits a vertical suplex on Anderson and gets a 2 count. Both teams use some double teams. Anderson hits a big spinebuster, but the pinfall attempt gets broken up. Again the ref is losing control here. Zbyszko accidentally hits Valentine with his cast, Eaton hits the Alabama Jam and he and Anderson pick up the victory. That one had a different feel than the usual tag team formula, which I enjoyed. I would have liked a few more minutes of action, but what we did get was action packed.
Match Rating: **3/4
Ross is now with Sammartino. Sammartino is again just so thrilled because that other league has been such an embarrassment the last 10 years or so. I wasn't alive for the Sammartino era, but I have never understood the appeal of him.
Teddy Long is with Bob Armstrong and Thunderbolt Patterson. Andre and Solie are there as well.
Mr. Wrestling II congratulates Ted Turner on 20 years in a pre-taped interview.
Ted Turner is also so happy that WCW is emphasizing traditional wrestling.
Tony Schiavone is with Bill Watts. Light Heavyweight Champion Brad Armstrong is injured and unable to defend his championship tonight. Watts is stripping him of the title and there will be a tournament to crown a new champ. They go to Armstrong with Ventura. Armstrong feels like he has let everyone down and in walks Brian Pillman. Pillman says this situation is a total disgrace. Pillman says that Brad's dad is hanging his head in shame. Pillman calls him scum and then slaps Armstrong in the face. I am an Armstrong fan, but Pillman was just so ahead of his time as a promo.
They now show some of the many singles stars that have competed on TBS. For a show that keeps telling me about how great the wrestling is, there sure hasn't been much of it.
We now get a video package of Ron Simmons. This is the most 90s video package you will see.
WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match
Cactus Jack vs. Ron Simmons
Ole Anderson is the guest referee here. Simmons has Cactus in a side headlock early on and I love that it actually looks like a headlock instead of some of the sloppy ones I see way too often. Cactus goes right to some heel moves like back scratches and biting him on the forehead. Simmons fires back with some intense brawling in the corner. He charges at Cactus, but Foley hits him with a clubbing blow to the midsection. Cactus clotheslines Simmons over the top rope and he hits a spinning neckbreaker on the floor. Cactus hits a trio of clotheslines and puts him in a reverse chinlock. Simmons makes a comeback and hits two charging forearms for a 2 count. Simmons hits a unique counter to the sunset flip attempt by driving him to the mat while had Cactus on his back. They end up outside the ring again, where Cactus hits a body slam and follows it up with his signature elbow drop. Simmons hits the big standing spinebuster in the ring and follows it up with a powerslam for the victory. This started off nicely, but kind of fell apart towards the end. In terms of booking, Cactus was the perfect opponent for Simmons here.
Match Rating: **
They show some highlights of Masahiro Chono winning the NWA Championship over Rick Rude.
Cactus Jack says that he's never been in much pain as he is right now, but he's happy because he knows his weaknesses. Cactus says that he's found someone that knows him even better and it's Butch Reed.
The Barbarian & Butch Reed vs. Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham
Dustin goes for a sunset flip, but it takes a huge Windham clothesline to knock him down. They then hit double dropkicks on both opponents to clear the ring momentarily. Dustin launches himself at Reed, but he moves out of the way and Dustin sends himself through the ropes, into the ring post and out to the floor. The heels go to work on Dustin with quick tags and double teams. Dustin counters a piledriver attempt with a back body drop. They hit a double clothesline and both men tag their partners. Windham hits a back body drop on Barbarian and follows it up with a dropkick. Windham is so good. Windham hits a superplex on Barbarian and then powerslams Reed off the top rope. They hit a double dropkick on Reed, but Barbarian hits a vicious looking boot to the face on Windham and they pick up the victory. That was one of my favorite boots to the face of all time.
Match Rating: **1/4
Eight Man Elimination Match
Rick Rude, Jake Roberts, Vader & Super Invader vs. Sting, Nikita Koloff & The Steiner Brothers
Vader and Rick go at it first and Vader catches him with a clothesline. Vader hits a splash and then another clothesline. Steiner impressively follows that up with a overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Super Invader's mask has to be one of the worst I have ever seen. Koloff hits a crossbody on Invader for 2. Rude is in and they go at it. We get to Invader and Scott. Scott now hits an overhead belly-to-belly suplex. Rude hits a blind tag and attacks Scott from behind. Jake finally gets in, but he tags out pretty quickly to Vader. Man, Vader was just so vicious compared to most guys in 1992. I love the double throat thrust that Rude does. Koloff gets a hot tag and hits Jake with a reverse elbow. Koloff tries to go after Rude, but he hits him with a knee and Jake eliminates him. Sting finally runs in and hits a variation of the bulldog on Invader and he is eliminated. Rick hits a big clothesline on Vader and then hits a German suplex. The pace has definitely picked up. Rick leaps off the second rope, but Vader catches him and hits a big slam to the mat. Vader goes up to the second turnbuckle and hits a big splash, but Rick kicks out. Rick hits a tag to Sting, but the ref didn't see it, so he sends Sting back to the corner. Rick catches Vader with a body slam, but Rude breaks up the pin attempt. Rick gets out of a suplex, Rick tries to get Vader up on his shoulders, but his legs give out. Scott still hits the flying clothesline. Scott is disqualified for going off the top rope. Out of the ring, Rick hits a back body drop on Vader to the floor. Rude comes in and hits the Rude Awakening on Rick Steiner. Vader gets back in the ring and Rick Steiner is eliminated via countout. We are down to just Sting against Vader, Rude and Jake. He hits the Stinger Splash on Jake in the corner and puts him on the Scorpion Deathlock, but Rude hits him with a clothesline off the apron. Sting hits the running bulldog again, this time on Rude for a 2 count. Sting hits an inverted atomic drop and a slingshot suplex. Vader hits a top rope splash on both men. The ref disqualifies Vader, even though I'm not sure that the referee even saw it. Jake tags himself in after dragging Rude to the corner and he hits the DDT for the victory. That was some awesome chaos right there. Stupid top rope rule aside, I really enjoyed this. They show a replay of that Vader splash and I don't think that had to have felt too good for Sting and Rude.
Match Rating: ***3/4
We now get a Halloween Havoc mini movie. It takes place at a biker bar and involves Madusa and Jake, with people chanting "Spin the wheel, make the deal" repeatedly. It's as horrible as you would expect. Sting shows up and gives one heck of a performance here. This all leads to the historic Coal Miner's Glove debacle. Madusa pulls the lever to spin the wheel and then Sting and Jake face off and lasers come out of their eyes. This is 1992.
The reviews I saw for this show were pretty poor overall, but I enjoyed this quite a bit. The main event was really good and the opener was enjoyable. I really don't have any nostalgia for this era of WCW since I didn't watch it and I would say this is worth a viewing if you enjoy this era of wrestling.
Overall Rating: 70%
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