Off The Grid, Volume 58: Clash Of The Champions XIX Review

Original Airdate: Monday, June 22nd, 1992
McAlister Fieldhouse
Charleston, South Carolina

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Off The Grid, Volume 58:

We're getting the first round of the NWA World Championship Tournament tonight. We go to Tony Schiavone, Missy Hyatt and Magnum T.A. Missy says something and leaves. She stinks at this role. Tony brings in Bill Watts and he stinks at this role too. So, this was taped before Beach Blast and then aired 2 days after it? Weird timing.

We go to Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura, who is calling his first Clash. 

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Joe & Dean Malenko vs. Ricky Steamboat & Nikita Koloff

I did not realize Dean had a match this early on WCW TV. I figured this would be a sprint but apparently they're going to give these guys some time. Koloff gets Dean in a bear hug, which all of my loyal readers know is my favorite move. Koloff catches Dean off the top rope and Joe comes in and dropkicks Dean into a pin attempt that Koloff kicks out of with authority. We get a little bit of a scary move when Dean tries to drop Steamboat's throat on the top rope and loses his balance with both men falling a little awkwardly. Steamboat gets the hot tag to Koloff and hits Dean with an elbow and a shoulder block. He hits Joe with an inverted atomic drop and clothesline. He then hits a big running clothesline for the finish. That was a fun little tag team match.

Match Rating: **3/4

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Z-Man & Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs. Rick Rude & Steve Austin

Jesse doesn't agree with the low seed for Austin and Rude and JR agrees. Rude hits a big vertical suplex and the heels are mostly dominating so far. Rude hits Z-Man with a piledriver but only gets a 2 count with the cocky cover. Rude and Austin hit a double clothesline. Bagwell gets the hot tag spot here and it doesn't last long. Rude hits a Rude Awakening while Z-Man and Austin are brawling outside and pick up the win. This was fine for what it was. 

Match Rating: *3/4

Terry Gordy and Steve Williams are with Eric Bischoff. Gordy basically says that no one wants to see them face anyone but the Steiners. Then Williams uses an anti-gay slur and then catches himself. So yeah, this sucked.

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Larry O'Day & Jeff O'Day vs. Terry Gordy & Steve Williams

The father/son duo of the O'Day team get cheesy music and look like jobbers. I can't imagine who will win this one. Gordy destroys dad with a suplex and then they hit a double clothesline. Williams hits the Oklahoma Stampede and that's all. I'm honestly surprised it wasn't quicker. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Jesse Ventura is in the ring to interview Sting. Sting is out in a tuxedo and they show highlights of Vader hitting a big splash off the second rope on Sting. This is pretty vanilla and was just to get Sting on the show, which there is nothing wrong with. 

JR and Jesse hype up Sting vs. Vader on July 12th. 

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham vs. Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton

How would these teams be seeded low enough to have to wrestle each other in the opening round? A Windham dropkick knocks Arn out of the ring and he's grabbing his knee. The faces get in most of the offense to begin. The heels use their dastardly ways to gain the advantage and Dustin uses the power of the crowd to help will him into hitting a jawbreaker on Arn. Eaton is tagged in and hits a bulldog on Dustin. We get some shenanigans and Arn hits a big spinebuster behind the referee's back. Eaton covers him but Dustin kicks out. Eaton misses with the top rope leg drop and Dustin hits the bulldog for the win and a big pop from the crowd. This was a good match, as one would expect.

Match Rating: ***1/4

We go to Missy and Eric. Missy reads something and leaves and in comes Terry and Steve again. We find out the Puerto Rican team is not able to take on the Steiner Brothers. 

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Silver Kings vs. Freebirds

The Silver Kings get to show off some solid tag team wrestling here and get the crowd involved early. Things kind of come to a stop with action after that and we get more standard action. A double dropkick by the Silver Kings knocks both out of the ring. One of the Kings goes for a dive, but the Freebirds block it and the other King leaps off the top rope and hits his teammate. Hayes brings him in the ring and uses an inside cradle to pick up the win. The Silver Kings were pretty good but the chemistry was a little off. 

Match Rating: **

Magnum T.A. is suspicious of what has happened with the Puerto Rican team. Out comes Ole Anderson who is terrible at this job. The Steiners will take on Williams and Gordy at Great American Bash. 

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Brian Pillman & Jushin Liger vs. Chris Benoit & Beef Wellington

The most annoying part of watching matches during this era is the constant explanation of how throwing someone over the top rope is not throwing someone over the top rope. What a stupid rule. Pillman hits a super back suplex and then a missile dropkick. Pillman then hits a crossbody off the apron. He and Benoit start hitting each other with hard chops outside the ring before heading back in. Liger is tagged in and he hits a crossbody off the top rope to the floor on Beef. Benoit goes for a super back suplex but Jushin shifts his momentum and lands on top. Liger hits a stiff looking spin kick and then the springboard moonsault. Beef gets in an illegal kick right in front of the referee and no mention of that being against the rules. Beef misses a missile dropkick and Pillman tags in Liger. We get a little bit of a sloppy segment here and they all start brawling. Liger hits a moonsault on Beef and picks up the win. Everything was good until that last minute. I have no clue what that was supposed to be. 

Match Rating: ***

NWA World Championship Tournament 1st Round Match
Headhunters vs. Akira Nogomi & Hiroshi Hase

Just a note for myself that this Headhunter team is not the same one from Roal Rumble 1996. Nogomi hits a step up enzuigiri. I love JR's comment on the Headhunters and how they did not want to communicate with either him or Ventura. This match obviously just exists to put over Hase and Nogomi. Nogomi hits a splash off the top but then Hase misses with knees off the top. This is the death spot and the crowd is quiet for this one. I'm not sure why the Headhunters are getting this much offense in. Ventura applauds the referee for not counting a pin until the partner was out of the ring and he loves that the rules are becoming strict. Jesse then rips on the Japanese team for being a 2 seed. They then hit two different suplexes into a bridge and pick up the win. That was a flat match. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Jesse now brings Ron Simmons out to the ring for an interview. He's interrupted by Harley Race and Super Invader. Harley then makes a comment of how he had a boy like Simmons carrying his bag. Simmons then attacks Race and takes care of both of them. This woke up the crowd. 

Tony Schiavone is with Bill Watts now. He cuts a lame promo on how great he is as an executive. He tells us that he talked to both Gordy and Williams and the Steiners. We are going to have them wrestle right now. 

NWA World Championship Tournament Quarterfinal Match
Terry Gordy & Steve Williams vs. Steiner Brothers

With the way they have built to this match, I would have thought that this would have started as more of a brawl. Rick does his best to try to make it one when given the chance but then Williams nails him with a clothesline. JR of course thinks it is the greatest thing ever. Scott does get a hot tag and he was always crazy over during this time period. He misses with a dropkick and Gordy puts on a STF but Scott gets to the ropes. Williams should try pulling up his tights a little higher. I can still see his shoulder blades. Rick now gets a hot tag and they are completely brawling. He gets double teamed but he's still throwing right hands. Rick hits a power slam and goes for the cover, but Williams is not the legal man. Williams hits a shoulder tackle into the knee of Scott outside the ring. Gordy and Rick are brawling in the ring and now we go back to Williams and Scott. Williams hits a press powerslam but Scott kicks out at 2. We then get a sloppy looking spot where Scott is looking for a suplex but Gordy clips him while he's doing it and Williams falls on top of him and picks up the win. The crowd hates that decision and I have to say that one was a little disappointing. It certainly wasn't bad but I definitely was expecting more. It's no surprise that Watts would put them over the Steiners and we all know it wouldn't be long until the Steiners show up in WWF in a few months. 

Match Rating: **3/4

Tony and Magnum show us the updated tournament bracket. We then see all the attention that Scott is getting in the ring while Jesse and JR wrap up the show. 

This was a lot better than I expected it to be. I never know what to expect when I watch these Clash shows and this one I found to be a good one. I thought it had a good variety of matches and most of them were entertaining. Thumbs up. 

Overall Rating: 69%

Monday Night Raw 12-18-95 Review

Monday, December 18th, 1995
Bob Carpenter Center
Newark, Delaware

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We get a very brief intro video featuring some clips of In Your House and then Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler hype up Razor Ramon vs. Yokozuna. They also are talking about the tension between Diesel and Undertaker. 

Jeff Jarrett vs. Fatu

He's back and they show him attacking Ahmed Johnson with a gold record. I remember thinking as a kid that this was a weird way to bring Jarrett back by putting him in a feud he can't win. Fatu gets off to the hot start and mocks Jarrett's strutting. Fatu misses in the corner and Jarrett hits a swinging neckbreaker. Jarrett is the first official Royal Rumble entrant. Jarrett slams Fatu's head into the steps and we go to commercial break. Fatu battles back with a scoop slam and a back body drop. But then Fatu sells a shoulder injury and Jarrett throws him into the ring post again. He's about to slap on the Figure Four, but out comes Ahmed and we have a DQ finish here. God forbid Fatu take a loss here. This was pretty vanilla stuff.

Match Rating: 3/4*

Dok Hendrix is in the crowd with Gorilla Monsoon and he reminds us that Undertaker will be taking on Bret Hart for the WWF Championship. Gorilla says that Diesel will get over the decision and get his shot sooner or later. Gorilla says that Jarrett is wrong in claiming that he'll be in the Royal Rumble. Instead, he's going to take on Ahmed Johnson. Gorilla says that they'll start releasing the entrants on Superstars. 

Goldust cuts a pre-recorded promo on Razor Ramon and tells him that the two of them can ooze machismo together. 

We get an interview from In Your House with Paul Bearer and Undertaker. Bearer thanks Gorilla for the title shot and that's when Diesel comes in. Diesel says it's his turn next. Undertaker and Bearer are so lame in this era. 

Buddy Landel vs. Bob Holly

Who in the world thought that Landel was going to work during this era? Dok then hypes up the WrestleMania: The Arcade game on SNES, Genesis and Playstation. They're going to throw in the strategy video for absolutely free. I can only imagine what that video even has on it. The crowd seems to have no interest in this match. If you were booking your one live Raw of the month, why would you book Jeff Jarrett vs. Fatu and Buddy Landel vs. Bob Holly? Raw was on fire for a few weeks and now this is where we're at. Landel even sells Holly's clothselines weird. Landel then pins the corkscrew elbow drop. Really? Lawler pushing him makes it seem even worse. This was a death spot. 

Match Rating: 1/2*

Another Raw, another Brother Love segment. He has good buddy Ted DiBiase here to talk about the Santa Claus attack. That wasn't Santa, that was Xanta Klaus and is from the South Pole. This is all real. Did DiBiase do anything worthwhile after the Virgil feud? He says that 1996 will be the year of the Million Dollar Corporation. I bet it won't. He says that Sid and the Kid will be Tag Team Champions and that it will also be the year of the Million Dollar Champion. This was at least quick. 

We get the Freddie Blassie Raw Bowl commercial again. 

Intercontinental Championship Match
Yokozuna vs. Razor Ramon

Goldust is out and playing mind games already with Razor. They talk about the letter that Goldust gave Razor and he crumpled after reading. Lawler says he had someone grab the letter. Razor tries a sunset flip, but avoids a splash from Yoko. Yoko puts on my favorite move, the nerve hold. This is definitely not the fun version of Yoko here tonight. He's basically at the point where he can only do tag matches, which is sad. Razor comes back and hits the second rope bulldog. The lights then start to flicker. Out comes Undertaker with teh casket. Yoko sees it and he runs out of the ring and to the back. I do not remember this at all. We get a countout finish, which is stupid. This was pretty blah like everything else on the show. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Dok is with Razor and he says the letter told him how handsome he is. Razor doesn't play that and he only loves women. Razor says he can tell Dok in the back about what the letter says because it's not for children. Lawler then screws up the date for the Raw Bowl. 

It's time for a Shawn Michaels music video since he is definitely retiring. Yes, everyone, it is time for "Tell Me A Lie". Absolutely one of the cheesiest songs they have ever used. The video is good stuff though. 

This Raw was such a missed opportunity. I know December typically sucks, but take advantage of the live atmosphere. Don't give us Buddy Landel. This just wasn't good once again. 

Overall Rating: 30%

In Your House 5: Seasons Beatings Review

Sunday, December 17th, 1995 
Hersheypark Arena
Hershey, Pennsylvania

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We get a Todd Pettengill narrated intro and that leads into Vince McMahon and Jerry Lawler in the arena. I have to say that it looks like more than the 7,289 people that Wikipedia lists that are there. I remember begging to buy this show as I was in peak fandom here. 

Sid & 1-2-3 Kid vs. Razor Ramon & Marty Jannetty

They show Goldust in the crowd when Razor makes his entrance. There is an usher with him. The crowd is very much into this one and the action starts off at a good pace. They do a nice blind tag spot to Sid and he nails Razor with a clothesline. He gets some big boos along with his usual applause from the adult males. Todd interviews Goldust during the match and he talks about how much of a man Razor Ramon is. Meanwhile in the ring, Sid hits Marty in the back while he is running the ropes and Kid hits him with a spin kick. Goldust hands Todd a golden envelope to give to him. Marty goes off the top rope, but Sid catches him and hits a power slam. We get a bit of a sloppy spot where Razor distracts Sid and Marty rolls him up for Kid to break it up. Kid hits a frog splash on Marty and gets a 2 count. Kid hits a running dropkick and is followed up with a Sid clothesline. Marty is able to make a tag to Razor and he hits a bunch of his signature moves. He hits a bulldog from the second rope and that's enough to pin him for the victory. Kid tried to make the save but was unable to get there in time. That honestly looked almost like he was supposed to break it up. Razor tries to give Kid a Razor's Edge but Sid pulls him out through the ropes. They cut to Goldust fanning himself as he watches. This was a good match and the crowd cared about it. 

Match Rating: ***

Buddy Landel vs. Ahmed Johnson

The ring announcer calls him Buddy Rydel. Jerry Lawler then talks on the mic and gets in the ring. He then introduces Jeff Jarrett. Jarrett is still doing the same schtick of spelling his name. Lawler presents him with a gift and it is a gold record for "Ain't I Great". This is all done after they announced Buddy. He stumbles over his words as he announces that he's the first participant in the Royal Rumble. He's going to win that and head to WrestleMania XII and win the championship. I bet he doesn't even wrestle there. Jarrett joins the announce team and out comes Dean Douglas. All of this is just really bad for a pay-per-view. Dean grabs the mic and he says that class is in session. He says that his back is at 65% and doctors sidelined him. He says that instead it will be Buddy Landel and he makes his entrance. Landel tries chopping Ahmed and that doesn't work. Ahmed hits a sort of chokeslam and then a Pearl River Plunge for the total squash. Dean is upset and Ahmed comes from behind and hits him with the paddle. What a terrible segment all of this was. I wonder how much Landel got paid for this night?

Match Rating: 1/4*

After the match, Lawler wants to interview Ahmed. We get the usual lame Lawler/Jarrett humor and it leads to Jarrett smashing his gold record on the back of Ahmed and then getting hit with a chair. Eventually, Ahmed starts to no sell it and chases Jarrett down the aisle. We then get an awkward brawl and the crowd doesn't really react to it. 

Todd interviews Razor and talks about him facing Yokozuna on Raw tomorrow. Todd then hands Razor the gold envelope. Razor reads it to himself and crumples it up before storming away. 

Hillbilly Jim is brought out as the special guest referee for the next match.

Hog Pen Match
Hunter Hearst Helmsley vs. Henry Godwinn

Godwinn misses with the slop bucket outside the ring but then about a minute later is able to shove some in the face of Helmsley. Helmsley recovers and takes control. The action goes out to the aisle and Helmsley throws Godwinn into the metal door of the hog pen. Helmsley goes for the Pedigree in front of the hog pen but Godwinn counters it. Helmsley is able to catch himself on the fence and hits an elbow drop off of it. They head back to the ring and Godwinn runs into a boot from Helmsley in the corner. It doesn't take long for the match to go back to the pen and Helmsley this time is thrown into the metal door. Godwinn hits the Slop Drop right outside the pen. Godwinn charges at Helmsley and he gets dumped into the pen to win the match to remain undefeated in singles competition. He swats away Hillbilly Jim's arm as he raises it so Godwinn attacks him and military presses him in the pen. Helmsley's back is bleeding pretty good and then he does a spot where he keeps slipping in the mud. The pigs want nothing to do with him though. This was a fun enough novelty of a match even if it wasn't anything great in terms of action. 

Match Rating: *3/4

We get a Royal Rumble commercial. Unfortunately, it is looking like that is where my journey will end for this timeline. 

We get a video package talking about Diesel's new attitude. 

Owen Hart vs. Diesel

I remember thinking this match felt really random when it was booked back in 1995. Owen was riding high off of knocking Shawn Michaels out and Diesel being the hot new "heel". While it made sense for Shawn's best friend to take on Owen, it seemed like these were two guys they were trying to put over and having them face each other at this moment just felt like a mistake. Diesel for the most part dominates this match here. He hits a Jackknife pretty quickly and says that one is for Shawn. He puts a foot on him and lifts it off before the referee can count to 3. He goes for another one and the ref tries to stop him, so Diesel shoves him to the ground and the bell rings for a DQ. He hits a second Jackknife and heads to the back. What a stupid finish. This wasn't much of a match either, but the action that we did get was pretty good. 

Match Rating: *1/2

Santa Claus is out here with Santa Claus all while Ted DiBiase is in the ring with his music playing. Savio and Ted talk about the magic of Santa Claus. It leads to Santa attacking Savio and Ted getting a few kicks in all while the crowd has no reaction at all. Savio then chases Santa down the aisle and attacks him. Santa's beard comes off and Vince lets us know that it isn't actually Santa. 

They play a short hype video for Undertaker/King Mabel.

Casket Match
King Mabel vs. Undertaker

Boy, I am excited for this one. Taker hits a splash in the corner but Mabel comes back with a Boss Man Slam. Taker sits up so Mabel hits a body slam. Mabel goes to the second rope and misses with a splash after Taker sits up. Taker hits a couple of clotheslines but then Mo grabs his ankle for the distraction. Mabel hits the belly-to-belly suplex and hits the leg drop. Taker tries to sit up but he can't do it. Mabel hits a big splash and then Mo drags Taker out of the ring. Mo carries Taker on his shoulder and puts him in the casket. They don't close the door and then Mo grabs Mabel's crown and puts it on. Mabel struts over and Taker naturally blocks it. Taker is back in the ring and hits some more clotheslines. The leaping clothesline finally knocks Mabel off his feet. Taker kicks Mabel in the back and he falls into the casket. Mo attacks Taker before he can close the door. Taker hits a chokeslam on him and rolls him into the casket on top of Mabel. Before he closes the lid, Taker grabs the gold chain from Mo and then slams it shut to put us out of our misery. At least it was short. After the match, Undertaker gives the signal that he wants the WWF Championship. 

Match Rating: 3/4*

Jim Ross is with British Bulldog, Diana Smith and Jim Cornette. They continue to hype up the fact that Bulldog beat him at SummerSlam. They switch it over Todd Pettengill and Bret Hart. Bret says that the British Bulldog is going to go down. 

WWF Championship Match
British Bulldog vs. Bret Hart

Let's see how this one holds up. After feeling each other out, Bulldog puts Bret in the tree of woe and we get a weird spot with Bulldog hitting the referee and him playing it up like it was accidental, but not in a heel way. We get an "E-C-W" chant with Bulldog still on offense, but it doesn't last too long. Vince makes an announcement that Undertaker will take on the winner of this match. In 1995, this wasn't a bad thing to do since they didn't really do a ton of babyface vs. babyface matches during this time. Cornette gets in a cheap shot and Bulldog goes back to rest holds. We do get the big Bret sternum-first turnbuckle spot as well. Bret makes his comeback with a monkey flip and hits a bulldog on the Bulldog. Bret goes for a superplex, but Bulldog crotches him on the top rope and Bret falls to the floor. Bulldog lifts Bret up and drives his back into the ring post. Bret is gushing blood now and Bulldog throws him back into the ring. Bulldog hits a piledriver and the delayed vertial suplex while Vince says the match needs to be stopped. Bulldog puts on the bow and arrow submission, but Bret leaps out of it and tries to put on the Sharpshooter in a nice little momentum shift attempt. Bulldog knocks Bret with a shoulder tackle and Bret rolls out of the ring. Bret is always so good at timing his little spots. He makes a comeback and hits a dive onto Bulldog to the outside. He tries to do a reverse jump on top of Bulldog, but he catches him and hits a powerslam to the floor and Bret continues to bleed. Bulldog rolls up the protective padding outside and Bret blocks the suplex attempt by crotching Bulldog on the guardrail. He clotheslines him and Bulldog falls to the floor. We go back to the ring and Bret hits a top rope superplex. Bret works on Bulldog and goes for a quick pin attempt and pulls off the victory. Diana is not happy about it and comforts her husband to the back. This was a very good main event. With that being said, for whatever reason, I don't like the Bret/Bulldog matches as much as a lot of people do. 

Match Rating: ****

Todd is with Undertaker and before they can really say anything, Diesel comes in and interrupts. He's not very happy about this decision and says that people are dodging him. Taker says that he doesn't dodge anyone and we get a staredown. 

This leads to the In Your House highlight video package. 

This is famously known as a one match show and that is definitely the case. I liked the opener more than most people and found probably more enjoyment out of a few of the other matches. That doesn't really make this a very good show, but there were worse things going on during this time period in wrestling. 

Overall Rating: 58%