Mega Powers Running Wild!

The legendary 'Macho man' Randy Savage teams up with 'The Immortal' Hulk Hogan to take on Ted Dibiase and Andre The Giant in the first ever WWF Summerslam!

Shawn Micahels vs. Mankind

The Heartbreak Kid defends the WWF Championship against Mankind in a thrilling main event at WWF In Your House: Mind Games.

The Birth of the nWo

From Hulk Hogan's shocking turn at WCW Bash at the Beach 1996 to the addition of Ted Dibiase, THe Giant Syxx and more, relive the very beginning of the New World Order.

Austin 3:16 Says I Just Kicked Your Ass

It's one of the most famous promos of all time; Stone Cold Steve Austin wins the 1996 King of The Ring and serves notice on all the WWF superstars. Check it out in our complete review

Wrestlemania 12 Review

The boyhood dream comes true as Shawn Michaels battles champion Bret 'The Hitman' Hart in a classic 1-hour iron man match. Plus, Diesel vs. Undertaker and more.

WCW Fall Brawl 1996 Review

Was Sting in cahoots with the New World Order? Would Lex Luger be able to get along with the Four Horsemen as they faced the nWo in War Games? Find out in this review

Wednesday, 29 March 2023

PPV REVIEW: WCW WrestleWar '92

WCW WrestleWar 92 Review - Event Poster

May 17, 1992
Jacksonville Memorial Coliseum, Jacksonville, Florida
 
WCW WrestleWar '92 was the last of four WrestleWar PPVs produced by the company, and man, what a way to go out. 
 
For months, Paul E. Dangerously's determined efforts to destroy World Championship Wrestling had seen him assemble a small army of the promotion's best heels known as The Dangerous Alliance. While the group's primary target was World Heavyweight Champion, Sting, in gunning for that target, they'd also acquired a gang of enemies who were hungry for revenge against Dangerously's Alliance for multiple acts of ner-do-wellery. 
 
Tonight, The Dangerous Alliance would finally face all of their rivals -banded together under the leadership of Sting and dubbed Sting's Squadron- in a War Games match for the ages.
 
Here's what went down. 
 







Are You Ready for War Games?

The final ever WrestleWar PPV kicked off with a very basic video centered around the upcoming War Games match between Sting’s Squadron and The Dangerous Alliance.

From there, we went live to the arena where Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff not only put over the magnitude of tonight’s match but also questioned whether champion Sting was fully recovered from a recent rib injury.
 
WCW WrestleWar 92  - Jim Ross & Jesse 'The Body' Ventura


Down on the arena floor, announcer Jim Ross and Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura gave us further hype for the main event, the latter reminding us that he was a legit Vietnam war veteran and thus someone who knew what real war was all about.

Ross and Ventura were also pumped for our opening contest, with The Body favoring US tag team champions Taylor Made Man & Greg Valentine because, as he put it, The Fabulous Freebirds had been spending too much time singing rock ‘n’ roll and not enough time wrestling.

WCW United States Tag Team Championship
WCW United States Tag Team Champions The Taylor Made Man & Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael ‘P.S’ Hayes & Jimmy ‘Jam’ Garvin)

As he marched to the ring with his partner, The Taylor Made Man, Greg ‘The Hammer’ Valentine looked pissed off that he even had to be there.
 
WCW WrestleWar 92  - Terry Taylor & Greg Valentine


By the end of this one, I started to feel exactly the same way.

Don’t get me wrong, this was a decent match competently performed by four guys who knew what they were doing,  but in this writer’s mind, it just went on for far, far too long.

Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin had the upper hand in the early going, countering the champion’s every attempt at mounting an offensive by working over their arms.

It wasn’t until Taylor and Valentine, unable to simply out-wrestle their opponents, resorted to dirty heel tactics that they were able to mount any kind of momentum, cutting Hayes off from his corner and working over.
 
WCW WrestleWar 92  - Bill Alfonso stands ready as Michael Hayes squares off agaisnt Greg Valentine

 

As I say, there was nothing wrong with it, but the match never seemed to really go anywhere despite the fans being heavily invested in it.

The ending was telegraphed not by any of the competitors or even referee Bill Alfonso but by a stagehand who cameras accidentally captured placing the tag team titles in the corner of the ring, meaning they’d be ready for the champions to grab once the bell rung.

From there, Garvin outsmarted his opponents, knocking Valentine on his butt and planting Taylor with a DDT to bring the gold to Bad Street USA.
Your Winners and New United States Tag Team Champions: The Fabulous Freebirds 

Prior to the next match, Bischoff and Schiavone analyzed the Freebirds’ win and discussed Johnny B. Badd’s relative lack of major wins in WCW.

Hopefully, Badd would be able to pick one up as he went into battle against Tracy Smothers.

Young Pistol Tracy vs. Johnny B. Badd

Badd danced and prances his way to the ring and then stopped at the guard rail so that young kids could stuff dollar bills into his garter because, apparently, nobody thought that was inappropriate in the early 90s.
 
WCW WrestleWar 92  - Tracy Smothers vs. Johnny B. Badd


From there, the future Wild Man went at it in a reasonably exciting match with Tracy Smothers, who was clearly just there to make his opponent look good.

It wasn’t that The Young Pistol didn’t make a good account of himself, he got in a fair amount of offense, taking Johnny Down with a succession of dropkicks and slapping him in a chin lock, but it was obvious from the get-go that the whole point of this match was to get Badd over.

To that end, it succeeded.

Given how well Johnny was presented here, it came as no surprise when he knocked Smothers on his ass with a punch and pinned him.
Your Winner: Johnny B. Badd

Last seen standing by Ronnie Garvin’s side at The Great American Bash 1988, Precious was apparently now back on the fold, accompanying her man and Michael ‘P.S’ Hayes for a backstage interview with Missy Hyatt to celebrate their big US title win.
 
WCW WrestleWar 92  - Missy Hyatt interviews The Fabulous Freebirds

 

Hayes and Garvin really said nothing of note. The latter reminded us that the Fabulous Freebirds had done exactly what they said they were going to do, while the former got really excited about Lynyrd Skynyrd and just basically shouted about southern rock ‘n’ roll for a bit.

Back in the arena, Bischofe and Schiavone gave us their insights into the upcoming match between Scotty Flamingo and Marcus Alexander Bagwell.

According to our analysts, Bagwell’s rookie year was over and he now had a lot to prove against a man who had been picking up wins left and right on WCW TV.

Marcus Alexander Bagwell vs. Scotty Flamingo

Flamingo came strutting to the ring wearing ripped jeans, a hat, and a long, white coat with a picture of himself on the back. Drenched in charisma and showcasing a kind of arrogant flamboyance, the man stepping through the ropes here at WrestleWar ‘92 was a million miles removed from Scott Levy’s most famous creation.
 
 
WCW WrestleWar 92 Review - Scotty Flamingo prepares to face Marcus Bagwell

 
A good few years before he got all moody and started skulking around in bingo halls, Flamingo went at it with the future Buff Daddy in a match that had some good action but was largely devoid of heat.

As Jim Ross repeatedly stressed the fact that the match would have implications for the light-heavyweight division (and thus who would eventually challenge Brian Pillman for the title), the two men traded the advantage several times until Bagwell planted Flamingo with a fisherman's suplex.

Scotty got his foot on the ropes and got back to his feet as his opponent celebrates a little too soon, thinking he'd won the match.

From there, a simple shot into the corner, a roll-up, and a handful of tights were enough to put Scotty Flamingo one step closer to light-heavyweight gold.
Your Winner: Scotty Flamingo

A quick promo for our next WCW PPV, Beach Blast '92 aired next, promising us lots of exciting action and -I quote- plenty of "bodacious babes."

Ah, the '90s.

JYD IS Taken Out

Ross and Ventura then took us back to Superbrawl 2, when Junkyard Dog returned to WCW and saved Ron Simmons from a beatdown at the hands of Cactus Jack and Abdullah the Butcher.

That was supposed to lead to a tag team match tonight in which Simmons and JYD would seek revenge against Cactus and Mr. Hughes.

Before the Dog could even get to the ring, however, he was viciously assaulted by the man from Truth or Consequences and forced to return to the back.

Ron Simmons vs. Mr. Hughes

Simmons eventually returned to the ring and took out both Hughes and Cactus with a double clothesline, after which referee Bill Alfonso ordered Jack to stay outside the ring.
 
WCW WrestleWar 92 - Cactus Jack & Mr. Hughes


Apparently, we were now getting a singles match.

Foolishly, this was never actually announced to the crowd. Even Ross and Ventura spent most of the match in a state of confusion, questioning what the hell was actually going on.

The match was precisely what you'd expect from Ron Simmons versus Mr. Hughes.

Whether that's good or not probably depends entirely on how much of a fan you are of both men.

As for me, well, let’s just say I’ve seen worse matches.

To the shock of no one, Simmons picked up the win with a three-point tackle.
Your Winner: Ron Simmons

As Jesse Ventura teased a surprise for Beach Blast, we moved straight on to our next match.

Todd Champion vs. Super Invader (w/ Harley Race)

As a kid living in England during the early 90s, I didn’t get to see much World Championship Wrestling on TV. So, for years, the only way I ever saw Super Invader was through magazines and a WCW sticker album which I still have in my parent's loft back in the UK.
 
WCW WrestleWar 92 - Super Invader overpowers Todd Champion


(As soon as I get it back, I'm totally reviewing that sticker album!)

From the pictures alone, I thought Super Invader (Hercules Hernandez with red pantyhose on his face) looked cool as shit.

Many, many years later, writing this WrestleWar ‘92 review finally gives me an opportunity to watch my first-ever Super Invader match.

Even now, I think he looks pretty badass, though I do question how WCW expected us to believe that this clearly very white dude was from Bangkok, Thailand.

Although this wasn’t a great match by any stretch, I still say this guy could’ve been a contender in early 90s WCW had he been paired up with better caliber workers who could get a good match out of him.

Alas, Tod Champion wasn’t one of those workers. Despite breaking away from the awfully-named Firebreaker Chip, Champion was still billed as hailing from “WCW Special Forces.”

Not that he had much force at all in this one-sided affair where his entire offense consisted of catching Invader coming off the ropes with a foot to the mush, getting in a couple of punches, and then going right back to getting his ass kicked.
 
WCW WrestleWar 92 - Super Invader and Harley Race

 

For the third match in a row, the winner was never in doubt. Super Invader picked up another win.

He looked cool, especially for the time, but would eventually fade into obscurity.
Your Winner: Super Invader 

Up next, a match that I’m not sure anyone wanted to see:

Richard Morton vs. Big Josh

Ricky Morton had become bland, boring, and directionless since turning heel. Every time he took over the match, it was straight down to the mat for a bunch of lifeless rest holds that failed to get the audience excited.


WCW WrestleWar 92 - Ricky Morton vs. Big Josh


Big Josh faired a little better at popping the crowd, throwing his weight around and knocking seven shades of shite out of the former Rock ‘n’ Roll Expresser.

The result was a match that didn’t actually suck or anything but just kind of happened, a decent filler bout but nothing more.

Of course, Jesse Ventura spent the whole match talking about Big Josh’s lack of hygiene, so I had to laugh when Josh hit his Northern Exposure finisher (think Earthquake splash), and all Jesse could think about was “Josh’s big, stinking dirty pants, right in Ricky Morton’s face.”
Your Winner: Big Josh

Before the next contest, Tony Schiavone and Eric Bischoff gave their thoughts and predictions on our upcoming light heavyweight championship match between former prime partners, The Z-Man and Brian Pillman.
 
WCW WrestleWar 92 - Tom Zenk and Brian Pillman exchange words
 

This took us to an exchange between the two on WCW Saturday Night in which the upcoming challenger got angry about being attacked by Tracy Smothers and “Scotty The Flamingo” but promised to give them a title shot down the line.

Naturally, this raised the ire of the champion, who was none too happy about being overlooked.

The two “best friends” almost came to blows in an enjoyable segment where Pillman in particular, looked impressive:

That match was next.

World Championship Wrestling World Light Heavyweight Championship
WCW World Light Heavyweight Champion Brian Pillman vs. The Z-Man

This was a genuinely exciting contest that may well have been Tom Zenk’s finest hour.
 
WCW WrestleWar 92 - Tom Zenk and Brian Pillman (this referee, lol)


After a somewhat frosty handshake, the two former US tag team champions proved themselves to be fairly evenly matched in terms of speed, agility, and ground-based offense until the pretense of friendship wore off, and each man went all out to win.

Enjoyable from start to finish, this light heavyweight contest really made you believe that tonight was going to be Z-Man’s night, the challenger getting a couple of near falls that popped the crowd in fine fashion.

Alas, it wasn’t to be.

Zenk came off the top, hoping to end the match with a top rope drop kick. However, the champion moved and jackknifed his opponent into a cover, a count, and a victory.

This was a fantastic, compelling match that combined quality wrestling with masterful storytelling.

Definitely worth a watch.
Your Winner and Still Light Heavyweight Champion: Brian Pillman

Before moving on to anything else, another Beach Blast commercial featured more bodacious babes and promised us that the event would be, ahem, “beachin.”

WCW World Tag Team Championship
WCW World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Takayuki Iizuka

If The Steiners win, they get a shot at the IWGP tag team titles.

As good as the earlier lights heavyweight title match was, this hard-hitting clash between reigning WCW tag team champions The Steiner Brothers, and their Japanese challengers Tatsumi Fujinami & Takayuki Iizuka was even better.
 
WCW Wrestlewar 92 - The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner) vs. Tatsumi Fujinami & Takayuki Iizuka

Thoroughly enthralling from bell to bell, this lengthy match saw both teams holding nothing back as they tried to mangle, maim, and destroy one another.

An early highlight came when the challengers set Rick Steiner up for a doomsday-like move. With the Dog-Faced Gremlin perched on Fujinami’s shoulders, Iizuka dove off with a crossbody, only to be caught by Rick and powerslammed in mid-air.

It was beautiful.

The rest of the time, the two teams either took it to the mat with some solid submission moves, clobbered one another, or suplexed the ever-living shit out of one another.

No matter what they did, it made for a fantastic match that ended with a win for WCW’s finest when Rick drilled Iizuka with a match-winning belly-to-belly superplex.

If you came to wrestling late and the only things you know about The Steiners are Big Poppa Pump, Steiner Math, and the fact that Rick Steiner exists, do yourself a favor:

Track down this match, their incredible contest against Hiroshi Hase & Kensuke Sasaki from the first NJPW/WCW Supershow, as well as their outing against Hase and Masa Chono from Clash of the Champions 15. You’ll soon see this team we’re practically untouchable in their prime.
Your Winners and Still WCW Tag Team Champions: The Steiner Brothers

Finally, it was time, almost.

As the stage was set for this battle for the ages, Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura talked up the War Games main event before sending it to Schiavone & Bischoff for some last-minute analysis.

Other than noting Sting’s recent rib injury (a prime target if ever there was one), their main focus was on the fact that Sting’s Squadron was a team of five individuals, whereas The Dangerous Alliance was (despite some vague ‘recent controversies’ noted by Bischoff) a cohesive unit.

Would that be the difference maker?
Would Sting’s Squadron be able to trust Nikita Koloff?
And who would surrender or submit in The Match Beyond?

Our announcers wanted all of these questions answered, so they threw it to Gary Michael Capetta to get things underway.

War Games
The Dangerous Alliance (Ravishing Rick Rude, Stunning Steve Austin, The Cruncher Larry Zybysko, The Enforcer Arn Anderson, and Beautiful Bobby Eaton w/ Paul E. Dangerously & Madusa) vs. Sting’s Squadron (WCW World Heavyweight Champion Sting, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, Nikita Koloff, and Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat.

I’m willing to go on record and say that this was the best War Games match ever, a thrilling brawl for the ages in which everyone played their roles perfectly.
 


Barry Windham and Steve Austin kicked things off for their respective teams, with Windham gaining a clear advantage in the opening five minutes and beating Austin until he was a bloody mess.

The heels then won the coin toss (obviously), meaning Rick Rude could come to his partner’s rescue.

Rude was followed by Ricky Steamboat, who picked up his rivalry with Rude until he was attacked by our next entrant, the War Games veteran Arn Anderson.
 
WCW Wrestlewar 92 - Paul E. Dangerous prepares the Dangerous Alliance for War Games

 

A fired-up Dustin Rhodes came next, taking out Double A and Austin with a fire and intensity that delighted the crowd, though not as much as when Windham turned Anderson upside down and jammed his former tag team partner’s head between the two rings.

Larry Zybysko then entered the fray. As he did so, Madusa climbed to the top of the cage and threw Dangerously’s phone down to Anderson to use as a weapon, but Sting also climbed up and forced her to bail.

Speaking of the Stinger, he was next to enter the ring, followed by Bobby Eaton and, finally, Nikita Koloff.

Koloff’s loyalties had been questioned in the build-up to this match, teasing the possibility that he may turn on Sting.
 
WCW Wrestlewar 92 - Sting vs. Nikitta Koloff

 

Fortunately for the world champion, those fears were alleviated when Koloff saved Sting from the clutches of Arn Anderson and -after a brief but intense stare-down- embraced him.

The duo then proceeded to lay waste to everyone in sight, and the Match Beyond was officially on.

All ten men waged war on each other in an exciting and bloody battle that kept the crowd utterly enthralled.

The match was so hard-hitting that one of the turnbuckles came loose. Bobby Eaton seemed to spend about two hours putting together the metal bar that connected the buckle to the ring post, then handed it to Zybysko and grabbed hold of Sting.

Big Bad Larry then swung at Sting, but the champ ducked, and Eaton took the full force of the metal bar across his shoulder.

At that point, Sting took out Zybysko and took advantage of Eaton’s now-damaged shoulder, applying a simple arm bar that forced the former Midnight Express star to tap out.
Your Winners: Sting’s Squadron

Battered, weary, and soaked in blood, the victors made a triumphant return to the locker room while, in the ring, The Dangerous Alliance all berated Zybysko for costing them the match.

Before we could see them turn on him, we got some final words, first from Schiavone and Bischoff, and then from Ross and Ventura, the latter duo promising us even more action when WCW returned to PPV with Beach Blast ‘92 later that June.





On the whole, I’d say WrestleWar ‘92 was a good show.

Sure, with the company’s ten biggest stars all competing in the main event, the undercard was a little lacking in star power, leaving us with underwhelming bouts like Ricky Morton vs. Big Josh.
However, from the light heavyweight title match onwards, this show delivered. Pillman/Z-Man was compelling, the tag team title match proved why The Steiners were the best team in the world back in the early 90s, and the War Games match was truly one for the ages.



Friday, 17 March 2023

PPV REVIEW: WWE Royal Rumble 2004


WWE Royal Rumble 2004 Review - event poster

January 25, 2004
Wachovia Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Royal Rumble 2004 was the first time (other than the inaugural rumble in the late 80s), that no previous winners were participating in the Rumble match, meaning we were guaranteed to have a first-time winner.

Going into the show, it was obvious that WWE expected us to believe Goldberg was going to smash his way to victory. Fans had taken a while to warm to the former WCW Champion, but he was finally as over as he was ever going to get with WWE fans.

Combine that with video montages which positioned him as the biggest threat to the over 29 competitors, and the fact that Big Bill had the coveted number 30 spot, it seemed inevitable. 

However, as we all know, Goldberg's time with the company was almost up, meaning somebody else would be winning the 30-man battle royal for the first time.

Let's get into it and check this show out. 



What is Life, Anyway?

This year’s Royal Rumble started on a philosophical note as a voiceover lamented on the uncertainty of life while clips played showcasing tonight’s marquee matchups.

From there, we went to a sold-out Wachovia Center as Jim Ross welcomed us to the 17th annual Royal Rumble.
 
WWE Royal Rumble 2004 Review - Jerry Lawler, Jonathan Coachman, and Jim Ross called the action for Raw

 

JR was accompanied by Jerry ‘The King’ Lawler and a brooding Jonathan Coachman.

Coach was excited to see his rivals, The Dudleyz, go down in their upcoming world tag team title fight, but first we had greetings from Michael Cole & Tazz and the Spanish Announce Team to deal with.

WWE World Tag Team Championship Table Match
World Tag Team Champions Evolution (Ric Flair & Batista) vs. The DudleyBoyz (Bubba Ray & D’Von Dudley)

I don’t think it’s unfair to call this one of the worst PPV openers WWE had presented us with for some time.
 
WWE Royal Rumble 2004 - The Dudleyz wait on Batista and Ric Flair

 

Things began with Batista cutting the music early so that he could insult both The Dudleyz and the local Philly sports team in an effort to get some cheap heat.

It didn’t really work.

The crowd wasn’t that into this one, and that’s not much of a surprise when you consider what a half-assed mess it was.

After the better part of five boring minutes, Jonathan Coachman came down to stop Bubba Ray & D’Von from putting their opponents through a table.

Predictably, Coach ate some wood, then, seconds later, Batista sauntered into the ring, dropped D’Von through a table, and that was that.

This wasn’t very good.
Your Winners and Still World Tag Team Champions: Batista & Ric Flair

Post-match, a battered Jonathan Coachman shoved a microphone in Ric Flair’s face.
 
WWE Royal Rumble 2004 - Jonathan Coachman celebrates with Batista and Ric Flair


Flair was so erratic here that even the subtitles on Peacock say ‘indecipherable’ for most of his promo.

From what I could make out, Nature Boy yelled, “DUDLEYZ! Nananajibbawabba EVOLUTION! wibbydabbynabba TABLES! WOOO!”

Great work there from one of the all-time greats.

Word Life


Backstage, Josh Matthews asked John Cena about his chances in tonight’s Royal Rumble match.
 
WWE Royal Rumble 2004 Review - RVD interupts John Cena's promo with Josh Matthews

Cena started rapping, only for Rob Van Dam to pop up and rhyme Cena’s ‘you can’t see me’ with ‘ RVD.’

It was pretty funny and a great way to cheer this writer up after that shoddy opener.

Anyway, Van Dam left, and Cena finished his promo, promising, in charismatic fashion, to win tonight’s rumble.

WWE Cruiserweight Championship
WWE Cruiserweight Champion Rey Mysterio vs. Jamie Noble (w/ Nidia)

This was another short match, albeit much better than the first.

Jamie Noble quickly used his toughness and brawling skills to counter Rey Mysterio’s speed and agility, but it wasn’t to be Noble’s night.

WWE Royal Rumble 2004 Review - Rey Mysterio vs. Jamie Noble


His girlfriend, Nidia, was on the outside feigning blindness after Noble had recently used her as a human shield to protect himself from Tajiri’s mist on an episode of Smackdown.

As Noble ran the ropes, Nidia ‘accidentally’ tripped him, setting Rey up to deliver the 619 and win the match.

This could’ve been better had it been given more time, but it was still a good effort all round.
Your Winner and Still Cruiserweight Champion: Rey Mysterio

Afterward, Noble berated Nidia as the two walked to the back, leaving Mysterio to celebrate his big win in the ring.
 
WWE Royal Rumble 2004 Review - Rey Mysterio celebrates his cruiserweight championship victory

Up next, we got a look back at the falling out between Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero Jr., their subsequent rivalry and, ultimately, our next match.

Chavo Guerrero Jr. (w/ Chavo Guerrero Sr.) vs. Eddie Guerrero

This was another short match. I mean, OK, it went at least as long as the last two matches combined, but when you’ve got two talents like Eddie and Chavo going at it, the match could’ve easily gone another five or ten minutes with no dip in quality.
 
WWE Royal Rumble 2004 Review - Eddie Guerrero vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr


As it happened, this was still the best thing on the card up to this point, a solid, back-and-forth battle between two skilled wrestlers who knew each other better than anybody.

After a great effort, Eddie hit the frog splash for the win.
Your Winner: Eddie Guerrero

Post-match, Eddie got revenge on both Chavo Jr. and Chavo Sr. for their recent attacks on him by beating both men to a pulp.

It was awesome.

Who Will Win the Royal Rumble?

Backstage, Josh Matthews attempted to interview Chris Benoit about being the number one entrant into tonight’s Rumble match.
 
WWE Royal Rumble 2004 Review - Evolution interrupt Chris Benoit's interview


Before he could get very far, however, The Rabid Wolverine was interrupted by his former Four Horsemen boss, Ric Flair.

With his allies, Batista and Randy Orton, in tow, Naitch put Benoit over as the greatest technical wrestler of all time but still insisted that it would be Orton who won the 30-man battle royal.

Flair reminded Benoit that he’d had multiple opportunities yet never won ‘the big one,’ playing up to the story that was following Benoit into the rumble.

Feeling excited, Flair finished his rambling by throwing champagne onto Matthews. Wooo indeed.

WWE Championship
WWE Champion Brock Lesnar vs. Hardcore Holly

As someone who was completely tuned out from wrestling in 2004, it blows my mind to see Sparky Plug facing Brock Lesnar in a title match, but here we are.
 
WWE Royal Rumble 2004 - Brock Lesnar vs. Hardcore Holly

 

Lesnar had broken Hardcore Holly’s neck back in 2002. Now, Holly was back and seeking revenge.

In a pre-match video, he had promised that he wasn’t here to wrestle Lesnar or even fight him, he was here to break the WWE Champion’s neck and end his career.

Of course, that didn’t happen.

Holly got in about 30 seconds of offense before the bell and then was promptly destroyed in a tedious six-minute match, about five minutes of which seemed to involve Lesnar holding his rival in a bear hug.

An F5 ended both the match and Holly’s shot at the main event.
Your Winner and Still WWE Champion: Brock Lesnar

Prior to the next match, we got a long and detailed look at the relationship between Triple H and Shawn Michaels. Starting all the way back with their time in the Kliq and DX up to their current rivalry, this was an excellent way to set the scene for the two’s upcoming title fight.

Last Man Standing Match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship
WWE World Heavyweight Champion Triple H vs. Shawn Michaels

I really wanted to like this match.

After I returned from my hiatus as a wrestling fan sometime in ‘07/‘08, I spent so many years hearing about how much it sucked.

Royal Rumble 2004 - Shawn Michaels stares down Triple H


Yet as a big fan of both men and the sort of wrestling fan who likes matches others tend not to, I still remained optimistic that I would enjoy it.

And I did…eventually.

The first half of this match was slow and pretty lifeless, hardly what you’d expect from two of the best around at the time.

It was only when things spilled to the outside for the inevitable ‘fighting on and around the announcers’ table’ spots that things started to get interesting, and even then, it took until Michaels’ was covered in blood for the match to really grab this fan’s attention.

The rest of the match was actually solid, a captivating effort in which a battered and bloody HBK refused to die no matter what his nefarious opponent threw at him.

Royal Rumble 2004 - Shawn Michaels vs Triple H



Shawn’s comeback saw him bust The Game open so that both men spent the final minutes of the match staggering around the ring, expending every last ounce of energy to keep the other one down for the ten count.

It was compelling stuff. Not quite compelling enough to make up for a very lackluster first half of the match, but enjoyable all the same.

Eventually, after the two men had beaten one another to a lifeless pulp, HBK caught HHH with Sweet Chin Music but couldn’t capitalize and promptly fell to the mat.

Neither man could answer the referee’s ten count, and this one was over.
Draw (Triple H)

As the crowds greeted this unpopular decision with a loud chorus of ‘Bulls**t! Bulls**t!,’ a gaggle of officials and medical personnel came out to tend to the fallen stars, quickly followed by The Game’s teammates, Ric Flair and Batista.

Both men were placed on stretchers, but Michaels, being the valiant babyface that he was, refused to go out like that and demanded to walk to the back on his own strength.

It was a cool moment, sure, but the underwhelming match and its unsatisfactory conclusion had already turned off most of the live crowd.

With all that done, Ross and Lawler introduced a final hype video for tonight’s Rumble match, which showcased every competing superstar and told us the story of how Chris Benoit had been forced to enter in the number one spot.

WWE Royal Rumble 2004 - Taz & Jr called the rumble match


The video gave JR the opportunity to leave the Raw announce table and join Tazz at the Smackdown booth, ensuring both brands would be represented in our final match of the evening.

Battle of the Brands

Just as Howard Finkle was about to kick off the Rumble match, Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff made his presence felt, hitting the ring to boast about Rae’s superiority over Smackdown.

Naturally, this led to Bischoff taking shots at Smackdown GM Paul Heyman, who came to the ring for a quick brawl between the former WCW and ECW bosses.

Not that it lasted long.

WWE Royal Rumble 2004 - Steve Austin confronts Eric Bischoff & Paul Heyman

Stone Cold Steve Austin, who had been exiled from WWE after Survivor Series 2003 but was now back in the role of ‘Sherrif,’ rode to the ring on a Zamboni, dished out stunners to both of his former bosses, then had a short beer bash and left again.

This wasn’t the most exciting thing on the card, but the fans were clearly delighted to see Austin raising hell.

A Word With Goldberg

Even though the Rumble match had been due to commence before Bischoff, Heyman, and Austin interrupted things, we now somehow had time for Terri to interview Goldberg about his first Royal Rumble appearance.

WWE Royal Rumble 2004 - Brock Lesnar confronts Goldberg


Not that Terri was able to get very far.

Goldberg was interrupted by Lesnar for a brief but important showdown that would take them one step further to a match at Wrestlemania.

With all that finally out of the way, Tazz gave us some final pre-match analysis before Chris Benoit came down to kick this one off.

2004 Royal Rumble Match
Featuring: Chris Benoit, WWE Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton,
Mark Henry, Tajiri, Bradshaw, Rhyno, Matt Hardy, Scott Steiner, Matt Morgan, The Hurricane, Booker T, Kane, Spike Dudley, Rikishi, Rene Dupre, A-Train, Shelton Benjamin, Ernest ‘The Cat’ Miller, Kurt Angle, Rico, Mick Foley, Christian, Nunzio, Big Show, Chris Jericho, Charlie Haas, Billy Gunn, John Cena, Rob Van Dam, and Goldberg

Benoit was joined in the ring by number two entrant, Randy Orton, and the two wasted no time going at until manager Teddy Long presented our third participant, Mark Henry.

WWE Royal Rumble 2004 - Rumble match graphic



Tajiri was out at number four and fared only marginally better than JBL.

The APA member quickly cleaned house when he arrived in the number five spot, but then he immediately succumbed to a Crippler Crossface and was dumped over the ropes.

The Japanese Buzzsaw was then promptly disposed of, leaving Benoit and Orton alone to continue their brawl.

Rhyno and Matt Hardy we’re our next two combatants. They spent most of their time duking it out with each other, as Orton and Benoit battled in the corner, creating a lull in the excitement that was only slighted lifted by wrestler number eight, Big Poppa Pump Scott Steiner.

Steiner got a quick shine, but was nowhere near as impressive as his future TNA roster-mate Matt Morgan, who dominated everyone he came into contact with and eliminated The Hurricane mere seconds after WWE’s resident superhero had arrived on the scene.

All the while, the in-ring action remained decent, better than the lifeless affairs that some rumbles could be, but void of many genuinely memorable moments.

Of course, that began to change as Booker T came down to fill spot number 11.

Heralded by JR as one of the favorites to win the whole thing, Mr Five-Time received a loud pop from the crowd and went right to work on his former WCW nemesis, Scott Steiner.

Kane was out next, bringing with him the match’s first major moment.

The Big Red Machine stormed the ring and welcomed one and all to an epic chokeslam party.

However, before he could add to his then-standing record for most eliminations, he was distracted by The Undertaker’s famous and ominous gong.

If you recall, Kane had assisted Vince McMahon to victory in a Buried Alice match against ‘Taker back at Survivor Series 2003 and now The Dead Man was clearly out for revenge.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Booker T hoisted Kane over the ropes to one of the biggest ovations of the match.

This was good news for Booker, bad news for Kane, and bad news for little Spike Dudley too.

The 13th Royal Rumble entrant was met on his way to the ring by a furious Big Red Machine, who obliterated him right there on the ramp.

Rikishi was out next, throwing Super Kicks left and right like he was auditioning for The Young Bucks then rubbing his bumhole in Matt Morgan’s mush.

Renee Dupre put in a brief appearance next, looking good as he tossed Matt Hardy out, only to have his post-elimination celebration dance cut short by a cornrow-sporting ‘Kishi.

The one-time Headshrinker sent Dupree over the top with yet another superkick but was eliminated shortly after by Randy Orton. This began an impressive showing by the Intercontinental Champion as he then immediately got rid of Booker T before taking a short breather and disposing of number 15 participant Shelton Benjamin.

While all this was going on, A-Train made his way out to complete apathy, battered Chris Benoit for a bit, and then got dumped by The Rabid Wolverine, meaning only our two original entrants were still in this thing.

Orton and Benoit floored one another and lay prone on the mat. As they did so, a small man in an Afro wig ran to the ring to introduce our next wrestler, one of my favorites from the dying days of World Championship Wrestling, Ernest ‘The Cat’ Miller.

In a moment of comedic relief, Miller and his buddy danced around the ring while Tazz shouted “somebody call my momma!” repeatedly.

However, before they could do anything else, Benoit threw Afro Man out like yesterday’s garbage while Orton took care of The Cat.

Our two original entrants slogged it out some more until Kurt Angle arrived, and he and Benoit once again showed by The Olympic Gold Medalist still lists Benoit as his favorite opponent.

While this was going on, Orton beautifully sold the toll the match was taking on him, playing dead in the corner and falling victim to a brief assault by Rico before tossing the wrestling hair stylist and promptly collapsing to the mat.

Alas, Randy’s star-making performance in this match was about to end.

Test was supposed be our number 21 entrant, but when he failed to appear, cameras went backstage to find him knocked out cold.

Sherrif Austin came to check on the fallen grappler -more out of concern for the match going on than for Test himself- and began yelling at some unseen, offscreen character presumed to be the mystery attacker.

Stone Cold questioned the person’s reasoning before sending them to the ring and ordering them to take Test’s place.

At that point, Mick Foley’s music struck, and the Hardcore Legend rushed to the ring.

WWE Royal Rumble 2004 - Mick Foley



In the run-up to this event, Randy Orton had spat in Foley's face, but Mick merely walked away instead of retaliating. That led to Steve Austin inviting Foley to the show, and for most of the night, the announcers had discussed whether no-showing instead of coming for Orton would mean The Hardcore Legend was a coward.

Here, Mrs. Foley’s Baby Boy proved that he ain’t no coward by going right after arch-rival Orton as the crowd erupted.

A few moments later, Foley did his patented spot where he clotheslines a guy over the ropes but takes himself out, too, ultimately meaning both men were out of the competition.

As Christian made his way out at number 22, Foley continued to batter Orton until the IC champ fought back and attacked with a chair.

The two brawled to the ramp, where Mick stopped our 23rd entrant, Nunzio, in his tracks with Mr. Socko.

Nunzio eventually staggered to ringside but parked his arse against the crowd barrier and refused to compete as Orton and Foley disappeared backstage.

Heading into the final stretch, The Big Show, Chris Jericho, and Charlie Haas all arrived before Billy Gunn made what was supposed to be a big return, only to be greeted by total silence.

All the whole, Nunzio watched on from the ringside until John Cena showed up and threw him into the ring.

There, Lil Nunz joined Big Show in going after Cena, but when he double-crossed the giant, Show broke his back with a vicious slap, and the action continued with Y2J tossing his former tag team partner Christian from the ring.

Not long after, it was time for our 30th entrant, Goldberg.

More over with the crowd than he had been at any other time in his first WWE run, the former World Heavyweight Champion hit the ring and laid waste to anyone in sight, ejecting Billy Gunn and Nunzio before setting up Big Show for a Jackhammer.

At that point, Brock Lesnar hit the ring and took out Goldberg, making the first official declaration of war between the two and setting up their ill-fated Wrestlemania match.

The resulting stare-down between the two gave Kurt Angle an opportunity to throw Bill over the ropes, and it was down to our final six.

Identified as a threat, Big Show was ganged up on by a remaining crew of John Cena, RVD, Chris Benoit, Chris Jericho and Kurt Angle, but even a five-on-one assault couldn’t hold the giant back.

Despite absorbing an ankle lock, a Walls of Jericho, a Five Knuckle Shuffle, Five Star Frog Splash and a Benoit diving headbutt, Show fought back and single-handily eliminated Cena, RVD, and Jericho, leading into a thrilling final three between him, Angle, and Benoit.

To the surprise of most, Show also eliminated The Olympic Gold Medalist before serving as one final boss battle for Benoit to overcome on his journey to victory.

The ending was the highlight of the whole match, at least from an in-ring standpoint, and proved that WWE really did know how to book Big Show properly when they wanted to.

He looked impressive here, but not as much as Benoit, who, after well over an hour action, finally got rid of Big Show and secured his place in a championship match at Wrestlemania.
Your Winner: Chris Benoit

Jim Ross gave an impassioned speech praising our victor as Benoit looked positively overcome with emotion and the 2004 Royal Rumble came to an end.

For the most part, Royal Rumble 2004 was a good effort from WWE. Sure, the opening tables match wasn't much, the Lesnar/Holly clash was as bizarre as it was pointless, and HBK/HHH took a while to get good, but Mysterio/Noble, Eddie/Chavo, and the Rumble match all delivered in their own way. 
Of course, as he head into Chris Benoit's journey to Wrestlemania, I find myself troubled more and more by a problem I've had many times writing this blog, and a problem that I'm sure many fans and wrestlers alike also deal with: Separating what Benoit did in the ring from what he did on that terrible night in 2007. 
Still, I may save that rant for another time. 







For more Royal Rumble reviews, see:

Thursday, 2 March 2023

EVENT REVIEW: WCW Clash of the Champions XIX

 
WCW Clash of the Champions XIX review - NWA World Tag Team Title Tournament

 

June 16, 1992
McAllister Field House, Charleston, South Carolina

Taped on June 16th before a capacity crowd of 4,600 and airing on TBS a week later, WCW Clash of the Champions 19 revolved almost entirely around a tournament to crown new National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Tournaments.

Over the proceeding few years, the relationship between World Championship Wrestling and the NWA had been tenuous at best, but with old-school stalwart Cowboy Bill Watts now in charge of WCW, the two brands were gung-ho about giving that relationship one last shot.

Of course, it wouldn't last, but until then, shows like tonight would at least provide us with some quality wrestling.
 


Here's what went down on that fateful night in South Carolina.


The Best in the World Converge on WCW

Our show tonight began with a short promo for the NWA World Tag Team Title tournament that would dominate this show.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions XIX review - Tony Schaivone, Missy Hyatt, and Magnum T.A

 

From there, we quickly went to the trio of Tony Schiavone, Missy Hyatt, and Magnum TA.

Between Tony and Magnum putting over the magnitude of tonight’s event, Missy Hyatt informed us that New Japan Pro Wrestling was going to be hosting a tournament to crown a new NWA World Heavyweight Champion.

Missy would be bringing us more details about that later in the show, but first, Schiavone gave us a brief interview with then-WCW boss Cowboy Bill Watts, who put over both the NWA’s rich sense of tradition and the upcoming tournament’s number one seed, The Steiner Brothers.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions XIX review - Jim Ross and Jesse 'The Body' Ventura called the action

 

Finally, we got comments from our announcers, Jim Ross & Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura, before heading to the ring for our opening contest.

Joe Malenko & Dean Malenko (Europe) vs. Ricky ‘The Dragon’ Steamboat & Nikita Koloff

First off, hell yeah! Dean Malenko!
 
WCW Clash of the Champions XIX - Dean Malenko takes it to Ricky 'The Dragon' Steamboat

 

Here, the future Man of 1,000 Holds and his brother Joe Malenko represented Europe as they went up against Ricky Steamboat and Nikita Koloff in a tremendous opening match.

Steamboat and Koloff dominated most of the contest, but the Malenko brothers certainly looked impressive too.

In fact, if I were booking WCW back then, I’d absolutely sign those boys up and push them into a feud with The Steiner Brothers.

Alas, as impressive as they may have looked, tonight wasn’t to be Joe & Dean’s night.

The two lost the match when Koloff hit Dean with the Sickle for the pinfall.
Your Winners: Ricky Steamboat & Nikita Koloff

After a quick commercial break, it was back to the action.

The Z-Man & Marcus Alexandra Bagwell vs. The Dangerous Alliance (WCW US Champion ‘Ravishing’ Rick Rude & WCW TV Champion ‘Stunning’ Steve Austin w/ Madusa)

Our second match of the night was nowhere near as good as the first, but if you ever wanted to see Steve Austin and Rick Rude just demolishing their opponents, this was the match for you.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions XIX - The Dangerous Alliance celebrate a win of Buff Bagwell and Z-Man

 

Marcus Alexander Bagwell and The Z-Man stood no chance here. The duo’s offense was brief and ineffective compared to that of a Dangerous Alliance team who controlled 99.95% of the match.

After around seven minutes, this glorified squash match ended with Rude drilling Bagwell with the Rude Awakening for the three count.

I read from multiple sources that the babyface’s burial was all due to Booker Bill Watts having a problem with pretty boy babyfaces.

Whatever the reason was, it sure didn’t look good for Bagwell and Zenk.
Your Winners: The Dangerous Alliance

Backstage, Eric Bischoff recapped the results of the show far before turning his attention to an interview with Terry Gordy and Dr. Death Steve Williams.

Both men seemed to fluster their way through an awkward promo. 

To begin, Gordy ranted that nobody cared about Australians (their upcoming opponents, The O’Days, were from Down Under), insisting that all anybody wanted to see was Gordy & Williams against The Steiners.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions XIX - Eric Bischoff interviews Dr. Death Steve Williams and Terry 'Bam Bam' Gordy

 

This didn’t make Dr. Death too happy as he next claimed that he was so sick of hearing about Rick & Scott that it gave him a headache.

To wrap things up, Williams called The Steiners a homophobic slur that I won’t repeat here, then said “I know I can’t say that on TV,” but apparently he could as it’s still shown on the Peacock version of this event.

The O’Days (Larry & Jeff O’Day) vs. Terry ‘Bam Bam’ Gordy & Dr. Death Steve Williams

I don’t know much about the father-son duo of Larry & Jeff O’Day, but I do know that they were doomed from the moment they stepped through the curtain.
 

 
Father Larry looked like a college art professor who had never seen the sunlight, and son Jeff couldn’t have looked less like a star if he’d tried.

Unsurprisingly, the Aussies were pulverized by Gordy and Williams in two and a half minutes.
Your Winners: Terry Gordy & Steve Williams

Up next, Jesse Ventura conducted an in-ring interview with a tuxedo-clad WCW Champion, Sting.

Well, I say interview.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 19 - Sting


Ventura basically goaded Sting about Big Van Vader hurting him and coming after the title. In response, Sting likened his story with Vader to that of David vs. Goliath, insisting that since he had the fans on his side, he felt like Goliath and was ready to take on Vader.

This was followed with a quick commercial for Great American Bash ‘92 where the two would meet, and then it was back to the ring.

‘The Natural’ Dustin Rhodes & Barry Windham vs. The Dangerous Alliance (Beautiful Bobby & ‘The Enforcer’ Arn Anderson w/ Paul E. Dangerously)

I’m writing this just days after it was announced that Barry Windham had suffered a heart attack and was in ICU.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 19 - Paul E. Dangerously leads Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton into battle

 

I sincerely pray that we’ll all have heard more positive news on Windham’s situation by the time you read this review.

Tonight, he and Dustin Rhodes went at it in a solid match with Arn Anderson and Bobby Eaton.

There was nothing fancy or elaborate about this one. It was just good, old pro wrestling the way it’s meant to be done.

After a strong performance, Rhodes moved out of the way of Eaton’s Alabama Jam attempt and took him out with a match-winning bulldog.
Your Winners: Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes

A plug for the WCW poster book led us into a commercial break, after which we went back to Eric Bischoff, Missy Hyatt, and Missy’s gorgeous legs.
 
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 19 - Missy Hyatt and her gorgeous legs


Missy told us that not only would the NWA World Heavyweight Championship tournament be taking place in Japan that August, but also that all four members of The Dangerous Alliance would be competing in that tournament.

She then left as Gordy and Williams returned to talk about a ‘terrible accident’ that had happened backstage involving The Steiner Brothers’ upcoming Puerto Rican opponents.

Fired up and incredibly animated, Bam Bam and Dr. Death told us that the accident was so awful, The Steiners would have to get a bye to the next round as a result of a forfeit and ultimately go on to face The Miracle Violence Connection in their next match.

This being wrestling, neither Eric nor anyone else seemed concerned with checking on the validity of Gordy & William’s claim and simply accepted it as fact.

The Silver Kings (Silver King 1 & Silver King 2) vs. WCW United States Champions The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael ‘P.S’ Hayes & Jimmy ‘Jam’ Garvin)

The Fabulous Freebirds’ US tag team titles were not on the line here as they went up against the Mexican duo of The Silver Kings.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 19 - The Silver Kings

 

If you’re wondering, The Silver Kings were Juan Jauregui, who was better known as El Texano and Cesar Gonzalez, who was the guy who you may remember wrestling as Silver King later on in WCW.

The company didn’t care enough about either man to use their names, so they were simply referred to as Silver King 1 & Silver King 2.

That’s a shame, really, because both Jauregui and Gonzalez had some pretty impressive offense to deliver.

The problem was that their way of wrestling was completely at odds with the way Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes wrestled, resulting in a clash of styles that made for a really messy match.

After stumbling awkwardly through a six-minute contest, The Silver Kings pounced on The Freebirds outside the ring but couldn’t follow up.

Immediately after, Hayes rolled up one of the kings in the ring and this one was over.
Your Winners: The Fabulous Freebirds

Post-match, Ross & Ventura confirmed that The Steiner Brothers’ opponents really were unable to compete, and thus we’d be seeing The Steiners vs. Gordy and Williams at The Great American Bash.

Elsewhere in the arena, Tony Schiavone and Magnum T.A. also confirmed this. Ole Anderson showed up, too, though all he did was triple-confirm what had happened.

Flyin’ Brian & Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger vs. Chris Benoit & Beef Wellington

Yes, Canadian grappler, Biff Wellington was known as Beef Wellington here, and I personally found that so funny that I had to take a break and compose myself before watching this match.
 
WCW Clash of the Champions 19 - Biff Wellington stares down Brian Pillman

 

Anyway, I’m glad I was able to settle down and eventually pay attention because this tremendous contest turned out to be the best thing on the show so far. 

As some long-time fans may recall, Wellington and Chris Benoit had been tag team partners in Stampede Wrestling, Weirdly, they both later died on the same day, but let's not get bogged down into all that right now because this was a damn fine match.

Benoit and Jushin Liger kicked things off with a fine display of wrestling before Benoit tagged out to his beefy partner for an exchange with Brian Pillman.

From there, things got better and better. All four men bust their asses, whipping the crowd into a frenzy in one hell of an exciting match.

After 11 minutes of action, Liger caught Wellington with a moonsault to put his team through to the next round.
Your Winners: Jushin Liger & Brian Pillman

Up next, this:

The Head Hunters (Head Hunter 1 & Head Hunter 2) vs. Hiroshi Hase & Akira Nogami

The Head Hunters were not the huge guys you probably know from Japan, ECW, and their appearance at the 1996 Royal Rumble, but rather Arn Anderson and Bob “Masked Superstar #2” Cook wearing generic masks.
 
In fact, I'm entirely certain at least one of these masked was used by Rick Rude when he debuted back at Halloween Havoc 91.
 
WCW Clash 19 - Hiroshi Hase and Akira Nogami

 

Their match with Hiroshi Hase & Akira NoGami was…well…let’s just say that in all the time I’ve been watching pro wrestling, I’ve never seen a match have less heat.

The two teams wrestled to absolute silence, and even the announcers found other things to talk about, like this gem from Ventura:

Ross had mentioned the phrase ‘agony in defeat,’ to which Ventura replied:

“What are you talking about, agony in defeat? You have your shoes on, you don’t have agony in the feet.”

I spent the rest of the match laughing at that and paying almost no attention to the lifeless excuse for pro wrestling going on in the ring. 

It was a shame, because I like Hase & Nogami, but this match was incredibly boring.

The Japanese team won with synchronized bridging German suplexes shortly after the five minute mark.
Your Winners: Hiroshi Hase & Akira Nogami

After the break, Jesse Ventura interviewed Ron Simmons about Simmons' quest to become the first black world champion.

After vowing to overcome all the odds, Simmons was interrupted by the arrival of Harley Race and his charge, Super Invader.
 
Clash of the Champions 19 - Harley Race and Super Invader confront Ron Simmons

 

In a promo with heavily racist overtones, Race wanted Simmons to be an errand boy and tell Sting that Vader was after him.

Big Ron refused, so Harley told him that when he was a seven-time champion, he had a boy like him carry his bags.

From what I’ve read elsewhere, Race actually used the word “negro” here, but someone at WWE did a nifty job of replacing it with the word “boy.”

Anyway, Simmons destroyed both Race and the useless Super Invader and that was that.
 
WCW Clash 19 - Tony Schiavone interviews Bill Watts

 

After that, Bill Watts told Tony Schiavone that we’d be starting round 2 of the tag team tournament right now with Steiners vs. Gordy & Williams

Dr: Death Steve Williams & Terry ‘Bam Bam’ Gordy vs. WCW World Tag Team Champions The Steiner Brothers (Rick & Scott Steiner)

I was really looking forward to this match, but, to be honest, it was a bit of a letdown.
 
Clash 19 - Rick Steiner squares off against Steve Williams

 

Things started with both teams trading amateur wrestling moves and a couple of stiff shots. I can’t say for certain that they were shooting at each other, but it certainly looked that way and made for boring viewing.

Then, Dr. Death turned Rick Steiner inside out with a clothesline, signaling a turning point in the match in which the action picked up and we got the kind of quality match I’d been expecting.

Then, it all kind of ended when Scott Steiner, Steve Williams, and Terry Gordy all collapsed in a heap on top of one another and Williams pinned Steiner.
Your Winners: Steve Williams & Terry Gordy

The duo would go on to The Great American Bash ‘92 to face Steamboat and Koloff. This is one of the rare instances where I’ve reviewed shows out of order, so you can go right ahead and read my Bash ‘92 review here.

———-

Things may have deteriorated for WCW in the Bill Watts era after this event, but there’s no denying the cowboy’s reign started strong.

The opening match and that excellent Pillman/Liger vs. Benoit/Wellington match more than made up for the lackluster action elsewhere on the show, and while the resulting match was disappointing, the storyline running through the night of Williams & Gordy wanting The Steiner Brothers was well played out.

Not the best Clash of the Champions ever, but certainly a decent show by all accounts.



Other Clash of the Champions Reviews:
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Retro Pro Wrestling

New reviews of classic WWF/WWE events recalling every moment from Wrestlemania 1 - 30. You'll also find reviews of WCW, ECW, TNA and the occasional indie event, along with a look at old school magazines, merchandise and more.