Clash of the Champions 1 Page 2

 I wonder if that was to show up the WWF? Standing enzuigiri from Stan. Rogers gets slammed on the table outside the ring...but it's not set up. And there's a chair underneath it. OUCH! Eaton bulldogs him on the table. DOUBLE-OUCH! I think his neck might be broken, but this is the NWA, and WE WRESTLE, so he's still game. Rogers blades, just because it wouldn't be right otherwise. False tag to Fulton, so Cornette tags advantage and whacks Rogers with the racket. Fulton tosses Randy Anderson over the tag rope, and they hits the Rocket Launcher on Eaton, just in time for Tommy Young to come in and count the pin. Hey, who do you think was booking this show? The Express gets the titles back on the Dusty Finish, but it only knocks 1/4* off. ****3/4

- Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors v. The Powers of Pain & Ivan Koloff. This is a barbed-wire street fight. Don't get excited, the wire is just wrapped around the ropes loosely. This comes after the evil Russians and evil Powers of Pain dropped a barbell on Animal's face and did bad things to him. Animal is doing his Jason the Terrible impression as a result. Barbed wire doesn't really figure into it, as they just do a big battle royale and work in their usual stuff. Barbarian misses a diving headbutt and hits Warlord, giving the faces the pin. This was your basic Worldwide main event. *1/4

- NWA World tag team title match: Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson v. Barry Windham & Lex Luger. Here's the setup: The Horsemen are Bad People, and Luger/Windham are Good People. There you go. Specifically, Luger was kicked out of the Horsemen for free thinking two months previous to this, and he figured kicking the Horsemen's asses would be a good idea. Luger clotheslines both heels and powerslams Tully right away, racking him less than a minute in. A stomp to the knee swings it back again and they work the knee. Windham gets the hot tag and lariats Blanchard, again nearly getting the win very early. He gets a sleeper and Tully makes the ropes...but Windham holds on as Tully rolls out. You NEVER see that anymore. Horsemen get control of Windham and pound on him. Crowd is fanatically behind the faces. Really amazing pace because of time restrictions. Windham survives a slingshot suplex and hot tags to Luger. Clothesline! Clothesline! Double-noggin-knocker! Oops, knee to the back and Lex is slowed for about 2 seconds before powerslamming Arn. Brawl breaks out, and JJ climbs on the apron with a chair, which Luger promptly whips Anderson into for the pin and the World tag team titles. Badda bing, badda boom. Luger and Windham get a Steve Austin-like pop for the win. Wow, that was just about the loudest I've ever heard. ****1/2 Windham would turn on Luger two weeks later to join the Horsemen, giving the titles back to Anderson and Blanchard again in the process.

- NWA World title match: Ric Flair v. Sting. You know the deal, five judges at ringside, 45 minute time limit, JJ locked in a cage at ringside, etc. Wristlock to start. Chops have no effect and Sting dropkicks Flair out of the ring. Sting controls for the next few minutes, with a lot of basic stuff. Side headlock, bearhug, etc. I don't think Sting was ready for this match. Sting misses a blind charge to the corner and messes up his elbow about 15 minutes in. Flair goes to work, methodically destroying Sting. Sting has a mini-comeback about 25 minutes in to keep the crowd going, but misses a charge outside the ring and hits the post. The comeback continues, however, for a couple of two counts. Outside-in suplex and Deathlock, but Flair makes the ropes. Sting goes flying out of the ring and comes back in with a flying bodypress for two. Flair goes to work on the knee. Figure-four at 30 minutes. Amazingly, he cut to the crowd for a second, and when we return FLAIR is in the figure-four. Wow, that's some magic trick. Must have been the Black Scorpion. Now Sting is working on Flair's leg. We jumped to 40 minutes, so there was some definite clipping for home video. The ring announcer does the annoying NWA trademark minute-by-minute countdown to time limit. Sting misses a splash and goes flying out of the ring. Nice bumping by Sting. They exchange two counts. Flair Flip leads to a bodypress, which is reversed by Sting for two. 10 punch count leads to the Stinger Splash and deathlock with 30 seconds left. Flair holds on to time limit, and we go to the judges' decision: A draw. Well, that pretty much shoots down the "there must be a winner" stipulation. The Penthouse bimbo gives it to Flair, Gary Juster gives it to Sting, Sandy Scott scores it a draw. They clip the other two judges' decisions, but I don't think anyone cares what Eddie Haskell has to say. Not a ***** classic by any means, but still good. ***1/2

The Bottom Line: Can't complain about that show, especially on free TV. Easy recommendation over Wrestlemania IV.

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