From: mb20@prism.gatech.EDU (BRANCH,MICHAEL B)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.pro-wrestling
Subject: Re: [WCW] Clash of the Champion XX
Date: 3 Sep 92 15:17:48 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology


  
   Well, Rick "Uncle Sammy" Duggan and I went down
  to Center Stage last night (Hillbilly Jon Kincaid pulled
  a mysterious no-show) and managed to bluff our way in.
   Beforehand, WCW had the whole "red carpet" works out front,
  most of the people being unrecognizable folks in tuxedos.
  We saw Andre afterwards and he looks in every bit as bad
  a shape as people have been saying.

  Easily the highlight of the evening was speaking
  briefly with Gordon Solie. He, more than anyone (Including
  Flair) will always embody for me the essence of pro wrestling.
  A match did not exist, that Solie couldn't make seem a matter
  of life and death, relying not on cliches and screaming, but class
  and professionalism. It was tough to see him in poor health and
  I wish him all the best. 
   On to the matches...
  ----------------------
  The Austin-Steamboat match just seemed slow. I'm not sure what
 it is, but Ricky seems hesitant, his work really decreasing. I
 don't know. There was not much heat the entire evening, mainly
 due to a lack of the usual wrestling crowd (Too many "VIP's"), 
 but this opener had a lot of "Steamboat" chants but not much
 excitement-type heat. Hadn't seen the tape yet, maybe it sounded
 better on tv.

  The Valentine/Slater - Eaton/Anderson match, on the other hand,
 was a great relief. Whereas alot of the other matches had pauses
 and the wrestlers whispering upcoming moves to each other, these
 guys just let it go. Even with the marks, Eaton, Anderson and Hayes
 are pretty popular and were clearly the fan favorites (though one
 poor guy below us was so confused as to who to boo, he ended up
 yelling Paul E.'s name).
   Simmons will pay off for WCW. He's always received a huge pop
 here and can carry the belt nicely. But his match with Jack also
 was kind of slow, weirdly paced. C.J. seemed particularly off
 kilter. He did take one bump outside where he came down right
 on the back of his head, but I hoped for a more manic and
 exciting performance.          
   Butch Reed has certainly left the steroids, and looks like
 he may have not messed much with a gym either. Great to see
 him, but he looked pretty winded without much work. What's
 wrong with Barry? Has he just quit wrestling? I can remember
 when he would put on incredible matches, now he just sleepwalks.
 It was cool to see one of the guys (I forget which one) not
 sell Mutant Runnels' 'bionic' elbow though, and as I said, nice
 to see Reed again. 

   Oh, all of you missed really great entertainment held during
 the commercial breaks (please insert lots of irony...) We
 had a woman sing two different god-awful country (I guess) songs.

  And the most surreal moment (I'm assuming that this wasn't televised)
 had Van Hammer's involvement. He came down to the ring, did alot of
 pointing, nearly slipping off the ring ropes at one point, and said
 something about honoring 20 years of TBS. He then did his "We Will
 Rock You" foot stomp and 90% of the crowd just stared at him silently...

   The Pillman turn? was a bit tired, but still well done. We could hear
 the slap from our seats without a need for a microphone. Both Rick
 and I were disappointed that this match didn't come off as it was the
 one we most looked forward too.
   The final match was great for me, simply to see Vader work. This guy
 is incredible and is a really stiff worker. (Rick and I were the
 2 guys standing up giving Vader the "V" sign.)
 However, I don't know if Ross mentioned this, but big Van broke
 his wrist near the end (or either very badly sprained it, a guy
 that had been in the dressing room said that Vader was refusing
 to go the hospital in spite of how bad the wrist looked).
 We started up the "DDT" chant there at the end, completely pissing
 off this one woman cheering for Sting. So, when Jake ended it and
 we started yelling for him to DDT Sting again, she yelled at Rick
 to shut up. Luckily I made the save and kept her from hurting him...
 
    And now a couple of rumors: Apparently the Steiners are pretty 
  much gone. (This is no big surprise). Also, and more surprising,
  Anderson and Eaton's contracts are up this year and they
  will almost definitely be jumping to Cornette's Smokey Mountain
  Organization. I guess this remains to be seen, but if it is the case,
  and if what Terry Taylor told my friend about being fired is true,
  that's a pretty large group of talent going away. I also heard that
  Dibiase has never been contacted by WCW, the rumor simple being
  a work to get people to call Ross' hotline. So, with Hart getting
  a good showing in Wembley, neither look to be coming to WCW.
  
 
-- 
BRANCH, MICHAEL 
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
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