From: hekunze@jeeves.uwaterloo.ca (Herb Kunze)
Subject: Re: Clash disappointing
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 20:38:33 GMT

In article <92247.084420WELACK@MIAMIU.BITNET>, <WELACK@MIAMIU.BITNET> writes:
> I found the Clash last night very boring. 

  Gary Will and I watched it together.  We both gave it a thumbs up.

> The matches were unexciting and the interviews terrible. 

  I don't think any of the matches were bad and nothing was insulting.
  The only really bad parts were the long and frequent commercial breaks
  and the overdone Halloween Havoc promo.  But the actual show was good.
  I think this would be a good show to watch on video, where the above
  two things could be skipped.  

> It ended with Sting pulling up on a Harley and Missy wetting her
> pants, saying she'd like a ride on Sting's Harley.

  We laughed because Missy said "I hear a Harley" before Sting showed
  up.  She didn't just hear a motorcycle; she knew it was a Harley.

> Throughout the night they had clips from the last 20 years and that was,
> for me, the high point of the evening. They showed way too much of
> Dusty, but that was to be expected. Tag teams shown were the Midnight
> Express, Rock and Roll Express, LOD, Briscos, Freebirds. Individuals
> were Buzz Sawyer, Roddy Piper, Tommy Rich, Ric Flair, Jim Cornette,
> King Kong Bundy, and many others. I couldn't thing of any glaring
> oversights.

  The clips were great.  Everybody that was shown certainly deserved to
  be shown.  I think they were strategic in the early phase of the
  show, trying to point out how many WWF "stars" were on WTBS at
  some point in time.  They showed King Kong Bundy in a clip early.
  And they had Andre and Bruno there live.  Just as Joe Mark is watching
  this at home thinking, "Hey, these guys were all in the WWF before.
  This stuff may be okay," they start with the first match, showing
  Rick Steamboat, another former WWF "star," in the ring.  

> The card was much shorter than advertised and started with the World
> TV title match.

  We only missed two matches: (1) Johnny B. Badd vs. Scotty Flamingo
  and (2) Van Hammer vs. Diamond Dallas Page.  I think this was a 
  *good* move.  (2) is clearly a waste and I really don't need to
  Scotty doing yet another TV job this month.  

> Why make it no DQ if there isn't going to be any wild action? 

  Wasn't it clear beforehand that Steamboat would use off-the-top-rope
  moves in the match?  Until Watts rescinds his ruling on this, those
  are DQ-able moves.  Steamboat won the title by doing something that
  would have disqualified him in a normal match.  I did expect more
  top rope moves from both guys, though, instead of just the one
  body press.  

  If you were expecting rail shots, post shots, low blows, and brawling
  on the floor, then you better read Bill Watts' 10 commandments again.

> Which brings up a question. Is the DA defunct or what? Is it just
> fading into the sunset? I thought confusing angles were a thing of
> the past? They did mention that no one knows Terry Gordy better
> than Hayes, but I thought that Eaton and Anderson were doing a
> bounty job for Williams and Gordy. Or was that last week? I'm
> confused.

  For whatever reason - presumably his large salary -, Paul E. Dangerously
  is on Bill Watts' hit list.  The Dangerous Alliance is going to be
  re-worked and Paul E. is going to have zero involvement in anything
  (sort of like he did last night).  I guess he may get involved so that
  Watts can humiliate him enough so that he quits and kills his contract.
  
  After this weekend, things will be clearer.  At this point, we have
  Gordy & Williams with the straps.  They went to Japan and "hired"
  Arn & Bobby to eliminate the Steiners, who they perceive as their
  main threat.  After Gordy & Williams went to Japan, Arn & Bobby
  announced that they will beat the Steiners, but that they had a 
  second motive -- in eliminating the Steiners, they would become
  number one contenders.  This weekend on WTBS, Arn & Bobby beat the
  Steiners - who Watts won't put over in case they reject his salary
  offer in December (seems like they've probably voiced off about it
  already to be "punished" like they have been) - and are "unarguably"
  the number one contenders.  So, they recruit Michael Hayes to go
  after Gordy & Williams, since Hayes knows everything about Gordy
  and since the three of them are "tag team specialists."  Since
  we know that Arn & Bobby are history in the new year, I doubt
  they'll win the belts.  Maybe after they've jobbed for Gordy &
  Williams, Watts will be in negotiations with the Steiners and,
  if they want to stay in WCW at a reduced salary, he may put them
  over Gordy & Williams at that time.  Otherwise, I expect that
  Watts will put together a new team (like full time Big Van Vader
  and visiting Scott Norton, or something) to go after the belts.
 
> Is this a Pillman heel turn, if so, it wasn't very well done, if not,
> I guess it's just another example of Pillman's temper.

  Looked like a heel turn to me.  He called him "garbage," he called
  him "scum," he said his family should be ashamed, and he slapped 
  him.  
 
> Why wasn't Pillman given the title if Armstrong couldn't defend it?
> Anyway, no Lt. Heavyweight match, there will be a title tourney. I'm
> confused again.

  We can hope that Watts is going to give in and give the high-flying
  stuff a chance to get over.  With Chris Benoit signed and Riger
  hopefully being brought in for the tourney (and Lightning Kid?)
  it could be pretty good.  It would seem that they'd go to a 
  Pillman vs. Armstrong final though. 

> Next match was Cactus Jack-Simmons. 
> My humble rating ** 

  I think Gary and I thought this was no more than ***.  

  Sure, the matches in general paled in comparison to the Tiger Mask
  vs. Dynamite Kid pre-Clash matches we watched on video, but if 
  WCW can consistently put on *** or better matches from top to bottom
  on big shows, they'll start to attract a wider audience.

> Believe it or not, I thought this was the best match of the night.
> Of course, on this night, this isn't saying much, but..... Anyway,
> Reed and Barbarian dominated the match, spending most of the time
> beating up Dustin. Finally pinning Barry. My humble rating **1/4

  Poor Barry had to job for the foot again.  That's what happens  
  when you team up with the booker's son.  Gary and I figured that
  they should have given Reed the clean pin on somebody after a
  big move if they wanted to get over his arrival as something
  major.  Instead, Reed wasn't put over at all, and Joe Mark
  who knows nothing about Doom will wonder what the big deal is. 
  The match was good, but the final booking decision was odd.  

> The 8 man was the last match. I think they had about 20-30 minutes
> left at this point, so they had to get people eliminated fast. Koloff
> went first, then Super Invader, then Scott was DQ'd for coming off
> the top rope, then Rick got counted out. Leaving Sting vs Jake,
> Rude, and Van Vader.
> Anyway, to make a boring story short, Jake DDT's Sting after Vader
> had splashed him and Rude from the top rope. Heels win.

  The Steiners were almost selling for their opponents in this match.
  IMO, they are lame in anything but squash matches unless their 
  opponents are great wrestlers.  I kind of hope Vince takes them.
  
  I think that the ending was done slowly on purpose.  How many times
  have you seen the big babyface laid out playing dead.  The heel comes
  in slowly and casually goes for his finisher.  What happens next?
  The face always "digs down," "Hulks out," or whatever, and counters
  the move or blocks it and somehow rallies.  What happened here?
  Jake just walked over and DDTed him.  Okay, surely he'll kick out
  of the pin attempt and "dig down deep" or "Hulk out" or whatever.
  Nope.  He just got pinned.  This is part of the re-education 
  process that WCW fans are going to have to go through.  Top stars
  will have to do clean jobs.  Big moves will have to be put over 
  by top stars.  The fans shouldn't feel like they know what's 
  going to happen.  When things become more unpredictable, they'll
  become more exciting.  I kind of doubt that we'll ever see a
  crowd go rabid for an arm-bar though.
                                                          Herb...