Champ Clash (1980)

## Background

Champ Clash was Wrestle World’s fourth PPV event, featuring a theme of all championships being defended on the card.

Average Guy had spent most the year so far attempting to earn a match against Jet Set Strutter for the World Championship, with Strutter dodging him at every turn. When Guy finally got his chance at Shamrock Skirmish, the match ended in an indecisive time limit draw. Strutter retained the belt and vowed never to grant Guy another championship match. A few weeks later, on Weekend Wrasslin’, Guy was specifically excluded by Strutter from a number one contender’s battle royal, which was eventually won by Dr. B. Later that night, Guy suffered an unexplained attack by Mad Abner, which put him on the injured list with a busted foot. When asked in an interview about whether he had anything to do with the attack, Strutter refused to answer directly.

Memphis Prince and Buck Bronco had been bitter enemies even before the launch of Wrestle World. Prince defeated The Piranha at Shamrock Skirmish to win the Television Championship, and it was announced shortly thereafter that Bronco would challenge for the title in Prince’s hometown of Memphis. In the interim, Prince looked to prove himself to be a fighting champion by retaining against Mallet Allen and Max Power in separate matches.

Queen of Mean became the new Ladies Champion on April 13, 1980, by defeating Aurora on Sunday Night Slam. By the next week, her challenger for Champ Clash had still not yet been announced, but Queen stated she would defeat whomever was chosen. Shortly before Champ Clash, it was announced that Aurora would be receiving a rematch for the belt.

Skullgore successfully defended his Cruiserweight Championship against Michael T. Wolf at Shamrock Skirmish when, in a strange turn of events, the babyface Wolf was disqualified for using brutal, illegal tactics against the heel Skullgore. Wolf, who has been rumored to be an actual werewolf, later apologized for his actions, claiming he was working to get his “inner wolf” under control. In the meantime, The Piranha defeated Star Boy to earn the right to challenge for the Cruiserweight Title at Champ Clash, setting up the event’s first heel vs. heel title match (along with Strutter vs. Dr. B).

Prior to the show, it was announced that Tag Team Champions The Blade Blasters would defend their belts against The Island Warriors, who had just debuted as a team on the prior week’s Weekend Wrasslin’.

## Matches

Opening the show was the hotly-anticipated bout between hometown hero Memphis Prince and challenger Buck Bronco for the Television Championship. After a violent back and forth, Prince retained the title with the piledriver to the delight of the fans gathered in Mid-South Court.

After that match, Average Guy appeared with his injured foot in a fracture boot. Guy called Jet Set Strutter a “coward” who “had to hire Mad Abner to do his dirty work.” Guy said that while he wanted to teach Abner a lesson himself, his injured foot prevented him from being medically cleared to compete, so he arranged for Abner to face Major Malice tonight instead.

Next up, The Blade Blasters (Buzzsaw and Lazer) defended their Tag Team Championship against the Pacific Islander cousins Savai’i and Tupu, collectively known as The Island Warriors. The champions retained their title after a Master Blaster from the top rope by Buzzsaw. Despite a victory by the babyfaces, the fans in attendance seemed to care little for this match, which received a single star rating.

The next bout was Cruiserweight Champion Skullgore defending his title against The Piranha in the first of the night’s two heel-vs.-heel matches. Skullgore retained via the Crossbone Body Block in a bout that once again failed to resonate with the fans and received a one-star rating.

The next fight, however, received a much better response. Aurora, the former Ladies Champion, received a rematch for the title she’d lost to Queen of Mean. Aurora was accompanied to ringside by her brother, fellow Cimmeternia warrior He-Beast the Barbarian, but her sibling’s support wasn’t enough to overcome Queen’s heelish tactics. Queen retained her title in a match that tied with Prince vs. Bronco for the highest rating of the night at four stars.

Up next, the promised encounter between Mad Abner and Major Malice took place. Malice, a stark patriot and former drill sergeant, was fighting on behalf of Average Guy, who had been injured by Abner in an attack the week prior. Despite Malice’s best efforts, however, Abner’s brutal use of foreign objects behind the referee’s back was too much to overcome, and Abner eventually won the night’s only non-title match with the Fat Camel Clutch.

In the main event, Jet Set Strutter defended his World Championship against Dr. B, a fellow heel and the winner of the Jet Set Strutter invitational battle royal. Despite Dr. B’s repeated attempts to hit his signature move, the Clubber, Strutter managed to lock in the Six-Figure Leglock and retain the title.

## Reception

Champ Clash was a mixed bag in terms of audience reactions. The Television and Ladies Championship matches were very well-received, while the Abner/Malice bout was somewhat middling and the rest of the card considered a disappointment. The only five-star segment of the night was when the injured Average Guy delivered a promo against Jet Set Strutter and Mad Abner.

Although their reactions to each match may have been mixed, the crowd was nonetheless a legitimate sell-out at 11,000 tickets sold. WW had also sold out their previous appearance at Mid-South Court, which was the first-ever WW event on January 5. This suggested that Memphis was a lucrative market for Wrestle World to operate in.

In the TV ratings, Wrestle World finished second once again, extending RnR’s winning streak to a record six consecutive weeks. There was a positive trend emerging for WW, however, as their 12.01 rating represented the third consecutive ratings increase for the company, while RnR had been trending downward for two weeks.