-3/27/88
-From Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC
-Hosts are Tony Schiavone & Jim Ross, with Bob Caudle making an appearence in the opening.
-Tony mentions that the NWA Board of Directors will meet sometime this week to discuss the situation with Dusty, Magnum, and Jim Crockett that took place the day before this show, but doesn't go into any specifics for those that may have missed what he's talking about.
-Match 1: Amateur Wrestling Match for the NWA Television Championship: Mike Rotunda [c] (w/Kevin Sullivan) VS Jimmy Garvin (w/Precious)
-Rule changes are that this will be contested in three 5 minute rounds, and it only takes a one count to get a pin. Teddy Long looks like Black Gallagher: UPS Worker. Garvin controls the early going, with Rotunda bitching about non-existant cheating the whole time, leading to Rotunda escaping an overhead wristlock by pulling Garvin's hair. Rotunda takes over the end of Round 1 with NCAA-Approved kicks, stomps, and a clothesline before nearly getting a pin. Garvin gets Rotunda in trouble early in Round 2. Sullivan tries to interfere, so Precious cuts him off. Sullivan responds by lifting her off the ground by her neck! The distraction allows Rotunda to school-boy Garvin for the one count pin to retain. Garvin gives Rotunda a really shitty brainbuster right after the pin. Rick Steiner runs in for a 3-on-1 beatdown, but Precious nails him with a 2X4, then tries to strangle Sullivan to death with a coat hanger! Pretty good psychology during the match while it lasted, and the post-match save by Precious was something else.
-Match 2: NWA United States Tag Team Championship: The Midnight Express [c] (w/Jim Cornette) VS The Fantastics
-Cornette has some fans in the house tonight. That is one sweet mullett on Bobby Eaton. Complete chaos to start with. Chairs fly all over the place, tables are overturned, and Randy Anderson does nothing about it. Awesome double-team by the Midnights, as Eaton hits Tommy Rogers with a cross-body while Lane takes his legs out from underneath. Cornette holds a table on the outside, and Eaton sends Rogers head-first into it. The Midnights really do a number on Rogers, but neglect to go for the pin. Rogers tries to fight back, and actually gets a visual fall on Lane with a sunset flip, but Randy Anderson is busy with Bobby Fulton, so he can't make the count. Lane slams Rogers on a table that's laying on the outside, prompting Cornette to do a happy dance. Eaton tries to one-up Lane by giving Rogers a bulldog on the same table.
-Rogers finally makes the tag, but Randy Anderson doesn't see it (or Cornette running in to hit Rogers with the tennis racket), so Fulton says "fuck this" and tosses Anderson over the top rope. The Fantastics get the Rocket Launcher for the pin (as counted by Tommy Young), but Anderson returns to DQ the Fantastics for being tossed over the top rope. The Midnights get Fulton in position as Cornette goes to town with his belt as JR freaks out. Rogers finally makes the save with a chair. Really wild match and well worth going out of your way to see.
-Match 3: Six Man Chicago Street Fight Barbed Wire Match: The Road Warriors (w/Paul Ellering) & Dusty Rhodes VS The Powers of Pain & Ivan Koloff (w/Paul Jones)
-Big USA chant off the bat. Animal dons a hockey mask (not the old style Jason wears, sadly), to protect an injured eye. Pretty much a big schmozz dominated by the babyfaces. Animal powerslams Warlord, and Barbarian makes it worse by accidentally hitting Warlord with an elbowdrop, and that gets the pin for Animal in pretty short order. The heels go after Animal's injured eye after the pin, and get him in trouble until Dusty saves. Nothing much to see here.
-Match 4: NWA World Tag Team Championship: Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson [c] (w/JJ Dillon) VS Barry Windham & Lex Luger
-Lex dominates early, and gets Tully in the Torture Rack, but Arn makes the save by kicking Lex in the quad. Windham gets in, and nearly finishes Tully with a lariat and a powerslam. Windham gets Tully in a sleeper, and holds onto it, even after they slip to the outside. Tommy Young won't allow a tag between AA and Tully because Arn's hand was sticking through the ropes, but Arn comes in anyway, spiking Windham with a DDT (that's how you do it, Dusty) and a spinebuster for a near-fall. Windham plays FIP for a while, coming close to making a tag several times. He kicks out of Tully's Slingshot Suplex, then finally makes the tag. Lex explodes once he's in. JJ gets worried and tries to interfere with a chair, but Luger sends AA head-first into the chair, and gets the pin for the titles off that to a HUGE pop. Really strong tag formula match, worked by the masters of it on the heel side. Smart move to keep Luger out of it for the most part between the beginning and finish.
-Match 5: NWA World Heavyweight Championship: Ric Flair [c] VS Sting
-Match has a 45 minute time limit. There are 5 judges at ringside, and JJ will be locked inside a cage so he can't interfere. The judges are NWA Board member Gary Juster, Sandy Scott, Penthouse Pet of the Year Patty Mullen, Ken Haskel from the New Leave it to Beaver, and Jason Hervey from the Wonder Years, and Eric Bischoff's soon-to-be BFF. Only Hervey gets an on-screen graphic on the celebrity side. Kayfabe-wise, why does the NWA seemingly go out of their way to pick unqualified judges for World title matches that they decide need them? Really slow pace to start, as Sting keeps stopping Flair's attempts at offense, and intimidation. I like Tony announcing the stand-by matches, in case this match does not go the limit. Gives the impression that it's not certain that it will. Sting stays in control, almost pinning Flair with a side headlock. Flair's chops only serve to annoy Sting. There's a mix up as Flair is supposed to avoid a dropkick and it appears that he does, but then Flair flops off it. Flair keeps trying, but Sting cuts off every attempt at building offense and momentum that Flair has. Sting misses a flying elbow into the corner.
-Flair FINALLY makes some hay with an inverted atomic drop, and takes Sting outside to whip him into guardrail. Flair just pounds on Sting for the next 7-8 minutes until Sting makes another comeback, which ends when Sting stupidly tries a flying clothesline out on the floor, and ends up clotheslining the ringpost. Sting makes another comeback and locks in the Scorpion Deathlock, but Flair makes it to the ropes. Sting keeps shrugging off any attempts at offense from Flair, until Flair connects with a shinbreaker. Flair gets the Figure 4 at the 30 minute mark. Sting reverses the hold, then after it's broken, decides it's time to yell "DO YOU KNOW HOW TO PARTY, OR WHAT?!". Sting completely destroys Flair as we hit the 40 minute mark. Sting tries for the Deathlock, but gets kicked off, and sent to the outside. Stings keeps control of the final minutes, and has Flair in the Scorpion Deathlock at time expires. The judges votes: Mullen-Flair, Juster-Sting, Scott-Draw. The other two are not show, but the match is declared a draw, and Flair retains. A really good showcase for Sting, as he legitimately controlled most of the match, and showed good fire and demonstrated how much he wanted to win the title.
-Overall, a really, really good show for the first Clash. If you haven't seen it, I recommend it if you have the opportunity.
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