-4/2/89
-From The Superdome in New Orleans, LA
-Dark Match: NWA Television Championship: Sting [c] VS Rip Morgan
-This, and the other dark match took place after the main show, and aired the following Saturday. Sting barely breaks a sweat, finishing quickly with a Stinger Splash and the Scorpion Deathlock.
-Dark Match: NWA United States Championship: Lex Luger [c] VS "Secret Service" Jack Victory
-Match is JIP as Luger works Victory over, until Michael Hayes comes out to slap Luger in the face. Luger slams Victory off the top, hits a powerslam (which JR calls a piledriver), and finishes with the Torture Rack.
-The main show kicks off with JR and Michael Hayes previewing the show. Hayes predicts Flair will regain the title. They show a video of a dinner involving several legends. Pizza Man Jim Herd very insincerely reads a statement thanking the legends for their contributions to wrestling.
-A video showcases all the top names in the NWA. After the national anthem, there's an add for the NWA Hotline.
-Match 1: The Samoan Swat Team (w/Paul E. Dangerously) VS The Midnight Express (w/Jim Cornette)
-Lane & Samu start it off Lane uses his quickness to outmaneuver Samu, and gets a crossbody for two. Samu nails Lane with a chop and tags Fatu, who quickly loses the advantage to Lane. Lane tags Eaton, who hits a missile dropkick before tagging Lane back in. Cornette sneaks around to the other side of the ring to his Samu with the tennis racket. The Midnights completely dominate the match. Paul has Fatu listen to whomever he's talking to on his mobile phone. The SST get a brief moment of offense before Eaton turns the tide again. Eaton holds Fatu with Fatu's head on the top rope, and Lane leapfrogs Eaton to hit a splash on Fatu's back. That only gets a one count, as Tommy Young was busy with Samu & Eaton. The SST come back, and Samu hits a thrust kick on Eaton for two. Eaton is face-in-peril for a bit until he's able to tag in Lane. Nice spot as the Midnight's ram the SST's heads together. They no-sell it, hit each other a couple times, then go after the Midnights Paul trips Lane, so Cornette nails Samu with the tennis racket again. Lane is now the face-in-peril. Fatu hits a powerslam for two, thenlocks in a nerve hold. The Samoans get several near-falls on Lane, but cannot keep him down for three. Fatu misses a diving headbut, allowing Eaton to tag Lane. Lane makes the mistake of trying a double noggin knocker, which the SST no-sell and drop Lane. The Midnights hit the Rocket Launcher, but Tommy Young is too busy getting Eaton out of the ring, and Fatu nails Lane with the mobile phone before rolling Samu on top for the pin. Really good match, and a great choice for an opener.
-Match 2: The Great Muta (w/Gary Hart) VS Steven Casey
-Muta does some pre-match meditating. Casey rushes in, and gets the green mist right off the bat. Nice spot as Muta backs Casey in a corner, then hits a double mule kick. There's something really creepy about Muta. His facepaint, sticking his fingers in his mouth before raking the eyes, and the whole casual demeanor he displays while picking Casey apart just give him an aura. Casey gets some offense in, but Muta swats aside a dropkick attempt. Muta sends Casey outside, then follows up with a dive to "ooooohs" and "aaaaaaahs" from the crowd. Muta hits a cartwheel into an elbow smash on the outside, then once back in, finishes with the moonsault. Really good showcase for Muta.
-Match 3: Junkyard Dog VS "Hacksaw" Butch Reed (w/Hiro Matsuda)
-JYD has a marching band accompany him to ringside. Shoving match to start, and JYD floors Reed with a punch. Lots of stalling early on. JYD counters a hiptoss with one of his own, then hits a bodyslam. JYD headbuts Reed in the side of his face. Reed turns the tide by thumbing JYD in the throat. Reed keeps control of the match. JYD misses a falling headbut. Reed hits a flying shoulderblock from the top, but JYD's foot is on the ropes. JYD whips Reed into Matsuda, and gets the pin off that. Match wasn't half-bad, actually. My expectations were pretty low, given I haven't been impressed with Reed, and I've only seen past his prime, shitty JYD.
-Match 4: Bob Orton (w/Gary Hart) VS Dick Murdoch
-Technical wrestling carries this match for the first five minutes. The director must be bored, as he cuts to the legends in the crowd a couple times while the two fight over holds. The technical wrestling comes to a screetching hault when Orton punches Murdoch in a corner, and starts stomping and punching him. Slugfest is won by Murdoch. Murdoch hits a dropkick, and Orton takes a horrible bump into a corner. Murdoch keeps the momentum, and has Orton up in the brainbuster until Hart trips Murdoch mid-move, and Orton falls on top for the pin as Hart continues to hold Murdoch's leg. Match was good for the time given.
-Match 5: NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Road Warriors [c] (w/Paul Ellering) VS Mike Rotunda & Dr. Death Steve Williams (w/Kevin Sullivan)
-Rotunda tries to wrestle Hawk, who turns it into a brawl, and wins at that. Animal gets in and tosses both of the challengers around. Rotunda saves Williams from a pin, and Dr. Death manages to drop the distracted Hawk with a clothesline to turn the tide in their favor. Animal becomes the face-in-peril. He makes a tag, but Teddy Long doesn't see it, so he doesn't allow it. Dr. Death hits a football tackle, then when Animal fights back, uses Animal's tightd to pull him outside. Sullivan hits Animal with a chair while he's out there. Dr. Death hits a spinebuster, but stops to savor the moment, and doesn't get the pin. Animal finally counters a football tackle with a clothesline, and tags Hawk. Hawk cleans house. Animal shoves Teddy Long down, which proves disasterous, as the Roadies hit the Doomsday Device, and Long feigns a back injury to avoid making the count. Williams school boys Hawk from behind, and Long gives the fastest count possible to give the titles to the Varsity Club. Good tag formula match, and a surprise finish.
-The Road Warriors are understandably pissed about what just happened.
-Match 6: Ranger Ross VS The Iron Shiek (w/Rip Morgan)
-Ross repels from the ceiling, and takes forever to do it. Shiek attacks Ross in the middle of the Iranian national anthen. Ross blocks a vertical suplex and gets one of his own. Shiek locks in an abdominal stretch, which Ross reverses. Ross gets a big kick to the face, and Morgan nails him with the Iranian flag pole for the quick DQ. JYD saves Ross from a beatdown.
-Bob Caudle interviews Ric Flair. It's a short promo, and Flair doesn't say anything particularly noteworthy.
-Match 7: NWA United States Tag Team Championship: Rick Steiner & Eddie Gilbert {c] (w/Missy Hyatt) VS Kevin Sullivan & Dan Spivey
-Spivey gets a quick side-slam on Gillbert, but lets up on the cover. Gillbert is face-in-peril right off the bat. Gillbert gets trapped in the tree of woe, and Sullivan nails him. Sullivan wants to nail him again, and even though Gillbert frees himself, Sullivan can't...stop...running...and hits the corner. Steiner is tagged in and cleans house. The match breaks down, and Gillbert hits Sullivan with Missy's handbag for the pin to retain. Sullivan & Spivey double-team Gillbert until Steiner makes the save with a chair.
-Match 8: NWA World Heavyweight Championship Best 2 out of 3 Falls: Ricky Steamboat [c] VS Ric Flair
-The background graphic spells Ric as "Rick". Terry Funk replaces Hayes on commentary.
-FIRST FALL: Flair tries to intimidate Steamboat as they exchange holds, and that only gets him slapped across the face. Flair & Steamboat do their thing, combining technical wrestling, limb work, and stiff-as-hell chops. Steamboat, on a couple of occaisions, almost pins Flair with a side headlock. Steamboat controls the first few minutes, taking Flair down with headlocks, controlling the pace, and getting several near-falls. The difference between these headlocks and headlocks you see in most matches is that these two still work whil the hold is on, instead of using it as a rest period. I also have to mention that Terry Funk is great on color commentary, providing psychology behind what's going on in the ring. After Steamboat misses a dropkick, Flair tries for the Figure 4. Steamboat rolls him up, then Flair counters that rollup for the pin at 19:33.
-SECOND FALL: Steamboat comes out flying, getting a near-fall after a flying chop from the top. Flair misses a kneedrop, and Steamboat goes right to work on Flair's leg. Steamboat switches up to chops on Flair's forehead. Flair takes the match outside, and sends Steamboat into the guardrail. Flair gets a vertical suplex for two. Flair uses the ropes for leverage while trying again to pin Steamboat, and yells at the ringside fans to shut up when it proves unsuccessful. Steamboat catches Flair going up top, and hits a superplex. Now Steamboat focuses on Flair's lower back. Steamboat locks in a double chicken wing, and gets a submission at 34:40 to win the second fall, and tie it up at 1.
-THIRD FALL: Steamboat continues to work on Flair's back. Steamboat locks in a side headlock, but Flair counters with a shin breaker, and the Figure 4, but Steamboat gets to the ropes almost right away. Flair flip leads to a clothesline off the apron. Flair comes back, and again tries using the ropes to pin Steamboat. Steamboat goes for a high knee in the corner, but misses and gets caught up. Flair swoops right in to work on the leg. Flair locks in a Figure 4, but cannot get the submission or a pinfall. Steamboat finally reverses the hold, and chops away on Flair. Flair goes up...and hits the crossbody! That gets a very close near-fall. Steamboat comes back with his crossbody for two. After a couple more nearfalls, Flair locks in a sleeper, but Steamboat holds on. Steamboat breaks out by slamming Flair's face into the turnbuckle.
-Flair goes back to the leg. Steamboat misses a splash from the top. Flair gives a little maniacal laugh as he continues to work on Steamboat's leg. Steamboat responds with some STIFF chops. Flair comes back, but goes up top again, and is slammed down. Steamboat locks in the double chicken wing, but his leg gives out, and they fall back. Flair's leg is underneath the bottom rope, and it looks like both men's shoulders are down, but Tommy Young counts the pin, and awards the match and the title to Steamboat at 54:20. Replay from one side shows Steamboat did get a shoulder up before the three count. Just a teriffic match that deserves it's standing as possibly the best match ever. It's the fastest moving near-hour long match I've ever seen. Worth going out of your way to see if you haven't yet. It is on the first Flair set.
-Jim Ross interviews Steamboat. Steamboat is ready to move on to new challengers. They look at two replays, and see that Flair's leg was underneath the bottom rope. Steamboat acknowledges that Flair has a legitimate gripe, but says he's the better man anyway because he pinned Flair's shoulders down. Odd that the nameplate on the big gold is blank.
-Really good show, and I would say the best Clash yet. The main event is worth tracking down, but if you can find the whole show, I would recommend it.
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