It’s going to be hard for the NWA to top the first Clash of the Champions. After all, it’s one of the greatest shows in wrestling history. So, don’t go into the Clash of the Champions II review expecting pure greatness.
But hey, these men are going to try, and effort is all we can ask for. This is also a month before the big Great American Bash pay per view.
Let’s jump right into Blake’s Clash of the Champions II review.
- Date: June 8, 1988
- Location: James L. Knight Center in Miami, FL
IN THE PARKING LOT: Jim Ross is on limousine duty. A bunch of random people get out that apparently we’re supposed to know.
OUTSIDE THE RING: Tony Schiavone and Bob Caudle prep us for the night.
Brad Armstrong vs. (c) Barry Windham (w/JJ Dillon) – US Heavyweight Title
So this was when Windham had just made one of the most shocking heel turns in wrestling history and joined the Four Horsemen. The last time we saw him at the first Clash of the Champions, he and Lex Luger had just won the tag titles from Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard in an insanely awesome match. Well, on April 20 in Jacksonville, he turned on Luger and allowed Arn and Tully to win back the straps. The people HATED this guy.
Armstrong forces Windham to retreat early much to the crowd’s delight. Windham had so much heat that he made Armstrong’s offense sound like it was coming from Hulk Hogan. There’s also a little kid in the crowd with a painted face holding up a glitter sign that says “Wimp.” Outstanding. There’s also a lot of blondes in the crowd. It’s Miami in the late 80s, so it’s to be expected.
Badass Barry Windham is much preferred to Rest Hold Barry Windham. This is surprisingly good back and forth, and eventually Windham locks on the Figure Four. Dillon helps him with some leverage as referee Teddy Long isn’t seeing any of this. He’s probably too busy thinking about booking tag team matches on Smackdown. Anyways, Armstrong manages to hold on here and attempt to reverse it. This hold has been locked in for a few minutes at this point. That’s a bit long yes? Finally, Long sees the cheating and forces the break.
Armstrong gets tossed outside and Windham is such a bastard playing to the crowd. It’s beautiful. Back inside and Windham goes up top but misses the flying drop. Armstrong now in control and the people are eating it up with a spoon. Flying cross body off the top and Armstrong almost wins the title. He goes up top and lands another one but Windham reverses and locks in THE CLAW. He gets the pin to retain at 13:35. This was a very good opener with a lot of heat.
• Rating: ***1/4
OUTSIDE THE RING: Rock and Roll Express are back. They say that. That’s it.
ON A BOAT: Ric Flair and Lex Luger are on a damn yacht to sign the contract for their Great American Bash title match. Only in America. Crockett Jr. makes them sign it and they exit peacefully. Dear WWE, if you don’t want a contract signing that ends in a massive brawl, do it on a yacht. Learn from Flair and Luger.
IN THE PARKING LOT: Flair goes from a yacht to a limo. He and Arn and Tully are here to do what they do. After cutting the entrances for our next match, Luger arrives and gets jumped by Flair and company. At least they waited until after the contract signing? Luger is busted wide open.
The Sheepherders vs. (c) The Fantastics – US Tag Team titles
After getting screwed out of the titles in a Dusty Finish at the first Clash (in a **** match), the Fantastics managed to beat the Midnight Express to win them.
Good brawl to begin here, which is what you’d expect from the Sheepherders. Crowd loves them some Fantastics. Also a lot of USA chants going on. Sheepherders try to get sneaky with a double team, but it backfires and now the champs are trying to take back the momentum. But yet again Teddy Long isn’t seeing the shenanigans behind his back, which gives the Sheepherders the advantage once again. Teddy still dreaming of Smackdown I see.
We get a hilarious spot where Fulton and Rogers each try to pin both Sheepherders by themselves. Fun stuff. MORE SHENANIGANS BEHIND TEDDY’S BACK. GET IT TOGETHER, TED. Sheepherders use the belt to attack on the outside, and of course Teddy doesn’t see it. AND NOW WE GET A CHAIR SHOT BEHIND TEDDY’S BACK. Worst referee job ever.
Even more shenanigans, but Rogers manages to reverse and throw Luke into the chair that Butch was holding. Then we get a weird finish where the Fantastics get a roll-up for a pin and Teddy counts the three at 19:29, although Butch may have broke it up beforehand.
This match was entertaining, but just felt all over the place. It had an unusual flow to it.
• Rating: **1/2
OUTSIDE THE RING: Listen guys, Dr. Death Steve Williams was never a great promo guy. Let’s use his strengths, not his weaknesses. Schiavone just sort of gives a blank stare as he speaks about Luger’s condition after getting jumped.
Rick Steiner and Mike Rotundo (w/Kevin Sullivan) vs. Jimmy and Ronnie Garvin (w/Precious)
Williams is on commentary for this match. Clearly they didn’t listen to me. Sullivan is locked in the cage on the outside. Pretty much the entire match is centered around Sullivan begging Precious to let him out of the cage. The action on the inside isn’t all that good.
The big development is that Teddy sees Rotundo cheat and kicks his arms away from the ropes. REFEREE TEDDY IS BACK BABY. Apparently in the midst of Sullivan stealing the key and getting out, the Garvins won the match at 13:11.
Meanwhile, Sullivan is pretty aggressive in picking up Precious and throwing her on the apron. BUT DR. DEATH STEVE WILLIAMS IS TIRED OF TALKING AND NOW WANTS TO KICK SOME ASS. So he beats the hell out of Sullivan and checks on Precious in the ring. Then like any great man, he picks her up. Precious then pushes Jimmy for apparently not saving her. She walks out while a confused Jimmy looks on.
• Rating: *1/2
OUTSIDE THE RING: Schiavone and Caudle hype the upcoming scaffold match between the Road Warriors and the Powers of Pain at the Great American Bash. The best part? This match never actually happened. We’ll get to that at the Bash.
Al Perez (w/Gary Hart) vs. Nikita Koloff
Koloff just doesn’t have the same badass feel with the hair. Meanwhile, Al Perez has that Barry Horowitz hair. There is a girl in the crowd with a sign that says “Nikita isn’t just a hunk, he’s a super hunk.” Miami crowd’s sign game was sizzling on this night.
And here we go again. Koloff gets thrown to the outside and THAT DAMN TEDDY LONG LETS GARY HART TEE OFF ON HIM. This happens once more. FireTeddyLong.com. Get it started.
This match isn’t going much of anywhere. Crowd finally comes to life after a Koloff suplex. Schiavone starts comparing this to Flair/Luger and now I’m lost. But just as the match was finally getting started, out comes Larry Zbyszko to attack Koloff and cause the DQ at 11:51. This match lacked everything.
• Rating: 1/2*
Dusty Rhodes and Sting vs. (c) Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard (w/ JJ Dillon) – NWA World Tag Team Titles
Hot start for the good guys. Sting is full-on star status after the performance at Clash I against Flair. Dusty gets the tag and the crowd would marry these two men if they could.
Now we have Dillon getting the advantage on Dusty while TEDDY LONG HAS HIS DAMN BACK TURNED AGAIN. More back an forth, but Arn and Tully regain control by sending Sting outside. I don’t entirely understand why Sting is the one getting destroyed in this match and not Dusty.
But now we have the hot tag to Dusty and he destroys everyone in seconds, making Sting look like an even bigger loser for getting beat down for 7 or 8 minutes. Sting is so pissed that he THROWS TEDDY LONG HALFWAY TO EGYPT. About time someone did that tonight. Dusty then does the same. Well at least this Teddy incompetency angle led to a good payoff in the main event.
Total brawl breaks out with Windham and Flair coming in, so we get the no contest at 10:29. The match was fine, but another throwaway finish.
• Rating: **
Blake’s Clash of the Champions II Awards
- Best Match: Brad Armstrong vs. Barry Windham
- Show MVP: Brad Armstrong
- Overall Clash of the Champions II Rating: 4.5/10
- Thoughts: Well it obviously wasn’t gonna surpass Clash of the Champions I. This was nothing more than a build to the Bash the next month. Solid opener with Windham and Armstrong, and the Fantastics/Sheepherders was an entertaining mess. Everything else was just storyline advancement. Of course, the biggest highlight of the night was Teddy Long getting his comeuppance at the end of the evening.
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