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Clash of the Champions #22 Review
January 13, 1993
Milwaukee, Wisc.

In this week's article, we go back to January 13, 1993 and review WCW's television special, "The Clash of the Champions" #22. The event was broadcast live on TBS, originating from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The show drew 4,000 fans to the live event and earned a cable rating of 2.9, the second lowest rated Clash in history and down slightly from the November Clash which drew a 3.2 rating. The Bill Watts regime was coming to an end as ratings and PPV buy rates were declining and Watts put himself in a position through his style of booking and his comments in a PW Torch interview where the executives at Turner Broadcasting had no choice but to fire him. This would be the last Bill Watts promoted major level event for WCW. Eric Bischoff would then become Executive Vice President of WCW and creative control was given back to Dusty Rhodes and Ole Anderson. If you look back at 1993, you will notice Erik Watts's push was slowed while Dustin Rhodes' push was increased as Rhodes was given the U.S. Heavyweight Title in January 1993 and would hold the belt until December 1993 when Dusty Rhodes would again lose booking power. WCW would give fans glimpses of hope by promoting some promising events in 1993, but they would do some mind boggling dumb things as well. Crowd was red hot for WCW, giving the event a special feel.

Jim Ross and Jesse Ventura are the broadcast team.

1. Cactus Jack defeated Johnny B. Badd in 2:50 by pinfall. Jack was in the early stages of his face turn, which started out as an incredible angle but WCW would screw up and destroy any momentum the angle would generate through inept booking. Story of the match was Jack and Badd were tag team partners at the StarrCade 92 event and couldn't co-exist. At StarrCade 92, Badd hit Jack with a left hook to knock out him out and get Jack was pinned in the match. The match originally was supposed to be Jack against Erik Watts but with Bill Watts losing power, Badd was inserted into Watt’s place. Match was short as it only went 2:50. Badd missed a sunset flip off the top rope and Jack hit Badd with an elbow for the pinfall.

2. 2 Cold Scorpio defeated Scotty Flamingo in 4:13. Scorpio was starting to be pushed by WCW as he was fresh and new to the fans and connected well with them. His athletic, high flying style was very innovative at the time. Match was good but again too short as they didn't have time to build; they were forced to hit their big moves, trade near falls, then Scorpio hit the 450 splash for the pin.

3. Chris Benoit defeated veteran Brad Armstrong in 9:34. Jim Ross was excellent in this match as far a laying out the background of Benoit for the fans that were not familiar with him. They were given more time and built the match into a solid wrestling contest that ended when Benoit hit Armstrong with a German suplex into a bridge for the pin in 9:34.

Next segment featured clips from Smokey Mountain Wrestling and it was announced that the SMW Tag Team titles would be defended on the next PPV, Superbrawl III.

4. Vinnie Vegas defeated Tony Atlas in an arm wrestling match. Jesse Ventura was holding a special arm wrestling challenge and the finals of the tournament were between Vinnie Vegas and Tony Atlas. Atlas was much better in arm wrestling than in an actual wrestling match. Vegas beat Atlas clean.

5. The Wrecking Crew defeated Johnny Gunn & Tom Zenk in 6:06. The Wrecking Crew was a new debuting tag team. This match was mid to low card guys wrestling and the crowd didn’t care. Not much heat and below average match. Zenk looked good as usual. Rage of the Wrecking Crew pinned Gunn in 6:06 to win the match.

6. Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas defeated Brian Pillman & Steve Austin by DQ in 13:39 to retain the Unified NWA and WCW World Tag Team Titles. Shane Douglas & Ricky Steamboat were the champions defending against Brian Pillman & Steve Austin. Pillman & Austin were in their pre-Hollywood Blonde days, but showed incredible potential as a tag team. This was a great tag team match from bell to bell, with good back and forth action and tons of near falls. All four guys worked extremely hard and this feud had tons of potential. Austin hit Douglas with the belt for the DQ finish in 13:39. Pillman and Austin laid out Douglas and Steamboat with the belts until other wrestlers made the save. The DQ finish didn't take away from the quality of the match as it left fans wanting to see more of this rivalry and didn't come across as a cheap cop out finish.

Ventura interviewed Harley Race and new WCW World Heavyweight Champion Big Van Vader in the middle of the ring. Ron Simmons, the former champ, came out to confront Vader and Race. Vader gave Simmons a “shoulder breaker”, injuring Simmons and he was unable to compete in the main event. Simmons shoulder was hurt legit and this was the storyline so that he wouldn’t have to compete and this was a way to get Cactus Jack in the match to further his feud with Paul Orndorff and Vader.

7. In the main event, Sting & Dustin Rhodes & Cactus Jack defeated Big Van Vader & Barry Windham & Paul Orndorff in 11:22 in a steel cage match. Jack didn't start the match with Sting and Rhodes, but came down later in the match. Story of the match started a week earlier on one of the TBS weekend shows. Rick Rude was originally scheduled to compete in the match, but had to pull out due to his neck injury. Harley Race announced he was searching for Rude’s replacement and Paul Orndorff and Cactus Jack would wrestle with the winner taking Rude spot. During the Orndorff and Cactus Jack match, Race pushed Cactus and Cactus then hit Race. Vader then attacked Cactus Jack and Orndorff joined in the beat down. After a commercial break, Cactus Jack came out from the back with a shovel and laid out Vader, Orndorff, and Race in a great angle. Finish came when Jack came off the middle rope and hit Orndorff with his boot and covered Orndorff for the pin. It was a good brawl, but not nearly as good as the previous match.

Summary: This was a good show broadcast free on TBS. WCW debuted and showcased some young talent in 2 Cold Scorpio, Chris Benoit and the Hollywood Blonds; plus the show had three very good matches. Only one match ended in a non-pinfall finish, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing as it furthered a feud. Cactus Jack also completed his face turn on this show. Overall, it is worth watching and a good night of wrestling.

Next week, we look at the 1993 Royal Rumble.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s column. As always your questions, comments and thoughts are always welcomed, and you can contact me at bhoops@iw.net.

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