Mike Reviews WCW Clash of the Champions #30

Happy Clashin Friday Everyone!

We’re picking up where we left off in our WCW journey, with a review of Clash #30. This one has two very famous moments on it, one during the Main Event and another one after it.

You can view the full card for Clash #30 by clicking below;

WCW Clash of the Champions #30 Card

Clash #30 is emanating from Las Venturas, San Andreas on the 25th of January 1995

Calling the action are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan

Opening Match
WCW World Television Title
Champion: “The Enforcer” Arn Anderson w/ Colonel Robert Parker and THE MONSTER MENG Vs Johnny B. Badd

Badd had defeated Arn in a match back at Starrcade, but Arn has since won the belt, and the fans have supposedly voted for a rematch so that Badd can have a chance to regain the belt. Arn is already worried about getting punched in the early going, due to Badd having legitimate boxing credentials, which is a good bit of heeling on Arn’s part. Badd gets the better of things in the early going, and even dives out onto Arn and Parker at one stage. The crowd are reacting to the big moves and sequences, but don’t seem to care too much when the wrestlers are applying holds in there. Arn takes some really good bumps for Badd and is happy to be a bumbling buffoon in an effort to make Badd look good, which makes this a very effective babyface shine for Badd. Arn eventually manages to catch Badd with the Snake Eyes into the corner though, and that’s the cut off.

Arn keeps it to standard Heel tactics in the heat, choking Badd on the ropes and then throwing Badd to the floor so that Parker can get some shots in whilst Arn distracts the ref. Badd sells everything well and Arn is one of the most mechanically sound grapplers that you’ll find, so it’s a decent heat segment and the crowd does start chanting “Johnny” at points in hopes that Badd will start making a comeback. Badd eventually fights back and takes out Arn with a big left handed punch, which causes Arn to roll to the floor. Parker revives Arn with a jug of water, which leads to Badd chasing Parker around ringside like an utter plum. Of course that ends up costing Badd, as Parker leads Badd into the ring, where a now revived Arn is back in the ring thanks to the help of Meng, thus setting up a DDT for the three count.

WINNER AND STILL CHAMPION: ARN ANDERSON
RATING: **1/2

Thoughts: This was a solid outing, with all five participants in the match being where they needed to be in order to make things work, as referee Nick Patrick made sure that he always had a viable reason for missing the subterfuge from the villains, which helped with keeping the match from becoming a total farce. Badd looked like an absolute moron in the finish sadly, as he really had no need to chase Parker around like that and it cost him, but aside from that bit, this was a decent opener

Mean Gene Okerlund is backstage with Kevin Sullivan and The Butcher. Sullivan and Butcher snarl and bark about how they’re going to beat up Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage later on. Sullivan teases that Ric Flair, Vader and Harley Race will all be sitting in the crowd tonight, so the baddies will have plenty of backup should they need it. Butcher thinks Vader is merely there to stop Butcher and Sullivan for leaving nothing of Hogan left ahead of SuperBrawl V. Gene is doubtful of that. This was your usual devious Heels being devious promo, and it was fine.

We get an Alex Wright video, set to his awesome entrance music. That makes it a thumbs up all by itself!

Match Two
“Beautiful” Bobby Eaton Vs “Das Wunderkind” Alex Wright

Wright had been given a decent push as a fresh faced young star, with Eaton being considered a talented veteran who could help with Wright’s development. Wright sticks to your standard babyface offence in the early going, working holds and the like, and the crowd doesn’t go wild for it, but they don’t hate it either. Wright does do a backflip to dodge an Eaton attack at one stage, which the crowd reacts big to. Eaton is just everywhere he needs to be at all times, which is a great example of why he was such a pro, and it means that Wright never really looks lost out there despite how inexperienced he was at the time. Eaton eventually manages to dodge a flying attack from Wright, which leads to Wright necking himself on the top rope, which gives Eaton a chance to work Wright over a bit.

Wright sells the heat well, and manages to elicit some sympathy from the crowd in the process. Eaton doesn’t really get a chance to do much in the way of flashy moves, but that’s more because this match is about showcasing Wright, with Eaton being the experienced tackle dummy put in there to ensure the young German can get through it. Wright eventually catches Eaton with a Snap Suplex and makes a comeback, with the action being decent and Wright getting a few high flying moves such as a Missile Dropkick for some two counts. Eaton catches Wright with a SWEET looking neck breaker and then heads up with the Alabama Jam (top rope leg drop) but Wright shockingly kicks out, as they’re doing everything they can to make Wright look good here. Wright manages to turn an Irish Whip from Eaton into a Springboard Crossbody, and that gets Wright the three count.

WINNER: ALEX WRIGHT
RATING: ***

Thoughts: This was a very good showcase for Wright, as he not only got to hit all his coolest moves, but he was also allowed to kick out of his opponents finishing move as well. They were definitely strapping the rocket to the youngster during this period, and he was doing his best to live up to it. Wright was in good hands here though, as Eaton was great at just being where he needed to be for the youngster, and he took some lovely trademark bumps as well in order to make Das Wunderkind look good

Vader joins Mean Gene in the entrance way, and says that he has a ticket for Harley Race as well. Vader standing around in normal person clothes looks really trippy actually. I just assumed he did everything in his smelly wrestling gear, including the weekly shop and trips to the Post Office. Vader thinks that Hulk Hogan is ducking him and yells a lot, so standard Vader stuff, and it’s entertaining.

Before the next match can start; Ric Flair joins us with two lovely ladies. Flair had lost a match back at Halloween Havoc which meant he had to leave wrestling, but the plan was always for Flair to return at some point. Flair makes a point of not trying to start anything with Vader, suggesting that their historic beef might be quashed now.

Match Three
WCW World Tag Team Title
Champs: The Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) w/ Sister Sherri Vs Stars And Stripes (Marcus Bagwell and The Patriot)

The Heat had taken the belts from SAS, so the former Champs are looking to regain their belts tonight. WCW’s inconsistent over the top rope DQ rule rears it’s ugly head again here, as Bagwell dropkicks Booker out early doors, and it isn’t a DQ, which leads to Schiavone and Heenan squabbling about it. Booker in particular takes some great bumps for the challengers in the early going, as SAS control things and look good on offence. The crowd are into SAS and chant “USA” for the challengers. It’s a good babyface shine for the challengers for the most part, and when The Heat eventually manages to gain some control, they do a decent job of riling up the fans and drawing some boos. Even in 1995 it was clear that Booker was on a higher level of ability than Stevie Ray. Even just looking at the execution of moves and strikes, Booker is evidently a lot crisper and more comfortable out there.

Bagwell is the designated member of the SAS team to get worked over, and he sells well in that role, with the crowd getting behind the handsome lad in his attempts to fight back. Booker and Bagwell eventually both go for a cross body at the same time, which leads to a double down, but Sherri distracts the ref when Patriot makes the tag, so it doesn’t count. Patriot still makes the comeback anyway, which is I believe the exact same sequence SAS did before with Pretty Wonderful in one of my reviews from this era. The referee kind of just lets it happen, even though Patriot is in there for more than 5 seconds. Whilst the referee tries to get Patriot out of there, Sherri tries to clock Bagwell with her shoe, but she ends up catching Booker instead (although they needed two tries at it). Bagwell seemingly is going to win from that with an O’Connor Roll, but Stevie clocks Bagwell and Booker reverses the pin for the three count.

WINNERS AND STILL CHAMPIONS: HARLEM HEAT
RATING: **

Thoughts: Man, Patriot was a TERRIBLE tag team partner. What a useless turnip, as his hot non-tag essentially cost the team the match, due to Stevie being in the ring due to scrapping with an illegal Patriot, meaning he was there to clock Bagwell when the opportunity presented itself. There were some sloppy moments in this one, which marked it down a bit, but overall it wasn’t terrible or anything

Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage w/ Jimmy Hart have some interview time backstage with Mean Gene. Hogan says that the bookmakers are betting against Hogan and Savage (really? Why?!?!) but they’ll still win anyway, because Jimmy Hart will be keeping watch on Vader and will be shouting out if he tries anything. Savage says that the Heels are in the Danger Zone, and then cuts the usual wacky Randy Savage promo. This was Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage being Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage, and they’re very good at that, so if that sounds like fun then you’ll likely enjoy this.

Mean Gene is in the WCW Control Centre, where he hypes up SuperBrawl V and the match between Vader and Hulk Hogan. If the archives go up on Netflix, or if WWE Network survives somehow, then I’ll do my best to get that one reviewed.

Match Four
Guest Referee: The Guardian Angel
The Avalanche Vs The Man Called Sting

These two had a match with a non-finish back at Starrcade, so Guardian Angel is seemingly here to ensure that we get a clear winner this time. This one is worked at a considerably quicker clip than the Starrcade match, and the bout is more enjoyable as a result. Angel stops both Lanche and Sting from going too far at points, in order to both show that he’s not a push over and that he will be reffing this contest fairly. Sting makes the classic babyface mistake of trying to body slam the big monster Heel too early, and that leads to Lanche landing on top of Sting and then dropping an elbow for the cut off.

Sting sells well during the heat and Lanche’s offence looks good, so it’s an effective heat segment and the crowd sticks with Sting for the most part. Sting ends up connecting with an accidental headbutt right into Lanche’s natural disasters, and that leads to The Stinger making the comeback with, what else, Stinger Splashes. Sting manages to get the body slam on his second attempt, with the crowd LOVING that, and The Scorpion Deathlock follows in order to give Sting the clean submission victory, although Angel refused to call for the bell and that meant Nick Patrick had to come in an make the call instead.

WINNER: STING
RATING: **3/4

Thoughts: This was better than Starrcade, as they worked at a quicker clip here at Clash #30 and the match was a lot more exciting as a result. Avalanche looked a lot happier and moved a lot better here than he did in the Starrcade bout, so maybe he was carrying an injury in that one? The shorter run time definitely helped here, as it never felt like the match dragged and they took it home at the peak when the crowd was hottest following Stings comeback

Guardian Angel beats up Sting following the match, which constitutes a Heel turn and a return to his Big Bubba character, seeing as The Guardian Angels didn’t want the guy representing them to be a bad guy. Marcus Bagwell, The Patriot and Alex Wright run in to save Sting before Angel and Lanche can put too much of a beating on The Stinger.

Guardian Angel then heads over to the entrance way for an interview with Mean Gene and declares that Avalanche didn’t quit and then rips up his Guardian Angel shirt before declaring himself to be Big Bubba again.

Main Event
“The Taskmaster” Kevin Sullivan and The Butcher Vs The Monster Maniacs (WCW World Champion Hulk Hogan and “Macho Man” Randy Savage)

Butcher is Ed Leslie in one of his many gimmicks, this one being based around him “butchering” his friendship with The Hulkster. Hogan has traded up to the Macho Man in the subsequent time though, so this one feels like a bit of a mis-match, which is probably why BOTH Vader and Ric Flair are sitting in the crowd in order to make it feel like The Monster Maniacs might actually be in some kind of jeopardy. Hulk Hogan makes easy work of Dizzy Hogan in the early going, with Savage finding it equally as easy to put a beat down on the hapless Heel. Butcher manages to catch Hogan in his dreaded Sleeper Hold though, which seemingly puts The Hulkster out for the count. However, Randy Savage has a cunning plan to wake Hogan up, and it’s more cunning than a fox that studied how to be cunning at Cunningham University. For you see, what is always a sure-fire way to wake Hulk Hogan up? If your answer to that question is “hit him with your finisher” then you win an umpteen amount of points, so well done to you!

So yes, Randy Savage heads up top with the Macho Elbow Drop, and Hogan indeed wakes up from it and starts making a comeback. What’s so funny about that spot is that, not only is it dumb beyond measure, but it’s also a spot that’s thoroughly consistent within the world that Hulk Hogan’s character exists in, so it’s both really stupid and really clever at the same time. I believe things like that help keep balance in the universe to be honest. Anyway, Hogan distracts the referee following that, which allows the Heels to cut Savage off and work some heat. So not only does Savage have to burn off a finisher in order to make a preposterous sequence work, he then has to take the heat as well. No wonder Savage was so bitter about Hogan. Savage’s selling is really good in the heat at least, with Sullivan doing a decent job on offence too.

Butcher was never known for being a particularly snug or realistic looking worker even in his prime, and he was well on the way to being completely washed up by the time 1995 came around, so his work doesn’t look too good here as consequence. Savage eventually manages to catch Butcher with a chin breaker and it’s hot tag to Hogan, which the crowd is HOSS for. Hogan of course easily dismantles the two Heels all by himself, whereas Savage just spent the past few minutes getting creamed by them. Savage does at least get to drop his Elbow on Butcher before Hogan drops the Leg on his former chum, so it’s not like Savage was COMPLETELY ineffectual in the closing stages.

WINNERS: HOGAN & SAVAGE
RATING: N/A

Thoughts: How am I even supposed to rate that?! A wrestler hit his own tag team partner with his finishing move in order to revive him, and it was treated as a totally normal thing. At that point you cease to present a wrestling match and instead turn what you’re doing into some kind of Dadaist art exhibition. Savage sold really well during the match at least, so it had that going for it

Vader decides to attack Hogan following the match, and even hits Hogan with his trademark Powerbomb. This would of course be an excellent way to get heat on the issue between the two, with Hogan selling the move big and Vader standing over the broken Champion in order to create a sense of jeopardy ahead of the big match between the two at SuperBrawl V. However, that doesn’t work for Terry brother, so instead Hogan just no sells the Powerbomb and makes a comeback, because why the frig not eh? It only falls in the face of all logic to have the monster Heel’s big move just get easily shrugged off like that, but Hulk Hogan is clearly a genius and us plebeians should just watch on in awe at his storytelling prowess…

In Conclusion

I’m going to recommend Clash #30 solely for the fact that the last 20 minutes are so incredibly stupid that they become perversely entertaining. I mean, most of the matches here are decent, and if it ended with Avalanche Vs Sting then you’d have a solid, if not ground-breaking, 70 minutes or so of television. Those last 20 minutes are just an absolute head fudge though, with Hulk Hogan no selling not one but TWO major finishing moves, and almost killing his feud with Vader before it even properly starts. That being said, it’s so unfathomably dumb that I almost think everyone should watch it just to see how bad wrestling storytelling can be when the talent is allowed to do whatever they want without any oversight.

Recommended show…kinda