Wrestling Observer Flashback–11.30.92

Previously on the Flashback… http://blogofdoom.com/index.php/2017/04/19/wrestling-observer-flashback-11-23-92/

Breaking away from all the Jinder Mahal talk to head back to 92! Time for the Clash!

– But first, we head to Japan as the 1/4 Tokyo Dome card comes together, just like one of Hannibal’s plans. All kinds of crazy shit went down at Sumo Hall on 11/23, setting up later shows.

– The biggest news was Tenryu appearing in the main event of a New Japan show for the first time, after spending his entire career in All Japan and then SWS. The idea is that Tenryu is acutely aware of the dire financial situation that WAR is in, and he wants a fallback in case the promotion folds. The big angle at the end saw Tenryu win the six-man main event against the Skinheads (That should have been Hogan’s group! … Because he’s bald, you see.) and then issue a challenge to Choshu and Inoki. So the Dome match will be Choshu v. Tenryu, with the winner getting Inoki at a later date. So once again, Inoki is the main man and everyone else is the secondary act.

– Also, Ultimo Dragon made his New Japan debut and will be facing Jushin Liger at the Dome for the Junior heavyweight title. Dragon pinned El Samurai to win that Jr. title at Sumo Hall. Also on that show, the New Road Warriors debuted, with Hawk & Kensuke Sasaki wearing spikes and face paint, squashing Riki Choshu & Hiro Hase in 3:02. Hase actually took the pinfall and went out on a stretcher to get the new team over as unbeatable asskickers. And he’s the booker! (The saga of the Hell Raisers actually painted New Japan into a corner, in that they went over everyone so quickly and so strong that it turned into an “Alexander the Great wept” situation where they cleaned out the tag division. So then New Japan had to put together one of the most god-awful teams of all time in order to find someone to beat them: The Jurassic Powers.)

– Also on the show, Scott Norton & Tony Halme won the IWGP tag titles from the Steiner Brothers in kind of a stinker. Also, the fears about Sting winning the IWGP title from Muta proved unfounded, as Muta retained in a disappointing match where he was trying to be The Great Muta instead of Keiji Muto. Current plan is for Muto to have a unification match against NWA champion Masa Chono at the Dome next month. (That plan sure went in a different direction)

– The Saturday Night’s Main Event on FOX drew the lowest rating in the history of the show, which Dave is pretty sure means it’s the end of the line. (Well, until 2006, but yes, that was it for the show.)

– Meanwhile, the Clash did a 3.2 rating, which was only the SECOND lowest rating in the history of the show. Dave thinks this might be the death knell for the Clash as well. (Surprisingly not.)

– Apparently the WWF will be adding another show on USA called “Slam and Jam” starting 1/9 on Saturdays, which is supposed to be direct competition to WCW Saturday Night. (Obviously this concept would be somewhat altered when it actually debuted…two nights later.)

– To the Clash itself, which was a bomb in the ratings and only marginally better than Halloween Havoc as a show. And the Barry Windham angle was great. Everything else kind of sucked, including the gate, which was 700 paid drawing $7000, and the other 7000 people in the building were freebies. Since the show was packed with kids on a school night, the building basically emptied before the main event.

1. Brian Pillman pinned Brad Armstrong with a clip in 0:25. Not a match, just an angle, with Pillman coming out on crutches to mock Brad and then hitting him with it for a quick win. DUD

2. Erik Watts & Kensuke Sasaki beat Arn Anderson & Bobby Eaton in 6:06 when poor Bobby had to submit to the awesome power of the STF. Arn had blown out his knee two days earlier and he couldn’t work, but got put out there anyway. Dave wonders when someone is going to tell Bill Watts how stupid he looks for pushing his son like this. 3/4*

3. Scotty “One Punch Bingo” Flamingo knocked out Johnny B. Badd in 1:01 of the second round in a boxing match. Vinnie Vegas’ interview beforehand was “so bad it’s good”, as Vinnie couldn’t remember the name of more than one hotel in Las Vegas. Dave is also offended that Nash is doing a Jersey accent despite having “Vegas” in his name. Dave is also pretty sure that the ring girl is Van Hammer’s girlfriend. Pretty bad overall. *

Next up, they drew Cactus Jack & Johnny B. Badd v. Dan Spivey & Van Hammer for Starrcade, and “people all over America were calling their cable companies to cancel Survivor Series and order Starrcade after hearing that match.”

4. Ron Simmons & Too Cold Scorpio beat Cactus Jack & Tony Atlas & The Barbarian in 5:52. Scorpio opened the match with a spectacular dive, which the cameras missed. The storyline was that the announcers, and 99% of the public, had no idea who Scorpio is. The match was pretty bad, but the Scorpio Splash (450) boosted the match a full star. *1/4 (Dave kind of undersells that 450 splash. People went BATSHIT for it and it turned him into an instant star.)

5. Madusa went to a 5:00 draw with Paul E. The production was all screwed up, with the cameras catching jobber Mike Thor coming to the ring as fake Madusa, and then the actual match started and it was too slow and really bad. -*

6. Sting won a decision over Rick Rude in the King of Cable semifinals after a 20:00 draw. This finish was telegraphed from the start. **1/4

7. Shane Douglas & Rick Steamboat won the WCW/NWA tag team titles from Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes in 15:52. Good match with a storyline that was really well put together. And no one cared. Dustin accidentally headbutted Steamboat in the groin and refused to attack him, so Barry tagged himself in, and Dustin pulled him off before he could get the pin. This made the crowd think that DUSTIN was turning and they booed him, and then Douglas tagged in and pinned Windham with the belly to belly. And then Windham did an amazing post-match angle after attacking Dustin, where he literally blindsided Steamboat and Douglas in the locker room and split Rick’s head open with a chair. **1/2

(Ouch, Dave was harsher on the last two matches than I was.)

– New Japan is sending Chono, Muta, Liger and Sasaki to tour with WCW for the last week of December, which is REALLY gonna help the house show match quality.

– All Japan is showing interest in taking Earthquake when his WWF contract expires in January, and also Ted Dibiase so that he can reform his team with Stan Hansen.

– To SMW, where the pretty great Orndorff v. Garvin feud continues. This week, Garvin comes out with a bag containing Orndorff’s robe, and he says that he’ll raffle it off to the fans later in the show. So Orndorff attacks him and steals the bag, but then opens it to find a negligee. (Ha!)

– For those wondering when Kerry Von Erich would no-show his first Global card, the answer is “11/20/92”. Also, for those keeping track, not a single Dallas Cowboy showed up for Dallas Cowboys night.

– Ultimate Warrior is asking for $8000 a night to book him on indy shows.

– Robby Walker, who was supposed to be Ron Simmons’ tag partner on that Clash show, got his booking sheet at the 11/11 tapings and noticed that there was no matches for him after the Clash. So he figured that he was there to get destroyed by the heels and written out, and he left the building and never returned.

– Dennis Coraluzzo was officially accepted into the NWA. (Man, that one would blow up in his face a few years later.)

– No new faces at the most recent WWF TV taping, but Shawn Michaels v. Marty Jannetty was said to be a ****1/4 match.

– Dino Bravo will likely have a retirement match when the WWF hits Montreal for the first time in 1993. (Yeah, he retired in 1993, all right…)

– And finally, Bret Hart has been bumped up to flying first class as champion, but still hasn’t warranted a limo like previous champions. (And I bet the office heard about THAT one.)