[1992-01-21-WCW-Clash of the Champions XVIII] Big Van Vader & Mr Hughes vs Rick & Scott Steiner

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Really good heavyweight spotfest with tons of suplexes and big power moves. I don't know about Vader taking bumps like he's any other wrestler, but at this point, the Steiners were stars and Vader wasn't yet being groomed for a top spot, so I guess it's not that bad. Plus, it's fun!

[Tim Evans]

The Steiners throwing big dudes around never gets old. The finish was a little wonky though but I liked the match

[shoe]

I really liked this. Both teams just brought it. Steiners throwing suplexes around never gets old. Vader was great here. Hell even Hughes had an awesome showing. The Steiners are just a fun team to watch against other monsters.

[El-P]

Let me disagree. This is exactly the kind of match I would show to argue the Steiners were quite overrated. Yes, there were impressive big spots, especially since both big men can bump, but it's basically a spotfest with no selling, no build, no drama. Vader is overbumping to the point it's nothing special after the third suplex in the same match. Nowhere near as good as the Steiners and Doom beating the shit out of each others in 1990. Really, Terry Taylor & Tracy Smothers vs Brian Pillman & Marcus Bagwell was a much better match than this kind of generic Steiner spotfest.

[Kevin Ridge]

I like big guys getting thrown around and enjoy a Steiner suplex or three but I thought Vader took too many here. The Steiners were dominating for the most part and at the expense of Vader since he spent most of the time in the ring for his team. I would have liked to see Vader get more offense in return. Rick hits a pretty good bulldog on Hughes for finish as he puts all his weight behind and drives him into the mat.

[MikeCampbell]

The thing that always struck me about this match was the fact that it was a rare case where size really wasn't a big factor. Hughes and Vader were bigger, but the Steiners knew how to offset that. Yes, Vader probably bumps more than he should have, but he was a few months away from being groomed as top dog, so it's not a huge issue.

[WingedEagle]

Concur with Zero above that I have no idea how Hughes' glasses remained in place through a match like this. They may have been just a heavyweight spot fest, but it felt incredibly fresh and everyone was flying all over the place. I forgot how well Hughes could fit into this type of match. He and Vader really sold like crazy, including Vader taking a top rope belly to belly.

 

This was the first Clash I'd seen live as we got cable the previous fall and it was definitely a fun show.

 

***1/2

[concrete1992]

I go into this match knowing practically nothing so for about 2.6 minutes I was pondering if Vader and Mr.Hughes smashed their belly's together if it would make a Ying-Yang symbol. Probably.

 

The actual match was lots of fun. Steiners aren't a team that I'd consider great but watching them toss around people,especially large fellas, is super fun.

[PeteF3]

Yes, I am a sucker for the Steiners throwing people around the ring. Even if it's spotty, and even if it's counterproductive to have two big monsters flying through the air. In fact, I'm just as much of a fan of two big beefy guys like Vader and Hughes taking big bumps. Vader goes up easily for most of the Steiner suplexes but Hughes, with one move, puts himself into contention for that "Best taker of backdrops" thread. Great choice for an opener.

[skipps04]

This is my first post after the welcome thread, so be easy on me on this one. This is also my first time seeing this show as I wasnt a WCW fan when i was younger. I thought it was a good bombfest with Vader definitely taking spots that I wouldn't expect from him. I agree with EL P that after about the third time of Vader taking the big suplex spots that it wasn't as impressive for me anymore, but the way he took those bumps just showed how agile he was. I was most surprised with Hughes though, he wasn't someone I was expecting to have a good performance, but i thought he did well for what he had to do. He took a few good bumps and didnt bring the match down. Overall I enjoyed this match a good amount

[garretta]

I didn't like this one at all. I know the match was basically booked to allow the Steiners to go over another monster team and show that Scotty was all the way back from his injuries and ready to be a champion again, but this match made a team that could have been a useful midcard big man team look utterly ridiculous. Hughes and Vader could do nothing to hurt Rick and Scott, particularly Rick, who was at his no-selling worst here. He didn't stay down for any of Hughes' or Vader's supposedly devastating moves, and Scotty wasn't a whole lot better, though he did have the decency to lie still for a moment or two after Vader sat on his chest. Meanwhile, the Steiners threw two guys who were half again their size around like paperweights. Hughes I can almost understand, because he's not supposed to be a full-time wrestler. But Vader? I'm surprised he came back for his World title push after being treated that way.

 

The commentary did Hughes and Vader no favors either, as Tony in particular kept pointing out how slow they were to capitalize every time they had the Steiners down for a nanosecond or two. So they're slow, fat, and their offense doesn't work for beans. Well, why did they sign for a nationally televised match against a pair of former World champions, then?

 

I suspect the real-life answer was to reintroduce Vader so he'd be in the fans' minds when it came time for his singles push and because Hughes had nothing to do since his client (Luger) had only one date left to wrestle in the company. Regardless, there's no excuse for treating them like this. I'm not sure what Arn and Bobby were doing, hut why not give the Steiners a non-title win over them to kickstart that feud and have Vader and Hughes go over a couple of face midcarders to establish their cred as a team? That way, they can eventually be built up for a title challenge once the Steiners inevitably get the belts back. (Of course, Vader would be on his way to the World title by then, but nobody knew that at the time.)

 

JR was certainly in his college sports glory here, talking about how these guys represented the fine institutions of Michigan, Colorado and Kansas State. There's just one problem: I can understand bringing up the Steiners' credentials; that's half of their gimmick. Vader actually made the NFL as Leon White, so bringing up his past is understandable. But Hughes? How does being a college man with the kind of background he had jibe with being a paid bodyguard whose sunglasses apparently grew over his eyes? There's simply no reason to bring up Hughes' background, since it doesn't match his gimmick at all (and may even take away from it; what's a man with his obvious accomplishments doing taking money from scumbuckets like Luger and Race when he could be making honest money as a football player or coach somewhere?)

 

The idea of giving the Steiners a fun opening bout wasn't bad, but they picked the wrong opponents.

[soup23]

This match is always a blast to watch. Four big boys gong into the ring and throwing each other around to pop the crowd right from the onset. I for sure get the critique of Vader/Hughes being tossed around and how that kind of kills the credibility for them as monsters but the Steiners offensive arsenal has such impact that it overcompensates for that failure. The bulldog that Rick gets on Hughes for the finish in particular looks nasty. *** (6.1)

[Superstar Sleeze]

Steiner Brothers vs Vader & Mr. Hughes - Clash of Champions XVIII

 

This is right in my wheelhouse, four big uglies just throwing each other around. You could tell JR was in his element discussing collegiate accolades and power wrestling. I loved this! I thought Rick's overhead belly to belly on Vader was the spot of the match but then Mr. Fucking Hughes takes a back body drop like he is AJ Styles. HE WAS WAY UP THERE! Yeah some of this feels really stilted at times, but god the spots they hit are awesome. The power and strength on display here is amazing. ***1/2

[dawho5]

As Steiner Brothers matches go, this is...just there I guess. They didn't sell a ton more for these two than they did for Muta, Chono or Hase, but it was enough to not completely take me out of the match and enjoy the big bombs.