[1992-06-16-WCW-Clash of the Champions XIX] Rick & Scott Steiner vs Steve Williams & Terry Gordy

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Not sure how the setup didn't make it on the yearbook, as it was something we talked about that needed to go on. Direct any complaints to him, not me.

 

Anyway, I always thought this was the best Steiners match ever, and possibly even the best Williams/Gordy tag ever. From what I've seen, the only thing that would come close is the Misawa/Kawada tag from 1/93. Aggressive matwork to start, followed by tempers flaring, including a great spot where Rick does a double leg takedown on Doc and starts punching the hell out of him. Scott gets his knee worked over, and Doc's football tackle outside the ring looks brutal. I liked the finish also.

 

True to the typical face in peril layout but still feels fresh because of the aggression, and also because while Doc and Gordy are the heels, they aren't going overboard in a way where it takes away from what they were going for in the match. Awesome stuff.

[Loss]

Random question: Since Doc and Gordy were All Japan guys, were there problems with New Japan guys putting them over? Likewise, were there other NJ regulars like Vader who they had to stay away from? Never heard anything about this, but I'm curious.

 

I also assume this is why Liger/Pillman got knocked out of the tag tournament right before Williams/Gordy at the GAB (not that they would have put them over Steamboat/Koloff anyway) ...

[shoe]

Didn't Doc and Liger work each other in one of those battlebowl tags at Starcade? It's the only time I can think that AJ regulars worked a NJ regular in WCW at this time.

[KB8]

Yeah, I'm with Loss. Definitely my favourite match from both teams...I'd probably say it's both teams' best as well. Said this about it last year:

 

This was really great; four big bomb throwing motherfuckers going out and throwing bombs. Doesn’t start out that way, though, as the first five minutes or so are entirely built around all four grappling and going for amateur takedowns and stuff. It all looks really uncooperative and surly, sort of like what I’d imagine an Americanised heavyweight shoot-style fight would be like. There’s an awesome struggle over a bridge between Scott and Gordy, where Scott tries to bridge out from below a couple times while Gordy shifts his weight to the side so Scott can’t stand all the way up, then the next attempt looks like it’s going to work so Gordy just turns dead weight and falls right back down on Scott’s head. Things get more and more niggly, and that leads to Williams throwing the amateur shit out the window and murdering Rick with a HUGE lariat. Rick was never afraid to sell a big clothesline by taking a bump right on his head, and that’s what he does here; looks really nasty, like some DDT junior heavyweight taking a neck bump off a Sekimoto lariat, except Sekimoto ain’t Steve Williams and Rick sure as shit ain’t a junior heavyweight. This is where things settle down into a more traditional southern tag style, firstly with Rick taking a stint as FIP, firing back by tossing Gordy and Williams on their head, tagging in Scott, and then Scott taking a longer stint in peril. Scott’s FIP section is particularly strong. Scott isn’t really a guy too many people think of as a great “Ricky Morton”, but I really dig him as a face in peril. Gordy and Williams are great at working him over, first by picking apart the back before moving onto the leg, and that plays into a great finish. Post-hot tag there’s a spot where Scott is out on the floor and Williams just ploughs into him with a huge low tackle to the knee. And that finish, man… probably the best chop block in history.

[Tim Evans]

I agree that this is just great but it's very TNA of them to air this fresh match on free tv.

[Frankensteiner]

I agree that this is just great but it's very TNA of them to air this fresh match on free tv.

Well, although this Clash took place on 6/16 it didn't air until 6/22, two days after these teams already fought on PPV at Beach Blast.

[shoe]

This was great. I loved how they use the stiff mat work stuff as a base. Then when the Steiners would bust out a big move the crowd went crazy. It's one of those matches where you wonder if these guys just hate each other. It had an air of legitemacy to it. I wish we had a few minutes more to work Scott's leg and then go to that finish. Ross was really good here putting over Scott's knee.

[rainmakerrtv]

What was the Puerto Rican team that the Steiners were slated to meet in the first round? Miguel Perez Jr. and somebody else?

[El-P]

Better than the Beach Blast match for obvious reasons, they didn't had to kill time. Excellent match, but Doc & Gordy have had better ones in AJ. As far as the Steiner goes though, it's easily one of their best match ever, again for obvious reasons, Doc & Gordy were a fantastic team and provided the structure that normal Steiner matches lack. Nifty amateur influenced work at the beginning, stiffness, great suplexes which actually meant something for once, great work by Doc & Gordy who just won't be intimidated by the Steiners, which makes the whole match more fresh and more intense than ever. You get the feeling Doc & Gordy could have done more and that they were not going full bore (they didn't do that much in term of big moves), keeping stuff aside for matches to come. Loved it.

[Kevin Ridge]

Really good. Rick can really throw some impressive looking suplexes on bigger guys. Wasn't completely buying Williams & Gordy representing Japan. I know they spend most of their time there but they are not Japanese. Rick's double leg take down and pounding was great. Jesse was having a fit with the closed fist punches. Williams and Gordy make a great opponent for the Steiners as they can get just as physical. Dug the ending with the vicious chop block to Scott who was in the process of doing a belly to bell suplex. Good timing and believable finish with Williams falling on top of him.

[Zenjo]

Refreshingly different with a real air of legitimacy. Both sides utilised their amateur credentials to produce an interesting stylistic mix. The 2 teams certainly didn't look like the best of friends either. Both units felt they had something to prove. A strong first meeting that wouldn't be bettered, and yeah that chop block was perfectly timed.

[WingedEagle]

Stiff, heated and presented like a real clash of the titans. Loved the call by Ross early when Scott tries to raise Gordy who shifts his weight to keep things grounded. I actually thought this was one of Ross's finer jobs on the stick, as he sold the story of the early wrestling struggles devolving into a brawl. This had UWFI-like set up in that the early struggles for control resulted in the ensuing suplex and high spots truly popping the crowd. Williams slaps Rick which kicks things -- and stiffness -- up another gear. Great football tackle from Doc to Scott on the floor sets up a creative finish. Only thing I didn't like was Randy Anderson blatantly tapping Scott's head after a press powerslam to let him know it was time to kick out.

 

****

[BackToBionic]

What was the Puerto Rican team that the Steiners were slated to meet in the first round? Miguel Perez Jr. and somebody else?

Ricky Santana

 

Here's the entire bracket for anyone interested:

http://prowrestlinghistory.com/supercards/...html#worldtag92

[PeteF3]

The set-up of this is worth going out of your way to see. From Gordy and Doc's funny interview describing the Puerto Rican situation--"IS THERE A DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE??"--to Watts completely shitting on the NWA board of directors and the entire concept in general. Ross and Ventura continue burying the NWA President as the match starts.

 

I'm not sure if this is the best match for either team--I really did like one of those Misawa/Kawada tags and that '91 Tokyo Dome match. However, I don't believe Misawa and Kawada could have worked a match like this at this point in their careers. These teams complement each other amazingly well--Doc and Gordy have enough pull (literal and figurative) to keep the Steiners more grounded than usual, and the Steiners aren't all that content to lay around with the MVCs in holds. What we get is the stiffest, most UWFI-esque mat-based match on North American soil since Snowman was challenging for the Unified World title. But this is three times as long and builds into some good highspotty action. These guys lose their way a little bit towards the end, which includes the most delayed "didn't see the babyface tag" referee reaction in wrestling history. But the finish itself is good and very out-of-the-box with Scott never actually getting to make the real hot tag. The whole match was out of the box, and while Doc & Gordy I don't think ever really got over with a North American audience I wish this emphasis on holds and matwork could have continued.

[MikeCampbell]

This was a lot better than I remembered. The amateur stuff on the mat was fun to watch, especially as things heated up between Doc and Rick, and the segment softening up Scott's knee was good too, especially the clip on the floor, and a nice logical finish.

[BruiserBrody]

I think Doc calls the Steiners "queers" in the pre-match promo. Interesting to see the heels portrayed as the romping stomping world beaters who go out of the way to fight the best team in the world.

[garretta]

I've about had it with the Watts era.

 

If I didn't know better, I'd swear that they were running a dirty referee angle with Pee Wee Anderson. What the hell kind of storytelling is this? I didn't time the interval between Scotty tagging Rick (which, mind you, Pee Wee let stand) and Pee Wee ruling the tag illegal, but it had to be at least two minutes, maybe three. I've literally never seen anything like it, not even from the likes of Daffy Danny Davis (TM Craig DeGeorge) back in '86. Like so many other WCW missteps, it turned a decent match (not much more than that, sadly) into unwatchable trash. If I'd been watching in real time and knew the ins and outs of the relationship between Doc and Watts, I would have called this a shoot screwjob on the level of Montreal. It really does seem that Watts was doing everything he could to make sure that Doc and Bamm Bamm got over, even letting crap like this go by when other promoters wouldn't.

 

Of course, this wasn't really a shoot screwjob, but you can't tell me that it was planned either. What seems to have happened is that Pee Wee forgot to disallow the tag and decided to do it when he did to make sure the finish came down the way it was supposed to. I guess you can't blame him for that, but if I'd been Watts, I would have asked him what the hell he thought he was doing out there. Fortunately, JR and Jesse were loyal enough not to comment on how strange this all was, but even the densest mark in the world had to at least notice that something was off. It's the kind of inexcusable sloppiness that kept WCW from becoming number one until 1998 and eventually drove it out of business.

 

As for the bout, I didn't like the amateur stuff as much as some of you. Big guys who can brawl should spend their time doing that and leave the amateur stuff to the so-called technicians, and I'm certainly aware of the legit amateur backgrounds of Doc and the Steiners. But in the pros, they're bomb-throwing asskickers, and that's what they should have been from start to finish in this match. We should have seen chair shots and post shots, not crossfaces and rides. Two or three people bleeding wouldn't have been out of place, either. If Watts wanted to show off their amateur skills, he should have done an amateur rules bout on TV; with the proper buildup, Doc against either Steiner in that type of match could have been something else.

 

I liked the finishing run, with both Doc and Bamm Bamm clipping Scotty's knee. Doc's looked particularly vicious, in part because it was outside. I also liked that Scotty sold the knee so well at the end by staying down; that's the kind of stuff you seldom see from the Steiners, at least to this extent.

 

JR was in his glory calling the amateur sequences, and Jesse kept up with him well. They weren't really memorable here. but with the stakes of the match being what they were, there was no time for much byplay or even interaction.

 

Pee Wee tapping Scotty's head wasn't half as noticeable as the "missed tag"; if that had been his only transgression, I would have barely noticed it.

 

I didn't see the buildup since it isn't on the discs, but again, if Watts felt that way about the whole NWA deal, why on earth didn't he just scrap it? It's not like they did much with it after he left anyway.

 

Even with the amateur stuff, if you take out the whole "missed tag" business, this was good for what it was. Unfortunately, you can't, and that makes the whole mess something that should never have happened. Keep these teams apart until the finals and you may have had a classic.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Miracle Violence Connection vs The Steiner Brothers - WCW Clash of Champions XIX

Four big uglies tossing each other around, sign me up. I am such a mark for Watts style power wrestling that I ate this up with a spoon. Amateur wrestling is something I enjoy watching (I had a lot of friends on the wrestling team in high school) and something I like incorporated into my pro wrestling. When Doc is hooking it up with the Steiners, it is electric. You really feel like you are watching some great NCAA action. I love the subtle heeling of MVC. First it is the Steiners are getting the best of them. It was mostly stalemates, but Rick pops off a big throw and then does his Dogface Gremlin taunt. It is not so much the throw physically hurt, but how much did it hurt Doc's pride. We see that with him slapping Rick in the corner. This leads to the big explosion of the match. Where Rick double-legs him and then grounds & pounds. See how Doc gains control it is forearm to the back of the head. It was a cheapshot. Good heat segment on Rick. Scotty was a great hot tag, loved the Buttefly powerbomb. The transition to the Gordy STF could have been better, but the STF was great really cinched in. I thought the leg work was great and set up the finish nicely. The whole ref missing the Rick hot tag was bullshit and pretty egregious in how we were expected to suspend out disbelief for that. Rick vs Gordy teeing off on each other was red hot. All the knee clipping of Scotty was great stuff leading up to the heel finish with Gordy clipping Scotty leg as he was about to pop off a suplex. Great confluence of amateur wrestling and power wrestling which plays perfectly into the wheelhouse of these four. ****1/4 

[dawho5]

I liked how they built to the first belly-to-belly suplex so well and it made it such a huge deal.  And they went back to the belly-to-belly throughout as a highspot, which was great.  Both teams best match that I have seen ever.

[Octopus]

I figure it’s ok to post this here. Wrote this review a year ago for Secret Santo on DVDVR, suggested by my buddy over there, Curt McGirt

—-

First thing I want to highlight is the beauty of the arena set up. Is that two entrance ramps opposite of each other? As a fan in the area, I can more likely see my heroes potentially walk by? I love this and could see this being something reattempted in the future. 

My former governor of course is wrong on who always starts up the match. You goofball. Speaking of goofballs, Terry Gordy should never try to start a match with a double leg takedown on a man in a singlet and headgear. It’ll never work.

I’m loving how this starts out. Rick will have the advantage on the body positioning and regularly re-maintaining control through lock ups. All while the young Scott is excitedly pacing back and forth on the apron. Apron character work, when done right, can add to a match. Gordy gets leg control but can’t successfully take the dogface down. So he pops him in the face. Three of the characters involved are now defined. Rick gains control by the wonders of grappling and tags in Scott. 

Scott and Gordy press up against each other. Just like with Rick, but now the goal is for completing a suplex instead of sheer body control. Terry gets his arms hooked under Scott’s and can gain an advantage to flip Steiner over him. What happens next is a great display of struggle. Scott stays with his arms clasped around Terry’s waste. A pin attempt is stopped with Steiner arching upward. Normally, the goal is to completely arch to a turning and standing position. But whether it is a botch or Gordy asserting dominance, we witness multiple attempts to rise and Gordy putting his weight downward. Pin attempts and back arching. Intentional or not, Scott comes across like a young Spider-Man struggling to lift debris and heavy steel beams off of himself. The full pages of sweating and pain, when this normally little moment happens it feels so much bigger and earned. And after all this, explosive Scott shifts his body and performs a tossing single leg takedown over his head. The crowd erupts. It wasn’t just the move but the fact that he fought to pull it off.

Then it happens. The sound of Jim Ross’s hog smashing against the bottom of the announcers table as Doctor Death tags in. Suplex guy vs Suplex guy. Amateur wrestler style circling each other and reaching in to try and find an opportunity to get the opponent to make a premature jump. There is an old tale of the Mongoose vs the Snake. The Mongoose continuously pummels and hopes to beat the head of the Snake mercilessly until victorious. The Snake attempts to dodge and weave waiting for the moment to strike with a venomous bite. These two mother fuckers are Snakes. Quickly circling each other, waiting for the moment to fuck the other up. Wrestling. Fuck yeah, wrestling. 

Two big dudes then do some awesome freestyle wrestling. “Jockeying for position” moans a sweaty Jim Ross as he continuously throws praise towards Steve Williams. I enjoy struggle. I recently watched  a few Daisuke Sekimoto matches. His fight is slow and pressing of ham and slapping of chests. This is a quicker fight of two goats raging their horns against each other to get the other off balance enough to achieve an opportunity for an explosive blow, all to the excitement of the Oklahoman farmer doing his best the hold onto his milk pale with his sweaty hands. Pretty evenly matched, even when Scott manages to get behind Williams, he is lifted up and neutralized until they both reach the ropes.

Stand off. The Death Doctor is irritated by how long the rope break release took so both teams in the ring in a standoff. Rick gets tagged in during the next grappling sequence and HOT DOG RICK EASILY BELLY TO BELLYSSTEVE. Steve Williams rolls out the ring. Good guys in the ring posing (Rick Steiner is a dog) while the heels are outside being mad they were one upped. Jim Ross then uses this moment to again mention his affection of Steve and how we all need to pay attention to the strategy of Doctor Death. He talks about how Scott is an emotional young man and needs to watch out for the smarts and handsomeness of Williams. Even though it is Rick in the ring. Ross is full on late-90’s Lawler with his admiration of puppies. But it isn’t towards the actual dog (Rick) but the glistening hardened pecks of Doctor Death. 

I’m loving the freestyle wrestling style approach here. Both men are throwing their weight together quickly and trying get an advantage of the other. Rick is the clear superior fighter here, but Doc does a disrespectful hand push to Steiner’s face. Rick say, “nuh uh” and didn’t like that. By the power of rage, Rick Steiner’s grappling is now unstoppable. He over-powers Doc and pummels him. Rick is now punching! Williams meekly turns him over and gains a rest hold on Rick’s back. Forearms him in the face for good measure. They get up and Doc takes the moment to throw a big lariat.

In this Act we see how the characters are progressing through this battle. Up to this point, Rick is the top wrestler. Doc is just under him, but will get a tad disrespectful to get in his opponents head for an advantage. Scott is the young stud athlete that can toss you if you’re not careful and Terry will use his weight and punch your face. Dogface is in trouble and Terry is tagged in and likes punching faces. Gordy vs Rick in a slugfest, Gordy will win. He’s in control until a poor decision to lock up for a belly to belly attempt, Rick will win that battle. Hot tag to a feisty Scott. Beating them both up. Scott is in control until his youth leads him to trying too much too fast and a failed drop kick leads to a STF to slow him down. Doc tags in and beats the poor Steiner up. 

Steiner is the victim to tag team moves and a good old fashioned beating. Gordy/Death control segment until another classic hot tag. Now we get Rick Steiner’s revenge. Good wrestling is filled with storied parallel moments. Rick Steiner clotheslines Doc over the top rope and comes out ahead in a slugfest with Terry. Rick goes for the victory but the ref can’t count because he never saw the tag. Uhhhhh oh. Scott is still derped up and is getting beat up by Gordy in the outside. Wild fun as Rick and Terry are fighting and Doc charges Scott with a shoulder tackle to the knee. 

Ending segment is pretty sweet. Doc vs Scott. Williams presses Steiner above his head and catches him into a power slam. Scott kicks out. We’re getting a comeback. Rick is stopping Gordy from shenanigans but that catches the ref’s eye. Terry shenanigans stops a belly to belly and shoulder tackles Scott’s knee to stop a comeback. Williams gets the pin.

I’ll file this match under fun. I really enjoyed the wrestling style and would love to see more of them all go at it again. Exciting action and each character filled their role well. The story could have been more conscientious or tuned in, but I don’t know if that would automatically make it better. This seemed like a realistic bout and played out the way it should. Good guys lose but look strong, while the villains still come across like killers.