NWA Clash Of The Champions V

NWA Clash Of The Champions V
“St. Valentine’s Day Massacre”
Cleveland, OH
Feb. 15

This event features one of the single greatest promos/brawls I’ve ever seen! The purpose of this Clash is to further build the heat for Chi-Town Rumble, the PPV coming up in a few days. It has more matches than previous Clashes, though several are outright jobber matches. The biggest angle in the company is the return of Ricky the Dragon Steamboat and his feud with Ric Flair. This feud would be the centerpiece of the entire show and it’s amazing.

This is also the first major show under the official banner of WCW. Although it’s still called the NWA, they start mentioned the WCW name a lot throughout the night, even mentioning Ted Turner. It would be quite a while before the company is solely known as WCW though.

1. The Midnight Express (Eaton & Lane) beat The Russian Assassins when Eaton pinned Assassin #1

Wow, the NWA was really big on tag teams in the late 80s. The fact that they had two sets of tag belts says a lot. This was an interesting battle between two completely different styles. I should also mention the Midnights have an amazing entrance theme with a cool light show, years before the WWF ever started using lights for entrances. The Midnights rely on speed on wrestling ability and are able to overcome the larger Russians for a convincing victory.

Up next is an interview with Ricky Steamboat, holding the Little Dragon. Steamboat is pushing family values and bringing a sense of pride to the title. He comes across like a pretty huge nerd, and the crowd isn’t fully behind this preachy, super good guy image. But the idea is solid, as it clearly opposes Ric Flair’s hedonistic lifestyle. Both guys truly lived their gimmicks too.

2. ‘Hacksaw’ Butch Reed pinned Steven Casey

This freakin’ match was nearly 20 minutes long! The idea was that both guys are newcomers to the NWA, though Reed has the look, power, and skill to be a star and Casey looks like a jabroni. It’s basically Reed beating the shit out of him for 20 minutes and the match goes on forever! Reed is facing Sting at the Chi-Town Rumble for no particular reason, even though Sting is tied up in other feuds.

Ric Flair comes out next for an in-ring interview. He’s accompanied by a bunch of “hot” women. Some of these girls are pretty, but some are just weird looking. You’d think Flair would have found some hotter women, but who knows where these ladies even came from. Flair’s wearing a $5000 suit and cuts one of the best promos ever on Steamboat. Bragging about his women, wealth, success, etc. The crowd is actually cheering Flair through all of this, because he’s so damn good. Steamboat came out and ripped on Flair and his immoral lifestyle. Steamboat again preached about living clean, working hard, bringing pride to the belt, having a wife and kid, family values, etc. etc. This was amazing work by both guys, but clearly Flair was way cooler. Steamboat eventually lost his cool when Flair offered him a lady and an insane brawl broke out. Both guys beat the ever loving shit out of each other, just laid in with chops and punches. Eventually Steamboat ripped Flair’s suit to pieces and Flair was brawling in his socks and gitch. Amazing stuff. Steamboat got the better of Flair and put on his tattered suit pieces. Just awesome.

3. Lx Luger pinned The Blackmailer

Another showcase match that goes on for fucking ever. I get the point that they were trying to make some of their top stars look amazing, but these matches were needlessly long. The Blackmailer was some thug hired by JJ Dillon to soften up Luger, but he’s just a guy in a plain black body suit and mask. Luger beats him up for over 10 minutes then picks up the win. Well no duh.

4. NWA U.S. Tag Champs Mike Rotunda & Steve Williams beat The Fantastics when Williams pinned Rogers

Good rematch of sorts from Starrcade 88. Lots of tight wrestling and good action. The Varsity Club are allowed to inter-change members, so we get the much better Rotundo (or Rotunda) in place of Sullivan. Williams is booked as a monster and mauls the smaller guys again. Good match with the heels picking up the big win.

5. Ricky Steamboat pinned Bob Bradley

A showcase for Steamboat that is surprisingly shorter than the previous two. They must have been running out of time. Hilariously, some of the fans start chanting ‘We want Flair’ during this match! Steamboat picks up the easy win.

6. Rick Steiner pinned Rip Morgan

Morgan is in a jobber role, but was actually a character, as he previously was part of the Sheepherders group and was their flag bearer. Steiner is gearing up to face Mike Rotunda in a PPV rematch and gets the easy win here.

Next there’s an interview with Sting, Junkyard Dog, and Michael Hayes who are challenging the Road Warriors & Tenryu for the six man tag team title in the main event. First, why would Hawk and Animal viciously turn heel on Dusty Rhodes, then pick fucking TENRYU as their new tag team partner? Really? That’s the best they could come up with? WTF! Secondly, in their interview, Sting acknowledges that he doesn’t even know why his team were put together, so why are they getting the f’n shots? Anyway, as they walk downstairs to plan strategy, suddenly Kevin Sullivan runs in and locks a cage to the basement of the arena. The faces run up the stairs and realize they are trapped. The Varisty Club runs out to the ring and takes the place of Sting’s team in the main event. What the fuck is this, the WWE?

7. NWA World Six Man Tag Champs The Road Warriors & Genichiro Tenryu DDQ Mike Rotunda, Kevin Sullivan, & Steve Williams

This angle doesn’t make much sense, but is pretty good. Again the crowd is hot for the Warriors, as both heel sides brawl wildly. Eventually the good guys are unlocked from the basement by a ref who’s found bolt cutters. Several minutes later they run down to the ring. Huh? What took them so long! A massive 9 man brawl breaks out and is pretty explosive until the show draws to its conclusion.