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From the Grudge Match: Ted Blanchard Reviews Clash XIII: Thanksgiving Thunder


The site: wrestlingrecaps.blogspot.com
The Twitter: @grudgematchrcps

Live from Jacksonville, FL. Jim Ross and Paul E. Dangerously are on the mic.

Freebirds/Bobby Eaton vs. Southern Boys - they wasted no time coming to the ring here. The Midnights are now officially done, though they competed at Halloween Havoc. El Gigante was apparently supposed to be the Boys' partner. So after Hayes bragged about injuring Gigante, the referee ordered Eaton to head back to the dressing room. So we get the same tag that kicks off every clash in 1990 and 1991. Smother leapfrogs Garvin many times, gets a hiptoss and then the Boys dropkick both Freebirds, and even Little Richard Marley off of the apron. Hayes and Garvin work Smothers over in the corner, but he gets out and Armstrong hits a high-cross body on both Birds. I'm pretty sure they did that on the last Clash, too. Smothers gets an armdrag takeover, then slams both Birds and goes into the 3-point stance for clotheslines. Smothers gets knocked outside by Hayes. Garvin gets slams, but gets sunset flipped. He clotheslines Smothers and gets a slam of his own, but Smothers slams him off of the top. Armstrong and Hayes get tagged, and the Birds double suplex Smothers before Armstrongs dives off the top. Armstrong backdrops Garvin to the ramp, and hits a quebrada onto him. Meanwhile, Hayes DDT's Smothers after Marley tripped him, for the pin. **1/2. It was pretty fast paced this time.

Tony Schiavone with Sting. He will be going face-to-face with the Black Scorpion tonight. Scorpion then starts talking as they throw it to break.

Buddy Landell vs. Brian Pillman- Skid Row's No. 1 fan attacks Pillman right away. Pillman apparently beat Landell at the Great American Bash. I'll just trust that that's try. Pillman got two quick inside cradles for two, then another off a backslide. Pillman clotheslines him onto the ramp, then hits a clothesline from the top. Pillman tried a piledriver on the ramp, got backdropped, and then couldn't get the sunset flip. Landell hit a WCW Revenge elimination on Pillman, then goes out and drops his throat on the railing. Landell missed a clothesline and hit post, but Buddy then sent him into the post. Back in, Landell punches Pillman but gets hiptossed and dropkicked. Pillman faked a dive out, then hit a high-cross body on the outside. Landell tossed him in, then slows things down with an abdominal stretch. Landell catches Pillman off a body press, then hits a backbreaker. Pillman gets a backdrop, and hits a cross body off the top for the twin. *** That was a pretty exciting brawl.

Big Cat vs. Brad "Candyman" Armstrong- Cat had a run in the AWA at the very end, and I think by this point they were done. Cat pushed Amrstrong to the corner, but misses a clothesline. The next time, he shoves the Candyman down. Armstrong works the arm, but get football tackled. Armstrong hits a dropkick, then they fight over a wristlock. Armstrong gets caught in a midair, then gets three backbreakers from Cat. Cat gets a big slam for two. Cat works over the back, including with a bearhug. He misses a charge to the turnbuckles, and Armstrong gets a dropkick. He gets swatted away a second time, then the torture rack finishes Armstrong. *1/2 Good squash to introduce Curtis "Big Cat" Hughes, who will be around in a couple of incarnations for awhile.

Dick the Bruiser cuts a prom about him referring at Starrcade.

Brian Lee vs. Z-Man- The Underfaker conveniently shows up in WCW after "Mean" Mark Callous has exited. Hmmm. Lee gets a headlock and football tackle, but Zenk hits a shoulderblock, then an enziguiri while Lee jawed at the fans. Lee misses a charge and gets hiptossed, and Zenk hits a high-cross body while Lee is all the way in the other corner. It looked really bad. Lee hits a back- elbow off the ropes. After two leapfrogs Zenk dropkicks Chainz. Lee grabs a chinlock. Lee misses a charge, and gets savate kicked in the mush. Z-Man hits a flying dropkick for the win. *3/4. I'm wondering if Lee screwed up that spot.

Schiavone with Michael Wallstreet and Alexandra "Marlena" York. He tells Schiavone he legally changed his name after inheriting some money.

Starblazer vs. Michael Wallstreet- Blazer is too svelte to be Jack Victory, at least. Wallstreet gets a waistlock takedown, then a fireman's carry. Football tackle, but he gets liplocked and Blazer hits two dropkicks. Armbar by the Blazer, but Wallstreet tosses him out. Abdominal stretch, and Wallstreet uses the ropes for leverage. I don't know if it was the I.R.S. gear that made him move so slow, but he's pretty spritely here. Blazer gets a rollup for two, then hits forearms and kicks a charging Wallstreet. Scoop slam, and he hits a dropkick. Rotunda then turns it into a Boston Crab, and both reverse it. Wallstreet trips him into another crab, then hits the Wallstreet Crash (not the Stock Market Crash, as I posted on the BoD. Sorry). ** I predict that Blazer was Tim Horner, and according to Wikipedia, that is correct.

Gordon Solie gives the tag team and singles Top 10.

Pat O'Connor Tournament African qualifying match, Sgt. Krueger/Col. DeKlerk vs. Kalua/Botswana Beast- Krueger and Kalua start. Kalua applies a wristlock on DeKlerk, who you may know as Rocco Rock. Seriously. He hits a high-cross body for two. I wonder if Heyman on commentary is seeing dollar signs watching this. Beast in with Krueger. I don't know who these two are. Beast hits a big clothesline. DeKlerk offers a handshake, and then can't shoulderblock Beast. Powerslam, and Beast hits a splash in the corner. Rocco then backflips over a charging Beast, then hits two axehandles off the buckles. Beast then catches Rocco coming off and powerslams him. Krueger breaks up the pin, then Beast atomic drops Rocco. Do-si-do by the military men, then Krueger dropkicks DeKlerk from a slam predicament for the win. *3/4.

Sam Muchnick invites wrestling fans to the Pat O'Connor tournament. Thanks, Pat!

Schiavone reviews the Lex Luger-Stan Hansen feud. After Hansen attacked him at the last Clash, he won the U.S. title (with an assist from Dan Spivey) at Halloween Havoc. Luger is interviewed, but Big Cat interrupts him. Luger punches him and he seemingly falls off the stage.

The Motor City Madman vs. Lex Luger- I think Dangerously discovered the Madman, and was somehow involved in all of this. Big Cat follows Luger out, and they brawl on the ramp. The Madman attacks Luger as he enters the ring. Lugers hits a crossbody inside, and hits a clothesline. Back elbow, and Luger suplexes him from the ramp into the ring. Bodyslam, but Luger misses an elbow. Luger gets clotheslined, and side-slammed. Luger backdrops out of a piledriver attempt, and hits a lariat to win. *1/2. This was a match that happened. I don't know when Luger vs. Cat took place, but I'm sure they did a good job.

Schiavone interviews Nick Patrick. He says the Steiners seem determined to end the Nasty Boys' careers. I believe fines have been levied.

The Renegade Warriors vs. The Nasty Boys- Mark Youngblood backs Saggs into the corner, and gets cheap-shotted. Knobbs in, and they double-suplex Mark. Knobbs forearms him, but gets cross-bodied by Chris Youngblood on a sunset-flip attempt. Chris works Knobbs' arm, and hiptosses Sags. Sags threw a Youngblood over the top, and Knobbs threw him into the security railing. Sags works the arm, and Knobbs DDTs the arm. They got the tag, but the ref missed it. Sags gets a shoulderbreaker, and the Steiners come rushing out for the DQ. Ok then.

Big Van Vader is coming back!

The Nightstalker vs. SID- Stalker=Adam Bomb. He was also an AWA import. Shoves to start. Test of strength, and they kick away. Stalker grabs a bearhug, and they discuss a spot. Or current TV shows, who knows? Sid claps his ears but gets locked in again. Stalker knees him in the ribs, where he was injured a year earlier (I thought it was a collapsed lung?). Stalker knees him, as Dangerously does mention the lung. Big Cat makes yet another appearance, and Sid slugs him one. Stalker grabs his prop axe, but misses Sid with it. Sid clotheslines Stalker for the win. * The heels (?) work over Sid, as I am really confused. Sid did get some back up by Starrcade.

Schiavone with the Freebirds. Garvin does most of the talking, thankfully. The Southern Boys come out, as Garvin is saying he'd tie a hand behind his back. Then El Gigante finally appears!
Smothers says something about a duck on a junebug. Wut.

MIssy Hyatt hypes WCW Main Event.  Then we relive the Steiners attacking the Nasty Boys. The Boys left soon after for the WWF.

Magnum Force vs. The Steiners- I don't know the two goofs from Halstead Street in Chicago. I'm just happy we get a Steiner squash here. Scott starts with Magnum by working his arm and tripping him. He then tilt-a-whirls the legal one, and does his flip slam on the other. Rick tagged, the jobber misses clothesline, Rick punches him, then Steinerlines him. Scott tagged, and Rick is signaling the Frankensteiner. Scott obliges, and that's all she wrote. 1:57, **1/2 That was everything it was supposed to be. The Nasties come out but the Steiners make them retreat.

Schiavone with Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. I didn't realize the main event was a Horseman vs. a Doom. I thought Flair vs. Butch Reed had been promoted.
Danger Zone with Sting and the Black Scorpion. JR first gives us a history package. Paul E. brings out Sting. The Scorpion appears on the ramp, and pulls an audience member up. The guy appears hypnotizes, and Scorpy twists his head around in a box. Then he carries the guy like a child, puts him in a box, and turns him into a tiger. Then the tiger disappears. Believe it or not, the tricks combined with stuff like Paul E. yelling "WHERE DID HE GO?!" made this seem like a serious angle to me, and not as goofy as it now seems to me.

Schiavone throws it to a video package on Doom vs. Arn and Flair. They fought to a double-DQ at Halloween Havoc.

RIc Flair vs. Butch Reed- I'll dispense with the mystery, since I thought it was this match all along. A coin toss determined it, though. Teddy Long will have to be the Horsemen's chauffeur and a title shot at Starrcade if Reed loses. Long would get Flair's yacht if Reed wins. Flair is getting cheered here, though he seems to be working heel. Chops on Reed, who fires back. Reed punches Flair down, though. Military press slam on Flair, and a clothesline. Reed then clotheslines Flair out, and Simmons gets a cheapshot. He throws Flair back in, and Flair hits a knee then wanders out to the ramp and gets clotheslined. Headlock and Reed bridges up. A backslide by Reed gets two. Ten punches, a hiptoss and a Reed dropkick follow. Flair goes to the eye, then punches Reed. Flair kicks him in the ribs. Flair threw Reed over the top while the ref was distracted with Long and Simmons. Anderson gets his shots in outside. Flair drops him throat-first on the top rope.  They chop and punch each other in the corner, and Flair flops. Reed whips flip to the corner, then he flips and falls outside, where Simmons works him over. More slugfestery. Flair drops a knee on Reed's head, but a second misses. Reed locks on the figure four, and Flair almost gets pinned. He gets the bottom rope, and Patrick drags Reed off by his hair. Reed suplexes Flair in from the apron for two. Bodyslam and Reed goes up, but the pool is empty. Reed clotheslines Flair down, and punches away. Reed press slams Flair again, and Patrick holds Reeds arm and Flair slugs the Natural. A foot on the rope is the only thing that saves Long from chaufferdom. Flair gets backdropped and gorilla slammed, but Arn pulls Anderson outside. Reed hits a flying shoulderblock, but there's no referee. Flair then backdrops Reed onto Patrick and Long. Reed rolls in to try the pin, but Arn waffles him with a chair, and Flair gets the pin. *** I guess this feud turned all of the Horsemen face at this point? I don't know, but it won't matter by the next Clash, anyway.

I checked the rating for this one, and while it had a drop they would get lower in the next year. They always say shows without an announced main event (such as from a tournament) don't do well. It was an entertaining show that kept with the format of using local/new talent as JTTS. Sting didn't have a match, but his feud with the Scorpion continued. It's too bad we didn't get another title defense from Sting here, because, well...

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