[1992-01-21-WCW-Clash of the Champions XVIII] Cactus Jack vs Van Hammer (Falls Count Anywhere)

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This doesn't really hold up well, but where it does hold up is that Cactus was able to get something out of Van Hammer. Hammer pulled off some great spots, like the dive into the ring to start things out and the powerslam on the ramp. I'm sure Cactus was calling everything, but it remains impressive. Missy Hyatt in the water reminds me of the story in Foley's book, which was that Missy had no idea that was going to happen until it happened, which in the January outdoors is kind of a shitty thing to do.

[Strummer]

that was a pretty shitty thing to do by Dusty. Missy looked legit scared for her life when Abby picked her up and she was clearly in tears afterwards.

 

Mick has admitted to having a crush on Missy in the past because she was nice to him when he first started. And sweet God does she look hot during this period. I can remember they had an ad for her hotline working out in a half tee shirt and shorts. Sad to see what happened to her really

[Loss]

I've always gotten the impression that Missy was put through hell in WCW for kicks. I guess that's not really surprising, but it's still unfortunate.

[Tim Evans]

Hammer started out good but seemed lost when they went outside. Probably his best match ever.

[shoe]

Just like Foley said in his book. Hammer was athletic, looked good, and was game for trying stuff. This is still a fun match. By far the best Hammer has ever looked. It's kinda like one of those Bret Hart/Tom Magee moments here with Cactus just calling a dandy of a bout that made Hammer look like a million bucks. Some of Jack's bumps were nasty. The one from the ramp was ick. The top rope sunset flip is downright insane. This is the bout when people should realize that Cactus is a ring general. Still something for both guys to be proud of.

[rainmakerrtv]

I didn't mind ole Van Hammer ... his gimmick was weak and he came off a bit obnoxious, but he had some skills, was carryable and always tried. I remember rooting for him when he finally got his win over Cactus ... and right after that he got squashed by Sid.

[El-P]

Van Hammer was bad. Cactus was insane. Missy was hot as hell.

Infamous match which looked 6 years before his time, as this kind of stuff would become weekly features during the Attitude eras. So yeah, the novelty is gone, but to me it still works, and it remains Van Hammer's best match I would guess.

(ah, humiliating a good looking woman never gets old on good ole rassling shows... yeah, that was a shitty thing to do)

[Kevin Ridge]

It's hard to look at those concrete floor bumps that Cactus takes. If I had seen this live, probably would have been a lore more high on it. Hard to distinguish it from all the matches that have happened since. I haven't seen much of Van Hammer but this was the best so far. Dumping Missy in the water like that without her knowing is pretty mean.

[MikeCampbell]

I always heard this praised to the moon, and when I first saw it I was unimpressed. I always figured because the bar had been raised so much by the business that I just couldn't appreciate it for the time frame. But no, the Moondogs vs. Jarrett, Fuller, and Lawler stuff KILLS this sixteen ways from Sunday.

[WingedEagle]

I thought this was the craziest match I'd ever seen watching it live as an 11 year old. Cactus takes some standard crazy bumps, including a sunset flip to the floor where Hammer does nothing to protect him, as well as a hiptoss on the floor.

 

***1/4

[PeteF3]

I don't think this match was worthy of the $5000 bonus that it got in the wake of the previous tag match, but I thought this was pretty great, actually. I'm not ashamed to admit that I marked for Van Hammer shooting sparks out of his guitar in Cactus' face to start the match, and then he follows up with some cool dives for some quick near-falls. Cactus of course takes some hellacious bumps and Hammer is at least doing what he can to keep up. Cactus really was the master of the falls-count-anywhere stip--one staple of his matches that I love, love, LOVE is that the matches are basically worked the same way regardless of where they go. It's a standard match that simply can't be contained by a ring, so we get counters and reverals and even a small package on the rampway. The rampway itself helps out because it allows them to work rope-running spots on the floor. The brawl goes into a rodeo holding area and Cactus attempts to stab Van Hammer with the horn of a bull skull, before a cowboy-hatted Abdullah swings wildly with a shovel and conks Van Hammer to give Cactus the win. The brawl continues and Missy Hyatt, whose presence here during the match was utterly pointless, goes for a swim. This may lose some effect in the wake of the Hardcore stuff to come but I think this more smartly worked than all but maybe a handful of late-'90s bouts.

[Robert S]

Missy Hyatt in the water reminds me of the story in Foley's book, which was that Missy had no idea that was going to happen until it happened, which in the January outdoors is kind of a shitty thing to do.

I call bs as there was no reason for her being there except to get thrown into the water.

[garretta]

I have a hard time thinking of the positives in this match after seeing what happened to Missy. I don't care if she was an obnoxious little twit who slept with everything that had male organs, she didn't deserve to be treated this way, and she sure as hell didn't deserve to be put in spots that she wouldn't have otherwise been in if those in charge at WCW hadn't lived to humiliate her. Seriously, was she even in any other segment of this show? How Turner Broadcasting escaped a megalawsuit for sexual harassment over their treatment of her I have no idea.

 

Anyway, I think it was Mike who said that the Memphis brawls smoked this match sixteen ways from Sunday. Not in my eyes it didn't. I enjoyed the fact the this was a wrestling match that just happened to have no rules to speak of, not just an excuse to fling objects around. It felt more natural, more organic, and it seemed like the culmination of a long feud. Some of the spots already mentioned bordered on death-defying; even JR mentioned that Mick got the worst end of that sunset flip to the floor. I also enjoyed the bonus brawl between Mick and Abby, even if led to Missy's pointless humiliation. JR and Tony put over the chaos of this bout, both for the wrestlers and the production crew, beautifully.

 

Finally, double kudos to both guys for being willing to end the match outside in the freezing Topeka night, never mind in a rodeo pen to boot. It was the crowning touch to an underrated little bout.

[Loss]

They actually didn't escape a lawsuit for how they treated Missy Hyatt, but the terms of the settlement were not disclosed, nor is Missy Hyatt allowed to talk about it publicly.

[garretta]

Well, at least they (presumably) paid for their actions. Thanks, Loss!

[soup23]

I have always thought this was fine but more of a novelty of something decent out of Van Hammer than a good match on previous viewings. This time I saw a little more meat to the match including Van Hammer's good look crossbody and the onset and some of the sick bumps Cactus took. As i view stuff later in the decade, brawls are a dime a dozen but this had a little more heart behind it. ***1/4 (6.4)

[dawho5]

Way ahead of it's time and Mick is seriously bonkers for some of that stuff. Missy taking a swim seemed to perturb JR a bit and it should have. Fun match with some nonsensical extracurricular stuff going on.