[1992-01-21-WCW-Clash of the Champions XVIII] Sting & Ricky Steamboat vs Rick Rude & Steve Austin

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Another really good match from this show. This was actually better than I remembered too. It's only an 11-minute match, but they make the most of the time and keep things moving. The post-match angle is the best part, with Steamboat taking two Rude Awakenings and a belt whipping to set up their match at SuperBrawl.

[Tim Evans]

Good match and I love the way that Rude sell atomic drops. And nice cameo by Rip Rogers as one of the security guys the DA beat up.

[shoe]

This was a good bout, but kinda disapointing too considering the talent level involved. I hated the finish, but loved the post match angle to put heat on Rude/Steamboat bout for Superbrawl.

[El-P]

Between this and the 6 tag just before, WCW suddenly looks like the greatest US promotion ever.

[Kevin Ridge]

Pretty good match with the good guys doing a bit of cheating early in the match much to Ventura's disproval. He's also all over the finish too where Sting launches himself on top of Steamboat and Austin as Ricky gets the pinfall with Sting still on top. Seems very illegal to me. Rude and Austin aren't please and do an impressive beat down of Sting and Austin afterwards. Steamboat's selling of the second Rude Awakening is great.

[MikeCampbell]

I honestly didn't think too highly of this, especially with Rude, Steamer, and Sting involved. But it was fun for what it was meant to be, which is continuing the whole Dangerous Alliance angle. I could watch Rude sell all day long, and Jesse was awesome getting all worked up when Sting and Steamboat would switch illegally to keep working on Rude. The dogpile pin on Austin was amusing, and the Rude vs Steamboat issue is further heated up en route to Superbrawl, but I expected more.

[WingedEagle]

Sting and Steamer showed great chemistry here as a babyface team. The heat for Rude is just off the charts, which is typical for him at the time but it seems to have been forgotten a bit. The post-match beatdown on Steamboat was awesome.

 

***

[PeteF3]

This was a good match, but it didn't quite hold up in the face of the awesomeness we got earlier in the show. As much as I liked Schiavone in his role, Ventura is a breath of fresh air here--and so far he hasn't missed a beat. Jesse was always way into it whenever Rude was wrestling, anyway. Wonky finish that Jesse rightly loses his shit over, and we get a chaotic post-match angle with Steamboat eating two Rude Awakenings and some shots from Paul E.'s belt while Austin and Dangerously pick off the security guys who try to break this up.

[Superstar Sleeze]

Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude & Steve Austin) vs. Dragon's Sting (Sting & Ricky Steamboat) - Clash of the Champions XVIII

 

The Rick Rude waddle after the two atomic drops was the highlight of the match. He must have really been in a bad way if he could not have extended his career as a tag team stooge for a couple years. Also I liked Steamboat switching it up and putting his nearfall barrage at the beginning against Austin. Austin did a good job selling exasperation. The crowd went nuts for Sting hip swivel and Im a mark for when the babyfaces illegally switch, the heel hem and haw, the ref asks the crowd and they all say NO! Thats good fun! The FIPs were fine for what they were, but not as good as the shine. Sting leaps onto Steamboat and Austin so that Sting and The Dragon pin Austin, which really works Jesse up into a lather. So that when Rude & Austin beat the living hell out of Steamboat he loves this justified revenge. Two Rude Awakenings has the Steamer paralyzed. Rude starts to whip with a belt. Dangerously with his phone and Austin hold off security. This was a great post-match angle to put some heat on the Rude/Steamboat match at SuperBrawl. It was a fun match, but nothing to write home about. ***

[garretta]

This was good for an appetizer to SuperBrawl, as all four men (and Heyman too) brought their A games. This match really helped to establish the DA as a unit instead of five individual stars thrown together; Rude and Austin worked together flawlessly. So did Sting and Steamer, especially with the illegal switch routine. The only team I've seen pull it off as smoothly was the Rock 'n' Roll Express.

 

The finish was strange to say the least, but it served its purpose of keeping the various issues between these four guys bubbling until SuperBrawl. I liked the beatdown afterward; it was right out of the Horsemen playbook, with the added touch of beating up security as well. The only thing I didn't like was Heyman joining in. There's no way a wimp like him should be knocking security people down with one shot and throwing them out of the ring as he does here. Arn or Larry should have come down to do that while Heyman sat back and laughed. His belt was contribution enough to the festivities.

 

Jesse was great here, much more strategy-oriented than he was in his latter WWF days. His explanation of what a manager is actually supposed to do at ringside was fantastic, and one I'd never really heard before. Of course, he cheered for the DA, and his outrage at the illegal switches by Steamer and Sting and the winning pinfall were a riot, as was his defense of the beatdown at the end.

 

Unfortunately, I can see the danger signs for him and JR. I loved his reaction to the news that Austin's father played in the Cotton Bowl for Rice, but football references are such a part of JR's act by now that making fun of them is like making fun of his accent, in a sense. He's a legitimate NFL announcer, don't forget, so it's not like he's talking out of his rear end about something he knows nothing about. Add that to the fact that he's so used to calling matches solo and thus shaping the broadcasts the way he wants to that he doubtless sees any color man (except perhaps for Tony, who knows his place) as an unwelcome intrusion and you can see why he didn't like working with Jesse, who like Heenan needs to be indulged a bit instead of just calling what he sees in the ring and nothing else. Hopefully they can work out their problems and not let any discomfort they might feel with each other spoil the broadcasts over the coming year.

 

Rude may be the king of selling blows to the spine and lower, but Sting's sell job of Rude's low blow was nothing to sneeze at either. I also got a kick out of Sting and Steamer's hip swivels, though they have a ways to go to catch up to the master.

 

Yay! Rude's opening spiel was back, if only for one night. I loved Heyman's big smile while Rude was telling the cable-watching couch potatoes to shut up. Rude may not have liked having a manager, but guys like Heenan and Heyman added immeasurably to his act just by their reactions to it.

[soup23]

Rude and Austin look so badass coming to the ring. I liked the team of Sting and Steamer together and this did a great job transitioning from Sting vs Rude being the main focal point of everything going on to getting Steamboat involved in a personal feud with Rude after he hits the Awakenings at the end. ***1/4 (6.3)

[dawho5]

There is a lot of good stuff here. My problem is the lack of time given the match and how it basically robbed the match of any chance to be more than just good. But if you're trying to build to Rude/Steamboat it works. Plus, loads of fun stuff from 4 guys who know how to work. I did like Jesse n commentary calling out both of the major babyface cheating spots. The finish was really stupid. Why would any ref count that?

[Wahoos Leg]

There’s lots to like about this match. It showcases four of the top talents in WCW at the time, in the midst of a heated feud centering on the Dangerous Alliance faction. It’s also a tantalizing glimpse at Steamboat and Sting as a team, something that WCW didn’t really explore during any period where both were on the roster. This is a good match that is definitely worth watching, but I honestly preferred the six-man involving other members of the Alliance on this same Clash card.

My full review of this match can be found here, as part of my 365 Wrestling project.