[1991-09-05-WCW-Clash of the Champions XVI] Ron Simmons and Bobby Bowden

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

They show footage from the year before when Ron Simmons had his jersey retired at Florida State. It's cool that they held on to this footage until the right time, and hyping him as a challenger in a PPV World title match is definitely the right time. We get some words from Bobby Bowden, who wishes him the best, and he says he has all the Seminoles behind him. It didn't work, but WCW definitely did what they could to make Simmons a star. I think it would have worked if the promotion itself wasn't so cold. This is good stuff.

[PeteF3]

Footage of Simmons at Doak Campbell Stadium getting a huge reaction for his jersey retirement, which is a great way of making Simmons look like a big deal. This is followed by Bobby Bowden giving comments from his office. I can imagine what the WWF could have done with all of this, but this is a valiant attempt by WCW nonetheless.

[Kevin Ridge]

So after almost two years of drinking games, Jim Ross talking football excessively and liver damage, we get a payoff as FSU coach Bobby Bowden puts over Ron Simmons.

[soup23]

I always liked this feature as they did it on the Havoc PPV as well. Ross saying they just secured the footage was a good touch. Bobby Bowden was a big name and him putting over Simmons made it all look more professional.

[PhilTLL]

Another VHS/YouTube snippet sighting on the Network! Just the intro and the stadium footage. I still don't think it takes as long to produce the stuff as they take to release it, but clearly someone is putting in some TLC on what does get out.

 

Neat little segment and a classic coach speech by Bowden. Son, you just look out in that crowd and know that Coach is right there with ya...etc. For being a fairly mediocre show so far, segments like this and the Sting/Cactus stuff plus a very hot Georgia crowd somehow make WCW seem more alive than they have since well before the Bash.

 

Oh fuck, here comes Van Hammer...

 

Poor old Terrence Taylor, who I'm not even particularly fond of but who has been quite heavily pushed with a gimmick change for 3+ months, just did the bit in 90 seconds for Van Hammer's debut. So never mind. According to Meltzer, he had two or three pro matches at the time. Jesus Christ on a cracker.

[garretta]

Wonderful stuff here. Seeing Doak Campbell Stadium go wild for the retirement of Number 50 was chill-inducing, and Bowden cuts a better promo here than anyone else has done in this whole feud. It almost makes you wish that it wasn't college football season so he could be in Simmons' corner at Havoc to counter Race and Hughes. I wonder if he would have done it had it been possible.

 

I'm not sure the WWF would have done this better; given Vince's hatred of the South and Southerners, he'd have probably given Simmons the Skinner gimmick instead.

[dawho5]

Good way to put Simmons over that works far better than anything else they have tried. I did wish out loud that JR would shut up about football though during his intro.