NWA Clash Of The Champions #12 - "Fall Brawl '90: Mountain Madness -” 05/09/1990
NWA United States Heavyweight Title Match: Lex Luger (c) vs. Ric Flair
The way the commentators explained the reason for why Flair wants the US title was very good - the classic the US champion is the number 1 contender for the world title (which hasn’t been the case for a decade, if ever). And it explained the added intensity and desperation for Flair here, which is mostly caused by the TV time restriction. But the speed and intensity from both was incredibly impressive. Dave Meltzer called it an abridged version of their matches, which is accurate. It’s their WrestleWar match on crack but that doesn’t make it inferior. It had great character work from Flair, phenomenal chemistry from Flair and Luger which makes the Sting result from the GAB look ever more awkward and again, the pacing added some otherworldly excitement to the mix. Luger had never looked better either. The finish was decent enough to lead into a Hansen/Luger feud for the end of the year. Hansen is put over as dangerous while protecting Flair from a loss which probably shouldn’t be wasted on a Clash, even against Luger. Great match. ****
NWA Halloween Havoc 1990 - Terror Rules The Ring - 27/10/1990
Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich vs. The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Stan Lane) (w/Jim Cornette)
Tommy Rich only came in for the finish but he was sweating like he had been going non stop for twenty minutes. This guy. Maybe the easiest 4 star match he’s ever had. Whereas Ricky Morton put in a near masterclass of a performance against the MX. It was a worthy hurrah for the definitive tag feud of the 80s. There were a few flubs including the finish and a dive from Eaton to the floor that he seemed to miss. Otherwise, they were sublime. Intense wrestling, great punches, smart and intelligent double team moves. Eaton and Morton probably could’ve had a singles match here and it would’ve been just as great. Or even a handicap match, which this essentially was. Terrific opener. ****
The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes) (w/Little Richard Marley) vs. The Renegade Warriors (Chris Youngblood & Mark Youngblood)
I would say this died, but in reality the only thing that died was the Warriors. The Freebirds even with their injury gimmick and gay baiting routine was more over with the crowd and cheered them from start to finish. And that was for nearly 20 minutes btw. Who booked this man? *
NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner & Scott Steiner) (c) vs. The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags)
Excellent match, but I will say that the structure could throw someone. The first 7 minutes was a ball to the walls spotfest before they finally settled into several heat sections where The Nasties target the lower back of Scott and then work on Rick. There wasn’t as much heat when the Nasties were on top, but I still thought they looked great. They took their licks but were great in targeting the weaknesses of the champs. And Sags took a brutal chairshot which drew blood so that was cool. The last third was where the odd structure grew thinnest and most muddled, but the rest of the match was pretty entertaining. Rick got targeted by the Nasties after the match and was injured, getting the Nasty Boys their heat back. ****
NWA World Tag Team Title Match: Doom (Butch Reed & Ron Simmons) (w/Teddy Long) (c) vs. The Four Horsemen (Arn Anderson & Ric Flair)
Maybe this could’ve done with Reed being the main FIP opposed to Simmons, who is more bland and harder to care for opposed to Reed who is more expressive and has history with Flair. But we get excellent moments where that is the focus, where Reed was busting Flair with outstanding punches and Flair was bumping and selling for him like only he could. Where Simmons may have limited the match, Flair and Arn made up for their outstanding abilities and chemistry as a duo. They could’ve done more with them, especially if they wanted to rotate Flair down the card. The finish was decent and a sign of to come (see: the Starrcade match) but a little obvious, if I had to be honest. Near MOTYC but little hold it back. ***3/4
NWA United States Heavyweight Title Match: Lex Luger (c) vs. Stan Hansen
I think the only thing that might have hurt this was the unenthused crowd but the work was pretty top. Lex Luger proved he had another level and got a bit more vicious, using downward elbows to the throat to try match Hansen’s intensity. Hansen was good too. He had a good pace to his work, was always a threat with his size and the ever looming lariat and was as snug as the style allowed him to be. Maybe the character work is a bit over the top but that comes with the territory. Their Starrcade match is better iirc though. Hansen does win this clean though, unlike what Jim Ross says. Hansen tried to cheat but never got to use the cowbell before Luger countered. The deciding factor was the lariat in the end, earning Hansen the US title. What a reign Luger has had with the belt though. ***1/2
NWA World Heavyweight Title Match: Sting (c) vs. Sid Vicious
“That's why this company is in the damn shape it's in because of bullshit like this”. Very few words have never been spoken with more truth. Booking wise, this turned a meandering match into a bad one. For a TV company, they totally miss the boat on capturing the angle for the audience watching at home, but even those in attendance didn’t get it at all. It doesn’t read at all with where they had the story play out. What happened from what I can tell (or I was told by the commentators) was that Sting was baited out into the backstage area by Sid, who inexplicably ran away. “Sting” and Sid quickly returned to the ring where “Sting” did a failed body slam with Sid landing on top of him for the three count. The fans are stunned but cheer as the announcement is called out - that we have a new champion. I was baffled but new there would be a restart. And then suddenly, out came Sting with a small rope tied to his arm and the crowd in attendance is left to their own devices to discover that Sid had pinned a fake Sting (Barry Windham) and the match had continued. But it was so messy that they had to get Sting to return, win the match and then do an interview in a short space of time. It was so confusing. If they were going to do a false sting gimmick, they should’ve done it on the main ramp where everyone in the building could see the two Stings together and allow time for the audience to get it. But they opted for a back entrance setting, where only 40 fans could see what happened and they had 1 minute to do it all. Rushed and poorly executed, but the idea at its core was rotten. But what about the match? Utterly forgettable. *1/2
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