NWA/WCW Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knock Out 1989 Review

The Fabulous Freebirds Vs The Road Warriors

We start off tonight with the World Tag Team Champions going up against one of the all-time greatest teams, The Road Warriors. Why is this not for the titles? Why don't the Freebirds actually have the titles with them? Oh, they're facing The Steiner Brothers on TV this week? For the titles? And you've already tapped that match? I wonder what happens... The Warriors seem to know what happens, they look like they're really just phoning it in tonight. Barely anything to speak of, then we get a sudden DQ. I hate watching something that could have been a classic just end like that without warning or purpose. A shameful waste of time and talent.

Rating: 1.5 Stars


Doom Vs Eddie Gilbert and Tommy Rich

At least this match doesn't disappoint - it's just as average as you'd expect it to be. Doom defeated The Steiner Brothers last month, and now get to squash Gilbert and Rich to keep their push going. Nothing remarkable again here, besides Woman who was another addition to the excellent roster of managers in WCW at this time. She and Doom have a great entrance too – in fact the stage for this show is just awesome all over. Doom power through as you'd expect. Not as bad as the last match, but not good either.

Rating: 2 Stars


The Midnight Express Vs The Dynamic Dudes

*facepalm* Oh great, now The Dynamic Dudes have skateboards. The NY crowd boos the hell of of them, and rightly so. I've never seen a team try so hard to suck up to the fans and only manage to just plain suck. The hook for this is admittedly pretty good – the Dudes recently helped out Jim Cornette who in return has started working as their 'tutor'. Cornette's actual managed team, The Express, take exception to this and start to make decisions without him, including signing the contract for this match tonight. Cornette is not in either corner to start with, torn at ring-side between the two teams. The pace is good, but boy does Johnny Ace fail at almost everything. His drop-kicks are so limp and messy he looks like he might hurt himself. Shane Douglas sort of redeems this with a nice running dive over the top rope and a good cross-body later on, but the crowd are dead set against the Dudes no matter what they do. Stan Lane gets some stiff, aggressive kicks into Johnny Ace that are just a pleasure to watch, but soon Douglas is back in with a hot tag. Eaton pulls out a chain, but Cornette rushes in and throws it away from him. He motions to Douglas to get Eaton, but when he does Cornette wallops him with the tennis racket giving The Express the win and affirming his loyalty. Good ending to an average match. Thankfully this is pretty much the end of the line for the Dynamic Dudes after stinking up the place all year.

Rating: 2.5 Stars


Steve Williams Vs The Super Destroyer

Dr. Death is really over in NY going up against The Super Destroyer, yet another masked jobber character for Jack Victory. Williams was a pretty awesome strong man, getting in an impressive delayed military press on the Destroyer, then a power-slam and that's it. At least you don't have to spare mental energy remembering this match even happened. Oh and then Dr. Death gets a teddy bear from Santa Claus for his trouble. I wish I were kidding. Looks like I'll remember this one after all.

Rating: 1.5 Stars


The Steiner Brothers Vs The Skyscrapers

Another match that looks great on paper, but doesn't meet its potential due to lousy booking. Thankfully they get some time to work with at least, but like the opener it just feels like thrown together filler. Scott has developed a new move he calls 'The Frankensteiner', which is really exciting to see performed on the massive Skyscrapers. Sadly Sid Vicious broke a rib and punctured his lung in this match, and when he returned The Skyscrapers were finished. Spivey and Long would go on with a new member for a while, but this is the end for the original team. A decent enough match here, but it's thrown out when Doom attack the Steiners, followed by complete chaos and a “Pier Six Brawl” between the Steiners, The Skyscrapers, The Road Warriors, Doom and Woman with her new bodyguard. Just messy booking all round, but still the second best match of the night so far.

Rating: 2 Stars


United States Championship
Lex Luger Vs Brian Pillman

Luger is doing his best work ever this year, and all credit to him for it. Yes he's been working with some great talent, but he knows how to work the crowd, and Pillman is the perfect foil for him at this time. Flyin' Brian has the plucky, athletic face role down, keeping up the aggressive offence between some good selling. I tell you, he needs to show Johnny Ace how to do a drop-kick STAT. I liked the sequence where Pillman attacked Luger's arm, first removing the padding around the ring post for more damage, then leading him around the outside and methodically working it across the barriers. Luger really is the 'Total Package' at this time – he's got great strength, speed, psychology & just oozes charisma. He never impressed me in the 90's, but here in the NWA, at this point in his career, he is unquestionably a star. The finish comes after a believable sequence of near falls. The ref is bumped and Pillman gets good covers on Luger twice but there's no one to count it. Luger is desperate and crawls to the outside and gets a chair. Brian tries to pull him back in the hard way, only to get clocked by the chair. Luger covers, the ref is up and the champion retains. Solid, classic finish. I'm not too keen on the post match events though. Luger tries to beat Pillman down some more until he's stopped by Sting. Sting just eclipses Pillman completely here as he brawls with Luger on the ramp. They could have at least let Pillman stand up for himself side by side with the Stinger. I realise Sting is more important than Pillman at this point, and they're just building to Starrcade - but Pillman and the great match he fought are completely forgotten in Sting's wake...

Rating: 4 Stars


I Quit - Retirement
Ric Flair Vs Terry Funk

“Five letters. Two words. I. Quit.” - Gordon Solie

This feud was so hot, it ought to have finished at Starrcade over the World Heavyweight Championship. Instead it is the saving grace of an otherwise bad show, a recognised classic and one of the first main-event 'I Quit' matches in mainstream wrestling. Funk's heel character was so good he even got over The Nature Boy as a face, when only a year ago he was perhaps the most hated heel in the industry. Flair meanwhile has had an amazing year and only adds to it at this event.

This match is more brawl than it is wrestling, a real contrast to the Flair/Steamboat saga earlier in the year. As a brawl though, it's as good as you'll see, especially for the era in which it occurred. It turns out tonight they were wrestling on an hockey rink all along, so that's ICE under the mat, not concrete. I'm not sure that makes much of a difference, but the way Jim Ross puts it, I'll believe it's devastating. This match doesn't start with the same level of violence as their last encounter at the Bash, but the stipulation makes for greater drama and suspense. I only wish the belt was on the line, I just can't see why you'd book Flair to retire as champion, so for me it spoils the outcome. Still, you've got to love how Funk taunts Flair on the mic, especially the sequence where he attacks his neck and sets him up for the pile-driver.

I wish the match had gone about five more minutes. I think Funk ought to have got the spinning toe hold in just once, given how they'd built it up on commentary as his signature submission maneuver. Also I'd have liked a moment where I thought Flair might loose it near the finish, only to win it back. Instead the ending becomes sort of a squash, and while Funk sells the figure four like a true champion (“My leg! My leg – it's breaking!”), I just didn't want to see it end there.

We all know Terry Funk doesn't retire – and I mean ever – but at the time this was fairly legit. After this match he was done in WCW for years, working only in Japan and then in a little known federation called ECW. When you take that into account, it's a bit rubbish that this final moment for Funk's career is brushed aside to remind the audience about Starrcade. Muta and Luger run down and attack both men until Sting makes the save. Just like Pillman, Funk just rolls away while the big stars take centre stage, and everyone just forgets he was there. Funk has had an awesome year in WCW, and while I'm glad he didn't outstay his welcome I think he deserved a more focused, potent send-off. The match itself is fantastic, but I can't give it five stars for such a messy finish post-bell and the lack of a Funk come-back near the end.

Rating: 4.5 Stars


NWA/WCW Clash of the Champions IX: New York Knock Out 1989
Final Score: 2 Stars

Yet another NWA/WCW show that is salvaged by an all-time classic main-event. The work going on at the top was phenomenal in 1989, but the rest of the show is pretty much awful. A number of DQ finishes, run-ins and squashes make this an especially tough one to sit through. The brawl after the 'I Quit' match is also evidence that this style of booking could be making it's way to the main-event very soon, where giving Terry Funk a proper send off was made second priority to selling the next show. Back when the year started, they could sell you the next show on the ongoing strength of their main-event angles, now it looks like they'd rather throw everything at the wall at once to see what sticks. If they're not careful, Starrcade '89 could be quite a mess...