-Arn Anderson’s family.
-Today we look at Clash of the Champions XVIII from WCW. Clash XVIII was shown on TBS on January 21, 1992 from the Kansas Expo Center in Topeka, Kansas. There were 5,500 in attendance and the show did a 3.7 rating.
-Intro of Paul E. Dangerously assembling The Dangerous Alliance and the challenge to Sting's Team.
-Jim Ross and Tony Schiavone welcome us to the Clash. They run down some of what we are going to see before throwing it to Eric Bischoff and Missy Hyatt. They welcome us before throwing it to Gary Michael Capetta to announce the first match.
-Big Van Vader and Mr. Hughes with Harley Race vs. The Steiner Brothers Rick and Scott: This should be a hard hitting match. Steiners are extremely popular with the crowd. Vader and Scott start, but as the bell rings, Mr. Hughes tags in. Scott with a single leg pickup, a wrist lock and a takeover and the crowd is into it. Hughes goes over to Race for some advice. Another lock up and Hughes with a big right hand. Hughes dominating. He gets a side headlock. Scott pushes off. and Hughes comes back with a shoulder block. Scott with a leap frog and hits Hughes with an overhead belly to belly suplex. Hughes goes outside to regroup before locking up with Scott again. Heels double teaming Scott in the corner, bringing Rick in. Hughes throws Rick outside. Vader throws Scott outside as well. The Steiners climb up to the top rope and Steinerline both heels as they turn around. The crowd loved that move. Vader and Rick now in and Rick gets a side headlock. Vader just picks Rick up and hits a belly to back suplex. Vader takes over on Rick. He gets Rick up in a military press and slams him. He then corner whips and splashes Rick. Vader with another corner whip and Rick comes back with a Steinerline and an overhead belly to belly suplex. Another Steinerline sends Vader to the floor. Rick jumps out onto Vader, who catches Rick and slams him into the ring post. Vader throws Rick back into the ring and Irish whips him. Rick ducks a clothesline attempt, but Vader catches him with another one. Vader goes up top, but gets caught by Rick, who hits a belly to belly suplex to Vader from the top rope. Scott tagged in. Steinerline to Vader and cover to get a two count. Scott goes for a belly to back suplex. Vader fighting it and as he gets close to the ropes, Rick hits him with some right hands. Scott hits the suplex. He goes up top for a crossbody and Vader catches him and power slams him. Vader with an Irish whip and a clothesline attempt that Scott ducks. Scott with a sunset flip attempt. Vader comes crashing down on his chest. Hughes tagged in. He power slams Scott for a two count. Hughes hits a clothesline but misses a corner splash. Rick tagged in. He hip tosses Hughes and then hits Hughes with a backdrop. Now all four men in the ring. Rick thrown to the outside. Hughes holds Scott for Vader, but Scott ducks and Vader clotheslines Hughes. Scott and Vader fight to the outside as Rick climbs up top and hits the bulldog to get the pin.
-Tracy Smothers and the Taylor Made Man vs. Brian Pillman and Marcus Alexander Bagwell: Pillman and Taylor start. Taylor with an early advantage. He slaps Pillman and chops him in the corner. Pillman comes back. Taylor feeding both faces to punch him. Taylor comes back with a backbreaker to Pillman and gets a two count. Heels in control and they have the most experience in this match. Pillman with a headscissors to Taylor. He gets a two count and Bagwell tagged in. He cleans house. All faces with a series of moves on the heels and the crowd is excited. Faces hit twin dives over the top to the heels on the floor. Smothers in and dropkicks Bagwell. Smothers with a back elbow. There is a good ebb and flow to this match. A two count for Smothers after a clothesline. Taylor in to continue to punish Bagwell. Heels know that Bagwell is the weak link and cut the ring in half to punish him. Bagwell gets his knees up on a splash attempt by Smothers. Pillman tagged in. Taylor breaks up a Pillman pin attempt after a spinning heel kick. Double team to Pillman brings Bagwell in. Taylor suplexes Pillman from the ring to the floor. Smothers follows that up by running Pillman into the barricade and the corner post. Smothers throws Pillman back in and covers him, but only gets a two count as the fans try to get behind Pillman. Taylor tagged in and hits Pillman with a gut wrench suplex for a two count. Taylor beating Pillman down in the corner. Smothers tagged in. He gets Pillman on the apron and hits a back elbow to knock Pillman into the guardrail. Smothers distracted by Bagwell, allowing Pillman to hit a clothesline from the top rope. Bagwell tagged in and cleaning house. All four men in now. Pillman thrown out. Double team on Bagwell. Bagwell gets a sunset flip on Smothers to get the pin.
-A feature on Jushin Liger.
-Richard Morton vs. Johnny B. Badd: Badd comes out shooting confetti off the walkway. They show a child in the audience with a bow in her hair and a boa around her neck screaming Johnny B. Badd and waving a dollar bill in the air and I don't mind telling you folks, I don't like the implication. Yet Jim Ross says she wants to put a dollar in Badd's garter and then she drops her dollar. The bell rings and they circle each other and Badd takes a swipe at Morton. Lock up and a side headlock by Badd. Morton pushes him down. Another lock up and push off exchanging holds in the middle of the ring. Badd up throwing punches and Morton gets to the ropes. Morton gets a shot on Badd, but Badd runs Morton into a corner. Double ax handle off the second turnbuckle by Badd. Back and forth. Badd thrown outside, but lands on his feet and rolls Morton up for a two count. Morton with a clothesline and an inverted atomic drop. He throws Badd out and runs him into the corner post. Badd comes back with a sunset flip for a two count. They exchange two counts then. Morton hits Badd with a crossbody, but Badd rolls through to get the pin.
-Eric Bischoff interviews Brian Pillman and Johnny B. Badd about Jushin Liger. Pillman cuts a heelish promo against Japanese people as Badd puts his kiss sticker on Bischoff. He then puts it on Pillman and Pillman punches Badd.
-Diamond Dallas Page vs. PN News: News raps before the match. Page attacks him and I thank DDP for that. They do a criss cross spot. News hits a butt bump and dropkicks Page to the outside. Back in, News hits a corner splash and then hits a couple of body rolls to Page. He misses an elbow drop. News reverses a corner whip, but misses another corner splash. Page with a clothesline for a two count. He hits a side Russian leg sweep on News for another two count. He tries to lift News up, but News falls on him for a two count. News guillotined on the top rope by Page. He follows that up with a crossbody for a near fall. News reverses a corner whip and hits a belly to belly suplex. News with the Rap master Splash to get the pin.
-WCW Top 10: 10. Larry Zbyszko 9. El Gigante 8. Big Van Vader 7. Dustin Rhodes 6. Cactus Jack 5. Rick Steiner 4. Ricky Steamboat 3. Steve Austin 2. Sting 1. Rick Rude WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Lex Luger
-Tony Schiavone interviews new WCW Executive Vice President Kip Frey. Jim Crockett Jr. is also one of the people standing out there and at this point, he has to be thinking why did I buy that second jet? Frey announces Lex Luger will defend his title at SuperBrawl II. He then announces Jesse Ventura will be the announcer for SuperBrawl II. Jesse then comes out. He gets a great ovation. He is wearing his Jesse du rag from Summerslam '89. He says he's pumped up because WCW is the wrestling of the future. He says he's back to tell it like it is. They then announce that Lex Luger will defend his title against Sting. Sting comes out and high fives Jesse. They show a Luger interview where he talks about his seclusion, which was actually they had used up his dates on his contract and he was waiting it out.
-Falls count anywhere match. Cactus Jack vs. Van Hammer: Cactus Jack comes out to meet Hammer only for Hammer to shoot something from his guitar into the face of Cactus Jack. Hammer then hits a crossbody to Cactus Jack over the top rope as the bell rings. He gets a two count. Hammer with a corner whip and a clothesline. He then hits a bulldog and a leg drop for a two count. Hammer goes up to the second rope, only to get hit with a clothesline as he comes off. He gets a two count. Cactus Jack hits his patented clothesline over the top rope. He gets a two count on the floor. Hammer thrown into the barricade and then Jack takes the ringside mats up. Hammer run face first into the concrete. Cactus Jack then hits a sloppy looking sunset flip to Hammer, but does get him down. Hammer runs Cactus Jack into the barricade. Then Hammer power slams Cactus Jack on the ramp. He gets a two count. Cactus Jack with a front face lock, but Hammer gets an inside cradle for a two count. Cactus Jack comes back with a clothesline. Hammer hip tosses Cactus Jack off the ramp to the concrete. Hammer then clotheslines Cactus Jack off the ramp back to the concrete after he climbs up again. He gets a two count. They battle on the concrete to the backstage area. When they come back from commercial break, they are fighting in the parking lot and Cactus Jack hits Hammer with a section of a traffic horse. He throws a traffic cone at Hammer as they start to fight towards the bull pen where they are going to have a rodeo. Missy Hyatt is out there to help cover the match. Hammer choking Cactus Jack with a piece of rope. They fight over the rails into the holding pen. Suddenly, Hammer is attacked by a big cowboy who is Abdullah the Butcher. They fight out to the arena area and Abdullah hits Hammer with a shovel. Cactus Jack gets the pin. Abdullah and Cactus Jack start to fight each other. Abdullah sticks Cactus Jack's head into the watering trough. Abdullah then picks Missy up and throws her into the water. Cactus Jack and Abdullah then continue to fight.
-The Freebirds Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin vs. Brad Armstrong and Big Josh: The match is underway as they come back from commercial. Armstrong and Hayes start. Hayes with a side headlock. Armstrong pushes off. Armstrong with a hip toss. Hayes kicks off and goes back to the side headlock. Armstrong pushes off again. Hayes with an up and over. He rolls up Armstrong for a two count and Garvin tagged in. Garvin with a clothesline and Armstrong misses a clothesline of his own and Garvin hits a running forearm. Garvin hits a crossbody and gets a two count. Garvin with an Irish whip. Josh tagged in and Armstrong dropkicks Garvin. Josh with a running power slam and then does his log rolling routine on Garvin. Josh pushes off from a side headlock and Garvin tags Hayes back in. Josh ducks a clothesline and slams Hayes and then does the log roll on Hayes. Josh kicks out of a sunset flip. He gets an arm drag. Garvin tagged back in. Josh with corner mounted punches. Garvin with a corner whip and they collide in the ring. Hayes and Armstrong both tagged in. Armstrong with a backdrop and then a dropkick for both Freebirds. Freebirds double team Armstrong and throw him to the ramp only to get double clotheslined by Josh. The referee gets Josh out allowing the Freebirds to get the Double DDT on Armstrong and pin him.
-A feature on the Steiner Brothers. Eric Bischoff then interviews the Steiners. They say they are ready to reclaim the titles they never lost.
-Thomas Rich vs. Vinnie Vegas: Welcome Kevin Nash's latest persona. Vegas goads Rich and then attacks him. He slams Rich head first into the mat. He then clotheslines Rich. He picks Rich up and hits Snake Eyes and pins Rich.
-Eric Bischoff talks to Paul E Dangerously. Paul E says every single prediction he has made since he returned has come true and one of WCW's top 5 heroes will go down tonight. He says one of them will wind up in the Magnum TA Wrestling Retirement Home. Damn, Paul E has no chill.
-6-man tag. Bobby Eaton, Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko with Paul E. Dangerously vs. Dustin Rhodes, Barry Windham, and Ron Simmons: Eaton and Anderson are the newly crowned tag champions. Windham gets in and immediately goes after the heels causing them to bail out on the floor. Paul E screams at the referee to check Windham's hand to make sure the cast is properly covered up. Windham and Eaton start. Eaton tries to attack Windham as soon as the bell rings, but Windham kicks Eaton in the stomach. Windham with an Irish whip, but Eaton comes back with a neck breaker. Eaton gets Windham up and hits a superplex. Windham gets up immediately and hits a lariat to Eaton. He then hits another one. Windham then hits a superplex on Eaton. He gets a two count and now all 6 men in and the faces all put figure fours on the heels. The heels break free. Zbyszko in with Simmons. Zbyszko with an overhead wrist lock to try to force Simmons to the mat. Simmons fighting back. Rhodes tries to come in and gets stopped by the referee as Anderson comes in to help Zbyszko, but Simmons is too powerful. He flips out of their grips and flips them both over. Rhodes and Windham then hit them both with elbows and Simmons hits them with double shoulder blocks. Eaton tries to jump on Simmons from the top rope, but gets caught in a bear hug. Heels triple team Simmons while the referee is dealing with the faces wanting to come in to help Simmons. Simmons takes out Eaton with a clothesline. Anderson ducks the same clothesline attempt, only to get power slammed by Simmons, who then gets Zbyszko with a clothesline when he comes in. Zbyszko covered, but his foot was under the ropes. Simmons tags Rhodes in and holds Zbyszko for Rhodes to kick in the arm. Eaton tagged in. Eaton rakes the eyes. Eaton takes Rhodes down in the corner, but Rhodes comes back with a right hand and throws Eaton out onto the ramp. Rhodes then hits a lariat to Eaton from the ring to the ramp. Eaton then thrown back into the ring and Zbyszko and Windham both tagged in. A Barry chant goes out as Windham attacks Zbyszko. Windham goes for a lariat, but Zbyszko holds on to the ropes. Zbyszko goes for a piledriver, but Windham reverses it into a backdrop. Zbyszko rolls to the outside. Eaton goes up top, but Windham hits a dropkick to knock him off. Windham then runs Anderson face first into the mat. Zbyszko comes back in, but doesn't see Windham tag Rhodes in and Rhodes hits Zbyszko with a series of right hands. Rhodes goes for a lariat, but Eaton pushes Zbyszko out of the way and Rhodes goes flying out over the top rope to the ramp. Anderson distracts the referee while Eaton holds Rhodes on the ramp for Paul E to hit with the telephone. He does and Windham goes out to the ramp after Eaton and Paul E and the referee comes out trying to get them back in. Meanwhile, Zbyszko grabs Rhodes back in the ring and hits a swinging neck breaker. He then runs Rhodes into Anderson's boot. Anderson tagged in. Rhodes ducks a clothesline attempt, but Anderson catches him with a spinebuster. He gets a close two count. Anderson with a snap mare and goes for a splash from the second rope, but Rhodes gets his knees-up. Rhodes goes for a scoop slam, but Anderson slips behind and hits Rhodes with a brutal looking DDT. He gets another close two count. Anderson drags Rhodes towards the heel's corner and tags Eaton in. Eaton with a scoop slam. He goes up top and hits a flying elbow to Rhodes. He gets another close two count. Back and forth in the center of the ring. Eaton with a corner whip, but Rhodes moves on the charge. Anderson tagged in. He gets Rhodes down and goes to the second rope for an ax handle, but Rhodes gets his boot up. Eaton and Windham tagged in. Windham catches Eaton with a top rope lariat. He then hits Eaton with another lariat and a backdrop. He gets a close two count. Zbyszko in. Windham Irish whips him, but as Windham goes for the lariat, Anderson gets a knee to Windham's back. All 6 in and Eaton goes up top, but Windham catches him with a right hand as he comes off and pins Eaton.
-Tony Schiavone interviews Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes, and Ron Simmons in the locker room. Windham says he has a list of names to go after and Larry Zbyszko is #1.
-Back at ringside, Jesse Ventura joins Jim Ross for commentary on the last match. They preview the Main Event.
-Sting and Ricky Steamboat vs. Steve Austin and Rick Rude with Paul E. Dangerously: Rude does his pre match spiel. Rude is the US champion and Austin is the TV champion. Ventura says Rude and Austin remind him of himself. Jesse has been a Rude fan for a long time. Sting and Steamboat get a great reaction when they come out. Austin and Steamboat start. They lock up and go to a corner. Back and forth up against the rope. They break and circle each other again. Austin pushes off and Steamboat comes back with a shoulder block. Austin gets Steamboat in the corner and hits a right hand. Back and forth in the corner and Steamboat with some chops to get out of the corner. Austin backs up to the opposite corner. They circle each other again. Steamboat with a side headlock. Austin pushes off. Steamboat comes back and hooks Austin's arms for a backslide. He gets a two count. Steamboat then grabs the legs and rolls up for another two count. Steamboat then with an inside cradle for another two count. Austin with an Irish whip. Steamboat with a karate kick to Austin and then one to Rude when he comes in. Heels go out to the floor to regroup. Back in, Austin gets a side headlock and Rude tagged in. Rude comes over and says he wants Sting and then slaps Sting but you don't see it because WCW. Sting tagged in and Rude immediately backs off. Rude out and he attacks Sting with some hard right and left hands. Back and forth in the center of the ring and Sting gets an atomic drop. He then hits an inverted atomic drop and Rude doing his usual sell job on those. Austin comes in and Sting hits him with a right hand to knock him back to the outside. Sting rakes Rude's back and then hits a double ax handle to the back. Sting with a corner whip and goes for a gut wrench suplex. Rude blocks it, so Sting just drops him stomach first onto the mat. Sting gets a single leg pick up and gets a modified camel clutch. Rude tries to get up, so Sting slams his body down to drive Rude back down to the mat and then mocks Rude's moves by gyrating. Paul E gets up on the apron and Nick Patrick goes over to get him down. Sting and Steamboat use this opportunity to change places to the crowd's delight and the heel's chagrin. Patrick questions them and they claim they tagged. Jesse is irate and Jesse is correct. Steamboat is now mocking Rude, bringing Austin in only to get cut off by Patrick, which allows Sting and Steamboat to switch places again but at least this time the right man is back in the ring. Sting jumps up to knock Rude back down again, but Rude is able to turn over and get his knees up as Sting comes down. Rude puts a knee into Sting's midsection, tags Austin in, and holds Sting for Austin to hit. Austin runs Sting into a turnbuckle as the crowd starts a Sting chant. Sting blocks a second attempt and runs Austin into the turnbuckle. Austin with a knee to the midsection. An Irish whip and a back elbow to Sting. He gets a two count. Rude tagged in and Austin holds Sting for Rude to hit as the Sting chant goes out again. Rude with a front face lock. Sting trying to move towards his corner to tag Steamboat in. Austin distracts Patrick, so Rude knocks Steamboat down on the apron and then knocks Sting down. He gets a two count. Rude runs Sting into Austin's boot and Austin tagged in. Austin with a belly to back suplex. Austin with an Irish whip and Sting comes back with a sunset flip. Austin fighting not to go over. He goes to punch Sting, but Sting moves. Steamboat tagged in and he cleans house, hitting both heels when he comes in. He then runs their heads together. Steamboat with a shoulder block and then gets a two count on Austin. Rude comes over and Steamboat hits him with a thrust kick. Steamboat with an Irish whip and a karate thrust to Austin. Paul E up on the apron and Sting comes in to go after him. Patrick gets Sting out. Meanwhile, Steamboat gets a victory roll, but there's no referee to count, so Rude hits Steamboat from behind with a forearm. Austin then with an elbow to the neck and an Irish whip to Steamboat. He hits a back elbow and then runs Steamboat into Rude's knee. Rude tagged in. He scoop slams Steamboat. Austin then tagged back in and Steamboat trying to come back with chops. Austin reverses an Irish whip. Steamboat comes back with a go behind and goes to roll Austin up, but Austin holds on to the ropes. Steamboat with an inside cradle for a two count and now all four men in the ring. Rude throws Sting out to the ramp as Austin hits a backbreaker to Steamboat. Sting gets Austin out of the ring and they battle on the ramp until Austin throws Sting off the ramp. Rude hitting Steamboat until Austin gets back in the ring and then Austin hits Steamboat with a backbreaker. Austin picks Steamboat up for another backbreaker, but Sting comes off the top rope with a crossbody and both Sting and Steamboat pin Austin. Jesse is livid that Patrick counted the pin. All four brawl after the match. Rude with a Rude Awakening to Steamboat. Sting goes for the Stinger Splash on Austin, but Austin moves. Rude hits another Rude Awakening. Rude then whips Steamboat with Paul E's belt. Security trying to stop it, but the heels keep them away.
-Jesse and Jim Ross talk about what just happened and then talk about SuperBrawl II before signing off from Kansas.
-Final Thoughts: An enjoyable little show. It was good to see and hear Jesse again as this show was used to set up SuperBrawl II. WCW was trying something new.