On January 30, 1991 in Gainesville, Georgia in front of 2200 people, WCW held their first independent Clash of Champions. This not only marked the first Clash of Champions since WCW split from the NWA, but living legend Dusty Rhodes had returned from a two year stint in the WWE and became booker and color commentator for the event. He was joined by Jim Ross as the play-b-play commentator.
Originally planned to be held at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, it was moved to Gainesville due to security reasons that arose from the recent escalation of the Persian Gulf war.
Despite the history that was being made, the event was poorly received by fans, with Ric Flair and Scott Steiner getting the most votes for best match.
There was an interesting substory to the event as the Z-Man (Tom Zenk) was recognized as WCW World Television Championship despite losing the championship three weeks before. But since the match hadn’t aired yet, he wrestled as the Television Champion and won against Bobby Eaton. Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.
The card
While the event isn’t among the more popular WCW events, it had a pretty good lineup of wrestlers.
- Lex Luger and Sting beat Doom (c) (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons and with Teddy Long) by disqualification when Reed through Sting over the top rope. This was for the WCW World Tag Team Championship.
- As mentioned above, The Z-Man (Tome Zenk) (c) beat Bobby Eaton to retain the WCW World Television Championship.
- The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael Hayes) beat Alan Iron Eagle and Tommy Rich.
- Sid Vicious beat Joey Maggs.
- Terry Taylor (With Alexandra York) beat Ricky Morton.
- Ranger Ross beat El Cubano. This match had the dubious distinction of being voted the worst match of the event by fans.
- Arn Anderson and Barry Windham (two of the Four Horsemen) beat The Renegades (Chris Youngblood and Mark Youngblood).
- Flyin’ Brian (Brian Pillman) beat Buddy Lee Parker.
- Missy Hyatt beat Paul E. Dangerously in an arm wrestling match. Johnny Walker was the guest referee.
- Ric Flair (c) and Scott Steiner (With Rick Steiner) fought to a draw for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship
Fun facts
In an era where any named event is a pay-per-view costing $60 or more to see, or a membership to the promotion’s website or streaming service, the Clash of Champions series were a cool so that’s best described as a free pay-per-view. They were held every handful of months and shown on TBS, the Superstation as it was known at the time.
Over the years, they held some rememberable matches like Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas vs. Steve Austin and Brian Pillman, Vader vs. Dustin Rhodes, and Sting vs. Rick Rude that made them must watch television.
Well, that does it for today. Hope to see you again tomorrow for This Day in History.
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