Grilling JR - Clash of Champions 11 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Clash of the Champions 11

Clash of the Champions 11: Coastal Crush took place on June 13, 1990 at the McAllister Fieldhouse, in Charleston, South Carolina. It drew 4,100.

We're less than a month away from the Great American Bash which takes place on July 7th, where we'd see Sting return to the ring after his knee surgery to challenge former rival, former friend and once again rival, NWA World Champion Ric Flair for the World Title. Clash of the Champions 11 was the final big show before the Great American Bash

We're also a few weeks removed from the Capital Combat pay per view, which we did a show on some time back. 

Speaking of Capital Combat, Meltzer wrote of the Flair/Luger match - According to one reliable report, Ole’s finish on the Flair-Luger PPV match was a lot closer to the one described here than the one that turned out. Specifically, Luger wouldn’t do the job this time which neccesitated a screw-job finish. Well, at least it was his turn to do it. This wasn’t the time or the case but some big star is going to have to be fired over this someday to keep it from ever happening again. Luger isn’t the one to discipline over it because he’s been promised the strap somewhere between four and 400 times over the past three years and between bad luck and booker changes and who knows what, he never gets it and one can understand the

frustration. Plus the other two stars got away with the same thing. Only heard that from one source and nobody else seems to know it, so take it with a grain of salt.

As with all of the other Clash of the Champions events, this one aired on free TV, on the TBS network, and it got a 4.1 rating. You were on commentary for this one with Bob Caudle.

Coastal Crush. Who came up with that?

Let's get to some NWA news heading into the Clash   wasn't a lot to cover

At this time, Ole Anderson was the booker. What do you think were some good and bad things he brought to the table? 

Do you recall any specific ideas he had that you personally were against?

Kerry Von Erich was actually going to come into the NWA and wrestle Arn Anderson at the Clash we're about to talk about. However, he no showed the TV tapings he was supposed to start at, and wrestled Jerry Lawler instead on that same day. Paul Orndorff was brought in to replace Kerry

Meltzer reported - Paul Orndorff. Orndorff was actually a replacement for. Kerry Von Erich, who was supposed to start at the TV tapings last Monday

and was penciled in for the match with Arn Anderson at the Clash on 6/13. But Von Erich no-showed Monday’s taping (instead he

worked a main event in Memphis against Jerry Lawler). By Wednesday, he was fired, before he had actually ever started, and

Orndorff was brought in for the spot.

What's your memories of that? Do you recall what the long term plans were going to be for Kerry?

Meltzer reported - El Gigante is booked to “appear” on several shows starting in just a few days. Don’t know if it just to walk out or to actually work but

do know he’s going to work at the Omni on 6/16 against his trainer Cuban. Assassin. Gigante is perfecting a claw hold. I’m not kidding. Could be totally off base on this one, however after seeing him in DC, while he has potential as an attraction, he looked worse than lost. If they start running him around too soon he’ll flop. 

The best thing they can do is take their time and wait until he’s ready

before trying to market him as an attraction. Best thing would be to send him to Portland for a while or Japan to learn.

We've talked about El Gigante in the past on the show. What's your memories of his early days and who helped him train?

Meltzer reported - Cactus Jack Manson finished up Sunday night in Sunrise, FL. Ole Anderson was going to job him out so he decided it would be best

to quit. It appears both Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk are going to be phased down and out respectively.

Jim Cornette and Paul E. Dangerously were removed from TV commentary, as was Teddy Long because Anderson felt that it hurts their heel image and gets them cheered. However, he’s keeping The Freebirds on NWA Pro with Lance Russell.

You worked with both of those guys on TV. Do you agree with Ole's feelings on that?

Who do you think was the better heel commentator of the two?

Lots of problems stemming from a 6/6 show in Columbia, SC. First off, the card was booked for Flair vs. JFD on top originally, but the office found out JFD had an indie booking in his hometown of Wadesboro, NC so they let him out of it. They asked Luger (who started back on 6/1) to take his place, but Luger had already been given the night off and wanted to see his son’s baseball game and refused to work the date. This created considerable heat with Luger being deemed not dedicated enough by some. 

Anyway, Flair wrestled Ricky Morton on top as it turns out. In the final match, which was Midnight vs. Zenk & Pillman, a fan punched Jim Cornettein the nose, giving him a bloody nose and Cornette hit the fan, who as it turned nut is semi-retarded, several times in the face with his tennis racquet. The incident has made some press in the area.

No Meltzer match reviews

The first match is the Southern Boys (Steve Armstrong & Tracy Smothers) vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes & Jimmy Garvin). Finish saw Smothers rolls up Garvin, but Hayes hits him with a clothesline. Armstrong then drops Hayes to the floor and goes to the top and gives Garvin a diving headbutt and pulls Smothers on top of Garvin for the win 

From here, The Southern Boys would go on to the Great American Bash to face the Midnight Express, which got a lot of match of the year talk

Next we see a graphic where you can call in and talk to Lex Luger. However, Luger is misspelled to Lugar

The next match was Bam Bam Bigelow vs Tommy Rich. Bigelow was managed by Sir Oliver Humperdink, who managed Bigelow in the WWF a few years earlier in 1987.

Short match and finish saw Bigelow get DQ'ed when he wouldn't break a choke 

Next, we see a video hyping the debut of Big Van Vader. We just saw Bam Bam Bigelow wrestle, a few years later, he and Vader would be the IWGP taf team champions in Japan. What a team that was

We then see El Gigante come to the ring for an interview by ring announcer Gary Michael Capetta, who conducted the interview in spanish

The third match of the night is the Samoan Swat Team (Fatu & Samoan Savage) vs.Captain Mike Rotunda & Z Man. This was really the first time that we saw Mike with the Captain Mike gimmick. he’s wearing a hat and Polo jacket and has an anchor on his trunks.

Finish saw Rotunda makes a  tag to Zman but he gets hit with a flying splash. Rotunda pulls his Zman out of the ring & he rolls up Fatu for the win

Next we see Flyin Brian Pillman vs Mean Mark, managed by Paul E Dangerously

Finish saw Pillman goes for a bodypress off the middle rope but is caught by Mean Mark and he hits him on a hotshot on the top for the win 

From here, Mark heads to the Great American Bash to challenge Lex Luger for the US Title, in which Lex would win

We're just a few months away from Mark jumping ship to the WWF and becoming The Undertaker. How shocked were you when that happened, and did you think it was going to work at first?

How surprised are you at the career that he's gone on to have?

The next match was the US Tag Team Champions, Midnight Express taking on long time rivals The Rock n Roll Express

This is one the greatest tag team rivalries of all time. Do you have a favorite match of theirs?

Finish of this match saw Morton throws Eaton into the railing on the outside. Gibson accidentally runs into Morton but they hit their double dropkick. Lane, keeps the referee’s arm from reaching the mat for the three count. The Rock n Roll think they won the titles, but instead, they only won the match by DQ, so the Midnights keep the US titles and head to the Great American Bash to defend them against the Southern Boys, who we saw victorious earlier in the Clash. The Express would win

The next match was Lex Luger vs Sid Vicious. Luger attacks Ole and then Sid jumps Luger. Sid checks on Ole and then Luger hits Sids with a clothesline and the win, in about 30 seconds 

Why was this match so fast? Lex vs Sid could've been one of the big money matches that NWA could've had at the time

The next match was for the World Tag Team titles. Champions Doom, Ron Simmons and Butch Reed defend against Rick and Scott, The Steiner Brothers

The finish saw Doom taking the advantage by throwing Rick over the top rope and into the ring post. Scott eventually gets the tag and takes control of the match. Scott hits a superplex to Simmons but Reed hits Scott with an “international object” and Simmons gets the pin 

Doom and the Steiners had a great feud during this time and several matches. What did you think of their matches together and Doom as a team?

Next match was TV Champion Arn Anderson taking on Paul Orndorff, in a non title match. During this time, Paul was apart of Sting's group, The Dudes with Attitudes, along with Junkyard Dog and the Steiners

Finish saw Orndorff tries a springboard off the middle rope but Anderson puts his knees up into the Orndorff’s chest. Anderson tries a small package, but Orndorff reverses it and gets the win

Paul wouldn't stick around NWA very long. He'd later return in 1993, as a heel. Why didn't his run last long here?

We then see an interview with Ric Flair, who guarantees a win in his match against Junkyard Dog for the World Title 

Next match was the main event for the World Title, Ric Flair defending against Junkyard Dog

JYD dominated most of the match and the finish saw Flair grabs a chair and nailed JYD in the head to no effect. Anderson and the rest The Four Horsemen hit the ring and attack JYD until The Dudes with Attitudes come out and a brawl ensues to end the show.

We come back from commercial and Rocky King is in the ring with you, talking trash about The Horsemen.

Sting is back in the ring calling out Flair to come back and another fight between the Dudes with Attitudes and Horsemen happen. Sting & Flair  are paired off and they fight as the credits roll to end the show

Talk about what a big star JYD was in Mid South and the WWF

By Ric retaining the title here, he heads to the Great American Bash to defend against Sting. Sting will win the World Title