- Scott Keith

The SK Retro Rant for Clash of the Champions X: Texas Shootout!

- Yee-haw! Live from Corpus Christi, Texas.

- Your hosts are Jim Cornette and Jim Ross

- As a general note on this show, dollars to donuts says that WCW stole someone from the WWF’s production department in January of 1990, because this sucker is produced to look EXACTLY like a Saturday Night’s Main Event. Including cheesy pre-match blue screen promos, cartoonish skits, and exaggerated logos to introduce the wrestlers.

- Opening match: Steve “Dr. Death” Williams v. The Samoan Savage. Case in point: This match has a vignette (with Steve Williams jumping out of an ambulance to save a victim and then carrying him back to safety) to begin. The Savage is Sam Fatu, (brother of Solofa “Rikishi” Fatu) and the guy who used to be known as The Tonga Kid and/or Tama. Oddly, Sam Fatu is currently doing the indy circuit as Fatu, playing the same character who was played by Rikishi as a part of the Samoan Swat Team. Don’t even get me started on Samoan family relations – it’s the only thing besides time travel stories that can give me an instantaneous headache. One of these days someone is gonna make a fourth Back to the Future movie starring the Samoan Gangta Party and I’m just gonna have one of Russo’s “annerisms” on the spot. Doc ambushes the Savage to start, and Savage frees. Doc totally overpowers him with shoulderblocks, but gets caught with a lariat and we go to that tried-and-tested Samoan specialty – the VULCAN NERVE GRIP OF DOOM! That lasts a while, so Cornette gets bored and starts insulting the Mexican contingent in the audience. He notes that attendance would have been greater tonight had the border guards not increased security. He then tops himself by noting that a guy in the concession with a towel stand is raking in the money because all the ticketholders tonight are dripping water all over the floor. You know, it’s REALLY hard to defend Cornette when he keeps making jokes like those. An eyepoke puts Williams on the floor for a timeout, and back in the Savage goes for the big fat splash and misses. Williams gets a HUGE, delayed press slam, and finishes him with a backslide (!?!) at 7:50. Dr. Death was actually being prepped to go over Lex Luger at WrestleWar for the US title, but stuff happened and Luger got out of that title defense and Williams actually left the promotion. What an exciting way to end your NWA run – by pinning a Samoan with a backslide. ˝*

- Terry Funk interviews in the Horsemen for the only really worthwhile bit in the whole show – Ole Anderson immediately fires Sting and informs him in no uncertain terms that he and Arn were brought back to the NWA specifically to make him Ric’s bitch, but because Sting saved Flair from Funk a few times his life was spared. But once he asked for that title shot, their generosity was used up and it was over for Sting. Ole offers one chance to live: Repent his sins and tell the promoters that he doesn’t want the match anymore. Sting gets in Ole’s face, tells him to where to go, and the Horsemen do a 3-on-1 punking to go MEGA heel and completely destroy Sting. This was an AWESOME segment, perfectly setting up the WrestleWar 90 PPV.

- The Mod Squad v. Tom Zenk & Brian Pillman. Pillman and Zenk dominate Spike with armbars to start, and Basher comes in and gets met with a Zenk enzuigiri. The Squad gets some token jobber offense that goes on FOREVER as Jim Ross suddenly goes into hysterics over the Sting situation with tweaking from Jim Cornette. A LOOOOOOOOOOONG and boring heat segment on Pillman ends with the hot tag to Zenk, and he finishes Basher with a dull cross body at 9:55. There is no way this match warranted 10 minutes, especially given the weak booking. *1/2

- Cactus Jack Manson v. Mil Mascaras. Yes, kids, this is Mick Foley’s first brush with the bigtime as a slim, trim and shirtless Cactus was running less-than-rampant in the NWA and not exactly impressing people. A goofy gimmick didn’t help either, as Ross emphasizes many times here what a moron Cactus Jack is. Mascaras does a quick bow-and-arrow and headscissor takeover. Jack bails and does a stupid spot where he trips over a chair while threatening Gary Michael Capetta.  More...