Map of the territorys

I found this really interesting

Best record cover ever?

For obvious reasons I'm inclined to think so!

Clash of the Champions 10

Clash of the Champions 10 - Texas Shootout.
February 16th, 1990 from The Coliseum, Corpus Christi. TX

Where were we? It's been too long...

So it's Clash of the Champions 10 time and we are in Texas. Now call me easily entertained but I really rather dug the opening titles to this event, a kinda video game / fair ground game style western shoot out were wrestlers would pop up and be shot by a POV gun...nice....and a nice little  bit of finesse from WCW who are getting better at that stuff with every passing Clash.

In the opening few moments of the PPV we have introductions from JR with Jim Cornette. Terry Funk (sporting a bizarre and garish earring) at ringside and Gordon Solie backstage. Kinda beats Tenay and Taz right?

Doctor Death Steve Williams vs Samoan Savage
Samoan Savage was one half of the SST last time we saw him right? Why is he now on his own, anyone know?
This is a fairly decent opening exchange. The Doc takes it to the Savage like a house on fire and the pace never really let's up from that moment on. A back and forth encounter that is ultimately won by Doctor Death with that most devastating of finishers the dreaded backslide (haha). It should also be mentioned that Women took a seat at ringside during this match.

Terry funk interviews The Four Horsemen in the ring. They tell Sting he's no longer a Horseman and boot Sting out of the stable.

Brian Pillman and Tom Zenk vs The MOD Squad
I presume the MOD squad are veteran jobbers? Zenk and Pillman are in control for the majority of the match and they actually seem a decent pairing on this showing, they kinda remind me of the Can-Am connection . It seemed like this would be over quickly but the MOD squad do get some offence in on Pillman and grind him down for a bit. They stop him from tagging in Zenk initially but he gets the hot tag and comes in and cleans house and the Zenk/Pillman combo win when Zenk nails one of the MOD boys with a cross body off the top rope.

Handle bars and helmets

Cactus Jack Manson vs Mil Mascaras
Wow what a weird match up, The legendary 'man of a thousand masks' Mil Mascaras against a young Mick Foley in an early incarnation of the Cactus Jack gimmick.
This should be a complete style clash but it actually works pretty well, with Mascaras showing a lot of early technical flair and Cactus selling the moves well. Later Foley takes a sick bump off the apron onto the concrete floor smacking his head as he lands straight on his back. This leads to Mascaras winning of course, no way was Cactus going over a legend like Mascaras but because of the bump Cactus took it paints him as a dangerous character and keeps the evolution of his persona progressing well.

Norman the Lunatic vs Kevin Sullivan
Another Clash, another Norm match. I'm not really into this guy. Same way I wasn't into Eugene (WWE) years later which is basically the same character right? Any way, this was a falls Count Anywhere match which probably helps these two, Sullivan especially is a decent brawler. Ultimately though this is a lame waste of 10 minutes which I think Norm won, It's hard to tell, but he seems to be holding a toilet seat aloft in victory.

Skyscrapers vs Road Warriors
The first match of the night started with each wrestler having a little promo vid/interview package before they were introduced and the same happens here. I quite like it and I'm not sure why they didn't do it for all the matches as its a good little entertaining touch. The Road Warriors segment sees them beating up a car.

This is the Spivey / Calloway incarnation of the Skyscrapers. The future Undertaker replacing Sid Vicious in the team. Without Sid, who although not the greatest wrestler in the world and gets his fair share of stick, was at least charismatic and had presence, this team is pretty boring in my opinion. Both would later have gimmicks I thought were great though, the aforementioned 'taker and Waylon Mercy a short lived but entertaining character that Spivey went by in the WWF.
This is an OK match and probably exactly what you'd expect from the two teams with the Road Warriors getting the win via DQ.

Mean Mark

Doom (with their masks on the line)vs The Steiner Brothers (putting the titles up for grabs)
This is a good solid match and easily the best match of the night so far. The Steiners win via pin fall after Rick rips the mask off one of the Doom members exposing Butch Reed beneath it. Ron Simmons is of course then required to take his mask off too. Steiners keep the belts and Doom come out from under the hoods which was probably a good idea by this point.

Cage Match
Great Muta, Dragon Master and Buzz Sawyer vs Ric Flair , Arn Anderson and Ole Anderson
Muta has definitely risen in the popularity stakes since the first COTC i reviewed and he seems over as hell here.
Sting appears and tries to scale the cage a few times to interfere during the match but is restrained by fellow face wrestlers who pile out from the back.
The ring action really plays second fiddle to the story that unfolds outside of it and the match is really no more than an angle to keep the Flair/Sting story going. So it's a mute point to really comment on what actually happens in the match, it's fairly even but Flair and the Anderson's win. The victory sees the cage door unlocked and Flair charges from the ring to attack Sting and chaos erupts as the closing credits roll.

I liked this event and found it as entertaining as any of the previous Clash of the Champions events. Maybe It was to do with the better presentation/ production.