Clash of the Champions Stock Picks

I saw this on another site and I thought it was a pretty darn great idea so I 'm going to do it here. Yes, I get no points for originality, but your'e reading, so whose the fuck stick?

Stock Going Up

Lex Luger-- Yes, I said it. I think Luger's underrated, or at least underrated in terms of the stuff he did in the late 80s. Granted, he spent much of both years working with guys like Ric Flair and Barry Windham, but here's a guy that to me, carried his weight and then some in both of those matches. Virtually everything he's been involved with in the Clash matches has been good and he even pulls some fun stuff out of guys like Tommy Rich rather unexpectedly.

Rick Steiner-- Bar none, the best character actor of this era. I've already seen enough to say it. His stuff with the varsity club is a lot of fun.. and well... funny, but not to the degree where he becomes a comedy act or a stooge. In fact, it's utterlyu believable and he comes off as the most genuinely 'realistic' character on the roster. Everyone knew a guy like Steiner, who was a great athlete, pretty stupid, but loveably stupid. His ring work is pretty darn great too. In fact, I haven't seen a match with Rick Steiner involved that i've disliked thus far.

Jimmy Garvin-- It's not so much a 'congrats, you're great in the ring' pick as much as I think these clash shows show what a fantastic utility player Garvin was in the mid card. He worked face well, heel a little better, but still both come off as a lot of fun. None of his matches are particularly great, but they're at base entertaining and what's Jimmy Garvin without drama following him, uh, everywhere? Seriously though, WWE lacks Jimmy Garvin-esqe guys who can carry a good feud in the mid card with just about anyone over anything face or heel. Hell, wrestling in general lacks guys like this..

The Fantastics-- You can cut it any way you want to, this team was the backbone of the strongest tag division in wrestling history throughout 88 and into early 89, as division that featured the Midnight Express, Rock-N-Roll Express, The Road Warriors, The Varsity Club, Sheepherders, Blanchard & Anderson and more. Everything these guys are in is good. Everything. Long matches, short matches, brawls, head lock contests.. you name it, they work it, work it well and it's great. I mentioned it earlier and it warrants repeating, that often the best wrestlers are able to find an effective formula, stick with it, and modify it slightly according to who they're wrestling against. Flair is the best example, Matt Hardy is the most current example and I'd say these guys are the best tag team example.


Stock Going Down

The Road Warriors-- Holy shit, i've hated almost everything they've been in thus far. Maybe they're phoning it in, maybe they're just not that good. I dunno, but whatever it is here, I haven't been able to get into anything of theirs outside of the Varsity Club brawl at Clash VI. Everything else has just rubbed me as 'trying too hard'. The one thing they DO do well, is capitalize on the great crowd heat they get early on in matches and are able to drag it out by being no-nonsense shit kickers for about five minutes and at least keep the crowds into it, which in the end, is the only thing that matters. ANYTHING that goes longer than 10-12 minutes though, falls apart pretty badly.

Sting-- This isn't really a knock on the Stinger as much as it is where he's at in his career during this period. John Cena went through this gawky stage in the ring as well where he was running between the 'do I play for sympathy?' thing or "Do I kick ass and take names?' thing. Stinger's definately still growing and shows signs of being incredible, especially in his matches with and against Ric Flair. However, there are still matches where it comes off as obvious that he's significantly inferior and gets worked right out of the building and becomes an afterthought like his match with Windham. So I dunno, his stock goes down for me, at least in the late 80's sense, but mostly because he's just still growing.


So those are my picks through the first eight. Check back when i'm done with Clash XVI and see where everyone's headed!