Worst in the World: Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV

Some tag wrestlers go on to have very successful singles careers after they split from their tag partner. Guys like Shawn Michaels, Scott Steiner, and Booker T all went on to become main event superstars after successful runs in The Rockers, The Steiner Brothers, and Harlem Heat, respectively. Some wrestlers, however, don't see that kind of success...like Hawk. One half of the legendary Road Warriors & Legion of Doom, Hawk worked much better in tag matches with the help of his partner Animal. Despite this, Hawk would occasionally get placed in a singles match every now and then, even at one point (and I'm not joking) challenging RIC FLAIR FOR THE NWA WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP. The match I look at in this post, however, is against Rick Rude at Clash of the Champion XXV. Rude, despite having a fantastic and legendary gimmick, was never the best wrestler, so let's see how this goes.

First off, this match is for Rude's WCW International Heavyweight Championship, which, interestingly, is actually the Big Gold Belt that they used for the WCW & WWE World Heavyweight Championships:

I just thought that was cool. Hawk makes the first move and pushes Rude to start the match, followed by the two locking up. They push off each other and repeat, before Hawk tosses into the corner, which prompts Rude to complain about Hawk pulling his hair, which the referee actually gives Hawk grief over. I'm sorry but...is this ref blind. RICK RUDE HAS NO HAIR TO GRAB. It worked in the Al Snow-Too Much match because the ref was intentionally biased. It doesn't work here.

Hawk calls for the test of strength spot, which Rude avoids doing for entire minute before smartly battering Hawk instead, which (in perfect WCW fashion) the camera misses because it's zoomed in too close. Rude goes to work on Hawk before Hawk just no sells Rude slamming his head into the turnbuckle, followed by him doing the same to Rude. Hawk runs wild, including barely getting Rude up for a suplex, before Rude hits a back-breaker and goes to the top rope. Hawk blocks a flying nothing by getting his feet up and clotheslines Rude out of the ring. They brawl on the outside as the referee delivers a very fast 10 count for the double count-out finish.

The Verdict

Nothing match. There was nothing so horrendous about this match, but there wasn't anything good either. Also, the double count-out finish is sh*t, and is just a lazy way for people to lose without doing a job that the fans hate. I'm so glad this finish rarely happens anymore.

Rankings (Best to Worst)

Too Much vs Al Snow & Head-King of the Ring 1998

Vampiro vs Sting-Great American Bash 2000

Konnan vs One Man Gang-SuperBrawl VI

Ultimate Warrior vs Hercules-WrestleMania IV

Rick Rude vs Hawk-Clash of the Champions XXV

The Chamber of Horrors-Halloween Havoc 1991

Nikita Koloff vs Bobby Eaton-Bunkhouse Stampede

Total Divas vs Other Divas-Survivor Series 2013

The Oddities vs Kaientai-SummerSlam 1998

Hulk Hogan vs Sid Justice-WrestleMania VIII

Hollywood Hogan vs The Giant-Hog Wild

Jake Roberts vs Andre the Giant-WrestleMania V

Hulk Hogan vs Randy Savage-Uncensored 1998

Al Snow vs Big Boss Man-Unforgiven 1999

Mickie James vs Ashley-Royal Rumble 2006

Christy Hemme vs Big Fat Oily Guy-Against All Odds 2007

Vampiro vs Oklahoma-Starrcade 1999

Junkyard Dog vs Moondog Spot-Wrestling Classic

Hiroshi Wajima vs Tom Magee-All Japan Pro Wrestling 1988

Kevin Sullivan vs Dave Sullivan-SuperBrawl V

Steve McMichael vs Brian Adams-Road Wild 1998

Scott Steiner vs Sid Vicious vs Jeff Jarrett vs Road Warrior Animal-Sin

Sable vs Tori-WrestleMania XV

Sid Vicious vs The Nightstalker-Clash of the Champions XIII

Greg Valentine vs George Steele-Heroes of Wrestling

Abdullah the Butcher vs One Man Gang-Heroes of Wrestling

Hollywood Hogan vs The Warrior-Halloween Havoc 1998

The Royal Family vs Clowns R' Us-Survivor Series 1994

Sting vs Jeff Hardy-Victory Road 2011

Ultimate Warrior vs Andre the Giant-Saturday Night's Main Event (11/25/1989)

The Doomsday Cage Match-Uncensored 1996

Kaitlyn vs Maxine-NXT (10/19/10)

James Storm vs Chris Harris-Lockdown 2007

John Laurinaitis vs John Cena-Over the Limit 2012

And up next in the Worst in the World is...

Ah, Rick Rude, go away.

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