Clash of the Champions 1 Review

Time to go old school and visit 1988 for the first ever Clash of the Champions event. There were 35 Clash of the Champions events with the last happening in 1997. While later events were held under the WCW banner, earlier events like this was held by Jim Crockett Promotions. There was a war going on between Vince McMahon and Jim Crockett at the time which led to Crockett putting this Clash of the Champions on free TV the same day as Wrestlemania IV which contained the tournament for the vacant WWF Championship.

We start with some graphics hyping up the matches on tonight’s show. The headliner is of course Ric Flair versus Sting but we also get Dusty Rhodes teaming with the Road Warriors. Should be good.

Our first match is for the NWA World Television Championship. The holder is the future father of Bray Wyatt and Bo Dallas, Mike Rotunda. His challenger is ‘Gorgeous’ Jimmy Garvin. The match is in rounds which is odd but alike to that of British Wrestling from the era. Both workers do well to keep with the gimmick of the match. Rotunda is the better worker, ‘Gorgeous’ is nothing like his nickname with his belly over his white ill-fitting trunks. Kevin Sullivan, who is at ringside for Rotunda gets involved, as does Garvin’s manager, a woman named Precious. The match was announced as “One Fall” which I guessed meant one fall to the finish as opposed to 2/3 falls but actually they meant “one count”. Which is instead of the referee slapping the mat three times, he only needs to strike it once. So the finish comes as a surprise when Rotunda rolls up Garvin for the win. After the match, Sullivan and Garvin fight. Rick Steiner runs out to aid Sullivan and Rotunda. But Precious hits Rick with a 2x4 then chokes Sullivan with coat-hanger. Where are these weapons coming from? The heels try and grab Precious but Garvin pulls her to safety. Decent yet strange opener, the crowd are super-hot already.

“Dr Death” Steve Williams is being interviewed. They promote that he’s been in Japan. Stumbling over his words, he challenges winner of main event. That should be a good match, regardless of the outcome of the main event.

A very young Jim Cornette is at ringside with his tennis racket to manage the Midnight Express. They are defending the NWA United States Tag Team Championships against the Fantastics. The two teams brawl from the get-go with steel chairs involved. Heels then take control and work the hot tag. On the outside, the heels use the on the floor and hit a bulldog. The Fantastics get a sunset flip pin but referee is distracted by own partner. The miscommunication continues as the faces make the tag but referee didn't see it. Fulton of the Fantastics goes mad and throws the referee over ropes. A new referee comes out as Fulton’s tag partner, Rodgers scores the win. However, the old referee reverses the decision, so the Midnight Express retain. The two teams continue to brawl. Cornette even gets involved but accidently hits his own man with racket. The Express then take control and whip opponents with belts. Good heel work by the Express and a good match.

Gary Hart and Al Perez are now being interviewed. They tell Dusty that they are coming for him. This is followed by a clip promoting the Jim Crockett Snr Cup. They announce the 10 ten seeds for the tournament.

Even though we are in North Carolina we have a Chicago Street Fight, which means there’s barbed wire around the ropes. Dusty and Road Warriors face off against Ivan Koloff and Powers of Pain.  Animal is wearing a mask as he has an injured eye. Ivan is busted open early from the barbed wire. Hawk is the only one doing moves, hitting a dropkick and a Gorilla press slam. Everybody else is just punching and pushing each other into the ropes. It’s a like a dull Royal Rumble without any eliminations. Dusty is now busted open and makes a comeback with his elbow routine. The finish then comes out of nowhere. The Barbarian tries for a top rope splash but hits his own tag partner, The Warlord. I didn’t even see it happening, the camera angle was all off. After the bout, the heels get revenge and attack Animal, ripping off his mask and injuring his eye further. Weak match but the crowd enjoyed it. At least it was kept short.

Nikita Koloff is now being interviewed in an odd promo. Is he a face or heel? He speaks about the anti-drug work he has been doing and talks about Dusty. But sounds like angry dog.

The championship matches continues as the NWA World Tag Team Championships are on the line. The champions Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard are defending against Barry Windham and Lex Luger. The faces are insanely over, the fans love them. This gives Windham and Luger the advantage to start and the faces start well. Then the Horsemen kick into gear and work over the leg of Luger. The hot tag is made but despite a good start, the Horsemen turn the tide again and beat down Windham. DOUBLE A SPINEBUSTER! No kickout, I thought that was Arn’s finisher. J.J. Dillon who is out with Arn and Tully, brings in a steel chair onto the apron. It backfires, and the faces get the pin. New Champs! Good old JR is on commentary for this one and does great to put this over as a historic moment. It was a decent enough match but I expected more epically with tag legends like Arn and Tully.

For the big Main Event, we have judges at ringside which include TV stars because they are best suited to decide the fate of a World title match. NWA World Heavyweight Champion, Ric Flair is accompanied by J.J. Dillon but a stipulation of the match is that Dillon must be suspended in a cage above the ring. The commentators put this match over well, running with the story of Flair being the 5x World Champion in the “apex” of his wrestling life while Sting is the young up and comer. We get an announcement that because of TV, the time limit is reduced from 60 minutes to 45, you know what that means. We get a great opening feeling out process, you know straight away this is going to be a long match. Flair hits his first chop of many and they are lethal. They are so hard, they cut Sting’s chest. Flair plays the classic heel slowing the pace but then Sting explodes with offence. Flair shows why he is the “Dirtiest Player in the Game”, his heel mannerisms are brilliant. The back rakes, the role holding, his “OH MY BACK” shouts. It’s now Sting’s turn to slow the match down with holds first a series of sleepers then a beahug. Flair is now adding biting his hand when in pain in between shouting "MY BACK!" Classic. Flair starts a comeback and throws Sting into barricade. But the momentum doesn’t last for too long as Sting “Hulks Up” and takes all of Stings chops. Sting’s offence is stopped in his tracks after he misses a jumping clothesline on the outside and smashes into the ringpost. Flair sees Sting holding his arm and now focuses on the arm. But Sting, as he has done all match, powers back. At the 25 minute mark we get the first Suplex of the match, which is ridiculous when you think about it. The first Scorpian Deathlock follows but Flair gets to ropes. Flair now works over legs of Sting. BINGO! That’s all the body parts focused on, the head, the neck, the body, the arms and the legs.

15 minutes left and we see the first Figure Four Leg Lock from “the Nature Boy. But despite Flair using ropes for leverage, Sting shuffles through the pain to the middle of the ring. The future “Icon” then flips the Figure Four over putting the pressure on Flair but damages his own legs in the process. Flair is back to his feet first and tries for a Suplex on the steps. Sting reverses into a stalling Suplex into ring. Sting tries to follow it up with a big running splash but Flair gets the knees up. Sting fight back and locks in the Figure Four on Flair! Flair manages to get to the ropes but he’s in desperation mode. He pushes the referee, the ref pushes back, then he hits his amazing corner bump. Flair’s selling is fantastically over the top. Flair tries a sunset flip into the ring at 5 minutes to go but it fails. Sting is now using the back rake, that’s what Flair has drove him to. Sting goes for a big splash in the corner but he misses and ends up on the outside. There’s a brilliant sequence where Flair does his super-bump in corner which sends him to the apron, he then runs along apron and dives off top but Sting reverses it into pin for a close call. Flair is busted open, I don’t know when that happened. Time is running out on Sting but he locks in the Scorpion Deathlock! Flair is in agony, he’s struggling to stay in this as the timer counts lower and lower. But Flair manages to hold on. So it’s over to the judges. After the commercial break, the ring announcer is in the ring reading out the judges choices. Judge 1 goes for Flair, the second sides with Sting and the final judge… says it’s a draw. So the match is a draw and Flair retains. What judge calls the match a draw? You were supposed to pick! Also, there were 5 judges, so what happened to the other two? Just a quick note before I sum up, I didn’t mean to write a play-by-play on this match but I got carried away. The finish aside, this is an absolute classic. In terms of actual wrestling, you won’t get a lot out of this one. But what sets this aside from so many matches is the storytelling. This is a match that made Sting. But the credit for his match should go to Flair. Everything about Flair was A+, it was a masterclass in storytelling from one of the greatest of all time.

Overall, the event is a mixed bag. The entire undercard is damaged because of time, all are about average with the exception of the Chicago Street Fight which is just brawling for three minutes. This is made up for by the Main Event which is a classic. And I’m okay with that. They didn’t have PPV time, remember this was originally shown on free TV. It showcased the talent well and that main event should have got people talking and returning for the TV show they kept plugging.