Clash of the Champions I 

Date: 03/27/1988

Location: Greensboro, NC 

Announcers: Jim Ross, Tony Schiavone & Bob Caudle 

The Setup

This show was built on spite and retribution, going after the Wrestlemania IV PPV after Vince sabotaged Starrcade ‘87 and Bunkhouse Stampede by running shows on the same night. Here, we have JCP utilizing their cable TV clearance with TBS to not only run a live special, but also five matches, all of which are title bouts. Sting was starting to gain traction as a babyface, and he was challenging NWA champion Ric Flair in the main event. All of the other matches were between singles wrestlers or teams in programs with each other, so this show was stacked. 

The Business

The show drew 6,000 people, which was down big from the 11,771 the month prior in Greensboro, for a show headlined by Dusty, Luger, and Ole Anderson against Flair, Tully, and Arn. As an interesting aside, people often discuss how moving Starrcade from Greensboro to Chicago in 1987 was perceived as killing the town. However, not only did they have that show in February after Starrcade, but 12,700 for Luger and Ole against Arn & Tully, and Flair defending the NWA title against Michael Hayes on New Year’s Day. While many locals have talked about it being a factor in killing Greensboro, it may have been more of a contributing factor than the most significant reason. 

The show drew a 5.8 cable rating, the highest rating for any Clash of all time. The Sting vs. Flair main event averaged 7.1 million viewers, the highest point in the show. From a television viewership standpoint, the show was a smashing success. 

The Results

World TV Title/Amateur Rules Match: Mike Rotunda (C) def. Jimmy Garvin in 6:45. The only thing “amateur” about this was that you only needed a one-count to win. The match was also split into three five-minute rounds for some odd reason. All bullshit aside, the one-count made things more exciting because any time someone hit the mat, they were vulnerable to losing. The finish wasn’t good when Garvin hit Rotunda with his brainbuster (which didn’t look good most times) and went after Sullivan, leaving Rotunda to roll up Garvin for the win. **1/4 

The angle after the match was fucking WILD as the heels were beating down Garvin, and Precious cleared the ring with a FUCKING 2×4! Husband and wife escaped together, and the crowd lost their shit! This was so much better than the match. 

US Tag Team Title Match: The Midnight Express (C) def. Fantastics by DQ in 10:15. While these two teams had some tremendous wrestling matches, this was much more of a wild brawl, including Bobby Eaton bodyslamming Tommy Rogers on a table laid down on the floor, which was extremely rare in 1988. Then, he followed it up with a BULLDOG on said table. Jesus. The Midnights got a ton of heat beating on Rogers, and Bobby Fulton did the house of fire on the hot tag, but the ref missed the tag. When he tried to stop Fulton, he launched the ref over the top (spoiler alert) with the Fantastics eventually hitting the rocket launcher for the win. Of course, we got the Dusty finish instead, which really hurt a phenomenal match. ****1/4 

Six-Man Tag Team Title/Barbwire Match: Dusty Rhodes & The Road Warriors (C) def. Powers of Pain & Ivan Koloff in 3:39. The ropes were decorated with barbed wire, which automatically makes it less interesting. TBS also didn’t want to show blood – the ENTIRE point of a barbed wire match – so we got a lot of wide shots here. The barbed wire meant no tags and a crowded ring with six people, meaning they couldn’t do much. Animal (who was wearing a hockey mask due to a broken orbital bone in the weightlifting angle with the Powers of Pain) pinned Barnarian with a powerslam, which was odd since Ivan was there just begging to be pinned in this one. *

World Tag Team Title Match: Lex Luger & Barry Windham def. Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard (C) in 9:34. This match was all action. They somehow managed to do double heat, despite the short amount of time, including Tully hitting an awesome slingshot on Barty. The crowd was going fucking ballistic for Luger on the comeback while Tully and Arn bumped their asses off all over the ring. JJ Dillong set up a chair for the champs to use, but Luger slammed Arn’s head into it instead, giving the Twin Towers the tag titles. They had a much better match on Pro when Tully and Arn won the titles back shortly after, but grown mean leaping to their feet for the win was pretty fucking awesome. ***3/4 

World Title Match: Ric Flair (C) TLD Sting in 45:00. It feels as if we’ve reached a point where this match has become underrated. Yes, some of the moves and spots are repeated throughout. No, they didn’t do many cool moves. But listen to the fucking crowd! They are totally along for this forty-five-minute ride and believe Sting can win the title. Sting was still learning, but Flair sold everything like he was in there with the most dominant wrestler there ever was. Sting was being walked through everything, but he sold at the right times and no-sold at the right ones as well. The clock expiring with Sting applying the scorpion on Flair really put it over the top. There were three judges – promoter Gary Juster, Sandy Scott, and…Penthouse Playmate Patty Mullen. Yes, it made sense for a wrestling promotion to make a centerfold a judge of professional wrestling. It ended up in a draw after Sandy Scott voted for one, which was deemed stupid since they had hyped judges being the tie-breaker all along, but this was still a great, well-worked match that created a superstar. ****

Recommendation 

Thumbs way the fuck up. This still might be the greatest Clash of all time. Besides all of the great things already mentioned, there was an all-time horrendous Doctor Death promo on this show that reeked of entertainment. When you have five matches, three of which are in the excellent range, plus a great opening angle, you’re cooking with gas. Watch this now if you haven’t, and watch it again if you already have.