I’m trying to keep my thoughts organized so I can mention a few themes at the end of these, so I figured I’d break down the first ten. Here are some rankings for shows 1-10. 

Clashes Ranked in Order 

Clash I

Clash VIII

Clash IX

Clash X

Clash II 

Clash VII

Clash VI 

Clash III

Clash IV 

Clash V

Show Thoughts

The first one was so special because it was a direct counter to WrestleMania, and it’s the show that made Sting a national star. Overall, it also had the best wrestling. VIII had the home run Terry Funk plastic bag attempted murder with Flair, a clever angle with Woman costing the Steiners a tag title win, and consistently good wrestling throughout. IX has the home run Flair vs. Funk match, a strong Pillman vs. Luger US title match underneath, and a fun show set at the RPI Fieldhouse. Clash V has been the dirt worst Clash and it’s not close. 

Top Five Clash matches 

Flair vs. Funk Clash IX 

Flair vs. Steamboat Clash VI

Midnights vs. Fantastics Clash I 

Midnights vs. Flair & Windham Clash IV

Flair vs. Sting Clash I

Match Thoughts 

It really does come down to which Flair match style you prefer in the top two spots. Decades later, people still talk about both of those matches. That was a reason Flair vs. Sting made five for me, but Ric vs. Luger from Clash of the Champions 1992 was in strong consideration for that spot. The Midnights did some great early work. 

Top Five Wrestlers 

Ric Flair 

Terry Funk

Sting 

Lex Luger 

Barry Windham 

Singles Wrestler Thoughts 

Flair is on another stratosphere in the early going here, appearing in four of the show’s top five matches in its short history. Terry Funk might seem high with only two matches and the plastic bag angle, but all three were more impactful than anything Sting did, other than the first Clash match with Flair. I’ll give the nod to Funk because Flair’s performance was what really put that match over the top, not Sting. Luger hasn’t been used nearly enough on these shows, but his consecutive US title matches with Tommy Rich and Brian Pillman were awesome. Barry Windham was only on the first four shows, but had strong matches and was a great US champion. 

Tag Team Rankings 

Midnight Express

Fantastics 

Steiners

Tag Team Thoughts 

The Midnights have to be first because they had the two best tag matches in early history, and the Fantastics were incredibly strong early on. Their match with the Sheepherders on Clash II was the best match on the show, as was their match with the Midnights on the first one. The Steiners have already had strong matches with the Freebirds and Doom. 

Those are some of the early thoughts, but we’ll continue to watch the series. Expect us to start making a dent in the SummerSlam reviews as well.