Before the Monday Night Wars and monthly PPVs, Clash of the Champions was a special event for WCW. Every few months, TBS would air a prime-time two-hour show that had the company's biggest stars in major matches. It was a big deal as titles would change hands a lot and the shows were often home to PPV-level bouts. Often, a Clash could be better than some WCW PPVs with guys wanting to show off before a national audience.
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True, there were quite a lot of duds over its long run, particularly in the mid'-90s before the Clashes ended in 1997. Yet the shows remain loved for their classic action that would show WCW at its finest. Most of the best came from the earlier years, yet a few bouts stand out from the pack.
10 The Hollywood Blondes vs Ric Flair & Arn Anderson, Clash 23
The only reason this isn't ranked higher is a rough finish. Steve Austin and Brian Pillman were the arrogant tag team champions who had riled up Flair and Anderson earlier. The four master heels put on a terrific show with wrestling giving way to brawling and old-school cheating tactics by each side.
The Horsemen got the first fall with the second being even crazier in action before Barry Windham rushed in, so Horsemen won the match but not the titles. Put that aside, and it's a genius show and one of the better heel vs heel matches to enjoy.
9 Barry Windham & Dustin Rhodes vs Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas, Clash 21
Windham and Rhodes were both WCW and NWA tag champions as Steamboat partnered with a rookie Douglas. The match started purely professional with the four on good terms but this got tighter as it went on with Windham showing more heel facets.
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Windham began pounding on a weakened Steamboat, and when Dustin tried to stop him, Windham got pinned by Douglas. Windham laid out the other three, but before that, it was classic tag team wrestling at its best.
8 Ricky Steamboat vs Terry Funk, Clash 7
Take two veteran wrestlers, put them in a grudge match, and the results are magic. The clash of styles was unique with the purely scientific Steamboat facing the wild brawling Funk.
It was obvious the pair were throwing out stiff shots with each wonderfully selling. Funk actually took off the ropes himself for an attack while Steamboat got dirty too. Funk finally used the microphone to hit Steamboat for a DQ loss, yet it showed how each could get down and dirty if they had to for a great war.
7 Ric Flair & Sting vs Dick Slater & The Great Muta, Clash 8
Before it was its own PPV, "Fall Brawl" was the name for this Clash. Flair and Sting had been teaming up for a bit and were ready to take on Slater and Muta. Muta was on fire in 1989, and he had terrific clashes with both Sting and Flair.
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Slater was tougher than he seemed to spark up the match with quick tags and great outside brawling. It was topped by Terry Funk trying to suffocate Flair with a plastic bag, but while it lasted, it was a tremendous tag battle.
6 Steve Austin vs Ricky Steamboat, Clash 28
1994 had Steve Austin coming into his own as a star. He had cheated his way to victory in earlier matches with Steamboat, so this was set up with the stipulation that Austin would lose the U.S. Title if he was disqualified. As ever, Steamboat was a master in the ring, with the wily veteran versus the cocky youngster working well.
The climax was Austin throwing Steamboat over the top rope, but he refused to take the easy DQ win and instead pinned Austin for the belt. As fate had it, Steamboat suffered his career-ending back injury, but what a match to end on.
5 Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko vs Dustin Rhodes & Ricky Steamboat, Clash 17
This was going to be Dustin and Barry Windham facing the Enforcers, but Windham was injured. A mysterious figure in a lizard costume showed up and turned out to be a returning Ricky Steamboat.
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The result was pure tag team magic as the quartet went at it hard with Anderson and Zybszko breaking out cheating while Steamboat and Dustin clicked perfectly. Steamboat got the pin to win the titles in one of WCW's better surprises.
4 Lex Luger & Barry Windham vs Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard, Clash I
It may have only lasted ten minutes, but this match had more action than bouts three times as long. Luger and Windham were the hot young team facing the Four Horsemen, and the fight was a frantic affair. It was amazing to watch them tear it up with astounding back and forth action.
It ended with JJ Dillion trying to hold up a chair only for Arn to be sent into it and allow Luger and Windham to win the tag titles. It was weakened by Windham joining the Horsemen himself weeks later but remains a classic battle.
3 Ric Flair vs Sting, Clash I
This is the match that made Sting a star. For the very first Clash, Flair defended the NWA Title against this brash young challenger, and the results were terrific. There might be quibbles on how it was clear they were padding some segments out, but the fact Sting was able to click with Flair instantly was astounding.
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It ended in a time limit draw with the judges also declaring it no contest. But it instantly elevated Sting while making this a great match.
2 Ricky Steamboat vs Ric Flair, Clash VI
The middle part of one of the greatest wrestling trilogies of all time, this took place in an otherwise poor Clash show marked by low attendance at the Superdome. But those who took part witnessed magic as Flair and Steamboat fought in a sixty-minute endurance battle.
Flair pinned Steamboat with the first fall, but Steamboat evened it up by forcing Flair to submit to a double-arm chicken wing. For the last half hour, they went back and forth with terrific precision until they both fell back with shoulders down. Steamboat got his up for the pin despite Flair's foot being under the ropes. It was a true masterpiece by two fantastic athletes in their prime.
1 Ric Flair vs Terry Funk, Clash IX
The culmination of a fantastic feud of 1989, Ric Flair was out for blood after Terry Funk put him in the hospital months earlier. Having been through several major fights, the two finally went at it in a wild "I Quit" match. It was a fantastic war as they tore into each other, brawling it out with neither willing to back down.
It finally came to Flair forcing Funk to submit with Funk even shaking Flair's hand out of respect when it was done. The drama and power helped make this a terrific battle to cap off one of WCW's best years.
Next: 5 Wrestlers The Four Horsemen Put Over (& 5 They Buried)
