Clash of the Champions is an American series of professional wrestling television specials that were produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) in conjunction with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). The specials were supercards comprising pay-per-view caliber matches, similar to the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF, now WWE) Saturday Night's Main Event series. The Clash of the Champions shows were famous for typically not airing commercials during matches even though many of these matches lasted 20 minutes or more.
The first Clash of the Champions was held on March 27, 1988, by JCP, and was titled NWA Clash of the Champions. Subsequent events had different subtitles, for example, Clash of the Champions II: Miami Mayhem, up until Clash of the Champions XVI: Fall Brawl 1991, which was the last event with a subtitle. JCP was sold to Ted Turner and renamed WCW in 1988, and WCW continued to air the events until 1997. The rights to Clash of the Champions now belong to WWE, which acquired WCW in 2001. In 2013, WWE revived the Clash of the Champions name for a special episode of their WWE NXT program.
History Throughout 1987 and 1988, a bitter event scheduling war broke out between rival wrestling promoters Vince McMahon and Jim Crockett, Jr. On Thanksgiving night 1987, McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF) aired Survivor Series against Starrcade from Crockett and the National Wrestling Alliance, two pay-per-view (PPV) events on the same day. At that time, many cable companies could only offer one live PPV event at a time, and furthermore were presented with an edict from the WWF saying that any cable company that chose to carry Starrcade would be barred from carrying any future WWF events. Hence, the WWF PPV was cleared 10–1 over Starrcade.
Following this incident, McMahon was warned by the PPV industry not to schedule PPV events simultaneously with the NWA again. However, he was still not willing to fully cooperate with Crockett, and on January 24, 1988, another scheduling conflict took place between the WWF and NWA. The NWA presented the Bunkhouse Stampede on PPV, while on the same night, the WWF aired the first Royal Rumble for free on the USA Network.
In 1988, with the WWF's WrestleMania IV around the corner, Crockett decided to give McMahon a taste of his own medicine. He aired his own supercard, Clash of the Champions for free on TBS on March 27, 1988 - the same night as WrestleMania. The first Clash was of PPV caliber and made Sting a star after he wrestled NWA World Champion Ric Flair to a 45-minute draw. WCW would repeat the practice again the following year with a Clash coinciding with the WWF's WrestleMania V. Although the main event of NWA Champion Ricky Steamboat defeating Flair in a best of three falls match was widely considered the best wrestling match that took place among the two promotions on that day, ratings and attendance for the event fell well below expectations due to the event not being advertised and the practice of conflicting major events would cease until the Monday Night War began in 1995.
Clash events continued on a sporadic basis over the next nine years, quickly changing focus to become a free marketing vehicle for NWA/WCW PPV events, similar to the WWF's Saturday Night's Main Event. WCW aired the 35th and last Clash of the Champions on August 21, 1997. In 1997 the determination was made to discontinue air Clash of the Champions due to the start of Thunder.
WWE, the owner of the WCW properties since 2001, resurrected the name for a special episode of WWE NXT, the flagship television program of their NXT developmental territory, in 2013. The special was filmed at Full Sail University on March 21, 2023, and aired on tape delay on April 24, 2013. Starting in 2016, WWE began holding the similarly named and conceptually similar but unrelated WWE Clash of Champions pay-per-view series.
Following a 25-year hiatus from Turner Sports, a spiritual successor to the Clash series was launched on TBS' sister channel, TNT, by All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as AEW Battle of the Belts, which aired on a quarterly basis from 2022 until 2024.
Dates and venues EventDateCityVenueMain eventRefNational Wrestling Alliance (Jim Crockett Promotions)Clash of the Champions IMarch 27, 1988Greensboro, North CarolinaGreensboro ColiseumRic Flair (c) vs. Sting in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions II: Miami MayhemJune 8, 1988Miami, FloridaJames L. Knight CenterArn Anderson and Tully Blanchard (c) vs. Sting and Dusty Rhodes in a tag team match for the NWA World Tag Team ChampionshipClash of the Champions III: Fall BrawlSeptember 7, 1988Albany, GeorgiaAlbany Civic CenterBarry Windham (c) vs. Sting in a singles match for the NWA United States Heavyweight ChampionshipNational Wrestling Alliance (World Championship Wrestling)Clash of the Champions IV: Season's BeatingsDecember 7, 1988Chattanooga, TennesseeUTC ArenaRic Flair and Barry Windham vs. The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane in a tag team matchClash of the Champions V: St. Valentine's MassacreFebruary 15, 1989Cleveland, OhioCleveland Convention CenterThe Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk) and Genichiro Tenryu (c) vs. The Varsity Club (Mike Rotunda, Kevin Sullivan and Steve Williams) in a six-man tag team match for the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team ChampionshipClash of the Champions VI: Ragin' CajunApril 2, 1989New Orleans, LouisianaLouisiana SuperdomeRicky Steamboat (c) vs. Ric Flair in a 2 out of 3 falls match for the NWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions VII: Guts and GloryJune 14, 1989Fort Bragg, North CarolinaRitz-Epps Fitness CenterRicky Steamboat vs. Terry Funk in a singles matchClash of the Champions VIII: Fall Brawl '89September 12, 1989Columbia, South CarolinaCarolina ColiseumSting and Ric Flair vs. Dick Slater and The Great Muta in a tag team matchClash of the Champions IX: New York KnockoutNovember 15, 1989Troy, New YorkHouston Field HouseRic Flair vs. Terry Funk in an "I Quit" matchClash of the Champions X: Texas ShootoutFebruary 6, 1990Corpus Christi, TexasMemorial ColiseumThe Four Horsemen (Ric Flair, Ole Anderson, and Arn Anderson) vs. Gary Hart International (The Dragonmaster, Buzz Sawyer, and The Great Muta) in a steel cage matchClash of the Champions XI: Coastal CrushJune 13, 1990Charleston, South CarolinaMcAlister Field HouseRic Flair (c) vs. Junkyard Dog in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions XII: Mountain Madness/Fall Brawl '90September 5, 1990Asheville, North CarolinaAsheville Civic CenterSting (c) vs. The Black Scorpion in a singles match for the NWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions XIII: Thanksgiving ThunderNovember 20, 1990Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville Memorial ColiseumRic Flair vs. Butch Reed in a singles matchWorld Championship WrestlingClash of the Champions XIV: Dixie DynamiteJanuary 30, 1991Gainesville, GeorgiaGeorgia Mountains CenterRic Flair (c) vs. Scott Steiner in a singles match for the WCW World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions XV: Knocksville USAJune 12, 1991Knoxville, TennesseeCivic AuditoriumRic Flair (c) vs. Bobby Eaton in a two-out-of-three falls match for the WCW World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions XVI: Fall BrawlSeptember 5, 1991Augusta, GeorgiaAugusta-Richmond County Civic CenterEnforcers (Arn Anderson and Larry Zbyszko) vs. Rick Steiner and Bill Kazmaier in the WCW World Tag Team Championship tournament finalClash of the Champions XVIINovember 19, 1991Savannah, GeorgiaSavannah Civic CenterLex Luger (c) vs. Rick Steiner in a singles match for the WCW World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions XVIIIJanuary 21, 1992Topeka, KansasKansas Expo CenterSting and Ricky Steamboat vs. Steve Austin and Rick Rude in a tag team matchClash of the Champions XIXJune 16, 1992Charleston, South CarolinaMcAlister Field HouseTerry Gordy and Steve Williams vs. The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) in the NWA World Tag Team Championship tournament quarter finalsClash of the Champions XX: 20th AnniversarySeptember 2, 1992Atlanta, GeorgiaCenter Stage TheaterRick Rude, Jake Roberts, Super Invader and Big Van Vader vs. Sting, Nikita Koloff and The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) in a 4-on-4 elimination matchClash of the Champions XXINovember 18, 1992Macon, GeorgiaMacon ColiseumBarry Windham and Dustin Rhodes (c) vs. Ricky Steamboat and Shane Douglas in a tag team match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship and the WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipClash of the Champions XXIIJanuary 13, 1993Milwaukee, WisconsinThe MECCADustin Rhodes, Sting and Cactus Jack vs. Big Van Vader, Barry Windham and Paul Orndorff in a Thundercage matchClash of the Champions XXIIIJune 16, 1993Norfolk, VirginiaNorfolk ScopeRic Flair and Arn Anderson vs. The Hollywood Blonds (Brian Pillman and Steve Austin) in a two-out-of-three falls match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship and WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipClash of the Champions XXIVAugust 18, 1993Daytona Beach, FloridaOcean CenterBig Van Vader (c) vs. defeated Davey Boy Smith in a singles match for the WCW World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions XXVNovember 10, 1993St. Petersburg, FloridaBayfront ArenaVader (c) vs. Ric Flair in a singles match for the WCW World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions XXVIJanuary 27, 1994Baton Rouge, LouisianaRiverside CentroplexSting and Ric Flair vs. Vader and Rick Rude in a tag team matchClash of the Champions XXVIIJune 23, 1994Charleston, South CarolinaNorth Charleston ColiseumRic Flair (World) vs. Sting (International) in a unification match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW International World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions XXVIIIAugust 24, 1994Cedar Rapids, Iowa Five Seasons CenterHulk Hogan (c) vs. Ric Flair in a singles match for the WCW World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions XXIXNovember 16, 1994Jacksonville, FloridaJacksonville Memorial ColiseumHulk Hogan, Sting and Dave Sullivan vs. The Three Faces of Fear (The Butcher, Avalanche and Kevin Sullivan) in a six-man tag team match with Mr. T as the special guest refereeClash of the Champions XXXJanuary 25, 1995 Paradise, NevadaCaesars PalaceHulk Hogan and Randy Savage vs. Kevin Sullivan and The Butcher in a tag team matchClash of the Champions XXXIAugust 6, 1995Daytona Beach, FloridaOcean CenterVader vs. Arn Anderson and Ric Flair in a handicap matchClash of the Champions XXXIIJanuary 23, 1996Paradise, NevadaCaesars Palace Ric Flair and The Giant vs. Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage in a tag team matchClash of the Champions XXXIIIAugust 15, 1996Denver, ColoradoDenver ColiseumHollywood Hogan (c) vs. Ric Flair in a singles match for the WCW World Heavyweight ChampionshipClash of the Champions XXXIVJanuary 21, 1997Milwaukee, WisconsinWisconsin Center ArenaLex Luger vs. Scott Hall in a singles matchClash of the Champions XXXVAugust 21, 1997Nashville, TennesseeNashville Municipal AuditoriumScott Hall and Randy Savage (c) vs. Diamond Dallas Page and Lex Luger in a tag team match for the WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipWWENXT Clash of the ChampionsMarch 21, 2013(aired April 24, 2013)Winter Park, FloridaFull Sail UniversityWade Barrett (c) vs. Bo Dallas in a singles match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
Results National Wrestling Alliance (Jim Crockett Promotions)
Clash of the Champions I
Clash of the Champions (known sequentially as Clash of the Champions I) took place on March 27, 1988, at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. There were 6,000 people in attendance and the show drew a 5.8 rating on TBS. This was aired head-to-head with WWF's WrestleMania IV. In a "College Rules" match, Mike Rotunda won with a cradle for the one-count pin 1:10 into the second round.