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 Wars 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 under the WWE Clash of Champions pay-per-view starting in 2016. Following a 25-year hiatus, the variant of the Clash event was resurrected by All Elite Wrestling as the Battle of the Belts in 2022 and airs on TBS' sister channel, TNT on a quarterly basis. Dates and venues 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 5.6 rating on TBS. This was aired head-to-head with WWF WrestleMania IV. In a "College Rules" match, Mike Rotunda won with a cradle for the one-count pin 1:10 into the second round. In a match for the United States Tag Team Championship, The Fantastics' Tommy Rogers originally pinned The Midnight Express's Bobby Eaton to win the titles but the decision was reversed because Rogers' partner, Bobby Fulton, had thrown referee Randy Anderson over the top rope before the pinfall was made. The Road Warriors and Dusty Rhodes defeated The Powers of Pain and Ivan Koloff when The Barbarian accidentally hit his partner,