Despite the massive expansion of NWA-JCP, it hurt Jim Crockett very much financially to the point he could no longer continue to own and operate his wrestling company. On the verge of bankruptcy, Crockett sold his wrestling promotion to Ted Turner, who continued to air the programming on his network TBS, in November 1988.
He also changed the name to World Championship Wrestling (WCW), named after his flagship Saturday Night show "World Championship Wrestling" as it would be known as that until it was purchased by Vince McMahon in 2001.
Before he finally sold to Turner, Crockett made one last desperate push to defeat or run with McMahon and the WWF. After the debacle of Starrcade '87 being on PPV the same night as the WWF's Survivor Series where many of the cable companies only offered to show the Survivor Series, Crockett faced yet another dilemma from the WWF.
On January 24, 1988 from the Nassau Coliseum in Long Island, NY, Crockett aired the Bunkhouse Stampede PPV, which saw Dusty Rhodes win the Bunkhouse Stampede main event. However, McMahon aired the first-ever Royal Rumble on the USA Network on basic cable.
Crockett retaliated by airing the first-ever Clash of the Champions supercard from Greensboro, N.C. that aired live on TBS on March 27, 1988, the same night as the WrestleMania IV PPV. This actually worked well in Crockett's favor as the buy rate for WrestleMania IV was much lower that the previous year's Survivor Series and the inaugural Clash drew a 5.6 rating on TBS.
The Clash of the Champions was like the WWF's Saturday Night's Main Event where it featured high-caliber PPV quality matches on cable television. The Clash would usually run about 4-5 times a year, always on TBS, usually in months where there wasn't a PPV. Eventually over time, fewer Clashes were run due to an increased PPV schedule and it was done in 1997.
In one of the matches on the inaugural Clash of the Champions card. Lex Luger teamed with Barry Windham to defeat Horsemen members Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard to win the NWA World Tag Team Championship. A month later, however, Windham betrayed Luger by helping Anderson and Blanchard win back the titles from them as Windham joined the Four Horsemen, replacing Luger.
Fans at the Greensboro Coliseum or watching on TBS were treated to a thrilling main event that featured Ric Flair defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against the thrilling young upstart named Sting.
Much to the shock and surprise of everyone, the youngster really took it to the much more experienced veteran and world champion. Sting ended up putting Flair in his Scorpion Death Lock finisher.
As Flair was holding on, refusing to give up, the 45-minute time limit expired and the match was declared a draw with Flair retaining the title. Sting, however, was put on the map as a main event draw would be for the remainder of WCW's existence.
The tag team division was very strong as Four Horsemen members Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard held the NWA World Tag Team Champions as they felt intense competition from The Road Warriors (Animal and Hawk) and The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane).
The Road Warriors were one of the NWA's most popular tag teams with their intense and charismatic interviews, their high-impact wrestling style, their face paint, shoulder pads with spikes, and their Mohawk haircuts. They would be one of the most successful tag teams ever whether they wrestled in WCW, AWA, or WWF/E among other promotions.
They were in an intense feud with The Powers of Pain (The Warlord and The Barbarian) before The Powers of Pain left for the WWF. The Road Warriors next got into a feud with Sting and Dusty Rhodes after they turned heel and attacked both men.
The Midnight Rockers defeated Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard to win the NWA World Tag Team Titles on September 10, 1988. Anderson and Blanchard left the company to go to the WWF, shrinking the Four Horsemen. The Road Warriors defeated The Midnight Express to win the titles on October 29.
Dusty Rhodes would get fired from his role as head booker and he eventually left the company during an angle where he was attacked by The Road Warriors where they used one of their spikes and attempted to gouge Rhodes' eye out. The new ownership of WCW prohibited the use of blood and blading on TV and it cost Rhodes his job.
Rhodes would stay on through Starrcade '88, where he teamed with Sting to take on The Road Warriors. They won by disqualification and Rhodes left the company immediately. The Road Warriors heel turn would not last as the fans continued to be behind them despite being mega heels and were quickly turned back into faces.
There was a heel group that was formed following the purchases and mergers of CWF and UWF called The Varsity Club. They were a group of wrestlers who wore varsity letterman jackets of their alma maters where they were superior amateur wrestlers. The group was founded by Kevin Sullivan, who was not a collegiate wrestler despite portraying one for kayfabe purposes.
He recruited University of Michigan's Rick Steiner, Syracuse University's Mike Rotunda, University of Oklahoma's "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, and later University of Georgia's Dan Spivey. Steiner, Rotunda, and Williams were star amateur wrestlers as their respective alma maters. Spivey did not wrestle but played football at Georgia.
Over time, Sullivan and the rest of the members of The Varsity Club treated Steiner poorly, calling him "slow witted" as he cost them matches. Fans grew to sympathize and stand behind Steiner as Steiner had enough and left the Club and became a face.
Steiner would feud with the rest of the Club, especially Rotunda, for the rest of 1988 going into 1989. Steiner and Rotunda would trade the NWA World Television Championship. Steiner's younger brother Scott Steiner, another star amateur wrestler from Michigan, began accompanying his older brother to matches and eventually the brothers became a superior tag team: the Steiner Brothers.
The Midnight Express, managed by Jim Cornette, would feud with The Original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose) with their manager Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman) over who was the true Midnight Express.
The Midnight Express defeated The Original Midnight Express at Starrcade. The Midnight Express would eventually defeat The Original Midnight Express in a Loser Leaves NWA match to send them packing. Anderson and Blanchard would head over to the WWF where they would be known as "The Brain Busters."
With Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard leaving the company, it severely weakened the Four Horsemen as they only had Ric Flair, Barry Windham, and James J. Dillon. Flair would feud with former Horsemen member Lex Luger over Flair's NWA World Title.
Luger took on Flair at The Great American Bash on July 10 from Baltimore, Maryland. The Great American Bash would go back to a one-night event instead a month-long tour and was shown on PPV for the first time ever.
Luger looked to have Flair beat when he had him in his Torture Rack backbreaker finish. The referee rang the bell and Luger thought he won the title. However, Luger had a cut on his head and it bled profusely and the referee was forced to stop the match due to Maryland State Athletic Commission guidelines. Flair retained the title as a result.
Luger took on Flair in a rematch for the title at Starrcade on December 26. Starrcade was not shown on Thanksgiving for the first time in its existence to avoid stiff competition from the WWF's Survivor Series shown on the same night. Starrcade would run after Christmas at the end of December all the way until its final event in 2000.
Luger again had Flair in the Torture Rack, but his knee buckled and Flair fell on top of him. Flair had his feet on the ropes as the referee counted three as Flair retained the title as he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship for the entire year of 1988.
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