Loss Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 19 years ago today, we had Clash of the Champions on TBS going head to head with Wrestlemania IV. Pretty historic day for Savage's title win, Demolition winning the WWF tag titles, a Hogan/Andre encounter, Sting becoming a superstar, Windham and Luger winning the tag titles and a great MX/Fantastics match. It doesn't really seem like it was that long ago, but the business has truly changed quite a bit during the last two decades. I remember watching that first Clash as a kid. You knew you were seeing something special with Sting really going from midcarder to big star, and he pretty much rode the wave of momentum from that match for a pretty long time. Of course, I had no idea about the turmoil the NWA created for themselves that day by putting on such a great show. It's estimated that they cost the WWF $4 million in revenue that day by running a free show opposite Wrestlemania, but they also infuriated the cable companies, who lost a nice chunk of money off of the stunt. Crockett was really on his last legs by this point anyway, with Flair/Luger really being the only big match on the horizon and by the end of the year, wrestlers were quitting on pretty much a weekly basis. Ted Turner shortly breathed a lot of energy into the company, but the story of WCW is pretty well known, and it obviously didn't end well. Just seemed like a good day to reflect, especially if you frame the first Clash as some type of inciting incident for a lot of the changes that would take place in wrestling for the rest of 1988, the effects of which are still being felt in some indirect ways today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 I always wondered why putting up the Clash against WMIV caused so much anger, but Vince running PPV at the same time as Crockett and forcing PPV companies to choose didn't. I mean, wouldn't the PPV companies in theory make more money if people could order both shows instead of having to choose? Sure, WWF was the more established PPV name by then, but for most people wrestling is wrestling and all they knew was wrestling was hot at the time. I guess it's like the revisionist history we see on WWE DVDs now, where Vince crushing the competition is "just business" but anyone else trying to do it to them is unfair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JHawk Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 The cable companies were furious at Vince for saying "It's either us or them" when it came to Starrcade 87 and Survivor Series 87 to the point that they refused to allow the two companies to schedule an event on the same night. That's the reason Royal Rumble was on USA opposite the Bunkhouse Stampede and two Clashes ran opposite WrestleMania. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boondocks Kernoodle Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 The big difference was that Wrestlemania was the biggest pay-per-view of the year. The previous year's show had done half a million buys out of five million homes with PPV capabilities, and by WM IV the number of homes with PPV had doubled. In the end there was only a slight increase in buys over WM3 and the cable companies were disappointed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bix Posted March 27, 2007 Report Share Posted March 27, 2007 My favorite part is that when Vince decided to make another grandstand move w/ the cable companies, they decided to go to WCW to stage a supercard opposite WM V. WCW booked the Superdome, but the WWF and the cable companies made up, so we got Clash 6, which drew the most hilariously depressing crowd ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loss Posted March 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 This seems appropriate for this thread, since this was the theme of 1988. Vince McMahon performs "Stand Back" ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjFFoy3tg4s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sek69 Posted March 29, 2007 Report Share Posted March 29, 2007 This seems appropriate for this thread, since this was the theme of 1988. Vince McMahon performs "Stand Back" ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjFFoy3tg4s That might be the most "Vince" moment ever recorded on TV, if that makes sense at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest teke184 Posted April 1, 2007 Report Share Posted April 1, 2007 This seems appropriate for this thread, since this was the theme of 1988. Vince McMahon performs "Stand Back" ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjFFoy3tg4s That might be the most "Vince" moment ever recorded on TV, if that makes sense at all. I don't know... I'd say that the initial "Kiss My Ass Club" bit after Survivor Series 2001 was THE most "Vince" moment ever, complete with the line "I can make my ass do tricks!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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