Long before WWE announced a PPV called Clash of Champions.... there was Clash of the Champions.

 

From 1988 to 1997, Jim Crockett Promotions (which quickly became World Championship Wrestling) hosted a prime-time program on TBS, in which main-event quality matches were shown on free television. In many ways, it was WCW's answer to Saturday Night's Main Event, albeit on a smaller scale and less cartoonish for the most part.

 

Still, the program was effective. The first Clash of the Champions aired opposite the World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania IV, drawing a 5.6 rating and keeping some potential viewers from watching the WWF's flagship event. And subsequent episodes over the years proved to be ratings draws for TBS.

 

During some 35 Clash of the Champions specials that aired over nine years, a lot of big matches, title changes, turns and other moments took place that defined the history of WCW.

 

In counting down the Top 50 Clash of the Champions Moments, Canadian Bulldog's World looked at the following criteria:

 

• How did the moment help to shape WCW history?

• Was the moment pay-per-view worthy?

• How memorable is the moment years later?

 

If you'd like to be a part of this conversation, Tweet us at @canadianbulldog using the hashtag #Top50, or leave a comment below.

Ready? Here we go!

WWE Hall of Famer Larry Zbyszko was arguably one of the most hated heels in the dying years of the AWA, and he often used his legendary mouth to sound off against babyfaces such as Sgt. Slaughter and The Midnight Rockers. In 1985, he was given his own talk show segment which built him up further as a heel.

During the early days of NWA-TNA, when the company aired on weekly pay-per-views, Disco Inferno hosted a talk show segment in which he interviewed some of the promotion's wilder characters such as The Dupps. On one show, he interviewed movie star "Dean Baldwin", who was Shark Boy without his mask.