The Best of WCW Clash of the Champions

I was really stoked when I heard the WWE were releasing a collection of the Clash and I was pretty happy with the outcome. I do wish there was a documentary to go along with the matches but I'm still happy with what the WWE put out.The first match is the main event of the first Clash between Ric Flair and Sting for the NWA World title. The match is a classic and goes to a 45 minute draw. It is also the match that many people, myself included, made Sting the superstar that he is today. The match is very well contested and made all of the matches from Wrestlemania IV (held on the same night) pale in comparison.Up next is another match from the same event as Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard defend the NWA Tag titles against the team of Barry Windham and Lex Luger. This match is just plain good. The fans for some reason are just rabid during this match and I think that's one of the reasons it's so good. It's kind of short, clocking in at like 10:00, but still worth watching.Up next is another tag title match from Clash II involving Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard defending the tag titles again against Dusty Rhodes and Sting. This was another good match and again clocking in at around 10:00 but again worth seeing. To me anything with Sting in it is worth watching.The next match is pretty suprising as they chose to put on Ricky Morton vs Ivan Koloff in their Russian Chain match from Clash III. I don't know I just found it to be a suprising pick but it was a good pick. Of course there is some blood but these two do use the chain rather well and have a pretty good match. Still, if I was choosing a match from this Clash I would have picked Sting against Windham.The next match is a classic between Ric Flair and Terry Funk from Clash IX in an "I Quit" match. Many have said this may have been the first real main stream hardcore match and after viewing it I kind of agree with it. These guys leave it all hanging out and then some in this classic. I like the use of the microphone although sometimes you can't hear what Flair says. I like the use of the tables in the match and Flair's chops are just freaking killer. Just put on your surround sound and listen to the sweet sound of Terry Funk's chest being turned to hamburger meat. All in all good match and great choice for the set.This next match blows my mind as to why it's on here: It's the Clash X match with Mil Mascaras taking on Cactus Jack Manson. This match sucks and the only reason I can think of as to why it's on here is because of the WWE trying to reach a bigger Latin audience. That's great and all but jeez pick a better one then this. Even Mick Foley said Mascaras was one of the most unprofessional wrestlers he has ever worked with.The last match on the first disc features the Midnight Express taking on the Rock n Roll Express for the NWA Tag title at Clash XI. This is an awesome match with 4 of the best tag wrestlers ever! This match is fast paced and features some great back and forth wrestling. The only downside is the DQ decision at the end but still worth checking out.The first match of disc 2 is a US title match with Lex Luger taking on Ric Flair. I love all of their matches and this one is no different. Great wrestling, great psychology and all around great action make this match another one worth viewing. It's another DQ match but it's still worth viewing.Up next is a 6 man tag from Clash 15 with the Young Pistols and Tom Zenk taking on the Freebirds and Badstreet. This match is ok and has some cool spots but I'm still wondering why it's on this set.The next match is the Battle Royal from Clash XVI which is actually the first Clash that I saw as a kid. Again this is another one of those matches where you're left scratching your head. It's a good match and El Gigante (aka Giant Gonzales) wins but I still can't understand why it's on here.The next one is Sting defending the US title against Rick Rude from Clash XVII. This match is ok but I would have prefered the 20 minute draw they had at Clash XXI. This one is subpar mainly because Sting was supposed to be hurt during the match. Earlier in the show a package or gift was presented to Sting and Madusa was in it. While she was flirting with him Lex Luger came out and attacked Sting. So he was still showing signs of being hurt for this match and it kind of took away from it. Still, it's a Sting match and worth viewing.The next match is the 2/3 fall match for the WCW Tag titles between Brian Pillman and Steve Austin vs Ric Flair and Arn Anderson. This was a great match even though the ending is pretty crappy. I enjoyed all the time we see Austin and Flair in the ring with each other but one thing I didn't like is the fact that they edited out Jesse Ventura's commentary. We only hear Tony Schvonie's commentary and it is kind of hard to watch because of that. I don't know why they just didn't get Austin or Anderson or both to step in and do some guest commentary with JR or Michael Cole or Matt Striker. That would have been better then gaps in the commentary. Still, the match is fun to watch.Up next is a match between Brian Pillman and Steve Austin. This is after Austin turned on Pillman and joined the Studd Stable. It's a good match but I honestly don't think it was good enough to be on this set.After that one we get another suprising match with Dustin Rhodes and Steven Regal going at it for the WCW TV title. This was a great contest between two very underrated wrestlers. The match does go to a draw but it is very well worth seeing.The last match of disc 2 is an Elimination match with Sting and Ric Flair taking on Rick Rude and Vader. This match is very very good and I was so glad that I found out that it was going to be on the set. It is really a dream match with 4 of the biggest stars at the time going at it. The match goes for like 22:00 and that was pretty long for a televised match at the time. Flair gets eliminated early on like after maybe 10:00 or so because of a massive suplex Vader gives him. Then Vader is eliminated at the same time by DQ so the rest of the match is between Sting and Rude and these two deliver another great match up. This one is worth the price of the DVD set alone!The last disc starts with the Unification match of the WCW World and International titles when Sting once again takes on Ric Flair. This isnt't Clash I again but it is still an enjoyable match. I do feel that the whole Sherri storyline that goes along with the match takes away from it but it's still worth seeing Flair unify the titles and add to his legacy.The next match is a US title match between Steve Austin and Ricky Steamboat. As always this is a great match between the two and if I'm not mistaken this was Ricky's last match in the WCW due to an injury he received. Classic wrestling, great match.The next match is another really good one from Clash XXXII when Ric Flair and the Giant take on Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage. This is a big time match and all 4 guys I thought brought it for this one. This is also the match where Elizabeth makes her debut. The fact that Flair and Giant won made me smile ear to ear when I was younger and when I watched it again here recently it made me do it again.The next match is a women's match from Clash XXXIII between Madusa and Bull Nakano. These two always put on classics and this one was no different. Awesome contest between one of the best from Japan and in my opinion the greatest American women's wrestler of all time Madusa. I'm hoping because they have been putting her (Madusa) on some of the last few DVD releases that maybe she'll go into the Hall of Fame and has finally gotten over the embarrasment of dumping the WWE Women's title in the trash at WCW.Now we get another head scratcher as DDP takes on Eddie Guerrero for the Battle Bowl ring. It was a good match, don't get me wrong but neither one of these guys were big stars at the time so I'm not sure why their match was included on this set. Still though, watch it, cause it is a good match.The next match is a Triple Threat match with the Steiners taking on Harlem Heat as well as Sting and Lex Luger for the WCW Tag titles. This is a good match but the ending with the match being declared a no contest kind of took away from it all. Still worth seeing.The next match was Ultimo Dragon defending the WCW Cruiserweight title against Dean Malenko. This match, as is always the case with these two, was very well done and well worth seeing. I'm not so sure if it was as good as their Starrcade 1996 match for the 9 Cruiserweight titles but it was still worth seeing.The next match was from the very last Clash and it featured Chris Jericho defending the WCW Cruiserweight title against Eddie Guerrero. This was another good match and again was another match that was well worth seeing.The last match was the main event from the last Clash as it was Lex Luger and DDP taking on Scott Hall and Randy Savage. Honestly, Hall is not worth seeing in this match but everyone else carries the match and makes it well worth seeing. I can't remember now for the life of me whether we get to see Sting with the vulture at the end but even without that segment it's still worth seeing.There are some extra matches on Blu Ray and if you bought this at Best Buy you received two bonus matches. I didn't get either one of these but because I've seen every Clash event I can tell you about the matches. The first BR match is a tag match with the Midnight Express taking on Ric Flair and Barry Windham. This was at Clash IV and was a very good match that I wish was on the regular DVD set. The match goes about 17:00 and does have Flair and Windham going over but this was an instant classic. The next bonus BR match we get is from Clash XVIII and it features another tag match with Steve Austin and Rick Rude taking on Sting and Ricky Steamboat. This is another match that I wish was on the regular DVD set but sadly WWE decided to put it on the BR set only. This is a fantastic match that actually features the top 4 contenders for the WCW World title. Great contest and well worth seeing. The final BR bonus match we get is the Thundercage match from Clash XXII as Sting and Dustin Rhodes took on Vader, Paul Orndorff and Barry Windham. This was yet another match that should have been on the regular DVD set. Fantastic contest that I believe was originally supposed to be a 8 man tag. The match was supposed to be Sting, Dustin Rhodes, Van Hammer and Ron Simmons taking on Vader, Rick Rude, Barbarian and Barry Windham. That would have been good but what you get is even better. Great contest and also features Cactus Jack turning good.If you bought this DVD set at Best Buy then there was 2 other matches your could have gotten. The first one was Hulk Hogan taking on Ric Flair for the WCW World title at Clash XXXIII. This was not their best match together and I am glad this one was not on the regular set. It's a terrible match with the two and it ends in DQ, so it's not worth seeing. The final BB bonus match was the Midnight Express taking on the Fantastics for the NWA US title from Clash I. This was a pretty good match but again I am glad WWE kept this off the regular set.So, all in all this is a pretty good set. Of course there are some matches I wish was on here like: Sting and Ric Flair taking on Dick Slater and Great Muta from Clash VIII, the Steiners taking on Doom for the NWA Tag titles and also Doom's masks on the line from Clash X, Ric Flair taking on Bobby Eaton for the NWA World title in a 2/3 falls match at Clash XII (this one in particular is one I was suprised was not on the set as it requested a lot by fans), Lex Luger taking on Rick Steiner for the WCW World title at Clash XVII which is a very underrated match, Steiners taking on Steve Williams and Terry Gordy at Clash XIX, Shane Douglas and Ricky Steamboat taking on Steve Austin and Brian Pillman for the WCW Tag titles at Clash XXII, and there are many more that I won't mention at this time. Here's hoping for Best of the Clash of the Champions Vol II.

Received on time and my son with Autism loves it. We have many many blu-rays and dvds.

I don't often buy wrestling DVD's but when I saw this and some of the match listings I thought I had to get it. There are some definite all time classic matches in this set and may even make the purchase price worth it however there are some real bad matches on here that can in no way shape or form be considered the "BEST" of the Clash. When you see Rock & Roll vs Midnight Express you think...great match but what we got was a lame DQ finish match. I would have rather seen the DOOM vs Steiner Brothers title match they refer to during the R&R/Midnight match. The Cactus Jack match was horrible. Does anyone really want to see Ricky Morton in a Russian Chain match with Ivon Koloff? The battle royal was ok until the end when you see "Oz" jump over the top rope because El Gigante (Also read as...horrible mistake) couldn't even push him over the top. Z-Man? He's the BEST OF THE CLASH? No..and that version of the Freebirds was pitiful.As I said, some definite classics here but I wouldn't classify this as the "Best of the Clash" I would say this is more WWE trying to show once again that they're better by making you think these lame matches were the best that the NWA/WCW could offer at the time.

The person who it was bought for loves it

I like the whole DVD

I grew up on Clash of the Champions. The first one converted me from a WWF guy to a full blown WCW fan until the Russo era hit. Some of the matches are short (Medusa Nakano, and I have no idea what a six man tag would go 5 minutes or so), but the classics, like Flair Sting from I, Steamboat Austin, and even some forgotten ones like Lex vs. Flair make this a wide array of matches with a host of stars.

As others have said, more background would be nice and I'm sure some great matches were left out. But I enjoy seeing these matches as I missed most of them at the time. I was more a WWF fan and didn't watch other promos regularly. So I'm catching up after the fact. Nice to see Falir, Sting, Dusty, Rude, etc. at their height. Let's see more releases from WCW and other promos, Vince.

loved all the matches

The Good:- A couple of good matches (Steamboat vs Austin, Sting & Flair vs Rick Rude & Vader, Sting VS Rude to name a few).- Cactus Jack VS Mil Mascaras: Mascaras is a legend, for sure! But watching him circling the ring on his toes and tucking his belly in had me laughing hard (thanks to Jericho in his book for this info!). Also, a great "Neatea Plunge" by Cactus Jack onto the floor makes this match worth seeing.- The overall packaging is nice (but having Flair selling a knucklelock on the cover is ridiculous).The Bad:- Very very short matches!- No documentary.- Not enough Dusty Rhodes! He is an incredible story teller. Could have used a lot more of him throughout the DVD.- This is a "Best of" compilation. Please keep that in mind while watching Hulk Hogan & Macho Man get it on with Giant & Ric Flair! And don't you dare skip Ricky Morton vs Ivan Koloff! Also, try keeping your eyelids open for the 15 men battle royal!- Honestly, I have the feeling WWE production is not going all out with the best stuff in these compilations, keeping some material for future DVDs, thus milking even more money from older fans that doesn't follow the product anymore.- Tony Schiavone LOVES talking to himself. Seriously, how cheap is the WWE? Just pay Ventura already!Final verdict:2 out of 5.Get it if your starving (like I was) for classic wrestling from the 80's and 90's. But honestly, this is a floppy effort!

great for wrestling fans to watch

Five stars

great

excellent blu ray of the clash Thank You.