There was no match in the career of Sting more important than this one. After a two year stint in Bill Watt's UWF to start his career, a still very young Sting entered the NWA in the summer of 1987 and was immediately positioned as a featured talent on their shows. Before too long, he was put into the ring with the best in the business at the time, Ric Flair, at the inaugural edition of the Clash of the Champions in March 1988. The match garnered the match of the year award for 1988 from the The Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The new Clash of the Champions event aired on TBS directly opposite of WWF's WrestleMania IV. Those that didn't feel like spending the money on WWF's premiere show had the option to tune in to another wrestling card, free of charge. If they did so on this night, they didn't end up regretting saving their cash. WrestleMania turned out to be a lackluster show that year, but Clash of the Champions created a new wrestling superstar as Sting and Flair went out and put on a 45 minute wrestling clinic. When the time limit expired, the match ended in a draw as the ringside judges couldn't pronounce a winner. However, Sting clearly came out ahead as the match firmly established him as a top star in the promotion going forward. A star was born as the new face of the company had officially arrived on the scene. It has been over 26 years since this match initially aired, and it's definitely no mistake that this is still one of the most talked about matches in wrestling history. This is the match that created a legend.
