The first Starrcade I ever watched LIVE was the 1994 edition featuring Hulk Hogan versus the Butcher AKA Brutus Beefcake. Needless to say I wasn't all too impressed with the event. This was supposed to be WCW's biggest show of the year, and all I saw were WWF has-beens like the Nasty Boys , Earthquake, and Jim Duggan . Mr. T was even part of the show—eight years removed from his last in-ring performance. I was really put off by WCW for quite some time, but mustered the resilience required to give them another go. With just a few trips to my local Blockbuster , I was tuned back into the action—realizing that any promotion is prone to have a bad show now and again. But it's how they improve upon their mistakes that adds value to the overall franchise. By 1995 I was a full-fledged fan once more and hopeful that the World Cup might make for a more enticing event. It was a success—at least in my opinion—and from there on out I was an annual Starrcade subscriber. Or at least my parents were, because I was 9. My name is Mark Adam Haggerty from Daily Wrestling News and B+ Player Radio , and I've returned with another round of wrestling titles worth checking out on the WWE Network . Last week I offered up an awesome WWF In Your House Countdown – which you can check out by CLICKING HERE . I figure the best place to start with WCW Starrcade is at the very end, because contrary to popular belief, WCW's in-ring product was astonishing during its final downfall. It wasn't up to par with the early days of the NWA and Jim Crockett Promotions , but it was good enough to break the Top 10 .
10. Starrcade 2000 – MCI Center (Washington DC)
Just three months removed from the inevitable end,
Starrcade 2000
emanated from Washington DC. The MCI Center played host to
four
Starrcades, tying both the
Omni
and
Greensboro Coliseum
for number of events. This pay per-view came about at a time in which WCW started to invest more in their paid-TV model, versus relying on cable television
ratings
as a universal litmus test. Unfortunately nothing would help save WCW, and
Starrcade 2000
was to be the final flagship event.
You Should Definitely Watch:
The opening three-way tag team match featured various groups that would lay the groundwork for WCW's short-lived
Cruiserweight Tag Division
.
But You Can Probably Skip:
Big Vito and
Reno
—if you remember him—brawled with KroniK in a bona fide
DUD
; Shane Douglas took on Hugh Morrus AKA
General Rection
in a match that made me question
either
man's credibility as a performer.
Average Meltzer Rating:
2 Stars
9. Starrcade 1997 – MCI Center (Washington DC)
The MCI Center opened on December 5
th
1997, and on
December 28
th
hosted the fifteenth-annual
Starrcade
classic. Starrcade '97 would go on to be
WCW's
most successful pay per-view of all time, thanks to the 17-month build between
Hollywood Hogan
and the
Man Called Sting
. From a business perspective, Starrcade 1997 was the greatest Starrcade of all time—but from a
wrestling
perspective, it wasn't really any better than the aforementioned
Starrcade 1994.
You Should Definitely Watch:
The build to the main event was incredible, so in that respect, you should probably check out the world title match. The best match on the card is the
Cruiserweight Title
match between Eddie Guerrero and Dean Malenko.
But You Can Probably Skip:
Larry Zbyszko and Eric Bischoff fought for control of WCW—that was terrible. But not nearly as unwatchable as Bill Goldberg versus Steve "Mongo" McMichael.
Average Meltzer Rating:
Вѕ Stars
8. Starrcade 1987 – UIC Pavilion (Chicago)
World Championship Wrestling—formerly known as
Jim Crockett Promotions
—was a staple of the Southeastern United States. In 1987 the shining star of the
National Wrestling Alliance
ventured into unfamiliar territory, and produced
Starrcade: Chi-Town Heat
. The Chicago event took place at the
University of Illinois Chicago Pavilion
, drawing north of 8,000 fans. The main event featured a steel cage match with the "Nature Boy" Ric Flair challenging the
NWA World Champion
"Rugged" Ron Garvin.
You Should Definitely Watch:
This card was full of great tag team action including: a six man opening contest with the Fabulous Freebirds; a
Scaffold
match between the Rock �N' Roll Express and the
Midnight Express;
and a world tag title bout featuring the Road Warriors against Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard.
But You Can Probably Skip:
I wasn't a fan of the superfluous Television Title Unification Match between the NWA's Nikita Koloff and the UWF's Terry Taylor. Nor did I enjoy Steve Williams versus Barry Windham for the UWF Heavyweight Championship.
Average Meltzer Rating:
2 Stars
7. Starrcade 1991 & 1992 – The Norfolk Scope [1991] & The Omni (Atlanta) [1992]
In 1991
WCW
introduced
Battle Bowl
and its
Lethal Lottery
. Forty WCW competitors were paired at random to form impromptu tag team combinations for a series of
ten
matches. The winners of each match would then advance to the
Battle Bowl Battle Royal
, wherein the winner would earn a championship opportunity. Since Starrcade �91 and �92 were virtually the same—minus a few added caveats in 1992, I decided to list them both for their
strange-yet-appealing
place in history.
You Should Definitely Watch:
Starrcade '91 featured nothing but tag team matches followed by the main event battle royal—won by
Sting
. The following year's highlight matches included the NWA/WCW tag team unification match between Ricky Steamboat & Shane Douglas and Barry Windham & Flyin’ Brian. As well as the
King of Cable Tournament Finals
featuring Big Van Vader and Sting.
But You Can Probably Skip:
The opening match from 1991—minus Marcus Alexander Bagwell's entrance because he's
ridiculous.
Plus any of the
Lethal Lottery
matches from 1992 with the exception of Barry Windham and Muta versus 2 Cold Scorpio and Flyin' Brian. Big night for Brian Pillman.
Average Meltzer Rating:
1ВЅ Stars [1991] & 2 Stars [1992]
6. Starrcade 1989 – The Omni (Atlanta)
Starrcade 1989
was titled
"Future Shock"
and featured a twelve-match
round-robin tournament
to crown the
"Iron Man"
and
"Iron Team
" of
World Championship Wrestling
. There were no championship matches of any kind, and the main event would see Ric Flair battle Sting in the deciding bout. The point system was structured so as to afford Sting an overall victory with 40 points, defeating Lex Luger with 35, Flair with 25, and the Great Muta with zero. This would lead to a championship rivalry between Sting and Flair that would last several years and include multiple title exchanges.
You Should Definitely Watch:
The
"Iron Team Tournament"
ran congruent to the singles competition; The Road Warriors won with 40 points to the Steiner's 35, the
New
Wild Samoans' 30, and Doom's
zero.
But You Can Probably Skip:
There's not much to skip as nothing is discernibly worse than anything else. My only suggestion would be to skip the first several matches because everything will be recapped going forward, and nothing in the opening bouts is
must-see
material. I'd jump over the first
four
matches and begin with the Steiner Brothers versus the Road Warriors and go from there.
Average Meltzer Rating:
2 Вј Stars
5. Starrcade 1995 – Nashville Municipal Auditorium
After the extreme disappointment that was
Starrcade 1994
, WCW introduced the
World Cup Tournament
—a seven match competition featuring WCW against NJPW. In addition to the
World Cup—
which went to
World Championship Wrestling—
the heavyweight title was on the line with four men vying to take the title. This was the first
Starrcade
to take place during the "
Nitro Era,"
as well as the
last
before the industry-changing onset of the
Monday Night War.
You Should Definitely Watch:
The triangle match to decide the number one contender was something rare at that time, especially for veteran performers such as Lex Luger, Sting, and the man who'd
win
the bout—Ric Flair. Additional matches you should
definitely
see are Chris Benoit versus Jushin "Thunder" Liger, and Eddie Guerrero versus Shinjiro Otani.
But You Can Probably Skip:
I wasn't crazy about the main event; Ric Flair won the triangle match and went on to challenge Randy Savage. And with all due respect to Masa Saito, I can't stand
any
match with
Johnny B. Badd.
Average Meltzer Rating:
2 Вј Stars
4. Starrcade 1986 – Greensboro Coliseum & the Omni (Atlanta)
I should mention that WCW is
all
about simulcasting. They did it in 1985 and revived the tradition again in 1986. It's clear to see why;
Starrcade '85
ran eight months after
WrestleMania I
, giving Vince McMahon the idea to simulcast
WrestleMania 2
from three venues coast-to-coast. In 1986 there was no going back and the
Night of the Skywalkers
was featured in front of 30,000 fans split between Atlanta Georgia and Greensboro North Carolina. This is considered by many to be the
BEST
Starrcade of all time, featuring
twelve
matches averaging a
Meltzer Star Rating
of 2¾. It's worth noting however, that if you average the
top seven
matches on the event, the rating jumps to 3½. Why
seven
matches, you ask? Because number
three
on the countdown has just—you guessed it—
SEVEN
matches.
You Should Definitely Watch:
The main
attraction
is the scaffold match between the Midnight Express and the Road Warriors, and while I'm not super keen on it—you should probably check it out. Aside from the
exceptional
world championship match between Ric Flair and Nikita Koloff, I'm extremely partial to the steel cage opener with the Minnesota Wrecking Crew taking on the Rock �N' Roll Express
But You Can Probably Skip:
Brad Armstrong versus Jimmy Garvin seemed to mean nothing, and the hair versus hair with Jimmy Valiant and Paul Jones—AKA "Who the hell is Paul Jones?"—was abhorrent.
Average Meltzer Rating:
2 Вѕ Stars
3. Starrcade 1988 – The Norfolk Scope
With just seven matches—including a highly acclaimed world title match—
Starrcade 1988: True Grit
is one of the most fondly-remembered WCW pay per-views of all time. In fact it was the
first
Starrcade to carry the WCW banner, as
Jim Crockett Promotions
had quietly exited the picture some months earlier. According to Dave Meltzer, Starrcade 1988 has the highest
Average
Star Rating in the event's history—with a high of 4 ½ and a low of 1 ½.
You Should Definitely Watch:
The main event is the highest rated match on the card, and pits Lex Luger against the champion Ric Flair for the world's heavyweight title. I also really enjoyed Rick Steiner versus Mike Rotunda for the TV title, and Bam Bam Bigelow versus Barry Windham for the U.S. title
But You Can Probably Skip:
The only must-miss match on the card was the
Russian Assassins
versus Ivan Koloff and the
Junkyard Dog.
I mean—what the hell is that about?
Average Meltzer Rating:
3 Вј Stars
2. Starrcade 1985 – Greensboro Coliseum & the Omni (Atlanta)
It's safe to say two stars of
Starrcade
are Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes. Though Flair has headlined a record
TEN
Starrcades—eight in a
row
—his most prolific opponent of the 1980s was of course Dusty. Flair fought Rhodes at
Starrcade
1984 in the
Million Dollar Challenge
, but the match came to a halt in just 12 minutes due to a cut over Dusty's eye. They rekindled their rivalry in 1985 at
Starrcade: The Gathering
—an event that was simulcast from the
Omni
in Atlanta and
Greensboro Coliseum
in North Carolina.
You Should Definitely Watch:
As for the
Omni
show, the match of the night—besides the main event—was the
Atlanta Street Fight
between Jimmy Valiant & Ron Garvin and the Midnight Express. The
�Coliseum Show
had an unbelievable "I Quit" Steel Cage Match with Tully Blanchard defending his
U.S.
belt against Magnum TA.
But You Can Probably Skip:
Billy Graham's arm wrestling match with the Barbarian was preposterous, and their subsequent match was just as bad.
Average Meltzer Rating:
N/A
1. Starrcade 1983 – Greensboro Coliseum
It might sound gratuitous but to me, there's no better
Starrcade
spectacular than the one that started them all. The
Original Starrcade
took place on November 24, 1983 in front of a sold out 16,000 people in Greensboro North Carolina. The event was dubbed
"A Flair for the Gold
"—named in honor of Ric Flair's quest to defeat Harley Race for the world's title. Though not as flashy or star-studded as
WrestleMania
, Starrcade was the inspiration for and precursor to the WWE's annual mega event. So I guess you could say Starrcade is to WrestleMania what the
Magna Carta
is to the
American Constitution.
Right?
You Should Definitely Watch:
The Dog Collar Match between "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and Greg Valentine is one of the most gruesome encounters of all time. A particular favorite of mine has always been Jimmy Valiant AKA
Charlie Brown
against the Great Kabuki in a TV Title versus
mask
match.
But You Can Probably Skip:
Unless you're smitten with the legend and
aura
of Abdullah the Butcher, his match with Carlos Colon can pretty much go ignored forever.
Average Meltzer Rating:
N/A
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