Erm…spoiler.
Date: December 27, 1993
Venue: Independence Arena (Charlotte, NC)
Commentators: Tony Schiavone & Jesse Ventura
For those unaware, Starrcade was World Championship Wrestling’s equivalent to Wrestlemania in fact the event itself actually predates Mania by two years. Starrcade was the crown jewel in WCW, and prior to that Jim Crockett Promotions’ event calendar and was originally held on or around Thanksgiving, but moved to December due to Vince McMahon‘s WWF ruthlessly holding the Survivor Series on the same night, and almost forcing US cable companies to air his event instead of Starrcade for fear of losing the rights to broadcast Wrestlemania. This particular Starrcade marked the 10th anniversary of the show, and is headlined by Ric Flair putting his storied career on the line to challenge Big Van Vader for the World Heavyweight Championship. So join me dear PWUpdate reader, as I take a look at all the matches that took place on this installment of wrestling’s true “Grandaddy of the all”.
*****
The PPV opens with a video package covering Ric Flair‘s life and works featuring real photos of Ric as a child & youngster, interspersed with footage of significant moments of Flair’s in ring career all set to piano music & soundbites of famous Flair quotes, before the video skips & were shown footage of Vader‘s path of destruction throughout WCW. An excellent production that does a good job of highlighting the theme of an ageing great in Flair risking it all against the monstrous Vader for a chance to become World Champion again in his hometown.
Following that excellent video, Tony Schiavone and Jesse Ventura welcome us to the show, before cutting to footage of Vader & manager Harley Race arriving at the Independence Arena, the host arena for Starrcade, earlier in the day. Vader amusingly arrives in full mask & gloves in addition to the legendary Ribera Steakhouse jacket as he enters the building. We are also shown Vader working out in the empty arena, showing off his speed & power to heighten the task ahead of challenger Flair.
Tony reveals that Flair isn’t in the arena yet, but Gene Okerlund is on location at the Flair household as Ric prepares to leave. We cut to this scene as a worried Flair says goodbye to his wife & kids, complete with appearances from David, current NXT diva Charlotte & the tragically late Reid Flair. As Ric & Gene exit the house an go to enter the limo taking them to the show, the two discuss the stipulations of the match, and the dominance of Vader in hushed tones far removed from pomp & bluster of traditional Ric Flair interviews. Flair humbly & quietly says that he isn’t thinking about the consequences should he lose, and instead vows to once again be the champion. Again the production on this limo ride is excellent, far from the “usual” pro wrestling tropes, this serious, understated tone is light years away from the cartoon neon WWF from the same period that I’m used to and I had a blast watching these vignettes.
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Match #1: Marcus Alexander Bagwell & 2 Cold Scorpio [w/ Teddy Long] Vs. Pretty Wonderful (Paul Orndorff & Paul Roma) [w/ The Assassin]
First off the faces take to the ring, where Teddy is presented with a Manager of the Year Award as voted for by callers to the WCW hotline, and after a few words from Long, Pretty Wonderful make their way to the ring.
The heels attempt to jump their opponents but are soon thwarted and whipped into each other causing Roma to fall out of the ring, and Orndorff to be blasted by a breakdance inspired assisted overhead kick, before the two Pauls regroup on the outside. Back in the ring Bagwell & Roma begin the match proper, with Roma working over Marcus early before Bagwell hits back with a crossbody & armdrag. The faces take turns working an armbar for a while, before Roma slams Bagwell to escape & tag in his partner, who charges and gets trapped in an armbar himself. Control switches to Scorpio when Orndorff fights out of the hold and tags Roma back in. Scorpio deftly escapes a suplex attempt and catches Roma with a flying headscissors. During some back & forth action Scorpio uses a great modified Indian Deathlock on Roma’s arm, complete with falling on his back to increase the pain in a move I can’t ever remember seeing before. Both teams switch places as Orndorff & Bagwell come in, with Marcus getting beaten down until he gets Mr Wonderful in a sleeperhold, but with the ref distracted Roma leaps from the top rope to nail Bagwell & free his partner. Orndorff works Marcus over some more, including hitting a nice belly to back suplex before tagging in Roma who misses a splash off the top allowing Scorpio to get a hot tag and run wild on both heels, leaping off the top rope to hot Orndorff with a leaping punch, and punching heel manager The Assassin who had climbed up on the apron. Dazed, The Assassin places a foreign object inside the mask he wears, and headbutts Scorpio behind the Ref’s back, knocking him out and allowing Orndorff to make the cover & pick up the tainted win for Pretty Wonderful.
Winners [via Pinfall]: Pretty Wonderful (11:45)
- Martin’s Thoughts: A fun match overall, and a good way to start an event with some good action from all 4 involved. That said, Roma’s comical overselling of an atomic drop and when he missed his splash from the top did annoy me, and seemed at odds with everyone else’s selling. That complaint aside though I enjoyed watching it.
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Match #2: The Shockmaster Vs. Awesome Kong [w/ King Kong]
This starts off very quickly as the two massive Kongs jump Shockmaster as he enters the ring, beating him down with a double clothesline & double corner avalanche, despite being billed in the match, Awesome Kong makes way for King Kong to continue wrestling the match. Shockmaster dodges another attempt at a corner avanalche and hits a body press, before finishing off Kong with a bodyslam and getting the pinfall.
Winner [via Pinfall]: The Shockmaster (1:34)
- Martin’s Thoughts: The only thing this match had in its favour for me was that it didn’t last long enough to become terrible. As it was I thought it was merely bad but didn’t deserve it’s place on WCW’s biggest show of the year.
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Match #3: Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne Vs. Tex Slazenger & Shanghai Pierce
The match starts slowly as Pierce & Payne kick things off. So slow in fact that the announcers begin to debate what exactly is on the front of Payne’s T-Shirt (a skull with a mohawk). Payne easily slams Pierce as both men then tag in their partners. As Jack enters the ring Tony & Jesse discuss Jack’s beatings at the hands of Vader, further playing up Foley’s toughness & Vader’s vicious streak. During some spirited brawling between Tex & Cactus, Foley hits a nice arm DDT, leading to him & Payne nearly decapitating Slazenger with a double clothesline. The heels take control on Maxx after he misses a corner avalanche, Payme does hit a sunset flip on Tex however before tagging in Cactus. Jack sends both heels over the top rope to the floor (behind the referees back to avoid the over the top rope disqualification rule prevalent in WCW at the time) before Payne sloppily backdrops his own partner over the ropes & onto Tex at ringside. Tex then gets trapped in the Payne Killer submission but is saved my his partner, before a tagged in Cactus avoids a double team assault and hits Pierce with a double arm DDT allowing him to get the Pinfall win for his team.>
Winners [via Pinfall]: Cactus Jack & Maxx Payne (7:45)
- Martin’s Thoughts: A fun wild brawl between these four, I found myself enjoying this match despite some sloppy work from Payne. Foley as Cactus Jack was the star for me as even though he was a wild brawler, he had such a grasp of psychology that he could make this something more than a fist fight. Quite enjoyable.
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Match #4: “Lord” Steven Regal [w/ Sir William] Vs. Ricky “The Dragon” Steamboat for the WCW Television Title
As this match starts, Regal refuses to engage with the challenger Steamboat, continually hanging by the ropes to frustrate the hometown hero. Eventually the two lock up, where Regal forces Steamboat to one knee, but soon the stronger Steamboat powers out. Regal manages a punch to Ricky’s arm, which causes Steamboat to pause & favour the now injured limb and he is now the one hesitant to lock up with the ace technician Regal. Regal does get his hands on Steamboat & begins to work on the injured arm with a twisting armwringer, this kicks off a great series of armbar & arm whip reversals between the two. Ricky rocks Regal with a pair of hip tosses that have the aristocratic Regal reeling but he soon regains control, taking Steamboat down and focusing on Steamboat’s legs. Steamboat manages to halt Regal’s assault with a well placed enzugiri to the back of Regal’s neck, follows by a bodyslam & top rope chop but can only keep Steven down for a two count.
Steamboat begins to work on Regal’s arm in a reversal of momentum with armbars & hammerlocks as we are informed that only 4 minutes of the 15 minute time limit remains. After bridging out of a headscissors Regal escapes an armbar with forearm shots to Steamboat’s back followed my a vicious European uppercut that sends sweat flying as they hit the 3 minute mark.
Regal bails to the outside after a hard chop from Steamboat who follows out of the ring. Steamboat gets distracted by Sir William & gives chase, but gets blindsided by Regal with a dropkick as he runs around the ring.
Back in the ring we get some more great chain wrestling and reversals as the timer ticks away. Steamboat reverses Regal’s attempt at a butterfly suplex with one of his own for a close two count as we’re told one minute remains on the clock. The canny Regal again bails out of the ring as Stamboat again gives chase and fends off interference by Sir William and rolls Regal back into the ring. With only 10 seconds remaining Steamboat climbs the ropes and dives off with a crossbody, but Regal dodges as Ricky crashes onto the mat. Steamboat rallies with a beautiful bridging German suplex but to no avail as the bell rings signalling that the time limit has expired, meaning the match is a draw and Regal retains his title.
Winner: Time Limit Draw (15:00); Regal retains the WCW Television Title
- Martin’s Thoughts: The best match of the show so far. The excellent work by both men, coupled with the time pressure created a sense of urgency as the match wore on, even the shenanigans of Sir William at ringside played perfectly into the story being told. I thought this was excellent.
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Match #5: “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes (c) Vs. “Stunning” Steve Austin [w/ Col. Robert Parker] in a 2/3 FALLS MATCH for the WCW United States Title
Rhodes takes control of this one in the early stages, frustrating Austin with takedowns and superior chain wrestling, eventually paying tribute to his father with a bionic elbow, sending Austin packing to the outside. Back in the ring, Austin attempts to take control but again is out wrestled by “The Natural” and again makes for the outside.
Austin does manage to catch a charging Dustin with a kick to the gut when back in the ring once more and attempts a Powerbomb, but Dustin manages to reverse it into a backslide for a close near fall, and Austin again heads for the outside. Up until this point Rhodes had remained in the ring, not being tempted to brawl with Austin, but Austin manages to drag Dustin out with him for some action but even here Dustin outclasses Stunning Steve, whipping him into and over the guardrail, into the fans. Austin does get control of the match eventually, wearing down Rhodes with kicks & elbows before choking Dustin as he lays draped across the ropes. Col. Parker uses this time to get in Dustin’s face, insulting Dustin’s father repeatedly. Austin’s control is short lived however as Dustin fights back with punches and uppercuts, with Austin reeling from the blows. Parker distracts Dustin allowing Austin the chance to jump the champion, hitting a belly to back suplex, but a cocky pin by the arrogant Austin only gets a two count. After a double down and a near fall for Austin, the future “Stone Cold” misses a second rope kneedrop, allowing Dustin to hit another bionic elbow, a leaping clothesline and a powerslam, but Austin kicks out.
Col. Parker climbs onto the apron hoping to distract Dustin once more so his charge can turn the tide. He is partially successful as Dustin whips Austin into Parker, sending him tumbling to the floor & Austin sailing over the top rope. In accordance with WCW rules however Dustin is disqualified for throwing his opponent over the ropes, gifting Austin the first fall. An angry Rhodes follows Austin outside of the ring, hurling him into the ring post and busting open the challenger. Tossing a bloody Austin back into the ring, Dustin continues his assault, hitting a top rope axe handle as the arena lights freak out, leaving the action illuminated only by a spotlight. As Dustin attempts a ten punch spot in the corner to a bloody & dazed Austin, the challenger manages to roll Dustin off the ropes, and pins him with a handful of trunks as the referee counts the champion’s shoulders down for a three count, giving Steve Austin the victory in two straight falls and the United States Championship.
Winner and NEW United States Champion (Two Straight Falls): Steve Austin (15:54)
- Martin’s Thoughts: Years before they collided in the WWF, a very different Steve Austin & Dustin Rhodes met here. It’s fun to see Dustin as a firey Babyface & Austin play an almost cowardly heel as both were as far away from their more famous WWF personas than one could get. Aside from the fun trip down memory lane, the match itself was fun to watch, Dustin losing in two successive falls was surprising, but the manner in which Austin claimed those falls left him looking a little weak, as he was being outclassed by Dustin prior to Rhodes getting DQed. Taken on it’s own merits though this was a fine match with two great workers, and the prestige of the US title does add to the occasion.
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Match #6: “Ravishing” Rick Rude (c) Vs. The Boss for the WCW International Heavyweight Title
Michael Buffer is on hand for the introductions for this World Heavyweight Championship match, (different to the WCW Championship because of various complications arising from WCWs involvement with, and cessation from the NWA). We’re told that The Boss (Ray “Big Boss Man” Traylor) is here in substitution for Davey Boy Smith who cannot compete and challenge for the “Big Gold Belt”. The match starts with the two opponents getting in each others faces for some trash talking, before the two lock up & jockey for position around the ring. This happens twice with Rude cowering in the corner each time to force a break by the referee. The second time Rude manages to sneak in a cheap shot to the Boss before Rude begins to work over the Boss with forearms, elbows & punches. The Boss does manage to comeback with a back body drop & big boot, before hitting Rude with a back breaker for the first near fall of the match. The Boss continues his assault on Rude whipping him into the corners and sending him outside where he slams the champion on the floor mats and suplexing Rude into the ropes from the floor, leaving Rick hung in a tree of woe style situation. With Rude tied up, Boss hits Rude with palm strikes twice as Rick attempts to sit up out of the tree of woe. Once Rude is untangled, Boss gets him in a Bearhug to slow things down to a crawl before Rude fights his way out, reverses a corner charge by Boss but once again gets stopped when he gets caught with a punch as he dives off the top rope. Boss positions Rude in the ropes and attempts to splash the champ with his leg, but instead gets crotched on the middle rope as Rick moves out of the way, before Rude catches the Boss with a sunset flip over the ropes, pinning Boss’ shoulders for a three count & successfully retaining the World Heavyweight Championship
Winner and STILL International Champion [via Pinfall]: Rick Rude (9:08)
- Martin’s Thoughts: Despite being brutalized by the walking copyright issue The Boss for most of the match, Rude was shown to be a master opportunist in retaining his belt, but the thrown together nature of this feud coupled with the Boss’ punch heavy ring style weren’t conducive to a classic title match for me. I didn’t hate it, but it just felt adequate, even with the life of it being a title match.
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Match #7: The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs & Jerry Sags) (c) [w/ Missy Hyatt] Vs. Sting & Road Warrior Hawk for the WCW Tag Team Titles
A lot of stalling punctuates the start of this match as the Nasty Boys are content to appeal to the fans, garnering boos and frequently leaving the ring & wasting time on the outside. Early on, Sting easily outclasses Brian Knobbs with armdrags, a flying clothesline & elbow drops, again sending the heels to the outside. As the Nastys look to regroup Hawk lifts his partner in a press slam and hurls him onto the unsuspecting heels as the fans cheer. Hawk & Jerry Sags then tag in to reset the match where Hawk gets the better of Sags, no selling his punches and chopping him in the corner, but after whipping Sags to the opposite buckle Hawk gets caught with a raised boot. The Nasties attempt to double team Hawk but both end up on the receiving end of a double clothesline again sending the champs to the outside. Back in the ring, the painted faces work over Knobbs until Hawk accidentally charges into the ring post, spilling outside the ring where Sags hits Hawk with a chair behind the referee’s back, followed by Missy slapping Hawk in the face to add insult to injury. It’s the heels turn to work over Hawk for a while during which Hawk selling comprises of laying motionless on the canvas. During this beatdown Sags also hits a very sloppy snapmare & armbar which Knobbs also takes control of. Hawk eventually powers out of the hold, tagging in Sting who runs wild on both Nasty Boys until the heels threaten to walk out of the match, opting to retain their titles by count out, but they are soon chased down by Sting & Hawk and dragged back into the ring as the crowd cheer for the first time in a while.
Sting attempts a top rope splash on Knobbs back in the ring but Brian lifts his knees leading to the exhausted heels working over Sting. The two rely on abdominal stretches in between suplexes to Sting as the pace slows. Sags does hit an impressive pump handle slam on Sting before Knobbs employs a camel clutch during which he attempts to banter with a ringside fan, audibly uttering a very strong expletive in the process. As time ticks away and despite some brief flashes of offence by Sting, the Nasties are still in control, prompting Hawk to enter the ring without being tagged to attack both champs, then going back outside to be tagged in & run wild. A gassed Knobbs fails to jump during a bodyslam by Hawk correctly leading to the move looking dreadful. Despite there being no tag, Sting finds himself in the ring with Knobbs as the legal man, and hits a Stinger Splash, prompting Missy Hyatt to climb onto the apron to interfere but Sting kisses the evil Missy, and sidesteps a charging Knobbs who runs into Hyatt, sending her tumbling. As the crowd come alive Sting hoists Knobbs onto his shoulders so the faces can deliver the Doomsday Device, but afterwards as Sting pins Knobbs, a recovered Missy hits the ring & attacks the Stinger, disqualifying her charges in the process but retaining their championships. The heels flee as boos rain down from the crowd and the faces look despondent.
Winners [via DQ]: Sting & Road Warrior Hawk (29:11); The Nasty Boys retain the WCW Tag Team Titles
- Martin’s Thoughts: I didn’t like this match at all. I’ve never enjoyed the Nasties at the best of times but their stalling, incessant retreating to the outside irked me. The length of the match didn’t suit 3 out of 4 of the participants either, as a lack of conditioning of the Nasty Boys & Hawk’s woeful selling dragged down a match would have suited being trimmed down by a few minutes in my opinion. The cheap DQ finish wasn’t welcome on the year end PPV and biggest event on the calendar. A shame really as the other tag matches on the card would’ve been better suited to this place on the show.
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Main Event: Big Van Vader (c) [w/ Harley Race] Vs. Ric Flair for the WCW World Heavyweight Title
The ovation for Flair is astonishing, the cheers drown out Buffer’s introduction of the challenger as he takes on Vader with his career on the line against Vader’s WCW belt. Vader’s power is on display early as be repeatedly shoves Flair across the ring with ease, sending Ric to the outside where Flair attempts to lure Vader into chasing him around ringside but Vader is wise to Flair’s trap & halts before Ric can attack him entering the ring. Back in the ring Vader gets hold of Flair & begins to brutalise him with hard strikes and a clothesline, even taking time to trash talk throughout his assault. Vader lifts Flair overhead for ages in an impressive press slam before sending the challenger crashing to the mat and outside the ring. Flair dodges a Vader charge though, sending Vader into a guardrail, then seizing the opportunity to hit a barrage of punches & chops before running Vader headfirst into a ring post.
Harley Race attacks Flair from behind though, giving Vader time to recover & suplex Ric into the ring from the apron twice, beginning another beatdown of Ric by the massive champion. Vader hits a devastating looking clothesline from the middle rope that catches Flair in the jaw, causing him to bleed from the mouth for the rest of the match. Vader again climbs the ropes for a diving splash only for Flair to roll out of harm’s way giving him an opportunity to hit Vader with three top rope axe handle smashes, sending Vader down to the canvas for the first time setting Flair up to deliver his trademark kneedrop. Vader isn’t down for long though & soon drops Ric with a clothesline, before positioning him on the top turnbuckle for a massive superplex that hurts both champion & challenger. A cocky Vader doesn’t attempt a pin here, instead opting to assault Flair some more. Race again gets a few shots on Flair behind the ref’s back as the announcers reference Flair beating Race at the first Starrcade and how that was Race’s last World title reign. Vader continues to brutalise the popular challenger, hitting a corner avalanche as Race tells Flair to quit the match. Flair is down but not out though as he fights out of a knucklelock, punching & chopping Vader to the mat as the fans cheer wildly. Flair drags a prone Vader into a corner & rams his knee into the ring post, and hitting Vader’s leg with a chair as the ref is distracted by Race. With both men outside, a firey Flair continues to hammer the champion with more punches & chops, followed by another chair shot to Vader’s head.
Back in the ring Flair drapes Vader’s leg on the bottom rope & drops his weight onto it, hoping to set up for the figure four, Vader is still too strong though & kicks Flair off before he can apply the hold. Vader rallies & attempts a Vaderbomb from the second rope. He is unsuccessful as Flair rolls out of the way giving him an opportunity to apply the figure four as the crowd, which has been loud throughout, goes absolutely ballistic. Vader holds on long enough to reach the ropes & break the hold though, and soon splashes a charging Flair to the mat and climbs the ropes for a top rope moonsault. Vader misses though and Flair pins Vader as Race climbs the ropes hoping to deliver a diving headbutt & breaking up the pin. Vader kicks out though, meaning Race drops onto his own man. Champion & challenger get to their feet as the referee bundles Race out of the ring where Flair attempts a running clothesline on Vader but gets knocked down by the mammoth WCW champ, now favouring his injured knee. Flair seizes the chance to chop block Vader’s troublesome knee from behind, schoolboying Vader as he falls and pins the champion’s shoulders to the mat as the referee counts the Pinfall meaning Ric Flair wins the WCW Championship to a rapturous home town ovation as the arena explodes with pyrotechnics. Flair exits with the belt around his waist as confetti rains down and the cheers continue for the new champion.
Winner and NEW World Champion [via Pinfall]: Ric Flair (21:18)
- Martin’s Thoughts: A great main event, the two super workers of Flair & Vader played to each of their strengths and the hometown crowd for Flair, the dominance of Vader going into the match & the story of Flair’s possible retirement all gave the match a “big fight” feel. An expertly booked match too, never dragging or needing to rely on rest holds to kill time gave me a satisfied glow after watching it.
*****
Overall Show Thoughts
I must confess the recordings I had to use to watch Starrcade 93 edited out most of the pre & post match segments, instead focusing on the matches themselves, but being in the UK where WCW was never a huge deal and had no tape distribution until 1999 means I had to rely on Internet sources to find it. That also means that I’m largely unfamiliar with early 90’s WCW. That said taking the matches on their own merits the show itself was very good.
The title matches except the tag title match (which was a slog to sit through) were either good or excellent. Regal/Steamboat was superb, Flair/Vader was exceptional, Rude/Boss was adequate. The opening tag match was enjoyable too save for a few nitpicks and only really the presence of The Shockmaster was cause for some chuckles for the wrong reasons.
The show’s historical impact is negligible as Flair’s feud with Vader would continue until SuperBrawl in early 1994 and shortly after Hulk Hogan would enter WCW, altering the landscape almost beyond recognition. That’s not to say Flair once again claiming the company’s top prize & once again becoming “The Man” after his sojourn to the WWF isn’t noteworthy, just that more historically significant events occur around it
Compared to Wrestlemania IX, the WWFs big supershow of the same year this is the superior show. The depleted WWF roster of the time really hampering the show quality. WCW’s roster may not have been at it’s best at this point, but an extremely watchable series of matches were on display here and I imagine if I’d been watching at the time I would have come away satisfied with the show overall. Great stuff.
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A wrestling fan since 1989, Martin Dixon started writing as part of 4CRwrestling.com at the start of 2013, also a talking head on 4CRadio’s Raw Roundtable each week, Martin writes the occasional columns “The Suicida Appraisal” & “8Bit Bodyslam” and has a side project entitled “Wrestling in the Clinton Years” reviewing each episode of WWF Raw from 1994 in chronological order, available at BunnySuicida.tumblr.com. A lover of words & phrasing, Martin can often be found attempting to perfect the art of conversing in 140 characters or less on Twitter @BunnySuicida where he’d be happy to share the reason for the unusual username should you ask.
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