WCW Starrcade 1995

1995 once again saw WCW running Starrcade as a concept show – which they had previously attempted with BattleBowl in the early 90s – this time holding a ‘World Cup of Wrestling,’ though the only two countries competing were ‘Japan’ and ‘WCW’ – which, to be fair, did have the budget of some smaller countries at that point. The concept was not entirely unlike the Iron Man tournament they ran on the show in 1989, or the Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament (try saying that five times fast), held in 1990 – though the promotion for it was strange. Because of the time difference, WCW’s main American television platform – Nitro – was not the primary way to sell Starrcade to the Japanese audience, and episodes of Nitro building to Starrcade placed very little focus on the World Cup – which dominates this card. Most of the build took place on WCW’s scarcely watched syndicated programming – which aired at more convenient hours for the Japanese – to help market Starrcade.

Other than the tournament – which, as noted, was fairly irrelevant to American audiences due to WCW’s promotion – there would also be a match for the WCW World Title, featuring champion Randy Savage defending against the winner of a Triangle Match between Ric Flair, Sting, and Lex Luger. This angle was properly promoted for American audiences. My personal, ten year old interest in the show was limited, as I had been following WCW as an occasional WWF alternative since Hulk Hogan’s signing the previous summer, but the fact that he had decided to take time off – sitting Starrcade out – left me numb on the buildup, and I didn’t even bother to ask my parents about ordering the show.

From Nashville, Tennessee; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes.


Opening World Cup Match: Chris Benoit v Jushin Liger: Benoit tosses him around early on, but gets caught in a series of armdrags, and a baseball slide on the outside. Liger with a somersault senton to follow. He lets Benoit catch a breather, but back inside nails him with a rana. He tries a criss cross, but walks into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Snap suplex, and a crisp side suplex lays Liger out. Benoit with an elevated Boston crab, but Liger won't quit, so he turns it into a pinfall attempt for two. German suplex for two, but Liger locks him in a surfboard. Benoit powers into an electric chair drop, and tries the side suplex again, but Liger sees it coming this time, and counter with a bodyblock. Tombstone, and he heads up, but Benoit catches him with a super-duperplex for two. Flying headbutt misses, however, and the Ligerbomb (a sitout powerbomb) gets two. Brainbuster for two, but he walks into a pair of rolling German suplexes. Crisp powerbomb, and the flying headbutt looks to finish, but Kevin Sullivan shows up (Benoit's nemesis. In WCW, and, like, life), and Liger hits a sloppy rana for the pin at 10:29. Really fun spotfest up until the cheap finish - though not a completely unpsychologically sound one - as they went back-and-forth, but Benoit continued to go after the back, and would have had the win if not for the interference. Both guys delivered crisp, well executed maneuvers - which helped them get over with this crowd - who didn't give a shit at the opening bell, but were quite into it by the finish. ***. New Japan 1, WCW 0.

World Cup Match: Alex Wright v Koji Kanemoto: They do a stalemate over the initial tie-up to establish to the American audience (though, really, the casual fan wouldn't have too many ways of knowing who Kanemoto is from the programming offered) that they're evenly matched. They continue that theme, trading armbars and various locks, until Wright dumps him, and hits a plancha. Kanemoto beats the count, and Wright works a chinlock. Kanemoto comes back with a vicious spinkick, but they botch a superplex, with Wright ending up on the floor. Koji dives out after him, and inside a gorgeous flying moonsault hits. Wright throws a German suplex to comeback, and slingshot splash gets two. Missile dropkick blocked when Kanemoto throws a dropkick of his own - in a neat spot that you never see - so Wright tries a springboard bodypress for two. He gets caught with the spinheel again, however, and Kanemoto tries a flying bodypress - only to walk into a dropkick from Wright on the way down, in a good bit. Missile dropkick, and a superplex get two. He tries a cross corner, but gets caught in a snake eyes from Kanemoto, and he rolls him up for the pin at 11:44 - putting New Japan up 2-0 - which should have signaled the end result right there. They worked some nice spots into it, but the crowd was absolutely dead (I don't think I've ever seen a babyface throw a plancha, and not get the obligatory pop), which made everything come off as dull, even when it wasn't. **

World Cup Match: Lex Luger v Masahiro Chono: Luger goes right to a standing side-headlock, but Chono actually wants to get his cardio in, so he coaxes him into press slamming him. He wastes time posing, however, so Chono literally kicks him out of the ring. Luger stalls, and Chono suplexes him on the way back in. Sleeper, and Chono drops him with inverted DDT. STF - but Luger is significantly larger – and easily makes the ropes. Chono with an inverted atomic drop, but he gets nailed trying a flying axehandle, and the Torture Rack finishes at 6:41, making it New Japan 2, WCW 1. Luger was scheduled for the #1 Contenders Triangle Match for later, so that wasn't exactly a surprising result. Very punchy-kicky match, though you wouldn’t expect much more from Luger – who was double booked – and Chono isn’t New Japan’s best offering, though it was a good pairing, since Luger needed a relatively quick squash. ¼*

World Cup Match: Johnny B. Badd v Masa Saito: Saito quickly catches Badd in a cobra clutch, but he's just posturing him, and let's off - knowing he wouldn't get the submission that early anyway. Slugfest goes Saito's way (kinda surprising, considering Badd's reputation as a Golden Gloves champion), and he chokes away. Side suplex for two, and a Russian legsweep for two. Badd with a flying axehandle to mount a sudden comeback, and a flying sunset flip gets two. He goes into a proper Golden Gloves routine, and a suplex gets two. Saito dumps him over the top rope, however, and that's a disqualification under WCW rules - so Badd takes it at 5:52, making it New Japan 2, WCW 2. Bad pairing here, as Badd was ready to fly around, and Saito is best described as being built like a Japanese Meng. Not a horrible match overall, just unnotable - but thankfully kept short. ¼*

World Cup Match: Eddy Guerrero v Shinjiro Otani: Otani targets the arm to start, keeping him grounded, but Eddy wrestles out, so he goes to the leg instead. Enzuigiri by Guerrero, but that just pisses Otani off, and he grounds him again. Eddy with a rana off of a criss cross, and a crisp dropkick. Boston crab, but the tall Shinjiro makes he ropes. Eddy with a powerbomb for two, and a brainbuster for two. Guerrero misses a blind charge, however, and eats missile dropkick to go to the outside, where Otani follows with a fantastic springboard bodypress. Inside, Otani dropkicks him and chokes away. Guerrero with a well executed side suplex for two, but Otani counters a suplex with a one of the best bridging German suplexes you'll ever see - for two. Springboard spinheel, but Guerrero catches him on the top rope with a rana for a close two count. Splash mountain gets two, and he tries his own German, but gets caught in an anklelock. It's still 1995, however, so that's not considered to be quite as deadly - and he makes the ropes. Otani with a springboard dropkick, and they do a fantastic three-alarm pinfall reversal sequence to give Otani the pinfall at 13:43, making it New Japan 3, WCW 2. Quite a spotfest there, and strictly a spotfest. The opener worked some psychology in between the springboarding - here it was all spot-spot-spot. As far as spotfests go, though - everything was flawlessly executed, and beyond that, brilliantly executed. The crowd was mostly unresponsive to them as well, but it didn't deter them from giving it their all out there, with some wicked stuff. ***

World Cup Match: Randy Savage v Hiroyoshi Tenzan: Savage is the WCW World Champion - and set to defend the title later - so much like the Luger match, the result here shouldn't be too big of a mystery. Tenzan unloads on him to start, beating Savage mercilessly around the ring. Backdrop driver, and a flying headbutt get two. Flying moonsault misses, however, and Savage puts him away with the Big Elbow at 6:55, tying WCW with New Japan at 3 wins apiece. Super dull match - as the crowd finally woke up upon seeing Savage - and Tenzan proceeded to do almost nothing but kick and punch him for six minutes. ¼*

World Cup Match: Sting v Kensuke Sasaki: This is the last Cup match, and we're predictably tied going in - so this makes it the dramatic finals. Sasaki jumps him at the bell, but gets caught with an early Stinger Splash. He no sells it, and bulldogs him, however. Series of clotheslines, and a powerslam hit. Brainbuster (that's a popular one tonight), and he tries an armbreaker - but Sting won't quit. Sasaki locks him in his own Scorpion Deathlock, but Sting is a master of the hold, and powers out. Enzuigiri, and he bulldogs Sasaki into a proper Deathlock to give WCW the predictable 4-3 win at 6:52. Again, Sting was booked for the #1 Contenders Match, so no real surprise there. Match had no flow, just sort of biding time until the finish. ¼*

#1 Contenders Triangle Match: Sting v Lex Luger v Ric Flair: This is still 1995, so three-way matches are 'Triangle Matches,' where only two guys are allowed in at once, with the third guy hanging out on the apron, having to tag to get in on the action. Kind of like a puritanical three-way. Also like a puritanical three-way, only one guy needs to be beat. Unfortunately, WCW still hasn't solved their presentation issues (one of my pet peeves) - as here's Sting again, right after we just saw him win the World Cup, and accept the trophy. They spend a while debating who gets to start, and since Sting and Flair hate each other the most, they figure they might as well. Flair tries to sucker him into tying-up, but Sting quickly press slams him, and tries for the Scorpion - so Flair bails. He regroups nicely, and gets Sting in a hammerlock, but gets press slammed again. Ten punch count (which he extends to thirteen!), and a faceslam, but a dropkick misses. Flair shindrop gets a series of two counts, and a vertical suplex - but Sting no sells, and press slams him. Again again. Superplex gets two when Luger intervenes, to the annoyance of Sting, since they're supposed to be best friends - match be damned! Luger tags himself in, and basically flexes at Flair for the first minute. Flair kicks him in the nuts to stop that shit, but Luger is extra flexy in anticipation of the New Year, and wants his turn to press slam Flair, too. Three was kinda his limit, though (he told them!), so he clips Luger's knee, and starts wailing on it with a chair for being dumbass. Figure Four, but Luger literally flexes again, so that's off. Lex with a suplex for two, so Flair desperately heads up top - and, of course, gets slammed off. Luger starts the flexing again, but Flair's as sick of it as I am (that can only mean more press slams...), and passes to Sting. They shake hands, and do a couple lock-up stalemates to establish that they're best friends/frequent tag partners - until Luger fires off a cheap shot. Sting catches him with a flying bodypress for two, but a Vaderbomb hits the knees. Well, you'd have to figure he'd pick that move up after taking it, like, eight thousand times. Slugfest goes Sting's way, and he tries for the Scorpion - but Luger blows him low. Inverted atomic drop (well, at least he's working the part), but Sting gets a sunset flip for two. Snap suplex, and a bulldog before they nearly botch the Stinger Splash (Irish whip into the wrong corner, where Flair was). Second try misses, and Luger hooks the Torture Rack   until Flair clips the knee. He cleans house, and the referee counts Luger and Sting out – giving Flair the win from the apron - at 28:03. Long match, as they worked three distinct portions (Flair/Sting, Flair/Luger, Luger/Sting), with very little disruption from whomever was on the apron - until the big spot at the end. Match was solid, and kept a good pace for a half hour, but made poor use of move set (press slam, press slam, press slam!) - working a very punchy-kicky style. The flow was strange, as well, as they were building one match, and then once someone tagged, it was as if a whole new match started - especially since they didn't work a lot of back-and-forth tags. It would have benefited from the Triple Threat style - but that was still rejected by the Big Two at this point. * ½

Main Event: WCW World Title Match: Randy Savage v Ric Flair: Savage catches him with a backslide right off the bat, and they get into a slugfest - won by Savage (no shit!). To the floor, Savage tries a flying axehandle, but gets nailed coming down, and tossed into the rail. Flair posts him, and inside, Flair works the shoulder that he rammed into the post. Sleeper, but Savage dives into the ropes to block. Backdrop, and the Big Elbow, cues Flair's fellow Horsemen (Chris Benoit, Brian Pillman, Arn Anderson) to run in, and Anderson catches Savage with the knux to give Flair the World Title at 8:41. Not exactly WrestleMania VIII there. Not much of a match, really, with both guys on their second outing of the night, and Flair coming immediately out of a thirty minute match. This was like a CliffsNotes version of Savage/Flair, minus the execution and prestige. ¼*

BUExperience:  Certainly an interesting concept, but not an expertly executed one. The World Cup came off as odd – as it wasn’t an elimination, or even a round-robin tournament (which wrestling fans are most conditioned to) – but rather the odd format of different guys wrestling for points, which pretty much telegraphed a tie going into the finals before the show even started. Nashville wasn’t really the right place to try the concept (though with the level of promotion going in – I’m not sure where a better place in North America would be), as the crowd slept through most of the Cup – waiting for the main event wrestlers – and it made for a very underwhelming atmosphere.

The other major problem was WCW’s continued issues with laying out a card correctly – booking Luger, and Sting to work before the Triangle match (in Sting’s case right before), and Flair and Savage to pull double duty as well – leaving them both fed up by the time the main event rolled around, which showed in their performances. All four of these guys can easily work double duty, but again, it’s the way WCW structured their shows – putting Sting in the last match of the Cup, immediately followed by the Triangle Match (won by Flair), immediately followed by the Main Event – that impeded the flow of the show. *