NWA (JCP) Starrcade 1985

Starrcade ’85 was an ambitious production for the NWA. With Vince McMahon’s introduction of WrestleMania earlier in the year (along with the less influential ‘Wrestling Classic’ from a few weeks before this), Starrcade was no longer the only closed circuit supercard on the block, and the NWA knew it needed to go bigger – in this case running the show live from two arenas at once (an idea the WWF would lift for WrestleMania 2 a few months later, pushing it to three locations), and promising the anticipated rematch between Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes – after delivering a terribly unsatisfying finish the year before.

From Greensboro, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia; Your Hosts are Bob Caudle and Tony Schiavone in Atlanta, and Johnny Weaver helping out in Greensboro – with a giant disco ball hanging above the arena to really make it a party!


Opening NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title Match: Krusher Khruschev v Sam Houston: From Greensboro, for the vacant title. 'It's 1985' moment: the referee is dressed head-to-toe in banana yellow, with bell bottoms. Khruschev tries to overpower him in the early going, but Houston dodges him - Khruschev spilling to the floor. Houston gets him in a side-headlock, but Khruschev powers out, so Houston takes him to the mat with a headscissors takedown. Khruschev struggles to get free, but when Houston won't let off, he simply stands up (while still in the damn headscissors) and forces Houston into the corner for a break. Flapjack (drawing 'oohs' from the crowd) flattens Sam, and a press slam follows. Bearhug, but Houston slugs free, only to get slammed. Khruschev goes to the top to finish, but Houston crotches him up there, and gives him a ten-punch. Bulldog for two (when Khruschev quietly gets his feet on the ropes), and Houston thinks he's won it - allowing Khruschev to clobber him with the Russian Sickle for the title at 9:30. Fun match, bolstered by a hot crowd, with both guys eager to put on a good show. * ½

Mexican Death Match: Abdullah the Butcher v Manny Fernandez: From Atlanta. The 'Mexican' version ends when one guy climbs a pole and retrieves a sombrero. That's not even a joke. Most 'Death Matches' are the same as the 'Texas' version (not actually for Texas, but a cooler sounding name than 'Ohio Death Match'), but I guess they figured they needed to add a little casual racism for this one. Butcher jumps him right away - triggering a Fernandez bladejob after one shot - but Manny comes back with a monkey flip, and he starts going ballistic on the Butcher with his boot. The boot gets away from him, though, and Butcher goes for the sombrero - but gets pulled down for more boot related offense. Fernandez gets so into it, he even takes off his other boot (leaving him brawling in socks) to beat Butcher with. His personal DSW Warehouse eventually runs out of stock, though, so he goes for his belt to whip at Abdullah. I think his strategy was to end up naked, scare Butcher out of the ring, and then climb the pole like the stripper he'd been forced to become. Fortunately, they don't go the artistic route, instead just continuing with them punching each other. Fernandez dodges a blind charge to put Abdullah outside, and grabs the prized sombrero at 9:07. ¼*

Texas Bullrope Match: Black Bart v Ron Bass: From Greensboro, this is basically a strap match, with a bullrope in place of a leather strap. Tug-of-war to start, until Bass grabs a cowbell and beats Bart into the corner for a bladejob. Bass keeps unloading, but Bart gets hold of the cowbell to takeover, and draw blood from Bass. Well, at least they're keeping their footwear on. They keep trading shots, and a 2^nd rope shot with the ring bell finishes things for Bass at 8:34. These guys wouldn't make it past a tryout in the WWE today with their beer guts, but they were both perfect for a bloody slugfest like this - looking like exactly like the guy at the end of a seedy bar you wouldn't want to mess with. ¼*

Texas Bullrope Match: Ron Bass v JJ Dillon: As per pre-match stipulation, Bass now gets to face Bart's ever-scheming manager, JJ Dillon. Dillon runs in as soon as the bell from the last match rings, unloading on the already beaten and bloody Bass with the bell, and choking him with the rope. Bass starts no-selling, so Dillon makes a run for it, but snaps back like a dog on a leash. Bass gets his shots in, but the referee gets bumped (No! It's impossible to get blood out of banana yellow!), and Bart runs in to help Dillon to the victory at 3:29 - completely deflating the crowd. DUD - but thankfully short.

$10,000 Arm Wrestling Match: The Barbarian v Billy Graham: From Atlanta. A table is set up at center ring, and the two have an arm wrestling match for ten grand. Anyway, they go back and forth for a couple of minutes, until Graham has it all but won, only to get whacked with Barbarian manager Paul Jones' cane for the disqualification.

The Barbarian v Billy Graham: Still from Atlanta - though it would have been pretty awesome if they stopped, drove to Greensboro, and picked it up from there. They segue right into this after Barbarian's attack. Barbarian chokes away, but misses a flying headbutt, and Graham hooks a bearhug for the win - but Paul Jones runs in with the cane again at 3:02. Match didn't go anywhere, and Graham getting two DQ's in a row on the biggest show of the year didn't do it any favors. DUD

NWA National Heavyweight Title Match: Terry Taylor v Buddy Landel: From Greensboro. Landel does his best Ric Flair impression during the opening bits (the mannerisms are great, but it's the hair that really makes it work), and traps the overzealous Taylor in an armbar. Taylor bops him on the nose in response, so Landel takes him to the mat with a side-headlock to keep his kisser out of the line of fire. Taylor reverses into an overhead wristlock - trying to force Landel's shoulders down - but Buddy breaks, sending a hard right hand to the jaw. Lariat gets two, and a suplex - but Taylor hooks an inside cradle for two. Landel tries to slow him down with a reverse chinlock, but Taylor powers out, and starts unloading chops. Suplex gets two, but the referee gets bumped as Taylor tries a superplex, and Landel manager JJ Dillon reverses the momentum - giving Buddy the title at 10:30. For someone growing up on wrestling in the 90s, it's indescribably strange to see Landel and Taylor as legitimate contenders, trading titles. Solid back-and-forth stuff, though. * Dillon would soon move on to managing the real Nature Boy.

NWA National Tag Team Title Match: The Minnesota Wrecking Crew v Wahoo McDaniel and Billy Jack Haynes: From Atlanta. Haynes dominates Arn Anderson with a press slam, so he bails to Ole Anderson. Big slugfest goes Billy's way, and he tags McDaniel in for an elbowdrop, so Ole bails back to Arn. He gets chopped up, but manages to get McDaniel on the mat with a headscissors, and tags Ole to help cut the ring in half. Series of chops allow the tag to Haynes, and a four-way brawl breaks out immediately, allowing the Crew to double-team and pin McDaniel at 9:28. Ole and Arn were the last champions, as the title was dropped in favor of the US Tag Titles in early '86. Really dull stuff here. ¼*

NWA United States Title I Quit Cage Match: Tully Blanchard v Magnum TA: From Greensboro. These two were engaged in an intense feud over the title for most of 1985, and after Tully won it off of Magnum with help from valet Baby Doll, they signed a cage match - with the added stipulation that the one must make the other surrender, since a pinfall or escape wouldn't be satisfying enough. Tully tries to railroad him into the corner early, but Magnum is good and pissed, and just starts punching at him. Tully with a single-leg takedown, but Magnum says no go, and starts hammering again. Big slugfest goes Magnum's way, and he press slams him into the ropes. Tully rakes the eyes to get him down, and hammers away - drawing blood. Magnum responds by tossing Tully into the cage until he bleeds, too, but the champ won't quit. Slugfest on their knees goes Magnum's way, but Tully returns fire by going low. He grabs the mic again ('Say it! Say it!') but when Magnum won't quit, Tully starts bashing him with the mic itself - right where he's cut. Flying axehandle, but Magnum tells him to go fuck himself, and Tully keeps whacking him with the microphone. Series of elbowdrops, but the second misses, and Magnum returns fire with the mic - but Tully won't quit, either. They roll around in a schoolyard-style tussle - both gouging at the other man's bleeding forehead - but neither is ready to give. Magnum takes him into the corner for a ten-punch, but Tully rudely interrupts with a visually impressive inverted atomic drop. More shots with the mic, but Magnum's still saying 'no.' What a bunch of negative jerks! Blanchard gets sick of his shit, and grabs a balsa wood chair - but instead of hitting Magnum with it, breaks it into pieces, and tries to jam a shard into his eye. They do an intense struggle over it (with the crowd flipping out), until Magnum gets it away from him, and jams it into Tully's forehead - triggering a waterfall of blood to flow - and you don't even need the microphone to hear Tully submitting at 14:43. Super realistically brutal brawl, that has become known as one of the more famously intense, satisfying blowoffs in wrestling history. Great selling from both throughout, and great use of pacing - getting increasingly violent (first brawling, then using the cage, then the mic), until realizing none of it was enough - finally doing something as drastic as trying to stab the other. Magnum was already popular, but after this match, he rocketed to the very top of the card, and was, in fact, set to win the NWA World Title from Ric Flair the next year at Starrcade, before a car accident ended his career. *** ¼

Atlanta Street Fight: The Midnight Express v Jimmy Valiant and Ron Garvin: Garvin is in drag here (with high heels!), as 'Miss Atlanta Lively' - his working name in the finer Southern gay clubs of the 1980s. The Express wear full tuxedos for the occasion (Duh! It's after six o'clock, what are they, farmers?), and they get right to brawling, with Valiant busting Dennis Condrey open within the first minute. He and Bobby Eaton spill into the crowd for a hard hiptoss on the concrete, and Bobby juices. The Express start throwing powder to blind the faces' faces, and bust out the brass knux to finish 'em good. Midnight manager Jim Cornette gets his obligatory tennis racket shot in on Garvin (still wearing heels!), but Valiant starts flipping out, so the Midnight's turn their attention to him. Alabama Jam to finish, but Garvin decks Eaton with a loaded glove on the way down, and finishes at 6:36. Not a horrible brawl, but nothing they could do wouldn't seem tame when following Magnum/Tully. Points to Garvin for doing the whole thing in heels, and not losing his wig. ½*

NWA World Tag Team Title Cage Match: Ivan Koloff and Nikita Koloff v The Rock 'n' Roll Express: This was the last match from Greensboro. Nikita and Ricky Morton start, and Koloff starts pinballing him around, so Morton responds with a dropkick to faze him. He briefly regroups with Ivan, and he must have had good advice, 'cause Nikita marches right over and starts pulverizing Morton. Tag to Ivan, but he doesn't have as much luck (I guess he was meant to be a manager), and the R'n'R's double-team. Schoolboy by Robert Gibson gets two, and the challengers pinball Ivan off of the cage. They keep the ring cut with quick double teams, but Gibson gets caught with a stungun into the cage, and Nikita tags back in to properly brutalize him - including biting his bloody forehead like a rabid dog. The Russians dominate Gibson, but a dropkick bumps the referee, and Morton runs in for the fluke rollup pin at 12:22. While lots of punches and kicks fit in within the context of the match, they relied too heavily on it here (especially during both heat segments), and it got boring about halfway through. The ending worked well, though, as the Express were completely outmatched, and had to outthink the big Russians for the win. Good metaphor for the whole Cold War, in fact, right down to most of it being dull, other than a few hot spots. ½*

Main Event: NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Dusty Rhodes: From Atlanta, likely because they didn't have the balls to go back to Greensboro after last year. Both men are cautious to tie-up, and Dusty quickly turns it into a slugfest - putting Flair on the floor. Back in, Flair tries the chops, but Rhodes bops him with an elbowsmash out of a criss cross, and Flair goes to the floor again. Flair regroups, and then marches back in to trade hammerlocks - with Rhodes taking him to the mat. He tries a test-of-strength, but it's Ric Flair, so he gets decked, and hustled into the corner for some chops. Shindrop gets two, and Flair fires off well placed shot to the knee, so Rhodes bails to the floor before the champ can capitalize. Rhodes cautiously reenters with more elbowsmashes, and gets Flair in a leglock - all sold wonderfully by the champ. Flair makes the ropes, and tries a suplex, but his knee won't hold up, and Dusty reverses. Another leglock, but Flair breaks, and hooks a sleeper - broken by Dusty with a charge into the corner. He posts Flair's knee, but misses an elbowdrop (don't worry - plenty more elbows where that came from), allowing Ric to go to the top rope. Dusty slams him off for another leglock, but Flair blocks this time, and tries for the Figure Four. Rhodes blocks a couple of attempts, and Flair Flips to the floor. Dusty returns the favor from last year by posting him, and adds a shot into the rail for good measure - triggering a bladejob from Flair. Rhodes unloads on it with elbowsmashes, and a flying bodypress gets a delayed two count - the referee out of position. Dusty hammers away with mounted punches, and adds a ten-punch count to mix up his punching exhibition. Another Flair Flip allows Ric to run to the top rope for a flying axehandle, but Rhodes decks him on the way down. Flair fires off a shot at the knee to slow him down, and after a couple more, hooks the Figure Four. Dusty refuses to quit – even giving Flair the finger - and reversing. Ric gets to the ropes to break, and tries more chops - but Rhodes is DONE selling! Lariat gets two, and the referee gets bumped as Dusty hooks his own figure four. That draws out Ole and Arn Anderson (loosely aligned with Flair, but not officially Horsemen yet) to jump him, as another referee runs out. Flair looks to finish, but Dusty gets a small package, and wins the NWA Title at 22:06. But not quite, as the decision ended up getting reversed on TV the next week, as the original referee saw the Anderson's run in, and disqualified Flair for it, giving Dusty the win, but not the title - a finish somehow worse than the year before. Match was fine before the ending, building a very guarded match into a war of knee work, and keeping a good pace. * ½

BUExperience: Man, despite having the draw if getting the main event, I feel bad for anyone stuck in Atlanta for this, as literally all of the good stuff was in Greensboro. Overall a more satisfying show than the year before (faces went over in all the major matches and blowoffs), with lots of guys making a good effort during their shot on the big stage.

Today, the show is mostly remembered for the intense Blanchard/Magnum ‘I Quit Match,’ and for the quintessential example of a ‘Dusty Finish’ in the main event more than it is anything else. While it’s not a terrible show – it doesn’t hold up well at all. *