NWA (WCW) Starrcade 1988

By the time Starrcade rolled around in 1988, it was the culmination of a year of upheaval within the promotion. Failing to compete with Vince McMahon’s WWF on a national level, Jim Crockett sold his territory to Ted Turner in the fall, and changes abounded – starting with the date of the event itself switching from traditional November to December, to avoid another counterprogramming nightmare. In the spirit of change, fans started clamoring for longtime NWA Champion Ric Flair to drop the title to new rival, rising superstar Lex Luger. The two had battled to an inconclusive finish at the Great American Bash (the companies second biggest event of the year) over the summer, and all eyes turned to Starrcade as the show Flair would put Luger over at – an idea championed by longtime booker Dusty Rhodes. Rhodes initially stayed on to ensure a smooth transition from Crockett to Turner (and his Executive Vice President, Jim Herd), however, after numerous clashes with new management over the direction of the product, this Starrcade – the event he helped create in 1983 – would be his last appearance in the company for over two years.

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Opening NWA United States Tag Team Title Match: The Fantastics v Steve Williams and Kevin Sullivan: Bobby Fulton starts with Kevin Sullivan, and gets railroaded into the corner for some chops. He dodges, and throws a quick 2^nd rope Thesz press for two, and tags Tommy Rogers. They work Sullivan over with some quick double-teams, but he railroads into the corner again - this time tagging Steve Williams. Their double-team stuff isn't as effective on Williams, and he press slams Fulton, then clotheslines him to the floor. Side suplex, and both men tag, but Sullivan misses a blind charge, and goes tumbling to the floor. Inside, he tries to backdrop Rogers, but Sullivan’s so damn short, that Tommy's able to land on him feet. They try a double-team backdrop on Williams, but he shrugs them off again, and plants Rogers with a hanging vertical suplex for two, as they cut the ring in half on Tommy. Rogers eventually manages to reverse a Sullivan suplex to make the tag, and Fulton is a house of arson. He tries to finish Williams with a sleeper, but gets stungunned, and we have new champions at 15:50. I'm surprised it went on that long, honestly, since this was a glorified squash. Good use of quick tags, but Williams and Sullivan sold literally almost nothing - shrugging off all of the Fantastics speed, and double-team combos like they were facing jobbers. Maybe not coincidentally, it would be issues with Kevin Sullivan (also involved on the management side of things) that led to the Fantastics bailing on the promotion not long after this. * ½

The Original Midnight Express v The Midnight Express: The Midnight's clean house on their predecessors, and start with Dennis Condrey and Stan Lane all official like, and Condrey forces him into the corner for a ten-punch - only to get dropped in an inverted atomic fashion. Tag to Randy Rose (a man so awesome he has a pornstache and a mullet), but he gets dumped to the floor for Midnight manager Jim Cornette to abuse with his tennis racket. Lane with a bodypress for two, so Condrey comes in and tries to diffuse the situation with a handshake. That trick translates to any Midnight, so he blows him off, and tags Eaton in for the Alabama Jam (a flying legdrop). The Midnight's cut the ring in half on Condrey, but he gets the tag off to Rose. He doesn't have any better luck, but Eaton misses a blind charge, and gets atomic dropped on the floor. Rose follows up with a diving clothesline off of the apron, allowing Old Midnight's manager Paul E. Dangerously to get his licks in. Figuratively. The Old Midnight's cut the ring in half on Bobby, but Rose misses the Rocket Launcher, and gets the tag off to Lane. He's a house of arson, but the referee gets bumped, allowing Paul to run in and bop Lane with his cell phone (it's 1988 - thing's practically a brick), but they don't get the pin as the referee notices the phone laying on the mat. That's not enough for a DQ alone (he didn't actually see anything happen), but is enough to stop him from counting. In the chaos, Lane gets wallops Rose for the pin at 17:46. Afterwards, the Old Midnight's mop the mat with them in frustration. Good use of the tag formula here, and loaded with old school team psychology. This would all end with a 'Loser Leaves Town' match a couple of months later, but by then Condrey had left the promotion, making the final blowoff fall fairly flat. * ½

Ivan Koloff and The Junkyard Dog v The Russian Assassins: JYD starts, and throws the first Assassin around like an outtake from an old Bond movie. He tags, but the second Assassin actually does worse - getting clotheslined all the way to the floor. Koloff comes in to help slaughter him, and hits a 2^nd rope clothesline, but the other Assassin breaks up the pin. JYD helps him Sickle the bastard, but Koloff gets nailed with a loaded headbutt (the Assassins are masked), and pinned at 6:47. Well paced, but nothing notable. ½*

NWA Television Title Match: Mike Rotunda v Rick Steiner: Rotunda's fellow Varsity Club pal Kevin Sullivan is locked in a suspended shark cage for this one, presumably because the best way to ensure he stays out of things is forcing him to literally hang out at ringside. Whatever happened to just handcuffing a guy to the radiator in the basement? Equally effective, cheaper, and - as I can tell you from my own childhood experiences - just plain fun. Steiner dominates with power stuff early, so Rotunda tries to take him to the mat with a drop-toehold, but Steiner counters into a hammerlock. Rotunda can't wrestle out, and his attempts at hair pulls won't force a break, so he has to dig deep, and belly to belly suplex Steiner. Rick looks to take him back to the mat, but Rotunda goes to the eyes, so Steiner regroups with a bodypress for two. Rotunda bails to kill the momentum, and once regrouping, lures Steiner into a criss cross - then sidesteps him, sending him crashing to the floor. Inside, Rotunda capitalizes with a backdrop, and hooks a chinlock - but the referee catches him using the ropes. He keeps control with a backelbow, and goes back to the chinlock, not having hit is quota for the night yet. Dropkick misses, however, and Steiner cradles him for two. Clothesline levels the champ, and a ten-punch count draws out Steve Williams. Guess they didn't have two shark cages. Powerslam for two, and a belly to belly suplex as the time expires at 17:00. Ah, but it turns out Steve Williams rang the bell to fool the referee into stopping the match, and once he finds out, he demands the match re-start. Heel miscommunication quickly puts Rotunda down, and Steiner wins the title at 17:59. Match had good timing, with flawless transitioning, along with a terrific ending - but went a little too heavy on the restholds, and too light on capitalizing on their extensive amateur backgrounds. * ¼

NWA United States Title Match: Barry Windham v Bam Bam Bigelow: This was during Bigelow's cup of coffee in WCW. They fight over the initial lockup, going to a couple of stalemates, until Bigelow throws the champ clear across the ring. Stomachbreaker, so Windham bails to the floor to regroup with manager JJ Dillon. He comes back in hot with a side suplex, but Bigelow pops right up - sending Windham scrambling back to the floor. Secret to invincibility: shave your head. Bigelow, Hawk, Koloff, Goldberg - all bald. All will no-sell the shit out of your offense. Windham goes to the eyes, but Bigelow no-sells that, too, and press slams him. Ten-punch count, and Windham does a visually impressive version of the Flair Flop before getting dumped. He uses his time on the floor to strategize with Dillon again, but it must be an off night, 'cause Bigelow hits a hanging vertical suplex, and traps him in a chinlock. Windham manages to dump him - banging Bam Bam's knee on the way - but the Beast still manages a slingshot splash back in for two. Another press slam, but the flying headbutt misses - finally allowing Windham to takeover with a lariat. Understandable. It's a fairly long match, his hair was probably starting to stubble. Side suplex, and he unloads a ten-punch of his own. Clawhold looks to finish (God, he really is from Texas), but Bigelow makes the ropes, so Windham slams him. Flying elbowdrop misses, however, and Bam Bam looks for the comeback - but they go tumbling to the floor off of a criss cross, and Windham beats him back in to retain at 16:17. Fun, well paced match, saddled with a weak ending. ** ¼

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: The Road Warriors v Dusty Rhodes and Sting: As noted earlier, Dusty was on the way out - and one of the reasons was due to the build for this match, which featured a graphic angle where the Warriors jammed a spike into his eye - triggering the customary Dusty Rhodes bladejob. However, due to the new management's strict 'no blood' policy (coming out of fear of AIDS, among other things) - it was used as the excuse needed to let Dusty go, especially because he booked the angle to thumb his nose at the new regulations. The Warriors try to jump them on the way in, but Sting and Dusty manage to clean house so the ring announcer can do their introductions proper! Animal and Sting start, and a big criss cross ends with the champ on the floor off of a dropkick. Tag to Dusty, and he goes right for the eyes to pay Animal back. Well, an eye for an eye, and all that. Tag to Hawk, so Rhodes starts unloading elbowsmashes, and tags Sting to work the arm. Slugfest goes the Stinger's way, and a powerslam hits. Leaping elbowdrop, but he fails to properly cut the ring in half, and Hawk manages a tag. Animal waltzes in to casually press slam his challenger, but Sting no-sells, and throws a series of clotheslines to put Animal on the floor. He follows with a flying bodypress onto the concrete, and tags Dusty to get his licks in. He posts the knee, but also fails to cut the ring in half, and Hawk tags back in. He calls for a test-of-strength, but Dusty tells him to go fuck himself, and sweeps him into a figure four. Hawk responds by going to the bad eye (though, really, jamming your fingers into someone’s eye is generally pretty effective, regardless of whether or not they have a pre-existing condition), but Rhodes starts BOOKING UP!! Dropkick! - but Hawk falls right into a tag, and Animal starts biting at the eye. Again, always effective. Headvice, as the Warriors try to cut the ring properly in half, but Rhodes stuns Hawk, and makes the tag. Sting's a house of arson, and nails Animal with the Stinger Splash. Scorpion Deathlock, but Hawk runs in to break it up. Four-way brawl ends with Sting on top of Animal after a flying bodypress, but Road manager Paul Ellering pulls the referee out, and that's a disqualification at 11:20. And that may literally be the most you'll ever seen the Road Warriors sell in a single match. Really fun stuff, keeping a good pace, and with nice bits of psychology - like Sting's failure to match the Warriors at tag team strategy by forgetting to cut the ring in half multiple times, or the champs going after Rhodes' eye. A little too humdrum for the angle that they used to build it, but they couldn't really do that match under the new corporate guidelines. *** ¼

Main Event: NWA World Title Match: Ric Flair v Lex Luger: The real reason for Rhodes' departure was his insistence that Flair (logically) drop the title to Lex Luger here. However, when Ric wouldn't go along - and the new regime had no interest in presenting a united front with Rhodes - Dusty was let go, and Flair kept the title. Ironically, Executive Vice President Jim Herd - who was instrumental in vetoing the title change, and getting rid of Rhodes - would later lose his own job after clashing with Flair over dropping the title in 1991. Luger immediately tries to use his considerable power advantage, but Flair dodges a shoulderblock by simply stopping the criss cross dead. Again, but this time Luger charges him like a freight train - clotheslining him to the floor. Flair regroups out there, and tries a hammerlock coming in, but Luger powers into a reversal. Flair quickly makes the ropes, but it doesn't matter - Luger's made his point: he's not just stronger, he can wrestle, too. Test-of-strength, but Flair nails him, and starts unloading chops, but gets caught with a powerslam off of a criss cross. Press slam gets two, and Luger hooks an armbar, but Flair starts chopping again. Cross corner whip, but Luger reverses, and rams Flair's shoulder into the corner. Again, and he hooks a hammerlock on the mat. Flair can't make the ropes this time, but a few well placed elbows break things up, so Luger hiptosses him, and goes back to the armbar. Frustrated, Flair goes to the eyes - not only to break the hold, but to try to derail Luger's seemingly unstoppable momentum. It allows him to throw a few more chops, but Luger is just not having it, and chases the champ to the floor. He works the arm with the rail out there, and he posts it for good measure. Back in, Luger with the armbar, but Flair makes the ropes again, so Lex tears his head off with a clothesline. Hanging vertical suplex gets two, but the leaping elbowdrop misses, and Flair just throws his body at Luger (to avoid using the bad arm) to get him off of his feet. To the floor, Lex eats the rail, and inside, Flair drops a shin. Double stomp, and with Luger finally reeling, Flair decides it's safe to go back to the chops, but it just serves to rouse Luger into firing back, and hooking a sleeper. Flair with a side suplex to break - more defensive than offensive - and he tries for the Figure Four, but Luger cradles him for two. Flair tries to go to the top, but Luger crotches him up there, and superplexes him off for two. Luger with a figure four, but Flair scrambles for the ropes. Luger starts unloading closed fists - bumping the referee as he steps in to break it up - and Flair doesn't miss a beat in tossing Luger illegally over the top while the referee is down. Luger still catches him with a flying bodypress coming back in for a delayed two count, and a backslide for two. Ten-punch count, and Flair takes a high impact Flip into the corner. Suplex gets two, and a press slam leaves Flair begging off. Luger responds with a powerslam, so JJ Dillon gets involved - breaking the momentum - and allowing Flair to slip to the floor to whack Luger's knee with a chair. Flair goes after it like a starved dog, and after the appropriate amount of abuse, hooks the Figure Four in the center of the ring. Luger fights into a reversal, but Flair struggles free, and keeps firing off shots at the knee - only to get slammed off of the top rope. Press slam hits, but takes its toll on Luger's knee, and allows Flair to dump him in hopes of a countout. Lex won't quit, though, and sunset flips back in for two. Another ten-punch, and a lariat levels Flair for two. Another powerslam, and he hooks the Torture Rack - but the knee gives out, and Flair topples him (with two feet on the ropes to make sure) for the pin at 30:59. Phenomenal match - a psychological masterpiece filled with great selling from both men (Luger no-sold a lot, which fit in with the psychology of the match, but sold when necessary - such as the knee injury), and an absolutely masterful performance from Flair, as all of his usual tricks (killing Luger's momentum, trying to outwrestle him, sucker punches, chops, finishers) absolutely would not work, until he finally managed to find his Achilles’ Heel (or in this case, knee) with the cheap shot that finally worked. And even that didn't slow down the challenger enough for Flair to finish until Luger’s own ego and hubris - refusing to learn from his knee giving out during a slam only minutes before he attempted the Rack - allowed Flair to topple him. Unfortunately, despite delivering a classic match, fans labeled Luger as a 'choker' after again failing to win the title from Flair - a label that would stick with him for the rest of his career. In hindsight (and even at the time, really), this should have been the crowning moment of Lex Luger's career, and despite finding success in the business for many years to come, he never quite recovered from the loss. **** ½

BUExperience: A fantastic main event on top of a solid undercard certainly warrant checking this one out – though Dusty Rhodes’ swan song feels somewhat underwhelming, especially for the biggest show of the year. Luger doesn’t win the title; Sting and Dusty fail to win the titles; the Midnights/Midnights feud would continue anyway; the Steiner/Varsity Club feud would continue – it comes off like a halfhearted blowoff show – though the half that was there was in the right place. ***