NWA (WCW) Starrcade 1989

In 1989, Starrcade was still firmly WCW’s flagship show. Unfortunately, the booking for 1989 had already paid off most of the major feuds well before the big show, leaving the promotion out of gas by the time Starrcade rolled around. Without a proper main event to build the show around, WCW instead presented four of the top singles stars and four of the top tag teams competing in round-robin ‘Iron Man’ tournaments, and using it as a platform to set up NWA World Champion Ric Flair’s feud with Sting for 1990. However, a lack of any notable feuds, and no titles on the line (the tournament was for glory alone) left the show with a distinct lack of intrigue, and failed to captivate the audience the way WCW was hoping.

From Atlanta, Georgia; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Terry Funk for the Iron Man matches, and Jim Ross and Jim Cornette for the Iron Team matches. Not great commentary teams, but logical – as Funk had spent the year in the main event, and could ‘lend insight,’ while Cornette was known for his work managing tag teams.

As noted, the Iron Man and Iron Team tournaments were round-robin style, and worked on a point system – 20 points for a pinfall or submission victory; 15 points for a countout victory; 10 points for a disqualification victory; 5 points each for a draw; 0 points for a loss. And ten points to Gryffindor for good measure.


Opening Iron Team Tournament Match: The Steiner Brothers (0) v Doom (0): Scott Steiner and Ron Simmons start, and quickly find themselves in a slugfest. Scott ends it with a powerslam, and he tags brother Rick. He hits a quick overhead suplex, so Simmons bails to Butch Reed. Slam for him, too, and he brings Scott back in for an atomic drop for two. Reed regroups, but Scott supermarket sweeps him, and Rick hooks a chinlock - cutting the ring in half. Scott eventually misses a clothesline, going tumbling to the floor to turn the tide. Reed with a powerslam for two, and a suplex for two. Simmons with a spinebuster for two, but Scott backdrops out of a piledriver, and belly to belly suplexes Reed. Tag to Rick, and he's a doghouse of fire, but it quickly leads to a four-way brawl on the floor, with the Steiners narrowly beating the count back in at 12:24 - picking up fifteen points. These two teams actually had a feud going into the tournament, so you'd think they'd settle things - but no. Some nice power stuff, but overall really dull. ¾*

Iron Man Tournament Match: Sting (0) v Lex Luger (0): Jim Ross predicts that these will be the two dominant forces in wrestling during the 90s. Luger tries to head to the back when the crowd's more into Sting (needy bitch), but Sting drags him back in, and hits a slingshot splash for two. Series of clotheslines put Luger back on the floor, but the referee holds Sting back from diving out after him. That allows Luger to supermarket sweep him to the floor, but Sting reverses a shot into the rail. Inside, a flying bodypress gets two, and a ten-punch count sets up a clothesline for two. Sting goes to an armbar, but Luger powers out, so Sting throws a springboard bodypress for two, before clasping the hold back on. Dropkick for two, and another flying bodypress - but Luger catches him with an inverted atomic drop on the way down. Another, and a stomachbreaker give Luger something to work. He fires off shots at the midsection, and dumps him to the floor to return the favor of ramming him into the rail. 2^nd rope axehandle for two, and a powerslam sets up the Torture Rack - but Sting somersaults out before he can lock it on. Luger unloads on him in the corner to soften him up, but Sting's SURFING UP!! Series of Kicks! Fists of Fury! Botched Spot! Suplex! - so Luger bails. Sting drags him back in again, and repeats the earlier botch (it was a tumble into the ropes), but Luger holds the ropes for the pin at 11:31. No classic, but fun, well paced stuff - and better than any of their dull early-90s matches, when Luger couldn't be motivated to properly flex. ** ¼

Iron Team Tournament Match: Doom (0) v The Road Warriors (0): Reed starts with Animal, and complains of hair pulling during the initial tie-up. What's weirder is that the referee actually buys it, despite the fact that Reed is masked. Animal responds by shoving him around, and Hawk comes in with an armbar, so Reed bails to Simmons. He does a power-stalemate with Hawk, but ends up getting powerslammed, and hit with a diving shoulderblock. Animal with a chinlock, but Simmons uses backscratches to turn the tide, and Hawk misses a blind charge to allow Doom to cut the ring in half. Reed slam fails, however, and Hawk scrambles to make the tag. Four-way brawl quickly breaks out, and a Hawk flying clothesline finishes Reed at 8:31. Pretty humdrum heat segment, but fairly energetic overall. *

Iron Man Tournament Match: Ric Flair (0) v The Great Muta (0): Big criss cross allows Muta to go the eyes, and railroad Ric into the corner. Handspring moonsault, but a chopfest goes Flair's way, and he hits a kneebreaker. Figure Four, but a distraction allows Muta a backbreaker, and he goes for a flying moonsault - but hits knees, and Flair cradles him at 1:55. I know they had time constraints to deal with, but fuck! I could have done with trimming five minutes off of the opener if it meant these two getting at least seven. Not to mention, a pretty disappointing way to end Muta's undefeated streak. ¼*

Iron Team Tournament Match: The Steiner Brothers (15) v The Road Warriors (20): Scott and Hawk start, and Scott intelligently tries to take it to the mat with a single-leg takedown. Hawk's in the ropes, though, so Scott tries again - only to get whacked with an enzuigiri. Hawk tries a single-leg of his own, but Scott impressively counters into an anklelock. Tag to Rick, and Hawk takes his head off with a clothesline. It only gets two (his headless body was still spasming), and Animal tags in with a diving shoulderblock. Belly-to-belly suplex, but Steiner reverses, and tags Scott back in. Hawk wrecks him with a press slam, and a fistdrop for two. Big boot gets two, but Animal misses an elbowdrop, and gets belly-to-bellied for two. Animal manages a lariat to allow him to tag Hawk, and he hits a visually impressive modified backbreaker. Gutwrench suplex gets two, but Scott railroads him into the corner for a belly-to-belly superplex. Animal tries to hug him like a bear (Scott - he and Hawk did that shit in the privacy of their own doublewides), and the Warriors cut the ring in half. Four way brawl breaks out before Scott can even tag Rick, and the Warrior hit a modified Doomsday Device (side suplex/flying clothesline combo), but Scott lifts his shoulder, at the same time forcing Animal's down for the pin at 7:27. Fun back-and-forth tag match, but disappointing considering the Dream Match aura these two teams had around them. Unfortunately, they would never get around to having a proper showdown until the mid-90s, when the bloom was already off the rose. ** ¼

Iron Man Tournament Match: Sting (0) v The Great Muta (0): Muta tries to control with a quick full-nelson, but Sting reverses, so Muta railroads him into the corner for some kicks. Muta side-headlock, but Sting finds a monkey-flip to escape, and a snap suplex gets two. Atomic drop, and Sting tries for the Scorpion Deathlock - but Muta's in the ropes. He bails to the floor to regroup, and hits a backdrop on the way in. Muta with a visually impressive bridged chickenwing (which he holds in a perfect bridge for the entire submission attempt), until Sting powers out. Sting with a press slam for two, and the leaping elbowdrop gets two. Chinlock, but Muta forces him into the corner again to break. He unloads chops, and tries for the flying moonsault, but Sting moves, so Muta recalibrates in midair, and lands on his feet. He goes up again, so Sting goes the more direct route and crotches him up there. Superplex finishes at 8:41. Match was all over the place, both guys kept a good pace, and worked in some nice highspots. *

Iron Team Tournament Match: Doom (0) v The Wild Samoans (0): Doom literally have no shot at winning the thing at this point, as this is their last match, and even a clean pinfall victory wouldn't put them ahead of the Steiners - and the Steiners still have another match to go. Reed and Fatu start with the obligatory power-stalemates, until Fatu hits a running powerslam. Headbutt showdown goes to a stalemate (Duh!), so both guys tag, and Simmons powerslams the Samoan Savage (his actual name, not my personal opinion). He stops to pose, however, and gets hits with a savate kick. Savage misses a flying splash, so Simmons slams him again for two, and Doom cut the ring in half. Simmons eventually misses a 2^nd rope bodypress, however, and Fatu is a hut of fire. Four-way brawl, and Fatu and Reed's heads knock into each other's - with Fatu falling on top for the pin at 8:22. Man, the way Doom flamed out of this thing, it's amazing they managed to recover - and enough to the point where they were tag champions the next year. Dull power match, saddled with another boring Doom heat segment. ½*

Iron Man Tournament Match: Lex Luger (20) v Ric Flair (20): Luger stalls to bitch at the fans again, but luckily doesn't start crying and try to walk home this time. He just sulks. They finally lockup, and Luger manages to get him on the mat with a side-headlock. Flair predictably finds a counter, but Luger hides in the ropes, and sulks some more. Flair takes him to the corner for some chops - putting him on the outside - and Flair follows to keep unloading them out there. I guess all that practice with Steamboat over the year made them more effective, and, hey, if Luger's actually selling them, get as many as you can! Inside, Flair with a backdrop, and he goes to an armbar, but Luger's version of 'selling' is to bitch at the crowd again, so Flair turns it into a hammerlock to give him a mouth full of mat. Butterfly suplex gets two, and Flair goes back to the arm - leveling him with chops along the way. Luger goes to the eyes to break, and tries a press slam, but Flair rolls him up for two. Inside cradle gets two, so he goes back to chopping, but Luger shoves him into the corner, and stomps a mud hole. Forearm smash and a series of elbowdrops gets two, and a press slam puts Flair on the floor to regroup. Inside, Luger chokes away, but gets reversed on a suplex attempt, and Flair with a backslide for two. Slugfest goes Flair's way, but he gets nailed while trying a flying axehandle. Luger wanders around looking for what to do next, so Flair solves the problem for him by hooking a Figure Four - only to have the fifteen minute time limit expire at 17:15. Someone missed the go-home signal there - likely why Luger was walking around aimlessly before Flair went to the finisher. Bad booking here, as a time limit draw wasn't a bad idea, but it should have been Luger dominating at the end, and Flair (out of options, and knowing a clean loss would doom (like Doom before him) his shot at winning the tournament) forcing a draw to stay in it. The actual booking was much less effective, as they just kept having their back-and-forth match, and the bell saved Luger from likely submission. *

Iron Team Tournament Match: The Steiner Brothers (35) v The Wild Samoans (20): Long stall session, as the Steiner's make fun of the Samoans pre-match rituals (though, to be fair, when your name is 'Samoan Savage' you're sort of opening yourself up to ridicule), and finally starting with Rick and Savage. Savage goes to the eyes, but Rick powers up, and tears one of his dreadlocks out. The Samoans decide to take a walk, which is fine with the Steiner's, as a fifteen point countout would be enough to guarantee them victory no matter how the rest of the tournament goes. They eventually head back, but Rick unloads with clotheslines to put them right back on the floor. Scott dominates Savage with a clothesline of his own, and a nice cradle gets two. Savage complains of hair pulling (at least that's believable this time), so Scott just passes back to Rick rather than deal with these two morons. Heel miscommunication spot has the Samoans fighting (with Rick hilariously cheering them on), but they pussy out, and decide to wrestle. Scott misses a dropkick, and gets dumped to the floor for Fatu to crotch him on the rail. Inside, the Samoans cut the ring in half, and manage to toss Scott over-the-top (an illegal move) behind the referee's back. Long bearhug sequence, until Scott manages to pull off the Frankensteiner, but a double-team prevents the tag, so Rick just up and runs in anyway. In the chaos, Scott dumps Savage over-the-top as a receipt for earlier, but the referee sees it, and disqualifies him at 14:05. Despite nearly going the time limit, it never really got going, and was loaded with stalling. Bad ending, too, but they were backed into a corner, as almost any other finish would have killed all intrigue for the last match. DUD

Iron Man Tournament Match: Lex Luger (25) v The Great Muta (0): Luger comes out limping from the Flair match, but Muta doesn't bother aiming for the big, flashing target. Luger helps him along by hurting his knee on a leapfrog attempt, and Muta finally bothers to go after it with a leglock. Luger tries a suplex to come back, but the knee gives, and Muta wisely keeps after it. Handspring elbow sets up another leglock, so Luger goes to the eyes. Muta responds by clipping the knee, and hooking a half-crab. Luger tries fists of fury for another comeback attempt, but Muta stops that one with a spinkick. Dropkick leaves Luger fighting to maintain a vertical base - but he lunges out of the corner at Muta with a lariat. Slugfest goes Luger's way, and he dumps Muta to the floor - happy to settle for the point advantage the countout would leave him. Muta beats it back in, so Luger powerslams him, and goes for the Rack, but Muta sprays the mist in his eyes for a disqualification at 11:00. Even a clean win wouldn't have done anything for Muta at this point in the tournament, so can't really blame the guy. Great selling from Luger throughout, but fairly dull overall. ¾*

Iron Team Tournament Match: The Road Warriors (20) v The Wild Samoans (30): Any victory for the Samoans gives them the tournament, but the Warriors need a pin or submission to overtake the Steiner's. Animal starts with Fatu, and predictably overpowers him. Hawk tags in, and engages in a chopfest with Savage, but gets caught with an inverted atomic to slow him down. Headbutt, but Hawk no-sells, and grazes him with a dropkick for two. Animal tries a leapfrog, but gets a Samoan-powered head to the nuts (I'm surprised he lived), and the heels cut the ring in half, but Savage misses a Vaderbomb, and Hawk gets the tag. House of Arson! Four-Way Brawl! Flying Clothesline! and the Warriors win the Iron Man tournament at 6:00. Which makes sense, their music said they would. Both teams weren't exactly known for stamina, and (particularly with the Samoans being booked only in the second half) they didn't have much left to give. ½*

Final Iron Team Tournament Standings:
The Road Warriors - 40 points (Winners)
The Steiner Brothers - 35 points
The Wild Samoans - 30 points
Doom - 0 points

Iron Man Tournament Match: Sting (20) v Ric Flair (25): Sting needs a pin or submission to take it, Flair can take it by pin, submission, or countout - giving him a slight edge. Sting and Flair were technically pals at this point (Sting would even officially join the Horsemen not long after this), but that doesn't mean they don't hate each other. Big staredown to start, and Sting dominates the early going with power stuff - putting Flair on the floor. Inside, Ric tries a hammerlock, but Sting hits the deck with a droptoe-hold, and gets Flair into an armbar. Ric gets into the ropes, and they fight over an overhead wristlock - won by Sting - but Flair hooks the ropes again. They do a grinding battle over a lockup - with Flair grabbing a headlock to control - but Sting press slams him, and Flair bails again. Another criss cross allows Sting a backslide for two, so Flair levels him with a chop. He unloads a few more, but Sting reverses a hiptoss, and hits a series of dropkicks. Series of clotheslines gets two, and Flair begs off - only to sucker Sting into a gutshot, and dump him to the floor for a whip into the rail. Hanging Vertical suplex back in gets a series of two counts, and an abdominal stretch cradle gets two. Inside cradle for two, and another hanging vertical suplex gets two. Flair decides to work the back, and a butterfly suplex gets two, but Sting reverses a cross corner whip, and clotheslines him for two. Flair bails, but Sting gives chase, and Flair's attempts at slowing him down with chops do nothing. Sting suplexes him back in for two, and unloads a ten-punch count on the World Champion. Stinger Splash, and the Scorpion Deathlock - but Flair's in the ropes, and hits a quick kneebreaker as they get back up. Figure Four, but Sting won't give, so Flair lets off, and fires off some shots at the knee. Sting bridges out of a pin attempt into a backslide, but Flair gives him another kneebreaker, and tries the Figure Four again - but Sting cradles him at 15:50 to win the tournament. Afterwards, Flair (along with Ole and the recently returned Arn Anderson) raise his hand. Good match to end the show, filled with some intense battles over spots, and a bunch of near falls. ***

Final Iron Man Tournament Standings:
Sting - 40 (Winner)
Lex Luger - 35
Ric Flair - 25
The Great Muta - 0

BUExperience: The last stop of the 80s, this is one of the most universally loathed shows – not entirely for actual quality than for a disappointing finish after one of the promotions more entertaining years. There are a few fun matches, but the show certainly crumbles under the weight of the concept. Time constraints didn’t do the booking any favors, and while the idea of getting to see four of the biggest singles and four of the biggest tag stars in the promotion all face off in one night sounds fine in theory, the show lacked any real intrigue, and drew a tiny crowd in one of their most popular towns – giving the show a really lifeless atmosphere.

The problem with this show is that you have the Steiner Brothers – already tag champions going in. That should logically set up a showdown with the Road Warriors, but the Steiner’s go over them cleanly early in the show – and despite the Warriors overall tournament victory – they don’t really have a case for a rematch. Opportunity wasted. It did serve to properly setup Flair/Sting for the NWA Title (the whole goal of the contrived tournament to begin with), but since the title wasn’t on the line here, it failed to draw. This sort of thing would have worked on TV (or Clash of the Champions) to set up Flair/Sting, and if they still didn’t want to run the title change as early as Starrcade (though, really, what better place?), they could have done Flair/Muta (Title v Undefeated Streak) in the main event, with Sting facing someone credible, like Terry Funk (who had spent most of the year in the title picture) on the undercard, and going over strong.

Today, the show is mostly notable for the concept – probably the only round-robin tournament to air as a major pay per view – than for any memorable matches, or historical events. *