NWA (WCW) Starrcade 1990

Throughout the fall of 1990, NWA World Champion Sting had been repeatedly harassed by a mysterious character known as ‘The Black Scorpion’ – a masked man who hid in the shadows, and had an aptitude for magic. Though that sounds like any number of guys hanging out in a comic book store, the basis of the feud was that the Scorpion was someone from Sting’s past – coming back into his life for vengeance of a past deed, as well as to chase take the NWA Title.

While the feud was goofy (as noted, the Scorpion was a skilled magician – which he incorporated in his attacks on Sting by doing parlor tricks on audience plants, and disappearing in puffs of smoke), it made logical sense, as the WWF and WCW were neck-and-neck for ratings among adults, but the WWF was leaps and bounds ahead of the competition when it came to drawing kids – a lucrative market. The idea of the mysterious Scorpion facing WCW’s face painted superhero wasn’t poor logic – proven by strong ratings during Sting’s first showdown with the Scorpion at a Clash of the Champions telecast leading up to this show – it was just poorly executed. The payoff was teased as possibly being The Ultimate Warrior (the WWF’s face painted superhero, who had teamed with Sting earlier in their careers), and was actually planned on being a number of different guys (anyone from Al Perez, to ‘Angel of Death’ Dave Sheldon, to Ole Anderson depending on who you ask, and when you ask them), but ultimately ended up offering a much less satisfying payoff.

From St. Louis, Missouri; Your Hosts are Jim Ross and Paul E. Dangerously.


Opening Match: Z-Man v Bobby Eaton: Throughout the night, as the wrestlers make their entrances, a little popup with 'Starrcade Facts' comes on the screen. I'll keep track of the more interesting ones throughout - starting with Bobby Eaton's, which notes he's from 'The Dark Side (formerly Huntsville, Alabama).' Z-Man (Tom Zenk) goes to an armbar early, but Eaton gets uppity, so Z-Man with a visually impressive springboard bodypress for two. He must have thought so, too, 'cause he does it again for another two count, and Eaton backs off. Hammerlock, but Eaton powers out, so Z-Man starts throwing dropkicks. Back to the arm, but Eaton catches him coming in, and hooks an overhead wristlock. Eaton dumps him onto the ramp way and tries a suplex back in, but Z-Man reverses, and follows with a tope. Inside, Z-Man eats elbow off of a blind charge, and Eaton bulldogs him. Alabama Jam (a flying legdrop) hits beautifully, but he misses a blind charge of his own, and Z-Man backdrops him. Dropkick gets two, and another backdrop - but Eaton counters with a swinging neckbreaker. He goes back up, but Z-Man catches him with a superkick on the way down. Missile dropkick looks to finish, but Bobby dodges him, and an inside cradle finishes at 8:45. They were looking clumsy out there for the first few minutes, but once they ended up on the ramp way, they started meshing, and it really picked up. * ¼

Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament Quarter Final Match: The Steiner Brothers (USA) v Colonel DeKlerk and Sergeant Krueger (South Africa): Pat O'Connor - former NWA World Champion, and famed Missouri promoter - had died over the summer, so WCW decided to hold a full eight-team single elimination tournament on their biggest show of the year to honor him. Nice in theory; less so in reality - as the audience wasn't familiar with most of the competitors, and time constraints didn't allow them to work any matches designed to suck them into the action. Oddly, the 'Starrcade Facts' fail to mention that the 'South American' team are from the East Coast. Rick Steiner starts with Krueger, and unloads a suplex right away, so he tags DeKlerk. He manages a spinkick to put Rick out, and tries to follow with a somersault seated senton, but Rick catches him wrong - and he lands right on his neck. Oh, that didn't look good. Inside, Scott Steiner hits DeKlerk with the Frankensteiner to advance at 2:12. Too short to go anywhere. ¼*

Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament Quarter Final Match: Konnan and Rey Misterio (Mexico) v Chris Adams and Norman Smiley (United Kingdom): Misterio is the uncle of the current WWE star of the same name. WCW begins a long tradition of fucking up guys named Rey Misterio's name - in this case billing him as 'Misteric.' Misterio and Smiley start, and the Mexicans immediately start double-teaming, but get dropkicked to the ramp. Adams superkicks Misterio so hard his mask nearly flies off, so he tags Konnan for a springboard armdrag. Headscissors takedown, but he walks into a fisherman's buster suplex for one. Adams with a chinlock, but more double-teaming stops that effort, so Smiley runs in. Nice combo with Adams superkicking Konnan into a Smiley German suplex for two (The Rockers should have stolen that one), but Adams walks into yet another illegal double-team, and Konnan finishes Smiley with a bridging cradle at 5:29. Hard work all around, but the crowd didn't know who these guys were, and therefore didn't give a shit. *

Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament Quarter Final Match: The Royal Family (New Zealand) v The Great Muta and Mr. Saito (Japan): Jack Victory starts with Muta, and a big criss cross ends with Muta dropkicking him to the ramp. He follows with a flying shoulderblock, but fails to capitalize, and both men tag. Rip Morgan tries to hammer away on Saito, but gets clotheslined, and suplexed. Sharpshooter, but Victory breaks it up - allowing Morgan a side suplex for two. The Family work Saito over on the floor, but he gets the tag off to Muta, and he creams Victory with a handspring elbow. That triggers a four-way brawl, and Muta defeats Victory with a German suplex at 5:41. They really weren't clicking here - this felt like a filler house show match. ¼*

Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament Quarter Final Match: Troy Montour and Danny Johnson (Canada) v Victor Zangiev and Salman Hashimikov (U.S.S.R.): Zangiev and Hashimikov are actually Russian, and both Olympic-class amateur wrestlers. Hilarious bit, as Montour complains of hair pulling before the match even starts. Johnson starts with Zangiev, and Victor quickly ties him up on the mat in a bow-and-arrow until Montour saves. Victor responds by taking him to the mat again, and botches a belly-to-belly - dropping Johnson face first, like a stungun. Both tag, and they work a bunch of stalemates off of tie-ups, until Hashimikov hits a proper belly-to-belly for the pin at 3:54. That ending came out of nowhere - they were still feeling each other out, and suddenly the bell rings. The Soviet team was interesting to watch, but this didn't have a chance to go anywhere. DUD

Terry Taylor v Michael Wallstreet: The crowd is excited to finally see guys they're actually familiar with again. And why not, as Facts tells us Taylor's father is a medical doctor! Who wouldn't be pumped to see him? Facts: Wallstreet is from 'Manhattan, NYC, New York.' The gimmick here is that Wallstreet had a fancy laptop computer he would use to help him prepare for matches, and in this case, the computer predicted he could beat Taylor in eight minutes and thirty one seconds (must have added a buffer - no way it takes that long to chop the head off of a chicken), so a clock counts down, and Wallstreet has to win it within that time. He goes right at him, but Taylor sunset flips for two, and hits a bodypress for two. Dropkick puts Wallstreet on the floor, and he consults him printout. It must have told him to take a break, 'cause he immediately walks into a mat-based side-headlock. Ah, but the scheme becomes quickly obvious, as he manages to counter into an armbar. Oh, that wacky computer. Backbreaker, and a suplex hit, and a legdrop gets two. Rope-assisted abdominal stretch, but the referee catches him, so he tries a dropkick - only to miss. Taylor with a backelbow and a backdrop to set up a chincrusher for two, and an atomic drop/side suplex combo gets two. Diving Forearm gets two, but he walks into a stungun, and Wallstreet drops him like a Samoan for the pin at 6:53. And I guess Taylor was adequately impressed, 'cause he joined the computer oriented York Foundation not long after this, in fact replacing Wallstreet, who jumped to the WWF. Match eventually got going, but didn't get too far. ¾*

The Skyscrapers v The Motor City Madman and Big Cat: Starrcade Facts: The Motor City Madman is the biggest ham on tonight's event. Big brawl to start, with the Scrapers predictably destroying them, and Sid powerbombs the Madman for the pin at 1:01. Guess he was hungry for ham. Aaaannnnnddd DUD

The Fabulous Freebirds v Tommy Rich and Ricky Morton: Rich is subbing for Robert Gibson - as the Freebirds had injured his knee to set this up. Jimmy Garvin starts with Morton, and Morton ends up cleaning house on both Freebirds - allowing Gibson (at ringside, on crutches) to get his shots in. Quick double-team allows the faces to hook stereo figure four's, and both teams keep brawling, until Morton schoolboys Garvin for the pin at 6:13. Really disjoined match - inappropriately bordering on a comedy match when there was a serious issue to settle. Rich and Morton must have liked working together, as they both ended up joining the York Foundation in 1991. Or, well, because the bookers just told them to. Whichever. DUD

Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament Semi Final Match: The Steiner Brothers (USA) v Konnan and Rey Misterio (Mexico): Rick starts with Konnan, and immediately takes him to the mat, and tags Scott to powerslam him for two. Steiner's with an electric chair/flying bulldog combo, so Konnan bails to Misterio - who walks into a blockbuster. Tag back to Rick for a powerbomb, and that's that at 2:51. Again, didn't have enough time to go anywhere. ¼*

Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament Semi Final Match: The Great Muta and Mr. Saito (Japan) v Victor Zangiev and Salman Hashimikov (U.S.S.R.): Muta and Zangiev start, and go to a couple of stalemates on the mat, until Victor levels him with a side suplex. Tag to Saito, but Zangiev takes him to the mat with an armbreaker. Saito powers up, so Victor drags him into his home corner to tag Hashimikov. He fires right in with a single-leg takedown, and hooks a Boston crab - but Muta breaks it up. Well executed belly-to-belly stops Muta in his tracks, but Saito pops in with a side suplex to finish Zangiev at 3:08 - giving us a USA/Japan finals. Scathing commentary on the early-90s there, WCW. I would have liked to see the Russians face the Steiners, but Muta was significantly more recognizable to the audience, so that's a logical final. Some nice stuff from the Russians - not much time for anything else. ¼*

NWA United States Title Texas Lariat Match: Stan Hansen v Lex Luger: The Lariat Match is fancy talk for a Bullrope Match, which itself is fancy talk for a Strap Match, so both are tied together by a rope, and the first to drag the other to four corners wins. Hansen jumps Luger while he's getting his wrist tied (that's how he likes it, baby), but Lex starts flexing, and slams him around. Hansen responds by lashing him with the rope, and choking. Again, not unfamiliar territory for Luger there, so he knocks Hansen to the floor, and bites him. Well, this may not be the Match of the Year for 1990 - but it's certainly on track to be the kinkiest. Slugfest goes Luger's way, and a lariat sets up some mounted punches. He drags Hansen to three corners, but Stan stops the momentum with an ugly German suplex, and drags Luger to one corner. Luger's interruption pisses the Texan off, so he gets to lynching proper - hanging Luger over the ropes by the neck. Elbowdrop seems lackluster after the whole 'attempted murder' spot, but he still manages to get three corners before Luger lunges at him. Luger hammers him to get three corners, but the referee gets bumped as he reaches the fourth, so Hansen keeps the assault going. He starts dragging, as another referee runs in to count corners, and the champ makes all four  at 10:13. Oh, but turns out the first referee saw Luger hit the last corner originally (no shit - they only took him out while doing it), and awards the match to Luger. Strap Matches (and their derivations) have been enduringly popular over the years, but it's certainly one of my least favorite of frequently seen gimmick matches (along with Taped Fist). These two did what they could with it, keeping a good pace, and I actually liked this one better than the title change that set it up at Halloween Havoc. *

NWA World Tag Team Title Street Fight: Doom v Arn Anderson and Barry Windham: This is also a rematch from Halloween Havoc. It was Anderson and Ric Flair in that match, but supposedly Doom jumped Flair before the show, and fellow Horsemen Windham stepped in. That leaves one wondering, though, was Doom in on the Black Scorpion cover-up? Big brawl to start, obviously. They end up on the ramp pretty quickly, and Ron Simmons slams Windham, so Anderson runs over and starts whipping him with his belt to slow him down. Meanwhile, Butch Reed drags Windham in for a suplex, and he starts unloading with his belt, as Anderson goes ballistic on Simmons with a chair. Reed grinds his belt buckle into Barry's already bloody forehead, so Windham responds with a side suplex on the floor, and everyone heads back in. Anderson keeps unloading chair shots, making Windham jealous, so he creams Simmons with one of his own. Simmons with a spinebuster, and a press slam for Anderson, but he gets crotched as he goes to the top rope, and Barry superplexes him off for two. Reed dives into things with a flying shoulderblock on Anderson, so Windham cools him down with a DDT. Doom start flipping out - absolutely destroying the Horsemen with chair shots and piledrivers - and a lariat looks to finish Anderson, but Windham cradles Reed to the same time, leaving the referee to count both men’s shoulders at the same time, giving us the lamest of draw finishes at 7:19. Bad finish to an otherwise exciting, hard hitting match. ***

Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament Final Match: The Steiner Brothers (USA) v The Great Muta and Mr. Saito (Japan): Scott and Muta kick off with kicks from Muta, and he hits an enzuigiri. Again, but Steiner counters into an anklelock, and tags Rick. He gets some lightning kicks, too, but ducks a roundhouse, and levels him with a lariat. Tag to Saito for a clothesline, but Steiner ducks that, too, and dropkicks him. Muta tries to make the save by coming off of the top, but Steiner crotches him up there to stop that effort. Saito tries to offer a truce, but Rick kicks him square in the face as he bows, and both men tag. Muta with the handspring elbow, but a second misses, and Steiner with a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Back to Rick for a double knockout, and Muta dumps him for Saito to post. Muta follows it up by whacking him with the ring bell (guess they're still pissed at his blatant cultural insensitive), and the Japs cut the ring in half. Muta misses another roundhouse, and Scott gets the tag. He charges in with a double-underhook powerbomb, but gets caught with a double-team, and the heels spike piledrive him. Stupid finish, as Muta suddenly decides to turn his back on the match to talk to the fans, and Rick flies off of the top rope with a sunset flip on Saito at 10:52 to win that mouthful of a tournament. Match had issues with flow, and really ran out of gas towards the end, but still decent overall. * ½  

Main Event: NWA World Title v Mask Cage Match: Sting v The Black Scorpion: Dick the Bruiser is the special referee (dressed like an overweight Popeye more than a referee), mostly because they're in St. Louis. Four Black Scorpions walk out (part of the angle involved the Scorpion using imposters to fool Sting), until a space ship/egg lowers from the ceiling, and the real Scorpion (Ric Flair, still masked) emerges - complete with creepy voiceover confirming that he is the true Black Scorpion. Staredown to start, of course (you're not World Champion if you can't look into the eyes of an evil magician), and Scorpion gets the early advantage with a side suplex, but misses an elbowdrop. Sting is hesitant to tie-up, and once they do, it doesn't go anywhere, as Flair can't wrestle like Flair, and is plodding around. Gutwrench suplex, and the Scorpion keeps him on the mat with a chinlock. Criss cross allows Sting a press slam, and a series of clotheslines - but he misses a dive into the cage. That gets Scorpion two, and he chokes away. Sting comes back with a side-headlock, and forces Scorpion into the corner, but gets a thumb to the eye for his troubles. Scorpion rams him into the cage a couple of times, and a piledriver gets two. Criss cross allows Sting a bulldog, and the Stinger Splash leads to a Flair Flop. Scorpion Deathlock, but the Scorpion makes the ropes. Hey, he's magic! Simple submissions won't beat him! Sting responds by ripping the mask off, but Scorpion has a backup underneath. He doesn't have a backup to getting press slammed into the cage, however, and Sting finishes him with a flying bodypress at 18:31. The other Scorpion’s charge the cage, but Sting and the Bruiser hold them off, as Scorpion makes the slowest attempt to climb out I've ever seen. Apparently, he can make actual people disappear in a puff of smoke, but getting out of a wrestling ring is too complicated. The whole thing ends with Anderson and Windham finally getting the cue to run in, and help the Scorpion beat Sting down, until the Steiner Brothers make the save, and Sting unmasks Flair to end the show and angle. Flair did a good job of disguising his wrestling style, but why he still had to doesn't make much logical sense, as the Scorpion already goaded Sting into everything he wanted (A Cage Match! For the Title! On the Biggest Show of the Year!), why would Ric Flair care if Sting knew it was him at that point? This is the 'Bond-villain shows off the way he'll kill you' stage. What did he think the endgame was going to be, anyway? Even if he won the title here, he'd have to unmask, or be forced do double duty every night to keep up the charade. As I've noted, the angle wasn't a bad idea in theory, and I would even say Flair wasn’t the worst choice as the reveal, as he had lost his beloved title belt to Sting over the summer - right before the Scorpion first appeared - and Flair fucking with Sting is as reliable as the sun rising in the east. The match was horrible, however, lacking intensity (especially for a blowoff of its caliber), and hurt by the fact that Flair couldn't work like Flair, leaving them plodding around in front of a crowd that quickly lost patience - only politely popping for Sting's comeback. DUD

BUExperience: Not surprisingly, after this show, booker Ole Anderson (the man most responsible for the whole Scorpion mess) was sent packing. The card doesn’t have any particularly memorable matches on it, the tournament was an exercise in futility (and having something of a cancerous effect on the rest of the show, as it not only left them short on time, but the matches themselves were mostly heatless, as the crowd wasn’t familiar with the competitors), and is today remembered only for the Black Scorpion payoff. DUD