NWA (JCP) Starrcade 1983 (Version II)

From Greensboro, North Carolina; Your Hosts are Gordon Solie and Bob Caudle

Opening Match: The Assassins v Rufus R. Jones and Bugsy McGraw: The Assassins are managed by Paul Jones, and his non-ironic Dumb and Dumber tuxedo is enough to make them the favorites in my eyes. Assassin #1 starts with McGraw, and gets bodyslammed, but manages to bail when Bugsy goes for his mask. Back in, McGraw catches him with an overhead elbowsmash during a criss cross, and wins a slugfest. Tag to Assassin #2 (Hercules, of WWF fame), but McGraw bodyslams him, and adds a hiptoss before tagging out to Jones. Jones boogies his way to a few elbows, and schoolboys #2 for two - as the hard camera seemingly collapses. Maybe use a better tripod next time, idiots. Both guys tag, and #1 tries a wristlock, as the announcers talk about McGraw's degree in business administration. Because that's relevant here? Is he going to report the Assassins to HR, or something? Tag back to Jones, so #1 starts punching, but he forgets that Jones is black, and hurts his hand on his hard head. Ah, wresting racism at its finest. A cheap shot puts Rufus down, and the Assassins work him over, but keep making the mistake of hitting him in the head, and get nowhere. Tag back to McGraw, and he's a house of arson to trigger the four-way brawl - but gets rolled up by #2 at 8:12. This was kind of weird as a tag match, because it completely ignored the usual tag formula, which hurt the flow tremendously. ½* (Original rating: ¼*)

Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin v Scott McGhee and Johnny Weaver: Sullivan starts with McGhee, and takes him down, but loses a criss cross when Scott out maneuvers him. Tag to Lewin, and he's able to get Scott in a headlock, but McGhee escapes before they can double-team. Tag to Weaver, and he criss crosses with Sullivan to a stalemate. Tag back to Lewin, and they trade wristlocks - Weaver getting the better of it, then passing back to McGhee, but the youngster gets suckered into the heel corner, allowing Sullivan and Lewin to cut the ring in half with quick tags. The referee here looks like Whitey Duvall from Eight Crazy Nights. Scott manages to reverse Sullivan in the corner to get the tag, but Weaver gets reversed into the corner while trying a bulldog, and the heels destroy his wrist - Lewin dropping a flying knee onto it for the pin at 6:42. Using the tag formula made this one a lot easier to follow than the opener, but if the heels were going over, McGhee really should have done the job, since they spent the whole match working him over. ¾* (Original rating: ¼*)

Abdullah the Butcher v Carlos Colon: The Butcher is banned in Puerto Rico, so Colon had to come all the way to the States to get his hands on Abdullah again. I don't know anymore about the angle, but doesn't just that little bit make you want to find out more? Butcher pulls out a weapon right at the bell, and starts unloading on Carlos with it behind the referees back, but Colon starts slugging back - busting the Butcher open. He grabs the spike away from Butcher and exacts some revenge with it, then finally hits the first actual wrestling move of the match: a legdrop. It gets two. Dropkick sets up a poorly executed figure four, but Hugo Savinovich whacks him behind the referees back, and Abdullah covers for the pin at 4:29. DUD (Original rating: DUD)

Wahoo McDaniel and Mark Youngblood v Bob Orton and Dick Slater: McDaniel starts with Slater, and chops him around - prompting a Flair impression from Dick after getting whipped into the corner. Although, back then, it was probably more of a Buddy Rogers impression. Tag to Youngblood with a bodyslam, as they switch to an annoying direct overhead camera view for a bit, that makes things hard to follow. It's okay for restholds, but why ruin actual spots by making the guys look like ants? Mark with a somersault cradle for two, and he controls a hammerlock, but takes a Russian legsweep, and Orton tags in for a high knee, followed by a press-backbreaker. Snapmare sets up an elbowdrop, but Youngblood dodges, and hiptosses him out of the resulting criss cross. Another criss cross ends in Orton catching him in a backbreaker, and Slater comes in to punctuate it with an elbowdrop. He adds a gutwrench suplex for two, as the heels begin to cut the ring in half on Youngblood. Slater looks to finish him off with a piledriver, but Mark counters with a backdrop to allow the tag to McDaniel. He's a teepee of fire, but can't put Orton away, and ends up getting overwhelmed in a double-team. Slater side suplexes him for two, and Orton drops a pair of pointed elbows for two. Dick tries a flying overhead elbowsmash, but ends up hitting Bob, and McDaniel atomic drops Slater ahead of tagging Youngblood back in. Four-way brawl breaks out, but the older McDaniel can't keep up with the others - allowing Orton to superplex Youngblood for the pin at 14:46. I underrated this the first time around, because while it wasn't a classic, there was a lot of good tag team psychological drama going on here, and hard work all around. * ½  (Original rating: ¾*)

NWA Television Title v Mask: No Disqualification Match: Great Kabuki v Charlie Brown: Brown is Jimmy Valiant, under a mask. He attacks Kabuki before the bell, knocking him to the floor for a shot into the post, then unloads on him with a chair. Back in, Brown chokes away, and slaps on a sleeper, but Gary Hart helps Kabuki into the ropes to escape, and Kabuki unloads a series of kicks on Brown to setup a clawhold. That goes on for a long while, but Brown manages to escape, so Kabuki goes to the top for a flying clawhold, but Brown won't submit. Flying tomahawk chop gets two, and Kabuki goes for the mask, but can't get it off. More kicks, but Brown starts dancing, and dodges a kick in the corner, then drops an elbow for the pin at 10:35. It started off energetically enough (albeit sloppy), but once they got into the sleeper-clawhold sequence, the whole match just turned into a resthold. –¼* (Original rating: –* ½)

Dog Collar Match: Greg Valentine v Roddy Piper: Tug-of-war with the chain to start, as both guys try to find a psychological advantage, then finally just decide to meet at center ring, and duke it out. Piper starts whips him in the leg with the chain to get him into the corner, and he unloads, then crotches the Hammer with it. Valentine wraps the chain around his fist to get some payback, then snapmares Piper over, and wraps the chain around his eyes. Roddy responds by fish hooking him with the chain, and he wraps the chain around the post to form a noose. They spill out to the floor, and trade shots with the chain - Valentine busted open. Piper whacks him with a chair for good measure, so Greg pops him in the ear with the chain (which was part of the angle that set this match up), then slams his ear into the post - drawing blood from the ear. Not surprisingly, that messes with Piper's balance and hearing - both in the match, and in real life. Back in, Valentine stomps the ear, then starts viciously unloading those ungimmicked chain shots at it. Piper had trouble maintaining a vertical base due to vertigo, and Greg drops an elbow for two. Another elbowdrop gets two, but Piper goes ballistic before Valentine can try a third, and starts going to town with the chain. Valentine manages a clothesline and a kneedrop for two, but Roddy reverses a vertical suplex, so Valentine grabs a sleeper. Piper uses the chain to escape, but can't follow-up, and Greg drops another elbow. He heads up to the middle rope to finish him, but Roddy uses the chain to pull him off, and goes ballistic with mounted chain shots for the pin at 16:08. This is one of the most intense, brutal, and legendary matches of all time, and for good reason - one that could have been a total freak show, but instead was a psychological masterpiece and satisfying blow off. *** (Original rating: *** ¼)

NWA World Tag Team Title Match: The Brisco Brothers v Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood: Angelo Mosca acts as the special guest referee for this one. Jack Brisco starts with Ricky, and Steamboat has him on speed, but Brisco is able to outsmart him through a few criss crosses, and grabs a wristlock. Tag to Jerry Brisco, but Steamboat quickly takes him down, and starts throwing chops. Tag to Jay, and he controls Jerry with an armbar for a few two counts, then passes back to Steamboat for a flying tomahawk chop to the arm. The challengers take turns pounding Jerry's arm, but a cheap shot turns the tide, and Jack kills Steamboat with a modified stungun. The champs cut the ring in half on Steamboat, but he manages to power out of a short-armscissors, and gets the tag. Youngblood comes in hot, but quickly walks into a gutwrench suplex from Jack, and the champs go right back to cutting the ring in half on their new victim. Steamboat gets the hot tag, and the challengers control with quick double-teams – Steamboat press-slamming Youngblood onto Jerry for the title at 12:59. I know people tend to really love this match, but I still just couldn't make an significant emotional investment into it. I admire the work, I respect the psychology, I like all the guys involved, but it just always falls flat for me. * ¾  (Original rating: * ¼)

Main Event: NWA World Title Cage Match: Harley Race v Ric Flair: Gene Kiniski acts as the special guest referee. Flair manages to control the initial lockup into a mat-based side-headlock, but Race quickly rolls it into a pin attempt for two. Harley tries muscling him into the corner, so Flair throws chops, and grabs another side-headlock, but this time can't get Race down in the hold, and Harley uses a knee to escape. Flair pays him back with one of his own, then snapmares him into a mat-based headlock, but Race escapes, and ups the knee-ante with a high knee - only to miss a falling headbutt, and get chopped for two. Persistent, Flair goes back to the mat-based side-headlock, but can't pin the champion, and Harley uses a vertical suplex to escape, then covers for two. Flair tries a bodyslam, but Harley counters into a bodyblock for two, and chokes Flair until Kiniski has to physically intervene. Race with a piledriver for two, and a swinging neckbreaker is worth two. Front-powerslam gets two, and Ric tries slugging back, but Race swats him away, and easily hits his falling headbutt. He rams Ric into the cage to draw blood, as Kiniski gets on my (and it looks like their) nerves with his overzealous refereeing, and physical interference. Gorilla Monsoon would be having an aneurism calling this one. Race works the cut with a headbutt, but gets reversed going into the corner, and Ric exacts some revenge by using the cage to draw blood from the world champion. Snapmare sets up a kneedrop, and Flair executes his own piledriver for two. Double-underhook suplex gets two, but Kiniski keeps getting in his way, and Race is able to blow him low. I'm not trying to be a drama queen, but Kiniski is ruining this match for me. I don't know if it's intentional, or if the guy just doesn't know how to referee, but it's distracting, regardless. Flair manages a side suplex to setup the Figure Four, but Race reverses it into the ropes - as the announcers talk about how they've only ever seen one person ever reverse a figure four before. Stay tuned, fellas. Race blasts him with a headbutt, but a vertical suplex is countered into a bodyblock for two, so Race headbutts him again, the adds another one off of the middle rope for two. That dazes Flair enough for Race to pull off the vertical suplex for two, but Ric reverses a second try. Chops, and Flair rushes to the top rope - hitting Harley with a flying bodypress to capture the world title at 23:49. One of the most significant title changes not only of the 1980s (second only to Hulk Hogan winning the WWF Title from the Iron Sheik), but of all time, as Race, who had dominated the title picture for ten years, passes the torch to Flair - who would go on to dominate the title for the next ten years. *** (Original rating: ** ¾)

BUExperience: My thoughts on this one haven’t really changed. It's worth seeing for the historical significance, or for nostalgic purposes only.

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