NWA (WCW) Starrcade 1989 (Version II)

Original Airdate: December 13, 1989

From Atlanta, Georgia; Your Hosts are Jim Ross, Jim Cornette, and Terry Funk

Opening Iron Team Tournament Match: The Steiner Brothers (0) v Doom (0): The Steiner's are the NWA World Tag Team Champions here, though this is non-title. Doom, meanwhile, are still masked at this point, and referred to by number. Scott Steiner starts with Ron Simmons, and immediately starts throwing power with a powerslam for two, but a cross corner charge hits knee. Ron tries a backdrop, but Scott leapfrogs over him, and drills him with a Steinerline before tagging out to brother Rick Steiner. Rick tries a hammerlock, but Ron counters with a stunner, so Rick throws him around with a release overhead suplex. That draws Butch Reed in, but Rick is ready with a bodyslam. Reed throws a kneelift and hammers him right rights to try and turn the tide, but he runs into another bodyslam for two. Back to Scott with a standing side-headlock, so Reed tries an atomic drop, but Scott no-sells, and hits his own to setup a schoolboy for two. Forward-backbreaker gets two, but Scott fails to cut the ring in half, and Ron gets tagged back in. Scott misses a charge and goes flying out of the ring in short order, however, where Nitron is ready and waiting to pound him. Inside, Doom cut the ring in half with brutal efficiency, but Scott topples Reed during a vertical suplex attempt, then backdrops him to counter a piledriver. Butch keeps coming, but runs into a belly-to-belly suplex during a criss cross, and that's enough for the tag to Rick! He's a doghouse of fire, but Nitron trips him up from the outside, and everyone spills to the floor for a brawl - Roseanne Barr the door! Rick manages to get in ahead of Reed, however, and the Steiner's earn fifteen points via countout at 12:25. Good power tag match to get this show on the road. *** (Original rating: ¾*)

Iron Man Tournament Match: Lex Luger (0) v Sting (0): Luger is the NWA United States Champion here, but this is non-title. Both guys play to the crowd as we get started, with Luger bailing after getting a less than warm response. He decides to walk out altogether, but Sting jumps him near the entrance, and slugs him into the ring. Sting keeps pounding, and a clothesline sets up a slingshot splash for two. More clotheslines knock Luger out of the ring, and the Stinger follows to drive him face-first into the guardrail a couple of times. Sting with a flying bodypress for two on the way back in, and a ten-punch count leads to a clothesline for two. Man, Sting is throwing those clotheslines like they're going out of style here. 2^nd rope bodypress gets two, and he grounds the US champion with an armbar. Lex fights free, but misses a cross corner charge, and Sting dropkicks him for two. Another flying bodypress, but this time Luger is able to catch him with an inverted atomic drop, and he adds another one for good measure. Stomachbreaker sends Sting to the outside, and Lex gives him a shot into the rail as payback for earlier. Back in, a 2^nd rope axehandle gets two, so he rakes Sting's eyes across the top rope, and powerslams him. Torture Rack, but Sting back flips to avoid it - only to land badly on his ankle. That allows Lex to pound him into the corner to keep control, but Sting starts no-selling. Vertical suplex gets him two, so Luger tries bailing, but Sting is right on his tail. They do a sloppy spot where Sting tries clotheslining him in over the top from the apron, but Lex gets control as they land - pinning the Stinger with use of the ropes for leverage at 11:33 to earn twenty points. Some awkward bits, but a solid effort, overall. ** ¼ (Original rating: ** ¼)

Iron Team Tournament Match: Doom (0) v The Road Warriors (0): Animal starts with Butch Reed, and the masked Reed actually has the audacity to accuse him of hair pulling! Animal responds by dropkicking him, and Hawk tags in with a flying axehandle. Power-showdown goes his way with a clothesline, and Reed eagerly passes out to Ron Simmons. You don't step to Ron, after all! But, you do powerslam him, apparently, because that's exactly what happens. Hawk adds a jumping shoulderblock before passing back to Animal to ground Ron in a chinlock. Dear lord, the lighting for the this show is majorly depressing. Ron escapes the hold and tags back to Reed, but Hawk is ready with a dropkick - only to miss a charge, and go flying out of the ring! Inside, Doom cut the ring in half, as I wonder why Butch Reed always wore only one elbow pad. That's one of those wrestling universe pad-mysteries, right up there with Scott Hall wearing mismatching ones, and Ric Flair's constantly slipping kneepads. Hawk escapes a chinlock long enough to fistdrop Reed to allow the tag, and Animal comes in hot! Brawl quickly breaks out, and Roseanne Barr the Door, we've got a kettle on! It boils over as Reed tries a piledriver on Animal, but Hawk saves with a flying clothesline to allow his partner to score the pin for twenty points at 8:33. Not a good night for Doom thus far. This was watchable, but not particularly notable. * ¼ (Original rating: *)

Iron Man Tournament Match: Ric Flair (0) v The Great Muta (0): Flair is the NWA World Champion, while Muta is the NWA Television Champion, but this is strictly non-title. Criss cross to start, ending in Muta blocking a hiptoss, and unloading on Flair in the corner. Handspring backelbow puts Ric down for an elbowdrop, but the Nature Boy fires back with chops, and an inverted atomic drop. Kneebreaker sets up the Figure Four, so Gary Hart's crew tries running in - only to get cutoff by Arn and Ole Anderson! As they brawl, Muta turns the tide and hits a backbreaker, but a flying moonsault hits the knees, and Flair cradles him at 1:55 to score twenty points AND end Muta's undefeated streak, all in under two minutes. What an absolutely titanic waste of Muta's streak, and what could have been an all time classic match. DUD (Original rating: ¼*)

Iron Team Tournament Match: The Road Warriors (20) v The Steiner Brothers (15): Not much downtime for the Warriors there. Hawk starts with Scott Steiner, and quickly smacks him with an enzuigiri when Steiner blocks a kick. Hawk then blocks a kick, and Scott sends him flying with a takedown into an anklelock, but Hawk has the ropes. Over to Rick Steiner, but Hawk sends him spiraling through the air with a clothesline for two, then passes to Animal for a tandem-backelbow. Criss cross ends in a Steinerline, however, so Animal throws a jumping shoulderblock. Bearhug, but Rick quickly escapes with a belly-to-belly suplex for two, and both guys tag. Hawk immediately displays tremendous power by casually press-slamming Scott, then adding a fistdrop for two. He absolutely maims him with a big boot for two, and Animal bodyslams him, but misses an elbowdrop. Scott returns fire with a belly-to-belly suplex for two, but a cross corner charge ends badly when Animal comes barreling out with a lariat. Back to Hawk for a gutwrench backbreaker, and a gutwrench slam gets two. God, these guys are nuts. Scott shoots back again with a nasty overhead superplex that nearly cripples Hawk, but luckily doesn't. Animal slows it down with a bearhug, and Hawk drives a powerslam to setup an elbowdrop from Animal for two. That draws Rick in, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! The Warriors hit the Doomsday Device to finish, but Animal inadvertently gets his own shoulders pinned while holding the cradle, adding twenty points to the Brothers' tally at 7:28. I really didn't care for the finish, but the match was a rollicking stiff brawl, and a dream match combination to boot. *** (Original rating: ** ¼)

Iron Man Tournament Match: The Great Muta (0) v Sting (0): They size each other up cautiously to start, until Muta grabs a full-nelson. Sting reverses, but gets clobbered in the corner during the break, and Muta cracks him with a few kicks before taking him to the mat in a side-headlock. Sting escapes and wins a nice criss cross with a monkeyflip, then adds a snap suplex for two. Atomic drop rattles the Television champion, and Sting tries for the Scorpion Deahtlock, but Muta's in the ropes. He bails to the floor to break the momentum, and an eyerake on the way back in turns the tide enough to allow a backdrop. Snapmare sets up a swift elbowdrop, and he grounds Sting with a bridging inverted double chickenwing. That's a great spot, in the style of the MutaLock. Sting escapes and throws a press-slam for two, and an elbowdrop is worth two. Chinlock, but Muta quickly escapes in the corner, and chops at him. Forward-backbreaker sets up the flying moonsault, but Sting dodges - only for Muta to land on his feet, and spinkick the Stinger down. Muta goes back up, but this time Sting throws a dropkick to crotch him on the top, and a superplex scores twenty points at 8:41. Quite disappointing compared to their Great American Bash match earlier in the year, this felt like a house show effort. * (Original rating: *)

Iron Team Tournament Match: Doom (0) v The New 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 Steiner’s - and the Steiner’s still have another match to go. So, the level of intrigue isn't exactly off the charts for this thing. Butch Reed starts with Fatu, and literally nothing happens. Over to Ron Simmons and Samoan Savage, and Ron powerslams him, but runs into a superkick. Savage tries a flying splash, but Simmons rolls out of the way, and bodyslams him for two. Tag to Reed with a swinging neckbreaker for two, as Doom cut the ring in half on Savage. That goes on until Savage dodges a 2^nd rope shoulderblock from Reed, and Fatu gets the tag! He's a hut of fire, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on! That one boils over when Reed and Fatu accidentally butt heads, and Fatu falls on top for the twenty point pinfall at 8:22. Ouch, bad night for Doom. The Wild Samoans are average workers under the best of circumstances, so a worn down Doom on their third outing of the night aren't exactly the kind of guys who are going to coax a great showing out of them. ¾* (Original rating: ½*)

Iron Man Tournament Match: Ric Flair (20) v Lex Luger (20): Lots of stalling from Lex to start, as the crowd taunts him. They finally get going as they trade headlocks on the mat, and Flair unloads with some chops to send Luger running to the outside. Ric is right after him with more chops, and inside he backdrops the United States champion. Wristlock goes on for a long while, until things finally pick up (some ten minutes into it) with Flair winning a criss cross with a rollup for two, then hooking a quick inside cradle for two, and a schoolboy for two. Back to the wristlock, but only briefly, as Lex drops him throat-first across the top rope to escape this time. Thank God, that first wristlock sequence felt endless. Luger with a clothesline to setup a pointed elbowdrop for two, and another one also gets two. Press-slam sends Flair to the outside, and Lex puts the boots to him as he pulls himself back in. Vertical suplex, but Ric reverses, then counters a hiptoss into a backslide for two. Flying axehandle is blocked with a punch by Luger for two, however, and Lex dumps him to the floor to try for a countout, but Ric comes back in with a slingshot sunset flip for two. He goes up, but Luger slams him down off the top - only to miss an elbowdrop. Ric capitalizes with a side suplex, and immediately slaps on the Figure Four (good thing he did all that damage to the arm earlier), but the fifteen minute time limit expires at 17:15 - leaving them with a tied score, but adding five points to each of their tallies to put them both ahead of Sting. The match was pretty disappointing, as it took forever and a day to get off the ground, and the reversed heel/face dynamic felt strange, with lots of aimlessness. ½* (Original rating: *)

Iron Team Tournament Match: The Steiner Brothers (35) v The New Wild Samoans (20): Scott literally kidnaps a kid on the way to the ring, which would be surprising behavior were it anyone but Scott Steiner. After much debate, Rick Steiner starts with Samoan Savage, and gets bodyslammed, but Savage misses an elbowdrop. Rick drills him with a Steinerline, but Savage wisely rolls out of the ring before Steiner can cover or follow-up. Wow, he nailed him with that one so hard that one of Savage's dreadlocks literally fell off of his head! The Samoans tease walking out, which would effectively give the Steiner's the tournament, since no result in the final match between the Road Warriors and the Samoans could overtake a score of fifty points. Luckily, they opt to come back in, but Rick keeps drilling poor Savage with those Steinerlines, before passing out to Scott. Scott proceeds to crack Savage with a Steinerline of his own for two, and he grounds him with a front-facelock into a cradle for two. Savage promptly accuses him of cheating (in this case, hair pulling), which is an interesting tactic for a supposed wild savage. These kids today, you know? Scott misses a dropkick to allow Savage to take over, and he dumps Scotty to the outside for a drop across the rail. Inside, the Samoans cut the ring in half on Scott, but Savage runs into a Frankensteiner, and Scott adds a sunset flip for two. Savage tries cutting him off with a bodyslam, but a splash misses, so Fatu comes in illegally - quickly drawing Rick in illegally as well, and Roseanne Barr the door, we've got a kettle on here! Unfortunately, Scott gets overzealous in the chaos - backdropping Fatu over the top for a disqualification at 14:11, and adding ten points for the Samoans. This was another one that took forever to get going, and even once it did, it wasn't going anyplace particularly exciting. ¾* (Original rating: DUD)

Iron Man Tournament Match: Lex Luger (25) v The Great Muta (0): This is Muta's final match, and even a clean pinfall victory isn't enough to give him a first place finish. Poor Luger looks like he's ready to go home by this point. What a stupid concept to run on pay per view to begin with! Round robin tournaments are fun, but they make a lot more logistical sense when spread out over a few shows, not all in one night. Not only are the wrestlers getting burned out, but I'm getting sick of fucking seeing the same guys over and over again after two hours. Criss cross ends in Lex aggravating his knee (following the Flair match) on a leapfrog, and Muta pounces on it. Lex tries fighting back with a vertical suplex, but the knees gives out, and Muta goes back to work on it. Handspring backelbow hits, but Lex fights out of a leglock, and drops a few elbows for two. Muta cuts him off with another shot at the knee, and the MutaLock is on, but Luger gets the ropes to save himself. More knee work, but Lex starts slugging, so Muta cuts him off with a spinkick. Dropkick works, but Lex fights him off again in the corner, and this time manages a backdrop before getting cutoff again. Sloppy hiptoss ends with Muta on the floor, so he tries a slingshot sunset flip back in, and gets two. Lex keeps firing with a powerslam, and he tries to put him away with the Torture Rack - so Muta sprays mist in his eyes at 11:48 to give Lex a ten point disqualification victory. Can't blame Muta there... he had no chance of coming in first no matter what the outcome, so why risk eating a pinfall or a submission? Lex did a great job selling here, though this was a pretty middling effort overall. * (Original rating: ¾*)

Iron Team Tournament Match: The New Wild Samoans (30) v The Road Warriors (20): Any victory for the Samoans gives them the tournament, but the Warriors need a pin or submission to overtake the Steiner's, and a draw results in the Samoans tying the Brothers. Fatu starts with Animal, and catches him with a quick piledriver - which gets promptly no-sold, of course. Animal whacks him with a clothesline before passing out to Hawk, and Fatu passes as well. Chopfest goes Hawk's way with a backdrop, but he runs into an inverted atomic drop, and Savage adds a sloppy overhead suplex. That gets no-sold anyway, however, and Hawk throws a dropkick for two. Hawk has looked like he's in outer space all night tonight, though I'm not sure if we're dealing with a SummerSlam '92 type situation, or if he just wasn't feeling it. The Warriors continue throwing the Samoans around in sloppy fashion, until Animal eats a headbutt to the ball from Fatu, which, for all intents and purposes, should have killed him dead. It is enough to allow the Samoans to take over, however, and they cut the ring in half. It's a very short heat segment though, as Savage misses a 2^nd rope pump-splash, and Hawk gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! The Samoans try to double up on Animal, but Hawk nails Savage with a flying clothesline to win the Iron Team tournament at 5:48. That shouldn't come as any surprise, given their entrance music. This probably (and logically) should have set up a rivalry with the world tag champion Steiner Brothers, though that never came to pass. As for the match, it was sloppy as fuck, but luckily kept short since these guys aren't exactly known for their stamina. ½* (Original rating: ½*)

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

Iron Man Tournament Match: Ric Flair (25) v Sting (20): Luckily, both guys have had some time to rest since their last outings, and are definitely stamina guys anyway - particularly Flair. Sting needs a pin or submission to win the tournament, while Flair can take it by pin, submission, or countout - giving him a slight edge. Something that's always bugged me about this one: why didn't Luger run in and attack Sting to cause a DQ? If Sting wins by DQ, his final score is only thirty points, and Luger wins the tournament. Criss cross to start, won by Sting with a reversed hiptoss that sends Flair bailing to the outside. Back in, they trade 'whoos,' and Sting takes him down with a drop-toehold, but Ric blocks an STF. Sting responds with a wristlock, but Flair fireman’s carries him into the ropes to escape - setting Sting on the top turnbuckle like a little child. A fight over an overhead wristlock goes Sting's way, but Flair is quickly in the ropes to escape, and grabs a standing side-headlock. Sting escapes for another criss cross (and a great one at that), which ends in the Stinger press-slamming him, and the world champion bailing. In, Sting wins another criss cross by countering a hiptoss into a backslide for two, but he runs into a big chop as he tries following up, and Flair cracks him with a few more in the corner. Hiptoss, but Sting reverses, and adds a pair of dropkicks before clotheslining him for two. Ric begs off to sucker Sting into getting dumped out of the ring, and Flair abuses him with the rail out there. Ric leaves him out there for the countout, but Sting makes it onto the apron, so Flair brings him in with a hanging vertical suplex for two. Abdominal cradle gets two, and an inside cradle is worth two. Another hanging vertical suplex gets two, and a double-underhook suplex is worth two. Cross corner whip, but Sting barrels out of the corner with a lariat for two on the rebound, and Ric wisely bails. Sting goes after him, so Ric throws chops, but Sting no-sells, and hits Flair with a slingshot sunset flip on the way back in - Ric blocking with a closed fist. Flair decides to punish him with a vertical suplex from the apron to the floor, but Sting reverses back in for two. Ten-punch count and a hiptoss setup a clothesline for two, and the Stinger Splash sets up the Scorpion Deathlock! Sting gets it on, but Flair is immediately in the ropes, and pops Sting with a kneebreaker to turn things around. Figure Four, but Sting gets the ropes to escape, as time starts winding down. Ric keeps pounding the knee, but Sting bridges out of a pin and into a backslide for two. Still, the knee holds him back from capitalizing, and Flair delivers another kneebreaker. Figure Four, but Sting counters with an inside cradle at 14:57 - just seconds ahead of the time limit! Solid match, with lots of drama. ** ¾ (Original rating: ***)

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

BUExperience: Not surprisingly, Starrcade ’89 is a popular one for people to do fantasy rebooks of, as choosing to run the Iron Man/Team tournament formats (and nothing else) was (and still is) a perplexing booking call. While not terrible, this is certainly an underwhelming show, one that felt more like a Clash of the Champions special than a proper pay per view – let alone the biggest of the year. The format just absolutely kills it, with the same guys coming out over and over again to the point where you tire of seeing them, and turning in increasingly fatigued performances. Like, things start off well enough, but once you’re getting into the third match of the night for teams like Doom or the Road Warriors, well, things are going downhill – and fast. I mean, what kind of show features three Ric Flair matches that combined total only three and a quarter stars?

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