Wikipedia
Starrcade was an annual professional wrestling event, originally broadcast via closed-circuit television and eventually broadcast via pay-per-view television, held from 1983 to 2000 by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) and later World Championship Wrestling (WCW). Starrcade was regarded by the NWA and WCW as their flagship event of the year, much in the same vein that its rival, the World Wrestling Federation, regards WrestleMania. As a result, the buildup to each Starrcade featured the largest feuds of the promotion.
From 1983 to 1987, Starrcade was produced by Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), the dominant promotion of the NWA, and aired on Thanksgiving Day. In 1987, the WWF scheduled a pay-per-view of their own, Survivor Series, on Thanksgiving night and demanded exclusivity from cable providers on carriage of the event. In order to prevent such a problem, Starrcade was moved to December the following year and the show was held around Christmas Day, mostly in the days following, beginning in 1988.
Also in 1988, JCP was sold to Turner Broadcasting due to financial problems and became WCW, though Starrcade was held under the NWA banner until 1990.
From the 1960s to the 1980s, it was tradition for JCP to hold major professional wrestling events on Thanksgiving and Christmas, mostly at Greensboro Coliseum. In 1983, JCP created Starrcade as their supercard to continue the Thanksgiving tradition, and spread it across its territory on closed-circuit television. It popularized broadcasting on closed-circuit television and was financially successful. From 1987, Starrcade was broadcast on pay-per-view, the first NWA event to do so.
The rights to the event now belong to WWE (formerly the World Wrestling Federation). In November 2008, WWE 24/7 Classics aired a special as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the event called The Essential Starrcade. This five-part series counts down the top 25 matches in Starrcade history. In January 2009, WWE Home Video released Starrcade: The Essential Collection as a three disc DVD set. With the launch of the WWE Network in 2014 all Starrcade shows became available on demand to Network subscribers.
Starrcade (2000) was the eighteenth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on December 17, 2000 at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. This was the final Starrcade event produced as WCW was purchased by the World Wrestling Federation in March 2001.
The main event was between Scott Steiner and Sid Vicious for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Shortly after Steiner won the title at Mayhem, the previous pay-per-view event, Vicious was scheduled to face Steiner for the title at Starrcade. Their feud continued after the event until Sin, the following event, when a severe injury forced Vicious to leave professional wrestling. The event also included a tag team match between the Perfect Event and the Insiders for the WCW World Tag Team Championship and a match between Lex Luger and Goldberg.
In 2015, All WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.
Starrcade (1997) was the fifteenth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was the tenth Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and it took place on December 28, 1997 from the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. It featured the ongoing storyline between WCW and the New World Order (nWo) organization.
The main event was between Hollywood Hogan and Sting for the World Heavyweight Championship, with Hogan representing the nWo and Sting representing World Championship Wrestling. The match culminated a year-long buildup of their feud. The match ended in controversy over the referee's pinfall count, and their feud continued after the event surrounding this. Other matches included Larry Zbyszko and Eric Bischoff for the control of WCW Monday Nitro, and Curt Hennig and Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. In 2015, All WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.
Starrcade '83: A Flair for the Gold was the first annual Starrcade professional wrestling event. It was produced under the National Wrestling Alliance banner by Jim Crockett Promotions. The event took place on November 24, 1983 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and was broadcast on closed-circuit television around the Southern United States. Eight professional wrestling matches were featured.
The main event was a steel cage match where Ric Flair defeated Harley Race to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Their feud began after Race won the title from Flair in June. Race then offered a bounty to have Flair put out of professional wrestling. In August, prior to the event, Bob Orton, Jr. and Dick Slater attacked Flair, appearing to inflict on him a career-ending injury. Flair announced his retirement, but returned shortly after. As a result of his victory in the match, Flair was acknowledged as a reputable champion, and their feud ended after the event. The event also included a match featuring Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood against Jack and Jerry Brisco for the NWA World Tag Team Championship and a Dog Collar match between Roddy Piper and Greg Valentine.
Starrcade (1985) was the third annual Starrcade professional wrestling event produced by Jim Crockett Promotions under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner. It took place on November 28, 1985 from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired live on closed-circuit television.
The main event was between Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Their feud escalated when Flair broke Rhodes' ankle in September. After the event, Flair formed the Four Horsemen stable, and continued to feud with Rhodes. Other matches included Magnum T.A. and Tully Blanchard in an "I Quit" steel cage match for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, and The Rock 'n' Roll Express and the team of Ivan and Nikita Koloff in a Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship.
Starrcade '87 was the fifth annual Starrcade professional wrestling event produced by Jim Crockett Promotions under the National Wrestling Alliance banner. It took place on November 26, 1987 from the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. It was the first NWA event to be broadcast live on pay-per-view. This was the first major JCP event to feature wrestlers from the Universal Wrestling Federation, which was purchased by JCP shortly before the event.
The main event was a steel cage match between Ric Flair and Ron Garvin for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. After the event, Flair feuded with Sting. The event also included a steel cage match between Dusty Rhodes and Lex Luger for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, a match between The Road Warriors and the team of Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard for the NWA World Tag Team Championship, and a match between Nikita Koloff and Terry Taylor to unify the NWA World Television Championship and the UWF World Television Championship.
Starrcade '89 was the seventh annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced under the National Wrestling Alliance banner. It was the second Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling, and it took place on December 13, 1989 at The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia.
The event solely featured the Iron Man and Iron Team tournaments. The participants were Sting, Lex Luger, Ric Flair and The Great Muta for the Iron Man tournament, and Doom, The Steiner Brothers, The Road Warriors and The New Wild Samoans (replacing The Skyscrapers due to Sid Vicious' injury) for the Iron Team tournament. This event varied from other Starrcade events by only featuring the tournaments, only showcasing a small amount of wrestlers, and not featuring title defenses. The event led to a feud between Sting and Flair after a brief alliance as members of the Four Horsemen stable.
Starrcade '90 was the eighth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced under the National Wrestling Alliance banner. It was the third Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling, and the last pay-per-view event held by the NWA. It took place on December 16, 1990 from the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.
The main event was a steel cage match between Sting and The Black Scorpion for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Their feud began when The Black Scorpion debuted and began taunting Sting. Ric Flair was revealed to be The Black Scorpion at the end of the match, and Flair continued to feud with Sting after the event. Other matches included a Street Fight between Doom and the team of Arn Anderson and Barry Windham for the NWA World Tag Team Championship, and a Texas Lariat match between Stan Hansen and Lex Luger for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. The event also hosted the Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament.In 2015, All WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.
Starrcade '91: Battlebowl - The Lethal Lottery was the ninth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was the fourth Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling, and it took place on December 29, 1991 from the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. The event consisted of the Battlebowl battle royal and its "Lethal Lottery" tag team qualifying matches. 40 wrestlers, paired in randomly chosen tag teams, competed in qualifying matches; the winning team advanced to the 20-man Battlebowl Battle Royal to determine the winner.
This was the first Starrcade under the WCW (instead of the NWA) banner and the first to not include Ric Flair, who had left for the World Wrestling Federation). Sting won Battlebowl, and his victory led to a feud with Lex Luger over the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. In 2015, All WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.
Starrcade '93: 10th Anniversary was the eleventh annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event. It was the sixth Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling, and it took place on December 27, 1993 from the Independence Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. This was the first Starrcade to feature Ric Flair since the Starrcade in 1990.
The main event was between Vader and Ric Flair for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The match was made as a result of the double stabbing that occurred between Arn Anderson and Sid Vicious in October. Flair replaced Vicious in his match against Vader. Their feud continued after the event with a Thundercage match at SuperBrawl IV. The event also included The Nasty Boys against Sting and Road Warrior Hawk for the WCW World Tag Team Championship, Rick Rude against The Boss (replacing Davey Boy Smith) for the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship, and a two out of three falls match between Dustin Rhodes and Steve Austin for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship. In 2015, All WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.
Starrcade (1998) was the sixteenth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was the eleventh Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and it took place on December 27, 1998 from the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.
The main event was a No Disqualification match between Goldberg and Kevin Nash for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Their feud began when Nash won a battle royal at World War 3, and earned a title match. Other matches included Diamond Dallas Page against The Giant, Eric Bischoff against Ric Flair, and Konnan against Chris Jericho for the WCW World Television Championship. In 2015, All WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.
Starrcade '88 was the sixth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced under the National Wrestling Alliance banner. It was the first Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling, and it took place on December 26, 1988 from the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia. Shortly before the event, Ted Turner bought Jim Crockett Promotions, and the company became WCW.
The main event was an over 30 minute bout between Ric Flair and Lex Luger for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. They were once members of the Four Horsemen stable, but Luger began to have issues with the other members, and left the group. Luger started a feud with Flair when Barry Windham, a friend of Luger's, turned on him, and joined the Four Horsemen. Other matches included The Road Warriors against Sting and Dusty Rhodes for the NWA World Tag Team Championship, Barry Windham against Bam Bam Bigelow for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, and Mike Rotunda against Rick Steiner for the NWA World Television Championship.
Starrcade (1996) was the fourteenth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was the ninth Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and it took place on December 29, 1996 from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The event featured the New World Order (nWo) stable, which formed in July.
The main event was between Hollywood Hogan and Roddy Piper. Piper debuted to WCW earlier in the year to oppose the nWo, and challenge Hogan to determine who the bigger icon was. Other matches featured Lex Luger and The Giant, Diamond Dallas Page and Eddie Guerrero for the vacant WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, The Outsiders and the Faces of Fear for the WCW World Tag Team Championship, and Ultimo Dragon and Dean Malenko to unify the J-Crown Championship and the WCW Cruiserweight Championship.In 2015, All WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.
Starrcade (1999) was the seventeenth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view event. It was the twelfth Starrcade event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and it took place on December 19, 1999 from the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.
The main event was between Bret Hart and Goldberg for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. The match was notable for a concussion Hart sustained, which ultimately led to his retirement in 2000. After Hart won the title at the Mayhem event, Goldberg challenged Hart to a match for the title. The match ended in a screwjob, with Goldberg losing unfairly. Soon after the event, Hart formed and led a new incarnation of the New World Order group. Other matches included a ladder match between Chris Benoit and Jeff Jarrett for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship, a Powerbomb match between Sid Vicious and Kevin Nash, and Sting against The Total Package. In 2015, All WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.
Starrcade (1994): Triple Threat was a major professional wrestling show, broadcast on pay-per-view that took place on December 27, 1994 from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The show was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and was the 12th overall show under that banner since its inception in 1983. The main event of the show was WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan defending the title against his former friend-turned-rival The Butcher. The show also included Jim Duggan defending the WCW United States Championship against Vader and Johnny B. Badd defending the WCW World Television Championship against Arn Anderson.
WCW closed in 2001 and all rights to their television and pay-per-view shows was bought by WWE, including the Starrcade series. In 2015, all WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.
Starrcade '84: The Million Dollar Challenge was a major professional wrestling show broadcast live on closed-circuit television that took place on November 22, 1984. The show was promoted by Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner and took place at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina. The main event of the show was billed as "the Million Dollar Challenge" as the storyline was that the winner of the match would not only win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship but also win a $1,000,000 purse, part of the illusion that professional wrestling was a legitimate sporting competition. The main event saw champion "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair defend the championship against long time rival "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, with boxer Joe Frazier acting as the special guest referee for the match. The show also saw the championship matches for the NWA United States Championship, NWA World Television Championship, NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship, NWA Brass Knuckles Championship and NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship.
Starrcade (1986): The Skywalkers took place on November 27, 1986 from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. It aired live on closed-circuit television. The main event saw NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair put the championship on the line against the NWA United States Champion Nikita Koloff in a rare for the time champion-vs-champion match. The dual location saw six matches take place in each location, with the Greensboro Coliseum main event being a steel cage match between defending NWA World Tag Team Champion The Rock 'n' Roll Express ( Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) defended the championship against the Anderson Brothers ( Arn and Ole Anderson). The "Skywalkers" tag line came from one of the featured matches of the show where The Road Warriors wrestled The Midnight Express in a scaffold match with both team fighting atop a 20 foot tall scaffold erected across the top of the ring.
Highlights of the show was shown on JCP's weekly television shows and an edited version of the show was later available for purchase or rental on VHS tape. With the launch of the WWE Network in 2014 all closed-circuit Starrcades ( 1983 through 1986) alongside the subsequent Starrcade shows appear in the pay-per-view section. The WWE Network versions of the shows were not edited for content but did replace some entrance music due to copyright issues.
Starrcade (1995): World Cup of Wrestling was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event that took place on December 27, 1995. The show was promoted by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) at the Greensboro Coliseum in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The event included a seven match tournament between wrestlers representing WCW and their Japanese partner New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) billed as the "World Cup of Wrestling", in which Sting (WCW) defeated Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW) in the finals; WCW won the tournament four points to three. At the event Ric Flair also defeated Randy Savage in the main event for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship,
WCW closed in 2001 and all rights to their television and pay-per-view shows were bought by WWE, including the Starrcade series. In 2015, All WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.
Starrcade (1992): BattleBowl/The Lethal Lottery II was a major annual professional wrestling show, broadcast on pay-per-view that took place on December 28, 1992 from The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. The show was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and was the 10th overall show under that banner since its inception in 1983. The focus of the show was the second ever "Lethal Lottery" / "Battle Bowl" tournament where randomly paired tag teams competed for a spot in the Battle Bowl battle royal at the end of the night. The show also saw Ron Simmons defend the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against "Dr. Death" Steve Williams, the team of Shane Douglas and Ricky Steamboat putting the WCW World Tag Team Championship on the line against the team of Brian Pillman and Barry Windham and Masahiro Chono defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against The Great Muta. In addition Sting faced off against Vader in the finals of the "King of Cable" tournament.
It was also the last WCW Pay-Per-View for announcer Jim Ross who would leave for the World Wrestling Federation (today WWE) shortly there after.
In 2001, WCW including all rights to their television and pay-per-view shows was bought by WWE. In 2015, All WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.