Have the whole collection of NWA/WCW PPVs and a lot of other big events, such as the first and last Nitros, and the Clash of the Champions shows. I've been posting reviews on the Death Valley Driver Message Board, and figured I would repost what I have done here, as well as the other reviews as I do them. With that out of the way, let's start with the first Starrcade...
-11/24/83 (Thanksgiving Night) from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC
-Hosts are Bob Caudle & Gordon Solie
-Match 1: The Masked Assassins (w/Paul Jones) VS NWA Mid-Atlantic Champion Rufus R. Jones & Bugsy McGraw
-Really hot crowd. Paul Jones looks like he's wearing a prom tux. McGraw keeps trying to unmask one of the Assassins early. McGraw wins a clubbing exchange and celebrates by spinning around and around like a little kid. McGraw takes some really strange bumps off of shoulder blocks. Rufus Jones no-sells punches to the face, presumably because he's black and had a hard head. Solie chooses and odd tactic to put McGraw over, talking about is degree in Business Administration and how sensitive he is. Assassins only get some token offense before one Assassin sneaks in behind McGraw and gets a schoolboy for the pin. Really basic opener that at least did not kill the crowd. McGraw looked like a poor man's Dusty with his mannerisms.
-Tony Schiavone is in the babyface locker room. He looks a lot like Ray Combs at this point.
-Match 2: Scott McGhee & Johnny Weaver VS Kevin Sullivan & Mark Lewin (w/Gary Hart)
-LINE OF THE NIGHT: ”Some people have accused Sullivan of being a Druid. I wouldn't be surprised if he were.”-Gordon Solie.
Heels control the match for the most part, with McGhee the face-in-peril. Hot tag to Weaver, and Sullivan manages to take a back bump off a bulldog. Hart helps Sullivan hold Weaver so Lewin can come off the top onto Weaver's arm, and that gets the pin. Lewin goes nuts with a spike after the bell, carving up McGhee's face. Angelo/King Kong Mosca makes the save, but not before taking a shot to the arm with the spike himself.
-Barbara Clarey interviews the Estes family who drove a whole 180 miles to get to Greensboro. They think Flair is going to beat Race tonight.
-Tony interviews Harley Race. The last place he wants to be is in Greensboro. Harley spoken to some of his friends who know about Flair, and so he knows all about Flair's shortcomings. Gerry Brisco & Greg Valentine shoot a knowing look to the camera.
-Match 3: Carlos Colon VS Abdullah the Butcher
-This match was banned in Puerto Rico, according to the announcers. Abby hits Colon with a foreign object right off the bat. Colon fights back and takes the object out of Abby's tights and repeatedly hits him in the face, before digging it in. No DQ is called for by the ref, so this must be no-DQ, even though nothing was mentioned before this. Cute spot as Abby presses Colon off a cover onto the ref, trapping him and leaving him position to take an elbow drop that was meant for Colon. Hugo Savanovich jumps into the ring and nails Colon with something, allowing Abby to score the pin. I was wondering what was up with the ref bump, since the ref didn't seem to care about enforcing any rules. Really short.
-Angelo Mosca will ref the World Tag Team Championship match even with his injured arm. Mosca is pissed because McGhee reminds him of his son. Really good promo as Mosca says that while he has done some bad things in his career, he was never malicious, and that he has a soft spot in his heart for youth.
-Barbara interviews a couple of women in the crowd. They too expect Flair to beat Harley.
-Match 4: Wahoo McDaniel & Mark Youngblood VS Dick Slater & Bob Orton Jr.
-Dusty is announced as being in the arena (after an audio mishap), but is not shown on camera. Slater does a Flair flip off an Irish whip and struts across the ring apron. Youngblood kicks Slater off him and over the top onto the apron, and the heels call for a DQ, but no dice. This match is faster-paced when Orton is in with Youngblood. Orton stops a criss-cross with a back-breaker, then holds Youngblood so Slater can drop an elbow. Orton pounds on Youngblood on the outside, then uses the guardrail to give Youngblood a nasty looking back-breaker. Youngblood takes a huge beating, but finally gets the hot tag to Wahoo, who dominates Orton. Wahoo no-sells Slater's strikes. Slater finally takes Wahoo down with a belly-to-back suplex.
-Miscommunication allows the babyfaces to get their first extended segment of offense. Really awkward segment as Youngblood sends Orton into the ropes. Slater is supposed to trip/hold Orton so Youngblood misses a dropkick, but the timing is really off. Orton finishes Youngblood with a superplex, as Wahoo is a split-second too late to break up the pin. The heels try to break Wahoo's arm after the bell. The heels are now 4-0.
-Tony interviews Flair, who gives his response to Harley's earlier comments. Ric asks for support for his friends Jay Youngblood & Ricky Steamboat.
-Barbara interviews Dusty, but the microphone cuts out on them while Dusty is getting fired up.
-Match 5: TV title VS Charlie Brown's mask: The Great Kabuki [c] (w/Gary Hart) VS Charlie Brown (a.k.a. Jimmy Valiant)
-The TV title is only on the line for the first 15 minutes of a possible 60. They brawl to the outside right away, with Brown taking control. Brown stomps Kabuki right on the nuts, but the ref isn't paying attention. Long sleeper hold segment, as Brown gets Kabuki down with it, takes a thumb to the eye to break, and then locks the hold back on before Hart puts Kabuki's foot on the bottom rope, breaking the hold. Brown fights out of a claw hold, and gives Kabuki some awkward looking backdrops. Kabuki goes back to the claw, then comes flying off the top...to slap on the claw. Match is clipped to Kabuki getting a near-fall. Kabuki tries to unmask Brown to no avail. Brown comes back by using the power of dance. Kabuki misses a running knee into the corner, and Brown drops an elbow for the pin. There is no announcement made as to whether the TV title has changed hands. Match dragged as it was, and it must have gotten really bad if they had to clip it. Finally a babyface victory at least.
-Tony is with Harley Race, Bob Orton Jr., and Dick Slater. Flair may be back after Orton & Slater collected the $25,000 bounty, but Race is going to finish the job tonight.
-Dusty interview take two, this time backstage. The gist is Dusty wants to face the winner of the main event. Dusty goes against the grain and picks Harley to win.
-Match 6: Dog Collar Match: NWA United States Champion Greg Valentine VS Roddy Piper
-Piper is attempting to avenge a title loss and ear injury at the hands of Valentine. This match is non-title. Tug-of-war to start. Piper scores with the chain several times, while Valentine misses on his attempts to do the same. Valentine goes for the ear first chance he gets, then wraps it around Piper's eyes. Really cool spot as Piper wraps the chain around the ring post to keep Valentine stuck in the corner, so that Piper can pound on him, and bust him open. Valentine responds by going after the ear again, and Piper is soon bleeding from his ear, and he really sells the injury well. The “there must be a winner” idea is undermined by the ref giving them a count while both are laying in the ring after a collision. Piper gets a flurry of strikes to score the pin. Match was definitely the best so far, as there seemed to be a level of intensity that made it stand out from the earlier matches.
-Another Flair promo. Wahoo McDaniel is behind Flair 100%.
-Barbara interviews Don Kernodle. He wants to see a good match for the tag titles, and picks Flair in the main event.
-Match 7: NWA World Tag Team Championship: The Brisco Brothers [c] VS Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood (Special Guest Referee: Angelo Mosca)
-Mosca is wearing a Pro Wrestling Illustrated shirt. A lot of mat wrestling in this one, especially when the Briscos are in control. Gerry sells the arm-scissors ---> electric chair spot like he's having back spasms. Gerry also delivers an odd-looking suplex to Steamboat, not falling back with him but simply dropping him, then falling down right after. Story being told by the announcers is the challengers are using the tactics the Briscos normally use (frequent tag, double teaming), and there really is no extended face-in-peril segment. Steamboat press-slams Youngblood onto Gerry for the pin and the titles. Briscos go for revenge after the match, but are fought off by the faces.
-Gordon Solie talks us through what ends up being a credits sequence, something I don't think I've seen credits during a show, only after because WCW used to do that on their PPVs.
-Tony is in the babyface locker room as Flair is getting ready for the main event. Charlie Brown enters the scene with the TV belt, indicating that he did win the title. Odd that there was no announcement before this. Piper reminds Valentine that he has another ear. The new tag champs do a celebratory promo. Steamboat is so soft-spoken it is hard to imagine him even attempting to be a heel.
-Solie & Caudle basically recap the show so far. Solie mentions the Briscos probably having a rematch clause in their contract, so that booking trick is nothing new, although they probably didn't do it on the next show.
-Barbara is with Dusty again. He has three women with him, and they all pick Flair. Dusty refuses to make a prediction, even though he already said he thought Race was going to win earlier.
-The cage is finally up, and they decide that now is the time for the national anthem.
-Match 8: NWA World Heavyweight Championship Cage Match: Harley Race [c] VS Ric Flair (guest referee Gene Kiniski)
-This is the only match I had seen before watching this show to review it, as it was on the first Flair comp that WWE put out a few years ago. Crowd was hot all show, but are at another level for this. They start out doing basically a regular match that happens to be inside a cage. Race takes control, and the announcers talk about Race not being quite right. Kiniski is a horrible ref in terms of kayfabe, as he keeps trying to admonish the wrestlers for things that shouldn't matter in a cage match, and his idea of pulling wrestlers out of the corner by pinning both their arms back allows both wrestlers to turn the tide a different points in the match. Race starts using the cage to his advantage, and shock of all shocks, Flair bleeds. Flair manages to do the same to Race.
-Flair fires up and Kiniski won't leave him the fuck alone. Overhead shot during a Flair figure-4 lock on Race is cool, but also shows how dirty and bloody the ring is by this point. Kiniski takes a huge bump off an accidental headbutt from Race. Flair comes off the top with a cross-body, and Race (in theory) trips over Kiniski, and that allows Flair to win his 3rd World Championship. Someone please tell me Race killed Kiniski at some point after this, he really deserved it.
-Flair thanks everyone who was behind him, and calls it the greatest night of his life. So odd to see Flair as a 100% white meat babyface, with only flashes of what I think of when I think of a younger Flair, which would really be 4 Horseman-era Flair.
-Tony interviews Flair. Ricky Steamboat tells Flair that Flair owes him one. Champagne spray follows, and I'm sure that felt great on Flair's open wound. Dusty pops in to remind Flair that he will be challenging him at a later date.
-Harley promises to come back for hit 8th World title.
-It's hard for me to really give opinions on the quality of the matches, as the style is so different from what I am really used to seeing, as this show took place 12 days before I was born, and I was a WWF fan growing up. I will say that I did like that it felt more like an actual struggle than the WWF style, and I miss the presentation of wrestling that at least made an attempt to make it look like an actual sport. There really was not anything on this show that felt epic. Seems pretty much like the first WrestleMania, in which the value is more historic than anything that actually happened on the show itself.
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