PPV REVIEW: NWA Starrcade 87 - Chi-Town Heat

November 26, 1987
IC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois

Despite being pro wrestling's premier event a good two years before Wrestlemania, Starrcade didn't actually make it's way until PPV until this, the 1987 event.

Not only was Starrcade '87 the first NWA PPV, it was also the first Starrcade to emanate from a single venue since Greensboro exclusively hosted the 1984 event.

Yet as interesting as those two 'firsts' happen to be, neither happened to be as historically significant as another first:

This was the first NWA Starrcade to take place since Jim Crockett promotions bought out the original Universal Wrestling Federation.

That was a big deal, because in buying the UWF, the brand brought across a number of big name stars, including the future face of the company, a man called Sting.

Of course, even with the lure of PPV and major stars, Starrcade 1987 would be a failure from a financial standpoint as Vince McMahon promoted the first annual Survivor Series on the same night just to stick to it to the NWA.

Still, that didn't mean that the show couldn't deliver from a creative and in-ring standpoint.

Here's what went down when the National Wrestling Alliance turned up the Chi-Town Heat.

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Welcome to Starrcade

First things first, tonight’s show marks the first PPV to feature the one and only Jim Ross on commentary.

Years before the two would serve as the lead announcers for rival brands at during the Monday Night Wars (and certainly years before things came full circle with them reunited under the AEW banner), JR joined forces with Tony Schiavone to welcome us to tonight’s event and call the action.:
The two talked about the nights five title matches before we went to the ring for yet more NWA PPV debuts.

Six-Man Tag Team Match Rick Steiner, ‘Hot Stuff’ Eddie Gilbert and Larry Zybysko (w/ Baby Doll) vs. Sting, Michael P.S Hayes, and ‘Gorgeous’ Jimmy Garvin (w/ Precious)

Yep, only Jimmy Garvin, Precious and Baby Doll had appeared at Starrcade before, making this the first time we’d seen Sting, Michael Hayes, Eddie Gilbert, Larry Zybysko, and Rick Steiner on a major NWA show. Also, you know what I miss? Sting‘a bad ass rat tail.

Anyway, all that aside, this was probably the best opening match on a Starrcade show so far.

Whereas most Starrcde openingbouts upto this point had been heavy on the weardown holds and submissions, this was pretty much non-stop action from the moment the bell rang to the moment the whole thing was ruled a draw due to the time-limit expiring. A great match given the standards of the time, this was a lot of fun.
Time Limit Draw

After some post-match analysis from Ross and Schiavone, we went backstage where Missy Hyatt told us that she was standing by ready to interview the stars of tonight’s show.

Missy was lying though. We neither see nor hear from her for the rest of the event.

Universal Wrestling Federation Championship
UWF Champion Dr. Death Steve Williams vs. NWA Western States Herritage Champion Barry Windham

In the mid-1980s Bill Watts tried to take his Mid-South Wrestling promotion national by rebranding it as the Universal Wrestling Federation. This failed, and the company was sold to Jim Crockett Promotions who decided to keep the UWF title.

Here, Dr. Death Steve Williams defended that title against his buddy Barry Windham in a match that the crowd absolutely hated but which this writer thought was a decent face vs. face match.

Ignoring the obvious disdain and loud ‘boring’ chants coming from the audience, the two looked as if they were genuinely trying to out-wrestle one another. Not hurt each other. Not even necessarily beat each other, just out-wrestle each other.

While it wasn’t poor, the crowd took a dump all over it only popped once, when Steve Williams tried a leapfrog but went bollocks-first into Barry Windham’s head.

Ever the good sport, Windham gave his friend time to recover, but Williams didn’t repay the favour. When Barry got knocked to the outside, he climbed back in the ring but got immediately rolled up and pinned by the champion.
Your Winner and Still UWF Champion: Steve Williams

Up next, a maybe that has been universally derided over the years

Skywalkers MatchNWA United States Tag Team Champions The Midnight Express (Beautiful Bobby Eaton & Sweet Stan Lane w/ Jim Cornette and Big Bubba Rogers) vs. The Rock & Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson)

The biggest criticism people seem to have of this scaffold match is that The Midnight Express and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express were capable of having great wrestling matches but sticking them
on a narrow platform twenty feet in the air removed that capability and forced them to do very little.

That’s a fair argument, but you have to wonder if those who criticise this match have seen the atrocity that was the Starrcade ‘86 scaffold match between The Midnights and The Road Warriors.

Compared to that match, this match was a five-star classic.

OK, so it would have still been infinitely better if they’d just been allowed to wrestle, and OK, a scaffold match really was the worst idea of all time, but this was still more exciting than the 1986 version thanks to some Big Bubba Rogers interference, the use of Jim Cornette’s tennis racket, and the overwhelming popularity of Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson.

Naturally, the good guys won after Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane hung on the underside of the platform and took very careful bumps to the canvas.

The crowd didn’t care about that. They didn’t care how little action there’d been. They loved Ricky & Robert and went crazy for them.
Your Winners: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express

Afterwards, Big Bubba Rogers climbed up the platform and challenged Ricky Morton to a fight. Hilariously, Morton smacked Rogers in the balls and ran off.

I’m still laughing at that just thinking about it.

A (Really Long) Word With Gorgeous Jimmy

Out in the back, Bob Caudle stood by for an interview with Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin and Michael P.S Hayes, who weren’t officially wrestling as The Fabulous Freebirds at this point.

With Precious by his side, Garvin did all the talking for his team, and man did he talk.

This was a really long, but really enjoyable promo in which he ran down most of the card and spoke in depth (and I mean in *serious* depth) about the matches that mattered most to him.

First, he warned us that he and Hayes would be challenging the winners of the upcoming Road Warriors/Horsemen clash for the tag team titles. Then he turned his attention to his kayfabe brother Ronnie Garvin, who would be defending the World Heavyweight Championship against Nature Boy Ric Flair later on in the show.

After turning face by saving Ronnie from an attack by Jim Cornette and The Midnight Express, Jimmy was all about his brother retaining the gold tonight.

Dr. Death - The Wrestling Machine

This was followed by Caudle interviewing Steve Williams. Far less entertaining than Garvin, the UWF stumbled his way through a shouty, clumsy promo in which he told us that he was the Wrestling Machine of the Year, as if somebody had given him an award.

After putting over Barry Windham, Williams then told us he was the Wrestling Machine of the World, which I suppose made a little bit more sense.

Finally, the Wrestling Machine of the Year of the World promised to defend his UWF title forever. Unbeknownst to him, the belt would be deactivated a few weeks later.

World Television Championship Title Unification MatchUWF World Television Champion Terry Taylor (w/ Hot Stuff Eddie Gilbert) vs. NWA Television Nikita Koloff

There was a point early in this match when your reviewer was tempted to write this whole thing off as one long arm bar.

Thankfully, I stuck with it, because as soon as Terry Taylor took control of the match it got better and better, giving us some of the best professional wrestling seen on a Starrcade show so far.

There will be some critics who say that this nigh-on 20 minute match went too long, but that’s not the case here. The first half dragged, sure, but the second half was wonderful.

To the surprise of no one, fan-favourite and NWA star Nikita Koloff defeated the villainous UWF TV champion Taylor to win the match and unify the gold.
Your Winner and Unified TV champion: Nikita Koloff
Moving swiftly on...

National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship NWA Tag Team Champions Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard (w/ James J. Dillon) vs. The Road Warriors (Road Warrior Hawk & Road Warrior Animal w/ Paul Ellering)

Take a red hot crowd, the pure spectacle of a dominant power team like The Road Warriors and the talent of two performers like Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard, and what you’ve got is a recipe for an excellent tag team match.

Pure fun from start to finish, this one was at its best when Anderson and Blanchard were selling for their challengers, not just selling but really making Hawk and Animal look like the scariest, baddest dudes in all of pro wrestling.

That said, it was still pretty entertaining even when the champions were in charge.
In fact, the only disappointing aspect was the finish.

Blanchard knocked referee Tommy Young to the outside. The LOD hurled Anderson over the top rope and hit Blanchard with the Doomsday Device. Earl Hebner ran in and counted the pin, but Young argues that he’d seen Anderson get thrown over the ropes and since that was naughty, he was giving the win to the champs.
Your Winners via DQ and Still Tag Team Champions: Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard

Backstage, Jack Gregory and Magnum T.A. ran down tonight’s card before sending it to Bob Caudle for some interviews.

First up, Nikita Two Belts put over Terry Taylor before boasting about how good it made his heart feel to be the unified TV champion. Next on Koloff’s list of goals was to become our new TV champion.

Then, James J. Dillon admitted that whilst he was glad Arn & Tully we’re still the champs and he had been helping Flair train for his title match, he had mostly been focusing on Lex Luger facing Dusty Rhodes for the US title.

Both promos were pretty effective in their own way, even if Nikita’s was the more entertaining of the two.

Steel Cage Match for the National Wrestling Alliance United States Championship NWA US Champion Lex Luger (w/ J.J. Dillon) vs. Dusty Rhodes

If Dusty Rhodes loses, he can’t wrestle in the US again for 90 days

My goodness, this was insanely boring.

Early on, Dusty Rhodes decided that the best way to really sell the violence and intensity of a steel cage match was to stand in the middle of the ring holding Luger in an arm bar for eight thousand hours.

Luger then made a comeback and decided that since the arm bar had worked so well on him, he was going to use it too.

Dusty bladed because of course he did, but to be honest I’m not even sure how it happened. The whole match was so deathly dull that I sort of passed out and missed that.

Rhodes won the title, but I’m honestly not sure why everybody sung the guy’s praises so much. We’re now on the fourth Starrcade show and I’ve still yet to see him do anything entertaining.

Your Winner and NEW US Champion: Dusty Rhodes
And finally, ladies and gentlemen, your main event of the evening.

Steel Cage Match for the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship NWA World Heavyweight Champion Ronnie Garvin vs. Nature Boy Ric Flair

Ronnie Garvin’s brief 1987 run with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship has been universally panned over the years. Even on the night, the Chicago crowd loudly booed the babyface champion’s offence and greeted him with loud ‘GARVIN SUCKS’ chants.

But Garvin didn’t suck. At least not on this night.

He and Flair went at it in what was easily the best Starrcade main event since Flair was last in the challenger role back at the inaugural event in 1983.

It was an intense fight with Flair at his best -as he always was- when getting his ass kicked. Even then, the crowd wanted him to win and went nuts when he finally wrapped up Garvin and pinned him.
Your Winner and NEW World Heavyweight Champion: Ric Flair

Afterwards, Flair celebrated with his title before Schiavone and Ross closed the show and sent us to a highlights package.

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On the whole, Starrcade 86 was a good show. Sure, the Rhodes/Luger thing was enough to put anyone to sleep, and not every match was a classic, but the TV, tag team, and world title matches were very enjoyable and worth watching. For this fan, the best thing about this show was that it finally felt like it had all the NWA/WCW stars that are so synonymous with the brand. As well as Flair, we saw Sting, Luger, The Road Warriors, Rick Steiner, The Freebirds, all the classic stars. In other words, this is a good one to watch.

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Other WCW Starrcade reviews:

• NWA Starrcade 1983
• NWA Starrcade 1984
• NWA Starrcade 1985
• NWA Starrcade 1986
• WCW Starrcade 1996
• WCW Starrcade 1997
• WCW Starrcade 1998
• WCW Starrcade 1999
• WCW Starrcade 2000

Other 1987 events:

• Wrestlemania 3
• Survivor Series 1987

Be the first to catch the latest Retro Pro Wrestling reviews by following on Facebook or Twitter @RetroPWrestling.

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PPV REVIEW: WWF King of the Ring 2001

June 24, 2001,
Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Over the course of the year 2000, Kurt Angle had enjoyed the best rookie year in WWF history up to that point.

Not only has he captured the European,  Intercontinental and WWF Championships, he had also been crowned that year’s King of the Ring winner.

Tonight, the Olympic Gold Medalist was looking to keep his incredible streak alive by becoming the first two-time King of the Ring winner on top of facing Shane McMahon in a grudge match.

Yet that wasn’t the only interesting thing happening in the WWF at this time.

On Raw, Triple H had suffered a horrific injury in a tag team title match on Raw in which he and partner Stone Cold Steve Austin faced Chris Jericho and Chris Benoit. Despite gutting it out to finish the match, The Game’s injury was so severe that he’d be out of action until the following year.

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With The Rock out shooting The Scorpion King and The Undertaker tangled up in a dumb stalker angle with DDP, that left only Austin and Angle propping up the top of the card.

That perhaps explains why tonight, Benoit and Jericho found themselves in tonight’s main event, taking on Stone Cold for the WWF Championship.

Would the two Chrises take the title back to Canada?

Let’s find out...

Welcome to King of the Ring...

Our opening video was one of the WWF’s best yet. It featured shots of a royal throne that looked ominously like an electric chair, sitting in a dark, creepy-looking building while we got shots of some of the main stars we’d see on tonight’s show.

It was very creatively done and very impressive, and it was followed, as always, by shots of the crowd and a greeting from the announce team, tonight made up of Jim Ross and Paul Heyman.

As the Dane was panned the arena, we saw that the throne/electric chair motif had made it to the set design, with an enormous version of it looming over the entrance.

Whatever else may have gone done on this night, there was no disputing the fact that this certainly felt -and looked- like the biggest and most important King of the Ring PPV to date.

Make Me Famous

Before we got to any of the matches, the show was interrupted by the WWF theme of one Diamond Dallas Page.

You know DDP, right? The guy was universally loved during his last few years with WCW and who famously had a smoking hot wife called Kimberly who we’d seen on TV countless times over the years?

Yep, well the WWF brain trust had decided in their infinite wisdom to ignore all of that and introduce him to their audience as an unhinged heel who was stalking The Undertaker’s wife, Sarah. Now, far be it for this writer to say anything negative about Sarah, but just to reiterate, he was stalking her while he had Kimberly Page, this Kimberly Page sitting at home.

Anyway, Dallas made his way to the ring via the crowd because -as Paul Heyman quickly reminded us- he was a WCW star and had no right to be there. This despite the fact that he had his own entrance music.

Once in the ring, the former WCW Champion declared that he had some very non-PG photos that he had taken of Sarah Taker and reminded us that he’d gone after her not because he’d suddenly gone insane, but because he wanted The Undertaker to make him famous.

To that end, he challenged The American Bad Ass to come and find him, announcing that he wouldn’t be hard to find as he’d be sat in the front row with a sign that read ‘MAKE ME FAMOUS.’

DDP clearly did the best he could with what he’d been given here. It was just a shame that what he’d been given was pretty dumb.

After that, JR told us that Spike Dudley and a mystery partner would challenge The Dudley Boyz for the tag team titles while Heyman addressed rumours that either Chris Benoit or Chris Jericho had been negotiating with WCW and were looking to take the title off Steve Austin and into enemy territory.

King of the Ring Semi-Final 1
Kurt Angle vs. Christian

This was as good an opening match as you were going to get from two guys like Kurt Angle and Christian, with lots of quality action leading to an exciting finish.

At one point, WCW owner Shane McMahon came down, seemingly to distract his rival Kurt Angle.

However, after a great sequence in which Christian escaped the ankle lock,  got picked up in an Angle Slam but reversed that it unto an Unprettier, McMahon stopped him from getting the pin.

The confusion allowed The Olympic Gold Medalist to regroup, Angle Slam his opponent and win the match.
Your Winner: Kurt Angle (Advances to the final)

The announcers couldn’t understand why Shane would do such a thing if he hated Angle, but really, it was obvious:

The two were due to meet in a street fight later on in the show so, if Shane set it up so that Kurt had to compete in two matches first, that gave him an obvious advantage.

Where’s Vince?

Backstage, Jonathan Coachman wanted to get Steve Austin’s thoughts on the rumours that Benoit and Jericho were planning to beat him and take the title to WCW.

Austin, however, had no idea what he was talking about and only wanted to know where Vince McMahon was.

Though this wasn’t yet full-on comedic Austin, it was getting there and was pretty funny.

Please, I’m Beggin Ya, Make Me Famous

For saying the WWF were acting like Dallas Page was a nobody, they sure were spending a lot of time on him.

Up next, we got a look back at him stalking Undertaker’s wife and ‘Taker himself promising to kick his ass. This was followed by Paul Heyman interviewing Page, only to be interrupted by footage on the titantron which showed someone stalking Page while he ordered lunch at a restaurant.

Naturally, Page didn’t find it amusing.

King of the Ring Semi-Final 2
Edge vs. Rhyno

Looking to do what his tag team partner couldn’t, Edge locked up with real-life buddy and on-screen associate Rhyno in this second semi-final match.

Though some might disagree, this definitely looked like the better of the two semi-finals, with both men holding nothing back and really turning up the aggression.

At one point, we got a great-looking spot where Rhyno’s gore and Edge’s spear canceled each other out, though even that full-on collision wasn’t enough to put either man away.

After more solid action, Edge finally hit Rhyno with the Impaler to secure his place in the final.

Man, that was fun.
Your Winner: Edge (Advances to the Final)

Earlier, on Heat, Spike Dudley had challenged his brothers for the tag team title. The smallest Dudley had fallen out with his brothers as part of a Romeo & Juliet angle in which he’d fallen in love with Molly Holly.

Live in the arena, with Molly by his side, Spike refused to be drawn into revealing his mystery partner, promising to save that for when he hit the ring.

Before he got there, however, he and Molly were confronted by D’Von and Bubba Ray, both of whom were playing the heel.

Spike wasn’t the only one refusing to give anyway. Back in the locker room, Chris Jericho toyed with new interviewer Tazz by announcing that he was aware of the rumours he would take the WWF title to WCW but wasn’t going to say whether they were true or not.

World Wrestling Federation World Tag Team Championship
WWF Tag Team Champions The Dudley Boyz (Bubba Ray & D’Von Dudley) vs. Spike Dudley & WWF Intercontinental Champion Kane

This was better than it probably sounds. The Big Man/Little Man combo of Little Spike and The Big Red Machine added a unique touch to what could have otherwise been a mediocre tag team match.

It was especially fun to see Spike come so desperately close to winning the tag team titles only for The Dudleyz to kick out at the last moment. That’s to say nothing of the great moment when Kane gorilla pressed his pint-sized partner and launched him to the outside on top of Bubba Ray and D’Von.

Alas, even that wasn’t enough to get the win for the makeshift team as the champs retained thanks to the 3D.
Your Winners and Still Tag Team Champions: The Dudley Boyz

Afterwards, D’Von got the tables but Kane ended up slamming Bubba through it, keeping up the tradition of The Dudley Boyz never (or at least rarely) successfully putting anyone through a table on PPV despite that being their whole gimmick.

Coming Up, The Final

Backstage, tensions seemed high between Edge & Christian, but all Christian wanted to do was wish Edge well in the final.

Meanwhile, over at WWF New York, 1999 King of the Ring winner Bad Bum Billy Gunn was furious about the fact that his stock had plummeted so far that he wasn’t even on tonight’s card.

King of the Ring Final
Edge vs. Kurt Angle

Before they locked up, Angle encouraged Edge to forfeit so that he (Angle) could be well-rested for his street fight with Shane McMahon while also sparing the future Rated-R Superstar the embarrassment of losing to the Olympic Gold Medalist.

Unsurprisingly, Edge responded by walloping Angle in the mush. The bell sounded, and this soon evolved into another solid match.

Though it’s arguable that the two semi-finals were better, there’s no denying that Angle and Edge put on a solid performance here.

After the inevitable cameo from Christian failed to end the match, Edge actually tapped out to the ankle lock but the referee was out so didn’t see it.

Shane then ran in and speared his nemesis. Edge got the cover, the referee miraculously recovered in time to make the count as they always do, and this one was done.

Though it was a good match, the fact that Edge tapped out and had to rely on Shane O’ Mac to help him win sure did put a dampener on Edge’s victory.
Your Winner and 2001 King of the Ring: Edge

Backstage, Chris Benoit also refused to tell Tazz whether or not he was going to take the WWF Championship to WCW if he won it.

Meanwhile, out in the crowd, a paranoid-looking DDP looked around the place from his front-row seat.

The Era of Awesome

In lieu of any kind of coronation ceremony, King of the Ring winner Edge was awarded a brief backstage interview with Jonathan Coachman.

After Christian stopped by to congratulate him, our new King declared that the Era of Awesome has begun.

Elsewhere in the arena, an enraged Kurt Angle ranted and raved about his loss and vowed that if any WCW star got involved in his street fight with Shane, he would ensure they never worked again, went on welfare, and starved to death.

Harsh.

World Wrestling Federation Light Heavyweight Championship
WWF Light Heavyweight Champion Jeff Hardy vs. X-Pac

Though it was short and mostly forgettable, this was nonetheless a decent filler match.

Sure, there was a blown spot halfway through and sure, it was nowhere near as good as it could have been, but it was otherwise an OK effort.

After dominating most of the contest, X-Pac succumbed to a Swanton Bomb and lost the match.
Your Winner and Still Light Heavyweight Champion: Jeff Hardy

Backstage, Steve Austin was having trouble getting hold of Vince McMahon on his cell phone, so he stormed into William Regal’s office to use his landline.

What followed was a funny exchange where it sounded as though Vince was screwing with the champ and pretending not to recognise his voice.

‘Vince, it’s Steve,’ he said. ‘Steve Austin...Vince, it’s Stone Cold Steve Austin, the World Wrestling Federation Champion....I’m fine, how are you?’

I can’t do it justice here, but trust me, it was funny.

Anyway, The Texas Rattlesnake was really worried about the rumours that Benoit and Jericho were planning to take the title to WCW and only just stopped short of begging the Chairman to come to the arena and fix the problem.

This was the early days of Austin’s storyline where he became super dependent on Vince, and it played out well here.

Page Gets His Wish

After more footage of DDP going about his business that day, it was revealed that it was Sarah who had been stalking him.

She turned the camera on herself and told DDP that it was time for him to become famous.

Sure enough, The Undertaker arrived and proceeded to kick Page’s ass all over the place.

This wasn’t a match, it was just a straight-up ass whoop on’ with Dallas making only the briefest of comebacks.

Sure, this whole angle may have been silly, but if this fun brawl was the full extent of the pay off then it was worth it.

Backstage, Austin stalked the parking lot area waiting for Vince.

He asked a steward how long it would take for someone to drive to the arena from Greenwich. The steward initially had no idea, but when Austin asked him a second time he suddenly gained a whole new level of knowledge and declared that it would take ‘about an hour and a half.’

Growing infuriated, Austin demanded the guy send Vince to him as soon as he arrived.

Street Fight
Shane McMahon vs. Kurt Angle

Holy sh*t.

That’s what the crowd chanted half a dozen times throughout this incredible, violent street fight, and for good reason too.

Surpassing just about anything either man had done before in a professional wrestling ring, this kept getting better and better the longer it went on.

Of course, the match is best remembered today for Kurt suplexing Shane through the glass set design (and how reluctant that glass was to break) and it was an insane spot. What was even better was the sight of both men covered in blood and broken glass and keeping the fight going afterwards.

Everything before that was equally as enjoyable, and when Kurt Angle used a lumber board as a platform to hit Shane with the match-winning top-rope Angle Slam, it was a thing of violent beauty.
Your Winner: Kurt Angle

Out in the back, an increasingly anxious Austin stalked the parking lot, still waiting for Vince McMahon.

There was no more time left, however, as he has to head to the ring while a video package played highlighting his turbulent relationship with Vince and issue with Benoit and Jericho.

Triple Threat Match for the World Wrestling Federation Championship
WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. Chris Benoit vs. Chris Jericho

I’m not sure if it’s because you had two babyfaces attacking a heel, or because the crowd were spent after the awesome street fight, but this one started off without much life to it.

OK, so it was still the collective talents of Benoit, Jericho, and Austin in one ring, so it was always going to be decent, but it didn’t really seem to get exciting until the final act.

They started with both challengers applying their finishing holds to the champion at the same time. Stone Cold tapped, but Earl Hebner declared that since only one man could be champion, Austin’s submission didn’t count.

Things continued with a surprise run-in from WCW Champion Booker T, who attacked The Texas Rattlesnake and put him through the Spanish announce table, giving Benoit and Jericho the chance to go one-on-one with each other.

Austin was eventually dragged back into the ring by Jericho, but despite the best efforts of both his opponents, he was still able to escape with his gold intact.
Your Winner and Still WWF Champion: Steve Austin

Not the greatest main event of all time, but at least it got better the longer it went on.

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The early part of the title match aside, King of the Ring 2001 was a consistently good show. The actual tournament gave us three quality matches, the tag team title match was more fun than it should have been, and that street fight was one of the greatest of all time.

Of all the WWF’s 2001 PPVs, King of the Ring may not have been the best, but to be fair, the bar had been set pretty high. The company were enjoying an incredible run in terms of quality.  It was just a shame that all of that would soon be overshadowed by The Invasion.

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Other reviews of 2001 pro wrestling events: 

• WCW Sin
• WWF Royal Rumble 2001
• WCW Superbrawl: Revenge 
• WWF No Way Out 2001
• WCW Greed
• WWF Wrestlemania 17
• WWF Backlash 2001
• WWF Insurrextion 2001

Other WWF King of the Ring reviews:

• King of the Ring 1993
• King of the Ring 1994
• King of the Ring 1995
• King of the Ring 1996
• King of the Ring 1997
• King of the Ring 1998
• King of the Ring 1999
• King of the Ring 2000

Be the first to catch the latest Retro Pro Wrestling reviews by following on Facebook or Twitter @RetroPWrestling.

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EVENT REVIEW: NWA Starrcade 1986 - The Night of the Skywalkers

November 27, 1986 
Greensboro Coliseum Complex, Greensboro, North Carolina 
Omni Coliseum in Atlanta, Georgia

For the second year in a row, the National Wrestling Alliance's marquee event of the year came to us live from two different venues in Greensboro and Atlanta.

I thought I'd read somewhere that there was also a Kansas portion to this show, though that seems not to have been the case.

Thank goodness too, because with just the two venues, Starrcade 1986 ran to four hours long, setting a record for the longest Starrcade in history that would remain unbroken by the time of the last event in 2000.

Still, unlike the four-hour chore that would be Wrestlemania 4, this event proved that having a super-long event didn't have to mean compromising on quality entertainment.

Don't believe me? Here's what went down on the Night of the Skywalkers.

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Welcome to The Night of the Sky Walkers

Tonight was the first Starrcade to feature anything like a proper intro. While all of the previous shows had started with the action already in the ring, Starrcade ‘86 went full-on 80s with a seizure-inducing light show and rocking guitar riff.

This super cool intro gave way to an awesome shot of the arena with the scaffold for tonight’s main event looking large over the ring.

As fired up as ever, ring announcer Tom Miller played MC at the Greensboro venue, welcoming us to the show and inviting us to stand for the playing of the National Anthem before sending it over to Atlanta where Tony Schiavone and his glorious mustache were standing by with fellow commentator, Rick Stewart.

The Atlanta commentators were psyched about the big scaffold match while their counterparts in Greensboro -Johnny Weaver and Bob Caudle- were more interested in the rest of the card, starting with our opening match.

Tim Horner & Nelson Royal vs. The Kernodle Brothers (Don & Rocky Kernodle)

Honestly, I’m happy to see Don Kernodle competing on this card. The guy had appeared at every Starrcade event so far yet this was his first time actually wrestling at the NWA’s marquee event.

Tonight, he teamed with his brother Rocky to face Nelson Royal and future Smoky Mountain Wrestling star, Tim Horner.

Though it wasn’t the longest match in the world, it was pretty good and featured some quality wrestling and fast-paced action from bell-to-bell.

After a solid six-or-so minutes, Horner got the roll-up on Rocky Kernodle and This one was over.
Your Winners: Tim Horner & Nelson Royal

Moving on...

Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin (w/ Precious) vs. Brad Armstrong

This was another great match.

Brad Armstrong spent so much time floundering in the lower echelons of the card during his time on the main stage that it’s easy to forget what a talented performer he really was. Combined with Jimmy Garvin’s unquestionable charisma and flamboyance, it made for an entertaining contest that told a simple story.

As the aggressor, Garvin continually looked to wear down Armstrong and eventually put him away, but his resilient opponent refused to stay down and took the Gorgeous one quite literally to the limit.

The time expired, rendering this a draw, but as the minutes went by, the crowded were swept up in the story of Garvin growing ever more desperate to win and Armstrong sneaking near falls wherever he could.
Time-Limit Draw

Afterwards, Precious distracted Brad so that Garvin could attack, but Armstrong met him with a flurry of fists and sent him packing, much to the delight of the live crowd.

The Barbarian & Shaska Whately vs. Barron Von Rashke & Hector Guerrero

Yes, Barron Von Rashke was a babyface now but hadn’t actually changed anything about his character, making for an odd moment when the crowd cheered loudly for a guy doing a goose step despite all the connotations.

The match itself was one of those that the live crowd clearly enjoyed yet didn’t translate well to television viewing, at least not 34 years after the fact.

After a passable but forgettable contest, Rashke picked up the pinfall for his team.
Your Winners: Barron Von Rashke & Hector Guerrero

Post-match, Shaska Whately and Barbarian threw Hector Guerrero out of the ring and beat up on Rashke until Guerrero returned for the save.

Leave Me Alone, Johnny

Backstage in Greensboro, Johnny Weaver told us that Dusty Rhodes had been uncharacteristically quiet as of late, refusing to give any interviews about his upcoming World Television Championship defence.

Just to prove it, Weaver poked his head inside The American Dream’s dressing room and asked him to come out. As a viewer, all we heard was the champion encouraging Weaver to leave him alone.

No Disqualification Match for the National Wrestling Alliance United States Tag Team Championship
NWA US Tag Team Champions Ivan Koloff & Krusher Khruschev vs. The Kansas Jayhawks (Bobby Jaggers & Dutch Mantel)

Despite the stipulation, this was mostly just a normal tag team match in which it appeared that nobody involved actually had any idea it was No DQ.

That was decent enough -not great, not the kind of thing that anybody would be raving about afterwards, but decent and inoffensive- though when all hell broke loose in the final minute and whips and chains got involved, it suddenly turned into a lot of fun.

That wild brawl at the finish culminated in Krusher Khruschev blasted Bobby Jaggers in the back of the head with Ivan Koloff’s trusty chain. Koloff himself made the cover and that was all she wrote.
Your Winners and Still US Tag Team Champions: Ivan Koloff & Krusher Khruschev

‘Ricky, you are so ravishing, where do you come from?’ asked a sultry voice as Ravishing Rick Rude’s weird theme music played. Honestly, I don’t know if this is a WWE Network dub or his actual NWA theme, but my goodness it was strange.

Indian Strap Match
Ravishing Rick Rude (w/ Paul Jones) vs. Chief Wahoo McDaniel

A lot of other reviewers have ripped this match to shreds but this writer -ever the optimist- quite enjoyed it.

Ok, so it wasn’t a technical marvel or anything, but the crowd were firmly into it, and that made all the difference.

Wahoo McDaniel won after touching the first three corners and then being pushed into the fourth by Rude.
Your Winner: Wahoo McDaniel

Rude and Paul Jones attacked the chief after the bell but Barron Von Rashke and Hector Guerrero came to his aid.

Backstage, Rick Stewart interviewed Ivan Koloff & Krusher Khruschev.

Proud of themselves for getting past ‘the jaywalkers’ Ivan and Krusher had their sights set on an upcoming bunkhouse stampede match, though not before paying attention to their former ally Nikita Koloff and his World Heavyweight Championship match with champion Ric Flair.

The Russians were angry at Dusty Rhodes for ‘Americanising’ Nikita but still hoped Koloff won anyway so that they could challenge and defeat him for the title.

Although not the greatest promo in the world, this was pretty compelling stuff that did a great job of advancing the storylines.

National Wrestling Alliance Central States Championship
NWA Central States Champion Sam Houston vs. Bill Dundee

Seriously, how many different titles did the NWA have?

This match probably has its critics too, but honestly, I enjoy any match where two guys just wrestle each other and look like they desperately want to win.

Again, this won’t ever be regarded as an all-time classic, but both men did the best they could with what they had and the results were enjoyable.

Towards the finish, referee Scrappy ‘Good Name’ McGowan got bumped in the corner. Bill Dundee used this opportunity to yank Sam Houston’s boot off and hit the champion over the head with it, only for Scrappy to reveal he’d seen the whole thing and disqualify him.
Your Winner and Still Central States Champion: Sam Houston

Up next, the latest in the never-ending rivalry between Jimmy Valiant and Paul Jones.

Hair vs. Hair Match
Jimmy Valiant (w/ Big Mama) vs. Paul Jones (w/ Manny Fernandez)

Valiant had already lost a Hair vs. Hair match to Jones on that summer’s Great American Bash tour, so if he lost today it would be his valet Big Mama who would lose her locks.

Since the aforementioned Bash, Valiant’s former ally Manny Fernandez has betrayed him and aligned himself with Jones. Tonight, he would be suspended in a cage above the ring for the duration of the match even though it took four babyfaces to get him in there.

The match itself was, like most Jimmy Valiant matches from the mid-80s, not very good. Still, the crowd loved it so what can you do?

After a few minutes of nothing noteworthy happening, Valiant seized possession of Jones’ random International Object, blasted his nemesis in the face with it and won the match.
Your Winner: Jimmy Valiant

Post-match, Valiant got to work on turning Jones into a bald-headed geek but was eventually attacked by Fernandez and Rick Rude. The two hit The Boogie Woogie Man with a wicked-looking spike-DDT on a chair that was the best spot in this whole part of the show, but then Barron Von Rashke and Wahoo McDaniel chased them off.

Welcome to Intermission

While the show went to intermission, we cut to a vignette in which Nelson Royal invited us to join him for a cup of coffee by a roaring campfire as he explained the backstory of the Bunkhouse Brawl and the Bunkhouse Stampede event.

The whole thing seemed a little goofy at first but actually made for a fascinating watch as we learned the kayfabe story behind the whole thing.

For the curious, Royal told us that, once upon a time, cowboys working on ranches used to take lodgings in bunkhouses and there’d be so many guys living under one roof that issues were bound to come up. When they did, the men who were at odds with one another would go outside ‘just as they were in their jeans, their shirt, their spurs’ and fight until only one man was left standing.

We’d see this combined with a pro wrestling battle royal at the second annual Bunkhouse Stampede event, coming soon.

We also got a look at the 1986 Jim Crocket Sr. Memorial Cup Tag Team Tournament which had been won by the Road Warriors. The second such tournament would be coming our way in April 1987.

With that, intermission was over and it was back to the show.

Louisville Street Fight
Ronnie Garvin vs. Big Bubba Rogers (w/ Jim Cornette)

Bubba Rogers' theme was basically The Blues Brothers theme, which was lots of fun.

The Louisville Street Fight rules gave he and Ronnie Garvin carte blanche to go anywhere in the arena and basically do anything they wanted. Instead, they stayed exclusively in the ring (give or take the odd time Bubba got thrown outside) and did nothing more extraordinary than having Garvin choke his opponent with a piece of cord and throw a Pepsi in his face.

It was pretty disappointing, especially when the finish was a straight rehash of the same one Garvin had used in his taped fist match with Tully Blanchard on the first night of that year’s Great American Bash tour.

Referee Tommy Young got knocked down. Garvin took out Bubba with a piledriver but got clocked over the head by a tennis-racket-wielding Jim Cornette.

Young came to and when neither man stirred before the count of ten, he declared that there must be a winner and the first man to his feet would be it. That part was exactly the same as the aforementioned Garvin/Blanchard match. Where things differed was that when Garvin almost got to his feet, Cornette once again whacked him with the tennis racket, allowing Bubba to get to his feet and win the match.

The whole thing got better towards the finish, but you got the feeling they could have done a lot more with this.
Your Winner: Big Bubba

If you hadn’t yet had enough of gimmick matches, or if blood being featured in almost every match you were in for a treat as our next match would give us both.

First Blood Match for the National Wrestling Alliance World Television Championship
NWA TV Champion Dusty Rhodes vs. Tully Blanchard (w/ James J. Dillon)

Years before the WWF would do this regularly, we saw Dusty Rhodes walking through the backstage area en route to the arena. It was a cooler site than I can adequately describe.

He wore a Magnum T.A t-shirt in tribute to the superstar whose career had been tragically cut short following a tragic automobile accident that October, and had the word ‘Tully’ painted on the side of his head because why wouldn’t he?

Once he got to the ring, he and Blanchard delivered a fun performance, not so much because of their actual wrestling but because of the storytelling and theatrics of it all.

Before we began, James J. Dillon drew some major heel heat for his man by putting a head guard on him. When referee Earl Hebner made him take it off, Dillon started to coat his man’s face in Vaseline to protect him from getting cut open.

While Hebner was busy wiping that off the challenger’s face, Dusty hit Dillon with his patented bionic and bust him open. Yep, the NWA loved blood so much in the 1980s that even the managers couldn’t resist blading.

After a short, decent brawl, Hebner got bumped, because who says having two ‘the referee was knocked out’ finishes in back-to-back matches is overkill?

With him down, Dusty used his elbow to make the challenger bleed, but Dillon covered up the cut with Vaseline and handed his man a roll of quarters that Blanchard used to cut open the champion.

Hebner came to, and there was a hilarious bit where he looked at the blood gushing down Dusty’s face with a state of utter disbelief, wiped it on his own finger, stared at his own hand in shock then looked at Dusty with a double-take and did it again.

Without bothering to look at Tully, our man Earl called for the bell and we had ourselves a new champion.
Your Winner and New TV Champion: Tully Blanchard

Afterwards, Dusty cried out in shock and dismay before protesting to Hebner. When the official refused to change his decision, The American Dream tossed him from the ring.

As I said, the actual wrestling wasn’t great, but the story was a lot of fun.

Scaffold Match
The Midnight Express (Beautiful Bobby Eaton & Loverboy Dennis Condrey w/ Jim Cornette and Big Bubba) vs. The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal w/ Paul Ellering)

I started watching this match with anxious trepidation, knowing the sickening injury Jim Cornette suffered at the finish.

Indeed, the whole thing was more of a morbid curiosity than an actual wrestling match. Being the hesitant heels that they were, Beautiful Bobby and Loverboy Dennis took several years just to get on top of the scaffolding. When they got there it quickly became apparent that everyone -including the badass Road Warriors- was absolutely terrified.

Even Hawk and Animal clung tightly to the sides as they moved timidly and with trepidation in an attempt to give us some kind of match.

“This is absolutely spectacular,” said Schiavone,  lying.

Admittedly, things did get a little bit more exciting towards the finish when all four men began scaling their way down the support structure and ended up swinging from the underside of the platform.

It was a cool visual that resulted in The Midnight Express taking some sick bumps down to the canvas, thus losing the match.
Your Winners: The Road Warriors

Afterwards, Paul Ellering chased Cornette, who, in his fear-inducing stupidity, climbed to the top of the scaffold.

Ellering and Animal met him up there, so Cornette had no choice but to jump down. I say jump, it was a nasty fall that saw him land on his feet and immediately crumple to the mat with a broken knee bone and all kinds of ligament and cartilage damage.

Ouch.

Great American Bash Highlights

If you missed that summer’s Great American Bash tour, no worries, the Starrcade ‘86 control center had a highlights package for you.

You can also read reviews of two of the shows in this blog.

The highlights package was followed by another intermission during which time Tony Schiavone hyped up the rolling of the credits like it was some big deal.

I don’t know about you, but it strikes me as somehow fitting that a company that would become the badly-managed WCW would put the end credits in the middle of the show.

Sure enough, they rolled away, giving a Senior Producer credit to the one and only Virgil Runnels.

Schiavone also told us that there were only two matches left on this show, so these must be som pretty long matches.

Cage Match for the National Wrestling Alliance World Tag Team Championship
NWA World Tag Team Champions The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) vs. The Andersons (Ole & Arn Anderson)

You know, it never fails to amaze me just how insanely over the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express were in their prime.  I bet you could put them in the same ring as Hulk Hogan at the height of Hulkamania and it would be difficult to tell who was the most popular.

Speaking of amazing, this tag team title classic truly is a gem worth watching.

Both teams were at their best here, The Andersons as evil heels taking great pleasure in the pain they were able to inflict on their opponents and The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express as they courageous babyfaces who refused to surrender.

Together, it made for incredible drama, the crowds cheering their heads off as Morton played face-in-peril role that he did so well it became named after him, and took it to a whole new level. At one point, he came within a fingertips length of making the hot tag to Robert Gibson only to be cruelly denied by Ole and Arn.

There was, however, good news for the champion’s loud and diehard audience. After the match broke down into an all-out brawl, Morton got the win after Gibson dropkicked him on top of his opponent.
Your Winners and Still Tag Team Champions: The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express

Post-match, The Andersons attacked the champions until Ricky & Robert we’re able to escape the cave.

National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Nature Boy Ric Flair vs. NWA US Champion Nikita Koloff

According to all sources, this was originally planned to be Flair defending the title against Magnum T.A. since Magnum’s accident had put paid to those plans.

As a tribute, we first saw a video paying homage to T.A That had him running down along a beach and holding hands with his mother. As far as I can gather, this was originally set to a the song ‘Wind Beneath My Wings’ but due to licensing it was replaced with a weird song that made it seem as though Magnum was in love with his mum.

Anyway, that aside, this was a quality match. Maybe it wasn’t the best main event of all time, but it was certainly compelling and made for an enjoyable watch.

After a grilling back and forth battle, referee Tommy Young got knocked to the outside.

Nikita Koloff took down Flair and covered him, giving us the old routine where the babyface should have won because he technically covered the heel for the count of three but there was no referee.

Scrappy McGoodname then got involved but he too got flattened. Young returned, but then got pushed down by both men, resulting in the double DQ finish.
Double DQ

Afterwards, half the heels who had competed on the show (but strangely none of Flair’s Four Horsemen teammates) helped the champion attack Koloff, only for the babyface contingent to rush to the rescue.

After that, Schiavone and Stewart reminisced over some of the show’s highlights and that was Starrcade over with for another year.

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Starrcade had started with a bang with a good show back in 1983 but had suffered from two lackluster installments in 1984 and 1985. In 1986, however, the brand came back strong with its most enjoyable episode to date.

Though not every match was world-class caliber stuff, only the poor Valiant/Jones match left a bad taste in the mouth while everything else ranged from decent to awesome.

Even the scaffold match -though not good in the technical sense- was intriguing enough to make it watchable.

The tag team title cage match stole the show and must have been up there as a serious Match of the Year contender.

On the whole, a pretty good show, even if it was on the long side.

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Other WCW Starrcade reviews:

• NWA Starrcade 1983
• NWA Starrcade 1984
• NWA Starrcade 1985
• WCW Starrcade 1996
• WCW Starrcade 1997
• WCW Starrcade 1998
• WCW Starrcade 1999
• WCW Starrcade 2000

Other 1986 events:

• Wrestlemania 2
• Great American Bash 1986 - (Charlotte)
• NWA Great American Bash 1986 (Greensboro)

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