http://placetobenation.com/where-the-big-boys-play-85-starrcade-1992/

Chad and Parv return to 1992 to review that year’s Starrcade.

[0:05:59] Wrestling Observer roundup: ratings analysis, which champ drew the most on house shows in 1992?, Rick Rude’s real-life parking lot brawl, Meltzer’s end of year awards for 1992.
[1:21:27] Review of Starrcade 92: just how bad was Erik Watts?, Chono: champ or chump?, assessing the Ron Simmons world title reign, ranking Sting / Vader, #Losethemoustacheloseitall
[2:27:12] End of Show Awards

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Thanks for the shout out, Chad.

 

Starrcade 92 is always a difficult show to rate - 4 perfectly adequate battlebowl tags and the two really strong matches later in the show push it far, but the over-reliance on a few wrestlers really takes a toll.

Okay, I just went through all the TV bouts on the 1992 Yearbook. I don't THINK Loss & Will missed anything essential when compiling the set, which speaks volumes considering the number of good TV matches WCW had especially in the first half of the year. It's been ages since I watched Will's Dangerous Alliance comp which features a ton more, but the really good stuff made the Yearbook proper. That said...you said you were looking for around 12 matches. Here are 7 that I would consider absolute, must-have locks:

 

- Dustin vs. Arn (1/4 WCWSN, finish on 1/5 Main Event)

 

- Pillman vs. Rude (2/15 Pro)

 

- Sting/Dustin/Windham/Steamboat vs. Rude/Arn/Eaton/Zbyszko (2/22 WCWSN)

 

- Steamboat/Dustin/Nikita vs. Arn/Eaton/Zbyszko (5/23 WCWSN)

 

- Windham vs. Austin (6/13 WCWSN)

 

- Dustin/Windham vs. Doc/Gordy (10/3 WCWSN)

 

- Dustin vs. Vader (11/21 WCWSN)

 

And others to consider:

 

- Sting/Steamboat/Bagwell vs. Rude/Austin/Zbyszko (1/18 Pro). A lesser version of the DA 6-mans but the consensus was universally positive in the thread.

 

- Steamboat vs. Arn (3/28 Pro). A hot post-match angle adds to a pretty good TV match. This might be the highest-ranking "non-must" IMO.

 

- Steamboat/Dustin/Windham vs. Rude/Austin/Arn (4/4 Pro). Yet another good 6-man, they do all tend to run together, though.

 

- Big Josh vs. Arn Anderson (5/2 WCWSN). A controversial selection that I suspect Parv might veto out of hand. This was a divisive bout that didn't seem to live up to its prior rep when watched in a Yearbook setting. There's lots of gritty, intense matwork but it's also 45 minutes, with color analysis by Jason Hervey. Maybe one of those "you have to see it once" matches.

 

- Austin vs. Windham (5/9 WCWSN). Loss called this Austin's best match to this point, though that was before he really dove into the Adams stuff from 1990. Also the debut of short-haired Austin.

 

- Dustin vs. Rude (5/30 Worldwide). A good compare-and-contrast opportunity with Pillman/Rude.

 

- Arn vs. Windham (6/6 WCWSN). Included for posterity. The infamous match that Parv reviewed instead of the '91 match.

 

- Dustin vs. Cactus Jack, falls count anywhere (9/6 Main Event). One of the first in a series for Cactus. Short but intense and really puts Jack over in this environment strongly.

 

- Dustin vs. Jake Roberts (9/26 WCWSN). Maybe not big enough to truly be worthy of the list but it was well-liked and stands out as different in a sea of various Dangerous Alliance matches. One of the better late-career Jake performances--this is one to provide hard support to the idea of Roberts as a "ring general" instead of just repeating it as a cliche.

 

- Sting/Steiners vs. Rude/Arn/Eaton (10/3 Worldwide). No Paul E. but a last-gasp 6-man effort in this feud. Loss called it the best TV match of the year's second half--I'm not as sure but this is made by a HOT crowd.

Yeah, they will do nicely Pete

Thank you Pete, looks like we will probably be in the 12-13 match range as I want to include the Rude and Steamboat stuff since they are #1 and #2 for WOTY for the promotion in our eyes. May leave Josh vs. Anderson on the cutting room floor just because of the time commitment.

#loosethemoustacheloseitall

 

All time great WTBBP meme

Reading between the lines, Parv regrets putting Martel over Steamer in his top 100

Good fun again guys. I was beginning to wonder if Parv had completely thrown in the towel!

 

One thing about that Sting vs Vader match that I never hear mention these days but which I love is the Sting-turns-the-cross-body-into-a-powerslam finish. Back in the spring of 1992, right at the beginning of their feud, Sting had his ribs injured in a house-show match with Vader. I believe the actual injury happened when Sting hit the barrier outside but it was credited at the time (either on TV or in WCW magazine, I can't remember which) on Vader catching Sting on a top rope cross body and turning it into a powerslam. For the people following things at the time, I thought the finish of the Starrcade match was a nice 'what goes around comes around' rounding up of that story.

I was just having a think about the TV matches from 1992 and would like to add the Ron Simmons title win over Vader (I believe the full match was on Main Event on August 16th) to Pete F3's list. Simmons' reign became a disaster but it got off to a great start.

 

Also, I've been watching a fair bit of 93 WCW lately and Parv really shouldn't worry. WCW's 1993 feels to me like a year that has an unfairly bad reputation. Yes there's a fair bit of wrestlecrap (Cactus Jack's memory loss, midgets on exploding boats, The Shockmaster and so on) but I've found a lot of the actual wrestling is very good. He's also got a Dory Funk Jr vs Nick Bockwinkel match at Slamboree to look forward to!

I'm really enjoying listening to some of these shows, even if I can't get the image of Cleveland from Family Guy out of my head when Chad is talking.

Finally started listening to this today and am really enjoying it. Great to have the show back.