Sting, Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes vs. Eddie Gilbert, Rick Steiner & Larry Zbyszko - This was a match with some wierd matchups. When Eddie Gilbert was in letting the faces shine, things just seemed to click. When Eddie was out, it was hit or miss. Garvin-Steiner was a miss. I enjoyed large parts of this match but there was also parts that I thought were too bad to get behind. I'll vote no on this since I have seen so many 6-mans (several in Mid South) that just smoke this.

 

Barry Windham vs. Dr. Death Steve Williams - I love both guys but this was one of the most disappointing matches I have ever seen. No heat, no flow, just two guys trading moves.

 

Midnight Express vs. Rock N Roll Express (Scaffold Match) - Another scaffold match I will not nominate.

 

Jimmy Garvin & Michael Hayes Interview

Dr. Death Interview

 

Terry Taylor vs. Nikita Koloff (TV Title Unification Match) - I actually enjoyed this more than the Flair-Nikita main event from the year before. I love that Nikita spent the entire early portion of the match working over Taylor's arm only to have Gilbert and Taylor injure his arm later on in an attempt to neutralize the Sickle. The ending wih Gilbert's interference backfiring setting up the Sickle was also cool. I am going to throw this up and see where it goes.

 

Tully Blanchard & Arn Anderson vs. Road Warriors - Man, this may be the best Road Warriors match out there. Tully and Arn play their parts perfectly, stooging, taking big bumps and reminding people why they loved and feared the Roadies all those years. Still, the booking takes something away form this match and Arn and Tully have had so many better matches. I am on the fence on nominating it and I'll let you guys watch it or throw in your two cents before moving it up.

 

Nikita Koloff Interview JJ Dillon Interview

 

Dusty Rhodes vs. Lex Luger (Cage Match) - Once again, this is a case of seeing these guys in much better matches in much better settings. It wasn't activley bad but when comparing it to RNR-Andersons, RNR-Russians, or even the main event of the same show, it doesn't even come close to making the cut.

 

Ric Flair vs. Ron Garvin (Cage Match) - Even though Garvin was booked like a chump in the lead-up to this match, the Garvin feud is one of my favorite Flair matchups. I always felt bad for Garvin as the fans turned on him but I blame that on the booking more than anything he did. I think the cage match that saw Garvin win the world title was much better but this still holds up esp. seeing it complete and not clipped like on the commercial tape. I also enjoy this much more than the Race-Flair match form the first Starrcade. I am throwing this one on the block.

 

So far, this is the worst overall Starrcade I have seen from the 80s.

"Gorgeous" Jimmy Garvin, Michael "PS" Hayes, & Sting vs. "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, Rick Steiner, & Larry Zbyszko

 

This would've been better off split in two matches a tag with the future Birds vs. Gilbert/Steiner and Sting vs. Larry....but here we are. All the visible empty seats opposite the camera while Jim Ross said we are standing room only was awesome. Steiner & Sting started off hot and it was nice of the camera to miss Sting's diving plancha to the floor. The faces were strong at the start as the fans were going nuts and Gilbert's wild bump on the floor off a Garvin punch was great. Steiner looked amazing here and I always thought that Steiner with this look could've been huge as a singles heel. All of the heels took their punishment from the faces before Garvin would get isolated in the heels corner and Larry caught him with a reverse kick which started the heel control section where they focused on Garvin's back. Garvin was fine as FIP but nothing special then he got the hot tag to Sting who cleaned house on the heels but a rake in the eyes by Larry Z and Gilbert chunking him over the top rope to the floor ended that. Sting got worked over a bit before tagging in Hayes who was a house of fire starting off a 6-way brawl. Hayes would get the bulldog headlock on Larry but his foot was on the bottom rope so Hayes picked him up and put him in the sleeper hold. Gilbert then jumped off with a diving axehandle as Tom Miller calls 1 minute left in the match. Steiner works over Hayes' back with a bearhug then plants him with a belly-to-belly with 30 seconds left for a nearfall. Hayes got a sunset flip on Gilbert with a 2 count right as the bell rang making this match a 15:00 draw. This was a pretty good match and did have some issues in the middle part of the match but I think there is enough to put it on the block as a low-end pick.

 

Next we get Missy Hyatt talking up the show.

 

UWF World Heavyweight Title: "Dr. Death" Steve Williams © vs. Barry Windham

 

This tells you all you needed to know about the UWF Title's standing when it was the 2nd match on this show. This match screamed out "DREAM MATCH" at this time period but it didn't quite work out that way. They started out scientific since this was a babyface match and the boring chants started early and often and then when they went to the floor Barry told Doc to go back into the ring which got some boos going. Doc would accidentally get crotched by Barry who was very tentative letting Doc recover which really riled up the fans who wanted action. Doc continues to sell his groin as they continue to work before Barry goes flying over the top rope and crashes on the floor. Barry would get back in the ring and Doc would catch him in an Oklahoma Roll to win the match as the crowd booed. This was a disaster of a match in so many ways......it makes you feel like you got robbed.

 

Scaffold Match: The Rock n Roll Express (Robert Gibson & Ricky Morton) vs. The Midnight Express ("Loverboy" Dennis Condrey & "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton)

 

The poor MX get stuck with this shitty gimmick match for the 2nd straight year but Eaton & RnR have history in these matches from Mid-South so you would've expected it to be better than the Roadies match. Tom Miller's introduction of the RnR is as nauseating as Justin Roberts' introduction of John Cena. Bubba attacking Morton and giving him the Bubba Slam while Gibson was alone on the scaffold was great and the Chicago fans loved it. Morton then got revenge by nailing Bubba with the tennis racket then jumping on the scaffold with it where he pounded on the MX. We get blood, we get powder, we get the troupes of this match but still it's not worth going on the set.

 

Then we get Bob Caudle interviewing Garvin, Hayes, & Precious about Starrcade then Dr. Death who said that Barry could've capitalized on him being hurt but he didn't so don't blame him for trying to win the match.

 

NWA World TV Title vs. UWF World TV Title: "Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff © vs. Terry Taylor ©

 

There was a feeling out process to start with Taylor being tentative trying to find the right spot to get Nikita. Koloff would work over Taylor's left arm and Terry did a fine job of selling everything but it was nothing dynamic and that was followed up Nikita using a grounded bearhug which was a little tedious. Taylor then went to the floor with Gilbert to stall but Nikita drug him back in the ring which almost backfired as Taylor got a nearfall using the ropes. Nikita though recovered and went back to the mat with a hammerlock then back to an armbar as Nikita wanted to keep this match grounded some reason. Taylor FINALLY got on the offensive after taking Nikita to the floor and the fans woke up as well as Taylor started working over Nikita's arm using the ringpost. Gilbert also got involved as he wrenched Koloff's arm as Taylor had Earl Hebner distracted. Nikita is good at selling this punishment and Taylor is being aggressive which definitely helps out as if Nikita worked Taylor's arm like this the match would've been a lot better. Nikita would make a fun comeback before Taylor dropped him with an inverted atomic drop but Nikita would kick out. Taylor argued with Hebner allowing Nikita to get a schoolboy for a nearfall which angered Taylor who tried a piledriver but failed. Gilbert would get involved again as Nikita was on the apron using a chair to clip Nikita's knee which allowed Taylor to lock on a figure-four leglock also with help from Gilbert. Hebner would see Gilbert helping Taylor and made him break the hold but Nikita would bring Gilbert to the apron with Taylor hitting him by mistake. Nikita then followed up with the Russian Sickle to win the match. This match was up and down as when Taylor was on offense it was really good but when Nikita was on offense it was pretty dull. The totality of the match makes me lean towards no on a nomination.

 

NWA World Tag Titles: "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard © vs. The Road Warriors (Animal & Hawk)

 

Roadies getting their big shot at the new champs in their hometown and you think that would be the perfect place for them to the belts right, not so fast. The Roadies were at their peak here as far as workers and the Horsemen were perfect opponents for them as they made their power offense look tremendous plus their stooging around got the crowd even more riled up. The spot where Hawk press slammed Tully into a bearhug with Animal raising him up and down was tremendous. The Horsemen took a severe beating but came back for more every time and would eventually get the advantage by working on Hawk's left leg then used quick tags to keep the pressure on. Hawk would eventually get the hot tag to Animal and he comes in blazing but Tully would trip him up off the floor letting Arn go to work on him. Tully would then come back into the ring and ran into Tommy Young knocking him to the floor and Animal backdropped Arn over the top rope. Tully would get sent back to the floor and Arn would get hit by the Doomsday Device for the pinfall. The crowd goes apeshit as Earl Hebner comes in to make the count but Tommy Young gets back in the ring and says that Arn was thrown over the top rope in one of the classic screwy finishes of the era. Tommy Young was hated by a lot of fans at this time because he was always the one that would save the Horsemen. Finish aside this was one of the best Roadies matches ever and a definite nomination.

 

Next we get Jack Gregory with Magnum TA talking about Starrcade before Bob Caudle interviews Nikita with his belts then Dillon who has supreme confidence in Luger winning.

 

Steel Cage Match for the US Heavyweight Title: "Total Package" Lex Luger © vs. "American Dream" Dusty Rhodes

 

Dusty can't wrestle for 90 days if he loses and Johnny Weaver is the gatekeeper on the floor. This starts slow with both men posing and preening until Dusty starts with his offensive barrage of elbows and fists before going for the Weaver Lock a couple of times but Luger quickly got to the ropes both times to survive. Dusty then keyed on working over Luger's left arm with different holds before Luger caught him with a cheap shot and rammed Dusty face first into the cage. Rhodes is now juicing and Luger is relentless working over the cut until Dusty hit a desperation dropkick. Luger though recovered first and started working over Dusty's back setting up the Torture Rack which he would get but not clean as Dusty grabbed the cage to stop the hold. Luger then worked over the cut some more before going to work on Dusty's left arm as Dusty did his best to get crowd into the match and his comeback. Dusty would finally make the comeback and he was pumped up as hell yelling at Luger which got the crowd going crazy before hitting a funny looking DDT for a nearfall. Luger kept taking the fight to Dusty before finally getting in the Weaver Lock in the middle of the ring. Dillon then KO's Johnny Weaver and gets the key to the cage but can't get in so he throws a chair over the top of the cage as Earl Hebner got bumped. Luger goes to grab the chair but Dusty hits his funny DDT again on the chair and pins him to win. This may not have been as strong as some of the other Starrcade cage matches but I dug this match and it was a pretty damn fun performance from Dusty who really carried this match. I'm throwing this up as a mild nomination.

 

Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Title: "Hands of Stone" Ronnie Garvin © vs. "Nature Boy" Ric Flair

 

You can say what you want about how Garvin was booked as champion but it was always leading up to this match and it was fun seeing Flair as the challenger not the champion. I can watch these two wrestle all day long as their matches have this physicality that you didn't see much then and don't see a lot of now. This is two grown men going out there and saying "FUCK IT, LET'S THROW DOWN" for our enjoyment. You also get the rarity of Flair wearing white tights which is a great touch in a cage match and ironic since Ronnie wore white a lot. We get the GARVIN STOMP early and holy shit it's one of my favorite spots in the history of wrestling....I always pop for it. Flair then used a cheap shot to stop Garvin and got an inverted atomic drop to start his offensive barrage. Flair would soon get the figure-four after his kneebreaker and I love that Flair is in full "fuck the bullshit" mode and just wants to beat Garvin. Flair is working this like his version of a BattlARTS match which is great as he is ruthless working over Garvin and tries to ram Garvin into the cage but it's blocked twice until Garvin reversed it and slammed Flair into the cage twice which brings out the blood. Garvin is working the cut like crazy and Flair tries to escape but Garvin climbs up there with him as he bashes Flair's head off the top of the cage twice causing Flair to drop to the mat. Garvin then press slammed Flair off the top rope before locking on his own figure-four leglock that Flair sells like death. This is now turning into a full war with both men trading shots and big moves like Garvin with a big cross body block off the top rope for a nearfall. Flair again tries to escape but he gets bashed into the cage again then headbutted before getting crotched. Garvin then got his sunset flip off the top for a nearfall and the place is going nuts as these men continue to battle. Garvin then hit his big right hand for a nearfall until Flair caught Ronnie in the air and rammed him head first into the cage then pinned him to win the title. The one problem I have with the match is the finish being like it was because all it took was that one shot into the cage for Garvin to get beat but Flair was demolished and couldn't go down. Nevertheless this match was AMAZING and a grand slam nomination.