WCW Starrcade 93'

RATING LEVELS:

Curt Hennig – A “GOAT” show, as Perfect as possible

Watch It – A consistently good show worth watching in its entirety

Watch It…With Remote in Hand – 3 or more above-average ratings

High Risk Maneuver – Mostly filler, inessential, but 1-2 good matches

DUDleyville – Zero redeeming qualities, chore to watch

STARRCADE 93’ – December 1993

Charlotte, North Carolina

CHAMPIONSHIP BACKGROUNDS: At this time, Vader was the WCW World Heavyweight Champion while Rick Rude held WCW’s other World Heavyweight Championship, “The Big Gold Belt” or WCW International Championship, otherwise known as the title formerly known as the NWA World Championship. The Nasty Boys held the WCW Tag Team Titles, Dustin Rhodes was the recognized US Champion, and Lord Steven Regal held the TV Championship.

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone & Jesse Ventura

The show begins with a video package going through Ric Flair’s life, then a segment showing Vader arriving in the arena and training. The most interesting part, though, may be “Mean” Gene escorting Flair from his nearby home to the arena, their limo ride chronicled in several segments throughout the show. The cumulative effect is that Flair’s battle against Vader, a Title vs. Career match, is made to be a huge deal of tremendous emotional significance for not only Flair, but the fans. When is the last time the WWE put such an effort into one of their main event programs? WrestleMania 12? (4/5)

The opening contest is a fairly by-the-numbers tag match of Paul Orndorff and Paul Roma vs. Marcus Bagwell and 2 Cold Scorpio, but these two teams showcase more chemistry than one might expect. Already Roma seems more comfortable and confident out of the Horsemen than he did with them. (3/5)

After another Flair segment, we come to our next match, King Kong (or Awesome Kong?) vs. The Shockmaster. Fortunately, this one is kept so short it really didn’t bug me very much. Does it deserve to be on a PPV? Of course not...but at least it doesn’t drag down the show very long. Plus, extra point for any Shockmaster appearance on the Network. (2/5)

Do you see my confusion?

At the desk, Tony Schiavone explains that Rick Rude will not defending his WCW International Championship against The British Bulldog, but actually against The Boss (formerly the Big Bossman). This change was made due to Bulldog’s "shoot" firing from the company in late November, according to rumor the result of bad publicity surrounding a bar fight in Canada.

Lord Steven Regal vs. Ricky Steamboat for Steamboat’s Television Championship is next. As expected, these two put on a clinic, with Steamboat selling a damaged arm within the first few minutes, and Regal exploiting it with wrist locks and strikes. I awarded their Fall Brawl match a score of 3.5-out-of-5, noting that the live crowd seemed to lose interest in what was an otherwise good match. Here, the crowd is more engaged, rooting with passionate for the Steamer, while Regal has the benefit of being a more established heel. What also makes this match special is the remarkable final stretch, with Regal and his manager, Sir William, smartly exploiting the time limit to keep Steamboat under control and the audience in suspense. Sure, the finish is a downer, but has it ever been better executed? (4/5)  

Maxx Payne and Cactus Jack vs. Shanghai Pierce and Tex Slazenger is next. I went into this one with pretty low expectations, but was thankfully surprised by the last few minutes, which were really well-executed and popped the crowd nicely. (2/5)

Kyle Petty is interviewed by "Mean" Gene Okerlund. He compares Flair's potential retirement to the retirement of Michael Jordan, which is a bit of a stretch considering Flair's rather uneven 1993. 

A 2-out-of-3 falls match for the United States Championship is next, with champion Dustin Rhodes defending against "Stunning" Steve Austin. I really enjoyed the first fall, particularly an awesome spot where Rhodes sends the future Rattlesnake into the fourth row. The action that happens in the ring is equally fun to watch, with Rhodes dishing out some killer clotheslines and elbows and Austin perfectly balancing arrogance with cowardice. Unfortunately, just when this match seems poised to rank as one of the best US title matches of its time, the match ends rather abruptly. The finish itself isn't poorly executed or anything, but not giving these two an additonial 10 minutes to get to it was a really poor production decision. Still, the 15-or-so minutes you do get are very strong. (3.5/5)

The Boss challenges Rick Rude for his WCW International Championship next. Rude’s 93’ has been difficult to watch, but things look promising in the early goings here, with Rude taking a huge back body drop and moving around the ring noticeably quicker than in his matches against Flair and Dustin Rhodes earlier this year. To his credit, the Boss has some nice offense and knows how to work the crowd to keep them engaged up until we get to a tedious bearhug stretch (to their credit, the move at least makes logical sense given the Boss’s focus on Rude’s injured lower back). The finish is rather pedestrian, but at least it’s a clean one. I'm still curious why WCW kept the title on Rude for so long considering his deteriorating performances, though. (3/5)

Tony Schiavone takes a quick second to shill WCW’s next PPV, SuperBrawl IV, featuring the Double Thundercage according to the graphic. Should be interesting.

The Nasty Boys defend their WCW Tag Team Championship against Sting and Road Warrior Hawk next. Despite appearing with Hawk when they debuted earlier this year, Road Warrior Animal wasn’t around very long (he’d return to the ring in 95’). It would’ve been cool for Sting to “dress the part” a bit and matching LOD face paint, but oh well. The match begins with plenty of stalling and the Nasties licking their wounds on the outside which the crowd eats up. After some dominance from the babyfaces, the tables turn and Hawk is left to play the face-in-peril. Around the 15-minute mark, Sting cleans house, but the match continues when the heels get the upper hand back and begin to beat down the former World Champ. Knobbs and Sags do a nice job of keeping the pressure on and even dishing out some good looking holds – including a well-executed pumphandle slam from Sags. As the clock winds down, the suspense builds, we see a very deadly-looking Doomsday Device, but the finish itself is confusing and completely overbooked. (3/5)

Main event time – Vader vs. Ric Flair – the WCW World Championship vs. Flair’s Career. At the 25^th Clash of the Champions, these two put on a pretty average match, though it wasn’t without its moments. This one starts out more fast-paced and the Charlotte crowd is 1000% into watching their hometown hero go at it with the monster Vader, who was smartly booked as a very dominant champion the whole year. Flair’s performance is hit-and-miss – there’s a glaring near-miss off the top, the punches look pretty worked to me (though, many critics/writers actually call this one of Flair’s stiffest matches), and cartoonish overselling throughout, but when things do click, it is hard not to be swept up in the emotion and story of the match, especially for Flair’s comebacks. When Flair shows he’s still the dirtiest player in the game, the audience explodes and doesn’t quiet down from then on. Vader’s straightforward, simple offense looks great, though, I would’ve liked to see him tease the powerbomb more. The finish, while unexpected, still worked for me – the set up is wonderful and the actual pinfall looks believable, with the referee in the perfect position (as Ventura points out) to make a clear call. Dave Meltzer rated this a 4.5-star match in the Wrestling Observer and many other bloggers/fans consider this one of WCW’s greatest matches of all time, in fact, WWE.com ranked it at the number 7 spot, but I’m personally not as huge of a fan. Historic? Absolutely…but near-perfect? I don't think it hits that level. (4/5)

While the show should probably end here, instead we get Ric Flair in the back with Gene Okerlund, teary-eyed with his family. Sting and Ricky Steamboat arrive and give us their thoughts followed by Gene wrapping things up. 

With an average match/segment score of 3.16-out of-5, Starrcade 93’ is uneven, but it never sinks too far below average. In fact, more generous reviewers might even rate it higher, thanks in no small part to two excellent title bouts – Vader vs. Flair and Steamboat vs. Regal. In fact, when it comes to WCW’s 92’-93’ shows, this one ranks close to the top, resting below only SuperBrawl II and Great American Bash 92’ (but, to be fair, tied with Clash #23 and Halloween Havoc 93’ on my personal score card). Interestingly enough, most of the credit for the success of this show should go to Rude, Bossman, the Nastys, Sting, Rhodes, and Austin, who worked hard in the minutes they got. As for the Shockmaster match, if you’re going to have to watch one, the brevity of this one makes it arguably his best showing.

FINAL RATING – Watch It…With Remote in Hand