WCW Starrcade 95'

Starrcade 95’ – December 1995

Nashville, Tennessee

COMMENTATORS: Bobby Heenan, Dusty Rhodes, and Tony Schiavone

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight’s show, the WCW World Heavyweight Champion was Randy Savage, Kensuki Sasaki was the reigning the United States Champion, Johnny B. Badd was the Television Championship, and Harlem Heat were the recognized WCW World Tag Team Champions.

In an interesting twist on traditional PPVs, tonight's show features a "World Cup of Wrestling," with talents from WCW taking on talents from New Japan. Kicking things off is Chris Benoit vs. Jushin Thunder Liger. While I had high hopes for this match, and the work is good, what this match is missing is emotion. Liger's mask prevents him from expressing himself through facial expressions, but the vet does make up for some of it with pantomimes. Benoit is less limited in what tools he can use, but is also less charismatic. The live crowd wants to root on the "American" (actually Canadian), but Benoit's stoicism makes it so that you never get the impression that he wants to be cheered or is motivated by the crowd's support. With no reason to get emotionally invested, the match contains some great maneuvers but offers very little in terms of drama. The finish was designed to highlight the Four Horsemen's feud with the Dungeon of Doom and, to that end, it is successful, but one does wonder if, given a bit more time and the opportunity to work towards a clean ending, these two would have taken this match to a higher gear. (3/5)

"Das Wunderkid" Alex Wright takes on Koji Kanemoto in the next match. I must admit to having never seen any of Kanemoto's work prior to this match, but he is very impressive here. Wright is no slouch either, though, I do think he struggles with the "intangibles" a bit - particularly his facial expressions and character work. At this stage, many months into his WCW tenure, Wright comes across as a face only because he doesn't cheat, not because he shows fighting spirit or works the crowd or plays a plucky underdog. This one is highly competitive and is well-paced, with a nice mix of big maneuvers, including some excellent high-flying out of Kanemoto and some devastating suplexes. A hotter crowd that was more interested in these two workers would've helped elevate this match, but as it is, it is still an above-average bout. (3/5)

Masahiro Chono vs. Lex Luger is our third World Cup of Wrestling match and Tony Schiavone reminds viewers that both of these men were once NWA World Champions (though, if I'm not mistaken, Chono's reign was during the confusing time when WCW had lost its classic "Big Gold Belt" but still claimed their own World Championship as well as an International World Championship). Regardless, Chono's resume might feature some big accolades, but in terms of his output in the US, I've never considered him a top tier talent. This match doesn't alter that view as, while it is certainly not a bad match, it isn't a very riveting one either. Both guys work hard, but not so hard that this one ever goes beyond average. (2/5)

Mr. Saito vs. Johnny B. Badd is next and, for the first few minutes, this one is shaping up to be a show-stealer. Unfortunately, after some very stiff chest chops from both guys and Saito using his size and strength to toss Badd with a vicious suplex, the match ends in an unexpected and unexciting DQ, an unfortunate way to cut short a match that was far more interesting than the one that preceded it. (2/5)

Shinjiro Otani vs. Eddie Guerrero is the next match on the card and, from the very first minute, some noticeable "Eddie" chants break out in support of the young Latino Heat. When the match picks up speed after minutes of good mat wrestling, it really works, as Guerrero offers some high-flying maneuvers that were uncommon at the time and flawlessly executed. Hearing Heenan laugh in glee when Guerrero connects with a powerbomb and then an outstanding brainbuster helps the watchability as Heenan's enthusiasm mirrors that of the fans in attendance and watching at home. I’ve heard some call this match “heatless,” but I think their efforts are rewarded as well as they could be considering how relatively unknown both guys were. Otani is no slouch, hitting some pitch-perfect dropkicks and an excellent springboard splash to the outside. As the match goes on, both Guerrero and Otani pull out bigger and bigger moves - suplexes, powerbombs, submissions – but what really sets this match apart,  is that the execution of each big maneuver is spot on. (4/5)

WCW World Champion Randy Savage cuts a quick promo before he arrives for his match against Hiroyoshi Tenzan. There's not much to enjoy or appreciate in this one - essentially Tenzan just destroys Savage until Macho miraculously mounts a comeback, hits an elbow, and scores an all-too-easy pinfall.  I can understand why Savage would want to spend most of this match selling as he will be defending his championship in the show later on, but instead of getting the feeling that Savage will be coming into that match as a guy who already went through hell, the ease at which he defeated Tenzan with such a ridiculous “comeback” makes it seem like this warm-up bout was nothing more than a nuisance for him. This is a TV-level match and not even a very good one. (1/5)

After a pretty good promo out of Ric Flair, we come to our final World Cup Match - Sting vs. Sasaki. While this one starts out better than the prior bout, it is similarly short and unimpressive, a disappointing "non-match" that makes one wonder why Sasaki was the United States Champion. Certainly these two must have had a better, more competitive match in Japan? Overall, not offensive, but definitely not worth seeking out. I'll throw on an extra half point for an emotional finish that certainly left the live crowd happy. (1.5/5)

A cool video package hypes up the next bout, a Triangle Match (involving tag-ins because, hey, it's 1995 and 3-way dances were uncommon) between Lex Luger, Sting, and Ric Flair with the winner challenging Randy Savage for his WCW World Championship in tonight's main event. Sting and Flair start things off with Sting trying to lock in a Scorpion Death Lock in the first minute or so. From there, Flair and Sting wrestle a very "classic" bout, going through some of their usual tricks. This isn't a knock on them at all - the chemistry of these two always made things seem organic, even if they were just "playing the hits." What also stands out is Luger's non-involvement. No triangle match today would have the third wheel play no part in any of the action of the first 10 minutes of the match. When Luger does get tagged in, the match goes into its second act - the drama increases but Luger and Flair essentially go through the same spots that Flair and Sting offered. Things don't really get too interesting until Flair finally tags out and Sting and Luger, the longtime best friends, come to blows. From here, Luger does more heel work, low-blowing Sting, but the commentary team does a nice job playing up that Sting is no boy scout either, equally determined to win the match (though not to the point of breaking rules). Unfortunately, the clever finish is hindered a bit by camera work that does not quite capture what should be a huge, course-altering ref bump. While not an all-time classic, the psychology in this match worked for me and the performances, while not great, were definitely good enough to carry the story through. (3.5/5)

Main event time - Ric Flair challenging Randy Savage for his WCW World Championship. Savage and Flair have had many matches over the years and I wouldn't call any of them "bad," but this one doesn't top the list either. Flair's performance over the course of the whole night is quite impressive and there are some quality exchanges here but this one doesn't hit the emotional peaks of their PPV bouts from earlier in the year or their WrestleMania VIII match. Towards the end, Savage hits Flair pretty weakly with a megaphone (tossed in by Jimmy Hart, who, after the triangle match, became Flair's impromptu corner man) but what we really are seeing is Savage dicing up Flair's head. The blade job and the thick flow it causes is painful to watch. The Horsemen make a run-in, which makes the referee seem completely incompetent, and a new champion is crowned. Again, not a historically great match, but still one that Flair fans will enjoy, especially paired with the previous bout. (3.5/5)

With a decent average match rating of 2.61-out-of-5, Starrcade 95' is not a total misfire. Keeping Hogan off the card and filling the remaining time with a revolving cast of Japanese unknowns, the best of the midcard talent, and double-dutying Savage, Flair, Luger, and Sting provides just enough starpower to make up for the lack of diversity (no tag matches, no Dungeon of Doom, no real brawls).  In the end, I wouldn't recommend this show in its entirety, but there are bits and pieces that were intriguing and entertaining, including some early work out of Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit that shows just why fans were falling in love with them.

FINAL RATING – Watch It…With Remote in Hand