WCW Starrcade 97'

UPDATED RATING LEVELS: 

Curt Hennig Level – A “GOAT” Show

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

Watch It…With Remote in Hand – Imperfect, but fun, with at least a handful of great matches

High Risk Maneuver – Mostly filler, salvaged by 1-2 awesome matches, for die-hards only

DUDleyville – Zero redeeming qualities, a chore to watch

WCW Starrcade 97'
Washington, D.C - December 1997

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's show, "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan is the WCW World Champion, Curt Hennig holds the United States Championship, Disco Inferno is the Television Champion (though, he would not appear on the card), and Eddie Guerrero is the recognized WCW Cruiserweight Champion. The Tag Team Championships are held by The Steiner Brothers at this point.

COMMENTATORS: Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Mike Tenay


Starrcade 97' begins with an outstanding video package showcasing tonight's main event, the kind of promotional material one wishes the WWE would utilize more these days, one that emphasizes the seriousness of the show without beating the audience over the head with blaring nu-metal and quick cuts. We then join Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Mike Tenay, who make note of the amount of WCW talents in attendance who are not competing, showing guys like Glacier, Wrath, and Harlem Heat in the stands. Its another nice production touch for WCW.

Before our first match, Schiavone reports that Kevin Nash is not in the building, meaning he will not be competing against The Giant after all. The story goes that Nash had a heart scare a day or two before the show, which Bischoff discusses in his book, Controversy Creates Cash. Bischoff (and Nash) claim that the heart scare was legit, that Nash really was in a Phoenix hospital the day of the show, and that Nash has a chronicled heart condition (which played into him not competing in WWE in 2011), though, obviously, this story has always been plagued by distrust due to Nash's propensity for not "doing jobs," politicking, and laziness. It also didn't help that, on commentary, Schiavone makes it very clear that there is reason to question Nash's excuse, blending the lines of reality and wrestling to a questionable degree considering the seriousness of Nash's ailment.

Dean Malenko makes his way down the aisle for his opening match against WCW Cruiserweight Champion Eddie Guerrero, one of the company's best heels by this point. From the start, Malenko and Guerrero bring a ton of knowledge of each other's best maneuvers into the match, really picking up where their legendary series in ECW left off. As the match goes on, the commentators stick to hyping the main event and Nash's no-show, unfortunately ignoring a very heated, well-paced match right in front of their eyes. The crowd, on the other hand, is pretty engaged, fully in support of Malenko despite the Iceman not really playing to the crowd. Guerrero's character work more than makes up for it, though, punctuating his offense with cocky mannerisms and jabs at the crowd. Guerrero eventually goes to work on Malenko's knee, dropkicking the stairs into it in a clever spot. Minutes later, Malenko hits Eddie with an absolutely stunning powerbomb to pop the crowd but can't lock in a cloverleaf, allowing Guerrero to then hit a dropkick (and frog splash) right to his knee from the top rope. Some more time and a bit more back-and-forth would've put this up a notch, but its undeniably an above-average bout with some really excellent exchanges. (3.5/5)

Scott Hall, sporting what Tenay calls a "bogus" World Tag Team Championship title around his waist, makes his way to the ring for an unscheduling segment. Hall is greeted with quite a number of cheers from the audience, most of whom seem to be sporting nWo shirts. Hall conducts his usual survey and the crowd comes off as fairly split, but with his charisma and delivery, this comes off as more of a cool babyface promo than a heat-seeking heel speech. Hall announces that Nash will not be appearing tonight, but that "Frankengoof" will get a forfeit victory. As Hall is mocking him, The Giant makes his way down the aisle and after sharing a few words, press slams Hall and then nails him with an impressive Jackknife Powerbomb as the crowd roars. Very good segment. (+1)

The nWo's b-team of Vincent and Scott Norton make their way down the aisle for a match of their own. Dave Penzer announces the match as a 6-man tag, but halfway through announcing Konnan as their third man, he's stopped by Flash and we then get their opponents - The Steiner Brothers with former nWo member, Ray Traylor. In place of Konnan, Randy Savage arrives, a considerable improvement but one that is somewhat confounding considering Savage wasn't on the card prior to this bout. Savage and Big Poppa Pump start things off and to their credit, they set a nice pace of stiff strikes and energetic suplexes, Norton and Rick Steiner following suit. The match only lags when Vincent comes in, the weakest link in the match and the only guy to seemingly not land a single piece of offense. Considering how many moving parts are involved, the finish is strong, this match over-delivering thanks to the last minute inclusion of Savage and the ever-impressive slams of the Steiner Brothers. (3/5)

"Mean" Gene Okerlund is joined on the ramp by JJ Dillon. Dillon announces that the referee for tonight's main event is going to be Nick Patrick, former nWo member.

Bill Goldberg is in the house for his WCW pay-per-view debut to take on longtime nemesis Steve "Mongo" McMichael. Schiavone notes that this match was originally scheduled for a month earlier, which is a nice touch of continuity. Goldberg attacks McMichael in the aisleway and then literally carries him into the ring. They exchange some surprisingly stiff shots, Mongo throwing the best-looking punches of his career. Goldberg may have been a limited worker (and sloppy), but his intensity, even this early in his career, explains a good deal about how he was able to generate such immense fan support in such a short amount of time. For some reason, they decided to build this match around a lackluster and unnecessary table spot, but all in all, its a decent "big stage" debut for Goldberg and a satisfactory ending to their feud that is really only hindered by Goldberg's greenness and Mongo just being Mongo. (2/5)

Raven makes his way out to the ring (sporting a sick Dinosaur Jr. shirt) and announces that he will not be competing tonight. Instead, Saturn makes his way to the ring to face Chris Benoit in his place. Benoit proceeds to cut a poetic promo before the match or at least attempt one. Things get much better once the action begins, Benoit going after Saturn hard from the bell. Saturn comes back with a nasty underarm suplex and then we have the arrival of Sick Boy and Kidman to help in the beatdown of Benoit outside the ring. Kidman delivers an impressive shooting star press of the apron onto the arena floor which Saturn follows up with his own springboard moonsault, a rare bit of high-flying from the Eliminator. Saturn slows things down with a chin lock, but Benoit won't give up, Dusty taking the opportunity to sell Benoit's toughness on commentary. Minutes later, Benoit is able to get a second wind and make a bit of a comeback in a terrific sequence that leads to the entire Flock getting involved and eating a Saturn moonsault. Benoit lands a huge diving headbutt and single-handedly takes out Lodi, Kidman, and Sick Boy, but Raven's Rules eventually get the best of him, the ringmaster hitting his Evenflow DDT to enable Saturn to get the "clean" victory. The finish makes total sense, though it obviously isn't the one the fans wanted. A Perry Saturn showcase if ever there was one. (3.5/5)

Buff Bagwell vs. Lex Luger is next, a continuation of a month-long rivalry that saw Bagwell score a series of upset victories over Luger on television. Bagwell stalls for a bit before the bell before finally locking up with the Total Package. The crowd pops for a perfect press slam as Bagwell heads towards the back and asks for some assistance from nWo henchman Vincent (of all members of the nWo to have in your corner, he'd probably be my last pick). Bagwell is able to land a bit of offense, but its mild stuff, a choke here, a forearm there. Schiavone and Tenay spend most of the match hyping Bret Hart's involvement later in the show, admitting by omission how much this match is serving more as filler than something of consequence. Bagwell applies a sleeper, but instead of drawing heat the crowd seems bored (even the producers take an opportunity to show the scope of the event rather than focus on the in-ring "action"). Luger gets a second wind and attempts a lazy roll-up for two, this match in dire need of a spark (only to get a second helping of headlock from Buff). When we do get to the finish, its a disappointing clusterfuck that, at the very least, does feature a touch of intrigue due to Miss Elizabeth's post-match appearance, a not-so-subtle hint towards a Luger/Savage feud that could've revolved around her. Overall, though, pretty weak stuff. (1/5)

The United States Championship is on the line when Curt Hennig defends against Diamond Dallas Page, as energetic here as ever. Hennig's WCW output has been pretty unremarkable, though, he was saddled with a well past his prime Flair, so...The crowd is very behind DDP and he doesn't disappoint, bringing the fight to Hennig and keeping his foot on the gas until its time to take a beating, which he does with gusto. Honestly, Page's selling and bumping here is amazing. Hennig is is more serious than compared to the overdone theatrics did in his series with Flair, but at times, the deliberate pace gets almost tedious. There's an unfortunate extended headlock spot that gets jeered by the live crowd, but Page works incredibly hard and draws them back in. They trade some great fists and the match goes outside via more crowd-pleasing Page offense. The finish comes a touch of out nowhere, but that's kind of the point of it, right? Still, if this one had built to a more thrilling conclusion with, dare I say, more finisher teasing (considering both guys have such patented, legendary closers), I'd love it. On commentary, Schiavone blatantly says, "Well, that woke everyone up!" Yeah, Luger/Bagwell did suck. (3.5/5)

Bret "The Hitman" Hart arrives to a solid ovation from the crowd, but where's the leather jacket? Where are the sunglasses? Hart's dress makes sense as he's the guest referee...but that's kind of just it - he's refereeing a match he shouldn't even care about and is treated like an afterthought, for some reason making his entrance before that of the two guys in the match - non-wrestler Eric Bischoff and the retired  Larry Zybysko. It was unbelievably poor booking, Hart having no history with either guy. Zybysko gets a great crowd response but this match is garbage. Bischoff's karate moves and showboating at the start is annoying and it doesn't get better from there. The story of Hart's refereeing is so illogical and stupid that its audience-insulting.  Zybysko puts on a headlock and a head scissors and the Hitman calls them "chokes" and breaks them up for the first time in wrestling history. He then allows Bischoff to strike at will, calling for no rope break (this was all "swerve" booking to make it seem like Hart had joined the nWo). A ridiculous finish draws an absolutely huge reaction, but makes so little sense that it feels totally empty. No clear decision as it seems like forgot to do the pinfall (why Zybysko wouldn't make the cover is beyond stupid as no bell has been sound to signify a DQ). Bizarre, terrible booking and just sad historically in that this was Bret Hart's WCW debut, which should have put the company on course to have a tremendous 1998 that didn't need to solely rely on the played out nWo angle as much anymore. That's not to say there was no room for The Outsiders to be near the top of the card (and Savage and Hogan were still over), but with Sting, DDP, the Giant, a red hot Bret Hart, and emerging superstars like Goldberg, there was a huge opportunity to close out the nWo story on this night and instead, we get illogical overbooking. This terrible debut remains, at the very least, an interesting rewatch and that's worth something. (1/5)

Main event time - arguably the biggest in WCW history - "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan vs. Sting for Hogan's WCW World Champions hip. I usually hate seeing the champion come out first, but in this case, it absolutely works. Obviously a ton of controversy surrounds this match, but I had a few takeaways - first, Sting looks fine. Years later, Eric Bischoff wrote that he and Hogan were upset with Sting coming in looking "unprepared" and out of shape, joking that he looked like he hadn't seen a tanning bed in six months. Even if you ignore the point that Sting's character wouldn't have been going to tanning salons, the fact is, his arms (which are really the only thing showing) aren't pale. Nor are they doughy. As for the faceprint and hair? It would've been silly to have him return looking like the Sting of early 96' or vintage 91'. This was the Sting fans knew and expected, flat out. Second, the actual match itself isn't shockingly terrible. Its disappointing, for sure, but its not dissimilar to any of the other Hogan matches from this time. As a babyface, Hogan stretched his matches by taking a beating until his "Hulk Up." As a heel, he does the opposite. That being said, most of Hogan's offense here is cheap shots or Sting making a costly mistake out of his passion for crushing the nWo. Critics have often argued that Sting should've controlled more of the match and I agree - but only because, if you're looking at the outline of the bout, it is a match that is tragically missing its true, final third. It begins smoothly enough, transitions to Hogan dominance (the crowd still very engaged), and then spirals out of control with what is arguably the worst "fast count" in the history of professional wrestling. Like with Zybysko/Bischoff, whoever was controlling this match ending decided to tamper with clear, entertaining storytelling on the biggest night of WCW's year and their error proved incredibly costly. What could be argued is, at the very minimum, an average match with a great "big fight" feel and solid commentary is absolutely destroyed by its ending, a finish that literally decimated every character involved save for the ONE GUY who should've came out of this match with egg on his face. Instead, Sting's title win (and reign) was devalued before it even existed and Bret Hart came off as a meddling jerk who actively spat on the rulebook in not one match, but two! The post-match celebration is a nice moment, but its not enough to save this one's reputation. Bonus half-point for the not-so-subtle (but basically ignored because of trademark fears?) moment when Sting points to Hart as he locks in the Scorpion Death Lock/Sharpshooter. (1.5/5)


Starrcade 97' has been called the first nail in WCW's coffin. This is a hyperbolic statement - not because its an overreaction to the show's multiple instances of poor booking, but because, by this point, WCW already had a few Grip-Rites hammered on their casket lid, specifically the overuse of the same ol' nWo run-in/phony Sting finishes at seemingly every major and minor show. What makes Starrcade 97' remarkable is not just that the main event is disappointing at almost every level, but that every single swerve, trick, or idea thrown in is completely tone deaf, counterproductive, and almost designed to leave a bad taste in the fans' mouths. If this only happened in the main event, WCW may have been able to plug the hole the next night - but there were equally disastrous consequences for the booking of the Bischoff/Zybysko match and, to a lesser degree, the 17-minute Bagwell/Luger snoozefest. Despite the horrendous reputation this show rightfully deserves, from a wrestling standpoint, it's not a total flop - DDP/Hennig, Saturn/Benoit, and the opener are above-average and different enough from each other to be a solid showcase of WCW's respectable variety.  In hindsight, the Hall/Giant segment is WCW making the best of a bad situation. Even the 6-man, thanks to the dependable star power of Randy Savage and the Steiners, is watchable. This explains how Starrcade 97' can earn a decent 2.5-out-of-5 rating, putting it firmly in "High Risk Maneuver" territory, instead of being banished to DUDleyville.

FINAL RATING - High Risk Maneuver