WCW Starrcade 90': Collision Course

Starrcade 90': Collision Course

St. Louis, MO - December 1990

CHAMPIONSHIP RUNDOWN: Coming into tonight's broadcast, Sting is the reigning WCW World Champion, Stan Hansen holds the United States Title, and DOOM are the WCW World Tag Team Champions. The Television Champion is Tom "The Z-Man" Zenk and the United States Tag Titles are held by the Steiner Brothers. 

COMMENTATORS: Jim Ross and Paul E. Dangerously

Reading the excellent new book, Crazy Like A Fox, an in-depth biography of the late Brian Pillman, has inspired me to turn back the clock again and watch some old school WCW. The previous month's Halloween Havoc is one of my favorites, but the Clashes that surround it were not nearly as good. I'm curious how this one will go...

The show kicks off with St. Louis legend Sam Muchnick trying his best to welcome the fans but struggling to be heard because the microphone cuts out instantly. We hear the National Anthem and then its finally time for some action - "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton vs. "The Z-Man" Tom Zenk, who was Television Champion at the time (though this is a non-title match for some reason). As the match begins, JR reports that Ric Flair, due to injury, has pulled out of the Horsemen's matches against the World Tag Team Champions, Doom. I'm sure that bit of news really pleased anyone who ordered this pay-per-view back in the day. Z-Man goes to the top twice in a row early on and these two came with their workboots on as Eaton, even in retreat, uses body language and stalling to the lure the crowd in. Despite Z-Man's good looks and decent-enough skills, Eaton seems to have at least a portion of the crowd support. Great sequence with Z-Man getting sent into the air, landing on his feet, and then hitting two big dropkicks to the veteran. A few moments later we get another great spot with Z-Man hitting a suplex onto the ramp and then following it up with a big crossbody over the top. When people talk about how dumb WCW's rules were (JR, for example, needs to clarify why Z-Man wasn't disqualified for the suplex), they often forget that they were dumb even before Bill Watts showed up. Eaton is able to rally, though, even hitting his trademark legdrop from the top rope. Z-Man won't stay down though and the match continues. Zenk eventually attempts a big maneuver from the top rope himself but Eaton is able to avoid the collision and ends up getting the victory in a fun finish. No worse than average and maybe even above it depending on how much you enjoy Bobby Eaton. (2.5/5)

Dick The Bruiser shows up and talks about the Black Scorpion...which is kind of funny because he sounds a ton like The Black Scorpion in that he sounds a ton like Ole Anderson.

Here we go - the Pat O'Conner Tag Team Tournament is set to begin. The tournament trophy is brought down the ramp and then we get a Parade of Nations, i.e several moderately attractive women carrying flags down the aisle. The US is given top seed because why shouldn't it be and then we get to see the flags of the USSR, Mexico, South Africa, and others. Still, I'd rather see absolute garbage filler like this rather than advertisements for Camp WWE or whatever. 

Alright - Colonel DeKlerk and Sgt. Kreuger of South Africa are out first. These two had one of the worst matches I've ever seen a few weeks before this on Clash of the Champions. Their opponents, coming out to the National Anthem, are Detroit's own Steiner Brothers. Dangerously tries to get the South Africans over on commentary but this match can only go one way. A "USA" chant starts up the second the bell rings and Rick Steiner comes in for his time. Surprisingly, he actually sells a little bit for Kreuger before taking him out with a Steinerline to the mush. DeKlerk comes in and they both end up Steinerlined for their troubles. DeKlerk attempts a somersault onto the floor, but lands head first on the floor as Steiner just seems to back up and watch him fall. That could've been a career-ender. Back in the ring they go and Scott Steiner hits a tilt-a-whirl slam and then a Frankensteiner for a massive pop. I'm glad they didn't bother with any sort of heat segment because all anyone wanted to see was the Steiners dominate and that's exactly what we got. This is not a "good match," but it was effective in establishing just how much better the Steiners were than their opponents. (1.5/5)

This should be interesting - Norman Smiley and Chris Adams, who gets a solid ovation, representing Great Britain, taking on Rey Mysterio Sr. and Konnan. Years later, Konnan and Smiley would be regulars on Monday Nitro and Rey Mysterio's son would go on to be maybe one of the top 10 babyfaces in USA wrestling history. The young Konnan and Smiley start things off and this quickly devolves into a match that is considerably different than the style of tag wrestling we saw in the US at the time. Adams gets a huge pop for his superkick while Konnan showcases agility and speed that would seem to evaporate entirely by the time he became an upper midcard player in the Wolfpack. This one isn't super smooth with some noticeable miscues at times and the crowd, unfamiliar with the combatants, aren't super hot for every second, but the bigger spots get reactions. Had this match been edited down by just a few minutes, I think it would've been more of a crowd-pleaser as by the time they got to the lackluster finish, the crowd had lost interest. Still an interesting watch for what it is. (1.5/5)

Michael Wallstreet and Alexandra York are interviewed by Missy Hyatt. Hyatt announces that Ms. York's computer has calculated that Wallstreet will defeat his opponent, Terry Taylor, in under 9 minutes. I hope the match goes at least 3-4 matches shorter than that because Wallstreet, while a better heel than face in my eyes, is often dreadfully boring and Taylor isn't that much better.

Rip Morgan and Jacko Victory are out next representing New Zealand. As JR notes, Morgan and Victory should be familiar to US audience from their stints in the NWA. Their opponents are Japan's Mr. Saito and The Great Muta, who gets a decent response (likely due to the Muta's reputation as a dazzling performer). Morgan and Victory don't look like much, but they're more technically proficient than they appear. Saito and Muta are the more exciting pair and despite fighting from underneath for most of the match, end up snagging the victory thanks to a perfectly-applied german suplex from Muta. Decent enough match. (2/5)

Mr. Saito and Muta are interviewed by Paul E. Mr. Saito is not worried about the Steiners at all. 

The first round of the tournament wraps up with the next bout - Danny "Bull" Johnson and Troy Montour of Canada taking on the USSR's Victor Zangiev and Salmon Hasimikov. Huh. Of all the legendary wrestlers that hailed from Canada and all the dozens of "evil Russian" characters from the 80s, WCW opted to go with four guys that nobody has ever heard of. Zangiev (I think) delivers a belly-to-belly suplex onto Bull Johnson that looks like it breaks the neck of Johnson - it is seriously one of the ugliest botches I've ever seen someone walk away from. Montour comes in and Hasimikov (I think) is tagged in as well. The Russians are working a super-serious amateur wrestling gimmick, which means the Canadians get dumped on their heads a couple times. The finish is an absolute mess and its unclear if the Soviets even get a real three count or Montour just opts out of the match after getting destroyed with a suplex. (0.5/5)

Tony Schiavone is backstage with Sting. Sting promises he will find out who the Black Scorpion is on tonight's broadcast. 

A video airs showing how the next match came to be - Terry Taylor vs. Michael Wallstreet. Extra half-point for the York Foundation's entrance music, which is awesome and worth digging up. A clock in the corner is counting down from 8:32 because Alexandra York's computer projected that Wallstreet would win in that time or less. A "Wallstreet Sucks" chants breaks out as Taylor applies a side headlock. Wallstreet takes a breather and the break in the match allows him to get some offense in via a wristlock. 3 minutes have passed and the action has not been great. Wallstreet stays in control, cutting off a hope spot with a vicious clothesline - the first hard-hitting spot of the bout. Wallstreet then slows it down again with an abdominal stretch, grabbing the ropes for added leverage behind the ref's back. Taylor fights back, though, as the match goes into its final 2 minutes, the one-time Red Rooster very nearly pinning Wallstreet with a flying forearm. Wallstreet ends up with a foot on the rope, though, and the match continues. With a little over a minute-and-a-half left, Wallstreet connects with a stun gun and then his Stock Market Crash samoan drop finish. This one's over. (1/5)

The Big Cat and the Motor City Madman are up next, making their way down the aisle to square off against "Dangerous" Dan Spivey and Sid Vicious, the Skyscrapers. I could've sworn that the Skyscrapers were broken up by this point with Sid fully transitioned into being a singles worker, but this match shows otherwise. The Skyscrapers play to the crowd like they're babyfaces, but, as JR notes, Vicious was still a member of the Horsemen too so who knows how they wanted the audience to respond to him at the time. They get a very quick win with a sloppy two-man powerbomb. It would've been better to just have Sid squash both guys single-handedly. Spivey and Sid cut a post-match promo about how nobody tells them what to do. This would've been fine on a Clash of the Champions, but WCW actually expected people to pay for this. (1/5)

The Rock n' Rich Connection are up next as Robert Gibson, who has joined them at ringside, is injured. Their opponents are The Fabulous Freebirds. The Rock n' Rich control early with Michael Hayes bumping all over the place in comical fashion. I thought this would lead to a heat segment where Morton would play face-in-peril as he usually does, but things wrap up relatively quickly with the Freebird's third, Little Richard, costing his team the match. The post-match makes the faces look both heartless and foolish at the same time, which is quite a feat. First, they abandon Little Richard as he is getting beaten up by the Freebirds, then, when they do come in for the save, they leave Robert Gibson prone on the entrance way. Not as bad as this could've been had it gone longer. (1.5/5)

The Steiners squash Mysterio and Konnan in the match that follows. After an awkward grappling sequence to start things off between K-Dawg and the Gremlin, Scott Steiner and they proceed to hit their finishing move - the top-rope bulldog - instantly. This should be enough to put away Konnan, but instead they kind of just let him get up and tag Mysterio so he can come in and eat some punishment too. Mysterio attempts a hurricanrana but Rick Steiner powerbombs him to the mat to finish him off. This squash had the right spots in the wrong order. (1/5)

Team USSR takes on Saito and Muta next. This one is more evenly-fought than the prior bought, though the crowd is that much less enthused too. After some not-so-impressive exchanges, Saito finally wakes the crowd up with a super stiff clothesline to Zangiev. He pins him soon after. This is no better than the Steiners/Team Mexico match, but at least Muta and Saito were willing to actually give a little bit of offense to their opponents. (1/5)

Finally, a singles match I care about - Lex Luger challenging Stan Hansen in a Lariat Match (strap match) for Hansen's United States Title. Hansen comes out swinging and almost immediately puts the rope to use, trying to choke the life out of the Total Package. The brawl goes to the arena floor and Hansen uses a chair to regain control. Back in the ring, Luger fights back with a headbutt and then unwisely attempts a pin only to reminded that he has to touch all 4 posts to get the victory. Hansen blocks his attempt with a very sloppy belly-to-back. Hansen ties the rope around Luger's neck and tries to make his way around the ring but can't do it. He wraps the rope around even more and hangs him in a vile display. Hansen struggles but is able to tap 3 corners before Luger springs up to stop him. Hansen cuts him off again, though, choking him on the mat. Back out the ring they go and Luger proceeds to use the rope to whip Hansen into the apron and post repeatedly. Luger hits him with a series of leg drops in the ring and the Lariat is unable to protect himself at all. Luger tags 3 corners and makes his way to the 4th, but Hansen is pulling with all his might as the crowd goes wild. He's finally able to do it, but he accidentally strikes the ref en route! Great spot! Hansen wraps the rope around Luger's neck again and tries to wake up the ref. In come Nick Patrick to monitor Hansen's attempt to win the match. The crowd is totally pissed. Hansen hits 3 corners and things look hopeless for Luger. Luger tries to use the bottom rope to prevent Hansen from touching the corner, but Hansen hits him with a Lariat to hold onto the title. Patrick announces him the winner...but Randy Anderson reverses the decision! Luger wins and is the US Champion again! I like the idea of a disputed finish (and what may be called the opposite of a Dusty Finish), but the execution is imperfect. I would've liked to see Anderson and Patrick force the match to continue in some sort of sudden death way so that Luger could win the title in more decisive fashion. I'm guessing that this finish was used to protect Hansen, but it definitely taints Luger's win. (3/5)

The WCW World Tag Team Championships are on the line next - The Horsemen taking on Doom in a street fight. Ric Flair was taken out of the match by Teddy Long and a bunch of goons prior to the show in a video package they'd aired earlier, leaving the Horsemen to be represented by Arn Anderson and Barry Windham. The bell is rung and the brawling starts immediately, Windham and Simmons going to the rampway and Double A following them out there. Windham returns to the ring to do battle with Reed, but they don't last too long in there either. Chairs, belts, ropes - this is just a straight-up fight. Windham gets busted open within the first two minutes and he's bleeding a gusher. Simmons is lacerated too, though its unclear from what. The weapon shots in this match aren't as barbaric as the ones we'd often see in the 90s, but they're stiff enough to pop the crowd and get the danger of the match over. Anderson is a bloody mess minutes later, neither side seeming to have any true advantage at any point. Windham hits a superplex, but only gets 2.8 in the first pinfall attempt of the match. Reed comes flying off the corner with a shoulder block but can't make the cover. Reed is bleeding too now, though he may been cut minutes earlier. The chaos of this match just does not make any sort of play-by-play easy. Double pin spot, but the referee doesn't call for the bell immediately, confused as to who should be declared winner. The brawling continues as the bell is sounded and its still unclear who has won this match. They brawl to the back of the arena, everyone a bloody mess. This one absolutely delivered, just a completely crazy brawl between two tough as nails teams. I would've liked an extra 2-3 minutes of action and a decisive finish, but what we did get is very nearly a "must see" match. (3.5/5)

The finals of the Pat O'Connor Memorial Tag Team Tournament is up next - The Steiners vs. Great Muta and Mr. Saito. Finally the Steiners are actually going to have to work. Muta's chest is already covered with green mist, which I don't recall him using earlier in the night, but maybe I missed it. I love how much Saito's build mirrors that of Rick Steiner, a point not lossed on JR. Muta gets crotched on the top rope, popping the crowd. A "USA" chant starts up as Scott Steiner and Muta get tagged in. The outcome of this match is never really in question, but Muta and Saito's offense is so explosive that when the Japanese contingent do get some offense in, it looks like they might actually have a chance. Rick Steiner takes a spill to the outside and Saito rams him into the post, knocking his headgear off. Muta then strikes him with the bell and the tide has shifted. This is easily the best match of the tournament, but that's faint praise when you consider no other match in the tournament had any sort of true back-and-forth or story. Rick Steiner eventually makes the hot tag to brother Scott, but Muta withstands the initial onslaught and Team Japan regain control soon after. Classic spike piledriver from Muta and Saito, but Rick Steiner prevents them from making the pinfall. Unfortunately, the finish is really dumb and doesn't really make sense as, while Muta had been playing to the crowd, its very hard to believe that he'd play to the crowd for over a minute and not notice that his tag partner was in more trouble than he originally thought. The best moments here all came from Muta and Saito. (2.5/5)

The Steiners celebrate their victory with members of Pat O'Connor's family. They're awarded with a large trophy by Jim Herd, who calls them "super heavyweights" even though I don't think they'd ever qualify as that. Scott Steiner cuts a promo in support of the soldiers in Kuwait and Rick Steiner tells them to kick some butt too. 

Main event time - Sting defending the WCW World Heavyweight Championship against the mysterious Black Scorpion. Gary Michael Cappetta announces the arrival of the "one man capable of officiating this match," Dick The Bruiser, who marches out looking the bastard lovechild of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and Popeye. In a cool moment, four different Black Scorpions arrive, including one that is dressed entirely different than the others and looks to be at least a foot taller too. Then a bizarre structure lowers from the ceiling, slowly turning into a cell as it lowers onto the ramp. When the pod hits the ramp, the Black Scorpion's voice booms over the PA system and the pod opens to reveal the true Black Scorpion. I must say, the pre-match stuff is absolutely incredible and worth checking out. The "true" Black Scorpion enters the cage as his "messengers" stand around it. The crowd pops huge for the arrival of the World Champion, Sting, and here we go. Sting and the Scorpion lock up and the Stinger is tentative in the early going, unsure who exactly he is up against. Knowing now who is under the mask here, I think they deserve some serious credit for not revealing their hand instantly, hiding mannerisms and body language that would've been second nature by now. Even the bumps the Scorpion takes look uncharacteristic of the man under the hood. The Scorpion brings the Stinger to the mat with an impressive high-angle back suplex and then locks in a choke that JR describes as Japanese-influenced. The Scorpion attempts a pinfall with an assist from the ropes and the Bruiser catches him. I'm not sure why that would be illegal in a cage match but it is. Storyline-wise, I understand why Sting would want this match in a cage, but I'm wondering if the real reason they went with it was to further muddy the waters regarding who was under the mask. The Scorpion continues to try to gain leverage and the Bruiser refuses to let it happen. His dominance since the opening bell has lulled the crowd into a calm. Sting rallies a bit but ends up going flying into the steal in the first major cage spot of the match. The Scorpion goes for the pin and very clearly has Sting down for a full count but Bruiser is too slow to make the call. Then the same thing happens when Sting hits the Scorpion with a boot to the face. Sting connects with a vertical suplex while Dangerously wonders aloud if we'll even recognize the Black Scorpion's identity when it does get revealed. The Scorpion fights back and launches Sting into the cage wall again before stepping right on his throat. Sting is rammed back first into the cage repeatedly and then sent into face-first again, the Scorpion cdominating the champion as the crowd watches on in relative silence. Sting's comeback pops the crowd as he connects with a Stinger Splash and a Scorpion Deathlock. The Scorpion escapes, though, and Sting launches him into the wall. Sting rips off the mask - but the Scorpion has a second one on! The Black Scorpion goes for an escape, but Sting follows him up to the top rope. An exhausted Sting falls onto the top rope and the Scorpion is crotched on the top rope. Sting sends him face first into the steel cage multiple times and press slams head-first into the steel! The mask is ripped open and the Stinger hits him with a clothesline and then a big right hand. Sting goes to the top rope and hits a sloppy crossbody, but Dick the Bruiser makes an awful count that ruins the moment and the finish. The other Scorpions come into the match and Sting and the Bruiser fight them off. The true Scorpion tries to climb out of the cage as Double A and Barry WIndham run out. The crowd chants "Luger" but he's nowhere to be found. Ricky Morton and the Z-Man try to run out for the save but the Horsemen continue to rain down on Sting with chair shots. The Steiners show up with bolt cutters and Sting is able to rip off the mask - its Ric Flair! The heels run off as the crowd pops and the show is over. Great pre-match, really good effort out of Flair for the first half of the match, but this one just falls apart as it goes on thanks to Dick the Bruiser being a terrible official and the finish being poorly executed all around. The post-match goes on way too long and the arrival of the Horsemen telegraphs the reveal too much that when Flair finally takes off the mask there is no shock left. Sub-par overall but I can't speak highly enough about the pre-match production. (2/5)


Somewhere buried in this mess of a show is a really good Clash of the Champions special. The finals of the Pat O'Connor Memorial Tournament is a good match that needed a better finish. The Doom/Horsemen brawl is terrific but too short with too indecisive a finish to consider it a "must watch." The pattern of good action followed by paltry finishes characterizes the US Title match too. Ric Flair's performance and the cornball pre-match production of the main event are its best elements, but the rest of it is hard to watch. The rest of the card, save the decent opener, is well below-average and unworthy of anyone's time. With a score of 1.75-out-of-5, Starrcade 90' isn't the worst major WCW show of all-time (or even 1990 if you factor in the Clash of the Champions shows), but its definitely on the low-low-low end of the pole.

FINAL RATING - DUDleyville