Rebooking Starrcade 1997

[Ovaltine]

Starcade 1997 was WCW's biggest PPV ever garnering a 1.9 buyrate. However, most of the card and the outcome of the matches was a disaster.
Here is the original card with some of my remaks about the matchs beneath each match

1.) Eddy Guerrero defeated Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship

2.) Scott Norton, Vincent and Randy Savage defeated The Steiner Brothers and Ray Traylor

WTH is this?The Steiners were involved with a feud against the Wolfpac (Nash, Hall and Syxx) not Vincent and Scott Norton. I also remember that Macho Man was added to this match at the last minute. So apparently it was originally going to be The Steiners Vs Vincent and Norton... WTF?!

3.) Bill Goldberg defeated Steve McMichael

At this point in time I don't think Goldberg was over enough to be on a card that was suppose to be WCW's biggest PPV ever. If he was left off would it have caused any change in his career? Definately not.

4.) Saturn (with Raven) defeated Chris Benoit

This match was supposed to be Raven Vs Benoit who were in a very heated feud at the time. Raven was always sending his flock of flunkies after Benoit who could never get to Raven. This was supposed to be Benoit's chance to get even. Instead that night the match was changed to Benoit vs Saturn which we had seen multiple times on Nitro. I have head that Raven was too drugged up to wrestle that night, but oddly the next PPV (Superbrawl) he wrestled Benoit. Well, thanks, but you are a month late showing up for work there bud!


5.) Buff Bagwell defeated Lex Luger

WCW had missed the opportunity to push Bagwell to the moon after he broke his neck. By this point Bagwell was a comedic heel who had beaten Luger week after week with screw job finish after screw job finish. This was not the place to have Bagwell beat Luger with yet another screwjob finish.

6.) Diamond Dallas Page defeated Curt Hennig for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship

This was a solid match by two guys who could always perform. However, the feud was between Ric Flair and Curt Hennig not DDP and Curt Hennig. Just to refresh your memories Curt Hennig betrayed the Horsemen by smashing Ric Flair's head inside the door of the War Games Match that happend a month earlier at Fall Brawl.

7.) Larry Zbyszko defeated Eric Bischoff by disqualification with Bret Hart as special guest referee, if Bischoff won, he would get complete control of WCW Monday Nitro, if Zbyszko won, he would face Scott Hall at Souled Out.

This is the comainevent?! WTF?! And why is Bret Hart a referee?! Why didn't he wrestle a damn match?!

8.) A missing match was supposed to be the Giant Vs Kevin Nash. Nash called up WCW the day of the match and told them he was having a heart attack in order to get out of doing a job to the Giant.

9.) Sting defeated Hollywood Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship

This match had to happen, but that screw job finish just killed what was already a poorly booked PPV!

Overall Thoughts: This was suppose to be WCW's ultimate PPV. This is where WCW was suppose to shine and the nWo was finally suppose to get what was coming to them. Instead all we got was a bunch of matches in which the nWo won. Yeah Sting won at the end of the night, but he looked completely weak doing it! I had a party the night that this PPV was aired and durring half the PPV the people I had over were chanting that they wanted a refund... the ultimate joke of that is that I PAID FOR THE PPV!

If I were booking I would have made it so this PPV would mark the end of the nWo. You end something before it gets stale. Unfortunately, Bischoff didn't think of that and few months after this PPV the nWo had certainly wore out their welcome.

So, this is what I would have done differently.

1.) I wouldn't change The opening match. Eddy Vs Dean is always going to be a five star match.

2.) The Steiner Brothers Vs Syxx and Scott Hall for the WCW Tag Team Titles. The Steiners go over. This makes more senes as it puts and end to the Wolfpac's dominance of the Tag Team Titles.

3.) Larry Zbyszko vs Eric Bischoff. I would have had the same stipulations as above, but I would have had a regular referee and wouldn't have had a screwjob finish! Bischoff wasn't even a wrestler why did he need to look strong in this bout? Also notice that I changed to position of this match on the card. This is pretty much opening to middle of the card match. Why on earth this was before the maineven it baffeling!

4.) Chris Benoit Vs Raven. This match could easily go either way and it wouldn't have mattered. Benoit would have looked good if he won or if he lost because when he was fighting Raven he wasn't just fighting Raven- he was fighting the entire Flock.

5.) Buff Bagwell Vs Luger. Luger should have gone over. If he had Bagwell could have made a face turn at the end of the match by shaking Luger's hand. Say waht you will about Bagwell, but while he was in WCW he was insanely over. A faceturn during this time would have been the right way to go with him. He could have realized that he could have more success without the nWo. There could have even been a time in the mach where Vincent or Norton came out to help him and he refused their help. To further facilitate his face turn they could have accidentally cost him the match in some manner.

6.) Ric Flair Vs Curt Hennig for the WCW US title in a steel cage. This is the match that should have happened. This way Flair could have gotten his revenge on Curt Hennig in the same setting that Hennig used to take Flair out of action. Falir goes over and becomes the New WCW U.S. champion.

7.) The Giant Vs Kevin Nash. This wouldn't have been a great match by any strech of the imagination, but it should have happened here and not a month later at Superbrawl. Giant should have gone over.

8.) DDP Vs Macho Man. Their feud for 1997 won fued of the year! Having This match on the card is a no brainer! DDP lost most of his matches against Macho Man so this would have been as good a time as any for him to win.

9.) Bret Hart Vs anyone (with a story this hot he could have wrestled the Blue Meanie and people would have ate it up) I would have had Hart come in with a title belt that looked similar to the WWF's belt, but different enough to avoid legal interfearence from the WWF. He could have proclaimed himself to be the real world champion (Yes, I am aware that that was a WWF/Ric Flair angle) and defended the belt on WCW TV. This could have led to a unification match at the following years Starcade. I would have given Hart a year long title reign. This is not Bret Hart fan adoration. I don't really care for Hart as a wrestler. Yes, he was good, but I never really was a fan of his. However, if done right this angle could have been huge!

10.) Sting Vs Hollywood Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight. Sting has to go over and he has to go over clean! This builds him up as a strong Champion. There should have been the added stipulation that if Sting wins the WCW title that the nWo would have to disband for good. This would have served as the ending of the group and that way there would have been no nWoverkill.

So, there is what I would have done. This would have been the end of the nWo, Sting would have been a credible champion and Hart would have been booked like a champion from the second he walked into WCW. Does anyone else have any ideas that they would like to share?

 

[The Fabulous Rougeau's]

I think Bret couldn't compete yet for WCW and that's why he was a ref for the night.

 

[KevinCarsner]

I always thought Sting should've destroyed Hogan, entire nWo tries a run in as a last line of defense to keep the title, Sting gets distracted allowing Hogan to gain control of the match, WCW locker room quickly empties, war ensues, WCW prevails in the brawl and Hogan panics, swinging the momentum back to Sting to take it home with a clean win. Either that or just have Sting demolish Hogan quickly. One thing is for sure, Hogan squashing Sting for most of the match after running from him for a year has to be one of the worst ideas on this side of the finger poke of doom.

Other than that I like all of your alterations to the card, especially Syxx and Hall vs the Steiners, a match I now find myself simming in my head.

 

[Ovaltine]

I think Bret couldn't compete yet for WCW and that's why he was a ref for the night.

Well, if that is the case than they could have just had him make an appearance with the new belt. He could said "This is WCW and in WCW belts mean something. Therefore, the new number one contender to my Real World Chamionship will be recieving a title shot next month at Superbrawl. And since historically the number one contender to the Heavyweight Championship is the WCW U.S. Champion, that means I call out you new champion Ric Flair!"

That would have been huge... and it happened anyway.

I really can't understand why WCW didn't think of any of this stuff. It seems like booking 101 to me.

 

[Vinny1979]

Ovaltine, it was a good idea moving some of the matches but the next event after this was Souled Out. The reason why Flair couldn't wrestle was because they were playing off of the injury he suffered because of what Hennig did at Fall Brawl 3 months before Starrcade. I do agree that they should of had Savage/Page on the card but Page deserved the title and he got it. They had to put the match for the control of Nitro in the Semi Main Event spot because it was a huge stipulation. nWo wins they control Nitro for good and it was a great story in the match. Not a great match at all but the story was told perfectly and I think Bret had a no compete clause which is why he couldn't wrestle in WCW right away.

Starcade 1997 was WCW's biggest PPV ever garnering a 1.9 buyrate. However, most of the card and the outcome of the matches was a disaster.
Here is the original card with some of my remaks about the matchs beneath each match

1.) Eddy Guerrero defeated Dean Malenko for the WCW Cruiserweight Championship

2.) Scott Norton, Vincent and Randy Savage defeated The Steiner Brothers and Ray Traylor

WTH is this?The Steiners were involved with a feud against the Wolfpac (Nash, Hall and Syxx) not Vincent and Scott Norton. I also remember that Macho Man was added to this match at the last minute. So apparently it was originally going to be The Steiners Vs Vincent and Norton... WTF?!

3.) Bill Goldberg defeated Steve McMichael

At this point in time I don't think Goldberg was over enough to be on a card that was suppose to be WCW's biggest PPV ever. If he was left off would it have caused any change in his career? Definately not.

4.) Saturn (with Raven) defeated Chris Benoit

This match was supposed to be Raven Vs Benoit who were in a very heated feud at the time. Raven was always sending his flock of flunkies after Benoit who could never get to Raven. This was supposed to be Benoit's chance to get even. Instead that night the match was changed to Benoit vs Saturn which we had seen multiple times on Nitro. I have head that Raven was too drugged up to wrestle that night, but oddly the next PPV (Superbrawl) he wrestled Benoit. Well, thanks, but you are a month late showing up for work there bud!


5.) Buff Bagwell defeated Lex Luger

WCW had missed the opportunity to push Bagwell to the moon after he broke his neck. By this point Bagwell was a comedic heel who had beaten Luger week after week with screw job finish after screw job finish. This was not the place to have Bagwell beat Luger with yet another screwjob finish.

6.) Diamond Dallas Page defeated Curt Hennig for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship

This was a solid match by two guys who could always perform. However, the feud was between Ric Flair and Curt Hennig not DDP and Curt Hennig. Just to refresh your memories Curt Hennig betrayed the Horsemen by smashing Ric Flair's head inside the door of the War Games Match that happend a month earlier at Fall Brawl.

7.) Larry Zbyszko defeated Eric Bischoff by disqualification with Bret Hart as special guest referee, if Bischoff won, he would get complete control of WCW Monday Nitro, if Zbyszko won, he would face Scott Hall at Souled Out.

This is the comainevent?! WTF?! And why is Bret Hart a referee?! Why didn't he wrestle a damn match?!

8.) A missing match was supposed to be the Giant Vs Kevin Nash. Nash called up WCW the day of the match and told them he was having a heart attack in order to get out of doing a job to the Giant.

9.) Sting defeated Hollywood Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship

This match had to happen, but that screw job finish just killed what was already a poorly booked PPV!

Overall Thoughts: This was suppose to be WCW's ultimate PPV. This is where WCW was suppose to shine and the nWo was finally suppose to get what was coming to them. Instead all we got was a bunch of matches in which the nWo won. Yeah Sting won at the end of the night, but he looked completely weak doing it! I had a party the night that this PPV was aired and durring half the PPV the people I had over were chanting that they wanted a refund... the ultimate joke of that is that I PAID FOR THE PPV!

If I were booking I would have made it so this PPV would mark the end of the nWo. You end something before it gets stale. Unfortunately, Bischoff didn't think of that and few months after this PPV the nWo had certainly wore out their welcome.

So, this is what I would have done differently.

1.) I wouldn't change The opening match. Eddy Vs Dean is always going to be a five star match.

2.) The Steiner Brothers Vs Syxx and Scott Hall for the WCW Tag Team Titles. The Steiners go over. This makes more senes as it puts and end to the Wolfpac's dominance of the Tag Team Titles.

3.) Larry Zbyszko vs Eric Bischoff. I would have had the same stipulations as above, but I would have had a regular referee and wouldn't have had a screwjob finish! Bischoff wasn't even a wrestler why did he need to look strong in this bout? Also notice that I changed to position of this match on the card. This is pretty much opening to middle of the card match. Why on earth this was before the maineven it baffeling!

4.) Chris Benoit Vs Raven. This match could easily go either way and it wouldn't have mattered. Benoit would have looked good if he won or if he lost because when he was fighting Raven he wasn't just fighting Raven- he was fighting the entire Flock.

5.) Buff Bagwell Vs Luger. Luger should have gone over. If he had Bagwell could have made a face turn at the end of the match by shaking Luger's hand. Say waht you will about Bagwell, but while he was in WCW he was insanely over. A faceturn during this time would have been the right way to go with him. He could have realized that he could have more success without the nWo. There could have even been a time in the mach where Vincent or Norton came out to help him and he refused their help. To further facilitate his face turn they could have accidentally cost him the match in some manner.

6.) Ric Flair Vs Curt Hennig for the WCW US title in a steel cage. This is the match that should have happened. This way Flair could have gotten his revenge on Curt Hennig in the same setting that Hennig used to take Flair out of action. Falir goes over and becomes the New WCW U.S. champion.

7.) The Giant Vs Kevin Nash. This wouldn't have been a great match by any strech of the imagination, but it should have happened here and not a month later at Superbrawl. Giant should have gone over.

8.) DDP Vs Macho Man. Their feud for 1997 won fued of the year! Having This match on the card is a no brainer! DDP lost most of his matches against Macho Man so this would have been as good a time as any for him to win.

9.) Bret Hart Vs anyone (with a story this hot he could have wrestled the Blue Meanie and people would have ate it up) I would have had Hart come in with a title belt that looked similar to the WWF's belt, but different enough to avoid legal interfearence from the WWF. He could have proclaimed himself to be the real world champion (Yes, I am aware that that was a WWF/Ric Flair angle) and defended the belt on WCW TV. This could have led to a unification match at the following years Starcade. I would have given Hart a year long title reign. This is not Bret Hart fan adoration. I don't really care for Hart as a wrestler. Yes, he was good, but I never really was a fan of his. However, if done right this angle could have been huge!

10.) Sting Vs Hollywood Hogan for the WCW World Heavyweight. Sting has to go over and he has to go over clean! This builds him up as a strong Champion. There should have been the added stipulation that if Sting wins the WCW title that the nWo would have to disband for good. This would have served as the ending of the group and that way there would have been no nWoverkill.

So, there is what I would have done. This would have been the end of the nWo, Sting would have been a credible champion and Hart would have been booked like a champion from the second he walked into WCW. Does anyone else have any ideas that they would like to share?

 

[FlairFan2003]

Ovaltine, it was a good idea moving some of the matches but the next event after this was Souled Out. The reason why Flair couldn't wrestle was because they were playing off of the injury he suffered because of what Hennig did at Fall Brawl 3 months before Starrcade. I do agree that they should of had Savage/Page on the card but Page deserved the title and he got it. They had to put the match for the control of Nitro in the Semi Main Event spot because it was a huge stipulation. nWo wins they control Nitro for good and it was a great story in the match. Not a great match at all but the story was told perfectly and I think Bret had a no compete clause which is why he couldn't wrestle in WCW right away.

Actually Flair couldnt wrestle because he was legitimatley injured, a broken ankle, suffered at the Nov WW3 PPV in the NO DQ match with Henning. Flair was never portrayed on WCW TV as having been seriously injured at Fall Brawl, minor injuries at best, he returned to Nitro about three weeks after the event, then wrestled a regular schedule that included a win over Henning at Halloween Havoc by DQ (NWO interfere to save Hening's title, Flair beats them all up & sends them to the back) and a loss in an excellent match at the World War 3 PPV fought under No DQ rules (Henning smashes Flair with the US Title belt to get the pin). During that match Flair does one of his flying ax handle moves from the top rope, onto Henning who was outside the ring. He hits the move but lands awkwardly on his ankle, they continue the match (there is one spot in the ring where Henning grabs Flair's leg, then drops it and picks up the other leg instead almost immediately, presumably he grabbed the injured one by mistake). Flair had suffered a hair line fracture. He was supposed to participate in the battle royal that ended the PPV but could not.

Starrcade was supposed to be the final blow off match with Flair likely getting the US Title. WCW pushed the angle all the way till a week before Starrcade, when it was clear he was not healthy enough to wrestle. If you remember the final Nitro before SC had Flair challenge Henning and anyone from the NWO who wanted to fight to a match that night. The idea being Flair would only be in the ring a few minutes, do a few basic pucnches, chops, etc, then the NWO would interferre, WCW guys would make the save, it would be revealed Flair was injured in the attack and DDP would get the match. This is the infamous Nitro appearance in which Henning appears drunk, slurring his speech in a rambling pre match promo that makes almost no sense. He looked horrible in the very brief match itself.

Brett Hart didnt wrestle because they were teasing an NWO alliance with him, no one knew what side he would take. The guest ref spot in that sense worked well.

It's hard to criticize WCW to a point here, Nash bailed on them which ruined that match. Raven allegedly was high and couldnt perform so that match was ruined. Flair was injured. However, I would have let Luger go over Bagwell, he had been cheated multiple times in previous bouts, Bagwell was over with the fans at that point and due for a loss, plus Luger was one of the most popular guys they had. I also would have had the NWO try to save Henning vs DDP and have Flair make the save, allowing DDP to get the win. It would have been justice served for the way the NWO shenanigans had protected Henning in the past, plus it would have been a decent resolution to the Flair-Henning fued. Henning dropped like a rock in WCW after this match, not sure why, and we never got a satisfying ending to his fued with Flair, only occassionally trotting Henning out on TV to lose to Flair over the next two years, usually in filler matches with no build up. He never fueded with DDP trying to regain the US Title either, a natural progression of events.

The biggest problem was the main event - the screw job finish was unsatisfying. I drove from Pgh to attend this event live in DC and I can tell you the crowd was pleased when Sting went over but the match was a dud. Ive heard rumors over the years about Sting's condition at the time, he definately looked old & slow in this match, even though he looked pretty good in the big SuperBrawl PPV re match two months later. The match itself was booked to make Sting look weak compared to Hogan, Sting is on defense much of the match, his offense is short lived and lackluster, and Hogan cleanly pins him (it seems) before the crazy screw job finish that gives him the win. You use ridiculous screw jobs to help the HEEL win unfairly over the FACE after the FACE kicked his @#$ most of the match. You dont book the hero to look weak against the villain wih no face saving excuses (injury, outside interference, etc). I can understand if they wanted a close back & forth match but what they gave us was mostly Hogan dominating Sting and some convuluted plot that costs him the title.

That much I blame WCW for (I guess Hogan didnt want to lose without some excuse). The fact Hogan never once put over Sting cleanly during this fued (SuperBrawl has Savage saving Sting and costing Hogan the belt) really was a downer for WCW fans and foolishly hurt the incredible momentum they had with Sting's return from his year long exile. Imagine if at WrestleMania in 98 they decided to have Austin take a SuperKick and get rolled up by HBK for the win - then move onto a different fued, all of the great momentum they had with Stone Cold's rise up WWE would have been wasted.

 

[braveh]

I don't understand the whole "it makes Sting look weak" argument. For gods sake how many nWo guys did he beat up during that match?

I understand that it isn't the big pay-off everybody is expecting. I think it's a great idea to have all of the WCW run in and beat up and brutalize the nWo.

 

[Wolf Pac]

Syxx suffered an injured neck, so he couldn't wrestle and shortly after, was fired by Bischoff. But Syxx & Hall had faced the Steiners on a previous Nitro and lost the belts to them.

Raven was high.

Nash no showed but I would've just had Scott Hall as his replacement to face The Giant on the PPV instead of having Giant squash Hall in a promo.

Flair was injured but I wouldn't have wanted to see Flair vs. Hennig anyway as they had two previous PPV matches with Hennig retaining the US Title.

DDP & Macho had just ended their feud at Halloween Havoc 2 months before. I would've just had Macho face Lex on the PPV. It's not like their match at Souled Out was bigger than Bret vs. Flair, so they didn't need to save it till then.

Keeping Goldberg off the PPV would be crazy. Yeah, he may not have been as over at the time and Steve wasn't a great wrestler but Steve McMichael was his first legit feud & threat to the streak. Steve had just come off from being in the 4 Horsemen & being US Champion earlier in the year, so unlike Goldberg's previous opponents before, Steve wasn't just a no name jobber.

As for Bret Hart, WCW made the right decision not booking him on the PPV. He arrived in WCW just weeks before Starrcade, there wasn't enough time to build him up for a match but the main focus of Starrcade was 100% on Sting-Hogan; Have Bret wrestle on the card, some of that focus would've been taken away from the match. It was best, saving Bret's first match for Souled Out. Souled Out wasn't a big PPV but Bret debuting on the PPV made everybody want to see it.

My card would've been...

1) Eddy Guerrerro vs. Dean Malenko - WCW Cruiserweight Championship

2) The Steiners vs. Vicious & Delicious (Bagwell & Norton) - WCW Tag Team Championships

3) Bill Goldberg vs. Steve McMichael

4) Saturn vs. Chris Benoit

5) Lex Luger vs. Macho Man

6) DDP vs. Curt Hennig - WCW US Championship

7) The Giant vs. Scott Hall

8) Larry Zybsko vs. Eric Bischoff - Control Of Nitro

9) Sting vs. Hollywood Hogan (w/ Bret Hart as Special Enforcer) - WCW World Heavyweight Championship

 

[lil bitch Kid]

Yeah, this rebooking stuff is fun and all but, there was really only one problem with the card which could have been avoided. Sting needed to put more work into being ready and should not have had the ring rust he did. Sting blew the ending. He didn't kick out at the end, which made Hart look like a boob which killed the ending.

 

[Snixon]

Starrcade 97 is the one event that all these years later continues to infuriate me by the way it was mishandled. This event should have been the Wrestlemania III for WCW. The event that solidified their true force in pop culture. Instead it was the beginning of the end.
Storyline wise, this event should have been where WCW dropped the Hiroshima bomb on the NWO forcing their unconditonal surrender after a grueling 18 month war but it was not to be. Sting-Hogan was so badly bungled along with a horrible undercard that I truly believe that WCW began to crumble as it was just mere months later that WWF would begin to revitalize themselves eventually winning the wrestling war.
Sting shoulda reamerged from darkness as the red white and blue Sting, beating a bloody Hogan from pillar to post thus scorpion dropping him for the pin and the title. But somebody (my guess is Hogan) had other ideas. NWO shoulda suffered many humiliating defeats this night in what should of been the supercard of the 90's.
This is one of those things that I also blame Bischoff for not visualizing (cant blame Russo for this one as he was not there at the time).
Between this event and WCW bungling Goldberg the next year and the ridiculous Russo years sealed the fate for WCW and the wrestling world we know today. Nothing has been right since.

 

[Wald]

Honestly they couldn't do anything about Flair, Nash and Raven, although I would have suspended both Nash and Raven for their nonsense and jobbed them to hell for a few months when they got back. Actually I would have told Nash to show up on Nitro the next day and get his ass handed to him by Sting in the main event as a means of writing him out for a while. If he disagreed I would have sued him into the ground.

The only match they completely botched was Sting vs Hogan, had they got that right no-one would have cared about the rest of the card.

Sting was so over and portrayed as so superior to everyone else that Bischoff would have had to get involved near the start to make it seem like Hogan could beat him. Here's how it could have played out, although anything other than what happened would have been better.

Bischoff accompanies Hogan down to the ring. Sting gets the upper hand in the opening minutes, leading to Bischoff jumping on the ring apron 3 times to infuriate the crowd and break Sting's momentum.

Bret takes issue with this and he and the ref drag Bischoff down on his third jump on the apron and start removing him from the wrong.

Back in the ring have Vincent or some other nWo jobber come through the crowd, jump in and nail Sting in the knee with a baseball bat. Sting plays off this for the next 10 minutes as Hogan dominates him. Sting tries to make comeback after comeback but Hogan keeps kicking his knee out or racking his eyes when to stop him. Sting makes a minor comeback, prompting Bischoff to come back out and pull Hogan out of the way of a Stinger splash.

Bret deals with Bischoff and knocks him out with one punch (nod to the Vince knock out), back in the ring Hogan hits the big boot and goes for the leg drop but Sting rolls out of the way. Sting chops him into the corner, whips him and hits the splash followed by the Scorpion Death Drop. Norton and Vincent run out but Bret drops them before they reach the ring. Sting locks in the Scorpion Deathlock and Hogan taps clean for Sting to become the new WCW champion.

In the aftermath we have Bret & Sting alligned against the nWo, eventually leading to a face vs face rivalry over the title.

 

[Ovaltine]

In the aftermath we have Bret & Sting alligned against the nWo, eventually leading to a face vs face rivalry over the title.

I think that if they had brought Hart in with a version of the WWF title (a belt that looked similar to the WWF title at the time, but different enough so as to not cause yet another WWF enforced law suit) and have Hart call himself "The Real World Champion" (Again, I know that was originally a Ric Flair/WWF angle) and have him defend that Belt at WCW for a year. Then at Starrcade 1998 WCW could have had a title unification match between Sting and Hart and the number one contender Goldberg. Yes, I completely hated Goldberg, but I am not going to dispute the fact that that guy was huge for about a year. If Goldberg beat Sting or Hart and united the titles it would have been bigger than the Goldberg Hogan match. Also, depending on how he won or who he pinned there could be countless ways to have rematches between thoes three guys. Also, by having Goldberg work with guys like Sting and Hart on a regular basis he could have been taught how to actually work a match rather than having squash match after squash match. And perhaps the dreaded mule kick to Hart's head could have been avoided.

 

[Used To Watch Wrestling]

Starcade 1997 left such a bad taste in my mouth that I basically quit watching wrestling shortly after this. The Hogan vs Sting match was an unmitigated disaster and easily the worst "big match" in the history of professional wrestling. It was just shocking how badly that match was mishandled.

Honestly, who came up with the idiotic ending to that match? You NEVER make the good guy look weak in a match that huge, especially when Hogan was terrified of Sting for like an entire year and basically pissed his pants every time he saw Sting. And then the match finally occurs after a huge, year-long buildup and Hogan doesn't appear the least bit intimidated by Sting. The match just didn't fit the storyline in any way, shape, or form.

I think Hogan is mostly to blame for what happened, but it's hard to say without knowing all of the behind-the-scenes details. I think his ego and "creative control" got the best of him and he ruined the best storyline in the history of wrestling by not allowing Sting to have a clean victory and making Sting look very weak in the process.

Yeah, the referee botched it too by not doing the "fast count", but who cares? It was a horrible idea to begin with. And I bet that ego maniac Bret Hart had a lot to do with it, who I'm sure wanted to use his "Montreal Screwjob" storyline in WCW to let everyone know how important he is and what a victim he was.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

I really like your idea of re-hashing the "real world champion" with Bret Hart and a 'fake' WWF title. I think this would have been the best way to capitalize on how hot the Hitman was after the screwjob. I like the idea of having him defend this title for a year and finally having a champion vs champion match at the following year's Starrcade. I would have kept the Hitman away from the WCW champion Sting for as long as possible until they finally start teasing their match a few months before Starrcade 98. Everyone often says "WCW misused Bret" but I rarely see suggestions on how they could have used him properly. And I really think this would be a good way to go.

WCW could have really kept their momentum going in 1998 with these angles:

• Bret Hart as the real WWF/World Champion
• Sting with a nice, long WCW title reign... defending vs the likes of Macho Man, Ric Flair, Luger, Nash
• Hogan vs Kevin Nash over who the real leader of nWo is, ultimately leading to their implosion and a big blowoff in the summer of 98
• The buildup of Goldberg and the streak. I don't know when he'd eventually take the title, because they should have kept it off Hogan for most of 1998.

I think with these major angles, supported by the strong midcard they had in Jericho, Raven, Benoit, Malenko, Eddie, Booker T, DDP.... They could have really kept their momentum going strong.

 

[MrMojoRisin]

Yeah, this rebooking stuff is fun and all but, there was really only one problem with the card which could have been avoided. Sting needed to put more work into being ready and should not have had the ring rust he did. Sting blew the ending. He didn't kick out at the end, which made Hart look like a boob which killed the ending.

That was the one problem with Sting's angle at the time.

He was so ridiculously over as Crow Sting it wasn't funny, but they didn't have him work a match anywhere for a year. I understand they didn't want him wrestling at the time because of the nature of the angle... at least in WCW... they should have maybe at least sent him on some quick tours of Japan or down to Puerto Rico. Anything so that he was in 'wrestling shape' for the big match.

 

[Used To Watch Wrestling]

Sting didn't blow the ending. He laid there for that stupid 3 count like he was supposed to do.

It was just a horribly scripted match. There was no build-up or anything before Hogan's leg drop. You can tell even the announcers were totally confused at how the match ended all of a sudden. It just plain sucked and robbed the fans of a potentially great match.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

This threads been overdone but I like doing this stuff so here we go. As its Starrcade 97 I'm gonna skip to the final 2 matches as they were the only ones on the card that meant anything.

1) Larry Zbyzko vs. Eric Bischoff

So let me get this straight, a match that determines the fate of their #1 show (and the show they built as the most important thing in the universe) is fought between an announcer that's been retired from active competition for 4 years and a guy who runs the show and has never wrestled a day in his life, really?

If you haven't figured it out this wouldn't have been the match if I was booking. How about Kevin Nash vs. The Giant as that was already a big storyline. I know the match was supposed to happen and didn't but you aren't gonna know this right away, but either way it can work in your favor. The Giant is the biggest guy in WCW, a perfect guy you want fighting for the company and Nash is the biggest, toughest guy in the nWo and one of the founding fathers, in both cases it makes PERFECT sense that WCW and nWo would pick these 2 guys to fight for Nitro. So I'm gonna do 2 endings for this based on if Nash shows up or not:

1) If Nash Shows up - They have a Giant slugfest where both guys are constantly going back and forth until Nash starts taking over. Giant makes a comeback and looks as he's ready to end it. All of a sudden Hall comes down and hits Giant and Nash gets the powerbomb in (we know he can do that as he did it the next month even if he botched it). He goes for the pin and Giant gets his shoulder up at 2. Nash gets pissed and Hall goes for some knucks or something to give to Nash, Hall distracts the ref but while Giant is getting up Bret Hart comes down (you don't know who he's with so far). He smiles and gives the thumbs up to Nash, and right before Nash decks the Giant Bret taps him on the shoulder, hits the right hand, Nash goes right into the chokeslam, Bret tackles Hall and Giant gets the win.

This is important and ties into the next match.

2) If Nash doesn't show up. You play the Nash is running scared match, Hall substitutes and absolutely gets destroyed. Giant wins.

Hogan vs. Sting

This is plain simple. This show is about WCW taking charge so let them do that, have Sting come in from the rafters first. Hogan's music plays but no Hogan, Hogan tries to bail out the arena, jumps in his limo and who is driving it? Luger. Luger locks the doors, drives the limo to the ring. He throws Hogan in the ring, Sting beats the living tar out of him, Stinger splash, Scorpion Death Lock, tap and its over.

By doing the matches this shows that WCW has taken over for good and the nWo's reign of terror is over, WCW wins. That's how Starrcade should have ended plain and simple. nWo disbands within the next month and that's it.

Now for the post match:

Sting is in the ring celebrating and Bret walks down. Walks to the announcer's table grabs the belt goes in and hands Sting the belt. Goes to shake Stings hand, the shake but Bret doesn't let go, pulls Sting in and says he's coming for that belt. The show ends.

So doing this you:

1) Establish the nWo is dead and gone (which is what should have happened).
2) Establish Sting (your most popular wrestler at this point) as the #1 guy in the company and the top dog for putting the final nail in the nWo coffin.
3) Establish your next feud between Bret Hart and Sting which would have been the PERFECT feud after Starrcade. You have a guy who was literally screwed out of the WWF title (and someone who can make claim to being the champ still) vs. The WCW champion and top dog. Hmmm, I wonder if that would make any money?

See WCW, it was really that simple, why didn't you do something like that?

 

[dukes07]

There has been a lot of rumors and half-truths etc. when it comes to main event. Bischoff in his book blames Hogan (surprisingly) saying that Hogan did not want to look weak. Hogan has blamed Sting for being out of shape. Some have said that Nick Patrick was paid off by Hogan and the conspiracy theorists point to Hogan whispering to Nick before the match. Some have said that Hogan wanted Sting to squash him, but Bischoff nixed it.

Bischoff wanted a Screwjob type ending, because it was still fresh in minds of the fans. Bret would come out and say not again after the fast count. Shit happens when it is live and somewhere signals got crossed and it was a perfect storm of shit. Not excusing what happened, but Nick did not fast count. Sting laid there. Bret came out too soon. The mic did not work.....I mean it was like me trying to pick up girls in college. A fucking disaster.

But Sting did win. And I think the aftermath was handled decently. Early 98 was a lot of fun. But yes, Sting should have won cleanly or if they wanted to go the convoluted Screwjob route, then make it work and make Sting strong prior to that part in the match....

 

[Wald]

I've read an interview with Nick Patrick where he basically says that Hogan and his allies in the locker room pretty much threatened him to do a slow count and that he was also getting threatened by Sting, Flair etc. to the slow count right, to the point where he didn't have a clue what he was going to do himself.

Shows how out of control the locker room in WCW was at that time. Look at what happened when, just a few months later, HBK threatened to not do the job to Austin at Wrestlemania 14 (for the record I don't think HBK would have not done it, I think he was just trying to bluff Vince)

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

The only match they completely botched was Sting vs Hogan, had they got that right no-one would have cared about the rest of the card.

I think they botched the entire show, but Hogan vs. Sting was definitely the only match that mattered (seeing Hart didn't have a real match). If they had gotten that match right, Starrcade would be remembered in a totally different light.

Starcade 1997 left such a bad taste in my mouth that I basically quit watching wrestling shortly after this. The Hogan vs Sting match was an unmitigated disaster and easily the worst "big match" in the history of professional wrestling. It was just shocking how badly that match was mishandled.

I was still fairly young at the time (13 years old), and even I was a bit smarkish about it. Prior to that, the "booking side" of wrestling never entered my brain. I knew it was all fake, but prior to the Hogan/Sting debacle, who won and lost seemed more organic, never giving me reason to question booking. This was terrible.

You can blame Sting for being out of shape, or Hogan for being the asshole most say he is, but the bottom line is this - WCW blew that PPV, and no, I'm not talking specifically about the booking. If they had their ship in order, some discipline in place, perhaps Raven wouldn't have been on his ass and Nash wouldn't have believed it was acceptable to "call in sick" to the biggest show in the history of the company. Maybe Sting would've trained a bit more and maybe someone would've told Hogan he's talent and to keep his awful fucking mouth shut about how often he wins and loses. WCW was a fucking mess, and to this day it really pisses me off just how badly they handled that show.

 

[Ovaltine]

I really like your idea of re-hashing the "real world champion" with Bret Hart and a 'fake' WWF title. I think this would have been the best way to capitalize on how hot the Hitman was after the screwjob. I like the idea of having him defend this title for a year and finally having a champion vs champion match at the following year's Starrcade. I would have kept the Hitman away from the WCW champion Sting for as long as possible until they finally start teasing their match a few months before Starrcade 98. Everyone often says "WCW misused Bret" but I rarely see suggestions on how they could have used him properly. And I really think this would be a good way to go.

WCW could have really kept their momentum going in 1998 with these angles:

• Bret Hart as the real WWF/World Champion
• Sting with a nice, long WCW title reign... defending vs the likes of Macho Man, Ric Flair, Luger, Nash
• Hogan vs Kevin Nash over who the real leader of nWo is, ultimately leading to their implosion and a big blowoff in the summer of 98
• The buildup of Goldberg and the streak. I don't know when he'd eventually take the title, because they should have kept it off Hogan for most of 1998.

I think with these major angles, supported by the strong midcard they had in Jericho, Raven, Benoit, Malenko, Eddie, Booker T, DDP.... They could have really kept their momentum going strong.

I wouldn't have ever given Hogan the belt again. I would have had Hogan leave for a long time after Starrcade. I would have kept him gone long enough so that when he returned he would have been red and yellow and have been embraced by the fans. I then would have used him as a special attraction only wrestling once or twice a year much like the Undertaker does currently. His eventually good bye match would have been bigger than Flair's and Michael's combined. Love him or hate him this IS Hulk Hogan. He deserves the biggest send off of all time.
I would definitely have kept the strap on Sting for a year and done the same with Bret Hart's "Real World Champion" gimmick. All the while I would have built up Goldberg. I would have had him work with the best mat workers on the planet at all house shows. I would have made sure that the guy evolved into a wrestling machine. My honest opinion of Goldberg (despite hating him)is that if he had some more time in the mid card working with the likes of Regal, Finley, Benoit, Jericho etcetera that he could have become a good worker. If you watch some of his early matches he did display some decent moves. The problem was that he never evolved beyond those moves. Anyway, I would have fed him more and more people, but one thing that I really would have done differently in his buildup is his feud with Raven. That could have been drawn out for months. Goldberg could have had to have gone through the entire Flock before getting to Raven. The important thing is to have Goldberg never be able to touch Raven. Raven is always at a distance taunting Goldberg. This could have gone on for months. One by one on PPV Goldberg could have gone through the Flock in order to get to Raven. We are talking 6 month build here. Could you imagine the amount of heat this would have generated for Raven! Then at Starrcade 1998 Goldberg finally has dismantled the Flock and Raven stands alone with no one to help him.
That card also has as the main event Sting Vs Bret Hart in a face Vs Face title Unification bout. Now, here is what needs to happen. The match has to be completely even neither one can get the upper hand on the other. Their finishing holds the Sharp Shppter and Scorpion Death Lock will not work on eachother because they have both been using it for so long that they know how to get out of it and that has to happen to each of them during the match. The illusion of these two being completely equal must be kept if the match is to play out how it should. This leads to the inevitable heel turn from Bret. He has to turn heel and take out Sting for a LONG time. The heel turn could happen by a reuniting of the Hart Foundation. I believe that Anvil and Davey Boy were still under contract at the time. If not two or three other guys could be used that were already on the WCW roster. They could have even been Kevin Nash and Scott Hall although by that point I think anew faction with those two would have been redundant. The point is that Hart needed a small faction in order to do his bidding and protect him and sabotage the match with Sting to insure that Hart won. Sting would have to leave for a Long time to ensure that Goldberg was thrust into the main event level against Hart and his cronies this could have led to huge matches between Goldberg and Hart's cronies leading up to a Goldberg Vs Hart World Championship match. This match could have happened at the Great American Bash.
The reason for the Hart Heel turn is simple who would want to miss out on stuff like "Who are you to doubt El Dandy?" and "What about Hypnosis? He's a high flyer of the highest magnitude." I seriously believe that Harts true calling in wrestling was to be an uber heel. By this point Flair wasn't what he was and in my opinion Hart could have taken his place. Now, that is no disrespect to Flair. I am a huge fan of the Flair character. As a matter of fact I am not that much of a Hart fan, but the writing was on the wall for Flair. He is another one who should have been used on special occasions only and should have been turned into the new manager for a younger version of the Four Horsemen (similar to what he did with Fortune in TNA).
What all of this leaves open is a supper main event at Starrcade 1999. Goldberg Vs Hart Vs a returning Sting. What I would do here is protect both Sting and Goldberg. Sting is the returning hero and would definitely be more over than Goldberg. So, he needs to take the title. In order to do this Hart needs to be the one that gets pinned. In order for Sting to pin Hart and get his revenge someone needs to take out Goldberg. My vote would have been Scott Steiner. That could have led to a Steiner Vs Goldberg feud and kept him busy while STing and Hart continued to feud over the title after Starrcade.
Now, with the way that the ending of Starrcage 1998 was set up Goldberg's streak is still intact. Yes, this is wrestling and even though he didn't win the triple threat at Starrcade 1998 he was never pinned. So, technically he is still undefeated. That streak needs to be protected in order for an Ultimate battle of the undefeated monsters match at that I have planned to take place at Starrcade 1999.
Prior to Starrcade 1998 Wrath was getting over as an unbeatable monster. I think he would have been a good choice to face Goldberg at Starrcade 1999. Their similar gimmicks could have led to an eventual match between Goldberg and Wrath over who the true holder of the streak was. I would eventually have had Hart regain the Title from Sting at some point. Of course he would have had to have had help from his cronies who would have taken out Sting in some vile way. Therefore, Sting would be gone for a month or so. In that time Goldberg would get his rematch at that summers Great American Bash PPV. This PPV could have led to the return of Sting who would make sure that none of Hart's cronies could interfere. This way it is just Hart and Goldberg who would have won back his title via a clean pin. What that would do is make Hart go after Sting instead of the title and keep them both busy while WCW builds up to Starrcade 1999 which would be the battle of the Undefeated Monsters. At Starrcade 1999 I would have turned Wrath heel had him go over Goldberg and made him into an undefeated monster heel in the vein of Vader in WCW, and Mike Awesome and Rhino in ECW. And if you don't believe me about Wrath getting over watch some of his singles matches prior to him getting destroyed by Kevin Nash. The guy was getting monster pops. People saw the Meltdown coming and they got out of their seats. The guy was getting over and had a menacing heel look. It could have worked.

 

[Wald]

Honestly the problem WCW had was that it never knew how to create heels that weren't the nWo.

I'd have also set the nWo to split after Starrcade 1997, but I would have drawn it out over a few months to have the pay off fight between Nash and Hogan at Bash at the Beach 1998. You could easily have created friction between them and had the same Wolfpac vs Hollywood split, only this time keep the likes of Sting out of the Wolfpac, make the Wolfpac a seperate group and not affiliated with the nWo and simply have it come down to if Nash beats Hogan at BatB than the nWo have to disband. That would have made for an awesome angle to run side by side with any Sting vs Bret Hart world title program.

Bischoff says that Bret was broken coming into WCW, but I genuinely think that had they shown him more respect they could have turned his disappointment into drive to beat the WWF and show Vince what he let go.

 

[spaldoni]

Yeah, this rebooking stuff is fun and all but, there was really only one problem with the card which could have been avoided. Sting needed to put more work into being ready and should not have had the ring rust he did. Sting blew the ending. He didn't kick out at the end, which made Hart look like a boob which killed the ending.

I agree with you. Sting had a lot of ring rust. They should of went to him 6 months before Starrcade and made sure he would be in great shape. Maybe had him go on a couple foreign tours to work the kinks out. Hire him a personal trainer and hit the gym hard. I remember watching the match and thinking he just didn't look like Sting. The match should of been a classic battle like Hogan/Warrior 1, with Sting going over clean. I would of never booked the fast count to begin with.

 

[Stingersplash89]

Starrcade 97 needed to end with a 7 or 8 minute squash match with Sting destroying Hogan. The entire buildup Sting was made to look pretty much invincible and when it came down to the actual match he got almost no offense in save for a couple of stinger splashes and the SDL. I remember being confused as all hell being 7 Years old and watching Hogan, who had been running every chance he got for over a year from Sting, just having his way with him.

 

[CrucifiedRaven]

One thing about Starrcade 1997... is that fans saw it as the end of a storyline, but Bischoff saw it as the end of just one chapter of the storyline. Starrcade had historically been WCW's WrestleMania, but Bischoff didn't really see it that way. SuperBrawl was his 'Mania, and he booked the Sting vs nWo story to conclude there instead of at Starrcade.

The eventual payoff still worked. The buyrate for SuperBrawl was huge if I remember correctly. So it's really only looking back in hindsight (and knowing that nWo went on for too long), that we think the story should have ended here.

The Starrcade main event was still a mess though, regardless of what the outcome was. It was sloppy, which unfortunately was becoming too common for WCW PPV's.