Mighty NorCal
SHALL WE BEGIN?
Starrcade was the inspiration of The late, great, American Dream, Dusty Rhodes. It is the first widely dissementated mega-show, the pre-cursor to WrestleMania, and major Wrestling PPV in general. Pay-per-View as we came to know it was not available then, so the show was distributed via closed circuit in movie theatres, auditoriums, and some major arenas a bit like how movies are now....but for a live event.
The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was a competing professional wrestling promotion that was expanding nationally with the use of cable television and attempted to take over the market. Promotions under the governance of the NWA only operated within their territory, and the WWF was affecting their business and acquiring their top wrestlers. JCP, owned by Jim Crockett, Jr., was one of the top promotions of the NWA and attempted to compete with the WWF by creating Starrcade. Starrcade was a large event, heavily promoted on televised events and broadcast on closed-circuit television via satellite in arenas around the promotion's regular tour stops. While the WWF would expand upon this and produce a nationally distributed show three years later, broadcasting Starrcade simultaneously all over major areas of the JCP territory was a first of its kind situation.
Traditionally, major wrestling events were held by the promotion on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, and Starrcade continued and spread the tradition by being held on Thanksgiving.
Starrcade was headlined by the title match between Harley Race and Ric Flair and featured other major feuds across the territory. Since Race won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in June, Crockett began planning Starrcade for Flair to regain the title in style. Their feud began, with Flair portrayed as the protagonist and Race as the antagonist, who was afraid to lose the title and employed unethical tactics to remain the champion. The storyline involved Race offering a $25,000 bounty to have Flair put out of professional wrestling to avoid losing the title. On August 31, Bob Orton, Jr. and Dick Slater attacked Flair by performing an aided piledriver, dropping his head into the canvas. Flair was portrayed as suffering from a serious neck injury, and they collected the bounty from Race. Flair announced his retirement from professional wrestling, but returned on September 21 by attacking Orton and Slater with a baseball bat. The promoters planned for their feud to culminate at Starrcade after a long pursuit.
At the end of Starrcade, Dusty Rhodes made a challenge to Flair for the title, and this led to their title match at the following year's Starrcade.
Starrcade drew a sold-out attendance of 15,447 and a $500,000 gate at the Greensboro Coliseum. The attendance at closed-circuit television broadcast locations was affected by a winter storm and drew around 30,000 people. Its use at the event popularized closed-circuit television broadcasting for professional wrestling events. Starrcade continued to be the flagship event of the promotion, held annually until the final Starrcade event in 2000.
The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was a competing professional wrestling promotion that was expanding nationally with the use of cable television and attempted to take over the market. Promotions under the governance of the NWA only operated within their territory, and the WWF was affecting their business and acquiring their top wrestlers. JCP, owned by Jim Crockett, Jr., was one of the top promotions of the NWA and attempted to compete with the WWF by creating Starrcade. Starrcade was a large event, heavily promoted on televised events and broadcast on closed-circuit television via satellite in arenas around the promotion's regular tour stops. While the WWF would expand upon this and produce a nationally distributed show three years later, broadcasting Starrcade simultaneously all over major areas of the JCP territory was a first of its kind situation.
Traditionally, major wrestling events were held by the promotion on Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, and Starrcade continued and spread the tradition by being held on Thanksgiving.
Starrcade was headlined by the title match between Harley Race and Ric Flair and featured other major feuds across the territory. Since Race won the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in June, Crockett began planning Starrcade for Flair to regain the title in style. Their feud began, with Flair portrayed as the protagonist and Race as the antagonist, who was afraid to lose the title and employed unethical tactics to remain the champion. The storyline involved Race offering a $25,000 bounty to have Flair put out of professional wrestling to avoid losing the title. On August 31, Bob Orton, Jr. and Dick Slater attacked Flair by performing an aided piledriver, dropping his head into the canvas. Flair was portrayed as suffering from a serious neck injury, and they collected the bounty from Race. Flair announced his retirement from professional wrestling, but returned on September 21 by attacking Orton and Slater with a baseball bat. The promoters planned for their feud to culminate at Starrcade after a long pursuit.
At the end of Starrcade, Dusty Rhodes made a challenge to Flair for the title, and this led to their title match at the following year's Starrcade.
Starrcade drew a sold-out attendance of 15,447 and a $500,000 gate at the Greensboro Coliseum. The attendance at closed-circuit television broadcast locations was affected by a winter storm and drew around 30,000 people. Its use at the event popularized closed-circuit television broadcasting for professional wrestling events. Starrcade continued to be the flagship event of the promotion, held annually until the final Starrcade event in 2000.