klunderbunker
Welcome to My (And Not Sly's) House
Starrcade 1987
Date: November 26, 1987
Location: UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 8,000
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross
This is the NWA's first attempt at a live PPV so Vince came up with a little idea called the Survivor Series and debuted it on PPV at the same time. The cable companies went with Vince and the NWA took a big hit. Vince did it again in January with Bunkhouse Stampede and a free show called the Royal Rumble. Guess what happened to the NWA soon after this. Anyway the main event is Ronnie Garvin defending the world title (e pluribis gads) in a cage against Flair. Let's get to it.
The opening video is the usual highlight package of what's coming in the show.
Oh yeah this is the 80s. The arena looks like a huge fire was just there given all the smoke and everything is dark so you can't tell much of what's going on.
Sting/Jimmy Garvin/Michael Hayes vs. Eddie Gilbert/Rick Steiner/Larry Zbyszko
Gilbert used to be Sting's boss in the UWF so this is a crossover feud. There are more empty seats than full ones. I shudder to think what the camera side looks like. Rick vs. Sting to start. Sting is freshly face here and is a few months away from his classic with Flair that made him a star. Sting is all fired up (as usual) and hits a missile dropkick to Rick and everything breaks down fast with the faces taking over.
Rick, in shorts, comes back in and it's off to Hayes. They work on Rick's arm and we keep looking at the fans. Maybe they want documentation that there are actual people there? Off to Larry who is booed out of the building. Garvin comes in also in a match that scares me to death. Hayes comes in after Garvin does almost nothing and grabs Larry by the nose to punch him. It's hard to move when your nose isn't free.
Gilbert comes in as Ross tries to explain that he broke up Steiner and Sting. Hayes avoids a shoulder and struts. Off to Sting vs. Gilbert and the crowd is way into this. Gilbert runs but manages a slam and SPRINTS to the corner to bring Rick back in. Garvin vs. Rick now with Garvin getting a sunset for two. Totally one sided so far which is kind of weird.
We're seven minutes into a fifteen minute time limit so I think you can see the ending coming here. Garvin gets beaten down a bit as Gilbert hits an atomic drop and stomps away. Off to Larry who doesn't do much at all. Steiner comes in and hits a sweet powerslam for two. It's bear hug time to eat up some of that remaining time. Larry comes back in and throws on the abdominal stretch to eat up more time. We're at ten minutes now.
Garvin gets out of the hold and a forearm lets him bring in Sting on a rather cold tag. Sting gets beaten down also and it's off to Gilbert. He throws Sting over the top but isn't caught. There are no mats on the floor either. Sting takes Larry down with three minutes left. No tag though so Rick throws on the sleeper. He rams Steiner into the corner and it's hot tag to Hayes.
Everything totally breaks down and Larry gets his foot on the rope at the last second after a Hayes bulldog. Gilbert nails Hayes and Rick comes in for another bearhug. Belly to belly gets two. Hayes gets a sunset flip but the referee stops just before three because the ending is a draw so he looks like an idiot but whatever.
Rating: C. Eh it's a stupid ending but the match got the fans way into things so it's hard to complain with this as an opener. Sting would get A LOT better in just a few months to the point where he was top face in the company (kind of) by March. That's what talent and natural charisma can bring you.
UWF World Title: Barry Windham vs. Steve Williams
The UWF was about a week away from being bought so Williams is getting one last big title defense to show off. He's more or less the Brock Lesnar of his day and is from Oklahoma so do you think Ross is fired up for this one? Williams takes him to the mat so Barry grabs the arm. The fans are chanting boring maybe 40 seconds into this. They go to the floor and Barry says bring it.
Windham reverses a headlock with a belly to back but Williams holds onto it. That was kind of impressive. The fans are dead here. They go through some awkward looking stuff until they botch a leap frog, resulting in Williams taking a headbutt to the balls and being legit hurt it seems.
Windham stops to wait on him as we hit five minutes. The fans are loudly booing now. Since the crowd wasn't dead enough, they go to the mat again. Barry misses a cross body and falls to the floor. Windham comes back in and gets rolled up for the quick pin. I'd bet on Steve being legit hurt here because the last three minutes of this were totally off.
Rating: N/A. The match sucked, but I don't think it's fair to grade off what seemed like a legit injury. That ending came completely out of nowhere and it looked to me like they just went home quickly because of the low blow, which seemed like an accident. If that's the came, it's not fair to blame either of them for the match being bad because they had to change it with one of them not being in performing shape.
Rock n Roll Express vs. Midnight Express
This is a Skywalkers (Scaffold) match, because these teams are incapable of having a good regular match don't you know. This incarnation is Lane/Eaton. BIG pop for the Midnights here. The other Express gets a solid one of their own. This is the form of the match where you have to knock both guys off the scaffold for your team to win. Jim Cornette and Bubba (Jim's bodyguard and more famous as Big Bossman) are here also. Also the Midnights are the US Tag Champions but this is non-title for no explained reason.
The bell has rung but no one wants to go up yet. After a delay they get going but Bubba decks Ricky and PLANTS him with the Bossman Slam to give the Midnights a 2-1 advantage. We immediately see the issue with these matches: everyone is terrified of falling to their death so they move very slowly and only punch each other.
Now Bubba goes up but Ricky gets up and grabs the loaded racket from Cornette. He blasts Bubba and it's time to.....walk very slowly and swat like you're playing badminton with it. Everyone is crawling around and Bobby has powder. Gibson is bleeding as is Bobby. Morton chills over by the railing so he can move a bit better and pops Bobby in the head. Gibson and Lane are over by the other railing which helps a bit. There are only railings on the ends and the rest is just air.
Eaton gets the racket and pops Morton pretty well. Gibson gets up and hits Eaton with something that is holding the scaffold up. Lane starts climbing down so Gibson, ever the nice guy, starts stomping on his hand. Lane is hanging by his hands but gets his feet on the structure to hang on. Gibson is on his stomach with his arm and leg over the edge. Morton and Lane are underneath the racket and are trying to knock each other down. Stan tries to monkey bar it but falls. With him down like that though it would be like a foot above the top rope so it's not as horrible as it sounds.
Eaton has the racket and it's 2-1 up there now. He's on his stomach though and Lane is holding his knee. Morton hits some very weak racket shots and Eaton is in big trouble. He's hanging from the bottom of the scaffold too now and Gibson, ever the nice guy, kicks him in the chest to knock him down for the win.
Rating: D+. These matches can only be so good and this was no exception. Like I said the problem was that they were scared of falling and badly injuring themselves. There's no way I'm going to blame them for that as I'm terrified of heights so it would take a lot to get me up there. Either way, all things considered this wasn't horrible and the guys being smaller helped a lot. Best scaffold match ever probably, but widening it would help tremendously.
Post match Cornette sends Bubba up to get the RNR but Gibson is half down already. It's Morton vs. Bubba and Bubba is MAD. In one of the most jaw dropping things you'll ever see, Morton points off in the distance, Bubba actually turns his head and Morton punches him in the balls then runs. HOW DOES THAT ACTUALLY WORK??? Also why did Morton do anything when he had time to run in the first place?
UWF TV Title/NWA TV Title: Terry Taylor vs. Nikita Koloff
It's a unification match and the titles are held by the respective combatants. The announcers mention something about Taylor stealing the NWA belt even though Nikita has it when he comes in. Eddie Gilbert is with Taylor here. Taylor is heel here which is kind of weird as Nikita is the big powerful foreigner. Nikita throws on an armbar but Terry grabs the rope. Riveting stuff here let me tell you.
Right back to the armbar in less time than it took me to type that sentence. We're over five minutes in so far but this match has plenty of time. Nikita is no selling everything Terry does. More arm work by the foreigner. There's something so satisfying about Terry Taylor getting hit in the face.
Terry hides on the floor with Gilbert so Nikita slaps him in the face and pounds away. This hasn't been very interesting but it's watchable which is a lot better than most matches. More arm work and more time on the floor leads to the crowd cheering for Koloff even more. Back to the arm but Terry gets a knee up in the corner for two. More arm work and Koloff hooks both arms this time.
Earl Hebner is referee here which wouldn't last long as he would be in the WWF by February 5, 1988. We're at the ten minute mark here. It was a regular thing to announce the time back then though. Elbow misses for Taylor and it's armbar city again. Terry gets out and pounds away but it just makes Nikita madder. He loads up the Sickle but it hits turnbuckle.
We go outside and Koloff goes into the railing. This is more or less the first real offense Taylor has had all match. He rams Nikita's arm into the post a few times and we go back inside. The fans are totally behind Nikita still which is still weird for some reason. I think it's the foreign monster thing. Taylor drops a knee for a somewhat delayed two.
Nikita starts getting fired up but Terry goes back to the arm to slow it right back down. Sunset flip is countered and the fans get going for the right hand from Koloff that broke it up. We're at 15 minutes which is the halfway point. Nikita reverses a suplex but Taylor is up first. Taylor hammers away because that worked so well earlier in the match. It's so weird seeing Hebner with that much hair.
Taylor counters ten punches in the corner into an atomic drop for two. Nikita grabs a rollup for a fast two. The fans are way into this which is weird to see in a Taylor match. To be fair he was a lot bigger of a deal in the UWF. Piledriver doesn't work and Nikita drops him a few times with some right hands. Taylor runs to the floor for a second so he can nail Koloff coming back in. Gilbert adds a shot with a knee and one with a chair. Figure Four goes on despite a lack of knee work but Nikita makes a rope after a long while. Gilbert's cheating messes up so the Sickle can unify the titles for Nikita.
Rating: B-. Not bad here at all but the armbar stuff hurt the opening 8 minutes a lot. I get that Nikita is using psychology but he's a big power monster. Why would he use an arm hold when he has so many power weapons available to him? Either way this was much better than I was expecting and the 18 minutes go by very quickly, which is a good thing.
Tag Titles: Road Warriors vs. Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard
The Horsemen are champions and we're in Chicago. Think the crowd is going to be one sided? The Warriors have never been champions so remember: this is more or less PERFECTLY set up for a change. This is on the Essential Starrcade DVD. Hawk vs. Anderson to start and Arn is easily overpowered which isn't something you see every day. We get a standoff with Ellering at ringside and everyone gets involved in it.
Tully almost runs into a big boot from Hawk but settles for a clothesline instead. He tries to leave but Hawk is like I don't think so Trixie. Hawk busts out something resembling a decent dropkick and it's off to Animal who kills Blanchard with a powerslam. Arn comes in and gets dropped as well. The Road Warriors are standing tall here. Back to Hawk who catches Anderson in a bearhug.
Both Horsemen come in for a double team and that goes as well as their one on one stuff has gone. Animal puts a gorilla press on Tully and leans over so that the pressure goes onto his back. Tully gets chopped as this has been totally one sided for the first five minutes or so. Animal hits a dropkick to the stomach and it's back to AA. Arn hits the ropes and either slips or runs, probably the latter. Back in and a piledriver is reversed with ease. Animal presses Arn over his head a few times and it's a double tag.
Hawk goes to press Tully but Arn gets a shot to the knee and the Horsemen finally get going. The leg goes around the post. You know you won't have to tell the Horsemen twice to go after a limb. Hawk's knee is in trouble at the ten minute mark. He presses out of a pin but it doesn't do him much good. Spinning toe hold goes on for a bit but Hawk breaks it pretty easily.
Tully hooks a figure four and tells Hawk to scream. I think we're ok as long as he doesn't tell him to squeal like a pig. Arn does one of his signature spots where he has a test of strength grip on the mat and jumps up, only to land crotch first on the other guy's knees. Hot tag to Animal and Young (referee) goes down. Animal flips Arn over the top (bet that comes back later) and Tully gets sent to the floor. Doomsday Device hits for the three and we're done.
Rating: C-. Not horrible but the post match stuff hurts it a lot because it was obvious they were going there. This was shaping up to be a squash as the Horsemen were only in control for about two minutes out of thirteen. Not a bad match but just kind of there for the most part, especially with the ending.
Oh of course it's a Dusty Finish due to the over the top part. This makes no sense to me. Who in the world is this supposed to help or benefit? The Horsemen get destroyed for the majority of the match and the Warriors come back to win mostly clean. It doesn't help the Warriors because they look like uncrowned champions. It doesn't help the Horsemen because they didn't get disqualified so it doesn't give them any extra heat. Who does this help? It's Starrcade. What show could they be building towards to change the titles? It makes no sense, but Dusty Finishes rarely did.
US Title: Dusty Rhodes vs. Lex Luger
Luger is champion and it's title vs. career. This is also in a cage. Oh ok it's just a 90 day suspension if Rhodes loses. Dusty is booking as well so who do you think is winning here? Luger is a Horseman and Johnny Weaver, a legend, has the key to the cage. Lex jumps him to start but the big elbow misses. Dusty grabs an arm which makes sense. It would be even better if he grabbed the arm that missed the elbow drop but whatever.
Ross says Dusty isn't just another pretty face. Luger keeps getting his arm hammered but manages to fight out and send Dusty into the cage to open him up. Lex pounds away and hits the elbow this time for two. Dusty tries a dropkick which half hits and that half was bad. Lex gets something like a slam and signals for the Rack. He gets him up but can't quite hook it in as Dusty is too fat.
Luger goes into an armbar to keep the intensity and RAGE of the cage match going. Dusty gets up thanks to the crowd but goes down again pretty fast. Let the no selling begin! Dusty doesn't even wince while in the hold. After going down again Dusty shoves the referee a little bit. Dusty starts bouncing and gyrating (please spare me) and flips a double bird before hitting an elbow to put Luger down.
And let's hit that armbar again, this time with Dusty controlling it for a change of pace. Sleeper (called a Weaver Lock here) goes on Luger but JJ has taken out Weaver and stolen the key. He throws a chair in as Lex has drilled the referee. Luger leans over to pick it up and Dusty gets the WORST DDT EVER as he tries to jump and it looks like he falls on Luger. I guess grabbing the head and falling backwards was too much to ask. Either way it gives Dusty the title as the announcers act like Dusty just cured cancer.
Rating: F+. Dusty or no Dusty, the cage was used one time and the majority of the match was spent in an armbar. Dusty kept just standing there while Luger hit him which got really old really fast. Boring match here and just pointless for it to be in a cage. Also, isn't it interesting that Dusty won't put the hometown boys over for the tag titles but he'll put himself over for the US Title?
NWA World Title: Ric Flair vs. Ronnie Garvin
Let's get this over with. It's in a cage as well. For some reason Garvin was the only person that agreed to be a lame duck champion while Flair dropped it for a few months so he could win it back here. I never got that mentality out of everyone else. Wouldn't it be better to have a quick run than no run at all? Garvin is loudly booed when he's introduced despite being the face here.
Feeling out process to start and Garvin takes over. He hammers away in the corner after working a wristlock for a bit. Flair is in trouble to start. What a novel concept. Here's the Garvin Stomp. Flair fires off a low blow to take over and the fans are totally behind him it seems. There are the chops and a knee drop for two. Time for the knee which is coming early in this one.
Figure Four goes on and the place pops loudly. Garvin won't quit and manages to reverse it for all of a second. Total Flair dominance at the ten minute mark. Garvin reverses a whip to send Flair into the cage and then does it again. Flair is busted so Garvin bites him. They both go up to the top rope and Flair goes into the cage. Flair goes up and I think you know what happens from there.
Ronnie puts on the Figure Four because he's spent SO much time on Flair's knee right? It must have been in NWA contracts that you needed to have the figure four. Although it does make sense to a degree. Flair won so many world titles and big matches with it and it's not an incredibly complex move so you could argue the other guys saw it and said if he can do that so can I. Makes sense in a way.
Top rope cross body gets two for the champion. Slowest backslide I can remember gets the same. We get the rake the head across the cage thing which is a staple of these matches. Garvin chops away and they both go up again. Flair falls down into a crotch and Garvin gets a sunset flip, which is what he won the title with. It only gets two here so Garvin hammers away in the corner. The referee goes down so the Hand of Stone (Garvin's right hand finisher. Yes it's just a regular punch) gets a delayed two. Flair rams him into the cage and that's it. Seriously, that's it.
Rating: C-. Not much here but I've seen much worse. The problem was that there was very little drama. I mean, did anyone think Garvin would leave with the belt? The crowd was totally behind Flair which gave it a weird dynamic. Either way though, the match isn't bad and I guess it's fitting for a PPV main event, but not the biggest show of the year. It felt kind of like HHH vs. Jericho at Mania 18, as there was little interest in it. Granted it isn't as good as that match but you get the point.
Overall Rating: D+. This is an awkward one because it's really not a bad show. It's really not worth watching either though as nothing stands out and it's just kind of there. This is a rather lackluster effort as everything went as you would expect other than maybe the tag titles. Not much to see here, even though it only goes a bit over two hours. I thought something was cut but I can't find any major cuts or any reviews suggesting there's more stuff to see. Kind of weird but not a horrible show. Not worth seeing though.
Date: November 26, 1987
Location: UIC Pavilion, Chicago, Illinois
Attendance: 8,000
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Jim Ross
This is the NWA's first attempt at a live PPV so Vince came up with a little idea called the Survivor Series and debuted it on PPV at the same time. The cable companies went with Vince and the NWA took a big hit. Vince did it again in January with Bunkhouse Stampede and a free show called the Royal Rumble. Guess what happened to the NWA soon after this. Anyway the main event is Ronnie Garvin defending the world title (e pluribis gads) in a cage against Flair. Let's get to it.
The opening video is the usual highlight package of what's coming in the show.
Oh yeah this is the 80s. The arena looks like a huge fire was just there given all the smoke and everything is dark so you can't tell much of what's going on.
Sting/Jimmy Garvin/Michael Hayes vs. Eddie Gilbert/Rick Steiner/Larry Zbyszko
Gilbert used to be Sting's boss in the UWF so this is a crossover feud. There are more empty seats than full ones. I shudder to think what the camera side looks like. Rick vs. Sting to start. Sting is freshly face here and is a few months away from his classic with Flair that made him a star. Sting is all fired up (as usual) and hits a missile dropkick to Rick and everything breaks down fast with the faces taking over.
Rick, in shorts, comes back in and it's off to Hayes. They work on Rick's arm and we keep looking at the fans. Maybe they want documentation that there are actual people there? Off to Larry who is booed out of the building. Garvin comes in also in a match that scares me to death. Hayes comes in after Garvin does almost nothing and grabs Larry by the nose to punch him. It's hard to move when your nose isn't free.
Gilbert comes in as Ross tries to explain that he broke up Steiner and Sting. Hayes avoids a shoulder and struts. Off to Sting vs. Gilbert and the crowd is way into this. Gilbert runs but manages a slam and SPRINTS to the corner to bring Rick back in. Garvin vs. Rick now with Garvin getting a sunset for two. Totally one sided so far which is kind of weird.
We're seven minutes into a fifteen minute time limit so I think you can see the ending coming here. Garvin gets beaten down a bit as Gilbert hits an atomic drop and stomps away. Off to Larry who doesn't do much at all. Steiner comes in and hits a sweet powerslam for two. It's bear hug time to eat up some of that remaining time. Larry comes back in and throws on the abdominal stretch to eat up more time. We're at ten minutes now.
Garvin gets out of the hold and a forearm lets him bring in Sting on a rather cold tag. Sting gets beaten down also and it's off to Gilbert. He throws Sting over the top but isn't caught. There are no mats on the floor either. Sting takes Larry down with three minutes left. No tag though so Rick throws on the sleeper. He rams Steiner into the corner and it's hot tag to Hayes.
Everything totally breaks down and Larry gets his foot on the rope at the last second after a Hayes bulldog. Gilbert nails Hayes and Rick comes in for another bearhug. Belly to belly gets two. Hayes gets a sunset flip but the referee stops just before three because the ending is a draw so he looks like an idiot but whatever.
Rating: C. Eh it's a stupid ending but the match got the fans way into things so it's hard to complain with this as an opener. Sting would get A LOT better in just a few months to the point where he was top face in the company (kind of) by March. That's what talent and natural charisma can bring you.
UWF World Title: Barry Windham vs. Steve Williams
The UWF was about a week away from being bought so Williams is getting one last big title defense to show off. He's more or less the Brock Lesnar of his day and is from Oklahoma so do you think Ross is fired up for this one? Williams takes him to the mat so Barry grabs the arm. The fans are chanting boring maybe 40 seconds into this. They go to the floor and Barry says bring it.
Windham reverses a headlock with a belly to back but Williams holds onto it. That was kind of impressive. The fans are dead here. They go through some awkward looking stuff until they botch a leap frog, resulting in Williams taking a headbutt to the balls and being legit hurt it seems.
Windham stops to wait on him as we hit five minutes. The fans are loudly booing now. Since the crowd wasn't dead enough, they go to the mat again. Barry misses a cross body and falls to the floor. Windham comes back in and gets rolled up for the quick pin. I'd bet on Steve being legit hurt here because the last three minutes of this were totally off.
Rating: N/A. The match sucked, but I don't think it's fair to grade off what seemed like a legit injury. That ending came completely out of nowhere and it looked to me like they just went home quickly because of the low blow, which seemed like an accident. If that's the came, it's not fair to blame either of them for the match being bad because they had to change it with one of them not being in performing shape.
Rock n Roll Express vs. Midnight Express
This is a Skywalkers (Scaffold) match, because these teams are incapable of having a good regular match don't you know. This incarnation is Lane/Eaton. BIG pop for the Midnights here. The other Express gets a solid one of their own. This is the form of the match where you have to knock both guys off the scaffold for your team to win. Jim Cornette and Bubba (Jim's bodyguard and more famous as Big Bossman) are here also. Also the Midnights are the US Tag Champions but this is non-title for no explained reason.
The bell has rung but no one wants to go up yet. After a delay they get going but Bubba decks Ricky and PLANTS him with the Bossman Slam to give the Midnights a 2-1 advantage. We immediately see the issue with these matches: everyone is terrified of falling to their death so they move very slowly and only punch each other.
Now Bubba goes up but Ricky gets up and grabs the loaded racket from Cornette. He blasts Bubba and it's time to.....walk very slowly and swat like you're playing badminton with it. Everyone is crawling around and Bobby has powder. Gibson is bleeding as is Bobby. Morton chills over by the railing so he can move a bit better and pops Bobby in the head. Gibson and Lane are over by the other railing which helps a bit. There are only railings on the ends and the rest is just air.
Eaton gets the racket and pops Morton pretty well. Gibson gets up and hits Eaton with something that is holding the scaffold up. Lane starts climbing down so Gibson, ever the nice guy, starts stomping on his hand. Lane is hanging by his hands but gets his feet on the structure to hang on. Gibson is on his stomach with his arm and leg over the edge. Morton and Lane are underneath the racket and are trying to knock each other down. Stan tries to monkey bar it but falls. With him down like that though it would be like a foot above the top rope so it's not as horrible as it sounds.
Eaton has the racket and it's 2-1 up there now. He's on his stomach though and Lane is holding his knee. Morton hits some very weak racket shots and Eaton is in big trouble. He's hanging from the bottom of the scaffold too now and Gibson, ever the nice guy, kicks him in the chest to knock him down for the win.
Rating: D+. These matches can only be so good and this was no exception. Like I said the problem was that they were scared of falling and badly injuring themselves. There's no way I'm going to blame them for that as I'm terrified of heights so it would take a lot to get me up there. Either way, all things considered this wasn't horrible and the guys being smaller helped a lot. Best scaffold match ever probably, but widening it would help tremendously.
Post match Cornette sends Bubba up to get the RNR but Gibson is half down already. It's Morton vs. Bubba and Bubba is MAD. In one of the most jaw dropping things you'll ever see, Morton points off in the distance, Bubba actually turns his head and Morton punches him in the balls then runs. HOW DOES THAT ACTUALLY WORK??? Also why did Morton do anything when he had time to run in the first place?
UWF TV Title/NWA TV Title: Terry Taylor vs. Nikita Koloff
It's a unification match and the titles are held by the respective combatants. The announcers mention something about Taylor stealing the NWA belt even though Nikita has it when he comes in. Eddie Gilbert is with Taylor here. Taylor is heel here which is kind of weird as Nikita is the big powerful foreigner. Nikita throws on an armbar but Terry grabs the rope. Riveting stuff here let me tell you.
Right back to the armbar in less time than it took me to type that sentence. We're over five minutes in so far but this match has plenty of time. Nikita is no selling everything Terry does. More arm work by the foreigner. There's something so satisfying about Terry Taylor getting hit in the face.
Terry hides on the floor with Gilbert so Nikita slaps him in the face and pounds away. This hasn't been very interesting but it's watchable which is a lot better than most matches. More arm work and more time on the floor leads to the crowd cheering for Koloff even more. Back to the arm but Terry gets a knee up in the corner for two. More arm work and Koloff hooks both arms this time.
Earl Hebner is referee here which wouldn't last long as he would be in the WWF by February 5, 1988. We're at the ten minute mark here. It was a regular thing to announce the time back then though. Elbow misses for Taylor and it's armbar city again. Terry gets out and pounds away but it just makes Nikita madder. He loads up the Sickle but it hits turnbuckle.
We go outside and Koloff goes into the railing. This is more or less the first real offense Taylor has had all match. He rams Nikita's arm into the post a few times and we go back inside. The fans are totally behind Nikita still which is still weird for some reason. I think it's the foreign monster thing. Taylor drops a knee for a somewhat delayed two.
Nikita starts getting fired up but Terry goes back to the arm to slow it right back down. Sunset flip is countered and the fans get going for the right hand from Koloff that broke it up. We're at 15 minutes which is the halfway point. Nikita reverses a suplex but Taylor is up first. Taylor hammers away because that worked so well earlier in the match. It's so weird seeing Hebner with that much hair.
Taylor counters ten punches in the corner into an atomic drop for two. Nikita grabs a rollup for a fast two. The fans are way into this which is weird to see in a Taylor match. To be fair he was a lot bigger of a deal in the UWF. Piledriver doesn't work and Nikita drops him a few times with some right hands. Taylor runs to the floor for a second so he can nail Koloff coming back in. Gilbert adds a shot with a knee and one with a chair. Figure Four goes on despite a lack of knee work but Nikita makes a rope after a long while. Gilbert's cheating messes up so the Sickle can unify the titles for Nikita.
Rating: B-. Not bad here at all but the armbar stuff hurt the opening 8 minutes a lot. I get that Nikita is using psychology but he's a big power monster. Why would he use an arm hold when he has so many power weapons available to him? Either way this was much better than I was expecting and the 18 minutes go by very quickly, which is a good thing.
Tag Titles: Road Warriors vs. Arn Anderson/Tully Blanchard
The Horsemen are champions and we're in Chicago. Think the crowd is going to be one sided? The Warriors have never been champions so remember: this is more or less PERFECTLY set up for a change. This is on the Essential Starrcade DVD. Hawk vs. Anderson to start and Arn is easily overpowered which isn't something you see every day. We get a standoff with Ellering at ringside and everyone gets involved in it.
Tully almost runs into a big boot from Hawk but settles for a clothesline instead. He tries to leave but Hawk is like I don't think so Trixie. Hawk busts out something resembling a decent dropkick and it's off to Animal who kills Blanchard with a powerslam. Arn comes in and gets dropped as well. The Road Warriors are standing tall here. Back to Hawk who catches Anderson in a bearhug.
Both Horsemen come in for a double team and that goes as well as their one on one stuff has gone. Animal puts a gorilla press on Tully and leans over so that the pressure goes onto his back. Tully gets chopped as this has been totally one sided for the first five minutes or so. Animal hits a dropkick to the stomach and it's back to AA. Arn hits the ropes and either slips or runs, probably the latter. Back in and a piledriver is reversed with ease. Animal presses Arn over his head a few times and it's a double tag.
Hawk goes to press Tully but Arn gets a shot to the knee and the Horsemen finally get going. The leg goes around the post. You know you won't have to tell the Horsemen twice to go after a limb. Hawk's knee is in trouble at the ten minute mark. He presses out of a pin but it doesn't do him much good. Spinning toe hold goes on for a bit but Hawk breaks it pretty easily.
Tully hooks a figure four and tells Hawk to scream. I think we're ok as long as he doesn't tell him to squeal like a pig. Arn does one of his signature spots where he has a test of strength grip on the mat and jumps up, only to land crotch first on the other guy's knees. Hot tag to Animal and Young (referee) goes down. Animal flips Arn over the top (bet that comes back later) and Tully gets sent to the floor. Doomsday Device hits for the three and we're done.
Rating: C-. Not horrible but the post match stuff hurts it a lot because it was obvious they were going there. This was shaping up to be a squash as the Horsemen were only in control for about two minutes out of thirteen. Not a bad match but just kind of there for the most part, especially with the ending.
Oh of course it's a Dusty Finish due to the over the top part. This makes no sense to me. Who in the world is this supposed to help or benefit? The Horsemen get destroyed for the majority of the match and the Warriors come back to win mostly clean. It doesn't help the Warriors because they look like uncrowned champions. It doesn't help the Horsemen because they didn't get disqualified so it doesn't give them any extra heat. Who does this help? It's Starrcade. What show could they be building towards to change the titles? It makes no sense, but Dusty Finishes rarely did.
US Title: Dusty Rhodes vs. Lex Luger
Luger is champion and it's title vs. career. This is also in a cage. Oh ok it's just a 90 day suspension if Rhodes loses. Dusty is booking as well so who do you think is winning here? Luger is a Horseman and Johnny Weaver, a legend, has the key to the cage. Lex jumps him to start but the big elbow misses. Dusty grabs an arm which makes sense. It would be even better if he grabbed the arm that missed the elbow drop but whatever.
Ross says Dusty isn't just another pretty face. Luger keeps getting his arm hammered but manages to fight out and send Dusty into the cage to open him up. Lex pounds away and hits the elbow this time for two. Dusty tries a dropkick which half hits and that half was bad. Lex gets something like a slam and signals for the Rack. He gets him up but can't quite hook it in as Dusty is too fat.
Luger goes into an armbar to keep the intensity and RAGE of the cage match going. Dusty gets up thanks to the crowd but goes down again pretty fast. Let the no selling begin! Dusty doesn't even wince while in the hold. After going down again Dusty shoves the referee a little bit. Dusty starts bouncing and gyrating (please spare me) and flips a double bird before hitting an elbow to put Luger down.
And let's hit that armbar again, this time with Dusty controlling it for a change of pace. Sleeper (called a Weaver Lock here) goes on Luger but JJ has taken out Weaver and stolen the key. He throws a chair in as Lex has drilled the referee. Luger leans over to pick it up and Dusty gets the WORST DDT EVER as he tries to jump and it looks like he falls on Luger. I guess grabbing the head and falling backwards was too much to ask. Either way it gives Dusty the title as the announcers act like Dusty just cured cancer.
Rating: F+. Dusty or no Dusty, the cage was used one time and the majority of the match was spent in an armbar. Dusty kept just standing there while Luger hit him which got really old really fast. Boring match here and just pointless for it to be in a cage. Also, isn't it interesting that Dusty won't put the hometown boys over for the tag titles but he'll put himself over for the US Title?
NWA World Title: Ric Flair vs. Ronnie Garvin
Let's get this over with. It's in a cage as well. For some reason Garvin was the only person that agreed to be a lame duck champion while Flair dropped it for a few months so he could win it back here. I never got that mentality out of everyone else. Wouldn't it be better to have a quick run than no run at all? Garvin is loudly booed when he's introduced despite being the face here.
Feeling out process to start and Garvin takes over. He hammers away in the corner after working a wristlock for a bit. Flair is in trouble to start. What a novel concept. Here's the Garvin Stomp. Flair fires off a low blow to take over and the fans are totally behind him it seems. There are the chops and a knee drop for two. Time for the knee which is coming early in this one.
Figure Four goes on and the place pops loudly. Garvin won't quit and manages to reverse it for all of a second. Total Flair dominance at the ten minute mark. Garvin reverses a whip to send Flair into the cage and then does it again. Flair is busted so Garvin bites him. They both go up to the top rope and Flair goes into the cage. Flair goes up and I think you know what happens from there.
Ronnie puts on the Figure Four because he's spent SO much time on Flair's knee right? It must have been in NWA contracts that you needed to have the figure four. Although it does make sense to a degree. Flair won so many world titles and big matches with it and it's not an incredibly complex move so you could argue the other guys saw it and said if he can do that so can I. Makes sense in a way.
Top rope cross body gets two for the champion. Slowest backslide I can remember gets the same. We get the rake the head across the cage thing which is a staple of these matches. Garvin chops away and they both go up again. Flair falls down into a crotch and Garvin gets a sunset flip, which is what he won the title with. It only gets two here so Garvin hammers away in the corner. The referee goes down so the Hand of Stone (Garvin's right hand finisher. Yes it's just a regular punch) gets a delayed two. Flair rams him into the cage and that's it. Seriously, that's it.
Rating: C-. Not much here but I've seen much worse. The problem was that there was very little drama. I mean, did anyone think Garvin would leave with the belt? The crowd was totally behind Flair which gave it a weird dynamic. Either way though, the match isn't bad and I guess it's fitting for a PPV main event, but not the biggest show of the year. It felt kind of like HHH vs. Jericho at Mania 18, as there was little interest in it. Granted it isn't as good as that match but you get the point.
Overall Rating: D+. This is an awkward one because it's really not a bad show. It's really not worth watching either though as nothing stands out and it's just kind of there. This is a rather lackluster effort as everything went as you would expect other than maybe the tag titles. Not much to see here, even though it only goes a bit over two hours. I thought something was cut but I can't find any major cuts or any reviews suggesting there's more stuff to see. Kind of weird but not a horrible show. Not worth seeing though.