10 Best Moments In Starrcade History
SmackDown has a lot to live up to.
Fears have arisen, alongside the news that WWE is set to revive the Starrcade brand later this year, that the show's legacy could suffer from the failure to live up to the heights of its legendary yesteryear brilliance.
These fears are unfounded, however - not because WWE's current crop (or half of them: this will be a SmackDown-exclusive show in its second life) stand much chance of matching previous shows, but because regardless of how low it sinks, memories from the NWA and WCW heyday will never die.
There was a period, in fact, from its inception until about the mid-90s, when Starrcade comfortably dwarfed WrestleMania, WWE's own mega-show, in terms of match quality . And right up until the end of the 90s it was still - despite the backstage drama - putting on main events with star power today's wrestling can only dream about.
All of that means that there is an enormous wellspring of era-defining matches and moments from which to choose, many of them likely to be replayed on the Network as we approach the event's return.
Here are 10 to keep your eyes peeled for.
10. Vader Vs. Sting (1992)
In the first of two show-stealing early '90s Starrcade classics from the man they once called Baby Bull, Vader met Sting in pre-Hogan WCW, back when its shows - particularly around Christmas time - were synonymous with wrestling matches that went more than 12 minutes, as well as fireworks.
The title, successfully defended by Ron Simmons earlier in the night, wasn't up for grabs - instead, they fought to decide the winner of the night's King of Cable tournament.
While it didn't have the build of main events of the late '90s, Vader and Sting put on one of the best matches in the show's history - a reminder of exactly why Vince McMahon was so desperate to lure him up north after he spectacularly burnt his bridges with his former employers.