10 Amazing WCW Starrcade Moments WWE Should Take Inspiration From
6. Pay The Piper
WCW encountered an awful lot of anger for how they handled the Starrcade main event on the 1997 edition of the supercard (more on that later), but deserve credit for smartly having their cake and eating it one year earlier.
By the end of 1996, 'Hollywood' Hulk Hogan was inarguably the hottest heel in wrestling despite being the least coolest member of the New World Order but was short on money-drawing opponents having squashed virtually everybody in his path as both a hero and a villain since entering WCW in 1994.
In Randy Savage, the company smartly flipped an old WWE script in having the two compete on opposite sides of the heel/face divide for the first time ever, but the combination was decidedly more played out thanks to countless angles together and apart over the decade. Following the same plan with a different man, WCW reached out to Rowdy Roddy Piper to make a sensational return as Hogan's next face foil.
A protagonist refusing to run in fear from the nWo, Piper's character became embroiled in fractured contract negotiations with Eric Bischoff, teasing out 'Easy E's heel turn as part of the story.
Fighting the good fight, Piper mauled Hogan in their eventual clash, defeating him clean in the middle with a sleeper. It was only then that fans realised that Hulk's title had never been announced as being up for grabs. Roddy had won that battle, but with the belt on the line, he'd lose the war.