10 Amazing WCW Starrcade Moments WWE Should Take Inspiration From

2. Divisive Defeat

Hulk Hogan Sting
WWE Network

Bill Goldberg had to lose.

There was possibly never going to be a right time, a right place, or even a right way, but the incredible undefeated streak that had furthered WCW's incredible rise beyond the original burst of life provided by the New World Order simply had to come to an end sooner or later.

Goldberg had by no means petered out by the time 1998's Starrcade rolled around, but he'd felt his first shark-bites from the political Great Whites infesting and patrolling WCW's waters since winning the World Title from Hulk Hogan on a memorable July edition of Monday Nitro.

After defeating perennial midcarder Curt Hennig in his first pay-per-view as Champion, he was then bumped from the top spot of his next one in favour of a Jay Leno comedy bout also featuring the shrewd 'Hulkster'. Only a parody version of Big Bill even appeared at the following month's Fall Brawl (to lose handily to Chris Jericho), and his Halloween Havoc match with Diamond Dallas Page was infamously cut short when the pay-per-view went off the air after Hogan and The Ultimate Warrior ran long in their abhorrent semi-main.

Fans even cheered Nash's victory. Regardless of how events would eventually play out, a jaw-dropping conclusion matched the expectation of the company's biggest show of the year and should have been a talking point for all the right reasons in the years that followed.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett