Played out in Norfolk, Virginia on Boxing Day 1988, that years Starrcade was the first under the WCW banner, and a really great show from top to bottom. The Varsity Club (Kevin Sullivan and Steve Williams) fought The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton and Tommy Rogers) in a brilliant tag match for the NWA US tag titles, beating the champions. A tag grudge match followed, with Jim Cornettes Midnight Express taking on and beating Paul E. Dangerouslys Original Midnight Express, who retaliated with a vicious post-match beatdown. Rick Steiner defeated Mike I.R.S. Rotunda for the television title in a really great match, and Barry Windham defeated Bam Bam Bigelow to retain the United States championship in an even better one. Windham in particular was incredible: a man performing in his prime, he earns MVP honours for the pay-per-view as a whole, impressive considering the quality of the card. Dusty Rhodes and Sting versus the Road Warriors for the NWA world tag titles exceeded all expectations. The Road Warriors lost by disqualification when their manager Paul Ellering interfered, but reasonably they should probably have been busted for cheating earlier. Either way, since they couldnt lose the tag titles on a technicality like that, the American Dream and his 'pahtner' left empty-handed. Finally, Ric Flair and Lex Luger delivered a phenomenal match for the NWA world heavyweight championship, Flair retaining via cheating (naturally) after a hard fought half hour bout which may be Lugers best ever performance, at the peak of his career.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
