The main event of Starrcade 1995 wasn't exactly inspiring for pro wrestling fans. Ed 'Brutus Beefcake/The Barber' Leslie was installed as Hulk Hogan's opponent on the show. As a consequence, the event performed poorly on Pay-Per-View, pulling in a dismal 0.36 buyrate number. The following year, things would be much brighter for WCW. Analysing WCW's Pay-Per-View numbers throughout 1996 makes for interesting reading. Generally speaking, things started to pick up as soon as Scott Hall and Kevin Nash waltzed into the promotion. Bash At The Beach pulled a healthy 0.7 rating, and Halloween Havoc did the same. For Starrcade, WCW's top brass placed Roddy Piper in the babyface role opposite a heel Hulk Hogan. It worked, the buyrate number virtually tripled from the previous year. Obviously, Piper vs. Hogan was always going to be a much easier sell than any match involving Ed Leslie. Fans were interested to see if Roddy could vanquish the evil 'Hollywood' Hogan. Starrcade 1996 drew a terrific 0.95, one of the promotion's biggest ever buyrates up to that point.
