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  1. WCW STARRCADE POLL RESULTS
  2.  
  3. Thumbs up 19 (16.7%)
  4.  
  5. Thumbs down 95 (83.3%)
  6.  
  7. In the middle 0 (00.0%)
  8.  
  9.  
  10.  
  11. BEST MATCH POLL
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  13. Misterio Jr. vs. Kidman vs. Guerrera 101
  14.  
  15. (Note: No other match received one vote)
  16.  
  17.  
  18.  
  19. WORST MATCH POLL
  20.  
  21. Norton & Adams vs. Flynn & Finlay 40
  22.  
  23. Ernest Miller vs. Perry Saturn 18
  24.  
  25. Ric Flair vs. Eric Bischoff 15
  26.  
  27. Norman Smiley vs. Prince Iaukea 11
  28.  
  29. Starrcade opened with one of the two or three best matches in WCW of 1998. And it closed with a main event better than anyone should have expected going in.
  30.  
  31. In between were some decent matches, some retarded matches, and a whole lot of referees being bumped to set up one run-in finish after another. It didn't appear that crowd enjoyed much of what was on the show. And it was far from the worst, but still another in the long string of bad PPV shows from all organizations.
  32.  
  33. Starrcade drew a sellout of 16,066 paying $584,236 and another $114,120 in merchandise. It was the largest gate for a WCW PPV event in history and fourth largest ever for the company, to the MCI Center in Washington, DC on 12/27. The show was built around two matches, Kevin Nash winning the WCW title and ending the winning streak of Bill Goldberg, and probably the match that had more to do with the PPV buy rate, whatever it may be, Ric Flair vs. Eric Bischoff, with the stunning result of Flair putting Bischoff over in the middle of the ring, yet another angle that would be death to most wrestlers' careers, that Flair may very well come back from. If nothing else, after being out of the ring for eight months and being nearly 50, Flair still showed great intensity and got a better match out of a non-worker than most of the matches on the show with workers.
  34.  
  35. Those events took precedence over a storyline created to get Billy Kidman over as a superstar. And while Kidman, injured going in, first came out on top in a spectacular triangle match, and followed with an impromptu win over Eddie Guerrero in another very good match, he was making a gutsy and nearly incredible performance before a crowd that really didn't seem to care. These same matches and this storyline on another day in another place would have created a new superstar, should have, but didn't, and it was no fault of any of the participants involved. After the first two matches, it didn't seem possible this could be a thumbs down show. But Norman Smiley vs. Prince Iaukea, Perry Saturn vs. Ernest Miller and Brian Adams & Scott Norton vs. David Finlay & Jerry Flynn turned out to be pro wrestling's equivalent of "Murderers Row," as in murdering a great show. Why WCW, if they are going to put a "cold match" out there, don't at least put on a six man Lucha Libre style match, as on previous PPV shows those "cold" matches have gotten over and at times stole the show. Even if the crowd isn't going to care much, the matches still couldn't have possibly been worse than any of the three matches that took place. The rest of the show was so-so. It was far from the worst WCW PPV but still unsatisfying when it was over.
  36.  
  37. There was also a lot of disappointment regarding the show itself. WCW has changed plans so often that many original plans for whatever reason didn't take place. Most, like Dusty Rhodes as ref for Flair vs. Bischoff, or Miller vs. Saturn being a kickboxing match, were in original formats, but never actually announced to the public. There were WCW produced advertising listing Flair vs. Bischoff as Flair's career against control of the company, which was the original plan, although that stipulation was also never announced on television. In Japan, they had hyped a Norton vs. Van Hammer IWGP title match, which never took place to the chagrin of the audience watching on PPV there, but to everyone else's pleasure. While at one point there were plans for Lex Luger vs. Scott Steiner, Luger nixed that match and it was never announced on television although it was on the WCW Hotline. Scott Hall vs. Bam Bam Bigelow was announced on the WCW Saturday Night show, and it also didn't take place, nor was it ever acknowledged during the broadcast despite being hyped on TV as a last minute special addition to the show. Hall actually suffered a twisted knee at Nitro six days earlier and it was questionable whether he'd be able to wrestle, but was advertised on the Saturday show anyway. The twisted knee may not have been the entire reason, as there was sentiment that night to keep both off the undercard even though advertised as wrestling each other because they were both scheduled for the main event angle. The repetitive booking, with all the ref bumps and six of nine matches ending due to outside interference, really got old by the end of the show, particularly since both were to occur in the main event.
  38.  
  39. 1. Billy Kidman (Pete Gruner) retained the WCW cruiserweight title beating Rey Misterio Jr. (Oscar Gutierrez) and Juventud Guerrera (Anibal Gonzalez) in 14:55. About as good a match as would be possible in triangle form. The match started with Misterio Jr. and Kidman working together, but that didn't last long as they started going at it. The two clearly had designed a match with one innovative spot after another, and there were very few spots of hesitation. The match was hampered only by the stupid rules, which basically require a save on near falls which in some cases look stupid, such as when Kidman did a move where he dropped Rey onto Guerrera for a near fall, then had to break up the pin himself, and the finish which took it down from a match of the year. There was a spot where Guerrera did a springboard Frankensteiner onto Misterio Jr. who was on Kidman's shoulders. Because of weight and balance, I've seen the best workers in the business screw up that spot and these guys nailed it. Misterio Jr. did a plancha on Kidman after Guerrera flipped him out of the ring, and Guerrera followed with a springboard plancha on both. Misterio Jr. did a Frankensteiner from the apron over the top on Guerrera sending both men to the floor. Misterio Jr. also did this picture perfect Asai-moonsault off the top rope on both men. He came back in and did a springboard spinning head scissors. Guerrera did a Juvi driver on Misterio Jr. but Kidman saved. After both opponents took a bump to the floor, Kidman used a shooting star press from the top rope to the floor on both men. If both hadn't have stepped forward to catch him, he'd have landed on his head on the floor and he'd probably still be there now. It was an incredible stunt to try considering Kidman came into the match all banged up. At this point Eddie Guerrero came out. He distracted the ref and when Kidman had Guerrera pinned, he clotheslined him putting Guerrera on top. Misterio Jr. ran in and dropkicked Guerrera which put Kidman on top of the pile for the pin. ****1/2
  40.  
  41. After the match Guerrero started running down both Misterio Jr. and Guerrera saying they had let a pretty boy beat them and they are supposed to be the best wrestlers in the world. It was the best Guerrero interview since he's come to WCW as he came off as a great heel, and got his points across strongly while shoving the other guys around. Guerrero was running down Kidman saying he could easily win the title. Kidman came out and agreed to put the title up. Guerrero said he'd change into his gear but Kidman insisted the match take place right away.
  42.  
  43. 2. Kidman pinned Guerrero to keep the title in 10:49. Misterio Jr. and Guerrera stayed at ringside, with Misterio Jr. helping Kidman and Guerrera helping Guerrero. However, Guerrero outside the ring was shoving both guys around. Although the announcers played up that Kidman should be tired after his previous match, they never worked spots on that premise. Guerrero untied one of his boots and hit Kidman with it. He then wrestled the next several minutes with one shoe off and did some rope walking high spots anyway. Misterio Jr. got the shoe and hit both Guerrero and Guerrera with it. Eddie did the rope walk into a head-scissors with one shoe. Kidman did a facebuster and a legdrop from outside in for a near fall. Just as they were building to the finish there were loud boring chants. Kane wasn't the only one who escaped from a sanitarium in the last week. Kidman missed a Frankensteiner off the top. Both were on the top while the bodyguard Mr. Flores distracted the ref. Guerrera scooped Kidman's leg and he crotched himself. Misterio Jr. then shoved Guerrero off the top and he crotched himself and fell in the ring. Kidman finished hit off with a shooting star press. ***1/2
  44.  
  45. 3. Norman Smiley beat Prince Iaukea (Mike Haynor) in 11:31. This started the show killing segment. Tony Schiavone spent most of the match hyping the main events later in the show. I don't understand the psychology. Everyone watching has already paid there $30 and it isn't like they are going to flip to La Femme Nikita and miss the main events. Schiavone at this point said that Flair had suffered a mild heart attack, this coming one week after they declared based on Flair running around that he must not have suffered a heart attack. At least he didn't try to say that Cactus Jack still had amnesia. Loud boring chants and it was a bad match as they didn't work together well. You can't have a good match with Smiley unless you know mat wrestling. Fans did get into Smiley's dancing but not his wrestling. They were out there way too long and there was no built when Smiley finally got the chicken wing submission. DUD
  46.  
  47. Hall did a total face interview talking about how 1998 wasn't his best year, but it was all his fault. When he brought up Nash, fans started cheering him.
  48.  
  49. 4. Perry Saturn (Perry Satullo) pinned Ernest Miller in 7:07. Sonny Onoo did a run-in and went to kick Saturn, but he moved and you know what happened. Miller got mad and kicked Onoo, and when he turned around, Saturn got him on his shoulders for the death valley driver. Saturn badly needs to lose that vest. DUD
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  51. Flair did an interview saying that he agreed that the rest of the Horsemen would be banned from the building. Can you say another run-in finish? They then did a segment where Scott Steiner and Marcus Bagwell went into Konnan's dressing room as he was laying on the couch twirling his hat around. Lex Luger ran in and kept Konnan from fighting him. They told Konnan they were going to get him, but they weren't going to get Luger. Konnan then got mad at Luger because he didn't understand why they were protecting him. Nothing related to this happened on the rest of the show.
  52.  
  53. 5. Brian Adams & Scott Norton beat David Finlay & Jerry Flynn in 8:56 when Norton pinned Flynn after a power bomb. Real stiff Japan style match, but nobody cared about any of the four in a cold match. Actually people were resenting all four for just intruding on their show. 1/4*
  54.  
  55. Bischoff did an interview, also saying that Flair had suffered a heart attack.
  56.  
  57. 6. Konnan (Charles Ashenoff) beat Chris Jericho (Chris Irvine) to retain the TV title in 7:27. Jericho came out and did a total 70s Billy Graham/Austin Idol promo. At this point Schiavone said that he didn't think Flair had suffered a heart attack because the only person he'd heard it from was Bischoff, and Bischoff is a liar. You'd think in two weeks, Tony would get himself some good sources. Can you imagine if Mike Piazza collapsed in a baseball game two weeks earlier and the announcers would have absolutely no clue as to what his medical condition was. Geez, even in a TV soap opera you find out the next day. This match was too short but there were two really cool spots. One was Jericho doing a plancha and when Konnan moved, he took the bump right on the ring steps. The other was Jericho blocking Konnan's facebuster and turning it into a Lion tamer. Konnan threw down the ref. Jericho hit him with the belt for a near fall. Konnan came back with the facebuster and Tequila sunrise for the submission. **1/4
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  59. 7. Bischoff beat Ric Flair (Richard Fliehr) in 7:08. I don't know if you've heard about the plans for the Uncensored PPV in March. They're going to put Hogan vs. Flair as one of the top matches, but Hogan isn't going to bother to even show up. So just before they say Flair is the winner of the match via forfeit, Flair's cell phone rings and it's Hogan, who tells him to lay down, and Flair does so Hogan gets the win even though he's 3,000 miles away. Bischoff wrestled in an NWO t-shirt, so we figured he wasn't in good shape. Flair beat him up early, basically again doing all those moves illegal in UFC, until Flair was distracted and Bischoff kicked him in the head. At least Bischoff's offense is better than Miller's. More fans than you'd think cheered Bischoff beating up Flair, although still a small minority. Flair juiced from the forehead from a kick to the back of the head. Must have been one powerful kick. Schiavone said that anyone who follows the sport of karate knows the name of Eric Bischoff. Yeah, like he was on the cover of Black Belt all those years nobody bought the magazine. Bischoff was pounding Flair from the mount when Flair broke free and hit him with a low blow. He then ripped off Bischoff's shirt. Big mistake. He was selling for someone who looks like that? Ref Charles Robinson went down. Flair gave Bischoff shattered dreams, although they sure didn't use that term to describe it, gave him a back suplex, a vertical suplex and a figure four. Curt Hennig ran in and gave Bischoff the Guiness Book of World Records entry for largest set of Brass Knuckles, and he clocked Flair with it and pinned him. **
  60.  
  61. 8. Diamond Dallas Page (Page Falkenburg) pinned The Giant (Paul Wight) in 12:45. Page really gave Giant a lot of offense before winning clean. Giant has regained that 30 pounds he had recently lost, so whatever discipline he'd gained by the thought of having to get in shape for Titan lasted about a week. Giant punched a garbage can and Page hit him with the can. Giant pressed Page from outside the ring over the top rope and in. Lengthy bearhugs by Giant. Actually this was an incredibly boring match but had the best finish on the show (which is only faint praise). A couple of times Giant had Page pinned but refused to pin him. Bad idea, because in WCW this year, guys who have refused to pin their opponents on a TV match have gone 0-35. Giant did an impressive turning powerslam off the ropes. Page used a float over DDT called a diamond dream. Like he should get credit for that spot, but it's no more annoying than hearing an announcer say "dragon tazplex." Ref Billy Silverman got bumped. That makes three matches in a row. Bret Hart showed up and clocked Giant with a chair. Page hit Hart in the groin. At least he has one even if it is injured. Giant kicked out of the pin. Page did two clotheslines off the top but on the third, Giant caught him by the throat. Page gave Giant a low blow, so I guess he's got one too. Giant recovered and went to choke slam him off the top rope, but Page turned the move into a diamond cutter for the pin. 3/4*
  62.  
  63. 9. Kevin Nash pinned Bill Goldberg to win the WCW title in 11:20. They announced Goldberg's record at 173-0, despite just two weeks earlier him having the no contest draw on Nitro for all the world to see. I guess they just figured everyone was watching Raw that quarter hour and it's like if a tree falls in an empty forest, did it really make any noise mentality. So if nobody buys one of these shows, do they really have all those ref bump finishes? Goldberg got way more cheers than Nash, but there was a visible and notable anti-Goldberg segment as well. There were "Goldberg sux" chants early, but quickly drowned out. Then really loud "Nash sux" chants. The crowd intensity was equivalent to being the biggest match of the year. They did a UFC spot, where Goldberg was pounding from the mount and Nash caught an armbar (a really lame looking armbar, but still, from Nash, it was really cool) and Goldberg got out of that into an ankle lock. Goldberg speared Nash, but before he could do the jackhammer, Nash used a low blow. Let's see, that made 173 for this show alone. One thing this match proved is that Goldberg is far more talented that he gets credit for being. He's green for sure, because he has such limited actual ring time, and he doesn't sell, which is part of his gimmick, but he can do a lot of things and his offense looks real good. They traded lots of near falls and this turned into a good match. Goldberg did a front chancery into a suplex and followed with a standing sidekick for near falls and a powerslam for another near fall. Disco ran in and Goldberg speared him. Bigelow ran in and Goldberg clotheslined him off the top. Hall ran in and zapped Goldberg with a cattle prod, which Nash didn't see. Nash then jackknifed Goldberg to win the title. There was a big initial pop for seeing the title change, but after the show went off the air and Luger and Konnan were in the ring for the celebration, the crowd was 60% boos. **3/4
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