-Ed Wiskowski, perhaps best known as professional wrestler Colonel DeBeers, has died, according to multiple reports.
-New Mic and logo.
-Today we look at Starrcade 1994 from WCW.
-Starrcade 1994 was shown on PPV on December 27, 1994 from the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, TN. There were 8,200 in attendance.
-Intro.
-Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, and Mean Gene Okerlund welcome us to Starrcade. They run down what we are going to see before throwing it to Aaron Tippon to sing the National Anthem. He does a commendable job. They also talk about Randy Savage showing up and promising to either shake Hulk Hogan’s hand or slap him in the face. They then show Bill Apter giving out some of the PWI awards. Hulk Hogan is the wrestler of the year.
-WCW United States Championship Match. Jim Duggan vs. Vader with Harley Race: Vader and Race out first. Duggan gets a respectable reaction when he comes out. Vader comes out and he and Duggan fight in the aisle. Duggan gets in the ring and Race swings at him and Duggan throws Race out. Picking up on their old WWF feud. Duggan runs Vader into the barricade. Duggan attacks Vader as he comes into the ring and hits some corner mounted punches and a pair of clotheslines that knock Vader out of the ring. Vader comes back in and Duggan with a crossbody for a two count. Duggan picks Vader up and slams him. He drops the elbow for a two count. Duggan with a back elbow. He knocks Vader down and gets another two count. They trade shots. Duggan with a big clothesline. He misses a fall away elbow and Vader clotheslines Duggan to the outside where he hits the barricade. They trade shots again. Vader with a big shot to knock Duggan down. He hits a Vader Bomb. He covers, but Duggan gets his foot on the ropes. Vader goes for a second Vader Bomb, but Duggan gets up and attacks Vader. Vader comes back with a double clap to knock Duggan down. Race attacks Duggan. Vader and Duggan exchange shots again. Vader misses a moonsault. Both men are down. Vader with a corner splash. Duggan comes back with a clothesline. More punches were exchanged. Duggan with a double ax handle. Duggan hits a three point stance and covers Vader, but Race gouges Duggan’s eyes. Vader goes up top, but Duggan catches him in a power slam as he comes off and covers Vader, but Race has referee Nick Patrick distracted. They trade blows. Duggan goes for the three point stance again, but misses and runs into his 2X4 that Race holds up. Vader with an inverted powerbomb to pin Duggan and become the new US champion.
-Mean Gene talks about the hotline and talks to the Three Faces of Fear. Butcher says Hulkamania dies tonight. Avalanche says he finally has Sting one on one. Kevin Sullivan says the Faces of Fear met a man on the way to Nashville and implies that it’s Randy Savage.
-Jean Paul Levesque vs. Alex Wright: Look kids, it’s HHH before he became HHH. Fans are mildly into Wright. It takes a while to get started. The bell rings and they circle each other. They lock up and drive to a corner. They break. Levesque with an arm drag. Another lock up. Levesque with a wrist lock. Wright with a dropkick and flying headscissors. Another lock up. Levesque with a side headlock. Into a wrist lock. Wright frees himself. Wright with an arm bar. Levesque gets back to his feet. Wright with a dropkick. Wright goes back to the arm bar. Levesque trying to get out. They trade moves. Even paced match. Wright with a hammerlock, but can’t get Levesque down. Wright goes back to the headscissors. Levesque gets Wright in the corner and batters him. Levesque with a spin wheel kick. He kicks Wright down. Levesque with a snap mare. He continues the beat down and gets a two count. Wright misses a crossbody when Levesque moves. Wright falls out to the floor. Levesque keeps Wright from getting back in. Wright with a sunset flip, but Levesque comes down with a shot. Levesque with a power slam for a two count. Levesque with a chin lock. Wright trying to get out. He does, but Levesque hits a dropkick for a two count. He goes back to the chin lock. He hits a backbreaker. He slams Wright down. He misses a flying elbow drop. Wright fights back with European uppercuts and a hip toss for a two count. He hits a backdrop. They collide in the center of the ring. The referee starts a double count. Wright gets the pin with a roll up.
-Tony and Bobby talk about the Clash coming up in January.
-WCW World Television Championship Match. Johnny B. Badd vs. Arn Anderson with Col. Robert Parker and Meng: It’s supposed to be Badd vs. HTM, but HTM and Eric Bischoff had it out right before this and it’s a whole debacle that both would love to regale you with. Thank goodness we are moving on. Badd does his Badd Blasters gimmick. Referee Randy Anderson presents the belt. The bell rings. Anderson playing it safe. He takes Badd down. Badd with a side headlock, but Anderson takes Badd down. They drive to a corner and break. Anderson with a hammerlock. Into a takedown and Badd comes back with a hammerlock. Anderson gets out. Anderson with a fireman’s carry takedown. Badd with a headscissors. Anderson puts Badd on a turnbuckle. Anderson with a wrist lock. He takes Badd down and Badd comes back with an arm bar. Anderson complains of hair pulling by Badd. Anderson puts Badd on another turnbuckle and slaps him. Badd comes back with a hip toss. Back and forth. A dropkick by Badd sends Anderson outside. He gets back in. Anderson hits a spinebuster. He doesn’t cover though. He attacks Badd instead. He chokes Badd with his boot. Parker berates Badd. Anderson with an abdominal stretch. He uses the ropes for leverage. Badd comes back with a sunset flip attempt, but Anderson drops an elbow. He gets a series of two counts. Anderson drops another elbow. Anderson with a rear chin lock. Badd breaks out, but Anderson gets a sleeper on. Badd reverses it. Anderson gets a jaw breaker to break the hold. Badd with flying headscissors. Badd with a back elbow for a two count. Badd with a backdrop and a sunset flip for a two count. Anderson pins Badd with his foot on the ropes and referee Randy Anderson stops the count. Anderson thinks he’s won, allowing Badd to roll Anderson up to get the pin.
-Tony and Bobby talk about the Nasty Boys being the Tag Team of the Year.
-Harlem Heat Booker T and Stevie Ray with Sister Sherri vs. The Nasty Boys Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags: Stevie and Booker talk a lot of trash as they come to the ring. Nasty Boys get a decent reception as they come out. The two teams stare at each other. A Nasty chant goes out. They start to brawl. Knobbs and Stevie brawl outside. Sags slams Booker for a two count. Harlem Heat regroup with Sherri. The Nasty chant goes out again. Booker and Sags circle each other. They trash talk each other. They drive to the corner. Booker slams Sags down and gets a two count. Sags slams Booker. Knobbs in and they double team Booker. All four men in. Harlem Heat bail out again. Nasty Boys follow them out and they fight on the floor. They battle on the outside and then back in the ring. Stevie hits Knobbs with a back elbow. They lose the rhythm temporarily. Knobbs bulldogs Stevie for a two count. Sags tagged in. They beat Stevie down. Knobbs back in and hits an arm bar DDT. Knobbs continues to work on the arm. Sags and Booker tagged in. Sags grabs Booker. Knobbs tagged back in and hit another arm bar DDT. Nasty Boys quick tagging. They get Booker in their corner. They keep Booker down in the corner. Stevie comes in and hits Sags, who responds by coming over and knocks Stevie off the apron. Booker with a kick that knocks Sags to the outside. Stevie with a bicycle kick to Sags in the aisle. He dumps Sags on the barricade. Stevie throws Sags in. Booker with a side kick. Stevie tagged in and he got a big kick to Sags. Stevie with a nerve hold. Booker tagged in and hit the axe kick, but only got a two count. Booker with a chin lock. Stevie tagged in and gets a leg drop. He follows it up with a bear hug. Sags tries to get out. Harlem Heat quick tagging. They keep Sags in their corner. Sags gets his foot up on a corner charge and hits a clothesline. He hits a double DDT to Harlem Heat. The crowd loves it. Knobbs tagged in. He cleans house. All four men in. Booker and Sags fight to the outside. Stevie holds Knobbs for Sherri to get up and spray with hairspray, but Knobbs ducks and Stevie gets sprayed instead. Booker gets slammed and Sags hits a big elbow. Sherri comes off the top rope, but hits Booker when Sags moves. The bell rings for the DQ. Knobbs runs Sherri into Sag’s armpit.
-Highlights of Sting winning PWIs 1994 most Popular Wrestler. Mean Gene then interviews Sting. He says he looks to the Stingers. He says they and wrestling are his life’s blood.
-Kevin Sullivan vs. Mr. T: Sullivan out first. T out with his Dwarf referee outfit on. The bell rings and they lock up. T throws Sullivan in the ring. He hip tosses Sullivan. Dave Sullivan comes down the aisle dressed as Santa. T beats Sullivan down in the corner. Sullivan throws T to the outside. Sullivan follows out and they fight out to the floor. Referee Randy Anderson tries to get them back in the ring. Jimmy Hart comes out and puts a megaphone in Dave Sullivan’s gift bag. Dave gets on the apron and hits Sullivan with the bag and T gets the pin. Kevin attacks Dave after the match. He piledrives and beats Dave down.
-SuperBrawl V ad.
-Mean Gene talks to Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart. Hogan says he had hoped the Butcher would come to his senses, but the Faces of Fear are running wild. He says if Randy Savage steps over the edge, he will get his and that he and Savage have their differences.
-Sting vs. The Avalanche with Kevin Sullivan: Sting gets a fantastic ovation when he comes out. The bell rings and they circle each other. The crowd is fired up for Sting. They are face to face. They push each other. They trade shots. They lock up and drive to the corner. Avalanche beats Sting down. Sting fights out of the corner. Avalanche beats Sting down in the center of the ring and then beats him in the corner again. He runs Sting into a turnbuckle. Sting kicks Avalanche to get out of the corner. He tries to slam Avalanche, but can’t. Avalanche drops an elbow on Sting for a two count. Avalanche squashes Sting in the corner. He runs Sting into the corner and then steps on Sting. Sting fights back. He drives Avalanche to the outside. Back in, Avalanche gets a side headlock. Sting briefly goes to one knee. Sting hits the leg to try and break the hold, but Avalanche gets him down. Sting keeps going after Avalanche, who just keeps throwing Sting around. Avalanche with a bear hug. Sting gets a sleeper on. Avalanche falls back into a corner to break the hold, but Sting reapplies the hold. Avalanche finally gets to the ropes. Sting tries a slam again, but Avalanche falls on him for a two count. Avalanche with a power slam to Sting. Sting responds with a series of clotheslines. Sting hits a Stinger Splash, but Referee Jimmy Jett gets taken out as well. Sting slams Avalanche. He puts the Scorpion Death Lock on and Kevin Sullivan comes in. They get Sting down. Avalanche Drop to Sting. Hulk Hogan comes out with a chair to drive the heels off. Referee Randy Anderson out to ring the bell. Sting wins by DQ.
-They show footage of Jimmy Hart winning the PWI 1994 Manager of the Year award.
-Flashback to what led up to the main event.
-WCW World Heavyweight Championship Match. Hulk Hogan with Jimmy Hart vs. The Butcher with Kevin Sullivan and the Avalanche: Hogan and Beefcake wrestling in the Main Event at Starrcade and Ric Flair is sitting at home. SMH. The 3 Faces of Fear out first and Butcher tears a Hulk Hogan shirt. Hogan comes out carrying the chair from earlier. The heels bail out. Michael Buffer makes the introductions. The bell rings and they circle each other. Commissioner Nick Bockwinkel sends Sullivan and Avalanche to the back. They lock up and Hogan pushes off several times. Butcher with a side headlock. A Hogan chant goes out. Butcher gets to the ropes and drags Hogan outside. He rakes Hogan’s back and chokes Hogan with a mic cord. Butcher goes to hit Hogan with a chair, but Jimmy Hart grabs it away. Hogan runs Butcher into a barricade and the ring post. He hits Butcher with the chair several times. He then hits a throat thrust. They get in and Butcher hits a high knee. He follows it up with more throat thrusts. Butcher hits a slam, but doesn’t cover. He misses a falling chop when Hogan moves. Hogan bites Butcher. Hogan hits a corner clothesline and has corner mounted punches for Butcher. Butcher with a shot after Hogan drops his head for a backdrop. Butcher with a nerve hold. He chops Hogan to the mat. He puts the nerve hold back on. Hogan fighting back to his feet. He does, but Butcher hits a throat thrust and gets the sleeper on. Hogan is fighting it. He goes down again. They do this thing where it looks like his arm falls three times, but it doesn’t and Butcher thinks he’s won. It doesn’t come off as good at all. Hogan kicks out and this is making me embarrassed to be a wrestling fan. Punches and a big boot as the Faces of Fear run out. Hogan keeps them away so he can do the leg drop and pin. Insert eye roll here. He takes on all the Faces of Fear and Randy Savage comes out. He makes the heels think he’s with them before he and Hogan clear the ring of them. The crowd cheers wildly. The heels bail out and then leave. Hogan and Savage are then face to face. They finally shake hands. Tony and Bobby review what just happened. Hogan, Savage, and Hart head to the back.
-Mean Gene interviews the faces. Hogan says he’s thankful for Randy Savage. Savage says he broke a promise to the Faces of Fear. Hogan says he wished he could turn the Butcher around. Vader and Harley Race come in and Vader challenges Hogan. Vader is exactly correct here. He says Hogan is afraid of Vader. He says he’s the #1 contender and the US champion. He says Hogan is afraid of him. They start to brawl, but are separated. Mean Gene then talks to Nick Bockwinkel, who says that Vader was out of line, but that he has a point.
-Tony and Bobby talk about what we just saw and sign off from Nashville.
-Final Thoughts: This was a disappointing show, but it was good to see Randy Savage and the Vader stuff was interesting.