WCW Starrcade 93

1 2 cold Scorpio/ Marcus Bagwell v. Pretty Wonderful- 5

2 Awesome Kong v. Shockmaster- 1

3 Ricky Steamboat v. Lord Regal- 6

4 Tex Slazenger/ Shanghai Pierce v. Cactus Jack/ Maxx Payne- 2

5 Steve Austin v. Dustin Rhodes (2 of 3 Falls)- 5

6 Rick Rude v. The Boss- 6

7 Nasty Boys v. Sting/ Road Warrior Hawk- 4

8 Vader v. Ric Flair- 8

WCW had a wonderful, deep tag division at this time and this opener was a good argument for it. Pretty Wonderful were like the classic 80's team; over the top, colorful robes, and cutesy name. Both teams geled well together and put on a very likable first encounter. Our next match featured tons of fun, without the fun. Shockmaster literally looked as if he could have just gotten dressed to go out to a construction job, and was recruited to be at Starrcade. This only went about a minute, stretching the lengths of both men's abilities. Anytime you get to see the Dragon work, it's a treat, and especially against Regal. They had such good chemistry together; the only downside of watching a Regal match at this time is you know how it ends: 15 minute draw, and that's exactly how this ended. The next tag match featured four rugged men who love to beat the snot out of each other, so what do they do: try and wrestle? I would have preferred Foley take a guard rail bump, or Payne to smash Norma Jean (his guitar) over Naked Midian's head. Rhodes and Austin only lasted 2 falls and neither were that spectacular. They were good, but the story of this match was lacking. They were working at break neck speed, but there was nothing behind it. And they failed to use this gimmick match effectively. Very disappointing from two guys who would share a port-a-potty a few years later on national TV. Rude and the Boss was surprisingly very fun to watch. Both men have awesome strikes, awesome sells and I hadn't really seen many of their matches. It went to a DQ, which was unfortunate because Rude was World Champion and Boss wasn't the man to take his belt. Sadly, both men are no longer with us, and at least one of them had to work with Vince Russo. Life's a bitch. The Nastys were more than happy to tangle with WCW's favorite painted team, whom I never knew ever teamed together, none the less earned a title shot, yet here they were. There wasn't a lot of good tag action from Sting and Hawk, but they did mimic the Doomsday (which I heard, ironically, when Doomsday comes, only cock roaches and Jerry Sags will be left; interesting.) Flair vs. Vader: this match was booked as perfectly as it could be. Flair was shown leaving his home, saying goodbye to his kids, kissing his wife and driving to the show with Mean Gene in a limo. It was right out of Rocky II when he fights Apollo and we follow him from his house. Really well done. It was the 10th anniversary of Starrcade, a show Flair started. It was Flair's 20 year in ring anniversary. Vader's manager was Harley Race, the man Flair beat at the 1st Starrcade. And they were in Flair's home town of Charlotte. What could make a better story than his glorifying win, getting back on top as World Champion? That would be Vader, whose run in WCW is one of the best big man runs ever in all of wrestling. He was legit stiff and worked Flair pretty good in the match. They set a great pace for themselves, and never got rushed. The crowd was living electricity and they built up to Flair winning through the whole match. The way he won I don't really like (almost a half assed schoolboy) but I loved that he pinned Vader clean and a quick win was the only way to do it. Classic event.