Starrcade '84

Legacy Review

Starrcade '84: The Million Dollar Challenge

November 22, 1984 from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, NC

 

Commentary: Gordon Solie and Bob Caudle

 

Starrcade '83, the first ever made for closed circuit TV wrestling supercard, was a creative and commercial success, so Jim Crockett Promotions and the NWA had zero hesitation in running it back again on Thanksgiving Day '84 as the now set in stone annual biggest show of the year for the promotion. This year would be slightly different from any other. Because Dusty Rhodes was in the main event, he got a lot of his friends and fellow talent from the Florida territory he worked in for so long and weren't regular JCP guys booked on this show (I'm pretty sure he hadn't taken over as JCP head booker yet, that will be later in '85, though details on things like that are notoriously sketchy and I could certainly be wrong).

 

Other major things were going on in the territory system at this time. Black Saturday took place in June of '84, the rapidly nationally expanding WWF taking over the WTBS timeslot previously held by the Georgia territory, with repercussions still being felt. I won't get into the details now because it'll be more relevant the next Starrcade, when Georgia will have been subsumed by JCP as their national expansion truly began, but it's important to remember that's going on in the background.

 

The show starts with a replay of the final moments of last year's main event, Ric Flair taking down Harley Race for his second NWA World title win in a true torch passing moment, and a reign he's now hitting one full year on. We then cut to Solie and Caudle live, in the press booth with the ring in the background. Much better than last year's cheap science fair project background. We then go to the voice of the Greensboro Coliseum Tom Miller, one of the underappreciated great ring announcers in history, to kick us off. Yes, that's Earl frakking Hebner coming into the ring to ref the first match. We was working for JCP at the start of his career. 

 

NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship: Denny Brown def Mike Davis (c) in 5:35- The NWA junior title is a mess of different titles and lineages recognized across different territories even I'm reluctant to get into and I love title histories. To put it as simply as I can, the official NWA recognized champion was The Cobra (George Takano under a mask), who was a New Japan wrestler. A couple of years before this, Georgia decided they recognized a completely different champion for reasons. In the course of events that title was won by Mike Davis, and that's what's being defended tonight. Davis had spent most of his time in Memphis and WCCW, and was most well known as half of one of the many Rock 'N' Roll Express ripoff teams, the Rock 'N' Roll RPMs. Brown was one of Dusty's Florida guys. Someone from the crowd shouts "RING THE BELL" before the bell rings. Smartass. Good on you. Fairly quick start with Davis hitting a shoulderblock, then Brown responding with a hiptoss, a couple of flying headscissors, and an armdrag. The hard camera is in an odd spot tonight, at about a 45 degree angle to the ring. Davis tries to slam out of an ARMBAR but Brown slips out of it. He tries a roll up that Davis blocks, but Brown quickly recovers to get another armdrag. Brown stays focused on the arm work. Random observation: Davis kind of looks like a poor man's Nick Bockwinkel. Another speed run and Brown hits a shoulderblock. More speed and Davis does a drop down that actually works, tripping Brown out to the still unpadded floor. Davis politely holds the ropes open for Brown to come back in and we have a reset. Davis hits some slams to work on Brown's back, which he hurt falling out of the ring. Backbreaker for 2. Brown reverses a whip and hits a forearm. Davis gets a flash small package for 2. Brown hops to the second rope and hits a forearm. Might have been going for a crossbody and had to adjust on the fly. Backdrop from Brown. Dropkick for 2. Midring collision. Brown hits some uppercuts. Whip reversal and a back suplex from Davis, and we get the "all four shoulders are down" pin. Oh great, those never go well. And particularly here. Hebner awards the belt to Brown, but Miller announces "and still" for Davis. Commentary goes with Miller even though Brown is celebrating with the belt. They genuinely have no clue what's going on. Sadly, that's not the last time that commentary is going to be clueless on what a finish and result is supposed to be tonight. Brown would end up being recognized as the official champion by the NWA when New Japan temporarily pulled out of their NWA partnership and Cobra was stripped. *1/4

 

They try to show a replay of the pin, but cut away before Hebner counts 3. Until then all four shoulders were clearly down. Nothing went right there.

 

Cut to backstage with Tony Schiavone (whose name Solie has learned to pronounce correctly now), who says like last year he'll be giving us all access backstage while Flair paces behind him. 

 

Brian Adidis def Mr Ito in 3:11- Adidis was mainly a WCCW wrestler, and one of the more popular ones there outside all the various Von Erichs. His name was actually Brian Adias, I'm not sure if JCP deliberately altered his name or if it was just a typo that stuck. Ito was an All Japan regular that occasionally popped over to the US for a match or two, and was in fact winding down the last year of his career. He'd only have about another half dozen matches after this before retiring. Serious high pitched pop for Adidis. Series of stalemates at the start. I wonder if Adidis had to have a talk with Brad Armstrong about his "BA" logo boots, which to me are a Brad Armstrong trademark. Speed run and Adidis hits a dropkick, then grabs a headlock takedown. Top wristlock fight that Ito wins into an armbar. Adidis reverses into his own armbar. They attempt a slugfest but don't seem to have their heart in it. Adidis lifts Ito up into the AIRPLANE SPIN OF DOOM! He drops Ito and pins him! Nothing match, but can't argue with an airplane spin win. 3/4*

 

NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship: Jesse Barr (c) def Mike Graham in 11:46- I said Dusty got a bunch of his Florida guys booked on this show and I wasn't kidding. Here's the Florida territory title being defended. Graham was the son of legendary Florida promoter Eddie Graham, but unlike some other promoter's sons (*cough* Erik Watts *cough*) he was actually pretty solid in the ring. Barr's biggest claim to fame is working as Jimmy Jack Funk in WWF, and getting fired from there after stupidly starting a legit fight with and almost getting murdered by Haku. Commentary mentions Graham was supposed to be on the US Greco Roman wrestling team for the '80 Olympics, which got kiboshed due to the boycott. Graham gets Barr down with a drop toe hold and works on his leg some. Barr does a chinlock counter to reverse. Barr apparently uses a hair pull to get Graham down again. We couldn't see from the camera angle but commentary assures us that it's so. They get into a long top wristlock leverage fight and this time Barr clearly on camera uses a hair pull. Graham gets Barr down with a shoulderblock but again that dastardly Barr goes to the cheap hair pull to turn it around. Barr wraps Graham's arm around the top rope to punish it some more. Graham goes back to the drop toe hold and cranks Barr's leg some more. Reset and both guys cautiously lean in for a knucklelock into a test of strength. This time Barr uses a push off the bottom rope to get leverage back. He's unloading the whole cheap heel tricks toolbox. Graham hits a shoulder to the gut to get free and fireman's carry takedowns Barr over into an armbar. Graham gets Barr down into a figure four! Barr immediately uses the ropes to pull himself free and out to the floor. Again Barr uses a hair pull to get Graham down. We get it. After yet more hair pulls Barr finally kneebreakers out of a headlock, with a goofy ass delayed sell from Barr. He cranks on Barr's leg and fights off every attempt for more hair pulls to get free. The figure four is on again. Barr again quickly gets to the ropes. Graham sunset flip for 2. Barr pushes out of a headlock, sending Graham right into Hebner. Hebner's down, but is back up quickly. Barr tries a roll up with a handful of tights for 2. Atomic drop from Graham. Barr gets a double leg takedown in the corner, puts his feet on the ropes for illegal leverage and gets a pin to retain. Decentish with Barr determined to use every cheap heel trick possible to win. At least it was psychologically consistent. **

 

Elimination Match: Buzz Tyler & Assassin #1 def the Zambuie Express (w/Paul Jones) in 4:54- The Express were a short lived tag team of a couple of black American wrestlers portraying militant Muslim native Africans, Elijah Akeem and Kareem Muahmmed. They're also both very large men. Assassin is territory legend Joseph Hamilton, who's turned face since the last Starrcade. After a lot of jockeying and jawing we get stereo lockups and the faces clear the ring out. Reset and a Tyler punch sends Muhammad (per commentary, I don't know which is which) back out to the floor. Both sides swap. Akeem gets caught in the face corner, takes some shots and falls back to the floor. Again both sides tag. Muhammad does some generic heel 101 offense on Tyler. Tyler slugs back on Akeem and things break down again. Tyler and Akeem fight on the floor and Hebner counts them, then stops. Were they counted out? Assassin shoulderblocks Muhammad, who does a horrible delayed flop sell of it. Assassin covers and pins him. Commentary thinks it's 2 on 1 now, but don't know that Tyler and Akeem were I assume counted out earlier. Hebner raises Assassin and Tyler's hands and everyone leaves. Horrible wrestling, horrible layout, horrible everything. Other than that it was perfect. DUD

 

Tony is in the back with Dusty, who says the time for talking and showboating is over and Flair will be yesterday's newspaper. 

 

NWA Brass Knuckles Championship (Mid-Atlantic version): Manny Fernandez def Black Bart (c) (w/JJ Dillon) in 7:35- Other major territories like Texas and Florida had a Brass Knuckles title, so JCP gave one a try as well. They were even less serious about it than they were their six man tag titles and huge swaths of the title history are unrecorded. There's not even a belt, at least tonight. Both guys are making their Starrcade debut, and Fernandez would go on to be one of JCP's top midcarders up until the Turner buyout. Also making his Starrcade debut is JJ Dillon, future manager of the Four Horsemen. I've always liked how the wrestlers Dillon managed were always announced as "James J Dillon proudly presents". Fernandez is also one half of the current World tag champs, along with Dusty, which is why those titles aren't being defended on this show. To be clear, there are no official brass knucks in this match. Both guys have extra taped up fists instead, and the rules are "anything goes". Sonny Fargo and his full blue uniform takes over as ref for the next few matches. Fernandez gets a couple of early body punches, then hits some jabs on Bart. More back and forth punchy stuff with neither guy getting a clear edge. Some forehead punches from Bart bust Fernandez open, our first bleeder of the night. Actually took a while by the standards of the era. Bart sees the target and is all over it. Fernandez fires back with some chops. A double fisted swing sends Bart over the top to the floor. Fernandez hits a leaping punch off the apron. Bart ducks under the ring apron so I assume he's blading now. Yup, he comes up bleeding now too and Fernandez is all over it. Punch off the second rope for 2. Bart hits a straight low blow to get some separation. Dirty, but anything goes. After a bunch more punches Bart hits an elbow drop for 2. He drops Fernandez on the top rope. Bart wants his rope from Dillon. While he's distracted Fernandez rolls him up and pins him to win the title! The hardcore brawling match ends with a roll up. If you love nothing but punching, this is your match. *

 

Intermission time in the arena means promo time on TV. After yet another replay of Flair's '83 win for no reason whatsoever we cut to Tony in the back with Ricky Steamboat. Steamboat goes over all the hell he's been put through over the last few months by Dillon's stable. Something about floating ribs and only being able to stand on one side. He says he hopes Blanchard isn't listening so Blanchard doesn't know how hurt he is, and then starts to address Blanchard directly. So, you DO want him to hear this? Steamboat, tremendous wrestler, couldn't talk worth a damn. After some commentary vamping Tony is now with Blanchard, and his awesome understated Starrcade '84 event shirt, and Dillon. Both say Steamboat is bellyaching and making excuses for losing before the match even starts.

 

Tuxedo Street Fight Loser Leaves Town Match: Paul Jones (w/Elijah Akeem) def Jimmy Valiant (w/Assassin #1) in 5:22- Classic stipulation overload here, but these two needed all the smoke and mirrors they could get. Just after the last Starrcade the long feud between Valiant and Jones along with his Paul Jones Army stable kicked off, and will continue a good couple of years after this. Jones is a manager now, but he was a wrestler in the '70s and even held the record for the most ever TV title reigns with five. These two are the first to get any kind of real entrances tonight, and Valiant even has music. Valiant's dancing around causes Miller to break a bit as he starts intros. Assassin's even changed into a tux for this match. Akeem didn't get the memo. Valiant, being Valiant, is wearing a suit but with a tux t-shirt underneath it. I'm assuming this is still normal pin or submit rules, not strip the tux or anything like that. It takes a bit to get the seconds out, then Jones tries to run and hide in the ring. Valiant isn't interested and immediately starts choking Jones with what looks like a tag rope. He ties Jones to the top rope! Valiant takes his jacket off and goes down to just his tux t-shirt. Definitely not strip rules then. Valiant gives Jones some shots, takes Jones' flower off and stuffs it in his mouth, then starts ripping Jones' jacket off. Now the shirt is being torn off, with Jones still ties to the rope. And off go Jones' pants! Looks like he's got wrestling trunks on under so that's a small mercy. He's wearing nothing but that and his socks now. He's fallen into the sock gap. My fellow Coupling fans know what I'm talking about. Akeem distracts Valiant. Jones unties himself and ambushes from behind. We get the classic Valiant spasm selling. He quickly starts boogieing back up. Sleeper on Jones! Jones got busted open somehwere in the too. I'd laugh my ass off if it was because of the sleeper. He didn't really start bleeding until after it was on. Akeem gets on the apron as Fargo is doing arm drops and Valiant goes after him. Assassin gets in and helps Valiant take Akeem out. Fargo went down at some point in that exchange. Now JJ Dillon is out here. He clocks Valiant with his shoe. Who uses a shoe, honestly? Jones covers and gets the pin. Moderately entertaining crap thanks to all the bells and whistles, which is the most you could hope for from these two. This would naturally lead to the return of Valiant's masked character, Charlie Brown From Outta Town. 1/2*

 

Now Tony is in the back with Flair for his prematch promo. He's still only at about 75% RIC FLAIR as we'll get to know him but he's getting there. Definitely more than last year.

 

There's a guy sitting in the row just below the press box that keeps looking back right between Solie and Caudle and it's making me laugh. 

 

NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Championship: "Cowboy" Ron Bass (c) (w/JJ Dillon) def Dick Slater by DQ in 9:07- Bass alternated between "Cowboy" and "Outlaw" depending on what territory he was in. When he went to WWF later he would be "Outlaw". Both guys come in at the same time to what I assume is generic music. Slater's robe is pretty freaking awesome. Lockup and Slater fires away with chops. He gives Bass a back elbow then decides to dive after Dillon. Dillon crawls through the ring on his knees to get away. Bass whips Slater, who grabs the ropes to stop and goes after Dillon again. I know he's a wild man by nature, but stay focused on the title. Slater plays some more mind games by goading Bass into charging into the corner and he gets Bass in a headlock takedown. A back elbow from Bass puts Slater down for the first time. Slater dodges an elbow drop and goes right to back to the headlock. He atomic drops Bass and Bass goes to the floor for a rethink. Possibly an ass rub. I doubt Dillon gets paid enough for that though. Slater snap mares back over the top and in. He goes to kick Bass while in the ropes and Fargo literally grabs Slater's foot, allowing Bass to eye rake him. Kneelift from Bass. Slater does some seesawing in the ropes off of punches. Dillon reaches in and gives him a shot. Suplex from Bass for 2. Bulldog. Slater gets up and comes back with a series of jabs. Snap mare into a boot rake on Bass' face. Bass goes to the old eye rake again and tosses Slater out. Dillon gives Slater some stomps and throws him back in. Slater gets Bass in the corner again and goes to town on him, even tossing Fargo out of the way. Back suplex. Fargo is still down so Dillon comes in and tries to stomp Slater in the head. No effect. Slater slams Dillon. Slam and legdrop on Bass from Slater and he covers. Fargo gets up, pulls Slater up, and raises Bass' hand, DQ'ing Slater for the toss out of the corner. Weak sauce, but it fit Slater's unhinged character. Match was mostly fine, and sadly the "best" thing so far tonight. **1/4

 

The next match features a lot of big names making their first Starrcade appearance. The Koloffs, billed as an uncle and nephew, were sometimes called The Russian Team, but not quite yet. Spoiler: they're not really related and neither are really Russian. Ivan Koloff was already a grizzled old veteran and was a legendary wild man across the territories, hardcore before hardcore was even a term. In wrestling at least. In reality he was Canadian. Nikitia is originally from that great wrestling factory of the time of Minnesota, and was greener than Astroturf here as he'd only been wrestling since the summer. I mean started his training, not just his in ring debut. Ole at the time was owner of and head booker for the Georgia territory, essentially the last man standing there after the Briscos and Jim Barnett sold their portions to WWF so WWF could take the TBS timeslot over. Kernodle was supposed to be his partner in this match, but he got injured just before the show so his much lesser brother Keith (yes, despite the different last names, wrestling is a funny old business) is taking his place. The story there is Kernodle and face Ivan were tag champs earlier in the year, and when Nikita first showed up Kernodle helped to train him, but after Ivan and Kernodle dropped the belts to Dusty and Fernandez the Koloffs turned on Kernodle.

 

For the second straight year we get a weird placement of the National Anthem. I guess it's because the evil Ruskies match is up next. The slow, somber solo trumpet version played is a bit strange for the circumstances too.

 

Ivan & Nikita Koloff def Ole Anderson & Keith Larson (w/Don Kernodle) in 15:20- Senior referee Tommy Young takes over for the rest of the night up to the main event, which has its own ref plans. The Koloffs come in each carrying a folded up Soviet flag. Were they afraid the crowd might attack them for real if they flew them properly? Which, they very well could have. The faces jump the Soviets and we're off. Nikita gets knocked out of the ring by Ole. Larson hits Ivan with a backdrop and covers him for 2. The faces knock Ivan round in their corner. Quick tags with the faces working on Ivan's arm. Hammerlock slam from Ole. The quick tags continue as Ivan is completely trapped. Hiptoss from Larson for 2. Double back elbow from the faces. Ole runs Ivan's shoulder into the corner. More arm wringers from Larson as they're keeping things dead simple for him. Finally Ivan gets an opening and hair pulls Larson into the corner. Ivan goes up top but Larson slams him back down. Back on the arm. Ole tags in and looks like he's about to tear the damn thing off. Larson, not so much. Ivan get a desperation eye rake on Ole, gives him a buckle shot, and finally tags out to Nikita for the first time more than halfway into the match. Nikita hits a bunch of corner shoulderblocks, then gets Ole right into a bear hug. Like I said, greener than green. He's got The Look though. There we stay for a while. Ivan works Larson and Young to hit a random ax handle off the top rope on Ole. Ole fires back up and bell rings out. Ivan tags in and gets Ole back down. Slam for 2. Ole dodges an elbow drop, but Nikita cuts a tag off. Back to the bear hug. Ole tries to punch out, then lifts Nikita up and I think jawbreakers free. Tag to Larson. Hot tag run. Double noggin knocker for the Russians. Back elbow on Nikita. Nikita dodges a dropkick. Ivan drops Larson on the top rope. Larson gets a desperation small package and it's EVERYONE IN THE POOL time. Nikita takes Kernodle out on the floor and Ole takes Nikita out for it. Meanwhile Ivan hits Larson with his chain behind Young's back, covers and gets the pin as trash is thrown into the ring. Kernodle gets in and takes the Russians out with his crutch! HE'S ALIVE! That crutch isn't after he's done. Rock solid tag match with Ole and Ivan shepherding the less experienced guys through just fine. **1/2

 

Ricky Steamboat's had an interesting ride since the last Starrcade. In December '83 he abruptly decided to retire, vacating the World tag team titles he and Jay Youngblood won at Starrcade. Then barely months later he came back to resume his singles career. My personal headcanon is he was desperate to get away from Youngblood. Steamboat quickly won the US title in April '84 over Dick Slater, then got into a hugely personal feud with his former mentor, a now heel turned Wahoo McDaniel. Wahoo ultimately defeated him for the championship. Since then he's been embroiled in a months long chase for Tully Blanchard's TV title, with Dillon's stable running cover for Blanchard attacking and injuring Steamboat. Blanchard arrived in JCP in mid-'84 for the first really high profile run of his career and was immediately earmarked for huge things. At this early stage of his career before his personal demons took over he looks every bit a future world champion.

 

NWA Television Championship: Tully Blanchard (c) def Ricky Steamboat in 13:15- Blanchard has been using that classic heel tactic of taking advantage of the usual short time limit in TV title matches to hang onto his title (though tonight is a full 60 minute time limit). Because of that, a stipulation has been added to this match that if, in the referee's judgement, Blanchard is excessively stalling he can stop the match and award the title to Steamboat. It's called the "no run rule". He can also lose the title on a straight DQ. Both guys have added $10K of their own money into the match's purse to add to the stakes. Full entrances with music for both Steamboat and Blanchard as that starts to become more common for the top guys. Off the first lockup Blanchard immediately starts laying into Steamboat with strikes. Steamboat weathers it and strikes back. Snap mare/fistdrop combo. Blanchard goes to the apron but Steamboat grabs him and suplexes him back in. Diving chop for 2. Steamboat gets on Blanchard's back on the mat and puts on a sleeper, then a straight chinlock. Blanchard flips him over to get a rope break. Steamboat is still one step ahead and hits a kneelift, but his ribs that were hurt by Dillon's crew during the build are clearly hurting him and we have a reset. Punches from Blanchard to the ribs. Backbreaker, which also hits the ribs. Blanchard continues with every single shot targeted at Steamboat's ribs. With a little bit of strutting. Steamboat manages to fight out of the corner and headbutt Blanchard back down. He hits some backhand chop combos. Kneedrop to the back of Blanchard's head for 2. Another chinlock from Steamboat. Blanchard literally flops himself over the top into the ropes to force a break, and give him an opening to go back to Steamboat's ribs. Back suplex from Blanchard. Steamboat counters into another chinlock. Quick rope break from Blanchard and he starts begging off a little. Good bit of selling from Steamboat as he shows he can barely move while Blanchard moves around him looking for position. Blanchard spits on Steamboat! And he struts around some more to really rile Steamboat up. Speed run and Steamboat hits a powerslam for 2. Blanchard tries to bail again but Steamboat stays on him. Double hand chop for 2. Mounted punches from Steamboat. Blanchard's bleeding and Steamboat goes after it. Steamboat spits right in Blanchard's face! That was a full mouth worth too, almost Triple H entrance level. Chops in the corner. Swinging neckbreaker for 2. Slingshot suplex from Steamboat! That's Blanchard's usual finisher. Long 2 count off that. Steamboat dropkick for 2 as Blanchard just won't die. While on the apron Blanchard seems to get something and puts it on his hand. Steamboat lifts him back into the ring, and while in the air Blanchard hits Steamboat in the head with presumably kucks. Running crossbody from Blanchard for 2. He sets Steamboat up top. Steamboat fights off a superplex! Splash off the top! Blanchard kicks out! Sunset flip from Steamboat. Blanchard gets the knucks out of his tights again, quick punches Steamboat, and falls on top to pin him and retain! Fantastic match, by far the best thing on this show. ****

 

Steamboat was disappointed his long chase ended in a loss. That and other booking disagreements he was having with JCP would lead him to jumping over to WWF in early '85, early enough to be on the card for the first Wrestlemania less than 6 months after this. 

 

NWA United States Heavyweight Championship: Wahoo McDaniel (c) def Superstar Billy Graham in 4:14- If the TV title showcased the future, this match is very much about one last high profile ride for a couple of late career veterans....which is the polite way of saying this is two past it oldsters coasting by on name recognition. I think Wahoo is still a heel after taking the title from Steamboat but he might have turned back again. Graham was mostly known for his work in WW(W)F and at the time was the longest reigning heel champion there ever, holding the WWWF Championship about 9 months between Bruno Sammartino's second reign and Bob Backlund's first. This particular version of Graham is known as Kung Fu Billy Graham, as that's what JCP was pushing. Wahoo is on his 5th US title reign, which was the record at that point. Test of strength knucklelock to start. Wahoo gets the leverage, but Graham pulls his hair to yank him down. OK, maybe there has been a turn here. Both guys power out of lockups as Graham looks freaking ancient just by the way he's moving. In the corner Wahoo gouges Graham's eyes. OK, they're both heels. Going with that and not changing my mind again. Graham reverses a corner whip and puts on a full nelson. Wahoo grabs a rope to get a break. Double karate chop to Wahoo's throat and Graham puts the full nelson on again. Wahoo goes down and Graham covers him for 2. Back elbow and elbow drop from Graham for 2. Wahoo hits Graham with a double chop coming off the ropes, the only real bump Graham takes all match, and that gets a sudden pin to retain. Well OK then. On the plus side, no one wanted this to go any longer. 1/4*

 

In March '85 Wahoo would drop the title to another young guy that just came to JCP and already being groomed for big things, one Magnum TA.

 

Another 10 minute intermission? Why? Guess that gives Tony a chance to introduce some of the celebrities for the main event. Really not a whole lot to say as far as setup for the main event. It's Flair and Dusty, that's generally about all you need. To try to make this second Starrcade seem as big or a bigger deal than the first a one million dollar purse has been added onto the World title match, hence the name Million Dollar Challenge. JCP also preemptively takes a page out of WWF's book for what they'll be doing in a few months for the first Wrestlemania, bringing in some celebrities for this match. Boxer "Smokin'" Joe Frazier is the special guest referee. There's also two outside judges. One is a retired Japanese wrestler whose name I honestly didn't catch but I know it's no one I know. Duke something. The other is......NASCAR driver Kyle Petty, son of The King Richard Petty. Really? Dude hadn't even won a Winston Cup race in his career yet at this point, how can he properly judge a world title wrestling match? As an old school NASCAR fan as well as wrestling I'm genuinely curious how he ended up with this gig. When Tony talks to them Kyle is by far the most eloquent. Frazier does drop a foreshadowing bomb, saying he won't be afraid to stop the match if he has to. The one small burst of pyro to start of the main event festivities gets HUGE shriek from the crowd. That's hilarious. Not used to it yet.

 

Million Dollar Challenge Match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship: "Nature Boy" Ric Flair (c) def "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes in 12:09- Dusty's definitely brought his A+ robe game tonight, though it looks more boxing style with the hood. Very unusual gear for Flair tonight. Pink trunks and boots in two different shades, and the front of his trunks have "Nature Boy" with a couple of I think butterflies on them. Solie admits Dusty is "carrying a little weight" into this match. Speed run with Dusty hitting a shoulderblock, then hitting the brakes to fake Flair out and hitting the first elbow. Headlock from Dusty. Flair tries to grab a leg to break free, then backs Dusty in the ropes to take a rope break. First chop from Flair. Dusty fires back with jabs out of the corner into a full flip, flop and fly. Back to the headlock. Another shoulderblock and elbow from Dusty. Flair fires back with a chop and punches in the corner, then hits the snap mare/kneedrop combo for 2. That was a SUPER quick count from Frazier. Dusty doges another kneedrop attempt. He gets the figure four on Flair! Flair fights, tries for a rope, falls for a much slower 2 count from Frazier, then he gets the ropes for a break. Dusty stays on Flair's leg. Flair fights over and hits some ground and pound jabs on Dusty. Reset lockup into a top wristlock fight. Dusty wins that and puts on an armbar. Another corner shot exchange. Bionic elbow from Dusty. He press slams Flair! Big Dusty chop. Flair Flop! Corner whip and we get a Flair Flip all the way down to the floor. Dusty grabs Flair from the apron and suplexes him back in despite the fact Frazier is physically trying to get in the middle of it and stop it, then Dusty covers and Frazier has his third different count cadence of the match, probably the slowest yet. Did anyone coach him on how to referee a wrestling match beforehand? Flair catches Dusty with a back elbow, gives us a "WOOOO" and goes up top. Dusty slams him back down. Flair dodges an elbow drop. He gets a sleeper on Dusty. Dusty runs Flair around the ring and momentum tosses him to the floor. Flair trips Dusty and drags him out. Big slugfest on the floor. Dusty takes a post shot. It's finally feeling like they're getting into a bit of a groove for the first time in this match, it's been very disjointed and forced to this point. Dusty is gushing blood off that post shot. Busted open hardaway over his right eye. Frazier backs Flair off to have a look at it. Flair dodges Frazier, snap mares Dusty and pounds away on the cut. Dusty pops back up and hits more jabs. Flair gets up and hits mounted punches. Frazier backs him off again. He looks at Dusty, then says something to the judges. Frazier calls for the bell and raises Flair's hand. He stopped the match because of the cut over Dusty's eye. Another weak ass finish in a night full of them. The face locker room empties to keep Dusty from murdering Frazier. The finish was bad enough, especially for the main event of the biggest show of the year, but the match felt off from the start. Not what you'd expect from these two at all, and by far the weakest peak era Flair match on a major show. **1/4

 

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- Woof. That is not how you follow up the successful first Starrcade. Bad finishes, weak wrestling, and a lot of questionable calls on who was even booked to have matches on the show. Whole lot of filler with not a lot of meat out there. Fortunately for JCP it would just be a blip on the radar and their growth and general creative success would continue in '85, leading up to possibly the greatest Starrcade ever.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D

 

v2.0 published 4/21/26