The first five matches (25-21) were hosted by Mene Gene Okerlund, the second five (20-16) by Tully Blanchard, the third (15-11) by Ric Flair and David Crockett, Dusty Rhodes and Jim Ross.
In introducing the first block of matches, Okerlund states that they were ranked based on "pure excitement, in-ring skill, historic impact," as well as fan balloting on the WWE website. Not all Starrcade matches were eligible for the fan balloting, which was limited to 19 matches from three specific eras of Starrcade's history—the NWA era (1983-1988), the WCW era (1989-1994), and the Monday Night War era (1995-2000)—for a total of 57 eligible matches.[1] Most matches had an amount of back story given before them, and additionally some wrestlers or matches (shaded) were featured in short "Starrcade Spotlight" vignettes highlighting them specifically.
| # | Starccade | Winner | Loser | Notes/Stipulations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1996 | "Rowdy" Roddy Piper | "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan | WCW dubbed this the "Match of the Decade" |
| 24 | 1989 Future Shock |
Sting | The Great Muta | Part of the Iron Man tournament. |
| 23 | 1992 BattleBowl/Lethal Lottery II |
Shane Douglas & Ricky Steamboat |
Brian Pillman & Barry Windham |
Douglas & Steamboat retained the NWA and WCW World Tag Team Championship |
| 22 | 1998 | Kevin Nash | Goldberg | A no disqualification match. Goldberg lost the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. |
| 21 | 1991 Battlebowl/Lethal Lottery |
Sting | 19 others[1] | A battlebowl battle royal. Lex Luger the last man eliminated. |
| 20 | 1993 10th Anniversary |
"Stunning" Steve Austin (w/ Colonel Rob Parker) |
"The Natural" Dustin Rhodes | A two out of three falls match. Rhodes lost the WCW United States Championship. |
| 19 | 1987 Chi-Town Heat |
Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard (w/ J. J. Dillon) |
The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) (w/ Paul Ellering) |
Anderson and Blanchard defended the WCW World Tag Team Championship. |
| 18 | 1996 | Jushin Liger | Rey Mysterio, Jr. | |
| 17 | 1987 Chi-Town Heat |
The Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) |
The Midnight Express ("Beautiful" Bobby Eaton & "Sweet" Stan Lane) (w/ Jim Cornette & Big Bubba Rogers) |
A "Skywalkers" match |
| 16 | 1988 True Gritt |
Ric Flair (w/ J. J. Dillon) |
Lex Luger | Flair defended his NWA World Heavyweight Championship. A stipulation was put in place stating that, should Flair get disqualified, he would have lost the Championship. |
| 15 | 1995 World Cup of Wrestling |
Shinjiro Otani (w/ Sonny Ono) |
Eddie Guerrero | This match was part of the years "World Cup of Wrestling". Guerrero represented WCW, Otani wrestled for New Japan Pro Wrestling. WCW won the World Cup overall. |
| 14 | 1988 True Gritt |
Dusty Rhodes & Sting |
The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) (w/ Paul Ellering) |
The Road Warriors defended the NWA World Tag Team Championship. |
| 13 | 1992 BattleBowl/Lethal Lottery II |
Sting | Big Van Vader (w/ Harley Race) |
The finals of the "King of Cable" tournament. |
| 12 | 1983 Flare for the Gold |
Jay Youngblood & Ricky Steamboat |
Jack & Jerry Brisco | The Briscos lost the NWA World Tag Team Championship Angelo "King Kong" Mosca acted as special guest referee. |
| 11 | 1985 The Gathering |
Dusty Rhodes | Ric Flair | Flair lost the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. |
| 10 | 1997 | Eddie Guerrero | Dean Malenko | Guerrero defended the WCW Cruiserweight Championship. |
| 09 | 1989 Future Shock |
Steiner Brothers Rick & Scott |
The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) |
Part of the years "Iron Man Tournament". This match was the first time the Steiners and Road Warriors wrestled each other. |
| 08 | 2000 | 3 Count (Shannon Moore & "Sugar" Shane Helms) |
A triple threat tag team ladder match to decide #1 contendership for the WCW Cruiserweight championship. Against the stipulations, Moore and Helms pulled down the contract together and were made to wrestle each other on the next nights WCW Monday Nitro. | |
| 07 | 1989 Future Shock |
Sting | Ric Flair | Part of the years "Iron Man Tournament". A decisive win for either man gave them the overall tournament win, while a draw would have awarded the win to Lex Luger |
| 06 | 1983 Flare for the Gold |
"Rowdy" Roddy Piper | Greg Valentine | A dog collar match |
| 05 | 1986 Night of the Skywalkers |
The Road Warriors (Hawk & Animal) (w/ Paul Ellering) |
The Midnight Express "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton & "Loverboy" Dennis Condrey (w/ Jim Cornette & Big Bubba Rogers) |
A Scaffold match. Jim Cornette blew out both knees falling from the scaffold after this match. |
| 04 | 1997 | Sting | "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan | Hogan lost the WCW World Heavyweight Championship |
| 03 | 1983 Flare for the Gold |
Ric Flair | Harley Race | A steel cage match Race lost the NWA World Heavyweight Championship |
| 02 | 1985 The Gathering |
Magnum T. A. | Tully Blanchard (w/Baby Doll |
An "I Quit" match inside a steel cage. Blanchard lost the NWA United States Championship. |
| 01 | 1993 10th Anniversary |
Ric Flair | Big Van Vader | Vader lost the WCW World Heavyweight Championship. Had he lost, Flair would have had to retire from wrestling. |
Sting appears in more matches and received more fan votes than any other wrestler in the list.
Notes
edit- ^ Marcus Bagwell, Jimmy Garvin, "Stunning" Steve Austin, Rick Rude, Dustin Rhodes, Richard Morton, Bill Kazmaier, Jushin Liger, Arn Anderson, Ricky Steamboat, Todd Champion, Abdullah the Butcher, Big Van Vader, Mr. Hughes, Scott Steiner, Firebreaker Chip, Ron Simmons, Tommy Rich, Lex Luger
- ^ "Essential Starrcade 25th Anniversary Celebration Poll". WWE 24/7 Classics. World Wrestling Entertainment. Retrieved 12 November 2008.