Happy Wednesday Everyone!
This week we finish off our little arc into 97 WCW as we rebook WCW Starrcade 1997. Starrcade 1997 is a very odd event actually as it was chockfull of Heel wins and is generally one of flattest shows you could watch, especially as it was supposedly WCW’s biggest show of the year and probably the most ordered one they ever had. You’d think they’d want to fill that show with feel good moments so that buyers would leave feeling positive about the product and wanting to see more, but instead the show had something bordering on a funereal atmosphere at times.
I’m going to try and address that here by putting in some more babyface wins and also trying to feature some good wrestling. Let’s see if I can succeed. Though we’re ending the arc this month I’ll also have a think about what the next show would look like too and if that sounds like fun to you readers I might pick this thread up again.
If you’d like to see the real card for this event then you can click below;
Card « WCW Starrcade 1997 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH – The Internet Wrestling Database
Opening Match
Two out of Three Falls
WCW Cruiserweight Title
Champ: Eddy Guerrero Vs Rey Mysterio Jr
20 Minutes
Eddy and Rey are both 1-1 in pay per view matches going into this one, so we’ll go full lucha here and have the two settle it in a best two out of three falls bout. This should hopefully be a hot way to kick off the show, with Eddy taking the lead and Rey then fighting his way back to the bout in order to regain the belt and win the feud.
Match Two
The Roadblock Vs Goldberg
3 Minutes
Yes, The Roadblock gets to be on Starrcade 1997, although he’s mostly there to be a big bloke for Goldberg to mow down. Goldberg will heave Roadblock up into the Jackhammer in order to get another tick in the win column.
Match Three
Kevin Nash Vs The Giant
7 Minutes
The battle to decide WCW’s premier big man. In real life Nash was kicking up a stink because they wanted him to put Giant over and he ended up trying to pass indigestion as a heart attack in order to get away with it. Here we’ll assuage Nash’s ego somewhat by having the match end in a DQ when Scott Hall and Konnan run-in, thus meaning that Nash won’t have to lay down for the big nasty stinky Giant.
The Steiner Brothers will make the save for Giant and, after some shenanigans on the mic, an impromptu six man tag will be set up.
Match Four
Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Konnan Vs Giant and The Steiner Brothers
10 Minutes
Nash and Giant can brawl to the back here, allowing one of The Steiner’s to pin Hall, seeing as Konnan got pinned the previous month and it’s not like Hall will be hurt from doing a job. Plus, it plays into the vibe of the nWo finally getting their just desserts after months of tyranny.
Match Five
WCW World Television Title
Champ: Saturn w/ The Flock Vs Chris Benoit
10 Minutes
I believe Raven was dealing with a flare-up of gout at the time, meaning he couldn’t work here and they did a swerve by having him announce Saturn would wrestle Benoit instead on the night of the show itself. I think rather than false advertise Raven here we’ll just give him time to recover and announce Saturn Vs Benoit in advance, with Saturn eventually winning thanks to The Flock. Benoit can now focus on getting some revenge on the entirety of the group in order to earn a match against Raven at Souled Out 1998.
Match Six
Buff Bagwell Vs Lex Luger
10 Minutes
This is probably Bagwell’s biggest high profile singles bout since going Heel and joining up with the nWo as he faces a man who was World Champion as recently as August 97. We’ll have Bagwell pick up the win here and we’ll actually let him win clean as well so he really gets a rub from it. We’ll cut the match down to ten minutes as well, as the 17 minutes they had in real life was way too long. Luger can potentially wrestle Bagwell again down the line but we won’t have him get his win back too soon as it will just undo the good work that has been done here.
Match Seven
WCW United States Title
Champ: Curt Hennig w/ Rick Rude Vs Diamond Dallas Page
15 Minutes
DDP’s big push will continue here as he will defeat Hennig to win the belt and cap off what has been a great year for him. Ric Flair is feuding with Hennig but couldn’t work this show due to an injury. However, we’ll have him show up for a distraction of some kind here (if he’s healthy enough we’ll have him deck Rude for a pop) and that will lead to DDP snapping off a Diamond Cutter for the win.
Semi-Main
Randy Savage Vs Bret Hart
15 Minutes
Bret Hart will quickly state that he is pro-WCW and against the nWo and we can tell the story that he’s appalled that a man he once respected like the Macho Man is now working for the Heels. Savage will take umbrage with this and it can set up a match between the two where Bret Hart can pick up the win in order to establish himself as a big deal in WCW right out of the gate. I much prefer this to him just being a guest referee in Eric Bischoff’s match and think it would be a better showcase for Bret that would help capitalise on the buzz surrounding Montreal.
Main Event
WCW Title
Guest Referee: Roddy Piper
Champ: Hollywood Hogan Vs Sting
10 Minutes
In real life this match was an absolute disaster, as Hogan pummelled Sting from the opening bell and then essentially pinned him clean with the Leg Drop of DOOM when referee Nick Patrick accidentally on purpose fudged his supposed quick count. Here we’ll have Sting come right out of the traps and pinball Hogan around until the nWo runs in for the lame DQ. However, Piper will decide that this nWo running in stuff is a load of nonsense and will restart the match, leading to Sting picking up the clean win. This not only finally has WCW actually outsmarting the nWo for once but you also let Piper get his revenge on Hogan and Hogan will have an out to whinge about the result because he can argue that the match should be have ended in a DQ. Thus Hogan is defeated, Sting is Champion and we have reasons for more matches between the two.
In Conclusion
The eventual plan following Starrcade is to finally start winding down the whole nWo thing over the course of 1998. Hogan losing will be a great catalyst for that, with Sting defeating him in a rematch at some stage and then gradually defending the belt more and more against WCW competition whilst the nWo collapses from within.
Bret Hart coming in gives us a host of fresh matches, and I think it’s only wise to get the bout with Ric Flair in at Souled Out but we’ll do a longer storyline following it rather than just randomly dropping the feud. Flair and Hart starting out as rivals, moving to allies and then potentially feuding again could be an interesting long running storyline that could place over the course of the year. We also need to find a way of fitting in Flair getting his revenge on Hennig in a blow off to their feud.
Nash and Giant will continue their issue as we try and get an actual pin fall finish between them at some stage.
Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton as the next feud for The Steiner Brothers might work, and Lex Luger will probably want a piece of Buff at some stage as well, so that can always be waiting on the horizon. There’s also the question of whether to turn Scott Steiner so he can get his big singles push or not, which we can address as the year progresses.
Souled Out 98 would likely look like this;
Sting will be defending the World Title against Diamond Dallas Page as a result of DDP winning the Three Ring Battle Royal back at World War 3.
Hogan will team up with Savage to take on Piper and The Giant.
Ric Flair will take on Bret Hart.
Scott Hall, Buff Bagwell and Scott Norton will clash with The Steiner Brothers and Lex Luger.
Konnan will face off with Dean Malenko.
Booker T will defeat Perry Saturn in between Starrcade and Souled Out in order to win the TV Title and then will defend it here against Rick Martel
Rey Mysterio Jr will defend the Cruiserweight Title against Chris Jericho
Chris Benoit will get his match with Raven
And we’ll have a lucha 8 man to open things up
If we ever pick this particular story thread up again we’ll see where it takes us. In the meantime, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this and I’ll have something new for you next week.