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Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Starrcade 1996

December 31, 2021 | Posted by Robert Leighty Jr.
Starrcade 1996
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Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Starrcade 1996  

-We finish our run of 1996 PPVs with the biggest show of the year for WCW. I believe this show ended up being the biggest wrestling PPV of the year as it topped WrestleMania XII. The question becomes should I just continue with 1997 or go back for the earlier shows from 96 that I haven’t done yet? I could also jump to another year. Feel free to comment below and thanks for following along with all my reviews and recaps this year. Let’s get to it!

-Dec 29, 1996
-Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, TN
-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan
-Attendance: 9,030
-PPV Buys: 345,000 (which I believe is 10th highest in WCW history)

-Show opening is all about Hogan/Piper because DUH! Tony, Dusty, and Bobby discuss Hogan/Piper because DUH!

Cruiserweight Unification Championship Match: Ultimo Dragon (J Crown Title) w/ Sonny Onoo vs. Dean Malenko (WCW Cruiserweight Champion)

-It’s Dragon’s 8 Championships vs. Malenko’s WCW Cruiserweight Championship. The crowd is jacked for this show and give Malenko a great pop. Mike Tenay joins the announce team as usual for CW action. Lockup to start and Malenko backs Dragon into a corner for a clean break. Malenko gets it to the mat and they counter moves and trips down there. Dragon gets a kneebar and they roll into the ropes to break. Another go as Dragon gets another take down and goes to a reverse chinlock. Malenko turns into a wristlock, but Dragon flips into one of his own. Dean then does the same and gets a head scissors while maintaining the arm hold. Dragon gets a snapmare and then just kicks the crap out of Malenko. That seemingly annoyed Dean as he drops Dragon with a belly to back suplex to a nice pop. Dean goes back to the mat with a chinlock and then into a head scissors. Dragon rolls to escape and stomps away. He follows with a snap suplex for a two count. Dragon to a headlock as the crowd starts a USA chant. Dragon fires off some kicks and then goes to a Half Crab then transitions to the STF. Dragon gets a leapfrog to avoid, but gets dumped to the floor off a right hand. Dean follows, but gets caught and slammed to the floor. Dragon back inside as he connects with a suicide dive on the floor. Tenay brings up that the winner of this match will face Liger at The Tokyo Dome in January. Back inside a suplex gets another two count for Dragon. Dean gets a sunset flip for two, so Dragon just kicks him again. Neckbreaker from Dragon gets two. He hooks a Surfboard and then an abdominal stretch as the USA chant starts again. Malenko escapes a headlock with a belly to back which gives him a chance to regroup. Release German Suplex dumps Dragon on his head and that gets two. Heenan: “you have to hook the trunks.” I miss Bobby! Malenko grabs a leg and cranks on that for a bit, but Dragon gets the ropes. Dean just releases and goes right back to it. Dragon gets to the ropes to break again, so Dean drops him knee first on his knee and then throws in a dropkick on the knee for good measure. He slams Dragon down and goes back to the kneebar. Dragon tries to kick his way out with his other leg, but Dean shrugs it off as he maintains the hold. Dragon gets to the ropes to break again. To the corner where Dean pounds away. He charges and gets caught with a boot, but catches Dragon coming out of the corner with a powerslam for two. Elbows from Dragon followed by a spinwheel kick. Powerbomb from Dragon gets two as they are turning things up a notch in this one. Tombstone reversed and Dean just plants him for two. Crowd is loving this now! The Cloverleaf is blocked as Dragon gets to the bottom rope. Dean with a butterfly suplex into a powerbomb for two. Again, the crowd is into this one big time now. Dean gets a crossbody, but ends up on the floor as Dragon didn’t go over with him. Dean up to the apron where Dragon greets him with a spinning kick. Asai moonsault connects as both men are left lying in the aisle. Back inside Dragon heads up and Dean is there to meet him. Dragon fights out and tries a moonsault, but it misses. Dean hooks The Texas Cloverleaf, but Sonny is on the apron to break which is out of character for Malenko. Small package from Dragon gets two. Dean back with a brainbuster for a close near fall. They reverse standing switches and pin attempts before Dragon plants him with a Dragon Suplex for the pin at 18:31.

Winner and New WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Ultimo Dragon via pin at 18:31
-Fantastic match as they kept the crowd with them with the mat wrestling before turning things up the final half of the match. Dean was over huge here and it deflated the crowd when he lost. Dragon’s Belt Collector deal continues. ****

WCW Women’s Heavyweight Championship: Akira Hokuto (w/ Kensuki Sasaki) vs. Madusa

-Lee Marshall is brought in as the expert for the Women’s Division. This is the finals of the Tournament to crown a new champion. Akira jumps Madusa before the bell as Sonny Onoo is down now to also be in Akira’s corner. Madusa gets a hair take down, but Sonny trips her up. Akira gets a choke in the corner and releases as Sasaki looks annoyed by Sonny. More choking from Hokuto as she uses the ropes this time. She locks in a Scorpion Deathlock and turns that into the STF. Another USA chant from the crowd as a Southern US crowd has no issues going patriotic against the evil Japanese Empire or something. Madusa rallies as she drives Akira head first into the mat and gets a slam for a one count. That was a weird cover as something was screwed up with the count or the kick-out. Akira uses her shin to choke and then bends Madusa back first over her knee for another choke. Overhead suplex into a bridge gets a one count….kind off. Hokotu misses a clothesline as Madusa kind of gets a DDT from it. That looked ugly. Hokotu with a German Suplex for two. Madusa lands a kick and gets a sort of Tornado DDT as they are all over the place here. Powerbomb from Madusa gets a two count as the announcers harp on Nick Patrick. Madusa tries another powerbomb, but Hokotu just falls on top of her for two. Madusa with a German Suplex for two. Madusa heads up top and Hokotu meets her up there and brings her down with a superplex for two. Akira heads up top, but Madusa dropkicks her to the floor. Sonny in the ring and he hits Madusa with the US Flag she brough to the ring. Hokuto hits a missile dropkick and then a brainbuster for the win and Title at 7:07.

Winner and First Ever WCW Women’s Champion: Akira Hokuto via pin at 7:07
-They were working hard, but they just seemed to be on different pages at times. There were some ugly moments at times that killed this one. The finish deflated the crowd much like the opening match. I guess this is all payback for New Japan losing to WCW at Starrcade the previous year. *

-Diamond Dallas Page is chatting online with wcwwrestling.com.

-Mean Gene Oklerlund is backstage with Roddy Piper, who is a little fired up as he talks about other Icons like Dusty, Strangler Lewis, and Gorgeous George. “I’m the one who can call it a dress because I am tough enough to.” Piper was a ranting maniac here, but it had it’s charm.

Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

-Liger is coming off recovery from a brain tumor which is crazy to think about. Handshake to start as Tenay mentions this is the first meeting between these two. Liger works the arms to start, but Rey gets a mule kick to break. Liger to a side headlock, but Rey shoves off and gets mowed down with a shoulder. He pops up, but gets knocked down quickly with a dropkick. Vertical suplex from Liger as Tenay tells the story of Liger having surgery to remove the brain tumor in August, and four months later he is back in the ring. Liger tosses Rey straight in the air and lets him fall on his face. Effective! Powerbomb as Rey is getting dominated here. Chops from Liger and he tries to toss Rey in the air again, but this time Rey snaps off a head scissors on the way down. He sends Liger to the floor and does his fakeout move as Liger bailed. They fight on the apron and Liger gets a suplex to the floor as he releases Rey. Liger follows and hits a powerbomb on the floor. Rey sells it like death as he should. Rey is able to drag himself back in the ring, but Liger is there and sets him, up top. Rey shoves off and tries a dropkick, but Liger just swats him away. Tilt-a-whirl backbreaker from Liger and then an upside down surfboard which draws an “ohhh” from the crowd. Tony and Liger have a debate about whether Liger has added weight since the last time he was in WCW. That goes about as well you would expect but it makes me laugh. Rey lands a DDT and a springboard moonsault. Rey springs into the ring and gets caught with a nasty dropkick on the way down. That was sweet! German Suplex gets two, so Liger goes to a half crab. Dragon screw leg whip which has Dusty losing it with laughter. Koppo kick as the commentary team has lost it and unfortunately the crowd is kind of gone for this one as well. Rey avoids Liger who ends up on the floor and Rey connects with a springboard Moonsault to get the crowd back into this one. That was a thing of beauty! Back inside Rey gets a Guillotine Leg Drop for two as Liger got his foot on the bottom rope. Rey misses a springboard backsplash. Liger hits a diving headbutt from the top for two. Rey gets dumped on the apron and tries to head up, but Liger kicks him to the floor. Rey tries a springboard into a rana from the top, but Liger blocks and then finishes with The Liger Bomb at 14:17.

Winner: Jushin Thunder Liger via pin at 14:17
-A little disjointed here as this wasn’t the mind blowing show stealing classic everyone was anticipating. To be fair though Liger had brain surgery 4 months earlier, so the guy deserves a break. New Japan running over all the WCW stars is just death for this crowd though. Liger ended up winning The J Crown from Dragon a week later in The Tokyo Dome, but WCW decided their CW Title would not be on the line as was mentioned during the Malenko/Dragon match. ***1/2

No DQ Match: Chris Benoit (w/ Woman) vs. Jeff Jarrett

-Again, I can turn off my brain a bit when Benoit wrestles and focus on the match, but anytime he is with Nancy it is unsettling and all I can think of is what happened. Despite being in his hometown, Jarrett gets booed out of the building. He was just so out of place in this nWo era of WCW. Dusty talks about Jarrett having home field advantage because he was raised in this building. Jarrett offers a clean break in the corner, but Benoit is having none of that and shoves him down. He then kicks dirt on him as he is apparently in a cranky mood tonight. Case in point he slaps the taste out of Jarrett’s mouth after some chain wrestling on the mat. Kick to the gut from Benoit and he fires off some chops and gets a back elbow for a one count. Benoit with a drop toehold and he just unloads with punches to the back of the head. Jarrett rallies and gets cute by walking over Benoit’s back before hitting the strut. They exchange standing switches and Jarrett gets a monkey flip. To the corner where Benoit stomps a mud hole. Jarrett mans up and dives at Benoit to unload right hands. It’s a fight now! They brawl on the floor where Benoit gets the upper hand. Catapult sends Jarrett into the corner as that was a little awkward. Benoit preps for a superplex, but Jarrett shoves him off to block. Jarrett chokes on the middle rope, but Woman moves Benoit which results in Jarrett crotching himself. Jarrett gets dumped to the floor and then tossed into the security railing. Back first into it again, but Jarrett fights back and gets a stun gun on the railing. Good idea, but rough execution which the announce team cover with Jarrett having the bad back. Back inside the ring Benoit locks in a sleeper and then into a chinlock. He uses the ropes for leverage, but he’s not getting booed for that in this town. Jarrett fights back to his feet and is able to break with a belly to back suplex. Small package gets two for Jarrett. Benoit charges into a boot, but Jarrett gets caught coming off the middle rope with a boot to the face. Benoit gets a few covers as he seems to be getting frustrated. Chops in the corner and again, Jarrett fires up and throws some punches. He hits a sweet dropkick to the face for two. Overhead suplex from Jarrett as he is getting into this one. Benoit tries a suplex to the floor, but Jarrett gets a suplex and hangs Benoit on the top rope. Woman gets involved as she rakes Jarrett’s eyes. Arn Anderson is out and walks right by Benoit to continue to tease their issues as the story is Flair endorsed Jarrett as a horseman. Backdrop from Jarrett sends Benoit flying across the ring. They brawl on the floor and here is The Dungeon of Doom to try to kidnap Woman. She gets an impressive ball shot as she kicks Hugh Morrus in the vitals as Dusty calls it. Arn Anderson shows he is loyal to the real Horsemen as he drops Jarrett with a DDT on the floor. Meanwhile Kevin Sullivan smashes a wooden chair over Benoit’s head, but we don’t see it as the camera was focused on Arn/Jarrett. Arn rolls Jarrett into the ring and he happens to get an arm on Benoit for the pin at 13:49.

Winner: Jeff Jarrett via pin at 13:49
-Benoit always brings the intensity and Jarrett realized he needed to match that and it turned into a heck of a match. The ending was kind of screwy, but continued all the different stories. Good stuff here! ***3/4

-Gene Okerlund tries to interview Arn Anderson, but he walks off. Jarrett does the same as does Benoit and Woman. Mongo and Debra are out because they have no problem talking. Mongo tells us he has been a winner his whole life and Benoit is weak in the knees because of Woman. Jarrett was served up on a silver platter and he still lost. Debra is firmly on the side of Jarrett being a horseman and then tells us Woman has been rode hard as Gene takes the mic from here. These two are actually great at getting the crowds to hate them.

-They show the replay of Morrus getting kicked in the can which draws a groan from the crowd. We also get to see the wooden chair shot and it exploded over Benoit’s head. WCW loved their balsa wood chairs!

-Video package on Sting as we are only 3 months into his 15 month hiatus in the rafters. That’s crazy to think about as you would never get that long of a story in this day and age.

WCW World Tag Team Titles: The Outsiders (c) (w/ Syxx) vs. The Faces of Fear (w/ Jimmy Hart)

-Nick Patrick is the referee and Dusty is all over that. The announcers miss Nash giving Patrick a slap on the ass. Meng blitzes Hall to start because I mean, this is Meng we are talking about. Hall eats a clothesline and gets shoved in the corner. He lands a heavy chop as Hall is bouncing all over the ring for him. Hall gets a boot up in the corner and follows with a bulldog for two. Meng is angry as he just goes back to beating on Hall and makes the tag to Barbarian. Hall spits on him and then tags out to Nash. The crowd pops for Nash and a faint “Diesel” chant can be heard. Barbarian pounds away in the corner and then adds a choke. We get some clubbering on Nash which always makes me smile when Dusty says it. Nash rams their heads together and they no sell that to a big pop and drop him. Sidewalk slam from Barbarian gets a two count. Barbarian misses an elbow from the middle rope and Nash hits Snake Eyes. He uses the boot to choke in the corner and Hall gets in a clothesline from the apron. Tag to Hall and he punches away. Meng has had enough and drags Hall to his corner and it’s more clubbering. Hall gets blasted from behind by Meng, so Hall mans up and punches him in the face. He turns around and eats a big boot to the face, but he takes too long to cover as it only gets two. Meng in and he just plants Hall with a piledriver, but again wastes time before covering and Hall is out at two. Barbarian lands a headbutt and a powerbomb, but Nash is in to break the pin attempt. Meng back in and he hits an inverted atomic drop followed by another big boot from Barbarian. Patrick is right there though as the illegal man makes the cover which even Tony admits was a good call. Nash lands a cheap shot from the apron which lets Hall hit a clothesline. While both men are down, Syxx chases Jimmy Hart to the back. Barbarian goes to a nerve hold and Hall is basically dead as the announcers scream at Patrick for not checking. Hall fights up and breaks with a belly to back suplex. Hot tag to Nash and he and Barbarian just trade blows. Nash gets a big boot and Meng is in with an elbow drop to make the save. Everyone in now as things break loose. Hall and Meng end up on the floor as Barbarian misses a big boot. Nash sticks him with The Jackknife Powerbomb for the win at 11:53.

Winners and Still WCW Tag Team Champions: The Outsiders via pin at 11:53
-I enjoyed this match because I am a sucker for both teams. This was a HOSS fight and a different kind of match from The Outsiders. Hall took a beating and they survived this one. ***

-Hulk Hogan gives his rebuttal to Piper as he is joined by Vincent, Dibiase, and Elizabeth. She is great at rolling her eyes and looking disgusted by what Hogan is saying. Liz is wonderful and it sucks she is no longer with us.

WCW United States Championship: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Eddie Guerrero

-This is the finals of a tournament to crown a new US Champion after Flair had to vacate the title due to injury. These two also feuded over the summer and fall. Lockup to start as they jockey for position. DDP gets a headlock take down, but escapes and beats Page to a vertical base. Page bails to the floor to regroup before getting back inside for another go. Eddie throws some chops in the corner, but gets caught with a forearm. Eddie ducks another and hits a dropkick. They head to the floor and DDP gets sent into the railing. DDP goes to the eyes and sends Guerrero into the steps. The crowd starts a DDP chant which stuns Dusty. DDP was clearly on the rise here and it wasn’t much longer after this that he was turned face and his career really took off. Eddie works an armbar into an arm wringer which drops Page to his knees. Page tries to break by pulling the hair twice, but Eddie cheats to win and pulls Page down by the hair as well. Page to the floor and Eddie dives out on him. Eddie punches away in the corner, so DDP just walks forward and drops Eddie face first on the buckle. Flapjack from Page before he plays to the crowd. Page buries a knee in the back while hooking a chinlock. He releases the hold and connects with a nice vertical suplex. Page goes to the abdominal stretch and uses the ropes for added leverage which gets the fands involved in the match. Heenan is great as he says it is better to grab the bottom rope as you get more leverage pulling in vs the middle rope where you have to pull across. That’s why he is The Brain! Eddie gets a fluke sunset flip for a two count, but Page goes back to the abdominal stretch. Heenan then mentions Page needs to hook the leg which would make Gorilla proud. Eddie gets his own abdominal stretch, but again, as Heenan rightly points out, he isn’t tall enough for that move. Page comes back with a clothesline then a running shoulder in the corner. A second try and Eddie is out the way which lets Page crash into the ring post. Eddie fires back with punches and hits a Texas Uppercut (as called by The Dream). Snap suplex for Eddie gets two. Belly to back to suplex follows as Eddie heads up top. The Frogsplash misses, but it only gets to two for DDP. Gutwrench suplex gets two for DDP. Gutbuster next and then he heads up top, but gets crotched by Eddie. Inverted atomic drop into a small package gets two for Eddie. Now he is getting frustrated and nearly walks into a Diamond Cutter, but gets a backslide for two. Page drops Eddie with the helicopter powerbomb to wake the crowd. Another try, but Eddie avoids and hits a back elbow. Eddie hits the floor off the contact and while the ref checks on him, Hall and Syxx are out and Hall drops Page with a Razor’s Edge. The ref and Eddie never saw it, so Eddie heads up and the frogsplash gets him the US Title via pin at 15:25.

Winner and New US Champion: Eddie Guerrero
-Fine match here as DDP was vastly improving and Eddie is well, Eddie. The ending was a bit cheap with the nWo stuff, but it had a purpose and set in motion DDP’s rise up the card. For whatever reason the crowd really wasn’t into this one. **1/2

-Hall, Nash, and Syxx hit the ring again and Eddie fights them off for a bit before the numbers take over. They leave Eddie laying and Syxx walks off with The US Title.

The Giant vs Lex Luger

-Giant is nWo at this point and is fresh of winning World War 3 which makes him the #1 contender to Hogan’s World Title. I’m sure that won’t come back to bit him. The crowd is way behind Luger here as the nWo angle took him from cocky heel to the flag bearing babyface of WCW. Lockup to start as Giant powers Luger into the corner, but Luger is able to push him back step by step, so Giant just tosses him off. They stare each other down, so Giant pushes him across the ring again. Luger fires back with right hands in the corner as the crowd is losing it. The Giant keeps pushing away, but Luger keeps coming back with right hands. Giant comes out of the corner with a running clothesline. Elbow drop from The Giant and it’s amazing the reaction it gets as the crowd is still in awe of his size. The ring shifting as he bounces off the ropes is a wonderful touch. For whatever reason Giant always seemed bigger when he was in WCW than in the WWF and maybe because they presented and booked him like a giant. Giant goes to work on the back as he talks some trash. Giant chokes in the corner with his boot and fires Lex across the ring bouncing him off the buckles. Another one as Luger is just getting tossed around like a ragdoll. Giant stands on his chest and uses the ropes for more leverage as a massive Luger chant breaks out. Lex responds with a double axe and goes for a slam, but Giant falls back on him. He gets off the cover as he doesn’t want to finish this yet. Headbutt to the midsection followed by a draping leg over the middle rope. Giant sends him into the corner, but misses a splash. Luger kicks away, but charges into a big boot to the face. Heavy handed chops from the Giant and he tries a dropkick, but Luger bails out of the way. That is crazy impressive! Tony asks a good question about why a guy 7’4” needs to try a dropkick and Heenan finishes with the appropriate response: because he can. Again, why he is The Brain! Luger punches away and gets the Giant off his feet with a neckbreaker. Giant kicks out with ease causing Luger to land on the ref. Here comes the nWo as Luger slams The Giant. Nick Patrick is out and he keeps Luger from getting The Torture Rack with a well placed kick to the knee. Now, Sting is coming down through the crowd which has the crowd going crazy. Syxx hits the ring and decks Luger. Sting is in the ring and this crowd is losing it. Sting shoves Patrick away and then says something to Luger and Giant before dropping his bat in the middle of the ring before leaving. The crowd isn’t happy about that. Luger gets there first, but Giant steps on the bat to stop that noise. Luger gets in a low blow and then tees off with the bat to again pop the crowd. The ref is back from the dead to count the fall as the nWo suffers their first loss at 13:23.

Winner: Lex Luger via pin at 13:23
-Lots going on here as the match wasn’t great, but the heat was wonderful and they told a good story. The announcers rightly pointed out that there was no real backup sent to help Giant outside of Patrick and Syxx and The Giant seems to realize it. Luger was the perfect choice to get the first win over the nWo and the Sting involvement popped the crowd. This was fun! **1/2

Hollywood Hulk Hogan (w/ Vincent, Elizabeth, and Ted Dibiase) vs. Rowdy Roddy Piper

-This is non-title because Piper had nothing to do with WCW and really hasn’t done anything to deserve a title shot. I miss Michael Buffer doing ring introductions. This match just has big fight feel to it! Tony is disgusted at Hogan playing air guitar with the WCW Title. Wait until Kyle wins the AEW Tag Titles and we will see if his tune has changed. Piper gets a big time reaction as WCW struck gold with renewing this rivalry a decade after it reached it’s high point in the 80s. The crowd is jacked for this one, so Hogan bails to the floor to stall. Vincent and Liz leave the area, but Dibiase remains at ringside. Piper doesn’t fall for the mind games and just waits on Hogan. Lockup to start and Hogan easily powers him into the corner and slaps Piper. To the other corner and another slap as Hogan is trying to get Piper flustered. Hogan’s trash talk is great as the man went 1000 percent into this heel character. Piper unloads with right hands as the crowd just roars. Hogan bails to the floor, but not count as Piper puts Randy Anderson on the top rope and then invites Hogan back into the ring. Piper spits on Hogan as he gets back in the ring. Hogan gets in a kick to the gut and rakes the eyes, chest and back. He throws right hands and rams Piper into the top buckle. Running corner clothesline is ducked, so Piper hits his own clothesline. He casually pokes Hogan in the eye to a big pop followed by a clothesline. Hogan bails to the floor again to regroup with Dibiase. They have this crowd right in the palm of their hand. Piper controls back in the ring with a side headlock, but Hogan connects with a belly to back suplex. Piper maintains the hold through the impact though. Hogan continues to talk even as he is stuck in a side headlock. Hogan breaks with a shoulder to the ribs and he sends Piper to the floor. Hogan follows and goes to the eyes to repay Piper. They head back inside the ring where more punching and kicking from Hogan. A clothesline is ducked which lets Piper connect with one of his own. He throws a kick to the back of the head and Hogan again bails. This time Piper chases and sends Hogan into the railing a few times as they head back to the ring. Piper gets his belt and lashes into Hogan’s back. Heenan: “Take my belt if you want.” Again, I miss The Brain! Piper chokes with the belt and then hits a slam as she shows some power. Dibiase grabs Piper’s leg to distract him and let Hogan land a shot from behind. Now Piper gets sent into the steel railing and then into the ring steps. Double thrust to the throat as another huge “Piper” chant breaks out through the crowd. They fight in the front row as Piper gets tossed from one side of the railing to the other. Back inside the ring where Hogan finally targets the repaired hip. They zoom in on the scar as Hogan hooks an abdominal stretch and it’s amazing the heat it is drawing. Piper with a hiptoss to break. He grounds Hogan and punches away at first and then pulls Hogan’s hair from his head. Hogan goes to the eyes as they start trading right hands. Piper goes to the eyes and gets a vertical suplex in another nice display of power. Hogan gets his foot on the bottom rope to break the pin attempt. Piper misses a move, so Hogan tries for the leg drop, but that misses as well. Piper basically Hulks up as The Giant hits the ring. A fan rushes the ring as Hogan and Anderson deal with him. Piper avoids a chokeslam by biting Giant on the nose. He gets sent to the floor and Piper gets a sleeper on Hogan and the crowd is stunned when Anderson calls for the bell as Hogan is out at 15:37. The double take from Anderson when Hogan’s arm dropped for a third time was a wonderful touch.

Winner: Rowdy Roddy Piper via submission at 15:37
-If you are looking for an in ring classic, this is not it, but it didn’t need to be. This was a fight between two of the biggest stars of all time and they gave the fans exactly what they wanted. The heat was amazing and Piper getting the win was a legit shocking moment at the time. This delivered what it needed to. **

-The Outsiders are out, but Piper sticks and moves and gets out of dodge. The crowd starts another massive chant for Piper as The Giant looks pissed. Piper celebrates with his kids in the aisle as he takes his leave. Hogan chases after The Giant and the first cracks in the nWo show as Giant shoves Hogan. Hall and Nash get in his face as The Giant asks where they were when he needed them. Nash “don’t you touch me.” Hogan tells Giant he dropped the ball and the crowd is still on fire for all of this. Hogan continues to blame The Giant and makes sure everyone knows he still has the World Title. “Hogan Sucks” chant breaks out as Vincent heads down with The WCW World Title. Hogan spits in the camera lens as Tony signs off for everyone.

-Thanks for reading!

8.0
The final score: review Very Good
The 411
Like most WCW shows around this time and going forward there was a little bit of everything for every taste. They were hitting their stride with formulating PPVs as they realized let the CW fire the crowd up and throw in the midcard guys to put on great in ring work before getting to the star power of the nWo and their foes to close. This show had two very good to great matches and a bunch of good matches. The Woman's Title match was the only real miss, but I also know some aren't as fond of the Tag Title and Main Event as I am. Just a fun show to close out 1996 and continue WCW's run of dominance heading into 1997.
legend

article topics :

WCW Starrcade, Robert Leighty Jr.