Man Cave Flashback: NWA Starrcade 1983

Since this is the first wrestling event for the Flashback Journal, I’m obligated to tell you that I don’t do star ratings. A match is either enjoyable (for good or bad reasons) or boring to me.

Date: November 24, 1983
Location: Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina

We begin with The Assassins taking on Rufus R. Jones and Bugsy McGraw. What a great name Bugsy McGraw is.

Bugsy parades around a bit before they lock up. Headlock by Assassin #1, shoot by Bugsy, tackle by Assassin, hiptoss by Bugsy, they both miss elbow drops, slam by Bugsy, HE’S GOING AFTER THE MASK! Assassin #1 quickly rolls out of the ring. Bugsy is not happy. Assassin #1 is back in and Bugsy is still going after the mask. WINDMILL PUNCHING BY BUGSY! HE’S FIRED UP! Assassin #2 comes in but he doesn’t fare much better against Bugsy. Rufus tags in and does a lot of leg wiggles in the middle of his offense. HEADBUTTS TO THE ARM! Tags by both teams are made. So Bugsy hits Assassin #1 with an elbow. Rufus back in. I love the spot where Rufus dares Assassin #1 to hit him while he has the arm wrench, knowing that his hard head will absorb the blow. In fact, Assassin #1 hurt hits hand punching Rufus. More leg wiggles and headbutts to the arm. The Assassin’s turn the momentum with some eye rakes, but that doesn’t last long, as in it lasted a whole 5 seconds, as Rufus fires back and makes the “hot tag.” BUGSY RUNS WILD! He hits a backdrop on Assassin #1 but Assassin #2 sneaks up from behind and hits the ROLL UP! for the victory.

Well that was an odd little match. The faces got in all the offense but the heels won after the slowest sneak up ever. Nothing special, but I enjoyed the wackiness of Bugsy and Rufus.

We’re introduced to Bob Caudle and Gordon Solie for the first time. They put over Starrcade being a huge event and the main event between Flair and Race. We head to the back where an extremely young Tony Schavione is telling us that there will be locker room interviews between matches. Flair and Piper are having a chat as people pass through. Piper looks like he’s showing Flair some dance moves. As if Flair needs advice on dancing.

Johnny Weaver and Scott McGhee take on Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin next. Based on names alone, I don’t care about this match. Weaver and McGhee have cool windbreaker jackets. A lot of tagging in and out by both teams early. ROPE RUNNING CROSSING SPOT! More tagging. McGhee does a cool spot to get out of the arm wrench where he steps up and over the head of Lewin and basically leg drops the grip to escape. Sullivan and Lewin make a lot of quick tags and work over the arm of McGhee. The heels pull the ol “distract the ref as the face is making the tag” trick to perfection. The cameraman misses the hot tag to Weaver, who comes in and runs wild before he tries the running bulldog one too many times and is cut off. Lewin and Sullivan now work on the arm of Weaver and continue to tag in and out at a rapid pace. Sullvian holds the arm while Lewin comes off the top with a knee drop to the arm. The ref missed this as he was dealing with McGhee, who entered the ring to stop the double team. The arm wrench/knee drop combo is enough to give Sullivan and Lewin the victory.

After the match, Sullivan and Lewin continue to attack Weaver until McGhee makes the save. Gary Hart comes in the ring but eats a drop kick. He pulls out a spike and Lewin, who is Hart’s client, runs like he’s going to attack him, jumps on him in the corner, and then takes the spike. Well that was weird. McGhee gets busted open with the spike. Angelo Mosca tries to make the save but he gets spiked in the arm. The heels finally leave, the damage being done. McGhee is carried out by Mosca and Weaver.

Short and simple match but a nice post-match beatdown with the spike and blood.

Barbara Clary is interviewing fans. This can’t be good. The Estes family drove 180 miles to see the event. “Was it worth it?” she asks after just 2 short matches. “Yes Ma’am,” the father answers. Well at least he’s polite. They all think Ric Flair is going to win the main event.

Schiavone is with all the champions: Greg Valentine (US), The Briscos (Tag), and Harley Race (World). Race says that he’s been getting insight on Flair and that he knows Flair’s shortcomings and where he’s hurt.

Carlos Colon vs. Abdullah The Butcher. So far no one has gotten an actual entrance. This match was banned in Puerto Rico, so Colon came to the US for this match. I respect the man’s commitment to want to beat up Abdullah. Apparently the fans in Puerto Rico are allowed to watch, the match just isn’t allowed to take place there. They should’ve gone all out with the gimmick and said that this match is being blacked out. Given that it was 1983, how many fans would’ve known the truth? Abdullah dominates early with a lot of punching but Colon makes a comeback with some punching, takes the spike from Abdullah, and uses it against him. Abdullah is busted and Colon continues to spike him. I guess this match is no DQ, even though that wasn’t specified. Colon covers but Abdullah presses him off and onto the referee. Then Abdullah drops an elbow on ref as Colon moves. Colon works over the knee and locks on the figure four. Hugo Savinovich enters the ring and clubs Colon with a foreign object, allowing Abdullah to get the pin as the ref wakes up.

We already saw a spike used in the previous match and Colon using the figure four when this whole event was built around Flair challenging for the title seemed completely out place and unnecessary. It also would’ve been nice if someone mentioned that this was no disqualification or something. This match was better off being left off the show.

Tony Schiavone is backstage with Angelo Mosca, who is bandaged up after being spiked in the arm earlier. He’s supposed to be a referee later on. I guess he can’t slap the mat with his good arm. MOSCA IS PISSED OFF! He doesn’t like the way young Scott McGhee was busted open with the spike earlier. He doesn’t mention Colon busting up Abdullah though. They zoom out and we see McGhee sitting behind him, still a bloody mess. How has no one tended to this man yet? Schiavone asks Mosca about Flair vs. Race, he knows and thinks that Flair will win.

Barbara talks to some fans from Raleigh, South Carolina. I live in Raleigh, North Carolina. I didn’t know there was a Raleigh, South Carolina. So I used google. And come to find out, there is no Raleigh, South Carolina. She asks, “was it worth the drive?” Well it was either an hour and twenty minute drive or some infinite amount of time. They both think Flair will win. These segments are brutal.

ANOTHER TAG MATCH! This time it’s Chief Wahoo McDaniel and Mark Youngblood against Bob Orton Jr and Dick Slater. INDIANS VS. COWBOYS! The announcer tries to introduce a special guest, but his mic cuts out. DUSTY RHODES IS THE SPECIAL GUEST! Slater does the turnbuckle flip, lands on the apron, and doesn’t pay for it with a clothesline or decide to climb the top turnbuckle only to get thrown off. Youngblood outwrestles Slater early but nearly gets himself DQ’d when he pushes Slater over the top rope, which was illegal back then, after being tripped down. Slater landed seated on the apron and suffered no damage though, which probably hurt the heels case. Slater turns the tide by outwrestling Youngblood and tagging in Orton, who hits a cool partial military backbreaker followed by a casual toss of Youngblood. Orton misses the ensuing elbow though, allowing Youngblood to regain the momentum and causing Orton and Slater to regroup. ROPE RUNNING CROSSING SPOT! That leads to Orton hitting a side backbreaker and Slater finishing him with an elbow. Some good heel tactics by Orton and Slater, including throwing Youngblood out of the ring (through the ropes) so they can work on him outside and using a backbreaker on the railing. Orton hits a big boot, but instead of going for the leg drop, he hits a running stomp. Slater tries a piledriver, but Youngblood reverses and they bump heads, which leads to the hot tag. McDaniel runs wild on both guys before numbers catch up to him. Miscommunication by Orton and Slater leads to McDaniel regaining the advantage. Youngblood runs wild with dropkicks. Slater and McDaniel battle on the outside. Youngblood misses a dropkick. Orton hits a superplex and smoothly floats over for the pin. The ref counts three right as McDaniel tries to make the save. After a bit of a delay, the ref calls for the bell and declares Orton and Slater the winners.

McDaniel attacks the heels after the match, but he’s cut off. Orton holds the arm of McDaniel across the ring apron as Slater comes off the apron onto the arm. They switch and Orton comes off the top rope onto the arm.

Best match on the show so far and a show that’s been dominated by the heels, even in the post-match attacks. Solid psychology as well as they worked over the back of Youngblood during the heat and ended up winning with a superplex.

Schiavone is backstage with Ric Flair, Ricky Steamboat, and Jay Youngblood. Flair says they’re ready and wishes them luck. Youngblood stumbles through a promo so bad that Steamboat has to interrupt him to finish things.

Schiavone throws it to highlights of the first four matches. Instead we get Barbara with Dusty Rhodes. Much better option. Except of course that we get a bunch of audio problems and only hear a bunch of clapping. Rhodes is there to challenge the winner of the main event. I’m sure it was a great promo.

The next match is scheduled for 60 minutes. But in the first 15 minutes, the NWA TV Title of The Great Kabuki is on the line against the mask of Charlie Brown. Weird timing stipulation there, but ok. Charlie Brown has the most epic beard ever, long hair, and is basically wearing a ski mask. His name is also Charlie Brown. He’s my new favorite wrestler. Kabuki wants to unmask him because he thinks it’s Jimmy Valiant under the mask. Kabuki spits out green mist before the match. What a waste of perfectly good mist. They immediately brawl on the outside and Brown uses a chair. Then he crotches him on the post. I guess this match is no DQ as well. Brown locks on the sleeper and Kabuki drops to the mat. Kabuki gouges the eye to escape but once they end up back on the feet, Brown locks on the sleeper again. Kabuki goes down again and his manager Gary Hart puts his foot on the rope to break the hold. Kabuki uses some karate to get the advantage before locking on THE CLAW! Brown wiggles out and hits a couple of backdrops before running into a forearm. Kabuki climbs the ropes and drops down with…THE CLAW! It takes awhile, but Brown eventually gets to his feet and breaks the hold. He continues to sell the dizziness though, which I admire. Kaubi cuts off the comeback, goes back to the top, and comes down with…THE CLAW! Brown refuses to go out, so Kabuki just decides to break the hold and go back to the top rope. He hits a top rope chop for a two count. Kabuki tries to unmask Brown, but the ref won’t allow that. Kabuki lands some punches and I can’t tell if Brown is selling that he’s dizzy or if he’s firing up. HE’S FIRING UP! Kabuki misses a knee in the corner and Brown hits a running elbow drop for the victory.

It was the sleeper vs. the claw and in the end, an elbow drop won. Pretty dull match but the crowd loved them some Charlie Brown.

Solie and Caudle aren’t sure if the pinfall comes within the first 15-minutes, so they don’t know if Brown is the new TV champion or not. You’d think that would be a pretty important thing to keep track of. Instead of waiting for an announcement, they bring in Dude Walker, Braden’s uncle, to talk about Flair vs. Race. Who is Dude Walker you ask? Well he’s some radio personality from G 105, which still exists to this day and is what I’d listen to if I didn’t have an iPod hook up or SiruisXM in my car. He, like everyone else, predicts that Flair will win.

Solie and Caudle hype the rest of the card. Apparently Roddy Piper saved Solie’s life or something.

Schiavone is with Dick Slater, Bob Orton Jr, and Harley Race. Slater and Orton collected the bounty put on Flair by Race, but Flair managed to come back. I’d get my money back if I were Race. Orton and Slater are confident that Race will win. Slater was brutal here. Race says that he’ll be targeting Flair’s neck.

Barbara is back with Dusty Rhodes. Dusty mentions himself in the third person and challenges the winner. He picks Harley Race to win.

DOG COLLAR MATCH! GREG VALENTINE VS. RODDY PIPER! No DQ and no time limit. It feel like every match tonight is No DQ. Valentine’s US title is on the line according to Solie. Caudle talks about all the ways that the two men can use the chain and calls the match “the most dangerous match in professional wrestling.” They make a very big deal about Piper’s ear injury and say he shouldn’t even be back in the ring yet. Piper strikes first, using the chain to whip Valentine over the head. Valentine tries the same thing but Piper ducks. Now they just trade right hands until backing off. Piper gets the first big advantage with punches, chain shots, and our first chain crotch. Valentine cuts him off and lands some chain punches to the ear before wrapping the chain around the eyes and pulling back. That’s a pretty sweet use. Piper gets the advantage and wraps the chain around the open mouth and nose of Valentine while yanking. That’s an even sweeter use. Piper wraps Valentine around the corner and busts him open with some chain shots. Things spill outside, Piper throws a chain, and they end up on the apron with Piper clubbing away. For some reason the ref stops Piper from hitting Valentine and Valentine uses this strangeness to clothesline the ref and Piper with the chain. Valentine works over the ear now, including throwing Piper ear first into some upright chairs. Back in the ring, Valentine mounts Piper and drops down chain punches to the ear, which is now bleeding. Every time Piper tries to mount a comeback, Valentine pops him in the ear to halt the momentum. Piper finally makes a comeback, checks his bleeding ear, and then beats the hell out of Valentine with the chain. Valentine once again attacks the ear to regain the advantage. SUPLEX BATTLE! Piper wins the battle and lands the suplex. They both get up and Valentine locks on the sleeper. Piper refuses to go down and escapes by punching Valentine with the chain. Solie does an awesome job explaining why Valentine couldn’t lock on the sleeper all the way. Valentine goes to the second rope but gets yanked off and hit with the chain. Piper beats Valentine with the chain and then uses it to hook the legs for the victory. PIPER IS THE NEW US CHAMPION!

After the match, Valentine removes the dog collar and beats Piper with it. In the middle of this, Solie says that Valentine’s title wasn’t on the line. Well I guess I got excited for nothing. Valentine uses the chain to choke Piper. The ref tries to pull him off, but Valentine knocks him down a couple of times. Refs back then didn’t sell like refs today. Valentine finally leaves and after a minute, Piper is up and playing to the crowd. Weak sauce. Solie calls Piper, “A man and five yards wide.” I have no clue what this means.

Good back and forth match and some nice storytelling with Valentine constantly going after the ear of Piper, but the finish was pretty weak and out of nowhere. The post match attack was cool until Piper just got up like nothing happened, then it just seemed pointless.

Solie and Caudle throw it to Barbara. Instead we go to Schiavone with Ric Flair. Wahoo McDaniel is there with a bandaged arm. Flair puts over Harley Race and puts over his training partners. McDaniel says he’s betting all his money on Flair. He’s probably still owed that money.

Now we go to Barbara with Don Kernolde. He and Sgt. Slaughter are former tag champions. He wishes everyone luck and thinks Flair will win. This had no point.

Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood are the first wrestlers all night to walk out from the back and get into the ring. No music though. Even the Brisco’s, who are the tag team champions, were already in the right. Angelo Mosca is the special ref for the Brisco’s vs. Steamboat and Youngblood. So I guess he’s not injured too bad after being spiked in the arm earlier. Slow start as the Brisco’s work on the arm of Steamboat, who shows off his athleticism to escape the holds. Some good technical wrestling between the two teams as Steamboat and Youngblood work on the arm of Jerry. The Brisco’s cut off Steamboat and work him over with just good technical and simple wrestling. Jerry puts on a keylock but Steamboat shows off his strength, lifts him up, and drops him down before making the hot tag to Youngblood. Jack is in as well and he wins a suplex battle to quickly halt the momentum of Youngblood. The Brisco’s work over Youngblood but can’t put him away, which leads to Jerry complaining to Mosca about his slow count. They get into a shoving match, which allows Youngblood to tag in Steamboat, who runs wild. Steamboat and Youngblood make quick tags and use some good double teams moves on Jerry to keep the advantage. The end comes when Steamboat slams Jerry and then press slams Youngblood onto him for the 3 count. STEAMBOAT AND YOUNGBLOOD ARE THE NEW TAG CHAMPIONS!

Of course, no match would be complete tonight without some post-match shenanigans. The Brisco’s attack the faces and Mosca. They put Steamboat in the figure four and hit a running splash. Jack goes to the top to splash him but Mosca catches him and then proceeds to fall over. The faces finally run off the heels and Steamboat and Youngblood are awarded their belts. They get a nice celebration in the ring.

Solid match with both teams doing their part. Steamboat in particular stood out with his speed, strength, and athleticism. Mosca did his job as well, staying out of the way until the heels finally shoved him. I’m getting a little sick of the post-match attacks though.

CREDITS! No, seriously, they ran the credit now. Wouldn’t that be something if movies ran the credits right before the big climax? J.D. Dunn is a screenwriter and wrestling fan (and a great man who needs to start reviewing shows again), he should write this into a movie.

We got to Schiavone as Flair puts on his robe. CHARLIE BROWN COMES IN AND GIVES SCHIAVONE A KISS! HE WON THE TV TITLE FOR HIS PEOPLE! FOR JIMMY VALIANT! AND FOR CHARLIE BROWN! This man is so awesome. Piper comes in and we get a close up of his ear. He says that Valentine has one more ear to go and that he’s taking the US title. Now Steamboat and Youngblood are in. Youngblood cuts another horrendous promo. Steamboat once again does his best to salvage things.

Caudle and Solie preview the main event.

THE LIGHTS GO DOWN! ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA! PYRO! RIC FLAIR! Now this feels like a big time match. Flair enters the cage to a big reception and waits for Harley Race, who is boo’d the moment he appears. No music for Race. He takes his time before finally getting in the cage. The World Heavyweight Title is on the line. Gene Kiniski is the special ref. It’s a cage match. IT’S FLAIR VS. RACE!

Solie says that this fight will come down to “intensity and execution.” Sometimes though, if you’re too intense, you make a mistake, and your execution suffers. Flair gives us a “Wooo” before locking up. Race clubs Flair, who fires back with his patented knife edge chop. Kiniski is all over the place early, asserting himself or being out of position far too much. He’s like a sports ref who thinks fans paid to see him and not the players. Flair controls things early by using his speed and technical ability, but Race uses his strength and dirty tactics to take over. PILEDRIVER! Race targets the neck of Flair, which is what he said he’d do and is a smart move considering Bob Orton Jr and Dick Slater took out Flair with a neck injury. Unfortunately the announcers fail to mention this because they’re too focused on this “execution” and “intensity” narrative that they’ve created. First use of the cage as Race throws Flair through the ropes and into the mesh. Race really starting to use the cage now and Flair has been busted up. Kiniski changes the momentum by holding back both guys at separate points and allowing the other to take advantage. He’s really taking away from this match. Flair reverses an irish whip and sends Race head first into the post, busting him open. Flair woo’ing between his offensive moves. ANOTHER PILEDRIVER! Kiniski gets in Flair’s face and shoves him for throwing Race into the cage. GO AWAY GENE KINISKI! Race takes over and grates Flair’s face into the mesh, which Kiniski doesn’t like, so he begins pushing Race. Flair regains the advantage. MOUNTED PUNCHES! WOOO! FIGURE FOUR! Race battles and turns it over, but Flair immediately turns it back. Unfortunately he turns it into the ropes, so he has to break the hold. Race uses headbutts to get the advantage as they get back to their feet. Race hits a second rope headbutt for two. A suplex gets two. Race now targets the cut on Flair. He throws Flair into the cage and then steps on Flair’s head before Kiniski grabs him by the hair to pull him away. I hate Gene Kiniski. Solie praises him for how fair he’s been. Race secure a headlock and then headbutts Kiniski. YES! Flair gets the advantage and hits a cross body block from the top for the cover as Kiniski comes to. ONE! TWO! THREE! RIC FLAIR IS THE NEW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION!

The faces come out to celebrate with Flair as the crowd cheers. The announcers put over the effort of Race. Flair’s wife, it doesn’t really matter which one, enters the cage to celebrate with him. “You can just imagine the agony that she had to go through watching.” Nothing like the agony she went through being married to Flair.

Flair grabs the mic. He thanks the fans. And that’s it.

Take Kiniski out of this match and it would be so much better. He actually halted the action with all his rule enforcing and warnings. This was a blood feud and these two were trying to tell a story but Kiniski slowed them down the entire match. Flair and Race did a great job though, but the finish seemed a bit anticlimactic.

By the way, it’s nice to see a cage match that actually serves its purpose. All night we’ve see Flair and Race surrounded by their friends and we’ve heard about guys attacking Flair. Well, they put up a cage to keep all those guys out of the ring and to make sure it’s just Flair vs. Race. And it was. Nowadays they do a cage match just for the sake of doing a cage match and people interfere anyway.

Now we’re backstage with Schiavone and Flair. Now he thanks everyone for sticking with him when he was down and out. It sounds like people are playing racquetball in the background. Flair gets champagne poured on him. Dusty Rhodes comes in to congratulate Flair and to let him know that he’s coming.

Solie and Caudle talk about the main event, wonder if this is the last time that Race will wear the gold, and say that Flair will now face the toughest competition around the world.

Barbara is with Harley Race. She has a big smile on her face and then says, “Harley. I’m sorry.” This was hilarious for all the wrong reasons. Race says, “Flair this was your night of glory. The night that was arranged for you.” Sounds like Race thinks things may’ve been fixed. Race sounds that he’ll hound Flair until he gets the belt back. The audio here is pretty bad.

Back to Schiavone with Flair, Steamboat, and Youngblood. Haven’t we already talked to all three of these guys since their victories? They all put each other over and talk about winning gold. “Ricky Steamboat is gonna let me drink a beer because I’m out of training.” I guess Steamboat never cut him off.

Solie compares Starrcade 83 to the World Series and the Super Bowl. In wrestling context, he’s not wrong. They wrap things up.

The 411: A fine event capped off by Flair's memorable title win. I had a problem with certain things (too many post-match beatdowns, the announcers messing up or forgetting some important details, and Gene Kiniski) but the wrestling on this show was good and the big matches delivered, which is what you want from a major wrestling event.
Final Score:  8.0   [ Very Good ]