WCW Starrcade '83: A Flare for the Gold
From Iwe
| Starrcade (1983) | ||
| Official poster used to advertise the event locally, featuring Ric Flair, Harley Race, Ricky Steamboat, and Roddy Piper | ||
| Promotion | National Wrestling Alliance Jim Crockett Promotions | |
| Date | November 24, 1983 | |
| City | Greensboro, North Carolina | |
| Venue | Greensboro Coliseum Complex | |
| Attendance | 15,447 | |
| Tagline(s) | A Flare Fo The Gold | |
| Starrcade chronology | ||
| ← Previous Fist | Next → 1984 | |
Starrcade (1983): A Flare for the Gold was the first annual Starrcade professional wrestling event, produced under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner by Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP). The event took place on November 24, 1983 at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in Greensboro, North Carolina and was broadcast on closed-circuit television around the Southern United States.[ note 1 ] Eight professional wrestling matches were featured.
The main event was a steel cage match where Ric Flair defeated Harley Race to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Their feud began after Race won the title from Flair in June. Race then offered a bounty to have Flair put out of professional wrestling. In August, prior to the event, Bob Orton Jr. and Dick Slater attacked Flair, appearing to inflict on him a career-ending injury. Flair announced his retirement, but returned shortly after. As a result of his victory in the match, Flair was acknowledged as a reputable champion, and their feud ended after the event. The event also included a match featuring Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood against Jack and Jerry Brisco for the NWA World Tag Team Championship and a Dog Collar match between Roddy Piper and Greg Valentine.
Contents |
Background
Starrcade was headlined by the feud between Ric Flair and Harley Race over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. In 1981, Flair won the title from Dusty Rhodes on September 17 in Kansas City, Kansas, where Rhodes and Flair were not major names. Flair felt that the match was poorly orchestrated due to the location, and because Rhodes was unhappy about losing the title. Initially, Flair was not well accepted as the champion by the promoters and fans in certain territories. On June 10, 1983, Race won the title from Flair, and began his seventh reign as the champion. The NWA wanted Race to win the title to set Flair up as long term champ at Starcade '83. Harley was reluctant, but agreed.
Their feud began, with Flair portrayed as the protagonist and Race as the antagonist, who was afraid to lose the title and employed unethical tactics to remain the champion. The storyline involved Race offering a $25,000 bounty to have Flair put out of professional wrestling to avoid losing the title. On August 31, Bob Orton Jr. and Dick Slater attacked Flair by performing an aided piledriver, dropping his head into the canvas. Flair was portrayed as suffering from a serious neck injury, and they collected the bounty from Race. Flair announced his retirement from professional wrestling, but returned on September 21 by attacking Orton and Slater with a baseball bat. The promoters planned for their feud to culminate at Starrcade after a long pursuit.
The match between the team of Jack and Jerry Brisco and the team of Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood stemmed from their feud which began earlier in the year. In the storyline, they were originally friends before the Briscos became antagonists by turning on Steamboat and Youngblood. The Briscos won the NWA World Tag Team Championship from Steamboat and Youngblood on June 18. The match between the team of Bob Orton Jr. and Dick Slater and the team of Mark Youngblood and Wahoo McDaniel was made for Youngblood and McDaniel to avenge Orton and Slater's attack on their friend Flair. The match between Greg Valentine and Roddy Piper was made to culminate their feud, which stemmed from their match on April 30. During which Valentine used the ring bell to attack Piper's left ear. Piper lost the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, and 75 percent of the hearing in the ear.
Charlie Brown faced The Great Kabuki in a Title vs. Mask match at Starrcade. In August, Jimmy Valiant was forced to leave JCP after losing a Loser Leaves Town match to Kabuki. Valiant returned under the name Charlie Brown and wore a mask to hide his identity. Kabuki speculated that Brown was Valiant, and was given the opportunity to expose Valiant in their Title vs. Mask match. In the match, Kabuki defended his NWA Television Championship, and Brown defended his mask. If Brown was revealed to be Valiant, he would be suspended by the NWA for one year. The match between Carlos Colon and Abdullah the Butcher was a continuation of their long feud in the World Wrestling Council promotion from the late 1970s. Other matches were not a result of a storyline.
Event
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentator | Bob Caudle |
| Gordon Solie | |
| Interviewer | Barbara Clary |
| Tony Schiavone | |
| Referee | Sonny Fargo |
| Stu Schwartz | |
| Tommy Young | |
| Angelo Mosca (Steamboat/Youngblood vs. Briscos) | |
| Gene Kiniski (Flair vs. Race) | |
| Ring announcer | Tom Miller |
Aftermath
Production and reception
Results
| No. | Results | Stipulation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Assassins (Assassin #1 and Assassin #2) (with Paul Jones) defeated Rufus R. Jones and Bugsy McGraw | Tag team match | |
| 2 | Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin (with Gary Heart) defeated Scott McGhee and Johnny Weaver | Tag team match | |
| 3 | Abdullah the Butcher defeated Carlos Colon | Singles match | |
| 4 | Bob Orton Jr. and Dick Slater defeated Mark Youngblood and Wahoo McDaniel | Tag team match | |
| 5 | Charlie Brown defeated Great Kabuki (c) (with Gary Hart) | Title vs. Mask match for the NWA Television Championship | |
| 6 | Roddy Piper defeated Greg Valentine | Dog Collar match | |
| 7 | Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood defeated The Brisco Brothers (Jack Brisco and Jerry Brisco) (c) | Tag team match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship with Angelo Mosca as special guest referee | |
| 8 | Ric Flair defeated Harley Race (c) | Steel Cage match for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship with Gene Kiniski as special guest referee | |
(c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
| |||
Notes
- 1. ^ In 2014, the IWE Network included the previous Starrcades (1983–1986), which had been transmitted via closed-circuit television, alongside the rest of the Starrcades in the pay-per-view section.
References
Further reading
External links
| World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view events | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All Events | WCW Bash at the Beach (1994–2000) • Battlebowl (1993) • Beach Blast (1992–1993) • Capital Combat (1990) • Chi-Town Rumble (1989) • Fall Brawl (1993–2000) • Greed (2001) • Halloween Havoc (1989–2000) • Hog Wild (1996) • Collision in Korea (1995) • Mayhem (1999–2000) • Millennium Final (2000) • New Blood Rising (2000) • Road Wild (1997–1999) • Sin (2001) • Slamboree (1993–2000) • Souled Out (1997–2000) • Spring Stampede (1994, 1997–2000) • Starrcade (1983–2000) • SuperBrawl (1991–2001) • The Great American Bash (1985–1992, 1995–2000) • Uncensored (1995–2000) • WCW/AAA When Worlds Collide (1994) • WCW/New Japan Supershow (1991–1993) • World War 3 (1995–1998) • WrestleWar (1989–1992) | |||
