RKMBs Forums .::Robegories::. Sports and Wrestling Remembering Starrcade 1983-2000

"The Grandaddy of 'em all!" Starrcade is the first reoccurring supercard in wrestling history, predating WrestleMania by almost two years by premiering on November 24, 1983 in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The card was built around Ric Flair's quest to gain his second NWA World title from the multi-time champion Harley Race (who has 7 official world titles to his name and one unofficial) and was subtitled "A Flair for the Gold." I believe it was the first time the NWA World title was defended in a cage, although I could be wrong about that.

Undercard subplots that revolved around the main feud included Flair's friends Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood's quest to win the tag team titles from the Briscos and Roddy Piper's US title chain match with Greg Valentine as well as Wahoo McDaniel and Jay Youngblood's tag bout with Bob Orton, Jr. and "Dirty" Dick Slater.

these feuds at times crossed over with Flair's war with Race as the heel champion offered a bounty on Flair's head and various heels attempted to collect. the other faces quests for gold, glory, or to just to help watch Flair's back helped to underscore the importance of this event.

the list of names that took part in this inaugural Starrcade that would also take part in the inaugural WrestleMania is not long but it is significant. Mahon raided the top talent of all US promotions in building his empire and many top regional stars left for bigger bucks and fame. Flair remained one of the longest holdouts with Starrcade being built around him in the 80s in much the way WrestleMania was built around Hogan at the same time.

The Assassins defeated Rufus Jones & Bugsy McGraw by pinfall (one of the Assassins is Jody Hamilton, father of referee Nick Patrick and a trainer for both WCW and WWE)

Kevin Sullivan & Mark Lewin defeated Johnny Weaver & Scotty McGee

Abdullah the Butcher defeated Carlos Colon (father of WWE's Carlito) by pinfall (a violent, decades long rivalry that continues today)

"Dirty" Dick Slater & Bob Orton, Jr. defeated Wahoo McDaniel & Mark Youngblood by pinfall (Orton would go on to figure in the main event of the first WrestleMania and to father a douchebag)

Charlie Brown (Boogie Man Jimmy Valiant) defeated The Great Kabuki by pinfall to win the Mid-Atlantic TV Title (Kabuki is the storyline father of Muta, who would make his first Starrcade appearance in 1989)

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper defeated Greg "The Hammer" Valentine by pinfall in a dog collar match for the US title
(a brutal match that helped define this first Starrcade. Piper and Valentine would both be big parts of the first WrestleMania. no accident there.)

Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood defeated The Briscos to win the NWA World Tag Titles (guest referee was Angelo Mosca)

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair defeated Harley Race by pinfall in a cage match to win the NWA World Title (guest referee was Gene Kininski)
(a great match that still holds up today. just classic wrestling at it's finest. great performances from both men. Race's falling headbutt on Flair is a signature moment.)



"Let's do it again!"
Starrcade 84 November 22, 1984 again in Greensboro.

Starrcade 84 seems for the most part to be a forgotten event, despite the main event match Flair-Rhodes (with Joe Frazier as a special ref) being touted as "wrestling's first million dollar match." You can look at the lineup and tell that they were already being cherry picked by Vince and scrambling to fill slots, despite what looks to be at least two quality matches (the main event and Steamboat/Blanchard). Overall, not at the level of the first one.

Denny Brown defeated Mike Davis by pinfall to win the NWA Junior Heavyweight Title

Brian Adias defeated Mr. Ito by pinfall

Jesse Barr defeated Mike Graham by pinfall to retain the Florida Championship

Buzz Tyler & The Assassin defeated The Zambuie Express by pinfall

"The Ragin' Bull" Manny Fernandez defeated Black Bart

Ron Bass defeated "Dirty" Dick Slater by DQ to retain the Mid-Atlantic Title

Paul Jones defeated "Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant in a loser leaves town tuxedo match
(who had the brilliant idea to put those two in a tuxedo match? )

Ivan & Nikita Koloff defeated Ole Anderson & Keith Larson by pinfall
(who is Keith Larson and why did Ole not have a more familiar partner?)

Wahoo McDaniel defeated Nilly Graham by pinfall to retain the NWA U.S. Title
(I think that's supposed to be Billy Graham, but I'm not sure. )

Tully Blanchard defeated Ricky Steamboat by pinfall to retain the NWA TV Title
(looks like a good one)

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair defeated "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes in an NWA World TItle match when it was stopped by the ref for Rhodes' excessive bleeding (guest referee was Joe Frazier)
(Flair's second headlining Starrcade bout. Frazier would go on to appear at WrestleMania 2 in Mr. T's corner for his boxing match with Piper. Mr. T would make his Starrcade debut in 1994, ten years after this bout. also I think this bout is available on the Superstars of the 80s dvd.)

Starrcade 85 is one of the most remembered Starrcades due to the Flair/Rhodes rematch and the controversial ending. what's not remembered as much is that this event was held in two places, the familiar Greensboro, NC, and Atlanta, Ga. (Vince would try to up the ante a few months later by having WrestleMania 2 broadcast from three locations. neither worked terribly well, imo.) Again, much of the undercard seems weak, but you can start to see attempts at rebuilding as now they had an idea of what Vince was doing with all the talent he was taking. WrestleMania had been successful and riden a huge media campaign that surpassed anything seen in wrestling at that time. .

November 28, 1985 in Greensboro (third time) and Atlanta.

Dan Kernodle defeated Tommy Lane by pinfall

Denny Brown defeated Rocky King by pinfall to retain the NWA Junior Heavyweight Title

Krusher Khruschev (Demolition Smash, Repo Man, Blacktop Bully) defeated Sam Houston by pinfall to win the vacant Mid-Atlantic Title

Ron Bass defeated Black Bart by pinfall in a bullrope match

James J. Dillon defeated Ron Bass by pinfall in a bullrope match
(so Ron Bass wrestled two consecutive bullrope matches in one night?)

"The Nature Boy" Buddy Landel defeated Terry Taylor to win the National Title

Magnum T.A. defeated Tully Blanchard in an "I Quit" steel cage match by digging a broken chair leg into Tully's forehead to win the NWA U.S. Title
(this sounds like it was a pretty kickass match)

The Rock-N-Roll Express defeated Ivan & Nikita Koloff by pinfall to win the NWA World Tag Titles
(that's a classic NWA tag feud)

Thunderfoot defeated The Italian Stallion by pinfall

"Pistol" Pez Whatley defeated Mike Graham by pinfall

"The Ragin' Bull" Manny Fernandez defeated Abdullah the Butcher in a pole match
(how could Abdullah climb the pole? maybe if they put some ribs on top of it. . .)

"The Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant & Miss Atlanta Lively (that's Ronnie Garvin in drag ) defeated The Midnight Express (Eaton & Condrey) by pinfall in a street fight match

Billy Graham defeated The Barbarian by DQ in an arm wrestling match

Arn & Ole Anderson defeated Wahoo McDaniel & Billy Jack Haynes by pinfall
(double A's first Starrcade!)

"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes defeated "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair by DQ in an NWA World Title match
(this is the match on the Flair dvd with the hilarious "hard times" Dusty promo. another really good match most famous for the controversial ending with Dusty winning the title, but the belt being returned to Flair after the match, known as "the Dusty finish" in most circles.)

Starrcade 86, November 27, 1986 again in Greensboro & Atlanta.

in many interviews in the time, Vince would often refer to his competition as "regional promotions." nothing outlines this point of view like the production values on Starrcade 86 (known as The Skywalkers because of the heavily promoted scaffold match between the Road Warriors and the Midnight Express) that just scream 1980s and looked dated even just a few years later when I got to watch it on tape.

Tim Horner & Nelson Royal defeated Don & Rocky Kernodle by pinfall

Baron Von Raschke & Hector Guerrero defeated Shaska Whatley & The Barbarian by pinfall
(there's a couple of oddball tag teams)

Wahoo McDaniel defeated Rick Rude in an Indian strap match

"The Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant defeated Paul Jones by pinfall in a hair vs. hair match
(first it was tuxedoes, now it's hair!)

Tully Blanchard defeated "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes in a first blood match to win the NWA TV Title
(a classic feud. this match is included on the 4 Horsemen dvd.)

The Rock-N-Roll Express defated Arn & Ole Anderson by pinfall in a steel cage match to retain the NWA World Tag Titles
(great tag match. it's available on the steel cage dvd WWE put out, although I think most of those matches are heavily cut)

Jimmy Garvin and Brad Armstrong battled to a time limit draw

Krusher Khruschev & Ivan Koloff defeated Bobby Jaggers & "Dirty" Dutch Mantel by pinfall in a no DQ match to retain the NWA U.S. Tag Titles
(nothing says heel heat in the 80s like having Russians as the US champions. . .)

Sam Houston defeated "Superstar" Bill Dundee by pinfall to retain the Central States Title

Big Bubba Rogers defeated Ronnie Garvin by knockout in a Lousville Street Fight
(Ronnie Garvin broke the Bossman's law!)

The Road Warriors defeated The Midnight Express (Eaton & Condrey) in a scaffold match
(the most heavily hyped match on the card as the Roadies Starrcade debut and a classic taped interview overshadowed the main event. sadly, the match itself did not live up as scaffold matches are limiting by their nature. Jim Cornette suffered a perment knee injury when he landed poorly after dropping from the scaffold.)

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair defeated "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff by DQ to retain the NWA World Title
(A rare World title shot for Nikita, and a rare case of Flair being a face, almost by default. )

in 1987, Starrcade branched out, going up north to Chicago, Illinois. Dusty Rhodes mentions in his book that attempting to hold big cards in unfamiliar territories without first building a fanbase was one of many mistakes that took it's toll on Crockett Promotions, the company that ran the main NWA promotion at this time. another item that didn't help was that the WWF (at that time) had introduced their own November event on ppv, the Survivor Series this year.

however, the card was bolsted by the recent acquisition of Bill Watt's UWF/Mid-South promotion. sadly, most UWF stars would be jobbed out to existing NWA wrestlers in much the same fashion that several WCW and ECW wrestlers would be jobbed out to WWE stars many years later. history repeats or karma gone horribly wrong? you decide.

Sting, Michael P.S. Hayes & Jimmy Garvin battled "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, Rick Steiner & Larry Zbysko to a time limit draw
(it's still hard for me to conceive of Sting teaming with the Freebirds. this is early in his face turn as he had a heated feud with his former partners, Gilbert and Steiner. )

"Dr. Death" Steve Williams defeated Barry Windham to retain the UWF Title
(looks like a good, solid match. I'd like to see this one.)

The Rock-N-Roll Express defeated The Midnight Express (Lane & Eaton) in a scaffold match
(another Starrcade scaffold match for Eaton as the new version of the Midnights reignites the Express rivalry)

Nikita Koloff (NWA TV Champ) defeated Terry Taylor (UWF TV Champ) by pinfall to unify the TV Titles
(Taylor not faring too well in Starrcades so far.)

Arn Anderson & Tully Blanchard defeated The Road Warriors by DQ to retain the NWA World Tag Titles
(damn good match. available on the Road Warriors dvd.)

"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes defeated "The Total Package" Lex Luger by pinfall following a DDT on a chair in a steel cage match to win the NWA U.S. Title
(looks like a decent matchup. the finish alone is a precursor to one of today's most popular hardcore maneuvers.
EDIT: I just watched this on the Dusty Rhodes dvd and it is an excellent match! there's a great sequence where Luger is pounding on Rhodes in the corner and Dusty starts to comeback. He flips Luger the double bird and screams "Fuck you!" Steve Austin owes a lot to Dusty Rhodes. . .)

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair defeated Ronnie Garvin by submission with the figure-4 in a cage match to win the NWA World Title
(this was the finish to Garvin's disappointing reign. now before Roy Batty skewers me, let me explain. Garvin, after winning the title from Flair, took several months off of wrestling to train for the rematch at Starrcade and it showed in this match. I can only conclude that the promoters did not have confidence in Garvin's drawing power outside of the rematch with Flair in allowing this. in that case, I've often wondered why they didn't give Barry Windham the chance? he was young, popular, and could wrestle! he could've easily held people's attention until Starrcade. maybe he was too popular? either way, the poor decisions made at this time hurt the NWA pretty badly.)

Starrcade 88
December 26, 1988 in Norfolk, Virginia

Starrcade moves to it's more familiar month, as WWF and NWA began alternating ppv months (a policy that worked pretty well, I think.) and returns to more familiar NWA territory. the booking was picking up in many ways as they attempted to compete with Vince.

but ego clashes would still take their toll. many stars from both promotions were jumping ship. Arn & Tully competed at the second annual Survivor Series just the month before, a huge coup. and fellow Horseman Barry Windham, plus JJ Dillon, and Dusty would all be working for Vince in just a few more months. this was a big deal, comparable the jumping ship during the Monday Night Wars, although slightly less heated (on camera, anyway).

The Varsity Club (Williams & Sullivan) defeated The Fantastics by pinfall to win the NWA U.S. Tag Titles

The Midnight Express defeated The Original Midnight Express by pinfall
(a great feud, with great mouthpieces managing both teams, Cornette for Lane/Eaton, and Heyman for Rose/Condrey. both Cornette and Heyman would be at odds philosophicaly for their careers, despite their many similarities.)

The Russian Assassins defeated The Junkyard Dog & Ivan Koloff by pinfall
(JYD appeared on both WrestleMania and Starrcade this year!)

"The Dogfaced Gremlin" Rick Steiner defeated "Captain" Mike Rotunda by pinfall to win the NWA TV Title
(Rick and Scott are the only brothers to hold the TV title, as well as the US title)

Barry Windham defeated Bam Bam Bigelow by countout to retain the NWA U.S. Title
(another solid match, although the ending was questionable. Bam Bam was fresh off his WWF run, and still hot. perhaps they wanted to send a message up north. )

"The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes & Sting defeated The Road Warriors by DQ in a World Tag Title match
(this was a hot feud, although the Roadies many times got more cheers than the faces! thus, you get the disappointing ending to preserve all egos.
EDIT: this match also on the Dusty Rhodes dvd. it is pretty good, but like I said the ending is poor and the match doesn't get the finish it deserves. )

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair defeated "The Total Package" Lex Luger by pinfall to retain the NWA World Title
(I think this match was actually stopped due to bleeding on Luger's part. an inconsistent ruling during this period. or is this the one where his knee gave out? this would be the start of Luger's World title "curse" that would last until 1991, although he never won the title from Flair. . .)

Nice review. Where are you getting this from, old tapes or something?

About the Flair/Garvin title change, I thought I read somewhere many years ago, that the NWA wanted Flair to win the title at Starrcade, so they put the belt on a temporary champion who could take the fall at the event. The NWA thought Garvin would make a good transitional champion...

I also think Flair pinned Garvin, after throwing him head first into the cage, using a "hot shot" type move...

Starrcade 89-Night of the Iron Men!
December 13, 1989 in Atlanta, GA

My first Starrcade as the ppv broke with standard format two present two tournaments: The Iron Man tournament and The Iron Team tournament. The Iron Man tourney featured Flair, Sting, Luger, and Muta and The Iron Team tourney featured the Road Warriors, the Steiners, Doom, and the Samoan Swat Team (Samoan Savage & Fatu aka Rikishi managed by Paul Heyman). these were not single elimination tourneys, but point based systems with the wrestlers garnering the most points winning the tourneys. an experiment that worked well in some instances (setting up future storylines ala Sting/Flair or the repacking of Doom), and not as well in others (pretty being the end of the runs for Muta and the SST). but pretty solid in spite of it's flaws. one of the better Starrcades imo.

The Steiners defeated Doom by countout
(Doom was considered a failure at this point as their motivations had been to take out the Steiners and win the tag belts. after unmasking and receiving a new manager in Teddy Long, they would experience a rebirth and go on a long reign as champions.)

"The Total Package" Lex Luger defeated Sting by pinfall
(Luger was a heel here and had set up a heated feud with Sting and Flair at the Clash of Champions the month prior)

The Road Warriors defeated Doom by pinfall
(continuing Doom's descent)

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair defeated The Great Muta by pinfall
(great match. but Muta lost all his tourney matches, sadly)

The Steiners defeated The Road Warriors by pinfall
(two face teams and the top two teams in the company, and the still fresh Steiners shocked the wrestling world with this clean win over the Roadies! but we wouldn't get a rematch until time and injuries had slowed both teams down)

Sting defeated The Great Muta by pinfall
(thus ending the several months long Sting/Muta feud that began in the spring/summer)

Fatu & The Somoan Savage defeated Doom by pinfall
(finishing Doom's fall from grace here)

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair and "The Total Package" Lex Luger battled to a draw
(a rare face Flair vs. heel Luger encounter!)

Fatu & The Somoan Savage defeated The Steiners by DQ
(The Samoans only win here. they would be gone in a few more months)

"The Total Package" Lex Luger defeated The Great Muta by DQ
(pretty much near the end of Muta's first NWA/WCW run, although he would be at next year's Starrcade and make up for this abysmal showing)

The Road Warriors defeated Fatu & The Somoan Savage by pinfall to win the Iron Man Tournament
(The Roadies saved face by winning the tourney, but the loss to the Steiners nagged them and fans. but alas, no followup at this time. in the next year, they would jump to the WWF and become the first and only team to hold the NWA, AWA, and WWF tag titles)

Sting defeated "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair by pinfall to win the Iron Man Tournament
(Sting's first win over Flair! setting up Sting being kicked out of the Horsemen and the classic feud that followed! A great out on the ppv, setting up the question would Flair grant Sting a title shot?)

Starrcade 90
December 16, 1990 in St. Louis, Missouri

I remember watching this live on ppv. this is the infamous reveal to the Black Scorpion mystery that had dragged on for months. they also had a tag team tournament showcasing teams from different countries. of course, the american team (the Steiners) won. the tourney was named after Pat O'Connor.

booking had gone severely downhill here and the spate of talent defections hadn't helped either. many NWA stalwarts were gone at this time, and the longtime champion, the man Starrcade was formed around, would soon jump ship as well. this event was one of many reasons why.

"Beautiful" Bobby Eaton defeated The Z-Man by pinfall
(pretty forgettable match. these guys and Arn were in a revolving feud for the TV title around this time period, but it was pretty boring)

International Tag Team Tournament - Round 1
The Steiners (U.S.A.) defeated Sgt. Krueger & Colonel DeKlerk (Africa) by pinfall
(essentially a squash.)

Konnan & Rey Misterio, Sr. (Mexico) defeated Chris Adams & Norman Smiley (Smiley! I'd forgotten about this!) (England) by pinfall
(first Starrcade for Konnan and Smiley. Adam's prize student, Steve Austin would make his WCW debut in a few months)

The Great Muta & Mr. Saito (Japan) defeated The New Zealand Militia (New Zealand) by pinfall
(Muta's return. a squash. Saito would return as part of the New Japan Contingent in the mid 90s)

Victor Zangiev & Salman Hashimikov (USSR) beat Danny Johnson & Troy Montour (Canada) by pinfall
(forgettable match. would've been better served happening before the ppv)

Michael Wallstreet defeated Terry Taylor by pinfall
(one of Wallstreet's last appearances before going to work for the government (hah!). Taylor would soon appropriate Wallstreet's manager and her laptop computer (alexandra york aka terri runnels)

The Skyscrapers (Spivey & Vicious) defeated The Big Cat (Mr. Hughes) & The Motor City Madman by pinfall
(this was a one off Skyscrapers reunion and a finish to the heel vs. heel feud involving Sid and Cat/Madman. it was a major squash and the Scrapers got a huge pop!)

Ricky Morton & Tommy Rich defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Hayes & Garvin) by pinfall
(Rich basically filling in for Robert Gibson here. later Rich and Morton would join Taylor in the York Foundation)

International Tag Team Tournament - Round 2
The Steiners (U.S.A.) defeated Konnan & Rey Misterio, Sr. (Mexico) by pinfall
(good match. Konnan was actually doing wrestling moves at this time)

The Great Muta & Mr. Saito (Japan) defeated Victor Zangiev & Salman Hashimikov (USSR) by pinfall
(at this point it was obvious that the Steiners would be facing Muta & Saito in the finals. the announcers had been attempting to paint Muta & Saito as a japanese version of the Steiners despite the obvious differences)

"The Total Package" Lex Luger defeated Stan "The Lariat" Hansen by pinfall in a bullrope match to win the NWA U.S. Title
(the end of the mostly forgettable Luger/Hansen feud)

Doom battled "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson & Barry Windham to a no contest in a street fight for the NWA World Tag Titles when Reed pinned Anderson & Windham pinned Simmons at the same time
(good matchup. the Horsemen/Doom feud was a great heel vs. heel feud, despite the bizarre ending here. sadly, this was the finish to the feud and there was no resolution.)

International Tag Team Tournament - Finals
The Steiners (U.S.A.) defeated The Great Muta & Mr. Saito (Japan) by pinfall to win the tournament
(another good match.)

Sting defeated The Black Scorpion by pinfall in a steel cage match to retain the NWA World Title (Black Scorpion was Ric Flair & guest referee was Dick the Bruiser)
(this was not, however, a good match mainly due to the booking. Scorpion/Flair came to the ring in a ufo (i'm not kidding!).

although I did like the sequence where after Flair was unmasked the Horsemen and the fake Scorpions all stormed the ring (to no avail, as Sting and Bruiser fought them off). I didn't mind Flair being revealed as the Scorpion, as I thought it worked with distracting Sting with mindgames to get his title back, but it was executed really poorly. Flair would win the belt back in a house show with little fanfare the next month. but this would be his last Starrcade for a couple of years as disagreements would send him to the WWF. A poor finish at Starrcade, considering it was built around him in the first place.

I see. Any comments on the classic Denny Brown World Jr. Heavyweight title matches?

Starrcade 91
December 29, 1991 in Norfolk, Virginia

For the first time in the history of Starrcade, Ric Flair would not be in the main event defending or challenging for the World title. The World title, in fact, would not be defended at all on this night, as WCW would unveil their newest gimmick concept in an attempt to compete with such gimmick-centrick ppvs as Survivor Series and Royal Rumble.

The Lethal Lottery and BattleBowl concept would team wrestlers with other wrestlers who were not their standard partners for a series of tag team matches. The winning tag teams would then advance to the main event battle royal, fighting until there was only one man left. The inaugural BattleBowl winner was Sting, and the win was used to push Sting in the challenge against his sometime friend/sometime foe, the WCW World Champion (but not NWA, which is another story for another time) Lex Luger.

While the BattleBowl concept didn't exactly set the wrestling world on fire, it was successful enough for WCW to repeat the event at the following Starrcade, and eventually graduated to it's own ppv, during the expansion period of the mid 90s.

Lethal Lottery Tag Matches
Jimmy "Jam" Garvin & Marcus Alexander Bagwell defeated Michael P.S. Hayes & Tracey Smothers by pinfall
(interesting for longtime partners Garvin & Hayes facing each other. Hayes also had to team with Smothers, who the Freebirds had feuded with for several months in 90 and 91.)

"Stunning" Steve Austin & "Ravishing" Rick Rude defeated Van Hammer & Big Josh by pinfall
(Austin & Rude were partners in the Dangerous Alliance faction. Van Hammer later returned as part of Raven's Flock, and then the Misfits In Action. Big Josh is better known as Matt Borne and was the first Doink the Clown.)

"The Natural" Dustin Rhodes & Richard Morton defeated Larry Zbysko & El Gigante by pinfall when El Gigante turned on Larry and cost them the match
(Rhodes & Morton were feuding, as Morton was part of the York Foundation. Alexandra York would later marry and then divorce Dustin.)

Bill Kazmeier & Jushin "Thunder" Liger defeated Diamond Dallas Page & Mike Graham by pinfall
(such odd teams. heh. but that was the point.)

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat & Todd Champion defeated Cactus Jack & Buddy Lee Parker by pinfall when Cactus had attacked Parker and left him to be pinned
(oh no! another team turns on each other! such is the danger and peril of the Lethal Lottery! heh)

"The Enforcer" Arn Anderson & "The Total Package" Lex Luger defeated Terrence Taylor & The Z-Man by pinfall
(Anderson and Luger had not teamed since Luger left the Horsemen in 87 or so. Taylor and Zenk had fought for the TV title earlier that year, I think.)

Abdullah the Butcher & Sting defeated Flyin' Brian Pillman & "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton by pinfall
(Abdullah & Sting were feuding. interesting combo. Pillman & Eaton could've made a serious run as a team.)

Big Van Vader & Mr. Hughes defeated The Night Stalker & Rick Steiner by pinfall
(Vader & Hughes were both managed by Harley Race, although Vader was still part-timing in WCW at this point. Night Stalker was Bryan Clark, who was also known as Adam Bomb, Wrath, and one half of Kronik.)

Scott Steiner & Firebreaker Chip defeated Johnny B. Badd & Arachniman by pinfall
(wow. poor Scott Steiner. I think I found the first basis for his eventual transformation into BPP right here.)

Ron Simmons & Thomas Rich defeated "The Rapmaster" P.N. News & Steve Armstrong by pinfall
(oh, jeez. just when you think it can't get worse. PN News. . .)

Battle Bowl Battle Royal won by Sting
included all tag match winners - Jimmy Garvin, Marcus Alexander Bagwell, Steve Austin, Rick Rude, Dustin Rhodes, Richard Morton, Bill Kazmeier, Jushin Liger, Ricky Steamboat, Todd Champion, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, Abdullah the Butcher, Sting, Big Van Vader, Mr. Hughes, Scott Steiner, Firebreaker Chip, Ron Simmons, Thomas Rich
(interesting mix of people in the final battle. )


Starrcade 92
December 28, 1992 in Atlanta, Georgia

For the second straight year, Starrcade would feature the Lethal Lottery and Battle Bowl. However, this year there would be less LL tag matches on the ppv, and title defenses would return to Starrcade. Both the WCW and NWA World titles would be defended on this card. The WCW and NWA had somewhat repaired their relationship, but things would not last for too long.

Lethal Lottery Tag Matches
"Dangerous" Danny Spivey & Van Hammer defeated Cactus Jack & Johnny B. Badd by pinfall
(Later in the WWF, Mankind would take it out on "Wildman" Marc Mero by stalking his wife. . .)

"The Natural" Dustin Rhodes & Big Van Vader defeated Kensuke Sasaki & The Barbarian by pinfall
(I can't remember if Dustin & Vader had feuded or not. could've been interesting. can't recall if they feuded in WWF or not either.)

The Great Muta & Barry Windham defeated Flyin' Brian Pillman & Too Cold Scorpio by pinfall
(Muta & Windham would go on to have a great NWA title match at Superbrawl 3 a few months later. Pillman & Windham were currently teaming and would lead to the Hollywood Blonds team)

"Dr. Death" Steve Williams & Sting defeated Erik Watts & Jushin "Thunder" Liger by pinfall
(Doctor Death! Doctor Death! Bill Watts was still booking. . .)

Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat & Shane Douglas defeated defeated Flyin' Brian Pillman & Barry Windham by pinfall to retain the NWA and WCW World Tag Titles
(some decent tag matches going on around this time, but no real teams sticking together for any period. nothing really catching on until the Blonds got their run later.)

Sting defeated Big Van Vader by pinfall in the finals of the King of Cable Tournament
(The King of Cable was a heavily promoted single elimination tournament that went on for months. This was the final match. Sting won and the tournament was never mentioned again. I think he has free cable for life or something.)

Ron Simmons defeated "Dr. Death" Steve Williams by DQ to retain the WCW World Title
(Yep. Bill Watts definitely still doing the booking. )

Masa Chono defeated The Great Muta by submission to retain the NWA World Title
(Chono and Muta always worked well together. kinda like the japanese versions of Flair and Steamboat. or Hart and Michaels. or whatever works for ya.)

Battle Bowl Battle Royal won by The Great Muta
included all tag match winners - Danny Spivey, Van Hammer, Dustin Rhodes, Big Van Vader, The Great Muta, Barry Windham, Steve Williams, Sting
(Muta won the Battle Bowl and remained in contention for the NWA World title, which he would win a few months later. Not much else really came out of this particular Starrcade as Watts would soon be gone and the booking would jump around again for a bit. Stability was still a ways off, although there were some good things happening during this period You just wouldn't know it from this particular card.)

Starrcade 93
December 27, 1993 in Charlotte, North Carolina

Starrcade 93 could've been called "The Prodigal" as in many ways it was a return to form. A decade after it's birth, Ric Flair was back and in the main event challenging for the WCW World Title (which would never be affiliated with the NWA World Title again). Although it almost didn't happen. Originally scheduled to challenge Big Van Vader for the title was Sid Vicious, Vader's recent tag team partner. But on a European tour, Sid got into a drunken brawl with Arn Anderson which culminated in Sid stabbing Arn with a pair of scissors in Arn's hotel room. Needless to say, Sid was released from WCW, and Flair was slotted in as his replacement. This could have and should have been a great ppv. but many questionable booking decisions once again kept it from getting there. It's a good ppv, but not a great one. Especially considering the historic importance of the main event in relation to Starrcade. I'll go into more detail about Flair/Vader later.

Pretty Wonderful defeated Too Cold Scorpio & Marcus Alexander Bagwell by pinfall
(two good teams that worked well together. Orndorff & Roma were hated and played off of the crowd well. Scorpio & Bagwell were opposites that complemented each other well.)

The Shockmaster defeated King Kong by pinfall
(oh, man. The Shockmaster. next, please. . .)

"Lord" Steven Regal and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat battled to a time limit draw in a WCW TV Title match
(some good bouts from these two, although it never went anywhere. there was no pay off. the TV title seemed made for Regal as he used the time limit stipulations of the title well)

Cactus Jack & MaXX Payne defeated Tex Slazinger & Shanghai Pierce by pinfall
(or Mankind & Man Mountain Rock defeated The Godwinns. your choice)

"Ravishing" Rick Rude defeated The Boss by pinfall to retain the WCW International World Title
(the BIG GOLD BELT formerly used to represent the NWA title, and later used for the WCW title and even later for the WWE World Title. match was ok, but it seemed like the two never really clicked.)

"Stunning" Steve Austin defeated "The Natural" Dustin Rhodes 2 falls (one by DQ and one by pinfall) to none to win the WCW U.S. Title
(Austin & Rhodes, however, were running on all cylinders. very good performances from both men here.)

Road Warrior Hawk & Sting defeated The Nasty Boys by DQ in a WCW World Tag Title match
(Could've been a great one. I was hoping for Sting & Hawk to tag team for a bit, but they never really gelled. Ending was disappointing. )

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair defeated Vader by pinfall with a rollup from behind to win the WCW World Title
(The storyline and buildup for this match was great. You couldn't have planned it any better. Ten years later, Ric Flair returns to face the protege of the man he defeated in the main event of the original Starrcade. And Flair put his career on the line. This was treated very seriously as Vader was played as a career ending monster, although I doubt anyone actually expected Flair to lose.

The match itself was good, very good. But not as good as it could've been. This could have and should have been a great match, up there with the all time best. But for some reason it wasn't. Maybe Flair and Vader just never clicked. I don't know.

Personally, I don't think the match was booked as brutally as it should have been. Vader didn't seem like the monster he had been in 92 and early 93. He should've dominated Flair, beating the holy hell out of him for most of the match, with Flair attempting to comeback for most of the match. It should've been violent as hell. But really wasn't. Maybe it was due to Turner's family friendly policies. Maybe it was the arm injury Vader suffered a few weeks before in a shootfight in Japan's UWFI. I don't know.

All I do know is what should have been an all time great matchup, was merely a good one. Personally, I trace Vader's downhill slide to this match here as he never really seemed to be the same afterwards.

Up next: The worst Starrcade EVAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that's right, Bobo.

Good lord!

Edits for Rhodes/Luger 87 and Rhodes/Sting/Road Warriors 88. yeah, I'm finally startin to catch up on the Dusty dvd.

all right, I put this one off for long enough. here it is. by late 1994, WCW had undergone an almost complete overhaul. The Flair/Steamboat feud that had reignited earlier in the year felt like a distant memory as Steamboat had retired due to a back injury, and Flair was out with a retirement angle following a loss to Hogan in a pretty decent match at Halloween Havoc.

earlier in the year it felt like things might be getting back on track for old school NWA/WCW fans. but an influx of former WWF talent, spearheaded by the signing of Hogan, quickly began to prove otherwise. WCW at this time really was WWF lite! it was just the start of many wrestlers from each promotion switching sides. many old school fans began to be turned off and Hogan, despite much fanfare, wasn't bringing up the ratings like those in power hoped.

Ironically, these real life events would eventually lead to the angle that would bring things up just a few short years later. this particular Starrcade however, is just awful. it's one of the worst WCW ppvs ever, right up there with the first Uncensored. the booking was bad. the matches were worse.

I believe Randy Savage made his WCW ppv debut here, though. . .

Starrcade 94
December 27, 1994 in Nashville, Tennessee
Vader defeated "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan by pinfall to win the WCW U.S. Title
(terrible booking here. Vader should've annihilated Duggan here. Vader's downslide continued. . .)

Alex Wright defeated Jean Paul Levesque by pinfall
(this was Levesque's last WCW appearance. a few months later he would be doing the exact same act in WWF, only with a new name.)

Johnny B. Badd defeated "The Enforcer" Arn Anderson by pinfall to retain the WCW TV Title
(better than the Badd/Honkytonk Man feud that preceded it. also better than the Uncensored match they would have a few months later. iirc, Arn was replacing HTM who got fired by Bischoff. Badd was just starting to really learn how to work. in 95, he'd have a really good feud with DDP before jumping ship.)

The Nasty Boys defeated Harlem Heat by DQ
(just a so-so match. Harlem Heat was just getting their stuff together with the addition of Sherri as their manager. early on in a good run with a feud against the Nastys. about the only good thing to say here.)

Mr. T defeated Kevin Sullivan by pinfall
(as promised, Mr. T's Starrcade debut. I hate shit like this. Gobawful. This was actually promoted as part of the Triple Main Event. )

Sting defeated The Avalanche by DQ
(less said the better. but it lead into the fairly decent Sting/Big Bubba feud.)

Hulk Hogan defeated The Butcher (Ed Leslie) by pinfall to retain the WCW World Title
(awful. horrible. there is no way in hell this should've been a Starrcade main event, let alone for the title. Hogan's creative control was out of control from the start.)

Afterwards, Vader crashed Hogan's victory party and challenged him to a title match. beginning the complete and total destruction of Vader's character that started one year before.

is it over? hang on, something's happening. . .



ohhh, much better.

After several months of nonsensical booking and attempting to find the right formula, WCW finally began to get on track with this year's Starrcade. Nitro had debuted, and the company had entered into working agreements with japanese and mexican promotions. adding in an influx of talent from the independents (most notably ECW), and WCW was becoming the company with something for everyone.

The WCW/NJPW relationship was showcased on this year's event with the battle for the World Cup of Wrestling, featuring several unique matchups. One of the best Starrcades EVAR.


December 27, 1995 in Nashville, Tennessee
The World Cup of Wrestling - World Championship Wrestling vs. New Japan Pro Wrestling
Jushin "Thunder" Liger (NJPW) defeated "The Crippler" Chris Benoit (WCW) by pinfall after Benoit was distracted by Kevin Sullivan, making it: NJPW - 1 to WCW - 0
(great matchup. these two were familiar with each other, but most american audiences had yet to see them go at it.)

Koji Kanemoto (NJPW) defeated Alex Wright (WCW) by pinfall, making it: NJPW - 2 to WCW - 0
(Kanemoto was one of the more promising japanese cruiserweights. I believe he was the first WCW Cruiserweight Champion. I should check to see how his career turned out.)

"The Total Package" Lex Luger (WCW) defeated Masa Chono (NJPW) by submisson with the torture rack, making it: NJPW - 2 to WCW - 1
(decent match. Chono was one of the top Japanese heavyweights of the 90's.)

Johnny B. Badd (WCW) defeated Masa Saito (NJPW) by DQ after Saito threw him over the top rope, making it: WCW - 2 to NJPW - 2
(probably the weakest matchup on the card. Saito was pretty old at this point.)

Shinjiri Ohtani (NJPW) defeated Eddy Guerrero (WCW) by pinfall, making it: NJPW - 3 to WCW - 2
(another damn good match.)

"Macho Man" Randy Savage (WCW) defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan (NJPW) by pinfall after the flying elbow drop, making it: WCW - 3 to NJPW - 3
(a real rare matchup. Tenzan went on to a pretty big name in Japan for a while.)

Sting defeated Kensuke Sasaki by submission with the Scorpion Deathlock, giving WCW the win over NJPW 4 to 3
(I don't recall this match much. I'm going to give it the benefit of the doubt though. would've been great to see Sting and Muta reignite their rivalry here, though.)

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair defeated Sting & "The Total Package" Lex Luger by countout in a triangle match to determine the #1 contender for the World Title
(Great angle. Great match. Flair defeats two of his top perennial challengers to return to the top.)

"The Nature Boy" Ric Flair defeated "Macho Man" Randy Savage by pinfall with the help of Arn Anderson to win the WCW World Title
(Another great match. Honestly, I really think that Flair and Savage had better matches in WCW than they did in the WWF. I really felt that they outshined their WWF run simply by the fact that both men were given their due, rather than the face having to win all the time.)

In all, much better than the previous outings. A real solid card with some unique matchups. Watch it if you can find it.

Hogan no-selling a powerbomb from Vader (fucker jumped right up like nothing happened) before a PPV essentially ending Vader's career in the U.S., is another that I just thought of...

Starrcade 96. I'm gonna say it. look at the card. Best. Starrcade. EVAR. this was WCW's best period. the booking was tight. the NWO was hot (although Hogan was still being shoved down our throats all the time), and people were starting to take notice. Nitro and Raw were neck and neck, and both companies were trying to step up. they knocked it out of the park with this one.

December 29, 1996 in Nashville, Tennessee
Ultimo Dragon defeated "The Iceman" Dean Malenko to win the WCW Cruiserweight Title & retain the J-Crown Title
(one of my favorite cruiserweight angles. these guys and Misterio defined the cruiserweight style, imo.)

Akira Hokuto defeated Madusa by pinfall to become the first WCW Women's Champion
(women's wrestling? on WCW? oh yeah. and it was good, at least for a time.)

Jushin "Thunder" Liger defeated Rey Misterio, Jr. by pinfall
(this is what we call an international dream match. watch it.)

Jeff Jarrett defeated "The Crippler" Chris Benoit by pinfall
(this was part of the angle where Jarrett wanted to join the Horsemen. Flair wanted him in, but the other Horsemen didn't. kool storyline. Jarrett later took Mongo's wife back to the WWF where she gave birth to a catchphrase. . .)

The Outsiders defeated The Faces of Fear by pinfall to retain the WCW World Tag Titles
(probably the weakest match here as the tag division wasn't terribly strong at this point. I can't remember why the Steiners weren't challenging for the belts here. I think they had returned.)

Eddy Guerrero defeated Diamond Dallas Page by pinfall to win the vacant WCW U.S. Title
(pretty good match and a surprise win as I thought DDP would get it. too bad Eddy's win was overshadowed by the DDP/NWO feud though. )

"The Total Package" Lex Luger defeated The Giant by pinfall
(mmm. Ok, we can leave this one off. )

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper defeated "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan with the sleeper
(can it be? a good WCW main event with Hogan? yeah, though they're rare. this was a great angle, booked perfectly. great promos. building off of the real life "history" from the 80's. And Piper went over to gain some measure of satisfaction. too bad it wasn't for the title.

and I could've done without Age in the Cage a few months later. but still, a good cap to a great ppv. even without a Flair match.)

there were no seahags at Starrcade. silly Mxy.

No seahags at Starrcade?

Funny, I could've sworn Madusa was at one, at least...

I have this stuck so I don't have to dig through pages of crap to find it when I'm ready to post again. please leave it until I'm done. thank you.

The end of the trifecta of truly great Starrcades. Another killer lineup with WCW still running strong and the NWO angle still really hot. still no Flair match, oddly. I can't remember what exactly was going on at this time, but I'm sure the Horsemen were getting shafted. I know it was after Hennig turned on them and went NWO.

December 28, 1997 in Washington, D.C.

Eddy Guerrero defeated "The Iceman" Dean Malenko by pinfall to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Title
(classic feud. classic match. great opener for a ppv.)

"Macho Man" Randy Savage, Scott Norton & Vincent defeated The Steiners & Ray Traylor by pinfall
(kind of an odd teaming here. I don't really remember what was happening with these guys. I think Traylor had been kicked out of the NWO and, Scott would soon split with Rick to join the NWO. too much NWO crap going on already.)

Bill Goldberg defeated Steve "Mongo" McMichael by pinfall
(iirc, Mongo actually won this match, but WCW later changed things around to keep Goldberg's "streak" going. Goldie's first Starrcade appearance. He wasn't quite over as much as he would be in a few months. this feud was built around Debra hiring Goldie to take out Mongo and she had promised him Mong's superbowl ring as payment. not a bad premise, actually. the match, eh. forget it.)

Saturn defeated "The Crippler" Chris Benoit by submission in a no DQ match
(hot damn! a great one! I wonder if this is on youtube.)

Buff Bagwell defeated "The Total Package" Lex Luger by pinfall
(bwahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!! )

Diamond Dallas Page defeated Curt Hennig by pinfall to win the WCW U.S. Title
(I remember being really into this matchup at the time. Still seems like it would be a really good one. )

Larry Zbysko defeated Eric Bischoff by DQ in a match for control of Monday Nitro
(not much really came out of this angle. I think Bret Hart was the referee for this in his first Starrcade appearance.)

Sting defeated "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan by submission with the Scorpion Deathlock to win the WCW World Title
(this was supposed to be the big finish to the Sting/NWO feud and should've really been the start of the end for that whole angle. but egos (read: HOGAN) kept that from happening. the match finish was changed at the last moment and killed Sting's momentum. Personally, I feel the downfall of WCW as a major company started here. Hart also made an appearance here at the end of the match, helping Sting win before inexplicably siding with Hogan and the NWO a few weeks later.)

The last of the great ones, you can already see the cracks forming that would lead to the end days. but still worth watching.

After a few years of being the dominant brand, the tides had finally begun to turn as a resurgent WWF (lead by the red hot Austin/Mcmahon feud) was coming back strong. TPTB in WCW seemed to be stagnating in their ideas although there were still some really good feuds and matches going on. however, many egos were still running wild, and the proof being that WCW's new show Thunder, was frequently no showed by many top name stars.

This Starrcade doesn't live up to anywhere the standard set by the previous three and it shows. Although the Flair/Bischoff angle was a hot one!

WCW may in fact, have shot themselves in the foot here with the abrupt derailing of Goldberg's title run merely to satisfy Kevin Nash's ego. more on that later.

I had really stopped watching WCW by this point, so I don't have a lot to say about this for the most part. but it doesn't look as appealing to me as the previous offerings.

December 27, 1998 in Washington, D.C.

Kidman defeated Rey Misterio, Jr. and Juventud Guerrera in a triangle match when he pinned Guerrera to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Title
(probably a really good match.)
Kidman defeated Eddy Guerrero by pinfall to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Title
(again, probably good. though it's bizarre Kidman would have to wrestle two matches so close to each other. what'supwiththat?)

Norman Smiley defeated Prince Iaukea by submission with the crossface chicken wing
(I don't think Smiley had yet found his niche with the "Screamin" Norman stuff. Iaukea was horrible. Nuff said.)

Perry Saturn defeated Ernest "The Cat" Miller by pinfall
(Miller never really took off in the ring. He was better focusing on promos.)

Brian Adams & Scott Norton defeated Fit Finley & Jerry Flynn by pinfall
(Finlay!)

Konnan defeated "Lionheart" Chris Jericho by submission witht the Tequila Sunrise to retain the WCW TV Title
(might've been a good one. Jericho could've pulled Konnan out of his usual routine and into a decent match.)

Eric Bischoff defeated "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair by pinfall after knocking him out with a foreign object
(a red hot angle. built greatly around the real life heat. when Flair lost people were pissed! that's hard to do in this era.)

Diamond Dallas Page defeated The Giant by pinfall
(don't remember much about this.)

Kevin Nash defeated Goldberg by pinfall after Scott Hall used the taser and Nash hit the Jack-knife to win the WCW World Title

(this of course served no real purpose other than to satisfy Nash and led to the infamous "fingerpoke of doom" on Nitro the next night. which was one of the most blatant and disgusting uses of the Ego Dildo (thank you Eric S.) I've ever seen. Even the H's has never done anything that horrible.

As I said above, this served no real purpose other than to derail Goldberg, who the fans were really behind at the time, and by default WCW's run at the top. Factor this into the Schiavone comment about Mick Foley winning the WWF title on Raw incident, and you really have to wonder just what the hell was going through these people's minds.)

two more to go!

Andre the Giant vs. Big John Studd (31/03/85) WrestleMania

Commentary by Michael Cole & Tazz.

I watched this match at a friend's house several years ago.

It was pretty cool.

" Oh, look, it's the battle of the corpses!" my friend said.

at some point, we'll have to go down the list and pick out the dead WrestleMania people. . .

I liked Junkyard Dog. Sad that he got messed up on drugs. He died 9 years ago, almost to the day, I think.

he ate at a restaurant my dad worked at once. dad got me his autograph. I still have it.

Speaking of Dogs, there's Moon Dog Spot. He died not more than a year or two ago. I met him at a party at my Fat guy club back in 1991 or so.

He wanted me to go the basement with him, but I saw where he'd already been to the basement with a few guys that night, so I politely declined.

okay, the original site I was getting the results from didn't have the last two years up on it, but I found them at OWW.
Basically, by this point, the damage to WCW had already been done and Starrcade was just another ppv. mostly forgettable, but with some standout matches.

TAG MATCH: Big Vito & Johnny The Bull defeated Disco Inferno & Lash LeRoux..
I remember liking the Mamalukes gimmick, but the matches not so much.


CRUISERWEIGHT TITLE MATCH: Madusa defeated Evan Karagias to win the title!
yeah, this was just silly. Madusa couldn't win the women's belt, retired, then came back and won the cruiserweight belt? whut??? and Evan Karaver sucked.

HARDCORE TITLE MATCH: Norman Smiley defeated Meng to retain the title..
Loved Screamin Norman getting his ass kicked and then accidentally winning the title. that was a great angle.

8-MAN TAG: Revolution defeated Jim Duggan's Team after the Varsity Club turned on Duggan..
Revolution = Shawn Douglas & Perry Saturn & Dean Malenko & Asya..
The Varsity Club = Jim Duggan & Kevin Sullivan & Rick Steiner & Mike Rotunda..
I dug the whole Revolution angle. that was cool and they had a lot of great matches with the Filthy Animals. I could never figure out why Duggan would trust the Varsity Club, though. Silly Duggan.

MATCH: Vampiro defeated Steve Williams by Disqualification..
I believe the Misfits were briefly involved in this angle. Really the only reason I cared. They disappeared from WCW pretty quick after mostly getting their asses kicked on tv. Served no purpose and lead to real friction in the band.


TAG MATCH: Creative Control & Curt Henning defeated Harlem Heat & Midnight..
I dug the Creative Control repackaging of the Bruise Bros. that was well done. but Midnight was just another cheap attempt at remaking Chyna, and Harlem Heat was pretty much done by this point.

BUNKHOUSE BRAWL MATCH: Jeff Jarrett defeated Dustin Rhodes..
Don't remember anything about this. I more remember their feud from the next year.


CROWBAR ON A POLE MATCH: Diamond Dallas Page defeated David Flair..
Don't remember this either.

MATCH: Sting defeated Lex Luger by Disqualification..
Or this one. damn.

MASTER OF THE POWERBOMB MATCH: Kevin Nash defeated Sid Vicious..
I remember Sid's interviews leading up to this were pretty funny. "I may only have half a brain. . ."


US TITLE LADDER MATCH: Chris Benoit defeated Jeff Jarrett to retain..
This should be on that ladder match dvd if it isn't. why? cuz it's CHRIS FUCKING BENOIT AND HE OWNS ALL YOUR ASSES. that's why.

WORLD TITLE NO DQ MATCH: Bret Hart defeated Goldberg to retain..
I think this is where Piper "screwed" Goldberg in a sad attempt to make up for Montreal. yeah, it was pretty bad.


Once again, no Flair match. But I don't think too many people were able to muster up enough giveashitatude (I just made that word up!) to complain.