STARRCADE 90 (December 16, 1990)
The Midnight Express (Stan Lane and Bobby Eaton) defeated Ricky Morton and Tommy Rich when B. Eaton pinned Rich with the Alabama Jam in 15:21.
Rating: *** 3/4
The Granddaddy of them all, Starrcade, opened with the Midnight Express settling a grudge with old rival Ricky Morton and his new partner Tommy Rich. The new team of Morton and Rich made quite a showing in the loss, though, showing they are clearly a team on the rise.
Meanwhile, the win allows the Midnight Express to set their sights on getting some form of tag team gold.
Michael Wallstreet pinned Terry Taylor with the Wallstreet Crash in 7:49.
Rating: ***
Under the guidance of Alexandra York and her computer, Michael Wallstreet has been on a role. Before the match, York's claim was that Wallstreet will win the match in less than 9 minutes. Again, Wallstreet made the vow hold up, getting it done in less than 8.
Flyin' Brian and Z-Man defeated Great Muta and Masahiro Chono when Brian pinned Muta with the Springboard Clothesline in 0:18:24.
Rating: *** 1/2
(Flyin' Brian and Z-Man retained the WCW UNITED STATES TAG TEAM TITLES.)
A prestigious event such as Starrcade typically brings out the best wrestlers from around the world. Two of Japan's best came from overseas to challenge the United States tag team champions.
Brian Pillman and the Z-Man were certainly up to the challenge, getting the best of the more experienced duo and getting perhaps what is likely the biggest win of their careers.
Shane Douglas pinned Doug Furnas with the Belly-to-Belly Suplex in 10:12.
Rating: *** 3/4
Two rising stars faced off to see who can put their name in line for some sort of title shot. The rookie fresh out of the national powerlifting scene, Doug Furnas, was a tough test but Shane Douglas has been on a roll that no one has been able to slow down.
Jim Cornette proudly watched on as his latest acquisition kept his winning streak going.
After the match, Cornette gave an interview in the locker room surrounding by Douglas and the Midnight Express. Cornette said the WCW Championship committee will not be able to hold back his boys any longer. The Midnight Express deserves to be the next in line for either the Horsemen or Steiners, whoever comes out of the match champion. And Douglas will be keeping a close eye on the TV and US title matches later in the night, as his name will be in the mix for a championship match very soon.
Junkyard Dog pinned Barry Windham after a powerslam in 9:54.
Rating: *
(Junkyard Dog retained the WCW TELEVISION TITLE)
The Horsemen usually jump at any chance to obtain gold, but Barry Windham was left on his own to face JYD. And it didn't work out too good. While Windham gave a good fight and seemed like he'd take the TV title anyway, only to have JYD catch him in a powerslam and get the win.
[STREET FIGHT]: No-Countout-No-DQ-Match:
Doom (Butch Reed and Ron Simmons) defeated The Fabulous Freebirds (Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin) when B. Reed pinned J. Garvin with the Flying Shoulderblock in 14:22.
Rating: * 3/4
These two teams have quickly developed a fierce rivalry, evidenced by how they threw everything they had at each other, including chairs and tv cameras and anything else that could be found at ringside.
Teddy Long was a factor as usual for Doom, willingly sacrificing himself to help his team. Long took a double DDT from both Hayes and Garvin, but that opened the door for Simmons to take Hayes out of the ring with a chair shot, and Reed to hit a flying shoulder to pin Garvin.
Lex Luger made Sid Vicious submit to the Torture Rack in 7:43.
Rating: * 1/4
(Lex Luger retained the WCW UNITED STATES TITLE.)
Luger scored another victory over Sid Vicious, this time to retain his US title. But after the match, the Horsemen were caught having a vocal disagreement in the locker room. Anderson and Flair were criticizing Windham for not coming to help Sid. Windham countered by asking where anyone was during his match. Anderson said everyone had big matches tonight and since he was first up, everyone was getting ready.
Anderson and Flair said the two better do the right thing during the tag title match.
The Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) defeated Horsemen Flair & Anderson (Arn Anderson and Ric Flair) when S. Steiner pinned A. Anderson with the Frankensteiner in 16:40.
Rating: *** 3/4
(The Steiner Brothers retained the WCW WORLD TAG TEAM TITLES.)
[Sid Vicious interfered against Scott Steiner.]
Well, Sid at least did try to help the Horsemen but it did little good against a team like the Steiners determined not to let the Horsemen take the world titles away.
The Steiners overcame all the Horsemen's tricks to score the win and hold on to their world titles.
Sting pinned Big Van Vader with the Stinger Splash in 19:13.
Rating: *** 1/4
(Sting retained the WCW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE.)
[Paul E. Dangerously interfered against Sting.]
Paul E. Dangerously brought in Big Van Vader to settle his score with Sting. Vader is as big of a monster as WCW perhaps has ever seen. His massive size and power were quite an issue for Sting.
Sting kept fighting through it all. He overcame Paul E.'s interference, and used his speed to counter Vader. He managed to use Vader's aggression against him.
Vader tried charging Sting in the corner, but the champ avoided the attack. And hit a series of Stinger splashes before finally going up top for a splash that sealed the win.
But things got stranger after the match. Vader and Paul E. headed to the back and Sting stood alone in the ring celebrating. Then the lights began to flicker. A strange voice bellowed over the sound system as a spotlight shined down on Sting.
The voice congratulated Sting on the win but said his time is quickly running out. The day of reckoning is coming soon for Sting. And the last words uttered before the lights came back fully on ... "Beware the Black Scorpion"
