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Post by armandopayne94 on Jun 1, 2024 11:22:12 GMT 1
Ah, that's why Chris Jericho and Christian won so that we'd have them be borderline hometown heroes at Starrcade.
I'm also predicting Ric Flair V Bret Hart, Chael Sonnen V Teddy Hart, Raven V Chris Benoit and Owen Hart and TJ Wilson V Bryan Danielson and William Regal for the other title matches alongside the WCW World Tag Team Championships, that way we have a whole bunch of Canadians challenging for belts in Canada which seems like a neat thing to give to that audience.
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jun 25, 2024 2:25:24 GMT 1
Hey everyone! I should have my post on Starrcade 2002 done no later than Saturday Night, so look out for that sometime within the next five days.
In some good news, I've actually managed to get my EWR game back out ahead of my posts here. Currently in March 2003, on the road to Uncensored.
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jun 30, 2024 0:03:36 GMT 1
Part LX: WCW Starrcade 2002
It's time to close out 2002 with WCW's biggest show of year....Starrcade! This year, the annual year-ending PPV takes place north of the border for the very first time and....fitting....there's some major Canadian star power in the main event. While The Hart Family had been dealing with Team Lesnar through Fall Brawl, they still have ongoing issues with WCW President and WCW World Heavyweight Champion Ric Flair. Following his successful title defense against Goldberg (which wasn't free from shenanigans), Flair declared that with Starrcade taking place in Canada, he wanted to deliver the ultimate humiliation to the country of Canada. Bret Hart would interrupt him, seemingly because he wanted to take up this challenge (of course, Flair hadn't forgotten the fact that Bret won his very first WWF Title from him....in Canada....just over ten years earlier, while Bret hadn't forgotten that Flair beat him for the WCW World Heavyweight Title a month earlier), but Flair quickly pointed out that Bret didn't deserve a title shot after losing a Last Man Standing Match to Brock Lesnar on the December 2nd Nitro (more on that later). Bret said that Flair was right. He didn't deserve a title shot after such a loss, but he knew a Canadian that did deserve a title shot. Someone who would gladly defend Canada's honor and the honor of the Hart Family at the PPV....his younger brother, Owen Hart. Bret really put Owen over in his promo, and while Flair initially laughed this challenge off, he accepted it after Owen came out and cut a promo that got under The Nature Boy's spin. Over the ensuing weeks, Flair would send wrestlers after Bret and Owen to injure the former and soften up the latter (The Nasty Boys, The Mamalukes, World's Greatest Tag Team, and Awesome Giants). Owen did take some damage through wrestling in those matches every single week, but there was no way he was going to back down from Ric Flair. Owen Hart had a brief run with the WWF Title before he made the jump to WCW, but that was just done in an attempt to get him to stay with the WWF. Now he's going into Montreal for what will no doubt be the biggest match of his life as he tries to win the WCW World Heavyweight Title in his home country. His brother Bret Hart will be in his corner, while Ric Flair will have longtime friend Arn Anderson in his corner. Nobody else is allowed at ringside. Can the King Of Harts capture WCW's top prize?!
2002 has been a pretty strong year for tag team wrestling in WCW, and the tag team division will be closing out the year in a big way. In the semi-main event slot is TLC III for the WCW World Tag Team Titles, as Edge and Rey Mysterio defend the titles against Kurt Angle and Chris Benoit as well as Los Guerreros of Eddie Guerrero and Chavo Guerrero. Edge and Mysterio retained the titles back at Fall Brawl, but the battles between these three teams were far from over. After all three sides have traded victories on WCW television, the infamous Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match will be the final encounter (for now) in this multi-team rivalry. Meanwhile, the next set of title contenders will be decided on this card as well in the form of a Four-Way Tag Team Elimination Match. Two of those teams are America's Most Wanted and The Dudley Boyz, who've been having issues with each other over the last couple of weeks. The other two teams involved are Chris Jericho and Christian as well as the Latino World Order team of Juventud Guerrera and Psychosis. After winning the Total Warfare Match at Fall Brawl, Jericho and Christian got their title shot against Edge and Rey Mysterio the very next night on the November 2th Nitro. Mysterio got the victory for his team, but he and Edge were immediately attacked after the bell by Jericho and Christian. The rest of the LWO made the save, and this would lead to some interactions over the next few weeks. Jericho and Christian would get singles wins over Juventud Guerrera and Psychosis respectively, but they would score a tag team victory over Jericho and Christian on the December 16th Nitro. Can Jericho and Christian earn another title shot so soon after their most recent effort came up short, or will one of the other three teams earn a shot at the titles?There was a major shift in the last month involving Brock Lesnar and Eric Bischoff. On the December 2nd Nitro, Lesnar finally put his issues with Bret Hart behind him after beating The Hitman in a Last Man Standing Match. Lesnar believed this would get him in contention for a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Title. Ric Flair, however, said that in order for Lesnar to earn a title shot, he had to get a victory over one more wrestler....The Giant. That match took place three days later in the main event of the December 5th Thunder and (mirroring Paul Heyman's heel turn on Lesnar at Survivor Series 2002 in OTL), Eric Bischoff turned on Lesnar and helped The Giant secure the win. Ric Flair wanted no part of Lesnar, so in a "Hell has frozen over" kind of moment, he had struck a secret backdoor deal with his former enemy Eric Bischoff to keep Lesnar away from The Flair Administration. In exchange, Bischoff began managing The Giant, while World's Greatest Tag Team remained in Bischoff's corner. The duo of Bischoff and The Giant spent the next few weeks bragging, but that soon came to an end when a returning Brock Lesnar saved his former rival Bret Hart from a beatdown at the hands of The Giant following a match on the December 16th Nitro. A match between Lesnar and The Giant was then announced for Starrcade. Can The Giant pick up a second victory over Lesnar in as many weeks, or will The Next Big Thing get a measure of revenge?Even though WarGames was a decisive victory for Team WCW, the longer war against The Flair Administration was far from over, and a number of their members still held championship gold. Diamond Dallas Page had challengers coming from all sides, and it wouldn't be long before Dusty Rhodes announced that Page would defend his WCW United States Title in a Four-Way Match at Starrcade. His challengers in this match? Booker T, Goldberg, and Sting....three of WCW's biggest stars, and three guys that Page has had issues with in the past. Meanwhile, after stepping up in a major way during WarGames, AJ Styles earned himself a shot at the WCW World Television Title. He's got his work cut out for him though, as Mike Awesome will not be an easy man to defeat. Can The Flair Administration hold on to these two titles, or can any of these challenge bring them back to the WCW home army?Speaking of championships, one championship that's been bouncing around a little bit in the last month or so is the WCW Cruiserweight Title. Chael Sonnen had been successfully defending the title against a variety of challengers since winning it at the end of October from Rey Mysterio. However, his cocky attitude finally caught up to him when Taka Michinoku upset him on the November 28th Thunder. Taka would pick up one title defense, but then lost it a few weeks later to Christopher Daniels on the December 14th Saturday Night. Daniels was still having issues with his former Triple X Prophecy stablemate Low Ki, and it appeared that would be the match for Starrcade, but then Bryan Danielson inserted himself into the title picture. A #1 Contender's Match between Danielson and Low Ki on the December 19th Nitro was cut short after Daniels attacked both men. This would backfire on him, however, as a three-way match for the WCW Cruiserweight Title was later announced for Starrcade. If this match sounds familiar, it should, as it was (in OTL) the main event of the very first Ring Of Honor event in 2002. Who will leave Montreal as the WCW Cruiserweight Champion?The WCW women's division is back in focus on Starrcade in a battle between two Japanese stars. In one corner is Meiko Satomura, who's been the WCW Women's Champion for a number of months now, defending the title both in the United States and in Japan. In the other corner is one of the biggest superstars in the history of Japanese women's wrestling....the legendary Manami Toyota. The city of Montreal is sure in for a treat with this match. Who will be the WCW Women's Champion as 2002 comes to a close?
Finally, the last match on the PPV card features the return of the Starrcade Cup. For 2002, the format changed a little bit. There would be four Four-Way Elimination matches, with the four winners moving on to wrestle each other in two singles matches. The winners of those would meet at Starrcade in the tournament finals. The Four-Way lineups were as follows, with the winners of those bouts listed in bold:Black Tiger III vs. CM Punk vs. Samoa Joe vs. Tiger Mask IV
Big Vito vs. Billy Kidman vs. Masato Tanaka vs. Rhino
Amazing Red vs. Chris Candido vs. John Cena vs. Super Crazy
Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Sean O'Haire vs. Teddy Hart vs. Yoshihiro Tajiri
The two semi-final bouts took place on the December 21st Saturday Night, with WCW Hardcore Champion John Cena defeating Rhino, and Samoa Joe defeating Sean O'Haire. Thus, the Finals of the 2002 Starrcade Cup will see John Cena battle Samoa Joe in what should be a fun match to kick off the PPV.
In terms of other happenings in the last month or so, the only title change I didn't go over occurred on the December 2nd Nitro, as Spike Dudley and Taz won the NWA World Tag Team Titles from Bryan Danielson and William Regal, after some miscommunication between the two. Elsewhere, because the PPV card was all filled up, the annual Starrcade Battle Royal was moved to the December 21st Saturday Night (one day before Starrcade), and featured wrestlers who either weren't on the PPV, weren't holding other titles, or weren't already in the Starrcade Cup. Chael Sonnen would last eliminate Terry Funk to win the bout, so he'll be getting a future title shot at a title of his choice at some point in the future.
With all of that out of the way, let's dive right into the PPV!
On the whole, I'm pretty happy with how Starrcade 2002 turned out. There was a nice balance of multi-person bouts and singles matches, and based on the scores, everything seemed to perform well (again, two matches in the mid-to-high 90% range and seven matches in the 80% range). In terms of the results, Owen Hart captured the WCW World Heavyweight Title to an enormous reaction from the crowd in Montreal. The show ended with Owen celebrating in the ring with his brother Bret, his family, and other babyfaces on the WCW roster. That wasn't the only title change on this show. In fact, out of the six title matches on the card, all six of them changed hands. Outside of the #1 Contender's Four-Way Tag Team Elimination Match (which was won by Chris Jericho and Christian), it was really a banner night for babyfaces in this promotion, which I feel is a good way to close out the year as far as PPVs go.
That's it for Starrcade 2002! Of course, following this will be the PPV rankings for the year as well as the title histories for the year, which I will get to throughout the month of July. Expect my next major PPV post, covering Mayhem 2003, to be out sometime near the end of July. |
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 4, 2024 6:16:07 GMT 1
Time to take a look at the PPV rankings for 2002! As always, when it comes to any tiebreakers, I'll break the tie based on which show has more matches above 90% OR which show has the highest ranked match.
2002 PPV Rankings
1.) Uncensored 2002 - 94% - Chris Jericho vs. Rob Van Dam in an Ultimate Endurance Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Title
2.) No Surrender 2002 - 92% - Brock Lesnar vs. Booker T for the WCW World Heavyweight Title
3.) Halloween Havoc 2002 - 91% - Brock Lesnar vs. Bret Hart for the WCW World Heavyweight Title
4.) Mayhem 2002 - 90% - Booker T vs. Scott Steiner in a Loser Leaves WCW Triple Cage Match
5.) The Great American Bash 2002 - 90% - Mike Awesome vs. Kevin Nash in a Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Title
6.) Starrcade 2002 - 89% - Ric Flair vs. Owen Hart for the WCW World Heavyweight Title
7.) United We Stand 2002 - 89% - Brock Lesnar vs. Chris Benoit vs. Eddie Guerrero vs. Edge in a Four-Way Match for the WCW World Heavyweight Title
8.) Bash At The Beach 2002 - 89% - Sting vs. Brock Lesnar for the WCW World Heavyweight Title
9.) Slamboree 2002 - 86% - Thirty-Man Gauntlet For The Gold for the WCW World Heavyweight Title
10.) Fall Brawl 2002 - 85% - Team WCW vs. The Flair Administration in a Five-on-Five WarGames Match
11.) Bound For Glory 2002 - 84% - Kurt Angle vs. Mitsuharu Misawa
12.) Spring Stampede 2002 - 78% - Chris Jericho vs. Kevin Nash for the WCW World Heavyweight Title
On the whole, 2002 was a very good year on the PPV quality front. It was actually fairly similar to 2001 in some respects. You had the majority of the PPVs hovering between the high 80's and low-to-mid 90's, with a couple of PPV on the lower end of the scale. 2001 gets the slight edge as the PPV that finished 10th that year was at 87%, while 2002 had four PPVs below that number.
The overall average for my PPVs in 2002 was (roughly) 88%, which is a 1% drop from the 89% score in 2001, but it did do the same number as 2000, so still a very strong year despite that slight dip.
In terms of how the year went, the first portion of 2002 was a bit of a rollercoaster. Mayhem and Uncensored scored extremely well, while they were surrounded by three of the four lowest scoring PPVs of the year (Bound For Glory, Spring Stampede, and Slamboree). Starting with The Great American Bash, the consistency was much better....outside of Fall Brawl, which was the only outlier in the second half of the year. No Surrender and Halloween Havoc were the notable standouts during that July-to-December period.
In what was an incredible achievement, Uncensored 2002 got an score of 94%, which placed it in a tie with Slamboree 2001 for the highest rated PPV I've gotten so far in this game. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the 78% score that Spring Stampede 2002 got was the first time one of my PPVs scored below an 80% since November To Remember 2000 (which scored a 79%).
The WCW World Heavyweight Title main evented nine of the twelve PPVs in 2002, with the majority of those being some form of singles match. Brock Lesnar was in the PPV main event four times. From there, it's a little harder this year to count up the other PPV main eventers as one PPV was headlined by a Thirty-Man Gauntlet For The Gold while another was headlined by a WarGames Match. So for the sake of this portion of the post, I'll exclude those main events when pointing out specific people. Booker T and Kevin Nash both headlined two PPVs each in singles bouts. Chris Jericho also had two PPV main events, though he has the unique distinction of being in the main event of the highest rated PPV of the year (Uncensored) and the lowest rated PPV of the year (Spring Stampede)....and only a month apart as well!
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 7, 2024 16:43:28 GMT 1
Undisputed WCW World Heavyweight Title
Kurt Angle
WCW Fall Brawl 2001
September 23rd, 2001
126 Days
Chris JerichoWCW Mayhem 2002January 27th, 200277 Days
On February 2nd, 2002, the Undisputed WCW World Heavyweight Title became the WCW World Heavyweight Title as it was no longer "undisputed".
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WCW World Heavyweight Title
Kevin NashWCW Spring Stampede 2002April 14th, 2002
28 Days
Mike AwesomeWCW Slamboree 2002May 12th, 2002
35 Days
This was a Thirty-Man Gauntlet For The Gold Match. Awesome last eliminated Sting to win the match and the title.
Kevin Nash (2)WCW The Great American Bash 2002June 16th, 2002
1 Day
This was a Barbed Wire Steel Cage Match.
Diamond Dallas Page (2)WCW Monday NitroJune 17th, 2002
7 Days
Sting (4)WCW Monday NitroJune 24th, 2002
13 Days
This was a Lumberjack Match.
Brock LesnarWCW Bash At The Beach 2002July 7th, 2002
112 Days
Bret Hart (2)WCW Halloween Havoc 2002October 27th, 2002
11 Days
Ric Flair (6)WCW ThunderNovember 7th, 2002
45 Days
Owen HartWCW Starrcade 2002December 22nd, 2002
9 Days +
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 10, 2024 4:30:37 GMT 1
WCW United States Title
Rob Van Dam (3)
WCW Starrcade 2001
December 30th, 2001
28 Days
This was an I Quit Match.
EdgeWCW Mayhem 2002January 27th, 200228 DaysThis was a Three-Way Match also involving Christian.
ChristianWCW Bound For Glory 2002February 24th, 200228 Days
Edge (2)WCW Uncensored 2002March 24th, 200236 DaysThis was a Ladder Match.
Matt HardyWCW Monday NitroApril 29th, 200248 DaysThis was a Four-Way Match also involving Christian and Jeff Hardy.
Jeff Hardy (2)WCW The Great American Bash 2002June 16th, 20021 DayThis was a Ladder Match.
Chael SonnenWCW Monday NitroJune 17th, 200214 DaysThis was a Submission Match.
Raven (2)WCW Monday NitroJuly 1st, 200238 Days
Chris KanyonWCW ThunderAugust 8th, 200238 Days
Booker T (3)WCW United We StandSeptember 15th, 200242 Days
Diamond Dallas Page (3)WCW Halloween Havoc 2002October 27th, 200256 DaysThis was a Lumberjack Match.
Goldberg (2)WCW Starrcade 2002December 2nd, 20019 Days +This was a Four-Way Match also involving Booker T and Sting.
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 13, 2024 1:12:20 GMT 1
Undisputed WCW World Tag Team Titles
The Dudley Boyz [6]
WCW Starrcade 2001
December 30th, 2001
71 Days
This was a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match involving Edge & Christian and The Hardy Boyz. The two teams that lost were forced to disband. On February 2nd, 2002, the Undisputed WCW World Tag Team Titles became the WCW World Tag Team Titles as they were no longer "undisputed".
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WCW World Tag Team Titles
Andrew Martin & Booker T [8]WCW Monday NitroMarch 11th, 200235 Days
Ric Flair [4] & David FlairWCW Monday NitroApril 15th, 200221 Days
Andrew Martin [2] & Booker T [9]WCW Monday NitroMay 6th, 200241 Days
The Jersey Triad (Diamond Dallas Page [3] & Chris Kanyon [2])WCW The Great American Bash 2002June 16th, 200215 Days
Bret Hart [3] & Edge [5]WCW Monday NitroJuly 1st, 20026 Days
Jeff Hardy [5] & Rob Van Dam [4]WCW Bash At The Beach 2002July 7th, 200242 Days
This was a Four-Way Tag Team Match that also involved The Dudley Boyz and Spike Dudley & Taz.
Kurt Angle [2] & Chris Benoit [3]WCW No Surrender 2002August 18th, 200270 Days
Edge [6] & Rey Mysterio [2]WCW Halloween Havoc 2002October 27th, 200256 Days
Los Guerreros (Eddie Guerrero [4] & Chavo Guerrero)WCW Starrcade 2002December 22nd, 20029 Days +
This was a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs Match that also involved Kurt Angle & Chris Benoit.
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 17, 2024 2:38:02 GMT 1
Undisputed WCW World Television Title
William Regal (5)
WCW Monday Nitro
November 19th, 2001
59 Days
Konnan (2)WCW ThunderJanuary 17th, 200228 Days
On February 2nd, 2002, the Undisputed WCW World Television Title became the WCW World Television Title as it was no longer "undisputed".
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WCW World Television Title
William Regal (6)WCW ThunderFebruary 14th, 20022 Days
Rowdy Roddy Piper (3)WCW Saturday NightFebruary 16th, 200237 Days
BG JamesWCW Monday NitroMarch 25th, 200233 Days
La ParkaWCW Saturday NightApril 27th, 200226 Days
John CenaWCW ThunderMay 23rd, 200232 Days
Scott HallWCW Monday NitroJune 24th, 200214 Days
The GiantWCW Monday NitroJuly 8th, 200224 Days
Juventud GuerreraWCW ThunderAugust 1st, 200223 Days
Sean O'HaireWCW Saturday NightAugust 24th, 200223 Days
Rob Van Dam (3)WCW Monday NitroSeptember 16th, 200242 Days
Mike Awesome (3)WCW Monday NitroOctober 28th, 200255 Days
AJ StylesWCW Starrcade 2002December 22nd, 20029 Days +
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 21, 2024 14:39:33 GMT 1
WCW Cruiserweight Title
AJ Styles (4)
WCW Starrcade 2001
December 30th, 2001
15 Days
This was a Last Man Standing Match.
HayabusaWCW Monday NitroJanuary 14th, 200290 Days
Rey Mysterio (7)WCW Spring Stampede 2002April 14th, 200284 DaysBilly Kidman (2)WCW Bash At The Beach 2002July 7th, 200242 DaysRey Mysterio (8)WCW No Surrender 2002August 18th, 200269 DaysThis was a Falls Count Anywhere Match.
Chael SonnenWCW Saturday NightOctober 26th, 200233 Days
Taka MichinokuWCW ThunderNovember 28th, 200216 DaysChristopher Daniels (5)WCW Saturday NightDecember 14th, 20028 Days
Low KiWCW Starrcade 2002December 22nd, 20029 Days +This was a Three-Way Match also involving Bryan Danielson.
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Post by dxvsnwo1994 on Jul 25, 2024 16:03:21 GMT 1
NWA World Heavyweight Title
Sting (3)
WCW Monday Nitro
November 26th, 2001
42 Days
This match featured Dusty Rhodes as the Special Guest Referee.
Rhino (2)WCW Monday NitroJanuary 7th, 2002
84 DaysThis was a Steel Cage Match.
Steve CorinoWCW Monday NitroApril 1st, 2002
112 Days
AJ StylesWCW Monday NitroJuly 22nd, 2002
35 Days
Ron "The Truth" Killings (2)WCW Monday NitroAugust 26th, 2002
90 Days
RavenWCW Fall Brawl 2002November 24th, 2002
37 Days +
What's notable here is that Raven's title win at Fall Brawl 2002 was the first time the NWA World Heavyweight Title had changed hands on a show other than Monday Nitro in well over two years. |
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