Today on the DragonKingKarl Show, Karl Stern hops in the wrestling time machine and travels back to January 1994 for a look at an old Wrestling Observer Newsletter which covered the previous December’s incredible WCW Starrcade 1993.
The early 1990s has a reputation for being the worst era in modern pro wrestling history and, to an extent, that is true. However, there were many diamonds in this rough during this era and Ric Flair regaining the WCW title from Vader after original opponent Sid Vicious was fired is one of those.
Join Karl as we look back at this great match from a not-so-great era.
It’s time for some long form history as this week’s DKK Classic Wrestling Show features a deep dive into November 1984.
The month featured multiple Thanksgiving shows including the second-ever Starrcade from the NWA. Plus, there was lots happening in both NJPW and AJPW, Southeastern Championship Wrestling, WWF continued their march to take over wrestling in the United States, and more.
Celebrating the release of my new book, DragonKingKarl’s 1984-1985 Pro Wrestling Omnibus, this week’s DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show looks back at these two massively important years in pro wrestling history.
Some highlights: Hulk Hogan wins the WWF World title, the WWF national expansion begins in earnest including the takeover of the WTBS time slot, the death of David Von Erich, Starrcade 1984 & 1985, massive Thanksgiving Day shows, Pro Wrestling USA, the injury of Mike Von Erich, WWF WrestleMania I, Mr. T, the John Stossel slap on 20/20, and much more.
It’s a massive two year period in pro wrestling so let’s discuss it.
On this installment of my DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show longform history of pro wrestling series, I am up to November 1983 which is hugely important because we have NWA Starrcade — a show that was highlighted by Ric Flair regaining the NWA World title from Harley Race in a steel cage match.
That show wasn’t even the biggest drawing event that day as many areas had traditional Thanksgiving shows and this year may have been the peak of that tradition.
Plus, David Von Erich, Japan, and more.
Enjoy this giant, historically important month in pro wrestling history.
For the third straight year, WWE held a Starrcade-branded show on the weekend after Thanksgiving.
Last night’s event took place at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, Georgia, with one hour of the show airing as a live WWE Network special. Here are the full results from the night:
– Seth Rollins defeated Erick Rowan
– Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura (w/ Sami Zayn) defeated The Miz to retain his title
The Miz lost after being distracted by Zayn.
– The WWE Network special began following the Intercontinental title match:
Ric Flair appeared on the Kevin Owens Show
The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins & Montez Ford) w/ Ric Flair defeated The O.C. (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson)
Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane defeated Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross, Sasha Banks & Bayley, and Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair in a fatal four-way match to retain their titles
Bobby Lashley (w/ Lana) defeated Rusev in a last mans standing match by forfeit due to the “restraining order” Lana filed against Rusev
Bobby Lashley (w/ Lana) defeated Kevin Owens by DQ after being attacked by Rusev
– Aleister Black defeated Andrade (w/ Zelina Vega)
This was the first match after the Network broadcast. Andrade demanded another opponent following his loss.
– Ricochet defeated Andrade (w/ Zelina Vega)
Ricochet won quickly.
– Randy Orton defeated AJ Styles
– Roman Reigns defeated King Corbin
– Universal Champion “The Fiend” Bray Wyatt defeated Braun Strowman in a steel cage match to retain his title
The Fiend won by escaping through the door.
After the match, Gallows and Anderson insulted Strowman and Strowman stood tall to end the show.
WWE’s revived version of Starrcade, essentially a glammed up house show, airs tonight on the WWE Network.
Three segments will be aired live. One will be a fatal four way tag team match for the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles, with champions The Kabuki Warriors facing Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair, Bayley & Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross.
Another match set is a last man standing bout between Bobby Lashley and Rusev. The two have been feuding for a number of weeks, with the catalyst being Lana dumping Rusev for Lashley. The two ended up having a huge brawl this past week on Raw, with Rusev sending Lashley through a platform off the Raw stage.
One non-wrestling segment is also set for the show, with Ric Flair being announced as a guest for the Kevin Owens Show.
Join us for live coverage starting at 7 p.m. EST.
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Kevin Owens came out for his show and quickly introduced Ric Flair.
Flair started to give a speech about Starrcade but the crowd chanted “we can’t hear you”. Owens traded him microphones. He brings up what Roman said on Thursday and says he we might not like each other, but we are family. He said he was lucky to be here, look at his daughter. He thanks Harley Race and mentions their match at the first Starrcade, as well as Dusty Rhodes, who came up with the idea. He also brought up Sting.
He said behind that curtain tonight there are 30 people who want to go out there and prove they are the best. Owens says that is because of Flair’s legacy. Owens told Flair he wants to hear a “woo”.
They counted three, but at three the OC (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) came out. They should be celebrating that Gallows & Anderson are the best tag team. Kevin Owens threw a bald joke at them. Anderson said that they should spend the next 55 minutes airing O.C. highlight clips. Owens said that instead maybe they should show footage of AJ Styles losing the United States title to Rey Mysterio on Raw this past Monday.
This brought out The Street Profits. Montez Ford said they should make some highlights here tonight in “Atlanta”. This all leads to a tag match.
The Street Profits defeated The O.C. (Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson)
Profits get the early advantage on Anderson before he tags in to Gallows. Ford is distracted long enough on the apron by Anderson to eat a boot by Gallows that sends him to the floor. Anderson works on him back in the ring as he tags back in Gallows.
Ford made the hot tag to Dawkins who ran wild on both men before being taken down by a spinebuster from Anderson. Both Anderson & Gallows went for the magic killer on Dawkins, but Ford breaks it up. He took out Gallows on the outside, then was tagged in for a frog splash and got the win. Basic match, though the crowd was into it.
Ric Flair celebrated with The Street Profits after the match.
Sasha Banks met up with Bayley backstage. Bayley says let’s just do what we do then get the hell out of here. Sasha said they would be double champions.
The Kabuki Warriors defeated Bayley & Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch & Charlotte and Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross to retain the WWE Women’s Tag Team titles
The match starts out with some tentative back and forth and many tags. Charlotte and Asuka exchange strikes, with Charlotte getting the better of things. She went for a figure four, but Asuka shoved her away, allowing Sasha Banks to tag herself in.
Alexa Bliss is tagged in as she and Nikki worked over Sasha Banks. Bayley is tagged in and isolates Nikki briefly. Nikki tags in Becky Lynch, who is cut off by Bayley and Sasha.
Becky manages to escape from Bayley, but instead of tagging in Charlotte instead tags in Bliss. Bayley tags in Kairi as she put Alexa in a half Boston crab. Bayley & Sasha are back in and isolate Bliss. Bliss escapes momentarily, but Asuka grabs Bliss by the leg.
Bliss strikes Asuka with a forearm before tagging in Lynch, who takes out both Kabuki Warriors, Bayley and Sasha. Asuka breaks up a pin attempt by Becky with a running knee. Nikki tags herself in and hits a double crossbody on both Kairi and Asuka.
Everyone started hitting big moves at this point. Sane hit the insane elbow on Lynch, but Charlotte took out both Kabuki Warriors with a double spear. Charlotte was posted in the corner. Asuka missed a kick as Nikki rolled her up for a flash pin, but Asuka countered with the Asuka lock, giving her the submission win. This was another perfectly fine match, but there was nothing particularly interesting about it.
Bobby Lashley won the last man standing match I guess
Lana says she has some good news and some bad news. The good news is that she’s excited for this holiday season because she has a hot boyfriend and he is the gift that keeps on giving. She said Rusev never appreciated her. Fans chanted “Rusev day”.
She said the bad news was that there would be no Last Man Standing match. She went to court in Georgia today and filed a restraining order. She said Rusev day was cancelled and they would gladly take the win by forfeit. The referee raised Lashley’s hand.
At that moment, Kevin Owens came out. He said he’s not ending the show like this. He said no one cares about their stupid relationship. He ran down the fact she doesn’t use her accent anymore. Lashley told him to get in the ring, and he obliged, leading to a match.
Bobby Lashley defeated Kevin Owens by DQ
Owens hit a few cannonballs in the corner and went for a stunner but Lashley rolled out of the way. Owens wiped out Lashley with a senton off the apron. Lashley got the heat after tripping Owens on the apron.
Owens eventually reversed a suplex attempt from Lashley, but Lashley remained in control. Owens fought back with tops, but was quickly taken down again. Lashley went for a superplex, but Owens fought him off, sent him to the floor and hit a senton. He followed with a bullfrog splash off the opposite corner for a nearfall.
Lashley blocked a stunner attempt with a neckbreaker but Owens reversed it into a stunner. Lana distracted the referee, which led to Owens being distracted and walking into a spinebuster. Lana introduced a steel chair but Rusev came through the chair and assaulted Lashley for the DQ. This was another good match until the finish.
Rusev brawled around the ring with Lashley after the match, then took him into the crowd. Lashley cut him off back in the ringside area and threw him into the steel steps. In the ring, Lashley beat him with a kendo stick until Lashley grabbed it from him and began pelting Lashley with strikes. Rusev attacked Lashley with a chair then drilled him with a machka kick while Lashley was holding a chair, sending him out of the ring.
The show ended with Rusev leaving through the crowd to avoid being arrested, I guess.
F4W NEWSLETTER: NXT’s Survivor Series involvement Joseph Currier looks at how WWE featured NXT at Survivor Series and in the build to the PPV.
Even with how forced the battle for brand supremacy can admittedly be, Survivor Series is one of the bright spots on the WWE calendar.
The PPV has given us some of the main roster’s best matches in recent years. Last year, we got Brock Lesnar vs. Daniel Bryan and Ronda Rousey vs. Charlotte Flair (filling in for the injured Becky Lynch). In 2017, Lesnar faced AJ Styles. Those matches wouldn’t have happened without the brand vs. brand concept. And while there would ideally be more substantive stakes involved, the brands facing off has given some life to the traditional Survivor Series elimination tag matches.
The added involvement of NXT this year only improved things. The battle of the brands would have been even more forced without their inclusion. Viewers can believe that NXT really wants to prove that it’s better than Raw or SmackDown. It’s much harder to suspend your disbelief and buy into Raw and SmackDown’s wrestlers being undyingly loyal to their brand just weeks after a draft.
Coverage of Survivor Series weekend and five shows in six nights in Chicago, as well as the business, polls and more, heads this week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We look at the directions things are going, how DVR viewership affects all the major shows, the decision on match order, what Vince McMahon was doing during the Survivor Seres main event, the next two major shows as well as Survivor Series and Takeover with full coverage and star ratings for every match.
The issue also covers:
The myth of NXT as developmental, World’s Collide, the next Takeover, the mention of Britt Baker on the air and more.
The tragic death of Aniah Blanchard, the stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris.
Changes in the UFC drug policy, regarding levels, what drugs are low levels now allowed, what UFC is encouraging fighters to do as far as supplements, .
The situation with Corey Graves and Mauro Ranallo, what happened, why Graves should have been more careful, and where things stand.
Jim Cornette’s apology, how his departure from the NWA took place, more of the background as to why Cornette was castigated for things that nobody would have batted an eye about had others said and why, what NWA wanted to do with him and why their hand was forced.
C.M. Punk signing with FOX, Vince McMahon’s thoughts on Seth Rollins pushing the Punk match, TV ratings in Canada and overseas, WWE get awarded, legend selling home, Oney Lorcan talks future, Mike Bennett talks wanting to leave, Injury updates in WWE, WWE market value and the most-watched shows of the past week on the WWE Network, plus notes on the house shows.
Full coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
SUNDAY NEWS UPDATE
Our weekend audio show with Bryan Alvarez is up right now on the site and we will have a second show talking economics of pro wrestling and AEW with Brandon Thurston and Garrett Gonzalez up later today. This was somewhat of a quiet weekend although the Starrcade show is tonight. From the 60s through the 80s, Thanksgiving was synonymous with the biggest shows of the year. We have a retro Observer up covering the history of pro wrestling on Thanksgiving.
After the first two days of its release, Chris Jericho’s “A Little Bit of the Bubbly” sparkling win has sold 10,000 bottles.
As far as Google trends go, the only thing over the last week combat sports related was Gina Carano at No. 10 on Friday with 100,000 searches due to her debut on the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian. On Wednesday, there were 10 million searches for “History of Thanksgiving,” but that was not related to a Ric Flair vs. Harley Race match.
As far as Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley tonight, for whatever this is worth, this is what they did in the billed last man standing matches the last two days: Lashley and Lana came out and Rusev never came out. The referee counted to ten and ruled that Lashley won the match. They celebrated and Lana said “Rusev is a fool” but then Rusev came out to attack Lashley. They never had the match since the ten count meant that Lashley won already.
Here’s a link to the ice hockey movie “Net Worth” that we talked about on today’s Observer Radio, a true story based in the NHL in the late 50s. I would encourage all pro wrestlers and fans interested in business to watch this movie, particularly considering how owners manipulate and players get bullied. Even as bad as it was, the NHL players had a pension plan 63 years ago.
WWE
Samoa Joe is currently planned to announce Raw tomorrow night with Vic Joseph and Jerry Lawler.
WWE 24: Trish Stratus airs on the WWE Network after Starrcade.
There was a category on Jeopardy on Friday called WWE Slammy Awards. The answers to the questions were Charlie Sheen, Cyndi Lauper, Ronda Rousey, Dwayne Johnson and Vince McMahon. The contestants didn’t do well in the category (thanks to Ken Raftery)
A ‘Day Of’ special built around the 2019 Survivor Series airs 12/8 on WWE Network.
MISCELLANEOUS
Konnan returns to MLW on Thursday’s TV tapings in New York and the Melrose Ballroom.
AAW from last night in Chicago: Rory Storm b Reilly McGwire, Ace Austin & Clayton Gainz b Travis Titan & Jake Landers, Hakim Zane b Myron Reed, Killer Kross b Josh Briggs, Curt Stallion b Eddie Kingston, Good Brother #3 (Mance Warner) b Nick Gage (crowd loved this match), Josh Alexander b Ace Romero to keep AAW title, Paco b Jake Something to win the Heritage title, ACH & Mat Fitchett & Davey Vega b Sami Callihan & Trey Miguel & Zachary Wentz (said to be super), Jessicka Havok b Kris Statlander to keep the womens’ title (thanks to Case Lowe)
The next AAW show has Alexander defending against Jacob Fatu, Zane defending the Heritage title against Pac and David Starr & Kingston vs. Stallion & Something.
WrestleCade results from Friday night in Winston, Salem, NC: Murphy Costagan b David Anthony to keep SWF TV title, John Skylar b Andrew Everett to keep PWI Ultra J title, Heatseekers b Jordan Cage & Caleb Courageous to keep the Innovate U.S. tag titles, C.W. Anderson b Ethan Page to keep the AML title, Gymnasty Boys b GRIT to win the vacant Fest Wrestling tag titles, Rocky Rage won three-way over Jason Kincaid and Brian Pillman Jr. to keep ASW title, Killer Kross b Billy Brash to keep the Wrestling Revolver title, Brian Cage b Willie Mack to keep the More Wrestling title, Diamante won four-way over Kiera Hogan, Miranda Alize and champion Ivelisse to win the Ladies Night Out title in an elimination match, Rich Swann b Matt Cross to keep the NWG title (thanks to Shannon Walsh and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
WrestleCade results from last night in Winston-Salem, NC: Great Muta b George South, Nick Aldis & Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson b Homicide & Hernandez & Thomas Latimer, Jax Dane won Battle Royal, Taya Valkyrie won four-way over Rosemary, Jordynne Grace and Su Yung. Tessa Blanchard was to wrestle but due to an eye injury suffered last week in London, she couldn’t and did commentary. She said that a former ECW wrestler (Sandman) was backstage saying that he didn’t think women should be in the man event because he didn’t believe fans would accept it. She said that all the women in the ring have wrestled all over the world and held titles and they aren’t great women wrestlers, they are great wrestlers period.
MVP pulled out of WrestleCade weekend due to issues with a third party promoter. He was supposed to face Stephan Bonnar over the weekend.
BCW from Friday night in Melbourne, Australia: Mortar b Vixsin to keep the women’s title, Nick Bury & Mitch Waterman b Carlo Cannon & Sketch, Cody Swift b Cletus to keep the Battle Express title, The Preston Kindred b The Pares to keep the BCW tag titles, Mick Moretti b Syd Parker, Gabriel Wolfe b Famous B, Mad Dog b Sabu in a barbed wire match to keep the BCW title. Next show is 1/26 in Melbourne with Ultimo Dragon vs. Syd Parker. On 1/25 in Sydney, Dragon will wrestle Moretti. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Limitless Wrestling from Friday night in Yarmuth, MA: Christian Casanova b Myron Reed, JD Drake b Alec Price, Masha Slamovich b Jody Threat, Ace Romero & Anthony Greene b Danger Kid & Aiden Aggro, CJ Cruz won scramble match over Pinkie Sanchez, Kevin Ku, Manders and Oswald Project, JT Dunn b Jake Something, Ashely Vox b Kris Statlander in a last creature standing match. They used multiple doors as objects and people were raving about the main event. (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
NHPW on Saturday night in Perth, Australia: Creek Murdoch b Cannon Connors and WAR, Matthew Pace b Johnny Hardway, Jebediah b Aaron O’Malley in a hunters cage match, Julian Ward b King Shahil to keep the Art of Fighting title, Lena Kross & Mercedes Martinez b Kenicki Wheeler & Rogan Karguis-DQ,Tommy Knight won three-way over champion Rory Holmes and Chris Dickinson to win the Hybrid title. They announced Low Ki and Killer Kross on 2/12. (thanks to Kevin Chiat)
Adrenaline Pro Wrestling on 2/22 in Melbourne with Sammy Guevara.
OTT from last night in Dublin, Ireland: Terry Thatcher won five-way over Calum Black, Kyle Fletcher, Mao and Omari, Aidan b Liam Royal, Bonesaw & Damien Corvus b Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf 450, Katey Harvey b Debbie Keitel to keep the women’s title, Scotty Davis b Ren Narita to keep the No Limits title, Paddy M b B Cool, Rey Hours & Pentagon Jr & Rey Fenix b Darren Kearney & LJ cleary & Nathan Martin, David Starr b Mike Bailey to keep the OTT title (thanks to Paul Sosnowski)
Defy, PCW Ultra and Progress joint show last night in Seattle. Every match said to be ***+. Crowd looked sold out. Jake Atlas b Douglas James to keep PCW Ultra light heavyweight title, Jorel Nelson & Travis Williams & Cook Brothers & Alexander Hammerstone b Judas Icarus & Guillermo Rosas & Cody Chunn & Randy Myers & Schaff, Meiko Satomura b Nicole Savoy to keep the Progress title (disappointing), Josef Samael & Jacob Fatu won over Ethan HD & Mike Santiago and Randers & Big Jack for the PCW Ultra and Defy tag titles, Jimmy Havoc b Sonico, El Phantasmo b Artemis Spencer (thanks to Scott Janicek)
Stardom from this afternoon in Osaka: Andras Miyagi b Leo Onozaki, Natsuko Tora b Itsuki Hoshino, Konami & Zoe Lucas b Saya Iida & Saya Kamitani, Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona & Death Yama-San b Natsu Sumire & Jamie Hayter & Session Moth Martina, Riho & Tam Nanano & Saki Kashima & Starlight Kid b Bea Priestley & Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita & AZM, Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki b Kagetsu & Hazuki.
This evening’s show in Osaka: Jamie Hayter b Leo Onozaki, Andras Miyagi b Saya Iida, Riho & Starlight Kid b Saya Kamitani & Itsuki Hoshino, Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki & Tam Nakano & Saki Kashima b Bea Priestley & Momo Watanabe & Utami Hayashishita & AZM,Hazuki & Kagetsu & Natsu Sumire & Natsuko Tora & Session Moth Martina b Hana Kimura & Jungle Kyona & Konami & Death Yama-san & Zoe Lucas (thanks to Shannon Walsh)
Southern Illinois Championship Wrestling announced its 12/28 show scheduled for East Carondelet, IL has been canceled.
Amale, the current WXW women’s champion who has worked for WWE as well, but isn’t signed and is having a lot of problems from parents as she is wrestling while being a schoolteacher. (thanks to Matt Burrows)
This year’s WWE Starrcade will include an appearance by the event’s most iconic performer.
WWE announced today that Ric Flair will appear on a KO Show segment with Kevin Owens at Starrcade on Sunday (December 1). The segment will be part of the WWE Network portion of the show.
Starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time, one hour from Starrcade will air live on the WWE Network on Sunday. The show is taking place at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, Georgia.
Two matches have also been confirmed for the Starrcade Network special. Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane will defend their titles against Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks & Bayley, and Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross in a fatal four-way match. Rusev will also face Bobby Lashley in a last man standing match.
This is the third straight year that WWE has held a Starrcade show. Flair also made appearances in 2017 and 2018, with him taking part in a segment with Elias last year.
Women’s Tag Team Champions Asuka & Kairi Sane will defend their titles in a fatal four-way match against Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks & Bayley, and Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross. Rusev and Bobby Lashley’s rivalry will also continue with them facing off in a last man standing match.
Starrcade is taking place at the Infinite Energy Center in Duluth, Georgia on Sunday (December 1). One hour of the show will stream live on the WWE Network starting at 7 p.m. Eastern time.
Bliss is returning to the ring after being out of action since Hell in a Cell. WWE noted earlier this month that it was a minor injury Bliss was dealing with and that she would be returning soon.
Though not officially announced, the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota is advertising that Asuka & Sane will defend their titles against Lynch & Charlotte in a tables, ladders, and chairs match at next month’s TLC pay-per-view. Rusev vs. Lashley is also being advertised for that show.
This is the third straight year that WWE has held a Starrcade event. The name was first resurrected for a house show in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2017. Starrcade took place in Cincinnati, Ohio last year, with a one-hour WWE Network special from it airing a day after the show.
We’re looking for reports on today’s Raw house show in Glasgow, Scotland, as well as tomorrow’s shows in Amsterdam, Holland and Lille, France, and Wednesday’s shows in Erfurt, Germany and Zurich, Switzerland to [email protected]
We’re also looking for your thoughts on AEW Full Gear, so you can leave a thumbs up, thumbs down or thumbs in the middle along with a best and worst match to [email protected]
Joseph Currier gives his thoughts on Crown Jewel and the travel delays the WWE roster faced after the show.
When Crown Jewel ended last Thursday, it seemed like things weren’t quite as awful for WWE as their previous shows in Saudi Arabia.
In the ring, this year’s Crown Jewel was probably the best event that WWE has had in Saudi Arabia. There were low points, but the show was focused more on the current roster and special attractions than relying solely on nostalgia. Though Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair were part of the show, they coached teams of current wrestlers and weren’t actually competing themselves. A major title change even took place, with The Fiend becoming Universal Champion by defeating Seth Rollins in their falls count anywhere main event.
Most importantly for WWE, they got to put on the first-ever women’s match in Saudi Arabia. Natalya defeated Lacey Evans, and it went as well as could be expected. There were obviously restrictions, including what Natalya and Evans were allowed to wear. But the quality of the match was largely irrelevant to WWE. Natalya and Evans treated this like a milestone that they were honored to be part of. The audience also played their part, helping WWE’s narrative come off as more than just hollow messaging.
One of the craziest stories in pro wrestling history, one that will be talked about in autobiographies to come, involves the WWE’s trip to Saudi Arabia. We’ve got a complete rundown on what happened as well as details of a story that involved hundreds of millions of dollars, the stock market, mainstream media, and much more. The new issue also covers:
The decision to put NXT talent on main roster shows affected ratings for Raw, Smackdown and NXT.
A complicated story with a lot of issues, including a $60 million payment, let money, a new and better deal for WWE, lagging stock price, talent stuck in Saudi Arabia an extra day, a meeting called by Vince McMahon, what does and doesn’t add up among the different stories, the Smackdown show and how it went down, stock analyses look at WWE, and much more.
Coverage of UFC 244, with the story behind the fight, the stoppage of the main event, Nate Diaz’s 180 reaction on what he wants to do, Jorge Masvidal and the BMF championship, scary finishes, upsets and surprises along with match-by-match coverage and poll results from the show.
New Japan building two Tokyo Dome shows in January with key matches, angles being worked on, the retirement of Jushin Liger, the situation with Katsuyori Shibata, the return of Hiromu Takahashi, what Will Ospreay talked of, the upcoming tag team tournament, the junior tag team tournament, California shows as well as a full rundown of Power Struggle with match-by-match coverage with star ratings and poll results.
The Randy Orton contract, interest level of Crown Jewel, Lance Storm goes to WWE in a non-wrestling role and why now, Styles pushes for angle which changes storyline direction, another finish changed on Raw, NXT future plans, lots of WWE injury notes, WrestleMania kickoff party and plans for the next show in Mexico City.
Upcoming War Games matches, UK stars on main roster shows, WWE’s biggest house show week of the year, the most watched shows on the WWE Network, plus WWE’s first show in the U.K. and a rundown on all the NXT house shows.
Kenny Omega’s possibly going after yet another world title with coverage of DDT’s big show at Sumo Hall.
Coverage of the MLW PPV show, Dragon Gate’s Gate of Destiny with storyline notes and coverage and Pro Wrestling NOAH’s biggest event of the year at Sumo Hall.
Coverage of all the WWE and AEW television shows from the past week.
In-depth looks at the ratings of all the major shows, the key demos and quarters for AEW and WWE, what happened head-to-head and what can be learned from them.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
ORDERING INFO: Order the print Wrestling Observer right now and get it delivered via mail, by sending your name, address, Visa or Master Card number and an expiration date to [email protected] or by going to www.paypal.com directing funds to [email protected].
Rates in the United States are $14.50 for 4 issues, $35.50 for 12, $70 for 24, $116 for 40 and $149.50 for 52.
In Canada and Mexico, the rates are $16 for 4, $27 for 8, $38.50 for 12, $76 for 24, $126 for 40 and $162.50 for 52.
For the rest of the world, rates are $18 for 4, $48.50 for 12, $93 for 24, $155 for 40 and $201.50 for 52.
If you order by mail with a check, cash or money order to P.O. Box 1228, Campbell, CA 95009-1228, you can get $1 off in every price range.
MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight covering Raw and the latest wrestling news. You can also send questions for tonight’s show to [email protected]
The Monday Night Football having a gave with the San Francisco 49ers vs. Seattle Seahawks, plus three days since the taping of the show, if this does even 2.1 million viewers it shows live vs. tape means nothing even in 2019. Smackdown was actually the best since week two, but all WWE stuff is up due to the NXT stuff on the main brand, which does continue tonight.
WWE officials said that Jorge Arias (Sin Cara), who is working with the Smackdown brand, will be remaining on the European tour. Arias publicly said he was going to ask for his release earlier today.
Matt Sydal’s numbness on Saturday did not keep him off yesterday’s show in Brooklyn.
This is the current card for Starrcade on 12/1 in Atlanta which will be an hour-long WWE Network special:
Rusev vs. Bobby Lashley
New Day vs. Revival for the Smackdown tag titles
A.J. Styles vs. Kevin Owens for the U.S. title
Braun Strowman vs. Shinsuke Nakamura & Sami Zayn
Asuka & Kairi Sane vs. Charlotte Flair & Becky Lynch in a tornado match for the women’s tag titles
Seth Rollins vs. Randy Orton
Roman Reigns vs King Corbin
Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz for the Universal tile in a cage match
WWE
Raw tonight is a taped show with these matches:
Asuka & Kairi Sane defend the women’s tag titles against Becky Lynch & Charlotte Flair
Sin Cara vs. Drew McIntyre
The Singh Brothers vs. R-Truth for the 24/7 title
Seth Rollins vs. Walter
Rollins & Kevin Owens & Street Profits vs. Imperium
Cedric Alexander vs. Andrade
Soner Durson vs. Erick Rowan
Viking Raiders vs. Flash Morgan Webster & Mark Andrews
Randy Orton & Ricochet & Humberto Carrillo vs. A.J,. Styles & Luke Gallows & Karl Anderson
Walter beat Jordan Devlin to keep the UK title on the house show today in Vienna, Austria. Walter got a huge response in his first match back in that country in a long time.
The WrestleMania’s Legendary Moments special that aired on FOX will debut on Friday on the WWE Network.
UFC
UFC has released Gilbert Melendez after five straight losses. Given that Melendez helped build Strikeforce, I think if he wants to continue fighting he’ll be able to get into Bellator.
UFC is doing its own version of Survivor Series on 12/12 at 10 p.m. The show will be called Quintet Ultra and takes place on the Thursday before the final PPV of the year in Las Vegas, this being from the Red Rock Casino in Las Vegas. There will be four teams, one from UFC, one from Pride, once from Strkeforce and one from WEC. It will be usual Quintet rules with two teams of four under Survival rules. All matches will be grappling with finishes only by submission. Each team has a lineup and the winner advances and loser is eliminated. If nobody gets the submission, both are eliminated. It goes on until one team has no members left and they lose. The two winning teams meet in Ultimate Survival. Names announced for the show at this point are Takanori Gomi (Pride), Anthony Johnson (UFC), Gilbert Melendez (Strikeforce), Chad Mendes (WEC), Sean O’Malley (UFC), Kazushi Sakuraba (Pride), Jake Shields (Strikeforce) and Glover Teixeira (WEC). The show also has Gordon Ryan, one of the best heavyweight submission fighters in the world, against UFC’s Alaksei Oleinik.
AEW
Some will crack up at the comedy in the new BTE. Some won’t be happy.
MISCELLANEOUS
Evolve from yesterday in Brooklyn: Colby Corino & Sean Maluta b Michael Verna, & Kekoa, Reina Gonzalez b Alex Gracia, Babatunde b Brandon Taggart, Austin Theory b Curt Stallion, Matt Sydal & Anthony Greene & Harlem Bravado b Liam Gray & Adrian Alanis, & Leon Ruff, Anthony Gutierrez b Donovan, Arturo Ruas b Eddie Kingston-DQ, Shotzi Blackheart b Allysin Kay to win the Shine title, Joe Gacy b AR Fox, Josh Briggs won three-way over Anthony Henry and JD Drake to keep the Evolve title.
CWA on 1/18 in North Little Rock, AR at the Maumelle Event Center with Jerry Lawler vs. Matt Riviera, career vs. title.
Juventud Guerrera won the CWE Canadian jr. title on Friday night beating Angel Dorado in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. Guerrera is in the middle of a 31 day tour across Canada with 31 shows.
Pro Wrestling Eve’s final weekend show from yesterday in London: Millie McKenzie won three-way over Laura DiMatteo and Gisele Shaw, Mei Suruga b Lulu Pencil, Jetta b Kasey, Jazz won four-way over Mercedes Blaze, Rebel Kinney and Chakara, Millie McKenzie won She-1 tournament over Mercedes Martinez and Rhia O’Reilly. DiMatteo attacked O’Reilly and caused her to be eliminated. McKenzie said she will use her tournament win so she and Charli Evans would challenge Debbie Keitel and Valkyrie for the Eve tag titles in January. (thanks to Shannon Wash and wrestlingwithdemons.net)
Qatar Pro Wrestling will hold a press conference Thursday in Doha, Qatar to push a show on 2/20. Eric Bischoff will be at the press conference.
Koji Miyamoto will be hosting an 11/16 dinner talk show with Stan Hansen in Shibuya, Tokyo and an 11/17 Genichiro Tenryu and Dory Funk Jr. event in Meguro. It’s going to be a big week of All Japan 70s/80s nostalgia with The Destroyer Memorial show on 11/15 at the Ota Ward Gym in Tokyo. It is the family of Giant Baba (actually the nephew of Motoko Baba) who is the promoter of the show.
Combate Americas announced a 12/13 show in Stockton at the Arena that will air live on Univision and Univision Deportes. Zoila Frausto, the former Bellator champion, will headline the show against an opponent to be named. Another top bout will be a featherweight fight with Javier Reyes (8-3) vs. Jose Neal (6-4).
Rocky Mountain Pro on 11/14 in Golden, CO at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds for a TV taping for Fight UK TV and the Global Wrestling Network.
The Hannibal TV’s 2.5 hour shoot interview with former ECW Champion Justin Credible can be found here.
Bayley going through a long-anticipated character change was the latest step in WWE refocusing on the Four Horsewomen.
Bayley & Becky Lynch vs. Alexa Bliss & Nikki Cross main evented last Monday’s episode of Raw. Sasha Banks ran in and caused a disqualification by attacking Lynch. Banks struck Lynch with a steel chair until Bayley took it away from her. But instead of playing peacemaker between her friends, Bayley smiled and pummeled Lynch with the chair herself.
After beginning her heel turn and reuniting with Banks, Bayley cut a promo explaining her actions the next night on SmackDown. The crowd alternated between cheering and booing her. Bayley told the fans that their reaction was confusing. Instead of going full bore with the heel turn, Bayley spoke about her friendship with Banks and called Banks the one person who has always had her back. Bayley disingenuously talked about being a hero and a role model. She said she was trying to show kids what it means to be loyal and noted that she couldn’t turn her back on Banks just because things got rough. Bayley said that SmackDown deserves a champion that gets the same kind of recognition as Lynch.
In a move that has great ramifications in pro wrestling, Anthem Sport and Entertainment has purchased a majority interest in AXS TV and HDNet Movies and will begin running the two channels.
The deal also includes purchasing the AXS TV library of concerts, pro wrestling and MMA content, which would include U.S. broadcast rights to old ROH, many years of New Japan, WOW, and some defunct MMA promotions as well as countless smaller MMA shows.
Mark Cuban, who founded the stations, and AEG, his partners, will continue to own a minority interest. Part of the purchase team included Anthem, headed by Leonard Asper, and entertainer Steve Harvey, who will enter into a strategic content development agreement.
The company will continue operating from studios in Los Angeles and Denver, as well as use Anthem studios in Toronto, Nashville and Europe. The office in Dallas was closed down.
While not stated in the sales press release, as noted over the months this day has been in play, that if it was to go through, that Impact would move from The Pursuit Channel, where it has been dying on the vine, and move to AXS.
The deal actually first started with an attempt by Anthem to get Impact on AXS when they got word in the latter stages of 2018 that they weren’t going to be renewed by Pop TV. AXS turned down the initial deal, since Impact did not have a good reputation in the wrestling world at the time and AXS had its own wrestling franchise with New Japan.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight to talk Raw and the rest of the latest news. Questions for tonight’s show can be sent to [email protected]
The NFL game opposite Raw is the Cleveland Browns vs. New York Jets. Nobody expects the game will do close to the numbers of last week, so in theory, between that and the usual PPV bump, the rating should be up from last week. If would not be good if the number stays even.
With only three weeks until the next PPV show, they have to speed things up the next two days when it comes to the match announcement and angles for Hell in a Cell on 10/6 in Sacramento, CA. As noted earlier today, last night after the show, the three key matches were HITC bouts with Seth Rollins vs. Bray Wyatt for the Universal title, Becky Lynch vs. Sasha Banks for the women’s title, plus Roman Reigns & Daniel Bryan vs. Luke Harper & Erick Rowan. All subject to Vince McMahon changing his mind over the next two days.
WWE has said that they expect to make an announcement very soon, perhaps tomorrow, regarding Starrcade, which is expected to be a WWE Network special. We were independently given an 11/30 date for the show, and WWE’s current schedule lists Atlanta for that day, but WWE only confirmed the imminent announcement of Starrcade.
Dustin Poirier was on Ariel Helwani’s show today and noted that Khabib Nurmagomedov had noted $100,000 from T-shirt sales, stemming from what he talked about after their fight, for Poirier’s charity, The Good Fight Foundation. Nurmagomedov, after beating Poirier, talked about what a good person he was and that he would be offering a T-shirt and donating the money raised. Then today Dana White confirmed he would personally donate $100,000 to the charity.
WWE
The first season of Straight Up Steve Austin will be ending with a show tonight after Raw with Trace Adkins, and a show tomorrow night after Smackdown wit Dale Earnhardt. Jr. That was the show plugged mistakenly last week on Raw.
Ric Flair and Charlotte will be dong a Q&A for Cricket Wireless tomorrow night backstage from Atlanta at Smackdown. It will stream live on the Cricket Wireless Facebook Page at around Noon Eastern. Ric had mentioned on TMZ not too long ago that his daughter was upset at him over his claiming he had rights to The Man name for pro wrestling. WWE did not believe he had rights and pretty much told his lawyer that.
Flair also appeared in a Tide commercial that aired last night during football.
WWE Clash of Champions was No. 12 in searches yesterday with 200,000. That would be normal level for such a show.
And another Ric Flair story, noting Chandler Wooten being star struck meeting Flair. (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
UFC
While not official, UFC is working Roble Lawler (18-14) vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio (27-3) which would be a main card match on the UFC 245 PPV show.
AEW
Kambi published star rating odds for Chris Jericho vs. Cody and Kenny Omega vs Jon Moxley at Full Gear. You can beat over/under on both at ****1/4 (thanks to David Taylor)
MISCELLANEOUS
Progress had a huge show yesterday at the Alexandra Palace in London: Darell Allen & Jordan Breaks b Charlie Carter & Oisin Delaney, Jordan Devlin & Scotty Davis won three-way to win tag titles over James Drake & Zack Gibson (champs) and Aussie Open, Pete Dunne b Cara Noir (Dunne did a farewell speech after the match), Trent Seven & Tyler Bate b Keith Lee & Matt Riddle, Meiko Satomura b Jordynne Grace to win the women’s title, Paul Robinson won a Progress Rumble to create first Proteus champion, Eddie Dennis (who was not scheduled) won a three-way over champ Walter and David Starr to become Progress world champion. Dennis entered mid-match and beat Starr, who was distracted by Mark Andrews. (thanks to Dave Higgins and Paul Sosnowski)
Next week’s TV Guide will have a story on the three new wrestling shows, Friday Night Smackdown Live on FOX, NXT on USA and AEW on TNT.
MLW has put tickets on sale today for its 11/9 return to Gilt Nightclub in Orlando for a television taping.
Hiroyo Matsumoto and Meiko Satomura were announced for the NHPW promotion on 12/7 in Western Australia.
After their show in London over the weekend, KSW has announced a debut in Croatia on 11/9 at the Zagreb Arena. Mirko Cro Cop headlined some major shows there in the past. They announced a big freak show main event with Mariusz Pudzianowksi (12-7), the five-time winner of the world’s strongest man contest who has been their big historical draw, faces bodybuilder and social media star Erko Jun (3-0).
Evolve announced for Friday they’ve add a Shotzi Blackheart vs. Natalia Markova vs. Avery Taylor vs Alex Gracia four-way on Friday night in Brooklyn, and then for Saturday night in Queens they’ve added Blackheart vs. Kris Statlander. There is also a Shine show on Saturday at 3 p.m. with Allysin Kay vs Blackheart for the Shine title, Mercedes Martinez vs. Ivelisse, Luscious Latasha & Gabby Gilbert defending the tag titles in a street fight against Aja Perera & Aeral Monroe, Brandi Lauren vs Gracia, Markova vs. Statlander, Marti Belle & Jayme Jameson vs. Lindsay Snow & Jenna, Candy Cartwright & Double D Rose vs. Avery Taylor & Brittney Blake and Tina San Antonio vs. Notorious Nadi.
Best of the West TV taping Saturday night in Fresno, CA: Dave Dutra b Funnybone to win the Beset of the West title, Royce Isaacs & Jorel Nelson b Jack Banning & Jesse Poole to keep tag titles, Biago Cresenzo b Robby Phoenix, Najee and Kenny K to keep West Coast title, Grizzly Kat Jack b Darwin Finch,Wiseguy b Bison Braddock, Vinnie Wasco b Danny Rocket, Dave Dutra b Marcus Ericks, Atticus Lynch b Josh Harmon, Lisa Lce b Steve Tresario. Next show is 9/29 in Merced, CA at the American Legion Post (thanks to Jon Southerland)
CWE on 10/19 in Winnipeg at the St. Amant Large Gym.
A story on Frank Miller, one of the major stars of OVW about 15 years ago as Trailer Park Trash, who is now training horses (thanks to Mike Kuzmuk)
After WWE revived the Starrcade brand for an untelevised house show in Greensboro, North Carolina in 2017, this year’s Thanksgiving weekend event was part house show/part WWE Network special. The show took place in Cincinnati, Ohio on Saturday before a one-hour version of Starrcade 2018 aired on Sunday.
The Network special featured a mix of matches and segments. AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe in a steel cage match. United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Rey Mysterio appeared on Miz TV, which led into Nakamura vs. Mysterio and that turning into a tag match where Mysterio & Rusev defeated Nakamura & The Miz. Tying in with the Starrcade theme, Ric Flair made an appearance during an Elias performance. It set up Nia Jax, Tamina, Mickie James & Alicia Fox interrupting them and then being defeated by Sasha Banks, Bayley, Ember Moon & Dana Brooke in an eight-woman tag.
The U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio hosted WWE Starrcade 2018 on Saturday night. Tonight, the WWE Network presented a one-hour special using footage from that event as their annual tribute to the former NWA/WCW end-of-year tradition.
The broadcast opened with Elias already in the ring as Tom Phillips introduced us to Starrcade. Elias introduced Ric Flair to a big ovation. On commentary, Byron Saxton plugged Flair’s Starrcade matches with Harley Race and Dusty Rhodes. They used the usual WWE house show setup with the smaller video screens and house lights down.
Flair cut a brief promo putting over Elias and Starrcade. Nia Jax, Tamina, Mickie James, and Alicia Fox then came down to the ring and interrupted him. Elias played a song while the heels danced along, but Elias and the crowd didn’t enjoy Jax singing over Elias.
Elias introduced Sasha Banks, Bayley, Ember Moon, and Dana Brooke to quiet the heel team down.
Sasha Banks, Bayley, Ember Moon & Dana Brooke defeated Nia Jax, Tamina, Mickie James & Alicia Fox
Tamina and Jax cut off Bayley for the heat. The commentators plugged Raw and Jax injuring Becky Lynch heavily. Bayley made the hot tag to Banks, and the match broke down with everyone hitting their finishers before Banks countered a roll-up attempt by Fox into the Banks Statement for the submission victory. This was a short, standard eight-person house show match.
Next, we got a backstage promo with Samoa Joe. Joe talked about how many times he and AJ Styles have faced each other and promised Styles that he won’t walk out of their steel cage match tonight.
Back in the ring, we had The Miz putting over some of the great Starrcade matches from the 80s. He talked about Lex Luger and Dusty Rhodes fighting for the United States title at Starrcade before introducing Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Rey Mysterio as tonight’s US title match.
Mysterio came to the ring in a neck brace, selling Randy Orton’s attack from SmackDown last week. Nakamura came out as the commentators talked more about the history of the US title and how Mysterio has never held that title. Mysterio cut a promo talking about wanting to perform tonight despite his injury. He said Starrcade is important to him because he watched Flair, Rhodes, Sting, and Eddie Guerrero perform at this event.
Nakamura talked about not caring about Starrcade or Mysterio. Mysterio got into an argument with Miz — and Nakamura took the opportunity to jump Mysterio from behind.
Rey Mysterio defeated United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura by DQ
Mysterio accidentally took out Miz with a dive as he had Nakamura in position for the 619. Miz tripped Mysterio, leading to the DQ inside a couple of minutes.
Miz and Nakamura attack Mysterio until Rusev came down to make the save. Lana challenged Nakamura & Miz to face Mysterio & Rusev in a tag match.
Rey Mysterio & Rusev defeated United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura & The Miz
Mysterio had Miz in position for the 619, but Nakamura cut him off with a clothesline. The heels isolated Mysterio for the heat before he eventually made the hot tag to Rusev.
Miz hit the Skull Crushing Finale on Rusev after a distraction by Nakamura, but Mysterio was in quickly, hitting the 619 on Miz. Rusev followed with the Machka Kick for the win.
AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe in a steel cage match
Tom Phillips talked about the tradition of cage matches in the early years of Starrcade and how Styles and Joe are now part of that history. Joe dominated the early stages as the commentary team talked a lot about Daniel Bryan’s heel turn. Styles made a comeback after a spinning backfist. He teased trying to escape the cage but instead tried a forearm off the top rope — which Joe countered into an overhead belly-to-belly suplex.
Joe got a two count off a senton and teased the Muscle Buster, but Styles started to go after the knee that Joe hurt in their match in Australia. As Joe struggled with his knee, Styles caught him in the Calf Crusher and Joe submitted.
This was a solid match, though it was worked very much like a house show main event.
Final Thoughts —
The show presentation was along the lines of previous similar Network specials, although there was a keener attempt to tie the matches in with current storylines and promote TLC and the upcoming editions of Raw and SmackDown. Going forward it looks like these shows will be more like the old Saturday Night Main Event events that fall in with current programming rather than standalone specials like some of the prior house show specials have been.
Starrcade’s history was put over strongly throughout, but it was exclusively the 1980s NWA Starrcade that was referenced. WWE clearly wasn’t wanting the brand to have any association with WCW and the Monday Night Wars era.
This was an entertaining, fast-paced show — but there was nothing to go out of your way to see. The matches were very much what you would expect from a WWE house show.
The U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio hosted WWE Starrcade 2018 on Saturday night. A one-hour special of the event will air on the WWE Network at 8 p.m. Eastern time tonight.
– Elias was in the ring performing and then brought Ric Flair out. Flair mostly flirted with women in the front row until Nia Jax, Tamina, Alicia Fox, and Mickie James came out. Jax had a lot of heat. Sasha Banks, Bayley, Ember Moon, and Dana Brooke eventually came out as well.
– Sasha Banks, Bayley, Ember Moon & Dana Brooke defeated Nia Jax, Tamina, Alicia Fox & Mickie James
They had a short house show-style match where Banks submitted Fox with the Banks Statement. Bayley got the best reaction of the babyfaces.
– Drew McIntyre defeated Finn Balor
Pretty good match. McIntyre won with the Claymore Kick in about 10 minutes. Balor got a big reaction and was the most over face on the first half of the show. Dolph Ziggler was ringside and interfered a few times.
– The B-Team defeated The Revival
They had a short match, ending when Curtis Axel pinned Dash Wilder with a sunset flip.
– SmackDown Tag Team Champions Cesaro & Sheamus defeated The New Day to retain their titles
The Bar retained with a Brogue Kick in about eight minutes. This was mostly a comedy match.
– Baron Corbin issued an open challenge since Braun Strowman (his scheduled opponent) couldn’t be there. Bray Wyatt answered to a big reaction, getting tons of “fireflies.”
– Bray Wyatt defeated Baron Corbin
Corbin stalled a lot. They ended up having about a five-minute match that Wyatt won with a roll-up, but Corbin ordered the match to be started again as no DQ and then brought out Ziggler and McIntyre.
– Bray Wyatt defeated Baron Corbin in a no DQ match
Elias and Balor made the save and Wyatt ended up hitting Corbin with Sister Abigail. They forgot it was technically a match and had to roll Corbin back in the ring for the pin.
– Charlotte Flair defeated Asuka
They had a pretty good match. Charlotte won with a small package in about 10 minutes. They did a babyface match and then embraced after.
– Shinsuke Nakamura and Rey Mysterio appeared on Miz TV. Mysterio was wearing a neck brace to sell the attack from Randy Orton on SmackDown. The Miz asked why he was here instead of recovering at home, and Mysterio talked about how important Starrcade is to him because it was the first place he saw his heroes like Flair, Dusty Rhodes, Sting, and Eddie Guerrero. There was a big “Eddie” chant.
Miz and Mysterio ended up getting in each other’s faces and Nakamura attacked Mysterio from behind to start the match.
– Rey Mysterio defeated United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura by DQ
Less than two minutes in, Mysterio took out Miz with a dive after Nakamura moved. Miz broke up a 619 attempt for the DQ. Rusev came out and made the save, with this being turned into a tag team match.
– Rey Mysterio & Rusev defeated United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura & The Miz
Mysterio and Rusev won in about five minutes after a 619 and a Machka Kick on Miz. There were big “Rusev Day” chants throughout.
– WWE showed highlights of Sting vs. Flair from Starrcade 1989 while the cage was put up.
– AJ Styles defeated Samoa Joe in a steel cage match
Styles won in about 12 minutes with the Calf Crusher. Joe had the rope break, but Styles wouldn’t let the hold go since it was no DQ. Good match, though they didn’t incorporate the cage too much.
– Intercontinental Champion Seth Rollins defeated Dean Ambrose in a steel cage match to retain his title
Rollins retained after escaping the cage. It was a great match and went about 20 minutes. The crowd was hot for both guys, especially Ambrose since the show was in his hometown.
They used the cage a lot, along with a kendo stick that Rollins brought in. Ambrose seemed to be playing the cowardly heel. He begged off, raked the eyes, and tried to escape as much as possible. Definitely match of the night.
After a brief hiatus, Bray Wyatt made his return to in-ring action tonight at WWE Starrcade.
He made a surprise appearance, subbing for Braun Strowman in a match against Baron Corbin, who issued an open challenge. Wyatt accepted and eventually won the match. Both Finn Balor and Elias came out to beat up Corbin after the bout.
Wyatt hasn’t been seen on WWE television since September, when he and Matt Hardy lost to the Revival. He was teaming with Matt Hardy until Hardy decided to take time off due to a back injury, effectively breaking up the team. After teaming together on a September 15 Raw house show, Wyatt vanished from the road.
It isn’t known if Wyatt’s return will air on the WWE Network tomorrow, where a hour-long version of Starrcade will be shown. Announced for the telecast is AJ Styles vs. Samoa Joe in a steel cage match, an eight woman tag tag match, a segment where Elias will perform with Ric Flair and a Miz TV segment with WWE United States champion Shinsuke Nakamura and Rey Mysterio.
