The first major wrestling card broadcast to the masses was NWA’s Starrcade in 1983 which helped spawn major cards including WrestleMania. The first event was held on Thanksgiving night and featured a show built around the NWA World Title match between Ric Flair and Harley Race. Eventually, the event was moved to December due to WWE running Survivor Series against Starrcade. Starrcade has had some great and terrible cards throughout the years. Let’s look at the five best Starrcade cards.

5. Starrcade 1983

The very first Starrcade cards was one of the best. While the show was built around Flair’s chase for Race’s title; it was even called a “Flare for the Gold;” it was still a stacked card from top to bottom. Roddy Piper and Greg Valentine squared off in a brutal dog collar match that would put some ECW matches to shame. Ricky Steamboat and Jay Youngblood won the tag titles in a classic. And the fans went home happy with Flair winning the title in the steel cage. It set the bar incredibly high for future wrestling cards.

4. Starrcade 1988

This was arguably the last great Starrcade under the NWA banner. The card was highlighted by Ric Flair vs. Lex Luger and is, arguably, Luger’s best ever match. This card also featured a battle between the Midnight Express and the Original Midnight Express. While that led to problems behind the scenes, the match was still solid. Sting and Dusty Rhodes fought the Road Warriors in a solid tag title match following the Road Warriors’ heel turn. The card featured a lot of behind-the-scenes drama that led to Dusty Rhodes’ exit from the company, but he went out with a bang.

3. Starrcade 92

Having a tournament take over your biggest card can backfire but when done correctly, it can also shine. Starrcade 92 featured the Lethal Lottery tag tournament for Battle Bowl. Eight tag teams took part in four matches to set up an eight-man battle royal. The Great Muta shined wrestling three matches on the night: a tag team qualifier match with Barry Windham, an NWA title match with Masahiro Chono, and the battle royal where Muta won the Battle Bowl title by eliminating Windham. Ron Simmons successfully defended his WCW title against Dr. Death Steve Williams. Shane Douglas and Ricky Steamboat successfully defended their WCW tag team titles against Barry Windham and Brian Pillman. And Sting defeated Big Van Vader in a King of the Cable match. 1992 was a good year for Sting and WCW.

2. Starrcade 86

This show was forced to pivot due to real world events, but the NWA pivoted to near perfection. What was supposed to be Magnum TA’s crowning moment turned into a face push for Nikita Koloff. Koloff didn’t win the title like many thought Magnum would, but he was over following his match with Ric Flair. Tag team wrestling shined on this card with the Road Warriors beating the Midnight Express in a skywalkers match. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express also beat Arn and Ole Anderson in one of the best steel cage tag team title matches you’ll ever see. Tully Blanchard also won the TV title from Dusty Rhodes in an excellent first blood match.

1. Starrcade 1985

One year before the pivot of Starrcade 1986, the NWA put on arguably their greatest ever card with Starrcade 1985: The Gathering. This event took place from both Greensboro, North Carolina and Atlanta, Georgia. The Greensboro half of the show featured Krusher Kruschev, the future Demolition Smash, beating Sam Houston for the Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight title. Magnum TA destroyed Tully Blanchard in an “I Quit” steel cage match that would make the Undertaker and Mick Foley blush. And Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson won the NWA tag team titles from the Russians in a steel cage match.

The Greensboro card would be excellent on its own, and while the Atlanta portion doesn’t hold a candle to the Greensboro portion, it still ended on a high note. Dusty Rhodes appeared to beat Ric Flair for the NWA Heavyweight title. Everyone went home happy, celebrating Dusty’s big win. The title was returned to Flair a week later due to what’s been dubbed the “Dusty finish.” While that finish hurts the card from an historical perspective, it’s impossible to not look at this card in the moment and feel the joy from everyone involved. The excitement is palpable almost 40 years later.

Those are my picks. What Starrcade cards do you think are the best? Which ones do you think are the worst?

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