The WWE Network has the last few weeks of the build for this and it’s an awesome watch. JCP sold their shows haaaard. See matchlists on the WCW page.
Matches alternate between the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina and The Omni Atlanta.
1. NWA Mid-Atlantic Heavyweight Title: Sam Houston vs. Krusher Khruschev
Sam Houston vs. Krusher Khruschev is a great opener, just such a solid straightforward good guy vs. bad guy wrestling match. The early few exchanges are great warm-up stuff, the slowdown makes sense, and the crowd is AMPED for the finish. ***
2. Mexican Death Match: “Ragin’ Bull” Manny Fernandez vs. Abdullah the Butcher w/ Paul Jones
Abdullah the Butcher vs. Manny Fernandez in a Mexican Death Match is actually a crazy fun brawl. Both guys are busted wide open a couple minutes in, so them being covered in blood the whole time adds to the spectacle, but they really did keep this thing moving. ***
3. Texas Bullrope Match: “Cowboy” Ron Bass vs. Black Bart w/ JJ Dillon
3a. Texas Bullrope Match: “Cowboy” Ron Bass vs. JJ Dillon w/ Black Bart
Cowboy Ron Bass (with JJ Dillon) vs. Black Bart in a Bullrope Match is a fine brawl with more buckets of blood, which was a little concerning coming off the last match. Crowd is eerily quiet for the first part, but this gets fun towards the finish. Bart is just covered in blood as Bass chokes and hits him with the bullrope. Then Bass gets 5 minutes with JJ Dillon, who takes a beating that the crowd’s way into. Classic. **3/4
4. Arm Wrestling Match: “Superstar” Billy Graham vs. The Barbarian w/ Paul Jones
4a. “Superstar” Billy Graham vs. The Barbarian w/ Paul Jones
Superstar Billy Graham and The Barbarian (with Paul Jones) have an Arm Wrestling Match. Superstar comes out to the Final Countdown. Barbarian doesn’t know how an arm wrestling match works. It’s dumb fun. Then they have a pretty crap match that’s mostly a bearhug, with the added caveat of Graham bleeding all over his face too. At this point it was just gross. *
5. NWA National Heavyweight Title: Terry Taylor [c] vs. Buddy Landel w/ JJ Dillon
Terry Taylor vs. Buddy Landel (also with JJ Dillon) is a very basic professional wrestling match. There’s a bad guy. There’s a good guy. There’s holds. There’s a 3-count. It’s not great. But it works. **1/4
6. NWA National Tag Team Title: The Minnesota Wrecking Crew (Ole Anderson & Arn Anderson) [c] vs. Wahoo McDaniel & Billy Jack Haynes
The Minnesota Wrecking Crew vs. Wahoo McDaniel & Billie Jack Haynes is a fun example of an Andersons tag match. Ole and Arn bump huge. Haynes and Wahoo are serviceable opponents – they don’t add a ton outside of the Wahoo chops that are really over, but this is really all Ole and Arn, who bump and sell huge for everything and are good at finding interesting ways to beat a dude up. There are better matches of their’s, but it’s a fun performance. **3/4
7. I Quit Steel Cage Match: Tully Blanchard [c] w/ Baby Doll vs. Magnum T.A.
Magnum T.A. vs. Tully Blanchard – this is a heated wrestling feud that ends with a fucking war, in a cage, with no end until one man says “I Quit.” It was the mid-1980s and pride in pro wrestling was a real thing. This is not a grappling contest; this is a fight. The early stuff is fun – both guys trading punches, rubbing each other’s face in the cage, the built-in fun of Magnum being fired up and Tully being an asshole. But then each decides that the pain is too much, that they must end it. And they fight, but they fight in a way where two drunk, tired and bloodied guys would fight. They just roll around on the ground here, both bleeding, trying to amin each other into submission. Towards the end each guy is just pulling on each other’s hair for control; it’s fucking art, man. The finish is a beautiful brutal thing, as Tully takes a stake from a wooden chair and tries to force it into Magnum’s hurt eye until Magnum fights back and, bloody and broken, and gets it in Tully’s eye. Magnum at the end of the match looks like a man changed by war. Just amazing. *****
8. Atlanta Street Fight: “The Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant & Miss Atlanta Lively (Ron Garvin) w/ Big Mama vs. The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton & Dennis Condrey) w/ Jim Cornette
That the insanity of the I Quit Match is followed up with The Midnight Express in tuxedos brawling “The Boogie Woogie Man” Jimmy Valiant and Ron Garvin dressed up as a woman is amazing. Just a surreal brawl. As Tony Schiavone says at some point before hyperbole consumed him, “This is absolutely one of the wildest things I’ve ever seen.” It’s nothing fancy, but the crowd is always into Valiant and the sheer experience of watching everybody bleeding all over the Midnights’ evening wear, along with one guy legit in drag just fighting everybody, is worth it. **1/2
9. Steel Cage Match – NWA World Tag Team Title: Ivan Koloff & Nikita Koloff [c] w/ Krusher Khruschev vs. The Rock n’ Roll Express w/ Don Kernodle
The Russians vs. The Rock & Roll Express in a Steel Cage for the NWA Tag Team Title is a solid match, though it gets way eclipsed by the Andersons vs. Rock & Roll’s cage match the next year. This is basically a strong Rock & Roll tag match inside a steel cage. Ivan and Nikita play the power game well and The Rock & Roll sells as well they usually do, though you only get a Robert Gibson heat segment and not a Ricky Morton one. Good but didn’t really ever hit a high note. **3/4
10. NWA World Heavyweight Title: Ric Flair [c] vs. Dusty Rhodes
Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes for the NWA World Heavyweight Title is way better than the ’84 version. It’s like they said, OK jack, time to erase that one from the history books. No confusing bullshit finish here, no confusing roles, just Flair as a big time heel and Dusty as a big time babyface who’s game and ready to wrestle. That story helps this, as it’s less a middling brawl and more a fun match that shows what’s good about each guy. Dusty is charismatic with great timing, and Flair is willing to fly all over the place and sell big. Finish is super dramatic. ***1/2
This is a great show with a fun undercard, one of the best matches ever, and a main event that delivers. A classic Starrcade. 9/10
