Starrcade 1986

Are you ready for my last actual review of 1986? You better be because after this, there’s only bare bones rundowns until 1987. 

Today, I bring you NWA Starrcade 1986: The Night of the Skywalkers, aired from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia.

NWA World Tag Team Championship Match: Rock & Roll Express (Ricky Morton and Robert Gibson) (c) vs. Ole and Arn Anderson

Type: Cage Match

The match started with Ole and Gibson squaring off, with Arn being tagged in soon. Gibson did a fine job, but eventually, Morton came in and was able to dominate over Arn and Ole. There was a brief lull, in which the Andersons were able to gather some steam. Though Gibson was dragged around the ring and worn down for a while, he was able to find a foothold and tag Morton back in, who got taken down as well. The Andersons remained in control for the rest of the match, but when Gibson drove a cheap shot to Arn, who had Morton ready for a slam, causing Morton to fall on his opponent.

Winners: Rock and Roll Express to retain the championship

A good match and a great way to open the card. The Andersons were in control for nearly all of the match, but Express did get some great moments. While the ending wasn’t perfect, it didn’t seem forced. 3/5

Ron Garvin vs. Big Bubba Rogers (with Jim Cornette)

Type: Louisville Street Fight

Anything goes anywhere.

Garvin began with a few good shots over Rogers, eventually bringing him to the floor. Bubba was able to throw Garvin outside the ring twice. The second time coming back, Garvin tossed water in Bubba’s face and proceeded to use the distraction to his advantage. While Garvin did go down after being clocked in the face, he was able to come back up and regain some advantage over Bubba. After Garvin hit a piledriver, Cornette decided to hit Garvin and neither man responded to a 10-count. The winner was decided by… first man to his feet? Of course the referee is distracted when Garvin gets up and Cornette knocks him back down.

Winner: Big Bubba Rogers

That was an interesting, but good match. Garvin was the underdog due to not being as big as Bubba, but he was able to hold his own. Street fight rules were not taken to their full advantage though. I also think the ending should have been a draw 3/5

Paul Jones vs. Jimmy Valiant (with Big Mama)

Stipulation: Hair vs. Hair

For some reason, Manny Fernandez is locked in a cage above the ring.

Jimmy Valiant immediately started on Jones when the bell rang, working all over him in a very methodical manner. Jones was able to bring Valiant down for a bit and pay him back, but when going for a headlock, Valiant turned it around.

Winner: Jimmy Valiant

Good match, I think Jimmy Valiant’s gimmick right now is that he’s just a little off and it’s working well, especially in the beginning. I do like how Jones was able to control he match in the middle until Valiant found an opening. 3/5

NWA World Television Championship Match: Tully Blanchard (with J. J. Dillon) vs. Dusty Rhodes (c)

Type: First Blood

Before the match even began there was heat. Dillon tried to put the match in Blanchard’s favor with headgear, which ended up in a push between him and the referee. Dillon also poked Rhodes, who went after him.

Now for the match itself.

For the early match, there was no real control. Blanchard kept going for strikes and Rhodes kept taunting Blanchard. Finally, Rhodes was able to headbutt Blanchard and exert some sort of domination. The referee gets hit twice and Rhodes continues beating up Blanchard, resulting in blood, but the referee is unable to see it. It gets cleared up and Blanchard throws blood in Rhodes’ face, which the referee sees when coming to.

Winner: Tully Blanchard to win the NWA World Television Championship

This was one of those times when a downed referee not seeing the obvious win worked. But I don’t have to like it. It was a great match though, with Blanchard acting very sneaky to win from behind. Rhodes showed great power and charisma. There wasn’t any shortage of energy either. 4/5

The Midnight Express (with Jim Cornette) vs. The Road Warriors (with Paul Ellering)

Type: Scaffold “Skywalkers” Match

It’s kind of hard to call a match like this, both of the Express lagged in getting up onto the scaffold and once the match started, the Warriors were all over them. Express was able to recover to try to get the Warriors to fall. However, the Warriors subverted their attempts. At one point, one of the Express was simply hanging on to one of the Warriors’ leg. Animal and Eaton were fighting on the supports at one point and all of them were hanging off of the underside near the end. Condrey fell first, Eaton second.

Winners: The Road Warriors

This was an interesting match. It was good, but it was a little slow. This was the first scaffold match I’ve ever seen though, so maybe it was good in the context of scaffold matches. Other than that, nothing really wrong with it. 3/5

NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Nikita Koloff vs. Ric Flair (c)

Koloff started powerfully against Flair, throwing him around until he left the ring.  He remained strong until Flair was able to back him into the post to chop him and leave again. Flair kept having sudden spurts, but Koloff held ground until Flair was able to execute a suplex and turn it over. Koloff eventually found a second wind and showed his retribution. At the end, both of them pushed the referee out of their way. It took the entire locker room to break them up.

Double Disqualification; Ric Flair retains

Great match and in this case, the ending of the two throwing the referee to the side wasn’t forced. It came off as both of them trying to legitimately settle their score. 4/5

There were other matches on the card, but they didn’t show up. They included

Tim Horner and Nelson Royal vs. Don and Rocky Kernodle

Winners: Tim Horner and Nelson Royal 3/5

Hector Guerrero and Baron Von Raschke vs. Shaska Whatley and The Barbarian

Winners: Hector Guerrero and Baron Von Raschke 3/5

Wahoo McDaniel vs. Rick Rude (with Paul Jones)

Type: Indian Strap Match

Winner: Wahoo McDaniel 3/5

Jimmy Garvin (with Precious) vs. Brad Armstrong

Draw 3/5

NWA United States Tag Team Championship Match: The Russians vs. The Kansas Jayhawks (c)

Type: No Disqualifications

Winners: The Russians to retain. 3/5

NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship Match: Sam Houston Houston (c) vs. Bill Dundee

Winneer: Sam Houston to retain. 3/5

I thought this was a pretty good show, unfortunately, the missing matches will end up giving it a 3.16/5

I think my favorite two matches were the Blanchard/Rhodes match and the Rock and Roll Express/Anderson match.

That’s it for today, Monday: Superstars of Wrestling