Starcade, the
granddaddy of them all- an apt description for the first wrestling
pay-per-view of the oldest of the big three promotions of its
time. For many
years, Jim Crockett Promotions ran a spectacular show every
Thanksgiving and 1983 would be no exception. However this card would be
telecast via closed-circuit television to several other venues,
enabling fans to see the sold-out show.
The card was main
evented by a steel cage match between NWA Champion Harley Race and
challenger Ric “The Nature Boy” Flair. This match was christened “A
Flair for the Gold” and the story behind the match was that former
NWA Champion Ric Flair would finally get Race in a cage where no one
could help him (Race had previously put a $25,000 bounty on Flair
which led to wrestlers Dick Slater and Bob Orton Jr. hospitalizing
Flair and nearly ending his career).
The pay-per-view was
a bold move by Jim Crockett Promotions which was now engulfed in a
war with arch-rival Vince McMahon and his World Wrestling Federation
(WWF). McMahon was
eager to sabotage his rivals at every chance and he flew in Harley
Race and tempted him with a $250,000 prize if he jumped to the
WWF. Race refused. Had he taken McMahon’s
offer, there is no telling the effect it would have had on
Starcade.
The Starcade card
featured the following matches:
- The
Assassins beat Rufus R Jones & Bugsy McGraw (8:06) when
Assassin #1 pinned McGraw.
- Kevin
Sullivan & Mark Lewin beat Scott McGhee & Johnny Weaver
(6:38) when Lewin pinned Weaver.
- Abdullah
the Butcher pinned Carlos Colon (4:27).
- Dick
Slater & Bob Orton, Jr. beat Mark Youngblood & Wahoo
McDaniel (13:50) when Orton pinned Youngblood.
- Charlie
Brown (Jimmy Valiant) pinned The Great Kabuki (13:33) in a "no DQ,
no time limit" match to win the Mid-Atlantic Title.
- Roddy
Piper pinned Greg Valentine (16:06) in a "dog collar" match.
- Ricky
Steamboat & Jay Youngblood beat Jack & Jerry Brisco
(12:48) in a "no DQ" match to win the NWA Tag Title when
Youngblood pinned Jerry. Angelo Mosca was the special referee.
- Ric
Flair pinned Harley Race (23:46) in a "steel cage" match to win
the NWA World Title. Gene Kiniski was the special
referee.
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