Let's Go to the Ring!

We're back with a look at Slamboree '94, as WCW once again honors the legends of the past, but has a bit more time for the stars of the present this time. They just probably shouldn't have asked Verne Gagne and Lou Thesz their thoughts on hardcore wrestling. Who is the mystery challenger for Ric Flair's World Heavyweight Championship (and who does everyone expect it to be)? Can Sting best Vader fo...

Happy New Year! It's a new year and we've got a new series! We're taking a look back at when WCW took a look back, as WCW plans a night honoring stars of prior eras. It's a night of reunions, flashbacks, and classy celebration...and also features Ricky Steamboat wearing a sombrero for some reason. The Four Horsemen reunite (kind of)! Sting faces his most deadly foe yet...the Prisoner! (Boredom can...

We're back! Before our next series, we step away from WCW for a moment to look at another wrestling promotion: the AWA. With fans not attending shows, the AWA seized on a solution not dissimilar from what other entertainment companies are trying today...just well before the technology existed to actually manage it. Green screen entrances, bizarre promos, terrible audio, magic sledgehammers, and a...

We're already at the end of our second series! Time flies when you're having fun (and when the series is less than a fourth the length of Starrcade). It's time for a look at WrestleWar as a whole - what themes did we find to unify the series? Plus: Our awards for the series, guessing games (play along!), our Ultimate WrestleWar cards, and a very special surprise! Finally - find out what we'll be c...

It's time for the last WrestleWar - but before the series closes up, WCW has one more WarGames for us. Which team will survive - Sting's Squadron, or the Dangerous Alliance? Also: Raven plays Buff Bagwell against pre-Buff Buff Bagwell! There's no Vader this show, but please accept the Super inVader! And when Z-Man puts a title on the line before he even wins it, it kind of ticks off the current ch...

We Want You to listen to this episode! WrestleWar '91 brings us our first look at one of WCW's most famous match types - WarGames - as the Four Horsemen (minus one, plus a fill-in) face off against Captain Stingmerica and his buddies. Meanwhile, WCW tries a hard sell for a future show without any apparent idea what's going to be on it, our neighbor Dan Spivey goes after Lex Luger's US Title (with...

It's WrestleWar '90: Wild Thing! We're all set for an awesome show! Flair vs. Sting! The Road Warriors vs. the Skyscrapers! The Great Muta in action! Wait...Muta's gone? The Skyscrapers are two totally different guys now? Sting's injured? With absolutely nothing going right in the leadup, can WCW even pull together a watchable show, much less a good one? To find out... Wild Thing! Let's go to the...

It's the start of our new series! It's a time of transition, as in the aftermath of Jim Crockett Promotion's closure the newly-formed WCW attempts to establish its identity. WrestleWar, running from 1989 through 1992, highlights this tumultuous period in WCW history. On this first WrestleWar: Flair. Steamboat. Need I say more? Let's go to the ring! Music by Michael Gary Brewer at https://www.insta...

Once upon a time, a lone cowboy, accompanied only by soothing guitar music, spoke of a legendary match hidden in the mists of time. It haunted us. The whispers, or rather loudspeaker announcements, kept it in our memories. Now, at last, we face it: The Bunkhouse Stampede. 8 men battle for glory (and loads of money). But before that: three title matches! Can Bobby Eaton defeat Nikita Koloff for the...

We'll be back with our newest episode tomorrow, but before that, a quick announcement. Unfortunately, John has told us that he needs to withdraw from regular appearances as a host on the show. John very kindly finished out the Starrcade run with us, and he's always welcome back - it's been a lot of fun going through the Starrcades with him and we'd love to see him return for more, even if it's jus...

Before we began our Starrcade series, we recorded a "pilot" episode of sorts - and now, we're releasing that for your listening pleasure. Take a trip back to the 1980s as we look at the first ever Clash of the Champions! Jimmy Garvin and Mike Rotunda face off in a college rules showdown! Dusty Rhodes and the Road Warriors seek revenge in a match that confusingly has two names! Ken Osmond may or ma...

We've reached the end of WCW's first supercard, and the end of our first series as well. In this episode, we take a look back at the Starrcade series as a whole and discuss the series' themes, along with some of the highs and lows and surprises we've encountered watching the Starrcades. Plus: New series awards, a performer stats guessing game (play along!), and our Ultimate Starrcade cards! Finall...

It's the 18th Starrcade...and the last. World Championship Wrestling's first ever supercard comes to a close, a few months before the end of the company itself. Will Starrcade end with a bang, or a whimper? Will Goldberg best Luger and keep his new streak and existing career alive? Which tag team will win a #1 contender's match for a singles title? Just what is the difference between a Street Figh...

It's time for a look at Starrcade '99 - but don't blink or you might miss it zipping on by. WCW's crammed a four hour show into three hours by just rushing though everything at a million miles per hour. Still, in the midst of the whirlwind you can spot Norman Smiley looking for his lost dignity, Sting learning an important life lesson about trust, not one but two near-disastrous powerbombs, the bl...

For much of 1998, the two factions of a fractured nWo have battled for dominance. Now, at Starrcade '98, it's time to finally see which faction reigns...wait...not a single match addresses that? Oh. Well, we can at least see if this Goldberg guy can retain both his title and his undefeated streak, I guess. WCW's been building that angle for more than a year, so there's no way they can screw that u...

In WCW's darkest hour, a hero will rise...and fall...and rise another time. For a year and a half, the New World Order has run wild over World Championship Wrestling, but now WCW's greatest champion and most beloved hero, Sting, has returned to reclaim the title and save those who once mistrusted him. There's no way WCW can screw this up, right? Right? But before that, the rise of Goldberg begins,...

It's the episode of a decade! No, make that a century! Or a lifetime! Take your pick. At Starrcade '96, Roddy Piper returns to face ultra-heel Hollywood Hogan to save WCW from the evil NWO as we see just how much a company can change in one short year. Meanwhile, Ultimo Dragon and Dean Malenko fight for more belts than either could even possibly carry alone, Sting enters his brooding, rebellious p...

It's WCW vs. NJPW for the World Cup of Wrestling as WCW runs another Starrcade that has nothing to do with anything! Luger and Sting also face a fressssssh Ric Flair to determine who will fight Randy Savage for the title...but will Sting and Luger's friendship survive the battle? And will Bobby Heenan's sanity survive the night with Dusty Rhodes joining the commentary team? For all this and more,...

It's Starrcade 1994, brother! Hulk Hogan arrives in WCW to face off against the best and toughest opponent they could possibly find for such a landmark show...the Butcher? Mr. T fights a handicap match against Kevin Sullivan and his own shirt sleeves. WCW is very proud of all the awards its wrestlers won and wishes to tell us about it...at length. Oh, and some guy named Jean-Paul Lévesque shows up...

Starrcade '93 sees the return of Ric Flair...but Vader aims to send him right back out of WCW! Meanwhile, will Ricky Steamboat best the man with the best facial expressions in wrestling, Steven Regal? Will Jesse and Tony figure out which Kong is actually in the ring? Who put plastic wrap all over those lockers? And what strange chimera has captured John's imagination now? For all this and more...l...

The Lethal Lottery has WCW all mixed up! Again! WCW actually loved the Battlebowl: The Lethal Lottery concept so much it ran it for two Starrcades in a row. On the bright side, it isn't the whole show this time! The grand tradition of the Battlebowl championship ring begins (a year late) as Sting tries to win a second ring (on the same night he's been given his first one)...and faces Vader for the...

The Lethal Lottery has WCW all mixed up! Starrcade hosts a night full of unusual tag team action, leading up to one (just slightly overcomplicated) battle royal - it's time for Battlebowl! Can Sting endure against the onslaught of evil champion Lex Luger's henchmen and the Dangerous Alliance? Who will win when Freebird faces Freebird? What bold new hero will rise to capture the crowd's loyalty? Al...

Sting has risen to the top and captured the World Heavyweight Title, but the mysterious Black Scorpion threatens to bring him crashing back down. It's mask vs. title as Sting seeks the Black Scorpion's identity. Meanwhile, which tag team will be declared Champions of the Universe? Will the Horsemen get revenge on Doom for their attack on Ric Flair? Will the amazing power of computer science defeat...

WCW gets all experimental on us as Starrcade '89 hosts tag and singles tournaments! It's a Luger selling extravaganza! Can Flair and Sting's friendship survive their competition? Who will win when the Road Warriors and the Steiner Brothers face off in a dream match? And what unexpected wrestler reminded us of Ricky Steamboat? For all this and more, let's go to the ring! Follow us on Twitter at htt...

It's the show that had so much grit it needed an extra "t!" Jim Crockett Promotions has fallen, but in its place rises World Championship Wrestling. Will the show feel markedly different from what came before? Will Lex Luger defeat Ric Flair in a battle for the title, with the DQ rule waived in his favor? In a battle between the original and new Midnight Express, which comes out on top? And just h...