Starrcade walked so WrestleMania could run

Before there was WrestleMania there was Starrcade. A Thanksgiving tradition like no other. The first five Starrcade’s were held on Turkey Day from 1983 to 1987. This marked the beginning of what would become one of the sports most time honored traditions. It was the blue print for the modern day wrestling Mega Event.  

The inaugural Starrcade took place on Thanksgiving night 1983 at the Greensboro Coliseum in North Carolina. This is one of the greatest venues in our country. The arena opened in 1959 and has been the site of so many historical NCAA Basketball games. The Monkees was the first major rock concert, even Elvis was in the building but drug band Phish holds the attendance record with 23,642 attendees. Take that Jim Crockett Promotions. 

Starrcade’s first Main Event was Ric Flair vs Harley Race inside a Steel Cage. They might be the two greatest to ever lace up the boots. It’s like watching Magic and Bird go at it. Just two GOATS in their prime fighting for the NWA Heavyweight Title. Flair would go onto headline the first 7 Starrcade’s . 8 if you include The Black Scorpion but that’s a whole new blog. 

The event delivered every year: Starrcade ’84 “The Million Dollar Challenge” Ric Flair vs Dusty Rhodes, where the winner is not the only The World Champ but took home 1 Million dollars on top. Starrcade ’85 Tully Blanchard vs Magnum T A in a vicious “I Quit” Match. 

Starrcade ’86 “The Sky Walkers” saw the most unforgettable stipulation match them all, The Scaffold Match. The Road Warriors vs The Midnight Express on top of a 20 foot Scaffold. The Road Warriors won after they knocked Bobby Eaton and Dennis Country off of the scaffold, falling over 20 feet onto the ring.  After the match manager Paul Ellering chased Jim Cornette up the scaffold. This led to Cornette suffering a legitimate severe knee injury when he fell from the scaffold. His knees were shattered from the fall. Nowadays Cornette has gone onto to be one of the most popular/controversial podcasters in the game. Im sure there are a few people that would like to see that happen again.  

In between your third and fourth helping of stuffing this year let’s take minute to remember the real heroes of this day. No not the Americans that turned heel on the Indians but the legends of Starrcade: Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, The Road Warriors, The Rock & Roll Express and many more.