| Starrcade '87: Chi-Town Heat | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 VHS cover featuring various wrestlers | |||
| Promotion | National Wrestling Alliance[1] Jim Crockett Promotions | ||
| Date | November 26, 1987[1] | ||
| City | Chicago, Illinois[1] | ||
| Venue | UIC Pavilion[1] | ||
| Attendance | 8,000[1] | ||
| Tagline(s) | Chi-Town Heat-Glory Bound | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
| |||
| Starrcade chronology | |||
| |||
Starrcade '87: Chi-Town Heat was the fifth annualStarrcadeprofessional wrestlingsupercardevent produced byJim Crockett Promotions (JCP) under theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner. It took place on November 26, 1987, from theUIC Pavilion inChicago, Illinois. It was the first NWA event to be broadcast live onpay-per-view, and was also shown onclosed circuit narrowcast at 100 different venues, as previous supercards had. This was the first major JCP event to feature wrestlers from theUniversal Wrestling Federation, which was purchased by JCP shortly before the event.[1][2]
The event had a secondary theme, "Glory Bound", referring to Ron Garvin's quest for glory as NWA World Heavyweight Champion.
Themain event was asteel cage match betweenRic Flair andRon Garvin for theNWA World Heavyweight Championship. After the event, Flairfeuded withSting. The event also included a steel cage match betweenDusty Rhodes andLex Luger for theNWA United States Heavyweight Championship, a match betweenThe Road Warriors and the team ofArn Anderson andTully Blanchard for theNWA World Tag Team Championship, and a match betweenNikita Koloff andTerry Taylor tounify theNWA World Television Championship and theUWF World Television Championship.[2]
In 2014, theWWE Network included the previous Starrcades (1983–1986), which had been transmitted viaclosed-circuit television, alongside the rest of the Starrcades in the pay-per-view section.
The event involved wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds andstorylines. Wrestlers portrayedvillains,heroes, orless distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[3]
Starrcade was headlined by the match betweenRic Flair andRon Garvin for theNWA World Heavyweight Championship. Thebooking committee wanted to end Flair's reign as the champion, but their top preferences of whom to be the new champion could not be chosen due to the circumstances. Garvin was chosen instead, and he defeated Flair to win the title on September 25.[4] He was not well accepted as the champion by fans.[1][5]
Jim Crockett Promotions had previously airedStarrcade only onclosed-circuit television while theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF), a competitor, had started to air events onpay-per-view in 1985 withWrestleMania, and was very successful.[6] The 1987 Starrcade was the first pay-per-view event of theNational Wrestling Alliance. To compete with Starrcade, the WWF introduced theSurvivor Series event, and held it on the same night as Starrcade. The WWF also limited the amount of pay-per-view providers that would carry Starrcade by not allowing providers to carryWrestleMania IV if they did not carry Survivor Series exclusively. Only a small amount of providers carried Starrcade, and it drew a 3.30 buy rate while Survivor Series drew a 7.0 buy rate.[1][5]
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentator | Jim Ross[5] |
| Tony Schiavone[5] | |
| Interviewer | Bob Caudle[5] |
| Missy Hyatt[5] | |
| Jack Gregory | |
| Referee | Earl Hebner[5] |
| Tommy Young[5] | |
| Ring Announcer | Tom Miller |
The pay-per-view opened withEddie Gilbert,Rick Steiner andLarry Zbyszko taking onSting,Michael Hayes andJimmy Garvin. Sting, Hayes, and Garvin had the early advantage until receiving afront powerslam from Zbysko, whose team dominated Garvin until Sting tagged in. Sting fought off Zbyszko, Gilbert and Steiner but Zbyszkorake his eyes. Sting was dominated until Hayes and Gilbert tagged in. All wrestlers came in, and Hayes, Sting, and Garvin performedmounted punches. Zbyszko, Gilbert and Steiner had the advantage after Gilbert performed anax handle to Hayes. Hayes fought back with thesmall package on Gilbert. As Hayes had Gilbert in thesunset flip, the match ended in a time-limit draw.
Next,Steve Williams defended theUWF Heavyweight Championship againstBarry Windham. The match went back and forth until Williams applied theside headlock. After breaking the hold, Williams attempted to jump over Windham, but Windham's head hit Williams's groin. Windham leaped at Williams but fell outside the ring, as Williams avoided his opponent. After Windham came back into the ring, Williams pinned Windham with anOklahoma roll to win the match and retain the title.
The third match was aSkywalkers match betweenThe Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton andStan Lane) (accompanied byJim Cornette andBig Bubba Rogers) andThe Rock 'n' Roll Express (Ricky Morton andRobert Gibson). The match started with Rogers attacking Morton, as Gibson was double-teamed on the scaffold. Rogers attempted to climb the scaffold, but Morton attacked him, Lane and Eaton with Cornette'stennis racket. Eaton fought back by throwingpowder at Morton and Gibson. The teams went back and forth until Lane climbed under the scaffold. Morton followed Lane and pushed him off. Morton and Gibson then attacked Eaton until he fell, and The Rock 'n' Roll Express won the match.
After this,NWA World Television ChampionNikita Koloff facedUWF World Television ChampionTerry Taylor (accompanied by Eddie Gilbert) tounify the titles. The match started with Koloff targeting Taylor's left arm. Taylor gained the advantage by sending Koloff's head into the guard rail outside. Taylor then targeted Koloff's left arm and shoulder with the use of the ring post. Gilbert attacked Koloff's left knee with asteel chair, and Taylor applied thefigure four leglock. After Taylor accidentally knocked Gilbert off the apron, Koloff performed aRussian Sickle, and pinned Taylor to unify the titles.
In the fifth match,Arn Anderson andTully Blanchard defended theNWA World Tag Team Championship against local favorites,The Road Warriors (Hawk andAnimal). The Road Warriors had an early advantage. As Hawk had Blanchard in thegorilla press, Anderson attacked Hawk's left knee, which the champions continued to target with the use of the ring post and a chair. Anderson attempted aseated senton, but Hawk raised his knees and hit Anderson's groin. The Road Warriors regained the advantage, and Blanchard knocked refereeTommy Young outside the ring. Animal threw Anderson over the top rope with aback body drop. The Road Warriors then performed aDoomsday Device on Anderson, who was pinned by Animal, with replacement refereeEarl Hebner counting the pin. However, the original refereereversed the decision and disqualified the Road Warriors for throwing Anderson over the top rope. Anderson and Blanchard won the match and retained the title.
Next,Lex Luger (accompanied byJ. J. Dillon) defended theNWA United States Heavyweight Champions againstDusty Rhodes in asteel cage match.Johnny Weaver held the key to the cage. Rhodes would be suspended for 90 days if he lost. The match started back and forth until Luger sent Rhodes's head into the cage, and ground his head against it. Luger attacked Rhodes's left arm until Rhodes fought back and applied thesleeper hold. Dillon attacked Weaver with a chair and took the key. As the referee attempted to stop Dillon from unlocking the door, Luger ran into him, and Dillon threw in the chair. Luger attempted to pick it up, and Rhodes performed aDDT on the chair. Rhodes then pinned him to win the match and the title.
In the Main eventRon Garvin failed to defend theNWA World Heavyweight Championship againstRic Flair. Garvin had the advantage withforehand chops, mounted punches and theGarvin Stomp. After they exchanged chops, Flair hit Garvin with alow blow and aninverted atomic drop. Flair targeted the left leg, hit ashin breaker and applied the figure four leglock. Garvin fought back after blocking Flair's attempts to send his head into the cage. Garvin hit Flair into the cage, applied a figure four leglock and performed adiving crossbody. Garvin punched Flair, who countered with an inverted atomic drop. Flair then reversed anIrish whip, sent Garvin's head into the cage with ahotshot, and pinned him to win the match and the title.[1][7]
Ron Garvin, who had a reign of two months as aNWA World Heavyweight Champion, ultimately never regained the title. He then joined his brother Jimmy in a feud against Kevin Sullivan that ran until the Great American Bash 1988.Ric Flair would remain the NWA champion for over a year.[4] In early 1988,Sting, who was rising to stardom, challenged Flair to a match atClash of the Champions I. Flair accepted, and fought Sting for 45 minutes to a time-limit draw. The match made Sting a huge star.[8][9] Sting continued to wrestle in many matches against Flair, as well as the other members of theFour Horsemen, and their rivalry continued for over ten years.[10] The Road Warriors continued to feud with the Four Horsemen through most of 1988.
At the end of 1987, theUWF was closed and all its titles retired. Lead UWF announcer Jim Ross joined theWorld Championship Wrestling announce team with Tony Schiavone and David Crockett on December 12, 1987.
Larry Zbyszko and Baby Doll formed a tag team and targeted Barry Windham's Western States Heritage title, which Windham won at the Bunkhouse Stampede in January 1988. They then shifted their focus to Dusty Rhodes' United States Heavyweight title, with Baby Doll threatening to use "incriminating photos" to force Rhodes into a title defense. However, the angle was abruptly dropped when Baby Doll was unexpectedly released from JCP, possibly due to concerns over her husband, Sam Houston, wrestling for the WWF and a potential conflict of interest. Zbyszko held the Western States title until he departed for the AWA in early 1989, after JCP was sold to Ted Turner, leading to the retirement of the title.
Meanwhile, Nikita Koloff lost his NWA World TV Title toMike Rotunda in January 1988. He subsequently began to fade from the spotlight and appeared less frequently on TV as he dealt with personal challenges, including his wife Mandy's illness. Koloff eventually took a sabbatical from wrestling in November 1988 to care for Mandy until her passing in mid-1989.
Rhodes would retain his United States Heavyweight title until April, 1988, when he was stripped of the belt and suspended for 120 days after attacking NWA PresidentJim Crockett Jr. during an incident at a taping ofWorld Championship Wrestling where Tully Blanchard assaultedMagnum T. A. and Rhodes came to his defense, wielding a baseball bat and hitting Blanchard with it repeatedly, then inadvertently hitting Crockett when he tried to intervene. Lex Luger would be kicked out of the Horsemen after blaming J. J. Dillon for his losing the title, later he would team up with Barry Windham to capture theNWA World Tag Team titles, then Windham turned on Luger to join the Horsemen, capturing the vacant United States Heavyweight title in a tournament and feuding with his old mentor Rhodes. Dusty Rhodes would never hold another NWA title after that.
The Road Warriors would move on to have a have a feud with manager Paul Jones' new team, thePowers of Pain (Warlord and Barbarian), during which Road Warrior Animal's orbital eye socket was injured during a "test of strength" weightlifting contest, which forced the Warriors and Dusty Rhodes to vacate theirNWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, which was won by the Powers of Pain andIvan Koloff. The feud lasted until the beginning of the summer of 1988, when the Powers of Pain left for the WWF after refusing to lose a series of scaffold matches to the Warriors during the Great American Bash.
Big Bubba Rogers was not long for the NWA following having to what he felt was an embarrassing spot in the Skywalkers match for the second year in a row at Starrcade in the same match but also allegedly not get paid for it. He would leave a few months later to join the rivalWorld Wrestling Federation as the "Big Boss Man" where he would have several high profile fueds, most notably withHulk Hogan.
After Starrcade was outperformed bySurvivor Series,Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP) and theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) continued to compete. When JCP held theBunkhouse Stampedepay-per-view event in January 1988, the WWF held theRoyal Rumble event, a television special, on the same night as Bunkhouse Stampede. In return, JCP held the first Clash of the Champions, also a television special, on the same night asWrestleMania IV. Clash of the Champions was a success, and drew a large cable rating.[5][11] That would be the last time two major promotions held shows on the same night until May 28, 2023 when NXT Battleground and AEW Double or Nothing happened at the same time.[12]