Starrcade '94: Triple Threat

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Starrcade '94: Triple Threat
Starrcade 94.jpg
Promotional poster featuring Hulk Hogan, Big Van Vader and Sting
Promotion World Championship Wrestling
DateDecember 27, 1994
City Nashville, Tennessee
Venue Nashville Municipal Auditorium
Attendance8,200
Tagline(s)It's A Triple Threat!
Pay-per-view chronology
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1995

Starrcade '94: Triple Threat was the 12th annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on December 27, 1994, from the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The main event of the show was WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan defending the title against his friend-turned-rival The Butcher. The show also included Jim Duggan defending the WCW United States Championship against Big Van Vader and Johnny B. Badd defending the WCW World Television Championship against Arn Anderson.

Contents

Aspersions were cast on the inclusion of The Butcher (Ed Leslie) in the main event, which was seen as a political maneuver on the part of Hulk Hogan (Leslie's real-life best friend). The match was received negatively by industry journalists, with Wade Keller calling it "one of the low points of WCW".

WCW closed in 2001, and all rights to their television and pay-per-view shows – including the Starrcade series – were bought by WWE. In 2015, all WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.

Event

Other on-screen personnel
Role:Name:
Commentators Tony Schiavone
Bobby Heenan
Interviewer Gene Okerlund
Ring announcer Gary Michael Cappetta
Referees Randy Anderson
Nick Patrick
Jimmy Jett

The Honky Tonk Man was originally advertised for the show, scheduled to challenge Johnny B. Badd for the WCW World Television Championship but was fired by WCW's Eric Bischoff only days prior to the show for refusing to put over Johnny B. Badd. Instead WCW chose Arn Anderson to replace the Honky Tonk Man, wrestling and losing to Johnny. At the time of the show Harlem Heat had won the WCW World Tag Team Championship prior to the show, but the match had not been broadcast on television yet so Harlem Heat were not presented as the champions. This would be the last appearance in WCW of Jean-Paul Levesque, he would move to the WWF in 1995 and become Hunter Hearst Helmsley, a snobby aristocrat character.

Reception

The involvement of The Butcher (Ed Leslie) in the main event of WCW's flagship pay-per-view garnered particular criticism. Stuart Carapola of PWInsider wrote that "Starrcade 1994 saw [Hulk] Hogan defend the WCW World Title against his best friend [Leslie], who leapfrogged over everyone else in WCW despite being badly out of shape and greatly diminished from the wrestler he was." [1] Wade Keller reported that Leslie's main event positioning was viewed as the result of Hogan making "a political move to help a buddy, not doing what was best for business". [2] Keller called the match "awful", "one of the low points of WCW", and a "sharp turn away" from the "good pay-per-view main events" that the company was then known for presenting, while noting that Leslie "wasn't over". [2]

Dave Meltzer awarded the Hogan vs. Butcher match ¾ of a star out of a possible five: no match on the card received a rating higher than 2¼ stars. [3] In reviewing the event, Scott Keith of 411Mania wrote: "Welcome to rock bottom, as Hogan's egomania results in the main event of the biggest WCW show of the year involving [Ed Leslie]." He cautioned viewers to watch at their "own risk", while offering the "strongest recommendation to avoid." [4]

Results

No.Results [5] [6] StipulationsTimes
1 Vader (with Harley Race) defeated Jim Duggan (c) Singles match for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship 12:06
2 Alex Wright defeated Jean-Paul Levesque Singles match14:03
3 Johnny B. Badd (c) defeated Arn Anderson Singles match for the WCW World Television Championship 12:11
4 The Nasty Boys (Brian Knobbs and Jerry Sags) defeated Harlem Heat (Booker T and Stevie Ray) (with Sister Sherri) by disqualification Tag team match 17:49
5 Mr. T defeated Kevin Sullivan Singles match03:50
6 Sting defeated Avalanche by disqualification Singles match15:26
7 Hulk Hogan (c) (with Jimmy Hart) defeated The Butcher Singles match for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship 12:07
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Carapola, Stuart (March 5, 2014). "Thirty Years of Hogan, Part 2: The WCW Years". PWInsider. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  2. 1 2 Keller, Wade (October 29, 2017). "The News: Emma, Young, Summer Rae released by WWE, Lio Rush backlash over his Emma comment, Hogan-Beefcake war on Twitter". Wade Keller Hotline. 16 minutes in. – via PWTorch.com (subscription required)
  3. ↑ "WCW Starrcade '94". Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  4. ↑ Keith, Scott (August 6, 2002). "Starrcade 94". 411Mania. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  5. ↑ Cawthon, Graham (2014). the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 4: World Championship Wrestling 1989-1994. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN   978-1499656343.
  6. ↑ "Starrcade 1994". Pro Wrestling History. December 27, 1994. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
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