Starrcade (1995)

Starrcade (1995)
Official poster, showcasing Sting and The Great Muta (who did not compete on the card).
Tagline(s)	USA's Toughest Meet Japan's Best In This International Wrestling Showdown...
Information
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling
Date	December 27, 1995
Attendance	8,200
Venue	Nashville Municipal Auditorium
City	Nashville, Tennessee
Pay-per-view chronology
World War 3 (1995) Starrcade (1995) SuperBrawl VI
Starrcade chronology
Starrcade (1994) Starrcade (1995) Starrcade (1996)

Starrcade (1995): World Cup of Wrestling was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event that took place on December 27, 1995. The show was promoted by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) at the Greensboro Coliseum in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The event included a seven match tournament between wrestlers representing WCW and their Japanese partner New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) billed as the "World Cup of Wrestling", in which Sting (WCW) defeated Kensuke Sasaki (NJPW) in the finals; WCW won the tournament four points to three. At the event Ric Flair also defeated Randy Savage in the main event for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship,

WCW closed in 2001 and all rights to their television and pay-per-view shows were bought by WWE, including the Starrcade series. With the launch of the WWE Network in 2014, the 1995 Starrcade became available on demand for network subscribers.

Production

Background

From the 1960s to the 1980s, it was tradition for Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), a member of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), to hold major professional wrestling events atThanksgiving and Christmas, often at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina in the center of JCP's Virginia, North and South Carolina territory. In 1983, JCP created Starrcade as their supercard to continue the Thanksgiving tradition, bringing in wrestlers from other NWA affiliates and broadcasting the show in its territory on closed-circuit television.^[1] Starrcade soon became the flagship event of the year for JCP and highlighted their most important feuds and championship matches. In 1987 the show became available by nationwide pay-per-view as were all subsequent Starrcade shows. The Starrcade tradition was continued by World Championship Wrestling (WCW), into which JCP was transformed after it had been sold to Ted Turner in 1988. The 1995 event was the thirteenth show to use the Starrcade name and was the second Starrcade to take place in the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee.

Storylines

The Starrcade show consisted of professional wrestling matches with different wrestlers involved in pre-existing, scripted feuds, plots, and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed either heels (villains) or faces (heros) as they followed a series of tension-building events, which culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.

Event

WCW won the "World Cup of Wrestling", four points to three as Sting defeated New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) representative Kensuke Sasaki in the seventh and final match of the tournament.

At the event Ric Flair also defeated Lex Luger and Sting by count-out in a Triangle match to earn an immediate title match against WCW World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage in the main event. Flair defeated Savage for the championship.

After the main event WCW held one additional match, taping it for a later broadcast. The match saw WCW United States Champion Kensuke Sasaki wrestle against The One Man Gang. At the end of the match the 400-plus pound One Man Gang landed a splash on Sasake and covered him for the pinfall. While Sasaki kicked out of the pinfall, referee Randy Eller still made the three-count to give victory to the One Man Gang. After the bell rang the One Man Gang celebrated with the title belt. Moments later however, the mistake was pointed out by another official, and the match was restarted. Sasaki then pinned Gang to retain the title. Parts of the match was later shown on WCW Saturday Night but they ended after One Man Gang was declared the new champion. WCW never acknowledge that Sasake won the match and was announced as the champion, choosing to recognize the One Man Gang instead.

Results

See also

• List of WCW pay-per-view events
• Jim Crockett Promotions
• Starrcade

References