Starrcade '83: A Flare for the Gold was the first annual Starrcade

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

event, produced under the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

(NWA) banner by

Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions, at times branded as Eastern States Championship Wrestling and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, is a Family business, family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United Sta ...

(JCP). The event took place on November 24, 1983, at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; ) is a city in Guilford County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, its population was 299,035; it was estimated to be 307,381 in 2024. It is the List of municipalitie ...

and was broadcast on

closed-circuit television Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signa ...

around the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

.In 2014, the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television network owned by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, a division of TKO Group Holdings. The service relied on technology develo ...

included the previous Starrcades (1983– 1986), which had been transmitted via

, alongside the rest of the Starrcades in the pay-per-view section. Eight matches were contested at the event. In the main event,

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

defeated

Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling promotion, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AW ...

in a

Steel Cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

to win the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...

. In other prominent matches, Jay Youngblood and

Ricky Steamboat Richard Henry Blood Sr. (born February 28, 1953), better known by his ring name Ricky "the Dragon" Steamboat, is an American retired professional wrestler best known for his work with the American Wrestling Association (AWA), Jim Crockett Promo ...

defeated The Brisco Brothers ( Jack Brisco and Jerry Brisco) to win the

NWA World Tag Team Championship The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling World Tag Team Championship, world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed List of National Wrestling Alliance territories ...

and

Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his work with the Wo ...

defeated Greg Valentine in a Dog Collar match.

Background

Starrcade was headlined by the

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

between

and

over the

. In 1981, Flair won the title from

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who worked for the National Wrestling Alliance ...

on September 17 in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

, where Rhodes and Flair were not major names. Flair felt that the match was poorly orchestrated due to the location, and because Rhodes was unhappy about losing the title. Initially, Flair was not well accepted as the champion by the promoters and fans in certain territories. On June 10, 1983, Race won the title from Flair, and began his seventh reign as the champion. The NWA wanted Race to win the title to set Flair up as long term champ at Starcade '83. Harley was reluctant, but agreed. Their feud began, with Flair portrayed as the

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...

and Race as the

antagonist An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.bounty to have Flair put out of

to avoid losing the title. On August 31, Bob Orton Jr. and

Dick Slater Richard Van Slater (May 19, 1951 – October 18, 2018) better known by his ring name "Dirty" Dick Slater, was an American professional wrestler who wrestled in the 1970s, 1980s, and mid-1990s for various promotions including Mid-Atlantic Champ ...

attacked Flair by performing an aided piledriver, dropping his head into the canvas. Flair was portrayed as suffering from a serious neck injury, and they collected the bounty from Race. Flair announced his

retirement Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

from professional wrestling, but returned on September 21 by attacking Orton and Slater with a

baseball bat A baseball bat is a smooth wooden or metal Club (weapon), club used in the sport of baseball to hit the Baseball (ball), ball after it is thrown by the pitcher. By regulation it may be no more than in diameter at the thickest part and no more t ...

. The promoters planned for their feud to culminate at Starrcade after a long pursuit. It later transpired the WWF's

Vince McMahon Vincent Kennedy McMahon ( ; born August 24, 1945) is an American businessman and former professional wrestling promoter. McMahon, along with his later-estranged wife Linda McMahon, Linda, is a co-founder of the modern WWE, the world's largest ...

offered to pay Race $250,000 to walk out on the NWA and join the WWF, in an attempted sabotage; Race kindly rejected the offer. The match between the team of Jack and Jerry Brisco and the team of

and Jay Youngblood stemmed from their feud which began earlier in the year. In the storyline, they were originally friends before the Briscos became antagonists by turning on Steamboat and Youngblood. The Briscos won the

from Steamboat and Youngblood on June 18. The match between the team of Bob Orton Jr. and Dick Slater and the team of Mark Youngblood and Wahoo McDaniel was made for Youngblood and McDaniel to avenge Orton and Slater's attack on their friend Flair. The match between Greg Valentine and

was made to culminate their feud, which stemmed from their match on April 30. During which Valentine used the ring bell to attack Piper's left ear. Piper lost the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, and 75 percent of the hearing in the ear.

Charlie Brown Charles "Charlie" Brown is the Protagonist, principal character of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', syndicated in daily newspaper, daily and Sunday newspapers in numerous countries all over the world. Depicted as a "lovable loser", Charlie Brown ...

faced The Great Kabuki in a Title vs. Mask match at Starrcade. In August, Jimmy Valiant was forced to leave JCP after losing a Loser Leaves Town match to Kabuki. Valiant returned under the name Charlie Brown and wore a mask to hide his identity. Kabuki speculated that Brown was Valiant, and was given the opportunity to expose Valiant in their Title vs. Mask match. In the match, Kabuki defended his NWA Television Championship, and Brown defended his mask. If Brown was revealed to be Valiant, he would be suspended by the NWA for one year. The match between Carlos Colon and Abdullah the Butcher was a continuation of their long feud in the

World Wrestling Council The World Wrestling Council (WWC; Spanish: "Consejo Mundial de Lucha") is a professional wrestling promotion based in Puerto Rico. It was originally established as Capitol Sports Promotions in 1973 by Carlos Colón, Victor Jovica, and Goril ...

promotion from the late 1970s. Other matches were not a result of a storyline.

Event

The first match was a

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establis ...

match between the Assassins ( #1 and #2) and the team of Rufus R. Jones and Bugsy McGraw. The match started with McGraw and Jones in control over the Assassins until #1 performed an eye rake on Jones. After repeated attacks by #2, Jones fought back with a

headbutt A headbutt or butt is a targeted strike (attack), strike with the head, typically involving the use of robust parts of the headbutter's Skull#Humans, cranium as the area of impact. The most effective headbutts strike the most sensitive areas of ...

. McGraw tagged in and attacked both of the Assassins. As McGraw slammed #2, #1 rolled up McGraw from behind and pinned him to win the match. The second match was a tag team match between the team of Johnny Weaver and Scott McGhee, and the team of Kevin Sullivan and

Mark Lewin Mark Lewin (born March 16, 1937) is an American retired professional wrestler. He worked for various promotions throughout his 35-year career, including Big Time Wrestling, Championship Wrestling from Florida, and the World Wide Wrestling Fede ...

(accompanied by Gary Hart). The match started back and forth until Sullivan and Lewin gained the advantage over McGhee by targeting his left arm. McGhee and Weaver fought back when Weaver performed a

bulldog The Bulldog is a British breed of dog of mastiff type. It may also be known as the English Bulldog or British Bulldog. It is a stocky, muscular dog of medium size, with a large head, thick folds of skin around the face and shoulders and a rel ...

on Sullivan, sending his face into the canvas. Weaver attempted another bulldog, but Sullivan pushed him into the corner. Lewin performed a

knee drop Strikes can be offensive moves in professional wrestling, that can sometimes be used to set up an opponent for a Professional wrestling holds, hold or for a Professional wrestling throws, throw. There are a wide variety of strikes in pro wrestling, ...

from the top turnbuckle on Weaver's left arm as Hart and Sullivan held onto him. Lewin then pinned Weaver to win the match. After the match, Lewin and Sullivan beat down McGhee and lacerated his forehead with a foreign object provided by Hart. Angelo Mosca attempted to help McGhee, but was also attacked. The third match was between Carlos Colon and Abdullah the Butcher. The match started with Abdullah dominating Colon with the use of a weapon. Colon fought back with punches and used Abdullah's weapon on him. Abdullah knocked down the

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

, and Colon applied a figure four leglock on Abdullah. While the referee was still knocked out, Hugo Savinovich entered the ring and hit Colon with a foreign object, allowing Abdullah to pin Colon and win the match. The fourth match was a tag team match between the team of Wahoo McDaniel and Mark Youngblood, and the team of

and Bob Orton Jr. Youngblood had the early advantage over Slater until Slater sent him down with a Russian legsweep. Slater and Orton then took control of the match until Slater accidentally hit Orton. Youngblood performed dropkicks to Slater and Orton, but the pair then double-teamed him. They placed Youngblood on the top turnbuckle, and Orton performed a superplex, sending Youngblood back-first onto the canvas. Orton then pinned Youngblood to win the match. After the match, Slater and Orton beat down McDaniel and attacked his left arm with a knee drop from the top turnbuckle. The fifth match was a Title vs. Mask match between

and The Great Kabuki (accompanied by Gary Hart). Kabuki's NWA Television Championship was defended in the first fifteen minutes, and Brown's mask was defended for the entire match. The match started with Brown having the advantage with the use of the ringpost and a steel chair. Brown applied a

chokehold A chokehold, choke, stranglehold or, in Judo, shime-waza () is a general term for a grappling hold that critically reduces or prevents either air ( choking)''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (1999). Oxford University press. . or blood ( s ...

, but Kabuki fought back and applied a clawhold, squeezing Brown's skull. This continued until Kabuki missed a kick in the corner, and Brown pinned him after an elbow drop to his chest to win the match and the title. The sixth match was a Dog Collar match between

and Greg Valentine. The match started back and forth, with Valentine targeting Piper's injured left ear. Piper gained the advantage with the use of the chain. Valentine fought back and choked Piper with the chain. Valentine targeted Piper's left ear, causing him to have trouble standing. The match went back and forth until Valentine performed an elbow strike from the turnbuckles and an elbow drop. Valentine climbed the turnbuckles again, but Piper pulled him down. After delivering punches with the chain, Piper pinned Valentine with the chain wrapped around his legs. After the match, Valentine attacked Piper and again choked him with the chain. The seventh match was a tag team match between the team of Jay Youngblood and

, and the team of Jack and Jerry Brisco for the

. Angelo Mosca was the special guest referee. The match started back and forth until Jack performed a double underhook suplex to Steamboat, slamming him onto his back. The Briscos had the advantage until Jerry complained to and shoved Mosca after almost pinning Youngblood. Mosca shoved Jerry down, and Youngblood and Steamboat gained the advantage. They performed an aided splash, where Steamboat dropped Youngblood onto the fallen Jerry, and Youngblood pinned him to win the match and the title. After the match, the Briscos attacked Youngblood, Steamboat and Mosca until they fought back. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was a

steel cage match Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "Glossary of professional wrestling terms#Gimmick, gimmick matches" in the Glossary of professional wrestling terms, jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick m ...

between

and

for the

, with former NWA World Champion

Gene Kiniski Eugene Nicholas Kiniski (November 23, 1928 – April 14, 2010) was a Canadian athlete who played football for the Edmonton Eskimos and then became a three-time professional wrestling world heavyweight champion. "Canada's Greatest Athlete", as he ...

as the special referee (another former NWA World Champion, Pat O'Connor, was originally set to be the special referee, but it was discovered that O'Connor (along with Race, Bob Geigel, and Verne Gagne) owned the Central States territory so the change was made (kayfabe) to avoid a conflict of interest). The match began with Flair having the advantage with a headlock. Race fought back by targeting Flair's head and neck. Race, using a

piledriver Piledriver or pile driver may refer to: *Pile driver, a person trained to use the diesel hammer that drives piles into the ground for foundations and bridges *Piledriver (professional wrestling), a move used in professional wrestling Entertainme ...

maneuver, dropped Flair head first into the canvas and then sent his head into the cage. Flair fought back after sending Race into the corner of the ring. Flair performed a piledriver and sent Race's head into the cage. After slamming Race down with a belly to back suplex, Flair applied a figure four leglock. Race broke the hold by rolling into the ropes and fought back with a

from the top turnbuckle. As Race applied a headlock, Flair sent Race's head into Kiniski's head. Flair then performed a body press from the top turnbuckle and pinned Race to win the match and the title.

Aftermath

had been wrestling for over twenty years and was physically and emotionally exhausted. He took time off from

, and his loss at Starrcade is seen as the torch-passing to

. Flair's win at Starrcade was significant as it made Flair as a reputable champion. During an international tour in early 1984, without the approval of the NWA board of directors, Flair lost the

to Race on March 21 in

Wellington, New Zealand Wellington is Capital of New Zealand, the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the List of cities in New Zealand, third-largest city ...

, and won it back two days later in

Kallang Kallang ( ) is a Planning Areas of Singapore, planning area and New towns of Singapore, residential zone located in the Central Region, Singapore, Central Region of Singapore. Development of the town is centered around the Kallang River, the l ...

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. This was done to increase attendance of the events, and the title changes were not recognized by the NWA until years later. Race did not win the title again. On May 6,

Kerry Von Erich Kerry Gene Adkisson (February 3, 1960 – February 18, 1993), better known by his ring name Kerry Von Erich, was an American professional wrestler. He was part of the Von Erich family of professional wrestlers. He is best known for his time with ...

won the title from Flair as a tribute to Kerry's brother

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

, who died in February. Flair won the title back eighteen days later. At the end of Starrcade,

made a challenge to Flair for the title, and this led to their title match at the following year's Starrcade. The feud between Carlos Colon and Abdullah the Butcher continued for over a decade while other feuds ended with their match at Starrcade. Rick Steamboat retired from wrestling after winning the NWA World Tag Team title to focus on his new gym, but then unretired in mid-1984 to feud with Wahoo McDaniel (who turned heel during 1984 claiming he was unappreciated and taken advantage of because he was Native American) and Tully Blanchard over the United States heavyweight title. Steamboat's partner, Jay Youngblood teamed with his brother Mark in JCP and in Florida before Jay's tragic death in 1985. Several others (

, Greg Valentine, and Bob Orton, Jr.) went to the World Wrestling Federation as part of its 1984 national expansion (and all as heels, forgetting their previous feud), and the Briscoes went there as well after selling their shares of

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades b ...

to Vince McMahon, resulting in Black Saturday. Angelo Mosca remained in JCP, while his son, Angelo Mosca, Jr., was given a push, with three reigns as Mid-Atlantic Champion before father and son left JCP after control of

Maple Leaf Wrestling Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name of a Canadian professional wrestling promotion owned by Frank Tunney and based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 1970s and 1980s. Founded in 1930, Maple Leaf was a territory of the National Wrestli ...

went to the WWF and became a broadcaster on the WWF program ''Maple Leaf Wrestling''. Jimmy Valiant returned to JCP after his 90-day "Loser Leaves Town" period lapsed and the NWA Television Title was vacated, Mark Youngblood won a tournament final for the vacant title before losing it to JCP newcomer Tully Blanchard, while Valiant ended his feud with Gary Hart and began his years-long feud with Paul Jones, losing his trademark beard to the Assassins, but Valiant would get revenge by unmasking Assassin #2 (revealed to be Hercules Hernandez) and Hernandez left JCP for Mid-South Wrestling. Hart stayed around for a short time, replacing the Great Kabuki (who went to Japan) with Ivan Koloff and "Big Cat"

Ernie Ladd Ernest L. Ladd (November 28, 1938 – March 10, 2007), nicknamed "the Big Cat", was an American professional American football, football defensive tackle and professional wrestling, professional wrestler. A standout athlete in high school, Ladd ...

, then went back to World Class Championship Wrestling, while Kevin Sullivan and Mark Lewin returned to Championship Wrestling from Florida to reform his "Prince of Darkness" group which included his then-wife Nancy, as "Fallen Angel" as well as Luna Vachon and Mike Davis.

Production and reception

The World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was a competing

professional wrestling promotion A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. "Promotion" also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event. Within ...

that was expanding nationally with the use of

cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...

and attempted to take over the market. Promotions under the governance of the NWA only operated within their territory, and the WWF was affecting their business and acquiring their top wrestlers. JCP, owned by Jim Crockett Jr., was one of the top promotions of the NWA and attempted to compete with the WWF by creating Starrcade. Starrcade was a large event, heavily promoted on televised events and broadcast on

via

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

in arenas around the promotion's regular tour stops. Traditionally, major wrestling events were held by the promotion on

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

and

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

, and Starrcade continued and spread the tradition by being held on Thanksgiving. Starrcade was headlined by the title match between

and

and featured other major feuds across the territory. Since Race won the

in June, Crockett began planning Starrcade for Flair to regain the title in style.

was the booker of the promotion, one who creates storylines, schedules matches, and decides their outcomes. Starrcade was the inspiration of Rhodes. Wrestling historian

Dave Meltzer David Allen Meltzer (born October 24, 1959) is an American journalist, author, and historian who reports on professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Since 1983, he has been the publisher and editor of the ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter' ...

has claimed that Dory Funk Jr. was the actual booker of the first Starrcade and the events leading up to it and that he came up with the idea for the show with Crockett. According to Meltzer, Rhodes came up with the name Starrcade and booked the show in subsequent years. Starrcade drew a sold-out attendance of 15,447 and a $500,000 gate at the Greensboro Coliseum. The attendance at closed-circuit television broadcast locations was affected by a

winter storm A winter storm (also known as snow storm) is an event in which wind coincides with varieties of precipitation that only occur at freezing temperatures, such as snow, mixed snow and rain, or freezing rain. In temperate continental and subarct ...

and drew around 30,000 people. Its use at the event popularized closed-circuit television broadcasting for professional wrestling events. Starrcade continued to be the flagship event of the promotion, held annually until the final Starrcade event in 2000.

Results

Notes

References

External links

Starrcade 1983 review at 411maniaStarrcade 1983 review at The Powerdriver Review
{{WCWPPV, Starrcade 1983 in professional wrestling Starrcade 1983 in North Carolina Professional wrestling shows in Greensboro, North Carolina November 1983 in the United States