WCW Starrcade 1996 - The "Reliving The War" PPV Review

[@WrestlingBios]

What did you guys think of Starrcade 1996? Let me know!

[@BlueSpiceSpace]

Loving the vid so far dude! 1997 is imo the most important year for wrestling ever. Will be very excited in the year to come.

[@alifuller1658]

It's pretty cool 😏

[@reddhead2948]

It sucked main event match of the century not for the damn World heavyweight championship

[@nWo7178]

Yeah I love his bio vids too keep it going 💘

[@timbartschwolfman]

When I watched Starrcade 96 on the Network for DDP'S Entrance the Announcers talking is cut when DDP makes his Entrance to the ring they of course had to use the dubbed theme for DDP.....

[@danielchambers2188]

Roddy Piper wrestled at both Wrestlemania and Starrcade in the same year. Crazy

[@bathombre9739]

And won both matches

[@dragonbreath2267]

@@bathombre9739 No Spoilers! ;)

[@JWS1985]

I never thought about this, but Luger did the same in 1995.

[@kingjay239]

@@JWS1985 he did?

[@Sockimus]

@@kingjay239 WrestleMania 11, he tagged with The British Bulldog if I recall correctly.

[@WrecklessEating]

I can't even imagine a Mania where they make everyone assume the title was on the line but it wasn't lol. Ultimate carney move.

[@CarbiesChronicles]

👎👎

[@justinkline1294]

well said.

[@everyonelovesmajima]

@Crysum Moore You're the only one talking about it.

[@constablekennedy7705]

RIP ‘Beautiful’ Bobby Eaton … Gone but never forgotten …… 🙏🏿

[@SlaytonRider]

@Sharmat it’s a damn good listen tho the first 10 minutes are really hard to hear corny is understandably torn up

[@cailibangoodfellow6065]

@@SlaytonRider cute pic

[@oldironsides4107]

Eaton I was a Saint. I had the honor of seeing Bobby and I kicked him really hard in the groin. All he did was he said “ ugghhhhh” and fell over and was coughing. Really cool guy.

[@TheGrowlerCatB2BGame]

Malenko had the personality of a brick, but damn that guy was a great wrestler!

[@DasKame]

Man, the Brick has way more personality. But yeah, he was a Move-God indeed

[@trueSconox]

he's the brick that hit ya in the face, while you can't figure out what hit ya.

[@CarterHayes77]

In a weird way that’s why I kinda liked him. No emotion, introverted of sorts. Just gets down to business and works his craft.

[@santijk3756]

@@CarterHayes77 thats exactly the reason why barely no one remembers him

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

He put all his attributes on 'technical' lmao.

[@leonarddillon256]

Starrcade 1996 is the best Starrcade Event in the whole NWO era. Even despite the screwy finisher of Piper not winning the World title from Hogan, having him choke out Hulkster after a decade + rivalry was satisfactory. From the fast pace action, strong Tag Division, impeccable cruiser-weights, and the biggest stars ever in a singular wrestling roster, Starcade 1996 is a representation on just how good the second half of 1996 was for the promotion. Even Reliving The War series just shows how much better 1996 was for WCW than WWF.

[@kekeedordu8422]

it was glorious . i didnt expect piper to win ... the sequences leading to it .. ah man

[@colindaniels945]

Piper had actually beaten Hogan numerous times in WWE by either DQ or count out. He won all those matches but he didn't actually beat Hogan in the middle of the ring.

[@PreacherTHC]

Yup ... Enjoy it while you can.

[@PreacherTHC]

@@colindaniels945 right at those times Piper and Hogan and a few others were notorious for not wanting to job to certain people and Piper always refuse to do the job for Hogan it always had to be a DQ or something which Hogan even said he told Piper later on in life that mad if only he would have let him get him over how much money they could have made and what could have been but Piper just was stubborn and had too much pride Hogan was too but Hogan also was a businessman and he knew that him and Piper would have made lots of money if Piper would have just played the game

[@bladey_0_10]

I liked Starrcade 98 the most.

[@alexrichardson1963]

My parents took me to Municipal Auditorium to see this, I was so excited to find the tickets in my stocking on Christmas morning

[@JM1993951]

It’s amazing how many careers were able to survive once being part of the Dungeon of Doom.

[@autobotstarscream765]

The Hulkster sacrificed them to the higher power of Hulkamania and rebirthed them as dark warriors for the New World Order!

[@benjones5929]

liked the dungeon in 95,early 96. around 12 members deep,and it got wcw away from constant Hogan vs Flair... they were goofy, but yet portrayed as kinda dangerous early on.

[@unmitigateddisaster3793]

The Dungeon was stupid, but fun. Those trippy promos are legendary and hearing Kevin Sullivan and King Iaukea prattle on about the Moons of Jupiter and other random nonsense is still, to this day, peak entertainment.

[@JM1993951]

@@unmitigateddisaster3793 the set always reminded me of the 90s Hercules show.

[@DKTheDarkKnight]

The cruiser weight division was one of the reasons I loved WCW so much back in the day. They were always entertaining to watch and as a kid, me and my friends always used to try those moves on each other lol. Good times.

[@hoopsmccann639]

same here! one time my buddy had 4 or 5 of us over at his house for a weekend and we played video games and had wrestling matches the whole time. i have a 4 inch scar on my arm from getting powerbombed onto his san jose sharks garbage can. hahaha. those were good times.

[@svenguinee1072]

I completely agree. WCW was winning the monday nights war almost solely because of the cruiserweight wrestlers. The NWO was new and interesting in the beginning but got old really fast. The amount of outside interference became ridiculous quickly and showed the policics backstage and the lack of wrestling knowledge of Eric Bisschof.

[@willh3972]

Absolutely, I was bummed Rey lost but it was an awesome match. The cruiserweights from all over the world really made wcw shine. Also it was cool Ultimo Dragon had all his other belts all the time. It added to his entrances. Rey Mysterio jr was a guy that could redefine what you thought a person could do

[@thesolidsnakealpha]

Hulk Hogan holds the unique position of simultaneously being the best and worst thing to ever happen to modern wrestling.

[@kingrama2727]

And you hold the unique position of being the worst and baddest thing to ever happen to the Bennett family

[@snubby4624]

@@kingrama2727 I dunno man, Gordon got a lot wrong.

[@King_Dragmire]

@@kingrama2727 bro imagine getting defensive over Hulk Hogan of all people lol

[@Rschr101]

As opposed to HHH, who's just the worst.

[@kes9684]

@@kingrama2727 definitely a indian 😅

[@voltron983]

I could never decide if Malenko was better as a face or a heel since there was little, if any difference. He was always more about focus and pure wrestling skill regardless of which side he worked. I suppose the same could be said about Benoit, but in my opinion his in ring aggression may have tipped him slightly more towards heel.

[@doriangreen3231]

Ditto for Ken Shamrock. His style barely changed between face and heel. Ken Shamrock kicked ass.

[@williambuckman8359]

@@doriangreen3231 if Ken was throwing up blood he was baby face!

[@kevinpayton2664]

You can probably say the same about Steve Blackman.

[@jackcarraway4707]

Malenko is a tweener. He's an all business traditional wrestler that will fight faces or heels. He's probably more on the face side of being a tweener because how much people respected his in ring skills.

[@Venemofthe888]

I still find it weird that the WCW Title WASNT on the line in the main event like who came up with that. I think having Piper be champion for even a month or two would of made some kind of sense

[@arciks11]

We all know who came up with that, Brother.

[@freddiejohnson6137]

Hogan manged to dodge defending that title for pretty much all but a few times it was rare after he won it to have a ppv main event with a world title match. Some shows he wasn't even on and others he was in tag matches. He very rarely wrestled on Nitro either during that period.

[@PhenomsServant4]

I believe the rules were that since Giant won the WW3 battle royal he was guaranteed the next title shot. So until that title match took place Piper couldnt challenge for the belt. Now why they decided to let a NWO member win that battle royal to essentially lock out everyone's title opportunities until he defected is a question mark. But TL,DR: Because he won WW3, Piper couldnt challenge for the title until Giant did.

[@tennellwilliams9188]

Doesn’t work for the Hulkster brother

[@manuginobilisbaldspot424]

They needed to keep heat on Hogan for the eventual Sting match that they built for over a year. Having him lose for six days to Luger to sell Road Wild made more sense IMHO. Especially since Piper/Hogan didn't need a belt to sell it.

[@roryslaine7896]

I love how Hogan wouldn't even put the title on the line in a scripted event 😂😂

[@TheSBleeder]

Bischoff: "Hulk, this is the biggest pay-per-view of the year. Are you sure you won't drop the title? You can win it back tomorrow on Nitro." Hogan: "That just doesn't wor..." Bischoff: [Sigh] "Never mind."

[@popmonika]

More like... Hogan: I'll lose the match but not the title brother!! Bishof: but not sure if people will like a dq or count out finish to end the biggest show of the year... Hogan: brother, I just said I have no problem losing as long as I keep the belt... Bishof: whatever works for you Hogan!! Hogan: yeah brother!!

[@KAZ3EM]

That's Hogan! He don't takes even scripted events for granted! What fears someone who screws people over the most??? TO GET SCREWED!!!

[@bdot187um]

I mean really did we need a piper world championship run in 1996/7 even though the nwo just formed a few months ago, I believe we didn't! piper got his w but hogan got to hold on to the belt which worked out for guys like lugar and sting and goldberg who all got the belt and created some classic moments for all, it reminds of the flair run in the 80s he would lose every now and then but he still hold on to the belt until he gives it to the right guys, which worked out for dusty Kerry,sting,Steamboat.

[@kor8513]

The title being on the line wasn't the problem. The problem is Hogan losing to Old Man Piper in 1996 instead of keeping him at least a little strong until he can face guys like Lex & Sting instead, who are actually WCW guys and not part time 80s relics.

[@Jasondirt]

Melinko already made everything look real even if it was a a flip it seemed like a real move. For as many holds he did it was exciting to watch.

[@mr7teen922]

@Sharmat 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@phreakzilla8514]

I absolutely think that Piper not getting the title at the end unfortunately stains the whole PPV. If they made it clear ahead of time that it was non-title, that may have helped. But Hogan ending the show posing in the ring was a terrible call. It should have been Hot Rod celebrating.

[@danielfrongillo773]

Your notifications are seriously the best part of my day. The fact that you don't have a million subscribers is honestly shameful.

[@racewiththefalcons1]

I always knew Dean Malenko was a good wrestler, but watching this today while I'm an adult is a totally different experience. The guy was just masterful.

[@006Vanilla]

I forgot WCW had some good programing back in 96. later years kinda makes you forget.

[@charlesiofaustria7361]

Lex Luger gets too much undeserved hate. Hes underrated in a lot of ways and was over as hell, especially in this era of WCW.

[@chrisvietro4360]

My words exactly!!!! Thank you!

[@justafanofnerdculture7602]

Man, I still love to watch the WCW cruiserweights in action! It was a very wise move to have them set the tone at the beginning of WCW shows. By the way, love the comparison of DDP to Rick Rude selling the atomic drop. Nobody sold an atomic drop like Rude, he was so damn awesome in the ring. Another awesome video, Mr. Wrestling Bios! 👍

[@jb888888888]

Fun Fact: The J-Crown that Ultimo & Dean were fighting over included the WWF Light-heavyweight title. A WWF title was defended on a WCW show and *nobody even noticed.*

[@seanabbins5481]

Perhaps one reason why Malenko was cheered so heavily in Tennessee is that his father had a pretty good run in eastern Tennessee and a lot of fans of WCW in the 90's were old territory fans.

[@mr83]

Woo! The only time I'm happy it's Sunday is when WrestlingBios notifies me of a new upload

[@burntvirtue]

Damn.

[@Luke63517]

WWF lightheavyweight belt was part of the J crown.

[@jacobkaulback2181]

"Match of the Decade" Yeah, the previous decade!

[@msm1876]

This comment deserves many more likes.

[@bastih.5264]

Hence all that stalling and slow action. Two old men inside the ring.

[@Jasondirt]

I don't think people today understand how exciting it was when piper showed up. It really was can't miss TV. I'm glad I got to see it when it was on. These are great thank you for the hard work you do.

[@user-sx6rm9uu7q]

What was so thrilling about him?

[@dukes1993724]

The maniac!

[@Antihero297]

Dean Malenko is a joy to watch in the ring. The guy is an absolute master of wrestling.

[@Chewbacca89]

Ultimo dragon was one of my favorite wrestlers and one of the greatest belt collectors of all time

[@doobydevilbrotha1]

Flair always gets the top spot for the "Flair Flop" but Roddy's eye pokes are something else! Lol...

[@maodijong3661]

Its's crazy how high WCW tv ratings were in this period and yet their PPV numbers were only a fraction of WWE's...

[@JADIP-hl8yd]

Exactly one year away from the fall of wcw. Everytime I see starcade I think of 97. On a lighter note. Thanks again for the ppv review! 👍

[@rajataggarwal5208]

Dean Malenko is looking like Roderick Strong and Both of them have best pure wrestling Skills. Both are Very Technical with each wrestling move.

[@TheKestevon]

Like Strong he also had a personality of a brick.

[@bladey_0_10]

No personality, no mic skills, no charisma

[@Knekten666]

Luger picking up the Giant for the torture rack is crazy. Damn Luger was strong back then

[@noahrichards553]

Loved this show! Takes me back to when I was kid! This Starrcade was the launching pad for WCW IN 1997.. one of the best years in wrestling.. Thank You for all your content!

[@ZekeThePlumber86]

God I love everything related to this series!

[@ZekeThePlumber86]

@Seth Freakin Rollins Why thank you! Very kind of you to say 😊

[@adamjohn2795]

@Seth Freakin Rollins you’re even cuter Rollins 😍

[@jaylee8240]

Piper vs Hogan at Starcade was probably their best match ever the two had together. Their one for the title was good too and Piper's Alcatraz promos were amazing.

[@jeffbeckinc]

I was a Ultimo Dragon mark back in day. Love seeing him again in this series

[@starellen]

So far im loving this PPV. Edit: A very strong awesome ppv event that was way better than i thought it was going to be. Favorite match is Dan Malenko vs Ultimo Dragon is definitely the match of the night.

[@rustykuntz94]

Sullivan def laid that chair shot in STIFF TO Benoit

[@reniervandervyver]

Best Wrestling content on KZbin!

[@Lifeskillsish]

As a kid I almost never watched WCW, but now with RTW I actually was excited for Starcade and interested in all the matches. Great Video!

[@alvinnarciso6130]

Benoit and Guerrero were my heroes growing up. However, I only saw them in WWE so it's always amazing seeing never before seen content form them. Thanks Bios.

[@godspeed9839]

Man the cruiserweight division was epic

[@alexpayne5914]

Nash slapping Patrick on the ass caused the Outsiders to drop clean off the Meng Manly Meter.

[@SBandy]

What's more manly than slapping another man on the arse?

[@adamjohn2795]

@@SBandy Facts

[@ThePriorityBox]

This works for me, brother

[@patrickschulz9936]

"...and now Meng gets annoyed. God helps us all". Brillant. Another excellent review. I really enjoy the reliving the war series. Thank you very much again.

[@martynodonnell8467]

Another awesome upload from wrestling bios. Decent PPV. However it ended in one, of the many, ridiculous booking decisions of the NWO in WCW. To keep the belt on Hogan. Making the main event of the biggest PPV in WCWs calendar year a non title match. That defies logic. Effectively their biggest and most important match of the year and it’s non title 😐

[@iankinnell5643]

I've been meaning to say this but I forgot how smokin hot miss Elizabeth was in her nwo gear. Love your shows every week keep up the awesome work

[@louisvelez40]

This is another awesome upload. I was hooked on that Malenko vs Ultimo Dragon match

[@BlueSpiceSpace]

Womens championship was a massive missed opprotunity for WCW, would have actually been an interesting alternative if they stuck with it, like what the cruiserweight div was for them

[@TheFriendlyWeirdo]

I agree. It’s kind of a shame they gave up on it so soon after it debuted.

[@reeseangle9621]

The cruiser weights, with the Japan relationship. Along with NWO and the under card Was a enough

[@jamjox9922]

Hogan: No, Brother, that'll take away too much camera from me, brother. Women led Macho astray and I need the camera set on me, see, I need more time at the mic, you're not giving my time to women, brother, I'm the main attraction, brother.

[@chrisheyworth2168]

I've been waiting all week for this. God tier editing and coverage 🙌 You can't even compare today's wrestling shows to this era. We had it so good !!

[@hottkrap1188]

Such a double edged sword when it comes to Hogan. One hand you'll get the leader of the NWO, one of the greatest heel turns ever...but man his back stage politics...Just imagine the bagpipes playing and Piper with the belt after this match...

[@lexkanyima2195]

Why ?

[@Gammaworlds]

That mysterio and liger match was absolutely fantastic!

[@TheGrowlerCatB2BGame]

Ultimo Dragon definitely deserved a bigger push. I loved using him in the N64 games, and all my buddies liked him a lot too.

[@Hyde_Hill]

While I love Ultimo Dragon, I would think with his limited English and schedule (as was also working Japan and Mexico) getting the cruiserweight title is pretty much the maximum. Especially if you also consider the other wrestlers that deserved a push if you free up time by reducing NWO and older wrestlers time (making them more special attractions).

[@kamenanew9867]

Didn't get the wcw push true but dude held 9 titles at once, I'd say he was over

[@roleplay4humans914]

This video was too good at selling me on this PPV. I keep having to stop and go watch the match. I watch everything you upload. Every last drop. Thx for it all friendo!

[@jamminmusicman]

Awesome video buddy 💯 ... I'm loving these PPV reviews along with the weekly Monday Night War episodes and yes this is one of the best WCW PPVs of 1996 🤘

[@jaslawl6570]

Best part of my Sundays. New vids

[@gregoryjohnson9733]

Luger looks more jacked than usual here.

[@GOJOWrestling]

I absolutely love this please do royal rumble 1997

[@carlthompson5110]

I was at this starcade as well as starcade 95 I was born and raised in Nashville Tennessee but moved to Ohio in 2009 I think it's time to go home watching this made me have memories of Nashville and got me home sick

[@adrianshappymoments9343]

I absolutely loved the N64 WcW vs NWO music during opening match. Very nice touch man!

[@jackcarraway4707]

Piper not winning the belt made some sense. He did say on Nitro he doesn't represent WCW and is more concerned with just beating Hogan.

[@valentinnanchev5596]

Amazing video 😁 Can you make a video about the J Crown tournament in 1996 I think it will be amazing 😉

[@johnepants]

I love your videos. And your reviews of PPV’s are amazing. Hope to see more outside of Reliving the War

[@415fillmore]

You can always count on fan interference when Piper and Hogan lock it up in the main event.

[@Arcdaemus]

Malenko's entire performance along with Ultimo catching Rey mid-air with that dropkick are enough to make this one of the greatest PPV ever imo.

[@ALL_that_ENDS]

What! A new video from the guy I've been binging for days now, that's awesome..

[@neosmith8933]

One of two PPV's I got to see live. Piper showing up at HH was the highest moment I recall before I stopped watching around 99.

[@brandonhudson9952]

Madusa was hot

[@julianbrownlee898]

Ikr

[@bigtime1351]

It's crazy that the belt wasn't put on the line at WCW's biggest PPV of the year! SMH

[@jumbomacaroni]

Damn the total package lifted the giant like a cruiser weight.

[@jjreider8668]

There was never a version of Sean Waltman that I liked... I could never stand him.

[@Nazzlover38]

Why would anyone want anything to do with Jeff 'Never Over' Jarrett

[@freddiejohnson6137]

I remember leading up to this that I always thought the Hogan and Piper match was was a world title match and they never really did a whole lot to say otherwise. Even though we never got to see the ppvs here in the UK I remember watching Nitro the following Friday and being confused at how Piper could win and not be champion. Years later I realised how little Hogan actually defended his title during this period and managed to either skip ppvs entirely, be in some tag match main event or something like this. Even prior to the nWo he manged to main event shows when he wasn't champion. I know people complained about Brock only defending every few months but Hogan probably defended far less than that in a year and a half.

[@dglesterhardunkichud4017]

First rule of professional wrestling: Hogan must pose, brother.

[@TheKestevon]

He put butt on seat

[@robjackson4050]

the best part of the main event was the fan trying to come in it was so unexpected and the timing was crazy almost like it was planned

[@crockerjon176]

A new one now? Excellent! Thanks 👍!!!

[@LakeLyfe315]

This was peak WCW

[@reeseangle9621]

Sumer 98

[@jamesbounds]

Sweet, I love these pay per view review videos.

[@tyresetaylor4278]

Yes finnaly this is a ppv I hold near and dear to my heart

[@racewiththefalcons1]

3:41 - damn, Malenko got some serious elevation on that.

[@chrisvietro4360]

Amazing pay per view. VERY UNDERRATED POP IS LEX LUGER DEFEATING THE GIANT. Best match on the card. Lex is a legend!!!

[@shanemeltzer3288]

i hated lex luger back in these days. and even now, rewatching all of these matches, i remember why.

[@chrisvietro4360]

How so? He was incredibly over. He had more charisma and skill than people admit. Very underrated!

[@JoseFlores-xc7wu]

That fan was lucky that the Giant was busy holding Pipper and he only had to deal with Hogan and the referee cause a punch from the Giant would have suck and done a lot of damage

[@KIDTV-qe2dm]

I use to wonder why one of Rowdy Piper's taunts on WCW/nWo revenge was him hopping on one foot.

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

Cruiser weight wrestler's had best matches on this ppv shows how important they were

[@TheKestevon]

Nope. It was good to work rate fans though.

[@ShubhamMishrabro]

@@TheKestevon what nope?

[@savharris5702]

Those cruiserweight matches were just too good, back then

[@TravJam317]

Ironic that Madusa jumped to WCW because she didn't like the way the WWF was booking the women's division. WCW created a Women's Championship for her and then she NEVER HELD THE TITLE!!! There were only 2 champions ever and Madusa was never one of them. Before you get upset for her, she did eventually become Cruiserweight Champion. Not the Women's Cruiserweight Champion (yes, that was also a short-lived thing too), but the main one.

[@dacobylaw4721]

The WCW championship not getting defended at Starrcade. is like the WWE championship not getting defended at WrestleMania

[@henrikschmidt3964]

WCW was so hot at this point. Just watching the intro it's amazing the collection of talent they had on display.

[@chperezjr]

Dean Malenko was a ring general

[@rolanddabeats8087]

Didn't Eric go on and get the father of the year award in 1996?

[@Jp808]

It's crazy how good this series is for shaking off "brand loyalty" and just looking at it for what it was.

[@johnlegrano4723]

Absolutely love ever time I get on here and you post a new video. Thanks again for all the great content

[@DaManEX1983]

Voodoo Child didn't play at the end though. It was the normal nWo theme. They didn't start with Voodoo Child until they entered the arena with Dennis Rodman in 1997.

[@anthonychobotdoespopcultur7762]

I was 13 years old at the time living in Gelndale queens nyc at the time

[@gianyrivera1082]

When are we getting a video about Jushin Thunder Liger? I really nhope we get that some day Keep up the good work with your content!

[@49baybridge]

The cruiserweight division was pure fire

[@brianalex2193]

You do a really great job 👏 👍 with these videos

[@12mrshaw]

Class content mate. Thanks for producing this

[@brianlarsen9952]

Wooooooo PPV war time