Episode 49: Starrcade 1997 

I am so glad there are so many episodes of this show because if there weren't I literally would probably have to execute myself I love this podcast🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

Thank you for pointing out the detail, that Hogan wasn't selling the Sting character. He should have appeared petrified that he had to face this spooky Crow character.

Just one minor thing I'd like to point out. Sting not being tan, it kind of fit for this because all he was doing is lurking in the Darkness. It would have been kind of weird to see him come out with a surfer tan at that point

this ppv is top of my list as one of the most disappointing I've ever seen! The finish of Sting-Hogan was an absolute catastrophe. Period.

Hogan was behind it all

Starrcade '97 Bischoff was up by three touchdowns, and then when the dust cleared he lost by two touchdowns.

Tony has no idea about the Mike Jones reference. Back then they didn't want me now I'm hot they all on me.

I think Tony Schiavone spoke volumes when he said, "It was Bischoff's decision, but Hogan was in his ear." When it comes to the Bischoff-Hogan relationship, you have to read between the lines. In Bischoff's mind, Hogan was never a problem because he typically got his way. That said, I think at Starrcade '97, Hogan had better reason than ever to insist on not giving Sting a clean finish because Sting's head wasn't in the game. In turn, it raises the question of why Hogan was so involved in determining the finish if, as Bischoff said, Hogan never did such a thing?

Hey Tony you are so great

In the year 2035. I can see HULK HOGAN & RIC FLAIR at wwe ppvs like MOOLAH & MAE YOUNG were 10 yrs ago....lol Ric being MAE...

Starts at 6:23

This was a clunky finish. It wasn't a fast count at all. If anything this was to made Bret Hart a damn fool in my opinion. This pay per view was a clusterfunk it made opinion. I felt for Tony Bobby and Dusty cause with all the non showings and that ending. 17 months went down the drain. i don;t blame Hogan and Sting. I felt for those two. Eric wanted to recreate Montreal. Instead it was a whooper. I rated it a 3/10. it felt like this crap was used to create Thunder.

Sting should of went over clean, hogan and the nWo go away for a bit..then they somehow screw him out of the title and then sting goes ppv after ppv destroying the top tier nWo guys until he gets hogan again. That's pretty much all of 98 for ppv right there, what a waste of probably the biggest wait for 1 match of all time.

Conrad makes a great point about so much of WCW's talent not being on the card during their biggest PPV ever. I vaguely remember hearing Bischoff say that it wasn't until '99 they realized they needed to make better use of Bret Hart because of the value of Hart's contract. They spent so much on Hart and they weren't getting any kind of return. This is a classic example of WCW dealing itself a great hand and then somehow not being able to play it well.

in 1997 ,I was ,15 and I thought starrcade was awesome....I don't think wrestling has ever matched the buildup and anticipation that went into starrcade 97....

One thing they missed is that Nick Patrick had been "rehabbed" for MONTHS and was actually back to being a solid WCW ref (storyline-wise) ..his fast count - which never took place - would've been him going back t his nWo ways, therefore Brett stopping the bell and stepping in would've made sense (somewhat).

Has Hogan ever done an interview in which he discusses what happened with Starrcade 97? I've never come across one that I can recall, but I'd have to assume that someone somewhere at sometime asked him about it.

Watching this in advance on the network to prepare for this WHW all I could think about is I wish there was an option to turn off the announcers like in the video game. It's a shame they talked over such a great opening match between Eddy and Dean. Most of which was merely to emphasize Nash wasn't there and no one was sure who the ref would be in the main event. I think Tony brought each topic up at least four times. Just call the match.

This might be a hot topic but starcade is a better name than WrestleMania

Schiavone had it backwards re: Nick Patrick. Patrick had left the nWo earlier that year. The real problem with Patrick being at the center of the controversy is that they're reverting to the heel referee angle, which had already played out. This demonstrated just how badly they botched the handling of Sting showing up unprepared - they were walking over the same territory again.

Hulk Hogan politics killed this show. Hogan was part of the reason wcw isnt around today. He was a master politician. He killed lex lugers reign after 5 days and then killed stings run with him not wanting to lose cleanly. I wish sting won cleanly like he deserved. Its unfortunate

Zy ysko and hall had a run In. A bar after spicoli passed

This is when wcw started to fall and disappointed everyone. Sting was suppose to be this vigilante coming in and taking out hogan and the nwo. For a year and a half they built him up to be invincible and everyone was afraid of him. Sting should have gone over. But nope this is why wcw is not around today.

Tony and Conrad talked about building matches and then not doing them but WWE does that stuff now.

Intro Song Name?

The NWO angle should have been wrapped up at this PPV, but WCW continued to drag it out and water it down.

I was 14, I've been a wrestling fan since as long as I can remember but I had started watching RELIGIOUSLY since the "third man" at the bash at the beach. Hogan turning heel was shocking but I was enthralled, I hated the NWO and desperately wanted someone to stop them, and when Sting turned black I was in absolute LOVE with his character and couldn't wait for him to kick Hogan and the NWOs ass into oblivion. When Sting entered the arena on Starrcade I was so emotional, I thought he was literally the coolest wrestler in the history of the sport and was so ready for Hogan to get his ass handed to him, and then after the finish... I felt confused, I was a little angry, and then as I watched for the next year or so everything in WCW started to feel up in the air and convoluted, after the "cattle prod" and the subsequent "finger poke of doom" I stopped watching wrestling for a long time. I guess you could say that Hogan's shitty and selfish ideas literally ruined wrestling for me and everyone else for a long time and destroyed WCW.

Syxx for #6 merchandise sales? wow good for pac

“Some of the biggest stars in the company... Glacier.” Huh?

@3:06:00..... TONY.... ITS CALLED A FACE/HEEL TURN..... REFS CAN DO IT ALSO, ITS NOT JIST FOR WRESTLERS

At the time it was the biggest. WCW vs NWO was the biggest thing in wrestling at the time. WWF did not seem to matter.

Tony is a maybe WWE hof

I attended the Nitro taping the next night here in Baltimore. I hated seeing Glacier get squashed. I didn't care for Hogan jobbing later in the night, either. Then again, his subsequent losses to Sting were even worse.

"Sting would come in on Monday, do his thing (really well), get on a plane and we wouldn't see him again until the next Monday." If he wasn't set to appear and participate in any of that weeks shows then why would you see him? Was he supposed to just show up and hang out at events when he wasn't booked?

This PPV couldnt ever live up to the hype. All would have been forgiven if not for Hogan destroying the business with his bloated ego. Many of us, including myself, saw Hogan and Flair as two old guys who didnt need to dominate the top of the card. Push the outsiders and some of the nice midcard talent WCW had a ton of.

I'd love to hear Tony watch the old Stranglemania tapes where ICP was calling the matches. I love how Tony shits on ECW. ECW matches were more than hardcore, they WORKED like a mofo, their matches were quality, usually fast paced and developed them as good workers. WCW had more shit matches then quality.

Dont bother checking your google hangout, nobody messaged you at 47:48.

Sting should've squashed Hogan. 5 minute match tops.

Sting didn't finish the story

6:20 watch along starts.

Put your fucking phones on mute.

This whole looking from the inside out is the problem and reason why WCW didn't know what to do. Example: you have Ted Dibiase "The Milllion Dollar Man". Randy "Macho Man" Savage, Virgil, The Big Bossman, and The Steiner Bros in a match together... in YOUR FANS EYES AT THAT TIME, and if you are looking at it as Ray Traylor and Mike Jones... your perspective is so messed up because your most of your fans at that time came from and were programmed by that late 1980's WWF product and were looking for a return to that. Why do you think that NWO and Sting were so popular any little thing these guys did. Don't make Ray Traylor midcard trash. Your guys not wanting to job and all of that nonsense - you let the inside have too much control over the outside. You should have really looked from the outside in. Using at that match as an example, that's who the fans already identify with. If you had DiBiase put the Milion Dollar Dream on Virgil, Traylor handcuff and beat someone with a nighstick would have been way more over that if Misterio wrestled anybody. The inside has no clue of how the outside looks at the product. Meltzer does not represent these views nor the internet. Your main fan base identified with the WWF late 1980's product and adding everything around that was key to maintaining and strengthening everything else. Never throw away wrestler legacies, or then what is happening now doesn't matter. Fans see that. That is your consistency. The fans seeing guys become jobbers who are names in their eyes, it just looks stupid. Another thing is that the stronger characters make better matches. Seeing Demolition have a great match against the Hart Foundation is more effective than if you had the Fantastics vs. The Midnight Express in a better wrestling match to the fan base you had at that time... because the more badass characters add to the match. IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT MOVES AND SELLING. It's like if Leonidas wasn't a badass in 300, it wouldn't be the same at all.

Hogan did it there's no doubt about it sting got paid to walk around and that was Hogan's job to do less for more money the biggest build up in the century and that asshole had a fuck everybody over which means yes the whole Bret Hart angle looks stupid also even for Hogan that was low

Light tubes you mean light bulbs