NWA vs. WWE Head to Head Part 1

Being a huge wrestling fan that I am something I always wanted to talk about is the NWA vs. WWE. Notice how I said NWA because in this blog, I want to talk about 4 specific moments during the hayday of the 1980s, which literally was NWA vs. WWE on the same day at the same time. This was way before the Monday Night War even began.



1) Thanksgiving Day 1987-At the time the NWA always promoted Starrcade on Thanksgiving Night. Starrcade was what Wrestlemania is today. Now, Wrestlemania has more padgetry and glitz and glamour than Starrcade ever did but for the NWA it was there event. Starrcade started in 1983 and featured Ric Flair defeating Harley Race in a cage match to become World Heavyweight Champion for the second time. There was a sell out in the Greensboro Coliseum and Starrcade was on its way. After, Starrcade 86 which was held in Greensboro and Atlanta, at the Omni, what would Starrcade 87 bring? Change and lots of it. First off, Jim Crockett Promotions purchased the Universal Wrestling Federation in April 1987. Crockett would use that promotion to promote the NWA. The thing is was that all those television stations plus having a studio in Dallas and Atlanta cost money. To this day people look at this as the end of the NWA for a few reasons. One, they moved the show from Greensboro/Atlanta to Chicago, alienating the loyal Greensboro/Atlanta fanbases. Second, fans wanted to see the hometown Road Warriors win the tag team titles but that didnt happen, with a finish known as the "dusty finish." http://prowrestling.wikia.com/wiki/Dusty_Finish Third, production wise it seemed like the WWE Survivor Series was a fastly polished product. Fourth, and this is an argument to this day as to why Ron Garvin was the World Heavyweight Champion. Those 4 factors really contributed as to why Starrcade got beat on that day. Not to mention that the Survivor Series and Starrcade would be on at the same time which meant cable companies had to choose which one to air. The WWE threatened to pull WrestleMania 4 from the cable companies unless they show the Survivor Series. To the cable companies, it was a no brainer as Survivor Series won out.  I will say selfishly that I'm kind of glad this happened because I have enjoyed the Survivor Series from the very first one. The Survivor Series with there elmination rules was just so fantastic to watch. Tag team elmination matches, 5 on 5 where you strive to survive, having team captains for each team. That was never done before. Fans flocked to the Survivor Series as the WWE sold out the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield Ohio. The show which had a women's survior series  match, a tag team  survivor series match plus 3, 5 on 5 matches is well received because of what it started. The Survivor Series would stay on Thanksgiving Night until 1991 where it moved to Thanksgiving Eve. That would last until 1995 where they would tradionally move to the Sunday before Thanksgiving where they have been ever since. Starrcade, on the other hand, moved away from Thanksgiving the following year to the day after Christmas. Starrcade was never on Thanksgiving again up until WWE bought out WCW/NWA in March 2001.

Its debatable as to who had the better show. Some people to this day liked Starrcade because the NWA wasn't as cartoony as the WWE was at the time.  I mean fans just were loyal to the NWA over WWE and you could tell that the NWA and WWE were two big but different companies.  As cliched as it might sound, I think the true winners were the fans. If your a hardcore wrestling fan like myself, back then and even now you could enjoy not one great PPV but two of them. I think thats a pretty good deal. Too bad, we wont have those days again anytime soon.

The Ultimate Warrior Dying

Like many fans all over the world I was shocked and saddened to hear that the Ultimate Warrior passed away. It just seemed so shocking that a man that was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame on Saturday and appear on Monday Night Raw on Monday would pass away on Tuesday. It seems like the Warrior made peace with everyone including Hulk Hogan and the McMahons. I actually did a double take when I saw on my local news Wednesday morning a crawl that said that he passed away. I actually did a double take for a minute. I didnt think it was true until the story was picked up on other news stations and outlets. I think its too early to speculate how he died but lets remember him for his memories as The Ultimate Warrior and most importantly as a husband and a father.


Its funny I dont remember Jim Hellwig when he teamed with Sting. I didnt get the UWF back then but I do remember him in WCCW as the Dingo Warrior. Believe or not, before he had "little warriors" he was a villian or a bad guy. Soon after he became a good guy feuding with I believe, Matt Borne and Buzz Sawyer. Soon after that, he went to the WWE. He caught on like wildfire and a moment to this day that I watch over and over again was when he beat the Honky Tonk Man at Summerslam 88 to win the Intercontinental Championship. From when his music hit, to the quick win and the crowd going crazy at Madison Square Garden, its one of my personal, favorite Ultimate Warrior moments.

Another one of my favorite Warrior moments is at the Royal Rumble 1990 when he faced off against Hulk Hogan. The crowd was going crazy and that was a huge matchup. Also the very fact that two babyfaces or "good  guys" facing off was unheard of back then. There encounter was brief but it did lead to WrestleMania 6 at the Skydome where Warrior beat Hogan for the WWE Championship. A couple of things came out of that match. First, it was the first time two babyfaces headlined WrestleMania against each other. It was always a good guy vs. a bad guy. Second, its one of the best WrestleMania matches of all time. Just a great match all the way around. Finally, Warrior winning meant that he was a double champion. He was the WWE Champion as well as the Intercontinental Champion. The image of Warrior holding both belts as fireworks shot off in the Skydome is an iconic WrestleMania moment.

His match the following year against the legendary "Macho Man"Randy Savage at WM 7 is fantastic as well. A career ending match, meaning who lost had to retire, Savage and Warrior put on a hell of a match including Warrior kicking out after 5 elbow drops from the Macho Man. Now, we all know Warrior then left the WWE in the summer of 1991 only to return at WM 8 in the main event. His music and him running down to the ring at WM 8 was another WrestleMania moment. As a closelined Papa Shango, you could feel the power of the warriors going crazy because he had come back.


Everytime, the Warrior came back, the fans WANTED him back. They would go crazy. I had the pleasure of being in Hartford, CT., the night of August 17, 1998, when he debuted on WCW Monday Nitro. Again, the fans WANTED him back as he got a huge ovation. Nobody can doubt his charmisa and appeal. I think he's one of the best characters in the history of sports entertainment and pro wrestling. To have people just go crazy for you night after night, year after year is outstanding.


Now, I have to admit, I didnt watch the Hall of Fame. I only saw snippets of what aired on USA Network and what I've read online. I did however watch Raw and saw his last interview.  I dont know if he knew it was over but again, the fans went crazy for him. Hey look, people are going to have opinions about him. But I'd rather remember him as The Ultimate Warrior and the guy who was accompied by his daughters onstage to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

To the friends and family of the Ultimate Warrior, my thoughts and condolences go out to you during this obviously tough time. To have a character like that and even better being a husband and a father makes your life, well, Ultimate. RIP.