Throwback Thursday: Looking back at WCW Starrcade 1996

Each and every Thursday I will look back at a different pay-per-view event from the past via the WWE Network. Want to see a certain event covered? Send your suggestions to @VaughnMJohnson on Twitter.

Last time, I covered the WWE One Night Stand: Extreme Rules

WCW Starrcade 1996

Date: Dec. 29, 1996

Venue: Nashville Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tenn.

Some random notes

The 14th annual Starrcade was the biggest night in the history of our sport. Well, at least to Tony Schiavone.

Schiavone may have exaggerated a little when he said that during his time with World Championship Wrestling, but in this case, it really was big time period for the promotion.

WCW was only five months into the reign of the New World Order, which was the hottest storyline in professional wrestling at the time. Behind the momentum of the newly formed group, WCW quickly surged ahead of WWE as the premier wrestling promotion in the world.

WCW's time on top did not last super long, as WWE took back the crown by 1998, but Eric Bischoff and company had a pretty good run while it lasted.

As usual, Schiavone called the action alongside Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and Dusty Rhodes. Mike Tenay joined the trio for the cruiserweight matches, as he had a level of familiarity and expertise with the wrestlers involved his colleagues did not.

Lee Marshall — the voice of Tony the Tiger — joined the booth for the women's title match.

Sting had debuted his iconic black and white face paint not long before this. As all of you reading this probably already know, his story played out over the course of the next year.

With that said, let's get to the matches:

WCW Cruiserweight & J-Crown championship – Ultimo Dragon def. Dean Malenko

If you thought the Young Bucks walked around with a lot of title belts, you would be astonished when you get look at what Dragon was walking around with in 1996.

When Dragon won the J-Crown, which was the unification of eight cruiserweight/junior heavyweight titles from around the world, he walked around with all eight of the title belts at the same time.

For this match, he had two or three around his waist, a couple around his neck and one in his hand. Even his manager Sonny Onoo was holding one in each hand.

Dragon essentially looked like Junebug from I'm Gonna Git You Sucka!

The titles Dragon walked around with were the British Commonwealth Junior Heavyweight championship (Michinoku Pro/New Japan Pro Wrestling), the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship (New Japan), the NWA World Junior Heavyweight championship (National Wrestling Alliance), the NWA World Welterweight championship (CMLL), the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight championship (Universal Wrestling Association), the WAR International Junior Heavyweight championship (Wrestle Association R), the WWA World Junior Light Heavyweight championship (World Wrestling Association), the WWE Light Heavyweight championship (WWE).

You might be wondering how a WWE title got caught up in this. Well, the title was originally created in 1981 when Perro Aguayo won it at an untelevised event. The title eventually went from WWE to the UWA, but the lineage remained in tact.

WWE rechristened the title 1997 and completely ignored its prior lineage. The company has a tendency to do that sometimes. If you checked the lineage of WWE's tag team titles that should come as no surprise.

While Dragon was dripping in gold, Malenko walked into the match with only one title and that was WCW's World Cruiserweight championship. However, that was seen as the most prestigious cruiserweight/junior heavyweight title in the world.

A man walking around with eight championships and Onoo as his manager makes for an easy heel and that was what Dragon played in this night against Malenko.

He dictated the pace of the very technical match, which forced Malenko to fight from underneath. The pace quickened as the match went on, as Malenko and Dragon did so much it was hard to keep track of.

At one point, Malenko hit a vicious looking tombstone pile driver, but Dragon kicked out. Malenko followed that up with a Tiger Bomb, but Dragon kicked out of that as well.

The two men eventually fought their way out of the ring when Dragon hit an Asai moonsault. Once back in the ring, Dragon attempted another moonsault, but missed after Malenko moved out of the way.

Malenko then locked in the Texas cloverleaf, but Onoo jumped up on the apron and broke up the hold.

Dragon eventually won with a Tiger suplex to win the match and added a ninth title to his collection.

WCW Women's championship – Akira Hokuto def. Madusa

This was the final match of an eight-women tournament to crown the first-ever WCW Women's champion.

The title was apparently a technically a heavyweight title for the women, as the announcers and the graphics said as much. Weight classes for a women's division is not something you do not see often in American promotions.

Since there was a heavyweight division it was only logical to have a cruiserweight title for the women as well. Unfortunately, neither title even lasted a year before both were retired in 1997.

Hokuto, who was awesome to watch in this match, has Onoo and her husband/fellow professional wrestler Kensuke Sasaki in her corner.

Onoo got involved early on in an effort to help Hokuto, but that didn't sit well with Sasaki, who apparently wanted his wife to win fair and square.

Hokuto played the role of a ruthless villain quite well. At one point she bit Madusa's foot while she had her locked in a submission hold. Rhodes spotted this and said, "She's a bitin' her foot!" I love Dusty Rhodes.

Despite biting Madusa's foot, Hakuto needed Onoo's help to defeat Madusa. Madusa knocked Hokuto out of the ring and while the referee checked on Hokuto, Onoo hit Madusa in the back with the American flag she went to the ring with.

Hokuto followed that up with a Northern Lights bomb to win the match. If you thought this Northern Lights bomb looked painful, Hokuto has made it look much more painful at other points of her career.

Jushin Thunder Liger def. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Mysterio was only 22 years old entering this match and even through his now iconic mask you could see his youth. But even at 22, Mysterio was already seen as a phenomenal talent.

The flip side was Liger, who is 10 years older than Mysterio and had already reached the heights Mysterio was just ascending to. After this match, Liger was set to challenge Dragon for the J-Crown at New Japan's annual Jan. 4 event at the Tokyo Dome, which was not yet known as Wrestle Kingdom.

In 1997, it was known as Wrestling World. It became know as Wrestle Kingdom in 2007.

Liger was not only more experience than Mysterio, but he was also bigger and stronger, and he used that his advantage in this match.

Mysterio eventually picked up the pace to gain some momentum, but Liger quickly cut him off. Liger even power bombed Mysterio outside of the ring.

At one point, Liger used a dragon screw leg whip on Mysterio, which Rhodes thought was the funniest thing ever. I guess he never heard of the move and joked that he was going to remember that for later on that night.

Liger found a way to win and made it three matches in a row that a non-WCW guy/gal came out on top. Liger went to defeat Dragon in the Tokyo Dome as well.

No Disqualification match – Jeff Jarrett def. Chris Benoit

I'm pretty sure Benoit walked into this match as the heel and Jarrett as the babyface, but I could not tell by the crowd reactions.

Benoit received one of the loudest ovations of the night to this point and Jarrett didn't receive one at all. I wouldn't have cheered a guy that dressed like him either.

Despite that, Benoit worked the match as a heel and Woman helped him on multiple occasions. Benoit was apparently frustrated with Jarrett after Ric Flair, who Benoit ran with in the Four Horsemen, endorsed Jarrett, who was not a member of the famous quartet.

Although the match didn't have any disqualifications, neither Benoit nor Jarrett did anything that was against traditional rules.

Benoit's fellow Horsemen Arn Anderson eventually went to the ring, walked right by Benoit and into Jarrett's corner.

Moments later, Hugh Morris and Konnan showed up to harass Woman. Woman kicked Morris in the family jewels and began beating on him, which prompted Konnan to put her in a sleeper hold for some reason.

While that was happening, Anderson delivered a DDT to Jarrett outside of the ring. At the same time, Kevin Sullivan — Woman's former lover — hit Benoit in the head with a wooden chair.

Anderson then tossed Jarrett back into the ring, but unknowingly tossed him right on top of Benoit, which allowed Jarrett to pick up the victory.

Anderson argued with Woman after the match while Benoit lied motionless in the ring.

"Mean" Gene Okerlund attempted to interview everyone involved, but no one wanted to talk. That was until Steve "Mongo" McMichael — another member of the Four Horseman at the time — walked out with Debra McMichael, and they were very willing to talk.

Steve and Debra McMichael trash talked Benoit and Woman. Debra McMichael even went as far as to endorse Jarrett, which was funny, being as though that they eventually paired up in WWE.

WCW World Tag Team championship – The Outsiders def. The Faces of Fear

This may sound crazy, but the story of this match surrounded referee Nick Patrick.

That is because it was becoming increasingly obvious that Patrick was working with the New World Order. The announcers were on to him for weeks due to his questionable officiating and because he was the only referee they had ever seen donning a pair of earrings.

Spoiler: Their suspicions were eventually proven correct.

The Faces of Fear, who were accompanied to the ring by Jimmy Hart, spent most of the match beating on Scott Hall of the Outsiders, who had Sixx in their corner.

Despite beating the daylights out of Hall, Meng and Barbarian couldn't find a way to keep Hall's shoulders on the mat for a three-count. That was mostly due to Patrick's very slow counts.

Meng and Barbarian had Hall in a nerve hold for a long period of time, which looked to have put Hall to sleep, but Patrick never checked his arm. Hall eventually mustered the energy to tag in Kevin Nash, who managed to hit the jackknife power bomb for the win.

Patrick made sure to count at a quick pace for the cover.

WCW United States Heavyweight championship – Eddie Guerrero def. Diamond Dallas Page

DDP was technically the heel on this night, but the fans were into him due to the diamond cutter being the coolest move in wrestling at the time.

Page did not get to his the diamond cutter on this night, but he did dictate the pace by slowing Guerrero down.

The match started kind of slow, but picked up toward the end with a flurry of big moves and pin attempts, as Guerrero mounted a comeback.

Guerrero was eventually knocked out of the ring, which prompted the referee to go and check on him. Hall, Nash and Sixx then ran down to the ring. Hall actually got into the ring and hit DDP with the Razor's edge out of revenge for turning down the New World Order's invitation to join them.

Guerrero took advantage of the opportunity by hitting a frog splash and picked up the win. The New World Order came back down to beat up Guerrero, but the new champion momentarily fended them off.

The numbers eventually proved too much for Guerrero, as they eventually beat up the new champion. Sixx even stole Guerrero's new United States championship belt.

The weird thing about this was that Hall and Nash eventually extended another invitation to DDP to join the nWo on Jan. 13, 1997. Instead of joining the group and avoid more beatings, DDP hit Hall with the diamond cutter, which was the catalyst for Page to become a full-fledged hero for WCW.

Lex Luger def. The Giant

Luger was hanging tough with The Giant in the beginning, but that didn't last very long, as The Giant used size to his advantage and gained control.

Luger eventually fought back and knocked The Giant off his feet with a neck breaker. Luger went to cover The Giant, but the big man kicked out. The force from the Giant's kick out sent Luger flying through the air and caused him to land on top of the referee.

That brought out the New World Order's referee, Patrick. Patrick snuck into the ring while Luger got The Giant up in the torture rack and kicked him in the back of the leg.

Luger shoved Patrick out of the ring and got The Giant up in the torture rack again. This time, Sixx jumped into the ring and hit Luger with a spin kick.

Out of nowhere, Sting got into the ring with the baseball bat in hand and shoved Patrick to the ground. Sting walked over to Luger and The Giant, spoke to both men and left his baseball bat in the middle of the ring.

Luger and The Giant spotted the bat, but only Luger got to it and he used it on The Giant to chop him down to size. Luger covered The Giant and the original referee crawled over to count to three.

It was the first dent in the armor of the New World Order and it came courtesy of Luger.

Roddy Piper def. Hollywood Hogan by submission

Hogan was seen as the unstoppable leader of the New World Order.

Every time Hogan got into trouble, members of his rebellious team would come to help him.

In order to combat this, WCW went and got the man that Hogan never defeated in Piper. Although Piper didn't claim to be with WCW or the New World Order, he was the biggest babyface in the promotion at the time.

Although it was a big match in 1996, it was still WCW attempting to capitalize on a rivalry WWE made famous a decade prior except with the roles reversed.

In hindsight, it is still amazing to see Hogan go all-in with his heel turn in 1996. He went from being the biggest babyface of all time to the top heel in the business basically overnight. Hogan looked just as comfortable being the world's biggest villain than he did being everyone's hero.

By the time this match took place, I was only seven years old, meaning I was much too young to witness Hogan's prime in WWE as it happened. I have eventually become more familiar with it by going back and watching that time period, but when I was a kid, I grew up with Hollywood Hogan, not the one that instructed children to say their prayers and eat their vitamins while donning red and yellow.

The weird part about all of this was that even though it was "Match of the Decade," Hogan's WCW World Heavyweight championship was not on the line. WCW didn't exactly go out of its way to tell people that it was technically a non-title match until after the match was over.

The insanely expensive Michael Buffer did the ring announcing for this match, as Hogan went to the ring with Ted DiBiase, Miss Elizabeth and Vincent.

Hogan started the match by ducking out of the ring and took his sweet time getting back in.

Once he finally decided to get in the ring, he slapped Piper in the face twice. Piper responded by peppering the champion with punches, which forced Hogan out of the ring again.

Hogan poked Piper in the eye to gain the advantage, but Piper proved that turnabout was fair play when he poked Hogan in the eyes moments later.

Every time Piper built up some momentum, Hogan ducked out of the ring to halt the barrage. Piper caught on to this strategy and eventually went after Hogan when he ventured out of the ring.

Piper eventually got a hold of the belt from his kilt and began whipping and choking Hogan with it. Referee Randy Anderson let all of this go.

Hogan eventually fought his way back into the match by working on Piper's hip.

The Giant eventually showed up and hoisted Piper up for a choke slam. Just as that was happening, an overzealous fan jumped into the ring and was quickly dispatched by Hogan and the official.

The Giant was strong enough to keep Piper up in the air like a child while all of this was going on. Piper was still able to kick Hogan while up in the air and even bit The Giant.

Piper then knocked The Giant out of the ring and locked Hogan in a sleeper hold. Hogan couldn't escape and eventually went to sleep, making Piper the winner.

Fireworks were shot off in the arena as if Piper had won the title, but he didn't.

Hall and Nash ran down to rain on Piper's parade, but he slipped away before receiving any damage.

The Giant and the rest of the New World Order had some friction after the match, as The Giant was upset at the fact that he had everyone's back, but no one had his.

Hogan said The Giant dropped the ball and celebrated with the title he was still in possession of as the show went off the air.

Vaughn Johnson has a podcast with Nick Piccone called the Straight Shooters. Check it out here HERE.