After a two week absence, Sting returns to WTBS to take on Tommy Angel. Sting is in red trunks and has an interesting style for his face paint. In all black, Sting’s left eye features a tear drop shape trailing to his chin. The right eye has a flame design.

Sting takes control of the match with a kick to Angel’s stomach. A drop kick from Sting gets a “nice move” from commentator David Crockett.

Schiavone praises Sting even further. Sting has a great physique, great ability, quickness, power and stamina according to Schiavone.

The match features very little offense from Angel. He irish whips Sting into the ropes, but Sting ducks underneath and follows with a shoulder block. The crowd isn’t as hot for Sting as they were during his debut, but they are still into the match.

Sting does get a good reaction when the crowd realizes he’s setting up for the Stinger Splash (still not named that, of course) and another good reaction when he hits the move. Sting gets the victory and gives a nice yell as his hand is raised.

Later in the show, Sting is brought back out for an interview. The face paint has been touched up and a nice white outline added.

While it took some time for the crowd to heat up for his match, the crowd are white hot from the beginning of this promo.

In fact, Sting starts off the promo with two of his trademark yells, and the crowd gives them right back to them.

“You better not stand too close to me either Schiavone, you just might melt,” Sting says.

Sting is absolutely high energy, and the crowd is eating it up. A shot of a male fan in the crowd so excited he’s gotten on his feet is shown.

Sting’s involvement in Starrcade will be a six-man tag match. Sting will team up with Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin to take on Eddie Gilbert, Rick Steiner and Larry Zbyszko.

Sting says he’s looking forward to the match because Hayes and Garvin are crazy like he is. He calls Eddie Gilbert “Hot Puff” and says Steiner is all brawn and no brains. Sting says he has both brains and brawn.

Sting says he’s going to be himself at Starrcade which means going nuts. He says you can see it in his eyes and his veins which are popping out.

Sting finishes with another yell, and all Schiavone can muster is a grin and a wave to send the show to commercial.

Wow. I cannot overstate how hot this crowd was for Sting. They were eating up everything he said and did. I’ve always known Sting was an incredibly popular wrestler, but it is surprising to me how quickly he’s becoming loved. No one on this show got a bigger reaction than Sting. That says something about his future.

Quick Hits:

The build to Starrcade 87 continues.

Stars are also selling an upcoming live show in New York which will feature War Games 4.

The Midnight Express’ match with The Rock & Roll Express will now be a scaffold match.

Dusty Rhodes and Lex Luger will now face off in a cage, with Rhodes putting his career on the line.

J.J. Dillon doesn’t want Rhodes to make it to Starcade so he’s paid “The Bounty Hunter” Dick Murdoch to take Rhodes out.

Murdoch hates communists, the crowd hates Murdoch.

A recap and thoughts on the rest of the show:

The show begins with young sensation Ricky Santana giving an interview. Santana predicts victories for Dusty Rhodes and Ronnie Garvin at Starrcade.

The first match of the night is tag team action. The New Breed (Chris Champion and Sean Royal) take on Rex King and Robbie Idol in a match which surprised me.

The crowd are really into the New Breed. “Beat ’em up Chris” and “Beat ’em up Sean” chants are heard early in the match. The New Breed also offer up some great moves.

Royal hits a nice shoulder block from off the top rope while Champion hits a diving double ax handle. A suplex into a diving crossbody from Champion earns the win for the New Breed.

Ric Flair is out for an interview next. He takes a shot at Santana saying it takes more than a pair of wrestling boots, wrestling trunks and a bogus diamond earring to be someone in this sport.

Flair also calls the New Breed “two punks in their mother’s underwear.”

Flair then moves on to selling Starrcade, talking about the event being millions of dollars in production and multimillions in talent. A very worked up Flair says there’s no choice to be made, and that Starrcade is the best in the business.

This is, of course, a reference to WWF running Survivor Series the same night as Starrcade. Starrcade was to be the NWA’s first pay per view (previous big events had been on closed-circuit television). The WWF tried to limit the chances of Starrcade being a success by telling PPV providers they would not be able to carry Wrestlemania IV if they carried Starrcade. This strategy did work to some extent.

Kevin Sullivan takes on David Isley in a quick match. Sullivan attacks with high energy and wins after a two-footed stomp on Isley’s chest.

In the Starrcade Control Center, Tony Schiavone runs down the card for the big event.

The Midnight Express vs. Bob Emroy and Joe Lynn follows Sting’s match. Emroy and Lynn get in more offense than I would’ve expected, but it is a comfortable win for the Midnight Express.

Once again, Jim Cornette on commentary is brilliant. Cornette says he enjoyed seeing David Crockett outside his window for Halloween since Crockett looked good with a candle stuck in the back of his neck.

Bobby Eaton hits a move from the top rope, leading to Cornette bringing up the high-flying New Breed. Cornette says Sean Royal looks like a moose with a hernia. The Midnight Express hit a rocket launcher for the victory.

The Midnight Express will meet the Rock & Roll Express in a scaffold match. Cornette says he doesn’t want the Rock & Roll Express to be nervous. Nerves could lead to sweat which could make the scaffold slick. Cornette doesn’t want the Rock & Roll Express to fall off the scaffold, he wants them to be pushed off.

Ronnie Garvin gives his towel to an elderly woman in the front row before his match against Alan Martin. Crockett and Schiavone say this is a perfect example of Garvin being nice outside the ring but destroying people inside it. A Garvin Stomp finishes the destruction of Martin.

A Nikita Koloff interview is next. I understood next to nothing Koloff said. Phrases I did understand were “Getting ready for Terry Taylor,” “Talk all you want but Starrcade night” and “expect Koloff to win.” That’s all I’ve got.

Lex Luger’s match with Dusty Rhodes at Starrcade will now be in a steel cage with Rhodes putting his career on the line. Luger comes out to share a few thoughts on the match.

As Schiavone says after, Luger “cranked it up” for this promo. He takes of his shirt before telling the world the Horsemen will win all of their matches at Starrcade. He even mimics Dusty Rhodes lying on his back in the ring with his last sight being the lights. Luger says the legend dies at Starrcade.

Hiro Matsuda defeats Rocky King with his famous sleeper hold.

Now my favorite part of the show, the Kevin Sullivan interview!

Sullivan has seen “the sunrise on Diamond Head and the moon set on Daytona Beach,” but he’s never seen anything like Starrcade! Sullivan takes Santana to task for underestimating Flair. He also says it’s actually Luger’s career on the line against Rhodes. Legends can’t be killed, Sullivan says, but Luger has to live up to the Horsemen name.

Not enough crazy from Sullivan this week. What a disappointment.

Ricky Santana takes on Rick Ryder. Schiavone says it’s great when people notice what you do in the ring, but, when other stars start talking about you, you know you’re doing something right. A diving cross body gets Santana the victory.

Personally, for all the hype, I wasn’t really impressed by Santana. It certainly seems like the crowd wasn’t either as he didn’t get much of a reaction.

After the Sting interview, Nikita Koloff overpowers Gladiator #1 for an easy victory.

Ronnie Garvin is up next for an interview. Garvin says he maybe shouldn’t be confident, but he is because he has Flair’s number. Flair is in a state of panic according to Garvin because his income has decreased. Garvin says he’s a plain old boy driving a pick up truck who worked hard for the title. Garvin finishes by saying there’s not a chance he loses the title.

Kendall Windham, Barry’s brother, takes on Thunderfoot #2. The commentators hype Windham up as someone coming in strong. The crowd is actually on his side, and he gets a nice reaction. A running bulldog gives Windham the win.

Michael Hayes and Jimmy Garvin defeat Curtis Thompson and Tony Suber. Hayes and Garvin are beloved by the crowd. In a post match interview, Garvin says he doesn’t know if he can wait for Starrcade. He also calls Sting “their buddy.”

Garvin then has a good bit about Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard thinking they’re tough because they’re in a gang. Garvin says he and Hayes aren’t afraid of gangs because there’s no man the two of them can’t beat.

Hayes says Starrcade might end up being a “fatal attraction.”

I now understand why they had to tone down Kevin Sullivan’s crazy earlier in the show. Dick Murdoch, the Bounty Hunter and Captain Redneck, needed all the crazy he could get.

Murdoch is another obstacle J.J. Dillon wants to put in front of Dusty Rhodes before Starrcade.

Murdoch takes on Bob Cook. Cook frustrates Murdoch for a bit, but Murdoch eventually rams Cook into the stage near ringside. Murdoch then hits Cook over the head with a chair. For some odd reason, this was not a disqualification. Murdoch picks up the win after a suplex.

Murdoch’s interview after the match is insane. First, the crowd despises Murdoch. They drown out a lot of what he says with booing.

Murdoch says wrestling is a man’s profession, and he doesn’t need earrings or paint. He hopes Luger doesn’t win at Starrcade because he wants to be the one to retire Rhodes. Murdoch then calls Dr. Death Steve Williams a “melon farmer”, and he also takes shots at Koloff and Barry “Wind-ham”.

Murdoch then starts foaming at the mouth talking about Koloff being a communist and an insult to his time in the Marine Corps. The crowd lets Murdoch know how much they hate him, and Murdoch responds by implying the crowd are a group of communists attempting to take over. I loved this interview so much.

The New Breed are out for an interview. Royal takes a shot at Cornette, calling him nothing more than a “walking water bed.” Champion says the two will take the titles from the Midnight Express, Arn Anderson and Tully Blanchard or the Sheepherders whenever they want.

Johnny Ace and Luke Williams, representing UWF tag team champions the Sheepherders, quickly defeat Eric Long and Gary Phelps. The show ends with Johnny Ace babbling about New Zealand being better than the United States.