A Star Fallen

starrcadecollectionFor a while in the ’80s, WCW/NWA’s Starrcade was the company’s answer to the then-WWF’s “Wrestlemania.” A creation of the legendary Dusty Rhodes, the event was a huge deal, often regarded as the Super Bowl of wrestling shows. Playing a huge role in the eventual pay per view system, the industry depends on so much today, Starrcade is without a doubt a topic of conversation that should not be skipped when discussing the development of the wrestling business over the last 30 years.

However, in the process of telling this story in “Starrcade: The Essential Collection,” WWE Entertainment has lost something in translation. While the three-disc set is chock full of excellent matches, the documentary itself is lackluster at best. Of course, hearing about the creation of the event from Rhodes, Barry Windam and other WCW/NWA front office personnel is great, but after a while, the documentary runs flat, jumping around to various points in history, failing to address all of the reasons why the program failed.

As a result, this offering isn’t for everyone.

Sure, it’s interesting to hear about what Eric Bischoff thought of the show and how Magnum T.A.’s near-lethal car accident affected both the event and the company, but it’s all put together in a way that makes it feel less polished than some of the other DVD offerings available and even a bit jumbled.

The end result is a compilation that is best judged on the quality of the extra features.

With 25 of the best matches in the program’s history, this set will be a treasure to behold for old school wrestling fans and those that miss the days of WCW. Everyone from Hulk Hogan to Great Muta and Harley Race are featured in the set and even better sleeper matches like a more “Stunning” Steve Austin vs “The Natural” Dustin Rhodes are classics in their own right.

At the same time, seeing things like “The Battlebowl,” which for those who have yet to experience it, is easily one of the most bizarre battle royals in the history of the industry, and is a bit weird, considering this is supposed to be an essential collection. While it’s an important footnote in the history of the program, one can think of many other matches that could have made this set in its place. A small handful of the matches featured also appear on other sets, making this a questionable buy for the wrestling fanatic that owns a plethora of other documentaries.

Nevertheless, the set is an interesting one and one that is full of content and as a result, there’s something every wrestling fan can enjoy here. It may not be enough to warrant a purchase, but it will be enough to induce a few moments of nostalgia.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 13821 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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