Sixteen years ago today.

[agent817]

On this date 16 years ago, it was the start of the end for WCW with Starrcade. What are your thoughts of the finish of the main event or the booking of the show at least?

[SOR]

It wasn't the start of the end at Starrcade 1997. WCW did phenomenal business for about another year and a half and then it slowly began dropping until late 2000 when they were really struggling.

My thoughts on the finish? Nick Patrick messed up by not counting fast enough. It should have been a CLEAR fast count so that everyone in the arena is begging and pleading for something to be done. Then Bret comes out and saves the day.

Ultimately, if I were in charge I'd just have Sting hit Hogan with a Stinger Splash in the corner and follow it up with the Deathlock. Hulk passes out (Hogan would still look good which is what he wanted). Your biggest show of the year shouldn't end in random controversy in any occasion. I know they wanted to involve Bret somehow but that lead nowhere as well because they never did Bret Vs Hulk which seems like the obvious move.

In terms of booking of the show, they really rushed Bret. He should have debuted on this show in a 10 minute promo. He couldn've came out an hour or so into the show and cut a promo on McMahon, The WWF and capped it all off by saying he was here to watch the main event and wanted to wrestle the winner. That way you wouldn't need to rush Bret in for a confusing finish and he'd still have a big role in the show.

[JTG Fan]

I think it's very fair to say it was the beginning of the end. 1997 was easily the best booked year of WCW's existence, 1998 did great business but the product got worse (and really worse by the time Warrior came along) and fans grew tired of the repetitive finishes.

[Scott Parker]

I really hate being the armchair booker on the internet, but this is one instance I will always voice my opinion. Sting should have won. Clean and simple.

They could have still ran with the NWO and made money off that whole deal. Did the Horsemen go away in the 80's just because Ric Flair lost the title?

[HMARK Center]

Dec 28, 2013 19:29:22 GMT -5 Scott Parker said:

I really hate being the armchair booker on the internet, but this is one instance I will always voice my opinion. Sting should have won. Clean and simple.

They could have still ran with the NWO and made money off that whole deal. Did the Horsemen go away in the 80's just because Ric Flair lost the title?

You're not wrong about the nWo, but we should be careful when comparing them to the Horsemen or something; can't lose sight of the fact that the Horsemen were of a very different era than the nWo and were also booked very differently, even if their surface similarities are clear.

Either way, yeah, trying to shoehorn in a screwjob moment so they could incorporate Bret just didn't work; it was too much to think about, too complex for what should've been a very simple "Sting is the angel of vengeance, and the nWo must die" storyline that was being told. Just have Sting rock Hogan, Hogan get the upper hand by skirting the rules, but Sting bringing the hammer down by the end, Scorpion Deathlock, ring the bell.

The nWo certainly could've gone on after Starrcade '97, but it likely would've had to change in some ways.

[Racksman]

Dec 28, 2013 19:29:22 GMT -5 Scott Parker said:

I really hate being the armchair booker on the internet, but this is one instance I will always voice my opinion. Sting should have won. Clean and simple.

They could have still ran with the NWO and made money off that whole deal. Did the Horsemen go away in the 80's just because Ric Flair lost the title?

I totally get what you mean, so I'm just being a dick here when I say yes, when Flair lost the title to Steamboat in 89, the last of the Horsemen went away (to the WWF).

[chazraps]

I honestly don't mind Bret being at ringside (I have a soft spot for the "Who knows more about getting screwed out of championships than me" promo), but this should have been a clean finish of Sting beating Hogan. There's no reason why that shouldn't have happened. Yes, Nick Patrick screwed up, but the blame has to be shared by anyone suggesting anything other than a clean Sting victory.