NWA Starrcade '85: The Gathering was the third annual Starrcade professional wrestling event produced by Jim Crockett Promotions under the NWA banner. It took place on November 28, 1985 from the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina and The Omni in Atlanta, Georgia. The main event was between Ric Flair and Dusty Rhodes for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Their feud escalated when Flair broke Rhodes' ankle in September. After the event, Flair formed the Four Horsemen stable, and continued to feud with Rhodes. Other matches included Magnum T.A. and Tully Blanchard in an "I Quit" steel cage match for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship, and The Rock 'n' Roll Express and the team of Ivan and Nikita Koloff in a Steel Cage Match for the NWA World Tag Team Championship.
11-28-1985
3h 0m
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Main Cast
Movie Details
Production Info
Director:
Jim Crockett Jr.
Writer:
Virgil Runnels
Production:
National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crockett Promotions, NWA Championship Wrestling from Georgia
Locations and Languages
Country:
US
Filming:
US
Languages:
en
Main Cast
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr, known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career that has spanned almost 50 years. He is noted for his tenures with Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Much of his career was spent in JCP and WCW, where he won numerous titles. Since the mid-1970s, he has used the monikers "The Nature Boy" and "Slick Ric". Flair is also a founding member of the original Four Horsemen stable alongside Tully Blanchard and The Andersons, managed by JJ Dillon. A major pay-per-view attraction throughout his career, Flair headlined the premier annual NWA/WCW event, Starrcade, on ten occasions, while also co-headlining its WWE counterpart, WrestleMania VIII (8), in 1992, after winning that year's Royal Rumble. PWI awarded him their Wrestler of the Year award a record six times, while Wrestling Observer Newsletter named him the Wrestler of the Year (an award named after him and Lou Thesz) a record eight times. The first 2-time WWE Hall of Fame inductee, first inducted with the class of 2008 for his individual career and again with the class of 2012 as a member of The Four Horsemen, he is also a member of the NWA Hall of Fame, and the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Flair is officially recognized by WWE as a 16-time world champion (8-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion, 6-time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, and 2-time WWE Champion), although the number of his world championship reigns varies by source, ranging from 16 to 25. He has claimed to be a 21-time champion. He was the first holder of the WCW World Heavyweight Championship and the WCW International World Heavyweight Championship (which he also held last). As the inaugural WCW World Heavyweight Champion, he became the first person to complete WCW's Triple Crown, having already held the NWA\WCW United States Heavyweight and NWA\WCW World Tag Team Championships. He then completed WWE's version of the Triple Crown when he won the WWE Intercontinental Championship, after already holding the WWE Championship and the WWE World Tag Team Championship on previous occasions.
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr., better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker/writer, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, NWA Championship Wrestling from Florida, Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), and WWE. Rhodes is considered one of the greatest wrestlers and talkers in the history of professional wrestling. Rhodes was a three-time NWA World's Heavyweight Champion, and during his time in Jim Crockett Promotions' Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, later known as World Championship Wrestling (WCW), he was a NWA United States Heavyweight Champion, and multi-time NWA World Television, NWA Tag Team and NWA World 6-Man Tag Team Champion. He also won many regional championships, and is one of seven men inducted into each of the WWE, WCW, Professional Wrestling, and Wrestling Observer Newsletter Halls of Fame. His sons, Dustin and Cody, both pursued careers in professional wrestling, performing for WWE and AEW. Following his retirement from wrestling, he made occasional on-air appearances on WWE television and pay-per-views and worked as a backstage booker/writer and producer in WWE's NXT developmental territory. Billed as "the son of a plumber", Rhodes did not have a typical wrestler's physique; his character was that of the "common man", known for the personality exhibited in his interviews. WWE chairman Vince McMahon remarked that no wrestler "personified the essence of charisma quite like Dusty Rhodes".
Nelson Scott Simpson is a retired American professional wrestler. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, he wrestled as "The Russian Nightmare" Nikita Koloff, which was a play on the nickname of fan favorite "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes (in fact, it was Rhodes who gave him the nickname). Nikita was brought into the National Wrestling Alliance by his "Uncle" Ivan to prove Soviet superiority. Their ultimate goal was to dethrone NWA World champion Ric Flair. A physical marvel, Koloff was also hailed as the Russian Road Warrior. He was billed from Moscow in the Soviet Union, and then from Lithuania after the fall of the Soviet Union.
"The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff (born Oreal Perras, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian former professional wrestler who once held the WWWF Championship.
Robert Lee "Bobby" Eaton is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, who made his debut in 1976. Eaton is most famous for his work in tag teams, especially his days as one-half of the team 'The Midnight Express' with the ring name "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton. Under the management of Jim Cornette, Eaton originally teamed with "Lover Boy" Dennis Condrey and, later on, with "Sweet" Stan Lane. He has also worked with a number of other tag team partners, including Koko B. Ware, Steve Keirn, Chris Benoit and "Lord" Steven Regal. In his career, Eaton wrestled for extended periods of time for various wrestling promotions: Mid-America Wrestling, Continental Wrestling Association, Mid-South Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, and Smoky Mountain Wrestling. He has also made brief guest appearances for Extreme Championship Wrestling and NWA Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, in addition to appearances for a considerable number of independent wrestling promotions over the years. He currently performs part-time, teaming with either Lane and/or Condrey under the Midnight Express name.
James Mark "Jim" Cornette is an American author and podcaster who has previously worked in the professional wrestling industry as an agent, booker, color commentator, manager, promoter, trainer, and occasional professional wrestler. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest managers in wrestling history, due to his extraordinary mic skills.
During his career, he has worked for the Continental Wrestling Association, Mid-South Wrestling, World Class Championship Wrestling, Jim Crockett Promotions, World Championship Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation (now called WWE), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now called Impact Wrestling), and Ring of Honor. From 1991 to 1995, he was the owner and head booker of Smoky Mountain Wrestling, and from 1999 to 2005, was the co-owner, head booker, and head trainer of Ohio Valley Wrestling. During the later years of his career, Cornette focused primarily on backstage positions and transitioned away from his role as an on-screen manager.
In 2017, Cornette retired from managing. During a transitional period prior to the retirement, he worked as an on-screen "authority figure" character in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling and Ring of Honor, promotions where he also held backstage positions. Cornette has also had an extensive commentary career, most recently serving as a color commentator for Major League Wrestling, What Culture Pro Wrestling, and the National Wrestling Alliance. Cornette is a member of the NWA, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Memphis, and Professional Wrestling Hall of Fames. Cornette is also noted for his long-standing real-life feud with fellow professional wrestling booker Vince Russo; in June 2017, Russo filed a restraining order (EPO) against Cornette for stalking. The Cornette vs. Russo feud has been featured on two episodes of Viceland's Dark Side of the Ring series.
James Harold Fanning is a former professional wrestler and author better known as "The Boogie Woogie Man" Jimmy Valiant. Fanning started wrestling in 1964 as "Big Jim Vallen". He went to the WWWF in the 1970s as "Handsome Jimmy Valiant" and formed a team with Johnny Valiant that would dominate the tag team scene for a while as WWWF Tag Team champions. In the later 1960s in the WWA, they were managed by Bobby Heenan. Valiant had entered the WWWF in 1971 as a babyface, originally known as "Gentleman Jim Valiant," but quickly switched to heel.[4] He had title matches against champion Pedro Morales in secondary arenas, such as Philadelphia, and feuded with short-term tag partner Chief Jay Strongbow. Jimmy and his kayfabe brother Johnny held the tag belts from 1974 to 1975 and main evented Madison Square Garden against Chief Jay Strongbow and Bruno Sammartino. During the late 1970s – early 1980s, Valiant was a central player in the Memphis, Tennessee wrestling scene. He feuded regularly with Jerry Lawler and teamed with Bill Dundee to dominate the tag team matches of that time. Despite the Memphis promotion desperately wanting to keep him in Memphis full-time, even offering to buy him a house in Memphis according to Jerry Lawler's biography, Valiant decided to move on after holding the AWA Southern Heavyweight title for roughly a year. In the early 1980s, Valiant returned as a babyface to NWA's Jim Crockett Promotions. January 1984, Valiant was attacked by Paul Jones and The Assassins. They tied him to the wrestling ring ropes so that Jones could cut his beard off. This led to a grudge match with hyped supershow called 'Boogie Man Jam '84' in Greensboro, North Carolina. For this match, Dusty Rhodes was in Valiant's corner and tied by a rope to Paul Jones. Valiant defeated Assassin II, who was unmasked and revealed as Hercules Hernandez. Due to the beard cutting attack, he feuded heavily with Paul Jones and his army of wrestlers, from 1984 through to late 1986. This army of wrestlers included The Barbarian, Baron von Raschke, Teijo Khan, and The Assassins. During this three-year feud, Valiant received help from Héctor Guerrero and Manny Fernandez. Although Jimmy Valiant would lose a Loser Leaves Town Tuxedo Street Fight to Paul Jones at Starrcade 1984 in Greensboro, North Carolina the feud with many from the Paul Jones stable continued, which would come to include Abdullah The Butcher. In 1985, Valiant and Ragin' Bull Manny Fernandez formed a team called B and B Connection. During The Great American Bash 1986 summer shows, Paul Jones adopted a military style look in his long feud with Valiant and labeled his stable of wrestlers The Army. Valiant would beat Shaska Whatley in a hair vs hair match, but with outside interference lost a hair vs hair match to Paul Jones only weeks later. In the fall of 1986, The Ragin Bull Manny Fernandez, Valiant's best friend accepted Jones' money and turned on Valiant, starting a feud between the two. Paul Jones at this point shortened his army to his newly acquired tag team of Ragin Bull and Rick Rude. The war between Valiant and Paul Jones climaxed at Starrcade 1986 with Valiant putting up the hair of his valet Big Mama against the hair of Paul Jones in a No DQ Match which Valiant won.
Terry Wayne Allen is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Magnum T.A. Allen won the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship twice and was being groomed for a potential run with the NWA World Heavyweight Championship but a car wreck in October of 1986 forced him into retirement. After retiring, Magnum T.A. continued to appear in non-wrestling roles for multiple promotions.
Tully Arthur Blanchard is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and manager signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), and was the manager of FTR, and was a member of The Pinnacle stable. Blanchard is currently appearing in AEW's sister promotion Ring of Honor (ROH). He is best known for his appearances with Jim Crockett Promotions and WWE in the mid-to-late 1980s as a member of The Four Horsemen and The Brainbusters. Championships held by Blanchard over his career include the NWA World Television Championship, NWA World Tag Team Championship, WWF World Tag Team Championship, and NWA United States Heavyweight Championship. He was inducted into the NWA Hall of Fame in 2009 and the WWE Hall of Fame in 2012.
Martin Anthony Lunde better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is a former American professional wrestler and author. His career has been highlighted by his alliances with Ric Flair and various members of the wrestling stable, The Four Horsemen, in the NWA/WCW. He currently serves as the senior producer for WWE's Raw brand. On March 31, 2012, Anderson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fameas a member of the Four Horsemen.
Alan Robert Rogowski, better known by the ring name Ole Anderson (/ˈoʊlɪ/), was an American professional wrestler, booker, and promoter.
Following a stint in the U.S. Army, Rogowski made his professional wrestling debut in his native Minnesota in 1967, wrestling for the American Wrestling Association (AWA) as Al "the Rock" Rogowski or simply Rock Rogowski. The following year, he debuted in the Carolinas-based Jim Crockett Promotions, where he adopted the ring name Ole Anderson and began teaming with his "brother" Gene Anderson as the Minnesota Wrecking Crew. Following a further stint with the AWA and appearances with Championship Wrestling from Florida, in 1972 Anderson settled into wrestling primarily for Jim Crockett Promotions and Georgia Championship Wrestling. By the mid-1980s, Anderson was a part-owner of, and the booker for, Georgia Championship Wrestling. After Georgia Championship Wrestling was acquired by Vince McMahon in 1984 in what was known as "Black Saturday", Anderson broke away to form his own promotion, Championship Wrestling from Georgia, which was itself acquired by Jim Crockett Promotions the following year. Anderson spent the rest of his career with Jim Crockett Promotions and its successor, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), forming a new iteration of the Minnesota Wrecking Crew with Arn Anderson, co-founding influential stable The Four Horsemen, twice serving as booker for WCW, and running the WCW Power Plant. He retired from the ring in 1990, and from the professional wrestling industry in 1994.
Known amongst his contemporaries for his gruff, cantankerous demeanor and toughness, Anderson is a key figure in the history of professional wrestling in Georgia and the Carolinas. He held over 40 championships over the course of his career, including eight reigns as National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Tag Team Champion (Mid-Atlantic version). He was inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1994 and the NWA Hall of Fame in 2010.
Edward McDaniel was an American Choctaw-Chickasaw professional American football player and professional wrestler better known by his ring name Wahoo McDaniel. He is notable for having held the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship five times. McDaniel was a major star in The American Wrestling Association and prominent National Wrestling Alliance affiliated promotions such as Championship Wrestling from Florida, Georgia Championship Wrestling, NWA Big Time Wrestling and, most notably, Jim Crockett Promotions. McDaniel is often compared to his contemporary, Chief Jay Strongbow, due to both portraying similar Native American gimmicks. Unlike Strongbow (who was Italian-American), McDaniel was legitimately Native American.
William Albert Haynes III, is a retired American professional wrestler better known as Billy Jack Haynes. Haynes started wrestling in 1982 at the age of 28. He trained in Stu Hart's Dungeon pro wrestling school and briefly wrestled in Hart's Stampede Wrestling under his given name, forming a tag team with Bruce Hart. He started wrestling as Billy Jack in the Pacific Northwest territory but had to change his name when Tom Laughlin (who starred in the movie Billy Jack) threatened to sue him. He added his real last name to the gimmick and continued to work as a babyface. It is rumored that Haynes served time for manslaughter before becoming a pro wrestler
James Morrison is an American retired professional wrestler and manager, better known by his ring name, 'James .J. Dillon'.
J.J. Dillon had an extensive wrestling career. He broke into wrestling at the age of 29, starting out in the early 1970’s as a referee transitioning into a wrestler and then a manager winning many championships and managing a variety of wrestlers throughout many different territories around the country. He made his Madison Square Garden debut on April 23, 1984 when he challenged Tito Santana for the WWE Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship, losing by pinfall after a flying forearm by Santana.
He is most remembered in pro wrestling as a manager. He guided many wrestlers to singles and tag-team titles in the NWA. Dillon, who became manager of Tully Blanchard, achieved his greatest success as the manager of the Four Horsemen which consisted of "Nature Boy" Ric Flair, Blanchard, Arn Anderson , Ole Anderson, Lex Luger and Barry Windham. After leaving WCW in February 1989, Dillon served as a front office executive for WWE until 1997. On April 21, 1997, he returned to WCW as an on-camera commissioner, a position which lasted until fall 1998. In 2003, Dillon had a short stint as an NWA representative in TNA.
In 2009, he made a one-night appearance at Deaf Wrestlefest 2009 to team with "Beef Stew" Lou Marconi and "Handsome" Frank Staletto in a six-man tag team match against "Franchise" Shane Douglas, Dominic Denucci and Cody Michaels.
On December 29, 2019, Dillon joined the Board of Directors of the International Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame. On March 3, 2021, Dillon returned to TNT to act as manager for Tully Blanchard on an episode of AEW Dynamite.
Eldridge Wayne Coleman (June 7, 1943 – May 17, 2023) was an American fine artist and professional wrestler. An iconic figure in professional wrestling, he worked under the ring name "Superstar" Billy Graham and gained renown for his tenure as the WWE in 1977–78. As an award-winning bodybuilder he was also a training partner of future California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (who is godfather to Graham's daughter). Graham is best remembered for revolutionizing the interview and physique aspects of the pro wrestling business as well as for his highly charismatic performance style. Some of his proteges have included wrestling megastar Hulk Hogan, former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura and "Nature Boy" Ric Flair.
Sione Havea Vailahi is a Tongan professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, The Barbarian. He is best known for his various stints with The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and WWE and for being a part of tag teams The Powers of Pain with The Warlord and The Faces of Fear with Meng. His first national exposure was in the NWA territory Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), where The Powers of Pain held the NWA World Six-Man Tag Team Championship until they departed the company in 1988 and joined WWE, where they competed in the tag team division until the team was quietly split in 1990. The Barbarian then competed as a singles wrestler until departing in 1992 and returning to WCW, where he became one half of the final WCW United States Tag Team Champions with Dick Slater. During this time, The Barbarian challenged Ron Simmons for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Halloween Havoc '92. He left WCW in 1993 and returned to the WWF in 1994 as Headshrinker Sione to form The New Headshrinkers with Fatu. He left the company in 1995 and made a second return to WCW, where he briefly reunited with The Warlord as The Super Assassins. The Barbarian would then join Meng to form The Faces of Fear and become a part of factions Dungeon of Doom and The First Family.
Emanuel Fernandez is an American professional wrestler currently wrestling for different independent promotions. He is best known by the his ring name "The Raging Bull" Manny Fernandez. Fernandez had success in 1979, becoming Florida Heavyweight Champion after a feud with Terry Funk. He also formed a tag team with Dusty Rhodes, and they won the NWA World tag team title from Ivan Koloff and Don Kernodle. They feuded with them and Ivan's "nephew" Nikita Koloff until losing the title to the Koloffs in early 1985. Fernandez soon became involved in a feud with Arn Anderson after being attacked by Anderson and laid out. He teamed with Thunderbolt Patterson to feud with Arn and Ole Anderson. In late 1985, he started helping Jimmy Valiant in his war against Paul Jones and his "Army". He formed a team with Valiant called the "B and B Connection" ("Boogie Woogie" and "Bull"). He had some matches against Abdullah the Butcher and The Barbarian. He also formed a tag team with Hector Guerrero in 1986 called The Latin Connection. In the summer of 1986, Fernandez accepted Jones' money and turned on Valiant starting a feud between the two. Later in the year, Jones also brought in Rick Rude. Pairing Fernandez and Rude together, the duo defeated The Rock 'n' Roll Express for the NWA World tag team title. They feuded with the Express and kept the titles until June 1987 when Rude left the promotion, which was resolved with a "phantom title change". Fernandez & Chavo Guerrero came to CWA in Memphis in 1987. Fernandez teamed with Ivan Koloff for the rest of the summer and left for the Mid-Southern promotion in late 1987. He was soon in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) feuding with Wahoo McDaniel after he attacked Wahoo and destroyed his headdress. The two veterans, who had feuded briefly in the NWA, engaged in an "Indian Strap match" at the AWA pay-per-view Super Clash III. After that feud ended in late 1988, Fernandez headed to Puerto Rico's World Wrestling Council (WWC) where he stayed through 1991 and then he headed to the independent circuit. Fernandez sparked controversy in the WWC in 1989 when he wrestled Invader #3. During the match, Fernandez landed a knee drop off the top rope to Invader #3's midsection; the impact apparently ruptured Invader #3's stomach cavity, causing him to vomit blood all over the ring while Fernandez landed two more knee drops. There have been debates on whether Invader #3's injury was a work, with some theorizing that the incident came about due to real life bad blood between Fernandez and Jose Gonzalez, the booker of WWC who was acquitted of murdering Bruiser Brody earlier that year. Others say the blood was a combination of pig's blood and vodka.[2] In an interview with Bill Apter, Fernandez claimed that it was not a work and deliberately injured Jose as a way to avenge the death of Bruiser Brody, though his match with Gonzalez took place nearly 2 months prior to Brody's death in July of the same year.
Barry Darsow is a former American professional wrestler who is known as Smash, one half of the tag team Demolition, and as Krusher Khrushchev, Repo Man, and The Blacktop Bully. Throughout his career he worked for Jim Crockett Promotions, WWE, World Championship Wrestling (WCW), and several regional promotions in the 1980s and 1990s. He is a four-time former world tag team champion, winning three WWE World tag team titles as part of Demolition and one NWA World tag team title as part of a three-man team with Ivan and Nikita Koloff (although the NWA no longer recognizes any former tag team champions prior to 1992; Darsow's championship is considered part of the WCW World tag team championship lineage), and a one-time NWA United States tag team champion.
Noah Anthony "Tony" Schiavone Jr. is an American broadcaster. He is the play-by-play broadcaster for the Gwinnett Stripers of Minor League Baseball's International League, a commentator and podcaster for Major League Wrestling (MLW), and commentator and senior producer for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). In the past, he has been a sports radio host and worked as a professional wrestling commentator in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW).
