Starrcade '90: Collision Course was the eighth annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It was the final under the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) banner and the first under the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) banner. It took place on December 16, 1990, from the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis, Missouri.
The main event was a steel cage match between Sting and The Black Scorpion for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Their feud began when The Black Scorpion debuted and began taunting Sting. Ric Flair was revealed to be The Black Scorpion at the end of the match, and Flair continued to feud with Sting after Starrcade.
Other matches included a street fight between Doom and the team of Arn Anderson and Barry Windham for the NWA World Tag Team Championship, a Texas Lariat Match between Stan Hansen and Lex Luger for the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship and the entire Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament.
Storylines
The event featured wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
The main feud heading into Starrcade was between Sting and The Black Scorpion. At The Great American Bash, Sting defeated Ric Flair to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Since then, Sting engaged in feuds with Flair and Sid Vicious over the title. In August, a masked man named The Black Scorpion debuted and taunted Sting. His identity remained a secret, and it was only revealed that he was from Sting's past. To reveal the identity of The Black Scorpion, a steel cage match between Sting and The Black Scorpion was made where both the title and The Black Scorpion's mask would be defended.
On August 16, Pat O'Connor died. He was a former NWA World Heavyweight Champion, and was well known for his training and booking skills in the Kansas City territory. In honor of O'Connor, Starrcade held the Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament, a single-elimination tournament between eight tag teams, each representing a different country. The winner of the tournament was awarded a trophy.
Event
The first match was between Bobby Eaton and The Z-Man. The match began with The Z-Man having the advantage, and performing two reverse crossbodies. Eaton fought back by reversing the armbar into a wrist lock. The Z-Man sent Eaton onto the entrance ramp with a suplex, and followed with a crossbody block to the outside. Eaton fought back with a bulldog and a diving leg drop. The Z-Man performed a superkick, and attempted a missile dropkick, but Eaton avoided it, and pinned him with an inside cradle.
The four quarterfinal matches in the Pat O'Connor Memorial International Cup Tag Team Tournament then occurred. The first was between the team of Sgt. Krueger and Col. DeKlerk (South Africa) and the Steiner Brothers (Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner) (USA). The match started back and forth, with Rick performing Steiner-Lines to Krueger and DeKlerk. DeKlerk sent Rick outside the ring, and performed a slingshot senton, but Rick caught him. After DeKlerk missed a clothesline, Scott tagged in. Scott pinned DeKlerk after a Frankensteiner to win the match.
The second quarterfinal was between the team of Norman Smiley and Chris Adams (United Kingdom) and the team of Rey Misterio and Konan (Mexico). The match began with Smiley and Adams having the advantage. Konan performed a springboard arm drag and a headscissors takedown to Smiley, but Smiley fought back with a fisherman suplex. Konan and Misterio performed a double back elbow to Adams and a double back body drop to Smiley. Konan then pinned Smiley after a super inverted vertical suplex to win the match.
The third quarterfinal was between The Royal Family (Rip Morgan and Jack Victory) (New Zealand) and the team of Mr. Saito and The Great Muta (Japan). The match started with The Great Muta and Saito having the advantage. Morgan fought back with a belly to back suplex to Saito, and threw him outside, where Victory attacked him. After The Great Muta and Victory tagged in, The Great Muta performed a handspring back elbow, and all four came in. Morgan accidentally performed a clothesline to Victory, and The Great Muta pinned Victory with a bridging German suplex.