Shortly before the event, Ted Turner bought Jim Crockett Promotions (JCP), and the company became WCW.

[2] The main event was an over 30 minute bout between Ric Flair and Lex Luger for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

[4] The main feud heading into Starrcade was between Ric Flair and Lex Luger over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

[5] In late 1988, Jim Crockett Promotions, which originally produced Starrcade, failed to compete with the World Wrestling Federation, and was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Ted Turner bought the company in November, and it became World Championship Wrestling.

The second match was between The Original Midnight Express (Dennis Condrey and Randy Rose) (accompanied by Paul E. Dangerously) and The Midnight Express (Bobby Eaton and Stan Lane) (accompanied by Jim Cornette).

The match started with Eaton and Lane dominating Condrey and Rose, and Cornette interfering using his tennis racket.

The fourth match was between Rick Steiner and Mike Rotunda for the NWA World Television Championship.

As Sting attempted to pin Animal, Ellering interfered, and the Road Warriors were disqualified.

The main event was between Lex Luger and Ric Flair for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

Flair fought back after he avoided an elbow drop, and sent Luger's head into the guard rail.

Luger applied the sleeper hold, but Flair fought out with a belly to back suplex.

After performing mounted punches and a scoop powerslam, Luger applied the Torture Rack.

Flair then pinned Luger with his feet on the rope to win the match, and retain the title.

Flair and Windham began a feud with "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert which culminated in Gilbert bringing in a mystery partner, Mr. X, to wrestle in a tag team match on World Championship Wrestling, and after Mr. X was revealed to be Ricky Steamboat, Steamboat pinned Flair on TBS, which rekindled their feud that ended back in 1984 over the NWA World Heavyweight Championship.

[9][10] Luger fought Barry Windham at Chi-Town Rumble, and won the NWA United States Heavyweight Championship.

[11] After Starrcade, Dusty Rhodes was fired from WCW for blading on an episode of World Championship Wrestling against Ted Turner's strict no-blading rule on television, joined Steve Keirn and Mike Graham to revive the old Florida territory (called Professional Wrestling Federation) before joining the WWF as the polka-dotted "common man" in mid-1989.