Starrcade (1997)

Starrcade
Promotional poster featuring Hollywood Hogan and Sting
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling[1]
Date	December 28, 1997[1]
City	Washington, D.C.[1]
Venue	MCI Center[1]
Attendance	17,500[2]
Tagline(s)	Hogan's a colorful guy... but his nightmare's black 'n white. Paybacks Are Hell!
Pay-per-view chronology
← Previous World War 3 Next → Souled Out
Starrcade chronology
← Previous 1996 Next → 1998

The 1997 Starrcade was the 15th annual Starrcade professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It was held on December 28, 1997, at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C.^[3]

The matches revolved around the ongoing storyline between WCW and the New World Order (nWo) organization. The main event was between Hollywood Hogan and Sting for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, with Hogan representing the nWo and Sting representing WCW. The match culminated a year-long buildup of their feud.^[4] The match ended in controversy over the referee's pinfall count, and their feud continued after the event surrounding this. Other matches included Larry Zbyszko and Eric Bischoff for the control of WCW Monday Nitro, and Curt Hennig and Diamond Dallas Page for the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship.^[1]

Starrcade became the highest-grossing pay-per-view in WCW history. Despite its success, the main event was seen by critics and journalists as the beginning of WCW's downfall due to setting a tone for backstage dissension and what would retrospectively be seen as poor creative decisions going forward.^[5][6]