Pro Wrestling on Thanksgiving: Starrcade vs Survivor Series

When one thinks of Thanksgiving most people think of pumpkin pie, turkey, football, or maybe even parade balloons.  As unlikely as it seems, though, to me pro wrestling and Thanksgiving go together like mashed potatoes and gravy.

Pro wrestling has deep traditions tied to Thanksgiving, going back to the territory days of yesteryear. Mid-South Wrestling frequently held Thanksgiving events in the SuperDome in New Orleans during the territory glory years.  The big two major promotions we all know, WWF and WCW, also have historical ties to the holiday as well.

Survivor Series 1989 Review

Depending on which side of the isle you sit on in the WWF vs WCW war, the history behind the WWF Pay-Per-View event "Survivor Series" is either considered a dirty trick or just another step in Vince McMahon's plan for domination.  WWF's rival promotion National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) had run a major event called Starrcade on Thanksgiving for nearly a decade before Vince McMahon decided to create Survivor Series.  Vince placed Survivor Series on Thanksgiving Day to compete directly against Starrcade and given the all around success of his major gamble on Wrestlemania, McMahon held all the cards against the cable providers and demanded they decide to either carry his show... or else.  All but a handful of providers chose Survivor Series and the very next year Starrcade was forced to move to December, ending the very quick "Thanksgiving Day War."

As a WCW/NWA fan I've always considered Starrcade a Thanksgiving show, even though it took place in December longer than it occurred on Thanksgiving, but WWF's Survivor Series is the true Thanksgiving show.  From 1987 to 1990, the show took place on Thanksgiving Day.  From 1991 to 1994, the WWF moved it to Thanksgiving Eve before being moved in 1995 to the Sunday before Thanksgiving.