WWE Starrcade Special: Ranking all of the matches

Once upon a time, Starrcade was one of the most anticipated events in the whole wrestling world. Those days are long gone now though, and instead of giving the event a prominent slot on their PPV calendar, the WWE has decided to reboot Starrcade as a glorified house-show event that takes place over Thanksgiving weekend.

Unlike last year's event, this year's show, well, half of it, was broadcast on the WWE Network, with the company broadcasting selected parts of the show on the Network last night.

While we only got a one-hour special, the show was actually quite a lot of fun, and it's a shame we didn't get to see the whole thing.

Regardless, let's take a look at the four matches that we did get to see and rank them from worst to best.

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#4 Rey Mysterio vs Shinsuke Nakamura

The Miz and Nakamura put a quick end to Mysterio's title hopes

This match was basically a non-starter and existed purely to set up the tag-team match that followed it.

Nakamura attacking Mysterio before the match was a nice touch, and it gives the feud reason to continue, that's if the WWE even bother to address this on television of course, which they probably won't.

Not really sure what is going on with The Miz either, but as we mentioned before, this was nothing more than a glorified house-show, so I guess it doesn't matter either way.

#3 Rusev and Rey Mysterio Vs Shinsuke Nakamura and The Miz

Rusev would later arrive to save the day for Mysterio

Rusev has kind of gone quiet since Rusev Day split, and while his appearance here doesn't really tell us a whole lot of anything, fans will be hoping that he may be inserted into the US Title picture some-time in the near future.

With Starrcade being nothing more a house show, the results are fairly inconsequential, and there is very little to read into with this one. Plain and simple, the faces were handed the feel-good win, and the fans were compensated for the WWE clearly deciding to hold off a little bit longer on the Nakamura Vs Mysterio match.

There is the potential to have these four men feud over the US title leading into TLC, which would no doubt breathe some life into that particular title scene, but it doesn't seem too likely given the fact that Randy Orton is still lurking in the shadows.

#2 Sasha Banks, Bayley, Dana Brooke and Ember Moon Vs Nia Jax, Tamina Snuka, Alicia Fox and Mickie James

The women put on an entertaining opener

While the in-ring action in this match was sloppy at times, it was a fairly quick and fun encounter that was a nice way to kick start the show.

The pre-match stuff with Elias and Ric Flair was ridiculous but undeniably entertaining and it gave the match itself a nice bit of energy.

It would have made sense for Nia Jax to pick up the victory here, especially given the nuclear heat she currently has, but the name of the game at the show was feel-good moments and the face victory was just another in a long list on the night.

The closing stages here were particularly solid and this was, if nothing else, a step up from the usual women's tag-team matches we are given on Raw.

#1 AJ Styles Vs Samoa Joe

Joe and Styles wrestled another solid encounter

You'd think by now that fans would be tired of seeing Samoa Joe and AJ Styles take each other on, but once again, these two men delivered a solid encounter this weekend.

While the steel cage match gimmick wasn't particularly necessary, the two men put on a good back and forth encounter that was effectively a medley of their greatest hits from the last few months.

Despite the fact that Styles is no longer WWE Champion, The Phenomenal One still managed to pick up the victory over his long-time rival, forcing him to submit once again to the calf-crusher.

While there is an argument to be made that Joe could have done with the victory here, in the long run, this really makes very little difference, especially if the WWE decide not to address it this week.