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Leighty’s Retro Review: WCW Fall Brawl 1996
Image Credit: WWE
Loading...-This is the last show in my quest to review every WCW/WWF PPV from 1996. I started this with Mind Games two years ago and just went from there until the end of 1997. I opted to go back and finish all the shows from 96 I didn’t do, and now the task is finished. I will do as I did with the 97 shows and rank every PPV match in order from worst to best. I am not sure what year I want to tackle next, but I think I am leaning towards 1989 because my friend made that request previously. For now, we finish out 1996 with WAR GAMES! Let’s get to it!
-Announce Team: Tony Schiavone, Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, and Dusty Rhodes
-Date: Sept 15, 1996
-Location: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC
-Attendance: 11,300
-PPV Buys: 230,000
-Awesome opening as they recycle the music from Bash at The Beach and use it to show us a montage of everything that has happened since Scott Hall first showed up on Nitro. Just great stuff and I wore this out back in the day when I had this show on VHS. The main story coming into this show is that Sting has apparently been bought off by Ted Dibiase and has joined the nWo.
-The announcers are totally buying into the idea that Sting has turned. They show the footage from this past Monday when Sting came out the limo and beat down Luger in the rain. Also, footage from Saturday Night where Nash, Hall, and The Giant destroyed Luger’s rental car.
Grudge Match: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chavo Guerrero, Jr
-DDP has been in a feud with The Guerrero family and Chavo gets his shot at revenge here. Baby Chavo! Guerrero hits a series of dropkicks at the opening bell and one of them sends DDP to the floor. Chavo flips out and hits a dive and then stomps away. I like Grudge matches that start like this! Chavo sends DDP into the railing and lays in the boots again. He uses his boot to choke and sends DDP into the steps. He finds a belt and starts whipping DDP. Back in the ring Chavo gets a slingshot splash for two. DDP misses a clothesline and Chavo gets a crossbody for two. Chavo grabs an arm and starts working that as things slow after the hot start. Tony covers everything nicely as he notes Eddy won The Lord of The Ring ring from Page in August and Chavo got an upset win over DDP on Nitro recently. Chavo gets another dropkick that sends Page caught between the ropes. Chavo tries a dropkick, but Page slides out and Chavo crashes to the floor. Page heads up top and hits a flying clothesline which pops the crowd. The crowd is buying into DDP huge here and they realized soon they needed to run with that once this feud with The Guerrero Family finished. Chavo with a small package for two, but Page goes back to stomping. Chavo gets sent into the corner sternum first and then Page with a belly to back suplex, but he makes sure to flip Chavo on his face as he falls. Page gets a two count and then hooks a chinlock as the camera pans the crowd. Page worked so much better as a face as him taking a beating is much easier to watch then him plodding through his offense. Page misses a kick and sells it like a cartoon character. Chavo gets a knee in and hits a springboard crossbody that nearly went bad as he had to regain his balance. Missile dropkick from the top gets two! Chavo back up top and he comes off with a head scissors for two. Page gets an elbow up in the corner to block and charge and gets two even with his feet on the ropes. Page throws Chavo from one ring over the top to the other ring. Page gets a sidewalk slam for two as I guess it doesn’t matter what ring these non War Games matches finish. Chavo snaps off another head scissors and avoids a charge in the corner. He gets a roll-up for two, but gets caught with a rotating sit-out powerbomb for two. Crowd loved that move! Chavo tries to counter a Diamond Cutter with a backslide, but Page stomps the foot and finishes with The Diamond Cutter at 13:08.
Winner: Diamond Dallas Page via pin at 13:08
-The opening three minutes and the final three minutes or so were wonderful. The middle portion was kind of BLAH, but the reaction to Page was something else as he was getting over week by week with the crowd and WCW was smart enough to notice. **3/4
-Gene Okerlund is backstage in a studio to recap “The Attack.” They replay all the high points of the nWo story line to this point. Hall debuts on May 27, 1996 (my 15th birthday), Nash comes 2 weeks later! BISCHOFF POWERBOMBED OFF THE STAGE! BASH AT THE BACH 1996: HULK HOGAN IS THE THIRD MAN AND IT STILL BLOWS MY MIND! The heel turn of all heel turns! Then just anarchy from the nWo in the early days and it is no wonder why WCW was destroying WWF at this time. Hogan wins The WCW World Title at Hog Wild and spray paints the Title like he was CM Punk. We get our first of many Giant turns as he joins The nWo. I know he was the first to join that wasn’t a former WWF guy, but it makes sense they would see Giant as a threat and throw money and movies at him. Also plays off Dibiase’s history of buying off Giants.
Submission Match: Scott Norton vs. Ice Train (w/ Teddy Long)
-Tony goes over the list of demands The nWo has if they win tonight and Dusty laughs it off. Mark Curtis asks for a bell, but one never sounds. We are off though as Train goes for a hammerlock. Norton runs him over with a shoulder, but gets caught with a hip-toss. Splash from Ice Train! World’s Strongest Slam, but a second splash misses. Norton hits a DDT and talks trash to Teddy Long. Belly to back suplex from Norton. Just keep hitting each other with BOMBS and this will be fine. Norton throws some punches and goes back to threatening Teddy Long. Ice Train back with a powerslam followed by a snap suplex. Train with a running splash in the corner, but Norton comes back with a clothesline. He hooks a Code Red (armbar), but it’s kind of a weak one as he doesn’t crank on it. Long gets on the apron and teases throwing in the towel, but the ref forces him down. Train escapes and gets a slam and tries an armbar of his own. Norton says no, so Train just punches the arm. Clothesline from Train and a back splash which pops the crowd. He tries another splash, but Norton gets the knees up. Train gets dumped with a spinebuster and Norton hooks a Boston Crab. Teddy on the apron again and that gets Norton to break the hold. Norton goes back to the arm and again Long gets on the apron. Norton grabs him this time and that lets Train get a Full Nelson and takes it to the mat. Norton taps out at 7:18.
Winner: Ice Train via submission at 7:18
-This was fine as it was kept shot and they hit each other hard. Norton tapping out was surprising as Norton didn’t seem to do all that many jobs as he didn’t want to hurt his standing over in Japan. **
Mexican Championship: Konnan (c) (w/ Jimmy Hart) vs. Juventud Guerrera
-Research tells me this is the AAA Americas Heavyweight Championship. It was to be a secondary title in AAA, but was ignored by AAA when Konan went to WCW full time in a month after this match. Konnan buries a knee to the gut to start and fires off with strikes. He misses a clothesline and then another, but folds Juvie in half with a release German Suplex. He then tosses Juvie over the top to the floor in an impressive bump. Juvie walks around the ring and enters ring two so he can spring from ropes to ropes to ropes and dive on Konnan. That’s nuts! Suicide Dive to the floor from Juvie. Konnan no sells and sends Juvie into the railing but Juvie jumps on top and dives back where Konnan catches him and powerbombs him on the floor. The crowd is loving all this! Back in the ring a heavy clothesline from Konnan pops the crowd again. Basement dropkick gets a two count. Konnan slows things down a bit as he ties Juvie up like a pretzel. Oh, I forgot to mention that Mike Tenay is on commentary and he gets to plug the WCW Hotline where he has an interview with Eric Bischoff about the status of Hall and Nash. I believe this was right around the time WWF started their fake Razor and Diesel angle. Juvie breaks free and gets another dive to the floor. Back in the ring he gets a springboard dropkick to the back of the ring. He charges and Konnan backdrops Juvie from one ring to the other and Juvie lands on the top rope of the second ring. He is basically dead weight, so Konnan lifts him and fires him back into ring one which makes Heenan laugh. “Throw him up here Konnan.” Juvie misses a moonsault as Tenay covers for it being off the mark. Konnan powerbombs him hard to make up for it. More German Suplexes from Konnan, so Juvie rolls to the floor to walk things off again. After taking some time, Juvie is back with a springboard dropkick followed by a leg drop for two. They fight on the apron and Juvie tries a powerbomb off the apron, but Konnan punches out and hits Juvie with a dropkick. Back in the ring they fight on top and Juvie back flips out and Konnan comes off with a missile dropkick. Juvie gets a series of roll-ups and pins. He ends up on the apron after avoiding a suplex and springs back in with a spinning kick for two. Konann plants Juvie with an Alabama Slam for an awkward count as they are in the ropes and Patrick has to not count. Another springboard dropkick from Juventud and he hits the somersault leg drop as Konnan hangs on the ropes. I never understood that move as Konnan is just holding onto the ropes while Juvie heads up and then comes off. That one kind of kills my suspension of belief. Another Alabama Slam for Konnan into a jackknife cover for two. Muscle Buster from Konnan which is cool to see after years of Samoa Joe using the move since. That gets two and Konnan has had enough as he The Power Drop (Razor’s Edge into a Powerbomb) for the pin at 13:45.
Winner: Konnan via pin at 13:45
-This was a weird one as it was sloppy and they seemed off at times, but Konnan would cover by just slamming Juvie really hard with a powerbomb or suplex variant. They wanted to show off Juvie, but Konann also had to get his shine as well. As a storyline match there isn’t much but as a series of cool moves that looked killer it was fun. Obviously, Juvie impressed who he needed to as he had a nice run in WCW after this match. ***1/4
Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit
-Another PPV debut as Chris Jericho gets his first shot with WCW and they put him in there with Benoit, which had to be comforting for Jericho. The crowd is behind Benoit as this is Horsemen Country. Tony notes these two have wrestled in Canada and Japan. Benoit lays the bad mouth on Jericho and slaps him in the face. Jericho slaps back, so Benoit punches him and knocks him on his ass. Backdrop sends Jericho flying across the ring as Dusty and Tony wonder if Benoit will be the 4th for WCW in War Games tonight. Release spinebuster from Benoit and he hooks Jericho in a Lion Tamer just because. Jericho avoids a powerbomb and gets a roll-up for two. Spinning heel kicks gets a two count. Jericho ducks a clothesline and hooks another roll-up for two. Benoit gets sent to the corner and Jericho follows with a dropkick to the back of the head. Benoit bails to the floor and Jericho hits the middle rope springboard dropkick to send Benoit to the floor. Jericho flies out with a dive and that leaves both me down for a bit. Jericho plays to the crowd as he heads up top and they boo him. Missile dropkick gets a two count. Nice powerbomb gets two! Double underhook into a bridging suplex gets two! They start trading chops and the crowd groans with each one. Nice! Jericho hits another spin kick. Benoit escapes a suplex and hits Benoit with a belly to back over the top and to the floor. On the floor Jericho gets sent into the post and then fired back in the ring. Benoit: “Do you want to be famous?” STOMP to the head! Benoit drops Jericho gut first on the top rope and some stomps to the head. Back elbow gets a two count. They start trading chops again, and Benoit wins this exchange. Benoit hooks an abdominal stretch and lands elbows to the ribs as he controls. Jericho is able to break, but can’t follow up, so Benoit stomps away some more. Benoit heads up top and lands the diving headbutt to a pop from the crowd. After a few seconds of selling the shot, Benoit gets a two count. Jericho gets dumped to the floor and Benoit sends him back first into the apron. Back in the ring Jericho gets a small package for two, but eats a boot for his trouble. Jericho gets a backslide for two, but again, Benoit is up first and lays in another boot to the face. Benoit buries a knee in the back while pulling on Jericho’s arms, but lets go after a bit. To the corner for more chops and Benoit goes for another Lion Tamer, but Jericho counters to a roll-up for two. Bridging suplex gets two for Jericho. They start trading strikes again and this time Jericho gets the advantage. Benoit tries a Tombstone, but Jericho reverses to one of his own. Lionsault misses, but Jericho lands on his feet and mows Benoit down with a clothesline. Nice! Top rope rana from Jericho gets another two count. Jericho counters a whip to the corner by jumping up top, but Benoit shoves him onto his balls. Benoit goes up with him and gets a belly to back suplex for the pin at 14:38.
Winner: Chris Benoit via pin at 14:38
-Great stuff here as they just hit each other hard and this match was a strong debut from Jericho. Benoit gets the expected win, but had to fight for this one. ***3/4
WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Rey Mysterio, Jr. (c) vs. Super Calo
-Mike Tenay is back in the booth and notes Calo is four years into his career and this is the first real break he has had outside of Mexico. Rey sends Calo to the floor and he seems a little gimpy as he hobbles back in. He gets a side headlock and gets a one count off of that. He transitions to an armbar. Rey flips his way out, but gets sent hard into the corner. Running powerslam as a fan yells, “boring.” I’m sure he is fun at parties. Calo off the middle ropes with an elbow and back to the arm. Rey fights to his feet and they go through a reversal sequence and Rey flips over the top to the apron and comes back in with a springboard into a rana. He looks to fly to the floor, but Calo bails so Rey hits the fake-out that would become the 6-1-9. Back in the ring Calo drops an elbow and gets a sweet slingshot powerbomb for two. Calo off the top with a shoulder tackle and then a clothesline sends Rey over the top to the floor. Calo off the top with a missile dropkick to the floor. That could have ended up worse as Cal basically slid off Rey and went splat on the floor. Speaking of splat, Cal hits a slingshot senton from the inside to the outside onto Rey. That looked like it sucked for Rey! Sit-out powerslam gets a two count and then another as Calo keeps going for the win. I appreciate that! They head to the next ring and Calo gets a head scissors from the top rope for another two count. Even Tenay is shocked at the beating Rey is taking in this one. They head back to the original ring and Calo gets a short arm scissors as Dusty lets us know Pat O’Connor had the hold on him for 30 minutes one night. Dropkick as the Calo onslaught continues. He gets a weird looking running clothesline and then hooks a grounded abdominal stretch. Calo buries the elbow into the ribs for good measure. The crowd is getting restless though as they just want to see Rey fly all over the ring. Surfboard into a pin gets a two count for Calo and Rey bails to the floor to regroup. Rey finally shows some life as he gets a dropkick. Rey sends Calo to the floor, but for some reason Randy Anderson tried to pull Calo back in and it ended up being a tug of war between the two. Rey hits a dive on the floor and then just kicks Calo in the ass and ribs. Rey tries another springboard and Calo meets him with a sick dropkick. That stopped Rey dead in mid-air! Calo sends Rey shoulder first into the buckle and they head back into the other ring. Calo just casually slingshots in with a kick to the face as Dusty is worried Rey is going to have a hard time getting out of bed when he is thirty with all the things he does. Dusty then jokes that he is 36 and everyone in the booth is biting their tongue until Heenan makes the Leap Year joke. They fight on the apron and Rey gets a springboard into a rana off the apron to the floor. Baseball slide and then a somersault plancha from Rey! Back to the apron and Rey gets a springboard into a sunset flip for two. Corkscrew springboard dive from Rey for two! Calo back with an Electric Chair Drop for two! Then another! Rey counters a powerbomb into a rana for two and then hits a spin wheel kick. Rey flips into one ring and then springs from one set of ropes to the next and then into a ran for the pin at 15:48. Yeah, Rey was like someone from another planet to all of us watching back in 1996.
Winner and Still WCW Cruiserweight Champion: Rey Mysterio, Jr via pin at 15:48
-Rey gave Calo a lot here, which is nice of Rey, but the crowd was a little annoyed. The action was great though as Calo showed out in the biggest match of his career and Rey did enough mind blowing stuff to satisfy the crowd in the end. ***3/4
WCW World Tag Team Championship: Harlem Heat (c) (w/ Sister Sherri and Colonel Rob Parker) vs. The Nasty Boys
-Tony notes that what we just saw with Rey and Calo, none of that will be on display in this one. Good call! Dusty losing it over the pyro is always fantastic. He has Tony nearly in tears from laughing. Somewhere a young Cody is taking notes! Stevie and Saggs start and Stevie immediately beats Saggs down in the corner with some good aggression. Saggs fights back with an elbow followed by a clothesline for two. Sherri tries to get involved and Saggs heads out to chase after her, but the ref and Booker protect her. She could handle that if needed! Back in the ring and The Nasty Boys deliver some CLUBBERING which makes Dusty pop as always. Booker T gets the tag and sends Knobbs into the buckle. They start trading blows and Knobbs runs Booker down with a clothesline for two. Heenan: “Every time I managed, women were in love with me.” Saggs back in and he gets a reverse neckbreaker for two. Knobbs returns and blocks a Booker charge with boot to the face and runs him down again with another clothesline. Stevie gets knocked off the apron and Booker gets prepped for a Pit-Stop, but Sherri jumps on the apron to stop that. That distracts the ref and Stevie Ray decks Knobbs from behind. Booker hooks a chinlock as Bobby and Dusty hype up War Games. Harlem Heat makes quick tags (legal and illegal) as they keep the pressure on Knobbs. The crowd is all over Parker at ringside for some reason. Booker with a dropkick and then he decks Saggs to bring him into the ring. That lets Booker toss Knobbs to the floor and Sherri lays in some kicks and punches. Knobbs no sells and goes after her, but Booker comes off the apron with a double axe. All four men just start punching on each other and Sherri ends up in the ring, but is able to roll to the floor. Stevie Ray drops a leg and looks for a suplex of some kind, but it seems Knobbs isn’t done with that, so he hooks a full nelson. Booker comes off the top, but misses and that lets Knobbs make the tag. Saggs runs wild for a bit as he sends Stevie Ray to the floor. World’s Strongest Slam to Booker and Sherri is up again and gets pulled into the ring. Saggs gets a roll-up on Booker for two as the fans were buying that as the finish. Saggs spikes Booker with a sweet piledriver and Stevie is in to make the save. Saggs heads up and Parker uses the cane to knock him off balance. The crowd is popping for all of this! Saggs goes after Parker, but gets destroyed by Stevie Ray. Booker gets a two count back in the ring after posing for a second. Axe Kick sends Saggs back to the floor and Sherri throws in some more kicks. Parker gets some in as well as Tony mentions the ref is arguing with Knobbs. Stevie Ray gets the tag and hits a back elbow for a two count. Knobbs just charges in the ring and is forced out by the ref which lets Booker come in to lay in some boots. Saggs is able to knock down both members of Harlem Heat and crawls to get the hot tag to Knobbs. He runs wild with right hands and clothesline. Booker gets sent flying with a backdrop and hits a splash, but Stevie breaks up the count. All four men do battle and Knobbs hits a splash in the corner. Double shoulder sends Stevie Ray down. Saggs gets a pump handle slam and Knobbs comes off the top with the elbow, but Sherri is in and breaks the cane over Knobbs head as the ref is dealing with Parker and Saggs. Booker rolls over for the pin at 15:32.
Winners and Still WCW Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat via pin at 15:32
-Match had some great crowd heat as the fans were begging for a title change here. It was a messy tag match as a lot of Nasty Boy matches are, but there is a kind of charm to it. Harlem Heat cheating like crazy was fun though the ref had to play dumb a bunch here. This was fine if a little long. **1/2
”Macho Man” Randy Savage vs. The Giant
-The Giant lost the WCW World Title to Hogan (and the nWo) the previous month and now is a member of the nWo. That may seem weird, but it made sense back then as nWo realized Giant was a problem, so Hogan promised him the world to get him on their side. Production goof as the play Giant’s Dugeon of Doom theme before kicking in the porno music. Giant actually sprints to the ring and Savage decks him. Savage keeps punching Giant in the face each time he tries to enter the ring as Dusty points out that Nick Patrick is the ref. They end up brawling on the floor and Savage stupidly tries a slam and that goes as expected. Giant casually presses Savage over his head and tosses him over the top rope. Giant just seems so much bigger than Big Show if that makes sense! Savage takes a beating, which he is great at as Giant throws him all around the ring. Heenan goes on a rant about Hogan being scared of Savage and that is why so many people are being thrown at him before they get to Halloween Havoc (my review from two years ago is here). Giant plants Savage with a back breaker as Heenan goes off on another rant about beating the crap out of the nWo in the back and then throw them into the double cage to get the win. Boston Crab from The Giant which is crazy! Savage gets to the ropes to break. Next up Giant hooks a bear hug and Savage sells it like death as his body goes limp. Savage gets a thumb to the eye and rakes the face to break. Savage heads up, but gets caught and slammed. Giant misses a knee and that gives Savage an opening. He kicks away at the knee and then comes off the top with a double axe to the back of the head which nearly turned into a bulldog. That gets a two count as Giant kicks out with ease. Savage slams Giant to a MONSTER POP from the crowd. MJF would be proud! He follows with the top rope elbow, but Hogan is out and Savage chases after him. Hall comes through the curtain, but misses. Nash is right there with a chair to the back and Hogan gets a chair shot in as well. If you are wondering, Nick Patrick is dealing with The Giant. Savage’s body is carried back to the ring and Giant gets the easy pin at 7:47.
Winner: The Giant via pin at 7:47
-On one hand, Savage was next for Hogan so you would think having him get a win would be warranted, but they weren’t letting anyone from the nWo lose at this point. That pop for the slam was something else though. Super basic match with good heat because the fans love Savage. *1/2
-Halloween Havoc commercial! As you may know, Slim Jim is the sponsor and WCW basically guaranteed Savage would be in the Main Event. They ended up getting there in a way that made sense.
-Mike Tenay is with Ric Flair (Liz and Woman), Arn Anderson, and Lex Luger. Flair calls Tenay, “Gene,” he is so fired up. Anderson reminds Lex that he was a Horsemen once and Sting barges in to proclaim his innocence. Luger doesn’t believe him and Sting tells him, he will see him in a little while. Yep!
War Games: nWo (Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, Hulk Hogan and ???) vs. WCW (Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, and ???
-Michael Buffer goes over the rules and for those who don’t know: Two men start for five minutes and then after a coin toss, the winning team sends in their second man. Each period goes two minutes until all eight men are in the ring and then The Match Beyond starts with submission or surrender as the only way to win. Each side only has three announced members! Because they didn’t want to give away the 4th entrant for each team, both sides were kept in the back for the first time in a War Games match. The announcers explained it as both teams hated each other so much they have to keep them apart. They didn’t have it explain it, but I appreciate that they did and gave a solid answer. This was the first War Games Match I watched live as the previous ones I saw were via renting or borrowing a VHS tape. Now we have a DVD set released a few years ago with every War Games match (up until that point). Also crazy that we finally have War Games in WWF. Scott Hall is out first for the nWo and Ted Dibiase is with him. Arn Anderson is out first for WCW which makes sense as he has been in more War Games than anyone. Watching this as a 15 year old I was losing my mind thinking about Razor Ramon and Diesel being inside War Games. Arn starts strong as the crowd roars. This is Horsemen Country! Dusty is openly rooting for Arn which has him in disbelief and that was one of the things that helped sell the angle. Hall gets tossed into the cage, but gets a shot to the eyes of Arn to take advantage. Heenan not knowing what to think just screams, “kick him. Kick him like a dog.” Arn then gets a figure-four, and Heenan: “snap it, snap it like a dog.” I love Heenan! Hall crawls back to ring one which forces Arn to duck through two sets of ropes and Hall takes advantage with some right hands. Nick Patrick tells Arn he can stop the match right now which has Dusty losing his mind as that is obviously not how this match works. Arn back with a heavy punch to the gut and he hooks a sleeper. Tony lets us know the coin toss will be held in the back. One guess which side wins! Beautiful spinebuster from Arn that pops the crowd. Tony tells us the nWo has won the toss and as we hit the 5 minute mark, Kevin Nash is the second man out for the nWo. The timer is dead on too! Nash has to enter through his side which is ring two and Arn fights off Nash for a bit, but Hall grabs hold and the numbers catch up to him. Double whip sends Arn flying into the cage! Snake Eyes from Nash is followed by a heavy clothesline from Hall. They stomp on Anderson as Luger heads down 10 seconds early by my clock and 14 seconds early according to the timer on the clock. He destroys both Outsiders with clotheslines and then tosses them into the steel. Running forearm to both Hall and Nash and the crowd is loving every second of this. Hall gets picked up and run head first into the cage on one side and then the other. Arn back and he sends Nash into the cage. Hall then sends Arn into the cage as Nash is able to clip the knee of Luger. Hogan is on his way down and steps into the cage just as the timer ends which is around 9:18 on my timer. Arn plants Hall with a DDT which doesn’t help Hogan as he gets tackled by Arn and Luger. They do some clubbering, but again the numbers catch up and the nWo regains the advantage. Hogan chokes Arn away in one ring while The Outsiders lay waste to Luger in the other ring. The crowd: “We want Flair.” Arn gets fired into the cage while Hall beats on Luger and Nash just watches. Smart! Hogan drops the leg on Arn as the timer counts down and her comes Ric Flair at 11:21. He struts and tells Hogan to come get him. Hogan obliges and the crowd is losing it. Dusty: “One on one I don’t know if Hogan can beat Flair.” I mean, we have seen him do it numerous times before, but I understand what Dusty is saying. Flair finds some brass knuckles and decks everyone from the nWo and then we get a series of ball shots. Flair hooks the figure four on Hogan as Patrick checks to see if he gives and again, that can’t happen yet. “Sting” heads down and enters at 13:23 and while the announcers are buying it, the fans aren’t. Arn gets powerbombed and they avoid a Pillman situation as Hall helps control his legs when they hit the roof of the cage. Everyone is fighting in ring one as the announcers bemoan the loss of Sting. The crowd: “We want Sting.” Hall continues to just beat the fire out of Arn in the corner while Hogan drops a leg on Flair. “Sting” hits a Stinger splash on Flair, Arn, and Luger as the timer runs out and here is the real Sting. Now the announcers are on Sting’s side after calling him a turncoat all night. Sting destroys everyone in the nWo as Luger, Arn, and Flair just watch. The crowd is very happy to see Sting and after stopping the nWo by himself, he walks away. Sting: “Is that good enough for you right there? Is that proof enough?” He then tells Luger to stick it and leaves the cage and heads to the back. They deserved it! Heenan tries to apologize and wants someone to go get Sting, but too late now. Hall and Nash beat on Flair and Anderson in ring one while Luger eats a big leg and gets put in the Scorpion Deathlock while Hogan hooks a choke. Luger gives it up at 18:18 to give the win to the nWo.
Winners: The nWo via submission at 18:18
-I enjoyed this because of the nWo vs. WCW dynamic and the crowd was jacked for the entire match. This obviously didn’t have the violence of the older War Games matches, but we weren’t getting things like that anymore. I found it quite enjoyable and it only helped in building up the nWo and the chaotic nature of what was happening in WCW at the time. The nWo also weren’t booked as dominant as they were wiped out by Sting alone and it was WCW’s own fault for not trusting the man that led to them losing the match. Great storytelling and it would make Sting as hot as anyone ever without having to wrestle or say another word (outside of his promo the following night on Nitro) for the next 15 months. ***1/4
-Settle in as we aren’t done yet! The cage is raised and Luger rolls to the floor and starts crawling while screaming for Sting. The nWo follow and continue the beating in the aisle. Arn and Flair are back in the fight and the brawl continues. Flair with a ball shot to Nash and here comes Savage and he sends Hogan back into the ring. The crowd is begging for someone to destroy Hogan, but he stalls long enough for The Giant to make the save. Chokeslam for Savage as garbage starts getting tossed into the ring. Here comes Miss Elizabeth as Heenan questions if she is a member of the nWo. She begs for Hogan to stop the beating on Savage and the announcers are connecting the dots. Another chokeslam! Liz covers Savage while the nWo tower over them. Hogan breaks out the spraypaint and tags the back of Liz’s dress. Hogan wants a mic as the crowd starts a loud “Hogan Sucks” chant. Hogan then cuts a promo running down Liz and Savage and the sacred oath they made years ago. He finishes by calling them pieces of trash and spits on them. My parents watched this with me back in the day and this got my mom heated as she angrily called Hogan an “ass.” Keep in my mind she didn’t care about wrestling, but this struck a nerve with her. Oh, and we still aren’t done as now Savage gets tagged with spray paint and another chokeslam. Randy Anderson is trying to protect Liz, so Nash throws him to the floor.
-We cut back to the announcers as they try to wrap this show up, but the nWo decides to head up there as well. Heenan is gone in a great character touch from him! Hogan has a fan’s “This is nWo Country” sign and calls Dusty a daydreamer. Giant lets us know this message is brought to us by the Ric Flair retirement fund. Nash and Dibiase get in some words and they want all their demands honored. Giant says he wants Mongo’s dog as we cut back to Savage being helped out by a trainer and Liz. So, yeah they went with the heavy depressing heat to close this one.
-Thanks for reading!
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