WCW World War 3 1998

From Auburn Hills, Michigan; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan.

Opening Match: Wrath v Glacier: Lots and lots of stalling to start, and finally Glacier tries some lightning kicks, but Wrath shrugs him off, and blasts him with a chop. Wrath knocks him from the apron into the guardrail, and then whips him into the front row for fun. Back in, Wrath reverses a cross corner whip, and sends Glacier somersaulting through the air off of a clothesline. Another cross corner whip and another clothesline get two, and Wrath dumps him back out to the floor for a choke with an electrical cable. Back in, it's chinlock time, but Glacier fires off a pair of kicks to take Wrath off of his feet. Glacier tries to stab him with an ice pick, but Wrath shrugs that off, and hits the Meltdown for the pin at 8:22. Pretty much just an unapologetic squash, but a really dull one, as both guys looked totally lost out there. DUD

Konnan v Stevie Ray: Stevie hammers him into the corner right away, but misses a cross corner charge, and gets clotheslined. Konnan follows with a seated dropkick, and slaps on a mat-based abdominal stretch. He tries a backdrop, but gets clobbered, and Stevie hits a sidekick and a clothesline for two. He dumps Konnan to the floor for Vincent to get a few shots in, and a snapmare on the way back in gets two. He works a chinlock, followed by a short-clothesline for two, and a bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop, but Konnan rolls out of the way. Konnan with a sitout facebuster, so Vincent goes for a slapjack shot, but nails Stevie by accident, and somehow that translates to the referee disqualifying Konnan at 6:54. TV-level intrigue, really sloppy, and a terrible ending to boot. DUD

Saturn and Kaz Hayashi v Ernest Miller and Sonny Onoo: Hayashi starts with Miller, but apparently the trash talk of the Cat is too much for Kaz, and he tags Saturn right away. Saturn knocks Miller to the floor in short order, then tags Kaz back, but he wants Onoo. Miller isn't biting, and opts to slam him instead, and a savate kick leaves Kaz on his back. Another bodyslam, and NOW Onoo wants in. He unloads with lightning kicks, but Kaz no-sells, so Sonny offers him a handful of cash. That gets promptly kicked back in his face, so Ernest comes in to kick his insolent little ass properly until he tags Saturn. Saturn pops off a suplex, but gets caught in the wrong part of town, and hammered in the corner. Miller with a legsweep and yet another bodyslam, and he forces a reluctant Onoo to tag - apparently having exhausted his offense. Saturn destroys him, and Kaz comes in with a dropkick for Miller, but also ends up in the wrong corner, and gets double-teamed. He manages to get to Saturn to trigger more suplexes, and it's four-way brawl time! Onoo gets destroyed, but Miller manages to clobber Saturn with a roundhouse kick behind the referees back, and Sonny gets the cheap pin at 8:04. Really slow, boring match - totally lacking flow. Like, seriously, the standard tag formula has been around forever for a reason. Stick with it, especially if you're not accomplished enough to deviate. DUD

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Juventud Guerrera v Billy Kidman: Kidman goes for a wristlock right away, but it turns into a reversal sequence, and into a criss cross, which turns into a slugfest. Another reversal sequence ends in Juvi hitting a fameasser, and he follows with... posing. Oh, come on! Leave that to the main eventers. Juvi with a well executed headscissors takedown, but a rana is countered by Kidman with a crisp sitout powerbomb, and he follows with a powerslam. Slingshot legdrop gets the challenger two, but a clothesline is countered with a whiplash for two. Chinlock, but a cross corner whip is reversed, and Kidman clobbers him with a clothesline. Superplex, but Guerrera blocks, and ends up hitting a stunner on the way down. Flying bodypress, but Kidman swats him out of the air with a brutal dropkick, and he covers for two. To the floor, Kidman hits a plancha, and he heads to the top to follow up, but Juvi knocks him down, and hits a rana off of the apron. Back in, that gets the champ a two count, and a brainbuster gets another. Chinlock, but Kidman gets uppity, so Juvi nails him with a dropkick, and then a springboard version to put the challenger back out on the floor. Juvi follows with a springboard bodyblock, and a slingshot legdrop on the way back in is worth two. Guerrera tosses him into one of the connecting rings, and follows with a double-springboard dropkick for two. Kidman returns fire with a standing dropkick, and he follows with a nice side suplex for two. Stinger splash misses, however, and Guerrera gives him an inverted atomic drop. To the top to finish, but Kidman crotches him on the turnbuckle, and then uses a headscissors to knock him back into the original ring. He follows with a flying bodypress from one ring into another for two, but a charge gets him backdropped into the third ring. Juvi follows him with a double-springboard rana for two, and a scoop brainbuster hits, but leaves both men down. Guerrera makes it up first, and heads to the top, but the 450 splash misses – Juvi impressively landing on his feet. He quickly hits Kidman with a rana for two, but a powerbomb is countered into a facebuster for two. Ocean cyclone suplex hits, and Kidman goes for the Shooting Star Press, but gets crotched on the turnbuckle. Guerrera climbs up for a rana off the top, but Rey Mysterio Jr runs out, and holds the back of Kidman's pants to cause Juvi to splat on the mat as he executes the maneuver. With Guerrera dazed, Kidman steadies himself, and hits the Shooting Star Press to win the gold at 15:26. Not surprisingly, this was good stuff. The usual quality cruiserweight stuff, and with the added bonus of all the springboarding between rings to make it unique. *** ¼

Scott Steiner v Rick Steiner: The nWo attack Rick during the entrances, and leave him for dead - The Giant carrying his limp body to the ring for Scott to finish. Scott toys with him for a few minutes, and slaps on the Steiner Recliner, but Goldberg runs out to break it up, and the whole thing is ruled a lame no-contest at 2:00. Just an angle - this belonged on TV. DUD

Kevin Nash v Scott Hall: Well, in theory, as the Eric Bischoff and the nWo decide Hall is no longer welcome in their social club, and kick him out via a beating. Nash makes the save, but they decide not to wrestle. Again, this belonged on TV, not as a bait-and-switch on pay per view.

WCW Television Title Match: Chris Jericho v Bobby Duncum Jr: Hey, finally a match! What an avant-garde concept! Duncum overpowers him in the early going, and Chris bails to the floor to regroup with his head of security, Ralphus. Back in, they trade go-behinds, and Jericho takes him down into an STF with a drop-toehold. Chris shifts into a surfboard - which looks hilarious, as Bobby has a good foot of height on the champ. Duncum tries a wristlock, but Jericho flips his way free - and right into a lariat. Duncum with a suplex for two, and he slaps on a chinlock. Duncum with a big boot when Chris tries to escape, and he dumps the champ out to the floor - only to get caught with a springboard clothesline out there, and rolled in for a missile dropkick. Jericho with a chinlock of his own, but Bobby dumps him into the corner to break, and hits a shoulderbreaker for two. Legdrop across the shoulder gets two, but a charge is blocked by Jericho with a stungun, and a springboard dropkick puts the challenger on the outside again. Chris whips him into the steps out there, and hooks a front-facelock on the way back in. He shifts into a bow-and-arrow, but Duncum powers up, so Chris spinkicks him into the corner for a bootchoke. Cross corner whip, but Duncum catches him with a clothesline as he follows in, and hooks the leg for two. Duncum tries another clothesline, but Jericho ducks, so Bobby flapjacks him for two. Chokeslam gets two, and Jericho pops off a chincrusher, followed by the Lionsault for two. To the top, but Bobby superplexes him for two, but takes a victory roll as he tries to follow-up, and Chris shifts into the Liontamer - but gets blocked. Duncum with a slam and a pump-splash for two, so Ralphus gets involved, and the distraction allows Chris to clobber him with the title belt for the pin at 13:20. Duncum was pretty useless, but give it to Jericho: he got as much as he could out of the lug. Good effort all around, and I appreciate that. * ½

#1 Contenders World War 3 Battle Royal: Same as last year, it's three 20-man battle royals going on simultaneously, until each ring is down to ten guys, and they migrate into one ring for a final battle royal. Participants: Chris Adams, Chris Benoit, Bobby Blaze, Ciclope, Damien, El Dandy, Barry Darsow, The Disciple, Disco Inferno, Bobby Duncum Jr, Bobby Eaton, Mike Enos, Scott Hall, Hector Garza, The Giant, Glacier, Juventud Guerrera, Chavo Guerrero Jr, Eddie Guerrero, Hammer, Kenny Kaos, Kaz Hayashi, Horace, Barry Horowitz, Prince Iaukea, Chris Jericho, Kanyon, Billy Kidman, Konnan, Lenny Lane, Lex Luger, Lizmark Jr, Lodi, Dean Malenko, Steve McMichael, Ernest Miller, Chip Minton, Rey Mysterio Jr, Scott Norton, La Parka, Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, Psychosis, Scott Putski, Stevie Ray, The Renegade, Scotty Riggs, Perry Saturn, Silver King, Norman Smiley, Scott Steiner, Super Calo, Johnny Swinger, Kevin Nash, Booker T, Tokyo Magnum, Villano V, Vincent, Kendall Windham, Wrath, and Alex Wright. It's the usual unfollowable battle royal, until we get down to Giant, Nash, Hall, Konnan, Benoit, Malenko, Wrath, Steiner, Booker, and Luger. Bam Bam Bigelow tries a run in, but it goes nowhere, and Goldberg runs out again to brawl with him on the floor as the match meanders on. We get down to Hall, Nash, and Luger - Lex and Kevin ganging up. Luger gets Scott in the Torture Rack, but Nash shows his true colors, and shoves them both out to win the thing at 23:26. Thankfully, this was the last time this match concept was ever repeated - frankly, I'm shocked it lasted as long as it did. DUD

WCW United States Title Match: Diamond Dallas Page v Bret Hart: Page dives onto a reluctant Hart with a plancha before the bell, and whips his challenger into the rail and steps out there. Inside, Page wins a slugfest, so Bret tries to run, but Dallas just smacks him into the rail on the floor, and rolls him into another ring. Bret snaps the champs neck across the top rope before he can follow-up, and hits a DDT for two. Bret plods around with kick-punch stuff, and hooks a chinlock, but Page escapes. Criss cross ends in DDP hitting a swinging neckbreaker, but Hart hits the deck to dodge the Diamond Cutter, and bails. DDP with a baseball slide out after him, but Bret sidesteps, and rakes the eyes ahead. Hart with an inverted atomic drop on the way back in, and a Russian legsweep gets two. The crowd takes a collective nap as Bret tries a tombstone, and DDP reverses it for two - but gets gut-punched as he tries to follow-up. Bret with a backbreaker for two, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Page hits a belly-to-belly suplex for two. Forward-falling piledriver gets two, but a clothesline misses, and both guys go tumbling over the top. Hart recovers first and grabs a set of knux, but Page nails him before he can use them, and slaps on a really poorly executed Sharpshooter. Bret quickly makes the ropes, and blows Page low, as entire rows of the crowd have now bailed on this bullshit. Bret works the knee, and hooks the ringpost figure four - the crowd not even invested in this enough to make a peep. Standard figure four, but the referee catches him using the ropes, and breaks it up. More knee work, as the crowd continues to literally abandon them in the background. Out to the floor, Page manages to crotch Bret on the rail, and he slaps on his own ringpost figure four. The referee goes down as he tries to pull a chair away from the champ, and Bret clobbers Page with the previously discarded knux. Sharpshooter, and a biased nWo ref runs in to call for the bell at 18:14. Hart grabs the title, but a third referee runs down to prevent this screw job, and restart the match - Page hitting a quick Diamond Cutter to retain at 18:55. Ugh. Who is this guy, and what has he done with Bret 'Hitman' Hart? Imagine how awesome a motivated Bret versus Page would have been for a twenty minute show closer, but this? This was downright embarrassing. DUD

BUExperience: The Cruiserweight Title match alone saves this from being a total disaster, but it’s not like they weren’t trying! A forgettable show with only one worthwhile match (kinda sorta two, if you want to be generous about the TV Title), and filled with angles that belonged on TV, this is a definite pass. DUD