WCW World War 3 1996 (Version II)

 

Original Airdate: November 24, 1996

From Norfolk, Virginia; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan

Opening NJPW J-Crown Title Match: Ultimo Dragon v Rey Mysterio Jr: The three ring set is unique, but like last year, makes it feel like we're at an auto show, rather than a wrestling one. Feeling out process to start, staying on the mat a lot longer than you'd expect. Not 'long,' just 'longer.' Criss cross ends in a stalemate when both guys try kicks at the same time, and we're back to square one. Dragon grabs the brass ring with a kick combo to get control, but Rey reverses a cross corner whip, so Dragon uses a springboard dropkick to send his challenger to the outside. Inside, Dragon uses a bridging German suplex for two, and a pop-up flapjack follows. Dragon with a neat tilt-a-whirl rackdrop - which the announcers take as a cue to talk about Lex Luger and Sting instead. Nice segue, at least. I appreciate a good segue. Dragon with a backbreaker into a half-crab, and a powerbomb gets two - Dragon using the momentum of Rey's kick out to turn it into a hotshot for another two. Neat! Spinebuster sets up a giant swing, though Dragon doesn't quite have Cesaro's balance, and needs a breather afterwards. It puts Rey on the outside, but the challenger beats the count, so Dragon drills him with a muscle buster for two. Brainbuster gets two, but another one gets countered with a cradle for two from the challenger. Dragon quickly cuts of the comeback with a grapevine, and drops him with a nasty tombstone for two. Dropkick knocks Rey to the outside, so Dragon tries a plancha, but Rey dodges. He tries whipping the champion into the guardrail, but gets reversed, and Dragon spikes him with a tombstone on the floor! That allows Dragon to add that plancha, and all this talk of planchas is getting me in the mood for paella. Dragon with a rana off the top for two on the way back in, and a running sitout powerbomb is worth two. Charge in the corner goes badly, allowing Rey to 'hit' a spinheel kick, and a springboard slingshot moonsault gets two... despite also only 'hitting' in theory. Rey with a springboard flying dropkick to send the champion to the outside, and he dives after him with a springboard somersault senton! Rey with a springboard flying sunset flip for two on the way back in, but Dragon pops right up with a somersault cradle for two. Rey returns fires with a rana into a cradle for two, so Dragon spikes him with a dragon suplex for two. Looked like he was trying for a bridge, but overshot. Still looked fine. Powerbomb, but Rey counters with a sunset flip for two. He tries a springboard flying seated senton to finish, but Dragon catches him in a slingshot sitout powerbomb to retain at 13:46. Started off slow, but built into a pretty great match by the end. Too many botches/poorly executed moves for me to hold the line on the original rating, but good stuff. *** ¼ (Original rating: **** ¼)

Chris Jericho v Nick Patrick: As promised, Jericho is fighting with one arm tied behind his back. I've championed this angle since the beginning, but one thing I don't like about it is that Patrick hasn't technically been outed as a heel yet, but is already playing a full heel here. It would have been better if he was still pleading his innocence and making logical arguments for his controversial calls, instead of lawyering up, and acting like a full heel before the reveal. Patrick tries pushing him around at the bell, but even with one hand tied behind his back, Jericho gets the better of that. He uses a legsweep and a hiptoss to send Nick to the outside, where the controversial official stalls. Well, if anyone would know how to milk a count. Back in, Patrick calls for a test-of-strength, smirking as he thinks he's outwitted Jericho. That backfires when Chris beats him with only a single-knucklelock, and he gets a hammerlock on. Patrick tries a reversal, but Chris quickly reverses back, and puts him down with a series of strikes. Hiptoss sends Nick back to the outside to stall again, so Teddy Long gets in his face out there, and Patrick is trying to get a DQ called. No dice, so Jericho unloads with kicks, and Nick bails again. Chris forces him back in for a clothesline, so Nick bails AGAIN, but Chris is on his tail. Nick manages to dodge a clothesline against the post to turn things around for the first time in the contest, and a snapmare sets up a somersault necksnap on the way back in. Nick keeps it going with a series of shots in the corner, but Jericho returns fire, and unloads a series of turnbuckle smashes for good measure. Backdrop sends Nick back to the outside, and I'm pretty sure the rope holding Jericho's arm has come undone, and he's just holding it together with his hand. Patrick charges into Jericho on the way back in, and he heads up, but Chris slams him off before he can dive, and adds a superkick for three at 8:02. A little long for what it was, and how limited it was, but this was more about the storyline than the workrate. As such, it wasn't especially good or eventful, but it wasn't a wasted segment either. ½* (Original rating: ½*)

Giant v Jeff Jarrett: Giant is still carrying around the stolen WCW United States Title here. Jarrett charges right in to slug at him, but that only gets him so far against the big boy. Jeff keeps coming anyway, but ends up getting clobbered with a clothesline, and man, this crowd is way too hot for this shit. Giant misses an avalanche, allowing Jarrett a corner clothesline, followed by a dropkick. He tries a stinger splash, but Giant gets his boot up to block, and he adds a bodyslam. Giant works him over for a bit, as the crowd spots Sting walking around in the rafters, observing. Giant with a big boot to set up a legdrop, as Sting starts making his way down from the rafters, and into the crowd. Giant doesn't notice, and keeps on Jarrett with a backbreaker, but misses a 2^nd rope pump-splash. That allows Jeff to dive with a flying bodypress for two, as Sting makes it down to ringside. He comes into the ring and grabs Jarrett for an inverted DDT (to a massive pop, despite Jarrett supposedly being the babyface), and the referee misses all of it, since of course. And it's not even Nick Patrick! That allows Giant to recover, and the Chokeslam finishes at 6:06. Another shitty PPV match between the two, but at least it had an intriguing angle with the Sting stuff. Better served on Nitro than PPV, though. ¼* (Original rating: ¾*)

Roddy Piper comes out to do the in-ring contract signing for a match for WCW World Champion Hollywood Hulk Hogan at Starrcade, but Hogan doesn't have time for legal shit, and sends freshly heel turned Eric Bischoff in his place. Bischoff's such a natural fit as a heel that it's almost surprising no one ever thought to make him a heel manager before he got his executive position. Also love Piper constantly reminding Vincent that he taught him 'how to fight,' in a nice callback to their WWF days. Anyway, Piper won't have this power of attorney nonsense, so Hogan finally joins us, along with the entire nWo for backup - which is kinda like a wrestling Tiananmen Square. Predictably, the nWo beats Piper down, taking shots at his artificial hip (which was from a motorcycle accident, but sure made him seem like an old man as the guy with a bad hip), and Piper swears revenge at Starrcade. Good segment, but again, probably would have been better served on Nitro. It's weird, for a company that became known for hotshotting big matches and angles on TV to pop a rating instead of saving them for PPVs, they sure are filling this PPV with a lot of TV worthy shit tonight

Harlem Heat v The Amazing French Canadians: If the Heat win, Sister Sherri gets five minutes with Colonel Robert Parker. Always one of my least favorite match stipulations, but it was all the rage in '95-'96. Booker T starts with Jacques Rougeau, and dominates him. Over to Stevie Ray for a tandem clothesline, and he adds a bodyslam, but gets drilled with a jumping backelbow during a criss cross. That allows the tag to Carl Ouellet, and the heels quickly double team Stevie in the corner, but it goes nowhere, and Stevie side suplex Carl. Big boot gets him two, and he passes back to Booker for a snapmare to set up a kneedrop. The Heat work Carl over, so Jacques takes a cheap shot to put Booker on the outside, and the heels gain control. The Canadians work Booker over, and holy shit, that ring looks like it's about to collapse at one point. Like, seriously, that's looking rickety as fuck. The heels keep cutting the ring in half, making good use of quick tags, but not doing anything particularly interesting. Stevie gets sick of it and comes in illegally to buy Booker the time he needs to make the tag, and Roseanne Barr the door! The referee gets bumped as they whip each other around, allowing the heels to gang up on Stevie with a spike piledriver, but there's no one to count. The heels decide to bring a table and the ring steps in to play with in the meantime, and they stack it all up to try a crazy Tower of Quebec spot, but it misses. That allows Booker to dive in on Carl, and that's it at 9:15. Not especially engaging, but not terrible, and I liked the finish. ¾* (Original rating: ¾*)

Colonel Robert Parker v Sister Sherri: Sherri destroys him (getting more crowd reaction than the match, by far), so Parker tries running to another ring, but Sherri is hot on his tail. She hits a pair of clotheslines, and a flying bodypress gets two, so he bails again, and they all run to the back at 1:44. DUD (Original rating: ¼*)

WCW Cruiserweight Title Match: Dean Malenko v Psychosis: Dean takes him down for an STF right away, but Psychosis makes the ropes, as Heenan makes lame jokes on commentary. Dean turns a surfboard into a cradle for two, so Psychosis tries trading armdrags with him to a stalemate. Dean grabs a wristlock, but Psychosis reverses, and now they trade those for a bit to another stalemate. Dean shoots for the leg to take him down in a grapevine, and I have to stop and note how nicely Malenko could execute holds. He doesn't just wrap up on the leg like most guys do, he gives it a crisp little snap into position that makes all the difference in selling it. Psychosis makes the ropes, so they do a test-of-strength, with Malenko easily dominating him down into a modified Mexican surfboard. Psychosis speeds things up to try making Dean work his kind of match, but misses a dive to the outside, and eats rail. That allows the champion to keep control on the way back in, and he snapmares Psychosis down for a kneedrop. Malenko works a headscissors, but Psychosis makes the ropes to escape, so Dean just calmly snapmares him back down for two. Dean adds a crisp bodyslam to set up an elevated half-crab, and then uses a tigerbomb into the Texas Cloverleaf, but Psychosis grabs the ropes for dear life before he can get it locked on. Dean responds by unloading on him in the corner, and a dropkick to the leg puts Psychosis down for Dean to pound on the part. Into a tree of woe for more of the same, so Psychosis tries to shove him out of the ring, but it backfires. Dean tries a baseball slide, but misses, and Psychosis uses a backbreaker on the floor to buy enough time for a flying corkscrew senton out there! Psychosis with a flying legdrop for two on the way back inside, and a dropkick leads to a cross corner whip, but Dean dodges the charge. He goes up, but Psychosis is ready with an enzuigiri before the champion can dive, and he brings him down the hard way with a rana for two. Brainbuster, but Dean counters with a cradle for two, so Psychosis thinks fast with a koppou kick before Malenko can recover. Tombstone, but Dean reverses for two, and another reversal sequence ends in Malenko hooking a cradle at 14:34. Good match here, with Malenko's mat work on the right side of boring, and just the right length for what they were going for. *** ½ (Original rating: **)

WCW World Tag Team Title Triangle Match: The Outsiders v The Nasty Boys v The Faces of Fear: First fall wins it. The Nasties run in to attack the Outsiders before all three teams even make it down, and the stupid referee actually rings the bell to start the match anyway. That's just terrible officiating. The Faces show up to join the brawl, and the Outsiders retreat to the outside, leaving the remaining four guys to quickly turn on each other. The Outsiders wisely hang out on the outside as the referee works to settle things down, and we get Brian Knobbs and Barbarian once he does. Barbarian misses a charge, allowing Jerry Sags to tag in for a tandem shoulderblock for two, and a bodyslam sets up an elbowdrop from Knobbs, but Barbarian dodges. That draws Meng in without a tag, and all four brawl again, as the Outsiders relax on the apron. They're pretty much defining 'cool heel' here. Like, how could you NOT cheer these guys? Meng forces Kevin Nash to tag in, and Nash easily destroys Knobbs in the corner. More of the same from partner Scott Hall, as the Outsiders dominate, and generally look smarter than the others, and like they're above this entire thing. Hall beats the tar out of Barbarian in the one neutral corner, but gets cocky, and nearly choked down. Barbarian adds a corner clothesline and a bodyslam, and it's over to Meng for chops. Hall goes to the eyes and tags Knobbs in to get out of trouble, but stupid Knobbs charges into the Outsiders' corner, and gets destroyed. What a dumb shit. He still manages to hit Barbarian with a backelbow after all of that, and it's over to Sags with a piledriver for two, when Hall breaks the cover. Sags responds by forcing a tag to Nash, but Kevin beats him up for it instead of bothering with Barbarian. Nash turns back to Barbarian with a clothesline for two, and a sidewalk slam is worth two - both covers broken by Meng. Tag to Hall for a corner clothesline, but he gets railroaded into the Faces' corner, and Meng side suplexes his ass for two. Scott responds by forcing a tag to Barbarian to make him face Meng, but Meng just tags Knobbs instead of fighting his own partner. Not sure if that was brilliant or stupid. Like, couldn't he just let Barbarian pin him, and win the title that way? Instead, we get the Nasties working Barbarian over, but Knobbs accidently lets Hall tag in, and the Outsiders take over the pounding of Barbarian. Barbarian powers out of a toehold, leading to the Outsiders and Faces slugging it out, and the dust settles on Nash and Meng. Nash with a bodyslam to set up an elbowdrop, but it misses, and Knobbs tags himself in. Poor Barbarian is just everyone's whipping boy tonight. He finally gets a tag off to Meng, and Knobbs eats a nasty looking piledriver for two. Tag to Sags, so Meng beats on him in the corner, and then... tags Hall? Huh? You're in control, dummy! No matter, it doesn't go anywhere, and we go back to the Nasties and the Faces trading off again. They decide to get cute by tagging both Outsiders in, but these two AREN'T idiots, and Nash immediately hits the deck for his buddy. The others manage to break up the count in time, but it's nice to see that they weren't booked like idiots. Anyway, things break down from there, and Knobbs gets knocked with Jimmy Hart's megaphone in the chaos - allowing Nash to powerbomb him at 16:11. Watchable enough, and went home just as it was starting to wear out its welcome. * ¼ (Original rating: DUD)

Main Event: #1 Contender's 60-Man World War 3 Match: We've got: Arn Anderson, Marcus Bagwell, Barbarian, Chris Benoit, Big Bubba Rogers, Jack Boot, Bunkhouse Buck, Ciclope, Disco Inferno, Jim Duggan, Bobby Eaton, Mike Enos, Galaxy, Joe Gomez, Giant, Jimmy Graffiti, Johnny Grunge, Juventud Guerrera, Eddie Guerrero, Scott Hall, Prince Iaukea, Ice Train, Mr. JL, Jeff Jarrett, Chris Jericho, Kenny Kaos, Konnan, Lex Luger, Dean Malenko, Steve McMichael, Meng, Rey Mysterio Jr, Hugh Morrus, Kevin Nash, Scott Norton, Carl Ouellet, Diamond Dallas Page, La Parka, Sgt. Craig Pittman, Jim Powers, Robbie Rage, Stevie Ray, Lord Steven Regal, Renegade, Scotty Riggs, Roadblock, Jacques Rougeau, Tony Rumble, Mark Starr, Rick Steiner, Ron Studd, Kevin Sullivan, Syxx, Booker T, Squire David Taylor, Ultimo Dragon, Villano IV, Michael Wallstreet, Pez Whatley, and Alex Wright. Benoit attacks Kevin Sullivan on the floor before the match even starts, so the Faces of Fear intervene, and before you can say 'whatever' we have a full scale Horsemen/Dungeon of Doom gang brawl into the stands as the match gets underway. As for the others, standard battle royal going on, with the usual triple-split screens making it almost impossible to decipher. The nWo guys all stick together in their ring, and mostly just hang out in the corner, letting the stupid WCW guys eliminate each other instead of ganging together to outnumber the nWo guys. By the time the WCW guys figure out basic battle royal (or, really, basic life) strategy, the ranks have thinned out, and Giant tosses a bunch of guys for the mother-nWo. They finally settle into one ring, with the nWo still pretty much in full force, as we've got Hall, Nash, Giant, Syxx, Jarrett, Luger, Page, Eddie, Regal, and little Rey Mysterio. Regal stupidly tosses fellow WCW guy Guerrero, and Giant impressively presses Rey out - one handed! That was as awesome as the 'dart bump' into the trailer from earlier that year, though history has sort of forgotten it. The nWo clear everyone else in short order, and that leaves them alone against Lex Luger - four-on-one. The crowd gets right behind that, and Luger even gets Giant in the Torture Rack before the others break it up. He tosses Syxx and the Outsiders, but Giant shoves him out to win at 28:21. They really should have given Luger the feel-good ending here. Saved from the DUD-pile by the one-handed press-drop spot. ¼* (Original rating: DUD)

BUExperience: A pair of good matches, and a lot of not good ones. Plus, a bunch of stuff that felt more worthy of TV than pay per view. Say what you will about the WWF’s many issues around this period, but Survivor Series ’96 felt like a PPV. The other big issue with this is that the main event is a battle royal, yet they didn’t book any other big co-main event level match(es) to support it, like the WWF figured out they should pretty early on with their similar (though superior) Royal Rumble concept.

DUD