The September WCW PPV Review

[Bored 0]

New feature! Anyways every month now I'll post old results from every PPV from this month. For WCW/NWA I'll post them the week the PPVs normally happened during this month. For WWE/WWF I'll post them the Saturday before their PPV.

 

This month is Fall Brawl month for WCW featuring many mediocre WarGames.

 

September 19, 1993

Steven Regal def. Ricky Steamboat to win the Television Title

Charlie Norris def. Big Sky

2 Cold Scorpio & Marcus Bagwell def. Paul Orndorff & The Equalizer

Ice Train def. Shanghai Pierce

The Nasty Boys def. Arn Anderson & Paul Roma to win the Tag Team Titles

Cactus Jack def. Yoshi Kwan

Rick Rude def. Ric Flair to win the WCW International World Title

Sting, Davey Boy Smith, Dustin Rhodes, & The Shockmaster def. Vader, Sid Vicious, & Harlem Heat in a WarGames Match

 

September 18, 1994

Johnny B. Badd def. Steven Regal to win the Television Title

Kevin Sullivan def. Cactus Jack in a Loser Leaves Town Match

Jim Duggan def. Steve Austin to win the United States Title

Pretty Wonderful def. Stars ‘n’ Stripes; Tag Title Match

Vader def. The Guardian Angel (1st match) and Sting (2nd) in a Triangle Match

Dusty Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes & The Nasty Boys def. Terry Funk, Arn Anderson, Bunkhouse Back, & Col. Rob Parker in a WarGames Match

 

September 17, 1995

Johnny B. Badd def. Brian Pillman

Sgt. Craig Pittman def. Cobra

Diamond Dallas Page def. The Renegade to win the Television Title

Harlem Heat def. Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater to win the Tag Team Titles

Arn Anderson def. Ric Flair

Hulk Hogan, Sting, Randy Savage, & Lex Luger def. The Dungeon of Doom in a WarGames Match

 

September 15, 1996

Diamond Dallas Page def. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Ice Train def. Scott Norton in a Submission Match

Konnan def. Juventud Guerrera; Mexican Title Match

Chris Benoit def. Chris Jericho

Rey Mysterio Jr. def. Super Calo; CW Title Match

Harlem Heat def. The Nasty Boys; Tag Title Match

The Giant def. Randy Savage

Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall, & “Sting” def. Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, & Sting in a WarGames Match

 

September 14, 1997

Eddy Guerrero def. Chris Jericho to win the Cruiserweight Title

The Steiner Brothers def. Harlem Heat

Alex Wright def. Ultimo Dragon; TV Title Match

Jeff Jarrett def. Dean Malenko

Wrath & Mortis def. The Faces of Fear

The Giant def. Scott Norton

Lex Luger & Diamond Dallas Page def. Scott Hall & Randy Savage in a No-DQ Match

Kevin Hash, Syxx, Konnan, & Buff Bagwell def. Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, Curt Hennig, & Steve McMichael in a WarGames Match

 

September 13, 1998

Davey Boy Smith & Jim Niedhart def. Disco Inferno & Alex Wright

Chris Jericho def. “Goldberg” (midget)

Ernest Miller def. Norman Smiley

Scott Steiner NC Rick Steiner

Juventud Guerrera def. Silver King; CW Title Match

Saturn def. Raven

Dean Malenko def. Curt Hennig by DQ

Konnan def. Scott Hall

Diamond Dallas Page wins a WarGames Match

 

September 12, 1999

Eddy Guerrero, Rey Mysterio Jr., & Kidman def. Vampiro & The Insane Clown Posse

Lenny def. Kaz Hayashi; CW Title Match

Brian Knobbs & Hugh Morrus def. Shane Douglas & Dean Malenko in a No-DQ Match

Rick Steiner def. Saturn; TV Title Match

Berlyn def. Jim Duggan

Harlem Heat def. The Windham Brothers to win the Tag Team Titles

Sid Vicious def. Chris Benoit to win the United States Title

Goldberg def. Diamond Dallas Page

Sting def. Hulk Hogan to win the WCW World Title

 

September 17, 2000

Elix Skipper def. Kwee Wee; CW Title Match

Cpl. Cajun, Lt. Loco, & Sgt. AWOL def. Three Count

The Harris Brothers def. Kronik in a First Blood Chain Match

Lance Storm def. General Rection; Canadian Title Match

The Filthy Animals, Big Vito, & Paul Orndorff def. The Natural Born Thrillers in an Elimination Match

Shane Douglas & Torrie Wilson def. Billy Kidman & Madusa in Scaffold Match

Sting def. Vampiro and The Great Muta (pinned) in a Triangle Match

Mike Awesome def. Jeff Jarrett in a Bunkhouse Match

Scott Steiner def. Goldberg

Booker T def. Kevin Nash in a Cage Match to win the WCW World Title

[Steviekick 0]

Fall Brawl 94 and 95 looked to be the worst cards on that list.

[res37618 0]

I was personally at Fall Brawl '94 in Roanoke, VA (6 rows back from the ring furthest from the entrance), and while the card may have looked bad, it was actually an OK show to see, both live and on tape afterward. It's not gonna get an award for best PPV ever or anything, but aside from a couple of bad matches, it was a pretty decent show.

 

Fall Brawl '95 was basically a two-match-show - Flair/Anderson and Pillman/Badd - these two matches absolutely rocked. The rest of the card was not very good, but two 4-plus star matches on one show makes it a decent PPV in my book.

[CanadianChris 0]

1998 was undoubtedly the worst. That was the start of the Hogan-Warrior feud, and the worst WarGames ever. No redeeming qualities to that show at all.

[Guest Choken One]

95 was GREAT.

 

Pillman/Badd and Flair/Anderson was fucking great

[King Kamala 0]

I dunno Saturn-Raven was pretty decent hardcore match especially for WCW, who probably had no more than half a dozen good hardcore matches between 98-01.

[Guest The Real Nosferatu]

1995 is definitely worth watching for the 2 above mentioned matches.

 

Pillman/Badd was a 30:00 ****+ classic that had the crowd going the whole time, and EVERYONE knows how much everyone wanted to see the Anderson/Flair showdown.

[Just John 0]

FB 97 looked like a real solid card as well. I've only seen one match from it (War games), and only know the rest from old WCW magazine. Although, I would bet a large sum of money that the 15-20 minutes of Eddy/Jericho, Wright/Dragon, and Jarrett/Malenko were quite good. Is it just me, or did anyone else think that the WG was really good?

[res37618 0]

Methinks Fall Brawl '97 was a pretty good show. The War Games was one of the better in the "recent era" of bloodless WG matches, and the Eddy/Jericho match was great.

 

Fall Brawl '98 may in fact be the worst PPV ever (unless you count the Heroes of Wrestling garbage). I used to believe that honor fell on Great American Bash '91, but after watching GAB '91 a few nights ago, I've started to find it a wee-bit tolerable, if only for the Gibson/Morton and Luger/Windham matches. FB '98 had one "decent" match between Raven and Saturn, which I've always found to be overrated myself, and the WG on that show was a complete and utter joke.

 

For a surprisingly solid PPV, check out Fall Brawl 2000 - there were a couple of dogs on that show, but for the most part, it was WCW's best PPV of 2000, with Slamboree that year following a close second.

[TheOriginalOrangeGoblin 0]

Fall Brawl 97 is an overall great PPV. That Wargames is by far the best post 92. Only "new" Wargames that actually has emotion, intensity and hatred behind it. Plus a brutal a ending and a hot crowd.

 

Fall Brawl 98 is atroscious.

[Bored 0]

The '94 show is infamous for being the end of Foley's and Austin's careers in WCW. Did they ever do anything else?

 

Time to pull out recaps. Instead of responding to each individual post I'll just pick out the matches that have been mentioned. Since I know a lot of people don't like Scott Keith and since a lot of people have read Scott Keith's PPV rants I'll try to avoid using his although if I can't find any others I'll use Keith's. If the recap wasn't done originally when the show aired I'll note the date it was recapped. Of course only able to find a non-Keith rant for the '97 matches...oh well. So here is the list of matches mentioned so far and who did the reacps and then the recaps themsleves.

 

Fall Brawl '95 by Scott Keith (recap done on 9/1/99)

Pillman/Badd

Flair/Anderson

 

Fall Brawl '97 by Michael T. Tyler

Eddy/Jericho

Wright/Dragon

Jarrett/Malenko

WarGames

 

Fall Brawl '98 by Scott Keith (original)

Raven/Saturn

WarGames

 

 

Brian Pillman v. Johnny B. Badd. Badd's character

seems have to gotten all the gay out of his system by this point, with

the exception of the Badd Blaster, the confetti-shooting gun he still

brought with him from time to time. Winner of this thing gets a shot at

Sting's US title at some indeterminate point in the future. Pillman

gets a small heel pop, despite his sickeningly babyface "California

Brian" gimmick that he was stuck with at the time. Badd was literally

improving daily by this point. Longish feeling out period to start with

not much going on. Headlock, armdrag, etc. Match gets moving about 8

minutes in, as Badd works Pillman's leg, causing a shoving match to

erupt and Pillman to dust off the old heel persona from the Hollywood

Blonds days. Pillman starts running like a coward and cheating, drawing

mad heel heat from the crowd. Badd gets the slingshot legdrop for two.

We get the double KO spot, with Pillman recovering first and hitting a

cheap headbutt to take Badd down and get more heel heat. I'm in awe of

Pillman's in-ring heel turn as we watch. Badd gets tossed, but suplexes

Pillman to the floor and hits a pescado (dive over the top to the

floor). Nice. Back in the ring, and Badd tries to come off the top,

but gets dropkicked in mid-air by Pillman. Badd gets a powerbomb for

two. Badd counters Pillman's finisher, the tornado DDT, by shoving him

to the mat for two. Pillman with a russian legsweep into an armlock

submission move as time winds down. Badd escapes and hits the TOOTY

FRUITY PUNCH OF DOOM for two. Pillman hits Air Pillman for two, then a

backslide for two as time expires at 20:00. We need a #1 contender,

though, so it's overtime.

 

They fight to the floor, then back in as both miss a dropkick. Pillman

gets a sleeper, reversed by Badd, which is one of my least favorite

moves in wrestling, next to the Indian deathlock when performed by

anyone not from Japan. Pillman goes for a superplex, but Badd pushes

him off and sunset flips him off the top for two. Badd tries a

powerbomb (like earlier in the match) but it's reversed to a rana for

two by Pillman. The psychology here is positively All Japan-ish.

Pillman with a crucifix, countered into a fallaway slam by Badd for two.

Badd hits the top rope rana for two. He tries again, but Pillman

reverses to the tornado DDT, this time hitting it for two. Pillman goes

to the top, but he's knocked off and to the steel railing where he hits

his jaw. He does that spot all the time, and it always looks great.

Badd nails the somersault plancha for good measure. Back in, but when

Badd tries the slingshot legdrop again, Pillman counters and it misses.

I'm really digging the psychology here. Pillman tosses Badd and hits a

tope suicida, which is really amazing considering the shape his body was

in at the time. He goes for a springboard dropkick, but misses and

crotches himself on the top rope. They criss-cross and Pillman tries a

cross-body, but Badd uses his weight advantage to fall on top of Pillman

for the pin at 29:57. Just a spectacular match. ****1/4

 

Ric Flair v. Arn Anderson. The resuscitation of the Horsemen was one

of the few things WCW did right in 1995. This particular match came

about because Flair was becoming more and more dependant on Anderson to

help him win matches, and it came to a head as Vader beat of them in a

handicap match at the Clash preceding this show, with Flair not pulling

his weight. Anderson confronted him with years of pent-up frustration

at never getting a shot at Flair's title, and they decided to have this

match to get it out of their system. This was such a great storyline.

They play mind-games with each other to start, with Flair taking the

heel role. They exchange wristlocks, which is the worst thing you can

do when wrestling Arn Anderson, because he immediately goes after

Flair's arm. Flair tries to take it to the mat but gets nowhere. Arn

works the armbar, so Flair reacts the best way he knows -- he chops him

down. He attacks the knee, drawing a big pop. Arn gets a high knee off

the second rope, then goes back to the arm. Tony and Bobby do a great

job of selling the psychology and the history of the Anderson's

arm-breaking tactics. Arn actually pulls out a single-arm DDT,

something he learned from Bobby Eaton. They exchange shots in the

corner, and AA ends up on the floor. Flair comes off the top rope with

a double-axehandle, then tosses Arn back in. AA comes back, but a low

blow turns the tide. Back outside the ring, as Flair takes a backdrop

on the floor, and retaliates with a suplex. Back in the ring for a

delayed suplex and more chops, for a two count. Arn comes back and goes

for the DDT, but Flair grabs the ropes to block. He flops for good

measure. He goes to the top, but AA slams him off and goes for that

dreaded move, the Double Axehandle Off the Second Rope That Has Never

Hit a Single Person. Luckily for Ric, it misses. I get the feeling

that Arn's had that one saved up in him for so long that if he ever hit

it, the poor recipiant would be dead. Flair gets the figure-four, but

Arn reverses. Flair escapes and tries agian, but gets cradled for two.

Now Pillman jumps onto the ring apron and talks smack to Flair, so Flair

smacks him. Pillman doesn't appreciate that, and kicks Flair in the

head, allowing Arn to DDT his best friend and pin him at 21:53 to the

shock and/or delight of the crowd, depending on which 50% of the arena

you asked at that moment. That should have effectively killed the

Horsemen for good, but bigger schemes were in the works at Halloween

Havoc that year... ****

 

 

Eddie Guerrero (frogsplash -> pin) over Chris Jericho to win the WCW

Cruiserweight Title.

THE MATCH: Fall Brawl starts off with the cruiserweight title match. Eddie

didn't disappoint the crowd. A huge, "Eddie Sux" echoes loudly throughout

the arena. Eddie covers his ears because he just can't take it anymore. He

needs Calgon, so he can be taken away. Jericho starts out with an armdrag

and Eddie immediately claims Jericho pulled his hair, funny stuff. Both

trade typical opening moment maneuvers until Eddie sells a shoulderblock

like crazy. However, Eddie quickly gains control with several devastating

European uppercuts. Eddie applies a leglock for several moments before

releasing. Jericho reversed fortunes by reversing La majistral and scoring

a two count with La majistral. Finally, someone gains a clear-cut

advantage when Jericho lands a huge stun gun. Jericho lands a lionsault

(moonsault) for a quick two count. Jericho applies an armbar, which Eddie

quickly reverses and snaps Jericho throat-first on the top rope. Eddie

follows up with a dropkick from behind. At this point, the match still

lacked spark, but the action would soon begin and slowly build up to a

great finish. Eddie applies several submission moves including a chinlock

while pulling Jericho's knees back. It appeared more painful to Eddie

applying the move than Jericho suffering from the punishment. Eddie

releases and applies an upside down surfboard chinlock. Soon, Jericho

reverses the move and powerbombs Eddie. Jericho lands an elbow following

up with his patented turnbuckle whips/clothesline charge combo, but Eddie

sidestepped Jericho. Eddie climbed the top rope to deliver a hurricanrana,

but Jericho trips Eddie, causing Eddie to crotch himself. Jericho

straddled Eddie for several moments, providing everyone with a laugh.

Jericho executes a springboard dropkick sending Eddie to the floor. To the

ring apron, Jericho decides to become original. Jericho tries to powerbomb

Eddie from the apron to the floor. But Eddie changes momentum and Jericho

executes a stun gun instead, sending both falling to the floor. To see how

awesome the move was, you have to see it. They both manage to climb in the

ring where Jericho eludes Eddie's patented rolling somersault and

returning fire with a German suplex. Jericho wants to powerbomb Eddie, but

Eddie reverses into a devastating Wrath-like chokeslam. Eddie delivered

the chokeslam with huge power. Both men take their time recuperating with

Eddie running into a powerslam. Jericho continues to dominate offense with

a variety of huge chestdrops. Jericho pancakes Eddie. Eddie then follows

up with la majistral for a two count. Jericho kicks out following up with

a double bomb, (I know you're reading this Tenay) but Eddie manages to

break a triple bomb attempt forcing Jericho to place Eddie on the top

turnbuckle. Jericho attempts brainbuster superplex, but Eddie reverses the

move to an inverted DDT variation. Jericho sold big time and Eddie

followed up with a tremendous frogsplash for the clean victory.

COMMENTS: Very slow beginning match with very nice build up throughout.

The last five minutes saw many inventive Jericho maneuvers. However, the

ending was sort of rushed which saw of a lot of no selling, which has been

a major weakness of WCW in recent times. These types of matches need to

last 10-15 minutes longer so the wrestlers can tell a story or continue an

angle to get the storyline over. I have to say Eddie is a god in the ring,

the man can make anyone look good in the ring. There was plenty of

psychology around here.

RATING: ***3/4

 

Alex Wright (German suplex -> pin) over Ultimo Dragon

THE MATCH: Oh, my, Gosh, it's Alex Wright and he's even sporting new hand

movements in his dance, he must be taking lessons from Hall's hand

movements. Alex teases the crowd by pretending to pull his jacket off and

the not doing it. Alex poses and Ultimo gains the advantage with a

dropkick. Ultimo follows up with a six kick Ultimo Kick Kombo. However,

Alex quickly regains control with a stun gun. Alex supplies the cure for

insomnia by applying several rest holds. Ultimo regains control by punting

Wright twice. Do those kicks hurt or what? And then provide some humor for

the crowd by dancing when Ultimo dragon can't pull down Wright during a

sunset flip attempt. Ultimo finally pulls Wright down for a two count. Oh,

gosh, Wright has a fan. Look about half way up the back and a fan with a

Lite beer T-shirt and beer in hand is imitating Wright's dance. This

appears to be a hilarious night. Ultimo lands a suicide dive. Back in the

ring, Ultimo lands a hurricanrana and both take a nasty spill. Alex and

Ultimo finally rise and begin chopping each other like two old men in the

late stages of a boxing match. Ultimo climbs the top rope for a moonsault,

but Alex trips Ultimo causing him to crotch himself. Alex dropkicks Ultimo

to the floor and follows up with a slingshot plancha. In the ring, Ultimo

executes a German suplex. Both climb to the top where Ultimo blocks a

superplex and executes a superbomb instead. Ultimo scores the two count

with a moonsault. Ultimo scores yet another two count with a la majistral.

Ultimo follows up with a super hurricanrana. Ultimo goes for the dragon

sleeper, but Alex runs to the ropes.. Wright again breaks out the dragon

sleeper with a jawbreaker. Wright follows up with what else, a German

suplex for the win.

COMMENTS: Match paralleled the Guerrero/Jericho match. Wright displayed

nice character depth by heavily playing to the crowd. In the early going,

Wright looked very sloppy, but immediately turned the execution rate up a

hundred notches. Ultimo looked very good.

RATING: ***1/4

 

Jeff Jarrett (Figure 4 -> submission) over Dean Malenko to win a title

shot at the US Heavyweight champion at Halloween Havoc.

THE MATCH: The match began with Jeff Jarrett playing his usual stalling

tactics. Jarrett began by calling a timeout. Eh? Time out in professional

wrestling, I don't think so. Jarrett instructs Debra McMichael to watch

the match from the back. Jarrett opens with an armdrag and struts as

usual. However, Malenko would pay Jarrett back with his own antics.

Malenko walks over Jarrett like a dirty rug. Malenko gains early control

by dropkicking Jarrett to the floor, but Jarrett applies the sleeper once

back in the ring. Malenko breaks the hold and a moment later executes a

superplex. Malenko slaps on the Texas cloverleaf, which Jarrett

immediately climbs to the ropes to force a break. Debra decides she can't

see her man getting his can kicked, so she comes down to ringside. Malenko

lands a cross bodyblock sending both wrestlers tumbling to the floor.

Debra consoles Jarrett and Malenko is safe at home with a baseball slide

kick. (Why didn't Jarrett shrug her off?) Malenko works over Jarrett's

knee by kicking it and kicking it while hung on the guardrail. In the

ring, Jarrett elbows a charging Malenko. Jarrett begins to work over

Malenko's knee. Malenko soon applied the sleeper and Jarrett breaking out

with a side suplex. Malenko attempts a figure four, but Malenko reverses

into a cradle for a two count. Malenko scores another two count with a

backslide. The excitement continues as both wrestlers trade several two

counts. The climax arises as Malenko no sells a kneebreaker with Jarrett

following up with a chop block. Jarrett applies the Figure 4 for the clean

submission victory.

COMMENTS: The match displaying the weakness of WCW's booking policies and

stacking PPVs with too many matches. By adding Giant vs. Norton, Malenko

vs. Jarrett suffered towards the end in what was a very solid match. The

classic struggle to reverse or break the figure 4 would have added more

excitement. Instead, Malenko immediately submits and loses credibility. A

clean pinfall was the more appropriate option, not submission. Looking at

the positive aspects, the match didn't really tell a story, but it got the

storyline over. Jarrett is an extremely talented wrestler, but needs to

get back to his old form Vince ruined Jarrett with the "Double J" gimmick.

Look for Jarrett to regain the US Heavyweight Title at Halloween Havoc.

Jarrett is the most logical choice as US Champ because there can so many

more feuds with Jarrett than Mongo or Malenko could provide. I'd

personally like to see Jarrett hold on for six to seven months and develop

feuds with Benoit, Flair, Malenko and others.

RATING: **1/2

 

Kevin Nash, Buff Bagwell, Syxx & Konnan (Mongo quits so Flair's throat

won't be slammed on -> submission) over The Four Horsemen.

THE MATCH: This broken up into 7 rounds. The rules were stated in the Fall

Brawl Preview.

ROUND ONE: Chris Benoit begins the action with Buff Bagwell. Benoit

dominated by suplexing and backdropping Bagwell on the cage. Konan

celebrates outside the ring. Inside, Bagwell poses. The NWO wins the coin

toss and as usual the heels win the coin toss. Can't the faces ever win a

coin toss?

ROUND TWO: Konan enters for the NWO. Benoit handles himself well. However,

Bagwell kicks Benoit in the gut and Konan follows with a nice neckbreaker.

Whoever said neckbreakers were nice? There is a first for everyone. Benoit

is tossed around like a rag doll and Konan spits on Flair. That's smart to

make Flair angry when he comes in, especially as a fresh man coming in.

ROUND THREE: Mongo enters the ring cleaning house. The Horsemen dominate

this period.

ROUND FOUR: Syxx enters. Benoit manhandles Syxx and tosses Syxx into the

cage. Mongo smashes Syxx's head on top of the cage. Meanwhile, Konan and

Bagwell beat on Benoit. Outside, Flair loads Hennig's arm sling with a two

pair of handcuffs.

ROUND FIVE: Ric Flair enters and beats the snot out of Syxx, Bagwell, and

Konan. Mongo executes a backbreaker on Bagwell. Flair gives Syxx the old

fashion cage smash.

ROUND SYXX: Nash enters and immediately executes his patented side salto

on Flair. Nash catches a flying Benoit and smashes him into the cage. Nash

completes the 5-7-10 split by footing Mongo in the face. A huge "We Want

Sting" follows up. Flair soon regains composure by crotching the entire

NWO except Nash. However, round seven soon begins and so does the

massacre.

ROUND SEVEN: Hennig removes his armsling and nails Mongo and Benoit with

the handcuffs. Both are cuffed to the cage. The NWO beats on Flair 5 on 1.

Nash grabs the mike, "Let's hear it for the boys, you're going to

surrender. Football boy?" Mongo says no. Bagwell asks Benoit with Benoit

saying no. Nash powerbombs Flair from the top of the cage. Bagwell tells

Benoit, "You got one more chance." Benoit responds with the line of the

night, "BITE ME!" Mongo finally gives up Hennig threatens to slam the cage

door on Flair's head. Stupid move by Mongo, they were going to do it

anyway.

POSTMATCH: Hennig slams the door on Flair's face. After the PPV goes off

the air, Doug Dillinger and WCW Security wipe a towel around Flair's head,

which looked like flood of crimson. Flair was left extremely a bloodied

mess.

COMMENTS: Predictable outcome with strange finish. Since when does Flair

use handcuffs? I'm having the horrible sensation the Four Horsemen may be

finished. Decent War Games with excellent, but also horrible screwjob

finish. Kevin Nash is basically a self-centered hypocrite. I may be

offending some people, but that is how I feel about Nash. Only Nash could

book such an angle embarrassing the Horsemen saying it is good for

professional wrestling. I have no respect for Nash's politics and he is of

lower scum than Hogan behind the scenes. No wonder Flair appeared to have

something bothering him at the recent WCWSN TV Tapings. Now watch, Mongo

won't be kicked out the Horsemen though the Arn trashed Luger because

Luger "submitted" last year.

RATING: **1/2

 

 

Raven v. Saturn. Kanyon is handcuffed at ringside for whatever

reason. The usual Raven-Saturn match drags on until the Flock carries a

table down to ringside and the Flock comes in. Kidman to the top, and

he dropkicks Raven! Saturn with the DVD, but only gets two. Finally

the crowd wakes up. Kidman runs for his life as the Flock chases him

through the crowd. Saturn with the big comeback, springboard legdrop

for two. Mich. Driver for two. Rings of Saturn, but Lodi forces the

break. Lodi to the top but Saturn ballshots Raven and a double-whip

results in a ref bump. Joy. Kanyon steals the key from the ref's

pocket and Flatlines Saturn. Only gets two. Saturn pulls Lodi off the

top rope (where he'd been sitting for five minutes) and DVD's him

through the table. But Raven catches him with a DDT coming in. Only

gets two, DVD, and it's over. One can only hope that this will finally

end the feud. **1/2

 

The "Wargames". Here's another stupid rule change

for you: The match can end at any time. DDP and Bret start, no

explanation why. Boring 5 minute opening period, then Stevie Ray gets

to be the next man in. Yawn. Sting is next and he livens things up a

bit. Piper is next and he eyepokes everyone and punches a lot. Luger

is next. I'm just overwhelmed with excitement. Kevin Nash is next and

he cleans house. But Hogan comes in a minute early with a slapjack and

hits everyone. Everyone, including Bret, is laid out and dead. Hogan

and Stevie Ray stand triumphant and beat on Kevin Nash...until the smoke

of doom fills the ring and the Warrior appears. Hogan decks him and the

smoke fills the ring again and when it clears HOgan is left holding the

coat. But then Warrior runs in for the dressing room and is officially

back. Disciple pulls Hogan out, and Warrior is left to beat up Stevie.

Hogan and Warrior stand around and wave their dicks at each other while

everyone is out. Warrior kicks a hole in the cage and chases after

Hogan. Meanwhile, back in the ring, DDP suddenly recovers and

Diamond-cuts Stevie Ray out of nowhere for the pin. What an overbooked

pile of horseshit. DUD. The worst Wargames in the history of the

gimmick. Easily. There was more time spent with Hogan and Warrior

yelling at each other than there was with everyone else wrestling each

other. And the wrestling stopped after Nash got in, because the Warrior

angle took over. Pathetic. I hope everyone involved in this farce

sleeps well tonight knowing that this is what their career has sunk to:

Playing dead from smoke inhalation to put over the Hogan-Warrior "feud".

[Guest The Real Nosferatu]

Methinks Fall Brawl '97 was a pretty good show. The War Games was one of the better in the "recent era" of bloodless WG matches, and the Eddy/Jericho match was great.

 

Fall Brawl '98 may in fact be the worst PPV ever (unless you count the Heroes of Wrestling garbage). I used to believe that honor fell on Great American Bash '91, but after watching GAB '91 a few nights ago, I've started to find it a wee-bit tolerable, if only for the Gibson/Morton and Luger/Windham matches. FB '98 had one "decent" match between Raven and Saturn, which I've always found to be overrated myself, and the WG on that show was a complete and utter joke.

 

For a surprisingly solid PPV, check out Fall Brawl 2000 - there were a couple of dogs on that show, but for the most part, it was WCW's best PPV of 2000, with Slamboree that year following a close second.

I guess a show filled with 90% of the roster dogging their matches in Flair protest doesnt disserve worst PPV ever?

 

What kind of twisted, diabolical world are we living in?!

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Eddy Guerrero def. Chris Jericho to win the Cruiserweight Title

 

Alex Wright def. Ultimo Dragon; TV Title Match

 

Damn, wish I could see those two.

 

Kevin Hash, Syxx, Konnan, & Buff Bagwell def. Ric Flair, Chris Benoit, Curt Hennig, & Steve McMichael in a WarGames Match

 

Ah, yes. The door slam heard round the world. That was sick!

 

 

Chris Jericho def. “Goldberg” (midget)

 

The night Gillberg was born! You know at first, I thought it was really Goldberg, then I took a harder look and realized he was 1/8 his size, lol.

 

Saturn def. Raven

 

Great match, too bad their Unforgiven match 3 years later wasn't.

 

Diamond Dallas Page wins a WarGames Match

 

It wasn't that bad, but Hogan running away from the Warrior so they weren't really involved in the actual match kinda gheyderized it. Didn't think DDP was going to win either.

[Bored 0]

Chris Jericho def. “Goldberg” (midget)

 

The night Gillberg was born! You know at first, I thought it was really Goldberg, then I took a harder look and realized he was 1/8 his size, lol.

Scott Keith recap:

 

Title v. title: Goldberg v. Chris Jericho. Jericho does the guided

entrance thing again. He gets lost again. He finally makes it out to

the aisle, but the pyro leaves a lot to be desired. You know, a title

v. title match might be the sort of thing you want to build up to. Oh,

wait. It's not Goldberg, it's a lookalike midget. Big "bullshit"

chant. Jericho finishes it without much effort, of course. What a pile

of horseshit for a $30 PPV. -*

[Lil' Bitch 0]

The best part was that Gillberg actually Speared Jericho though. If I remember correctly, Jericho then smacked him on the back of the head saying, "What are you doing?" before putting Gillberg in the Walls for the win.

[King Cucaracha 0]

Diamond Dallas Page wins a WarGames Match

 

It wasn't that bad, but Hogan running away from the Warrior so they weren't really involved in the actual match kinda gheyderized it. Didn't think DDP was going to win either.

Keith was generous to give this a DUD. Seriously, the Warrior Hogan stuff did harm it, but other than that it just...sucked. The rule change was pointless, and it took the drama out of things. As if someone would get a pin or submission before Hogan or Warrior got out.

 

Flair versus Anderson was an awesome spectacle, and I actually liked the 96 War Games.

 

I don't remember Benoit vs Jericho from 96 or Rude-Flair from 93. Any recap is welcomed...

[res37618 0]

Methinks Fall Brawl '97 was a pretty good show.  The War Games was one of the better in the "recent era" of bloodless WG matches, and the Eddy/Jericho match was great.

 

Fall Brawl '98 may in fact be the worst PPV ever (unless you count the Heroes of Wrestling garbage).  I used to believe that honor fell on Great American Bash '91, but after watching GAB '91 a few nights ago, I've started to find it a wee-bit tolerable, if only for the Gibson/Morton and Luger/Windham matches.  FB '98 had one "decent" match between Raven and Saturn, which I've always found to be overrated myself, and the WG on that show was a complete and utter joke.

 

For a surprisingly solid PPV, check out Fall Brawl 2000 - there were a couple of dogs on that show, but for the most part, it was WCW's best PPV of 2000, with Slamboree that year following a close second.

I guess a show filled with 90% of the roster dogging their matches in Flair protest doesnt disserve worst PPV ever?

 

What kind of twisted, diabolical world are we living in?!

Yeah, I guess you're right . . . GAB '91 is STILL the worst PPV ever . . .

 

Do you think, if Flair had still been on the show, that it would've sucked as bad? Consider that the rest of the card probably would've still been the same, save for Barry Windham possibly wrestling somewhere on the card.

 

 

Also, Fall Brawl '96 War Games was excellent as well. If you haven't seen the WG match from that show, rent or buy the nWo DVD that Vince put out last year. It's got the match in it's entirety as an extra.

[Guest The Old Me]

Wow.

[Bored 0]

Never heard of '96 recapper (I just google search the RSPW forums looking for the old recaps) but since I prefer to post originals it will do.

 

Fall Brawl '93 by Scott Keith (recapped on 4/24/98)

Flair/Rude

 

Fall Brawl '96 by Eric McHugh

Benoit/Jericho

WarGames

 

 

WCW/NWA/International/World/Gold Belt Title: Ric Flair v. Rick Rude.

Don't even get me started on the title up for grabs here. Rude has Fifi

the maid imprinted on his tights to piss off Flair. Flair gets the

figure-four very early on. Jesse makes bold-faced misogynistic

comments, including the old "barefoot and pregnant" line, so the female

sound editor cuts off his mike! The match, meanwhile, is an extended

armbar. Then an extended chinlock by Rude. Then some exciting punches

by Rude. Then an even more exciting bearhug. There's a lot of that

going around tonight. Rude takes control but keeps jawing at Fifi.

Flair finally reverses the Rude Awakening into his own, but only gets

two. Flair begins going after the leg, but Rude recovers and hits the

fistdrop finisher, for only two. Rude keeps hitting on Fifi, and she

finally slaps him. Rude pulls her into the ring and berates her, and

Flair nails him from behind and slaps on the figure-four. Nick Patrick

is busy getting Fifi out of the ring, and Rude pulls an international

object out of his tights (NOT THAT ONE!) and nails Flair for the pin and

the "World title". *1/2 Worst Flair match I've seen in a long time.

 

 

With basically no break, we went to this one. CHRIS BENOIT

pinned CHRIS JERICHO. Jericho's music sucks. Benoit came out to a huge

pop, being we're in North Carolina and all. Horsemen country. Benoit

had "4H" on his tights, but I doubt it was for summer camps and hiking.

Both men started right out slapping and slugging, and it was said that

this was the first meeting of these two in the USA. Benoit hit an early

back suplex and spinebuster slam for pops. Benoit slapped on a vertical

(with a bend) crab, and it was mentioned that Sting and another guy were

in the limo last Monday night. Lots of reversals and counters, and

finally Jericho hit a dropkick to the back of Benoit's head. Jericho hit

a springboard dropkick to the outside and then came off with something

else, but landed on the apron and took about a minute to recover from

it. Jericho threw Benoit back in and climbed to the top. When he yelled

to rally the crowd, he got booed. Jericho hit a dropkick from the top,

followed by a powerbomb for 2. Jericho then hit a double-armlock suplex

for another 2. It was a slugfest again for a moment before Benoit

back-suplexed Jericho over the ropes to the floor; Jericho landed on his

knees. Benoit yelled at Jericho "You wanna be famous?" Benoit dropped

Jericho on the top rope, then delivered an elbow thrust. Benoit slapped

on an abdominal stretch which Jericho got out of. Benoit hit his swan

dive headbutt, which got a delayed 2-count from that inept Randy

Anderson (1...2............*kickout*). Jericho was thrown to the floor,

but came back in on his own. Jericho hit a small package and a backslide

for near falls. Heenan mentioned the "Shell Answerman" and got teased

about it, with Heenan even making fun of himself. Jericho reversed a

monkeyflip attempt into a pin attempt. Jericho hit a northern lights

suplex for 2. It was toe-to-toe again at this point until Benoit's

tombstone got reversed. Jericho's lionsault missed but he landed on his

feet, delivered a banshee scream that Ahmed Johnson might've even heard,

and hit a clothesline. 2-count. Jericho hit a perfect and high top-rope

frankensteiner for 2. Jericho climbed to the top again but got pushed

from Benoit, who hit a back suplex from the top for the pin. Solid,

great match. Good to see Benoit winning on pay-per-view.

 

WAR GAMES. NWO defeated WCW. No surprise there. And, in all

honesty, there are reports of blow-by-blow all over the net so you've

probably seen what happened. I think I only need to cover the basics.

Michael Buffer did the ring announcing and said that both sides had only

three of four known names. For the NWO: Nash, Hall, Hogan. For WCW:

Luger, Arn, Flair. The head ref had final say...uh-oh, it's Nick

Patrick. The last thing I wanted was for a ref-screwjob ending to ruin

this event for me. For the first time (and more maximum dramatic

effect), the participants would remain in the back until they were to

enter the cage at the right time. We then went to the back where Luger

and Arn and Flair were ready to go it alone if necessary, when who shows

up but Sting. Sting said to hear him out and said it wasn't him. Luger

looked right at him and said he didn't believe him. Sting said "Fine.

I'll see you in a few minutes." and left. Sting spent months believing

in Luger and he was right. Now Luger didn't believe in Sting. I hope

the announcers bring that up on NITRO or something, because they didn't

at this show and they should have. That's an important piece of the

story. So on to the match. Scott Hall and Arn Anderson started out for

the opening five-minute period. Patrick mistakenly told AA at one point

that he could stop it now if he wanted, which the announcers corrected.

NWO won the toss (surprise!) and Nash came out for the next 2-minute

period. No blood yet. Luger came out next 15 seconds early. One side

of the cage was breaking apart, but it stayed intact enough for the

bout. Hogan came out next. I wondered why all of them were in the same

ring so much. I liked this better with 10 guys. The crowd erupted with

"We Want Flair", knowing he'd be next. Flair came out. Still no blood.

Flair came in and called for Hogan and they battled with Flair winning

out! He then low-blowed the other Outsiders and strutted. The last NWO

man came out, "Sting". I think the crowd was onto it, though, because a

"We Want Sting" chant came up soon. Oh, and incidentally, I have it on

good word who the imposter Sting was/is: remember Cobra? Thunder?

Him. So anyway, "Sting" actually emulated Sting's moves well, even with

the chest-pounding thing. I figured Sting would've ran out immediately

to clear his name and I wondered why he didn't. So finally, Sting came

out for WCW and the place erupted. Sting beat up all four NWO guys on

his own and then looked right at Luger. Sting went to the other ring and

yelled, "Is that good enough for you? Does that prove it?" Sting was

pissed! He gave the universal sign to Luger and left the cage!! The

announcers were all begging Sting to come back, saying they were sorry no

one trusted him. However, it was 4-on-3 for good now. Luger was

eventually put in the scorpion by "Sting" and a simultaneous front

facelock by someone else. Luger either gave up or was unresponsive, and

both referees were there to call the submission. NWO wins. Luger

crawled towards the back and kept getting beaten up. Flair and Arn held

the NWO off, and Savage joined in. Savage then took Hogan to the ring

and was soon beat up by the other NWO members, including the Giant.

"Sting" was gone. Then, in the one complaint I have for the night, WCW

has apparently decided to dig up the Savage-Elizabeth thing again, and

Liz ran out to protect Savage. Hogan got on the mic and said they made a

vow to be together forever and called them two pieces of trash. Hogan

played to the crowd chanting "Hogan sucks." Elizabeth's dress, Savage's

back, and the ring itself got NWO paint. The NWO took over the

annoucers' area to close the show.

[King Cucaracha 0]

Cheers man...guess that explains why Rude-Flair's never spoken about. Oh, and the Sting swerve and Heenan's selling of it made the whole match for me.

[cawthon777 0]

Who the hell cares what Scott Keith thinks anyway?

 

Fall Brawl 93 was the first WCW PPV I ordered. I believe I still have the home video version (the 1st WCW PPV to be released with every match included).

 

The Bad: The Nastys win the tag titles (WCW went from the Hollywood Blondes to the Nasty Boys in a month ... wow, that's sad) ... the Shockmaster dominates WarGames and makes Booker T submit to a bearhug

 

The Good: Cactus gets one step closer to Big Van Vader ... a very historic PPV as every title on the line changed hands ... I thought Rude / Flair was pretty entertaining - maybe not the best from either man but I liked it and it was my first look at how long an NWA Title match can go

 

Fall Brawl 94 was OK. Steamboat's retirement, Austin gets whooped by Jim Duggan, Johnny B. Badd finally won a title after 3 years. I remember being pissed that Cactus lost and that Schiavone was portraying him as a heel (like I'm going to cheer Kevin Sullivan???). The triangle match was pretty cool - with Vader beating Bossman and then (with the help of the mysterious masked man later revealed to be Beefcake) beats Sting in a sudden death round.

 

Fall Brawl 95 was crap. Yeah, so it included 2 good matches. Aside from those 2 good matches, it was horrible. And why Johnny B. Badd went over Pillman is beyond me. First Pillman jobs to Alex Wright at GAB (which was held in his backyard) and then to Johnny B. Badd? Blasphemy! Flair vs. Arn was cool in that Arn won. Oh yeah, and DDP slowly began his rise to the top by beating the Ultimate Warrior wannabe for the TV title.

 

Fall Brawl 96 was pretty solid. The only thing I didn't like was the fact the teams weren't at ringside for the duration of WarGames, as they had been in years past. I guess that was so they could pull of the Fake Sting gimmick but I still didn't like it. And the stupid referee stopped the match on Luger's behalf? That was also stupid, IMO.

 

Fall Brawl 97 I still have yet to see in full because I kept hoping it would be released on home video. The heat around the main event was def there - despite the fact the participants for WarGames weren't announced any more than 2 weeks before the PPV. The nWo mockery of the Horsemen and Arn's retirement speech was more than enough to up the buyrate.

 

Fall Brawl 98 was a cop-out. DDP winning WarGames was fine with me, unexpected maybe but fine (I would have picked Nash to win since he and Goldberg were already having issues). What I had a problem with was the fact the teams were so weak. Stevie Ray??? Yeah, like he's going to win. And the finish comes from a pinfall? LAME. WarGames 98 was nothing more than a simple cage match. Another gripe I had with the show was Hennig vs. Malenko. After all the buildup to a Horsemen reunion and after all Malenko had done to redeem the name of the Horsemen in the previous months, he gets a lame DQ win? I remember hating that decision at the time and thinking WCW doesn't have a clue (of course I thought the same of the WWF).