-After a brief hiatus from these, I’m back with an old WCW PPV! It’s World War 3, which was basically the WCW’s version of the Royal Rumble. 3 rings, 60 wrestlers, one winner. The winner of this one wins the WCW World Title.
-We start things with a Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage and Sting promo. Hulk says he didn’t go to the dark side and that he wants to be Sting’s friend forever. Sting, he’s lying! Don’t trust him. Watching this promo is quite ironic knowing the events that would end up unfolding in WCW. 
-Hulk has a “rag sheet” that says the Macho Man is hurt and The Giant is winning the Battle Royal. He says those are old and the Internet is the thing nowadays. You created a monster with that statement Hulk!
WCW Television Championship: Johnny B. Badd (c) vs Diamond Dallas Page (w/Kimberly The Diamond Doll)
-The winner gets not only the Title but the services of Kimberly as well. I think the Title is the secondary prize in this match.
-I always thought Johnny B. Badd/Marc Mero was underrated as a talent. Was he a main eventer? Probably not. But he could have been bigger than he was in both promotions.
-A solid opening match so far. It has everything you want in an opening match: Good workers, something on the line, and quick near falls.
-Johnny B. Badd wins after a swanton to the outside followed by a leg drop over the top in the ring for the win.
-Marc Mero has had Kimberly Page and Sable as valets. Lucky, lucky man.
Taped Fist Match: Big Bubba Rogers vs Hacksaw Jim Duggan
-Didn’t I review a match like this a few months ago? I guess I still don’t get the idea behind this match.
-Bubba ends up using the tape on the wrist of Hacksaw to tape him to the ropes. But Bubba ends up running right into the other fist of Duggan. Fail.
-V.K. Wallstreet comes out, but Duggan catches him with the 2×4. Wallstreet is still able to give Rogers a chain, which he uses on Duggan. Duggan doesn’t answer the refs ten count and Rogers wins. Nothing to see here.
Mayumi Ozaki and Cutie Suzuki vs Bull Nakano and Akira Hokuto (w/Sonny Ohno)
-Cutie Suzuki? That sounds like a name somebody would find hilarious and use it in the WWE.
-See in 1995 the crowd is actually in to this match. In 2013, they would probably be chanting stupid crap.
-Hokuto hits a flip splash to the outside off the top rope. I would love to see a woman today try that.
-Nakano hits a leg drop off the top for the win. I don’t know if you will see a woman’s match that good on TV or PPV nowadays. Good stuff.
WCW United States Championship: Kensuki Sasaki (w/Sonny Ohno) vs Chris Benoit
-Five minutes in and the crowd was more into the woman’s match than this one.
-Sasaki wins a short match after a modified brain buster suplex.
Macho Man Randy Savage vs Lex Luger (w/Jimmy Hart)
-Macho Man cuts one of his classic promos before hand, talking about how it is in his personality to be jittery and that his arm feels a million percent.
-Luger wins another short match after Savage passes out in an ARMBAR! Sting comes out after the match and makes Luger relinquish the hold.
-If a match ended with someone passing out in an armbar today, I’m pretty sure the crowd would hate it. But wrestling needs more matches to end like that. It makes every hold believable when it comes to ending a match.
Ric Flair vs Sting
-Ric Flair goes from ring one to ring two just to do Ric Flair things. Ha.
-Yes wrestling fans, Sting once wrestled without a t-shirt!
-Col. Parker and Sister Sherri come out. Tony Schivanoe: “What do we have here?” Bobby Heenan: “Looks like the top of a wedding cake.” Ha.
-At this point in their careers it looks like Sting and Ric Flair are just having fun out there.
-Nick Patrick looks over and points at his wrist, trying to get a time signal from someone. Shouldn’t have used the wide shot there.
-Sting wins after a superplex followed by a Scorpion Death Lock.
60 Man Battle Royal For The WCW World Heavyweight Championship
-They took the mummy costume away from The Yeti? Booooo.
-My money is on one of the Mario Brothers.
-While this is a fun and unique idea, the camera work at the time makes it tough to keep up with. Using today’s technology, I’m sure this would come off a lot better.
-The Yeti has already been eliminated. See what happens when you stop dressing like a mummy!
-Bobby Heenan slips and calls Big Bubba Rogers “Bossman.”
-And both Mario Brothers are gone. Damn.
-Everyone moves over to Ring 1. Disco Inferno is still alive!
-Minor complaint: Why have the referees inside the ring? Makes no sense.
-Booker T lands on the apron, stops himself, then just falls off the apron by himself. Camera probably wasn’t suppose to catch that.
-The Final 10: Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Ric Flair, The Giant, Lex Luger, One Man Gang, Eddie Guerrero, Arn Anderson, Paul Orndorff, and Sting.
-Anderson gets catapulted into Flair on the top rope, knocking him out. Anderson then gets eliminated as well.
-And here’s the clusterf*** ending: Sting, Luger and Hogan eliminate The Giant, but Sting and Luger go over as well. Meanwhile, Savage eliminates One Man Gang and Luger to win the Title. But The Giant pulled Hogan through the ropes, the ref didn’t see that. He just assumed Hogan was eliminated.
-Hogan complains about being pulled under the rope. Mean Gene says we know, we have it on videotape. So why not look at it then???
-Typical WCW Hogan Era Booking: Don’t take a clean loss. Just a bad ending that craps on the end of the show, similar to the last couple WWE Title matches this year on PPV.
Like I said, the idea of a 60 man battle royal like this is unique. With today’s technology, the camera work would be a lot better than it was in 1995. As for the PPV itself, it was above average. The opener was a lot of fun, as was the women’s tag match. If you haven’t seen that match I would recommend it. You won’t see women’s wrestling like that in pro wrestling today. Everything else was kind of average but nothing terrible. The ending to the Battle Royal was terrible, and a prime example of how Hulk Hogan would end up being bad for WCW.
Until Next Time,
Justin C
Follow Me On Twitter @JCWonka
