–WCW Champion Hulk Hogan shows up in Asheville, North Carolina on the Harley Davidson motorcycle he received at Bash at the Beach and is surrounded by his fans. Gene Okerlund interviews him, with Hogan hyping his journey through North Carolina, painting the Dungeon of Doom as anti-American. This offends the Giant as he takes a Dungeon of Doom monster truck and runs over Hogan’s motorcycle, forcing Hogan and his fans to flee. Hogan hilariously pounds on the side of the truck like a kid having a tantrum as the Giant laughs.
–Eric Bischoff and Dusty Rhodes are doing commentary and they are live from Asheville, North Carolina. They treat the destruction of Hogan’s motorcycle as a national tragedy.
–Opening Contest: Big Bubba Rogers (24-8-1) pins Mark Thorn after a Big Bubba Slam at 1:05:
Bischoff says that Rogers is a force to be reckoned with, something that is hard to believe when Rogers ran away from a rabbit last night on WCW Saturday Night. Rogers wins quickly so the WCW announce team can do more hype for Fall Brawl.
–Okerlund interviews Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart. Hogan says he is livid over the destruction of his motorcycle and he will get revenge on the Giant later tonight. He vows to obliterate Kevin Sullivan after his team wins the main event. Randy Savage interrupts and tells Hogan to focus on Lex Luger and whether he is loyal to the Hulkamaniacs. Savage even says Sting may be with the Dungeon, so he and Hogan might be fighting two-on-six. Hogan does not seem concerned, though, because the power of Hulkmania will overcome all. This must be where the idea of the 1996 Uncensored cage match came from.
–Call 1-900-909-9900 to talk to Lex Luger and hear about a new wrestler who is defecting to WCW! Also, you can talk to Mike Tenay!
–A nice historical video package hypes the Ric Flair-Arn Anderson match for the pay-per-view.
–Okerlund interviews Flair, who says fans in Asheville come out for a party or a fight. He briefly steals the Cobra-Sergeant Craig Pittman storyline by saying that Anderson “broke the code” before telling “Double A” that after tonight he will have to tell his little boy that he lost to the Nature Boy.
–The Disco Inferno (1-0) beats Joey Maggs after a swinging neckbreaker at 2:32:
Disco gets nice heel heat during his entrance and fans are still not sure what to make of the gimmick as some laugh while one fan sports a sign that says they are part of Disco’s fan club. Disco also does a nice job playing to the crowd, dancing his way into a sunset flip and jawing with the fans too much and eating an enzuigiri. Like WCW Saturday Night, Disco gives up a lot of offense but finishes quickly after Maggs misses a dropkick.
–Dusty hypes the WarGames and how important mental clarity is.
–Eddy Guerrero wrestles Alex Wright (45-7-1) to a no contest when Guerrero injures his knee on the ring steps at 6:35:
This was Guerrero’s WCW debut, having been signed away from ECW where he was feuding with Dean Malenko over the promotion’s television title. Guerrero is using the theme music that would later be given to Juventud Guerrera. Guerrero captures the crowd’s imagination with some creative moves like Splash Mountain and flipping over Wright’s blind charges, scoring a loud chant after overcoming a botch and performing a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker. Bischoff is totally out of his element on commentary for this match, calling everything he sees from Guerrero “the Gory Special.” However, when Wright suplexes Guerrero out of the ring, Guerrero hits his knee on the ring steps and rather than take a count out win, Wright has referee Nick Patrick stop the content. That sort of makes sense because both men are babyfaces, but it is still a terrible finish. Rating: **¼
–A video package hypes the Hulkamaniacs-Dungeon of Doom WarGames match.
–Winner Faces the Blue Bloods on Monday Nitro: The American Males (2-0) beat the Nasty Boys (41-5-2) when Marcus Bagwell pins Brian Knobbs after Dick Slater hits Knobbs over the head with a boot at 4:12:
The crowd goes wild for the Nasty Boys and mild for the Males and that continues throughout the match. Sister Sherri comes to ringside to scout the two teams and Colonel Robert Parker walks out with flowers because these two must ruin every feature tag team bout. The camera misses much of the match but when things get focused, the Nasties have the Males set up for the Nasty Splash, but Jerry Sags makes the mistake of taking Parker’s flowers and knocking him down. While the referee is distracted by this, Slater runs out and clocks Knobbs over the head with his boot, allowing a dazed Bagwell to cover, prevail, and anger the crowd. Slater’s interference makes little sense too because why would the tag team champions care who faced the Blue Bloods on Nitro? If anything, Lord Steven Regal or Earl Robert Eaton should have gotten involved so they would face a weaker team the next night. Rating: *
–Okerlund interviews Hulk Hogan, Jimmy Hart, and Randy Savage again. Sting and Lex Luger are latecomers to the segment, with Luger telling Hogan and Savage that he is with them. Hogan and Savage warn Luger that if he crosses them, he will pay.
The Last Word: Most of these live preview shows before a pay-per-view are a breath of fresh air and this one was no exception. The crowd’s energy was off the charts for most of the matches, even the squashes that kicked off the broadcast. If WCW does not want Alex Wright to job to newcomers, though, then they do not need to put him in those matches as Guerrero should have prevailed in his match and Sabu looked like a fool having a victory over Wright reversed on Monday Nitro. The result of the main event also signaled that the Nasty Boys were going to be pushed down the card in the tag ranks in the months to come.
Backstage News*: Ted Turner is reportedly pleased that Monday Nitro is doing well and being competitive with the WWF. WCW has spent lots of money airing radio ads on rock stations in major markets, even buying time on Howard Stern’s New York program. Not all media projects appear to be a priority, though, as the company might get rid of WCW Magazine.
*Even though WCW has suspended Vader from WCW it has not released him from his contract, sending a letter to the WWF that said any conversations they had with Vader would be considered tampering.
*The Nasty Boys were not happy that they had to do a job for the American Males on Main Event so that is why the finish featured a Dick Slater run-in.
*WCW is thinking of working with New Japan on a pay-per-view for their joint show on November 13 in Tokyo. The matches on that show may be mirrored at Starrcade under a team points system and New Japan would win in Japan while WCW would in the United States.
*Jacques Rougeau won the right to hold the first wrestling show in the Montreal Forum. He plans to work with WCW to do shows there at least four times a year.
*Ric Flair will be having eye surgery on September 19 which will put him out of action for up to three weeks. Flair’s pocketbook also took a hit as his Gold’s Gym in St. Maarten was destroyed by a hurricane. He did not have insurance on the property and stands to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars.
*Sabu is already banged up and is working through back and shoulder injuries.
*Hulk Hogan will be taking a break after Halloween Havoc to film a movie.
*There is a rumor that WCW may have a battle of the giants for its November pay-per-view, pitting the Giant against Ron Reis and El Gigante in a triangle match.
*Sergeant Craig Pittman and Kurasawa allegedly had a shoot match at the WCW Power Plant, with Kurasawa unable to take Pittman off his feet.
*In talent relations news, WCW fired Steve Austin on September 15, figuring that he was not worth $200,000 per year as he is recovering from a tricep injury. Austin’s backstage attitude was also said to be poor as he refused to do a job for the Renegade before suffering his injury in Japan. Shortly after Austin was fired, it was announced that Gene Okerlund received a new deal with $250,000 base pay, so some in the locker room were not happy with that news. WCW will be bringing in Jerry Lynn to work with Sabu after 2 Cold Scorpio refused a contract. WCW also wanted to get Bobo Brazil to come in for Halloween Havoc to accompany Lynn because he had a big feud in Detroit with the Sheik, who will be seconding Sabu. Brazil turned down the offer, though, because he needs a walker to get around.
*Backstage news is provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for September 25.
Up Next: Fall Brawl ’95!