WCW Prime for October 30 featured some new matches so we will recap those before moving on to WCW Pro. Chris Cruise and Dusty Rhodes called the action on Prime.
–Alex Wright (52-8-3) beats Dean Malenko (2-1) via reverse decision at 5:09 shown:
This match took place at a WCW Pro taping. Dusty takes a shot at Cruise, supposedly taking a call from President Bill Clinton during the match and saying that the President was wishing he and Gordon Solie the best and when Clinton found out that Solie had been replaced by Cruise he changed the channel. Malenko tries to tie Wright up on the mat, with the young German rallying and hitting a German suplex. Malenko kicks out of that and a blind charge sees Wright use an O’Connor roll, but Malenko reverses that and holds the tights for an apparent victory. However, Eddy Guerrero comes out and tells referee Randy Anderson about what Malenko did and Anderson reverses the decision. Rating: **
–After the match, Chris Benoit runs out and attacks Guerrero. He and Malenko proceed to beat up Guerrero and Wright until WCW referees pour in and get them to stop. This was a nice lead-in for the scheduled tag team match between these two squads on Monday Nitro two weeks ago but Wright’s knee injury scuttled things. That is probably why this Wright-Malenko match never aired on WCW Pro.
–Eddy Guerrero (5-2-2) defeats Cobra (5-4) with a victory roll at 2:13:
Cobra puts his dog tags on a young kid at ringside who wants nothing to do with him, sitting down in disgust as Cobra does his best to stay in character and salute him. To Cruise and Dusty’s credit, they talk about Guerrero barely being in any condition to wrestle because of the beatdown that aired in the first match. After eating a powerslam from Cobra, Guerrero kicks out and pins Cobra the same way he pinned Cobra’s archrival Sergeant Craig Pittman on Monday Nitro. That was a nice piece of booking, even if it was unintentional.
–Prime “MOOOO” Match of the Week: Kevin Sullivan (20-5) pins Johnny Boone after a double stomp at 2:13:
Trying to put a spark into this D-show, Dusty hypes Boone as a worldbeater and cheers for him throughout the match. For example, he desperately screams for him to throw one punch in the match as if that is going to be what will turn the tide. That does no good for the jobber, though, as Sullivan methodically pounds away and wins his tenth straight singles match with a double stomp. After the match, Dusty says that Boone will do better next week on WCW Prime when he wrestles Star Blazer.
And as per usual we move to WCW Pro for November 4, with Cruise, Dusty, and Larry Zbyszko calling the action.
–Opening Contest: Ric Flair, Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman defeat Mark Starr, Barry Houston & Frankie Lancaster when Flair makes Lancaster submit to a figure-four leglock at 2:54:
Starr, Houston, and Lancaster make up an all-star jobber squad and they are a fitting crew to put over the new Three Horseman faction. Lancaster gets the closest thing to a hot tag after Houston takes a beating in the heel corner but a Pillman kick from the apron to the back of the head, an Anderson spinebuster, and a Flair figure-four put an end to that.
–Cruise interviews the Three Horseman. Flair tells Sting that he will never be as good as the Horseman and if he does not like that he needs to do what Flair tells his wife: “Do something about it.” Based on Flair’s marriage record, his wives did do something by taking him to the cleaners with an army of lawyers.
–Cruise interviews Bobby Heenan, who introduces the fans at home to Sonny Onoo. Heenan says that he has sold thirty minutes of WCW Pro to Onoo. Onoo asks Cruise if he is bilingual. When Cruise says no, Onoo says that he might be replaced.
–Kurasawa (w/Colonel Robert Parker) (10-1) defeats Joey Maggs via submission to a Fujiwara armbar at 2:22:
Teddy Long watches another Maggs destruction and shakes his head as Kurasawa lays in some kicks and wins with the armbar. After the match, Long helps Maggs get out of the ring and begins talking to him as the show goes to a commercial break.
–Gene Okerlund provides the first World War 3 Control Center. This is the first time that Okerlund is doing one of these standing up. The show is headlined by its three-ring, sixty-man battle royal, with the winner getting a shot at the WCW title. Names in that match so far include Sting, Lex Luger, Randy Savage, the Shark, the Disco Inferno, Big Bubba Rogers, V.K. Wallstreet, Arn Anderson, Hacksaw Jim Duggan, Ric Flair, Paul Orndorff, Johnny B. Badd, Harlem Heat, Eddy Guerrero, and Kurasawa. Kurasawa (with Colonel Robert Parker) and Guerrero cut some generic promos to hype the battle royal. Other matches include Savage and Luger wrestling in a return match from Halloween Havoc and Bull Nakano & Akira Hokuto facing Cutie Suzuki & Mayumi Ozaki.
–Chris Benoit (2-0) beats Cobra (5-5) with a dragon suplex in 11 seconds:
Dusty is the best thing about Cobra’s gimmick, getting giddy when his Morse Code entrance plays. Cobra finds a young fan who is excited to get his dog tags only to have Benoit baseball slide him in the back and roll him into the ring for a quick dragon suplex finish. Cobra has lost five straight matches, falling down the card at a rapid pace.
–Hacksaw Jim Duggan is shown in Ireland to find out more about his ancestral roots. A history professor says that Duggan contacted him through the Internet for information, which is the first problem with this story. Duggan nearly hits the poor guy with his 2×4 before he is shown a book of old Irish fighters containing a picture of his grandma Katie, a taped fist champion in 1902. Of course, the picture is of a shaved Duggan in women’s clothing. The rest of the segment puts over how Duggan’s gestures are in his blood from past relatives. This was good comic relief, with the historian acting as a good straight man for Duggan’s craziness.
–Steve & Scott Armstrong (0-5) beat The Barrio Brothers (2-9) when Scott pins Ricky Santana after a Steve bulldog at 6:37:
One of the two victories the Barrios own was against the Armstrongs on the September 18 edition of WCW Prime. The Armstrongs have a few awkward movements in this match, with Scott whiffing on a double dropkick to Fidel Sierra and Steve slowly sliding under Santana off the ropes. The Barrios put Steve in peril until Santana’s nuts get smashed coming off the top rope and down on Steve’s knees. The hot tag leaves Scott alone with Santana, who traps Scott in an O’Connor roll. However, when the referee is preoccupied getting Sierra out of the ring, Steve comes in and bulldogs Santana and the Armstrongs break their winless streak. Rating: **
The Last Word: It was very unusual to get a lot of storyline developments on WCW Pro, but it appears that this show is going to be a vehicle to further the WCW-New Japan feud for Starrcade. However, it is unclear how Heenan could sell any broadcasting rights so that is a hole in the story that needs to be closed. The main event was as low of a feature match that one could book for 1995 WCW, but it featured perfectly acceptable wrestling. Overall, this show did its job and WCW gave fans a reason to tune in next week to see what changes Sonny Onoo might take with his thirty-minute ownership.
Up Next: WCW Worldwide for November 4!