WCW Prime for November 6 featured a new match, with Chris Cruise and Dusty Rhodes on commentary.
–Prime “MOOOO” Match of the Week: The Star Blazer defeated Big Train Bart (0-1) after a seated senton at 3:42:
Dusty spent the end of last week’s show talking about Johnny Boone getting another chance to prove himself but we get this match instead because Boone no shows. The Star Blazer got no vignettes prior to his debut and is Tim Horner under a mask and a Nacho Libre-like costume. In fact, it is more of a return because Horner wrestled as the Blazer in 1990, losing at Clash of the Champions XIII to Michael Wallstreet, and it is also fitting it happens on WCW Prime against another D-level gimmick. Bart’s big stature is negated when he bumps for a simple headscissors and hiptoss. After a few minutes of boring action, the Blazer uses a seated senton to crash down on a standing Bart for the three count. If this was supposed to reboot Horner’s WCW career it failed miserably. Rating: ½*
And we head onto WCW Pro with Cruise, Dusty, and Larry Zbyszko on commentary. The announcers discuss the new stakes for the World War 3 battle royal. Zybszko says it is a stupid idea, overlooking his own career and how he became AWA World Champion in a battle royal.
–Opening Contest: Ric Flair (w/Brian Pillman) (17-5) beats Bart Sawyer via submission to the figure-four leglock at 5:41:
After losing to Sting on Monday Nitro Flair needs a quick rebuild. This squash gets him back to his winning ways, but it takes forever for Flair to finish the jobber, working the knee with the help of the ropes before locking in the figure-four.
–Scott Norton (3-1-1) beats Chuck Williams after a reverse shoulderbreaker at 1:33:
Cruise announces Williams as the Rockin’ Rebel. The former ECW star lasts less than two minutes, sent onto dream street with some power strikes and a reverse shoulderbreaker. After the match, Norton tells the camera that he wants another piece of the Shark.
–Cruise interviews Norton, who screams about rising intensity in WCW and how he is badder than the Shark. He urges the Shark to sign on the dotted line and says he will gladly fight the entire Dungeon of Doom at one time to get a shot at him.
–On the new World War 3 Control Center, Gene Okerlund announces that there are new participants in the sixty-man battle royal. These include the Giant, Bunkhouse Buck, Dick Slater, Cobra, Diamond Dallas Page, the Nasty Boys, the American Males, Meng, Brian Pillman, the Blue Bloods, Chris Benoit, and Hulk Hogan. A new match has also been added as Hacksaw Jim Duggan will face Big Bubba Rogers in a taped fist match.
–In a taped video, Sting says he went over the edge and snapped on Ric Flair on Monday Nitro and the reason he did so was because Flair used kids to get him to tag with him at Halloween Havoc. It is funny that Sting has to tell us that when he said he wanted Flair dead that it was “just a figure of speech.” He refuses to tell the audience what Lex Luger told him on Nitro to get him to break the Scorpion Deathlock on Flair. He vows to not let Flair out of the Deathlock at World War 3, and he is not happy that Hulk Hogan called him out a few weeks ago and if it comes down to he and Hogan at the end of World War 3 then he is going to take out the Hulkster because he is the big dog of WCW.
–Call 1-900-909-9900 to find out what Lex Luger might have said to Sting on Monday Nitro! It might have something to do with the Four Horseman!
–The second half of the broadcast carries a New Japan Pro Wrestling logo, with Cruise and Sonny Onoo doing commentary. This is when WCW Pro transitions to using Disney MGM as a venue instead of various arenas in Georgia as part of continued budget cuts.
–Masa Saito & Kensuke Sasaki defeat the Southern Posse when Sasaki makes Rick Thames submit via a Strangle Hold Beta at 2:47:
Saito was a decorated Japanese wrestler in the United States, holding the AWA World title in 1990, and winning the WWF Tag Team Championship twice with Mr. Fuji. Sasaki was a rising Japanese talent before 1995, holding the IWGP Tag Team Championship twice with Hiroshi Hase and twice with Road Warrior Hawk as the Hell Raiders, during which time Sasaki wrestled as “the Power Warrior.” The Posse are destroyed in turn, with Thames getting the worst of it as Sasaki delivers a cradle brainbuster and locks on Strangle Hold Beta for the victory.
–Masahiro Chono beats Eddie Jackie via submission to the STF at 3:08:
WCW audiences were familiar with Chono as he defended the NWA World title against Rick Rude at Halloween Havoc ’92 and the Great Muta at Starrcade ’92. In Japan he was a decorated veteran, winning the Young Lions Cup over Shinya Hashimoto in 1987. He even defeated Lou Thesz in Thesz’s last wrestling match in 1990. Chono takes his time wearing down Jackie with strikes and although Jackie manages to throw Chono off the top rope, Chono avoids a dropkick and locks in the STF for a relatively easy win.
–Cruise talks more with Onoo, who is surrounded by Masa Saito, Kensuke Sasaki, and Chono. He says that they hope to win the WCW title at World War 3.
The Last Word: This show had some important storyline developments for the WCW-New Japan feud and was significant in transitioning the show to Disney MGM. However, it lacked a feature match and selling the second half of the show as a showcase of Japanese talent seems like ratings death. It will be interesting to see WCW’s approach to the broadcast moving forward, but at least this is giving WCW Pro a degree of importance that is has lacked for much of the year.
Up Next: WCW Worldwide for November 11!