–Gene Okerlund and Bobby Heenan are in the studio for today’s broadcast. Heenan says that he is rooting for Sting on Monday Nitrobecause he cannot stand Hulk Hogan. Due to Heenan’s WWF career, that is an awesome piece of character continuity.
–Heenan says that Diamond Dallas Page should not put the Diamond Doll up at World War 3 against Johnny B. Badd because Page needs someone to chop wood during the holiday season.
–Heenan puts over Chris Benoit as having more wrestling ability than Ray Stevens and how he will be an excellent addition to the Four Horsemen.
–Okerlund and Heenan hype the World War 3 battle royal, with Heenan saying that there will be “a lot of meat” in the match.
–Eddie Guerrero & Cobra defeat Dick Slater & Bunkhouse Buck (w/Colonel Robert Parker) (21-15-1) when Guerrero pins Slater after a flying body press at 7:45:
Tony Schiavone and Dusty Rhodes call this bout, filmed in the latter stages of the last WCW Pro taping. Poor Dusty still thinks that Sonny Bono purchased the second half of Pro for New Japan. Guerrero gets the shine in the match, outmaneuvering Buck in the early going and then getting a hot tag from Cobra in the match’s closing stages. The finish is messy because Slater is supposed to piledrive Cobra on one of his boots but the boot gets knocked out of the way and Slater stumbles around the ring confused about whether he needs to pick up the boot actually use it or just let it go. He decides to go for a pin, but Cobra is not the legal man and after Guerrero throws Buck into the ring post he surprises Slater with a flying bodypress as the babyfaces score an upset. Rating: *
–Heenan tells Okerlund that it is none of his business how he was able to sell half of WCW Pro to New Japan.
–In a taped promo, Sting says that he once looked up to Hulk Hogan when they were both in Venice Beach. He repeats a lot of his talking points from WCW Saturday Night.
The Last Word: The tag match was the Eddie Guerrero show as it stalled when he was not part of the action. Dick Slater and Bunkhouse Buck have fallen off the radar screen since they lost the tag team titles at Fall Brawl, making fans wonder why WCW felt the need to give them the titles in the first place.
WCW co-promoted a few cards with New Japan Pro Wrestling on November 13 and 14, so here are the results of those cards (courtesy of thehistoryofwwe.com):
Tokyo, Japan – Sumo Hall – November 13, 1995 (7,500): Koji Kanemoto, El Samurai & Shinjiro Otani defeated Jushin Liger, Yuji Nagata & Tokimitsu Ishizawa when Kanemoto pinned Ishizawa after a tiger suplex at 16:27…Junji Harata pinned Booker T after a diving headbutt at 6:29…Masahiro Chono & Hiro Saito beat Earl Robert Eaton & Johnny B. Badd when Chono made Eaton submit to the STF at 14:29…Riki Choshu & Masa Saito defeated the Nasty Boys when Saito pinned Brian Knobbs with a Saito suplex at 8:22…The Giant & Arn Anderson defeated Shinya Hashimoto & Tadao Yasuda when the Giant pinned Yasuda after a chokeslam at 10:50…Ric Flair defeated Osamu Nishimura via submission to the figure-four leglock at 10:17…Hiroshi Tenzan beat Kurasawa (w/Sonny Onoo) after a diving headbutt at 9:48…IWGP Champion the Great Muta beat Lord Steven Regal with a moonsault at 16:03…Kensuke Sasaki (w/Sonny Onoo) pinned United States Champion Sting with a Northern Lights Bomb after a blind charge at 12:47 to win the title. After the match, Sasaki was presented with a trophy for winning the match. Eric Bischoff interviewed Sting afterward, with Sting challenging Sasaki to a rematch in the United States.
Hamamatsu, Japan – November 14, 1995 (4,700; papered): Akira Nogami pinned Koji Kanemoto at 13:06..Shinjiro Otani pinned Jushin Liger after a dragon suplex at 16:42…Television Champion Johnny B. Badd defeated Takashi Iizuka at 11:45…The Giant pinned Tadao Yasuda after a chokeslam at 3:04…Kurasawa beat Yuji Nagata at 4:23…Kensuke Sasaki & Osamu Nishimura defeated the Blue Bloods when Nishimura pinned Earl Robert Eaton with a Northern lights suplex at 13:15…Shinya Hashimoto beat Booker T with a brainbuster…The Nasty Boys defeated Masahiro Chono & Hiroshi Tenzan when Brian Knobbs pinned Chono with a splash off the top rope at 14:14…Sting & the Great Muta defeated Ric Flair & Arn Anderson when Muta pinned Anderson with a moonsault at 18:15.
Backstage News*: The WCW-New Japan shows were a box office flop in Japan with the Tokyo show drawing the smallest crowd to Sumo Hall in fifteen years. Japanese fans were never told who Sonny Onoo was, so they were confused as to why he accompanied Kensuke Sasaki and Kurasawa to the ring for their matches. Fans were very impressed with the Giant, giving him a big reaction in his matches across the country.
*Alex Wright did not go on the Japan tour because he is still recovering from a broken kneecap, while Sister Sherri missed her flight. Sherri’s future status with the company might be in question, with this latest incident not helping her cause. Earl Robert Eaton worked the tour with a leg injury so Johnny B. Badd carried much of their tag team match against Masahiro Chono and Hiro Saito.
*Ric Flair is nursing a shoulder injury suffered against Joey Maggs at the Orlando television tapings last week, an injury that could keep him out until Christmas. That may force Arn Anderson or Brian Pillman to wrestle Sting at World War 3.
*The real reason that WCW is running a house show in Denver on December 2 is because WCW told fans before the Monday Nitro that was held there on October 2 that they could get two free tickets if the ordered Fall Brawl. The problem was that too many fans tried to take advantage of the deal and WCW got complaints from the pay-per-view providers due to angry customers. So, WCW is holding the show to give the upset customers two free tickets, which also applies to those who got into the Denver show for free. The show is scheduled to feature a twenty-man battle royal, Harlem Heat against the American Males, Lex Luger against Mr. J.L., Sting against Kurasawa, Scott Norton against the Giant, Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater against the Blue Bloods, Diamond Dallas Page against Johnny B. Badd, and Alex Wright against the Disco Inferno.
*In talent relations news, Sabu is no longer with WCW, appearing at the latest ECW Arena show on November 18. Sabu had heat with WCW management because he kept taking matches out of the ring and ignoring time limit instructions for his televised matches. The Sheik using a fireball against Mr. J.L. at the end of Sabu’s match at Halloween Havoc did not help, nor did Sabu appearing for ECW without talking to WCW first. According to Sabu, he found out that he was fired on the WCW Hotline after he could not reach Eric Bischoff. Also, Woman is denying that is leaving ECW to jump to WCW, but Konnan has given ECW notice he is heading to WCW, although he will help ECW get AAA talent for future shows.
*Backstage news provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for November 20 and 27.
Up Next: WCW Monday Nitro for November 20!