–Tony Schiavone and Dusty Rhodes call today’s action which, according to thehistoryofwwe.com, was taped on October 25 and November 16.
–Opening Contest: Arn Anderson (w/Brian Pillman) (25-12-2) pins Joey Maggs after a DDT at 2:39:
Teddy Long watches another Maggs losing effort, as Maggs gets too preoccupied with Pillman’s presence on the floor and Anderson DDT’s him when he comes back into the ring.
–Mark Starr (2-16) pins the Disco Inferno (7-5) after a schoolboy roll up at 2:49:
Reeling from a three-match losing streak in single competition, Disco stomps Starr with a fury in the early going and suplexes him several times. However, Starr ends his own three-match losing streak by schoolboying Disco after a blind charge. Trying to make the best of a sad situation, Disco dances at the end of the match.
–Gene Okerlund interviews Disco, who is delusional and says that he recently beat Starr as part of his “Shake Your Booty” tour. He hypes himself as a favorite for the World War 3 battle royal because he beat some jobbers last week on WCW Pro.
–V.K. Wallstreet (5-2) pins Barry Houston after the Stock Market Crash at 3:55:
Houston takes a crazy bump when Wallstreet throws him out of the ring, having his leg smash across the ringside guardrail. Unable to stand, he scores a near-fall from a small package only to succumb to the Stock Market Crash.
–Chris Benoit (7-1-1) beats Eddie Guerrero (12-2-4) after a Flair pin at 11:04 shown:
The third match between these two ended in a double knockout last week, so the audience is treated to a fourth bout today. Guerrero has assembled quite a following from the Atlanta crowd, who chant for him as Benoit makes his entrance. Like their previous encounters this match starts on the mat and upgrades to stiffer, more powerful moves by the eight-minute mark. Benoit nearly wins after a superduperplex and Guerrero nearly wins seconds later with a hurricanrana as Benoit charges him. Benoit puts his foot on the bottom rope to avoid a pin after a tornado DDT and when Guerrero uses a sunset flip to block a super side suplex effort, Benoit kicks out, floats over, and uses the ropes to steal the win. THIS is another great example of how to put both men over while still giving the victory to one of them. Benoit needed it the most because of his United States title match with Kensuke Sasaki tomorrow night. Rating: ****
–Okerlund interviews Benoit, who says that United States Champion Sasaki will be leaving Virginia in an ambulance. He says that the Four Horsemen will work together so that one of them will leave World War 3 with the title.
–Kevin Sullivan (w/Jimmy Hart) (22-5) beats Eddie Jackie after a double stomp in 26 seconds:
Sullivan has amassed an impressive winning streak of eleven straight matches. That streak goes to twelve on today’s show as Sullivan blitzes Jackie and finishes him with a double stomp in less than thirty seconds. This is the second time that Sullivan has beaten Jackie this year.
–Okerlund interviews Sullivan and Hart. Hart brags about how the Dungeon of Doom took the WCW title away from Hulk Hogan. Sullivan recaps why he hates Hogan.
–Diamond Dallas Page (w/the Diamond Doll) (24-3-2) pins Bart Sawyer after the Diamond Dream at 4:31:
Fans are treated to another star-jobber rematch as Page beat Sawyer on the June 24 edition of WCW Worldwide. Like the recent Worldwide episode, the Doll gives Page a nine during the match, only giving him a ten when he does a pancake slam. Some fans facing the hard camera flash zero signs as Sawyer tries to take advantage of Page going shoulder-first into the ring post on a blind charge. He lands a few dropkicks, but Page catches him with the Diamond Dream off the ropes to quit fooling around and go into World War 3 on a winning streak.
–Okerlund interviews Page and the Doll. Page says that things are going well for him, but they will be bad for Johnny B. Badd at World War 3. He promises to rip his ears off and put them in his back pocket so Badd can hear Page kick his ass. Page has to self-censor that last bit because of the Turner people. The Doll is still upset that Page seems to care more about the Television Championship than he does about her.
–Scott Norton (6-1-1) pins Doug Becker after a reverse shoulderbreaker at 1:02:
Becker, who has wrestled a few squashes this year as Atom Flash, is outweighed by more than 150 pounds and Norton just shrugs off Becker’s early dropkick efforts. A reverse shoulderbreaker sends him to the showers in a little more than a minute.
–Hacksaw Jim Duggan (35-9-2) defeats Tom Burton after a three-point stance clothesline at 4:49:
These two faced off eight months ago on WCW Worldwide, with Duggan defeating Burton in about two minutes. He lasts longer today by taking powders to slow Duggan’s offense down and spamming chinlocks. The result is the same as before, though, as Duggan uses a clothesline to trigger his usual comeback.
–The One Man Gang is formally introduced as part of the Dungeon of Doom after WCW Prime jumped the gun. The Gang says he lived in darkness until the Master and Kevin Sullivan pulled him up. He tells Hulk Hogan that he needs to be afraid of him. While this is happening, the Zodiac runs around and makes random noises.
–A video package hypes the Sting-Ric Flair match for World War 3.
–Lex Luger (w/Jimmy Hart) (6-3) defeats Jerry Lynn via submission to the Torture Rack at 7:55:
Since Lynn was already wrestling as Mr. J.L. it is strange that WCW would have him wrestle without that gimmick for this match. J.L. was already a lower midcarder so having Luger beat him would not have hurt that character at all. Luger dominates most of the match, with Lynn scoring a few hope spots with aerial moves like a missile dropkick. One dive too many results in a powerslam and the Torture Rack earns Luger a submission win. If this was a four-minute match this would have been great, but it was way too long for what it was.
–Okerlund interviews Luger and Hart. Hart hypes Luger as a future WCW champion. Luger takes credit for injuring Randy Savage’s arm and says that will help him win at World War 3. He warns Hogan that he has his manager and will soon get his old title. This was a good Luger promo as he always did better when he could talk faster.
–A taped backstage segment puts an end to the Hulk Hogan-Sting rivalry, with Hogan saying that Sting has always been a friend and he will never question his integrity going forward. Hogan admits he was paranoid, and Sting had him beat on Monday Nitro. Sting screams about how flattered he is until Hogan turns the conversation toward Lex Luger. Sting says that Luger is one of his lifetime buddies, so Hogan just tells him to be careful going forward.
–Tune in next week to see Hacksaw Jim Duggan face V.K. Wallstreet! Also, the American Males and the One Man Gang in action!
The Last Word: The final segment appears to put an end to the “dark side” Hulk Hogan character as he admitted that the Dungeon of Doom made him paranoid and he knows other top babyfaces like Sting are his friends. The first hour of the show was great, highlighted by the excellent Chris Benoit-Eddie Guerrero match, while the second hour dragged due to the Hacksaw Jim Duggan and Lex Luger squashes.
Backstage News*: The Monday Nitro show in Macon, Georgia drew a crowd of 6,000 fans but had to be heavily papered. The Hulk Hogan-Sting dream match was underwhelming at the box office, raking in only a $13,000 gate. Dean Malenko will not be in the World War 3 battle royal because of his participation in New Japan’s recent tour, which runs opposite of the pay-per-view. In talent relations news, Konnan is expected to debut in January. He has been telling magazines in Mexico that he is going to be Hulk Hogan’s tag team partner. WCW exerted pressure on announcer Michael Buffer to choose between them or UFC. Buffer agreed to do future WCW events because WCW runs more major shows.
*Backstage news provided courtesy of Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer for November 27 and December 4.
Up Next: World War 3 ’95!