WCW Fall Brawl, Winston-Salem, NC
A request! It’s WARGAMES! And for the first time in a while, this truly feels like something big. The prior year’s WarGames was Hulk Hogan and Dungeon of Doom horseshit. The year before that did fucking rock, but the year before that had the Shockmaster, and really it’s been since ’92 when something felt like, you know, THE BIG THING in the company. The ’94 WarGames was like the last gasp of The Real WCW before the Hogan parade fully took over and it ruled, but it was really just a “Hogan doesn’t work the September PPV” thing in terms of company scope and all that.
Here we’re two months into the nWo taking over. On the nWo side tonight you have Hollywood Hogan, Scott Hall, Kevin Nash, and, apparently, Sting. On the WCW side you’ve got Ric Flair, Arn Anderson, and Lex Luger confirmed. It was going to be the Four Horsemen, but Luger and Sting wanted in, and Flair and Anderson complied. And then Sting, they think, turned traitor on them.
So the nWo are coming in with a mystery fourth man, and so is WCW, by default.
(Requests open and tips always appreciated!)
Backstage, Mike Tenay is with Flair, Anderson, and Luger, flanked by Woman and Miss Elizabeth. Tenay wants to know which Horsemen member will replace Sting on their team. Flair says the Horsemen “have stepped aside.” So apparently they’ll go three against four, which seems really smart when you do have Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael able and willing and allowed to step in as someone you can trust. Flair calls Mike “Gene.”
Flair says the Horsemen will kick ass. Arn takes over on the mic, but here comes Sting. Flair and Anderson are ready to fight. Luger holds them off to let Sting talk, but he’s not too much more welcoming. Sting pleads innocence, saying it was not him on Monday night coming out of the nWo limo and attacking Luger. Lex does not believe him, because he is a moron. Sting walks out, saying only, “I’ll see you in a while.”
Michael Buffer explains the rules to WarGames. If you don’t know them, go look them up, this is for old folks!
First out for the nWo is Scott Hall with nWo financial backer Ted DiBiase. Unlike past WarGames, it’s not both teams in full out to stand at ringside and wait to come in. It can’t be, because they have to do a whole “wha-wha-WHAAAAT?” later. Tony makes a passing note of the change in “format” as Arn Anderson enters to start against Hall.
The bell rings with Hall in the far ring and Anderson having to get through double sets of ropes to start, which of course gives Hall the chance for his right hands to start the fight. But Arn fights back quick and has Dusty Rhodes, of all the people in the world, fired up for Arn Anderson, of all the people in the world.
Heenan is surprised by his own rooting interests, in that they align with Dusty’s and Tony’s. Hall gets the advantage back and keeps it. Arn comes back and works the leg. Tony thinks he sees a figure four. He does not. He’s just excited. Also there’s a cage in the way of the hard cam.
Over to the other ring, which Hall uses to sucker Anderson into the same thing that started the match. Nick Patrick is your referee, and known at this point to be on the take for the nWo, and threatening Arn that he “can stop the match right now,” which he can’t, of course, it can’t be stopped until we reach THE MATCH BEYOND. Dusty points out that Patrick is an idiot who sucks.
Just under two minutes left in the period and Arn gets it going again, which would usually indicate that he’s about to be on a 2-on-1 disadvantage, grabbing a sleephold on Hall to wind the period down.
The coin toss takes place off-screen in the back, and Hall gets out of the sleephold with about a minute left. SPINEBUSTER! And there’s that Carolina pop for a spinebuster. Tony relays that the nWo has won the coin toss, as Arn grabs on a half-crab to fully wind down the clock for this period.
Second in for the nWo is Kevin Nash, as expected. Nash is in his full red, and turns the corner of the cage, annoyed that they’re making him run all the way down to the far side. Nash in and misses a clothesline, crowd responding to every shot Arn lands, but Hall grabs onto Arn’s waist, and they have to stand there like video game characters locked in a stuttering animation, waiting for Nash’s knees to allow him back to his feet for a big foot.
Anderson whipped into the cage. Nash’s Snake Eyes and a big Hall lariat as we’re under a minute left in the two-minute period. Outsiders just beating on Anderson as Luger jumps the gun and runs down, taking the chance to display to Nash that there was actually a closer door, he didn’t have to run down to that other side on the far ring.
Luger gets in with about 13 seconds officially left and that takes away the countdown and all, but the crowd don’t care quickly. Luger’s in full black, trunks, kneepads, and boots, which is unusual. White wrist tape, though. And he’s taking it to the Outsiders back-and-forth, just kicking ass.
Arn trying to shake the cobwebs as the Outsiders double on Luger, able to neutralize that advantage quickly.
Outsiders do have it about 50/50. Hogan jogs down and hits the ring just as the time expires. WHY do the nWo have to use the far entrance? DO they have to? Anderson and Luger just WHIP HOGAN’S ASS immediately. Luger jumps on an approaching Hall and Nash blindsides Anderson, so the nWo get the upper hand again.
Hogan takes Arn into the far ring while the Outsiders stay with Luger in the near. Fans chanting “We want Flair!” as Anderson smashes Hogan’s head into the cage. About a minute left. A hurting Luger slides into the Hogan/Anderson ring, followed by a standing Nash, and Hall behind him. Nash driving back elbows into Luger’s jaw in the corner, Hall follows with right hands as Hogan beats on Anderson, against whom he went 0-2 all-time in singles matches.
Anderson down and it’s a quick triple-team on Luger as the clock winds down. Here comes Ric Flair! Heenan lets out a WOOOO! then coughs. Flair stays in the near ring apart from everyone else and calls Hogan on. Hogan does still have some pride so he has to take the challenge, and does.
“One-on-one, I don’t know if Hogan can beat Flair!” Dusty says. Historically, this is a questionable comment, and quite a change from Dusty’s 1994-95 TV commentary constantly rambling about his favorite wrestler, Hulkamania Hulk Hogan, getting furious at Chris Cruise whenever Cruise would do his job and suggest that guys like Malenko and Benoit were bringing something new to WCW.
Crowd with a deep, bass-y bellow of support when Flair rocks Hogan with rights and lefts. Uppercut to Nash’s nuts, mule kick to Hall’s nuts. Winston-Salem is fired up and the WCW team are rolling, Luger and Anderson are invigorated.
Flair gets Hogan in the figure four while Luger stays over Hall and Nash and Anderson work.
The fourth nWo man is here. It’s Sting.
Nash power bombs Luger, nearly repeating the Sid/Pillman power bomb from WarGames past. “Sting” giving everyone the business. The crowd is quiet, no real reaction to this. Then they chant “we want Sting” in a small pocket.
Now we must wonder who WCW has as a fourth man, if anyone. Maybe Benoit and Mongo have agreed to not enter, but Flair doesn’t tell everyone what to do. Savage, a prime candidate, is beat to shit from earlier.
nWo just methodically owning the ring in the 4-on-3. Legdrop on Flair. Anderson and Luger ragged. Stinger Splash on Anderson, then on Luger. Now Bobby’s convinced it’s Sting. Dusty already was. Now let’s be clear, they’re not actually expressing, at any point, any skepticism that it might not be Sting. But then they have to keep making clear it definitely is.
Anyway, the fourth WCW man is actually Sting. Dusty cums. “Deal on ’em!
Sting confronts “Sting” and beats his ass. Randy Anderson is also in the ring as a second referee now. Heenan encourages everyone to “concentrate on Hogan.” Schiavone is very sure this is Sting. So is Dusty.
And it’s Sting just beating the shit out of everyone. Flair looks on, Luger looks on, Sting says something to Luger. Sting: “Is that good enough for ya right there? Is that proof enough?” Then he gives ’em the ol’ up yers and … leaves.
Sting was not an nWo traitor, but he is abandoning WCW when they need him most, because he’s very sad that his friend didn’t trust him.
With Sting gone, Hogan drops the leg on Luger while Flair and Anderson fight for their lives against the Outsiders and fake Sting in the other ring. After a Hogan back suplay, fake Sting puts a Scorpion Deathlock on Luger, and Hogan grabs a front facelock on the other side.
Patrick and Anderson have to call it. Mark Curtis is in, too, as the match ends, and the nWo have won the match officially. Schiavone going on about how if WCW had trust Sting, they could have won. Bobby: “Tony, shut up. It’s too late now.”
The cage goes up and Luger is crawling up the aisle, calling for Sting, who is long gone. And it’s Luger’s fault in particular. And he knows it. Hogan walks him down, gets a couple shots in, Hall and Nash are behind him. Anderson and Flair fly in to help, but they’re outnumbered.
Fake Sting, by the way, is just not in the picture. Poor Cobra was never meant to do anything. And then out of nowhere it’s Randy Savage! Again, Savage took a beating earlier in the show.
Savage takes Hogan to the ring, but Hogan’s rolling away and buying time for the Giant to arrive and save his hide. Now it’s Hogan, the Outsiders, and Giant against Savage. Big chokeslam from Giant. They’re trying to put Randy out so he can’t challenge Hogan in October at Halloween Havoc.
Again, fake Sting is just, like, gone. As gone as real Sting.
Miss Elizabeth runs down to the ring. She’s been a Flair valet and now she’s in the ring begging Hogan to stop. Giant chokeslams Savage again. Liz jumps on top of Savage to protect him while these assholes circle around. It really is an emotional sight. Hogan spraypaints Elizabeth’s back. Even Heenan is a new level of disgusted with Hogan, which is hard to do.
Hogan gets on the mic and brings up the failed marriage of Randy Savage and Miss Elizabeth Macho. Hogan spits on Elizabeth. “This is lowest point in the history of WCW events,” Schiavone says. Trash flying into the ring.
Heenan: “I’ve done some things in this sport that people weren’t proud of and I always wasn’t either, but nothing like this. Nothing like this have I ever seen done.” Dusty in the middle misses the point Heenan is making, as he often did despite his creative genius.
Savage gets spray painted. Randy Anderson down there trying to protect Elizabeth if he can. Giant tries to talk into the camera but Hogan interrupts him. Savage gets another chokeslam. Nash throws Randy Anderson out of the way as he continues to try protecting Elizabeth in the corner. Nash and Giant intimidating her as they cut back to the commentary position, where everyone is just deeply depressed before the nWo chase them off. They talk a little, pose some, Savage is gingerly helped to the back by his ex-wife and one (1) trainer, and that’s it.
It’s really a fairly limp, wiener-y WarGames match as far as what you expect of WarGames action, but with good story and a hot crowd, and that makes up a lot of ground for me, particularly these days.
The Sting thing is truly compelling, the post-match makes the nWo look like absolute scumbags, and a disorganized WCW continues to completely reel in the face of a handful of genuinely united guys. You really do get the feeling that if Sting had just stayed, they would have won, because he was beating the shit out of everyone. But he had his reasons to bail, and the nWo motor forward, standing tall without question.
Tape Machines Are Rolling 
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