Fall Brawl '98

Legacy Review

Fall Brawl '98

September 13, 1998 from the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, NC

Commentary: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Mike Tenay

We're now past WCW's Summer of the Ringers, where NBA stars Dennis Rodman and Karl Malone, as well as entertainer Jay Leno, all worked main event matches in a near desperate attempt to boost ratings and PPV buys following WWF moving back into first place in the Monday night ratings war. To mention nothing of the whole "Bischoff challenging Vince McMahon to a fight" debacle. However, there's another new entrant to WCW now making waves, none other than the Ultimate Warrior. Sorry, just Warrior. WWF still had the trademark on Ultimate Warrior. Warrior, after years of rumors and nearlys and Bischoff once even trying to create his own Warrior with the Renegade after talks fell through back in '95, made his shock WCW debut on Nitro in August. Things went south right from the start when he went over his allotted promo time by TWENTY minutes because he wouldn't stop rambling, forcing a quick rewrite of the rest of Nitro and some shock sticks or smelling salts to wake the crowd back up. Tonight he'll be wrestling his first ever WCW match, in War Games as part of Team WCW.

During the usual preshow hype from commentary there's a giant "WE WANT FLAIR" chant from the Flair country crowd that nearly drowns them out. Flair was still suspended due to his real life beef with Bischoff, but would make his surprise return the following night on Nitro. While that chant is going on commentary tries to explain the rules for this very complicated, very different, first ever three way War Games. I'll get into that when needed. While Mean Gene and his white jacket are adding onto the ballyhoo TV champ Chris Jericho comes out to interrupt him. He knows Gene Mean loves his scoops, and he's got a scoop. He challenged Goldberg to a title vs title match TONIGHT, and Goldberg accepted!

"The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith and Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart def The Dancing Fools in 11:03- Bulldog and Anvil clearly don't want to be in WCW, and WCW doesn't look like they have much interest in them. They were all stuck with each other after the Montreal Screwjob. Lots of stalling after the bell before Wright and Bulldog start. And then Wright teases walking out because the crowd is annoying him. Finally we lock up. Wright turns a Bulldog headlock around into an armdrag. Bulldog does a heel 101 hair pull bitch. Yes, this is a heel vs heel match. Unless the Fools have turned face and I forgot about it. Wright is still heeling it up but Disco seems kinda tweeny here. Forearms in the corner from Bulldog. Wright turns around and hits some European uppercuts. Speed run and Bulldog hits a hiptoss, followed by a press slam. Tags on both sides. Anvil tosses Disco out of a lockup. Big shoulderblocks from Anvil. He tries to mock Disco's dancing. Key word tries. Disco gets a drop toe hold and hits some stomps. He slips out of a slam and gives Anvil a kneelift with a horrible Anvil sell. Disco gets trapped in the wrong corner. Wright gives Bulldog a shot in the back from the apron and tags in with more European uppercuts. Then he dances. Of course Bulldog cartwheels out of a monkey flip attempt but Wright gives him a leg lariat for 2. Big chops. Bulldog gets a back elbow up in the corner and hits a clothesline. Disco fistdrop off the second rope on Bulldog for 2. Inverted atomic drop. Bulldog uses Disco's momentum to toss him to the floor. Anvil ties him up in a tree of woe on the guardrail and kicks the stuffing out of him. Bulldog blocks a Disco sunset flip. He then gives Disco about the worst hot shot I've ever seen, dropping him down way too far away and Disco bounces off the second rope face first. Disco stays in peril while Anvil pulls the straps down. He bites Disco in the corner. The crowd's had enough and chants "We want Flair" again. In late '90s WCW that was their version of a CM Punk chant before Punk's WWE return. Anvil tries a slingshot....something and Disco trying to counter looks like a wide receiver that's supposed to run an in and does an out instead. Awful on both sides. Tag to Wright. Missile dropkick on Anvil. Dropkick for Bulldog. Anvil hits Wright from behind. Bulldog hooks him up for the powerslam. Disco makes the save and the Fools double team Bulldog. Off a rope run the ref literally has to drop down to avoid Wright. I have no idea if that was planned or if the ref was just saving himself. Wright ducks under a Bulldog leapfrog and runs shoulder first right into his teammate. What a dummkopf. Bulldog has to fight forever to get Disco up for the powerslam, manages to hit it, and it's over. Twice as long as it needed to be and fugly as hell. 1/2*

This was the match where Bulldog's back was injured by taking a bump badly off the trap door that Warrior will be using later in the show, so you can forgive some of his struggles later in the match. He ended up with a spine injury, in the hospital, and was almost paralyzed. WCW aided his recovery by terminating his contract due to injury. Fortunately he was able to recover enough to return to WWF a year later for one last run.

Mean Gene is in the back looking for answers concerning the absolutely positively finally going to happen Steiner brothers match tonight. He knocks and Scott Steiner, plus Buff Bagwell because they were always together in this period don't question their very manly relationship, come out. Scott says he's injured and has the two small band-aids on his arm plus the icepack on his tailbone to prove it. Bagwell says they have a letter from their doctor Cecil Schwartz certifying Scott can't wrestle tonight. JJ Dillon comes in to check things out. Dillon says it's unfortunate.....that they bothered to make all this up. He reminds Scott that he ruled at Road Wild that he will wrestle Rick tonight or he's BANNED FOR LIFE. Then Dillon punctuates it by tearing the letter up. Bagwell chases after Dillon while Scott tries to pick all the pieces up.

 

WCW World Television Championship: Chris Jericho (c) def "Goldberg" in 1:15- Jericho's music hits but he's nowhere to be seen. We cut to the back and the Jericho Personal Security guys are in front of Jericho's locker room. Jericho comes out and they walk, doing the full Goldberg mocking entrance. The problem is, no one knows where to go! They wander the bowels of the arena Spinal Tap style before finally figuring out the right way in. Classic Jericho. Jericho's pyro then won't go off right and he has a little tantrum about that. No one will admit it but this is easily the most entertaining thing WCW is putting on right now. Goldberg's music hits and the crowd reacts like they believe he's actually showing up. Hey, the pyro's working now. Typical. It's Gillberg! Well, WCW's version of Gillberg before there was a Gillberg. Complete with a plastic toy belt. I'm not sure who this guy is, I can't find anything online as to what his real name is. It's definitely not Duane Gill, that's all I can say. The bell rings and we have an official match. "Bullshit" chant from some of the crowd as Jericho does the full jobber match squash. Fake Goldberg hits a spear! No affect on Jericho and he kicks the fake down, berating him for actually hitting him. Liontamer on and quick tap out. It's a farce and really has no place on a proper PPV, but again this is about the only thing WCW's got that's genuinely enjoyable on some level right now so why not. NR

 

Ernest "The Cat" Miller def Norman Smiley in 5:04- These are the kinds of matches that get booked when so many guys are working War Games later. The story behind this is Miller has generally been a dick backstage and Smiley is trying to knock some sense into him. Both these guys do have interesting backgrounds. Miller is a legit former world karate champion, but with very little wrestling experience. Smiley's a shooter by rep, well versed in submissions and had extensive experience in Europe, Mexico and Japan before he came to WCW, but outside his holds isn't exactly the smoothest guy in the ring there's ever been. Miller takes a mic before the bell and gives Smiley a chance to walk away before someone gets hurt. Smiley is disinclined to acquiesce. Means no. Dropkick from Smiley and Miller goes to the floor. Smiley tries to follow on the floor but gets distracted by the ref and eats a superkick. Weak extended beatdown from Miller back in. Smiley finally has enough and hits a tiltawhirl suplex and legdrop. Miller begs off while Smiley fires up. Heel 101 eye poke from Miller. "Boring" chants start to echo around the arena as Miller continues to dominate the match's offense. Miller gets a drop toe hold and slam. His turn for some very basic offense. Delayed suplex from Smiley for 2. Miller fights off a superplex attempt and tries a springboard leaping kick that barely gets within believable contact range. Another wild roundhouse kick from Miller gets the pin. 1/4*

The brother vs brother match gets a full video package recap. Scott's heel turn happened back in February but he got hurt soon after, delaying the big blowoff match.

 

Rick Steiner and Scott Steiner (w/Buff Bagwell ) no contest in 5:30- The band-aids are off. It's a miracle recovery. I'm not checking on the tailbone icepack. The bell rings and Scott, to the shock of no one, stalls on the floor. He comes in and they hockey fight slug it out! That's more like it. Steinerline from Rick! Ground and pound. Scott gets a couple of shots in that are no sold. Scott grabs a rope and powders. Rick chases. Scott climbs over the guardrail into the crowd to try to get away. Getting back in the ring Bagwell grabs Rick's boot like the annoying mosquito he is. Then he distracts the ref, allowing Scott to hit a low blow. Scott hits a couple of weak kicks and tosses Rick back out to the floor. Stair shot. Rail shot. As they get back in the ring someone in the crowd shouts "Michigan sucks!". Steinerline from Scott. Rick blocks a double underhook suplex. DDT! Bagwell gets on the apron. Rick grabs him and runs him into the turnbuckle. Scott grabs Rick and tosses him out again. Another stair shot. Rick pounds Scott down in the corner. Scott pushes away and checks on the still down Bagwell. Bagwell whines about his neck being hurt, which he was just coming off a legit neck injury and, at least on screen, hadn't been cleared to get back in the ring yet. The ref stops the match and calls for medical. Big "bullshit" chant from the crowd. There's no bell but I'm calling the match over here. Bad match, *terrible* non-finish, especially after teasing this match out for months. DUD

Medical takes forever checking on Bagwell while commentary all have somber voice on. I guess they're trying to convince people this is a legit injury, which it's anything but. After a solid 10 minutes the neck brace comes on and Bagwell takes the stretcher trip out. Bischoff comes out in his hoodie from gorilla to walk with the stretcher. Rick's even walking with them looking concerned. Yeah, they're going full worky shoot with this but it's not working at all. We continue following to the back and all the way to the ambulance. Bagwell gets loaded in and Scott gets in to ride with him. Rick turns his back....Scott AND BAGWELL jump out of the ambulance to attack him! Commentary tries to act shocked but no one else is. Bagwell, as always, quickly finds the camera to play into. End scene.

 

WCW Cruiserweight Championship: Juventud Guerrera (c) def Silver King in 8:36- This was originally planned to be Juvy defending against Kaz Hayashi but it was changed the night before for unknown reasons. Is Silver King weight eligible for this division? Commentary is still ranting about Bagwell. Quick back and forth start. King begs off after a chop. Juvy does some arm work. King does a flippy escape and hits a shotgun dropkick. Juvy chops, King hits some hammy kicks. Extended speed run and Juvy gets a flying headscissors. King rolls out to the floor and tosses a chair around to feel better. They maneuver so Juvy can hit a springboard flying headscissors, followed by a clothesline for 2. Pop up dropkick from King. He helicopter spins Juvy into a hot shot. Tiltawhirl backbreaker for 2. King sets Juvy up almost like Samoa Joe's muscle buster and cracks Juvy over his shoulders for 2. Another dropkick sends Juvy to the floor. Springboard plancha from King. They try an elaborate sunset flip counter in the ring but it goes all wrong. King has to literally back up a few steps and then punches Juvy. Tony calls it a "smart move". They still look lost as King hits a chop. He goes for a popup powerbomb. Juvy counters into a hurricanrana with a cradle for 2! Clothesline from Juvy. Missile dropkick for 2. Juvy slides under but eats a King superkick for 2. Juvy dodges a big dive in the corner. Poisonrana off the top! King kicks out! It wasn't a full poisonrana, King flipped completely over instead of going on his head, but still unique for the time. Juvy goes for the Juvy Driver. King counters into a small package for 2. Snap suplex. Juvy dodges a springboard moonsault way before King even launched. Weak Juvy Driver setup. The 450 splash hits and it's over. Finally something halfway decent on this show. No better than that, there were some seriously sloppy moments, but it's still by far the best thing so far. **1/2

Drunk Scott Hall interrupts Konnan's internet interview. Yup, we've hit the period where WCW decided to turn Hall's real life alcoholism into an angle. Classy.

 

Raven's Rules: Perry Saturn def Raven in 14:04- They've been doing a whole deal where Saturn's had to be Lodi's slave because he lost matches (and watching the video recap of this Lodi is actually giving Buff Bagwell and Brian Christopher a run for the "Most Annoying Wrestler Ever" award), so the stipulation for tonight is if Saturn wins the Flock has to disband, but if Raven wins Saturn will be "subservient" to him for the rest of his career. Which hopefully means we'll get some kind of finality here because it's time for this feud to end. Kanyon, who came in as a Flock rival, has now nonsensically joined the group and will be handcuffed to the ring for this match. Raven won't get out of promo position after the bell so Saturn drags him up. Raven was ready though, using that to give Saturn a hot shot for 2. Kneelift from Raven. After some chops Saturn pops out of the corner and lays on the beatdown. Superkick and slam for 2. Inverted atomic drop and a wild springboard crossbody for 2. Big splash off the top rope for 2. Lodi distracts and Raven attacks. Saturn punches Raven off the apron and Raven flies down into the guardrail. Over the top tope from Saturn! Lodi pulls Saturn down off the apron into the guardrail. Man, the guy working the ringside camera is trying to do MTV or something, he's shaking it all over the damn place. Like .8 Kevin Dunn. Back in Raven hits a pair of elbows off the second rope for 2. Saturn counters a Raven sunset flip for 2. Raven hits a clothesline that catches Saturn on the side of the head. Sleeper from Raven. Jawbreaker escape from Saturn. Snap mares from Raven. Saturn counters the third into a backslide for 2. Russian leg sweep double combo. Raven tries to leverage Saturn down for a pin, then crotches himself on Saturn's feet. Raven introduces the chair and drop toe holds Saturn into it. Here comes the rest of the Flock with a table. They set the table up on the floor. In the ring Kidman goes for a missile dropkick but misses and hits Raven. Everyone acts shocked but come on, this ALWAYS happens with the Flock. Especially Kidman. Kidman runs away! OK, maybe that actually was a turn. Saturn hits the DVD but the ref is distracted and Raven's able to kick out. The crowd's hot for this now, I'll give them that. Saturn ducks a clothesline and hits a half an half suplex. Belly to belly suplex. Springboard legdrop for 2. Michinoku driver for 2. Raven wraps up a desperation small package for 2. Rings of Saturn! Lodi grabs Saturn's foot to get Raven free. They try to set up a double team. Saturn fights both of them off. Corner whip reversals and down goes the ref. Conveniently right in front of Kanyon. Kanyon goes in the ref's pocket, gets the handcuff key, and frees himself. Flatliner to Saturn. He drapes Raven on top but the ref is still out. Kanyon goes out and puts himself back in the handcuffs! OK, credit for attention to detail there. He gets the ref moving. Saturn kicks out! HUGE pop for the kickout too. Low blow from Saturn. He picks Lodi up off the top rope and DVDs him through the table! Raven grabs Saturn coming back in and hits Evenflow! Saturn kicks out again! DVD! Saturn gets the pin! And with that, the Flock as we know it is no more. Nevermore? It started rough but the second half was pretty damn good. They even managed to hook the crowd in, a rarity in WCW. Kind of relieved to have the Flock done too, all they ever did was screw up. ***1/4

Tony gives us an update he received from Hacksaw Jim Duggan's wife that Duggan's surgery was successful and his kidney cancer has been cleared out. 100% real news there, and nice of WCW to share it with everyone.

We next get very extended footage of the Malenko/Hennig cage match from Nitro. It ended up, as usual, as an NWO beatdown (including Stevie Ray, who had recently joined NWO Hollywood), before ARN ANDERSON made his shock return to save Malenko. Arn cut a promo after saying that he's not saying the Horsemen are back, but he'd be honored to have Malenko in the group.

 

Dean Malenko def Curt Hennig (w/Rick Rude) by DQ in 7:38- It's just clicked with me that everyone has been working their matches in ring #2 after Bulldog's unfortunate encounter with the trap door in ring #1. Jump start with Malenko firing away. He goes right for Hennig's knee that's been hurt forever. Hennig isn't even in his regular gear, he's wrestling in NWO shorts. "We want Flair" chant as Malenko works Hennig's knee over on the floor. Teasing the Horsemen reformation has definitely gotten Flair country riled up. Rude tries to get involved and takes a Malenko beatdown. Back in Malenko continues picking the knee apart. Hennig manages to get a boot up in the corner. He tries a slam but the knee gives out. He also almost dropped Malenko on his head there. Hennig eye pokes out of a leg hold and hits some chops. Malenko again gets right back on the knee. He goes for the cloverleaf but takes another Hennig eye poke. Hennig is getting to nearly classic Hennig level selling the knee which is nice to see. Rude pulls Hennig out of the ring to try to get him some space. After a bit Malenko chases and knocks Hennig around ringside some more. Back in Hennig begs off. Malenko responds by basement dropkicking the knee and the knee work continues. He hits a back suplex to mix things up. Rude hits Malenko in the back and Malenko takes a forearm from Hennig. He hooks up for the Perfectplex. The knee gives out again. Malenko with a Perfectplex! Rude comes in and draws the cheap DQ. Here comes Arn! Hennig and Rude were ready for him and hit Arn in his hurt neck, then target his arm. Everyone, every single person in the crowd, is expecting Flair to come out. When he doesn't you can almost hear the air go out of the arena. One more night. They had a plan for the match and stuck with it, but it was still no better than OK and the finish didn't do it any favors. *3/4

When Flair returned the following night on Nitro it did get the ball fully rolling for the next, and would be final, reformation of the Four Horsemen. Of course, it would turn out that it would be little more than another attempt by Bischoff to bury the legacy of the group and Flair one last time.

 

Konnan def Scott Hall (w/Vincent) in 12:03- Lord help us. This is a Hollywood vs Wolfpac battle. Hall comes out with a drink and Vincent looks less than happy with him. This is in such horrible taste considering Hall really WAS an alcoholic. Supposedly a recovering one but he hadn't gotten around to that part quite yet. Hall goes into the wrong ring, first guy all night to step foot in ring #1 since the first match, has trouble balancing himself on the second rope, staggers across rings, then slurs his way through a survey attempt. Konnan also does his prematch shtick of getting the crowd to repeat things they don't understand. Mentioning the NC State Wolfpack gets a cheap pop. They're normally a basketball school at best, but the football team had just managed to upset then #2 Florida State so they were on a high. The bell rings and Hall crosses rings to stall. Konnan gets in with him so Hall moves rings again. Lockup tease and toothpick flick. Contact and Hall does his usual early arm work with humiliation slapping. Konnan decks him with one punch. It's crazy how hot anyone associated with the Wolfpac was with the crowd, WCW completely backed into that being so big. Top wristlock leverage fight and Konnan pulls hair to get Hall down. Hall messes with Konnan teasing a test of strength knucklelock. Konnan has enough, decks him again, and hits the rolling clothesline. Hall rolls out and Konnan stomps him down into the gap between rings. Hall sneaks under the ring while he's down there. Vincent distracts. Hall tries to ambush from behind but gets laid out again. Hall rolls to the floor again for a think. And a drink. Hall counts along with the ref before getting back in. He grabs Konnan and butterflys his arms out. And there we stay. It looks like the crowd gets distracted by something going on up in the cheap seats. Eventually Konnan manages to reverse it. Hall backs the ref into the corner and hits a low blow behind him. Cover for 2. Fallaway slam for 2. Now it's abdominal stretch time. With another swig of the drink. Hall plays the rope leverage game with the ref. Finally he gets caught and lets go. Konnan tries his own abdominal stretch but Hall hiptosses out. Konnan dodges elbow drops and starts a comeback flurry. Hall gets a boot up in the corner and hits a clothesline. The back superplex hits. Hall calls for the Razor's Edge, then decides he needs another swig instead. Vincent argues with him. Konnan kicks the drink into Hall's face and hits an x-factor. Tequila Sunrise on and Hall taps. What you'd expect with the added awfulness of the "drunk Hall drinking through matches" angle. 1/4*

Right. New War Games rules. Let me try to explain, such as they are. As I mentioned, this is the first every three way War Games match, a WCW team and teams for both NWO factions. There's only three men on each team. A "random drawing" was held prior to the show to determine who the first two entrants will be for the initial 5 minute period. After that, it's still only one guy enters at a time at the start of each 2 minute period. The team is drawn at random, and the entrant is chosen by that team's captain. Now here's where things get really crazy/stupid: the match can end at any time. No more need to get everyone in, no Match Beyond, at any time anyone can get a submission or a pin. That's right, a pin. We're used to that now but back then this was the very first War Games that could be won by a pin. Then, to top it off, whoever gets the winning pin or submission will get a shot at Goldberg's World title at Halloween Havoc.

 

War Games: Team WCW def NWO Hollywood and NWO Wolfpac in 20:06- Buffer won't even say "Let the War Games begin!", instead he does his usual thing. What a hack. The first two entrants come out to this year's War Games music, not their own music. In another first the teams aren't ringside, everyone stays in the back until they come out to enter the match. Think they're going for Royal Rumble style surprise entries here.

P1. Diamond Dallas Page (WCW) and WCW United States Heavyweight Champion Bret "Hitman" Hart (Hollywood)- We've got some priors here as Bret recently defeated DDP for the vacant US title. Lockup (in WAR GAMES?!) and Bret goes right into some arm work. DDP goes for a quick cover and they exchange slaps. Belly to belly suplex from DDP for 2. He hooks up for the Diamond Cutter and Bret quickly pushes out. He hot shots DDP onto the top turnbuckle. DDT. On DDP. After some back and forth slugging Bret hits a backbreaker. He goes for a suplex but DDP counters it into an arm takedown. Bret Russian leg sweep for 2. Small package for 2. All this going for pins early has already totally ruined the usual flow of this match. DDP hits a clothesline as the period ends.

P2. Stevie Ray (Hollywood)- It's two Hollywood guys and one WCW guy so you can guess how the next two minutes go. Nothing special happens. No pin attempts though so it feels more like War Games.

P3. Sting (Wolfpac)- It pretty much had to be a Wolfpac guy. Ray meets him as he gets in the ring and they pair off. Ray quickly switches ring to get away from the ring of the Trap Door of Back Shattering. Sting goes for his old dive across rings! He juuuust about manages to pull it off but it wasn't pretty. Ray takes the first cage shots while Bret and DDP clothesline each other. Bret hits DDP with a piledriver.

P4. "Rowdy" Roddy Piper (WCW)- Piper has shots for everyone. Even his teammate DDP, because it's "every man for himself". Is it? First time anyone's mentioned it. Why even have teams then? This is such a mess, from a conception standpoint much less the match as it's happening. Sting gets Ray upside down in the gap between rings. Piper and DDP go at it some more. Everyone gets in ring #1, but only stay in the far side of it well away from the trap door and quickly move back to ring #2.

P5. "The Total Package" Lex Luger (Wolfpac)- Luger and Ray risk ring #1 as things fill up. Ray takes the former steel plate forearm and they move into ring #2. Watching people avoid that trap door like the plague is way more interesting than anything else happening here. Piper gets the sleeper on Ray in ring #1. That's safe.

P6. Kevin Nash (Wolfpac)- Nash breaks up Piper's sleeper on Ray and gives Piper his corner knees. Piper then saves Ray from a jackknife. Meanwhile, Hollywood Hogan sneaks into the match well before his time. And the refs let him enter. He's got a "slapjack" and hits everyone with it. I have no idea if that's a proper term for that thing or not but it's what they call it and you hit people with it so whatever. Luger has Bret in the Torture Rack. Hogan breaks that up. Bret and Hogan stare down but Ray clips Bret's knee. Everyone lays around while Hogan and Ray stand over them all. The period countdown goes to 0 but no one cares anymore. Hogan gives Nash the legdrop, in a weird position away from you know what in ring #1. They throw another countdown clock up on the screen like it matters. Another legdrop on Nash as the match grinds to a complete halt. The ring fills up with smoke. This had already been established as Warrior's thing. The smoke clears and Warrior's in the ring. Hogan jumps him from behind. So much for that. Extra strong smoke blast. It's a foggy day in London. Hogan's holding Warrior's coat up as the smoke clears. No Warrior. Warrior runs in from the back! "How did he do that?" says commentary. Warrior pounds Hogan down but Ray gets Warrior down. Disciple comes out and pulls Hogan out of the cage. Warrior Warriors up on Ray. He swings and misses completely with a clothesline. Ray still sells it. Warrior sees Hogan outside of the cage but the door's been locked again. Most of the wrestlers in the match are still laying in the ring like they're dead. Haven't moved since Hogan first came in. That slapjack thing must hit like an anvil. Warrior kicks a top section of cage off! He gets out and attacks Hogan and Disciple in the aisle. Security come in to break it up and Hogan and Disciple conduct a tactical withdrawal. Meanwhile, DDP Diamond Cutters Ray and gets the pin to win. The crowd's so confused they barely notice. Even with all this mess, DDP getting a World title shot is the right call. But hoo boy what a mess. Worst War Games ever. Bad changes, bad ideas, the whole thing servicing the awful Hogan/Warrior feud, half ass work in the ring, other than DDP's win there's zero redeeming features here. DUD

OVERALL SHOW THOUGHTS- WCW presents a historically awful PPV, something we'll be seeing a lot of the next couple of years. The WCW version of Hogan vs Warrior is some of the most legendary horrendousness you'll ever see in wrestling, and it's just getting started.

OVERALL SHOW GRADE: D-