(12.26.95)
Live from Nashville, TN
Attendance: 8,200
Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan
This is all about the World Cup! It's New Japan Vs WCW in a best of 7 series.
Chris Beniot Vs Jushin "Thunder" Liger (W/Sony Onoo)
Liger pins Beniot with a huricarana after Kevin Sullivan comes down and distracts Beniot. Japan leads 1-0. This was a good match, but not exactly a "great" one. Both wrestlers gave us an array of exciting maneuvers, but it just felt like there was something majorly missing.
***1/4
Koji Kanemoto (W/Sony Onoo) Vs Alex Wright
Kanemoto wins with a jackknife roll-up. Japan leads 2-0. This match was above average for the most part. Kanemoto's style was hard to get used to at first, but they eventually got it rolling. Too bad the crowd didn't care that much about it.
**3/4
Lex Luger (W/Jimmy Hart) Vs Masahiro Chono (W/Sonny Onoo)
Luger gets a huge face pop, even though he's a heel. Nashville, you disappoint me. Luger wins in relatively quick fashion with the Torture Rack. It's 2-1 for Japan. WCW needed a dominant win at this point and this kind of fit the bill. For some odd reason, Luger was way over with the fans.
*1/4
Johnny B Badd (W/Kimberly) Vs Masa Saito (W/Sonny Onoo)
Kimberly (Looking mighty fine, I might add) owns Sonny Onoo on the microphone before the match after he implies women have no place in wrestling. Badd wins by DQ after Saito throws Badd over the top rope. It's tied 2-2. This is the weakest match on the PPV so far. Saito was past his prime at this juncture and couldn't move all that well.
*
Shinjiro Ootani (W/Sonny Onoo) Vs Eddie Guerrero
Ootani wins by reversing a roll-up from Eddie. Japan leads 3-2. This ended up being a pretty good match overall. It was similar to Liger vs Beniot, but these two managed to make it really exciting when it counted.
***1/4
Randy Savage Vs Tensan (W/Sonny Onoo)
Savage wins with the flying elbow drop. Japan and WCW are tied at 3 now. Savage gets his ass kicked for most of the match and comes back with basically one move and wins the entire match. Since it's Savage, you can chalk it up to resiliency. With anybody else, it's stretching major credibility.
*1/4
Sting Vs Kensuki Sasaki (W/Sonny Onoo)
This is for the World Cup. Sasaki is also the United States Champion, but the title is not up for grabs. Sting makes Sasaki submit with the Scorpion Deathlock. This was a pretty mediocre match for the most part. Sasaki had a couple of cool moves, but it was smooth sailing for Sting.
*1/2
The WCW contingent comes out to celebrate with Sting for the World Cup presentation.
Triangle Match
Sting Vs Lex Luger Vs Ric Flair
The winner advances to face Randy Savage for the WCW title, immediately following this match. Ric Flair wins with some heel shenanigans, proving why he's the dirtiest player in the game. This match was highly inconsistent. It had moments of excitement, but they were negated by many moments of sheer boredom. The crowd got restless at one point and started booing loudly. The booking is also very confusing. Luger acted like a face AND a heel in this match. If WCW didn't care, why should I?
**
WCW Heavyweight Championship
Randy Savage (C) Vs Ric Flair (W/Jimmy Hart)
Ric Flair wins the title for a 12th time, thanks to outside interference from Beniot, Pillman, and Arn Anderson. I'm always shocked when I see a match between Savage and Flair that is sub par. Unfortunately, this one falls under that category. Flair winning the title is a cool moment, but it was somewhat anti-climatic. Savage being protected in defeat was the right call, but it was still anti- climatic.
*3/4
Overall, this PPV is extremely average, if not below average. There were a couple of ***1/4 matches, but nothing that was truly memorable. The World Cup was pretty inconsequential and didn't feel nearly as important as WCW made it out to be. As I've stated in my Nitro reviews, WCW was suffering from overexposure. Your main stars were wrestling 2 to 3 times on one night, not to mention segments as well. Obviously, WCW would change the business in 1996 and revitalize wrestling with The NWO. 1995 definitely tested my patience, though.
Live from Nashville, TN
Attendance: 8,200
Your hosts are Tony Schiavone, Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby Heenan
This is all about the World Cup! It's New Japan Vs WCW in a best of 7 series.
Chris Beniot Vs Jushin "Thunder" Liger (W/Sony Onoo)
Liger pins Beniot with a huricarana after Kevin Sullivan comes down and distracts Beniot. Japan leads 1-0. This was a good match, but not exactly a "great" one. Both wrestlers gave us an array of exciting maneuvers, but it just felt like there was something majorly missing.
***1/4
Koji Kanemoto (W/Sony Onoo) Vs Alex Wright
Kanemoto wins with a jackknife roll-up. Japan leads 2-0. This match was above average for the most part. Kanemoto's style was hard to get used to at first, but they eventually got it rolling. Too bad the crowd didn't care that much about it.
**3/4
Lex Luger (W/Jimmy Hart) Vs Masahiro Chono (W/Sonny Onoo)
Luger gets a huge face pop, even though he's a heel. Nashville, you disappoint me. Luger wins in relatively quick fashion with the Torture Rack. It's 2-1 for Japan. WCW needed a dominant win at this point and this kind of fit the bill. For some odd reason, Luger was way over with the fans.
*1/4
Johnny B Badd (W/Kimberly) Vs Masa Saito (W/Sonny Onoo)
Kimberly (Looking mighty fine, I might add) owns Sonny Onoo on the microphone before the match after he implies women have no place in wrestling. Badd wins by DQ after Saito throws Badd over the top rope. It's tied 2-2. This is the weakest match on the PPV so far. Saito was past his prime at this juncture and couldn't move all that well.
*
Shinjiro Ootani (W/Sonny Onoo) Vs Eddie Guerrero
Ootani wins by reversing a roll-up from Eddie. Japan leads 3-2. This ended up being a pretty good match overall. It was similar to Liger vs Beniot, but these two managed to make it really exciting when it counted.
***1/4
Randy Savage Vs Tensan (W/Sonny Onoo)
Savage wins with the flying elbow drop. Japan and WCW are tied at 3 now. Savage gets his ass kicked for most of the match and comes back with basically one move and wins the entire match. Since it's Savage, you can chalk it up to resiliency. With anybody else, it's stretching major credibility.
*1/4
Sting Vs Kensuki Sasaki (W/Sonny Onoo)
This is for the World Cup. Sasaki is also the United States Champion, but the title is not up for grabs. Sting makes Sasaki submit with the Scorpion Deathlock. This was a pretty mediocre match for the most part. Sasaki had a couple of cool moves, but it was smooth sailing for Sting.
*1/2
The WCW contingent comes out to celebrate with Sting for the World Cup presentation.
Triangle Match
Sting Vs Lex Luger Vs Ric Flair
The winner advances to face Randy Savage for the WCW title, immediately following this match. Ric Flair wins with some heel shenanigans, proving why he's the dirtiest player in the game. This match was highly inconsistent. It had moments of excitement, but they were negated by many moments of sheer boredom. The crowd got restless at one point and started booing loudly. The booking is also very confusing. Luger acted like a face AND a heel in this match. If WCW didn't care, why should I?
**
WCW Heavyweight Championship
Randy Savage (C) Vs Ric Flair (W/Jimmy Hart)
Ric Flair wins the title for a 12th time, thanks to outside interference from Beniot, Pillman, and Arn Anderson. I'm always shocked when I see a match between Savage and Flair that is sub par. Unfortunately, this one falls under that category. Flair winning the title is a cool moment, but it was somewhat anti-climatic. Savage being protected in defeat was the right call, but it was still anti- climatic.
*3/4
Overall, this PPV is extremely average, if not below average. There were a couple of ***1/4 matches, but nothing that was truly memorable. The World Cup was pretty inconsequential and didn't feel nearly as important as WCW made it out to be. As I've stated in my Nitro reviews, WCW was suffering from overexposure. Your main stars were wrestling 2 to 3 times on one night, not to mention segments as well. Obviously, WCW would change the business in 1996 and revitalize wrestling with The NWO. 1995 definitely tested my patience, though.