Here’s my WCW Fall Brawl 1995 review, which features an interesting War Games main event.
- Event: WCW Fall Brawl 1995
- Date: September 17, 1995
- Location: Asheville, NC
– Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan hype the action, including The Giant apparently destroying Hulk Hogan’s motorcycle before the show.
Flyin’ Brian vs. Johnny B. Badd – No. 1 Contender for WCW US Title
Michael Buffer in prime form from the start. The winner of this one gets a shot at Sting in two weeks on WCW Saturday Night. Feeling out process early on, with Tony and Heenan focusing on War Games. Lots of technical counters and reversals, and the crowd doesn’t particularly seem pleased. Just as the action picks up, Badd goes back to the headlock. Badd gets busted open near his eye at some point, the aggressiveness builds from there. Tony plays up both of these men being able to go the 20 minutes, so that’s a hint of what direction they’re heading in. Pillman uses some heel tendencies to get the crowd going, and the action ramps up from there. Pillman in control, then Badd in control. Great spot with Badd coming off the top but Pillman hitting him with a dropkick. Several near falls after that, and that trend continues to the one-minute mark. Badd thinks he got the pin, but Pillman’s in the ropes. Buffer counts it all the way down for the draw. But since Nick Patrick does what he wants, he says the match must continue with sudden death overtime. These two keep working their asses off, and there’s a great spot with Badd throwing Pillman into the guardrail before flipping onto him. Pillman with a flying cross body of his own onto Badd on the outside. Man, these dudes are putting on a wrestling showcase. They work to a double cross body, and it’s Badd who uses his momentum to get the pin for the win. This match took up nearly the first 40 minutes of the pay-per-view, and it was worth it.
- Blake’s Rating: ****
– Mean Gene Okerlund with Ric Flair. He talks about the bond with he and Arn Anderson and how they’re now on the opposite side. Gene wants to know if Flair hates Arn. Flair says the problem is he loves him, but there’s only one king of the hill. WOOO!
Cobra vs. Sgt. Craig Pittman
Pittman sneaks in by rappelling from the rafters and attacking Cobra from behind. Not gonna lie, I don’t recall much of anything about Cobra. I know it’s Jeff Farmer (fake Sting), but this Cobra character clearly didn’t do much. This is essentially a squash match, with Pittman making quick work to force Cobra to submit. Maybe that’s why the Cobra character didn’t work!
- Blake’s Rating: SQUASH
– Recap of Paul Orndorff losing his shit in the locker room and questioning himself. PSYCHIC GARY SPIVEY gives him a long motivational speech and Orndorff is back. He even kisses the mirror. What the fuck did I just watch?
Diamond Dallas Page (w/Diamond Doll and Maxx Muscle) vs. (c) The Renegade (w/Jimmy Hart) – WCW Television Title
This was certainly an interesting period in the careers of both men. Of course, I’m specifically talking about Page’s gear. Heenan makes a joke about Gary Spivey having better hair than Kimberly, and I’m not sure I agree. I know Renegade’s history is what it is, but this is actually not a terrible match. Maybe it’s Page’s selling, or maybe they just had chemistry. Either way, the crowd was into it, especially when Renegade dove onto Muscle on the outside. That allowed Page to hit the Diamond Cutter on Renegade to win the title.
- Blake’s Rating: **
Harlem Heat (w/Sister Sherri) vs. (c) Bunkhouse Buck and Dirty Dick Slater (w/Col. Rob Parker)
Tony hints that Mike Tenay has the SCOOP of a top wrestling start defecting to another promotion. Just call the hotline, folks! An interesting mix of styles here, as when you think about it, they’re somewhat similar. Buck and Slater are brawlers, and Booker T and Stevie Ray are ass-kickers. I always enjoyed the Sherri pairing with Harlem Heat. Then again, she was great in pretty much every role throughout her career. There is indeed some ass-kicking in this match, but there’s a lot more methodical holds from Buck and Slater. Meanwhile, Sherri crawls on her knees into ring No. 1 and Parker approaches her and they start kissing. The Nasty Boys run in and use Slater’s boot on him, and Booker gets the pin to win the titles. There wasn’t much to this one.
- Blake’s Rating: **
– Buck is pissed at Parker and Gene wants answers. Parker says he’ll get them another tag title match. Gene thinks he’s in love and calls him disgusting. Gene was truly the best. Parker says he has to have Sherri, and he’ll get the titles back for Buck and Slater.
– Promo for Halloween Havoc, including the suggestion to watch for it on videocassette. Think anyone has the Halloween Havoc 1995 VHS?
– Gene with Arn Anderson. Gene keeps stirring the pot with a video package of Arn and Flair’s bond and the backstory that led to their match. Awesome job from the production team to sell the feud. Arn says all a man can do is stand up to his word. No surprise, but a tremendous promo from Arn.
Arn Anderson vs. Ric Flair
Give WCW credit. If you were gonna do a match like this, it had to be in North Carolina. Quite a crew ringside, with Pillman, Parker, Big Bubba Rogers, and the American Males all watching. Technical masterclass between these two friends turned foes. They really focused on working the crowd and taking them for a ride. Just when you thought Arn may finish Flair off, Flair locks in the Figure Four. But then Arn reverses it to force Flair to get the break. That leads to Flair becoming the dirtiest player in the game with a shot to Arn’s knee. Great selling from Arn on the knee, and that’s when Pillman hops on the apron and kicks Flair in the back of the head, allowing Arn to hit the DDT for the win.
- Blake’s Rating: ***1/2
– We get a ridiculous video package with Kevin Sullivan hyping the War Games match. This is 1995 pro wrestling right here.Â
– Tony and Heenan show us the video of The Giant destroying Hogan’s motorcycle before the show.Â
– Another video package with the events leading to the War Games match, including Luger joining the team.
– Mean Gene with Hogan, Savage, Sting, and Luger. They all talk and they’re ready.
The Dungeon of Doom vs. Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Sting, and Lex Luger – War Games Match
Buffer informs us that a special stipulation has been added: If Hogan’s team wins, it’ll be Hogan vs. Sullivan one-on-one after the match. Joy. Sting and Shark start things off. John Tenta really is one of the most underrated wrestlers ever. He could do some pretty incredible work for his size. Zodiac in next, then it’s Savage. Next up is Kamala, then Luger. The usual brawling all over the place, with both teams getting the upper hand at various points. Meng makes his way into the mix, and he does what Meng does. He kicks ass. Hogan comes in and immediately turns to his heel tactics by throwing powder in the heels’ eyes. His team keeps the momentum going from there, and Hogan forces Zodiac to submit to earn the victory. Well, this was probably the worst War Games match in history.
- Blake’s Rating: *1/2
– After the match, Sullivan tries to hit the road, but they force him to get in the ring with Hogan. Of course, Hogan squashes him, then Giant comes out and seemingly breaks Hogan’s neck. All of Hogan’s teammates return to make the save. Buffer says over the microphone that paramedics are needed at ringside to attend to Hogan.
Blake’s Take On WCW Fall Brawl 1995
- Best Match: Flyin’ Brian vs. Johnny B. Badd (****)
- Show MVP: Johnny B. Badd
- Overall Rating: 4.0/10
- Thoughts: The main event was just brutal, and so was the majority of the rest of the card. However, the opener and Flair vs. Arn were both excellent. So, this show at least had that going for it.
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