October 1995 WCW Show Reviews (1/2)
Hulk Hogan ditches the red & yellow for black, Dean Malenko & Eddie Guerrero bring their rivalry to WCW, and will Sting team with Ric Flair? Follow along as I go show by show!
Follow along with my comments from going through each show.
Get caught up with the September shows and recap.
October 1995 WCW
Current Champions
WCW World Heavyweight Champion: Hulk Hogan
WCW United States Champion: Sting
WCW World Tag Team Champions: Harlem Heat
WCW World Television Champion: Diamond Dallas Page
October 2, 1995 WCW Prime
Cobra v Terry Richards. Squash. Richards is a young Rhino.
October 2, 1995 WCW Nitro #5 - Denver
Ric Flair storms the announce position screaming about Double A.
Lex Luger v Randy Savage. Decent. They replay what happened last week. Plugging the hotline for RAW Results! Savage tells it all with his eyes. Luger saying he’ll leave if he loses. Get about ten minutes. Lex is the first to cheat but only slightly. There’s a ref bump and Macho hits the elbow for a visual pin. The Giant choke slams Savage and Luger wins with the Rack! They continue the idea that Lex might be with the Dungeon of Doom.
WCWSN: Arn/Pillman v Stud Stable
Announcers reset with Giant/Hogan talk
Disco Inferno dances. Eddie Guerrero cuts him off.
Eddie Guerrero v Dean Malenko. An ok short match. Malenko’s debut. They have mutual respect. The action is smooth. Hogan’s limo arrives and they cut away from the match completely as Hogan wants to hunt Giant down. Mongo’s digging it but the crowd doesn’t care at all. Eddie hits a huge dive and sits down on a pin for the win. Malenko wants a rematch.
Gene brings out WCW Champ Hulk Hogan. He calls out the big nasty Giant. He starts heading to the back and The Taskmaster in drag attacks. Giant and Zodiac out to boos and Giant ‘snaps’ Hogan’s neck again. Sullivan shaves Hogan’s moustache!! He’s always trying to get heat in the silliness. American Males and Nasty Boys try to help and get beat up. Sullivan cuts Hulk’s hair. Another example of seeing Sullivan’s booking mind.
Ric Flair v Arn Anderson. Solid back and forth match. Ric has the Figure 4 and Pillman comes in for a DQ. Flair gets double teamed and no one helps.
Bischoff announces Flair and Arn in a Cage for next week in Chicago. Plus Sting v Shark, Sabu v Mr. JL, and Hawk v Bubba.
The lineup was great on paper but nothing quite delivered. The crowd was good and the hook for next week was strong.
October 7, 1995 WCW Worldwide
Bunkhouse Buck v Ric Flair. Decent match with Flair winning
Heenan looking in newspaper for Flair’s partner
DUNGEON OF DOOM: Taskmaster and Giant accept Hogan’s challenge. Giant ripping photos and toy trucks.
Kamala & Zodiac squash
Johnny B Badd interview on DDP. Ruined his US Title shot so he’s coming after his TV Title shot. Badd’s good here.
Havoc Control Center: Neckbrace Hogan promo. Bigfoot monster truck. Two times going to kill a giant in Detroit. In Hogan lore he murdered Andre The Giant at WM3
WCW TV Champ Diamond Dallas Page v Tim Horner. Fun little match and DDP wins.
Col Parker & Kurasawa interview on Hawk.
Randy Savage v Dick Slater. Good spirited match. Savage wins with an elbow.
Gene interviews Savage. Flair out. Security. Flair wants a partner. On a peace mission. Apologizing. Laying it on thick now. Macho tells him to GTFO. GOOD stuff!
Rare Worldwide with 3 competitive matches.
October 7, 1995 WCW Pro
Mr Wonderful squash
Harlem Heat squash. Sherri mad at Parker
Scott Norton squash. Good power bomb.
Giant & Taskmaster promo
WCW TV Champ DDP squash. Diamond Cutter.
Ric Flair v Sgt Craig Pittman. Solid match. Flair wins with a small package. From Center Stage.
Arn Anderson interview on Flair in a cage. Cliches tell the story. Silence is golden. No one saved Flair. Safety in numbers. He told him. Pillman stepped up. Saw Flair’s fire in his eyes. Expect to get hurt. Very good promo. Recommended.
October 7, 1995 WCW Saturday Night
Alex Wright squash. Uses the Liontamer!
Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman v Dick Slater & Bunkhouse Buck. Solid. Two heel teams trying to out heel each other. Sherri is out scouting. Dusty’s funny. Parker gets distracted and Arn rolls up Slater.
Havoc Control Center: Savage promo
DUNGEON OF DOOM: Taskmaster and Giant with Master. Hogan crumbled every time.
Meng squash. Wearing a funny mask. Nerve hold.
Mr Wonderful squash
Dean Malenko v Eddie Guerrero. Very good match. This is much more like it. They get about fifteen minutes to do their thing. Alex Wright watches on. Eddie’s a step ahead and getting chants. Lots of great offense, reversals, and pin attempts. They do a big suplex to the floor. Eddie does the walk away on a plancha!! Eddie hurts his leg on dive and Malenko capitalizes to win. There hasn’t been a match like this in WCW all year.
Mr Wonderful squash
Johnny B Badd squash. Post-match interview. DDP has no heart.
Big Bubba v Jim Duggan. Decent match to continue the feud. They work pretty hard with each other. VK Wallstreet comes out again with the 2x4. Duggan KOs Bubba with a taped fist for the win. Wallstreet attacks Duggan.
October 8, 1995 WCW Main Event
WCW World Tag Team Titles American Males v Stud Stable (Bunkhouse Buck & Dick Slater). Ok match. Males win. Still feels odd that they have the belts. A non-factor.
October 9, 1995 WCW Prime
Shark squash.
October 9, 1995 WCW Nitro #6 - Chicago, IL
Bischoff, Mongo, Heenan in Bears jerseys. Hogan here tonight. Giant here. Sting has remedy for Savage and Luger problem. Good teases off the top again.
WCW US Title Sting v Shark. Fun match. Shark has better gear. Sting gets a big pop. This is all quick and all offense. Sting wins.
Giant attack from last week
Sabu v Mr JL. Fun match. Sabu attacks. Crazed. Somersault legdrop. Sabu’s offense pops. Gets chants. Hogan Sucks chants!! Sabu unloads his full arsenal. JL not too shabby either with a draping DDT off the top. Sabu wins and hits a sunset flip power bomb after.
Sting and Lex Luger out with Gene. Sting has a solution. Wants Macho out. Dripped out. Giant winning the game. Savage says how come he hasn't touched Sting? Paranoid. Insecure. All want to be world champ. Savage is so good at TV. Never stops. Sting says if Luger and Savage both win, they should wrestle at Havoc. Luger doesn't like it. Sting calls him pathetic. Tired of sticking up for him. Lex fires up. Will take on Savage. Very good big star TV. Recommended.
Chris Benoit arrives in a limo. Bischoff puts him over huge.
Disco dancing
Hawk v Big Bubba Rogers. Ok. Keep energy up. Disco out and Hawk beats him up. Gets counted out.
Gene brings out Hulk Hogan. Loud boos! In all black with the neckbrace. Gene tries to pass off the boos on his black look. Hogan with some hints of Hollywood in his delivery. Gonna play Dungeon’s game. Calls out Giant. Restraining order. Hogan rips a New York promoter for getting too big. That promoter is dying. Choking on his own ego. No reaction to any of this. Speaking in riddles way too much. Compares shaving his mustache to burning flag. NUTS. A monster truck arrives outside! Zodiac being wacky. More Hogan sucks chants. Recommended
Cops talk to Bischoff and they’re keeping Hogan and Giant apart. They love this something always happening vibe
Arn Anderson v Ric Flair - Cage Match. Good match. They start hot and keep up the intensity. We want blood chants! They make their minutes count. Flair is feeling it. Pillman takes a big bump off the cage! Arn knocks out Flair with an object and pins him clean.
Flair storms to announce position. He’s on fire. Screams that he’ll wrestle both of them next week. Will look all over the world for a partner but he’ll face them on his own if he has too!
Announcers close talking about Hogan going to the darkside. More Hogan sucks chants in background
Next Week: DDP/Badd, Benoit/Eddie, Duggan/Meng, Flair v Arn/Pillman
Probably the most anti-Hogan crowd is Chicago to this point. Awesome hour of TV that left me hyped for more. Maybe my favorite Nitro to this point.
October 14, 1995 WCW Pro
Ric Flair makes a final plea to Sting to be his partner. A gang of little stingers want to see them tag. Flair proclaims him the heir apparent. Dares him to say no. Sting lives and breathes the little stingers. Reluctantly gives him the benefit of doubt but if he swerves him he’ll leave for dead. Flair says he owes him for two years ago. His daughter likes Sting more than him. Recommended.
Johnny B Badd squash
Havoc Control Center: Hogan getting his monster truck made
Zodiac squash
Same Giant Taskmaster promo
Barrio Brothers squash. Facing Sting and Luger tonight.
Randy Savage v Bunkhouse Buck. Ok. Macho wins.
October 14, 1995 WCW Saturday Night
Hawk v Chris Kanyon. Squash.
Sting and Ric Flair team up from Pro
Harlem Heat v Southern Posse. Decent Heat showcase. Need to be doing more.
Taskmaster squash.
Renegade squash.
Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman squash. Flashing 4 fingers. Gene interview on Flair/Sting. Pillman turned a corner since heel turn. Warmup on Nitro. Have the momentum. Recommended.
Meng squash. Gene interview on Luger. Hints at getting both dq’d to make Luger and Savage fight
Alex Wright v Disco Inferno. Good match. Work well together. Disco gets german suplexed and pinned. Gene interview Disco and he’s doing a fake undefeated gimmick. Over the top goof.
Johnny B Badd, DDP promos
Scott Norton squash. Good
Mr Wonderful squash.
Man of Question promo
Sting & Lex Luger v Barrio Brothers. Fun showcase for Sting and Lex back together. Barrios are solid. Lex wins with the rack.
Hulk Hogan promo. Darkside Hogan. World stood still when he wore black. Now I'm the bad guy brothers! The Giant brought evil out of him. Must see.
October 14, 1995 WCW Worldwide
Tony and Bobby hyping up the Monster Truck match. Show Sting and Flair from Pro.
Arn Anderson & Brian Pillman squash.
Randy Savage interview on Kamala. Loose but tight. Divide and conquer. Classic Savage
Kurasawa squash
Dean Malenko profile. Doing it for his late father. Clips from japan. Eddie Guerrero is the man he wants to face again in WCW. Very serious and real presentation.
Kamala squash. Giant out wanting Hogan
Eddie Guerrero promo. Talks his father. Gives background and history with Dean. Cool promo.
Hacksaw Duggan squash
DDP interview with Gene on Badd. Crying all the time.
Big Bubba v Dave Sullivan. Silly match. Bubba is still allergic to the rabbit. Gets counted out.
Stay tuned for Part Two…
Loved this era of WCW. Fun recap.