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KEEPIN' THE MEMORIES ALIVE: LOOKING BACK AT WCW FALL BRAWL '96

Hello readers and welcome to the thirteenth edition of “Keeping The Memories Alive“. In today’s edition, I will be reviewing WCW Fall Brawl 96. The event was aired live on Pay Per View from the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on September 15, 1996. Keep your requests coming.

The show opens with a video package highlighting some of the key moments for the nWo throughout the year.

Pyro goes off as Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan and Dusty Rhodes welcome us. The announcers show us footage from last Monday on Nitro with what appeared to be Sting wearing nWo black and white and attacking Lex Luger. Then we see footage from WCW Saturday Night last night where the New World Order destroyed Lex Luger’s car.

Match #1: “DDP” Diamond Dallas Page vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.


Tale Of The Tape: DDP (275 pounds, from Las Vegas, Nevada, 40 years old, former WCW Television Champion). Chavo Guerrero (215 pounds, from El Paso, Texas, 25 years old).

Chavo wastes no time, drop kicking Page to the floor, followed by a somersault dive onto the floor. Both men brawling on the outside now. Where’s the count ref? Back in the ring, Chavo with a cross body for a count of 2. Chavo eventually runs out of gas and DDP turns things around with a bunch of boring and slow holds. Chavo hits an inside cradle out of nowhere but only gets a 2 count. DDP goes to kick Chavo, misses and falls right on his ass. Chavo hit’s a missile dropkick but only gets a count of 2. Chavo goes for a hurricanrana off the top but again only 2. Both men now go over to the second ring that will be used for War Games later in the broadcast. Page hit’s a shades of Dino Bravo side slam for a count of 2. Page hit’s a nicely done tornado power bomb but again, 2! DDP makes the sign for the diamond cutter, hits it and pins Guerrero for the win. Not a bad opening bout for a rookie and a guy just getting on his feet in the industry.

We see Harlem Heat, Sherri and Robert Parker backstage at the WCW online station.

We go to a special report with Gene Okerlund (Is this a PPV or a Saturday morning recap show?) showing us everything the New World Order has done since May. What a waste of 5 minutes.

Match #2: Scott Norton vs. Ice Train (with Teddy Long) in a Submission Match.

Tale Of The Tape: Ice Train (315 pounds, from Detroit, Michigan, 30 years old). Scott Norton (360 pounds, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, 35 years old, 2 time IWGP Tag Team Champion).

I can already tell this will probably be the worst Submission Match in history. The referee is holding a microphone, which is usually done for I Quit Matches, not Submission Matches, but Eric Bischoff no doubt saw the WWF do it at Wrestle Mania 11 with an I Quit Match, so he probably figures it’s the same thing. 3 minutes into the match, nothing but punches and kicks, Teddy Long is the most interesting thing in the match thus far by just yelling on the outside. Ice Train hit’s a big power slam on his former Fire & Ice tag team partner. Norton has Ice Train locked in a code red arm bar (ala Craig Pittman). Long acts like he is about to throw the towel into the ring but the referee directs him not to. Why do they need a microphone and a towel? Train has now locked in a Japanese arm bar but Norton is not giving in. Norton hit’s a big spine buster and then hooks in a Boston crab but Ice Train says no. Teddy now gets on the apron, Norton pulls him in but before he can do anything, Ice Train slaps on the full nelson for the win. And yes my prediction was right, the worst Submission Match in history at WCW Fall Brawl 96!

Match #3: Konnan (with the “Mouth Of The South” Jimmy Hart) defends the AAA America’s Title against Juventud Guerrera.

Tale Of The Tape: Juventud Guerrera (200 pounds, from Mexico, 21 years old, former WWA Tag Team Champion). Konnan (250 pounds, from Mexico City, Mexico, 32 years old, on first reign as AAA America’s Champion).

Mike Tenay joins the announce team for this match. They refer to the AAA America’s Title as the Mexican Heavyweight Title. Juvi does an awesome move, spring boarding off the ropes, onto the ropes of the other ring, back to the other ring where Konnan was standing by the turnbuckles and takes him out with a press. Konnan goes outside for a breather. Guerrera does a suicide dive but mainly hit’s the steel barricade. Tenay says tonight on the hotline, he will address the internet rumors of Scott Hall and Kevin Nash (Jim Ross had been claiming they were on their way back to the WWF). Tenay also brings up the fact that Juvi is the son of Mexican wrestler, Fuerza Guerrera. Konnan is kicking major ass now. Powerbomb, dropkick, German suplexes. Guerrera goes outside for a breather. Juvi springboards back in the ring with a dropkick and then a leg drop for a 2 count. Juvi back outside now, K-Dawg nails him with a dropkick off the apron. Back in the ring, Konnan with yet another dropkick (Ok, he does a good dropkick but for God sakes, do something else!). Both wrestlers trade roll up pin fall attempts but come up short. Juvi does a nicely done springboard spin kick but takes to long to get a cover. Juvi then does an excellent 450 splash (which surprisingly gets no reaction from the crowd) but only a 2 count. Konnan hit’s a brain buster off the top rope, again only 2. Konnan finally puts Juvi away with something like a razor’s edge off the top rope (announcers call it a power drop) for the win. Hands down, the best match thus far.

Match #4: Chris Jericho vs. “The Crippler” Chris Benoit.

Tale Of The Tape: Chris Jericho (226 pounds, from Calgary, Alberta, 25 years old, former ECW Television Champion). Chris Benoit (220 pounds, from Edmonton, Alberta, 29 years old, former ECW Tag Team Champion).

Benoit takes early control of the match. He puts Jericho in his own hold, the lion tamer, which Tony Schiavone refers to as a half crab. Jericho strikes back with a spin kick for the first pin fall attempt of the match. Both men roll up, bridge and counter from one side of the ring to the other, sending Benoit under the ropes to the apron. This allows Jericho to do his trademark springboard dropkick off the second turnbuckle. Jericho then does a suicide dive onto the floor, looks like his shoulder got all floor. Back in the ring now, Jericho with a tiger bomb for a count of 2. Benoit goes for a side suplex but ends up tossing Jericho over the ropes to the floor. The crippler brings Jericho back in the ring and screams at him “come on Jericho, you wanna be famous”. Benoit has now applied the abdominal stretch. Jericho breaks out with an arm drag. Benoit slams Jericho and goes up top to deliver the flying head butt for a 2 count. Jericho gets tossed outside the ring, again. Back in the ring, Jericho sneaks in a small package for a count of 2. Jericho with a backslide, again only 2. Jericho hit’s a nice northern lights suplex for another 2 count. Jericho hit’s a tombstone!, goes for the lionsault but sees Benoit move and he lands on his feet. Jericho with a hurancanrana off the top rope, another 2 count! Benoit strikes back with a back superplex for the win. 2 good matches in a row, but Benoit and Jericho always have good matches. Crowd seems to like Benoit over Jericho in this meeting as Benoit was a member of the Horsemen at the time.

Match #5: Rey Mysterio Jr. defends the WCW Cruiserweight Title against Super Calo.

Tale Of The Tape: Super Calo (200 pounds, from Mexico City, Mexico, 25 years old). Rey Mysterio (175 pounds, from Tijuana, Mexico, 21 years old, on first reign as WCW Cruiserweight Champion).

Mike Tenay again joins the announce team for a match I’m sure that will be hard to call. Tenay brings up the fact that Super Calo got his name from the Mexican rap group “Calo”, who gave him the name in the middle of the ring in AAA. The match surprisingly takes a few minutes to heat up. Calo hit’s a power bomb, spring boarding Mysterio off the ropes with it for the first pin fall attempt. Mysterio gets clotheslined over the top rope to the floor Royal Rumble style. Super Calo follows that up with a missile dropkick to the floor. Calo then does a nicely done somersault senton splash onto the floor (similar to Eddie Guerrero’s flip over the apron but on the floor). Back in the ring, Calo does a reverse hurancanrana off the top but only gets a 2 count. Still no offense in this match from Rey Rey. Calo slows things down with the short armed scissor hold. Calo now has Mysterio in the surfboard, turns it into a pin but again only 2. Mysterio hit’s a full contact cross body, sending himself and Calo over the top rope to the floor, Mysterio follows that up with a suicide dive. Mysterio goes for what he now calls the west coast pop but Calo counters with a dropkick. Both men brawl into the second ring. Dusty says Mysterio will probably not be able to get out of bed when he is 30, he then jokingly says “I’m 36 and I have trouble”. Calo is back on the floor, Mysterio does an awesome springboard flip to the floor. This entire card is just high risk city. If there is anything WCW did good for the business, it was introducing the fast paced style to America. Mysterio jumps on the rope, springboards himself to the second rings rope, hit’s a hurancanrana to retain the Cruiserweight Title. As expected, lots of high risk which makes for a good match.

Match #6: Harlem Heat (Booker T & Stevie Ray, with Sister Sherri & Col. Robert Parker) defend the WCW Tag Team Titles against the Nasty Boys (Brian Knobs & Jerry Sags).

Tale Of The Tape: Nasty Boys (585 pounds, from New York City, New York, former WWF Tag Team Champions, both are 32 years old). Harlem Heat (543 pounds, from Harlem, New York, on sixth reign as WCW Tag Team Champions. Booker is 31 years old, Stevie is 38 years old).

This should be a nice brawling match. I still don’t understand why WCW chose to have 3 fast paced matches in a row, they should had split them up. Stevie and Sags start the match. Sags hit a big clothesline for the first pin fall attempt which Sherri broke up by grabbing Sags leg. It sure is weird to see Booker with short hair. Knobs and Booker are now tagged in. So far all we have seen is clotheslines and punches after 5 minutes. Sherri is screaming at the top of her lungs. Sherri is actually pretty hot, even with all her makeup. Bull Nakano is another one who was made to look ugly but was pretty hot without the make up. Luna Vachon, uh no. OK, I’m getting carried away, back to this very slow paced match, after all I’m not Tony Schiavone. Booker has Knobs in a chin lock. Knobs gets tossed outside, allowing Sherri to unload with some uppercuts. Back in the ring, Stevie Ray is tagged back in, hit’s a horrible leg drop and Knobs gets right up. Booker back in, goes for the sidekick, misses and goes over the top rope to the floor. Sags is tagged in and cleans house on both Harlem Heat members. Sags flips Sherri into the ring. Sags rolls up Booker but only a count of 2. Sags hit’s a piledriver but Stevie breaks up the count, which brings in Knobs to take him out.. Booker is down, Sags goes to the top rope, Parker trips Sags off with his cane. Sags back in the ring, Booker hits his scissor kick, sending Sags back outside where he gets triple teamed by Sherri, Parker and Stevie as Knobs argues with the ref. Knobs is finally tagged in, cleaning house with clotheslines and back body drops. Sags back in, gives Booker the pump handle slam, Knobs with a splash off the second rope. Robert Parker gets on the apron to distract the referee, Sherri rolls in with the cane and levels Knobs across his head. Booker rolls back over to cover Knobs and retain the Tag Team Titles.

An advertisement airs with Ric Flair sporting the Fall Brawl t-shirt..

Backstage, Mike Tenay interviews Randy Savage. Tenay looks so young! Savage does his usual promo, screams, gets quiet, oh yeah, thinking thinking, screams, blaw blaw blaw. He gets quiet again and you can’t even hear what he is saying.

Match #7: The Giant vs. “Macho Man” Randy Savage.

Tale Of The Tape: Randy Savage (238 pounds, from Sarasota, Florida, 43 years old, 2 time WWF Champion). Giant (481 pounds, from Tampa, Florida, 24 years old, 2 time WCW Champion).

The Giant comes out to the Dungeon of Dooms music even though he recently joined the New World Order. WCW stops the music and then starts playing the nWo theme. Are they serious? I miss Big Show back when he looked like a barbarian. Giant is totally overpowering Savage. There must be a fight breaking out in the arena as everyone in the crowd is looking to their right. Bobby Heenan even makes mention of this by asking if the New World Order are in the crowd. We see nothing though. I guess this match bores Heenan just as much as me. Giant has Savage in a bear hug for a while. He finally puts him down but misses an elbow drop, which allows Savage to go up top with a bulldog and take the Giant off his feet. Savage slams him and then goes up top for the elbow drop. Hulk Hogan has now come down and Savage goes after him. Scott Hall and Kevin Nash are waiting by the entrance way with chairs and take the Macho Man out. In the ring, referee Nick Patrick (who was in cahoots with the nWo) has his back turned and is talking to the Giant. Hogan brings Savage back to the ring, allowing the Giant to get the easy victory.

A Promo airs for Halloween Havoc next month, featuring Randy Savage.

The War Games cage is lowered to the ring with so much pyro, I’m surprised the ring didn’t catch.

Backstage, Mike Tenay is with Ric Flair, Lex Luger, Arn Anderson, Woman and Elizabeth. Tenay asks who will replace Sting tonight now that he has joined the New World Order? Flair doesn’t really answer, he just says the Horsemen kick ass! Anderson answers the question by saying they will go in alone. Sting then shows up and says it was not him on Monday night. Luger says he knows it was him and he doesn’t believe him. Sting says he will prove it tonight. Interview ends with Flair telling Luger he is a lean, mean, wrestling machine.

Michael Buffer reads the rules for the War Games Match.

Match #8: The New World Order (“Hollywood” Hulk Hogan, Kevin Nash, Scott Hall & “Sting”) vs. Arn Anderson, Lex Luger, Sting & “the Nature Boy” Ric Flair in a War Games Match.

Tale Of The Tape: Hulk Hogan (275 pounds, from Hollywood, California, 43 years old, on second reign as WCW Champion). “Sting” (264 pounds, from Venice Beach, California, 34 years old). Kevin Nash (320 pounds, from Detroit, Michigan, 37 years old, former WWF Champion). Scott Hall (287 pounds, from Miami, Florida, 37 years old, 4 time WWF Intercontinental Champion). Lex Luger (270 pounds, from Chicago, Illinois, 38 years old, former WCW Champion, Arn Anderson (255 pounds, from Charlotte, North Carolina, 37 years old, former WWF Tag Team Champion), Ric Flair (242 pounds, from Charlotte, North Carolina, 47 years old, 2 time WWF Champion), Sting (255 pounds, from Venice Beach, California, 37 years old, 2 time WCW Champion).

Scott Hall (with “Trillionaire” Ted Dibiase) will start the match with Arn Anderson. Both men will have 5 minutes until someone else enters the match. If you are not familiar with War Games, its pretty similar to TNA’s Lethal Lockdown. 2 teams of 4 or 5 (in this case 4), 2 men from each team start it out and then after several minutes go by, another member of a team will enter the match, giving that team the early advantage. This match is only one fall! No falls can be attempted until all men have entered the ring. Oh yeah, and it takes place in a steel cage with 2 rings! Anderson has taken the early lead, going to work on Hall’s leg. You just know the next guy out will be an nWo member. Hall tries to go in the other ring but Anderson follows him and slaps on a sleeper. Anderson just hit a huge spine buster. Anderson now has a single leg crab on Scott Hall, Tony Schiavone just informed us that the New World Order have won the coin toss to see who will be out next. Kevin Nash is the next man out. Double A says to bring it but Nash takes him out with a big boot. And now its time for the Outsiders to do what they do best, double team. Also, a new guy will enter every 2 minutes from here on out.

Lex Luger is #2 for WCW. He takes the Outsiders out with a double clothesline. He nails Hall with the flying forearm (I’m surprised Tony didn’t say anything about a metal plate, hehe). As we await the third man for the New World Order, Luger and Anderson have Hall and Nash pretty much under control. Hulk Hogan is the next man out. Lex and Arn double team Hollywood while Hall and Nash are down. However, the 3 on 2 advantage quickly turns to the favor of the black and white. Hogan beats on Anderson in one ring while the Outsiders destroy Luger in the other.

Here comes the Nature Boy! He is stylin and profilin, begging Hogan to come get it. Flair has a taped fist and drills the Hulkster, he takes Hall and Nash down with low blows. Flair now has Hogan in the figure four in the middle of the ring.

The final man for the New World Order comes out. Its Sting, well, we think. He looks noticeably different. The man playing the “imposter” Sting here is actually Jeff Farmer, who was previously known as the Cobra in WCW. 4 To 3 advantage has the nWo on top.

The eighth and final competitor is indeed the real Sting and he is cleaning house, a Stinger splash in every corner! Sting kicks all this ass and then screams “is that good enough for you!” at Luger. He gives Lex the “stick it” sign and leaves the ring to go backstage. Its back to 3 on 4. I can’t really blame Sting. He said it wasn’t really him who attacked Luger and he was telling the truth. Mean while, the fake Sting has just made Luger submit to the scorpion death lock! Team New World Order are your winners. Luger rolls out of the ring and crawls on his hands and knees, screaming for Sting. All the other competitors are now brawling on the outside.

Randy Savage comes down and brings Hogan back in the ring. Unfortunately for the Macho Man, the Giant and the Outsiders attack Savage from behind. A big delayed choke slam from the Giant, where’s the spray paint? Oh, Hogan just pulled some out. Elizabeth is now out here! She hasn’t been involved with Savage for years! Liz covers herself over Savage and Hogan spray paints Elizabeth instead. Hulk gets on the mic, calls Liz and Savage losers and pieces of garbage before spitting on Liz. I gotta say, Elizabeth may have been hotter when she was older, in her WCW days. Savage now gets the spray paint as well before yet another choke slam at the hands of the Giant.

Heenan, Schiavone and Rhodes exit the broadcasting booth as the New World Order take it over. The Giant says tonight’s show was brought to you by the Ric Flair retirement fund.

The show ends with a trainer and Elizabeth helping Randy Savage to the back.

Roll to the credits (I still laugh out loud at the ending, Executive Producer: Eric Bischoff, and then it stays on the screen for 5 seconds).

Final Thoughts: This event occurred during WCW’s most successful run as a company. I was highly entertained by most of WCW’s PPV’s in 1996, much more than the WWF at the time. This event did have some good matches in Jericho/Benoit, Mysterio/Calo and Konnan/Juvi. The War Games match was not bad either. That match was the first step in one of WCW’s biggest storylines ever, where they had Sting sit on the sidelines for over a year with no loyalty to WCW or the New World Order. I believe it was the next night on Nitro (after this event I just reviewed) where Sting declared himself a free agent. Sting would sit up in the rafters, eventually growing his hair long and painting a black and white crow face on himself. Sometimes, he even had a crow with him, sometimes even a freakin vulture! Eventually, Sting returned to the ring at Starrcade 97 and won the WCW Title from Hulk Hogan. I still can’t believe Vince McMahon is so full of himself to not use this match in WWE. I mean, you own the freaking name! You don’t have to call it Lethal Lockdown, it can still be War Games! The guy who invented it runs your development system! What you got to lose? I heard he doesn’t want to use 2 rings because it takes seats away, use one ring then!

I hope you enjoyed reading the thirteenth edition of “Keeping The Memories Alive”. In the next edition, I will be reviewing WWF Armageddon 2000. Now I ask, what would you like to see reviewed? My complete collection can be found at www.freewebs.com/jbryan1984/.

 Email me your feedback and requests at jbryan21408@yahoo.com.

Jim Bryan