83 Weeks - Fall Brawl: War Games 1995 [Show Notes] (Patreon)

Fall Brawl 1995

The 1995 edition of WCW Fall Brawl happened on September 17 in Asheville, North Carolina before a sellout crowd of about 6,600. 5,100 paid approximately $72,000 at the gate at the Asheville Civic Center, later known as the U.S. Cellular Center and now Harrah’s Cherokee Center - Asheville.

This was the third Fall Brawl event out of eight total. The show did a .48 buyrate, with about 113,000 estimated buys bringing in $1.21 million. That was the lowest of any PPV Hogan had appeared on and the lowest of the year for WCW.

Two big matches stood out as draws on the card. One of those was, of course, the WarGames main event match. But the other was Arn Anderson and Ric Flair in a one-on-one match. Meltzer wrote “Most there live felt that it was Flair vs. Anderson and not the War Games that was the main draw on the show.”

First up, some headlines:

Turner/Time Warner Merger

On October 2, 1995, Meltzer reported…

After a handshake deal on live television, Turner Broadcasting, which among its numerous holdings includes World Championship Wrestling, is merging with Time-Warner.

The combination of the two would result in the largest media conglomerate in the world, including such holdings as TBS, CNN, Time Magazine, Time-Warner cable, TVKO, Sports Illustrated, People Magazine, the Atlanta Hawks and Braves, TNT and HBO. WCW would be roughly one-twentieth of one percent of this gigantic organization.

WCW officials were celebrating when the deal went down, but realistically any talk of anything in regard to what this means is premature.

What did it mean?

Meltzer reports Bischoff flub during Sabu meeting

From The Observer…”The big joke going around is that when Eric Bischoff met Sabu at the Miami tapings, he brought up having grown up in Detroit and watched his uncle wrestle and then talked about seeing his uncle lose the title to Hulk Hogan (confusing The Sheik with Iron Sheik). The reason he miscalled Sabu's finisher as the Arabian press is because Sabu told Bischoff the finisher would be the Arabian press, however Nick Patrick counted three on a move that wasn't supposed to be the finish.”

What happened?

Meltzer: WCW banning banners at Nitro

Meltzer reported...In Johnson City, I guess figuring something could be up, the ring announcer before they went on the air said for everyone to make noise and show us your signs. The thought police then confiscated signs they thought were offensive. Among the signs confiscated were: "Hogan rules," "Malenko vs. Guerrero--Mat Classic," "Who's the Man? Paul Orndorff. Just ask Vader," and "WCW Get a Clue. Read the Observer." To avoid this problem, on 9/25 in Florence outside the building they confiscated all signs and banners and had signs around the buildings saying no banners allowed in the building.

WCW runs Collision in Korea event

Observer: WCW ran two events over the past six weeks--Collision in Korea appears to have done an 0.15 buy rate (30,000 buys/$175,000) and we don't have a buy rate on the K-1 PPV but it was right about the same figure or slightly better. Since both shows were on taped delay, the costs for the shows and break-even points were considerably down from a typical PPV show (a live PPV show appears to need about a 0.25 to 0.3 buy rate to break even). With the heavier advertising budget, K-1 was probably less profitable than the Collision in Korea even if it drew slightly more viewers. Initially WCW was planning on doing two more taped K-1 shows before the end of the year but no word on any future dates so I get the idea that is at least no longer etched in stone.

Any memories about Collision in Korea?

Jimmy Hart runs into Ted Turner

A story in the Observer said Jimmy Hart and Ted Turner had a chance encounter…

Supposedly Jimmy Hart ran into Ted Turner in an elevator during mid-week and Turner remarked to Hart words to the effect of "We really kicked Vince's ass" which I guess tells where the priorities lie.

Does that sound like something Ted would have said?

Meltzer trashes WCW Fall Brawl/MDA promos

Observer: Boy am I glad we don't have to see those MDA promos for Fall Brawl anymore. Exploitative crap like that just brings home how sleazy this business can be.

WCW Magazine Return

WCW Magazine had originally been NWA/WCW Wrestling Wrap-Up from 1989 to 1991. From 1991 to 1994, it launched as WCW Magazine. In July 1994, it was canceled.

Colin Bowman from England was in the U.S. this weekend to try and renegotiate his deal to continue the WCW Magazine and no new deal was made. While not a definite, the prevailing belief is the magazine is going to bite the dust.

Bowman would end up making a deal and doing the magazine from 1995 to 1999. 

Any memories on him or WCW Magazine?

Now, to some wrestling!

The MAIN EVENT

Prior to the Pay-Per-View show, WCW Main Event aired from the arena. Since it involved an angle we will be hearing about later tonight, we may as well discuss it too.

Observer: The main event show opened with a poorly-acted angle where Hogan showed up at the building with the motorcycle given to him in Los Angeles surrounded a dozen people paid to act like his fans. The Giant then showed up driving a Dungeon of Doom monster truck and ran over the motorcycle. This is to set up a monster truck battle on the 10/29 where the Dungeon of Doom monster truck faces the Hulk Hogan monster truck. I'm not making this up.

Big Bubba Rogers (Ray Traylor) pinned Mark Minh in 1:04 with the Bubba-slam. 

Meltzer gave it a DUD

Disco Inferno (Glen Gilburnetti) pinned Joey Maggs (Joseph Magliano) in 2:33 with a neckbreaker. 

Observer: Inferno has a great gimmick and a great ring entrance but I was disappointed in him once the match started. He bumps better than Honkytonk Man (which is basically what he's supposed to be right down to the finishing move) but doesn't have as much poise in the ring. DUD

Alex Wright went to a no decision with Eddy Guerrero in 6:36. 

Observer: Well, they proved what everyone knew all along. None of the newcomers who can work are going to have a prayer of getting a chance to make it. They were having a really good match until they did a major screw up on a spot and never recovered. Eric Bischoff was trying to offset criticism in his announcing (and give him credit for at least trying which puts him one step above Tony Schiavone and Vince McMahon) by talking with Guerrero before the match and he called every move to the point of almost silliness. The funniest part was when Guerrero did a Splash Mountain or Niagara Driver and Bischoff called it a Gori special (like they were doing moves like that when Gori Guerrero wrestled). Then Guerrero's very next move was the Gori special. And what did Bischoff call that? Well, the Gori special. Wright suplexed Guerrero over the top rope and Guerrero sold that his knee was out and he couldn't get back in the ring. Wright refused the victory. And WCW let everyone know in Guerrero's first television appearance that he was nothing more than opening match calibre. *3/4

...

American Males (Marcus Bagwell & Scott Riggs aka Scott Anton) beat Nasty Boys (Jerry "Sags" Seganowich & Brian "Knobs" Yandrisovitz) in 4:15. 

Observer wrote that the Males gimmick was doomed because wrestling fans, mostly guys, hate other guys they’re told are good looking. 

Observer: Nasty Boys were cheered by almost everyone in Males' debut. Males didn't get over a bit. There was a lot of talk that because the Nasty's had to do the job here that they would quit the promotion over it, and they were said to be furious but not on the verge of quitting over it. But the way the finish was done in this match and then in the Harlem Heat title change later appeared to be done largely to politically pacify them. The winners were to face the Blue Bloods on the Nitro show the next night. Dick Slater came out and hit Knobs off the top rope with his cowboy boot and Bagwell pinned him. *1/4

Grab your popcorn! The event itself is about to begin!

Fall Brawl 95 

A pre produced opening hypes the event for the matches. It talks about Hulk Hogan declaring war on the Dungeon of Doom.

Johnny B. Badd (Marc Mero) pinned Brian Pillman in 29:14 to earn a U.S. title match with Sting. 

It wouldn’t be a WCW PPV if we didn’t have Johnny B Badd in the opening match. Badd’s music ends early before he can finish doing his routine, so he just continues it while Buffer stands there awkwardly. Badd goes to throw two frisbees out. The yellow one sails out into the crowd but the green one literally goes one foot, hits the rope, and falls straight down on the mat. Fans laugh. He shoots the gimmick gun after.

Michael Buffer begins the program. That’s odd. He gives long form introductions for the opening match.

Observer: The title match was to air on the 9/30 WCW Saturday Night show however the match actually never takes place because Badd "no-shows" the match. The fans were booing Pillman even before he started the subtle turn. Badd bled hardway above his left eye although the announcers never acknowledged it and the camera shots did everything they could to avoid showing it (it was acknowledged as a nine-stitch cut the next night on Nitro). The match was pretty slow for the first 12:00 because they were going so long. Actually the length of this match was an office rib that backfired. The idea was to expose that both of these guys aren't as good workers as people think (since both have Steve Austin-sized contracts) and would fail trying to put together a 30:00 match, but it turned out to be the best match on the card. The last 8:00 of the original match was good. Badd suplexed Pillman over the top and did a dive over the top to the floor. Badd came off the top but Pillman caught him with a dropkick. Badd used a power bomb for a near fall and Pillman used a tombstone piledriver for a near fall. Pillman used the leg sweep/Octagon submission (of course the announcers had no clue that was a submission move). Badd hit his punch but Pillman was under the ropes. Pillman came back with his "Air Pillman" springboard clothesline but Badd kicked out and the bell rang at 20:07. It was announced they would do a sudden death because there had to be a winner. The two traded big moves and near falls for the entire overtime which included Badd's sunset flip off the top, Pillman doing a huracanrana (like the announcers had a clue here), Badd reversing a crucifix into a back slam, Badd with a Frankensteiner off the top rope (no clue by the announcers as it was invented post-1985), Pillman with a swinging DDT off the middle rope (called a flying bulldog). Badd then threw Pillman off the top rope and Pillman caught his throat on the guard rail. Badd used a Liger dive and went for a splash from the apron into the ring but Pillman got his knees up. Pillman dropped Badd in a face first suplex onto the ring ropes and then delivered a tope which came up slightly short. Pillman tried a Silver King dive but ended up crotching himself on the top rope for a near fall. Pillman went for a crossbody off the ropes and hit it, but Badd wound up on top for the pin at 9:07 of overtime. ****

Notes:

• A funny moment in the match when Schiavone says he’s rubbing his head into the hard “rubble...rubber top turnbuckle.” Heenan says “Rubble. You’re starting to talk like Dusty Rhodes now. Clubber. Rubble.” Tony laughs.
• As the match progresses, Flyin Brian elicits boos while Johnny gets more of a baby face reaction.
• Although the audio isn’t taken on TV, the arena hears Buffer say five minutes remaining. We can barely hear it through the crowd mics. This is the moment we normally know that it’s going to be a draw. So let’s see. (YEP) Badd hits a really good sit-down power bomb. 2 count. Pillman hits a tombstone piledriver. 2 count. Buffer announces we have three minutes in the middle of the spot. 
• Badd hits a somersault over the top rope onto Pillman on the outside and it’s a wonder no one was hurt because he came over that top rope without pulling back at all. 
• Pillman does an insanely scary suicide dive on the entry side - with the ring steps! 
• Pillman and Badd both ended the match with a cross body on each other. 

Craig Pittman beat Cobra (Jeff Farmer) in 1:22 with the code red (armbreaker) submission. 

Observer: A guy dressed up as a serviceman came to ringside when Pittman was introduced and distracted Cobra. Pittman came down from the ceiling with a rope and jumped him from behind, never lost the advantage, and won quickly. Now Cobra's gimmick is that he was a member of the CIA who Pittman left stranded in either a desert or a jungle in either Viet Nam or Desert Storm or maybe Korea or maybe even in the Civil War. At least Pittman's ring entrance was good. DUD

Notes:

• Cobra comes out to Morse code. I would love for someone to translate this.
• For those who don’t know, the Code Red is an armbar in the MMA world. Also called a cross armbreaker. 

Backstage segment. Gary Spivey from the Psychic Companions Network comes into Mr Wonderful’s room and in a horrible segment, inspired him to believe in himself.

Meltzer would write…”They aired a video with Paul Orndorff "depressed" after losing a match to Randy Savage (they should have at least made it believable and have him depressed after putting over Renegade). Gary Spivey of the Psychic Hotline showed up with what looked like a sponge on his head and convinced Orndorff that he really was Mr. Wonderful, changing Orndorff's character. The acting by Orndorff in the skit made Hogan look like an Oscar Award winner, but it was almost so bad that it was good.”

It’s DDP vs Renegade next. And, at least the audio sounds like Renegade gets a pop. 

Diamond Dallas Page (Page Falkenberg) pinned Renegade (Richard Williams) to win the WCW TV title in 8:07. 

Observer: Page actually made this watchable basically attempting to do a Terry Funk vs. a broom match. They were doing a storyline where Diamond Doll was mad at Page and being forced to hold up the "10" card whenever he'd do a move. At the 4:00 mark the announcers said that this was the longest Renegade had wrestled in a match since coming to WCW (which would be the case if you exclude every house show and PPV match he's had). Renegade did a handspring elbow at one point. Finish saw Page and Max Muscle collide attempting a double-team. Renegade then dove off the top rope to the floor onto Muscle. As he got back in the ring, Muscle grabbed his leg and Page used the Diamond cutter (Ace crusher) for the pin. **

Notes:

• Know what didn’t work? Giant R’s painted on an arm. The letter R is not a great looking letter. It looks like a crooked chair. 
• Kimberly is doing a gimmick as the Diamond Doll where she holds up a number for the moves DDP does, usually a ten. 
• DDP storyline won the lottery and is an abusive, unappreciative boyfriend to the Diamond Doll. 
• Renegade does Chyna’s handspring elbow spot. 

Bobby The Brain shares some wisdom and says if you want to be rich, watch what poor people do and don’t do it.

Harlem Heat (Lane Huffman aka Steve Ray & Booker Huffman aka Booker T) beat Dick Slater & Bunkhouse Buck (Jimmy Golden) to win the WCW tag titles in 16:49. 

Bunkhouse slaps Booker T in the back of the head and Booker looks ready to fight, putting his arms up and backing Bunkhouse up forcing all the others to get in between the two. But they work together without a problem as the match gets going.

Observer: Match started very slow and didn't improve. Finish saw Rob Parker and Sherri kissing in one ring while The Nasty Boys came out and Sags hit Slater with Slater's own cowboy boot and Booker T pinned Slater. Heat was mad at Sherri after the match but she explained it was part of the plan. Buck was mad at Parker after the match but he said that he was in love. -*

Eric: Are you a fan of Dirty Dick?

Notes: 

• There’s a point where Bunkhouse slams Booker T and falls down with him, which is a little scary. 
• (I love Harlem Heat. They’re my favorite WCW tag-team).

Okerlund does a ring aisle interview with Col Parker. Then he had to run backstage to do another interview after a cutaway to the announcers. He makes note about how he didn’t realize he had to run a marathon. From a production perspective, this seemed like writing back to back segments on live tv with one talent in two locations - a common mistake for producers.

Backstage, Arn says he loves Ric Flair more than God Himself. As a man, win lose or draw, I’m going to respect myself in the morning and you’re going to respect me.

Next, the match we thought we would never see (according to Tony). Heenan says he can see lots of the wrestlers out to watch and the camera shows us Pillman, the American Males, Big Bubba, Col. Parker, Eddie Guerrero and more are watching. They’re building the idea that there’s a huge amount of respect for these two. 

The match happened because back at the Clash before this show, Vader beat both Flair and Anderson in a handicap match. Anderson confronted Flair about not pulling his weight and unloaded with frustration about not getting a shot at Flair’s title. They decide to have this match to settle the tension. 

Arn Anderson has said that this match, with the anticipation of facing Flair, is the only time he has vomited before a match.

Arn Anderson (Marty Lunde) pinned Ric Flair (Richard Fliehr) in 22:37. 

Observer: The psychology was excellent. They did a lot of the normal Flair or Anderson routine with slight cross-ups as in getting the story that each knew the others' moves but the other was one step ahead recognizing it. It turned into a very good match with near falls going back-and-forth. Neither really came across as a face or a heel. 

Ric Flair comes out to a bigger reaction but as the match starts to heat up, ARN gets more of a baby face reaction than Flair, especially when he slaps Flair and he sells it like he was hit by Tyson. Flair lured Arn over the top rope to the outside. Then he hits a top rope axe handle smash onto Arn on the floor!!! Randy Anderson gets onto Flair but Flair responds “NoooooooOOOOOOO.” Flair hits the knee drop. Arn selling for him like crazy. Flair cheats and then tells someone in the audience “Keep your mouth shut kid!” Randy Anderson blocks a punch by Arn and Flair hits the Enforcer low. Flair takes a backdrop onto the floor, which has a very thin blue mat separating the wrestler from the concrete. But, for the most part, Ric Flair dominates.

Bobby Heenan says people at home are standing...next to their rented furniture. 

Flyin Brian jumps on the ring apron. Flair tells him to fuck off. Pillman hits him, Flair swings back and nails him, turns around... and Pillman kicks him in the head. Arn nails his DDT and gets the win to major cheers. Arn has to be helped out because he’s so exhausted and beaten down. Flair looked good. Arn looked good. And we end up with some controversy to work with going forward.

Mission accomplished, right?

Observer: Anderson was selling his knee big from long figure four sequences when Pillman came to ringside. Pillman punched Flair, who punched him back. As Flair turned his back, Pillman gave him an enzuigiri with a cowboy boot to set up their Nitro match the next night and a staggered Flair fell into Anderson's DDT for the pin. ***1/2 

A bizarre preproduced promo package involving Kevin Sullivan smashing a Hulk Hogan figure airs. Then we come back to the commentators, who pitch to a second package. This talks about the Giant making him feel like Andre was in his face. We hear Chris Jericho’s second WCW theme air briefly as background music.

In the storyline, The Dungeon of Doom was hellbent on destroying Hulkamania. The Taskmaster Kevin Sullivan had tried to use Vader as a pawn against Hogan but it eventually backfired after a confrontation between Vader and the Giant leading to the WarGames match between the entire Dungeon and Hogan's allies that WOULD have included Vader. 

But Vader got fired, which we covered on the 9/11/95 Nitro episode in the archives.

So...what WOULD have happened in both the storyline and the match IF Vader had been there?

With Vader’s departure, Lex Luger was added as the fourth man to the team.

Backstage, Hulk, Lex, Savage and Sting are all in camouflage gear which looks pretty cool. Someone needs to put this version of these guys in a video game. Hulk says they all just drank a gallon of Agent Orange. Now, that would be a tremendously awful plan. Agent Orange was used in Vietnam as a chemical that killed vegetation. Exposure is associated with many diseases. It can lead to diabetes, Parkinson's disease, and several forms of cancer.

All four cut a promo about being on the same page. Hogan actually says DTA here - Dont Trust Anybody - long before Stone Cold made it more famous. This segment goes for a while almost like they’re delaying while building the cage - but they’ve not even lowered it when we go back to Buffer. Fireworks blast as the cage comes down. There is a huge explosion that scares the shit out of everyone. “Wow!” Schiavone says. “The sounds of war!”

A stipulation was added, Buffer says, so if Hogan’s team wins, he gets five minutes with Taskmaster.

This is really a stacked baby face team. Sting, Luger, Macho and Hogan have all been established main eventers. Hogan comes out tearing off his shirt, which looks awesome. Some boos, though.

Hulk Hogan (Terry Bollea) & Randy Savage (Randy Poffo) & Sting (Steve Borden) & Lex Luger (Larry Pfohl) won the War Games over Zodiac (Ed Leslie) & Shark (John Tenta) & Kamala (James Harris) & Meng (Uliuli Fifita) in 18:47. 

Observer: Sting opened with Shark with the highlights being Sting diving from one ring to the other and doing a bodyslam. Shark tried to dive from ring-to-ring but ended up caught in the middle like a beached whale. Shark was in need of oxygen before the 5:00 period was up. Zodiac was in next, followed by Savage, Kamala, Luger, Meng and finally Hogan. When Luger came in, they teased a Savage-Luger split when they bumped into each other and went after each other but Sting settled them down. Actually there was more intrigue going into the match on whether or not Savage or Luger would turn than on the match itself. When Hogan came in he threw powder at Kamala, Zodiac and Meng and then beat Zodiac with the camel clutch for the win. 

After the match Kevin Sullivan ran away, but he was brought back in for his five minutes. After 2:30 of almost no heat because nobody cares about Sullivan, The Giant did the run-in and choked Hogan and twisted his neck. Hogan sold it as if he had been maimed and they went off the air wondering if Hogan would ever wrestle again. *1/4

Notes:

• Funny spot where Shark tries jumping over the ring ropes into the other ring and gets caught in between the rings on the ropes. “That’s a fish out of water.” Schiavone.
• Something happens to a microphone, like it goes out or breaks. We hear no Schiavone for a second and the crowd is also unusually quiet but then things get back to normal. 
• Meng and Kevin Sullivan climb the cage to watch the action but Kamala? No thanks. RIP Kamala
• Sting takes Taskmaster right past Zodiac and Meng who kicks the air. No reason. 
• Hogan throws Sullivan into every side. He hits his clothesline, the big boot...and the Giant comes out. He jumps over the ropes and pulls himself into the ring by the roof. It’s incredible how good his agility was. 
• Giant breaks his neck with a neck snap, ala Zeus. They leave, Hulkamaniacs return too late. 

Buffer calls for a medic to come to ringside. Heenan celebrates and laughs. And we go off the air. 

What did you think of the show?

Observer readers were mostly in the middle on this event, with 40.5-percent split; 34.5-percent giving it thumbs down; and 25-percent giving it a thumbs up.

BEST MATCH POLL

Brian Pillman vs. Johnny B. Badd 64

Ric Flair vs. Arn Anderson 49

WORST MATCH POLL

Craig Pittman vs. Cobra 41

Harlem Heat vs. Slater & Buck 21

War Games 18

Questions!

Ben asks...I heard that, during this time, Hogan was getting a sizeable negative reaction, especially in Southern cities. When did you first notice that and what did you do to try to mitigate the Hogan hate in the crowds?

DJ asks... Did you keep WAR GAMES out of tradition? Or was this one of the few exceptions to your dislike of gimmick matches? After the Sid powerbomb incident did you have discussions about what could and could not be done in the match? Was the lack of blood a corporate call?

TJ asks...In the pre show, Big Bubba, Alex Wright, Eddie Guerrero, and The Nasty Boys all performed.  Is there a strategy for booking a pre show, and do the competitors still get a PPV bonus?

Roy wants to know...#AskEric when you approached Hulk with turning Heel, he showed you the door.  With that being the case, how did anybody get Hulk to do the “Darkside of Hulkamania” gimmick during the feud with Kevin Sullivan and the Dungeon? Looking back, seemed like that was a “test run”

Timmy has a question...What was funnier in the WarGames match?Lex Luger’s verbal selling for Meng, Jimmy Hart in his ridiculous Hulkamaniacs apparel, or Randy Savage attempting a vertical suplex on Shark? 

Matt asks...Was there ever a chance to put the world title on arn and have a program with him vs flair in a series of matches

Jake asks...Although this was 8 months away from Scott Hall “invading” Nitro, and way before the New Japan Battle Formation show - Was Eric already having thoughts about a more realistic WCW vs outsiders storyline whilst watching a gimmicked up to the max War Games main event ?

Keith asks...Why not have the Giant be on the Dungeon of Doom's team in the cage?  There really wasn't much drama or expectation of DoD winning and this might have made their team more formidable.

Councilman Tony Heyl says...This was an underrated show. Was there any consideration of the face team being so much more stacked than the heels? There wasn't much drama about who would win.

Blake has a question....In 95 was Eric getting any complaints or pushback from Sting because of WWF guys coming in and being presented as bigger or more of a star then he was?

Austin 3:16 asks...what kind of challenges did the multi-ring set create in terms of camera work and direction for the guys in the ring?

A Wrestling Historian asks...Would the main event have played out the same if Vader hadn't been fired?

The 5th Horseman asks...Who's idea was it for Arn to beat Ric? Also, were there any issues from Ric or did he simply want to repay Arn for years being there for him? Finally, was it always the goal to reform the Horsemen after this?