As the old saying goes…a clap on the back is six inches from a kick in the rear. What began with two legends shaking hands on Monday Night Nitro ended tonight at Winston-Salem’s Lawrence Joel Coliseum with a stab in the back.
Curt Hennig pulled off the “Perfect” deception feeding Ric Flair’s legendary Four Horsemen to the nWo’s Wolf Pack. Feigning an injury, Hennig showed which side he has chosen in the New World Order / World Championship Wrestling turf war assisting the Wolf Pack in dismembering their target: an outnumbered Nature Boy.
Hennig was all smiles accepting Arn Anderson’s spot in the Four Horsemen as The Enforcer announced his untimely retirement from a long and distinguished wrestling career on Nitro’s emotional August 25th program. This was the first phase in the nWo’s master plan to destroy the mat wars’ greatest “family”.
The second phase went into effect tonight early on in WCW’s Fall Brawl’s broadcast. Kevin Nash, Syxx, Konnan and Buff Bagwell shoved past (Mean) Gene completing a hotline report and laughingly stormed into Hennig ‘s dressing room. Moments later, Hennig was seen face-first on the floor, apparently injured. The War Games match pitting The Four Horsemen representing WCW against Team nWo was in dire jeopardy. Reduced to three men (Chris Benoit, Steve McMichael and Ric Flair) the Four Horsemen were at a distinct disadvantage in the double-ring, double-steel cage match-up. Angered in front of the camera and professionally behind the scenes over an nWo parody of Anderson’s farewell, the trio buckled up and rode into battle.
A bout unlike any other, War Games consists of eight periods. One man from each team starts the match. After five minutes, there is a coin toss and one team gets the advantage of sending another of their wrestlers in. The teams alternate every two minutes thereafter until everyone has entered the cage. Next is the “match beyond”. To be victorious, a wrestler on the opposing team must be made to submit. There are no disqualifacations, count-outs or pins during War Games.
Buff Bagwell and Chris (The Canadian Crippler) Benoit opened the clash. A slap from Bagwell enraged The Wolverine. Ever the intense competitor, Benoit was the perfect starting selection. He dominated Bagwell, throwing him and suplexing him into the steel cage. Subsequent to the nWo winning the coin toss and sending Konnan in to execute the double-team, Benoit fought off the pair with the ferocity of a lion; thereby erasing the nWo’s leverage.
WCW U.S. Heavyweight Champion, Steve (Mongo) McMichael, evened the score mowing down Konnan and Bagwell. Illustrating his reputation as a “thinking man’s wrestler” Benoit cut-off Syxx stepping through the door. Syxx kissed the cage hard. Wearing a sling on his right arm, Curt Hennig arrived at Ric Flair’s side.
His turn to compete, Flair hit anything that moved reserving the worst he had to offer for Syxx. Grabbing Syxx’s hair in his hands, Flair raked his face across the fencing. The crowd greeted Kevin Nash’s War Games entrance with a loud and lively…”We want Sting!”. The leader of the Wolf Pack tipped the scales, battering the wearied Horsemen.
The last man to join, Hennig threw off his sling revealing two pairs of handcuffs using them to deck McMichael and Benoit. The nWo cuffed them to the cage leaving Ric Flair to be beaten mercilessly. As the mugging progressed, Nash and Bagwell each asked Benoit and McMichael if they would submit. The loyal Horsemen refused. Hennig positioned Flair’s head in the doorway of the cage. He threatened to slam it on the prone Nature Boy unless the Horsemen surrendered. Mongo finally flew the white flag. Oblivious to Mongo’s declaration, Hennig carried out his threat. The broadcast abruptly concluded with Flair writhing in pain.
The next WCW pay-per-view is Halloween Havoc on October 26th from the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
WCW Fall Brawl ’97 Results
Chris Jericho (Champion) Vs Eddie Guerrero (Challenger) (Cruiserweight Title Match)
: Guerrero reverses a Super-Plex, DDTing Jericho and hitting the Frog Splash.
Winner: …and new WCW Cruiserweight Champion, Eddie Guerrero at 16 minutes and 44 seconds.
Harlem Heat Vs The Steiner Brothers
: Booker T is reverse-suplexed and clotheslined by The Steiners.
Winners: The Steiner Brothers at 11 minutes and 41 seconds.
Alex Wright (Champion) Vs The Ultimo Dragon (Challenger) (WCW Television Title Match)
: The Dragon is looking clumsy tonight, missing or not following up on key moves.
: Wright retains the belt with a German Suplex.
Winner: …and still WCW Television Champion…Alex (Dancing Boy) Wright at 18 minutes and 36 seconds.
Jeff Jarrett Vs Dean Malenko (Winner gets a shot at the U.S. Title at Halloween Havoc)
: Jarrett sends Queen Debra to the back saying he can’t be distracted.
: Debra returns as Malenko slaps on The Texas Clover Leaf.
: Jarrett clips The Ice Man and executes the Figure Four in the middle of the ring.
Winner: Jeff Jarrett at 14 minutes and 53 seconds.
Wrath and Mortis Vs The Faces Of Fear
: No Jimmy Hart with The Faces Of Fear.
: Meng chases Vandenberg and Mortis / Wrath double-up on The Barbarian.
: Meng puts the Death Grip on Mortis and Vandenberg at the same time. Wrath sneaks up and delivers The Death Sentence on a distracted Meng.
Winners: Mortis and Wrath at 12 minutes and 23 seconds.
: While The Four Horsemen are being interviewed by Mean Gene, Benoit takes a private shot at Nash saying…”You’ve been so many different characters, Nash, we don’t know what you are.” This could be because Benoit was left out of the Horsemen parody on Nitro.
Scott (Beat-Me-In-A-Flash) Norton Vs The Giant
: Norton does slam, reverse-suplex and guillotine The Giant!
: Choke Slam sends Norton to the showers.
Winner: The Giant at 5 minutes and 24 seconds.
Diamond Dallas Page / Macho Man Vs Lex Luger / Diamond Dallas Page
: Fans pop big for DDP dropping Hall with a face-first slam.
: Hall stomps Luger down into the gap between the two rings.
: Hall KO’s the ref and his replacement as Macho throttles DDP.
: Commentator, Larry Z. flips out, rips off his headset and power-walks to the ring. Major pop.
: Larry argues with Hall. Luger climbs up from behind. Larry shoves Hall backwards over Luger. The Total Package rolls Hall up. Larry counts 1-2-3 with the speed of light.
Winners: Diamond Dallas Page and Lex Luger at 10 minutes and 16 seconds.
WCW-Four Horsemen (Chris Benoit / Steve McMichael / Ric Flair) Vs the nWo (Konnan / Kevin Nash / Syxx / Buff Bagwell) (War Games Match)
Winners: Nash / Konnan / Bagwell / Syxx / Hennig at 19 minutes and 52 seconds.
Total Event Time: Approximately two hours and 45 minutes.