WELCOME TO ROCK STAR GARY REFLECTIONS!

Live from Nashville, TN

Airdate: December 27, 1995

Attendance: 8,200 (6,018 paid)

Hosted by Tony Schiavone, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, and Bobby “The Brain” Heenan

The World Cup of Wrestling is up for grabs tonight as WCW and New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) go head-to-head in a best-of-seven match series. Quite recently I watched this show and admired it greatly. Allow me to scrutinize it and I’ll let you know if my reaction is any different.

Match 1: Jushin “Thunder” Liger (w/ Sonny Onoo) versus “The Crippler” Chris Benoit

Highlights:

Rating: ****1/2

Summary: Throw that finish away and you’ve got something special and unforgettable. Poor finish aside this was everything and a jar of mustard. Check this one out PRONTO!

Back in the locker room “Mean” Gene Okerlund interviews Eddie Guerrero. Latino Heat hadn’t quite reached its boiling point by this point in time.

Match 2: “Das Wunderkind” Alex Wright versus IWGP Junior heavyweight champion Koji Kanemoto (w/ Sonny Onoo)

Highlights:

Rating: ****

Summary: Outstanding match by these two combatants. Considering Kanemoto is a champion wrestling in a foreign country I don’t believe WCW would have him lose. Nevertheless he and Wright had an excellent match here. New Japan is ahead in the series 2-0.

Back in the locker room Gene shills the hotline, hints about the potential WWF money heading in the direction of either Vader or the Ultimate Warrior (not in so many words), and plugs Mark Madden. Afterwards he interviews Sonny Onoo. With tremendous confidence Onoo feels that NJPW will win, buy WCW, and perhaps Iowa. Onoo must have seen Field of Dreams recently.

Match 3: Masahiro Chono (w/ Sonny Onoo) versus “The Total Package” Lex Luger (w/ Jimmy Hart)

Highlights:

Rating: **

Summary: Holy cow did that crowd pop for the finish. Excellent showcase of Chono in spite of the loss. Perhaps Luger was saving his energy for the triangle match. New Japan leads 2-1.

Back in the locker room Gene interviews Sting. He brings up Sting’s loss to Sasaki in Japan much to Sting’s chagrin. Sting then mentions his “best friend” Luger with whom he will compete against Flair in the triangle match later.

Match 4: World TV champion Johnny B. Badd (w/ Kimberly) versus Masa Saito (w/ Sonny Onoo)

Highlights:

Rating: **

Summary: I realize that Saito was part of the New Japan management team that helped to organize this event; however, his participation here was purely for political purposes. As it is that finish stunk. The series is tied 2-2.

After the match Kimberly gets into the ring. Saito looks at her menacingly. Badd turns him around and nails him with two dropkicks sending Saito to the floor. Badd attempts a somersault plancha but only grazes Saito.

SuperBrawl VI will take place on February 11 only on PPV.

Back in the locker room Gene interviews Luger with Hart. Luger tells Hart not to be in his corner for the triangle match.

Match 5: Shinjiro Otani (w/ Sonny Onoo) versus Eddie Guerrero

Highlights:

Rating: ****1/2

Summary: Waiter, don’t hold back on the au jus because this match had just about everything with extra sauce. Check this match out STAT! New Japan leads again 3-2.

Back in the locker room Gene interviews Savage. Without question Savage must have watched Toy Story over the Christmas holiday because he says “to infinity and beyond” a few times.

Match 6: World champion “Macho Man” Randy Savage versus Hiroyoshi Tenzan (w/ Sonny Onoo)

Highlights:

Rating: **1/2

Summary: In spite of my being one of his biggest supporters Savage’s match pattern makes it difficult to suspend disbelief. He takes a shitkicking then somehow musters a top rope elbow drop and wins. I realize that he’s injured, but hopefully he breaks this pattern soon. WCW has tied the series again 3-3.

Heenan comes unglued at the broadcast table losing his chair in the process. Bartender, I’ll have what he’s having.

Back in the locker room Gene shills the hotline again then interviews Flair. Interestingly Flair’s wearing a t-shirt advertising his gym in Charlotte, NC. He then claims that he will win the World title in the main event. Can’t fault his confidence, can you?

Match 7: US champion Kensuke Sasaki (w/ the extremely busy Sonny Onoo) versus Sting

Highlights:

Rating: ***

Summary: Good back-and-forth match won by WCW’s American hero. WCW wins the World Cup of Wrestling 4-3.

In the ring Gene presents the World Cup trophy to the WCW team. That trophy is HUGE! I’m sure Alex Wright and Chris Benoit were thrilled about the “American” victory.

Video package previewing the triangle match.

Match 8 (Triangle): “Nature Boy” Ric Flair versus Sting versus Lex Luger (w/o Hart)

Highlights:

Rating: ***1/2

Summary: It was so obvious that the crowd wanted Flair to win. With that being said this was vintage WCW that is marred by a finish that only helped Flair.

After the match Sting doesn’t assist Luger, and Jimmy Hart joins Flair in the ring.

Match 9 for the WCW World title: Randy Savage versus Ric Flair (w/ Jimmy Hart)

Highlights:

Rating: ***

Summary: A genuinely good suspension of disbelief is needed to enjoy that finish. There’s no way Anderson could a) be occupied for that long by Hart and b) not notice all the shenanigans in the ring around him. With that being said Flair-Savage is never a bad match, but this was just good not great. Flair’s blade job was in direct response to what transpired at WWF IYH V although it could have been less gory.

After the match Flair is bleeding like a stuck pig to the point that he can’t even stand up. Pillman takes the belt and whips Savage with it. He then puts four fingers in Savage’s face. Due to all the blood Flair will not be interviewed.

Conclusion: Gauging by the star ratings which ranged between ** and ****1/2 this show is quite the blockbuster. After careful scrutiny I wholeheartedly recommend this PPV to each and every wrestling fan. A WCW PPV without Hulk Hogan is usually a good one, and you can add this to the list.

See you for the Monday Night War week 17!

Buyrate: 0.36 (Yuck!)

Comments? Suggestions? Send them to me at rsg@rockstargary.com and follow me on Twitter (@rockstargary202).

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