What's the story, addicts of approximating assaults?!
Something of a special post for you guys this week as I celebrate the anniversary of one of the most important matches in the history of wrestling. Now, let's not get confused, there's a big difference between "important" and "good" or even "great" matches. I never said I would always review the best matches!
Let's get right into the action this week, yeah?
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| WCW |
Here's what I watched for the week;
The New World Order - 30 Years Later
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| WWE |
It's pretty safe to say that Bash at the Beach 1996, and the main event "Hostile Takeover Match" is one of the most significant nights in the history of wrestling.
Not just one of, the most shocking heel turn in the history of wrestling. Save only the shocking John Cena heel turn from early 2025, but that night would not have happened if not for Hogan's shocking actions at the 'Bash. I'll dig deeper into the formation of the nWo in the proper review, but I just want to give a quick nod to one of the most important factions this business has ever seen.
Wrestling in the later half of the 90's was in a weird place. WWF was coming out of it's worst period in history, with the steroid scandal, horrendous booking decisions, and the loss of Hulk Hogan from their roster doing incredible damage to their brand. WCW, on the flipside, was in a weird place too. Searching for an identity as the second biggest promotion in America, they were trying to do anything to differentiate themselves from "up north." A company that always felt like they were looking for that special "something" to set them selves apart, WCW had a golden opportunity land in their laps with the New World Order (stylized nWo) storyline.
For the first time, the heels were the cool guys, the heels were the ones people were interested in. It can be argued that without the nWo running roughshod over the roster, a lot of what became the WWF's Attitude Era would not have been attempted or have gotten over like it did, an era of wrestling that came about only after Hogan had turned heel, let's not forget. Suddenly, it was cool and interesting to go against the grain, to not be squeaky clean and pristine, to not be the personification of good values and perfection. It was cool to be anti authority, to cuss out your boss, to destroy property, to cause mayhem, to be a walking wildfire.
Sound like anybody in particular? (What?)
No matter your opinion on the nWo, that they expanded to a parody of itself too quickly, that it overstayed its welcome, that it became the "cool" brand and lost its edge, they are without a doubt the most important heel group of the 1990's. Nothing else comes close. Not even WWF's answer in DX comes up to their knees, honestly. A group that nearly got their own show at the height of their power and still holds a great deal of cultural cache (I mean, look at the musicians that know nothing about wrestling but wear nWo merch because it's perceived as "cool"), the New World Order is a group like none other in the history of the business.
Sheamus Leaving WWE
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| WWE |
A story that shocked many this past weekend, it was revealed that Sheamus would not be resigning with WWE when his current contract expired. Seen by many as a WWE lifer, the decision to pay the near 20 year veteran less led to his decision to depart the company. A quote from the Cultaholic article I linked above speaks to why Sheamus would be receiving a pay cut, with TKO deciding that paying wrestlers who are more tenured and seen as being in the twilight of their careers more money isn't worth it, opting to give the big money deals to the younger stars. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, when the company insists on only focusing on the talent that are either pushing or are currently 40 years or older, it shocks me that they wouldn't see an upside to keeping Sheamus on the roster. But, c'est la vie, right?
If Sheamus does decide to lace up the boots again, I could easily seem him rocking up to AEW for a few years. The matches he could have there would be bloody (pun intended) brilliant, having insanely hardhitting matches with the likes of Fletcher, Davis, Doyle, Brody, Ciampa, Mox, and MJF just to name a few. Hell, maybe we'll get Sheamus in the NJPW G1 just for funzies. I'd really like to see Sheamus have some fun in the last years of his career, given than he was seen as someone close to retirement almost 10 years ago now. The fact that he's been able to have the matches he's had in these last 10 years is a blessing in itself, so fuck it, let's keep the ball rolling!
| Match | Show | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Hulk Hogan & The Outsiders vs. Lex Luger, Randy Savage & Sting | WCW Bash At The Beach 1996 | 07/07/1996 |
• • • • •
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| Even with the numbers advantage, this still feels unfair. WCW |
Basic Breakdown
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| Bischoff, Hall and Nash. WCW |
Presented as WWF stars showing up in WCW in an effort to destroy WCW from the inside out, Hall delivered the iconic "you want a war?" promo on his first night with the company. The foundation was laid out quickly and loudly, these men are not supposed to be here. It was a revolutionary idea, the invading force trying to tear the competition apart from the inside out, mercenaries sent by the opposing side to lay dynamite throughout the locker room of the competition in broad daylight. Bischoff, who was Senior Vice President in WCW at the time and seen as the brainchild of the nWo storyline, was inspired by the invasion storylines done in New Japan, with the NJPW/UWFI invasion angle from the year prior being the angle he cites as where he got the idea for the nWo from.
With Nash making his debut a few weeks later, The Outsiders were formed, demanding WCW give them their three best wrestlers for a "war." Hall and Nash claimed to have a third man picked for the "Hostlie Takeover Match" at Bash at the Beach 1996, but opted to keep their identity a secret, claiming they were in the building but saying nothing more than that. WCW's hand picked wrestlers were Lex Luger, Randy "Macho Man" Savage, and Sting, leading the charge against the invading forces in the main event of the 'Bash.
The very fate of WCW seemed to hang in the balance.
Bell To Bell
The tension in the air at the start of this match is thick, with Sting's team standing across from the Outsiders, continually asking where their third man is. Hall and Nash are confident, however, knowing they have their third man in their pocket, an ace up their sleeve if you will. Luger gets in the face of Hall, who is unafraid of Luger trying to mad dog him, the two getting into a shoving match before the bell rings. Sting's team, all clad in similar face paint, talk strategy inside the ring, with Luger opting to be the first man inside the ring, squaring up against Hall.
Flicking his toothpick in his face, Hall gets a slap across the face for his troubles, but takes it to Luger early and quickly. Lex is quick to fire back, landing his steel-reinforced forearm on the skull of Hall mere moments into this match. Going after Nash next, he drills him off the apron, but gets shoved out to the apron by Hall quickly. Bedlam quickly breaks out, with Nash snatching a guillotine of sorts on Luger over the corner, with Savage darting to a corner to climb and land a double axehandle on Hall in the middle. Charging to save his man, Sting darts across the ring and lands his signature splash on Nash, driving him to the floor, but inadvertently catching Luger on impact as well, dropping him to the floor as well!
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| But whose side is Sting on?! WCW |
With Luger out cold on the floor, the match draws to a half for a few minutes as Luger is tended to by medical staff, with a stretcher brought out to take Lex to the back. When Luger is gone, the odds seem to be even now, two on two, but the Outsiders still have man number three up their sleeve, able to hit the ring at any point and tip the scales in their favour!
When the action resumes, it's Sting and Hall in the ring now, with Hall looking for a knuckle lock, only to catch Sting with a heavy slap across the face once his attention is averted for a moment. Not taking lightly to the slap, Sting charges Hall and double leg's him to the canvas, assaulting him with kicks and punches. An atomic drop and a bulldog drops Hall to the canvas, with Sting tagging in Savage to try and capitalize on Hall being flat out on the canvas.
Hall, however, gets to his feet in time and is able to lay into Savage's gut with a right hand when he comes down for a double axe. Hall goes to Sting on the apron and gets in his face, with the ref distracted long enough for Nash to get in and attack Savage, dropping him on the top turnbuckle with snake eyes.
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| Macho Man eats the pad! WCW |
Macho is able to duck a 'line from Hall and land one of his own, scoring a close two count, with Nash tagging in after Hall nearly got caught. The 7 foot giant enters the ring, shoving Macho into the corner and laying into him with his signature offence. A knee to the gut, a forearm to the back, and a bodyslam. Kevin Nash distilled down to a few basic moves. A big elbow drop attempt is bungled as Macho tries to get up out of the way, but Nash lands torso first on Savage's head as he adjusts on the canvas, unable to get out of the way fully in time.
Rolling to Sting, he tags his partner in and the Stinger gets caught by Nash, backed into the corner and crushed with back elbows and knee strikes, more basic strikes from Big Nash. Choking Sting with his boot, the referee is in Nash's face, trying to restore some sense of order, but it's rather difficult given what is going down. Sting gets sent into the opposing corner but is able to float over Nash as he charges in, landing a dropkick on the big man when he bounces out of the corner.
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| Timber? Not quite! WCW |
A sunset flip is attempted, with Nash holding firm on his feet, able to pull Sting up by the neck and drop him with a two handed chokebomb. Tagging in Hall, Savage tries to help Sting, but the referee is on top of things. From out of the corner, Sting gets tossed with the SOS, or Sack of Shit as it was known, with Hall quickly going for a cover, only for Sting to survive at two. Back in the corner, Nash is tagged in as Sting is whipped into the ropes, with a sloppy big boot knocking him off his feet. Again, Savage tries to get in the ring, but referee Randy Anderson keeps him on the apron.
Wailing on Sting with heavy right hands, he falls to the canvas only for Nash to pull him back up and toss him into the ropes. Trying to catch him with a forearm shot, Sting ducks and rebounds, sniping Nash with a dropkick to the knee! Crawling for the wrong corner, a disoriented Sting is caught by Hall, who tags in and drops an elbow on the back of his foe's head. Giving Savage a right hand, just for good measure, Hall seizes on Sting, looking to go for a bodyslam but gets caught with a rollup from Sting! Perhaps it would have been three, but Savage is ravenous on the apron, wild and deranged, trying to get in the ring, with Anderson holding him back. Turning back around, he notices Hall tied up and goes for the count, but he survives at one!
Elbow drops to Sting keep him down, with Hall slapping his face to add insult to injury. Pulling him up in the Outsiders corner, he applies an abdominal stretch with Nash making sure to grab his friends hand to apply extra leverage. They tag in and out to each apply the hold, with an irate Savage trying to tell the referee they are cheating, but every time Anderson looks at the Outsiders, the hold is as clean as a sheet. Sting is checked in the hold, nearly passing out, but breaks out with a thumb to the eyes of Nash.
Hall is back in, making sure Sting can't get to Savage still, taking his head off with a lariat off a rope rebound. A pin is made, but Sting, ever the survivor, gets out at two. A sleeper hold is snatched on the Stinger, with Hall tossing him to the floor and Nash climbing down to pick the pieces. Driven to complete madness at this point, Savage grabs a chair and charges Nash on the floor, with Anderson grabbing the weapon and urging Savage to get back to his corner. The same pleas are not made to Nash, who freely stands on the floor without Anderson even batting an eye at him. Strange.
Back inside the ring, Hall lays into Sting with right hands under the jaw, dropping him for a cover, but still getting free at two. With Nash inside the ring, the big man flattens Sting with a huge side slam, with Savage through the ropes and urging Sting to survive, getting out of the pin attempt at two! Shot into the ropes, Nash stands bent over to back body Sting in the middle, but the Stinger catches the big man with a boot to the side of the head! Staggering Nash, Sting looks to have gained a small advantage, fighting back with right hands on Nash, even ducking hands and taking a swing at Hall. The distance he created by going for Hall gives Sting the launch he needed to fly at Nash, landing on his shoulders and tagging Savage!
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| Sting survives! WCW |
A house of fire, Savage leaps into the ring, landing a double axe on a charging Hall before tossing him into Nash and then over the top to the floor. Flying off the top again, he crushes Hall with another double axe before sending him in the ring again for... hey does Savage know he can do any other move than a double axehandle? Cause he's done three in like, 15 seconds. Anyways, he calls for the elbow on Nash, but gets caught in the 'nads as Anderson checks on Hall, with Savage dropping in a heap in the centre of the ring.
With everyone down, Anderson starts a ten count.
Then the camera changes to show the entrance.
Hulk Hogan is coming to the ring.
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| The red and yellow superman. WCW |
On commentary, Dusty Rhodes and Tony Schiavone are ecstatic, knowing Hogan is here to fight the good fight. And the people are on their feet for Hogan to save the day.
But Heenan, never one to trust Hogan, not once in his entire career, delivers the most prophetic line in history.
"Yeah! But whose side is he on?!"
They bite back at Heenan, knowing he's just playing devils advocate like he always does, but there had to be a small part of them that believed he was right.
Hitting the ring, Hogan rips his shirt as the Outsiders hit the floor, with Savage and Sting flat out in the centre. Slowly pacing the ring, he hits the corner nearest Savage, and time stands still.
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| The legdrop that changed wrestling. WCW |
Taking off, Hogan leaps for the leg drop, his thigh crushing the throat of Savage. In an instant, the air is sucked out of the building. The cheers of approval turn to murmurs of confusion, of disgust, of betrayal.
"He's the third man!" Heenan declares, "Hulk Hogan has betrayed WCW!"
The third man reveals himself, dropping a second, and then third leg on Savage as Hall and Nash hit the ring to celebrate with their newly revealed partner.
There's no final bell for this match, it just kind of ends, even if Hogan did make sure to get a visual pinfall over Savage in the end.
With garbage being tossed in the ring and the trio being pelted, Mean Gene hits the ring to get a word with the group. I won't write out the promo in full here, I'll just leave you with the video. See for yourself what happened next.
Match Time: 16:00
I really don't know what to say about this match, honestly. It's tough. On the one hand, this is probably WCW's most significant match for the history and direction of the company. This match changed everything about wrestling. One night, one match, everything changed. But... the match is... fine? It's not great, and it's not terrible either, but it's completely unremarkable. If this wasn't the Bash at the Beach 1996 main event, this match would be totally lost to history, 5 miles deep in the mire of "totally passable WCW matches," but everything surrounding this match changes it. The "aura" surrounding it, the uncertainty of the third man, the fear in the building of everyone and anyone being the third man, the desire to drive these foreign bastards out of WCW. All of that makes this match so much more interesting than it is, because if you watch this on mute in a vacuum, it's a nothing burger of a match. Plain and simple.
• • • • •
Until next week. Be well, stay safe, and love one another.
cliffmorganwstl@gmail.com
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