Fall Brawl '97: War Games was the fifth

Fall Brawl Fall Brawl was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and was held in September from 1993 through 2000. The name was derived from the fall edition of ''Clash of the Champions'', ca ...

pay-per-view Pay-per-view (PPV) is a type of pay television or webcast service that enables a viewer to pay to watch individual events via private telecast. Events can be purchased through a multichannel television platform using their electronic program guid ...

(PPV)

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). It took place on September 14, 1997 from the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. As of 2014 the event is available on the WWE Network.

Production

Background

The WarGames match was created when

Dusty Rhodes Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. (October 11, 1945 – June 11, 2015), better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, was an American professional wrestler, booker, and trainer who most notably worked for the National Wrestling Alliance, Jim Crocket ...

was inspired by a viewing of '' Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome''. It was originally used as a specialty match for the Four Horsemen. The first WarGames match took place at The Omni in Atlanta during the NWA's

Great American Bash The Great American Bash is a professional wrestling event currently produced by WWE, a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. Created by Dusty Rhodes, the event was established in 1985 and was originally produced by the National ...

'87 tour, where it was known as War Games: The Match Beyond. It became a traditional

event from 1993 to 1998.

Storylines

The event featured

professional wrestling matches Many types of wrestling matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, are performed in professional wrestling. Some gimmick matches are more common than others and are often used to advance or conclude a ...

that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Professional wrestlers portray

villains A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character as ...

heroes Heroes or Héroes may refer to: * Hero, one who displays courage and self-sacrifice for the greater good Film * ''Heroes'' (1977 film), an American drama * ''Heroes'' (2008 film), an Indian Hindi film Gaming * ''Heroes of Might and Magic'' ...

, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.

Event

During the WarGames Match, Curt Hennig entered the match for the Horsemen last due to an apparent shoulder injury. Moments later Hennig revealed his injury to be a ruse and that he was on the nWo's side all along. The New World Order then handcuffed Chris Benoit and Steve McMichael to the cage and began assaulting

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

. Kevin Nash took the microphone and repeatedly asked the helpless Horsemen if they wanted to give up, but McMichael refused and Benoit repeatedly spat in Nash's face. The Horsemen finally surrendered after Nash threatened to slam Flair's head into the cage structure with the door. McMichael, not wanting to see Flair beat up any worse than he already was, made the call for his team. After the surrender, Hennig slammed the door onto Flair's head anyways. A Steve McMichael vs. Konnan match had been advertised on WCW.com and in the event program, though never on television. Both participated in the War Games main event, but a singles match between the two did not take place.

Results

References

{{WCWPPV, Fall Brawl Professional wrestling in North Carolina Events in North Carolina 1997 in North Carolina Fall Brawl September 1997 events in the United States 1997 World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view events