World War 3 (1995) was the inaugural World War 3

professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

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 g ...

(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 ev ...

produced by

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling, Inc. (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of Nati ...

(WCW). The event took place on November 26, 1995, from the

Norfolk Scope Norfolk Scope is a multi-function complex in Norfolk, Virginia, comprising an 11,000-person arena, a 2,500-person theater known as Chrysler Hall, a exhibition hall and a 600-car parking garage. The arena was designed by Italian architect/engin ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia B ...

. Seven matches were contested at the event. The

main event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

was the first-ever 60-Man World War 3 battle royal for the vacant

WCW World Heavyweight Championship The WCW World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship originally used in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and later, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the original world title of ...

after the previous champion The Giant was stripped of the title due to his controversial title win over

Hulk Hogan Terry Eugene Bollea (; born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is widely regarded as the most recognized wrestling star worldwide and the most popular wrestler of the 19 ...

Halloween Havoc Halloween Havoc is a professional wrestling event currently produced by WWE for the company's developmental brand, NXT. As the name implies, it is a Halloween-themed show held in October. It was originally produced as an annual pay-per-view ...

Randy Savage Randall Mario Poffo (November 15, 1952 – May 20, 2011), better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and World Championship Wrestl ...

was declared the winner of the World War 3 after eliminating

One Man Gang George Gray (born February 12, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, (The) One Man Gang. For two years in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he was Akeem "The African Dream". Prior to this, he wa ...

. Other featured matches on the card were

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-earth ...

versus

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 ...

Lex Luger Lawrence Wendell Pfohl (born June 2, 1958), better known by the ring name Lex Luger, is an American retired professional wrestler, bodybuilder, and football player. In 2011 he began working with WWE on its wellness policy. He is best known for h ...

versus Randy Savage, a Japanese female wrestling tag team showcase between

Bull Nakano is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and professional golfer better known as . She began competing in All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (AJW) as a teenager under the ring name Bull Nakano. As a wrestler she was a villain, who often teamed w ...

and

Akira Hokuto is a Japanese retired professional wrestler better known as . Career Born Hisako Uno, Hokuto became a professional wrestler in the wake of the enormous popularity of tag team the Crush Gals (Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka), and was responsi ...

from

All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling , nicknamed Zenjo (全女: 全 meaning "All", 女 meaning "Woman") was a ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) professional wrestling promotion, promotion established in 1968 by Takashi Matsunaga and his brothers. The group held th ...

and Mayumi Ozaki and Cutie Suzuki from

JWP Joshi Puroresu , also known as or simply JWP, was a Japanese ''joshi puroresu'' (women's professional wrestling) promotion, founded in 1992 as a splinter promotion of Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. Celebrating its 25th anniversary at the time of its folding in 2 ...

and a

WCW World Television Championship The WCW World Television Championship was a professional wrestling television championship owned by the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling (WCW) promotion. The title was created in 1974 by Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (MACW) as a ...

match between Johnny B. Badd and

Diamond Dallas Page Dallas Page (born Page Joseph Falkinburg Jr., April 5, 1956), better known by his ring name Diamond Dallas Page (often stylized as DDP), is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. In the course of his wrestling career Page has wre ...

, with the stipulation that if Badd won, he would gain the managerial services of

Kimberly Page Kimberly Lynne Bacon (born January 1, 1970) is an American former professional wrestling personality. Known by her World Championship Wrestling ring name Kimberly Page, she was the leader of The Nitro Girls and the valet for her then-husband wre ...

Storylines

The event featured wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed

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 ...

, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches. Storylines between the characters played out on WCW's television programs, ''

Monday Nitro ''WCW Monday Nitro'', also known as ''WCW Nitro'' or simply ''Nitro'', is an American professional wrestling television program that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and broadcast weekly every Monday night on TNT in the United ...

'', '' Saturday Night'', '' WorldWide'', ''

Pro Pro is an abbreviation meaning " professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retire ...

'', ''

Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

'' and ''

Main Event In sports, a card lists the matches taking place in a title match combat-sport event. Cards include a main event match and the undercard listing the rest of the matches. The undercard may be divided into a midcard and a lower card, according to ...

''. At

, The Giant controversially defeated

via disqualification to win the

after Hogan's manager

Jimmy Hart James Ray Hart (born January 1, 1944) is an American professional wrestling manager, executive, composer, and musician currently signed with WWE in a Legends deal. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) and Worl ...

turned on him by attacking the referee and then attacked Hogan. Giant was awarded the title in a shocking moment as the title did not change hands on a disqualification and therefore Hart joined

The Dungeon of Doom ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

as their manager, a group of which Giant was a member. On the November 6 episode of ''Monday Nitro'', Giant successfully defended the title against Cobra and then Hart revealed that he had signed a contract on Hogan's behalf for Hogan's title match against Giant at Halloween Havoc and revealed a stipulation on the contract that if Hogan would be disqualified then Giant would win the title. However, WCW officials stripped Giant of the title because the disqualification was due to Hart's interference and announced that the title would be decided in the first-ever World War 3 battle royal, which would consist of sixty competitors and would be contested in three rings and would take place at the namesake pay-per-view on November 26. At Halloween Havoc,

turned on his partner

during a tag team match against

Arn Anderson Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by the ring name Arn Anderson, is an American professional wrestling road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as a ...

and

Brian Pillman Brian William Pillman (May 22, 1962 – October 5, 1997) was an American professional wrestler and professional football player best known for his appearances in Stampede Wrestling in the 1980s and World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Ch ...

. This led to a reformation of

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with Flair, Anderson, Pillman and a fourth partner in future. Sting defeated Flair on the November 13 episode of ''Monday Nitro'', which led to a rematch between the two at World War 3. At Halloween Havoc,

defeated

after Luger collided with Jimmy Hart on the apron. Later that night, Luger turned on Savage and Hulk Hogan after Hart turned on Hogan and cost him the World Heavyweight Championship against The Giant. Luger would then join Dungeon of Doom and resume his rivalry with Savage. On the November 13 episode of ''Monday Nitro'', Luger attacked Savage after Savage defeated

Meng Meng may refer to: * Meng (surname) (孟), a Chinese surname * Master of Engineering (MEng or M.Eng.), an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering * , "M with hook", letter used in the International Phonetic Alphabet * ...

, thus leading to a rematch between Savage and Luger at World War 3. On the November 13 episode of ''Monday Nitro'',

Chris Benoit Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestlin ...

defeated

Kensuke Sasaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, and founder of the now-defunct wrestling promotion Diamond Ring. Sasaki is the first of four men ever to hold all three of '' puroresus major heavyweight titles (the IWGP Heav ...

in a match. Sasaki later won the United States Heavyweight Championship from Sting at a WCW World in Japan event hosted by

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority sha ...

, setting up a match between Sasaki and Benoit for the title at World War 3. At Halloween Havoc, Johnny B. Badd defeated

to win the World Television Championship. This set up a rematch between Badd and DDP for the title at World War 3, with the stipulation that if DDP lost then Badd would win Diamond Doll's managerial services. On the September 16 episode of ''Saturday Night'',

Jim Duggan James Edward Duggan Jr. (born January 14, 1954), better known by his ring name "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan, is an American professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE on a Legends contract. His best-known character is that of an American patriot, which ...

cost Big Bubba Rogers a match against Dave Sullivan by putting Ralph the Rabbit in the ring, which led to Rogers leaving the match due to his allergies from rabbits. This led to a match between the two on the September 30 episode of ''Saturday Night'', in which Rogers defeated Duggan by hitting him with a taped fist while Duggan was distracted by VK Wallstreet. However, Duggan defeated Rogers in a rematch on the following week's ''Saturday Night''. On the November 11 episode of ''Saturday Night'', it was announced that Duggan would face Rogers in a Taped Fist match and Duggan was depicted as having visited Ireland to check out his ancestors in preparation for his match. On the November 20 episode of ''Monday Nitro'', Duggan cost Rogers, his match against

Road Warrior Hawk Michael Hegstrand (January 26, 1957 – October 19, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known as Road Warrior Hawk, one half of the tag team known as The Road Warriors (The Legion of Doom in WWF), with Road Warrior Animal. ...

by tripping Rogers from outside the ring as Rogers was about to use the taped fist on Hawk but landed face-first on the taped fist.

Event

Preliminary matches

In the inaugural match, Johnny B. Badd defended the World Television Championship against

, with the stipulation being that if Badd won, he would win the managerial services of Page's

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, valet de chambre was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "valet ...

Diamond Doll. Near the climax of the match, Badd executed a springboard splash outside the ring on DDP and then tossed him into the ring to perform a springboard

diving leg drop Aerial techniques, also known as "high-flying moves" are maneuvers in professional wrestling using the ring's posts and ropes as aids, in many cases to demonstrate the speed and agility of smaller, nimble and acrobatically inclined wrestlers prefer ...

to win the match and retain the title. As a result, Badd won Diamond Doll's services but freed her. Next,

took on Big Bubba Rogers in a taped fist match. Duggan was about to win the match as he was about to deliver a three-point stance clothesline to Rogers but VK Wallstreet interfered and Duggan hit him with a 2x4 but Wallstreet had tossed a chain into the ring and Rogers wrapped the chain with his fist and hit Duggan with the chain to knock him out, thus winning the match. The following match was an interpromotional women's tag team match pitting Mayumi Ozaki and Cutie Suzuki from

against

and

from

. After a back and forth action, Nakano hit a '' Bull's Poseidon'' on Ozaki for the win. Next,

defended the United States Heavyweight Championship against

. After a back and forth match, Sasaki executed a '' Northern Lights Bomb'' on Benoit to retain the title. Later,

took on

. Luger's manager

distracted the referee as Savage was about to hit a

diving elbow drop Aerial techniques, also known as "high-flying moves" are maneuvers in professional wrestling using the ring's posts and ropes as aids, in many cases to demonstrate the speed and agility of smaller, nimble and acrobatically inclined wrestlers prefe ...

and Savage tossed Luger out of the ring where the two brawled until Luger applied a '' Torture Rack'' on Savage and then tossed him inside the ring to apply an

armbar An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the arm is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, ...

on Savage's injured arm, thus knocking him out. Luger continued to apply the hold on Savage until

made the save and talked Luger into releasing the hold. In the final match on the undercard, Sting took on

. In the end of the match, Sting hit a superplex on Flair and applied a '' Scorpion Deathlock'' on Flair to make him submit for the win.

Main event match

The inaugural World War 3 battle royal for the vacant

was the main event. Randy Savage and

had been working on eliminating

but Hogan decided to assist Sting and Lex Luger in eliminating The Giant from the match. In the process, Hogan eliminated all three men from the match, leaving himself, Savage and Gang as the final three entrants. While referee Randy Anderson was busy watching Savage as he eliminated Gang, The Giant pulled Hogan out of the ring through the bottom rope. Hogan went to attack Giant, but since Anderson saw Hogan on the floor he called for the bell and declared Savage the winner of the match and the new world champion despite Hogan's protests.

Reception

''World War 3'' received mixed reviews from critics. Jack Bramma of ''411Mania'' gave the event a rating of 5.0, writing "Mero/DDP bring the goods but every thing else can be skipped. Even the good stuff of the Japanese women's match and Flair/Sting have much better iterations elsewhere." Scott Keith of ''411Mania'' wrote "Aside from the god-awful main event abortion of a battle royale, this is a pretty decent show that started a good run for WCW. Of course, all the good workers that caused it got buried during the nWo era, but that’s WCW for ya." ''Wrestling 20 Years Ago'' staff rated the event 6.5 out of 10, writing "The main event is a real drag, it lasts the better part of an hour. But the action before that should have something in it to impress everybody. I'm more picky than most when it comes to lack of selling, but I get the feeling the two Japanese matches will be enjoyed more by many. Good show, stinker of a main event."

Aftermath

The following night on ''Monday Nitro'', Hulk Hogan interrupted an interview of the new World Heavyweight Champion Randy Savage and demanded that the outcome of the World War 3 be reviewed as he was not eliminated from the match but The Giant interrupted by attacking both men. On the December 18 episode of ''Monday Nitro'', Hogan attacked Giant and several referees during Giant's title shot against Savage for the title, which resulted in Hogan being suspended for the rest of 1995 on the December 25 episode of ''Nitro''. Savage would hold the title until Starrcade, where WCW competed against

wrestlers in an interpromotional World Cup. WCW won the tournament 4–3 and then Sting, Ric Flair and Lex Luger competed in a triangle match to earn an immediate title match against Savage. Flair won the match, thus earning an immediate title shot against Savage, which Flair won. Hulk Hogan and The Giant's feud continued until

SuperBrawl VI SuperBrawl VI was the sixth SuperBrawl professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). The event took place on February 11, 1996, from the Bayfront Arena in St. Petersburg, Florida. The main eve ...

, where Hogan defeated Giant in a

steel cage match 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 ...

to conclude the rivalry. Mayumi Ozaki and Cutie Suzuki faced Akira Hokuto and Bull Nakano in a rematch on the following night's episode of ''Monday Nitro'', which Hokuto and Nakano won again. Johnny B. Badd and Diamond Dallas Page had a rematch for the World Television Championship on the following night's ''Monday Nitro'', where Badd won after Diamond Doll knocked DDP out with a chain. Badd gave Doll, the option to stay free or remain with him and she chose to be his valet. This led to a match between Badd and DDP for the title at SuperBrawl VI, where Badd retained.

Results

References

External links

World War 3 1995
{{WCWPPV, World War 3 WCW World War 3 1995 in Virginia Events in Norfolk, Virginia Events in Virginia Professional wrestling in Norfolk, Virginia November 1995 events in the United States 1995 World Championship Wrestling pay-per-view events