WCW Worldwide 3/24/1996

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Worldwide
Date: 3/24/1996
From: Orlando, FL

Matches:
1.) Hulk Hogan defeated Shark
2.) Big Bubba Rogers defeated Steve Armstrong
3.) Harlem Heat defeated Men At Work
4.) WCW World Champion Ric Flair defeated Marcus Alexander Bagwell
5.) Sting defeated Hugh Morrus

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Shark goes right after Hogan before the bell. Hogan staggers Shark with a clothesline and delivers a few right hands. Hogan eye rakes Shark against the ropes. Hogan clotheslines Shark followed by an elbow drop for a two count. Hogan mounts Shark with right hands. Hogan clotheslines Shark in the corner followed by more right hands. Hogan back rakes Shark and continues with right hands. Shark knee lifts Hogan and delivers an overhand strike. Shark locks in a bearhug, but Hogan quickly breaks free from that. Shark scoop slams Hogan and comes off the ropes to only miss an elbow drop. Hogan knocks Shark to the floor with a big boot and they continue to trade strikes. Hogan and Shark are locked up on the floor, but the referee is shoved down. Hogan whacks Shark over the back with a chair and pins Shark to win the match. (*. WHAT? That is the most bizarre way to finish a match. Hogan should have been disqualified on multiple occasions. This is hardly the kind of encounter they had six years ago.) After the match, Hogan whacks Shark over the head with a chair shot and plays to the crowd.

2.) Bagwell takes Flair down with a headlock to start the contest. Flair gets out of a headlock with a top wrist lock. Bagwell keeps a hammerlock on Flair and delivers a couple of knee drops to Flair’s lower back. Flair knee lifts Bagwell in the midsection to gain the upper hand. Bagwell backdrops Flair followed by a dropkick and clothesline to send Flair bailing to the floor. Flair drops to his knees and begs off from Bagwell. Flair eye rakes Bagwell and is met with another backdrop. Flair avoids a dropkick attempt and tries for a figure four, but Bagwell almost wins with an inside cradle. Bagwell misses a crossbody against the ropes and crashes over the top to the floor. Flair misses a knee drop and heads to the top rope. Bagwell press slams Flair to the mat. Bagwell runs over Flair with a clothesline, but is stopped by an eye rake. Bagwell crotches Flair on the top rope and hits a superplex. Bagwell floats over and nearly wins the match. Bagwell clotheslines Flair and continues with a scoop slam. Bagwell tries for a slingshot splash, but Flair got his knees up. Flair manages to get the figure four locked in and uses the ropes for leverage to get the submission. (**. They kept a good pace and Bagwell did a fine job in his role here. Flair winning matches with the figure four is a good thing to see as the finish needs to be built up again.)

3.) Morrus headbutts Sting against the ropes and blocks a scoop slam attempt with strikes to the back. Sting ducks a clothesline and slams Morrus followed by a dropkick to the floor. Morrus hammers away on Sting and chokes him over the top rope. Morrus clotheslines Sting coming off the ropes and taunts the fans. Sting clotheslines Morrus, but can’t followup. Morrus keeps control with a few strikes. Morrus misses a splash in the corner. Morrus slams Sting but misses the moonsault off the top. Sting splashes Morrus in the corner a few times followed by a clothesline. Sting locks in the Scorpion Death Lock and wins the match by submission. After the match, the Dungeon of Doom attack Sting. However, Hulk Hogan comes out with a chair and cleans house. Sting has a chair and gets a few shots in as well. (*. An uninspired match for the most part with Sting hitting his few moves to win the match after being beaten up for the majority of the action.)

Final Thoughts:
There’s nothing memorable action wise, but I liked the show largely because it features all top talent. I like the approach since this show aired the same weekend of Uncensored. So, I think it was an effective program.

Thanks for reading.