WCW Worldwide 4/7/1996

Written by: Bob Colling

World Championship Wrestling presents Worldwide
Date: 4/7/1996
From: Orlando, FL

Matches:
1.) Alex Wright defeated Pat Tanaka
2.) Scott Norton defeated Buck Quartermain
3.) Belfast Bruiser defeated Bill Payne
4.) WCW Television/WCW Tag Team Champion Lex Luger defeated Bobby Walker
5.) Harlem Heat defeated Public Enemy

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Wright arm drags Tanaka, who complains of a hair pull. Wright takes Tanaka down to the mat again for a two count. Tanaka gets control with right hands to the shoulder and yanks Wright down to the mat by his hair followed by kicks to the shoulder. Wright stomps on Tanaka and yanks down on the left leg a few times. Wright locks in a standing leg lock, but Tanaka refuses to give up. Wright switches to a half Boston Crab in the middle of the ring. Tanaka reaches the ropes to break the hold. The Orlando fans are riled up chanting that Wright break Tanaka’s leg. Wright head scissors Tanaka after avoiding him in the corner. Wright continues with a dropkick and an uppercut. Tanaka drops Wright with a back elbow in the corner. Tanaka delivers a few strikes and ducks a clothesline to hit a sit down powerbomb for a two count! Tanaka rakes Wright’s eyes over the middle rope. Tanaka delivers a standing heel kick for a near fall. Tanaka delivers a dragon screw leg whip for a near fall. Wright dropkicks Tanaka into the ropes. Wright uppercuts Tanaka several times and delivers a elbow strike. Wright slams Tanaka and heads to the apron to hit a slingshot splash for a near fall. Wright takes Tanaka over with a bridging German suplex to win the match. (*1/2. They got plenty of time to start the show and they delivered a decent match, but nothing all that exciting. I would have had the slingshot splash by Wright be the finish instead of the German suplex.)

2.) It’s noted by Bobby Heenan that Scott Norton has been looking for a tag partner and Schiavone mentions that Norton has been looking at Ice Train. Norton won his match following a shoulder breaker and looked really good in the ring.

3.) Backstage, Mean Gene interviews WCW Television & WCW Tag Team Champion Lex Luger. Luger is quite happy and is gloating that he has two titles. Luger says it’s exciting to be him right now. Gene asks what Luger is doing with his hair and Luger says he’s growing it out. Luger says all the belts are coming around his waist and shoulder. Luger is coming for all of them and he can be called “Champ”.

4.) It’s quite obvious that this match for Luger was taped prior to winning two titles and he looks different than he did in the promo earlier with Gene.

5.) Backstage, Mean Gene interviews Jim Duggan. Duggan is here to talk about WCW and how everyone is talking about how tough they are. Duggan says he’s not a tough guy to find. Duggan will pull out some tape and put it around his fist to beat some people up. Duggan says that his great grandmother was a taped fist winner. If that doesn’t work then he’ll use his 2×4.

6.) Rock and Booker start the match with Booker shoving Grunge on the apron and Rock bails to the floor. Rock backs Booker into the corner and delivers a strike. Rock hammer away on Booker in the corner, but Booker connects with a forearm smash to send Rock to the floor. Booker rolls Rock back into the ring and delivers a back elbow. Grunge enters and gets met with a kick. Stevie Ray gets involved to deliver a kick to Grunge and Heat stand tall. Grunge hammers away on Ray upon returning, but Ray delivers a weird looking press slam. Grunge elbows Ray in the corner and hits an awkward looking middle rope clothesline for a two count. Ray headbutts Grunge on the lower midsection and Booker connects with a leaping side kick for a near fall. Booker knee lifts Grunge a few times, but Grunge drops Booker with a back suplex. Rock tags into the match and walks the top rope to arm drag Booker. Rock tries to do the move again, but booker kicks the ropes to crotch Rock.

Booker brings Rock back into the ring with a suplex and plays to the crowd. Ray tags into the match and helps Booker with a double suplex on Rock for a two count. Ray stomps on Rock over the bottom rope. Booker drops Rock over the top rope from the apron. Rock elbow drops Booker to gain control before tagging in Grunge. Ray cleans house with right hands but misses a splash in the corner. Rock misses a top rope moonsault hitting Grunge on accident. Booker counters a suplex and has a rollup on Grunge, but Rock tosses Booker over the top to the floor to cause a disqualification. After the match, Public Enemy miss a double clothesline and Ray clotheslines Grunge while Booker pulled Rock to the floor. Heat stand tall in the ring to end the segment. (*1/4. The finish is lame and Heenan notes that he hates it and I agree with him. The action was okay as they did a few fun spots, but it wasn’t an overly enjoyable contest. Public Enemy wrestling in non-hardcore matches are typically not that much fun to watch.)

Final Thoughts:
The feature match wasn’t very good, but I did enjoy the squash matches for Bruiser and Norton. Luger is doing a very good job in his heel role and comes across as a big star compared to his WWF run.

Thanks for reading.