World Championship Wrestling presents Worldwide
Date: 6/2/1996
From: Orlando, FL
Matches:
1.) Joe Gomez defeated Manny Fernandez
2.) Booty Man defeated The Gambler
3.) Bobby Walker defeated Top Gun
4.) Nasty Boys fought Masahiro Chono & Kensuke Sasaki to a double count out
5.) Chris Benoit fought Eddie Guerrero to a double count out
6.) Public Enemy defeated Arn Anderson & Kevin Sullivan by disqualification
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Over on Saturday Night, WCW is promoting Joe Gomez as on his way to WCW. But, here on Worldwide, Gomez is already here! Gomez won the match following a leaping forearm smash coming off the ropes.
2.) Backstage, Mean Gene interviewed Sting regarding an upcoming NY house show where Sting will be getting a WCW World Championship match against The Giant. Sting talks about coming up just a little bit short at Slamboree, but Sting recalls putting the Scorpion Death Lock on Giant. Sting promises to get the hold on Giant again on June 30th in NY.
3.) Sasaki and Sags kickoff the tag match with Sasaki working over Sags in the corner with chops. Sasaki delivers a clothesline in the corner, but Sags fights back and delivers a running clothesline in the corner. Sasaki shoulder blocks Sags, but misses an elbow drop. Knobbs tags in and they knock Sasaki down to the floor. Chono gains control on Knobbs with right hands and tries for a scoop slam, but Knobbs eye rake Chono and delivers several right hands and a back elbow strike. Chono eye rakes Knobbs and sends Knobbs through the ropes to the floor. Knobbs returns and sends Chono to the floor after a few strikes. Sags sends Sasaki to the floor, as well. Chono and Sasaki shove each other, but they regroup with Sonny Ono. Knobbs forearms Sasaki, but Chono knee lifts Knobbs from the apron and is clotheslined by Sasaki. Sasaki drives Knobbs down with a vertical suplex for a near fall. Chono beats on Knobbs with several headbutts to the back. Sasaki powerslams Knobbs coming off the ropes. Chono accidentally nails Sasaki with a big boot. Sags clotheslines Sasaki and powerbombs Chono in the middle of the ring. Ono distracts Sags, which leads to Sags pulling Ono onto the apron. Knobbs and Sasaki go to the floor while Chono and Sags brawl on the other side and that leads to a double count out. Ono is kicking Sags against the ring post. After the match, both teams continue to brawl around ringside and they go backstage. (*1/2. It’s a fine match with some decent brawling, but there was no story to the match. It felt like a time filler before they got to the cheap finish to protect both teams. It’s always blown my mind that the NJPW guys would be on Worldwide and not at least on Saturday Night, for the most part.)
4.) Guerrero backs Benoit into a corner, but cleanly backs away. Guerrero backs Benoit into another corner, but Benoit holds Guerrero’s tights and delivers a strike to the face. Benoit keeps control with a headbutt and chop before choking Guerrero over the top rope. Benoit forearms Guerrero to the mat and keeps a side headlock on Guerrero. Guerrero shoulder blocks Benoit, but Benoit stops Guerrero with a tilt a whirl backbreaker for a two count. Guerrero head scissors Benoit followed by a dropkick to the floor. Guerrero goes to the top rope, but Benoit backs away on the floor to prevent a dive to the outside. Benoit returns to the ring and gains the advantage with several strikes and a chop to the mat. Benoit drives Guerrero down with a spinebuster and locks in a Boston Crab. Guerrero rolls free from the hold and connects with a tilt a whirl backbreaker. Benoit sends Guerrero to the floor and rams Guerrero into the ring post face first. Benoit forearms Guerrero, but Guerrero counters a back suplex for a two count. Benoit misses a splash in the corner and Guerrero hammers away on Benoit. They trade a few rollup attempts. Benoit tries for a powerbomb, but Guerrero breaks free trying for a brainbuster. They both fall over the top to the floor on a back suplex attempt. They are both counted out. (***. I’m not sure I’d put two matches with the same outcome on right after each other, even on Worldwide. The match was good, which shouldn’t be a surprise. The cause of the double count-out is believable, as well. It would probably be more effective if the tag match wasn’t on the same show, though.)
5.) Anderson and Grunge start the match trading hammerlocks. Anderson takes Grunge down to the mat with a headlock. Anderson shoulder blocks Grunge coming off the ropes. Grunge shoulder blocks Anderson, but runs into a spinebuster. Sullivan tags into the match and hip tosses Grunge out of the corner followed by a dropkick. Sullivan puts Grunge in the tree of woe in the corner. Sullivan delivers a running knee strike, but Rock hits a clothesline off the top to help Grunge. Rock and Anderson tag into the match. Rock tries for a springboard moonsault, but Anderson catches Rock. Rock counters with a rollup for a near fall. Grunge knee lifts Anderson from the apron to allow Rock to slam Anderson. Grunge helps Rock with a senton splash, but Sullivan gets involved. Grunge lays Sullivan onto a table at ringside. Rock tries for a somersault dive, but Brian Knobbs pulls Sullivan off and Rock crashes through the table. After the match, the Nasty Boys attack Public Enemy. (*. I’m not really sure why they’d book these two teams to be quite honest. Public Enemy must only be capable of feuding with the Nasty Boys since they are constantly getting involved with each other. Anderson displayed great strength to catch Rock on the springboard moonsault. That was the most interesting part of the match.)
Final Thoughts:
It’s a disappointing show largely because all the feature level matches all had poor finishes and two of them having essentially the same finish. There have been better Benoit/Guerrero matches, so that’s a must-see bout either.
Thanks for reading.