WCW Worldwide 7/14/1996

World Championship Wrestling presents Worldwide
Date: 7/14/1996
From: Orlando, FL

Matches:
1.) Alex Wright defeated Mark Starr
2.) Hugh Morrus defeated Cobra
3.) Steiner Brothers defeated Public Enemy
4.) Eddie Guerrero defeated Disco Inferno
5.) Sgt. Craig Pittman defeated Lord Steven Regal by disqualification
6.) Randy Savage defeated Meng

Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Rock and Scott kickoff the tag match with Rock delivering a few strikes. Scott drives Rock into the corner with a slam, but Rock gets a rollup for a two count. Scott plants Rock with a tilt a whirl slam for a near fall. Grunge tags into the match and wants a piece of Rick Steiner. Rick tags into the match and is met with a knee lift and clubbing blows over the back. Rick shoulder blocks Grunge and delivers a powerslam. Rock gets involved to stop the cover attempt by Rick. Grunge dumps Rick through the ropes to the floor and Rock decks Scott from behind. Grunge lays Rick onto the table setup at ringside. Rock is pulled out by Scott and Rick kicks Grunge away. Rick clotheslines Grunge on the floor. Rick keeps a chin lock on Rock in the ring for a moment. Rock dumps Rick to the floor onto the table, but misses a senton splash and crashes through the table. Scott plants Grunge with a double under hook powerbomb. Scott has Grunge on his shoulders and Rick delivers a bulldog for the win. (*. That was essentially a squash match for the Steiner Brothers and I’m kind of surprised they didn’t give Public Enemy much of anything here. I’d imagine that the Steiner’s are next in line for a tag shot or something to justify this complete dominance.)

2.) Inferno shoulder blocks Guerrero early on and almost goes over the top to the floor. Guerrero atomic drops Inferno followed by a spinning back elbow. Guerrero taunts Inferno and gains control with a headlock, but Inferno breaks free with a back suplex. Inferno rams Guerrero into the corner face first and Guerrero arm drags Inferno followed by a dropkick to send Inferno into the corner. Inferno complains in the corner before backing Guerrero into a corner and delivers a few strikes to drop Guerrero to his knees. Inferno knee drops Guerrero and delivers an elbow drop a few times. Inferno works over Guerrero in the corner and misses a splash. Guerrero fires back with several right hands in the corner. Guerrero pummels Inferno with right hands and punches Inferno away before hitting a tornado DDT off the middle rope. Guerrero drags Inferno to the middle of the ring and hits the top rope frog splash to win match. (*1/2. Guerrero is so much fun to watch. That’s all there is to it. Guerrero is one of the best that WCW has to offer.)

3.) Late in the Pittman/Regal match, Earl Robert Eaton came out as Pittman had a cross arm bar on Regal. Pittman decked Eaton off the apron, but Eaton went to the top and hit a knee drop after knocking Teddy Long to the floor. Regal was disqualified and there was a noticeable issue between Eaton and Regal.

4.) Meng backs Savage into the corner to start the main event. Meng cleanly backs off and Savage delivers a kick to the midsection and shoulder rams in the corner. Savage elbows Meng into the corner. Meng runs into a boot in the corner. Savage is decked off the apron by Meng and is met with stomps. Meng delivers a back suplex, but Savage is under the ropes to break the count. Meng elbow strikes Savage followed by chops in the corner. Meng goes for a piledrive and spikes Savage to the mat for a near fall. Savage tries to fight back with right hands, but is stopped by Meng. Savage kicks Meng a few times, but is knocked down to the mat. Meng drives Savage down with a backbreaker for a near fall. Meng slams Savage before heading to the top rope and hits a diving headbutt for a two count. Savage rolls to the floor to regroup. Meng chops Savage and sends Savage into the ring post. Meng goes to the top rope, but Savage crotches Meng over the top rope. Savage slams Meng and leaps off the top hitting an elbow drop for the win. (*1/2. I thought they had enough action here to hold my interest throughout. It’s nothing memorable, but there was more of an effort here than what Savage usually seems to do for Worldwide appearances.)

Final Thoughts:
Another easy episode of Worldwide with some fine enhancement matches and the feature matches were decent to get through.

Thanks for reading.