World Championship Wrestling presents Worldwide
Date: 9/8/1996
From: Orlando, FL
Matches:
1.) WCW Tag Team Champions Harlem Heat defeated Rough & Ready (Slater & Enos)
2.) Konnan defeated Disco Inferno
3.) Hugh Morrus defeated Leroy Howard
4.) Diamond Dallas Page defeated Prince Iaukea
5.) Arn Anderson & Chris Benoit defeated Meng & Barbarian
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Ray and Slater kickoff the tag match. Slater backs Ray into the corner and delivers a few strikes. Ray fights back with strikes and decks Enos on the apron. Ray shoulder blocks Slater and Slater bails to the floor. Slater rolls Ray up for a two count. Ray pummels Slater with right hands in the corner and Slater begs off. Slater takes Ray down to the mat and tags in Enos. Enos delivers a leg drop, but Ray regains control and tags in Booker. Enos kicks Booker to the mat. Enos drops Booker over the top rope. Enos knee lifts Booker in the corner and distracts the referee to allow Slater to deliver an elbow strike from the apron. Enos keeps a headlock on Booker, but is sent into the ropes and shoulder blocks Booker. Booker responds with a forearm smash to Enos and slams Slater. Booker slams Enos while Ray slugs it out with Slater. Enos and Booker go to the floor where Enos slams Booker. Slater elbow drops Booker on the floor. Enos spikes Booker with a piledriver leading to a near fall. Enos keeps Booker on the mat with a chin lock. Booker elbows Enos to break free, but runs into a clothesline. Booker is driven down with a double side Russian leg sweep, but kicks out at two. Booker is decked by both men, but Enos only gets a two count on the cover attempt. Enos slams Booker and misses a big splash off the ropes. Slater knee strikes Booker from the apron and Enos delivers a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. All four men are in the ring where Enos powerslams Booker. Enos decks Col. Parker, but Sherri nails Enos with the cane. Booker covers Enos and wins the match. (**1/2. A solid tag bout that didn’t have much a slow portion to it at all. The finish got a little messy, but the overall match was good. I was impressed by Enos and Slater. Parker should probably be aligned with them anyway.)
2.) Konnan is sporting a new look. He’s recently had a changed attitude and is dressed more like a gang member than his previous Mexican superstar look.
3.) Konnan arm drags Inferno, but Inferno comes back with a boot to the midsection and a drop toe hold. Konnan punches Inferno on the back of the head. Konnan chops Inferno, but Inferno eye rakes Konnan and hits a neckbreaker. Inferno elbows Konnan to the mat and delivers a forearm drop. Inferno slams Konnan, but misses an elbow drop three times. Konnan nails Inferno with a rolling clothesline and a dropkick. Inferno battles back with a swinging neckbreaker for a two count. Konnan connects with a facebuster and a seated dropkick. Konnan locks in the Tequila Sunrise forcing a submission. (*. It’s a little bizarre to see Inferno in a competitive match, but it wasn’t too bad.)
4.) Anderson and Barbarian kickoff the match with Anderson trying for a shoulder block, but is knocked down to the mat. Barbarian backs Anderson into a corner, but Anderson shoulder rams Barbarian. Barbarian powerslams Anderson out of the corner and decks Anderson with a strike. Benoit tags into the match to battle Meng. They trade kicks to the midsection. Meng misses a splash in the corner and Benoit works over Meng with strikes and stomps. Meng tosses Benoit out of the corner. Meng dropkicks Benoit for a two count. Benoit avoids a falling headbutt and hits a German suplex. Anderson returns to the match and double teams Meng briefly. Meng nails Anderson with a strike, but Benoit begins to trade chops. Barbarian returns to the match to headbutt Benoit to the mat. Barbarian is sent into the corner and clubbed away on by the Horsemen. Anderson returns to the match and knee drops Barbarian on the knee. Benoit splashes down on Barbarian’s knee. Anderson returns to the ring and tries for a suplex, but Barbarian counters with a suplex of his own.
Meng tags back into the match and hammers away on Anderson with strikes and stomps. Meng headbutts Anderson and chokes Anderson in the corner. Anderson wraps Meng’s leg around the ring post. Meng pummels Benoit with strikes before tagging in Barbarian. Barbarian drives Benoit down to the mat with a slam for a near fall as Anderson gets involved. Barbarian nails Benoit with a standing side kick. Benoit hits a northern lights suplex, but can’t make a tag. Meng tags back into the match and spikes Benoit with a piledriver for a two count. Barbarian slams Benoit and Meng goes to the top as they look to hit stereo headutts, and they hit it. Anderson gets in the ring to stop the pin attempt. Anderson sends Meng to the floor while Benoit hits a German suplex on Barbarian. Meng crotches Benoit on the top rope. Barbarian tosses Benoit off the top with an overhead suplex. Anderson nails Barbarian with a DDT, and Benoit wins the match. (**1/2. A good, hard-hitting match with some big spots thrown in, too. Barbarian’s overhead suplex towards the end was nuts, and I thought it would lead to a victory. I love it when guys perform ridiculous moves on syndication shows.)
Final Thoughts:
This week we got some quality tag team wrestling and the enhancement matches weren’t bad either. I’ll give this weeks show a thumbs up.
Thanks for reading.