World Championship Wrestling presents Worldwide
Date: 9/22/1996
From:
Matches:
1.) Juventud Guerrera defeated Jerry Lynn
2.) Diamond Dallas Page defeated Disco Inferno
3.) Brad Armstrong defeated Super Calo
4.) Dungeon of Doom defeated Pepe Prado, Steve Armstrong, Scott Armstrong & Unknown
5.) Arn Anderson & Chris Benoit defeated Rock & Roll Express
Angle Developments/Notes:
1.) Mr. JL is no longer wearing a mask. JL would be better known as Jerry Lynn in ECW.
2.) Lynn gains wrist control on Guerrera to start the match. Guerrera arm drags Lynn to the mat and taunts the crowd. Guerrera gains wrist control, but Lynn quickly counters with an arm drag. Guerrera backs Lynn into a corner and delivers a kick to the midsection followed by a chop to the chest. Lynn responds with a series of chops. Lynn hits a crossbody out of the corner and a head scissors causing Guerrera to bail to the floor to regroup. Guerrera returns to the match and Lynn chops Guerrera to the mat a couple of times. Guerrera spin kicks Lynn to the mat and plays to the crowd. Lynn ducks a kick, but Guerrera nails Lynn with a clothesline. Guerrera goes to the apron and hits a somersault dropkick. Guerrera spikes Lynn with a brainbuster for a near fall. Guerrera misses a clothesline and Lynn hits a German suplex for a near fall. Guerrera elbows free and tosses Lynn with a suplex for a two count. Guerrera slams Lynn to the mat and delivers an elbow drop. Guerrera goes to the apron to hit a springboard leg drop for a near fall. Guerrera slams Lynn before heading to the apron and misses a springboard somersault attack. Lynn heads to the top rope and hits a missile dropkick for a two count. Lynn ducks a clothesline and nails Guerrera with a back elbow strike. Lynn heads to the top rope, but is stopped by Guerrera. Guerrera tries for a hurricanrana, but Lynn shoves Guerrera off. Guerrera sits Lynn on the top after avoiding a move and hits a top rope hurricanrana for the win. (**. The action was okay, but the pacing seemed to be really off and clunky. It felt as if Guerrera didn’t know what to do in spots and it came across poorly on TV.)
3.) DDP decks Inferno from behind before the bell sounds and stomps on Inferno’s back. DDP forearms Inferno into the ropes and chokes Inferno. Inferno avoids a splash in the corner and almost wins with a rollup. DDP recovers to stomp Inferno several times on the mat. DDP forearms Inferno and connects with a discus clothesline. Inferno tries for a rollup, but DDP blocks it. Inferno almost wins after DDP was taunting Inferno. DDP chokes Inferno in the corner and delivers an elbow drop to the lower midsection area. DDP casually kicks Inferno on the mat. Inferno kicks DDP followed by an eye rake and several jabs. Inferno nails DDP with an elbow strike. Inferno connects with a knee drop and a swinging neckbreaker for a two count as DDP got his boot on the bottom rope. Inferno thinks he has won, but DDP gets up and plants Inferno with the Diamond Cutter for the win. (1/2*. This was mostly an extended squash for DDP. I’m honestly surprised this went longer than the match Inferno had with Powers on Saturday Night.)
4.) Calo takes Armstrong down to the mat, but Armstrong counters with a wrist lock. Calo breaks free and takes Armstrong down with a snap mare and a splash to the back of Armstrong’s head. Calo hits a springboard crossbody out of the corner. Calo arm drags Armstrong to the floor. Calo takes Armstrong down with a dive to the floor. Calo drives Armstrong down with a tilt a whirl slam. Calo continues with an elbow drop and goes to the top rope. Calo misses a missile dropkick attempt. Armstrong backdrops Calo coming off the ropes and follows up with a clothesline. Armstrong hits a side Russian leg sweep and wins the match. (*. I was kind of hoping for Calo to prevail since he’s brand new to the company and already appeared on PPV, but the Armstrong Curse isn’t an issue this time around, I guess.)
5.) Morton and Anderson start the main event with Anderson quickly going to the floor where Gibson decks Anderson with a right hand. Anderson knee lifts Morton and rams Morton into the corner where Benoit is tagged into the match. Morton head scissors Benoit, but Benoit responds with several strikes. Morton counters a powerbomb with an arm drag and tags in Gibson. Gibson nails Benoit with a kick to the head. Benoit eye rakes Gibson and continues with strikes in the corner. Gibson hip tosses Benoit out of the corner followed by a head scissors. Anderson returns to the match as Gibson fights out of the corner. Anderson dumps Gibson to the floor, but misses a strike and hits the ring post. Gibson wraps Anderson’s arm around the post. Gibson continues with a few knee strikes and Morton comes off the top with an axe handle. Morton leg sweeps Anderson to the mat and Gibson hits a knee drop to the arm. Gibson knee drops Anderson and tags in Morton to deliver a knee drop. Anderson misses a shoulder strike and Morton is dropped over the top turnbuckle. Benoit returns to the match and works over Morton with strikes and stomps in the corner. Benoit elbows Morton coming off the ropes. Benoit stomps on Morton and decks Gibson off the apron.
Benoit sends Morton to the floor where Anderson sends Morton into the ring post. Benoit covers, but only gets a two count. Anderson returns to the match with a stomp and Morton bails to the floor where Benoit continues with offense. Morton tries for a sunset flip from the apron, but Anderson tries to avoid it. Gibson decks Benoit for helping and Morton almost wins. Anderson stops Morton with a front face lock. Morton struggles to his feet and tries to tag in Gibson, but can’t reach Gibson. Benoit returns to the match and drives Morton down with a back suplex. Benoit covers Morton for a two count. Benoit forearms Morton, but Morton responds with a few strikes. Benoit slams Morton to the mat. Benoit stomps on Morton and Anderson returns to the match. Anderson leaps off the middle rope, but Morton delivers a boot to the face. Benoit and Gibson are tagged into the match with Gibson cleaning house on the Horsemen. Gibson elbows Benoit into the ropes and Morton decks Benoit to the floor. Express hit a double dropkick on Anderson, but Benoit leaps off the top to strike Gibson and Anderson pins Gibson for the win. (**. This was a formula tag match where they used the same finish that I’ve seen plenty of times. I like Morton and Gibson and if they stick around as a lower midcard tag team putting over the bigger teams I think they will excel in that role.)
Final Thoughts:
An average episode of Worldwide with a couple of decent matches to make this a harmless hour program.
Thanks for reading.