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Post by PJ on Sept 1, 2017 11:09:26 GMT -5
Ok after an Intense Eeny Meeny we have a winner...Fall Brawl 1996
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Post by hbkbigdaddycool on Sept 1, 2017 14:15:49 GMT -5
This was during the early NWO stages, and that caused a big reason to buy this PPV and watch it.
The War Games match was intriguing, as we needed to know was Sting on team NWO or Team WCW?? That last Nitro got us wondering big time!
Randy Savage vs. The Giant was decent.
Chris Jericho vs. Chris Benoit was an exciting match.
DDP vs. Chavo Guerrero was fun, and a good way to keep the DDP vs. Eddy Guerrero feud happening.
There was some Mexican/Lucha/cruiser weight action too which the fans loved back then.
Nasty Boys vs. Harlem Heat for the Tag Titles was fun. Those two teams always had fun, knock down fights with each other.
The only downside of that PPV was the Ice Train vs. Scott Norton blow off. I know it was needed I suppose, but they could have done it on Nitro, and not the PPV.
Overall, this PPV happened during the start of the high peak for WCW. So I doubt (back then) anyone would complain because every fan was invested into WCW to see the NWO, or who from the WWE would be a part of the NWO.
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hammer
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jun 12, 2009 2:30:31 GMT -5
Posts: 2,619
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Post by hammer on Sept 1, 2017 20:29:56 GMT -5
im about halfway through calo/rey right now... and my only true takeaway from this show so far, is how absolutely hilarious and distracting dusty's commentary was. goddamn i legit laughed a good 3 or 4 times.
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Post by The Brain on Sept 1, 2017 21:25:51 GMT -5
I enjoyed this War Games match a lot. The what is Sting going to do? angle was so well done.
That aside, Jericho vs Benoit was match of the night IMO.
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Post by marino13 on Sept 1, 2017 21:28:14 GMT -5
I just watch most of the abysmal Fall Brawl 94 because apparently I misread what show we were reviewing.  This event took place on September 15. That is my birthday. I also graduated high school in 96. So there's that bit of info for y'all. This is the start of the rise of DDP. Good match. Always thought Ice Train had such potential. No idea what happened to him. I skipped Konnan vs Juvi. Couldn't stand either of them. I can't begin to tell you how much I loved Benoit. But let's not get that going. Great showing from Jericho. Weird that both men became MUCH bigger once they went to WWE. I know people love to praise the CW from wCw while running down the CW from 205 Live, but wCw had some awful CW talent. Super Calo was not good. HATED the Nasty Boys. Harlem Heat was great though. Hated Nick Patrick as the evil crooked ref. Giant/Savage was pretty good. Savage NEVER should have joined the nWo. War Games was decent. Told a good story. But seeing what happened to Savage afterwards makes me all the madder that he eventually joins the nWo. This event was MILES better than the show 2 years prior. |
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Post by The Brain on Sept 1, 2017 21:35:09 GMT -5
I just watch most of the abysmal Fall Brawl 94 because apparently I misread what show we were reviewing. This event took place on September 15. That is my birthday. I also graduated high school in 96. So there's that bit of info for y'all. This is the start of the rise of DDP. Good match. Always thought Ice Train had such potential. No idea what happened to him. I skipped Konnan vs Juvi. Couldn't stand either of them.
I can't begin to tell you how much I loved Benoit. But let's not get that going. Great showing from Jericho. Weird that both men became MUCH bigger once they went to WWE. I know people love to praise the CW from wCw while running down the CW from 205 Live, but wCw had some awful CW talent. Super Calo was not good. HATED the Nasty Boys. Harlem Heat was great though. Hated Nick Patrick as the evil crooked ref. Giant/Savage was pretty good. Savage NEVER should have joined the nWo. War Games was decent. Told a good story. But seeing what happened to Savage afterwards makes me all the madder that he eventually joins the nWo. This event was MILES better than the show 2 years prior. You and me both. I booed the heck out of Juvi at the ECW Arena this past April. |
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hammer
Main Eventer
Joined on: Jun 12, 2009 2:30:31 GMT -5
Posts: 2,619
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Post by hammer on Sept 3, 2017 8:52:08 GMT -5
alright, finally finished this up.
ddp/chavo was a solid little opener. nothing special, but it worked. this was clearly the real start of somebody backstage caring about ddp.
ice train/scott norton was a total dud. i assume the full nelson was ice trains finish, thus the whole purpose of the submission match in the first place. horrible stuff. and scott norton was a legit tough guy, making the decision even more perplexing to have him tap out. wcw booking.
juvi/konnan was sloppy as hell, but it was fun. it seems like a match that was breathtaking in 1996 to american/non-ecw audiences. big spot after big spot after big spot after big spot with no time to breathe. flip... powerbomb! a couple more flips... powerbomb! but it was fun for a what it was.
benoit/jericho... no surprise this was hard hitting, and really crisp. best worked match of the night. and they kept mentioning this was jerichos first ppv event, so this was a nice showcase for him.
calo/rey rey was a much cleaner version of juvi/konnan. surprisingly good match.
nasty boys/harlem heat... alright. a little prefacing, 1. booker t is one of my favorite wrestlers of all time. 2. i always hated the nasties as a kid, and a couple years back i went back and watched all the wcw ppvs chronologically... and the nasty boys rose some in my ranks, for a couple big man brawls and hardcore matches they had a couple years earlier to this, with cactus jack, maxx payne, kevin sullivan and the harlem heat. so, i had some hopes... not much... for this. it wasnt horrible. it wasnt great. it just was. it told its story, it kept the straps on heat, lets move on. fair enough.
giant/macho man. lets start with the entrance music gaffe for the giant. im not sure who gets the blame for this, im not even gonna cast any. it was just funny as hell to me, that the giant walked out to his dungeon of doom music, and then about halfway down the ramp, they switched him to the nwo music. i think this kinda plays to all the stories you hear about how booked on the fly wcw was. another match that told its story, giant trying to prevent savage from getting to his title shot against hogan. it worked, solid enough. its amazing the athlete the giant was.
war games... man, arn was good. so crisp. and hall was no slouch. im sure even in 96, people knew hall and arn would be the two guys doing the 5 minute interval. that crowd was going nuts for every punch and low blow flair was throwing. this was overall really entertaining. and it set the stage for the year long sting storyline. this was probably the best overall match of the night, based on entertainment and story. as someone mentioned earlier, having savage join the nwo after all the crapthey put him through the first couple months was just lazy booking. savage, flair and luger shouldve been the front line that entire year til sting made his return. but whatever. and speaking of lazy booking... how was miss elizabeth the only person who came out to help the troops in the aftermath? if this is nwo vs wcw... where were the rest of the horsemen, at the very least? you mean to tell me benoit and mongo sat back there and watched flair, arn and savage get their asses whooped, and just stood backstage? lame.
overall, i was surprisingly entertained. ive seen the ppv before, like i said and went back and watching all the ppvs chronologically a couple years back. but while all of this was happening live, i was on a wrestling hiatus. but this ppv kinda held up on a stand alone basis... benoit/jericho was great, the two cruiser matches were entertaining if not spot fests, and the war games match was very solid.
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Post by Artie Kendall on Sept 5, 2017 14:25:59 GMT -5
I'm getting my notes ready for this but I can't believe people skipped out on the Juvi vs Konnan match. You just have to watch the entrance of Juvi to get an idea of how well this match went over. It's a Botchamania highlight.
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Post by PJ on Sept 8, 2017 7:07:49 GMT -5
So after various doctor's appointments, my daughter starting her sophomore year of college this past week and her birthday yesterday I finally finished watching Fall Brawl. DDP vs Chavo was a nice entertaining match and like marino13 said This was the start of the rise of DDP. Scott Norton vs Ice Train was also a decent match although I was never a real fan of either wrestler. After Juvi tripped over the steps on his entrance I skipped the match. Because I also couldn't stand either of them. Benoit vs Jericho - Always loved Benoit since day one and same with Jericho. As far as wrestling goes this was the match of the night for me. Mysterio vs Super Calo - this was when I liked Rey (once he lost his mask and joined the Filthy Animals and glued horns on his head I could never take him seriously again) nice match although I think Rey really hit his head hard on the concrete when he took that miss dropkick. Super Calo was another one I couldn't stand. Actually I wasn't a fan of any of the Luchadors besides Rey. Nasty Boys vs Harlem Heat - an entertaining match but I never saw the appeal of the Nasty Boys. I thought they were entertaining, but I never considered them a championship caliber team. As usual though Sherri did a fantastic job. I think Nick Patrick was great as the evil crooked ref, because I hated him at the time. lol Giant vs Savage - another good match and man did the Giant look great back then. War Games - I found it to be a bit underwhelming. Yes, it told a good story. But I always felt Tony Schiavone constantly asking who the NWO's fourth would be "Giant or Sting" was overkill thus knowing (back when it originally aired) that there was somehow going to be two Stings at the end of the night. |
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Post by Artie Kendall on Sept 9, 2017 20:04:01 GMT -5
I remember watching Fall Brawl 96 live and just being so disappointed in the main event and I'm still disappointed to this day. Looking over the Observer for this pay per view and for WCW 1996, I completely forgot that Davey Boy Smith was going to be the fourth member for NWO. It probably would have changed it a little bit, and who knows, maybe Bret Hart leaves WWF at the same time. Wrestling could have been a lot different.
Match #1 DDP Vs Chavo
I used to have the actual stat but chances are if you watch a WCW PPV from 94-96 it's very high that DDP or Johnny B Badd is going to open the show. I took it easy on this match as it was Chavo's first WCW Pay Per View, but it's so obvious that he is green. DDP is carrying the match, and you can see him talking to him for most of the spots. It was so obvious that he is talking that my wife noticed it. The crowd was totally behind Page and much like the crowd, I went crazy to for that doctor bomb too. It was an ok match, nothing great, but a good start.
Match #2 Ice Train Vs Scott Norton
This is just cruel to put this match on. How on Earth an arm bar doesn't finish the match but a full nelson does. Terrible match.
Match #3 Gonads Vs Juvi
Just watch the entrance for Juvi, it sums this match up.
Match #4 Chris Benoit Vs Chris Jericho
Match of the night. It's a sign at how great these two were, that they knew the crowd was going to be behind Benoit and wanted to see him tear Jericho up, and they reversed it and made the match all about Jericho. Sure Benoit got the win but Jericho came off a lot stronger. Brutal chops in this one, best technical wrestling of the card. With the exception of Page, this was the only match so far that got a really strong fan reaction due to Benoit being in it.
Match #5 Rey Vs Super Calo
I actually liked this match a lot. I didn't think I would and I forgot this match was on the card. The crowd wasn't really feeling it for Calo, probably because they didn't know who he was. I'd say this is the second best match on the card behind the Benoit Jericho match. But it's not my second favorite match of the card.
Match #6 The Nasty Boys Vs Harlem Heat
This match was supposed to be The Steiners instead of the Nasty Boys, but Scott Steiner got injured so they had to pull them out off the card. I'll admit that when these two teams get together, it's usually not good. This however is the best match of the Nasty Boys Vs Harlem Heat. As far as traditional tag matchs go. But I have to say that I love both of these tag teams so I kind of view this match a little bit skewed. This was my second favorite match of the night. Not the best match but favorite. I love these teams.
Match #7 The Giant Vs Savage
Terrible but really we can't expect a lot here. The Giant still has like a year under his belt at this point so he can't really have a great match. Savage can almost pull a great match out of anyone. The finish was stupid. I hated it. I get it, I do, but I hated it.
Match #8 War Games
They had all this mystery surrounding the fourth member of NWO and it was Fake Sting. To WCWs credit they had swung and missed out on three different people. At the time Davey Boy Smith, Sean Waltman, and Jeff Jarrett were all rumored to be the fourth member. As it turned out, Davey Boy wound up signing a new contract with WWF a little more than a week before this pay per view, which is why they turned The Giant on Nitro right before this event. Sean Waltman couldn't get his release from the WWF in time to do the pay per view and Jeff Jarrett's WWF contract was set to end a week or two after the pay per view. So to go from what could have been three surprises to Fake Sting, was terrible. When Fake Sting was in the ring the fans started chanting "We Want Sting". They could tell that it was not the real Sting. The match had heat because of Flair. The fans loved every second of Flair. I wasn't a big fan of the match because of not living up to what it could have been. Hogan wanted to do a piledriver to Liz at the end of the show but Bischoff called off the spot fearing that it would get back to Ted Turner and then all of them would be in trouble for the spot. Had Hogan done the piledriver spot, it probably would have been the most memorable moment of this pay per view.
So much like the majority of WCW pay per views during this time: great undercard terrible main event.
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