World War 3 (1996)
World War 3 (1996) | |||
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Promotion World Championship Wrestling | | ||
Date | November 24, 1996 | ||
City | Norfolk, Virginia | ||
Venue | Norfolk Scope | ||
Attendance | 10,314 | ||
Tagline(s) | Sixty Men... Three Rings... One Battle Royal... Total Destruction! | ||
Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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World War 3 chronology | |||
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The 1996 World War 3 was the second
Eight matches were contested at the event. The
Storylines
The event featured wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and
At Halloween Havoc, The Giant defeated Jeff Jarrett by disqualification after Ric Flair attacked Giant during the match.[3] This led to an announcement on the November 11 episode of Monday Nitro that Jarrett would be facing Giant in a rematch at World War 3.[4]
At Halloween Havoc,
At Halloween Havoc, Nick Patrick helped nWo member Syxx in defeating Chris Jericho in a match by making slow counts during Jericho's pinfall attempts on Syxx. Jericho's manager Teddy Long protested on Patrick's actions, which led to Patrick's lawyer Al Sharp reminding everyone that Long used to be a senior referee and got suspended due to his dirty tactics.[3] Patrick continued his unfair officiating in matches. On the November 11 episode of Monday Nitro, Patrick disqualified Jericho in a match against Konnan when Konnan kicked Jericho into Patrick.[4] On the November 16 episode of Saturday Night, Jericho challenged Patrick to a match at World War 3, with Jericho's one arm tied behind his back. The match was made official on the November 18 episode of Monday Nitro.[5]
At Halloween Havoc,
Event
Preliminary matches
Role: | Name: |
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Commentators
|
Tony Schiavone (also during Ring 2 of WW3) |
Bobby Heenan (also during Ring 2 of WW3) | |
Dusty Rhodes (also during Ring 1 of WW3) | |
Mike Tenay (during Ring 1 of WW3) | |
Larry Zbyszko (during Ring 3 of WW3) | |
Lee Marshall (during Ring 3 of WW3) | |
Interviewer
|
Gene Okerlund |
Ring announcer | David Penzer |
Referees | Randy Anderson |
Mark Curtis | |
Scott Dickinson | |
Nick Patrick |
The first match that aired on the live pay-per-view featured Ultimate Dragon defending the J-Crown Championship against Rey Misterio Jr. Near the end of the match, Dragon caught Misterio mid-air and executed a sitout powerbomb for the win to retain the title.
Next,
Next, Jeff Jarrett took on The Giant. Near the end of the match, Sting made his return in a new attire under a crow paint and delivered a Scorpion Death Drop to Jarrett behind the referee's back, allowing Giant to hit a chokeslam on Jarrett for the win.
This was followed by a segment in which the World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan and Roddy Piper signed a contract for a match at the next month's Starrcade event. After the contract signing, Piper tried to attack nWo but got attacked by the nWo members.
Next,
Later,
In the final match on the undercard,
Main event match
The main event was the namesake World War 3 battle royal. Before they even got in the ring for the World War 3 match, the
Reception
WCW earned $118,000 in ticket sales with an attendance of 10,314. The pay-per-view received a buyrate of 0.55.[8]
World War 3 received mixed reviews from critics. Jack Bramma of 411Mania rated the event 6.5 out of 10, writing "A much better WW3, some good cruiserweight matches and a shockingly enjoyable triple threat power tag match make this a recommendation. The nWo had taken over but hadn't gotten but so lazy and hadn't siphoned everyone's heat and storylines just yet. Worth a look."[9]
Wrestling 20 Years Ago star gave the event a rating of 3 out of 10, considering the arena Norfolk Scope " the best part" of the event.[10]
Aftermath
Hollywood Hogan and Roddy Piper had signed a contract at World War 3 to compete in the main event of Starrcade, where Piper defeated Hogan.
The Giant's elimination of Lex Luger to win the World War 3 led to the two signing a contract on the December 9 episode of Monday Nitro for a match at Starrcade, which Luger won.
Faces of Fear continued their rivalry with The Outsiders after World War 3, leading to a match between the two teams for the World Tag Team Championship at Starrcade, which Outsiders won to retain the titles.
Results
No. | Results | Stipulations | Times |
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1D | dark match |
Notes
- ^ "WCW Live Events - November 1996". wcwwrestling.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 1997. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
- ^ Discovery Communications. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
- ^ a b c d "This Week in WCW: 10/26/96 - 10/28/96". DDT Digest. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d "This Week in WCW: 11/09/96 - 11/11/96". DDT Digest. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ a b "This Week in WCW: 11/16/96 - 11/18/96". DDT Digest. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ "1996 WCW WW3 Part 1". YouTube.
- ^ "1996 WCW WW3 Part 2". YouTube.
- ^ "World War 3 1996". Pro Wrestling History. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
- ^ Jack Bramma (September 1, 2011). "Ring Crew Reviews: WCW World War III 1996". 411Mania. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ "WCW WORLD WAR 3 1996 REVIEW". Wrestling 20 Years Ago. December 3, 2016. Retrieved 17 September 2019.