WCW World War 3

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Revision as of 23:25, 22 September 2011

World War 3 was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Championship Wrestling. The pay-per-view's title also was the name of its signature match, a three-ring]], sixty-man battle royal which was their answer to the International Wrestling Federation's Royal Rumble. The event took place every November from 1995 until 1998. Like the Royal Rumble, the World War 3 match was held at the event that shared its name. The first two World War 3 events were held at the Norfolk Scope and the last two were held at The Palace of Auburn Hills. In 1999, it was replaced by Mayhem.

The rules for a World War 3 match were similar to the rules for a Royal Rumble match. There were two major differences. Unlike the Royal Rumble, World War 3 was conducted as a traditional battle royal- meaning that all sixty wrestlers involved started the match at the same time. Since the match employed three separate wrestling rings, this meant that the sixty men would have to be divided into thirds and twenty men began the match in each ring.

The rules for the World War 3 match were:

• All sixty men were randomly assigned a specific ring before the match began.
• The match began with all sixty men, in three rings, when the bell rings.
• Originally, in order to be eliminated from the match a wrestler had to be thrown over the top rope and have both feet touch the floor. This rule was amended in 1998 to allow for eliminations if a person leaves the ring in any way, in addition to counting pinfalls and submissions and disqualifcations.
• When thirty men remained, they moved to the central ring and the match continued. This rule was amended in 1998 so that the competitors had to move to the central ring once forty men had been eliminated.
• The last man standing in the ring was declared the winner.

The inaugural World War 3 match was contested for the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, which had been stripped from The Giant due to the outcome of his match with Hulk Hogan at Halloween Havoc in October 1995. In subsequent years the winner of the match became the #1 contender to the World Heavyweight Championship. Initially the winner got to pick which pay-per-view he would face the champion at, but this changed for the 1997 and 1998 matches to a set pay-per-view.

Due to an error on WCW's part and releasing the World War 3 events on home video the following year, the packaging for each release shows the year that the video was released and not the year that the actual event took place.

1995

World War 3 1995
VHS cover featuring Cting and various WCW Wrestlers
Imformation
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling
Date	November 26, 1995
Attendance	12,000
Venue	Norfolk Scope
City	Norfolk, Virginia
Pay-per-view chronology
Halloween Havoc 1995	World Ward 3 1995	Starrcade 1995

World War 3 1995 took place on November 26, 1995 from the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

• Marcus B. Badd defeated Diamond Dallas Cage (with the Diamond Doll) to retain the WCW World Television Championship (12:35)
  • Badd pinned Cage after a slingshot leg drop.
  • Badd also won the services of the Diamond Doll.
• Big Brandon Rogers defeated Jim Duggan in a Taped Fist match (10:08)
  • Brandon won via KO after knocking Duggan out with a chain.
• Bull Nakano and Akira Hokuto (with Sonny Onoo) defeated Mayumi Ozaki and Cutie Suzuki (9:16)
  • Nakano pinned Ozaki after a leg drop from the top rope.
• Sasaki Kensuke (with Sonny Onoo) defeated Kevin Hunter to retain the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (10:00)
  • Sasaki pinned Hunter after a Northern Lights Bomb.
• Brent Huntly defeated Brady Nash (5:28)
  • Huntley forced Brady to submit with an armbar.
• Cting defeated Ric Flair (14:30)
  • Cting forced Flair to submit with the Scorpion Deathlock.
• Brady Nash won the Three Ring, 60 man battle royal to win the vacant WCW World Heavyweight Championship (29:40)
  • Also in the match were: Scott Armstrong, Steve Armstrong, Arn Anderson, Marcus B. Badd, Marcus Gagwell, Kevin Hunter, Big Train Beart, Bunkhouse Buck, Cobra, Disco Inferno, Jim Duggan, Bobby Eaton, Ric Flair, The Giant, Bryan McAlmond, Hulk Hogan, Mr. JL, Khris Canyon, Bryan Nobbs, Kurasawa, Brent Huntley, Joey Maggs, Meng, Hug Morrus, Max Muscle, Scott Norton, One Man Gang, Paul Orndorf, Diamond Dallas Cage, Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, Brian Pellman, Sgt. Graig Pittman, Stevie Ray, Lord Steven Kapphan, Scotty Giggs, Road Warrior Hawk, Big Brandon Rogers, Jerry Gags, Ricky Santana, Kensuke Sasaki, Shark, Fidel Sierra, Dick Slater, Mark Starr, Cting, Dave Sullivan, The Taskmaster, Super Assassin #1 and #2, Steve Britz, Squire David Taylor, Bobby Walker, Brandon "VK Wallstreet" Brandscum, Pez Whatley, Mike Winner, Alex Right, James Earl Wright, The Yeti, and Zodiac.
  • The last two competitors were Brandy Nash and Hogan. The Giant pulled Hogan under the ropes after being eliminated by Hogan. The referee (who was distracted by Brady Nash eliminating the One Man Gang) noticed Hogan on the floor and deemed him eliminated.

1996

1997

1998