Before the match Michael Buffer hypes up the main event like no one else can, and bags some cash for his catchphrase to boot. As The Outsiders make their way out to the ring Heenan compares it to the OJ Simpson verdict. There’s no Third Man entering with Nash and Hall, which Brain and Dusty think is bullshit. Gene Okerlund walks out to the ring and talks to Buffer before asking where the Third Man is. Scott Hall says he’s here and he’s ready. Nash confirms he’s in the building but Hall & Nash can handle it. Schiovane bites as Team WCW makes their way out, showing solidarity with matching facepaint. The crowd is already on fire for the match and there hasn’t been a bell yet.
Scott Hall pushes Lex Luger and Luger has to chase him a few
paces to shove him back which was unintentionally hilarious.
Tony Schiavone, Bobby “The Brain” and Dusty Rhodes are on commentary for this match. Nick Patrick is
our referee
THE OUTSIDERS VS.
LEX LUGER, STING & RANDY SAVAGE
WCW Bash at the Beach 1996 (7th July 1996)
It’s those two who start us off, Lex Luger responds to the toothpick throw by slapping Hall in the face. Scott Hall responds with a kick to the midsection and right hands.
Lex Luger is sent off the ropes, he ducks a clothesline and knocks Hall down with a forearm shot before knocking Nash from the apron. Luger celebrates too early and Scott Hall knocks him out to the floor, Lex Luger is back on the apron but so is Nash, Scott Hall is knocked back but Kevin Nash holds Luger over the corner, Randy Savage cuts off Scott Hall as Sting flies in with a Stinger Splash to aide his tag partner. I love that commentary are cheering for the babyfaces using the numbers game because it wouldn’t happen again for the rest of the company’s existence with the nWo involved. Lex Luger was knocked out and sent to the floor, Sting goes to check on him as Heenan says it’s now 2 vs. 2. Savage and Hall are brawling on the outside, Scott Hall is sent into the guard rail, almost tripping Nick Patrick. They bring a guerney out as I remember Cactus Jack knocking his head on concrete from the apron back at Clash of the Champions X (here) and getting up quicker.
We see a replay of the Stinger Splash which inadvertently hit Luger as Scott Hall attacks Luger on the stretcher. Sting and Randy Savage chase him off and he joins Kevin Nash in the ring. Luger is taken to the back as Sting is nominated as the legal man to continue the match. Scott Hall asks for the test of strength and slaps Sting in the face, Sting takes Hall down and connects with right hands, Hall’s head is slammed into the mat and Sting stomps away as Nick Patrick reluctantly tries to back him away. Sting hits the inverted atomic drop and a facebuster takes Hall down. Randy Savage gets the tag and goes to the top rope, Scott Hall cuts off the ax handle attempt with a shot to the midsection, Nash hits the Snake Eyes on Savage as Scott Hall draws Sting in the ring, distracting the referee. Randy Savage ducks a clothesline and connects with one of his own for a 2. Kevin Nash is tagged in, he shoves Savage into the corner but Randy Savage avoids the charge and connects with jabs in the corner as Dusty repeatedly asks “who be bad now!?” on commentary.
Kevin Nash fights out of the corner with a knee to the midsection and clubs Savage down before connecting with a right hand. Nash slams Savage as Schiavone says the Third Man should have been forced to come out, but that would put WCW at a disadvantage right now. Nash catches Savage on the top of his head as he tried to avoid the elbow drop, that wasn’t meant to happen. Savage tags Sting back in and he’s met with a knee to the midsection, Sting is sent into the corner and Nash connects with the back elbows. Knees and right hands follow before Nash chokes Sting with his boot. Sting is sent across the ring and he floats over Nash before connecting with a dropkick. Kevin Nash reverses an irish whip but ducks early, Sting tries a sunset flip but can’t bring Nash down. Nash lifts Sting back to his feet and into the air in a choke before dropping him to the mat. Scott Hall stomps on Sting, Randy Savage tries to tell the referee it’s below the belt but takes his attention away from the action as Sting is double-teamed in The Outsiders’ corner. Scott Hall sends Sting across the ring with a Fallaway Slam and covers, Dusty screams at Sting to kickout and he does at 2.
Kevin Nash is tagged in, Scott Hall sends Sting off the ropes into Nash’s Big Boot. Savage wants in the ring as Nash shoves Sting with his foot and kicks him in the ribs. Sting rebounds off the ropes into right hands from Kevin Nash and a shot to the midsection knocks Sting down. Sting is sent off the ropes but he ducks the clothesline and dropkicks Nash in the knee. Savage tries to cheer Sting to the corner as Nash makes the tag to Hall, who cuts off Sting as he gets to his feet and knocks Savage down on the apron. Sting gets a desperation inside cradle but Nick Patrick is slow to get to the count so Scott Hall kicks out at 1. Scott Hall is first on his feet, he knocks Sting down from a seated position and connects with elbow drops before putting Sting in an abdominal stretch in The Outsiders’ corner. Scott Hall reaches to Nash for leverage as Nick Patrick is distracted across the ring. Kevin Nash comes in without a tag for an abdominal stretch of his own.
Scott Hall promises that they tagged so we continue. Scott Hall assists Nash with the hold from the apron and the referee checks Sting’s arm but he is able to hold it up on the third try, he rakes Nash’s eyes but Scott Hall gets the tag and again stops Sting from making it to Savage’s corner. Scott Hall sends Sting off the ropes into a clothesline and covers but Sting kicks out at 2. Scott Hall puts Sting in a sleeper before sending him out to the floor right by Nash. Randy Savage grabs a chair, but not your usual wrestling folding chair and the threat is enough to keep Nash at bay. Sting makes it back into the ring and is rocked by shots from Scott Hall before a discus punch knocks Sting down. Scott Hall covers, 1, 2, no. Kevin Nash is tagged back in, he takes a free shot at Sting’s ribcage and gets a nearfall with a Sidewalk Slam. Nash sends Sting’s head into the top turnbuckle before sending him off the ropes. Nash ducks and Sting just about connects with his boot before getting a combination of lefts and rights together, ducking Nash's attempts to respond.
Sting knocks Scott Hall from the apron and rushes to tag in Randy Savage. Kevin Nash caught Sting but the momentum sent him backwards, allowing Sting to make the tag. The crowd explodes as Savage knocks down Hall with an ax handle from the top rope, The Outsiders’ heads meet and Hall is sent over the top to the floor. Randy Savage hits another ax handle from the top rope to the floor sending Hall into the guard rail before throwing him in the ring for another one. Scott Hall grabs at Nick Patrick’s shirt so Nash can hit Savage with a low blow and when Patrick gets free everyone is down. The crowd get to their feet and we see Hulk Hogan make his way down to the ring. Hall and Nash bail to the floor and wrestling changes forever. Hulk Hogan hits the Legdrop of Doom on his former Mega Powers team mate. He hits a second one for good measure as Bobby Heenan feels vindicated on commentary. Scott Hall dumps Sting through the ropes and drags Savage to the middle of the ring as Nick Patrick is cleared out too.
Hulk Hogan hits the ropes for
another Legdrop on Savage and Scott Hall counts the pin, Tony Schiavone says
WCW won’t even acknowledge that as The Outsiders and Hogan begin to pose. Sting
drags Savage out of the ring and walks him to the back as this is officially a
no contest.
WINNERS: WRESTLING FANS
This was a basic and one-sided match that made history. Sting took most of the heat, which was a good move as he was the Franchise of WCW. With Lex Luger being taken out early (although I’m not sure I’d say convincingly) it was your formula tag match, with the added suspense of waiting to see if the Third Man would show up. Some people say that Heenan ruined the finish when he asked which side Hogan was on, and I think WWE may have tweaked the audio for his tone of voice somewhere because that used to be what had me confused, but it didn’t sound the same here. There was no official finish which unfortunately would be foreshadowing for the nWo but it’s worth a watch for historical reasons. [***½] 7.5/10
After the match the fans start raining trash down on the heels,
Gene Okerlund gets in the ring for an interview, he asks what Hogan is thinking
and Hogan says the fans have to shut up before he says anything. Nash and Hall are posing as the trash
continues to fill the ring. Hogan says they are the future of wrestling, the
New World Order of wrestling. Hogan says he made the Organisation up North and
the name Hulk Hogan became bigger than the organisation, so he came over to
Billionaire Ted, who promised him the world. He’s bored of waiting for that so
he took on Hall and Nash as friends. He says the crap in the ring represents
the fans and that he made WCW the day that he signed. Tony Schiavone signs off
by telling Hogan to go to hell.
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