World War 3 was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW). 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 World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) Royal Rumble.^{[citation needed]} 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.

Rules [edit]

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 disqualifications.
• When thirty men remained, they moved to the central ring and the match continued. This rule was amended in 1997 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.

Date discrepancy on VHS packaging [edit]

WCW released the World War 3 events on home video the following year, with the packaging for the first three releases reflecting the year that the video was released and not the year that the actual event took place, e.g. World War 3 1995 was released on VHS as World War 3 '96. The cover for the 1999 release of the final 1998 event did not show a date.

1995 [edit]

World War 3 1995
VHS cover featuring Sting and various WCW Wrestlers. Cover states "'96" as per release date.
Information
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 War 3 1995 Starrcade 1995

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

^ Other competitors in the WCW World War 3: Scott Armstrong, Steve Armstrong, Arn Anderson, Johnny B. Badd, Marcus Bagwell, Chris Benoit, Big Train Bart, Bunkhouse Buck, Cobra, Disco Inferno, Jim Duggan, Bobby Eaton, Ric Flair, The Giant, Eddy Guerrero, One Man Gang, Mr. JL, Chris Kanyon, Brian Knobs, Kurasawa, Lex Luger, Joey Maggs, Meng, Hugh Morrus, Max Muscle, Scott Norton, One Man Gang, Paul Orndorff, Diamond Dallas Page, Sgt.Buddy Lee Parker, Brian Pillman, Sgt. Craig Pittman, Stevie Ray, Lord Steven Regal, Scotty Riggs, Road Warrior Hawk, Big Bubba Rogers, Jerry Sags, Ricky Santana, Kensuke Sasaki, Shark, Fidel Sierra, Dick Slater, Mark Starr, Sting, Dave Sullivan, The Taskmaster, Super Assassin #1 and #2, Booker T, Squire David Taylor, Bobby Walker, VK Wallstreet, Pez Whatley, Mike Winner, Alex Wright, James Earl Wright, The Yeti, and The Zodiac.

NOTE: Savage was declared the winner of the World War 3 match although Hogan was never officially eliminated, having been pulled out of the ring by The Giant. Referee Randy Anderson did not see it, but declared Hogan eliminated after seeing him on the floor.

1996 [edit]

World War 3 1996
VHS cover featuring Lex Luger and Masahiro Chono. Cover states "1997" as per release date.
Information
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling
Date	November 24, 1996
Attendance	10,314
Venue	Norfolk Scope
City	Norfolk, Virginia
Pay-per-view chronology
Halloween Havoc 1996 World War 3 1996 Starrcade 1996

World War 3 1996 took place on November 24, 1996 from the Norfolk Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.

^ Other competitors in the WCW World War 3: Arn Anderson, Marcus Bagwell, The Barbarian, Chris Benoit, Big Bubba, Jack Boot, Bunkhouse Buck, Ciclope, Disco Inferno, Jim Duggan, Bobby Eaton, Mike Enos, Galaxy, Joe Gomez, Jimmy Del Ray, Johnny Grunge, Juventud Guerrera, Eddy Guerrero, Scott Hall, Prince Iaukea, Ice Train, Mr. JL, Jeff Jarrett, Chris Jericho, Kenny Kaos, Konnan, Lex Luger, Dean Malenko, Steve McMichael, Meng, Rey Misterio, Jr., Hugh Morrus, Kevin Nash, Scott Norton, Carl Ouellet, Diamond Dallas Page, La Parka, Sgt. Craig Pittman, Jim Powers, Robbie Rage, Stevie Ray, Lord Steven Regal, The Renegade, Scotty Riggs, Roadblock, Jacques Rougeau, Tony Rumble, Mark Starr, Rick Steiner, Ron Studd, The Taskmaster, Syxx, Booker T, Squire David Taylor, Último Dragón, Villaño IV, Michael Wallstreet, Pez Whatley and Alex Wright.

Before they even got in the ring for WW3, the Four Horsemen and the Dungeon of Doom battled outside of Ring #3, with Benoit, Sullivan (Taskmaster) and Big Bubba battling into the crowd. In the ensuing commotion WCW television announcer Lee Marshall (working the ring with Larry Zybysko), was knocked down and legitimately kicked to the head and chest by the Dungeon's Faces of Fear (The Barbarian and Meng) while lying on the floor and could be heard yelling "What the heck is going on out here?". After the fight moved back toward the locker room, Marshall managed to get himself up and, after some difficulty (and questioning why former wrestler Zybysko didn't come to his aid), finished commentating the match from his designated announcing position.^[1][2]

1997 [edit]

World War 3 1997
VHS cover featuring the nWo. Cover states "1998" as per release date.
Information
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling
Date	November 23, 1997
Attendance	17,128
Venue	The Palace of Auburn Hills
City	Auburn Hills, Michigan
Pay-per-view chronology
Halloween Havoc 1997 World War 3 1997 Starrcade 1997

World War 3 1997 took place on November 23, 1997 from The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

• The Faces of Fear (Meng and The Barbarian) defeated Glacier and Ernest Miller (9:09)
  • Meng pinned Miller with the Tongan Death Grip.
• Saturn defeated Disco Inferno to retain the WCW World Television Championship (8:19)
  • Saturn forced Inferno to submit with the Rings of Saturn.
• Yuji Nagata (with Sonny Onoo) defeated Último Dragón (12:45)
  • Nagata pinned Dragon after Nagata countered a Belly-to-back suplex.
  • If Dragon had won, he would have got 5 minutes alone with Onoo.
• The Steiner Brothers (Rick and Scott) defeated The Blue Bloods (Lord Steven Regal and Squire David Taylor) to retain the WCW World Tag Team Championship (9:45)
  • Rick pinned Regal after a Steiner Bulldog.
• Raven (with Lodi, Kidman, Saturn, and Hammer) defeated Scotty Riggs in a "Raven's Rules" No Disqualification match when Riggs could not answer a ten count (9:43)
  • Raven gave Riggs three Evenflow DDTs, then ordered the referee to count the unconscious Riggs out.
  • After the match Riggs was carried out of the ring by members of The Flock, marking his entry into the group.^[3]
• Steve McMichael defeated Alex Wright (3:36)
  • McMichael pinned Wright after a Mongo Spike.
  • The match was originally supposed to pit McMichael against Goldberg for possession of McMichael's Super Bowl XX ring that Goldberg had taken after Halloween Havoc, but McMichael attacked Goldberg with a lead pipe before the match and took possession of the ring.
  • McMichael then made a challenge to anyone else to face him, and Debra McMichael dragged a protesting Alex Wright to the ring to answer it.^[4]
• Eddy Guerrero defeated Rey Misterio, Jr. to retain the WCW Cruiserweight Championship (12:42)
  • Guerrero pinned Misterio after a Frog Splash.
• Curt Hennig defeated Ric Flair to retain the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (17:57)
  • Hennig pinned Flair after hitting him with the US title belt.
• Scott Hall won the Three Ring, 60 man battle royal to earn a WCW World Heavyweight Championship title shot (29:48)
  • The match began with fifty-nine wrestlers.
  • The other fifty-eight wrestlers that started the match were: Chris Adams, Brad Armstrong, Buff Bagwell, The Barbarian, Chris Benoit, Bobby Blaze, Booker T, Ciclope, Damien, El Dandy, Barry Darsow, Disco Inferno, Jim Duggan, Fit Finlay, Héctor Garza, The Giant, Glacier, Johnny Grunge, Juventud Guerrera, Chavo Guerrero, Jr., Eddy Guerrero, Curt Hennig, Prince Iaukea, Chris Jericho, Lizmark, Jr., Lex Luger, Dean Malenko, Steve McMichael, Meng, Ernest Miller, Rey Misterio, Jr., Hugh Morrus, Mortis, Yuji Nagata, John Nord, Diamond Dallas Page, La Parka, Stevie Ray, Lord Steven Regal, The Renegade, Rocco Rock, Randy Savage, Silver King, Norman Smiley, Louie Spicolli, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, Super Caló, Squire David Taylor, Ray Traylor, Último Dragón, Greg Valentine, Villaño IV, Villaño V, Vincent, Kendall Windham, Wrath and Alex Wright
  • After every wrestler except Hall, Page, and The Giant had been eliminated, WCW World Heavyweight Champion Hollywood Hogan revealed himself to be the sixtieth entry in the battle royal; he did this to win the match for himself so no one would get the title shot.
  • Hall won the match after Kevin Nash, in a Sting disguise, attacked Giant with a baseball bat and eliminated him.
  • As the prematch stipulation dictated, Hall was to receive his championship match at SuperBrawl VIII; due to a chain of events that followed World War 3 Hall did not receive this shot until Uncensored in March 1998.

1998 [edit]

World War 3 1998
VHS cover featuring Bret Hart and Diamond Dallas Page, who competed in the main event.
Information
Promotion	World Championship Wrestling
Date	November 22, 1998
Attendance	17,670
Venue	The Palace of Auburn Hills
City	Auburn Hills, Michigan
Pay-per-view chronology
Halloween Havoc 1998 World War 3 1998 Starrcade 1998

World War 3 1998 took place on November 22, 1998 from The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Numbers in parentheses indicate the length of the match.

• Wrath defeated Glacier (8:22)
  • Wrath pinned Glacier after a Meltdown.
• Stevie Ray (with Vincent) defeated Konnan by disqualification (6:55)
  • Konnan was disqualified after he hit referee Billy Silverman when Billy Silverman tried to pull Konnan off of Stevie Ray.
• Ernest Miller and Sonny Onoo defeated Perry Saturn and Kaz Hayashi (8:04)
  • Onoo pinned Saturn after a Feliner from Miller.
• Billy Kidman defeated Juventud Guerrera to win the WCW Cruiserweight Championship (15:27)
  • Kidman pinned Guerrera after a Shooting star press.
• Rick Steiner fought Scott Steiner (with Buff Bagwell) to a no-contest
  • The match ended when Goldberg came out and attacked the referee.
• Kevin Nash vs. Scott Hall (with Vincent, Scott Norton, The Giant, Stevie Ray and Brian Adams) was canceled
  • The match never happened after Eric Bischoff came out and ordered Norton, Giant, Vincent, Ray, and Adams to attack Hall. Nash then came out and saved Hall from the beatdown.
• Chris Jericho (with Ralphus) defeated Bobby Duncum, Jr. to retain the WCW World Television Championship (13:19)
  • Jericho pinned Duncum after hitting him with the TV title belt.
• Kevin Nash won the Three Ring, 60 man battle royal to earn a WCW World Heavyweight Championship title shot (22:33)
  • Also in the match were: Chris Adams, Chris Benoit, Bobby Blaze, Ciclope, Damien, El Dandy, Barry Darsow, The Disciple, Disco Inferno, Bobby Duncum, Jr., Bobby Eaton, Mike Enos, Scott Hall, Héctor Garza, The Giant, Glacier, Juventud Guerrera, Chavo Guerrero, Jr., Eddy Guerrero, Hammer, Kenny Kaos, Kaz Hayashi, Horace Hogan, Barry Horowitz, Prince Iaukea, Chris Jericho, Kanyon, Billy Kidman, Konnan, Lenny Lane, Lex Luger, Lizmark, Jr., Lodi, Dean Malenko, Steve McMichael, Ernest Miller, Chip Minton, Rey Misterio, Jr., Scott Norton, La Parka, Sgt. Buddy Lee Parker, Psychosis, Scott Putski, Stevie Ray, The Renegade, Scotty Riggs, Perry Saturn, Silver King, Norman Smiley, Scott Steiner, Super Caló, Johnny Swinger, Booker T, Tokyo Magnum, Villaño V, Vincent, Kendall Windham, Wrath and Alex Wright
  • Nash last eliminated Hall and Luger at the same time to earn a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Starrcade 1998.
• Diamond Dallas Page defeated Bret Hart to retain the WCW United States Heavyweight Championship (18:31)
  • Page pinned Hart after a Diamond Cutter, after Hart thought he was declared the victor of the match by the nWo referee.

See also [edit]

Professional wrestling portal

• World Championship Wrestling
• List of WCW pay-per-view events

References [edit]

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