WCW World War 3

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. 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.

WWE owns the rights of World War 3 since the sale of WCW and its trademarks in 2001. In February 2014, all WCW pay-per-views were made available on the WWE Network.

Rules

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. Each ring was assigned a number. From left-to-right on the TV screen ring #1 was on the left, ring #2 was the center ring and ring #3 was on the right.
  • 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 1997 to allow for eliminations if a person leaves the ring in any way. In 1998 the rule was amended again to allow the counting of pinfalls and submissions for eliminations.
• When 10 men remained in ring #1 or ring #3 they moved to ring #2 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

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

World War 3 1995
Promotional poster featuring Sting
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.

Randy Savage was declared the winner of the World War 3 match after eliminating One Man Gang. He and Hulk Hogan had been working on eliminating Gang but Hogan decided to assist Sting and Lex Luger in eliminating The Giant from the match. In the process, Hogan eliminated all three men from the match, leaving himself, Savage and Gang as the final three entrants. While referee Randy Anderson was busy watching Savage as he eliminated Gang, The Giant pulled Hogan out of the ring through the bottom rope. Hogan went to attack Giant, but since Anderson saw Hogan on the floor he called for the bell and declared Savage the winner of the match and the new world champion despite Hogan's protests.

^ Other competitors in the battle royal: 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, Eddie Guerrero, Mr. JL, Chris Kanyon, Brian Knobbs, 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, Lord Steven Regal, Scotty Riggs, Road Warrior Hawk, Big Bubba Rogers, Jerry Sags, Ricky Santana, Kensuke Sasaki, Shark, Fidel Sierra, Dick Slater, Mark Starr, Stevie Ray, Sting, Dave Sullivan, The Taskmaster, Super Assassin #1, Super Assassin #2, Booker T, Squire David Taylor, Bobby Walker, VK Wallstreet, Pez Whatley, Mike Winner, Alex Wright, James Earl Wright, The Yeti and The Zodiac.

1996

World War 3 1996
Promotional poster
Tagline(s)	Total Destruction!
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.

Before they even got in the ring for the World War 3 match, 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 The 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]

^ Other competitors in the WCW World War 3: Arn Anderson, Marcus Bagwell, The Barbarian, Chris Benoit, Big Bubba Rogers, 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, Ultimo Dragon, Villano IV, Michael Wallstreet, Pez Whatley and Alex Wright.

1997

World War 3 1997
Promotional poster featuring various wrestlers
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.

If Último Dragón had won his match against Yuji Nagata, he would have gotten 5 minutes alone in the ring with Sonny Onoo. Raven performed three Evenflow DDTs on Scotty Riggs during the match, 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 was originally scheduled to face Goldberg for McMichael's Super Bowl XX ring. At Halloween Havoc Queen Debra had given the ring to Goldberg. Prior to the match McMichael attacked Goldberg with a lead pipe and took possession of the ring. McMichael then made a challenge to anyone else to face him, and Debra dragged Alex Wright to the ring against his will to participate in the match.^[3] The main event "World War 3" three-ring, 60 man battle royal started with 59 out of 60 wrestlers in the ring. After every wrestler except Scott Hall, Diamond Dallas 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.

^ The other fifty-eight wrestlers that in the match: 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, 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, Lord Steven Regal, The Renegade, Rocco Rock, Randy Savage, Silver King, Norman Smiley, Louie Spicolli, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, Stevie Ray, Super Caló, Squire David Taylor, Ray Traylor, Último Dragón, Greg Valentine, Villano IV, Villano V, Kendall Windham, Wrath, Alex Wright and Hollywood Hogan

1998

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.

The match between Kevin Nash and Scott Hall was cancelled after Eric Bischoff came out and ordered Vincent, Scott Norton, The Giant, Stevie Ray and Brian Adams to attack Hall. Nash then came out and saved Hall from the beatdown. In the "World War 3" "World War 3", three-ring, 60 man battle royal Nash last eliminated Luger to earn a shot at the WCW World Heavyweight Championship at Starrcade.

^ 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, Villano V, Vincent, Kendall Windham, Wrath and Alex Wright

See also

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

References