SlamBack Sunday: Reliving WCW’s Fall Brawl 1995 War Games
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WCW Fall Brawl 1995
On September 17, 1995, the Asheville Civic Center in North Carolina played host to WCW Fall Brawl ’95: War Games. For many fans, this is one of those events that captures the vibe of WCW in mid-’90s full throttle — big names, bigger stipulations, and a main event that epitomized the "you-don’t want to miss this" feel. And now, thanks to WWE’s WCW Vault dropping the full show on YouTube, we can relive every twist, turn, and War Games door slam.
📒 Event Essentials
- Date: September 17, 1995
- Location: Asheville Civic Center, Asheville, North Carolina
- Attendance: ~6,600 fans in the building
- Main Event: The War Games match — Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Lex Luger & Sting vs. The Dungeon of Doom (Kamala, Shark, Zodiac & Meng)
🗝️ Key Matches & Highlights
Here are the standout moments that make this show a must-watch:
- Johnny B. Badd vs. Brian Pillman – A match for #1 contender status that stretched nearly 30 minutes. There’s tension, near-falls, and that Pillman unpredictability.
- Diamond Dallas Page wins the TV Title – DDP takes down The Renegade to pick up the WCW World Television Championship. Classic DDP wants respect move.
- Harlem Heat regains the Tag Titles – In a back-and-forth tag match, Booker T and Stevie Ray finally take the belts from Dick Slater & Bunkhouse Buck.
- Arn Anderson vs Ric Flair – A grudge match that delivers on storytelling. Anderson coming in with solid offense, Flair with his resilience. One of those matches you replay just for the psychology.
- War Games, the culmination – Hogan, Savage, Luger & Sting battling Dungeon of Doom. It’s big, it’s brutal, and it’s classic War Games chaos. Interference, brutal tags, the mix of faces and monstrous heels.
💭 Why It Matters
“Fall Brawl ’95: War Games” sits at a turning point: WCW was deep into shaping its mid-90s identity, trying to keep pace during the early rumblings of the Monday Night Wars. This show has moments that feel like proto-Nitro energy — superstars in larger than life roles, factions, sensational stipulations. And fans remember how War Games was WCW’s signature match, built off Dirty Dusty Rhodes’ vision, and this one stands as one of the more memorable editions.
Plus, just think: for many of us who couldn’t catch the original or haven’t watched in decades, the Vault release gives a fresh chance to see how the crowd reacts, how the pacing is, what worked and what feels a bit dated. Nostalgia hits differently when you're watching it with hindsight.
🔥 Top 3 Must-Watch Moments from Fall Brawl ’95
1. Johnny B. Badd vs. Brian Pillman Steals the Show
This opener went nearly half an hour and is arguably the best pure wrestling match on the card. It’s wild to look back now and realize how ahead of their time these two were — fast pacing, high drama, and athletic exchanges that would fit right into today’s product. If you only have time for one match, start here.
2. Arn Anderson vs. Ric Flair — Family Business Turns Ugly
For Horsemen fans, this was a dream feud finally paying off. Arn vs. Flair felt deeply personal, and the crowd ate up every second. Watching Anderson score that pinfall over his longtime ally was surreal at the time — almost like watching the wrestling family tree shake.
3. War Games Chaos
The main event gets all the spectacle points. Sting, Hogan, Luger, and Savage against the Dungeon of Doom sounds cartoonish on paper, but in 1995 WCW, this was must-see mayhem. You had star power, double-ring drama, and that classic War Games brutality that made the match type legendary.
📺 How to Watch
You can stream the full Fall Brawl ’95: War Games event for free on WWE’s WCW YouTube channel.
📝 Randy's Reflection
Looking back, Fall Brawl ’95 is one of those shows that reminds me why I fell in love with wrestling in the first place. It wasn’t perfect — some storylines were over the top, some matches ran long — but that’s part of its charm. Seeing legends like Flair, Arn, Sting, and Savage share the same spotlight with rising names like DDP and Booker T felt like watching a passing of the torch in real time. Rewatching it now through the WCW Vault isn’t just nostalgia — it’s like stepping back into a louder, wilder era of wrestling where everything felt unpredictable. - Randy Marston - EIC, Wrestling.news
🎙️ Wrestling.news | Backstage Take
If I could whisper into a producer’s ear circa late 1995, I’d say: “Don’t sleep on War Games.” Because this was one of those events that showed WCW had balls — big, clashing, steel-mesh balls. Sure, parts of the show are rock ‘em-sock ‘em spectacle, and some storytelling is over the top. But the energy is undeniable. The magnitude of the match-ups, the babyfaces carrying hope, the dungeon creeping with menace… it’s signature wrestling drama.
And now that the event is freely available via WCW Vault, it’s not just a walk down memory lane: it’s a reminder of how far the art has come, and how many of the building blocks that wrestling uses today came out of nights like this. Want to see why folks still talk about War Games? This is your opportunity.
