[1995-11-26-WCW-World War III] Randy Savage vs Lex Luger

[Superstar Sleeze]

Randy Savage vs Lex Luger - WCW World War III 1995

At the outset of the show, Hogan makes a big deal out of saying the Observer has it all wrong that Savage is not injured and he burns an Observer on air saying "Observe this", brutha and "Internet has got the scoops". It would be funny if Randy Savage just won the World Title, injured to spite Meltzer. 30 years later Bischoff is still railing against Meltzer. 

Lexy Flexy is out with Jimmy Hart as he is Dungeon of Doom 4 Life, brutha, but he is still friends with Sting. Hogan/Macho trust Sting and say Sting can have his deal with Luger. Sting & Luger are teaming up the next night on Nitro. I really dig that the booking for WCW at this time. All six main eventers, which means there are 15 unique relationships are developing those unique relationships and they can leverage them in different ways. Very cool matrix booking. 

Savage is out with a massive bandage on his arm is decidedly not healthy. Even though this match is about the same length as the Halloween Havoc match, I did think this one was better, but still left a lot on the table. Presumably, they would have gotten a chance to go longer if Savage was not injured. These two have great chemistry together. I know there is one Nitro match from 1995 I like between these two, plus I like their Souled Out 1998 main event match together. 

Savage is out for blood. Even though he is injured, he comes out the gate at a million miles per hour and is just kicking ass. He throttles Luger. It is really fierce and ferocious. It is a full court press. He is using the hard parts of his body and the hard parts of the ring. He is in pure Tasmanian Devil form and Luger it totally overwhelmed. Usually Savage likes to go right to heat so it was refreshing to see him work this blood-feud-esque shine. Nice Boston Crab which you dont always see from him. Big Elbow and it looks like Total Package just got squashed. However, the Mouth of South wont let Luger die an easy death. Savage goes to throw Luger into Hart, but Hart moves and Luger careens to the floor. Luger is able to reverse an Irish Whip and whip Savage into the ring apron of a different ring (three rings for the 3-ring Battle Royale). Savage takes a gnarly bump and sells it like a million bucks. Luger RACKS the Macho Man on the floor. Then throws him back in the ring. Slaps on a armbar/hammerlock and Savage passes out from the pain, BUT DONT WORRY GUYS HE IS TOTALLY HEALTHY. Sting comes out and gets Luger to relinquish the hold apparently Luger was the one who talked sense into Sting to relinquish the hold on Flair on Nitro. 

Again it is great shades of grey booking, on paper, it sounds all fine and dandy for Hogan/Savage to let Sting maintain his friendship with Luger, but if Luger keeps pulling this shit will this cause a Hogan/Savage vs Sting/Luger feud or will Sting have to say enough is enough cut out his toxic friend. There is a lot of interesting paths they can go. I enjoyed this match even though it is short. They have good chemistry. Savage was ferocious to start, total Tasmanian Devil. The Big Elbow was a good visual fall for Macho Man. Good transition for Luger followed by the Torture Rack and armbar submission. It was a very WCW moment for Hogan to grandstand that Savage is 100% and they run a finish on that same night that is directly counter to that promo. You would think someone would put 2 and 2 together. Good little match. ***