20 Must-See WCW Matches
12. The Outsiders & ?? Vs. Sting, Luger & Savage – Bash At The Beach ‘96
Ah, Bash at the Beach: the hostile takeover, Hogan’s black and white coming out party and the birth of the New World Order of wrestling, brother!
Perhaps the most infamous match in WCW history, the six-man main event at Bash at the Beach ‘96 between WCW’s babyface heroes - Sting, Lex Luger and Randy Savage - and The Outsiders with their unnamed partner, will forever go down as one of the most significant moments in wrestling.
Slowly built over a number of weeks, the “hostile takeover” storyline grabbed the attention of the wrestling world from the very moment that Scott Hall arrived in the WCW; appearing in the crowd mid-match on Nitro. The angle would immediately pick up even more steam with Kevin Nash’s debut a week later.
One trip through a table for Eric Bischoff at the Great American Bash and WCW was on fire heading into Bash at the Beach the following month, where the mysterious “third man” accompanying The Outsiders would be revealed.
The “third man” would, of course, turn out to be Hulk Hogan; turning his back on the company that had welcomed him with open arms to align himself with fellow New York compatriots, Nash and Hall.
The match, while decent, is almost secondary in this instance. The real meat of the matter comes in the closing moments and the interview that follows; where, in the wake of his betrayal, Hogan asks WCW the ultimate question - “What are you gonna do?”