WCW Thunder (May 14, 1998)

Original Airdate: May 14, 1998

From Durham, New Hampshire; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, and Bobby Heenan

Mando Guerrero (Eddie’s brother, and Chavo’s uncle) weighs in on the drama between Eddie and Chavo. And generally looks like Ricky Steamboat 

Chavo Guerrero Jr v Reese: Chavo sticks and moves, but gets stuck in the corner, and Reese biels him. Reese with a bodyslam and a cross corner whip, but an avalanche misses, and Chavo hits him with a springboard. Chavo goes up for a dive, but Eddie distracts him with ‘instructions,’ and Reese catches Guerrero in a chokeslam at 1:27. Afterwards, Eddie berates his nephew, but Ultimo Dragon comes out to beat up Eddie in response, and Chavo doesn’t step in this time. DUD

Diamond Dallas Page/Raven feud video review

Raven comes out with his riot squad to rant about DDP, but Page shows up. He dives over the security guys to get at Raven, but gets quickly subdued, and Raven tries to hang him with a bull rope to end the segment

WCW Television Title Match: Fit Finlay v Kenny Kaos: Fit hammers him to start, and works a cravat, but Kaos forces a criss cross, and delivers a powerslam. Fit comes back with a short-clothesline and a double stomp, and a bodyslam sets up a pump-splash for two. Finlay with a sitdown splash for two, and another bodyslam sets up a second pump-splash, but Kaos lifts his knees to block. That allows Kaos a dropkick for two, and a gutwrench powerbomb gets him another two. Fit pops him in the eye to shake it off, but a corner charge misses, and the champ ends up on the outside. Kaos dives after him, but Finlay blocks, so Robbie Rage comes over with an assist. Inside, Kaos goes for the kill, but runs into a boot on a corner charge, and Finlay uses a rolling firemans carry slam, then a tombstone at 5:20. Finlay did a good job of making Kaos look like an actual threat here. ¾*

WCW United States Title Match: Bill Goldberg v Sick Boy: Boy pounds him down and gets a nervehold on, which gives Goldberg a chance to do some truly hilarious selling. Well, at least he was trying. Bill powers out of the hold, so Boy throws a few dropkicks, but Goldberg blocks a springboard backelbow, and gives the challenger a press-drop. The spear follows, and the jackhammer finishes at 2:29. Afterwards, the Flock try running in on the champion, but it ends badly for them. ¼*

Saturn gives pre-recorded comments about how stupid it is that Glacier thinks the superkick is ‘his’ move. I’m not really sure how to read this angle, as Glacier is clearly positioned as the heel… but Raven and his Flock are also heels. But Saturn is coming off like the babyface. This, in general, is a major issue with the promotion at this point

Saturn v Chris Adams: Van Hammer tries running in on Saturn during the entrances, but gets cut off by security. More confusion, as the announcers go out of their way to put the Flock over as heels. Adams tries some technical stuff, and manages to catch Saturn with a leg-feed enzuigiri that ends in an ugly bump where Saturn is trying to sell with a somersault, but ends up landing right on the top of his head. That was scary. Adams with a side suplex for two, and a piledriver sets up a flying kneedrop, but Saturn dodges. That allows Saturn a clothesline, and a suplex follows. He hits a springboard dropkick, but a springboard clothesline doesn’t come off well, and Adams takes an awkward bump over the top. Chris tries a slingshot sunset flip on the way back in for two, but Saturn pounds him into the corner to keep control. Cross corner whip, but Adams reverses, and delivers a backdrop on the rebound. Bodypress, but Saturn sidesteps, and Chris wipes out in the ropes. That allows Saturn a superkick, and the death valley driver finishes at 4:26. There were a lot of awkward exchanges here, but they were working hard. *

Chris Benoit v Robbie Rage: Benoit with a flurry of chops early, but he walks into a press-slam. Chris pops up with more chops, so Rage corner whips him, and chucks with an overhead suplex for two. Rage gets a half-crab on, but it goes nowhere, so he shifts to a stepover-toehold. That goes nowhere, so Rage corner whips him again, and uses an Oklahoma stampede. Avalanche, but Benoit blocks, and throws more chops. Rage gets annoyed and matslams him, but a flying splash misses, allowing Benoit a flying headbutt drop. Rage makes a last ditch effort to turn it around, but Benoit gets the crippler crossface on at 3:15. Good effort all around here, and they managed to pack a decent exchange into their three minutes. *

Eric Bischoff comes out to read a letter from Vince McMahon’s attorney clarifying that Vince will not be appearing at Slamboree to answer Eric’s challenge for a match. Bischoff came off as really tryhard here, and this whole thing is another example of the unclear heel/babyface lines during this period

Handicap Match: Kevin Nash v Public Enemy: This is scheduled as the Outsiders defending the WCW World Tag Team title, but Scott Hall ‘isn’t allowed’ to participate, which Nash claims is on Bischoff’s orders. So they do this instead. Nash dominates Rocco Rock with ease, and a sidewalk slam gets two when Johnny Grunge makes the save. Nash takes Rock into the corner for a bootchoke, but a big boot misses, and Grunge catches a tag. The Enemy double up, so Dusty Rhodes trips them up, and Kevin drops Rocco with a powerbomb. He tags Rhodes in to deliver an elbowdrop, and the referee actually counts the pinfall at 2:38. Well, WCW certainly had a precedent for allowing that sort of thing. This was a complete and unapologetic squash. DUD

Sting v Randy Savage: Macho attacks as Sting climbs into the ring, but Sting fights him off, and hammers on him. An elbowdrop finds the mark, so Savage goes to the eyes, and dumps Sting to the outside. Macho sends him into the guardrail out there, but Sting reverses a second trip, and delivers a Stinger Splash on the rail for good measure. Inside, Sting tries another one, but Macho dodges. Sting manages a backelbow anyway, so Savage goes low, and dumps him over the top to buy time. Unfortunately for Randy, here’s Bret Hart with a chair for the DQ at 2:25. This didn’t really have time to get off the ground. Macho fights the Hitman off, and sets up for the flying elbowdrop, but Giant cuts him off, and puts Randy in a bearhug. Kevin Nash comes in to make the save on that, but Sting breaks it up, and we have Sting and Giant standing tall to close the show. DUD

BUExperience: It felt like a lot of filler packed in this week, but it wasn’t a bad episode. The main event was a total joke, though.