WCW Thunder (July 2, 1998)

 

Original Airdate: July 2, 1998

From Columbus, Georgia; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall, and Bobby Heenan

Bash at the Beach ad

Chris Jericho v ‘Rey Mysterio Jr’: This is non-title, but Chris promises to give ‘Rey’ a title shot at the Bash if he can win tonight. Of course, it’s not the real Rey, but some pudgy jobber in his mask. Details, details. So they scuffle around for a bit, before ‘Rey’ manages a few dropkicks to the leg, so Chris clobbers him with a big boot. Jericho with a vertical suplex and a senton splash, but he lets off his own cover at two, and puts ‘Rey’ on top to give ‘Rey’ the pin at 1:58. Jericho doing anything and everything to get out of having to defend against Dean Malenko at the Bash continues to be great. DUD

Giant is out to threaten Bill Goldberg and Kevin Greene for the Bash. Oh, and Lex Luger is going to catch a chokeslam, too

Stevie Ray v Doc Dean: Another mew face, though not cool enough to join the parade of them on the previous Nitro, I suppose. Stevie with a pedigree at 1:54. Afterwards, Chavo Guerrero Jr comes out (on Pepe!), and he wants to have a heart to heart with Stevie, since Chavo’s also been having some family squabbles lately. Unfortunately, Stevie shoves him to the mat, and Chavo storms off on Pepe. DUD

Disco Inferno and Alex Wright come out to dance, but Public Enemy comes out, wanting to make it into a dance contest between the two teams. Disco and Wright, of course, are all about that. But when the crowd favors the Enemy’s moves, they come to blows, but it doesn’t really go anywhere before Disco and Alex take a walk

Public Enemy v Davey Boy Smith and Jim Neidhart: Rocco Rock starts with Jim, and dominates him. Tag to Bulldog, and he comes in hot with a pair of clotheslines, so Johnny Grunge comes in, but Smith knocks him to the outside with a pair of clotheslines as well. The dust settles back on Rock and Anvil, and a criss cross ends in Grunge throwing a cheap shot. The Enemy work Neidhart over, until Rock misses a 2nd rope axehandle, and Davey gets the hot tag - Roseanne Barr the door! Disco and Wright run back out to attack the Enemy, but they hit Bulldog as well in the scuffle, and it’s a no-contest at 3:47. Smith looks like he legitimately messed his arm up on the table here, which is not surprising with these needless risks they were all taking during this period. DUD

Tony brings JJ Dillon out to make a blockbuster announcement: this Monday night on Nitro, live from the Georgia Dome, Hollywood Hulk Hogan will be defending the WCW World Title against… Goldberg! The decision to run that match on TV instead of pay per view has been debated for years (and likely years to come), but you can’t deny that it was a watershed moment in the history of WCW

Raven vignette

Saturn v Kidman: Saturn dominates early, unloading on Kidman in the corner, but getting caught with a slingshot headscissors. A criss cross ends in Saturn overhead suplexing Kidman over the top, and Saturn looks to add a dive, but Lodi distracts him. Saturn takes the bait, but still manages to clobber Kidman with a clothesline on the floor during the chase - only to get hit with a chair while trying to add a tope. Kidman with a flying bodypress for two on the way back in, and he goes to a chinlock from there. Saturn escapes, so Kidman tries a rollup, but Saturn blocks. Saturn tries a powerbomb, but Kidman counters with a facebuster for two. Backdrop, but Saturn blocks, and delivers a short-clothesline. Saturn with a small package for two, so Kidman throws a dropkick, and a bodyslam sets up a slingshot legdrop. To the mat for a clutch, but Saturn escapes, so Kidman tries a corner splash, but it misses. A reversal sequence ends in Kidman pulling out a sitout spinebuster, and he goes up for a flying shooting star press, but Saturn crotches him before he can dive. Saturn brings him down with a superplex, and another reversal sequence ends in Saturn using an overhead suplex. Lodi tries a distraction, allowing Kidman a slingshot bulldog for two, so Saturn sweeps the leg into a cradle for two. Kidman pops up, but gets caught in the death valley driver at 7:07. Good effort here! This built into a really strong match by the end. **

Steve McMichael is ready to get back to breaking heads. Mike Ditka says so!

Bobby Blaze v Brian Adams: Has Adams really done anything in his time in WCW? He’s been around over four months, and hasn’t really done a thing besides stand around in the back while the main nWo guys talk. Adams with a shoulderbreaker at 2:05. And beat Bobby Blaze, I guess. DUD

Raven is out, and he accepts Saturn’s challenge for Bash at the Beach, though he warns that it’s going to end just like the last time they fought back in the eighth grade: with Saturn bleeding 

WCW Television Title Match: Booker T v Fit Finlay: Fit attacks before the bell to kickstart the match, and the challenger unloads. So. many. uppercuts. Fit with a short-clothesline, and he dumps Booker to the outside, following to drop him across the guardrail. Inside, Fit hooks a backslide for two, and an elbowdrop is worth two. Cross corner whip, but Booker blocks the impact, and uses a sunset flip for two as Finlay follows in. Fit cuts him off, and a double stomp takes the wind out of Booker’s sails. Irish whip, but Booker blocks, and manages a spinkick. A criss cross allows Booker a jumping forearm for two, and a sidewalk slam is worth two. A corner whip works, but the charge in doesn’t, and Finlay looks for a comeback, but Booker drills him with a spinebuster before he can make one. A side suplex leads to the Harlem sidekick, but Finlay ducks, and clotheslines the champ over the top. Fit tries pulling him in, but Booker snaps his throat across the top rope to block, and a missile dropkick retains at 5:17. Solid. Afterwards, Booker promises to deal with Bret Hart at the Bash, but Stevie Ray comes out to get in his face about making needless challenges again. * ¼ 

Chavo Guerreero Jr is back out, and he wants to talk to Eddie Guerrero, but since Eddie’s been ignoring him, Chavo decides to set a trap. He literally builds one with a cardboard box and stick (complete with ‘ACME’ written on the side), and he even puts a burrito in there as bait. Eddie shows up, pretends to take the bait, and then kicks the shit out of Chavo for his trouble. This angle is great. I really like how it’s developed over time, too, as opposed to just hitting the same notes over and over forever. And Chavo is incredible with this version of the character. One of the most entertaining acts on the roster

Kanyon v Konnan: They trade off to start, posturing. Kanyon tries a dropkick, but misses, and Konnan uses a catapult into a toehold. Kanyon gets the ropes, as the Flock show up to watch from the aisle. Konnan with a backdrop, but Kanyon blocks, and uses a cradle neckbreaker for two. Kanyon uses a bodyslam to set up a flying elbowdrop, but Konnan blocks, so Kanyon uses a standard elbowdrop. A sloppy fireman facebuster gets two, but Konnan comes back with a sitout facebuster for two. A bridging rollup gets another two, but Kanyon counters a monkey flip with a cradle for two - reversed by Konnan for two. Kanyon with a tilt-a-whirl slam for two, but Konnan catches him with a cradle for two. A rolling clothesline connects, and Raven comes in to drop Kanyon with a DDT for good measure. That allows Konnan the tequila sunrise for the win at 4:25. Good effort from both guys, but they just didn’t mesh well, and it looked awkward throughout. Afterwards, the Flock beat him down, but Konnan makes the save for him. He’s outnumbered, but he’s in a gang of his own, and Lex Luger runs out to make the save for him. ¾*

Lex Luger v Giant: Lex slugs him as Giant steps into the ring, hammering away with shot after shot, but Giant manages a big boot to shake him off. A clothesline follows, and Giant works him over. Luger pulls out a chincrusher, and he throws a series of clotheslines to take Giant off of his feet. Torture rack, but Brian Adams and Vincent run in for the DQ at 2:27. That draws Konnan out to back Lex up, and then the Flock run out, as well as Saturn for a big brawl to close things out. DUD

Bash at the Beach ad

BUExperience: This wasn’t great, but I guess they were saving their best shots for the big Georgia Dome Nitro and the upcoming Bash. Well, Thunder was the B-show, that’s fair. It wasn’t bad.