WCW Thunder (August 26, 1998)

 

Original Airdate: August 26, 1998

From Peoria, Illinois; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone and Bobby Heenan, with Lee Marshall (first hour), and Mike Tenay (second hour)

Wrath v Scott Putski: Scott sticks and moves, but gets caught coming out of the corner, and Wrath uses a flying clothesline for two. Scott manages a sunset flip for two, but takes a jumping shoulderblock during a criss cross, and Wrath hits him with a pumphandle-dominator at 2:18. ½*

Schiavone brings Stevie Ray out to find out what drove him to join nWo Hollywood, and Stevie claims that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff went to bat for him and Booker T when they were on the verge of getting cut, and he feels he owes them a debt. He also throws out a challenge to Diamond Dallas Page for a match tonight

Mike Enos v Bull Pain: Bull gets in his face at the bell, but that goes very badly for him in the corner. Pain goes to the eyes to allow him a flying clothesline, but a 2nd rope elbowdrop misses, and Mike delivers a powerslam. Enos with a clothesline and a waistlock takedown, and he works a hammerlock. It spills to the outside on the break, and Pain dives from the apron with a clothesline on the floor. Pain tries to add an axehandle from the apron, but gets caught in an overhead suplex. Mike rams him into the post before bringing it back inside, where Enos uses a sidewalk slam. Pain manages a chincrusher to allow him to go upstairs, but Enos slams him off before he can dive, and finishes with a fallaway slam off the middle at 3:58. This was solid enough for what it was, but had no star power. ¾*

Disco Inferno v Ernest Miller: Miller hits him with a kick to the back of the head while Disco is getting his entrance gear off, and then nails him with another kick for the pin at 0:19. Afterwards, Miller grabs the microphone, and rants about how WCW tried to make him a wrestler, but clarifies that he’s not a wrestler. Hey, he said it. But the deal is that he’s sick of trying to be a wrestler, when he’s already a karate champion, which is better anyway. And so he wants to be thought of that way from now on, and he’ll keep knocking these ‘wrestlers’ out at his hearts content. This was a good direction to move in with the character. DUD

Silver King v Konnan: King running around in his little cowboy outfit looks like Warren in There’s Something About Mary. They feel each other out a little bit to start, and Konnan dumps him to the outside with a headscissor takedown. King hops back in, so Konnan uses a single-leg takedown into an Indian deathlock, but it goes nowhere. A criss cross allows King to throw a spinheel kick, so Konnan bails, but King is on him with a springboard bodypress on the floor. King puts the boots to him on the way back in, and a cross corner whip is followed in with a spinheel kick. That sounded better on paper, looked awkward in real life. Konnan comes back with a press-drop, and a rolling clothesline follows. Konnan with a snapmare to set up a seated dropkick, and a gutwrench suplex is worth two. Tequila sunrise says ‘good night’ at 4:31. Afterwards, Rick Rude leads nWo Hollywood out to surround the ring, but Konnan manages to slip away before they can grab him. ½*

Schiavone brings DDP out, and he accepts Stevie Ray’s challenge for later

Kaz Hayashi v Evan Karagias: They trade wristlocks to start, then get into feeling each other out on the mat. Kaz catches him with a springboard bodypress, and a spinkick follows, as he gains the momentum of the bout. Karagias manages a series of uppercuts to buy time, and a powerslam gets him two. Karagias with a wristlock, as Sonny Onoo comes out to observe. Kaz manages a takedown for a somersault senton splash, and a vertical suplex sets up a slingshot somersault senton splash. Karagias fires back with a clothesline, and a bodyslam sets up a flying splash, but Kaz gets his knees up to block. Kaz with a spinebuster, and he goes up with a nice flying senton splash at 4:34. Another one where the work was fine, but the star power was so non-existent that the crowd had no reaction to it. ¾*

No Disqualification Match: Saturn v Lodi: If Saturn wins, Lodi leaves the Flock, but if Lodi wins then Saturn becomes his ‘slave’ until Fall Brawl. Saturn throws a clothesline to kick start the match, and he takes Lodi into the corner for chops. Saturn with a series of kicks, and a suplex follows, so Riggs runs in, but Saturn fights him off. Cue Sick Boy, but Saturn fights him off as well. Saturn with a death valley driver, so Raven himself runs in, but Saturn destroys him. He goes to hit Raven with the DVD, but Kanyon runs in, and hits Saturn with the reverse STO. Kanyon shakes Raven’s hand, before putting Lodi on top of Saturn’s limp body at 2:09. This angle continues to be confusing and directionless. ¼*

Jim Neidhart v Scott Norton: Norton slugs him onto the ropes to start, and catches Jim with a jumping shoulderblock. Jim ends up on the outside, so Vincent attacks, and Norton dives from the apron with an axehandle. Norton sends Jim into the post out there, and Scott delivers a bodyslam on the way back inside. Jim tries punching him, but Norton wins that exchange, and bounces Anvil’s head off the turnbuckle. Norton with a cross corner whip, but Jim blocks the charge in, and dives off the middle with a clothesline - which just bounces off of Scott. That’s pretty funny. Norton with an avalanche, and the powerbomb at 3:14. This felt like the low point of Neidhart’s career. Lower than Who. Lower than the DX skit after Montreal. Lower than anything on the indies. This was just a complete and unapologetic squash. ¼*

WCW Television Title Match: Chris Jericho v Alex Wright: Posturing to start, as Jericho plays mindgames, making false accusations that the challenger is cheating. A reversal sequence allows Wright a clothesline, and he puts the boots to Chris until Jericho falls out of the ring. Alex follows for a whip into the guardrail, and Wright adds a suplex on the floor, but Jericho fights him off with chops. Jericho sends him into the rail for payback, but Alex gets the high ground on the way back in, and clobbers Chris. Wright unloads in the corner, and an overhead belly-to-belly suplex gets two. Chris cuts him off and bootchokes the challenger down, then delivers a hanging vertical suplex for two. Wright fights back with a snapmare, as Heenan gets a funny line in about ‘European uppercuts.’ To the outside, more pounding from the challenger, but Jericho snapmares him on the way back in, and gets a chinlock on. Chris shifts into a octopus hold, but Wright escapes, and hooks a takedown for two. Chris uses a bodyslam to cut him off, and the Lionsault finds the mark. Wright goes to the eyes to buy time, and a cross corner whip allows Wright to hammer him in the corner. Wright with a backbreaker for two, and a spinheel kick gets another two. A snapmare allows Alex a chinlock, but Jericho manages a side suplex to force a break. Both guys stagger up, and Jericho tries criss crossing, but Wright throws a spinheel kick. A reversal sequence allows Jericho a butterfly backbreaker, but he charges into a hotshot. That allows Wright a backbreaker, but a flying axehandle misses. Chris tries taking him into the corner, but Alex fights him off, and dives with a 2nd rope sunset flip - only for Jericho to roll through into the Liontamer at 10:21. This was a good effort. ***

Van Hammer v Curt Hennig: Some posturing to start, and Hammer hooks an Oklahoma roll for two. Hammer grabs a standing side-headlock, and a clothesline sends Curt bailing to the outside to regroup. Rick Rude distracts Hammer, allowing Curt to nail the man, and Hennig unloads in the corner from there. Curt with a cross corner whip, and he follows in with an elbow, before Rude gives Hammer a ropechoke. Hennig works the leg, so Hammer hooks a small package for two, but Curt cuts him off, and hits the bridging fisherman suplex at 4:11. Not much to this one. ¼*

Diamond Dallas Page v Stevie Ray: Stevie evades the cutter early on, and manages to corner Page for some abuse. Stevie with a cross corner whip, and a backbreaker gets him two. Stevie with a ropechoke, and he grabs a bearhug, but Dallas slugs free. Stevie responds by trying for a butterfly, but DDP escapes, and makes a comeback. Cutter time, but Vincent runs in for the DQ at 4:28. Nothing match, crap ending. Afterwards, Giant runs in to attack Page, but DDP gets away from him unscathed. DUD

BUExperience: The TV title match is worth checking out. The rest was all kind of a waste of time, though I did enjoy how wrestling forward the episode was.