WCW Thunder (September 24, 1998)

 

Original Airdate: September 24, 1998

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

Rick Steiner v Hugh Morrus: They slug at each other early, and Rick wins a criss cross with a powerslam, so Jimmy Hart hops on the apron to prevent a pin attempt. Rick takes the bait, allowing Morrus to recover, but Rick clotheslines him over the top. He stupidly goes after Hart again, allowing Morrus to attack, and no wonder Scott dumped his goofy ass. Morrus with a bodyslam to set up a flying elbowdrop, but Steiner dodges. Rick goes up with a flying bulldog to put it away at 2:27. Steiner managed to look like a complete moron twice in under two and a half minutes. That’s got to be some kind of record. ¼*

Ernest Miller v Nick Dinsmore: Nick doesn’t take the forfeit offer, and even more, attacks Miller first. That ends badly for him, though. Miller with a roundhouse kick at 1:42. They’re doing a good job of letting Miller show some personality, and booking him to support getting it over. DUD

Saturn v Psychosis: They posture to start, with Saturn controlling. Psychosis bails to break the momentum, but he still ends up in a headlock once getting back inside. Psychosis forces a criss cross, but still ends up back in a headlock. Psychosis manages to counter to a wristlock, but Saturn suplexes him to escape, and uses a legsweep into a cross-armbreaker, but Psychosis has the ropes. A reversal sequence ends in Psychosis throwing a clothesline for two, and an enzuigiri follows. Cross corner whip, but Saturn reverses, and tags him with a superkick, as Lodi makes his way out. That draws Saturn to the outside to confront him, which allows Psychosis to recover with a flying somersault senton on the floor. Psychosis with a missile dropkick on the way back inside, but he wastes time gloating, and Saturn throws punches. Psychosis cuts him off with a dropkick, but wastes time again, and Saturn counters a backdrop by scooping him up, and dropping him front-first across the top rope. Saturn looks for a comeback, but Psychosis dropkicks his leg to cut it off again, and he dumps Saturn to the outside. Psychosis follows with a bodyslam on the floor, but a 2nd rope legdrop out there misses, resulting in a pretty cool bump. Inside, Saturn officially goes on the comeback trail, with Psychosis too loopy to cut him off this time. Saturn with a flying splash at 7:40, though Psychosis kicks out so quickly after the fall that I almost thought it was a nearfall. Solid match, though, they told a good story. **

Bill Goldberg hype video 

Tony brings Alex Wright out, but Alex quickly kicks him out, since he doesn’t trust Americans. It’s basic level stuff here, but this is a much better direction for Wright than ‘weird guy who dances’

Four Horsemen video

Fit Finlay v Barbarian: They slug it out to start, as Scott Hall stumbles out to the commentary position. Barbarian gets control, and he delivers a bodyslam, before taking Fit into the corner to pound on. Finlay throws a headbutt, but Barbarian no sells, and returns fire. Barbarian with a double stomp, and a snapmare allows him a chinlock. Fit uses a jawbreaker to escape, and he manages to throw a high knee. Another one, but Barbarian catches him in a spinebuster, and goes to town in the corner again. Barbarian with a gutbuster and a cross corner whip, but Fit fights him off, and goes to a chinlock. That draws Jimmy Hart onto the apron, but Fit avoids the sneak attack, and tombstones Barbarian at 4:48. This felt very unfocused. ¼*

Goldberg/Diamond Dallas Page hype video

Tony brings DDP out to talk about Halloween Havoc. I appreciate the build for the match, but have Page and Goldberg even had a single interaction yet? I guess there’s still time though, and I preferred a measured approach to a rushed one, so hopefully it’s going that way

Raven v Villano V: They’re openly discussing that Raven and Kanyon hurt Villano IV on Nitro, and are turning it into an angle. Well, chickenshit/chicken salad, I guess. Villano goes after him at the bell, but Raven fights him off, and delivers a three-alarm rolling Russian legsweep. Raven grabs a chair, but Villano fights off the attack with chops, and delivers a dropkick. Villano with a facebuster, and an inverted atomic drop follows, but a charge in the corner misses. That allows Raven a drop-toehold onto the chair, and the DDT finishes at 2:17. This was about as much as you could expect out of a two minute match. ¾*

Disco Inferno v Chavo Guerrero Jr: Disco tosses him out of the ring right away, but Chavo catches him with a dropkick, and adds a plancha. Inside, Chavo with a pair of armdrags, and a headscissor takedown gets him two. Chavo works a chinlock from there, but Disco fights to a vertical base, so Chavo clotheslines him. Chavo with a bootrake, and a side suplex gets him a two count. Chinlock, but Disco escapes again, and manages a hotshot this time. Disco with a chinlock of his own, but Chavo escapes, so Disco tags him with a backelbow to prevent a comeback. Disco with an elbowdrop for two, but a 2nd rope pointed elbowdrop misses, and Chavo superman punches him in the corner. Chavo with a springboard bulldog for two, and a backdrop follows. Another one, but Disco blocks, and delivers a swinging neckbreaker for two. Disco tries a side suplex, but Chavo blocks, and throws a dropkick, ahead of a flying sunset flip for two. Dropkick, but Disco dodges, and crowns him with a piledriver at 7:24. Solid action here. Afterwards, Juventud Guerrera is out, handing the referee is piece of paper, blowing Disco in as having cheated his weigh in for the cruiserweight division. So the officials bring out a scale, and Disco weighs in one pound over, so this win won’t qualify for ranking in the cruiserweight division. And, in fact, Chavo wins by reversed decision. This could have been stupid, but I actually liked it. It’s good to establish the various rules, and pay more than just lip service to them. * ½ 

Alex Wright v Norman Smiley: Wright nails him on a handshake, but Smiley fights him off, and delivers a bodyslam to send Wright bailing. Inside, Alex grabs a wristlock, but Smiley reverses. Alex tries the ropes, but Smiley pulls him off, so Alex fights to a reversal. Smiley manages a hiptoss for two, but Wright uses a waistlock takedown into a front-facelock. Smiley counters to a wristlock, but Wright uses a monkeyflip to escape, and he adds a dropkick. Hiptoss, but Smiley reverses, and he adds a bodyslam. Smiley has a unique bodyslam, and it looks great. A criss cross allows Alex a backbreaker for two, and he dumps Smiley to the outside, resulting in Norman hurting his knee on the landing. Heenan seems to be legitimately annoying the other announcers here, and he really felt out of place in general with Schiavone. I like Tony, but he doesn’t play off of Heenan (or let Heenan play off of him), instead just shutting him down every time. Alex misses a bodypress, allowing Smiley a comeback, and an elbowdrop gets him two. Alex fights him off with a neckbreaker at 5:38, however. ¾*

Tony prepares to introduce the Horsemen, but Stevie Ray is out, and he’s going to officially act as nWo Hollywood’s enforcer. So the Horsemen better not come out, because he’ll keep them from getting to the ring. And then the Horsemen come out, and Stevie just sort of steps aside. Okay then. Not much here, they just sort of put over the history of the group, and reiterate that they’re back. Yeah, we know. But I get why they’d do this for the crowd in Norfolk

Halloween Havoc ad

WCW World Title Match: Bill Goldberg v Kanyon: Raven sits in on commentary for this one. Goldberg nails him with the spear right away, and the jackhammer finishes at 0:24. DUD

BUExperience: Back to my style of Thunder this week, with a very in-ring focused presentation.