WCW Thunder (January 28, 1999)

 

Original Airdate: January 28, 1999 (taped January 21)

From Indianapolis, Indiana; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan

Psychosis v Hugh Morrus: Morrus dominates early, using his size advantage to his… advantage. Morrus with a cross corner whip to set up an avalanche, but a clotheslines misses, and Psychosis tags him with a spinheel kick. Morrus no sells it, so Psychosis throws chops in the corner, and uses a headscissors to send Hugh to the outside. Psychosis dives after him with a suicide, and he lands a flying dropkick for two on the way back in. Hugh throws a boot to buy time, and he manages to leverage it into a snapmare, then a chinlock. Morrus with a suplex for two, and a clothesline is worth two. Back to the chinlock, but a dive misses, and Psychosis hustles up for a flying spinheel kick. Psychosis goes up again with a flying moonsault, but Morrus dodges, and delivers a bodyslam. That allows Hugh to go up for his own flying moonsault at 10:11. This was solid, if a little unengaging. * ½ 

Chris Jericho v Silver King: King dominates early on, so Jericho tries a 2nd rope dropkick, but King catches him in a catapult over the top. King is on him with a springboard bodypress on the floor, and Jericho tastes the steps. King tries a suplex, but Chris counters into an inverted vertical suplex, then puts the boots to him. Jericho with a hanging vertical suplex for two, so he dumps King to the outside to beat on. Jericho uses some electrical cable for a choke, but King responds by choking Chris with a rope on the way back in. Jericho slams him to shake it off, and he tries for the Liontamer, but King holds the ropes to block. King manages to get him in a helicopter powerbomb, and a somersault senton splash gets him two. King with a DDT for two, but a whip into the corner gets reversed, and Jericho delivers a whiplash. That allows Jericho to get the Liontamer on, and King taps at 8:50. * ½ 

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Fit Finlay v Super Calo: Another interesting pairing this evening. Fit takes it to the mat right away, and gets a two count out of a side-headlock. Fit wins a criss cross, and delivers an inverted atomic drop, but a corner whip backfires when Calo rebounds with a 2nd rope bodypress for two. Calo with a slingshot sunset flip for two, and a springboard bodypress is worth two. Finlay cuts him off with a rolling fireman carry slam, and he dumps Calo to the outside. Finlay follows to abuse him out there, but Calo beats the count in, so Finlay bodyslams him for two. Fit goes back to the mat with a reverse chinlock, and a shoulder to the gut gets him two. Finlay grabs a chair, but the referee cuts that off, so Finlay uses a half-crab instead. Calo gets the ropes, so Finlay bodyslams him again, only to hit the knees on a pump-splash. Fit with a short-clothesline for two anyway, and a snapmare allows him to place a kick to the shoulderblades. To the outside, where Fit drops him across the apron, but Calo beats the count. Finlay unloads in the corner, and a bodyslam follows. Finlay with a backbreaker rack, but Calo escapes, and peppers him with some shots. Calo with a flying splash for two, but he slips off the ropes while trying another dives, which allows Finlay a tombstone at 8:46. The ending didn’t feel properly earned, but the match was another solid outing. *

Backstage, Disco Inferno is standing over a downed Van Hammer, and yelling about how Wrath took him out. With Hammer down, he can’t compete in his tag title tournament match, so Mike Enos and Bobby Duncum Jr advance by forfeit

The Outsiders v Mike Enos and Bobby Duncum Jr: This is the first pairing of Kevin Nash and Scott Hall since November, and the first as ‘The Outsiders’ since May 1998. The Outsiders tell them to quit while they are ahead, forfeit and go home, but they are violently refused. The dust settles on Hall and Enos, and Mike delivers a powerslam for two. Tag to Duncum, and a cheap shot from Nash quickly puts him in trouble. Kevin tags in with a sidewalk slam, and he adds a big boot. Powerbomb, and good night for Bobby at 2:15. DUD

Disco Inferno v Hector Garza: Posturing to start, until Disco starts slugging. Disco with an inverted atomic drop ahead of a clothesline, but a cross corner whip gets reversed. That allows Garza to snap his throat across the top rope, and Hector lands a pair of dropkicks to knock Disco out of the ring. Disco catches a breather out there, but manages to pound Garza down after getting back in, and Disco puts the boots to him. Disco with a snapmare into a chinlock, but Garza escapes, and knocks him to the outside with another dropkick. Garza stays on him with a baseball slide, and a flying moonsault press on the floor connects - but takes a lot out of Garza as well. Garza with a bodyslam on the way back in, but a flying corkscrew senton splash misses, and Disco hits the jawbreaker at 6:02. Solid. *

Bam Bam Bigelow v Kaz Hayashi: Hayashi was supposed to be Hammer's partner in the tag title tournament match, so why would he be booked here, too? No mention made of it by the announcers, even in passing. Bam Bam throws him around early on, but Hayashi blocks a press-slam, and grabs a sleeper. Bam Bam escapes, and continues to casually work Hayashi over. Kaz manages to stick and move to get control, and a victory roll gets him two. Bigelow cuts him off with a clothesline, however, and the over-the-shoulder brainbuster finishes at 5:33. ¼*

The Outsiders v Konnan and Rey Mysterio Jr: Scott Hall and Mysterio start, and Rey sticks and moves. Rey manages a springboard flying rocker dropper for two, and an angry Hall tags out. Kevin Nash calls for a test-of-strength in a hilarious visual, but Rey responds by tagging out as well. Nash casually dominates him, but Konnan gets worked up, and beats him into the corner. Hall comes in to help, but Konnan decks him, and the Outsiders both end up on the outside. This somehow results in Disco Inferno coming in, so now it’s a Handicap match, I guess? Konnan kicks his ass, so Hall dumps Disco back out, so I guess we’re back to a standard tag match, then. The angles and booking were getting increasingly confusing at this stage, which severely hurt the product. All the focused booking that we saw in the early parts of the nWo angle are long gone by this point. The Outsiders isolate Rey, and they cut the ring in half. Rey slips away from Nash long enough to make the hot tag, and Konnan gets Nash in the tequila sunrise, so Disco comes in. Konnan fights him off, so Lex Luger comes in to do it right, and that’s finally a DQ at 12:10. And then we get the whole nWo out for a beatdown. ¼*

BUExperience: Some interesting pairings, and not too much angle heavy content made this a good episode. The tag title tournament continues to be a completely confusing mess, and Heenan was notably horrible this week, though.