WCW Thunder (February 11, 1999)

 

Original Airdate: February 11, 1999 (taped February 4)

From Providence, Rhode Island; Your Hosts are Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, and Bobby Heenan

At a bar somewhere, Torrie Wilson (unnamed, in her debut) is being flirtatious with an unseen individual. So… we’re just pretending these aren’t from Nitro, then? 

WCW World Tag Team Title Tournament Second Round Match: The Faces of Fear v Mike Enos and Bobby Duncum Jr: Meng and Enos start, and Mike has dyed his hair, and suddenly looks much younger. They posture for a bit, and both guys tag out. Barbarian chokes Duncum into the corner, so Bobby throws fists, and gets the better of it. Tag to Meng, but he gets into trouble, and worked over. But, you know, Meng, so it doesn’t last long. The Faces hit Duncum with stereo 2nd rope headbutt drops, but Enos saves at two. No matter, the tide has firmly turned, and the Faces work Bobby over. Things break down, and Barbarian suddenly turns on Meng, knocking him out, and allowing Duncum to score the pinfall at 13:29. This wasn’t bad, but too long for what it was, and the finish felt random. ¾*

In another segment from Nitro that we’re just pretending is first-run content, Kanyon shows up at Raven’s mom’s house, where mom has asked him to come by because Raven is depressed. But, it turns out that it’s all a work, and he’s actually having a great time riding around in his Ferrari - he just wants his mom to think that he’s depressed 

Bill Goldberg/Bam Bam Bigelow hype video

Kevin Nash/Lex Luger v Konnan/Rey Mysterio Jr hype video

Raven and Kanyon go to the bank, where Raven withdraws $10,000 in one dollar bills. “What are those for?” wonders Kanyon. Yeah, I’ll bet no acting was needed there

Super Calo v Lash LeRoux: LeRoux wins a reversal sequence with a clothesline, but loses another sequence to a backdrop, and Lash bails. Calo is on him with a baseball slide and a plancha, getting Calo a two count after bringing it back in. LeRoux fights back with a springboard flying bodypress for two, and a rana into a cradle gets one. LeRoux stays on him with chops, and a clothesline connects. LeRoux with a modified northern lights suplex for two, but Calo grabs an abdominal stretch to slow him down. LeRoux escapes, and butterfly suplexes for two, then delivers a hiptoss to set up a pointed elbowdrop. LeRoux goes up with a flying splash, but Calo rolls out of the way, and hooks the leg for two. Lateral press for another two count, and Calo uses a series of turnbuckle smashes, until LeRoux reverses one on him. LeRoux with a corner whip, and he follows in with an elbow, but Calo blocks a monkey flip. Calo tries one of his own, but Lash lands on his feet, and a reversal sequence ends in Calo hitting a springboard flying dropkick for two. Another reversal sequence sees LeRoux deliver a fireman falcon arrow at 5:23. This was good action, and they did a great job of getting the crowd behind it, despite not having a lot of star power. That’s something of an achievement for this era. ** ½ 

Torrie Wilson is riding around in her limousine, flirting with a still unseen person

Backstage, Glacier has a business proposal for Ernest Miller 

WCW World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round Match: Billy Kidman and Chavo Guerrero Jr v Fit Finlay and Dave Taylor: Chavo and Finlay start, and they posture, dominated by Finlay. He gets Guerrero in a cravat, but Chavo manages to get a tag off, and Kidman peppers Finlay. Fit slows things down by offering a handshake, but Kidman is hip, and keeps slugging instead. Finlay hits him with a backbreaker, so Kidman tags back out, and Chavo wins a criss cross with a dropkick. Tag to Kidman for a flying bodypress for two, so Fit pops him, and drops his ass across the top rope before passing to Dave. Taylor with a big uppercut on the way in, and a bodyslam follows. They work Kidman over, and just keep kicking his ass until Chavo decides to come in. Taylor cuts him off, however, and Finlay spikes Kidman with a tombstone at 11:27. Well, that kind of made the reigning Cruiserweight champion look like a jobber. *

Backstage, Glacier has managed to sell Miller his entrance gimmick, and is now trying to get him to buy his gear. Miller doesn’t want it, so Sonny Onoo pulls Kaz Hayashi in to be a mark for him instead

Torrie Wilson leads her unseen companion through a hotel lobby, and into an elevator, come-hither look fully deployed

Raven takes Kanyon to the mall, where he wants to get him some goodies at Versace 

Disco Inferno v Chris Adams: Adams dominates early, until Disco bails. Disco gets control, and holds a chinlock, then dumps Adams to the outside. In, Adams makes a last ditch, but gets caught with a jawbreaker at 7:40. ¼*

At the hotel, Torrie and her companion reach her room. That must have been one hell of a long elevator ride

Backstage, Gene Okerlund tries to stir up shit between Kidman and Chavo, but Billy isn’t having it. Until Guerrero punches him in the face

Goldberg/Bigelow hype video

Raven and Kanyon visit the strip club, but we don’t get to actually see that scene, just some establishing shots, and then they’re back at mom’s house, where Kanyon is now in on the scam

Backstage, DDP hangs out with Jason Hervey, when Rita Sever shows up to do an impression of him. Also from Nitro, if you’re keeping score

WCW World Tag Team Title Tournament First Round Match: Dean Malenko and Chris Benoit v Van Hammer and Kaz Hayashi: Benoit and Hammer start, and they feel each other out. Tags all around, and Dean and Kaz also feel each other out. Hayashi wins a criss cross with a backdrop, and he adds an elbowdrop, before passing back to Hammer. Van grabs a wristlock, but Dean fights him off, and passes back to Benoit, so Hammer tags right back out. Benoit pops Hayashi with a few headbutts, but Hayashi blocks a powerbomb. Dropkick, but Benoit dodges, and tries a pop-up, but Hayashi catches him with a rana on the way down. That allows Hayashi a snapmare into a chinlock, and he tags out while holding it. Hammer with a pair of elbowdrops into a leglock, but Benoit escapes with a leg-feed enzuigiri. Tag to Dean for a leg lariat that gets two, so Hammer uses a chincrusher, and a tag. He holds Malenko for an incoming Hayashi to hit, and Kaz adds a dropkick. That puts Malenko on the outside, and Hayashi is on him with a baseball slide. Inside, Hayashi hits a spinkick, and Hammer tags in, but Dean cuts him off with a drop-toehold. Tag to Benoit for chops, but a cross corner whip gets reversed, and Hammer follows in with a clothesline. Whiplash, but Benoit dumps him to the outside to block, and Chris follows with a baseball slide. Hammer is able to tag on the way back inside, so Benoit beats up Hayashi instead, and Malenko delivers a sitout powerbomb for two. Dean works a chinlock from there, and a corner clothesline leads to a hanging vertical suplex for two. Back to Benoit for a double team, and Chris uses a backbreaker for two. The Horsemen cut the ring in half on Hayashi, until Hammer comes in, and Roseanne Barr the door. The Horsemen hit Kaz with a combo, and Benoit finishes him with the crippler crossface at 11:33. This was a fun, back-and-forth match. **

BUExperience: I appreciate that the tag title tournament is finally moving along without a bunch of bullshit, but I was extremely annoyed with all the Nitro segments that they were pretending were airing ‘live’ here.