Thunder
Date: April 7, 1999
Location: Richmond Coliseum, Richmond, Virginia
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko

This is a Wednesday show for no apparent reason and we now only have a two man booth. It’s also the go home show for Spring Stampede and we have a main event as of the last fifteen seconds of Nitro. This is also a taped show, meaning we’re probably in for a very dull show. Let’s get to it.

The intro now has the new logo.

Cruiserweight Title: Evan Karagias vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Rey is defending of course. Evan punches him down to start and nails something like a bulldog for two. Back up and Karagias misses a dropkick, allowing Rey to drop a dime on the back of his head. A powerslam and springboard cross body get two each for Evan and we hit the chinlock. They head outside with Rey being whipped into the barricade before it’s back inside for chinlock the sequel.

We take a break and come back with Evan still holding the chinlock. Evan stomps away even more as the announcers talk about the major matches for Sunday. Rey finally starts a comeback and ties Evan in the ropes for a top rope legdrop and two. The springboard hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb but Evan gets crotched on the top and hurricanranaed down for the pin.

Rating: C-. Karagias didn’t mean anything yet so this was fine for a TV title defense. Mysterio was on a roll at this point and a match with a great opponent like Kidman should make for a great PPV match. Karagias wasn’t much besides a pretty boy in good shape so it would take a ridiculous gimmick to draw any interest.

We see Goldberg knocking himself out by spearing Bret.

We get the announcement of Sunday’s main event from Nitro.

Video on Nash vs. Goldberg.

Wrath vs. Damien

Tenay tries to build Wrath up as a title contender and it’s just sad at this point. Damien gets shoved down a few times before trying a headlock, only to get shoved away again. Wrath ducks a shoulder to send Damien to the floor before whipping him into the barricade. Back in and Damien’s dropkicks have no effect and he runs into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker.

Wrath throws the little guy around and sends him chest first into the corner ala Bret Hart. Damien tries a rollup but gets knocked back to the floor and onto the barricade again for his efforts. Back in and a springboard sunset flip gets two for Damien. A cross body gets the same but Damien dives into the Death Penalty, followed by the Meltdown for the pin.

Rating: D+. When Damien hits the better spots of a match, you can tell your career is in trouble. Wrath was on such a roll and it’s a shame that this is the best he can do anymore. The match was your usual power man vs. luchador match but neither guy is the best option for that style of a match.

Here’s Konnan with something to say. He runs down Disco a bit before Sunday so here are Juventud Guerrera and Disco as La Cucaracha. Remember that one off match from a few weeks back on Nitro that was never mentioned again? Well it’s being brought up here. Juvy is going to translate for La Cucaracha and oh dear this is going to be painful. Konnan sees that it’s Disco but Juvy says Cucaracha is from Cancun. Cucaracha says something about bring from Brooklyn and the brawl is on with Konnan quickly clearing the ring. This was worthless.

Video on Konnan vs. Disco.

Video from Nitro of Nash challenging Goldberg.

Hardcore Hak vs. Mikey Whipwreck

This is Mikey’s second WCW match to date. They stall a lot to start until Mikey takes him down by the arm. We actually get some technical stuff with Hak grabbing a headlock on the mat until Mikey has to get to the ropes. That’s enough of that as Hak sends him out to the floor where Chastity can rake his eyes. Mikey comes back with a Russian legsweep to send Hak into the barricade. Back inside and Mikey hits a top rope clothesline for two and we take a break.

We come back with Mikey down on the floor and being whipped into the barricade. Hak misses a slingshot legdrop back inside so Mikey hits a slingshot Fameasser across the bottom rope for two. Whipwreck puts him in the Tree of Woe and baseball slides a chair into his face. With Hak stunned, Mikey goes to the middle rope but misses a spinning dive. Hak drapes him across the top rope and hits a top rope Fameasser of his own. A slingshot legdrop onto a chair onto Mikey’s face has Hak limping as hs calls for a Singapore cane. Mikey intercepts it and hammers away, only to get caught in the White Russian legsweep for the pin.

Rating: E. For ECW, because that’s all this was. It was an ECW style match with ECW wrestlers who even had a history back in ECW. I didn’t want to watch ECW back in 1999, I don’t want to watch ECW now, and I certainly don’t want to watch ECW in WCW. At least ECW had Joey Styles to get on my nerves by thinking he was a radio announcer and calling EVERY SINGLE MOVE in the match because he thought we didn’t know what an Irish whip was without being told.

Bigelow runs out post match and beats up Hak.

This Week In WCW Motorsports.

Scott Steiner video.

Super Calo vs. Blitzkrieg

A quick dropkick puts Blitzkrieg down and Calo dances a bit. He stops long enough to missile dropkick Blitzkrieg to the floor where Calo hits a dropkick through the ropes. Calo dives out to the floor to take Blitzkrieg out again before throwing him back inside. Back in and Calo cranks on the arm but gets rolled up for two.

Blitzkrieg comes back with a dropkick of his own to send Calo out to the floor, followed by a BIG flip dive with Blitzkrieg landing on his feet. A standing moonsault gets two for Blitzkrieg but he gets dropkicked into the corner. Calo cranks on a chinlock to get a breather before missing a charge into the post. He gets back up but gets crotched on top, allowing Blitzkrieg to almost entirely miss a Phoenix Splash (his arm grazed Calo’s chest) for the pin.

Rating: D+. I’m still waiting on Blitzkrieg to blow my mind and I get the feeling I’m going to be waiting forever. The flip dive while landing on his feet was cool but it’s nothing I haven’t seen done before. On the other hand though, the splash at the end was just laughable and it was clear that the camera did as much as it could to hide it. Either that or they thought there was something to looking at the bottom of Calo’s boots.

Video on Benoit/Malenko vs. Raven/Saturn.

Chris Benoit vs. Raven

This should be good. Benoit rips off Raven’s leather jacket to start and then takes Raven’s head off with a clothesline. He bends Raven over his knee in a backbreaker before sending Raven outside for some cheap shots from Anderson. Back in and Benoit charges into two boots in the corner to give Raven an opening. Raven hits what we would call Three Amigos for two but has to escape a Crossface attempt.

We take a break and come back with Raven driving Benoit back first into the buckle. Chris takes him down by the leg and cannonballs down on it in true Flair style. Raven leverages him out to the floor and throws in a chair to make this more comfortable. He can’t hit a bulldog though and gets slammed head first onto the chair. Benoit goes up for the Swan Dive but only hits the chair to put both guys down. They both get up but Anderson comes in for the DQ, because a chair doesn’t mean anything anymore.

Rating: C+. This was the usual good brawl between these two, even if the ending really doesn’t make sense. The tag match on Sunday should be good, though the Horsemen costing Raven and Saturn the titles on Monday doesn’t hold up. Hopefully they’re given some time to make things work.

Post match Saturn comes in to go after Anderson but Malenko saves his mentor. The Horsemen dominate and given Raven and Saturn a DDT and DVD respectfully. Anderson says this is on the fans’ hands.

Video on the four way from Monday.

TV Title: Chris Jericho vs. Booker T.

Booker is defending. Before the match Jericho says Richmond, West Virginia is one of his favorite towns. A fan holds up a Booker T. Hug Me sign and gets her wish in a nice moment. Booker takes him into the corner to start before grabbing a headlock. Jericho fires off some quick elbows to escape and we’re already at a stalemate. The Canadian elbows out of an armbar and nails a shoulder. Booker comes back with a side kick and we’re right back into the armbar.

The announcers mention Steiner vs. Booker for the first time tonight as Booker clotheslines Jericho to the floor. Chris tries to walk out but gets whipped into the barricade for his efforts. They head back in, only to have Jericho get backdropped out to the floor. This time it’s Booker being sent into the barricade though for his first real advantage. A top rope elbow sets up the Arrogant Cover for two. Jericho drops a backsplash and we hit the chinlock.

Back up and Jericho sends him into the corner but gets rolled up for two. Jericho nails a spinwheel kick of his own but stops to pose instead of covering. He goes up but dives into a boot, allowing Booker to hit the ax kick and 110th Street Slam for two. The referee gets bumped, allowing Scott Steiner to come out and hit Booker with a chair. This brings out Stevie Ray to slap jack Jericho for some reason, giving Booker the pin.

Rating: C. Ok so this was Jericho’s final WCW match. It wasn’t bad and I liked it better than Monday’s but it’s still a shell of what Jericho used to be. I really hope Booker doesn’t get swallowed up in the NWO nonsense as he’s one of the few people that has been able to stay fresh by avoiding the whole thing.

Overall Rating: C. This was a nice surprise as the taped Thunders are usually the bane of my existence. The wrestling was good enough and they did enough to promote Spring Stampede. There were still far too many videos and recaps but at least there was enough stuff here to keep me entertained for a few hours.

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Monday Nitro #183
Date: April 5, 1999
Location: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

It’s a new era (kind of) for WCW as tonight they’re unveiling a new set and logo, making a change for the first time in several years. The main story coming into tonight is some announcement by Sting, who will be making his first scheduled appearance on the show since the fall of last year. Let’s get to it.

We open with a Sting video from the build to Starrcade 1997 to hype up his announcement tonight.

A new opening sequence (heavily featuring the Nitro Girls) shows off the new logo.

Goldberg is walking through the back with a tumbler full of what appears to be names to be drawn.

The announcers are now at ringside. Tony, now wearing a leather jacket and with his hair a little messier, talks about Spring Stampede coming this weekend. I must have had the dates wrong then as I thought we had another week after this. Good grief they need to hurry then.

Gene brings out Goldberg for a chat. Goldberg still has the tumbler and talks about how he’s been getting screwed over ever since losing the title. He wasn’t at Uncensored and if it’s up to Flair, he won’t be a Spring Stampede. Gene says we must be having the lottery that they’ve been talking about. I’m not sure what lottery this is but I doubt Gene knows either. The name Goldberg pulls out is going to be his victim on Sunday but here’s Nash to interrupt.

Kevin comes out in a hockey jersey and warns Goldberg not to spear him. Nash says that he’s been doing this for ten years and people will be talking about him in another ten years because he stopped the Streak. Goldberg tells him not to live in the past, so Nash makes the match between the two of them at Spring Stampede. Goldberg says Merry Christmas.

Arn Anderson is on the phone in Flair’s office but can’t get someone on the phone. Flair is upset and Arn leaves.

Nitro Girls.

Ricky Rachman hypes the Hotline.

Hardcore Hak vs. Kendall Windham

This is a Singapore Cane match for no apparent reason. They duel to start until Kendall gets in a few shots to the leg to take over. Hak’s chuck Chastity nails Windham with a cane and Hak takes over. Windham grabs a swinging neckbreaker for two but Hak puts him down with a backdrop. For some reason he goes outside to yell at someone, allowing Kendall to take over back inside. Some elbows have Kendall in trouble and a big cane shot to the head drops him. The White Russian legsweep gives Hak the pin.

Rating: D. Well that happened. This hardcore stuff is getting boring already and I can see why they switched over to the comedy stuff soon enough. Windham was only like his brother in name only and I’m still not convinced Hak is a wrestler. Thankfully they kept this on the first hour and short. The canes didn’t mean much either.

Video on Meng.

Goldberg goes in to see Flair and Anderson but they didn’t send for him. He isn’t happy that Luger and Liz are in Flair’s office. Flair has a big presidential seal on the wall now.

Anderson goes up to Nash at catering because Flair wants to see Nash.

Video on Konnan vs. Disco Inferno.

Konnan vs. Lizmark Jr.

They go to the mat to start with Konnan rolling him by the arm into a sunset flip for two. Lizmark trips him up in the corner and nails a spinwheel kick for a near fall of his own. A seated dropkick gets two for Lizmark as Tony continues his heel schtick that he started on Thursday. This time he claims that he’s the only announcer that puts in any effort instead of just going home. Lizmark takes him to the floor for an ax handle to the back. He’s getting in a lot more offense than I expected here. Konnan avoids a top rope splash and they trade rollups for two each. The X-Factor sets up the Tequila Sunrise to make Lizmark tap.

Rating: C-. It’s always nice to see some actual effort in a match like this. Konnan vs. Disco isn’t the hottest feud in the world but at least it’s something that has been given a story. Lizmark didn’t do much in WCW but he got to show off a little bit here. This was a nice little surprise instead of the usual.

Anderson and Flair get back to Flair’s office.

Scott Steiner video.

Nash and Flair are walking through the office area but go their separate ways. Hogan sees Nash and asks what he was doing with Flair. Apparently it was just business. Hollywood says it better be.

Now Nash is with Charles Robinson (in a suit), who apparently has 4Flair license plates. Robinson leaves before anything can be said. Hogan pops up again and asks what that was about. Apparently they’re having issues over what Samantha said last week. In case you forgot, it was over where or not the Fingerpoke of Doom was “real.” So they’re fighting over whether or not a poke to the chest was a real victory or staged? Am I understanding this right?

Gene brings out Flair for a chat. Ric talks about Goldberg wanting to be where the champ is now. Nash made a match with Goldberg for Sunday like a man should. As for tonight, Flair is in a good mood and is going to face Hogan tonight for the World Title. This brings out a fired up Hogan who says he’d love to beat up Flair right here tonight. Ric threatens to cancel the match if Hogan touches him but Hollywood is more than willing to let Flair go to the back and get ready.

They yell at each other a lot until DDP comes out to interrupt. Page doesn’t care for either of them but this is obviously a main event match worthy of the MGM Grand. He has an idea though: let’s make it a three way dance. Hogan is willing to make it a handicap match but here’s Goldberg before anything can be made official. He wants in the match and grabs Flair but the shirt but Ric gets away and shouts that Goldberg is in trouble. Apparently it’s a four way later tonight. Hogan and Goldberg seem to make a deal, saying they’ll take out Flair and Page respectfully and then go one on one.

US Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Scott Steiner vs. Meng

This could be interesting. Steiner rips on DDP a bit before the match because that feud just won’t die. If Page wanted a piece of him, why didn’t he enter the US Tag Title tournament (that’s what he said) for the US Title? Steiner brings up the 30 days stipulation from SuperBrawl before talking about a rollercoaster of love. He only needs one night with Kimberly to have her for the rest of her life. If Page wants revenge, he has to give up Kimberly for one night.

Steiner pounds away in the corner but Meng nails him with a superkick to send him outside. Back in and Meng superkicks him again, knocking Steiner back into the corner. Scott asks for time out but comes back with a belly to belly. Both guys head outside with Meng going face first into the barricade. Back in and a slow motion backbreaker gets two on Meng but he fights out of a superplex and nails a middle rope clothesline. More clotheslines and a dropkick get two on Steiner. There’s the Tongan Death Grip but Steiner goes to the eyes. A low blow and belly to belly suplex are good for the pin (the feet on the ropes didn’t hurt either).

Rating: C. Again I liked this better than I was expecting with both guys getting in some good looking power stuff. Steiner’s push to the stars continues, even though he’s been the same worker for months now. Meng did his stuff here and went a little bit above and beyond with that middle rope clothesline and dropkick looking good.

Hour #2 begins.

Nitro Girls.

We see a man in a trenchcoat in the rafters but it’s just a worker.

Same Sting video that opened the show.

Flair yells at the cameraman for filming him.

Video on Jim Duggan returning from cancer.

Jim Duggan vs. Lenny Lane

Lane hides in the corner to start but gets in a cheap shot to the ribs. Duggan slugs him down and head outside with Lane being sent into the post and announcers’ table. More slugging ensues back inside and Duggan nails a suplex for two. Duggan finally drops a big knee to end this.

Rating: D-. This went on far longer than it should have and wasn’t entertaining. Duggan coming back is a good story but that doesn’t mean he’s someone interesting to see in the ring anymore. At least it was someone worthless like Lane taking the loss instead of a bigger name.

Rachman talks about the Hotline again.

Video of Hogan making the battle royal for control of the Black and White.

Battle Royal

Vincent, Brian Adams, Stevie Ray, Horace

Yep it’s a four man battle royal and we have to sit through full entrances for everyone. Norton is left out for no apparent reason. It’s a brawl to start with everyone hitting everyone else. The crowd is silent and it’s not hard to see why. There’s nothing but bunching and kicking to go with the lame elimination attempts so far. Vincent is finally thrown out after nearly four minutes of brawling.

Adams suplexes Stevie down and stops to look at Horace. Stevie knocks both of them down and hammers away as this just keeps going. Horace clips Stevie from behind and Adams nails Ray with a clothesline. Adams and Horace get in an argument over who eliminates Ray so Adams nails his former friend with a backbreaker. Adams takes too long trying to slam Horace out, allowing Stevie to clothesline him to the floor. Horace charges into a backdrop to give Stevie the win.

Rating: F. A four man battle royal that took seven minutes to get through. I think you can figure out why this is a failure.

Clip of Saturn and Raven costing the Horsemen the tag belts last week.

Tag Team Titles: Rey Mysterio Jr./Kidman vs. Raven/Saturn

The champions are now in matching undershirts. Saturn shoves Rey into the corner to start but gets taken down by a hurricanrana. Raven comes in without a tag and helps his partner with a Doomsday Device with Saturn hitting a cross body instead of a clothesline. There’s no cover though so Saturn hits a middle rope legdrop for two. Mysterio avoids a top rope legdrop and the hot tag brings in Kidman. A sitout Pedigree drops Saturn and a bulldog puts Raven down for good measure. The champions hit stereo top rope splashes for two on Saturn and we take a break.

Back with Saturn in control of Kidman and hitting a wicked overhead release belly to belly to send Kidman to the floor. Raven brings in a chair for the drop toehold and two. A gordbuster from Raven sets up a top rope splash from Saturn as the challengers are dominating. Raven misses an elbow drop and it’s off to Rey for the springboard seated senton.

A spinwheel kick puts Raven in the corner and it’s a Bronco Buster for Saturn. Raven blocks his with a raised boot. Kidman’s lifting powerbomb gets two on Saturn as everything breaks down. Mysterio dropkicks Saturn into the referee as Kidman takes Raven outside. Saturn catches a springboarding Raven in the Death Valley Driver but here are the Horsemen to lay out Raven and Saturn. Dean puts Rey on top of Saturn for the pin.

Rating: B. This was getting really good near the ending, which doesn’t make perfect sense. I get why Benoit and Malenko would want to cost Raven and Saturn a match, but wouldn’t they want them to have the belts going into their match on Sunday? Either way, this was the best match on Nitro in a few weeks and a much needed pick up after the battle royal mess.

US Title Tournament Semi-Finals: Chris Jericho vs. Booker T.

Jericho is back in due to Curt Hennig being injured. They trade arm work to start with Tony talking about how sharp Jericho looks tonight. As he says that, Booker dropkicks his head off and takes over. Another kick to the face sends Jericho down but Booker misses a side kick and gets crotched on the ropes.

Jericho’s springboard dropkick has Booker reeling but Chris makes the mistake of slapping him in the face. The Lionsault hits feet though and there’s the ax kick. Booker nails the 110th Street Slam for two and Booker Spinaroonis up. Scott Steiner comes in with a chair but gets it kicked back into his face. Booker backdrops Jericho WAY over the top as the bell rings for a DQ due to Steiner’s interference.

Rating: C-. And that’s it for Jericho in WCW. Unless he has some promos coming up, he won’t be appearing for them again. I can’t say I blame him either as he was a prop here to set up Steiner vs. Booker in another title match on PPV. Jericho is another case of a guy with talent that never got to rise past the midcard scene because that’s how WCW worked.

Buff Bagwell vs. Bam Bam Bigelow

Now that’s alliteration! Buff poses at him to start and is sent into the buckle for his efforts. Some clotheslines and kicks to the ribs have Bigelow in trouble and a big clothesline sends him out to the floor. Back in and Bam Bam chokes in the corner but charges into a boot. Buff faceplants him, only to get headbutted in the ribs to put him down again. A slam drops Bagwell again but Bigelow misses what looked like a Swanton. Buff nails a running clothesline but the referee gets bumped. This brings out Hak and Chastity to nail Bigelow with a Singapore cane and blast him with a fire extinguisher. Buff hits the Blockbuster for a pin.

Rating: C-. I knew Bagwell would work as a face. This wasn’t a bad match until the more complicated than necessary finish. This sets up Bigelow vs. Hak on Sunday, but shouldn’t Bagwell have a match set up? There isn’t much of a midcard act set for Sunday save for Konnan vs. Disco and a Bagwell match would fill that in nicely.

Video on Nash vs. Goldberg. Very impressive of them to get that ready in two hours.

WCW World Title: Ric Flair vs. Goldberg vs. Hollywood Hogan vs. Diamond Dallas Page

Flair is defending, Nash is on commentary and Goldberg comes out last. Everyone is in the ring at the same time but Goldberg and Page fight to the floor to start. That leaves Hogan to run over Flair with a bunch of clotheslines as he’s wrestling like a hero early on. Hogan gets two off one of those clotheslines with Page making the save. Now it’s Goldberg beating Flair up on the floor but all four are quickly back inside.

That lasts all of eight seconds as Hogan and Goldberg fight up the aisle and Page clotheslines Flair off the apron. They trade off again and Hogan slams Flair from the top to keep up tradition. The weightlifting belt comes off for some whipping to the champ’s back. Ric low blows Hollywood as the fans chant for Sting. Everyone gets back inside again and Hogan clotheslines Goldberg for two. They trade small packages of all things for two each as Flair puts Page in the Figure Four.

Another trade sees Hogan and Page going to the floor as Goldberg press slams Flair. Hogan comes back in to save the champion but gets to fight Goldberg for his efforts. Page can’t quite crotch Flair against the post as Goldberg is choking Hogan on the mat. All four head outside and Flair is thrown over the announcers’ table. Page and Goldberg head back inside and it’s not quite Halloween Havoc.

Goldberg powerslams him down as Hogan suplexes Flair on the floor. All four are back in again but Flair quickly falls back out. Page follows him out as Goldberg suplexes Hollywood. Both guys no sell a bit and Goldberg superkicks him down. DDP comes back in with a discus lariat for two on Goldberg, earning him a Jackhammer.

Hogan breaks it up but Flair goes after his knee. There’s the spear to Page and one for Flair as well. A third spear takes Hogan down but he kicks out at two. Goldberg hits the Jackhammer on Hogan but Nash misses his cue to break it up so Hogan kicks out at two. That wasn’t Hogan’s fault and thankfully the announcers didn’t acknowledge it. Nash comes in and that’s a no contest, just as Sting repels from the ceiling.

Rating: C+. This was very energetic but the miscues at the end hurt it. They needed someone else in there to help map the match out though and it became a problem near the end. I get why they couldn’t have someone get a clean pin but the no contest is such an annoyance when it happens so often.

Sting points around the arena and we get a video with Randy Savage’s voice announcing another fourway at Spring Stampede with Flair defending against Hogan, Sting and Page with Savage as the referee. Because WCW.

Overall Rating: C. This is a show that would have been one of the best ever had they not had the third hour. If you cut out stuff like Kendall Windham vs. Hak, the NWO battle royal (that could have been solved in about a dozen different ways, such as the match they already had last month) and a bunch of the filler stuff, this is a really good show. The Tag Team and World Title matches were both good to very good and that’s enough to carry it, though not to greatness. I’m also not wild on Spring Stampede yet but this show did help.

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Today is Raven. What about him eh?

Raven would start in Texas before moving to Florida and Portland. He finally made it to WCW as Scotty Flamingo, including this match at Beach Blast 1992.

Light Heavyweight Title: Scotty Flamingo vs. Brian Pillman

Like I said, it’s Raven as a beach guy. Pillman is his usual insane self but in a good way here. Imagine Raven wearing pink biker shorts. That’s just odd as all goodness. We get some very nice chain wrestling which gets a decent pop from the crowd. The speed here on Raven is very interesting indeed as it just isn’t like him at all but it’s working rather well.

Pillman works the arm over for a LONG time but as he goes up top he’s told he’ll be disqualified if he jumps off. Yes, in the light heavyweight division, we can’t have people jump off the top rope. WE WANT ARMBARS! Oh there also are no mats outside so when you get thrown out you land on concrete. Watts actually defended this as making the wrestlers tough.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Seriously, there’s a big difference between toughening the wrestlers up and being a freaking prick that needs to get over himself HUGE. We shift into a mat based match which is fine as it’s what Scotty is best at. We’ve had WAY too many chinlocks in this.

Ok now we’re picking it up a bit as Pillman is just going nuts which means that the match is getting a lot better. After all kinds of jumping around and going all over the place though he dives at Flamingo on the ramp and just slams into the ramp. A knee to the back and Scotty gets the pin. My guess is that wasn’t a legit injury but it could have been.

Rating: B-. The chinlocks and rest holds killed this one from being great for me. I think 18 minutes was a bit too long for these two but it wasn’t a trainwreck at all. The parts that were good were good and the parts that were bad were bad. I liked it but a few minutes cut out would have helped it a lot.

Flamingo would go to the WWF and become Johnny Polo. He was mainly a manager but would occasionally have a match, including this one on Raw, December 27, 1993.

Johnny Polo vs. Marty Jannetty

Polo’s clients the Quebecers are on commentary and praising him for his in ring technique. Marty grabs a hammerlock to start but gets taken down for a standoff. Johnny grabs a headlock but gets sent into the buckle. An atomic drop and rollup get two each and it’s off to an armbar on the mat with Polo in trouble. Jannetty misses a charge and Johnny hits a dive to take him out again.

Back in and a cross body gets two for Marty but Johnny grabs a chinlock. That lasts all of two seconds before Jannetty gets all fired up and elbows Polo in the face. Johnny crotches him on the top but gets shoved down when trying a superplex. A high cross body gets two for Marty and a rollup gets the same. Marty dropkicks him out to the floor and ignores some Quebecer interference. He goes up top, only to dive on Pierre instead of Johnny. Back in and Marty tries a sunset flip but Johnny falls on top and Pierre offers some help for the pin.

Rating: D. This was pretty horrible with the lack of chemistry really hurting things. Polo wasn’t supposed to be any good but that presents a problem when you’re trying to have a match with him. I’ve seen far worse but this went on too long, especially with the ending. They could have done the same thing in about five minutes instead of nine.

It was off to ECW after this for the most famous character of Raven’s career: Raven, a loner who eventually acquired a stable called Raven’s Nest. He was very psychological and tormented various people. This would include a LONG feud with Tommy Dreamer, with one of the big matches coming at November to Remember 1995.

Terry Funk/Tommy Dreamer vs. Raven/Cactus Jack

Main event time. Funk is “planning on retiring”. That’s just amusing. Funk says he’ll remember what happened with Cactus last night forever. Apparently it was a big attack on Terry but Dreamer made the save. This is a revenge match for Funk and Dreamer always hates Raven Cactus is in a WCW Dungeon of Doom t-shirt. He was in a WEIRD (yet awesome) heel push where he longed to be back in WCW with “Uncle Eric”.

The pairings pair off and Raven and Jack rule the ring for the moment. Now we get to the brawl and Funk fights Raven. Stevie Richards brings in some weapons and gets put in a shopping cart for his troubles. Dreamer BLASTS Raven in the head with a freaking VCR. WHY WOULD YOU BRING ONE OF THOSE TO A WRESTLING SHOW??? In a funny bit, Dreamer hits him with the remote also.

Funk beats up the referee because he’s Terry Funk. Dreamer DDTs the referee for good measure. Funk hits Raven with a golf club in the putter. Cheese grater is broken up and Cactus drills Dreamer with a chair. Dreamer gets taken down by a double chain shot to the throat. Raven is busted open and poses anyway. Cactus channels his inner Abdullah as he jabs at Funk with a fork.

DDT to Dreamer as Raven and Cactus are dominating. They try the chain again but Dreamer does something smart and dives on it, bringing them together. Not that it matters as Cactus takes him down with ease. Cactus takes the Dungeon of Doom shirt to reveal another one with a huge picture of Eric Bischoff and the words “Forgive Me Uncle Eric” (coining that nickname) on the back. Only Mick Foley could make that work, period.

It’s more or less a big mess but were you really expecting something else here? Jack hits a double arm DDT on Funk onto the chair but there’s no referee. Raven dives over the top to take out Dreamer and Jack looks for more weapons. Here are Fonzie and Taz to be referees but Funk kicks out at two. Taz beats up Funk so Dreamer takes Taz out. Jumping DDT takes Raven down and for some reason a regular one does more damage. The referee is back up and Dreamer piledrives Raven onto a chair, letting Funk steal the pin.

Rating: B-. Pretty fun match overall as they kept things just weapons based instead of going everywhere. Also Jack having the continuing mental breakdowns in the middle of the match (the Uncle Eric thing) is great. Dreamer not beating Funk is one of those little things that makes a match better. Fun stuff here and one of the better brawls ECW did.

Another of Raven’s top feuds was with Sandman so we’ll look at a match from February of 1996.

ECW World Title: Raven vs. Sandman

I believe this is at Cyberslam 1996. Sandman, flanked by Missy Hyatt, finally starts his entrance after about two minutes of standing around. Stevie Richards and Blue Meanie quickly bail and the brawl is on after nearly eight minutes of entrances. Raven throws him outside and hits a plancha to take over. Sandman whips him into the barricade though and grabs a chair. He stands around for awhile before just kicking Raven in the head and walking around with him for awhile.

Back in and Sandman hits a delayed brainbuster before throwing Raven to the floor. There’s a plancha by the challenger before punching him into a chair back inside. Some Meanie interference lets Raven hit the Evenflow but Missy distracts the referee to prevent the pin. Sandman pops up and hits a DDT of his own, drawing in Raven’s chick Kimona. It’s catfight time and Stevie comes in for a superkick to give Raven two.

There goes the referee (like it matters) as Sandman “hits” a “legdrop” for two. The referee goes down again and here are Richards and Meanie to run interference. The Bruise Brothers (Harris Twins) come in with a double chokeslam for two on Sandman. Raven can’t get Sandman up for a suplex so he puts Sandman on top and pulls him face first onto the chair. The DDT on the chair retains Raven’s title.

Rating: D. Another overbooked mess that people call wrestling for some reason. The match was a glorified disaster but the best stuff in this feud was always the talking and storytelling. That being said, unfortunately we still had to sit through the wrestling and get driven crazy by the matches. Bad stuff here, again.

We’ll wrap up his ECW run with a match from Cyberslam 1997.

Raven/Brian Lee vs. Terry Funk/Tommy Dreamer

Raven is world champion. If Funk beats Raven, he gets a shot at the title at Barely Legal. Lee is a hired gun here. This is during the Dreamer can’t beat Raven angle which I would have ended at Barely Legal, but instead they went with Funk who is the guy that was from the NWA and therefore what they were against, but hey who cares about that right? Beulah, who is dating Tommy at this point, is here being her sexy self.

We get big match intros because we need to have them for what is I guess the main event. Raven comes in and lays down to let Dreamer beat him for the first time in his life so that Funk can’t get the pin to get the title shot. Dreamer, ever the moron, hits him instead. Raven pops up and says “Hey Dreamer why didn’t you pin me?” That was funny for some reason.

Off to Funk so Raven runs and hides. Dreamer comes in again as this is stupid so far. Powerslam by Lee and he brings in Raven. Dreamer gets a DDT and tags in Funk immediately to let him try to get a win. Back off to Lee as this has been pretty basic so far. Raven won’t fight Funk so the fans chant him a coward. Raven and Dreamer go to the floor and the others join them. An ECW match turning into a brawl? NO WAY!!!

They’re in the crowd already and I have a feeling I’ll be able to read a novel or so while this is going on. Funk and Raven wind up back in the ring and Raven hits him low. Dreamer and Lee are on the floor having the real fight since Funk is old and Raven is probably stoned. He grabs the mic and yells at Funk for awhile while everyone looks at Dreamer and Lee who are off camera.

This creates an obvious problem of Raven vs. Funk is more or less the occasional punch and Raven yelling while the fans are all looking away at the violence on the floor. Funk grabs the mic and I’d suggest a censor button on standby. He kicks Raven’s leg out a few times and it’s the spinning toe hold. Raven screams that he quits but there’s no referee. The referee finally comes in and Lee hits Funk with a trashcan.

Lee hammers on everyone with the trashcan. Dreamer tries to protect Funk so Funk keeps getting up. Funk can’t stand up and is bleeding from the ear. Oh I have a bad feeling where this might be going. Yep the doctors are here to check on Terry and he still wants to fight. Is this supposed to be impressive or something? Terry is put on a stretcher after a few attempts and is taken to the back.

And now it’s time to make this the big angle of the show as here’s Stevie Richards who is all ticked off at Raven which I guess explains him being in the triple threat at Barely Legal. Raven wants to be kicked but Lee picks Richards off and chokeslams him. Lori Fullington, Sandman’s ex-wife comes out and is mad at Raven also. Take a DDT girl. Down she goes also.

Dreamer, ever the genius, comes out with Sandman’s son Tyler who was brainwashed by Raven at one point. Here’s a beatdown for Dreamer as well. Sandman comes out with his son on his shoulders and it’s some big emotional moment or whatever. Sandman fights both guys off and pins Raven just because. Now there’s your triple threat and Dreamer is left out in the cold. Yep that’s how they set up their first PPV people.

Rating: F+. Dude, seriously? Another big brawl, an injury angle to an old man, an ex-wife and son being brought out and a guy that hasn’t been seen the entire night is now #1 contender. Stevie is in the same spot now for getting chokeslammed and I guess beating Balls Mahoney earlier. And people wonder why non-ECW fans complain aboutnot being able to understand this company. I had no idea why they were in that match until I saw this show. Not like that’s important information to say at Barely Legal or anything right?

Raven would jump to WCW after losing his final match to Tommy Dreamer. Here’s his first match at Clash of the Champions XXXV.

Stevie Richards vs. Raven

Raven can best be described as a loner who would eventually lead a cult called the Flock. Richards is his goofy lackey who doesn’t know what to do here. Raven isn’t under contract to WCW so he demands that it’s a No DQ match. That’s fine with Richards so Raven runs him over and sends Stevie into the corner and outside.

Raven follows him out with a plancha but gets caught in a backslide for two. They head outside again with Raven dropping an elbow from the apron. We get our first weapon with a chair brought in. Raven hooks a drop toehold to send Richards face first into the chair but Stevie whips him into the chair in the corner. A running headbutt and side slam get two on Raven but he counters a superkick into a cover for two. Raven’s Even Flow DDT is enough for the pin.

Rating: C-. Not much of a match but it was a good way for Raven to debut. The No DQ rule would be the norm for Raven for his entire WCW run and he would have success as a result. Things wouldn’t take off for him until the Flock though. Richards would be gone from WCW by the end of the year.

Raven would enter a great feud with Chris Benoit, setting up this match at Souled Out 1998.

Raven vs. Chris Benoit

This is one of the best built matches WCW has had in a long time with Benoit having to face every member of the Flock before finally getting his hands on Raven. Raven has sent all of his lackeys to attack Benoit time after time and tonight Benoit FINALLY gets his hands on their leader. The Flock comes out to back Raven but are ejected by an executive order. Raven rants about being shunned all his life and being fine with it here. The match is also Raven’s Rules, meaning anything goes.

Raven starts with a baseball slide before Benoit is even in the ring. Benoit is sent into the barricade and then the steps before heading inside for a backslide on Raven for two. Benoit is sent right back to the floor so Raven can blast him in the back with a chair. Back in and Benoit is snapmared and bulldogged down onto the chair for two. Benoit comes back with a drop toehold onto the chair (Dusty: “YOU TAKE A SEAT! YOU TAKE A SEAT! YOU TAKE A SEAT!”) but can’t immediately follow up.

Chris hits the snap suplex onto the chair for two of his own before ripping Raven’s shirt off. Raven bails to the floor and gets caught by a baseball slide before being sent into the steps. That’s a nice callback to what Raven did to open the match. Bird Boy stumbles up the aisle with Benoit chopping him down along the way. There’s another snap suplex on the ramp to put Raven in big trouble. Back in and Benoit stomps the chair into Raven’s head before hitting the Swan Dive onto the chair but both guys are out.

Benoit finally covers for two but can’t even stand up to keep the pressure on Raven. A northern lights suplex is countered into Raven’s DDT but Raven is too weakened to cover. It’s Benoit covering Raven for two before putting on the Crossface. Raven doesn’t try to escape and instead smiles at the pain. He laughs himself into unconsciousness in a creepy moment to end the match.

Rating: A. If there’s a better Raven match out there I’d love to see it. These two beat the tar out of each other and it was brutal throughout. This is the kind of emotional response you can get to a well built feud. The place went NUTS for Benoit’s win, which makes you wonder why he was wasted for so long in WCW.

And another great match from Uncensored 1998.

US Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Raven vs. Chris Benoit

This is No DQ and falls count anywhere. Page is defending after invading the Benoit vs. Raven feud. It’s a triple lockup to start and now everyone stands around. Another triple lockup brings everyone out to the floor. Page is sent into the steps and the challengers fight in the ring with Benoit getting two off an elbow. Benoit stomps him down in the corner but Page comes back in to break it up. Raven and Benoit head back to the floor so DDP can hit a big dive to take them both out.

Back in again with Chris taking over and hitting a top rope splash for two on Raven. Page and Benoit slug it out to the floor but Raven dives over the top to take them both out for two on each. Page sends Benoit into the barricade but Raven charges into both of them again. Raven is whipped into the barricade and it’s Page vs. Benoit for a bit. Raven goes up by the set and comes back with a garbage can but Benoit puts it over Raven’s head so the other guys can beat on it with crutches. Benoit takes over with a crutch shot to Page’s back as they’re up by the entrance.

A trashcan to Page’s bad ribs has him in trouble and a suplex on the ramp has the ribs in even more trouble. Benoit and Raven team up for a few seconds to send Page through an Uncensored sign. Chris pulls out a kitchen sink of all things to hit Raven in the head but Raven throws a table at his head. Raven comes back with a velvet rope to choke Benoit but Chris whips Raven through the table. Page is still down as the other guys head back to the ring.

Benoit chokes Raven with the velvet rope but Raven hits him low to change momentum again. Now it’s chair time but it’s Raven taking the drop toehold into the metal. Page is slowly crawling back to the ring as Benoit whips Raven into a chair in the corner to send him to the floor. Back in and Benoit puts on a sleeper but Page comes in to put one on Benoit at the same time.

Raven hits a jawbreaker to put everyone down. Why Benoit’s leg being on Page isn’t a cover I’m not sure. Chris gets up and rolls the Germans on Raven but Page gets up to German suplex both guys at the same time. The challengers both knock Page down and Lodi hands in a stop sign to crack Page in the head. Now it’s a table as Benoit stands around. Raven puts Page on the table but Benoit cracks Raven in the head with the sign. Benoit takes Raven to the top for a superplex through Page through the table but Page knocks Benoit to the floor and Diamond Cuts Raven “though” the table to retain.

Rating: A-. This was a wild brawl before the wild brawl became the norm in wrestling. Benoit and Raven did most of the work here as Page laid up by the sign but that’s to be expected. The match was fun though and was exactly what it was supposed to be: a big ECW style battle (with a bunch of ECW spots) on a mainstream stage.

Now we’ll take out Benoit and see how things go. From Spring Stampede 1998.

US Title: Diamond Dallas Page vs. Raven

Page is defending, Raven has the belt itself, this is under Raven’s Rules and the winner gets Goldberg tomorrow. Sick Boy tries to interfere at the beginning but gets a belt to the face for his efforts. Page shoves Raven into the corner and pounds away to start before hitting a belly to back suplex. A big dive to the floor takes out Raven and Sick Boy but Raven knocks Page off the apron, reinjuring the ribs. Back in and Page counters the Even Flow into a swinging neckbreaker for two.

Raven bails to the floor to avoid a Diamond Cutter and the fight heads up to the set. Page throws Raven off a stagecoach into some bails of hay before diving off said coach to take Raven down. Raven is thrown into a corral and beaten down by a trashcan. Now Raven goes through another wooden fence and suplexed onto the website table. Page is kicked into a wall and Raven blasts him in the head with a piece of metal.

They head to some VIP area with Raven diving onto Page to send him through a table. Raven pulls a bullrope off a horse and chokes Page down before grabbing a trashcan. The can freaks Tony out, despite it being used about two minutes ago. Raven wraps the rope around Page’s neck and drags him back to the ring where Sick Boy has a kitchen sink. The sink is only good for two for Raven and it’s back to the rope choking. Page fights up and drop toeholds Raven onto the sink as Tony and Heenan make plumbing jokes.

Kidman tries to interfere but splashes Raven by mistake, giving Page two. Sick Boy blasts Page with a crutch to give Raven two so Raven calls in the rest of the Flock. Hammer accidentally clotheslines Raven down so Page knocks him out with a sink. A low blow puts Page down and here’s Reese for a chokebomb, giving Raven another two count. Lodi throws in the stop sign but Page knocks it into Raven’s face and takes out a few Flock members. Kidman gets a Diamond Cutter but Horace Hogan debuts by hitting Page with the stop sign, allowing Raven to DDT Page on the sink for the pin and the title.

Rating: C. I’m not a fan of this garbage brawling style but this could have been worse. It’s good that Raven finally won the title that he’s been chasing for months and it makes sense as the numbers and style finally caught up to Page. I wasn’t liking the way most of the brawling was treated as comedy spots when the feud has been serious though. It was a reversal of what had made the feud good up to this point and hurt the match a good deal. Still though, not bad and a decent way to wrap the feud up.

From the next night on Nitro.

US Title: Goldberg vs. Raven

Raven is defending and this is under his rules. He lays the belt out in front of Goldberg and they talk trash, only to have Raven dropkick him down. We head to the floor with Raven being whipped into the barricade to give Goldberg control. Back inside and Goldie puts on a leg lock before superkicking Raven right back to the floor.

Raven grabs a chair and smashes Goldberg in the back to slow him down. There’s the drop toehold onto the chair followed by a reverse chinlock on Goldberg. The big man powers up and no sells a bunch of right hands. There’s the spear but Goldberg has to destroy the Flock. Raven tries to leave but the fans throw him back to ringside. Another spear and a Jackhammer onto a stop sign (brought in by Horace) make Goldberg US Champion.

Rating: C+. Total destruction here by Goldberg which is a good idea, but I don’t know why it had to be at Raven’s expense just one day after he won the title. The guy did some great work with Page and Benoit earlier in the year but now he gets to keep the US Title for a single day? Still though, good, hard hitting match here.

Raven would get back into the title hunt at Halloween Havoc 1998.

TV Title: Raven vs. Chris Jericho

This could be good. Side note: I’m watching this on the WWE Network (praise be its name) and Break the Walls Down is swapped in for Jericho’s WCW theme. My head snapped up when I heard that instead of his regular song. Raven complains about his losing streak and asks What About Me.

He went to bed at 11am this morning and then arrived at the arena to find out he’s in an unscheduled match. Well he doesn’t feel like wrestling tonight so he gets up and leaves. Jericho doesn’t want to wrestle either but all of the Jericholics are here to see him because Jericho equals buyrates and rock and roll. He was really looking forward to facing an icon like the leader of the Flock, but there wouldn’t be much of a challenge because Raven is a LOSER. That’s enough to get Raven inside for the opening bell, nearly thirteen minutes into the show.

Jericho jumps him coming in and whips Raven with his leather jacket, setting up the arrogant cover for two. Raven gets his hands on Jericho and they fall over the top and out to the floor. Jericho gets suplexed ribs first onto the steps and comes up holding his knee. A dropkick off the steps puts the champion down again. Jericho: “HELP ME!” Back in and Jericho hits a quick Stun Gun before the springboard dropkick sends Raven into the barricade.

Chris follows him out with a dive but Raven steps aside and Jericho goes head first into the barricade as well. It’s Raven’s turn now as Jericho whips him into the steel again before they head back inside. Raven bites Jericho’s face before throwing on a quickly broken sleeper. Jericho hits a backsplash and takes the turnbuckle pad off but Raven blocks the whip into the corner. A standing hurricanrana is countered into a powerbomb by Raven before he catapults Jericho face first into the buckle for two.

Jericho is oddly unharmed by being sent face first into steel but Raven catches him in a belly to belly for two. Back up and Jericho sweeps the legs to put on the Liontamer. Raven is quickly in the ropes and hits the Even Flow out of nowhere for two. A low blow lets Chris hit a German suplex for another close two as Kanyon runs out and gets on the apron. Jericho immediately knocks him off and reverses another Even Flow attempt into the Liontamer for the quick submission.

Rating: B+. Why does no one bring this up as a great match for either guy? They meshed the hardcore and wrestling stuff together here and got a great match as a result. Jericho was wrestling like a face here for the most part and it worked just as well as his awesome heel run. The announcers played up how Raven has been submitting so quickly after passing out from the Crossface with a smile earlier in the year. Nice touch of continuity to go with a great match.

We’ll wrap it up with one of Raven’s last matches in WCW at Slamboree 1999.

Tag Titles: Raven/Perry Saturn vs. Billy Kidman/Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko

Raven and Saturn are back together again for some reason. The Horsemen (Benoit and Malenko) are heels. Raven and Saturn are rather popular. I really like WCW’s style in these matches as three are three men in the ring at once. Oh and Rey/Kidman are the champions. Kidman, Dean and Saturn start us off. Saturn is in a skirt due to a long story with Jericho.

Malenko gets beaten down and Saturn beats up Benoit who I guess got a tag. Saturn throws Kidman over the top in a release belly to belly. That landing looked SICK. You can’t tag someone from another team in this match. BIG Horsemen Suck chant. Raven covers Benoit and avoids a slingshot leg from Rey. Benoit and Kidman drape Raven over the top and then Benoit smashes Billy.

This is a very fast paced match so it’s hard to keep up with everything. A top rope splash by Kidman misses Benoit as Raven is on the floor. He manages to break up the Crossface though and double teams Benoit with Saturn. Frog splash to Benoit gets two. In a move that literally made my jaw drop, Dean launches Rey over his shoulder and Rey LANDS ON THE BUCKLE ON HIS FEET and hits a moonsault press for two. THAT WAS AWESOME.

Saturn dives on everyone not named Benoit and Raven. Benoit hits the Swan Dive to Raven for two but Saturn saves. The Horsemen double team Rey and now they beat up Saturn. The tagging aspect has been dropped for the time being. And of course just as I say that it’s officially Benoit vs. Kidman vs. Saturn. Kidman fights back and the fans cheer. BIG superkick from Saturn takes him down though. The crowd is really into this.

Benoit hits a springboard forearm over the top (think Jericho and his dropkick to the apron) to take out Saturn. The two of them are in the ring and a northern lights suplex gets two for the Canadian. Here are the Rolling Germans but Kidman makes the save. Dean gets a tag and gets rolled up by Saturn in a reversal to the Cloverleaf. Saturn is knocked to the floor and things slow down a bit.

Dean is like screw slow and KILLS Kidman with a powerbomb for two. Dragon Suplex to Kidman gets a delayed two. Dean tries to throw Billy into the air but Kidman hits a dropkick in mid air to break it up. Russian legsweep takes Benoit down and there’s the tag to Raven for a big reaction. He hits what we would call Three Amigos to Benoit for two. Back to Saturn who is a bit spent.

Rey vs. Saturn vs. Benoit at this point. Saturn saves a pin on Rey as Malenko and Kidman come in. Saturn and Benoit are down and Kidman isn’t sure who to jump on. Dean tries another powerbomb on him but Kidman rolls into a sunset flip. Everything breaks down and the champs hit a SWEET alley-oop rana to Benoit in the corner. They try it on Saturn but he hits a top rope sitout powerbomb to Rey for two. Arn comes in and hits a spinebuster on Saturn to HUGE heel heat. Someone in a Sting mask breaks up the Shooting Star by crotching Kidman. An elevated Even Flow gives Raven/Saturn the belts. Kanyon was in the mask.

Rating: B. This is better than probably any other match I’ve seen in all of WCW so far in 1999. They were all over the place in here and beating the living tar out of each other, which is the best thing you can ask for. Also the popular team wins off a big ending with the DDT. Very good match, but now things are going to fall through the floor, which is WCW in a nutshell.

Raven was bored in WCW and was the only man to walk out when Bischoff said that anyone who wanted out could leave. He would return to ECW and win the Tag Team Titles with Tommy Dreamer. Here’s a defense at Anarchy Rulz 1999.

Tat Team Titles: Tommy Dreamer/Raven vs. Rhino/Steve Corino

It’s a singles match to start as Corino stays on the ramp and Raven is nowhere to be seen. Thankfully Dreamer was just in a baseball jersey and had his gear on underneath. The powerful Rhino hammers away to start but gets caught in the corner for a neckbreaker. The impact hurts Dreamer’s back but he’s still able to chase Corino off. Jack Victory is still in a wheelchair so Dreamer shoves him into a chair shot from Francine. Dreamer gets two on Rhino off a slingshot cross body but Rhino comes back with a spinebuster for two.

Victory is now standing at ringside as Corino throws in a ladder. Dreamer’s DDT is countered, sending Tommy spine first onto a chair. Rhino powerslams Francine but here’s Raven (after he trips over the ropes) with a DDT to Rhino. Corino and Victory come in as well to hammer on the Tag Team Champions but stereo DDTs give Raven and Dreamer pins.

Rating: D. This was the usual match that made no sense if you were trying to pay attention but the fans loved it. Raven and Dreamer were yet another oddball team that had success in spite of their hatred, much in the vein of Candido and Storm a few years back. This was much more of a match than an angle, but that’s something you have to expect from ECW.

Raven left ECW in the middle of 2000 and would up in the WWF. He would start doing hardcore stuff because….well what else was he supposed to do. From Raw on January 29, 2001.

Hardcore Title: Crash vs. Raven

Raven has the cracked gold here. Crash has Molly though so I think he wins this one. Raven has his shopping cart of weapons and rams a charging Crash with it to send him off the ramp. We have shrubbery and a tricycle in there if you’re interested. We go into the crowd almost immediately as Crash hammers away with a trashcan. Crash dives out of the stands with a double axe to take Raven down for two.

They fight into the concession area and Raven finds a mop complete with mop bucket. Bulldog doesn’t work and Raven goes into a wall. Crash tries to crush him with a cart of some kind but misses a tope into said wall. We go out into the street and Crash hits a bulldog onto a park bench. Crash crotches him on a tree. Let that sink in for a minute. That gets two as Raven’s Ninja pops up to make the save and give Raven the win to retain.

Rating: C+. Energetic hardcore match here but at the same time it’s exactly what you would get in any of these matches. The Ninja thing never went anywhere at all but they had an interesting idea I guess. The idea was long since over by this point though but it would be over a year before they ended it.

Another title defense from Wrestlemania X7.

Hardcore Title: Raven vs. Big Show vs. Kane

Raven is defending and brings out a shopping cart of goodies with him. Before Show is here, Raven tries to jump Kane for no apparent reason. My guess would be drug related mental issues but that’s just speculation. Show makes the LONG walk down the aisle, only to have Raven tossed over the top rope and down onto him. Raven is easily caught so Kane dives off the top and takes them both out, getting two on Kane.

We head into the crowd with Show never getting into the ring and the brawl is on. Bird Boy’s philosophy seems to be let the monsters brawl and sneak in some shots where he can. A street sign to Kane’s head staggers him, only for Kane to throw Raven nearly through a wall. Show chases Raven away and tries to lock themselves into a kind of storage area. Kane will have none of that and breaks the door down to keep beating up Big Show.

Raven tries to choke Kane with a gardening hose but Kane basically lassos him with it before throwing Raven through the window of a small office. Show knocks Kane through the office door before they brawl through the wall between the offices. Raven stomps away before stealing a golf cart, only to have Big Show jump on the back.

Kane steals one of his own and brings the referee along on the chase. According to Raven, there was supposed to be a chase scene around the arena but it never happened. Also they almost hit some cables that would have cut the power to the entire stadium, which would have been awesome and awful at the same time. They fight to the catering area and the Snapple is destroyed, much to Heyman’s chagrin.

Now we head back up the steps to the stage where Kane goes nuts on Big Show, only to get clotheslined back down. Show loads up a gorilla press on Raven but Kane kicks them both off the stage. A legdrop from Kane onto Show is enough for the pin and the title in a crushed part of the set.

Rating: C+. This is a fun hardcore match with the cool brawling spots mixed with the fun and goofy stuff which is how you make for a good hardcore match. These kind of matches were rare, but for the most part this was a more serious kind of Hardcore Title match, which usually makes things better. Kane would hold the title for awhile before it fell back into the goofy style.

And now for what is considered one of the best hardcore matches ever, from Backlash 2001.

Hardcore Title: Raven vs. Rhyno

Rhyno is champion. This is considered one of the best hardcore matches ever so let’s see if it lives up to its hype. Rhyno tries a Gore immediately but Raven drop toeholds him into the stop sign. Trashcan shot gets two. Rhyno takes over with a running shoulder in the corner and the beating begins. Raven gets a trashcan up to block a running charge but it hurts him even more. He falls out to the floor and gets covered for two.

Rhyno sets up the steps and puts Raven in a chair. He tries a run up the stairs to set up a dive, only to crush the chair. Raven uses the same setup but gets a clothesline off the steps for two. Back inside for half a second as Rhyno takes over again. Raven gets his head taken off by a trashcan lid and a sign shot gets two. Back into the ring and Rhyno hits him with a shopping cart. Whatever works I guess.

Drop toehold puts Rhyno into the cart and down he goes. A bunch of sign shots take Rhyno down and a LOUD one does it again. Bulldog out of the corner gets two. Rhyno picks up the shopping cart but Raven gets a trashcan shot in to have the cart fall on Rhyno for two. Cart goes into Rhyno’s ribs but Rhyno gets a sign shot in to get two. Momentum shifts back and forth a lot in this match. Rhyno tries the Gore into the shopping cart but misses and Rhyno is stuck inside the cart. We go to a replay of it and during that the Gore ends Raven. That fits the move as the move is supposed to come out of nowhere, which it did there.

Rating: B. Well they were right, this was good. The key thing here is it never got silly. This was more about violence than the weapons if that makes sense. Most of the time there would be comedy spots in something like this but here, it was all about the violence and the brutality out there, making for a far better and more entertaining match.

2002 was mostly spent winning and losing the Hardcore Title (26 reigns overall) before it was off to TNA. Raven would chase the NWA World Title, including this match at Weekly PPV #42 on April 30, 2003.

NWA World Title: Jeff Jarrett vs. Raven

From April 30, 2003 with Jarrett defending. Raven has Julio Dinero with him but unfortunately not the more famous lackey: CM Punk. He also has his chick Alexis Laree, more famous as Mickie James. This is billed as the showdown with Raven wanting to claim his destiny. Feeling out process to start with Raven slamming the champion down and celebrating. A drop toehold ticks Jeff off even more so he erupts with right hands and a dropkick to send Raven out to the floor.

Raven is sent into the barricade but some interference from the Gathering (Raven’s stable) lets him take over again. Jeff knocks Raven down and dives on the Gathering as he foreshadows his lucha libre skills. Another drop toehold puts Jarrett into the steps as Raven has been busted open on something. Dinero has set up a table for Raven who lays a bloody Jarrett on the wood. Jeff gets inside before Raven can dive on him though and the fight continues.

Dinero slides in a chair for the third drop toehold from Raven for two. A knee to the ribs puts Jarrett down again and Raven kicks him in the head like the villain that he is. There’s a sleeper as the fans are behind Jarrett. Jeff comes back with a jawbreaker and a Diamond Cutter of all things to put both guys down. Some right hands block the Raven Effect and a nice dropkick gets two for the champ.

Dinero gets a dropkick as well and Jarrett slams Alexis. Another Raven Effect attempt is countered with an enziguri for two and a catapult into the corner gets the same. The Stroke hits from out of nowhere for another near fall but no real pop from the crowd. A sloppy Raven Effect gets the same but Jeff comes back with a Cactus Clothesline to send both outside. Raven is laid out on the table and Jeff drops a middle rope elbow to drive him through it.

Back inside and Jarrett lays Raven out with a DDT but Dinero makes the save. The referee FINALLY ejects the Gathering but Raven shoves Jarrett into the referee, knocking him into the barricade. Both guys kick each other low as the Disciples of the New Church come out to brawl with the Gathering. Raven calls out Extreme Revolution (your usual ECW guys) to destroy and handcuff Jarrett.

Saturn and Credible hit a Conchairto with superkicks on Jarrett but the lights go out. Back on and here’s Sabu to take out Raven and the rest of the ECW guys. Everyone else leaves and Jarrett ducks a chair shot, sending the chair into the ropes and back onto Raven’s head for two. Bill Behrens (boss) comes out to uncuff Jarrett but Raven grabs the Even Flow for two. Not that it matters as Jarrett pops up and hits the Stroke for the pin.

Rating: B-. I was really digging this until everything fell apart at the end. There had to be some insanity in there but based on this and this alone, giving Raven the title wouldn’t have been the worst idea. There’s chemistry here and a natural dichotomy between these two which makes for a good match like this one.

He would take a break from the title chase to help out an ECW buddy at Weekly PPV #81 on February 18, 2004.

Julio Dinero/CM Punk vs. Raven/Terry Funk

From February 18, 2004. Punk and Dinero are still the Gathering even though they’re not under Raven’s control anymore. Apparently this is Raven’s big return from an unknown amount of time gone. Dinero blasts Funk in the back with a chair before the bell as things starts in a brawl. Raven puts on a right side up Tarantula on Punk before Dinero comes in to save his heel partner. It’s SO strange to see Punk with shoulder length dirty blonde hair and yellow shorts.

Everyone heads outside where Funk is busted open. Punk takes Terry back inside to talk a lot of trash but Terry comes back with a Stunner of all things to send CM to the floor. Dinero comes in but gets decked as well. There’s the spinning toe hold and a small package for two on Julio as Punk makes the save. Dinero’s top rope backsplash hits Terry’s eternally damaged knees and Funk crawls over to the corner….but gets punched by CM Punk because the blood has blinded him.

The tag brings in Raven a few seconds later and Bird Boy cleans house. We get the rag (don’t ask) on Punk’s face and a bulldog/clothesline combo takes the Gathering down. Another Funk Stunner puts Dinero down and we get the TUMBLEWEED (abdominal stretch into a rolling rollup) for two. Raven comes back in and hits a quick DDT for the pin on Dinero.

Rating: D. This was about having Funk in there and that’s about it. The Stunners were out of nowhere but almost ignored by the announcers. I’ll give Terry this much: he isn’t just out there throwing punches and nothing more. It’s also strange to see Punk as a glorified indy guy instead of one of the biggest stars in the world.

Raven would be in the first Monster’s Ball match at Victory Road 2004.

Abyss vs. Monty Brown vs. Raven

This is the original Monster’s Ball match, which originally was far different. The idea here is that the guys have been locked up without light or food for 24 hours. This aspect has since completely disappeared due to reasons of sanity and now it’s just a regular hardcore match. The announcers say that Raven has the advantage here as he’s smaller and crazier which makes sense, at least in the lack of food and light idea.

We have a table set up inside of 30 seconds. Abyss is dominating here for the most part. It’s really more of an intense triple threat rather than a hardcore match and now we have chairs coming in. Raven really is underrated in the ring. I love what Brown does by just chucking a chair at Raven’s head. That’s awesome. Naturally we have a ref bump because they’re required I suppose.

Now we move to the big spots of the match as we have Brown sitting on the top rope and Abyss busts out the tacks. Since he’s the only one wearing a shirt you know that he’s the guy that’s going to wind up going through them. Yep, Raven comes in to powerbomb him while he’s trying to suplex Brown. That wasn’t predictable at all. Not a bit. Raven gets two off of it and then we set up another stupid spot as the table is set up in the corner and Raven gets Pounced (a spear/tackle) through it. It was a mess of course.

Rating: D+. These things are going to happen and while I can’t stand them, I get that there’s a point to them. There is a market for these I guess and at least they’re keeping it shorter. There’s really no way to make these good without going too far, but this was really lackluster even for one of these.

Raven would appear at an ECW reunion show called Hardcore Homecoming in June 2005.

Sandman vs. Raven

Does this need an explanation? Raven has Meanie and the Musketeer with him for no apparent reason. Raven REALLY needs to go back to the t-shirt and the jeans. Raven makes fun of Sandman’s entrance not being that cool. We’re less than 48 hours from One Night Stand and one of the most awesome entrances of all time, so that’s just very amusing.

Raven is apparently the only wrestler ever to have an action figure in WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA. That’s…kind of cool I guess. It would be hilarious to see Raven just sitting around coming up with random as all goodness thoughts like that. I’ve never heard Raven talk this much and I like it. He picks on Hat Guy also, which has to be the highlight of his career.

Sandman has to beat Musketeer, who is dressed like a guy from 19th century France, to get to Raven. They have a sword vs. cane fight. They did this before I think and it was stupid then too. Remember the match hasn’t started yet. Oh hey let’s get the match going. Raven hits like 6 shots to Sandman’s head with the cane before the ball shot puts him down.

We get a Johnny Polo chant. Geez has there ever been a guy that changed so much from one gimmick to another? And now we have Sandman in the Musketeer’s hat. Did that gimmick come to Paulie in a dream or something? There’s a ladder on the floor for no apparent reason. The fans that are standing up to see this get a nice SIT THE F DOWN chant. Sandman comes back and we’re in the ring with the ladder now.

We go back to the 80s with a handful of powder though as we get the DDT for two. That’s one issue I have here: 8 years ago this would have been over for about an hour but here it gets two. The other thing is it’s more or less impossible to have a guy actually be a heel which is ok but it can get a bit annoying though.

Sandman gets the White Russian Leg Sweep and then the Rolling Rock. Meanie comes in and completely misses the moonsault again. Not that Sandman moves, but Meanie just completely misses. They do another and he misses it again. The THIRD one finally hits it. And yep, it’s a complete mess now. Donny Allen, who apparently was the ECW jobber, comes out to beat up Sandman but Mikey runs him off. After offering a beer to Sandman, he turns on him for no apparent reason with the Whippersnapper for the pin.

Rating: D+. It was a wild brawl and that’s all it was supposed to be. Raven outsmarts Sandman again as Joey says and all is right with the world. What more can you really ask for? Both guys get pops though, which is never really that interesting but whatever. It was a fun match so that’s fine.

Back to the NWA World Title chase at Slammiversary 2005.

NWA World Title: AJ Styles vs. Raven vs. Abyss vs. Monty Brown vs. Sean Waltman

The idea here is you have to hang the belt above the ring, sort of like a reverse ladder match. However before you can do that, you have to qualify by getting a fall on someone else. Whoever is pinned/submits goes to the penalty box for two minutes. Waltman dives off the box onto Raven while Styles dives off a ladder onto Brown. Brown shrugs him off and goes inside where he Pounces Raven and pins him to qualify. Raven has to go to the box.

AJ hits a huge dive to take out Waltman and Abyss so it’s Brown/Waltman in the ring. AJ sets for the springboard forearm but Abyss breaks it up. A spinwheel kick puts Abyss down but Brown breaks up the Bronco Buster. Raven is let out ten seconds early for some reason. Alpha Bomb pins Waltman which doesn’t change anything for Brown but Waltman goes to the box. Raven has a table set up at ringside.

AJ dives off the cage to take out Abyss. The camera work is lacking a bit here as we keep missing stuff. Brown hits the Pounce on AJ but Raven pulls him to the floor for the pin to become eligible. Abyss loads up Shock Treatment on Brown but Raven beats them both up with a trashcan. Styles and Waltman are forming an alliance in the box. Waltman is now out and he grabs another trashcan to take Brown down with.

The clock ends for AJ as Abyss hits the Black Hole Slam to pin Brown. AJ and Waltman aren’t eligible yet. As I say that AJ hits the Clash on Raven but Abyss makes the save. Pele puts Abyss down and Waltman cracks the masked man with a chair. No one has used a ladder yet. Waltman puts Abyss on the table and AJ hits Spiral Tap, which is good for a pin for AJ.

Brown is released and here’s the first ladder. Raven throws Brown into the barricade and AJ is going up the ladder. He drops the title, but Waltman hands it to him. Naturally that’s a swerve and Waltman hits the X Factor off the ladder, good for a pin. There’s a table in the corner now too. Raven staples Waltman’s head and Abyss is free. Abyss and Raven both get staples between their legs but Waltman gets taken down as well.

Waltman gets up first and chokes Abyss. Does anyone know where the belt is? Waltman sets up a ladder as Styles is released. They both go up and fight on top of the ladder but Abyss shoves it over. A Pounce puts Abyss through the table but Raven DDTs Brown. He goes up the ladder and Abyss can’t stop him, giving Raven the win and the title.

Rating: B-. This was a fun match but as always with these matches, they’re wild brawls that no one can keep up with. Well ok maybe that’s a stretch but they’re still chaotic. It’s probably a little too complicated but this is TNA’s signature mess and that’s ok for the most part. Raven winning should have won the title a year or so earlier but still, this worked well and he would have a good reign.

The reign wouldn’t last long and Raven would move into a long feud with Larry Zbyszko. Here’s one of Larry’s enforcers at Sacrifice 2006.

Raven vs. A-1

Larry sits in a chair in the ring before the match starts. Larry gets in his face so A-1 hits Raven with said chair to get an early advantage. A-1 rams him into the corner a bunch of times as Larry sits in on commentary. They head to the floor and A-1 rams him into the post a few times to stay on the back. Raven’s back goes into the barricade as the beating on that thing continues.

Back into the ring and A-1 fires off shoulders in the corner. A corner splash/forearm puts Raven down again as we’re still waiting on Bird Boy’s first offense. A-1 kicks him down but Raven FINALLY gets in some right hands in the corner. A clothesline out of the corner buts A-1 down and he fires off some kicks. An Edge-O-Matic puts Raven down but Larry’s distraction lets A-1 get in a cheap shot. A charge misses and the Raven Effect gets the pin.

Rating: D. This was a really dull match, but that could be said about almost any match in this Raven vs. Larry feud. It just kept going on and on with nothing ever really being accomplished. We got matches like Raven vs. Kanyon out of it which didn’t make anyone interested in the match or anything like that, but who cares about stuff like that?

Raven would help Abyss in his war with Rellik (which is Killer spelled backwards) and Black Reign (which is stupid). From Turning Point 2007.

Abyss/??? vs. Black Reign/Rellik

Oh so apparently the partner was known and it’s Raven. This is the Match of Ten Thousand Tacks. There are tacks everywhere and there’s a bag of them above the ring on a pole. Wave to Russo everyone! Tenay continues to treat the fans like idiots by reminding them that Rellik is Killer spelled backwards, thereby taking away the monster aspect and making him sound like a 13 year old trying to be clever on AIM.

Everyone but Raven heads to the floor so Raven jumps over the top to take everyone out at once. Abyss and Reign go up into the crowd as Raven uses his Russian legsweep to send Rellik into the barricade twice. Back at ringside, Abyss sets up a table with tacks on top of it. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to talk about in this match as it’s the same match Abyss did every week in this period.

Abyss gets his hand on whatever weapon Reign usually uses which has a sharp blade on it. That busts Reign open and everyone is back inside now. Abyss is busted via something. It was a chair shot. Good enough. Rellik slides in a bed of tacks and drives a handful of them into Raven’s mouth. Things slow way down as they’re filling in time for the finish now. Rellik goes for the bag of tacks above the ring but gets powerbombed off by Raven.

Raven Effect gets two on Reign. Now Bird Man is bleeding from the mouth. Oh man Abyss is COVERED in blood. We’re just waiting on the big spot to end this. Reign hits everyone with a kendo stick but as he’s choking Raven he gets flipped off the corner and into a table covered in tacks. Raven misses an elbow through a table to Rellik who gets the bag of tacks off the pole. Abyss goes for a chokeslam to Rellik but gets something spit into his eyes. There’s a Black Hole Slam into them instead and we’re done.

Rating: C+. It’s a big brawl with lots of blood which is what most of the rating is for. The problem with Abyss is he always had to top what he did before, which became a problem as he had too much stuff to do. Not a bad hardcore match but the tacks spot had been done so many times before that it’s hard to get fired up for them again.

Raven would be gone for most of 2008 before returning as his hardcore stuff. Here’s a match from Slammiversary 2009.

Raven/Daffney vs. Abyss/Taylor Wilde

I’m still not sure if Taylor is hot or not. Ok she looks good here so we’ll go with yes. The genders pair off of course but Taylor is launched into both of them before Daffney is splashed by Abyss. Taylor hits an FU on Daffney but Stevie trips her up to shift the momentum. Daffney is thrown over the top down onto the guys and Taylor hits a dive onto them also.

The guys go into the crowd and Daffney follows. Here come the weapons as one goes upside the head of Daffney. They fight up towards the stage and Raven chokes him with a guardrail. The girls have kind of been forgotten about at this point. There’s a table with a red cloth over it. Oh there they are and Daffney is down. Not that we get to see it or anything but at least they’re not dead.

Oddly enough Daffney goes through the aforementioned table off a splash by Taylor off a speaker. Into the ring now go the men and Abyss has a bag of something. Raven gets a chair shot in to bust Abyss open (film at 11). Drop toehold puts Abyss into the chair again and the cut opens up even more. Here are some kendo stick shots but Taylor pops up with a garbage can lid to Raven to break it up.

Raven gets some trashcan shots in but they’re no sold by Abyss and here comes the monster, cracking him with the stick. Now we’re talking about West’s fantasy team for some reason. Chokeslam takes out Raven but Stevie has the referee to prevent the cover from being counted. Raven’s weapon shots are rather weak. Taylor is launched onto Raven but Stevie interferes again. There are the tacks but Daffney winds up going into them in a pretty awesome spot. Stevie breaks it up AGAIN but walks into Abyss. Even Flow (Raven Effect) gets two and there’s the Black Hole Slam to the tacks to end this.

Rating: B-. Eh pretty much just a hardcore match but at the same time that’s all it needed to be here I think. Abyss’ willingness to more or less have his body destroyed can help him a lot and that’s what he did here. The girls didn’t do much here at all but at least Taylor looked good in blue so it’s not like they were a problem. Props to Daffney for the tacks bump too so overall, not bad here.

Another year, another ECW reunion. From Hardcore Justice 2010.

Raven vs. Tommy Dreamer

For no apparent reason, Foley is the referee. Beaulah is here and is still hot. The fans chant Uncle Scotty to complete this joke. They do the drop toehold spot and Dreamer gets beaten up in front of his kids. Dreamer might be the first guy to bleed tonight. It’s your usual stuff here with the beatdown that isn’t that great but the history makes it watchable. Raven is busted.

The signs are brought in as is the ladder. They do some decent stuff with that for two for Raven. Dreamer Driver gets no cover. We finally get to the barbed wire which is wrapped around Raven’s face. He taps but the BWO runs in to make sure it doesn’t count. This needs a Sandman run-in. Down goes Foley for no apparent reason. Raven Effect gets two. Or is it the Even Flow? Whatever.

Foley and Socko, which they can’t say, takes down Raven and that guy from earlier that we couldn’t recognize in the Blue Meanie skit runs down with a top rope leg drop for Dreamer. Allegedly his name is Lupus? Mandible Claw with wire to Raven of course doesn’t put him down and he cuffs Dreamer.

Beaulah comes in to stop the Rock/Foley ending in the Last Man Standing match which doesn’t work. Dreamer manages to DDT Raven while cuffed behind his back for two. Raven hits Dreamer in the knee with the chair and a DDT on it ends this. Yes, Dreamer jobbed to Raven in the final encounter. I am about to give up.

Rating: D. This started out as an ok brawl but just got insane. To be fair it was a pretty brutal match but the ending is just stupid. The problem is that this feud was perfectly finished in ECW and there was no need for this. Dreamer winning was the right way to go here so of course they didn’t do that. Not a horrible match, but it’s just showing how bad this idea was overall as this feud is one that didn’t need to continue.

We’ll wrap it up with an indy show for the Insane Clown Posse at Bloodymania V.

Tag Titles: Ring Rydas vs. Tracy Smothers/Bull Pain vs. Necro Butcher/Mad Man Pondo vs. Raven/Sexy Slim Goody

The Rydas are the champions and are known as Ring Ryda Red and Ring Ryda Blue. They’re masked and are also known as the Irish Airborne, mainly from ROH. The ring is WAY too small for eight people. Raven and Smothers start things off and we start with dancing. Before there’s any contact it’s off to Slim, who is a big fat guy who may or may not be gay. Smothers keeps falling down without any contact being made. Pain comes in and twists Slim’s nipples to start things off.

Bull Pain pounds on Slim as the announcers crack jokes about whatever they think of. A reverse DDT puts Slim down for no cover for Pain. Pain looks like a shorter Albert from his piercing days. The Rydas get on Pain’s nerves and draw him into their corner so Red comes in to pound on Slim. The Rydas are small guys so the size difference is jarring.

Off to Blue vs. Necro with Blue speeding things up and hitting a running knee to the face. Blue goes up but jumps into an uppercut. Off to Pondo who hits a kind of piledriver onto a chair that is in the ring out of nowhere. Things break down a bit and it’s off to Necro vs. Smothers. Necro chops away in the corner and Pain starts beating on everyone with a bat or a pipe or whatever it is.

Tracy comes in and Necro sets for a tiger driver, but Tracy’s daughter/sister (forget it people, it’s JCW) Isabelle comes in to break it up. Pain walks out on Smothers for some reason and Tracy follows. Red breaks up a DDT on Pondo from Raven and heads up. In a pretty awesome looking finish, Red gets shoved off the top by Goody into the DDT from Raven who hits it perfectly for the pin and the titles.

Rating: D+. This was a bit of a mess because there were too many people and too much stuff going on out there at once. The ending was pretty awesome looking though as Red looked dead after that DDT. I have no idea why Raven and Slim are together but it’s Raven so it’s not a big deal at all.

Raven is a guy who was almost all psychology but his in ring work could back him up most of the time. The problem though was once he left ECW, almost everything felt like an attempt to recreate the most successful character in his career. That’s nothing new in wrestling, but it rarely works. Still though, he’s incredibly entertaining when he’s on his game and that was very often.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up my new book of on the History of ECW Pay Per Views at Amazon for just $3.99 at:

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Thunder
Date: March 25, 1999
Location: Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

We’re still in my hometown for the taped version. After last week I don’t even want to imagine how bad this one could be but it can’t be worse than some of the stuff they’ve done before. As expected, WCW is coming off a pretty lame show earlier this week as almost nothing happened on Nitro. We’re a few weeks away from Spring Stampede and a lot of the card has already been set. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.

The announcers welcome us to the show and promise us a World Title match tonight with Ric Flair defending against…….Barry Windham. Yes, in 1999 Barry Windham is getting a World Title shot. Ten years ago this would be must see TV, but why in the world are we seeing it now? Oh of course: it was awesome ten years ago and that means everyone today is going to love it. I’m sure the match will be decent at worst, but man alive it doesn’t make me want to sit through two hours to get there.

Scotty Riggs vs. Jerry Flynn

This is going to be a very long two hours. Scotty takes him down with an armdrag and does the Crane pose. Jerry comes back and Scotty bails to the floor as the stalling begins. Back in and Flynn scores with a chop followed by some of his martial arts stuff. Jerry misses a bicycle kick in the corner and Riggs goes after his legs. This goes on for a good while as he lays on Flynn’s leg before getting small packaged for two. More leg work eats up time as we hit an Indian deathlock on Jerry.

Flynn fights up with some punches, only to be dropkicked in the knee to get us right back where we were. Things stay slow with Riggs kicking at the knee and using his wide variety of clotheslines and punches. Flynn finally counters a clothesline into the cross armbreaker for the submission. Mike: “The winning streak lives on!” This would be a winning streak of zero, as he lost to Meng on Nitro in his last televised appearance.

Rating: D-. I know I sounded annoyed by Flair vs. Windham, but I at least get the thinking behind it. This was nine minutes where I could feel my brain melting away as I watched each boring moment. Riggs just isn’t any good and never has been, but Flynn is a guy whose employment I do not understand.

Video of Bagwell and Steiner splitting up.

Mike Enos vs. Wrath

Wrath feels like a relic of the past despite being on fire about three months ago. He takes Enos into the corner for some knees to the ribs but Enos grabs a quick armdrag. Wrath puts on a headlock before running Enos over with a shoulder block. Enos escapes a suplex and grabs a rollup for two before getting knocked out to the floor. We actually get something interesting as Wrath hits his cannonball off the apron and we take a break.

Back with Wrath scoring with a top rope clothesline for two before we hit the chinlock. Enos fights up and nails a superplex, giving him a target in Wrath’s back. He cannonballs down on it a few times and puts on a half crab. A rope grab forces the break before both guys try cross bodies. Enos scores with a neckbreaker but walks into a Rock Bottom followed by the Meltdown for the pin.

Rating: D+. Not a bad power match here but it was too long again. Wrath fell through the floor like few others you’ll ever seen and it’s kind of a shame. Enos on the other hand never went anywhere in WCW, but he wasn’t bad in the ring. He could wrestle a decent power match and didn’t screw up anything big. That’s more than you can say for a lot of jobbers.

Video on Lex Luger.

Fit Finlay vs. Chris Adams

Oh yeah we’re on a taped Thunder. Finlay hammers him down to start and drives in some elbows to the face. We hit an early chinlock but Adams avoids an elbow drop. Not that it matters as Finlay takes him down and cranks on the arms. Back up again and Adams scores with an armdrag to send Finlay out to the floor. An enziguri staggers Fit and we hit a sleeper from Adams.

Finlay escapes with a jawbreaker and we hit another chinlock. An elbow drop sets up a third chinlock as this show is putting everyone to sleep. Adams comes back with a belly to back suplex for two. He nails the superkick but it knocks Finlay out to the floor. Back in and Finlay backdrops him out to the floor before ducking a high cross body. Finlay plants him with the tombstone for the pin.

Rating: D+. It was a faster paced match but it’s the same problem with every match tonight: it’s so basic and slow paced that there’s nothing to get interested in. The superkick looked good but it was forgotten a few seconds later. This was the seconds glorified squash in a row, but it was slightly shorter to make things easier.

Video on Benoit/Malenko.

Blitzkreig vs. Kidman

Thank goodness for the cruiserweights. A dropkick puts Kidman down early but he comes back with a running clothesline. They fight over a wristlock until Blitzkreig is sent to the apron for a springboard missile dropkick. The fans are so bored that they don’t even respond. A corkscrew Asai moonsault takes Kidman down and finally gets a reaction, albeit a small one. Back in and Kidman hits a running layout powerbomb for two, followed by a slingshot legdrop.

We take a break and come back with a preview (Ringside Release) of a TBS original movie. Oh and make sure to get in the closing graphics before we see more of the match. Back with Kidman in control before Blitzkreig hits a very flippy kick to the back of the head. Off to a head scissors on the mat to keep Kidman in trouble. A standing twisting moonsault gets two for Blitzkreig but Kidman comes back with a sitout Pedigree.

Kidman nails a middle rope legdrop and we hit the chinlock. Back up and Blitzkreig nails a quick dropkick but tries a powerbomb. The obvious faceplant from Kidman gets two but Blitzkreig gets two off a spinning victory roll. Kidman gets crotched on the top and Blitzkreig slips a bit while trying a top rope huricanrana. A corkscrew moonsault misses and Kidman hits the Shooting Star for the pin.

Rating: C. It’s the best match of the night by about 500 miles but it’s nothing special. I can see why Blitzkreig was so revered at this point, but his stuff just doesn’t hold up. He’s the stereotypical flippy 90s cruiserweight who adds flips instead of doing good moves. For a comparison, look at someone like Kidman who does one flip move but consistently has better matches and gets bigger pushes. He may not be as flashy, but he’s a far more complete wrestler.

This Week In WCW Motorsports.

Horace vs. Kaz Hayashi

Hayashi is still doing the Glacier entrance and it still changes nothing about him. Horace takes him into the corner to start but can’t throw Kaz across the ring. Some dropkicks and a spinwheel kick get one on Horace but he nails Kaz with an elbow to the jaw. Hayashi is thrown outside and into the barricade a few times.

Back in and Horace tosses Kaz around a bit until he comes back with a bulldog. Kaz goes up but dives into a clothesline to put him back down. Horace loads up a powerbomb but gets hurricanranaed out to the floor. A suicide dive hits Horace’s knees but he’s able to hit a missile dropkick for two back inside. Horace comes back with an electric chair and the H Bomb (Samoan drop) for the pin.

Rating: D+. This wasn’t terrible actually, but as usual the stakes are just so low that it’s hard to get into the match. They did a decent enough power vs. speed formula and Kaz’s dropkicks were nice, but at the end of the day it’s a glorified Horace Hogan squash. That’s not the easiest thing in the world to get behind.

Recap of the US Title tournament so far.

US Title Tournament First Round: Saturn vs. Booker T.

This has to be more interesting. We stall to start with Saturn slowly taking off the top of his dress and then walking around for awhile. Booker takes him down for a nice sequence on the mat before a flying forearm puts Saturn down. A hook kick to the jaw does the same and of course we have to take a break. Back with Booker getting lowbridged to the floor and having to avoid some flying stairs. They head inside again with Saturn putting on a bearhug of all things.

A big superkick drops Booker and we hit the seated abdominal stretch. Back up and a t-bone suplex gets two on Mr. T. and Saturn puts on a sleeper. He lets go of the hold for no apparent reason and charges into Booker’s boot in the corner. Booker does the same thing to Saturn’s boot and gets taken over by a German suplex. Saturn misses a top rope splash and Booker hits all of his usual stuff, finishing Saturn with a rollup and a pretty fast count.

Rating: C-. Not bad again but the lack of energy was really glaring. Booker winning was of course the right choice, but it still doesn’t make for a good match. Neither guy looked all that interested in being out there and the finish made things look even worse. Saturn’s dress continues to make me scratch my head, even after hearing his explanation for it.

60 seconds with Goldberg.

WCW World Title: Barry Windham vs. Ric Flair

Tenay briefly mentions the history between the two but doesn’t mention their classics from ten years earlier. The announcers aren’t sure why Hennig didn’t get a shot but Barry does. Barry quickly takes him down with a headlock but Flair asks for a mic. He says he’s going to take five women home and make women out of them tonight. Also there’s a fat boy yelling at him from the front row.

Back in and we hit another headlock before a basic sequence results in Flair getting knocked down by a shoulder. Windham cranks on an armbar before Flair chops him in the corner. We take a break and come back with Barry holding Flair in the Figure Four. Tony: “You can see the Figure Four on but I think Windham has Flair in the hold.” Good to know that Tony goes for popcorn during the breaks. Barry hits a running lariat and a backslide gets two. Flair breaks up a sunset flip with a right hand and they slug it out.

A clothesline puts Flair down for two and Ric gets in Charles Robinson’s face for some reason. The champ suplexes Windham down but Barry comes back with one of his own. Robinson counts very slowly and then does the same after the superplex. Windham gets up to yell some more despite Flair not moving. Robinson trips Barry up in the confusion and gets put in the Figure Four, only to have Arn Anderson pull Barry into the ropes. Arn whispers to Barry and Windham walks out to end the show.

Rating: C. It wasn’t bad but it was mainly kicking and punching until the ending picked up a bit. The angle at the end is somewhat interesting as you have Flair’s closest friend having enough of Ric’s cheating, despite doing about a hundred times worse back in his day. The match was nothing great but it could have been far worse. The audience didn’t get interested though.

Overall Rating: D. Believe it or not there were some things that were far better about this episode than the previous editions. Above all else, they cut WAY down on the video packages. It was common to have nearly half an hour spent on those packages so having them cut down to maybe five minutes was a very nice change of pace.

It spent a lot more time on the wrestling, but that brings us to the biggest problem: there was a lot of wrestling, and the majority of it was really boring. The key word there is boring, because most of it wasn’t bad. It’s just clear that this show doesn’t mean anything to WCW and it’s very dull to sit through.

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Monday Nitro #181
Date: March 22, 1999
Location: Club LeVela, Panama City, Florida
Commentators: Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay, Larry Zbyszko, Tony Schiavone

It’s Spring Break Out and things are kind of fresh for me as well. I did every show so far this month in the span of a week so this is my first WCW in weeks. That might be the best thing possible as WCW is getting harder and harder to take. However, it seems like we’re setting up a fourway between Flair, Goldberg, Hogan and Nash, which sounds pretty awesome actually. Let’s get to it.

We open with a recap of Flair ranting about how awesome he is as champion and boss, affirming his heel turn and setting up the four way standoff from last week. It still doesn’t look like Flair walked out.

The pool setting is always cool.

We see clips of the threeway hardcore match at Uncensored. I have no idea why as it has nothing to do with the opening match.

Bull Payne vs. Van Hammer

Payne is a bald guy in leather and Hammer is a hippie. Hammer takes him into the corner to start and we’re already getting a BORING chant. A shoulder block and baseball slide put Bull on the floor and they try to throw each other in the water. Back in and Payne headbutts Hammer a few times as Tenay shills his Hotline. A double clothesline puts both guys down before Hammer is sent to the floor for another clothesline. Payne gets two off a frog splash but walks into a cobra clutch slam and the Flashback (whip spinebuster) for the pin.

Rating: D. Again, this is how they decided to use their hour advantage on Raw. The match was really dull stuff too as I have no idea who Payne was and I have almost no reason to care about Hammer. This was a Saturday Night match but instead it’s the opening contest on Nitro. It’s becoming more and more obvious why this company is falling through the floor.

Video of Mysterio winning the Cruiserweight Title last week in a great match.

Mysterio is here live and talks about how much he loves this party town. Kidman can have a rematch at Spring Stampede.

Clip of the Miss Nitro contest. Buff Bagwell and Saturn are judges.

Music video on the beach stuff.

Disco Inferno, in an intertube, doesn’t like this town because a girl in a wet t-shirt contest was heavier than he was. The interviewer (Ricky Rachman, the guy doing all the Spring Break stuff tonight) doesn’t care for Disco’s video so here it is again. A match is made for Spring Stampede.

Video on Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell splitting up.

Finlay goes to see Rick Steiner and they want to fight tonight. This lasted eight seconds.

Video on the four way staredown and main event tag match from last week.

Goldberg did some stuff with NASCAR this week.

Hak interrupts the Goldberg package and wants to be known as “Hardcore Hak: the King of Extreme.” If the fans think Goldberg is extreme, he’ll show you extreme tonight.

60 seconds with Goldberg.

WCW is returning to QVC (home shopping network) with special guest Sting.

Psychosis/Silver King/El Dandy/La Cucharacha vs. La Parka/Damien/Lizmark Jr./Super Calo

Tenay isn’t sure who Cucharacha is, though he’s in a Konnan flannel shirt. I think you can figure it out from here. Cucharacaha starts with La Parka and everything breaks down just a few seconds in. Dandy and Silver King nail a double dropkick before it’s off to Psychosis for a guillotine legdrop and two. La Parka comes back with a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker and everything breaks down again. We wind up with Damien throwing Dandy around until it’s a standoff.

Back to Cucharacha vs. Calo with the newcomer getting kicked in the face. Lizmark comes in and misses a splash in the corner, allowing King to chop him over and over. Lizmark misses a moonsault and gets superkicked as Tony says they’re missing a lot of their moves. King is knocked outside for a big plancha from Lizmark. La Parka and Psychosis throw themselves to the floor and Calo dives onto Psychosis for good measure. Back in and literally everyone but La Cucharacha misses a dive until La Cucharacha Stuns all of his opponents and pins Damien.

Rating: D+. This was odd indeed with the missing sequence being the big moment at the end. Why in the world would you have a bunch of guys look inept for the sake of a comedy angle? I’m sure you can guess who was under the mask but why do that when he’s already got a story going on?

It’s Disco Inferno if that wasn’t clear.

Video on the Mr. Nitro competition.

Regular opening for hour #2.

Nitro Girls.

Flair and JJ were outside earlier today and Flair wants to wrestle tonight. He’s going to challenge the entire company in a lottery style drawing. Ric whispers to JJ to put in a lot of cruiserweights.

Dusty Rhodes is now a consultant and doesn’t think much of Flair’s recent actions. After the issues with Bischoff, Flair promised to make Dusty Rhodes the Commissioner of WCW. Then it became him replacing Larry Zbyszko but that didn’t happen either. Maybe Dusty should have replaced Mike Tenay, but that was another oversight. Dusty calls himself a rap master and says Flair is eating off a table that Dusty set. Flair may be commissioner, but Dusty is still the bull of the woods.

Gene brings out Flair but before the champion can get anywhere, Raven of all people interrupts and asks for a title shot. Flair almost immediately grants a title shot, but makes it Raven/Kanyon vs. Benoit/Malenko for the Tag Team Titles. Kanyon isn’t here tonight so Raven says he’ll beat them himself. That was very abrupt. Flair keeps going and says he’ll put everyone’s name in a hat and draw out a name for a World Title shot.

The announcers recap the top stories.

Rick Steiner vs. Fit Finlay

I believe this was supposed to be hardcore but it isn’t announced as such. They fight up against the ropes to start with Finlay nailing him with some uppercuts. Steiner takes him down to the mat with ease and tries to wrap Finlay up, only to have Fit roll to the ropes. A nerve hold has Rick in trouble and we take a break. Back with a slow motion slugout until Finlay cranks on Rick’s arms. Rick is sent to the floor and pounded in the chest, followed by a top rope ax handle back in the ring. There’s almost no effect though as Rick comes back with a Steiner Line and a belly to belly, followed by the Steiner Bulldog for the pin.

Rating: C-. Better match than I was expecting here but nothing all that great. At the end of the day, this had the same problems that Nitro had with almost every show has at some point or another: why should I care? They built this up with both guys saying they were tougher and then we see them fight for four minutes in a nothing match. That’s the best they can do? I see no reason to care about this and the match was nothing all that special.

Nitro Girls.

Vampiro vs. Juventud Guerrera

Juvy chops away to start before nailing a nice headscissor takeover. Something like an AA takes Juvy down and a powerbomb out of the corner gets two. Guerrera sends him out to the floor and we take a break. Back to this very slow match with Vampiro chopping in the corner and backdropping him out to the floor. A belly to belly gets two on Juvy and Vampiro cranks on his leg for a bit to no effect.

Vampiro hits a nice helicopter bomb but misses a twisting moonsault instead of covering. Juvy misses a springboard legdrop but pops up and slams Vampiro down. Vampiro crotches him to break up the 450, setting up a gutwrench superplex for two. It doesn’t matter all that much as Juvy nails a wicked Juvy Driver for the pin.

Rating: D+. The more I see of Vampiro the more I wonder what I was thinking back in the day. He doesn’t hold up and seems to not care in the ring for the most part. It takes a lot to drag Guerrera down at this point but Vampiro did it. Maybe he’ll get better when he gets some mic time, but this really didn’t do it for me.

Rachman brings out the winner of Miss Nitro: Julie Williams, some college chick who isn’t all that great looking. She doesn’t know how to talk but the NWO comes out with its own army of women in swimsuits. They chase Rachman off and say it’s time for the NWO Miss Spring Break contest. There’s a woman missing so Hogan does some counting. The fans want tops removed, but Nash says he can’t because it’s too cold. He asks for the eighth woman to come out and here are David Flair and Samantha.

She takes off her dress and of course blows away every other girl in the ring. Rachman is brought back in and introduces Miss Nitro again, but Nash wants him to announce a Miss NWO. When he won’t Nash loads him up for the Jackknife but gives him one more chance. Rachman immediately picks Samantha (Nash: “Sable eat your heart out.”) and this finally ends.

Goldberg vs. Hardcore Hak

Hak hammers him out to the floor to start but Goldberg no sells left hands back inside. Another leverage move sends Goldberg outside again for more punching but Goldberg slaps on a cross armbreaker back in the ring. That goes nowhere so Hak brings in the weapons, which only seem to tick Goldberg off. The Russian legsweep is easily countered and it’s the spear and Jackhammer for the easy pin. This was typical Goldberg.

Gene brings out Bret Hart for a chat. Bret talks about being upset over losing his reputation. He’s been here over a year and he’s already sick and tired of people like Flair sticking his nose in Bret’s business. Okerlund brings up a possible match with Hogan but Bret doesn’t think it’s ever going to happen.

Gene tries Kevin Nash instead, but Bret says he’s proven he can beat Nash for years now. With those names going nowhere, Gene suggests Goldberg. Bret accuses Goldberg of never being in the ring with a real technical wrestler. He wants Goldberg to get in the ring with him one time and says he could beat Goldberg in five minutes. This is already more interesting than anything else Bret has done in WCW.

Nitro Girls, dressed as male wrestlers for some reason.

Horace vs. Vincent

From what I can tell, Raw was airing Rock vs. Mankind at this time. Vincent says Horace is just a nephew, earning him a forearm to the face. Horace hiptosses him out to the floor and a big boot puts him right back outside again. Back in and Vincent grabs a quick neckbreaker for two, only to walk into another big boot. Stevie Ray comes out as Vincent and Horace ram heads. Ray shoves Horace into a small package, giving Vincent the pin.

Rating: D-. This story was fun for awhile but now it’s just another boring string of matches that keeps going with no end in sight. Stevie won the bad match at Uncensored to become the boss and now that just doesn’t mean anything. This isn’t entertaining anymore. Now it’s just one more reason to change the channel to Raw.

Brian Adams comes out and yells at Ray post match.

It’s time for the drawing for the World Title shot later in the night. The wrestlers are around the pool with numbered cards. JJ pulls out #23 and it’s that jam up guy El Dandy. However, Dandy is hurt so he gives his card to Rey Mysterio Jr. Flair says Rey isn’t in this because he’s a champion and yells at JJ for screwing up. Rey won’t leave so Flair says this is at his own risk. Mysterio will get a shot later tonight.

Video on the Horsemen, set to the Hardcore Holly’s music. I’ve heard that in several packages before so it must be public domain.

Tag Team Titles: Raven vs. Chris Benoit/Dean Malenko

Raven is going this alone. Thankfully the Horsemen didn’t leave after being in the ring before the commercial and stomp Raven as he comes in. It’s officially Benoit starting but Malenko quickly comes in for a double spinebuster. Dean puts on the Cloverleaf in the middle of the ring but lets it go for no apparent reason. Benoit comes back in and hooks the Crossface but lets it go as well.

A powerbomb/top rope clothesline combo knocks Raven senseless but Saturn walks down to the ring and gets in the champions’ faces. He suplexes Benoit and Malenko but Benoit breaks up the Rings of Saturn. Things settle down with Dean nailing a leg lariat on Saturn before bringing Benoit in for some chops. The Horsemen keep control with a snap suplex from Benoit and a chinlock from Dean.

A double back elbow drops Saturn but Raven gets up and starts cleaning house. Everything breaks down and Saturn rolls through the Crossface into the Rings of Saturn, drawing in Dean with a belt, but Raven nails him with the other belt. The bell rings and the fans think it’s a submission but the referee says it’s a DQ for the belt shot.

Rating: C-. The match was entertaining but it really doesn’t make the new champions look all that great. Then again this is WCW where they turned the World Champion and Tag Team Champions heel about a month after they were the hottest acts in the company because….why did they do that again? Anyway this should set up a rematch at Spring Stampede.

We recap the Miss NWO contest earlier and I can’t complain about Samantha in a swimsuit.

Video of Flair stripping Scott Hall of the US Title and announcing a tournament. We also get clips of Meng beating Bam Bam Bigelow in the first match on Thunder.

US Title Tournament First Round: Scott Steiner vs. Chris Jericho

This has potential even though it’s heel vs. heel. Jericho comes out wearing a sash with Japanese writing on it. Steiner shoves him around with ease to start before dropping to his knees to pose. He takes too long though as Jericho pops up and springboard dropkicks Steiner out to the floor.

Jericho goes outside though and is sent into the steps for his efforts to give Steiner control again. Back in and another missile dropkick puts Steiner down for two. Jericho gets the same off a middle rope back elbow followed by the Lionsault for the third straight two. Steiner easily counters the Liontamer and hits Jericho low, setting up the Recliner for the submission.

Rating: C-. Much better match than I was expecting, even though it was clear Jericho’s soul died about two months ago. I can’t blame him for leaving when he did as WCW wasn’t going to do anything with him. Steiner didn’t seem particularly motivated here either, but the action wasn’t half bad.

WCW World Title: Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Ric Flair

I’ll only refer to Flair as champion. Rey offers a handshake but Flair tells him to get out of here. Feeling out process to start until Rey trips him up and nails a legdrop before sending Flair into the corner. There’s the Flair Flop but Ric throwing Rey out to the floor. That goes nowhere as Rey comes back in with a dropkick and a bad looking springboard seated senton for two.

We get a chase on the floor with Arn Anderson nailing a clothesline to give Flair control. A knee drop has Rey in trouble and Flair grabs a leg for two. Rey gets two of his own off a quick rollup but Flair stomps him down in the corner. A big elbow drop sets up some right hands to Rey’s unmasked face. Rey fights back again and hits a dropkick, followed by the top rope hurricanrana, only to have Anderson pull the referee out to the floor for the DQ.

Rating: D+. This was another nothing match with the guys going through the motions for about seven minutes before the lame ending. Mysterio clearly wasn’t going to win the title and Flair didn’t even go after the leg. It fits in perfectly with the theme of the night: a watchable match that meant nothing.

Flair is sent into the pool to end the show.

Overall Rating: D. The show was watchable in spite of itself. As I said in the main event, there was no effort or energy put in all night. Everything interesting that happened last week was absent here in favor of one off matches that didn’t set up anything. Goldberg vs. Hart coming sounds good, but the rest of the show was meaningless, although not horrible.

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Thunder
Date: December 10, 1998
Location: Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan

It’s a taped show because I must have done something horrible in a past life to earn this punishment. We’re getting closer to Starrcade but most of that won’t mean anything here as they can’t let anything significant happen on a taped show. There is actually an announced match though as Rey Mysterio will face Juventud Guerrera for a shot at the Cruiserweight Title at Starrcade 1998. Let’s get to it.

 

The announcers talk about how awesome the Mysterio vs. Guerrera match will be. We also get Black and White vs. Black and Red tonight! Be still my beating heart.

Chris Jericho vs. Bobby Duncum Jr.

Bobby runs him over to start as the announcers talk about Ralphus more than for the rest of his career combined. A chinlock has Duncum in control as we take a way too early commercial. Back with Jericho getting his head taken off by a hard clothesline out of the corner but he catches Bobby with a drop toehold to send him throat first into the ropes.

Now it’s Jericho with a double arm crank but Bobby turns it around, only to have Jericho flip forward and kick Duncum in the chest in the process. Nice counter. Off to a backbreaker from Jericho as he bends the Texan over his knee in a rare power display. The Lionsault misses and Bobby scores with a hard slam for two. Instead Jericho grabs a rollup and puts his feet on the ropes for the pin.

Rating: D+. Much like most feuds that go on for too long, we’ve seen all of this before and I had no desire to watch it again. Duncum could have been something interesting if used better, but having him fight Jericho over and over wasn’t going to get him there. Jericho was going to steal the spotlight from anyone he worked with through sheer talent and that’s what’s happening here.

Post match here’s Konnan to tell the referee what happened so the match restarts. Jericho tries a rollup but Konnan hits him in the head with the belt to give Duncum the pin.

Video on Bischoff vs. Flair.

Glacier vs. Saturn

The ice dude takes over with a quick kick to the ribs but won’t follow up, which is enough to make Heenan stop talking about Goldberg for a second to complain about Glacier. They hit the mat for a decent wrestling sequence before Saturn goes after the leg with a few holds. Can’t blame him for bad psychology at least. Back up and Saturn fires off chops in the corner and Glacier heads to the floor, only to be sent hard into the barricade.

Back in and Sonny Onoo is here in a neck brace to help Glacier because what would WCW be without him. Glacier takes over with a suplex and elbow to the jaw for two before totally missing a kick to the face. Saturn sells it anyway and we hit the chinlock. Saturn fights up and hits a nice t-bone followed by a middle rope knee for another near fall as Onoo is freaking out in a bad stereotype. They trade standing switches into the Rings of Saturn, drawing in Sonny for the DQ.

Rating: D+. The match was acceptable but good night can we please have Sonny sent ANYWHERE else? He’s been doing the same schtick for like three years now and is just annoying. I can see why he sued WCW over his character as well given how it’s as stereotypical of a Japanese tourist as you can get.

Post match Saturn beats up Onoo while avoiding an attack from Glacier. He suplexes Ice Boy to the floor and stands….not very tall actually.

Kaz Hayashi vs. Norman Smiley

Norman stalls to start before easily taking Hayashi to the mat with a headlock, meaning it’s DANCE TIME. Back up and Hayashi punches Norman in the face and takes him down with a headscissors. Kaz’s offense is short lived though as Smiley launches him into the air and lets Kaz crash down to the mat. A bunch of stomps in the corner set up the spinning slam followed by a butterfly suplex for two.

Smiley is acting far more heelish than I remember him doing recently, including stopping to yell at some fans. Kaz gets caught in a belly to back suplex followed by a surfboard before Norman sends him to the floor. Instead of following up though, it’s time for more dancing. Back in and Hayashi scores with a kick in the corner followed by a nice dive from the top. They trade some rollups but Smiley grabs the crossface chicken wing for the submission.

Rating: D+. Norman is another guy that could have been something interesting for the TV Title but too bad because there’s no way it’s getting out of the NWO anytime soon. Hayashi was a good enough guy in the ring but there were too many people who could do what he did much better than he could.

We see part of the main event on Nitro which was barely a match in the first place.

Here are Ernest Miller and Sonny Onoo with something to say. Miller brags about how awesome he is at karate and challenges any fan to come try him. Sonny is annoyed at him for not being there when Saturn attacked him on Monday. They tease fighting before Miller goes to the back to get Saturn. Just let them fight already so Saturn can move on to anything else.

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera

They lock up to start until both guys hit the mat for a bit. The feeling out continues as Juvy takes Rey down with a shoulder block before scoring with a Rocker Dropper. Rey is taken into the corner for some chops and whipped into the ropes, only to come back with a headscissors for his first advantage. Juvy bails to the floor and we take an early commercial break.

Back with Rey hitting a splash in the corner and stomping away before hitting the Bronco Buster. Mysterio hammers away in the corner but Juvy comes out with a sweet Liger Bomb out of the corner. This brings out Eddie and the LWO to surround the ring as you can feel the screwy ending coming from here. Rey kicks himout of the air and nails a nice springboard moonsault for two, only to get caught by a quick cross body. A dropkick to the knee puts Juvy back down and a guillotine legdrop gets two more for Mysterio.

Back up again and Juvy avoids a charge into the corner and drapes Rey over the top rope. Mysterio shrugs it off and runs into a boot in the corner to put him right back down. A bulldog gets two more for Guerrera but Rey catches him coming off the ropes, only to get caught in the Juvy Driver. The 450 takes too much time being set up though and Rey crotches Juvy to set up the hurricanrana, only to have the LWO run in for the REALLY annoying DQ.

Rating: B-. They were starting to rock out there until the LWO had to do their thing. Mysterio and Guerrera are two of the best in the company at this point and I’d love to see either of them against Kidman, but having to put up with the LWO is getting really tiresome. At least we got a solid match before the run in though.

Kidman runs out to save Rey from the beatdown.

We see Giant talking trash about DDP from Nitro.

Lodi vs. Booker T.

Booker destroys Lodi like the comedy jobber he is to start before hitting the forearm and ax kick. Here’s Stevie Ray for no apparent reason though to ask Booker what he’s doing. Lodi tries to remember what planet he’s on until Stevie blasts him with the slap jack to give Lodi the DQ win.

Kanyon vs. Chris Benoit

Kanyon does his schtick before the match and thinks the fans say everyone is better than him to make him mad. Speaking of being mad, Kanyon is mad at Raven because the depression is starting to bring Kanyon down as well. “What about me? What about Kanyon?” The fans still don’t seem to care.

The match starts with Kanyon grabbing a quick armdrag and celebrating like he just broke Goldberg’s streak. Benoit takes him down by the arm with ease and grabs a headlock. Kanyon reverses into a neckbreaker but gets caught in the Rolling Germans. He’s able to break it after the first suplex though, only to have his chest knocked off by a chop. Benoit hammers away in the corner before taking Kanyon up for a nice superplex. The overwhelmed Kanyon rolls to the floor but Benoit follows him out for even more chopping.

Back in and Benoit stays all over Kanyon with an elbow to the jaw and some hard whips across the ring. That stiff clothesline drops Kanyon again but Benoit misses a charge into the corner. A Russian legsweep puts him on the mat and Kanyon hits a sweet slingshot elbow for a two count. Benoit fights back in the corner and stomps the heck out of Kanyon, followed by a backbreaker for two. The fans actually chant boring at this for some reason.

Kanyon comes back with a rake to the eyes and a middle rope Fameasser followed by a chinlock. The fans chant boring again despite these two beating the tar out of each other for the last seven minutes. I think they’ve earned a breather. A fireman’s carry pancake gets a close two on Benoit. It’s so close that Kanyon loads up another, only to have Chris counter into a rollup for two. The Swan Dive is broken up but here’s Raven with a can of paint to knock Benoit silly for the DQ.

Rating: B-. Egads did Russo start booking already or something? These DQ’s are getting really annoying when you have solid matches going before them. The match was solid for the most part though with Benoit being all intense as only he can. Kanyon’s offense was stuff we’ve seen before but it’s so different from anyone else’s that it’s still very entertaining.

Kanyon yells at Raven and gets Crossfaced for his efforts.

Vincent/Horace/Stevie Ray vs. Konnan/Lex Luger

We’re ready to go after a bunch of catchphrases and a commercial. I guess Nash was too busy to make the match. Luger locks up with Stevie to start as Konnan plays cheerleader. A shoulder puts Stevie down and there’s the big muscle pose from Luger. Stevie gets him into the NWO corner where all three are knocked around with right hands and forearms. Konnan is fine with letting his partner fight them all off. Vincent of all people finally gets in a cheap shot to slow Luger down and Horace takes over.

Horace hammers away but misses a legdrop, allowing for the lukewarm tag off to Konnan. House is cleaned for a bit until Horace knees Konnan in the ribs, allowing for a tag off to Stevie. The Black and White double teams Konnan and gets to make it a triple team when Luger tries to come in. Vincent gets in some ring time for a change with the generic offense you would expect from a bodyguard. Back to Horace who gets two off a splash with Luger making the save.

Stevie comes in again and chokes a lot before throwing Konnan to the floor. Vincent gets in a few more shots and Luger yells at the referee about it, allowing Horace to help with the assault. Back in and Horace nails a suplex to set up a chinlock for a few seconds before a double clothesline puts both guys down. A double tag brings in Luger and Stevie with Luger taking over via the usual. The Rack to Stevie is broken up by a Vincent jawbreaker but here’s Scott Hall to break up a slap jack attempt. He knocks Stevie into Luger who puts on the Rack for the submission.

Rating: D+. Just a boring handicap match here but they followed all of the usual formulas. At the end of the day though, it’s Vincent, Horace and Stevie Ray on one team which isn’t exactly a team I can get behind. Hall coming in fuels his feud against the Black and White but it’s still not the most interesting story in the world. Konnan and Luger were their usual selves here.

Overall Rating: B-. This was the best Thunder in a long time even though it had some very frustrating problems. First and foremost, we had two solid matches and far less time being wasted as a result. The DQ’s got very annoying but it’s something you have to get used to in WCW. This was a very nice surprise and an easy two hours to sit through instead of the usual drek.

 

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Thunder

Date: December 10, 1998

Location: Mid-South Coliseum, Memphis, Tennessee

Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan

It’s a taped show because I must have done something horrible in a past life to earn this punishment. We’re getting closer to Starrcade but most of that won’t mean anything here as they can’t let anything significant happen on a taped show. There is actually an announced match though as Rey Mysterio will face Juventud Guerrera for a shot at the Cruiserweight Title at Starrcade 1998. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk about how awesome the Mysterio vs. Guerrera match will be. We also get Black and White vs. Black and Red tonight! Be still my beating heart.

Chris Jericho vs. Bobby Duncum Jr.

Bobby runs him over to start as the announcers talk about Ralphus more than for the rest of his career combined. A chinlock has Duncum in control as we take a way too early commercial. Back with Jericho getting his head taken off by a hard clothesline out of the corner but he catches Bobby with a drop toehold to send him throat first into the ropes.

Now it’s Jericho with a double arm crank but Bobby turns it around, only to have Jericho flip forward and kick Duncum in the chest in the process. Nice counter. Off to a backbreaker from Jericho as he bends the Texan over his knee in a rare power display. The Lionsault misses and Bobby scores with a hard slam for two. Instead Jericho grabs a rollup and puts his feet on the ropes for the pin.

Rating: D+. Much like most feuds that go on for too long, we’ve seen all of this before and I had no desire to watch it again. Duncum could have been something interesting if used better, but having him fight Jericho over and over wasn’t going to get him there. Jericho was going to steal the spotlight from anyone he worked with through sheer talent and that’s what’s happening here.

Post match here’s Konnan to tell the referee what happened so the match restarts. Jericho tries a rollup but Konnan hits him in the head with the belt to give Duncum the pin.

Video on Bischoff vs. Flair.

Glacier vs. Saturn

The ice dude takes over with a quick kick to the ribs but won’t follow up, which is enough to make Heenan stop talking about Goldberg for a second to complain about Glacier. They hit the mat for a decent wrestling sequence before Saturn goes after the leg with a few holds. Can’t blame him for bad psychology at least. Back up and Saturn fires off chops in the corner and Glacier heads to the floor, only to be sent hard into the barricade.

Back in and Sonny Onoo is here in a neck brace to help Glacier because what would WCW be without him. Glacier takes over with a suplex and elbow to the jaw for two before totally missing a kick to the face. Saturn sells it anyway and we hit the chinlock. Saturn fights up and hits a nice t-bone followed by a middle rope knee for another near fall as Onoo is freaking out in a bad stereotype. They trade standing switches into the Rings of Saturn, drawing in Sonny for the DQ.

Rating: D+. The match was acceptable but good night can we please have Sonny sent ANYWHERE else? He’s been doing the same schtick for like three years now and is just annoying. I can see why he sued WCW over his character as well given how it’s as stereotypical of a Japanese tourist as you can get.

Post match Saturn beats up Onoo while avoiding an attack from Glacier. He suplexes Ice Boy to the floor and stands….not very tall actually.

Kaz Hayashi vs. Norman Smiley

Norman stalls to start before easily taking Hayashi to the mat with a headlock, meaning it’s DANCE TIME. Back up and Hayashi punches Norman in the face and takes him down with a headscissors. Kaz’s offense is short lived though as Smiley launches him into the air and lets Kaz crash down to the mat. A bunch of stomps in the corner set up the spinning slam followed by a butterfly suplex for two.

Smiley is acting far more heelish than I remember him doing recently, including stopping to yell at some fans. Kaz gets caught in a belly to back suplex followed by a surfboard before Norman sends him to the floor. Instead of following up though, it’s time for more dancing. Back in and Hayashi scores with a kick in the corner followed by a nice dive from the top. They trade some rollups but Smiley grabs the crossface chicken wing for the submission.

Rating: D+. Norman is another guy that could have been something interesting for the TV Title but too bad because there’s no way it’s getting out of the NWO anytime soon. Hayashi was a good enough guy in the ring but there were too many people who could do what he did much better than he could.

We see part of the main event on Nitro which was barely a match in the first place.

Here are Ernest Miller and Sonny Onoo with something to say. Miller brags about how awesome he is at karate and challenges any fan to come try him. Sonny is annoyed at him for not being there when Saturn attacked him on Monday. They tease fighting before Miller goes to the back to get Saturn. Just let them fight already so Saturn can move on to anything else.

Rey Mysterio Jr. vs. Juventud Guerrera

They lock up to start until both guys hit the mat for a bit. The feeling out continues as Juvy takes Rey down with a shoulder block before scoring with a Rocker Dropper. Rey is taken into the corner for some chops and whipped into the ropes, only to come back with a headscissors for his first advantage. Juvy bails to the floor and we take an early commercial break.

Back with Rey hitting a splash in the corner and stomping away before hitting the Bronco Buster. Mysterio hammers away in the corner but Juvy comes out with a sweet Liger Bomb out of the corner. This brings out Eddie and the LWO to surround the ring as you can feel the screwy ending coming from here. Rey kicks himout of the air and nails a nice springboard moonsault for two, only to get caught by a quick cross body. A dropkick to the knee puts Juvy back down and a guillotine legdrop gets two more for Mysterio.

Back up again and Juvy avoids a charge into the corner and drapes Rey over the top rope. Mysterio shrugs it off and runs into a boot in the corner to put him right back down. A bulldog gets two more for Guerrera but Rey catches him coming off the ropes, only to get caught in the Juvy Driver. The 450 takes too much time being set up though and Rey crotches Juvy to set up the hurricanrana, only to have the LWO run in for the REALLY annoying DQ.

Rating: B-. They were starting to rock out there until the LWO had to do their thing. Mysterio and Guerrera are two of the best in the company at this point and I’d love to see either of them against Kidman, but having to put up with the LWO is getting really tiresome. At least we got a solid match before the run in though.

Kidman runs out to save Rey from the beatdown.

We see Giant talking trash about DDP from Nitro.

Lodi vs. Booker T.

Booker destroys Lodi like the comedy jobber he is to start before hitting the forearm and ax kick. Here’s Stevie Ray for no apparent reason though to ask Booker what he’s doing. Lodi tries to remember what planet he’s on until Stevie blasts him with the slap jack to give Lodi the DQ win.

Kanyon vs. Chris Benoit

Kanyon does his schtick before the match and thinks the fans say everyone is better than him to make him mad. Speaking of being mad, Kanyon is mad at Raven because the depression is starting to bring Kanyon down as well. “What about me? What about Kanyon?” The fans still don’t seem to care.

The match starts with Kanyon grabbing a quick armdrag and celebrating like he just broke Goldberg’s streak. Benoit takes him down by the arm with ease and grabs a headlock. Kanyon reverses into a neckbreaker but gets caught in the Rolling Germans. He’s able to break it after the first suplex though, only to have his chest knocked off by a chop. Benoit hammers away in the corner before taking Kanyon up for a nice superplex. The overwhelmed Kanyon rolls to the floor but Benoit follows him out for even more chopping.

Back in and Benoit stays all over Kanyon with an elbow to the jaw and some hard whips across the ring. That stiff clothesline drops Kanyon again but Benoit misses a charge into the corner. A Russian legsweep puts him on the mat and Kanyon hits a sweet slingshot elbow for a two count. Benoit fights back in the corner and stomps the heck out of Kanyon, followed by a backbreaker for two. The fans actually chant boring at this for some reason.

Kanyon comes back with a rake to the eyes and a middle rope Fameasser followed by a chinlock. The fans chant boring again despite these two beating the tar out of each other for the last seven minutes. I think they’ve earned a breather. A fireman’s carry pancake gets a close two on Benoit. It’s so close that Kanyon loads up another, only to have Chris counter into a rollup for two. The Swan Dive is broken up but here’s Raven with a can of paint to knock Benoit silly for the DQ.

Rating: B-. Egads did Russo start booking already or something? These DQ’s are getting really annoying when you have solid matches going before them. The match was solid for the most part though with Benoit being all intense as only he can. Kanyon’s offense was stuff we’ve seen before but it’s so different from anyone else’s that it’s still very entertaining.

Kanyon yells at Raven and gets Crossfaced for his efforts.

Vincent/Horace/Stevie Ray vs. Konnan/Lex Luger

We’re ready to go after a bunch of catchphrases and a commercial. I guess Nash was too busy to make the match. Luger locks up with Stevie to start as Konnan plays cheerleader. A shoulder puts Stevie down and there’s the big muscle pose from Luger. Stevie gets him into the NWO corner where all three are knocked around with right hands and forearms. Konnan is fine with letting his partner fight them all off. Vincent of all people finally gets in a cheap shot to slow Luger down and Horace takes over.

Horace hammers away but misses a legdrop, allowing for the lukewarm tag off to Konnan. House is cleaned for a bit until Horace knees Konnan in the ribs, allowing for a tag off to Stevie. The Black and White double teams Konnan and gets to make it a triple team when Luger tries to come in. Vincent gets in some ring time for a change with the generic offense you would expect from a bodyguard. Back to Horace who gets two off a splash with Luger making the save.

Stevie comes in again and chokes a lot before throwing Konnan to the floor. Vincent gets in a few more shots and Luger yells at the referee about it, allowing Horace to help with the assault. Back in and Horace nails a suplex to set up a chinlock for a few seconds before a double clothesline puts both guys down. A double tag brings in Luger and Stevie with Luger taking over via the usual. The Rack to Stevie is broken up by a Vincent jawbreaker but here’s Scott Hall to break up a slap jack attempt. He knocks Stevie into Luger who puts on the Rack for the submission.

Rating: D+. Just a boring handicap match here but they followed all of the usual formulas. At the end of the day though, it’s Vincent, Horace and Stevie Ray on one team which isn’t exactly a team I can get behind. Hall coming in fuels his feud against the Black and White but it’s still not the most interesting story in the world. Konnan and Luger were their usual selves here.

Overall Rating: B-. This was the best Thunder in a long time even though it had some very frustrating problems. First and foremost, we had two solid matches and far less time being wasted as a result. The DQ’s got very annoying but it’s something you have to get used to in WCW. This was a very nice surprise and an easy two hours to sit through instead of the usual drek.

Thunder
Date: October 22, 1998
Location: Tingley Coliseum, Albuqurque, New Mexico
Commentators: Lee Marshall, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

It’s the very last show before Halloween Havoc and we’re actually coming off a good show on Monday with every major PPV match getting some focus. Nothing has been announced for tonight but that’s usually the case coming into Thunder. I’m sure we’ll get plenty of videos on the two main events though. Let’s get to it.

The announcers talk about Hogan attacking Horace on Monday and call it a horrible act.

We look at Goldberg and Page nearly brawling after Goldberg cost Page a match against Jericho.

Super Calo vs. Rey Mysterio Jr.

Calo takes over with some kicks to the ribs to start and gets two off a shoulder block. A missile dropkick gets the same and Calo hooks a seated abdominal stretch to slow things down. Back up and Calo throws Rey to the apron before sending him to the floor for a big dive. Totally one sided so far. Back in and Rey climbs corner to hit a nice headscissors followed by the yet to be named 619 back inside. Calo gets caught in the ropes and the top rope legdrop to the back of his head gets two. Super gets to his feet and goes up, only to get crotched and taken down with a hurricanrana for the pin.

Rating: C-. Nice fast paced match to start things off here but there wasn’t much to it. It’s nice to see Mysterio back and mostly healthy though as no one could keep up with him when he was at even 85-90%. Calo looked better than usual here, but that doesn’t really say much as he isn’t one of the better luchadores.

Post match Eddie and the LWO comes out to offer Rey a spot but he throws the shirt back at Eddie and leaves. Chavo watches with a smile on his face from the entryway.

Video on Page vs. Goldberg.

Here’s Page for a quick chat. Monday was nothing but intensity and it makes him think of Goldberg as even more of a champion. The Diamond Cutter is enough to beat him though because he’s next. On Sunday, Goldberg will feel the BANG.

Ad for the Mastercard.

Alex Wright vs. Johnny Swinger

Wright cranks on the arm to start and puts Swinger down with a fireman’s carry takeover. Johnny comes back with an armbar of his own and a Russian legsweep has Wright in trouble. A spinwheel kick puts Swinger down and Alex drapes him ribs first over the top rope. Swinger comes back with a hard shot to the chest but gets dropkicked out of the air, setting up a neckbreaker to give Wright the pin.

Rating: D+. Just a squash here with Alex looking good as almost always. I’m still not sure why he never got a huge push but the thick accent might have had something to do with it. Or maybe that this is WCW and it’s a good day if they can tie their shoes properly. Swinger never did anything for me but he was fine for something like this.

We look at the Steiners brawling on Monday.

Video on Sting vs. Hart closing Nitro. Tony accuses Heenan of being a snitch for the NWO. Heenan: “I am not!” Tony: “That’s true. You’re a liar, a traitor, a coward and a snitch.”

TV Title: Kanyon vs. Chris Jericho

Jericho is defending and this has some serious potential. Kanyon does his Who Better bit with Jericho putting bunny ears up behind his head. Chris takes the mic and says the real question is Who Better Than Jericho. Kanyon doesn’t take kindly to gimmick infringement and the fight is quickly on. Jericho knocks him to the floor with a shoulder and we take and early break.

Back with Jericho getting two off the Lionsault as we see Raven for the first time, looking on from the apron. Jericho does his long stride and Kanyon sends him face first into the buckle to take over. The superplex from the middle of the rope (not the corner) puts Jericho down for two as the fans get distracted by something in the audience. Jericho counters a suplex into a reverse suplex for two but Kanyon comes back with a swinging neckbreaker for the same.

The announcers talk about Raven looking distracted as Jericho scores with a gutbuster but can’t get the Liontamer. An electric chair into a flapjack gets two on the champion but Jericho fights out of a superplex. Jericho tries a missile dropkick but hits the referee (Billy Kidman according to Tony and Lee) which draws in Raven. The Even Flow is easily countered into the Liontamer and Raven taps, which is good enough for a submission win for Jericho.

Rating: C+. Good while it lasted but the match was more about Raven than anything else. It’s nice to see Jericho get a win for a change, even if he was acting more like a face while doing so. The Raven story is interesting as he’s lost his edge without the Flock and could have some good stories as a result.

Clip from the new Kurt Russell movie Soldier.

We see Hogan beating up Horace and Warrior on Monday

Saturn vs. Norman Smiley

A lockup goes nowhere so Norman makes his chest dance to entertain Saturn. Apparently Saturn is more of a song than dance man as he throws Smiley down with a beal before dropping him with a t-bone suplex for two. Norman picks the ankle but Saturn is quickly in the ropes before anything can be done. A neckbreaker sends Smiley to the floor but he comes back in with a nice sunset flip for two.

Since this is a pretty good technical match so far, the announcers are talking about Horace. Saturn slams him down but misses a top rope splash, allowing Norman to take over with some uppercuts. A tiger bomb gets two for Smiley but Saturn drills him with a superkick. There’s a belly to belly to Norman followed by the Death Valley Driver for the pin.

Rating: C. The match didn’t have time to go anywhere but it was nice while it lasted, much like the previous match. Smiley is a very sound technical guy and could actually keep up with Saturn on the mat. Saturn’s superkick always looked good though and it nailed Smiley in the jaw here. Nice little match.

Lex Luger vs. Scotty Riggs

Feeling out process to start until Luger remembers he’s fighting Riggs and runs him over with some clotheslines. Riggs snaps Lex’s throat across the top rope and chokes away a lot before scoring with a dropkick. Luger quickly breaks out of a chinlock as the announcers say no one anticipated seeing Hogan vs. Warrior again eight and a half years later. A few running knees in the corner have Luger in trouble but he comes back with a suplex. Luger comes back with all of his usual stuff and finishes Riggs with the Rack.

Rating: D+. Not the worst squash in the world here as Riggs looked decent out there. That’s rather surprising as Riggs is usually one of the least interesting wrestlers on the roster. Luger was his usual self here, meaning he was charismatic but used the same moves he’s done for ten years now.

We takes yet another look at Bischoff being thrown out of the United Center. It really wasn’t that big of a deal.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Prince Iaukea

They trade takedowns to star until Juvy charges into a boot in the corner. Iaukea gets two off a snapmare and breaks up a sunset flip attempt. We hit the early chinlock on Juvy followed by a suplex and chops in the corner. It’s Chinlock: The Sequel followed by another suplex attempt but Guerrera counters into a Fameasser. A top rope corkscrew dive puts Prince down and sets up the 450. Disco runs out to break it up but Juvy dives off with the 450 for the pin just in time.

Rating: C. Short but fine as Disco vs. Juvy continues to build. I’m not sure how good of a match that’s going to be when we get there but it’s nice to see them doing something in the cruiserweight division that doesn’t involve the title. Prince wasn’t bad here but the bald head doesn’t make him more interesting.

Clips from Nitro of Bischoff being thrown out by cops and the mayor of Minneapolis.

Konnan vs. Scott Armstrong

After the usual intro, Konnan hits the rolling clothesline just after the bell. There’s the seated dropkick and Scott bails to the floor, holding his shoulder. Back in and Scott uses his bad arm for a test of strength and rakes Konnan’s eyes to take over. A few basic moves later and we’re in the chinlock. Konnan fights up with some elbows to the ribs but gets dropped by a clothesline. A bulldog and rollup get two on Scott before Konnan kicks him in the ribs, hits the X-Factor and hooks the Sunrise for the win.

Rating: D. These squashes are getting weaker as we’re approaching the end of the show. Konnan was always better on the mic than he was in the ring and this match proved it for the most part. Scott was the least interesting of the Armstrong Family but he wasn’t that bad out there.

Clips of Bret and Sting’s rivalry.

Horsemen video.

Kendall Windham vs. Dean Malenko

Kendall says he knows the Horsemen and can prove Dean doesn’t measure up. Dean hammers away in the corner to start but runs into a big boot. A lariat puts Dean down again but he grabs a sunset flip. Windham punches the mat instead of Dean’s head, allowing Malenko to hit a quick kick to the leg, setting up the Cloverleaf for the win in less than 90 seconds.

Dean grabs the mic and says that’s why he’s a Horseman. The rest of the team comes out and Arn has a mic. He says it’s obvious why the Horsemen are here and calls Bischoff a vicious coward. Bischoff has been making fun of Arn’s physical shortcomings but he’s not even half the man Anderson is. If Bischoff ever makes fun of his family again, Arn will do things to Bischoff that his family should never be allowed to see. Flair says that this is the Horsemen’s party and names each individual member. He’ll be running this company one day and Bischoff will be working for him.

Sting vs. Giant

Giant misses a charge and Sting hammers away but misses the Stinger Splash. The big man steps on his chest and pounds on him in the corner, only to miss a big elbow. Three straight Stinger Splashes set up a slam but Scott Steiner runs in with a chair to the leg for the DQ before the Deathlock.

The NWO lays out Sting until Rick Steiner and the Wolfpack makes the save to end the show.

Overall Rating: C+. It’s still good and a different kind of show from Nitro. This is one of the most frustrating things about WCW. It’s clear that they can put on entertaining shows but we get the garbage that they put on so often anymore that it’s barely worth watching half the time. Good show tonight with some entertaining squashes and small build to the PPV on Sunday.

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Thunder
Date: September 24, 1998
Location: Scope, Norfolk, Virginia
Attendance: 8,858
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Bobby Heenan, Tony Schiavone, Lee Marshall

The main story tonight is the Horsemen being back in Horsemen country despite Bischoff ordering them not to show up. Other than that the big deal from Monday is Warrior turning Disciple to his side which is big because it involves Hogan and the lack of the story making sense is just a detail. Let’s get to it.

The announcers welcome us to the show and run down the highlights tonight, including Goldberg vs. Kanyon. Bischoff is in Japan tonight. Heenan thinks a WE WANT FLAIR chant is for Goldberg. What exactly is in that cup?

Rick Steiner vs. Hugh Morrus

Morrus has hacked off most of his hair since we last saw him. Steiner quickly slams him down and decks Jimmy Hart for fun. A clothesline puts Hugh on the floor and Hart gets chased because that’s what he’s around for. Morrus gets in a few shots from behind to take over and scores a slam of his own, only to miss a Macho Elbow. Rick goes straight up and the bulldog is good for the fast pin.

LONG recap of the Hogan vs. Warrior nonsense from Nitro. Nonsense is the right word for it. The story was about a man talking about a revolution and kidnapping and brainwashing a former barber now known as a disciple through the use of magic smoke that sometimes puts everyone to sleep but sometimes doesn’t and babbling incoherently.

Ernest Miller vs. Nick Dinsmore

Miller holds up three fingers and Marshall points out that it’s not the sign of the Horsemen. He does the five seconds deal for Dinsmore but Nick fires off forearms and gets two off a northern lights suplex. Miller comes back with a variety of kicks and stomps before the superkick and Feliner are good for the pin.

Psychosis vs. Saturn

Feeling out process to start with Saturn trying to take it to the mat but Psychosis fighting him off with a dropkick and some chops. A cross armbreaker from Saturn doesn’t last long and Psychosis drops him with a clothesline, only to walk into a superkick a few seconds later. Cue Lodi with a “Saturn Ruined My Life” sign, triggering a discussion about Saturn’s honor. Marshall says the fans in Norfolk must understand what that means due to Saturn being a former Army ranger. I’d hope no one in the arena heard that as Norfolk is a Navy town.

Saturn goes after Lodi and the distraction lets Psychosis hit a nice dive to the floor followed by a missile dropkick back inside for two. A regular dropkick works as well but Saturn comes back by dropping him ribs first on the ropes. Psychosis comes right back and clips the knee before sending Saturn outside again. He tries the guillotine legdrop to the floor but Saturn gets out of the way and throws him back inside. Saturn goes up and hits a frog splash for what didn’t seem to be the planned pin but ends the match anyway. Psychosis appeared to kick out but the referee counted the pin and Saturn looked confused.

Rating: C-. Saturn is in a weird place right now as he doesn’t have much to do after the Flock broke up but he’s on fire with the crowd. The smart thing would be to send him after a midcard title and I have no idea why he isn’t going after Jericho. Saturn vs. Bret would be a very interesting match but it would mean putting someone new near the top of the card and that’s just not going to happen in WCW. To be fair though, that would be quite a jump for anyone to make.

Tony brings out Alex Wright for an interview but Alex only speaks German. Schiavone doesn’t understand him so Alex throws out “the pig of a man” and insults the crowd. Europeans are far better than Americans but Alex puts all of them to shame. He lists off the other European wrestlers on the roster and rips them apart, particularly focusing on British Bulldog, who is old and lazy after living with Americans for so long.

Video on the Horsemen.

Finlay vs. Barbarian

The bell rings and Scott Hall stumbles out of the entrance and heads over to the announce table. The camera stays on him so there’s no match to talk about right now. We switch back to the ring to see the guys pounding on each other with forearms as Hall rants about Nash not being his boss and being mean when he drinks.

Barbarian slams him down and puts on a chinlock as Hall vomits on the announcers’ desk. Back in the ring Finlay comes back with some knees to the ribs but walks into a spinebuster followed by a gutbuster for two. Barbarian takes way too much time walking around though and charges into a boot, setting up the tombstone for the pin.

Rating: D-. As you could probably tell, the match was just there for background noise while Hall did his thing. They’re making his issues seem very real which is what bothers me the most about the story. At least we didn’t have to see what he was doing for the most part. The match was bad even for a power brawling match.

Video on Goldberg vs. Page.

Page comes out for a chat about Halloween Havoc. There’s no hatred between he and Goldberg but there is the World Title. Page has been chasing his dream for years and now he has to beat a phenom to achieve that dream. Goldberg may be the odds on favorite and Page wouldn’t want it any other way. Goldberg may be unbeatable, but maybe he’ll feel the BANG. Very simple but it got the point across.

Raven vs. Villano V

Raven says he’s going to hurt Villano (pronounced Villain-O) just like he hurt his brother on Monday. V tries to get in some early offense but Raven shrugs it off and hits a knee lift to put him down. An early attempt to get a chair is stopped by Villano but his bulldog and atomic drop are shrugged off. Raven sets up the chair, hits the drop toehold and the Evenflow is good for the pin.

Even more Hogan vs. Warrior stuff.

Disco Inferno vs. Chavo Guerrero Jr.

Chavo hammers away to start and sends Disco to the floor before playing with Pepe. Disco fires back with his usual stuff including a running knee and a neckbreaker. The announcers ignore the match to talk about Scott Norton winning the IWGP Championship as Chavo hooks a chinlodk. Inferno comes back with a hot shot and we take a break.

Back with Disco coming off the top but only hitting mat. Chavo comes back with a nice springboard bulldog for two but takes too much time playing with Pepe, allowing Disco to come back with a slam. Chavo dropkicks him in the back and gets two off a rollup, only to have Disco score a quick piledriver for the pin. Apparently this was for the #1 contendership to the Cruiserweight Title, which the announcers forgot to mention until now.

Rating: C-. The ending was really abrupt but it was good enough while it lasted. Both guys got to get in the air and jump around which actually works for Disco. Chavo’s Pepe thing is getting a bit repetitive but at least he isn’t acting as crazy as he was before. Knowing WCW, he’ll be even more insane on Nitro.

Post match Juventud Guerrera comes out with a piece of paper, followed by Nick Patrick with a scale. It seems that Disco was over the Cruiserweight limit of 230lbs. He has to weigh in again right now and comes in at 231, meaning he’s ineligible, making Chavo the winner by DQ and the #1 contender. Disco blasts Guerrera out of frustration and is the only one standing tall (in boots, which probably weigh more than two pounds). In other words: heavyweights are better than cruiserweights but Chavo is the best loser we can find to challenge Juvy.

Norman Smiley vs. Alex Wright

Norman gets in Alex’s face over what was said earlier. Alex gets on one knee and begs for mercy with an offer of a handshake, only to take a swing. Norman will have none of that and clotheslines him, followed by a nice swinging slam. Wright bails to the floor before coming in to crank on the arm, drawing a USA chant.

The fans chant boring so Alex monkey flips Smiley down and nips up into a nice dropkick to calm them down. A backbreaker gets two on Norman and Wright sends him outside. They chop it out for a bit until Wright throws him back in for a stomping. Alex misses a charge and Norman comes back with right hands and an elbow drop for two, only to get caught in a neckbreaker for the pin.

Rating: D+. Pretty dull and slow match here but Norman was smooth in the ring and fun to watch. Alex fighting against the rest of the European wrestlers on the roster is at least something for him to do for awhile that isn’t dancing with Disco Inferno. The match was better than some of the drek we’ve seen on this show lately at least.

Here’s Stevie Ray for a talk. The people here can scream for the Horsemen all night long, but Eric Bischoff has called him up and said to keep the Horsemen out of the building tonight. Stevie is officially the NWO enforcer and the Horsemen won’t be here tonight. Flair and the Horsemen are in the back and Doug Dillinger lets them walk past. They come through the entrance and Stevie steps to the side, still talking trash as he leaves. Stevie goes through a curtain and is knocked down to the floor. Arn Anderson walks through the curtain with a tire iron, bringing a smile to the fans’ faces.

Anderson gets in the ring and says unless there are 15,000 people missing a thumb, this is a Horsemen town. The Horsemen don’t care what Bischoff has to say and last Thursday was his lone free day. They’re a thinking man’s organization and they pick their spots after calculating. Despite what Bischoff thinks, this company belongs to the Horsemen.

Malenko says he hasn’t had the chance to thank Anderson for his faith in him. Anderson put his faith in another man by the name in Curt Hennig but unlike him, Dean is a real Horseman. Benoit says Eric needs to change the first half of his last name. As for Liz, the invitation to ride Space Mountain comes with an invitation to all the other E rides. Just let Benoit be the strong and silent one from now on. Mongo threatens to beat up Bischoff’s entire family.

Flair calls Schiavone Antonio and says it’s his turn to talk in Norfolk. The Horsemen are reunited and it feels so good. Flair hasn’t saved his money over the years and Norfolk is one reason why. The Horsemen are going to play while Bischoff is away and own Norfolk all night long. Liz is back at their hotel, and tonight Malenko is going to get to prove that he’s the man of 1000 positions. “I mean holds!”

Video on the Diamond Cutter.

WCW World Title: Kanyon vs. Goldberg

Raven sits in on commentary and asks what about him during the long entrance. Kanyon does his catchphrase and Goldberg spears him down before the bell. The Jackhammer is the only move of the match.

Overall Rating: D+. This wasn’t a good show but it was miles better than the mess we had to sit through last week. Tonight took the focus away from Hogan and his nonsense and put it on everything else, which is what we’ve been needing for a long time now. The wrestling was tolerable tonight and at least some of the bigger names were on the card. I can live with a night of squashes if the winners are guys I actually care about. Far better show this week but it still wasn’t great.

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Fall Brawl 1998
Date: September 13, 1998
Location: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Center, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Attendance: 11,528
Commentators: Mike Tenay, Tony Schiavone, Bobby Heenan

It’s WARGAMES! Well in name only at least as whatever they have tonight certainly isn’t the same idea that gave us the best team gimmick match of all time. Tonight there are three teams of three men each but only one individual can win, making the team concept completely pointless. The winner faces Goldberg, who isn’t on the card tonight, for the title at Halloween Havoc. Let’s get to it.

The opening video just shows all nine people in the main event.

The ring setup is different than any other show as there are two rings right next to each other. The matches will alternate between rings all night.

The announcers talk about the main event as a LOUD We Want Flair chant starts up. They go over the rules of the main event before going to the back where Ernest Miller is being restrained. There was a lottery earlier and it will be Bret Hart vs. DDP to start. Another new rule this year: the match can end at any time instead of waiting for everyone to get in.

Gene talks even more but Jericho interrupts and announces he’ll be in a champion vs. champion match tonight against Goldberg. The fans are very intrigued.

Davey Boy Smith/Jim Neidhart vs. Alex Wright/Disco Inferno

Alex and Davey get things going with Smith taking him into the corner and hitting some forearms to the head. A hiptoss and gorilla press slam send Wright into the corner to bring in Disco. He gets to face Neidhart as the match slow down a bit. Some shoulder blocks put Disco down and Anvil swivels his hips a bit. Disco fires back with some stomps to the chest and a running knee lift, only to have Neidhart drive him into the corner for the tag off to Bulldog.

Wright comes in as well and stomps a German mudhole in the corner. Bulldog cartwheels out of a monkey flip but Alex pops up and hits a spinwheel kick to take over again. Back to Disco who hits a nice shot to the jaw but Smith sidesteps him to send Disco outside. Jim gets in some stomps on the floor and whips Inferno hard into the barricade. Disco is thrown inside for a chinlock before fighting up and stepping on Smith’s foot. He runs into Davey to knock him down (no move or anything. Disco just collided with him) but Davey picks him up and throws him at the ropes in what I think was supposed to be a hot shot.

Neidhart gets another tag and slams Disco onto the mat as Heenan picks Piper to win WarGames. Jim bites Disco’s forehead as this boring match continues so the fans chant for Flair again. Smith comes back in to launch Neidhart in for a slingshot shoulder block but I think he leaves it short (Disco tried to move so it wasn’t clear which happened) and it’s back to Alex.

Bulldog comes in and gets backdropped, which I believe is the move that broke his back as he landed on Warrior’s trapdoor because WCW thought Ultimate Warrior should have magical powers. The match degenerates into a comedy match with the referee having to drop to the mat to avoid a charging Bulldog before the injured Davey Boy gets Disco up for the powerslam and the pin.

Rating: D. This could have been on any given episode of Saturday Night but instead it’s opening a pay per view. Keep that in mind when you remember that guys like Eddie Guerrero and the world champion couldn’t get on the card tonight. This was pretty much it for Neidhart and Smith would be gone about a month later after the back injury got infected and put him in the hospital for six months.

Gene is with Scott Steiner and Buff Bagwell with Scott saying he’s injured and showing the Band-Aid to prove it. Steiner’s doctor has written him a note saying he can’t wrestle tonight but JJ Dillon just happens to be walking by and says the match is on anyway. Again, why bother making up these stories and having them resolved in the same segment? The match has been building for seven months now. Just have them fight.

TV Title/WCW World Title: Chris Jericho vs. Goldberg

We get the long entrance from the back, complete with the debut of RALPHUS as the Jericho Personal Security. Jericho finds the lunch room, the door to the parking lot (“Not falling for that again!”) and finally the arena. The pyro are just little puffs of smoke to anger Jericho even more but the fans love him. Of course it’s not the real Goldberg though as we get the all time favorite: the little impersonator. At least this guy is taller than the top rope. The fans are REALLY not pleased and can you blame them? We’re thirty minutes into this show and we’ve had the opening match and this. Jericho no sells the spear and wins with the Liontamer.

Rick Steiner is at the internet location and isn’t happy that he has to fight his brother. He knows his brother better than anyone does and he’ll teach him a lesson. As generic as this was, it’s the second best thing on the show tonight.

We see the entire segment with Ernest Miller interrupting the Armstrongs on Thunder, leading to Norman Smiley making a save.

Norman Smiley vs. Ernest Miller

Miller gives Smiley five seconds to get out of the ring before he takes him apart but Norman chops him to the floor. Smiley follows him outside but gets whipped into the barricade before we head back inside for a variety of kicks. A double chop to the throat puts Norman down again and Miller mixes up his offense with some knees to the chest. More choking ensues against the ropes before he throws Smiley down with a judo move. Off to a lame armbar before Norman comes back to no reaction from the bored crowd. A delayed suplex gets two on Miller but he breaks up a superplex attempt and hits two Feliners for the pin.

Rating: D. To clarify: WCW would rather push a one dimensional martial arts guy over an international submission/amateur style wrestler with years of experience wrestling all over the world. Smiley had a lot of tools but never got to showcase what he could do. But hey, at least we get to see ERNEST MILLER.

We recap Rick vs. Scott Steiner. Scott turned on his brother back in February and has avoided the match over and over again before they FINALLY go at it tonight.

Rick Steiner vs. Scott Steiner

Scott stalls on the floor for a few minutes before coming back inside for a slugout with Rick getting the better of it. A right hand from Scott has no effect and he bails to the floor. Rick chases him into the crowd and drags him back into the ring but Scott hits him low to escape a belly to belly suplex.

After more stalling Rick blocks a butterfly suplex and hits a DDT before going up for the bulldog. Buff Bagwell interferes but gets rammed into the buckle, knocking him out cold and dropping him to the mat. Rick’s bad shoulder is sent into the post but he comes right back with right hands. The referee is with Bagwell and the match is stopped due to his injury, further ticking off the crowd.

Rating: D-. This was getting better but of course we have a false finish because waiting seven months for a full match just isn’t long enough. I can’t blame the crowd for getting even angrier after sitting through this as they were getting their first interesting match of the night but it didn’t even break six minutes.

Bagwell is awake and talking to Scott as the crowd shouts what they think of this nonsense. Trainers come out to check on Bagwell as the announcers talk about how serious this is. A stretcher is brought out as the show grinds to another halt. We go all the way to the back to see Bagwell loaded into a stretcher with Rick saying someone needs to call Buff’s mom. The ambulance doors are closed, Rick is distraught, and of course Scott and Buff come back out and beat him down. Nearly ten minutes were spent on this after the match ended.

Cruiserweight Title: Silver King vs. Juventud Guerrera

This is a rematch after Silver King got disqualified on Thunder. Juvy is defending of course. The announcers spend the opening part of the match talking about how they’re not going to talk about Bagwell. Juvy takes him down with an armbar to start but Silver flips out of it and sends the champion to the mat. The announcers mention the match they had on Thunder, referring to it as “recently on WCW TV”. They can’t even get the details of a match from three days ago?

Juvy comes back with a quick hurricarana and a springboard into a headscissors for two. Another springboard move is caught by a dropkick from Silver King before he loads Juvy on his shoulder and spins him, tossing him into the buckle. A shoulder breaker gets two on the champion and a dropkick knocks him outside. Silver King hits a nice springboard plancha to take Juvy out again as the fans chant Taco Bell.

Back in and Juvy tries a quick sunset flip but overshoots it and crashes. Thankfully Silver King doesn’t walk over to him so Juvy can get the near fall. Instead Juvy gets up and hits a quick springboard hurricanrana for two and a missile dropkick gets the same. King misses a charge into the corner and an inversted Frankensteiner is good for two. Cool looking move, but of course it’s not enough for the pin because why have a big, new move get a victory? The Juvy Driver and 450 retain Guerrera’s title.

Rating: C. This was good almost due to how bad everything else has been. Silver King wasn’t the best choice for a challenger but Juvy is cleaning out the division before someone steps up to beat him. The Frankensteiner was a nice move but it doesn’t make up for the first hour being a waste of time.

Konnan is doing an interview on WCW.com when Scott Hall comes up and throws a drink in his face.

We recap Saturn vs. Raven. Lodi had won Saturn’s servitude due to interference and Saturn has been forced to comply due to his honor code as a former Army Ranger. Saturn believed in honor so much that he allowed his fingers to be broken instead of dishonorably breaking Riggs’ fingers. Tonight if Raven wins then Saturn is Raven’s servant forever but if Saturn wins, the Flock disbands.

Raven vs. Saturn

Kanyon is handcuffed to the ring to make it as far as possible. It’s also Raven’s Rules. Raven chills in the corner to start before getting in a cheap shot and sending Saturn across the ring and down to the mat. A running knee lift has Saturn in even more trouble but he comes back with some high kicks in the corner and a spinning springboard forearm for two. Saturn gets the same off a top rope splash and another kick sends Raven into the barricade. Lodi goes over to help but both guys are taken out by a nice suicide dive to wake up the crowd a little bit.

Lodi interferes a bit to give Raven control and get a two count off a pair of middle rope elbows. Saturn comes back with something resembling a powerbomb for two, only to be taken down by a quick clothesline. There’s a sleeper to Saturn but he comes out of it with a jawbreaker to put both guys down. Raven is up first with some rolling Russian legsweeps for two but Saturn hits him low to get a break.

We get our first chair brought in for the drop toehold from Raven and the Flock brings in a table. Kidman is on the other side of the ring and comes in to turn on Raven with a dropkick before sprinting to the back with the Flock chasing after him. Saturn’s Death Valley Driver gets a VERY close two before he snaps off three straight suplexes. Raven is out on his feet so Saturn slams him to the mat and gets two off a spinning springboard legdrop.

Something like a Juvy Driver gets two more for Saturn so he puts on the Rings of Saturn but Lodi makes the save. The referee gets bumped and Kanyon gets the key to the handcuffs out of his pocket to set himself free. He gives Saturn a Flatliner but Raven can only get two. Saturn drives Lodi through the table with the Death Valley Driver but walks into the EvenFlow. He kicks out again and the fans are WAY into this now. Another Death Valley Driver is enough to split up the Flock.

Rating: B. This was the only way to end the feud and it worked very well. As is almost always the case, the backstory makes the match much better as you have Saturn rising above everyone else and surviving everything Raven throws at him. Kidman turning makes sense as he had already been changing his look in the previous months, which is always a good addition to a feud.

Jim Duggan’s cancerous tumor was successfully removed and it was the size of a football.

We look at the end of the cage match from Monday with Arn Anderson coming out to save Dean and blow the roof off the place. That’s the problem with tonight being the double cage match: the Malenko vs. Hennig cage match would have made more sense on PPV but they had to do the whole thing backwards.

Dean Malenko vs. Curt Hennig

Dean goes right for Curt to start but Hennig bails to the floor. The fans want Flair but get Dean ramming Hennig’s leg into the barricade instead. Rude tries to interfere but gets stared down, allowing Malenko to wrap Curt’s leg around the post. Back in and Dean stays on the leg, leaving Curt unable to slam Dean. Tony declares this a Horsemen style attack as Curt gets in a shot to the ribs to slow Dean down and take over. He can’t keep up the attack due to the knee though and Dean goes right back to it with a knee crusher.

Hennig bails to the floor where Rude tries to help him to the back but Dean will have none of that. Back in and Dean cannonballs down on the knee before putting on a leg bar. Off to a different kind of leg lock as the fans are just waiting for Anderson and Flair to run in. Back up and Hennig forearms him down but the knee gives out on the HennigPlex attempt. Instead Dean HennigPlexes Curt but Rude comes in for the DQ.

Rating: D+. GAH this was irritating. Is it going to kill Curt Hennig to have him job to Malenko on PPV? Apparently so, because we couldn’t possibly let a cruiserweight like Malenko get a clean pin over a big star, even if that big star hasn’t meant much of anything in months. This was a very annoying ending.

Dean gets beaten down but Anderson runs out for the save. Hennig and Rude take him down with ease and stomp on his bad arm as no one runs out to help. The NWO stands tall because that’s how WCW works.

Halloween Havoc ad.

Scott Hall vs. Konnan

Hall does the survey and the NWO chant is barely audible. Feeling out process to start until Hall throws the toothpick in Konnan’s face. Scott cranks on Konnan’s arm and slaps him in the back of the head for a bit so Konnan just punches him in the face. The fans go nuts for Konnan all of a sudden before he takes Hall down with a shoulder block. Hall does the changing hands on a test of strength bit until Konnan punches him again. Scott tries to run but gets caught in the between the rings and is stomped down to the floor between the gap.

Stalling ensues on the floor as the crowd dies again. Back inside and Hall cranks on both arms and putting a knee between Konnan’s shoulders. Konnan spins his arms around to reverse the hold but doesn’t move his hands. In other words, the only thing keeping Hall in this hold is him grabbing Konnan’s wrists. He finally kicks Konnan low to escape and for a two count. The fallaway slam gets the same and we hit the abdominal stretch. Hall even has a drink while he has the hold applied.

Konnan counters into one of his own but Hall hiptosses him down, only to miss three straight elbow drops. Scott is rammed into the buckles a few times but he comes right back with a clothesline. A belly to back superplex drops Konnan again but he stops for a drink instead of covering. Konnan kicks the cup into his face and hits the X Factor to set up the Tequila Sunrise for the win.

Rating: C-. Not a bad match for the most part but it doesn’t mean anything. This was the same kind of match that you would see in the Alliance era in WWF: not terrible but doesn’t change anything for anyone. I’ll give them credit for pushing Konnan though as this was as close to a clean win as you’re going to get in an NWO match.

WarGames: Team WCW vs. Team NWO Wolfpack vs. Team NWO Hollywood

WCW: Diamond Dallas Page, Warrior, Roddy Piper

Wolfpack: Kevin Nash, Sting, Lex Luger

Hollywood: Hollywood Hogan, Bret Hart, Stevie Ray

There are different rules this year. We’re going to start with Hart vs. Page for five minutes and every two minutes someone else will be added. The match can end at anytime and for the first time ever, by pinfall. The first person to get a fall faces Goldberg next month at Halloween Havoc. It’s a double cage so the ring is completely surrounded, including a top. There’s no wall or barricade between the two rings so people can change rings at will.

To further annoy me, Sting vs. Goldberg is announced for tomorrow night. That could have headlined Starrcade. This first period is five minutes. Page cranks on the arm to start and gets two off a shoulder block. An early Diamons Cutter attempt misses and Page is sent face first into the buckle. Hart DDTs him down and rams Page into another buckle. We have two minutes left in the match as the trade right hands in the corner.

A backbreaker keeps Page in trouble but he grabs the arm and drives it down into the mat to get a breather. Page comes back with his discus lariat to put both guys down as Stevie Ray comes in third. All remaining periods are just two minutes. Ray chokes on Page and slams him but opts to choke instead of cover. A clothesline keeps Page in trouble as Sting is in fourth. Stevie meets him coming in and we have action in both rings for the first time tonight.

Stevie is sent to the other ring so Sting dives over two sets of ropes with a clothesline (called the Stinger Splash by Tenay) as all four are in the same ring. They’re already slowing down with Sting the only one on his feet. Ray gets caught between the ropes and cage for a splash from Sting as Hart piledrives Page. A second splash from Sting hits the cage as Piper is in fifth. Piper bites various people and pokes a lot of eyes because this is WAR. He nails Page because the team concept means nothing. You might even be able to pin your team members but it’s not specified.

Stevie is stomped between the rings and Bret punches Page from one ring to the other. Luger strolls to the ring at number six and goes after Stevie while the other four guys are in the first ring. Lex jumps Hart to end whatever bond they made on Thunder before moving over to Piper. Roddy’s sleeper doesn’t last long on Luger and it’s Nash (with pyro) in seventh. Big Kev cleans house as Hogan comes out a minute and twenty seconds early.

Luger Racks Bret but Hogan is knocking everyone out with Stevie’s slap jack. Stevie and Hogan are the only people left standing as the match stops cold. Hogan’s time ends despite him being in the ring for a minute already. The match has completely died with Hogan dropping leg after leg on Nash. There’s the Warrior smoke and Warrior appears in the ring. Hogan jumps him from behind and lays him out but more smoke fills the ring.

It clears out and only Warrior’s coat is left. Warrior runs down the aisle as Hogan panics. Stevie takes Warrior down with relative ease as Disciple pulls Hogan out of the cage. Everyone else is still out cold by the way. Warrior comes back on Ray and walks around the ring looking at Hogan before kicking the cage wall apart and chasing Hogan to the back. In the ring, DDP pops up and hits a quick Diamond Cutter on Ray for the win.

Rating: Agoobwa. This match was so stupid that it’s beneath any letter grade. I’m not even sure where to start. First off, this isn’t WarGames. This is more like a regular match dressing up like WarGames for Halloween. There was never any drama or intrigue and the match never felt important at all. It was about fifteen minutes of lackluster punching and kicking before Hogan and Stevie Ray knocked everyone else out with a weapon so they wouldn’t have to fill in all that time with action.

On top of that, this wasn’t even violent. Other than Sting splashing Ray against the cage, no one was rammed into the steel until Warrior sent Stevie into it. The biggest flaw here is there was no hatred or personal animosity between these guys. They were just all assigned to teams and might have had some matches that ended in DQ’s a few weeks earlier. That doesn’t make for a match that is supposed to be the biggest, most violent fight of the year.

It’s very similar to the modern day Hell in a Cell matches. With so little time to build up to them, there’s no reason to care about what happens out there. Look back to let’s say 1992 with Sting’s Squadron against the Dangerous Alliance. There were probably five individual feuds in there and they had been built up for months. Or even look at 1995 with Hogan’s team against the Dungeon of Doom. The match sucked but at least there was a reason for them to be fighting other than “we need members of each organization.” This wasn’t WarGames. It was a multiple man match which happened to be in the double cage.

Page celebrates in the crowd to end the show.

Overall Rating: F-. If there was a rating lower than this, the show would get that. This was dreadful throughout with Raven vs. Saturn being the only match worth checking out and even that’s a stretch. They took all of the good potential that WCW had been building up for months and wasted it in one night. No Guerrero, no Goldberg (he couldn’t even show up and beat on Jericho?), no Flair, and Anderson gets beaten down because we need to keep Curt Hennig looking strong. This ranks up there with the worst shows of all time and I can easily see why it was named the worst show of the year for 1998.

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Monday Nitro #153
Date: September 7, 1998
Location: Pensecola Civic Center, Pensecola, Florida
Attendance: 6,379
Commentators: Tony Schiavone, Larry Zbyszko, Bobby Heenan, Mike Tenay

It’s the go home show for Nitro and the main story is of course the Warrior taking out the NWO with his sleeping gas that doesn’t work on either himself or Hogan. The big story coming into tonight is Page giving his answer to the Wolfpack who gave him until tonight to decide about joining. The main event for tonight is Dean Malenko vs. Curt Hennig in a cage, which is a pretty smart idea actually. “You think this is awesome? This Sunday it’s twice as much carnage!” Let’s get to it.

As a side note: Nitro turns 3 years old with this show. It’s hard to believe it was only on that long at this point.

We open with the NWO freaking out in Hogan’s locker room due to Warrior graffiti everywhere. Vincent runs in to get Hogan and says someone has been taken away in an ambulance. There was a lot of confusion but it might have been Scott Norton and/or Brian Adams. Hogan and the NWO storm out to the ring to search for Warrior with Bischoff demanding that Warrior come out. Hollywood rants about Warrior staining his dressing room and injuring Norton and Adams. He’s as sick as Warrior as he is Hart, so Hart is off the WarGames team and Giant is on.

Opening sequence.

Konnan vs. Bull Pain

Feeling out process to start until Konnan sends him into the corner and takes Pain down with a rolling clothesline. Pain rakes the eyes to come back and sends Konnan outside for a clothesline off the apron. Back in and Pain hits something like a frog splash for two but misses a middle rope elbow. Konnan makes a very quick comeback with the X Factor to set up the Tequila Sunrise for the win. Pain didn’t look bad at all.

Announcers talk for a bit.

JJ Dillon says Hart is still in WarGames instead of Giant. Glad to see they resolved that story inside of fifteen minutes.

Nitro Girls.

Gene brings out DDP for a chat. He’s ready for WarGames, where he’ll take care of Hollywood SCUM Hogan. That brings him to the Wolfpack, which asked him to join last week. The Black and White offered him a spot a year ago and he made them feel the Bang. Now the Wolfpack seems like they’re threatening him and that’s not cool with Page. He doesn’t trust the Wolfpack so his answer is no.

This brings out Nash to thank Page for the history lesson. If Page isn’t part of his team at WarGames, he’s their target on Sunday. Page says he can’t trust Nash and can’t see how Luger or Sting can either. Those two hit the ring with Luger saying he and Sting were as close to WCW as anyone but they came on board.

He wants to know where Page stands, but Page says the same thing he said earlier: Nash would turn on either of them at the drop of a hat. Sting says Nash has powerbombed him a few times now but he still trusts him. Sting has also bailed Page out time after time but if Page isn’t interested, go get Piper and we’ll have a tag match. The Wolfpack leaves and Page says he wants Nash on that team.

Back with even more talking as Gene brings out Roddy Piper. He says he isn’t Page’s midget, lapdog or wife. Piper doesn’t like ultimatums and the teams mean nothing on Sunday. If he and Page are the last two guys standing, of course they’re going to fight each other. He’ll team with Page tonight though.

Video on the Nitro Girls. Nothing wrong with that.

Lenny Lane vs. Wrath

Wrath throws him around with ease to start and fires off kicks in the corner. A HUGE beal sends Lane flying across the ring and a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker puts him down again. Lane tries a sleeper but is thrown down and flipped upside down off a shoulder block. Meltdown ends this fast.

Disciple is found hanging upside down in the NWO locker room.

Here’s Bret with something of his own to say. Before he can get anything out though, we get NWO music and here are Vincent, Hennig and Stevie Ray. However Sting runs out to chase the three of them off before anything can be said. Sting hands Bret the bat and turns his back on him but Bret drops the bat.

Hour #2 begins.

We look at Scott Steiner turning on his brother from seven months ago, even though we haven’t seen them fight yet. There are some cool old school clips of the Steiners being the best tag team in the world back in the early 90s.

Evan Karagias vs. Scott Steiner

Have a good Cruiserweight Title match, get squashed by Steiner next week. Makes sense. Buff comes in to commentary before Scott grabs the mic and takes credit for all of the Steiner Brothers’ success. Steiner pounds him down to start and talks trash on the mic at the beginning. A gorilla pres drop puts Evan down and a double underhook powerbomb sets up the Steiner Recliner for the win. Another match too short to rate.

Nitro Girls and Nitro Party winner.

Cruiserweight Title: Juventud Guerrera vs. Hector Garza

This is Garza’s return after knee surgery and he’s challenging. Garza takes over with a quick backdrop and some chops against the ropes but Juvy avoids a splash in the corner. The announcers ignore the match to talk about the NWO parody of the Horsemen from a year ago in this building as Juvy dives to the floor and drives Garza into the barricade. They head back inside where Hector dropkicks Juvy out of the air for two.

A nice spinebuster gets the same before it’s off to a Boston Crab with Hector lifting Juvy off the mat by his arms and rocking him back and forth. La Majistral gets two for Hector and he grabs a double underhook but pulls back on Juvy’s arms for a submission attempt. That goes nowhere so he just throws Juvy into the air and lets him crash. A dropkick to the back puts Guerrera down but he jumps to the apron and hits a quick missile dropkick for two. Garza blocks the top rope hurricanrana and hits a wicked powerbomb for two. A Lionsault minus the running start only hits mat though and the Juvy Driver retains the title.

Rating: C. This was fine. Garza was wrestling a different style than most luchadors here but he looked decent in his first match back after a knee surgery. Juvy continues to look awesome and he’s well deserving of the title. I like him having these title defenses every week as it makes whoever beats him look even better.

Hennig and Rude come out to talk about the Horsemen. Curt says he slammed the door on the Horsemen a year ago and calls Arn Anderson a coward. Rude says the Horsemen were riding high fifteen years ago (not quite) but now they’ve been put out to pasture. As for Malenko tonight, Curt says Dean is just being a horse’s ask Rick Rude about it.

Kenny Kaos vs. The Cat

Miller is slapping hands now despite being a heel for weeks. He dances around to start before stomping on Kaos’ foot and sweeping the leg to take over. Kaos gets annoyed and kicks him in the ribs, only to have his eyes raked. Miller throws him to the floor but Kenny comes back in with a springboard clothesline and puts on something like an abdominal stretch on the mat. Miller fights back but gets caught in a barely swinging neckbreaker, only to come back with the Feliner (Trouble in Paradise) for the pin.

Rating: N/A. The match ran 3:03 and about 40 seconds of that were spent on Miller posing. The guy just isn’t interesting at all and it’s getting annoying having to sit through him every week. Kaos was another jobber of the week for him here but I have no idea who thinks Miller is going to get over doing the same stuff he’s always done.

Miller issues an open challenge and no one comes out.

Stevie Ray vs. Chris Adams

Adams has some awesome trumpet music now. Stevie’s eyes are bugging out and it’s rather bizarre looking. Chris goes right at him to start but Stevie shoves him out of the corner, allowing Vincent to get in some cheap shots of his own. The fans chant for Booker T as Stevie slowly pounds Adams and puts on a nerve hold.

A knee to the face puts Adams down again but he avoids a charge in the corner and scores with a belly to back suplex. An enziguri staggers Stevie for a bit and a middle rope clothesline looks to finish but a Vincent distraction stops Chris cold. Stevie superkicks him down and hits the Slap Jack (Pedigree) for the DX Special and the pin.

Rating: D. Nothing to see here as usual. It’s a bad sign when the jobber’s music is the best part of a match. I still don’t get why Stevie Ray was given this spot but he’s not terrible in the role. It gives him something to do, but to go from the less interesting half of a tag team to a PPV main event in a few months is a jump for anyone, let alone Stevie Ray.

Another Nitro Girls video, this time with each Girl having her name listed.

Riggs vs. Kanyon

That’s a very strange pairing which is why something is up. Raven orders Lodi to make Saturn face Riggs instead of Kanyon, saying it’s about honor Army Boy. Riggs takes over early with a dropkick and a shoulder in the corner. Raven talks a lot of trash as Lodi tells Saturn to fight back. Saturn has had no offense yet. A standing clothesline puts Saturn down again and a running forearm does the same.

The fans think Lodi sucks as Saturn ducks a right hand and kicks Riggs in the face. Saturn keeps the momentum going with a t-bone suplex and some chops in the corner before throwing Riggs out to the floor. Riggs is thrown into the steps and barricade before the Death Valley Driver is good for the pin.

Rating: D+. More angle advancement here in the best story in WCW at this point. Riggs could have been any member of the Flock but it helped that he’s arguably the best known out of all the lackeys. Saturn is getting a great rub out of this and the story is helping make him a bigger deal. It never ceases to amaze me how simple that is yet it hardly ever happens.

Post match Raven wants to test Saturn’s honor, so he has Lodi order Saturn to break Riggs’ fingers. Saturn says there’s no honor in that so he’s given another option: break Riggs’ fingers or let Raven break Saturn’s. Saturn holds up his hand and Raven snaps at least two of them, leaving Saturn writhing around in pain though he refuses help from the trainer. The match is going to be awesome.

Hour #3 begins with more Nitro Girls.

TV Title: Chris Jericho vs. Jim Neidhart

This isn’t even the strangest challenger of the night. Jericho says he definitely is the Walrus. “Goo goo ga choo.” Neidhart quickly sends him outside and shrugs off a shoulder block back inside. Jericho is thrown into the air and crashes back down to the mat as this is one sided so far. Chris comes back with a dropkick and its springboard cousin sends Neidhart to the floor. Neidhart is sent into the barricade and back inside for a kick to the face and a two count.

Jim comes back with some hard whips into the corner but is leveraged to the floor. Jericho’s plancha is caught in midair and Jim rams him back first into the post to take over again. Back in and Neidhart misses a middle rope splash, setting up a very strange finish. Jericho tries the Walls, but Neidhart won’t let the hold go on full. Jericho eventually gets him turned but Neidhart keeps fighting as the referee calls for the bell, saying Jim is out, even though he’s clearly crawling for the rope. The bell doesn’t ring the first two times the referee asks for the bell which makes it even stranger. Both guys look confused.

Rating: D+. The match was decent for a power vs. speed match despite the strange ending. There was either some miscommunication or they were running short on time but whatever they were trying didn’t work. I’m not sure if the two things are connected or not, but this was Neidhart’s last match on Nitro as he would be gone before the end of the month.

Here’s Eddie Guerrero to say there’s nothing he enjoys more than wrestling in WCW because Eric Bischoff won’t let him go wrestle anywhere else. Last week he hurt his back in the Brian Adams match, so he can’t wrestle until he has an MRI. Eddie’s contract says that if he gets hurt, it’s Bischoff who is responsible. Therefore, to keep lawyers out of the situation, he’s taking the night off. Eddie was in a shirt with a picture of a pencil crossed out to reference Eric bragging about how much power he has with his pen.

The cage is lowered.

Curt Hennig vs. Dean Malenko

There’s a top on the cage too. Hennig jumps Dean to start and fires off chops and kicks to Ice Man. There’s a referee in the ring and Tony implies you can’t win by escape. Dean comes back with a leg lariat but Hennig jumps up and grabs the roof, only to be pulled back down in a big crash. Hennig avoids a charge in the corner and Dean rams his shoulder and head into the steel to change control again.

Curt goes after the shoulder as Rude is seen trying to pick the lock. The shoulder is sent into the buckle for two and Hennig rams him head first into the cage. Malenko comes back with kicks out of the corner but Curt gets in a shot to the ribs to put him down again. Hennig wants Dean to give up and wave at his Horsemen buddies. Another ram into the cage gets two as Dean is in trouble.

Hennig keeps showing psychology by going to a cross armbreaker. Dean rolls on top of him to break the pressure, only to be sent into the cage again. Malenko finally gets a double leg and catapults Curt into the cage as the fans go NUTS. Dean sends him into the cage again but Hennig gets the rope to block the Cloverleaf. Curt tries a slam but the referee gets bumped, only to have Dean dropkick Hennig into the cage and grab the Cloverleaf. Hennig taps out but cue the NWO with Bischoff unlocking the cage and letting Rude and Stevie Ray lay out Malenko for a DQ. In a cage match?

Rating: B-. Let Malenko make a comeback and win with the Cloverleaf here and it’s a sleeper classic. I’ll give credit to WCW: they managed to book a DQ with an NWO run-in in a cage match. That takes talent. The thing to notice here though was the crowd’s reaction. They were behind Malenko here and wanted to see tradition win the war against the jerks that wants to kill it. WCW just didn’t want to believe that and never went with it.

Curt loads up the door slam on Malenko’s head as the fans chant for Goldberg. They get someone a little bit better though. ARN ANDERSON hits the ring and cleans house, throwing Stevie into the cage and daring the NWO to come inside the cage and fight him. Malenko and Anderson share a look of respect and saying Anderson has his back. Absolutely awesome moment here with Arn having a very intense look on his face for the first time in too long.

WCW World Title: Goldberg vs. Scott Putski

Thankfully the match is over before fans realize that SCOTT PUTSKI might be going into Fall Brawl as world champion. Yeah Fall Brawl: the second straight PPV where Goldberg isn’t defending the world title.

Nitro Girls again.

Lex Luger/Sting vs. Diamond Dallas Page/Roddy Piper

I guess Nash was busy combing his hair. Piper and Page get in an argument over who is going to start until it’s Page vs. Luger. They circle each other for a bit until Piper tags himself in and goes off on Luger, stomping him down onto the ropes. They head outside for a whip into the barricade and more stompings by Piper. He shouts to Page that it’s war before tagging DDP in for a belly to back suplex and a two count.

Lex comes back with the running forearm and it’s off to Sting to speed things up. A jumping DDT puts Page down again but he comes right back with a running DDT of his own. Everything breaks down and a double clothesline puts Sting and Page down. Cue Nash to post Piper and Jackknife Page for the DQ.

Rating: D. This was barely a match and just a primer for the show on Sunday. Piper was energetic but it doesn’t help that it’s nearly 1999 and Roddy Piper is in a match for a future world title shot on PPV. He was right about the team stuff though and ruined the entire premise in one line earlier tonight. To be fair it wasn’t a good premise in the first place but he did indeed ruin it.

Here are Hogan and Giant to close the show. Hollywood, while grabbing a chair, says he knows the rules now and if Warrior still wants a piece he’ll have to go through the Giant. First though, let’s lower the cage to surround the NWO and let Warrior walk right through the door. Hogan goes on a rant about Goldberg as the smoke fills the ring. The smoke clears, Hogan is coughing, Giant is out, and Warrior is sitting in a chair inside the cage.

Ever the genius, Warrior circles Hogan, who has a chair in hand by the way, for a minute and a half before taking off his jacket. He misses his chair shot and Hogan gets in one of his own to no effect. Bischoff comes out and unlocks the cage to let Hogan out as Warrior gets to stand tall with the smoke filling the ring again. Warrior is gone and Hogan/Bischoff are terrified to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. This show was so frustrating. There were so many good things on the show like the Horsemen, the Flock and Jericho, but then we get The Amazing Warrior and his magic act. It’s stupid when Undertaker does this stuff but at least he’s a character with a supernatural side to him. With Warrior, it comes off as Hogan and Bischoff looking like morons who are scared of their own shadows.

There are a lot of good things going on right now and almost all of them are completely isolated from the main event scene. Hogan seems to be running a circus in the main events anymore while Goldberg is stuck beating up guys like Al Green and Scott Putski. You couldn’t throw in a title match against Giant for Sunday?

A quick look at the card for Fall Brawl shows me that we have Jim Neidhart/British Bulldog vs. Disco Inferno/Alex Wright and Ernest Miller vs. Norman Smiley in matches that combine for over sixteen minutes. There’s room for that but not for the WORLD CHAMPION who is the hottest act in the company? It couldn’t be that Hogan was jealous and holding him off or anything so he could soothe his ego from a match that no one has thought of in years could it? This promotion is so frustrating and it’s only going to get worse as time goes on.

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